Wednesday 16^th March, Nimbus Centre, CIT

Chris Lyons, Lead Advisor in Environmental and Agri Food, Enterprise Europe Network

Chris Lyons is Lead Advisor in Environmental and Agri Food for the Enterprise Europe Network at Business West across the South West of the UK. Chris connects innovators with manufacturers, academics, distributors, co-developers and suppliers across Europe and beyond through an international network of over 4,000 network advisors in 60 countries. With an extensive network and knowledge of local, regional and national business support and funding organisations, Chris is ideally placed to support business growth both nationally and internationally. At the seminar, Chris will talk about EEN supports for companies entering the UK market.

Dirk Schaefer, Project Manager, University of Warwick Science Park; Partner, UK Market Access Programme

Dirk is a Chartered Marketer who is heading the technical marketing, business incubation and soft landing activity of Warwick Science Park. He has experience from working with 700+ companies and entrepreneurs wanting to start or grow their business. He has helped around 100 companies access the UK market through the Science Park’s involvement in the UK Market Access Programme.

Helen O’Dowd, Virginia Health Food Ltd.

Helen is a qualified nutritionist and food scientist and is founder of Virginia Health Food Ltd. which produces everything from gluten-free baking mixes to highly nutritious seed mixes, cereal toppings, crunch toppings, salad toppings and snacks. Virginia Health Foods are leading category and product innovation providers with competitive pricing, an efficient supply chain network and world-class NPD and technical capabilities. The company has extensive market reach within the UK retail grocery market and provides both branded and private label products. Helen will discuss her route to the UK market and her experience there.

Justin Mc Inerney, Accuflow Ltd. and British Irish Trading Alliance (BITA)

Justin Mc Inerney is the founder and Chief Executive of Accuflow, a leading global manufacturer of products focused primarily in the area of water & energy management in the home. Accuflow technologies deliver smarter living solutions that allow its customers to gain visibility of the built environment. Through its technology, it can monitor energy and water use, making savings, and delivering efficiencies in real time. Accuflow is here to help its Housing Association & Energy Utility Partners leverage the market potential of the Internet of Things (IoT) by building superior core technology that fills a real need. Accuflow's world-class IoT platform was purposefully built to be protocol agnostic, enable interoperability and be responsive and reliable. Accuflow has its head office located in Cork with offices in London, Denver-USA, Italy and China. Justin will share his experiences, gained both from Accuflow and through his involvement in BITA.

Shirley Mc Cay, Director of Trade and Investment, UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), Dublin

Shirley Mc Cay commenced as the Director of UK Trade and Investment in the British Embassy, Dublin in March 2014. Her role involves supporting UK Companies export to and source high value contract opportunities in Ireland and assisting Irish companies set up and expand in the UK.  Her wider role is to deepen economic and commercial relationships between the UK and Ireland and to support the Ambassador in delivering on the Joint Statement agreed between the Taoiseach and Prime Minister. On a north south dimension, Shirley also works to enhance the economic growth of Northern Ireland through identifying and delivering new trade and investment opportunities.  She joins UKTI from her former position with Belfast City Council as Head of Economic Initiatives and International Development.

To book a place at this event, click here or contact Katherine. 

Polish ICT delegation seeks Cork connections during visit to Cork, Thursday, 19^th May, 2016

Enterprise Europe Network at Cork Chamber, in association with the Trade and Investment Promotion Section of the Polish Embassy to Ireland, will host a delegation of Polish ICT companies in Cork on Thursday, 19^th May 2016. The Polish delegation will comprise of companies from the south-eastern Podkarpackie region of Poland. This region has a population of 2.1m and neighbours both Slovakia and the Ukraine. Its capital city is Rzeszow and the region is renowned for its rich natural resources and a dynamic IT industry. The main focus of May’s mission is to identify possible opportunities for further cooperation between Polish and Irish companies from the ICT sector.

Participating Polish companies include:

BMM

BMM specialises in software implementation and business training. Founded in 1995, the company manages over 250 IT and 150 training projects in companies and hospitals throughout Poland. It specialises primarily in project management, human resources management, accounting and controlling. Its products and services are directed to medium-sized and large enterprises, along with hospitals. BMM’s areas of activity include:

• Advanced Systems Architecture
• Archiving / Documentation / Technical Documentation
• Computer Software
• Processing/Data Interchange, Middleware
• Databases, Database Management, Data Mining
• HR Software
• Applications for Health
• Operation planning and budgeting system

IDEO

IDEO operates in the services and internet technology sector; providing effective and competitive solutions in e-marketing, e-business, e-government and e-consulting. The company offers a diverse range of services relating to planning, creation and promotion of internet solutions. The company has expertise that allows it to execute complex projects. It implements both simple websites and complex social networking sites, intranets, electronic document and information flow systems, loyalty programs, contests and general internet-based applications. Its main products and services include the concept, design and development of corporate websites and information portals, along with e-commerce systems connected with selling websites and the creation of dedicated applications. IDEO’s certificates include:

• 2x Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Central Europe
• Google AdWords certified partner
• Microsoft Gold certified partner
• 3x Webstarfestiwal

Order of Code

Order of Code (OOC) comprises of a team of fluent English speaking software development consultants. The company specialises in the optimisation and production of highly efficient systems for data gathering, transformation and analysis. The majority of OOC’s client-base is UK-based. Skyscanner, a major travel search engine, was co-created by OOC. More recently, OOC co-produced a highly efficient system for manipulating electronic measurement equipment made by Calnex, a fast-growing company based in Scotland. Many projects done by OOC were related to R&D and start-up projects. In particular, they’re looking for:

• New challenges for experienced consultants, especially in the area of highly efficient systems, big data and software for manipulating electronic equipment or data analysis.
• Partners for joint-venture and execution of projects based on innovative ideas (possibility of partial EU funding).

Primebit Studio

Primebit Studio is a brand that creates innovative IT solutions across a wide range of industries. With its experience, it is able to create advanced and user-friendly products. Its current client-base includes Austria, the UK, Australia, France, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Germany and China. Its services include the creation of:

• Mobile apps
• Mobile games
• Web apps
• Desktop apps
• Websites
• Video and animations
• Brand visual identity

Top S.A.

Top S.A. is a manufacturer and supplier of specialised IT systems for large and medium-sized companies in various industries. The company offers a full comprehensive software package such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (including finance, human resources, sales, logistics, purchasing, warehouse, complaints, transportation, CRM and production), analytical business intelligence systems, web tools supporting contact with the clients web map service (WMS) and B2B systems, document management systems, dedicated applications and reporting systems. It is keen to establish partnerships with companies interested in the implementation of their solutions. It works for the following types of companies:

• Distribution companies
• Retailers across multiple sectors
• Large companies, stores, wholesalers
• Large and medium-sized supermarkets
• Food manufacturing companies
• Industrial manufacturing companies
• Construction companies, repair companies

Top S.A. also works with:

• Virtual Reality/Cardboard, web applications and mobile virtual reality
• Prime Manager, an effective time management system
• PrimeBit Games, games for Android, iOS, Window Phone and other mobile operating systems

For further information about this mission or to register your interest, please contact Katherine.

Everybody who attends DigiCon Cork 2016 will get a DigiCon eVoucher which entitles them to 33% off

website, eCommerce, apps and more with one of Ireland’s leading technology providers, The Digital Department. There are also €10,000 worth of prizes up for grabs on the day, including an online advertising campaign, a professional PR campaign and an online social media course.

For details, full agenda and to book tickets go online  

The Awards programme will provide a total of €600,000 in development funding and support to nine social entrepreneurs to accelerate the progression of their social ventures. This will bring the total funding provided by SEI to over €6.5 million to date.

Previous recipients have tackled a wide range of social issues from adult education and the provision of emergency services in rural areas to voter engagement and food waste. Former winners include CoderDojo, FoodCloud, Pieta House and Smartvote.

The event takes place on the 23rd March at the Vertigo Building, Cork County Hall from 2pm-5pm.

For more information please email Pádraic