European tech is the strongest it has ever been

“There is no doubt, Europe is killing it,” intoned Tom Wehmeier, partner and research director at venture capital firm Atomico, to delegates at Slush 2017 in Helsinki. Revealing the findings of the latest State of European Tech report – which was pulled together via 12 data partners, 3,5000 survey participants and more than 50 interviews – Wehmeier said that the destiny of Europe’s tech scene is in the hands of the Europeans. John Kennedy was on the scene.

Is blockchain more hype than revolution?

In November, the Connect 4IRC team hosted a high-energy, sold-out debate called Blockchain: Hype or Revolution? in Belfast. Topics ranged from cryptocurrencies to ICOs, to ethereum’s failure, to privacy implications – and, indeed, it turned into a rousing forum. TechWatch’s Emily McDaid was there to capture the audience opinion.

Lessons in reducing stress from Arianna Huffington

During HuffPost’s infancy, founder Arianna Huffington was a self-professed workaholic and was often listed as one of those massively successful individuals surviving on very little sleep. She worked 18-hour days and was constantly looking at devices and replying to so-called ‘urgent’ emails. Then, in 2007, she collapsed at her desk from exhaustion. Jenny Darmody was at HR Tech World to find out what a moment like this can teach a business woman at the top of her game.

In diabetes research, we need to forget the idea of an ‘average’ patient

According to the World Health Organisation, diabetes is now an epidemic affecting 422m people globally. One researcher investing time and energy into tackling this challenge is Dr Donal O’Gorman, interim director of the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology (NICB) where he leads a research group investigating the regulation of energy metabolism.

What does Irish ESO membership mean to our budding astronomers?

International astrophysics has advanced greatly since the construction of the Leviathan telescope at Birr Castle in 1845. Since then, optical telescopes have moved on to the optimal, cloudless regions of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities in Chile, and Irish scientists are finally getting the chance to join in. Our newest contributor, PhD student Lána Salmon, explains what opportunities this brings to young researchers in Ireland such as herself.

Superpowered origami muscles in soft robots can be built for less than $1

Robotics has come on in leaps and bounds in just a few short years, especially in the field of soft robotics where researchers are building everything from lifesaving sleeves for hearts to powerful exosuits. Now, researchers from Harvard and MIT have achieved a substantial breakthrough that uses artificial muscles inspired by origami to give soft robots enormous strength. Colm Gorey has the details.

12 terrific Tallinn start-ups to watch in 2018

Estonia tops all the necessary scorecards for digital penetration and governance. Under a sweeping e-Estonia initiative, the country is pursuing brave initiatives, such as an ambitious e-Residency programme that has already attracted 10,000 global entrepreneurs who can establish businesses in Estonia and run them anywhere in the world. No wonder, then, that capital city Tallinn is now one of Europe’s foremost digital cities and a natural home for tech entrepreneurs with flare and ambition. John Kennedy singles out a dozen Tallinn start-ups worth watching.

The London Underground will have full 4G signal on trains in 2019

Last August, London mayor Sadiq Khan pledged that Londoners would be able to use their mobiles to make calls or go online on Tube trains, with a view to having the scheme up and running across the network in two years. Following a successful trial on the Waterloo and City line, Khan’s vision is coming to life. Ellen Tannam finds out how.

Inspirefest reveals first group of speakers for 2018 event

The sci-tech event of the year returns to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin’s Silicon Docks from 21 to 22 June 2018. Now in its fourth year, Inspirefest has become an unmissable date on the European events calendar. Themes explored at next year’s event will range from the future of digital media, artificial intelligence and fintech, to blockchain uncovered, space research and environmental science. As always, there will be an invaluable dose of leadership lessons, networking tips and professional development, whatever your career path or level. Check out the first speakers announced and secure your Super Early Bird ticket while you still can.

15 inspiring gift ideas for clever and curious kids

With The Late Late Toy Show gracing our screens this weekend, we expect kids everywhere will be finalising their lists of all they want for Christmas – and so will we. Every year, the Silicon Republic team keeps its eyes peeled for great gift ideas in the realm of STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths). And, while technically a children’s wish list, we wouldn’t mind if any of these gifts found their way under the SR tree.

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Super Early Bird Tickets for Inspirefest 2018 are on sale now!

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Whilst he is a journalist and I am an experience design professional, the overlap in our work is clear both philosophical (the importance of observing human behaviour to understand the world) and practical (designing a better world through the pursuit of insight). So, my interest was personally driven but had a professional flavour to it.

Gladwell’s writing spans sociology, psychology and social psychology, with a particular interest in the unexpected implications of social sciences research. His specific talent lies in using science and research to explain the otherwise inexplicable. So, when the American people appointed a pathological liar to the White House – with a five-decade track record of bullying, self-serving greed and brash, tasteless opulence – to act as their champion, I needed Gladwell more than ever to help me understand what was going on.

I was sure if he could explain, using science and statistics, why such a disproportionately large number of billionaires were born in the 1950s; why the majority of Canadian professional ice-hockey players were born in January, February or March; and why Korean Airlines held such a poor safety record for decades, he could help straighten this out for me.

Gladwell’s observation is that people were prepared to overlook the less savoury elements of Trump’s rhetoric because of the human tendency toward ‘moral licensing’.

He tells the story of when his parents moved to London from the West Indies in the 1950s, their neighbour (who his family got on well with) would regularly comment to his (black) mother about how awful it was that black people were coming to Britain in such numbers and what a problem it was. What’s more, this neighbour was never less than cordial at all times, would have counted the Gladwells as friends, and never spotted the irony in the situation. (For added absurdity, the neighbour’s family were planning to move to South Africa to get away from the challenges of racism and multiculturalism.)

‘The mindset of “always-on optimisation” believes that every product can always get better, all the time’

Moral licensing is the mindset that argues,‘Well, because I have a friend who is [insert minority group here], I can’t possible be [insert prejudice here] because otherwise I couldn’t have that friend’.

Moral licensing occurs in many aspects of life, including design.

Too many website owners have never spoken to users, or haven’t engaged with them in some time – or, worse still, think they can represent the user with self-reference – and thus adopt the view that they couldn’t possibly be ‘user-ist’ because there was that one time when they made some kind of an effort.

This represents the worst of the ‘some of my best friends are users’ mindset.

This outlook stands in stark contrast with the design philosophies underpinning the world’s most successful digital products. From global exemplars such as Google and Amazon, to big Irish success stories such as Daft.ie and Weddings Online, the mindset of ‘always-on optimisation’ believes that every product can always get better, all the time, and the only way to achieve that is through a programme of ongoing improvement, founded on knowing users intimately.

The slightest hint of a commitment to facts would have saved The Donald from the embarrassment of claiming Obama’s birth certificate was fake (it isn’t), that more people were at his inauguration than Obama’s, and that he’s going to build a big wall (it’s mostly fence, right Donald?).

Are you making assumptions about your customers and their online needs right now that could be as catastrophic as some of The Donald’s policy suggestions? You need to find out, and that starts by reconnecting with your users.

By Gareth Dunlop

Gareth Dunlop owns and runs Fathom, a user-experience consultancy which helps ambitious organisations get the most from their website and internet marketing by viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Specialist areas include UX strategy, usability testing and customer journey planning, web accessibility and integrated online marketing.  Clients include Three, Energia, PSNI, Permanent TSB and Tesco Mobile. 

US president Donald Trump. Image: Windover Way Photography/Shutterstock

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Taking place between 6 and 8 July, more than 50 speakers from 15 countries are on the schedule, specialising in topics including blockchain, fintech, medtech, infosec, AI, robotics, the future of work and STEM pedagogy for a new landscape.

Schedule now released

Again this year, the collision of technology and the arts will be tackled, as Other Voices founder Philip King will be teaming up with engineers from Nokia Bell Labs to create a special performance to close the first day of the conference at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.

Ana Matronic of Scissor Sisters fame will also be on hand to offer her unique view on robot storytelling and the shape of AI to come.

The official launch of Inspirefest took place last night (25 May) at Bank of Ireland’s StartLab in Grand Canal Square, with a small selection of the speakers and sponsors waxing lyrical about the event.

Most importantly, the event schedule has been released, so attendees can get a sense of what each day has to offer.

“We’re just delighted to see the event go from strength to strength,” said Inspirefest founder Ann O’Dea.

“From day one, we wanted to show that a tech event that put diversity and inclusion at its heart would actually be far more dynamic and innovative than traditional events. The feedback suggests we’ve succeeded.”

One-of-a-kind event

Bank of Ireland hosted the evening, with David Tighe, head of innovation, saying: “Following on from the success of last year, Inspirefest has really developed into something truly special in the STEM calendar and, as a result, become one of the leading science and arts conferences in Europe.

“For us at Bank of Ireland, the focus on inclusion and diversity at Inspirefest is key, and how they showcase the fantastic role models working in STEM to us all.”

Accenture will also be playing a major part at Inspirefest, with its managing director and head of inclusion and diversity for Ireland, Dr Michelle Cullen, describing it as a one-of-a-kind event.

“We are thrilled to be a part of Inspirefest again this year,” she said.

“We are at a point where organisations must truly innovate to be relevant for the future, and inclusion and diversity drives innovation in all areas of a business.”

In addition to the talks, each evening of the event will be topped off with a Fringe festival of banter, music and culture, hosted in the salubrious surroundings of the Facebook and Airbnb offices.

Meanwhile, the popular Family Fringe event returns on Saturday, 8 July, with exhibitions and workshops on everything from space exploration to coding. There will also be a mini Dublin Maker at The Dock, Accenture’s multidisciplinary research and incubation hub at 7 Hanover Quay.

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Book now to get your Early Bird tickets.

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Everything from infosec to blockchain, AI to robotics, and gaming to professional development will be discussed at the event, which will be held at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin’s Silicon Docks from 6-8 July.

Early bird tickets are priced at €295, until 31 May, with a 10pc discount when buying three or more tickets also expiring at the end of the month. Elsewhere, an early bird offer for one adult and one child (under 18) costs €295, also expiring on 31 May.

Update, 1.35pm, 31 May 2017: Due to popular demand, the deadline for the Early Bird rate has been extended to midnight on 9 June. Book your tickets here.

For entrepreneurs trying to get their start-up off the ground, a select number of €150 tickets are available.

Teachers, academics, and those working in non-profits or in government departments can avail of €150 tickets, with €95 tickets allocated for students, unemployed and those over 65 years of age.

Among the dozens of international speakers at Inspirefest, there will be experts from some of the biggest companies in the world, each with a story to tell.

Tarah Wheeler

In a bid to help build ties with a hacking community bulging in importance, Symantec went to Tarah Wheeler for help. Naming Wheeler as ‘website security czar’ of the company, Symantec has put an established face front and centre of the next stage of cybersecurity.

Author of a 2016 book called Women in Tech, Wheeler has founded InfoSec Unlocked, Hack The People Foundation and Red Queen Technologies.

Ellen Pao

Perhaps best known for her role as interim CEO of Reddit a few years back, Ellen Pao is currently the chief diversity and inclusion officer at the Kapor Center, and venture partner at Kapor Capital. She is a long-time entrepreneur and tech investor, and a more recent activist.

During her time at Reddit, Pao implemented changes to the site and company to address harassment, including banning revenge porn, unauthorised nude photos and several harassing subreddits.

Arlan Hamilton

Arlan Hamilton founded Backstage Capital, a venture capital fund based in LA that invests in exceptional women, people of colour and LGBTQ tech founders. It has invested close to $2m since its creation in 2015.

“The more I move forward and go, go, go, and the more that we build out Backstage with our amazing crew, the more I see that I just want to invest in as many women of colour as possible,” she said earlier this year.

She also has plans for a third fund that will become more focused on her own demographic.

Marcus Weldon

Marcus Weldon is president of Bell Labs and corporate CTO of Nokia. A winner of several awards in the electronic and optical materials field, Weldon edited The Future X Network: A Bell Labs Perspective in 2015. Now into his third decade with the company, Weldon’s work focuses on ‘inventing the future’.

He was selected as one of the Global Telecoms Business Power 100 most influential people in ICT in 2014, and one of its top CTOs to watch in 2015.

Matt Flannery

In 2004, while working as a programmer at internet TV company TiVo in San Francisco, Flannery co-founded Kiva, a non-profit that allows people to lend money via the internet to low-income entrepreneurs.

Since then, he has created Branch, a branchless Android-based smartphone bank that is starting out by offering small loans to people in Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria.

Flannery is a Skoll awardee and Ashoka fellow, and was included in Fortune magazine’s 40 Under 40 List in 2009. He was selected for The Economist’s No Boundaries Innovation award in 2011.

Dr France A Córdova

Dr France A Córdova was the first woman to become chief scientist of NASA, and is a recipient of NASA’s highest honour, the Distinguished Service Medal.

An astrophysicist by trade, Córdova is now the director of the National Science Foundation in the US, an agency charged with advancing all fields of scientific discovery, technological innovation, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

Ana Matronic

Ana Matronic is an artist, musician, author, DJ, radio and television presenter, perhaps most recognisable as one of the members of Scissor Sisters.

Having collaborated with such legendary artists as Elton John and New Order, her first full-length book, Robot Takeover: 100 Iconic Robots of Myth, Popular Culture and Real Life, was published by Octopus (Hachette) in 2015.

Inspirefest is Silicon Republic’s international event connecting sci-tech professionals passionate about the future of STEM. Book now to get your Early Bird tickets.

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In the announcement, four sites were chosen as the target of this rejuvenation, including the 112,000 sq ft Gardens International Office on Henry Street, the 550,000 sq ft Opera Site at Rutland Street, the 100,000 sq ft Cleeves Riverside Campus and the 340,000 sq ft Troy Studios film hub in Castleroy.

Now, the entity led by Denis Brosnan has confirmed that work at the Gardens International Office is underway, at a cost of €17.6m, according to RTÉ News.

When fully operational, the offices will be able to support up to 750 staff. In the meantime, 150 construction jobs will be created over the course of the next 18 months.

Along with office space, the location will include space for retail, residential, educational and enterprise in the heart of Limerick.

Good day for Limerick

Brosnan said: “This is a very important day for Limerick Twenty Thirty, for Limerick and the wider region.

“This will be the catalyst for a new era of growth for Limerick as this is the first in a wider programme that is going to transform Limerick into a dynamic living and working city, capable of competing with the leading destinations in Europe for inward investment.”

Speaking about the development, Limerick City and County Council chief executive Conn Murray said that it will bring great dividends to the people of Limerick, having been secured from NAMA for €800,000.

In other Limerick news this morning (18 April), Three Ireland and An Cosán Virtual Community College (VCC), in partnership with Limerick Youth Service, announced a new fully funded online community development programme for young adults.

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Dave was born in 1950 and kicked off his career as a sales junior, fresh out of college, in an ambitious retail firm in 1971. Dave thrived in his role; he relished dealing with his customers and, what’s more, he was good with them. He got people; people loved him and, for the next few years, he honed his sales technique as he grew into the top sales performer in his team.

He realised that the more he knew about the products he was selling, the more people trusted him, the better rapport he had with people and the more he sold. It was the ultimate win-win-win. He was happy as he hit his targets. His bosses were happy as their revenue increased. And his customers were happy as they bought products they liked, at a price they could afford, from a person they liked.

So, it was no surprise in 1975 when Dave got promoted to sales manager. Some of his peers were a little jealous as they wanted the role, but deep down they knew that Dave was the man for the job. He had been stuffing his targets for nearly half a decade, and by now had supplemented his natural gift for selling by doing a master’s and building his education.

As a result of this promotion, Dave met his former customers less often. He knew that Alice always called by in June to buy something for her husband, and John would phone in a panic the day before Christmas Eve for presents for the family, and that Mr Jones needed a call to prompt him about his anniversary – and he would remind his sales team that these things were important.

What’s more, he would bump into his customers all the time. He would see them on the shop floor when he called down. They went to the same golf club as him, and his kids went to the same school and soccer club as their kids. If he went for a walk with the family, inevitably he would bump into a customer he used to deal with.

‘How are things John?’, he would always ask, ‘I hope that Janet on the sales desk is still looking after you OK?’, making sure that his team was still taking care of his customers. Usually they were, but if he got a sniff that they weren’t being treated as well as they used to, Monday morning was not a happy one for Janet.

Dave’s team thrived and, as the early 1980s dawned, he inevitably got the sales director role. He was on the shop floor almost never, but many of his former customers were now at the golf club, or in the Rotary, or business networking clubs, and he found this a really useful way of keeping in touch with them. He cherished checking in on them and was always keen to make sure they were being treated well.

The 1980s gave way to the 1990s and Dave’s son turned out to be a chip off the old block. Confident, happy and good with people, he naturally followed his father into the world of sales. Dave Jr joined an e-commerce company to help them sell more things to more people.

Dave Jr never met his customers. They didn’t live in his town and he didn’t know their personal stories. He didn’t naturally pick up their buying motivations by chatting with them because he didn’t physically meet them. They weren’t in his rugby club, he didn’t bump into them in the street and they didn’t go to his business networking events.

But Dave Jr inherited his dad’s nose for understanding people. He quickly realised that because his customers were physically removed from him, he had to work twice as hard as his father to get to know them. Subsequently, he invested heavily in them, observing their behaviours, understanding their needs and improving their experience.

Dave Jr and his colleagues immerse themselves in surveys, behavioural analysis, split testing, usability tests, experimentation, empathy mapping, click tests and perception tests to try to understand the customers they serve as intimately as Dave did a generation previously.

In the pre-digital world, the default position for all of us dealing with customers is that we would meet them most days and, even as careers progressed and people moved away from the front line, we still had lots of chances to check in with our customers.

In the digitally transforming world we live in, the default position is that we don’t meet them and so we are removed from all of the human cues that let us know how well we are treating them. In this new world, it is doubly important that we commit ourselves to knowing our customers intimately, and the commercial performance of organisations such as Google, Amazon and eBay that do would suggest that they will enjoy both victory and the spoils.

By Gareth Dunlop

Gareth Dunlop owns and runs Fathom, a user-experience consultancy which helps ambitious organisations get the most from their website and internet marketing by viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Specialist areas include UX strategy, usability testing and customer journey planning, web accessibility and integrated online marketing.  Clients include Three, Energia, PSNI, Permanent TSB and Tesco Mobile. 

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So it’s a topic I spend quite a bit of time thinking about.

In those last five years, I have met organisations across every conceivable sector and size; from large enterprises to micro-SMEs; from the most ambitious corporates to public service providers to the not-for-profit sector. Their online goals have varied from e-commerce ambitions to software-as-a-service delivery; from generating a B2B lead-generation engine to customer support and self-service.

And even though I haven’t closed every deal I’ve chased, I have never met anyone who doesn’t believe in UX. No one has told me it’s a bad idea or a dire way to think about design. Occasionally, a prospective client will use a competitor but, more often than not, those who don’t engage just ‘crack on with the design and build process’ in the hope that what emerges from that will meet their customers’ needs.

While our prospects haven’t verbalised this sentiment directly, it’s clear that some see UX as something that would be nice to do. Some day. When they’ve got the budget. When business is so good, they can get the Rolls Royce solution. It sounds like an academic exercise perhaps; something that someone who was a little too straight-laced would do as part of design.

UX is like going to the gym. It’s something that’s nice to do and has a benefit. But we’ll get to it another time.

‘Understanding your online customer is a fundamental commercial imperative, without which design is, at best, merely guesswork’

In such cases, I am always aware that I have possibly failed to communicate the overwhelming business case for investing in your users. This is a real shame because I am increasingly convinced that understanding your online customer is a fundamental commercial imperative, without which design is, at best, merely guesswork. A project must establish its ‘true north’ based on business objectives, related KPIs and user needs before design and development starts.

Even a cursory look at the world’s leading digital products will give strong hints about how they view their relationships with their users (spoiler alert: borderline obsessional).

Jeff Bezos invested 100 times more into customer experience than advertising during the first year of Amazon.

A few years later, Larry and Sergey published their Google manifesto under the heading ‘Ten Things We Know to be True’. This manifesto hasn’t changed in 20 years and the first thing they knew to be true was: focus on the user and all else will follow.

Since its inception, Google has focused on providing the best user experience possible. While many companies claim to put their customers first, few are able to resist the temptation to make small sacrifices to increase shareholder value.

‘By always placing the interests of the user first, Google has built the most loyal audience on the web’
^{– GOOGLE}

Google is so fixated on this truth that their VC division, Google Ventures, will not invest in a company that doesn’t enshrine the principles of UX and, in particular, Lean UX, as part of their design and development DNA.

Forrester summarised its view of the industry: “When compared to their peers, the top 10 companies leading in customer experience outperformed the S&P index with close to triple the returns.”

The business case varies slightly from opportunity to opportunity, and from marketplace to marketplace, but the fundamentals are consistent:

• If you don’t understand your users as part of the design process, you are guessing. Not only do you have to design the thing right, you have to design the right thing.

• Your business is highly likely to fail without happy customers. You need to treat them well online or they will go to competitors, or just go do something else instead.

• Investing in customers in a B2B context increases website conversion, expressed in phone calls, enquiry form completions, brochure downloads and demo bookings.

• Understanding users in a B2C environment drives up conversion rate, average order value, lifetime value of customer and likelihood of repeat visits.

• Valuing customers drives down the cost of customer service, allowing them to self-serve online, getting answers quicker and reducing costs in expensive support centres.

• UX enhances your brand within its marketplace and can become a genuine source of competitive advantage.

It feels fitting that the final word should belong to the two Google guys, who perhaps know more about profitable digital ventures than anyone else in the world: “Google has steadfastly refused to make any change that does not offer a benefit to the users who come to the site.

“By always placing the interests of the user first, Google has built the most loyal audience on the web. And that growth has come not through TV ad campaigns, but through word of mouth from one satisfied user to another.”

By Gareth Dunlop

Gareth Dunlop owns and runs Fathom, a user-experience consultancy which helps ambitious organisations get the most from their website and internet marketing by viewing the world from the perspective of their customers. Specialist areas include UX strategy, usability testing and customer journey planning, web accessibility and integrated online marketing.  Clients include Three, Ordnance Survey Ireland, PSNI, Permanent TSB and Tesco Mobile. 

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While Black History Month is largely a US custom every February, the release of Hidden Figures on this side of the Atlantic has inspired us to celebrate some of sci-tech history’s finest.

2. Meet the 30 mighty Irish firms attending Mobile World Congress 2017

The best of the Irish mobile technology community will be on display at Mobile World Congress 2017.

3. The secret duo that hold the Oscar winners in their hands

A behind-the-scenes account of the final process that decides the Oscar winners, right up to the opening of the envelope.

4. 15 promising start-ups blossoming in Paris

Check out these great start-ups from Paris that are guaranteed to put a spring in your step.

5. Cork tech company to deliver 4G in the sky at Mobile World Congress

Software Radio Systems has struck a deal with SmartSky Networks to bring 4G and Wi-Fi speeds to the skies.

6. Robots won’t replace humans, they’ll work with us

Speaking at the Turing Lecture in Dublin, Dr Guruduth Banavar detailed where he believes AI is going. Luckily, it won’t be like in the movies.

7. 5 start-ups share their different routes to success

We spoke to five Enterprise Ireland-funded start-ups about their journey so far.

8. It will cost State more than €35bn to meet 2030 emissions targets

A new report issued by the IAE has thrown serious doubt on the possibility of Ireland meeting its already scaled-down 2030 emissions targets.

9. Statements flow in from Silicon Valley criticising transgender ruling

The tech community has united once again in opposition of a decision by US president Donald Trump to roll back protections put in place for transgender students in American schools.

10. Top tech companies still have a massive gender gap

Women fill less than a quarter of the tech roles in some of the biggest tech companies in the world.

The post Weekend takeaway: Recognising sci-tech’s finest appeared first on Silicon Republic.

Firstly, a €90m fund has been created as a support for forestry-related investment in Ireland, with expected benefits to last two decades.

The money will be used to finance the cost of planting, forest management, and forest road construction and maintenance by Coillte over the next four years.

More than 35,000 hectares of trees will be replanted and more than 1,600km of forest roads will be constructed and upgraded. The scheme will also improve maintenance of 1,000km of walking routes and mountain bike trails.

“Ireland has some of the best and fastest-growing forests in the world, and unlocking new investment in forestry is crucial for rural economic growth, employment, and to support sustainable landscapes and renewable resources,” said Andrew McDowell, VP of EIB.

Meanwhile, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) is partnering with EIB in a new initiative, with plans to support €112m of new investment in privately owned forests across Ireland.

Pan-European forest investment fund Dasos is at the centre of the agreement, with EIB (investing €28.5m) and ISIF (investing €55m) hoping the rest of the money will come from other investors as the initiative progresses.

“Over the coming years, the Dasos Ireland forestry fund intends to help overcome diverse challenges faced by a fragmented industry, and revitalise forestry in rural communities,” said Dr Olli Haltia, CEO of Dasos.

“Working with both Irish and European partners, I am pleased to launch the first operations in Ireland by Finnish-based pan-European forest investment fund Dasos.”

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The European Financial Forum (EFF), part of an ongoing governmental strategy to push IFS projects by the end of the decade, saw Taoiseach Enda Kenny, TD, say his Government is “fully committed” to developing the IFS sector in Ireland, with the country remaining “enthusiastic members of the EU”.

Kenny said that although Brexit presented “challenges to this country, it also offers opportunities to attract new opportunities to our shores”.

With 400 IFS companies located in Ireland, and an estimated 40,000 employees across the sector, the significance of financial services to the national economy is pretty obvious.

The IDA claims Ireland is the most attractive location, globally, for ‘alternative investment funds’, with 17 of the top 20 global banks having a presence in Ireland. Taxation, no doubt, plays a primary role in this.

“Ireland’s proposition of EU market access, regulatory passport, global product distribution, cost-effectiveness, deep domain knowledge, innovative technology offerings and superior customer service, together with English language and a common law system will continue to prove compelling to financial services companies,” said Martin Shanahan, CEO of IDA Ireland.

Again, taxation, no doubt, plays a primary role.

Governor @centralbank_ie giving his (2nd) speech on globalisation & #innovation. #groundhogday #reboot. Fair play to him after #firealarm pic.twitter.com/fy9gUtRtki

— FinTech Ireland ?? (@FinTechIreland) January 24, 2017

There is plenty of activity in Ireland centres in Dublin city, and given the value of the cake, many other counties are seeking a slice. For example, Barrie O’Connell, president of Cork Chamber, spoke at EFF of his county’s pursuit of some of the business.

Highlighting Cork’s infrastructure, O’Connell namechecked University College Cork and Cork Institute of Technology as supports for future IFS industry.

“As the only Irish location outside of Dublin with multiple IFS operations in existence already; international connectivity available to London, Europe and North America directly from Cork Airport; as well as tier-one data connectivity; companies benefit from being able to service their business needs efficiently and effectively from Cork,” he said.

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