Dublin Lord Mayor to open Digital Ireland Forum on Friday


19 Sep 2012

Dublin Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí

Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí will give the opening address at the third Digital Ireland Forum on Friday, September 21, in the Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin.

The Lord Mayor, who himself has a background in the technology industry, will open proceedings at the latest Digital Ireland Forum which takes for its theme the Age of the Connected Consumer. The recently elected Lord Mayor originally studied engineering at NUI Galway and is a member of Engineers Ireland, as well as heading up Irish-owned technology company, Zing.

“I was delighted to be invited to address the leaders at the Digital Ireland Forum,” said the Lord Mayor. “It is an area very close to my own heart, and while I know themes tackled will cover all of Ireland, everyone recognises that, as our capital city, Dublin needs to be a world leader in all things digital and provide a strong ecosystem for nurturing the digital enterprises of tomorrow.

“I am particularly taken with the theme of the forum, which looks at the age of the connected consumer, and at how it is transforming the way people deal with business, organisations and government, as I am extremely interested in how using digital can get democracy working better.”

“We’re delighted the Lord Mayor has agreed to open our Forum on Friday,” said Ann O’Dea, CEO of Silicon Republic, which hosts the Digital Ireland Forum. “He has a technology and enterprise background, and it didn’t escape our notice at Silicon Republic that one of his first stated priorities when taking office was to ensure that Dublin become a truly digital city for young and old.”

According to O’Dea, each Digital Ireland Forum always aims to be thought provoking and tackle issues of digital enterprise and economic policy. Keynote Ben Hammersley is the UK Prime Minister’s ambassador to East London’s Tech City, and a well-known author and columnist, while digital communications expert Neville Hobson is a frequent public and private speaker on digital media trends that matter to organisations.

The keynotes will join Ireland’s tech leaders in mediated panel discussions, before an audience of more than 230 leaders and policy makers. Panelists this year include: Jeroen Hoencamp, CEO, Vodafone Ireland; Tanya Duncan, CEO, Interxion Ireland; Múirne Laffan, managing director, RTÉ Digital; Maurice Mortell, managing director Ireland, TelecityGroup; Colm O’Neill, CEO, BT Ireland; Ann Scally, partner, KPMG; Andrew Maybin, network services director, Tibus; and Daniel Adams, executive director, Communications, Media & Technology at Accenture.

Full event details are available here.