Innovation: Edelman’s Robin Hamman discusses meaningful social media
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Using social media strategically can help organisations understand their audiences and develop new business. Edelman’s digital expert Robin Hamman talks to Peter Cheney about its potential. There is little point in ‘doing’ social media if it does not meet your business objectives, according to Robin Hamman. Too many organisations are ending up with a presence that’s not interesting and does not help its audience. “It is about the user,” he states. “It needs to be meaningful and it needs to result in measurable outcomes.” Robin Hamman is Director of Digital...[full story]
Innovation: Point merge–a new approach to air traffic control at Dublin
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Air traffic control in Dublin will adopt a new system this December to make arrivals more efficient. Peter Cheney visits the airport to find out more. Dublin Airport will become only the second airport in Europe to adopt an innovative air traffic management system, when it goes live on 13 December this year. Point Merge is being introduced as part of the TMA 2012 plan, a reorganisation of Dublin’s airspace undertaken by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). At present, flights leave Dublin on standard instrument departures (SIDs) and arrive on standard arrivals (STARs). ...[full story]
Innovation: Why Israel leads the way in R&D
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Israel is recognised as a world leader in research and development. eolas explores why. Disadvantaged by its small size, Israel’s scientific and technological policies are aimed at enhancing its competitive position. It has the highest R&D intensity in the world with gross domestic expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP at 4.7 per cent compared to 2.7 per cent in the United States and 2.01 in Europe. Private sector spend as a percentage of its GDP is 3.39 per cent compared to 2.01 and 1.25 in the US and Europe. However, since 2007 there has been a low average annual growth...[full story]
Innovation: Health Research Board
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Health Research Board’s Chief Executive Enda Connolly outlines the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach to health research. Given the economic challenges that we face over the coming years, it is essential that health research demonstrates the contribution it can make; not only for people’s health, but also in terms of driving innovation and efficiency in the health service and creating commercial opportunities that will benefit our economy. You will only fully reap the benefits of research if positive results are put into action. The Health Research Board (HRB) actively...[full story]
Public sector reform: The Department of Social Protection’s Niall Barry
Friday, August 19th, 2011Innovation is very much at the heart of the Department of Social Protection’s role, Niall Barry, its Assistant Secretary of Information Systems, has told an eolas innovation conference. “We all have responsibilities as managers to innovate, we have the responsibility as managers to create the space for workers to innovate, and we have the responsibility as workers to play our part in innovation. It isn’t a case of sitting back and waiting for leadership to innovate for you,” Niall Barry says, explaining the transformation programme his own department has undertaken in recent...[full story]
Public sector reform: Transforming service delivery through technology
Friday, August 19th, 2011eolas highlights some of the technology being used by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as discussed by Michael Bunyan, Director of Information Management and Technology. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (soon to be agriculture, food and marine) recognises that “IT is going to be a significant driving factor in creating efficiencies in the coming years.” That’s according to IT Director Michael Bunyan, who spoke at an eolas ‘Innovation in public services seminar’ in April. The Croke Park Agreement highlighted the important role IT will play...[full story]
Cork: Probing research – UCC lung cancer treatment invention
Friday, August 19th, 2011Dr Declan Soden tells Stephen Dineen about an invention that could revolutionise lung cancer treatment. An innovative device designed to provide endoscopic chemotherapy for those with lung cancer has been invented at the Cork Cancer Research Centre, and was joint winner of the University College Cork invention of the year award in April. It was invented by Declan Soden and John Hinchion. The lung laparascopic electroporation electrode (LLEE) device allows cancerous cells to be specifically targeted by a short pulse of energy so that the treatment drug can be targeted at the cancerous...[full story]
ICT: iPad – Choice for serious business
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010Industry expert and iPad fan David McDonald says that re-thinking old habits and embracing the world of mobile computing will allow you to carry your office around with you. Apple were patient entering the ‘tablet’ market, only launching their product when they truly had their ‘ducks in a row’, resulting in the iPad proving to be a huge success in the consumer marketplace. However the notion that it is only a device for consuming media still deters many from considering the iPad as a practical tool for business use. This notion is understandable. With Apple having seemingly magicked...[full story]
ICT: Finding a cloud solution – Tim Duggan
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010Tim Duggan of the Department of Finance updates Meadhbh Monahan on the development of cloud computing within government. Cloud computing is “very much on the agenda,” according to Tim Duggan, Assistant Secretary in the Department of Finance and Director of its Centre for Management and Organisation Development (CMOD). Government networks – a countrywide private telecommunications resource used by all public bodies – has been in operation since 2002. This network is “highly resilient”, Duggan tells eolas. Rather than being provided by one significant carrier, there are 16...[full story]
ICT: Rush into the cloud
Wednesday, December 1st, 2010Owen McQuade looks at the promise of cloud computing and tries to get beyond the hype. Most, if not all, media announcements from technology companies now mention ‘cloud computing’. Many technology companies have made it central to future growth strategies and are in the process of developing platforms that meet the demand from government for secure government networks. Despite a certain weariness now apparent when the c-word is used, cloud computing does offer the prospect of changing the way IT services are delivered and consumed. What is cloud computing? In very simple terms,...[full story]
