This weekend saw history being made as the first ever three party coalition of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Greens formed the new Government in Ireland.

it@cork would like to take this opportunity to say a huge congratulations to three elected representatives from the region as they each have been big supporters of the organisation for many years:
> Micheál Martin (Taoiseach)
> Simon Coveney (Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence)
> Michael McGrath TD (Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform)

This is an outstanding achievement and honour for the region. it@cork wish you all the very best success for the future.

This week also marks a significant milestone in the Government's COVID-19 roadmap to recovery for many businesses and retailers. it@cork would like to wish everyone the best of luck in the reopening of their businesses in the coming weeks. 

it@cork Cluster Manager Eoghan O’Mahony presented to the European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP) on Tuesday 23rd of June.  Funded by the European Commission, the ECCP is the largest and most connected network of industry cluster groups with over 1,000 cluster networks globally. 

Eoghan presented to the network on the topic of: ‘Digital transformation in response to COVID-19’. 

Congratulations and good luck to the four it@cork member companies and entrepreneurs that have been shortlisted for this years EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Ireland. These finalists are showcasing some of Cork's finest Tech companies. Best of luck to:

• Joe Lennon & John Goulding of Workvivo 
• Pat Lucey of Aspira
• Tim Houstoun of Global Shares 
• Andrew O'Shaughnessy of Poppulo

fDi Intelligence have recently released a report on Tech Cities of the future, Cork has been ranked number 5 in the top 10 Tech Cities for economic potential. Dublin and Galway have also been listed in the report. This is an amazing performance for the country while also showcasing the current Tech community in Ireland and potential opportunities that exist here. Download the report in full here: fDi Intelligence Tech Cities of the Future report

This year's it@cork AGM will take place in Republic of Work and also on Zoom, on July 24th, 2020 at 16:00.

Due to government COVID-19 social restriction measures, we are not able to hold our meeting in the usual fashion this year. Therefore, in order to comply with our constitution we will assemble a quorum at the venue and all other members are asked to please attend via the Zoom call. The quorum physically present in the room will be made up of members of the board. If you would like to attend this meeting virtually via zoom, please email: admin@itcork.ie

The it@cork CTO/CIO forum met on Thursday 25th of June to discuss return to work (RTW) and return to site (RTS) protocols. 

As we move towards the re-opening phases of the economy, robust return to work protocols are essential for Q3/Q4 of 2020. Martin Leahy presented on the RTW program for BioMarin in Shanbally. Other members of the forum discussed their programs of work in areas such as contact tracing, critical on-site staff management and leveraging the right technology solutions in order to extend the office capability into the home.

If you have any questions in relation to the it@cork CTO/CIO forum, please contact Eoghan O’Mahony: eoghanomahony@itcork.ie

Today, it@cork in association with INEX hosted a exciting information webinar on Moving to IPv6. A special thanks to Jerry Sweeney from CloudCIX and Nick Hilliard from INEX for providing such informative insights. 

This technical write talk was to help system administrators, and their business managers, making the transition from IPv4 to IPv4/IPv6 hybrid networks. IPv6 can be daunting for IT System Administrators and Networking Engineers because it is very different from IPv4 and it uses hexadecimal notation. This talk was delivered in a tutorial format and the recording will be made available in the coming days. 

Site reliability Engineer, Senior Test Engineer, Customer Success Manager & Java Backend Developer are just some of the roles that are open with it@cork companies at present. In uncertain times, it is positive to see exciting open tech roles in the South West Region.

If you would like to advertise roles on the it@cork site, please contact: admin@itcork.ie

Cork County Council has partnered with Irish company Abodoo to collate anonymised data on the types of skills that are available for potential employers and investors to use. The details inputted by users will not be shared with any third party, but will be used to produce a “Talent Heatmap” which will indicate areas where companies can recruit qualified candidates.

Call for companies to be involved in it@cork Skillnet CyberTalent Employment Activation Programme (CEAP). For more information on the programme or to learn how to get involved, please click on the following link: it@cork Skillnet CEAP Programme

At the end of May, it@cork and it@cork Skillnet, in collaboration with the Irish Management Institute and supported by Skillnet Ireland launched a new Industry-led IT leadership programme. We have been absolutely overwhelmed by the expressions of interest in the programme which has led to it being SOLD OUT in a matter of days.This highlights the importance and demand for IT Leadership Skills even more so during a pandemic and unprecedented times. Due to the demand we are planning to run a second iteration of the programme, either late 2020 or early 2021; again subsidised by it@cork Skillnet. Please reach out to Annette Coburn at skillnet@itcork.ie for more information or if you would like to join the waiting list.

Viatel is Ireland’s leading independent provider of solutions for Connectivity, Cloud & Security Requirements and have over 20 years’ experience innovating within the industry.

Viatel is offering it@cork members 2 months FREE on Viatel’s Cloud services until August 31st 2020. Please contact Eimear Nealon at Eimear.Nealon@viatel.com for more information.

it@cork would like to take this opportunity to thank all members for your continued support throughout 2020 and would like to welcome recent new members.

Horizon8, with it’s European headquarters in Cork, provide software solutions as well as bespoke solutions consulting, delivery and integration services. Horizon8 software solutions span Financial Crime Management (Digital Identity KYC; AML; Real Time Anti-Fraud); Digital Assets (Tokenisation of Investments; Supply Chain Finance) and Traceability (Supply Chain Traceability).

Carbery Group is recognised as a leading international manufacturer of speciality food ingredients, flavouring systems and as an award-winning cheese producer and headquarters are based in West Cork. Carbery Group are owned by four Irish dairy co-operatives, employ more than 700 people, and manufacture from 8 facilities worldwide, including Ireland, UK, Italy USA, Brazil and Thailand.

A €250 million Restart Fund has been created nationally by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. The purpose is to to help micro and small enterprises with the costs of reopening during COVID-19. Applications can be submitted to Cork City Council from businesses in Cork City for the COVID-19 Business Restart Grant.

The Return to Work Safely Protocol published in May is designed to support employers and workers to put measures in place that will prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, when the economy begins to slowly open up, following the temporary closure of most businesses during the worst phase of the current pandemic.

it@cork 2019 Tech Person of the Year Award Winners Teddy McCarthy & Shemas Eivers from Client Solutions recently launched a Return-2-Work Platform. This innovative platform will enable companies to manage their COVID-19 response plan and streamline policies, procedures, and other necessary changes in the workplace due to the pandemic. Read more about this initiative here: Client Solutions launches Return-2-Work Platform 

it@cork member company Ronan Daly Jermyn have launched a brand-new Return to Work Safely Protocol: COVID-19 Induction Training eLearning Course in partnership with Legal Island. This course enables employers to provide compulsory COVID-19 induction training to all employees in advance of them returning safely to the workplace.

SGSA supports the service industry by providing career development for support and service employees and the creation and sharing of best practices for the industry and have a range of upcoming events:

Live Virtual Service Account Manager training: 22nd - 25th June (4 x ½ days)

Live Virtual KCS Foundations Training: 20th - 23rd July ( 4 x ½ days)

Live Virtual KCS Leader Training: 27th - 28th July ( 2 x ½ days)

Support Supervisor: 8th - 10th September – Cork International Hotel

Support Professional: 3rd - 4th November – Cork International Hotel

Support Manager: 9th - 13th November – Cork International Hotel

Please contact Jo Roberts if you require more information on any of the above events: jo_roberts@sgsa.com

Congratulations to Alan Holland and all the team in Keelvaron securing a new round of investment to scale their business in global markets. Keelvar won the Smart Technology Innovation Award at the 2019 it@cork Tech Leaders Awards. Keelvar uses artificial intelligence (AI) to transform how suppliers engage with large enterprises.

Donagh Kiernan from Tenego Partnering and it@cork Vice Chair has recently launched The Alternative Board® Cork (TAB Cork) to support Cork-based business owners, of all business types, meet their business and personal goals. As part of The Alternative Board Ireland and in 21 countries, TAB Cork will support business owners on their journey to take their business to the next level. TAB provides advisory boards made up of local business owners, expert strategic coaching, and world-class business tools. Membership in TAB is exclusively by invitation, and the standards are high.
Over the coming months, Donagh will be building the first TAB boards of non-competing Cork-based business owners to help them meet their personal and business goals. Please reach out to Donagh at donagh@tenego.com if you would like more information on TAB Cork.

Congratulations to it@cork Vice Chair, Donagh Kiernan who has been selected as a member of the Impartner Software Channel Chief Advisory Board. This is an expert board of thought leaders that specialise in sales channel management best practice globally. 

The ‘SMEs Go International Technical Assistance (TA) Facility is a unique support service provided by the European Commission for eligible projects related to the ‘European Strategic Cluster Partnership for Going International’ (ESCP4i).

'SMEs Go International' aims to facilitate the scaling-up of European SMEs internationalisation efforts by concretely providing tailored and effective advisory services to 25 selected projects.

The objective of ‘SMEs Go International’ is to support European SMEs to develop commercially viable/bankable business projects in partnership with non-EU countries.