IDA Innovation Review Ireland Autumn 2020

AUTUMN 2020

IRELAND REVIEW

Power on through

FE ATURING

Recruitment Revival How the labour market is bouncing back

Communications networks and technologies that kept us going through crisis

TheCollaborationInstinct Instinct

REMOTE WOKRING AND THE IMPACT ON COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION

IN A S S OCI AT ION W I T H

167618 IDA Beating Heart INNOVATION 210x265.indd 1

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CONTENTS Autumn 2020

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Meet the team IDA Ireland Head of Marketing Communications Caitriona O’Kennedy

Ashville Media Group Editor Aisling O’Toole

Autumn 2020

Leaning In Spotlighting the companies who made a difference during COVID-19

Art Director Áine Duffy Creative Director Jane Matthews Published by Ashville Media, Unit 55 Park West Road, Park West Industrial Estate, Dublin 12, D12 X9F9.

Tel: (01) 432 2200 ISSN: 0332-4400 All rights reserved. Every care has been taken to ensure that the information contained in this magazine is accurate. The publishers cannot, however, accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Reproduction by any means in whole or in part without the permission of the publisher is prohibited. © Ashville Media Group 2018.

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Regional Spotlight

Acceleration

Looking to The Midlands

to the digital age

18 40

The New World

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The impact remote working has had on business & teams

Recruitment Revival Recruitment trends and what to expect

Global Stage Culture Ireland and the arts

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Chain Reaction Keeping supply chains going during the recent pandemic

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Power of the Huddle The collaborative nature of work

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NEWS Autumn 2020

NEWS VIEWS and

A first look at new job announcements, research projects, global rankings and ongoing innovation in Ireland.

Want to know more?

Visit the newsroom at idaireland.com for expansions, announcements and investments.

30 0 JOBS

Dublin HQ Nulia, which runs SaaS platform Nulia Works, has announced that Dublin will be the location for its EMEA HQ as it continues to service its existing customers in the EMEA market and grow its presence in the region.

The company is currently ramping up its Dublin team, and plans to employ 40 or more people across sales, customer success, software engineering, data science, and operations.

Nulia Works is the first of its kind solution that personalizes digital skills development and guides users with data-driven insights, enabling them to continuously attain, maintain, and use digital skills in productivity suites such as Microsoft 365.

€16 mil ion INVESTMENT

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Munich Re Automation Solutions Ltd will, over the next two years, move its business from a product to a platform company through an investment of €16 million and the recruitment of 60 people for Horizons, an innovative research and development programme. This investment will accelerate the development of new cloud products/services.

This announcement builds upon Munich Re’s many years of successful operations in Ireland. Since its acquisition by Munich Re in 2007, the Irish subsidiary has grown to become one of the most successful providers of automated life insurance solutions globally and enjoys the highest levels of customer satisfaction in the market.

The allocation of €300 million capital investment in its Irish operations is set to create approximately 300 jobs across Pfizer’s three manufacturing sites. The investment will provide additional manufacturing and laboratory capacity across the Grange Castle, Newbridge and Ringaskiddy sites.

The investment and roles being created will upgrade and enhance existing facilities, expand manufacturing and laboratory capacity and add new technologies to ensure Pfizer is ready to support the next wave of medical innovations.

The Irish sites manufacture leading medicines and vaccines in the areas of arthritis, inflammation, cancer, anti-infectives, hemophilia, pain and stroke. The roles being recruited for comprise a broad range of highly skilled roles including; analysts, technicians, engineers, scientists, technologists, quality specialists, data analysts and chemists.

Sligo Abu Eliatra, an IT Services and Solutions company that is focused on big data, cloud services and security has announced that it has chosen Sligo to locate its new Product Development and European HQ. The company plans to employ 15 people over the next three years in areas such as product development, technical support, sales and marketing roles.

NEWS Autumn 2020

Want to know more?

Visit the newsroom at idaireland.com for expansions, announcements and investments.

$25m Investment

Maxim Integrated Products has confirmed the development of a new design center in Dublin, Ireland. The design center will focus on product development and conducting research and development in the areas of analog semiconductor design to deliver Maxim’s innovative solutions across many end markets.

The centre will be Maxim’s seventh in Europe.

400 New Jobs For Limerick Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a leading, sciencedriven biopharmaceutical company, is adding more than 400 new jobs to its Limerick Industrial Operations and Product Supply (IOPS) campus.

These new hires will bring the total headcount to over 1,400 and cement the company’s long-term commitment to Ireland. Since 2014, Regeneron has invested over $1 billion to build the largest bulk biologics production facility in the country, with over 1,000 employees, more than 300 contingent workers and close to 500 construction personnel currently working on site.

DUBSPOT FOR HUBSPOT

450 Jobs HubSpot announced it’s not done growing, this time expanding its footprint across the river Liffey with a new state-of-the-art office space dubbed ‘HubSpot House’ with the creation of 450 jobs by 2023.

@IDAIRELAND ”TikTok’s decision to establish its first European data centre in Ireland is very welcome & following on from the establishment of its EMEA Trust & Safety Hub in Dublin earlier this yr, positions Ireland as an important location in the company’s global operations.” @MartinDShanahan

R EN EWED ENERGY

Amazon has added another 115 megawatts (MW) of renewable capacity to its existing contribution with its investment in a wind farm in Galway.

Amazon has previously announced two renewable projects in Donegal and Cork.

In total, these three projects are projected to add 229 MW of renewable energy to the Irish grid each year.

Amazon is further committed to being powered by fully renewable sources by 2025.

Projects such as these are in line with targets in the Government’s Climate Action Plan and do not require subsidisation from the Public Service Obligation levy.

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NEWS Autumn 2020

DUBLIN WIN

Want to know more?

Visit the newsroom at idaireland.com for expansions, announcements and investments.

Chicago-based eDiscovery technology company, George Jon, Inc has chosen Dublin as the home for its first international office in a move that will create 20 jobs in the technology sector over the next three years.

By establishing a physical foothold in the European Union and employing local, Irish application and infrastructure engineering talent, George Jon will be ideally positioned to service and grow its portfolio of EMEA clients, which includes “Big Four” accounting and advisory firms, multinational corporations, law firms, government agencies, and hosting service providers.

D ouble The Workforce

140

Gilead Sciences will invest approximately €7 million in the company’s Irish operations, opening a new base in Dublin and creating 140 jobs by 2022.

As part of this expansion, the company will also establish a paediatric centre of excellence in Ireland.

@IDAIRELAND Today @MartinDShanahan outlined @IDAIRELAND focus for 2020 staying close to existing clients driving new business for 2021+ targeting Life Sciences investments continued focus on regions supporting transformation launch new strategy 2021-2024

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Udemy, the largest global marketplace for learning and teaching online has expanded its office in Dublin. The new office opening represents continued investment in the company’s EMEA headquarters, follows a milestone growth year, and a recent commitment by long-time Japanese strategic partner Benesse Holdings to invest $50 million in the company.

The new Udemy office in Dublin features designer space of nearly 2,000 square meters with an openconcept kitchen where its nearly 100 Dublin-based employees gather daily for catered lunch and snacks. Lightfilled conference rooms are equipped with the latest video-conferencing technologies to ensure seamless communications across Udemy global offices.

Udemy plans to double its employee presence in Dublin in the next year. In addition to growing the Dublin office, the company continues to expand and invest in its offices around the world, including its San Francisco headquarters as well as offices in Denver, Colorado; Gurgaon, India; São Paulo, Brazil; and Ankara, Turkey.

NEWS Autumn 2020

First for Europe Bath Fitter, North America’s leading bathroom refurbishment experts has opened its European Business Development Centre in East Link Business Park, Limerick. This facility is Bath Fitter’s first to be located outside of North America and has seen hires in areas such as installation, sales and marketing, as the centre focuses on winning and serving new clients in Europe.

Want to know more?

Visit the newsroom at idaireland.com for expansions, announcements and investments.

A n i mate d Galway

@IDAIRELAND This is a land where innovation grows. This is Ireland.

We make it happen. #WhyIreland

Triggerfish, the animation studio behind Netflix’s first original animated TV series from Africa, has established its first international studio in Galway, with a view to creating 60 jobs over three years. Triggerfish animated the Oscar-nominated Roald Dahl adaptation Revolting Rhymes as well as much-loved Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler adaptations such as the 2020 International Emmy-winning Zog, the 2020 British Animation Awards winner The Snail and the Whale, the BAFTA-nominated and Annecy-winning Stick Man, and the Rose d’Or-winning The Highway Rat, all produced by Magic Light Pictures.

Founded in 1996, Triggerfish was instrumental in the birth of the South African animation industry, co-founding the country’s official animation association as well as an ongoing monthly screening and networking event.

Triggerfish is currently producing Netflix’s first original African animated TV series, Mama K’s Team 4, set in a futuristic version of Lusaka, Zambia, where four scrappy teen girls join a retired secret agent on a quest to save the world - on a budget.

Triggerfish is also in production on their third feature film, Seal Team, an action-comedy about a brave, reckless seal who forms a rag-tag team to save his home from Great White Sharks.

In addition Triggerfish services AAA-rated and mobile games for the likes of Electronic Arts, Unity and Disney Interactive and is in development on a broad slate of original film and television projects for most of the world’s biggest studios.

8 , 30 0 m 2 Expansi on MeiraGTx Holdings, a vertically integrated, clinical-stage gene therapy company, has expanded its Shannon facility by 8,300m2. The new facilities are designed for the manufacture of commercial-grade gene therapies in a fully integrated manner supported

by MeiraGTx’s global quality assurance organisation.

MeiraGTx’s Irish facilities provide additional flexibility as well as further largescale capacity for clinical and commercial supply of its gene therapy product candidates from pre-clinical stages through clinical trials and potential commercialisation.

The facility at Shannon Freezone Business Park, Co. Clare comprising 8,300m2 in two separate buildings will be designed to meet global regulatory requirements, including the cGMP, required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The unit at Shannon will be used for the manufacture of MeiraGTx viral vectors for gene therapies and the plasmid DNA that is one of the starting materials in viral vector production.

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LEADING COVID

Leaning In

I

Shining a light on the companies who leaned into the COVID-19 crisis and gave back on a global and community level

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“We have a strong culture in Boston Scientific of giving back,” says Conor Russell, Boston Scientific’s Vice President of Operations in Clonmel, “and so when the crisis hit everybody wanted to do something to help.”

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As we struggle to evaluate the economic impact of COVID-19, highlighting companies and business people leaning into the crisis and using their power for good is surely the light at the end of the Covid-tunnel?

One such business is Boston Scientific, a medical company with plants based in Galway, Cork and Tipperary. Boston Scientific normally creates medical solutions for surgeries, illness and other healthcare issues and so immediately saw lockdown and the ensuing changes to life

as a chance to support local nursing homes, charities and other healthcare facilities all while creating low-cost ventilator solutions and other groundbreaking initiatives on a global scale.

“We have a strong culture in Boston Scientific of giving back,” says Conor Russell, Boston Scientific’s Vice President of Operations in Clonmel, “and so when the crisis hit everybody wanted to do something to help.”

That desire to help resulted in the company encouraging staff across the board to suggest ideas which were then whittled down based on capabilities and resources. The resulting outcome from the Irish Boston Scientific plants was the creation of medical-grade PPE equipment with an incredibly fast turn around time that was achieved by over 250 staff members giving up their time to secure supply chains, ensure all criteria were met and physically make over 100,000 face shields in just six weeks.

These shields were then provided not only to the HSE to help manage the national crisis but also to local hospitals and care homes who were experiencing shortages in real-time that impacted staff and families. As Russell explains, Boston Scientific had an existing relationship with several local charities that had been developed over the years through staff fundraisers and so this was an opportunity to support on the on-ground initiatives to over 30 local charities.

“Our business was shook,” Russell said, “elective procedures were cancelled so our normal production slowed down. Boston

LEADING COVID

Scientific is staffed by talented people who were feeling helpless but knew they wanted to help, so we did what we do best.

“We slowed down manufacturing during the height of the pandemic but we’re the only company that makes what we make and are part of a global supply chain so we had to consider how to return to work early on while keeping everyone safe. We can’t care for others unless we care for ourselves.

“I was surprised by the innate sense of purpose and willingness to step up I saw, people were happy to give up their free time and work together in our response to the crisis.

It was a rapid change and we achieved it with the help of the Government and the IDA which performed really well as a leader for companies in Ireland. As the roadmap and policies for recovery were released, the IDA were key for us in translating that.”

The idea of rapid change is also familiar to Cosmetic Creations, a life science company who specialise in the creation of cosmetics

including skincare, self-tanning products and bodycare. As COVID hit, the company had just “Our business was shook,” Russell said, moved into a second, much “elective procedures were cancelled so larger, site in Cork after our normal production slowed down. outgrowing its Mayo facility in just Boston Scientific is staffed by talented two years. As such, Cosmetic people who were feeling helpless but Creations found themselves with knew they wanted to help, so we did the capacity to create an entirely what we do best.” new brand in answer to the crisis.

“The team at Cosmetic Creations decided to make use of the labs it has on-site and through working with its labs as well as its marketing and product O’Dowling-Keane explains that the company design teams we sparked on the idea of making had been moving towards the launch of its own business-to-consumer (B2C) hand sanitiser,” brand, working towards a 12-18 month launch explained Market Development Manager plan and deciding to push the button on Air Breffney O’Dowling-Keane.

Medica in early March, before the full impact And so Air Medica was born. In just eight of COVID was understood. weeks Cosmetic Creations pivoted to include At the height of the pandemic, founder Aiden the manufacture of hand sanitiser, starting on Corcoran made the decision to supply only to week one with 50,000 bottles to now producing the Irish market until the shortage had been more than 350,000 bottles a week. ended. “We wanted to do something to help,

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LEADING COVID

“I was surprised by the innate sense of purpose and willingness to step up I saw, people were happy to give up their free time and work together in our response to the crisis. It was a rapid change and we achieved it with the help of the Government and the IDA which performed really well as a leader for companies in Ireland. As the roadmap and policies for recovery were released, the IDA were key for us in translating that.”

to put on the green jersey,” says O’DowlingKeane. Cosmetic Creations hired 20 new staff members and worked “all the time” to ensure supply chains were managed, that bottles were secured and that any alcohol shortages were dealt with in a way that showed “what the team were made of.”

The launch of Air Medica not only answered a national crisis, but also resulted in huge upskilling for the team as they began to develop other formulas and launched an e-commerce platform for the brand, something that their other products didn’t require.

But what about the existing medical device business, did it suffer at all? In a nutshell, no, explains O’Dowling-Keane. “Our existing customers pushed their orders out so in the early days we could focus on Air Medica and manage the two easily. Aiden is very forwardthinking and invested in staffing and equipment to meet the demand in mid-March. It was a risk but now we’re looking at single-use sachets, re-fillable pouches and solutions for gyms, hotels and pharma plants.”

Learnings from its pivot include the need for flexibility and the importance of mistakes, with O’Dowling-Keane saying that if the

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LEADING COVID

company knew then what they know now, they would have surely been talked out of the plan to launch Air Medica. “We learned a lot,” she explains, “the most important being that mistakes happen, and learn from it and then move on. But we stayed true to our values as a brand.”

This learning and leaning on brand values has also been important to medical company Medtronic, who employs more than 4,000 people across five sites in Galway, Dublin and Athlone. Liam Hynes, Director of Manufacturing at Medtronic explains that in a time of crisis the Irish team found the mission statement to be important and effective. “Employees stepped up,” Hynes said: “People overnight turned their lives around to become part of the response.”

A response that has seen the team increase the production of ventilators to help combat the world shortage.”We normally produce 150/160 ventilators a week,” said Hynes, “and we had quadrupled that to make over 1000 a week. We have doubled the workforce and doubled our footprint. We have seen innovation in open design over the course of the pandemic in making something that is full of subtly and nuance, it’s very complex.”

“We support channels all over the world, so by increasing our capability here we’re dealing with global issues. It’s a challenging time but the global co-operation has been unique and the IDA has worked with us to help and support us with maintaining global supply chains and offering advice.”

High-performance ventilators play a critical role in the management of patients with severe respiratory illness, such as COVID-19, who require assistance because they cannot breathe effectively. By placing a patient on a ventilator, the patient’s lungs are permitted to rest and recover while the ventilator performs the functions of supplying oxygen and simulating the actions of breathing.

These ventilators were supplied to areas based on the demand, and where the epicentre of the crisis is, which for a time included Ireland. “We are careful and deliberate around allocation,” explains Hynes, going on to say that “the most important this is that supply is managed in a fair, open and very transparent way.”

This global viewpoint is something that Hynes explains the IDA and Irish Government were very supportive of: “We support channels all over the world, so by increasing our capability here we’re dealing with global issues. It’s a challenging time but the global co-operation has been unique and the IDA has worked with us to help and support us with maintaining global supply chains and offering advice.

“We’re seeing historic demand for ventilators being generated around the world,” said Bob White, Medtronic Executive Vice-President and MITG President. “This is an unprecedented human challenge, and it’s requiring an unprecedented response from Medtronic.”

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FINANCE Security & Service

Acceleration TO THE DIGITAL AGE For some global companies, it’s time to start looking beyond the negative to examine the digital transformation spurred on

by COVID-19 and its impact on the global economy

N E O F T H E M O S T S U R P R I S I N G E F F ECTS C O V I D - 1 9 H A D O N T H E W O R L D WA S T H E A C C E L E R AT I O N O F T H E D I G I TA L T R A N S F O R M AT I O N . A S C O N S U M E R B U Y I N G H A B I TS C H A N G E D , S O TO O D I D T H E WAY C O M PA N I ES R E A CT E D TO A N I N C R E A S E D D E M A N D F O R O N L I N E S E R V I C ES . M A N Y LO C A L B U S I N ES S ES T R A N S I T I O N E D TO O N L I N E S TO R ES A N D C A S H L ES S PAY M E N TS O V E R N I G H T, E M B R A C I N G C LO U D - B A S E D T EC H N O LO GY A N D E - C O M M E R C E F U N CT I O N A L I T I ES Q U I C K E R T H A N A N Y B O DY T H O U G H T P O S S I B L E .

“We ran webinars that we thought everyone needed to do and then if we thought you needed specialised training we would pick up the phone and provide that.

It’s a great programme, we’re successful when our sellers are successful so with this programme everybody wins.”

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“The pandemic has had an extraordinary impact on how enterprises operate. Digital transformation has gone from being a buzz word to an absolute necessity,” explains Maurice Mortell, Managing Director for Ireland, Equinix, “businesses must have realtime interactions with their customers, employees and partners and the only way to achieve this locally and on a global scale is through the cloud.”

But just what impact has this digital revolution had on companies at the coalface of tech innovation? For eBay, the increased demand for online stores meant it quickly launched the Up and Running programme, a refocused version of a 2019 initative which aims to support small to medium-sized (SMEs) Irish businesses struggling amid the COVID-19 restrictions. The programme

aimed to help any local Irish business that wants to quick start or increase its online selling capabilities, but doesn’t have the resources, budget or know how to do so through personlised training, free listings and no final value fees.

At last count 140 Irish companies had taken advantage of the initiative which may have changed how eBay interacts with its sellers going forward.

“We saw it as a great opportunity to take an existing model and scale it in a way that could actually really help,” says Hazel Mitchell, Site Lead for eBay in Ireland. “So we proactively went out and advertised to small businesses across Ireland said ‘Look, if this is something you’re interested in, and if you actually want to move to having an online presence come and talk to us.’ We ran webinars that we thought everyone needed to do and then if we thought you needed specialised training we would pick up the phone and provide that. It’s a great programme, we’re successful when our sellers are successful so with this programme everybody wins.”

“And now, the big thing is that we need to recognise that there is a fear of online, there is this fear of taking your business online, especially if you’re a bricks and mortar store. So one of the pieces that we’re focussing on now is asking how do we support sellers, literally from across the globe, how do we make sure traders have the support they need, the training, the coaching the mentoring.

FINANCE Security & Service

“The eBay platform creates all the opportunity we just need traders to feel confident to get on there and set up so we’re looking across our models and asking how do we ensure we get that coaching and that training to sellers at a time that’s pertinent to them. You’re helping them to grow their business in a way that makes sense, so they don’t accelerate too fast and not be able to get their stock out, how do you help them to do it so that it makes sense for their business, makes sense for their model and makes sense for the type of inventory they have.”

This broader view of global companies working on a grassroots levels to support SMEs and global economies is something that has also been embraced by Expleo, an international company that normally focuses on end-to-end, integrated engineering, quality services and management consulting for digital transformation. The company has been offering free consultancy services to companies affected by the pandemic which Phil Codd, Managing Director, Expleo Ireland explains it as being vital to Ireland’s ability to recover.

“For Expleo, it was about finding a way we could play our part in helping small to medium-sized enterprises, who are not our target market, but who’s value to Ireland’s prosperity is critical to Ireland’s recovery. We plan to help them to get back on their feet and be

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FINANCE Security & Service

“For small Irish businesses, such as local takeaway coffee shops or secondhand goods stores, enabling digital or contactless payments via PayPal QR codes could provide the means for them to survive during the crisis and potentially thrive in the future.””

ready for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. We want them to harness our cross-industry and cross-sector expertise in business transformation, as well as providing them with access to the specialist knowledge of our management consultants that they may not have had previously.

“The companies are varied in size and sector from retail to manufacturing and charities to financial services. Each one has a different challenge and level of maturity and much of it is around business agility, their ability to pivot as well as their digital capabilities. If their business has a challenge that they specifically want help with, it’s amazing to bring it to our innovation team and watch the suggestions that come in before building a proof of concept.”

And providing consultancy is not the only way Expleo have been involved in the digital acceleration, the company was also heavily involved in the development of the HSE Covid Tracker App a business pivot nobody could have forseen, says Codd. “They leveraged our quality assurance and software testing expertise to ensure that the app is userfriendly, fast and reliable. This was a project

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that we couldn’t have foreseen at the start of the year! But it looks like we will be working on these apps in many more regions over the coming months. We have also seen increased demand for our Process Automation services as businesses look to digitally transform their customer service offerings, particularly as more people moved to online shopping and delivery.”

This rapid consumer move online also had an impact on the way PayPal approached its customer support. An already agile business who was able to quickly adapt to remote working and changing market demands, Maeve Dorman, Vice-President of Global Merchant, Services, PayPal says that PayPal’s immediate focus was to support its customers and make the transition to online payments that much easier.

Dorman says: “Immediately, in response to the lockdown, PayPal’s focus was supporting our customers and so we took measures to protect small businesses, including temporarily expanding our seller protection programme and waiving chargeback fees. We have introduced a number of larger initiatives in Ireland over recent months as well.

“In May, we rolled out the ability to use QR Codes to buy and sell goods in Ireland and 27 other markets across the globe. This functionality within the PayPal app essentially allows customers to buy or sell in-person, safely and securely, and touch-free. For small Irish businesses, such as local takeaway coffee shops or secondhand goods stores, enabling digital or contactless payments via PayPal QR codes could provide the means for them to survive during the crisis and potentially thrive in the future.”

FINANCE Security & Service

And the potential ability to SMEs to secure Ireland’s economic recovery that remains at the heart of what companies like Expleo, PayPal and eBay are offering. But what does that support look like on a tech-level?

For Equinix, a company which connects the world’s leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most-interconnected data centres it looks like stepping forward and providing the digital infrastructure needed for companies to survive.

And leading by example where possible. “As a global organisation, we were early adopters of virtual collaboration technology,” explains Mortell, “which helped to prepare us for the new way of working. Of course, we miss not being together in the office but in the meantime, we have all of the latest tools available to make sure we get that face time and huddle time. We encourage time away from the screen or walking meetings, as it’s not always necessary to be sitting at the laptop. We’ve also introduced ‘Wireless Wednesdays’ where leaders block out a day in the diary for their team to try and keep it ‘call free’.

Mortell explains the company’s stance on seeing Covid as an opportunity to “provide the digital infrastructure that those businesses will need to thrive.”

“This is a worrying time for businesses and the impact on some has been devastating. COVID-19 has changed the economy irrevocably, and it is clear that as we start to look at reigniting our economy, data and technology will play a central role. That presents a lot of opportunity for businesses and entrepreneurs, who now have an opportunity to become the leaders of the digital era. As the twin forces of digital transformation and pressure on our planet continue to converge and accelerate, businesses will increasingly prioritise partnering with industry leaders who can help them reach their own sustainability and resiliency needs. Businesses must have real-time interactions with their customers, employees and partners and the only way to achieve this locally and on a global scale is through the cloud.”

It’s clear to see that for businesses to survive in a post-COVID world it’s important they return to the principles of customer service, albeit in a digital format. Real-time interaction, increased data to action moves and a commitment to excellence is what’s needed for economies to thrive.

A silver lining Dorman thinks has more than just financial benefits, saying: “Certainly, from an Irish perspective – due to us having a longer lockdown period compared to most other European countries – the crisis has really transformed and accelerated the approach to commerce here. There is very much a digital-first mindset now, not only among consumers but also entrepreneurs.

“While many uncertainties remain, the silver lining is that communities are coming together and supporting each other – not just people helping others, but also spending with local businesses and retailers.”

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TECH Power On

Power on through We look at the technologies and platforms that are bridging the Covid divide.

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TECH Power On

T H E N E T W O R KS , SYS T E M S , A N D S O LU T I O N S T H AT W E R E T H E I N V I S I B L E P O W E R S U N D E R LY I N G E V E RY ZO O M W E B I N A R , M I C R O S O F T T E A M S M E E T I N G , A N D G O O G L E H A N G O U T W H I C H FA C I L I TAT E D R E M OT E W O R K I N G , A R E S O M E O F T H E U N S U N G H E R O ES O F T H E G LO B A L PANDEMIC. THE UNPRECEDENTED SCALE AND SPEED OF THE COVID-19 C R I S I S C A L L E D F O R B U S I N ES S C O N T I N U I T Y AT G LO B A L S C A L E , N EC ES S I TAT I N G C O M PA N I ES TO Q U I C K LY A DA P T TO R E M OT E W O R K I N G , W I T H A L L T H E R E Q U I S I T E S E C U R I T Y, C O M M U N I C AT I O N S A N D C O L L A B O R AT I O N P U T I N TO P L A C E TO A L LO W N E W LY- R E M OT E T E A M S TO H I T T H E G R O U N D R U N N I N G .

Maintaining the virtual lines of communication has been imperative throughout the crisis, to the extent that following talks with EU Commissioner for Internal Markets Thierry Breton, Netflix, YouTube and other platforms agreed to reduce the quality of their streaming to ease pressure on networks.

While at the same time a wide variety of Irish-based companies were instrumental in keeping the lines of communication open. We uncover how they innovated in response to the crisis, and how they dealt with remote working.

CISCO S h a n e H e g a r t y, I r e l a n d C o u n t r y Manager, Cisco As a networking company, Cisco has been central to the major shift to remote working during the pandemic. Perhaps this has been seen most acutely in the growth of our video conferencing platform Webex, developed in Cisco’s research and development site in Oranmore in Galway. With the global shift to virtual meetings, Webex was central to enabling remote working, so much so, that in April 2020 there were 500 million meeting participants using the platform, which is a threefold increase from February 2020.

Together these participants logged 25 billion meeting minutes in April, enabling businesses to stay connected.

We were delighted to be involved in a joint project with University Hospital Galway and IBM on a project called, ICU Family Link. The video conferencing tech let COVID-19 patients communicate with family members and clinical teams to overcome the barrier of visiting restrictions in hospitals.

CITRIX Sherif Seddik, Senior Vice President and Managing Director at Citrix Systems At Citrix, we’re fortunate that remote work is in our DNA, and we have been practicing flexible working styles for many years – with no loss in productivity. With our offering we were able to provide several building blocks for business continuity.

Those organisations with a business continuity plan in place could switch to distributed processes and workflows as soon as the crisis started enabled by Citrix solutions, such as Citrix Workspace.

Traditionally, remote working requires companies to ensure that their cloud solutions support continuity of core IT services and that their employees have remote access via a virtual private network (VPN). However, a more sophisticated strategy involves the use of virtual apps and virtual desktops. This gives employees fast, secure and reliable access to the company resources that they need – not just from the home office, but from anywhere and from any device.

We expanded remote PC access offerings to provide simple, secure, and reliable alternatives to VPN in enabling work from home, launched an innovative collaboration with Hewlett Packard Enterprise which is leveraging microapp capabilities within Citrix Workspace to deliver intelligent experience with wellness in mind, and we joined forces with Microsoft, to reimagine the flexible work models, accelerate the move to the cloud and speed adoption of digital workspaces and virtual desktops.

Sherif Seddik

D R O P B OX A d r i e n n e G o r m l e y, H e a d o f E M E A , Dropbox We moved quickly to implement mandatory work from home for all employees, which we have extended through to the end of 2020.

All Dropboxers have been able to access a wide range of resources from equipment for home working to talks with experts in health and wellbeing and virtual gym classes.

Employees can work more flexibly as we understand that people may have other commitments during the day. We work closely with our customers to support and offer guidance as many have gone to a fully distributed workforce working in the cloud for the first time. Our infrastructure teams prepared early to ensure we’d continue to run as normal and support higher demand.

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Sion Lewis

Adam Philpott

Our company’s mission is to help teams collaborate in the cloud, so this has been a massive opportunity for testing our products and learning through both our customers and employees.

LOGMEIN Sion Lewis, Vice President, EMEA at LogMeIn With the immediate need for remote work and collaboration tools following the initial outbreak of COVID-19, LogMeIn created our Emergency Remote Work Kits to give those in need free access to our videoconferencing, support and remote access products. We designed the kits to give frontline service providers – including qualified healthcare providers, educational institutions, municipalities and non-profit organizations around the globe – three + 16

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months of free access to the tools and technologies they needed to continue providing critical services.

In April we launched several innovations: a web FAQ widget to help handle an increased volume of health and COVID-19 related questions, using LogMeIn’s AI-powered Bold360 product line to power the FAQ capabilities; new integrations in GoToMeeting, including one with Microsoft Teams to optimise productivity, workflow and collaboration; Rescue Live Lens, a new offering designed to virtualize face-to-face customer service and tech support; GoToConnect Support Center a new contact center offering to bring ContactCenter-as-Service (CCaaS) benefits to underserved organizations and distributed sales and customer service teams. In early May GoToMeeting for Healthcare was launched to provide a safe and secure way for healthcare providers to connect with staff and patients.

Adrienne Gormley

“Our focus has been on helping organisations accelerate their shift to working from home, and business continuity by helping them make these shifts securely, and therefore not swapping one set of risks for another.”

TECH Power On

“The most significant innovation that SAP has developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, is working in collaboration with the German government and Deutsche Telekom to develop the Covid-19 Corona Warn App. The app was launched on June 15 and has been widely regarded as the most successful contact-tracing app in operation, having been downloaded over 16 million times. ”

developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, is working in collaboration with the German government and Deutsche Telekom to develop the Covid-19 Corona Warn App. The app was launched on June 15 and has been widely regarded as the most successful contacttracing app in operation, having been downloaded over 16 million times.

Bill O’Shea

these capabilities to flourish by managing the security risks they give rise to.

As a high-tech cyber security company, McAfee have supported flexible working practices for some time, so moving to full time was not a significant change for the company from a systems and processes perspective.

That said, leadership paid close attention to the wellbeing of employees including thoughtfulness and change of practices to mitigate the loss of informal interactions and ensuring ongoing sustaining of culture became heightened.

SAP

Liam Ryan

MCAFEE Adam Philpott, McAfee’s EMEA President

Our focus has been on helping organisations accelerate their shift to working from home, and business continuity by helping them make these shifts securely, and therefore not swapping one set of risks for another.

Recognizing the need for tight OpEx control with economic uncertainty, and the sudden nature of the shifts clients have had to make, we’ve offered short-term access to technology so that they haven’t needed to make long-term, higher cost commitments during a time of stress and uncertainty.

Given the breadth of McAfee’s integrated architecture, innovation came not from specific product creation, but from an elevation of new and existing use-cases, particularly those around connectivity, personal devices, and collaboration and cloud services – allowing

Liam Ryan, Managing Director, SAP Labs Ireland In recent years, SAP has invested a great deal in crisis preparedness: SAP business, support, and cloud delivery teams have developed and documented business continuity plans to respond to disruptive incidents such as COVID-19, while ensuring reliability of our cloud solutions and the delivery of services to all customers.

Providing our employees with the flexibility to work from wherever they want is part of our culture at SAP, so our employees were well prepared for the rapid shift to remote working for this extended period. Access to VPN, video conferencing tools and the collaboration technologies they need to do their jobs were already in place.

We launched a range of COVID-19 initiatives, including opening up access to SAP Ariba Discovery, in response to the disruptions impacting global supply chains, so any buyer can post their immediate sourcing needs and any supplier can respond to show they can deliver.

The most significant innovation that SAP has

UDEMY Bill O’Shea, Managing Director, EMEA at Udemy for Business Since companies moved to a virtual work environment, Udemy has responded with speed to offer curated resources on best practices for remote working, employee productivity, and more. We also granted organizational leaders access to free content and registration for virtual events so they can more easily help lead their organizations through ongoing uncertainty.

To help people everywhere face new challenges and opportunities, we released the Udemy Free Resource Center - a place where anyone can access a curated collection of over 700 free Udemy courses in over 15 languages.

During the past few months we successfully onboarded a significant number of new people to our Irish operation. The team here in Dublin is focused on giving back to our community.

With this in mind the team set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to buy laptops for asylum seekers in limbo and unable to access education resources due to Ireland’s Direct Provision Law. VERIZON To n y J u d d , M a n a g i n g D i r e c t o r f o r Ve r i z o n B u s i n e s s , U K & I r e l a n d Many of our customers needed to quickly transform their business operations – whether in terms of enabling remote working, or building additional distribution centres,or standing up additional communications capabilities.

Remote working and collaboration have been high on the customer agenda, but we also advised all our customers that they need to think about their business holistically – it would be a mistake to cut back on security while investing in other areas. Now, more than ever, with an organisation’s infrastructure expanded beyond office walls, the ability to communicate IDAIRELAND.COM

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“Remote working and collaboration have been high on the customer agenda, but we also advised all our customers that they need to think about their business holistically – it would be a mistake to cut back on security while investing in other areas. Now, more than ever, with an organisation’s infrastructure expanded beyond office walls, the ability to communicate with employees, partners and customers quickly, effectively, and with security, is absolutely paramount.”

with employees, partners and customers quickly, effectively, and with security, is absolutely paramount.

The health and safety of our global employees remains our priority and 80% of Verizon’s employees 100,000+ people worldwide – are now working from home, leveraging collaboration tools and virtual private networks (VPNs) to collaborate and access business information.

In addition, we have been working with local communities and charities in supplying donations in the form of money and food, plus volunteer hours, often supporting efforts from a home-base, to those hardest hit by the pandemic.

Tony Judd

Anne O’Leary

VODAFONE A n n e O ’ L e a r y, C EO , Vo d a f o n e I r e l a n d Vodafone played an extremely important role in providing businesses with the critical infrastructure needed to continue to operate remotely. This not only included managing unprecedented network demand to provide consistent, high-speed fixed and mobile connectivity, but also providing a range of supports to help businesses transition to a flexible working model.

For years, we have practiced a policy of smart and flexible working where employees

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have the option of choosing the locations and methods through which they achieve their work. Crucially, we have the tools and technology in place to allow employees to do this.

Vodafone have supported a number of new innovations in response to COVID-19. Vodafone launched a new real-time remote temperature scanning solution – Vodafone Business Heat Detection.

The onsite thermal cameras are connected over Vodafone’s secure Internet of Things (IoT) network, ensuring all data is encrypted end-to-end.

Through our strategic partnership with the UCC ASSERT Centre – the world’s first 5G connected training and telemedicine training centre – and 8West, Vodafone provided IoT connectivity for the development of the COVID-19 Remote Early Warning System (CREW), a system which remotely identifies healthcare staff who may be developing a temperature, symptomatic of COVID-19.

PROFILE The Innovator

The Innovator Hazel Mitchell S I T E L E A D F O R E B AY IRELAND

AT A L G ANCE

eB ay s tepped up d u r in g th e r e c e n t COV I D-1 9 pandemic a n d imp lemen te d a new programme of tr a in in g an d su p p or t for s ellers looking to q u ic k ly c h a n g e their s elling models

“eBay is a global organisation and while we think global, we act local.”

How has the Irish operation helped eBay during the recent pandemic? eBay Ireland has always played a central role in supporting the global business, but the importance of this role has never been so great as it is right now. As a team and an organisation, we’ve been forced to rethink how we work and how we support customers in this virtual world.

We had to diversify our capacity at lightning speed back in March, but this was made possible by a team that is agile, flexible and able to think outside the box. This meant we were able to deliver for the business at pace and without any interruption to operations or downtime for our customers across the world.

By staying innovative at what was, and still is, a really challenging time, we were able to find the right solutions to support our teams, customers and the wider business. I have to admit that despite jumping into unchartered waters, it was a really exciting time and showed the power of collective thinking and teamwork.

What factors do you think helps eBay innovative nature?

Last year, eBay Ireland launched a pilot programme, the objective of which was to help Irish SMEs grow their online presence, reach new markets and attract new customers from virtually anywhere in the world. eBay’s Retail Expansion Programme provided expert mentoring to Irish business owners, little did we know back then that this pilot programme would also be the foundation for eBay Ireland’s Up &

Running Programme that we launched to support Irish businesses during the pandemic.

Our teams are very agile and had already demonstrated the innovative nature of what they could do, so, it was a question of taking all of the technology, key learnings and experiences from the first programme and turning them into a new programme that was fit for purpose and appropriate for the new business landscape. But I believe that the success of Up & Running has been as a result of the people behind it. eBay is a global organisation and while we think global, we act local. Our teams saw the detrimental effect that the pandemic was having on local Irish businesses and they genuinely wanted to help.

When it comes to getting things done, you cannot beat passion and commitment and these two factors have proven crucial.

Is the talent you’re looking for here in Ireland?

There is so much talent in Ireland and we have been really fortunate to be able to attract some of the best candidates from customer service to IT, marketing to digital analysis. Staff retention is as important as recruitment and there’s a great culture at eBay and a real sense of ‘team’.

We’ve been able to recruit from right across Ireland because of our ‘eBay@Home’ work model, which allows team members to work from home and which is currently how all our teams are working right now.

And, while we have been able to recruit in Ireland, our staff make-up reflects the multiculturalism of modern-day Ireland, which is hugely positive for the company, our teams and our customers.

What has been the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

The advice that has always stayed with me has been to have your own trusted group of people around you who can advise you. If I am

174+ M I L L I O N B U Y E R S A C R O S S THE 190 MARKETS IN WHICH EBAY OPERATES, THE UP & RUNNING PROGRAMME

140 IRISH BUSINESSES HELPED BY THE UP & RUNNING PROGRAMME

40% INCREASE IN BUSINESS FOR ONE SELLER UNCANNY COLLECTIBLES

struggling with something or need help or support, I find it great to be able to sit down with someone I trust and speak about it. I don’t necessarily need a solution, but just being able to speak about the problem out loud helps me come up with an answer or solution. I usually navigate towards the people who will support me but also give me honest feedback and ask the tough questions.

What defines success for you?

I strongly believe that success should be everevolving; you should continually strive to improve upon previous successes so that you don’t end up standing still. And what I mean by that is; if your career goal is to become CEO of an organisation and you reach that goal, that’s fantastic, but what will you do as CEO to make that role a success? Your success isn’t just defined by your position within an organisation, it’s so much more than that.

When I think about success, I think about the positive impact that I might be having on the people I work with and whether I am making a difference to their working lives.

I look at the contribution I am making to the business and I critically assess if I am fulfilling my role of ensuring that we have a great people culture and that we are driving the best results for our customers. For me, success is also predicated on integrity and authenticity and the positive things that people say, not to you, but about you and the positive impact you have had on their careers or their work.

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“Encouraging employees to take regular breaks from their screen, and get up and move around, is important for mental health, improved concentration, and decreasing eye strain and back pain.”

V E N B E F O R E C O V I D - 1 9 , G LO B A L T E A M S W E R E M A K I N G U S E O F N E W A P P S A N D T EC H N O LO G I ES TO W O R K S M A R T E R A N D M O R E E F F I C I E N T LY, B U T I N T H E PA S T F E W M O N T H S , T H E Y H AV E C O M E I N TO T H E I R O W N , H E L P I N G R E M OT E T E A M S A N D M A N AG E R S TO C O M M U N I C AT E A N D O R G A N I S E W O R K F LO W I N A T R A N S PA R E N T AND CLEVER MANNER. The world of work has been shaken up by COVID-19, and many companies have come to terms with the fact that employees don’t need to go to work to be at work. For a long time there has been resistance from some to allowing remote working. The requirement for presenteeism and the pestilence of micomanaging persist, even though studies have shown that working from home results in increased productivity. Left all alone, remote

workers tend to work with more consistent focus—especially when the other option is emptying the dishwasher.

ZOOM FATIGUE Remote working is so ceaselessly productive, it turns out, many employees find they are pining for the social interaction a day at the office has built in—the coffee breaks and water

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LEFT Cameron Thomson - Aspect BELOW Aspect team in Galway, Aspect Galway office

cooler chats. Take for example a day of meetings—you might move between boardrooms and meeting rooms in your own office building, take a lunch meeting in a restaurant or cafe, go to a client’s office. There is movement, and breaks between meetings.

There is standing up and walking around.

However, in a work from home situation, many are reporting ‘Zoom fatigue’ from days of backto-back video calls, with no respite in between.

Even an hour on a video conference is more exhausting than an hour in a real life situation—lacking the visual cues we subconsciously process to read the room, we have to concentrate even harder on video conference calls. Our cognitive processing is overworked by it.

Encouraging employees to take regular breaks from their screen, and get up and move around, is important for mental health, improved concentration, and decreasing eye strain and back pain. Using a timer or routine such as the Pomodoro method can be helpful for this.

EMPLOYEE WELLNESS While remote working, for many, seemed like a treat—no more two-hour commutes—it has thrown up difficulties too. In the work-fromhome set-up of dreams, everyone has their own bookshelf-lined private office and live-in nannies, but it’s not ideal for the parents who are hiding from their children trying to take a call with their laptop in the bathroom. Or spare a thought for those at early career level, fighting over spaces at the kitchen table in cramped flat shares.

Along with ramping up IT security to allow employees to work securely from home with sensitive data, one of the key concerns senior management should be looking at is employee wellness and mental health. Many employees have been locked down in less than ideal living conditions, feeling trapped and isolated.

Keeping lines of communication open and celebrating milestones and team member’s birthdays is more important than ever before.

Finding ways to keep company culture alive and organise teambuilding and social events— such as Zoom quizzes—can help.

A BLENDED APPROACH Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced employees may work from home forever if they choose.

Google and Facebook have extended their work from home policies until 2021. We don’t know when this will end, so we must prepare for utmost flexibility. Companies are also strategising around how to bring people back into offices; how to remove human contact from daily business processes. Transformation and digitisation executives are being challenged in new ways. It remains to be seen whether these transformations will stay with us permanently, or whether it will be ‘business as usual’ once companies “The ideal working situation allows for staff can go back to offices. to have the freedom to fit their lives in—to A blended approach, drop their kids to school, to take some days combining on-site and offat home to focus, and to meet with their site working may be the colleagues in real life and bounce off them.” optimal way for the world of work to evolve. It turns out employees don’t want to work from home all the time. Young people distributed global teams and those who often want to meet other people who will become travelled for business. The whole world has lifelong friends. Office romances want to jumped on to video conferencing. Digital blossom. Parents of young children want to whiteboards have become invaluable, and have conversations with other adults. The ideal revolutionised organisation and workflow. working situation allows for staff to have the In 2019, Asana—which creates software freedom to fit their lives in—to drop their kids for managing remote teams—released the to school, to take some days at home to focus, Anatomy of Work Index, featuring the findings and to meet with their colleagues in real life of and in-depth analysis of how we spend and bounce off them. time in the modern office. Among the key findings was the fact that workers spend REMOTE COLLABORATION 60% of their time on work coordination, leaving only 13% for strategic planning and Remote collaboration has been second nature 27% for the skill-based job they were hired to many for some time now, especially to do. Over 10% of an employee’s week is IDAIRELAND.COM

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spent on pure duplication of effort— amounting to more than 200 hours annually.

While some forward-thinking companies were already switched on to the efficiencies offered by products such as Asana’s work management software, it has become an essential tool in the new wholly digital business environment we operate in currently.

Increased efficiency also increases employee satisfaction—employees of organisations that are set up for efficiency report a threefold increase in feeling inspired to meet their goals and sense of pride in their output.

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT Tools that allow seamless workforce management in a remote working environment mean that employers can trust their employees to self-organise, without creating a negative environment by micro-managing, and keep collaboration and communication flowing through a variety of communication channels.

Aspect Software in Claregalway provides contact center software and workforce optimization solutions. Its performance management software, for example, can provide insights that can improve performance throughout an organization.

“Helping to manage workforces is the very essence of what we do,” says Cameron Thomson, Senior Vice President – International.

“The challenges we have all faced due to COVID-19 have meant we have had to adapt quickly and efficiently to ensure business continues and most importantly, our staff and our customers stay safe.”

“Since March 2020 offices across the world have been closed and customers have had to transition from being solely officebased to working from home seamlessly, and this is where Aspect’s Via® Platform has been integral to keeping contact centres across the world working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Connor Shaw is Head of Omni-Channel Centre of Excellence at Hoist Finance, an Aspect customer. He says, “We were able to rapidly scale up and implement Aspect Via, our cloud contact centre, to enable all our employees across all markets to work safely

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“We’re proud that we’ve been able to help so many companies adapt to the new circumstances they find themselves in,” says Callan. “One part of this has been through our procurement offering, Source Together - which connects companies with similar purchasing needs. By pooling their purchasing power, companies can make greater savings and access goods that they wouldn’t be able to by themselves.”

and securely from home. We can now support our customers in eleven countries and assist them with their queries during this difficult period, remaining in contact with them through our digital channels, and thanks to Aspect Via, also through phone calls and SMS.”

BUSINESS SPENDING From keeping track of what employees are doing, to keeping track of what money is doing—another top of mind issue for management, particularly in an uncertain environment where containing costs and maintaining cash flow has been a struggle for many businesses.

“As a Business Spend Management platform, we saw firsthand the disruption that the pandemic was having on business spending and supply chains early on,” says John Callan, Senior Director EMEA, Coupa Software.

“The way that companies manage their business spend has come into sharp focus over recent months, particularly as companies have struggled to contain their costs and navigate through the impacts caused by the pandemic,” Callan continues.

“At Coupa, we give companies the tools they need to survive and thrive remotely - arming them with paperless procurement, invoicing and employee expenses processes, virtual payment options, as well as AI-based tools to help them make savings and spend smarter when businesses are focused on trimming the bottom line. This is all supported by what Coupa calls Community Intelligence, which is anonymised and aggregated insights from

our more than 1,300 customers and five million partners.”

Companies were subjected to a complete overnight shake-up of their priorities as COVID-19 disrupted supply chains, consumer behaviour, and the free flow of goods, services and people.

“We’re proud that we’ve been able to help so many companies adapt to the new circumstances they find themselves in,” says Callan. “One part of this has been through our procurement offering, Source Together which connects companies with similar purchasing needs. By pooling their purchasing power, companies can make greater savings and access goods that they wouldn’t be able to by themselves.”

John Callan Coupa

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W H AT ’ S N E W I N T E C H

One major airline that was struggling to secure PPE for their employees through its traditional supplier network tapped into the community, and Coupa was able to identify and vet alternative sources. “More than 1 million masks were delivered to the airline, plus two smaller companies that joined the Source Together event - these companies simply would not have been able to secure the PPE without using Coupa,” says Callan.

Innovative thinking and community building like this has enabled employees, companies and communities to move forward together, while we’ve been apart. With business becoming globalised, the future of working together was always going to involve working together, even when far away from each other, it has just become reality far faster, in a far more shocking way than anyone anticipated. There are visionaries who have been building and innovating in the remote working space for years—finally the rest of the world is on board, and we can build a new paradigm for the future which combines the best of traditional offices and dispersed digital nomadism to create a fulfilling, blended work life which uses the best of technology for maximum efficiency and creative collaboration.

“There are visionaries who have been building and innovating in the remote working space for years— finally the rest of the world is on board, and we can build a new paradigm for the future which combines the best of traditional offices and dispersed digital nomadism to create a fulfilling, blended work life which uses the best of technology for maximum efficiency and creative collaboration.”

Apple In June Apple announced it will transition the Mac to its worldclass custom silicon to deliver industry-leading performance and powerful new technologies.

Developers were able to immediately begin updating apps to take advantages of the advanced powerful technologies and performance capabilities it will offer. And for the first time, developers can make their iOS and iPadOS apps available on the Mac without any modifications.

Dell Technologies Introducing a new whitepaper, on “Accelerating Digital Transformation in 2020: A Path Forward for Policymakers” which outlines Dell Technologies view of accelerating convergence of technology, innovation and new opportunities for all, Michael Young, Senior Vice President, Global Government Affairs and Public Policy, Dell Technologies, says, “Policymakers and businesses are recognizing that this situation has three phases, each of which offer the opportunity for governments to make progress”—Respond, Recover, and Reimagine.

HP In July HP announced it is to enhance print experiences with cloud-based services and solutions to enable enterprises and SMEs to be future-ready for rapidly changing work environments. HP Managed Print Cloud Services allows

customers to leverage HP’s security innovation while maintaining the utmost control and flexibility around how the service is shaped. The offering addresses both trusted and zero-trust cloud environments and is delivered through a well-defined, modular approach with flexible services and software stacks.

HP also announced its support for Universal Print, a Microsoft 365 cloud print solution that organizations can use to manage their print infrastructure. As part of this collaboration, HP will work with Microsoft to build a cloud-to-cloud integration with the Managed Print Cloud Services platform, allowing organizations to increase security, manage devices and release print jobs only to authorized users. This integration will enable Universal Print users to print virtually anywhere, simply and securely.

IBM IBM introduced Watson Works, which embeds Watson AI models and applications to provide insights designed to help businesses with everything from facilities management and adherence to new protocols, to tracing potential COVID-19 exposures. With these insights that employers can make informed decisions on workplace re-entry and safety.

Bob Lord, Senior Vice President, Cognitive Applications, Blockchain and Ecosystems, IBM says, “Applying AI models and applications is especially useful in this context, where there are so many different sources of information businesses must consider, and every aspect of the situation is in flux.”

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COUNTY LONGFORD

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THRIVING Region in focus

REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

W I T H G R E A T I N F R A S T R U C T U R E , A S K I L L E D W O R K F O R C E A N D A L I V E LY S O C I A L LIFE , THE MIDLANDS PROVIDES THE PERFECT SOLUTION FOR THOSE LOOKING TO I N V E S T O U T S I D E D U B L I N

“Over the past five years, 54,868 jobs were created outside of Dublin,” explains IDA CEO Martin Shanahan leading to 33,118 additional direct jobs (net) on the ground in regions at the end of this strategy. 110 investments were won for regions in 2019 with 5,368 net jobs created. Every region hit the five-year strategy targets of a 30% uplift in investment we set out to achieve. This is clear evidence that our deliberate and focused strategy of targeting investment for regions is paying off.”

One such region is the Midlands, which is made up of Westmeath, Offaly, Longford and Laois. Located in the heart of Ireland, the Midlands region provides international businesses with great infrastructure, a skilled workforce and a locality full of music, culture and personality.

WHY THE MIDLANDS? The Midlands is centrally located, incorporating excellent motorway access to all major cities including Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork. The transport infrastructure is robust and includes a motorway directly from the midlands to Dublin, a strong rail network and proximity to four International Airports.

There are two Universities and two Institutes of Technology that service the region and produce over 13,000 graduates annually.

These centres of learning actively build industry links and offer extensive research capabilities to clients. The Midlands Innovation and Research Centre (MIRC) at Athlone Institute of Technology provides state-of-the-art incubation/office facilities to knowledgebased enterprises, including early-stage companies. Shared facilities

include a boardroom, meeting room, reception and canteen – along with access to the campus facilities of AIT. As part of its five-year-plan from 2015-2020, the agency unveiled a €150 million programme to construct energy-efficient facilities in nine locations around Ireland that are either in smaller cities or major towns. The goal is to attract high-tech employment to each location, focussing on technology but also leaving room for each business to grow and showing foreign investors that there’s more to Ireland than the Dublin commuter belt.

The first three of these so-called Advance Technology Buildings have already secured hundreds of jobs for Athlone, Sligo and Waterford.

IDA CEO Martin Shanahan

“110 investments were won for regions in 2019 with 5,368 net jobs created. Every region hit the five-year strategy targets of a 30% uplift in investment we set out to achieve. This is clear evidence that our deliberate and focused strategy of targeting investment for regions is paying off.”

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THRIVING Region in focus

James Farrell, Head of Strategic Policy at IDA Ireland

Over the last year the Midlands region has attracted several top clients, including the much-lauded Center Parcs. Also in late 2019 EJ, a 5th generation family-owned company headquartered in Michigan, USA opened it 2-hectare site in Birr, County Offaly.

EJ provides a full line of access solutions for the infrastructure systems of municipalities, utility companies, airport & port authorities, and private industries. In addition to traditional materials of grey or ductile cast iron, a continuously expanding array of innovative solutions are offered in composites, fabricated steel and aluminium. EJ supplies products world-wide to infrastructure projects in six continents.

While more recently Greenfield Global Inc. a global leader in the production of ethanol, high-purity speciality alcohols, and solvents, will soon commence the commissioning phase of its new EU Manufacturing Headquarters in Portlaoise, County Laois.

The new 3,800 sq. metre facility, the company’s first outside North America, will produce Pharmco branded products serving Life Science customers globally and is located on IDA Ireland’s Business and Technology Park. This new facility will result in 75 new jobs over the next five years, while 170 constructions jobs were created during the build and fit-out phase of the project.

WHAT NEXT FOR THE MIDLANDS? As the world looks to get back on an event keel post-COVID, IDA is keen to “The creation of attractive places to live and work is good point out that its support of foreign direct planning and good enterprise policy. It can provide a investment will continue, saying existing competitive edge to Irish towns and cities when it comes to FDI in Ireland is resilient but not immune attracting and retaining the skills and talent on which FDI to the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. is reliant. We’ve shown the importance of Placemaking in Flow of investments continues but at a Ireland and brought together local authorities to discuss slower rate. the many ways we can work together to improve the quality To this end, IDA and the Department of of our urban locations. As well as being a great place to do Housing, Planning and Local business it is in Ireland’s interests to also be known as a Government’s worked together to launch great place to live.” the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund which will certainly benefit the Midlands. Under the fund, local authorities are invited to submit proposals for transformational placemaking and urban development projects commented:“The creation of attractive places to live and work is that will enhance the attractiveness and liveability of Ireland’s cities good planning and good enterprise policy. It can provide a and large towns and support compact urban growth, one of the competitive edge to Irish towns and cities when it comes to key strategic objectives of Project Ireland 2040. attracting and retaining the skills and talent on which FDI is reliant.

The creation of urban environments that offer good quality of life We’ve shown the importance of Placemaking in Ireland and is important in allowing investors to attract and retain the talent brought together local authorities to discuss the many ways we necessary to support their establishment and growth. Placemaking can work together to improve the quality of our urban locations. offers the opportunity to differentiate Ireland from other locations As well as being a great place to do business it is in Ireland’s by delivering attractive urban areas in which to reside. interests to also be known as a great place to live.”

James Farrell, Head of Strategic Policy at IDA Ireland

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THRIVING Region in focus

CARDINAL HEALTH The arrival of Cardinal Health to Tullamore gave a large boost to the Midlands town. Cardinal Health, whose HQ is based in Dublin, Ohio in the US is one of the largest healthcare companies in the world and is split across 46 countries. As the manufacturer of medical products for both professionals and home use, the response of Cardinal Health to the recent health crisis has been to remain at the forefront of supply chain management. As well as working with Governments and suppliers to ensure all essential deliveries happened and that supply chains were kept open Cardinal Health also teamed up with Battelle to ensure the logistics of cleaning hospital-grade PPE happened efficiently.

ABBOTT Abbott’s Irish presence is split across nine sites in Ireland, with one of its diagnostics facilities located on the outskirts of Longford town. Abbott’s journey in Ireland started when its original diagnostics manufacturing facility opened in Sligo in 1994 producing blood-screening products and reagents. In 2004 the company expanded which saw the opening of a second facility in Longford with the first product (Architect® TSH) launching in December 2005. Abbott says: “The Longford facility plays a key role in helping Abbott to meet the increasing global demand for diagnostic testing in areas such as infectious disease, cancer, thyroid and cardiovascular diseases.”

SENNHEISER The Sennheiser factory in Tullamore, County Offaly has been in production since 1990 and produces audiology products, studio monitors and products for the integrated systems sector.

During the recent pandemic, Sennheiser ran a series of webinars aimed at helping schools, businesses and places of further education get the most from their virtual offerings - from a sound perspective. These seminars focused on the future of e-learning and conferencing while taking an in-depth look at the ‘new normal’ for corporate meeting spaces and universities. Through panel and round table discussions, the Sennheiser experts also answered some of the most typical and pressing questions that have arisen in the wake of the coronavirus crisis: Are we ready for a post-pandemic technology shift to address the new social distancing norms – and what could this look like for online conferencing and e-learning?

PALLADIO IRELAND Palladio Ireland Packaging Solutions is an Italian company focused on pharmaceutical and cosmetic secondary packing which opened its Tullamore plant in 2015 and expanded in 2019. The plant, which covers 5000 sq meters is one of six worldwide (the others are based in Italy, Russia and Serbia) and produces folding cartons, over labelling, leaflets. In recent years, the company has developed innovative anti-counter-feiting measure as well as PhutureMed, an intelligent packaging system designed to support patients in monitoring and adhering to the therapy prescribed for them.

STANDEX Standex Ireland Ltd was established in 1978 in Mountmellick, Co Laois!

In its two plants in Mountmellick, the company manufactures pump components and carries out assembly and testing on the full range of Procon pumps, precision rotary vane pumps and other small gear and micro vane pumps destined for the European market.

The end product applications for Procon pumps include coffee machines, cold drink dispensers, kidney dialysis machines, reverse osmosis systems and x-ray machines. Standex Ireland also manufactures rotors for Procon pumps which are shipped to Standex Mexico for use in pumps for the American and Asian markets.

Recently, a Standex component, the MK16 Sensors were used in the manufacture of a rapid Coronavirus (COVID-19) test that debuted in The White House Rose Garden at the end of March.

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THRIVING Region in focus

MIDDLE GROUND T H E H E A R T O F I R E L A N D I S M A D E U P O F C O U N T I E S O F F A LY , L A O I S , W E S T M E AT H A N D LO N G F O R D . T H E M I D L A N D S O F F E R S B U S I N E S S E S A HIGH LEVEL OF CONNECTEDNESS WITH BOTH A SKILLED WORKFORCE A N D I N F R A S T R U C T U R E TO R I VA L T H E R E S T O F T H E C O U N T RY A S W E L L A S A H E A LT H Y D O S E O F F O L K L O R E A N D C U LT U R E

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THRIVING Region in focus

Left: Athlone Below:Tullamore Dew Old Bonded Warehouse Below: Former American President Barack Obama visited his ancestral home of Moneygall, County Offaly in 2011

CULTURAL PURSUITS You don’t have to be a whiskey drinker to enjoy a tour of the Tullamore Dew Old Bonded Warehouse in Co Offaly, the last place casks of Tullamore Dew rest before heading to their final homes. Tours start with an understanding of how the brand was born and ends with a sample of the honey liquid during a tasting session. Understanding how craft whiskey-making thrived on the banks of the Grand Canal is to get an understanding of what makes the midlands so special.

The Donaghmore Workhouse was built during the Great Famine to house the most desperate people of County Laois. Paid for by a tax on local property owners, the workhouse was deliberately made as unattractive as possible so that its only residents would be those who had lost all hope. The building went on to be used as barracks in the 1920s by The Black and Tans and a farm co-operative in later years, established to support local agricultural workers. It’s a true beacon of hope over adversity.

As a centre for Irish song, music and dance Áras an Mhuilinn in the Westmeath town of Mullingar brings together the best of Irish culture under one roof. As well as classes in all disciplines, Áras an Mhuilinn also runs events that showcases local talents for people of all ages.

Former US President Barack Obama may not be the first person that comes to mind when you think of the Co Offaly town of Moneygall, but that train of thought would put you in the minority as the town is incredibly proud of their most famous son. President Obama’s late mother Ann Dunham was a descendant of the Kearney family who left Moneygall after the Famine to build a new life in New York in 1850. No visit to the town would be complete without a visit to Ollie Hayes’ Bar on the Main Street, following in the footsteps of Mr President himself.

Other attractions include the former president’s ancestral home where the Kearney family lived until their departure and the old schoolhouse where the family were educated.

Luan’s Gallery in Athlone, Co Westmeath is a showcase for the most interesting artists from the midlands, Ireland and abroad. The building itself is in its own right a modern work of art and there’s always an eclectic and balanced mix of media on display from painting and sculpture to textiles and ceramics.

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THRIVING Region in focus

Right: Rock of Dunamase, County Laois Below: Luan Gallery Photography: Ros Kavanagh Far Right: The monastic site of Clonmacnoise

HIGHER LEARNING The Sunday Times recently named Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT) as ‘Institute of Technology of the Year 2020’ in Ireland’s official league table, which comes as no surprise to those who have seen first hand the level to which graduates are educated.

This is the second time in just three years that the institute has featured on the list, having previously been awarded the overall ‘Institute of Technology of the Year’ in 2018, and the ‘Institute of the Year Runner-Up’ in 2017.

The award comes on the back of the news that AIT will join forces with the Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) to form a new Technological University (TU), with a TU consortium already in place to commence work on the new facility.

Funding of €2 million was also allocated to LIT and AIT as part of the Government’s investment in the progression and advancement of a TU with a further €5 million recently added. President of LIT, Professor Vincent Cunnane announced the appointment of Vice President of Academic Affairs & Registrar, Terry Twomey, as project director for LIT on a new LIT/AIT Technological University Consortium project management structure. While Dr Niall Seery, Vice President

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of Academic Affairs & Registrar in Athlone, has been named the project director from AIT. A procurement process to appoint a project facilitator, who will be central in forming the structure of the new TU, has also begun.

AIT, focusses its research on bioscience, software and materials engineering, has three strategic research institutes in Software (SRI), Biosciences (BRI) and Materials (MRI) and is home to The Midlands Innovation and Research Centre, which is a hub for innovation, research and enterprise in the Midlands. The Research Centre provides incubation facilities for innovative and knowledge-based enterprise, an enterprise programme for entrepreneurs and start-ups, and makes available the resources and expertise of the institute to support client companies.

Research within LIT occurs through 14 dedicated centres and groups encompassing a wide variety of disciplines from fine art and design, to social sciences, biotechnology, interactive systems, energy management, and sustainable development. The research centres and groups all have a focus on developing niche areas of expertise to attract international researchers and external funding, which are used to provide innovative products and processes for LITs industry partners and develop postgraduate research opportunities.

THRIVING Region in focus

HISTORY’S ALIVE There are thought to be 18 perfect round towers left in Ireland, and the Laois town of Timahoe is home to one of them. However, what marks the Timahoe round tower out as unique, is that its front door is intricately carved with Roman markings, making it possibly the most elegant of them all. It was built in the 1100s and is located on the site of a religious community founded by Saint Mochua around 600AD. But why the monks of Timahoe put so much time and attention into the carving remains something of an ecclesiastical mystery. Visitors can discover more about the history of the tower and picnic in its beautiful grounds.

In 1798, the Longford town of Ballinamuck was the site of the last pitched battle in Ireland when a combined Franco-Irish force, organised by the United Irishmen and commanded by General Humbert, was defeated by British troops under the command of General Lake and Lord Cornwallis. Over 250 Irish and French men died in the battle, many of whom remain buried on Shanmullagh Hill, which is visible from the town. A visit to the Ballimamuck Visitor Centre brings the battle to life and shows the part it played in the 1798 Rebellion.

The monastic site of Clonmacnoise was founded in 545AD by St Ciaran and flourished for 600 years as a centre of learning and religious instruction as well as providing much of Ireland’s finest Celtic art and illuminated manuscripts. Alongside the ruined churches and round towers are three ancient high crosses, which are of such religious interest that Pope John Paul stopped by the Offaly site on his 1979 visit to Ireland. The original crosses are stored inside the visitor centre but replicas are visible in situ.

The Hill of Uisneach, located in Westmeath, is the mythological Centre of Ireland and one of the most important burial sites in the world.

For it was here, legend has it, that Earth Goddess Ériu and the Sun God Lugh are buried. The place went on to become the meeting place of the Irish High Kings and a destination for the great and good of Irish history. Legendary figure Fionn McCool paid a visit, as did St Patrick, but in more recent years it became a site of political rallies, with Daniel O’Connell, De Valera and Padraig Pearse addressing the masses from Aill na Mireann. The ‘Catstone’, a huge weathered limestone boulder under which Ériu is buried, is the most famous of over 40 surviving features on the hilltop and offers panoramic views of all beneath it.

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MANUFACTURE Supply Chain

Chain

COVID-19 created a shock to the supply chain—now the sector will be reshaped for future resilience.

Reaction S U P P LY C H A I N S A R E L I K E H O U S E W O R K ; N O B O DY R E A L LY N OT I C ES A L L T H E E F F O R T T H AT G O ES I N TO I T, U N T I L I T I S N ’ T D O N E . T H E S U D D E N S H O C K TO S U P P LY C H A I N S D U R I N G T H E G LO B A L PA N D E M I C B R O U G H T T H I S R A R E LY- C E L E B R AT E D B U T ES S E N T I A L C O G I N T H E M A C H I N E O F L I F E , TO T H E F O R E F R O N T— N E V E R M O R E S O T H A N W H E N S H O P P E R S R U S H E D TO PA N I C B U Y TO I L E T PA P E R , F E A R I N G A S H O R TAG E . G O O D S T H AT W E R E I N - D E M A N D W H E N P EO P L E W E R E S T U C K AT H O M E — E V E RY T H I N G F R O M B A K I N G I N G R E D I E N TS TO H O M E O F F I C E S U P P L I ES TO H OT T U B S — W E R E L I K E G O L D D U S T. F O R T H E F I R S T T I M E T H I S C E N T U RY, T H E G E N E R A L P U B L I C I N T H E D E V E LO P E D W O R L D B EC A M E V E RY C O N C E R N E D A B O U T S O U R C I N G T H E ES S E N T I A L G O O D S W E R E LY O N I N DA I LY L I F E , A N D T H E LU X U R I ES W E H AV E B EC O M E A C C U S TO M E D TO H AV I N G AT S H O R T N OT I C E . W H E N E V E N T E E N V O G U E I S C O V E R I N G S U P P LY C H A I N I S S U ES , I T H A S W E L L A N D T R U LY F I LT E R E D D O W N TO T H E P U B L I C C O N S C I O U S N ES S .

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MANUFACTURE Supply Chain

S H O C K TO T H E SYS T E M The logistics industry is a key element for all aspects of our daily life and the coronavirus pandemic has exposed weak spots for both countries and businesses. The trend to build supply chains on razorthin margins in order to cut costs created vulnerabilities when faced with an unprecedented crisis. It is efficient to have fewer suppliers, or only one supplier, and bigger orders, in order to keep costs down. But what happens when that supplier shuts up shop overnight? With justin-time inventories and no extra capacity, being understocked in a global pandemic can mean the loss of life, not just the loss of a sale.

Just-in-time is reliant on, simply put, things arriving in time. Lacking an inventory buffer is precarious when security of supply is threatened.

Denis O’Shea is Senior Supply Chain Manager in Ireland with AMAX, a leading service provider of integrated supply chain manufacturing & orchestration, headquartered in Silicon Valley, with bases in Shannon in Ireland, and Suzhou, China. AMAX Ireland is one of its manufacturing and logistics management hubs for global OEM clients such as internet security leader McAfee.

O’Shea says, “In general, rapid advances in digital technology is redefining the competitiveness of manufacturers’ supply chains to gain advantages in managing volume, variety, variation and visibility.

Technological change is extending and enabling this to include the management of value, velocity, validity, veracity, and vicinity of modern manufacturers.”

The inherent complexity of today’s supply chains involves interconnectedness and inter-dependencies on a global network, where dependence on other countries as a source of supplies left economies vulnerable to far-away events in far-away places. Then, the smallness of our world brought those far away events closer to home.

“The Covid-19 crisis created pressure on supply chains, which was illustrated through the challenges around the supply of PPE equipment across the world. This episode highlighted the global over-reliance on China as a source for goods,” says DHL’s Commercial Director Brian Murray. “Additionally, many supply chains came to a “The Covid-19 crisis standstill because of the backlogs in moving goods out created pressure on of China due to the high demand and limited air capacity. supply chains, which There is now growing pressure to reduce this overwas illustrated through reliance on one country within supply chains.” the challenges around With the pressures on supply chains especially around the supply of PPE ‘vicinity’ (locations) and ‘veracity’ (trust), manufacturing equipment across the has to become more distributed and closer to the edge world. This episode of consumption. “That means finished products are highlighted the global configured or manufactured as close to the place where over-reliance on China it is being consumed by the customer,” explains O’Shea. as a source for goods.”

“Manufacturers must quickly adopt an edge manufacturing strategy to effectively manoeuvre disasters, political change, regulation, and customer preferences or face increased risks, costs, and investments. Ireland is an edge manufacturing hub for AMAX clients to the European Union.”

SIMPLIFY TO SURVIVE While trends in supply chain had been moving towards fulfilling customer demands for speedy delivery, increased personalisation and sustainability, as COVID-19 spread around the world, producers and suppliers had to simplify to survive, cutting product SKUs, lengthening production and shipping delays and passing on costs to consumers.

For manufacturers who had been honing their supply chains for maximum efficiency and cost effectiveness, the shock of a supplier suddenly shutting down was massively disruptive. Smaller producers who could react with agility have innovated with what parts they could get and 3D printing. Businesses across the board have had to take stock and rethink their attitude to supply chains, to move towards a more resilient model.

What does a more resilient model look like?

For starters, it is diversified. Many have realised that reliance on one major supplier, or one major country, leaves them very vulnerable.

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MANUFACTURE Supply Chain

WAREHOUSING WORKS

TRANSPORT ISSUES DHL were already reporting severe disruptions to air cargo, as well as congestion for vessels on the Yangtze River near Wuhan, as early as January 2020. As the pandemic progressed and airlines suspended many routes, cargo capacity contracted significantly, and the delivery of essential medical supplies were prioritised for freight and charter.

“The DHL Medical Express product was developed specifically for the Pharma, Life Sciences, and Med-Tech sectors to ensure the quickest possible delivery, with global quality control centres tracking each shipment to ensure prioritised delivery and mitigation efforts in the event of transit challenges,” says Brian Murray.

“The COVID-19 situation was so fluid in countries that our DHL aviation planning teams worked around the clock, continually adapting and adjusting the operation of our global network. In the first three months of the crisis DHL made more network configuration changes that the previous five years combined,” Murray adds.

Data from Euro Control in Europe showed DHL as the busiest aircraft operator by some distance, during the height of the crisis.

Workplaces have already had to make huge changes to accommodate social distancing, necessitating the reconfiguration of warehouse networks to allow for one-way systems, distributed picking faces and hand sanitiser stations.

Automation and robotics will become increasingly important to allow for less human proximity. Digitalisation, sensors and IoT devices will assist with understanding and managing demand and stock levels, and reliable IT and security systems will be essential to allow for remote workers to manage and control systems from afar, in order to reduce the population density of factory floors. Siemens started using their already existing Siemens Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS) solution, combined with wearable sensors to simulate movements around the factory floor, in order to enable the optimal redesign of the spaces in order to allow workers to move safely through the facility. The sensors can also set off an alert when employees are too close to each other. The RTLS system also assists with contact tracing should a COVID-19 case be reported at a plant.

management phase, but not be viable as longterm solutions. According to “Post-Coronavirus Supply Chain Recovery: The Journey Towards the New Normal”, a white paper published by DHL, during this ‘pre-new normal phase’, resilience, demand, transportation, F U T U R E S T R AT E G I E S warehousing-related topics, and workplace As businesses work out new strategies for the operational practices will become critical issues. changed environment and an uncertain future, PepsiCo has been operating successfully supply chains will reshape with a focus on in Ireland since 1974, and now employs over resilience. More diversified manufacturing, and 1,000 people across its sites in Cork and multiple sources of supply will be key to this. Dublin. The company, who generated more We are currently living through an interim than $67 billion in net revenue in 2019, has stage of adjustment. Reactive quick-fixes may a portfolio including brands such as Walkers, have kept things going during the crisis Pepsi-Cola, 7UP, Quaker and Tropicana. John 34

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“The COVID-19 situation was so fluid in countries that our DHL aviation planning teams worked around the clock, continually adapting and adjusting the operation of our global network. In the first three months of the crisis DHL made more network configuration changes that the previous five years combined.”

Meany, Supply Chain Vice President, PepsiCo Ireland, says, “We ship across the world and work with thousands of suppliers, so the main challenge for our team has been to manage sudden in-country restrictions which could have delayed our supply chain.”

He credits the strong global supply chain team’s capability to manage regional supply chain challenges with helping them through the COVID-19 crisis. “The unique aspect of COVID-19 is that it effectively hit everywhere in or around the same time. Early decision making was key, anticipating requirements, staying very close to customers and suppliers and ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees. Thanks to our dedicated and agile team, we responded successfully to overcome these challenges.”

Investment in cutting edge technology has been crucial to keeping on top of their supply chain. “Increasingly supply chain performance and success is determined by your ability to process effectively an ever increasing volume of supply chain data. Leveraging the latest technology enables you to do this better and faster, and enables us to identify trends, anticipate opportunities and cut-off problems earlier. When RPA (robotic process automation), Machine Learning, advanced planning tools, Master Data Management, control tower capabilities are combined, they create powerful expertise that enable us to be faster, stronger and better as a business.”

MANUFACTURE Supply Chain

“We are moving from an era marked by an emphasis on procurement for cost, to an era marked by an emphasis on procurement for resilience.”

RESILIENCE IS THE NEW PRIORITY A number of previous events have already brought issues in the supply chain sector into sharp relief—disruptions from natural disasters, Brexit (for Ireland) and tariffs from China (for the US).

After the flooding in Thailand in 2011, large swathes of industrial zones were submerged for weeks, taking two of the world’s largest manufacturers of computer hard drives out of action. According to reports in the New York Times, only 15% of the 227 factories in Thailand’s Khlong Luang industrial zone had restarted production six months later.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami that same year immediately affected assembly plants of Toyota, Suzuki and Nissan located in the disaster zone, but the knock-on effects of parts shortages hit manufacturers around the world, including Ford, Volvo, GM, Renault, Chrysler, and PSA Peugeot Citroën.

Lessons already learned from these events show that manufacturers need to map out the physical locations of tier-2, tier-3, and tier-4 suppliers, and ensure geographic distribution.

Above all, single sourcing is too risky when confined not just a single supplier, but a single factory. Cost efficiencies can no longer be the primary consideration when putting together a supply chain strategy.

A NEW CONCEPT As countries emerge from lockdown, consumer demand, economic activity and production will all begin to increase, but operating in altered ways. After a brush with the prospect of scarcity, both consumers and businesses, even those who previously resisted change, have found themselves looking at supply chain in a very different light.

“Re-starting operations is already a challenge under normal circumstances. In a volatile post-lockdown situation companies have to adjust ramp-up speed even on a daily basis. Watching operations and supplier readiness as well as anticipating customer demand are crucial,” advises Eric Gantier, President DHL Engineering, Manufacturing and Energy Sector.

Supply Chain 4.0 was driving businesses towards a more resilient model of investing in smaller and more widely dispersed warehouses in closer proximity to customers, rather than large centrally located facilities. The impact of the the last few months has highlighted the added benefits and flexibility of distributed networks, despite the higher inventory holding costs. Resilience may be costlier, but it’s a price worth paying for protection and peace of mind. As Richard Wilding, Professor of Supply Chain Strategy, Cranfield School of Management, notes, “We are moving from an era marked by an emphasis on procurement for cost, to an era marked by an emphasis on procurement for resilience.” While Supply Chain 5.0 has only been recently raised as a concept, it seems likely the events of this year may cause us to skip on prematurely to a next level of reconceptualising.

ACTION CHECKLIST FOR S U P P LY C H A I N E X E C U T I V E S RESILIENCE • Map supplier networks beyond tier 1 up to tier 3, focusing on value-adding manufacturing and distribution locations • Assess supplier health and readiness, including business continuity plans and emergency alternatives • Understand the supply chain network flows: never assume that goods take the most direct route.

• Assess warehouse and distribution networks based on a new priorities— resilience, customer proximity and demand patterns, sales channels, supplier locations, etc • Map inventory locations and where stock is held. Focus on the number of items and the duration of cover • Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate: ensure relationships are managed effectively across the supply chain, looking at processes, information systems and people resources DEMAND • Ensure you know the true cost-to-serve of a particular channel to market • Granularity of data is vital: know your cost drivers, true customer demand, service level, and value density – by both product type and SKU • Document how you responded: you may need that playbook again TRANSPORTATION & WAREHOUSING , WORKPLACE • Re-assess the trade-off between lead-time vs. transport cost: existing assumptions may no longer hold • Review the implications for property: existing locations and layouts may no longer be appropriate • Upgrade information systems to be be adequate to fully support a remote workforce over the long term • Actively invest in necessary new skills Source: DHL “Post-Coronavirus Supply Chain Recovery: The Journey Towards the New Normal”

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INNOVATION

The Collaboration Instinct

Power of the Huddle

As remote working becomes the new normal for many companies, what impact will it have on collaboration and innovation?

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INNOVATION Power of the Huddle

S C O M PA N I ES C O N T I N U E TO P I V OT A N D C O U N T T H E C O S T O F C O V I D - 1 9 O N E Q U ES T I O N R E M A I N S TO B E A N S W E R E D , A R E W E A B O U T TO LO S E O N E O F T H E M O S T I M P O R TA N T S T R AT E G I E S F O R S U R V I V I N G A C R I S I S - T H AT O F C O L L A B O R AT I O N ? T H E B E N E F I TS O F R E M OT E W O R K I N G A R E K N O W N AT T H I S S TAG E , R E D U C E D O F F I C E C O S TS W H I C H K E E P T H E C F O H A P P Y A N D A H E A LT H I E R W O R K / L I F E M I X F O R E M P LOY E ES , B U T W H AT ABOUT THE POWER OF THE HUDDLE?

If companies are to survive the current global crisis then a rethinking of strategy, five-year plans and staffing structures is essential, but can smart decisions be made if department heads only communicate on Zoom and colleagues working on a project only discuss option B over email?

No, is the resounding answer that comes from Dr Brendan Kelly, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, Consultant Psychiatrist at Tallaght Hospital, editor of the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry and author of Coping With Coronavirus: How to Stay Calm and Protect Your Mental Health – A Psychological Toolkit.

“The organic development of an idea between different people just don’t happen with remote work” says Dr Kelly, “the informal conversations that happen around the table before a meeting or between colleagues in the corridor can’t happen.

The changing nature of how people communicate with each other is one of the profound impacts of COVID-19. Nuanced conversations is getting lost, when we communicate with each other now we only state the facts, we get straight to the point and are much less likely to encourage conversation, especially if it’s somebody we don’t have a relationship with. Instead, we seek out those we already have a good working relationship with, which is the opposite of what we need to do, “The wearing of masks is also impacting how we communicate with each other, we’re missing the 40% of communication that comes from facial ques and reading each other’s expressions. Meta communication is gone and with it the richness of communication that comes from informal interaction and knowledge exchange is suffering.”

Which leads to the question why is collaboration so important during times of crisis? Research carried out by the Harvard Business Review over ten years showed that during times of economic uncertainty, companies and workers who remained open to communicating and collaborating with colleagues and partners were better able to develop new responses to market challenges. In fact, the results of the research show that the most collaborative among the group not only grew their business during the crisis but continued that upward

“The wearing of masks is also impacting how we communicate with each other, we’re missing the 40% of communication that comes from facial ques and reading each other’s expressions. Meta communication is gone and with it the richness of communication that comes from informal interaction and knowledge exchange is suffering.”

trajectory afterwards. This is based on the theory that if you remain open to communication your understanding of market challenges improves and your offering evolves, while if you remain open to collaboration your network may change but it remains a constant, leaving you open to opportunities and information. On the other hand, the study shows that those whose workforces shut down and stopped collaborating saw their business stall during the crisis and diminish in the years afterwards because they were no longer fit for purpose in the new marketplace.

With Dublin-based tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Twitter offering staff the option to work from home forever (Facebook), remote working until at least 2021 (Google) and no in-person events for the rest of 2020 (Twitter) blended working is here to stay for the next year to 18-months at a minimum. So is it all doom and gloom?

“Remote working has both negative and positive impacts,” explains Dr Kelly, “it has forced people to notice many things and to look at what they do. To look at how much time is wasted in the workplace and to compare that time to how long it takes to do their actual core work. In the majority, the core work can be done in a shorter time leaving more time free. It also made staff look at meetings and start to question who is this meeting being held for and how do I benefit. These are largely good side effects of remote working.”

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INNOVATION Power of the Huddle

“The longer people work remotely the more distant they become from the common goal, which will affect collaboration,” he explains, “the shared focus on a common task is important and that’s impacted.”

But what about the negative? Research shows that during times of crisis companies become risk-averse and become much less likely to seek alternative solutions to problems.

Instead, they tend to fall back on patterns of behaviours and solutions that have worked in the past, something researchers call “threat rigidity”. However, the current pandemic is a crisis like no other, and for businesses to not only survive but thrive it’s important that they develop new ways of thinking, try new strategies and look to new markets and models. And one of the easiest ways to develop fresh approaches is to encourage cross-departmental collaboration.

However, not all companies have experienced reduced collaboration among employees some, and especially those who had already embraced the technology of remote work discovered that targets and projects were achieved ahead of deadline. Sara Smith, Head of Customer Care - Dublin + Global Markets at Wix explained “Since we are a global technology company we already were using a variety of different virtual tools for collaboration. All of those tools have helped make this transition seamless and despite Wix being a global company, we operate internally like a startup. Our pivot to have employees work remotely and collaborate with their teams was seamless.

We even were able to release several products over the last few months, within the time frame we had originally aspired to, despite people working remotely.”

SO WHAT CAN THOSE STRUGGLING TO MANAGE A REMOTE WORKFORCE DO TO COUNTERACT THESE SIDE EFFECTS? “Companies need to be mindful of replacing the loss of human interaction while staff are working remotely”, says Dr Kelly, who goes on to explain that the water cooler moments and pre-meeting small talk we thought of as irritating interruptions pre-COVID are actually vital for staff learning and relationship building. This is because human intimacy among coworkers is vital for collaboration.

“The longer people work remotely the more distant they become from the common goal, which will affect collaboration,” he explains, “the shared focus on a common task is important and that’s impacted. Communications become much more deliberate, it focuses only on the important tasks at hand with no room for accidental conversations. Intimacy is needed for collaboration and unless steps are taken remote working will affect the nature of the collaborative process.”

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Encouraging collaboration • Be mindful of the loss of communication. Humans need humans and so allow for that through in-human events where possible or encourage virtual casual conversations before or after calls.

• It can be difficult to speak up and share an opinion when you can’t gauge reactions in person, so encouraging an environment where there’s no such thing as a stupid question can help staff relationships. Likewise, bringing people together from different departments and encouraging conversation can help.

• Work down the line of command and ensuring everyone is finding the new situation as stressfree as it can be. This is also an opportunity for management to learn about the realities of life at the coalface.

• Play to your strengths as an organisation and don’t try to change the company culture to become something it’s not. If you’re not a company who do fun activities every Friday now is not the time to introduce that, instead play to how staff normally interact.

• Encourage a company model that’s transparent and shares data, staff will reconnect with the company purpose more if they feel informed and like they can make a difference.

PROFILE The Leader

The Leader Conor Russell VICE PRESIDENT ( O P E R AT I O N S ) B O S T O N SCIENTIFIC

AT A L G ANCE

Acros s its three Ir ish p la n ts, Boston Scien tific devel o p s in n o va tive me d ic a l s olutions that imp r o ve th e h ealth of p atie n ts around the world b u t a lways with a lo c a l charitable focus

“Every day we make decisions that have a profound impact on people's lives.”

Your decision to the provide PPE to the local community and give back to local charities at the same time as looking at global supply was something of a selfless decision and buys into a commitment to giving back, why is this so important to Boston Scientific and to you?

We know that our long term success in Boston Scientific is driven by our people. If our people are passionate about our purpose, align with our values and feel valued for their contributions, then we have a great foundation to build success. Our purpose is to extend and improve the lives of patients around the world so it’s no surprise that caring is one of our core values.

This includes caring for our patients, caring for each other and caring for our communities.

Our people are passionate about helping others and that is reflected in each of our Irish sites through our CSR and charity work. At the Clonmel site, where I am based, over the past 10 years our employees have raised over 500K for local charities and we have championed promoting STEM careers in our local schools and colleges.

Do you think this commitment to looking at business from a more holistic approach is integral to Boston Scientific’s success and innovation?

Most definitely, everybody wants to be part of something bigger than themselves and to know that their work and contributions are advancing

that greater cause. Here at Boston Scientific, we transform lives every day. From implantable defibrillators that save lives to deep brain stimulation devices that improve the quality of life for patients who live with Parkinson’s Disease. Every day we make decisions that have a profound impact on people’s lives and we are lucky to be continuously reminded of that every time we hear our patient stories. In Clonmel, we hold an annual patients day where local people with a BSC device can come to the site and meet employees, sometimes even the ones who actually built their device, this is always an amazing and emotional experience for the visitors and employees alike. That passion to help others permeates into every aspect of our culture and ensures that our success is measured not only in our company’s performance but also in the impact we have on our people’s lives.

What does success mean to you?

Success for me is simply about improving lives and I’m proud to be part of a company doing this every day. It’s about developing more innovative solutions, making our technologies more accessible to people everywhere around the world and funding the next generation of solutions to enable us to continue our journey.

What’s the best business advice you were ever given?

When I got a new role a few years ago I reached out to someone outside the organisation for some advice. After listening to me for a while, he concluded that I needed to “Trust your gut more”. It was just what I needed to get unstuck.

So I started listening to that instinct more, not necessarily acting on it but recognising that my intuition was a critical input to my decision making and trusting that it was telling me something that maybe hadn’t been fully considered. It’s the ultimate act in trusting in yourself and in your own capabilities. Now when

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the heat rises at work and my intuition is at odds with something, I know to engage with the discomfort and let it play out until I really understand the reason why.

What learning from the recent pandemic do you think you’ll keep with you going forward?

That you can do a huge amount of work remotely and through virtual meetings. It’s not the solution for every interaction but looking at our virtual meetings now, they start on time as logistics are no longer a factor, we are finishing quicker, there is more focus in the meeting itself and less distractions around the meeting. We have been able to free up calendar time and give our people some time back.

What does operating in Ireland mean to Boston Scientific?

Ireland is a key strategic location for Boston Scientific and we’ve been in the country since 1994. Since then the company has added two more sites (in Cork and Clonmel) and now employs over 5,500 people in Ireland across manufacturing, product development and shared services. The track record of all our sites over the past 25 years has been remarkable and the culture is both innovative and collaborative, which are critical capabilities to have within a global organisation. Supporting that is the overall medical device ecosystem here in Ireland. It is well recognised that Ireland is a global hub for medical devices and companies like ours are proud to operate within it. The entire ecosystem from local suppliers to manufacturers to our partners in Universities and research centres all help to grow the collective knowledge, skills and talents in the region and that certainly helps companies like ourselves to continue to stay ahead of the curve.

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HR Recruitment

Recruitment

Revival The labour market is bouncing back with a changed workforce and a new opportunity for success

S T H E D U S T S TA R TS TO S E T T L E I N T H E N E W P O S T- C O V I D W O R L D , A R EC R U I T M E N T R E V I VA L I S G A I N I N G M O M E N T U M , W I T H C E R TA I N S ECTO R S N E E D I N G TO H I R E N O W M O R E T H A N E V E R . P R E - C O V I D C O N D I T I O N S I N T H E I R I S H L A B O U R M A R K E T W E R E C LO S E TO F U L L E M P LOY M E N T. O V E R 2 . 3 6 M I L L I O N P EO P L E W E R E I N E M P LOY M E N T, A N D T H E U N E M P LOY M E N T R AT E F E L L TO J U S T 4 . 7 P E R C E N T I N T H E F O U R T H Q UA R T E R O F 2 0 1 9 .

However, as the pandemic took hold sectors such as food, hospitality and travel were hit hard and were the first industries to start making layoffs and furloughing staff. The construction, wholesale and retail sectors followed suit and by April this year, the number of people availing of state support stood at 920,000.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom. As the country started to reopen for business and the Government shared its Roadmap for Reopening Society & Business, a stimulus plan which includes grants for SMEs, tax warehousing and a credit guarantee scheme, some industries are seeing a surge in recruitment while others are changing 40

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how they hire staff entirely. As of June of this year the number of people availing of state support had dropped to 543,200.

Barbara McGrath, MD with Brightwater, explained that now is the right time for a recruitment revival as during the depths of the pandemic all businesses, no matter their size and turnover, froze before coming alive in the early summer and starting to plan for the future, taking into account the ‘new normal’ society.

“Recruitment is a barometer for the economy,” says McGrath, “be it good or bad. Recruitment was put on hold in the early part of 2020 and we’re now re-forecasting

HR Recruitment

for the next 18 months. “It is a tale of two halves.

Some industries we work with, such as marketing and legal services are contracting while others such as IT, cybersecurity and data services are much more buoyant.”

As such, certain trends across recruitment and company behaviours are starting to appear.

T E C H N O L O GY & R E M OT E WORK Previously the ability to work from home was seen as a perk of a job, an added bonus that gave employers a competitive edge. However, with companies such as Google planning to leave their entire workforce remote working for the foreseeable future, what does it mean for recruitment?

“Early adapters to technology faired slightly better during the pandemic,” says Murray.

“COVID-19 saw technology trends fast-forwarded to what we had originally predicted for 2022/23.

Companies had to embrace technology and discover ways to set staff up to work remotely.

The challenge companies are now facing with technology is how to onboard staff for a remote working environment.”

Of course, some industries will fare better on that front than others, sectors such as IT naturally lend themselves to remote onboarding and the demand is there for the IT skillset, says Murray.

But sectors who rely on collaboration such as sales and marketing could struggle and its imperative that the skills for remote onboarding are developed.

CONTRACT ROLES ON THE RISE One labour market trend that emerged during the COVID-19 emergency was the contraction of contract, freelance and temporary budgets for companies as HR professionals sought to tighten their budgetary belts. However, the fact that stability has yet to return to the economy means that companies need to find a new way to operate for the next 12 - 18 months, which means contract and consultancy roles could start to increase.

“We’re seeing an early indication that things will return normal later this year,” says Murray, but there is also a ‘suck it and see’ mentality among businesses as its hard to know what the fallout will be. Temporary roles will appear as companies start looking at headcounts, and contract roles in the IT and engineering space are already starting to rise as as science and pharma roles at all levels.

We’re looking at an increase in the demand for short and medium-term roles while sectors such

as AI are going to rise as it makes certain processes more seamless.”

SENIOR ROLES & MENTORING One surprising trend to have emerged is that recruitment at senior levels across all sectors has continued at pre-COVID levels, a move Murray puts down to more and more companies recognising gaps in their own skillset and hiring accordingly.

“Businesses in all sectors are picturing what they need to do to get themselves back up and running,” explains Murray, “and are recognising that maybe they need help with the financial piece or the marketing piece. It’s a transformative way to do business.”

For those not in a position to hire a senior financial or marketing staff, mentoring is very much gaining traction in the business world. It’s often mooted that working as CEO or MD is the loneliest position in the company due to the nature of managing downwards, and so for those who need support but don’t have budget to pay for it, mentoring is the perfect compromise.

“Mentoring gives you a somebody to talk to as a peer,” says Murray, “it’s an opportunity to discuss strategies and ideas on how best to guide the company through these challenging times.”

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY How we think about work has changed. In the pre-pandemic labour market employment was all about quantity, how much work can be done, how quickly and by who. Employee benefits were monetary and conversations about quality of life were one-sided.

However, since the economy has started to reopen, the quality of work has become much more important than it was pre-Covid and provides an opportunity for employers to refigure job specs, reimagine benefit packages and start an open dialogue with employees about what matters. This is something the Government was working towards with the launch earlier this year of the The Future Jobs Ireland package, which is focused on developing a new economic pathway for Ireland based on embracing innovation and technological change, improving productivity, increasing labour force participation, enhancing skills and developing talent and transitioning to a low carbon economy.

“COVID-19 fast forwarded the world,” says Murray, “and if we don’t embrace the changes we’ll go backwards. Change has happened fast, we’ve discovered new norms and employees have used the time to their own advantage to adapt to the world.”

CASHING OUT Not all members of the workforce are rushing to return to employment, especially those of a certain age. So, if you’re near to retirement and are considering your options, here’s what you need to know about cashing out a pension a little early.

• Are you eligible? If you’re under 50, only ill-health or long-term disability will give you access to a pension ahead of time, and even then that’s only in relation to an occupational pension scheme. Those with a PRSA or retirement annuity contract can only access their funds when they reach the age of 60.

• The Approved Retirement Fund means that if you have already transferred out of a previous defined benefit pension scheme, or you are currently considering taking a transfer value, you will have increased options on how you can draw down these benefits. You will have both the option of taking your benefits based on your years’ service and final salary or the new ARF option which allows you to take 25% of the fund as tax free cash and reinvest the balance subject to certain restrictions.

• Consider the tax implications and talk to your broker about withdrawing your cash in lump sums. You can take smaller cash sums from your pension pot without paying tax

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ARTS Culture Ireland

A Global Stage Culture Ireland, the organisation tasked with promoting Irish artists abroad, adapted during lockdown to move their work online.

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Tea� Da�sa perform Mám at Sadler’s Wells in London, Febraury 2020

ARTS Culture Ireland

“A particular highlight at the time was Hamlet, which was on in St Anne’s Warehouse in New York, starring Irish actress Ruth Negga. It was just finishing a sell out run, so we were lucky that had got over the line.”

I

t’s not just the Irish who take their St Patrick’s Day celebrations seriously. It is the world’s most widely celebrated national day, and a busy time for Culture Ireland, the organisation tasked with promoting Irish artists across the globe. This year, St Patrick’s Day was cancelled as Ireland entered lockdown.

“Mid-March, when COVID-19 hit, is a time when the greatest number of Irish artists would be abroad, during the Saint Patrick’s Day period, when Ireland really shines a light on its creatives,” explains Christine Sisk, Director of Culture Ireland.

A large number of traditional Irish music bands had to hurriedly return home from tours around the US around that time, as well as dance company Teac Damhsa, which had been touring its successful Swan Lake production in Asia. “A particular highlight at the time was Hamlet, which was on in St Anne’s Warehouse in New York, starring Irish actress Ruth Negga. It was just finishing a sell out run, so we were lucky that had got over the line,” says Sisk.

“Our remit is to promote Irish arts worldwide.

This covers all art forms including circus, theatre, dance, music, visual arts, architecture and literature. There are two prongs to what we do, one is to support artists to travel away to present the work, the other is showcasing artists to gain future opportunities. There was

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ARTS Culture Ireland

Ruth Negga Hamlet poster

“As the saying goes, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. While a digital-first performance can never replace the buzz of a live show, one advantage is that the audience reach online is limitless. “The global reach was close to 1 million for those 120 performances.”

a strong travel element to this but that has moved to online. At the moment our focus is online presentation and showcasing.”

A G L O B A L S TA G E Conscious of the risks of the unfolding pandemic, Sisk had already been keeping an eye on events around the world and seen that Canada’s National Arts Centre had worked with Facebook to produce an online series of performances. With the assistance of Facebook in Ireland, a similar initiative was quickly rolled out here, and Ireland Performs was born. Culture Ireland produced 120 performances over 6 weeks, rolling out 3 performances per day. “It was a beacon of hope for artists, to be working again,” says Christine.

As the saying goes, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. While a digital-first performance can never replace the buzz of a live show, one advantage is that the audience reach online is limitless. “The global reach was close to 1 million for those 120 performances,” reveals Sisk.

“We were getting feedback from afar afield as Tasmania, the US, across Europe and South America. That has been a fantastic eye opener for us. It doesn’t replace the real experience for artists to engage with an audience but in terms of achieving a reach for Irish artists and showcasing what they are capable of, it has been brilliant.”

SUPPORTING ARTISTS Not only did it give artists a stage, it also gave them an income, as Culture Ireland, in line with the Arts Council of Ireland’s Policy on the Fair And Equitable Remuneration Of Artists,

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is committed to paying artists, performers and creatives for their work.

“We’re really supportive of artists being paid, so for Ireland Performs and for the Philadelphia Folk Festival we paid the artists for their content. That is something we would be very concerned about and there are a lot of plans underway. For instance Facebook are developing paywalls for artists. Some of the artists have things like PayPal for donations; artists have to live and they can’t work for free.”

S T R AT E G I C T H I N K I N G After a tremendous effort by the team at Culture Ireland to roll out Ireland Performs during the initial period, it was time to reconsider their strategy. “We weren’t sure of the capacity of audiences to continually engage online would continue when they were more free to move,” says Sisk.

Culture Ireland then shifted focus to a selection of virtual events where they could make a big impact. For the Philadelphia Folk Festival in August, they recorded 18 acts for the virtual Ireland Stage, including Mick Flannery in Cork and Moxie in Sligo.

The Edinburgh Festival is another key event in the calendar, and although this year was a virtual experience, Culture Ireland supported 10 theatre pieces online at the virtual Fringe Festival. “We normally use Edinburgh as a showcase platform to gain further opportunities for Irish artists,” explains Sisk. “The Edinburgh organisers created a space for this so we put the acts up on their platform and then had an hour and a half pitching with international delegates at a dedicated time.”

THE PERSONAL TOUCH During lockdown, and the course of the Ireland Performs initiative, audiences around the world delighted in getting a candid glimpse into the homes and lives of performers. Like everyone else working from home they were liable to unplanned interruptions from pets, children and the postman.

ARTS Culture Ireland

“That level of personal engagement was what people were looking for at that moment. Sharon Shannon was surrounded by her dogs and introduced us to every single one of them. When people were feeling a bit disconnected and separate, it was really important that artists were as personal and as engaging as possible.”

Want to see more?

All the Ireland Performs videos are available to view on Facebook, go to www.cultureireland. com for links.

Sisk lists examples including traditional musician Daoiri Farrell recording himself for Philadelphia Folk Festival, sitting outside a cottage, and other locations ranging from a wild west coast beach to a fiddle workshop to a plant-filled polytunnel. “That level of personal engagement was what people were looking for at that moment. Sharon Shannon was surrounded by her dogs and introduced us to every single one of them. When people were feeling a bit disconnected and separate, it was really important that artists were as personal and as engaging as possible,” Sisk says.

Sisk notes that some artists, such as guitar virtuoso Shane Hennessy, shared their knowledge and tips to help other artists set up and self-record from home. Meanwhile others, such as those from a theatre background, already had a good sense of how to use lighting to best effect. Tthe Arts Council of Ireland have launched supports for artists

Ruth Negga as Hamlet in St Ann’s Warehouse New York

who are entering the digital fray and learning how to showcase their work online.

However, now the challenge is to go forward in a way that maximises connection and engagement in a virtual performance setting, while presenting the best of Irish culture in a professional manner that lives up to best international standards.

“Ireland Performs was people at home with their dogs and their children. I think that has moved on to, now, needing a level of professionalism to be sure that we’re presenting at the right level and at an international standard for people who are investing their time.

If people are making a decision that they are going to watch something online we are very conscious that it is of a high standard.”

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ARTS Culture Ireland

Swan Lake Sadlers Well

LOOKING AHEAD While tentative steps have been made to bring back live performance in socially distanced settings, the future for the arts is uncertain. “We’ve found people who have spring events have cancelled them. Even early on, in June and July, we saw cancellations for events that were due to be happening next February. Up towards next summer, a lot of things have been wiped from international diaries,” notes Sisk.

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ARTS Culture Ireland

“We’ve found people who have spring events have cancelled them. Even early on, in June and July, we saw cancellations for events that were due to be happening next February. Up towards next summer, a lot of things have been wiped from international diaries.”

Ireland Performs - Cup o’ Joe

Akin to IDA Ireland, Culture Ireland’s mission is to promote Ireland on a global stage, however that might happen in our uncertain future. “At the moment our focus is online presentation and showcasing—at the likes of Edinburgh Festival showcase, Dublin Fringe Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival where we have artists pitching work, and development work which hasn’t been presented yet, to international delegations.”

Ireland Performs Daoiri Mini Promo “We really value working very closely with IDA Ireland Moment and businesses, not just the philanthropic support that can come from business but also in terms of what we can feed back to business in terms of imagination, creativity and collaboration.”

Looking ahead, plans are in place for Ireland Music Week, there is cautious optimism that the Frankfurt Book Fair will still take place, and the projects selected for the 2020 Venice Biennale will instead make the trip next year.

Life goes on, and art will be important in expressing and processing human reactions to the traumas of the pandemic—death, isolation and anxiety—as well as hope and optimism for the future. Culture “We really value working very closely with Ireland will be backing Irish artists and performers to share their IDA Ireland and businesses, not just the message with the wider world. “Showcasing the strength of creativity philanthropic support that can come in Ireland, and the imagination and the quality and capacity of people from business but also in terms of what to deliver these kinds of projects, is important to ensure that the we can feed back to business in terms of opportunities will be there in the future.” imagination, creativity and collaboration.”

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PHILANTROPY Playing our part

Eilis Murray, Philanthropy

I Companies committed to making a difference, even during difficult times

reland has a reputation as a generous nation. In the most recent edition of the World Giving Index, compiled by Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), their surveys found that 62% of Irish people had helped a stranger in the past month, 69% had donated money to charity and 38% had volunteered their time.

Mirroring the most pressing societal problems of our times, homeless, housing and refuge shelters were the leading causes of concern cited by respondents.

While we are generous in Ireland, it is predominantly reactionary giving, responding to causes. However, both research anecdotal evidence supports that strategic, planned, multi-annual giving, volunteering and partnerships between charities and businesses has significantly more impact.

There are two main ways in which business can engage with making a difference—philanthropy and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.

Philanthropy is broadly thought of in terms of monetary donations, but a more useful definition proposed by Philanthropy Ireland is “strategic investment with a social purpose”. Philanthropic donations tend to focus on making sustainable change, tackling the root causes of problems.

Philanthropy and COVID-19

Philanthropy Ireland (PI) is the representative body for the philanthropic sector in Ireland. Its members disburse over €200m annually, delivering support to over 2,000 projects and groups in

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PHILANTROPY Playing our part

communities across Ireland and overseas.

With COVID-19 delivering a hammer blow to the world, economies and business profits, philanthropy will be required more than ever in the recovery.

Eilis Murray, CEO, Philanthropy Ireland says, “As the scale of the Covid-19 crisis continues to evolve and emerge so too the scale of needs to adequately respond are appearing increasingly overwhelming. The not for profit sector, champions of the marginalised and the vulnerable, is under unprecedented pressure. Charities are facing a funding crisis, immediate estimates in the region of €380m, at a time when much of their charitable activity is needed now more than ever before.”

“There are no clear answers. We are all struggling to find our way. We do not know how the external environment will manifest itself. We do not know what our reality will be.

So, we need to remain open. In such uncertainty, philanthropy can play a real role.”

Responsive Action

Many of Philanthropy Ireland’s members, philanthropic organisations such as The Community Foundation for Ireland, The Ireland Funds and basis.point set up Covid-19 Response Funds, with more initiatives underway. “In seeking to provide critical response funds, they pivoted from being strategic donors to being tactical, engaging on immediate needs,” says Murray.

Corporate funds, such as the AIB €2.4m COVID-19 research support and the Bank of Ireland €1m Community Fund, provide significant support for tackling both long term change and urgent needs. “We have seen collaborative and multifaceted responses such as that of Medtronic, sharing insights on ventilator design from their Galway plant, while their Foundation committed $10m in worldwide support,” Murray continues.

“Many individual donors are quietly stepping in supporting causes they are close to while others are open in their funding responses.

Public responses may inspire others. Either

“As the scale of the Covid-19 crisis continues to evolve and emerge so too the scale of needs to adequately respond are appearing increasingly overwhelming. The not for profit sector, champions of the marginalised and the vulnerable, is under unprecedented pressure. Charities are facing a funding crisis, immediate estimates in the region of €380m, at a time when much of their charitable activity is needed now more than ever before.”

way, at a time when donors are likely somewhat overwhelmed by requests for support, their engagement in giving is both critical and welcome.”

Creating a Foundation

There are many types of philanthropic foundations operating in Ireland, established either as a private charitable trust or as a company limited by guarantee not having a share capital. Some philanthropic organisations offer specific donor-advised funds, which is a fund run by a third party, where donors can decide the areas that they want to support—a well-known example would be The Ireland Funds.

Though less common, some business choose to set up corporate foundations, such as the Medtronic Foundation, which works to expand health access for underserved people worldwide and support healthy communities, and the Vodafone Foundation, which places a major focus on the areas of connected learning and connected health.

Creating a corporate foundation, facilitates a longer-term strategy and maximum return on the social investment made by the parent company. The foundation can be funded through an endowment, or a donation of shares, the dividends of which would then become the income of the foundation.

CSR Initiatives

While a small number of companies have their own philanthropic foundations, almost all engage in charitable work as part of their CSR programme. From the cohort of multinationals operating on these shores, Microsoft, Dell, Intel, Workday, Cisco, GSK and VMware were all

recognised for their CSR initiatives as finalists in the Chambers Ireland CSR Awards 2019, and no doubt the initiatives that have occurred during this year will have responded to the new needs and crises in innovative ways.

Business in the Community Ireland (BITCI) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to working with Ireland’s largest companies on sustainability. It celebrates 20 years of existence this year and works with 100 of the largest organisations in Ireland, with members including ESB, Microsoft, Musgrave, Lidl, An Post, Glanbia, CRH, Abbott and many more.

Tomas Sercovich, CEO, BITCI, says, “Companies engaging with their communities has really come to prominence during this pandemic. We are working with some of the largest employers in the country and supporting them to pivot their traditional volunteering efforts into virtual solutions. Companies will be judged by their response to COVID-19 and how they have stepped up and engaged with local communities. We also know that employee morale is challenging right now and having these virtual volunteering opportunities is a great way to engage staff during these tough times.

Investors are also looking at how companies are responding so it’s a real litmus test for corporate social responsibility.”

One major area of focus for companies engaging with BITCI is programmes which partner businesses, such as IBM, with schools all over the country, particularly in disadvantaged areas, with a view to leveraging the power of business to make an impact on young peoples lives.

“It helps create a pipeline of future talent but also crucially reduces the gap for people on the margins. To date, 40,000 students have engaged with us.”

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PHILANTROPY Playing our part

While face-to-face volunteering hasn’t been possible, some of the activities which have occurred include virtual mentoring, businesses paying for food parcels, donating laptops and providing tech training for teachers. BITCI have been providing webinars in order to advise their members on how they should continue to support their charity partners during this time.

Companies such as Workday have also worked with BITCI continuing to support struggling charities during COVID-19 by doing virtual volunteering. Workday established a corporate foundation with a stock grant in 2013. In light of their European headquarters being based in Ireland, the company made a special donation to The Community Foundation for Ireland to assist those in the community who need it most— the homeless and the elderly.

The Community Foundation for Ireland

The Community Foundation for Ireland is the sister organisation of BITCI, and is the arm which deals with philanthropy. The Community Foundation for Ireland set up the COVID-19 fund to direct philanthropic support towards community and voluntary sector organisations supporting vulnerable groups. The organisation has been surveying community and voluntary sector groups to determine what they need and assess how the funds can be best distributed. Issues which have come to the fore are the needs for organisations to ramp up their IT systems to deliver services remotely and communicate effectively with clients (many of whom are elderly or vulnerable), as well as the total collapse of funding streams from fundraising events.

The first grant, of €20,000, from the COVID-19 fund was paid out on March 13th to the Asthma Society to support 100 extra appointments for the Asthma Society’s Joint Asthma and COPD Adviceline, investment in emergency IT infrastructure and awareness building around managing asthma and COPD during COVID-19.

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Tomas Sercovich

“Companies will be judged by their response to COVID-19 and how they have stepped up and engaged with local communities.

We also know that employee morale is challenging right now and having these virtual volunteering opportunities is a great way to engage staff during these tough times.”

Tackling Domestic Abuse During Lockdown During lockdown, when people were trapped in their homes, levels of domestic abuse soared. Companies and charities moved to take action to assist as the scale of the issue became starkly apparent. According to An Garda Siochana, domestic violence reports increased by up to 30% during COVID-19 lockdown.

Safe Ireland reported up to 60% increase in calls to its national freephone helpline. However, in the restricted environment of lockdown, many sufferers of domestic abuse and coercive control were even more limited in their opportunities to make the call to look for help.

Boots launched a ‘Safe Space’ in their 88 Irish stores for victims of domestic violence to get help. At the ‘Safe Space’ in a pharmacy consulting room, people who are experiencing domestic abuse can access any of the 39 frontline specialist domestic abuse services across the country in a confidential environment.

Safe Ireland co-CEO Mary McDermott said, “Boots Ireland are showing a welcome corporate-community leadership with this initiative. We are aware that women contained with their abusers through the COVID-19 crisis will not have the space or freedom to call for the support they need from their homes. The Boots ‘Safe Spaces’ provide a welcome community-based location for people to reach out safely for vital professional advice and support.”

Since 2013, Vodafone has run a service called TecSOS, that offers women suffering from domestic violence one touch access to the emergency services. The service is delivered together with Women’s Aid, An Garda Síochana, and BT Emergency Call Answering Service. Since its launch almost 300 women have used the service, which is designed to give domestic abuse victims a sense of security and control, knowing that they have a fast response support with them at all times.

PROFILE The Disruptor

The Disruptor Aiden Corcoran CEO, COSMETIC CREATIONS

AT A L G ANCE

One of the firs t co mp a n ie s to e mb r a c e the ‘new normal’ Cosmeti c C reati ons launched the Airme d ic a r an g e o f san itizer s and committed to me e t Ir elan d ’s d e ma n d before looking to e x p o r t

“It was a gut decision but one based on our collective experience"

Your decision to supply Ireland before exporting was something of a selfless act and buys into your mission statement for the business, why is that important to you?

Since acquiring the core business in 2017, and then adding the operating site in Cork in 2018, Cosmetic Creations has been on a journey to evolve into a true ‘life sciences’ organisation. The core purpose of the organisation is to add value to how people feel, look and live. In essence, we aim to give people a better day, whether that’s through cosmetics or life science products.

In March, an urgent need came and while we are, of course, commercially driven, we knew we could make a difference.

Therefore, it became an easy decision to suspend the current business and produce a range of personal and professional protective cosmetics. With the drying up of global supply imports for similar products, it was clear some vulnerable people could be in trouble. We could not save the world, but helping and prioritising home (Ireland) was a straightforward decision for us. The whole team worked tirelessly, but within the first few weeks and months, we made a real difference by making our products available.

You pivoted to launch Airmedica and sunk investment very quickly, do you always go with your gut?

I have been humorously accused of maybe

being a better wartime general than a peacetime one. A decision is better than no decision. It is never the wrong time to do the right thing. In late February, as demand began to surge for hand sanitisers due to the spread of Covid-19, we saw the need. We were inundated with requests from the public and private sector to deliver a high volume of hand sanitisers On March 5, we launched Airmedica. We raised the required capital, depended on the supply chain operation we built over the last three years and on March 12th the first trucks of product left our site and went to highly critical customers.

It was a gut decision but one based on our collective experience – we knew we had the capacity and expertise to deliver the amounts and quality of hand sanitiser needed. Our teams in Cork and Mayo have been working in this sector for over 30 years. We had invested €7.5million into our Mayo and Corks sites, in advanced formulation and manufacturing technologies and significantly expanding our output capacity.

So, while it was a quick decision, as I said it is never the wrong time to do the right thing.

What learnings have you taken from the launch of Airmedica and will its success change how you do business?

We have been learning from the day we acquired the business in Feb 2017 and previous to that, when we stepped out into business in 2010, setting up Team Horizon, (www. teamhorizon.ie) our engineering company.

Over the last few months our Cosmetic Creation team has learnt that we can deliver our values, not just through other brands, but through developing our own. It has been a long journey but we’re building a Marketing and Business Development team that can strengthen and develop that side of our business.

Most importantly, it allowed our team to understand their true potential. We went from

90 STAFF MEMBERS BETWEEN CORK AND MAYO

80,000 UNITS OF HAND SANITISER PER WEEK AT THE PEAK OF THE PANDEMIC

€7.5 million INVESTMENT INTO THE COSMETIC CREATIONS PLANTS

producing on average 50,000 units of life science and cosmetics per week, to making and shipping over 350,000 units now including sanitiser products per week in the space of six weeks. It stress-tested the organisation, we made mistakes of course, but what better way to learn!

What does success mean to you?

Delivering on our purpose. I have a medal in my office from the children’s hospital in Crumlin, an organisation I have sadly, had a long, personal connection with. It makes me very proud that we helped some very vulnerable small people out. Success to me is doing that little bit, I guess…

What's the best business advice you were ever given?

Have a purpose, believe in it and then things will be clearer and easier... that’s proven to be the case I guess.

What's next for Cosmetic Creations?

This year so far is another wonderful journey for us - our range Airmedica (www.airmedica.ie) has been launched, our first ‘own’ brand.

We have ambitious plans to grow the business into a significant player in the life science market and deliver both cosmetic and healthcare products. This year we will achieve our ISO GMP 13485 medical device manufacturing certification.

We are in the process of rebranding Cosmetic Creations. We hope to be one of Ireland’s largest, home-grown life science companies adding value to peoples’ lives both nationally and internationally over the next ten years. We will be busy. But we find everyday fulfilling.

IDAIRELAND.COM

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FOCUS ON Nearform

Company Focus What’s the history of Nearform and how did you come to be involved in the development of the Irish COVID tracker app?

Nearform has been around for the last nine years and fundamentally we’re an accelerated solutions delivery company. So, we’re an elite team of software developers using open source and modern tech development tools to build things for enterprises at scale and super fast.

We’re remote-first company, a decision we made from the get go so when COVID was having a detrimental impact on everybody else’s operations we continued to work at pace. That, combined again with our experience in delivering high quality enterprise solutions at speed, brought the HSE to our doorstep. So they gave us a call one Saturday morning, explained the brief and what they were looking for, which was a COVID response app to deal with contact tracing. This was back in March when this was a concept that wasn’t really out in the market place, and we took on the challenge. We spun up a team that evening and 10 days later we delivered the first working project for them to start testing with the Irish army. We had a lot of technical issues, some we could engineer around and some of which were at an operating level which saw us engage with our partners at Google and Apple which ultimately ended up with Google and Apple coming out with the exposure notification, so we adopted that, rewrote the app and ultimately delivered a second app which went live at the beginning of July and has been one of the most successfully adopted apps worldwide.

What were some of the concerns you had to take into account and how collaboratively did you work with the Irish government and HSE? We endeavour to try and work on a one-team approach. The HSE brought other partners into the mix and we inter-mingled those within a one-team mentality and philosophy even though it was differing companies and sections of Government. We had data protection teams coming out of the government, we had the HSE dealing with clinical studies we had people 52

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Larry Breen is Chief Commercial Officer with Nearform, the Waterford-headquartered company behind the Irish COVID tracker app which is now being rolled out in multiple jurisdictions globally.

from UCD and Science Foundation Ireland and we were bringing them all together. The great part of responding to COVID, and especially with the Irish experience, is that everybody puts their own personal agenda to one side to come together and get this thing done quickly.

Fundamentally the heart of everything we did was about data protection and privacy.

We needed to reach out and get citizen confidence. So a lot of energy and work went in initially on security and privacy to make sure everything was anonymized and no data was collected. Creating the designs that would work out in the marketplace and bringing in behaviouralists and behavioural studies to make sure we understand the right message for a citizen-wide app.

Were you surprised at how quickly people bought into the idea of the app?

When the launch happened we were surprised at the buy in, it surpassed everything we could have expected. Talking to the government and the folks up at the HSE we had a much lower expectation in terms of adoption. We were trending some of the other countries who went first and that came out to market earlier.

Why did you opt to make the app open-source?

Nearform come from an open-source point of view so we’ve been in that park for a long long time and it made sense for us. From a transparency point of view, making the app open code meant that every aspect of it was clearly visible, so the naysayers couldn’t really argue against it and create negative noise about it. So from that point of view it gave a very positive message.

Obviously we are a commercial entity and we do have share holders to please but fundamentally this is more important than that, to get these learnings shared out to the wider global community is important. As of today we have nine countries either live or in the process of going live so what we’re seeing as we start to roll out is that we can leverage the testing of those who have gone before. So with each new state the level of testing that we have to

do is getting less and less because it’s already been tested that same way by three or four others so they can focus their attention on actually getting a successful launch and focus on the media and PR aspect of it. We’ve also had great support from the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the Irish government have been actively involved in getting this out there.

How has Nearform found doing business in the south east of Ireland?

The south east has continued to evolve at a fast pace. We’ve got a great college here in Waterford Institute of Technolgy and the research centre that goes with it gives us a solid foundation. There are great skills in the south east, we’re seeing IT Carlow come on leaps and bounds so there’s a lot of knowledge there and a lot of people looking for alternatives to come out of Dublin, to come out to a ‘lower cost higher quality of life setting’ and we have some big players here.

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We are 9% redhead.

We are 33.3% under 25.

We are 52% of 25-34 year olds with higher level education, 10% above the OECD average.

We are 100% committed to the EU. Ready to talk about locating in Ireland?

We are. You can count on it.

Right place Right time www.idaireland.com

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