The team from the Tipperary Institute was announced on Monday as the winner of the Newstalk 106-108 fm Irish Student Enterprise Competition by Lucy Gaffney, chairperson of Communicorp Limited and director of Denis O'Brien's Digicel Group. The prize-giving ceremony took place on Monday at the National College of Ireland (NCI), host of this year’s competition. Separately yesterday, e-Skills week at a 'Smart futures' seminar was launched to encourage students to pursue careers in ICT.
The winning team beat off strong competition from the three other finalist teams from DIT, GMIT and IT Tallaght. The four finalist teams were given a case study based on a real-life business scenario for which they had 3 hours to devise a detailed solution. Each team was then given 30 minutes to present their business plan to a panel of judges consisting of Frank Cronin, CEO of Newstalk 106-108 fm, Ivan Yates, presenter of ‘Breakfast’ on Newstalk 106-108 fm and managing director of Celtic Bookmakers, and Mary Davis, managing director of Special Olympics Europe / Eurasia.
Speaking Monday, Denis O’Brien, competition chairperson, said: “I congratulate the team from Tipperary Institute on their fantastic achievement. Their hard work and dedication demonstrates what this competition is all about - developing an understanding of business management and promoting early-stage entrepreneurship among third level students. This year’s participants displayed tremendous enthusiasm and I would like to thank all teams and their team coaches for their continued commitment to this competition.”
A record 1,400 students across 350 teams from Ireland’s 15 Institutes of Technology and the National College of Ireland took part in this year’s Newstalk 106-108 fm Student Enterprise Competition, which is in association with The Irish Times.
Commenting on the level of participation in this year’s competition, O’Brien added: “The record level of entries for this year’s competition highlights the motivation and commitment among third level students based in the various institutions. At a time when enterprise and innovation are crucial to the return to growth in this country, the determination of the participants to succeed is very evident. Since the competition was established in 2006, we have seen some outstanding business talent emerge and this year’s competition has been no exception.”
The winning team, along with their team coach, Fiona Browne, will travel to the Caribbean this summer, where they will shadow senior executives in Digicel Group. Digicel is the fastest growing mobile operator in the Caribbean and new entrant to the Central American market.
“Winning this competition is an absolute honour,” said Eimear Corbett, Team Captain from Tipperary Institute.“The experience we have gained throughout each stage of the competition has been invaluable. We’re extremely excited to be travelling to the Caribbean this summer and, look forward observing how a company as renowned as Digicel operates in the area.”
Participating Colleges:
1. Athlone Institute of Technology
2. Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
3. Institute of Technology Carlow
4. Cork Institute of Technology
5. Dublin Institute of Technology
6. Dundalk Institute of Technology
7. Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology
8. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
9. Letterkenny Institute of Technology
10. Limerick Institute of Technology
11. National College of Ireland
12. Institute of Technology Sligo
13. Institute of Technology Tallaght
14. Tipperary Institute
15. Institute of Technology Tralee
16. Waterford Institute of Technology
Also on Monday, Minister for Science Technology, Innovation and Natural Resources Conor Lenihan TD opened e-Skills week at a ‘Smart Futures’ seminar in Engineers Ireland, Clyde Road, Dublin 4. The event, a joint initiative between ICT Ireland, the IBEC group for the high tech sector, and STEPS to Engineering, Engineers Ireland's schools programme, supported by Fastrack to IT (FIT) and Discover Science and Engineering, highlighted the importance of e-Skills for students. Over 100 engineers and ICT professionals who volunteer as part of the 'ICT Champions' programme attended this event in preparation for visiting schools to encourage students to learn about careers in ICT.
Lenihan said: "As Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation I know that these skills are the ones that will bring employment to people and will make this country competitive and innovative in Europe and elsewhere."
Regina Moran, CEO of Fujitsu Ireland, shared her experience as an electronic engineering graduate: "ICT is at the heart of innovation and service delivery in pretty much every organisation in the world today: from hospitals to space exploration, government departments to cutting edge technology giants. A qualification in computing and technology presents you with an almost limitless number of industries to work in, and as you can see from my career path, starting out working on hardware does not preclude you from moving into the business end of industry. I have been a mainframe engineer, manager, director and currently CEO in Ireland for Fujitsu, the fourth largest IT company in the world."
Also speaking at the event, Paul Sweetman, director of ICT Ireland said: "A steady supply of high-class technology graduates is vital to keep and attract high quality employers in the country. By letting bright, dynamic engineers and technologists share their experiences, we hope to inspire students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)."
John Power, director general of Engineers Ireland said:"Engineers are central to the ICT sector, and it is vitally important that we increase the amount of graduates in this area. Campaigns such as the ICT Champions programme are critical to increasing the popularity of the sector among second level students and to building the smart economy."
Peter Davitt, CEO of FIT said: "Fewer and fewer young people decide to study technology at tertiary level in Europe, and we are delighted to support the European e-Skills week campaign in an effort to change this situation by helping students to get realistic views of IT studies and careers, meet inspiring role models and experiencing cutting-edge technology."
