Cover story: Success in the cloud
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010HP Managing Director Martin Murphy sees cloud computing as “pivotal” in improving public services. He shares his thoughts on delivering IT services, education and the economy with Owen McQuade. “One of the greatest strengths of HP in Ireland is that we are an all-Ireland operation,” says Murphy. The company has five main divisions on the island: a sales and services division, which is the largest provider of IT sales and services in the Irish market, an international multi-lingual customer service centre, an international financial services division, a manufacturing plant with...[full story]
Cover story: Harnessing the power of open innovation
Wednesday, October 6th, 2010Innovation is vital to the competiveness of the Northern Ireland economy. Owen McQuade met with PA Consulting’s Charlie Henderson to discuss how local organisations can harness ‘open innovation’ in these difficult times. Charlie Henderson believes that the current high degree of uncertainty around the economy – “are we in recovery or are we in a double-dip?” – is delaying important investment decisions and that this is hurting Northern Ireland’s competitiveness. “We must avoid competing in commodity marketplaces where product and service are produced more cheaply...[full story]
Cover story: Esmond Birnie – a clean sheet for public spending
Monday, September 6th, 2010PwC’s Chief Economist, Dr Esmond Birnie, met with Owen McQuade to discuss the prospects for the local economy and what the Executive should do now. Hard questions must be asked about the purpose of government and any new jobs must create wealth. Looking at the short-term prospects for the local economy, Esmond Birnie sees the province’s economic plight as “the classic glass; half-full or half-empty”. The recovery is looking mixed but he does not see this as indicating a double-dip recession. “This year as a whole will see positive growth but it will be lacklustre,” Birnie...[full story]
Cover story: Colleges look to the future
Friday, July 9th, 2010Leading representatives from Northern Ireland’s six colleges discuss the future of further and higher education, and highlight its importance to economic development. The College STEM Initiative (CSI) is the colleges’ main initiative to encourage learners into careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and building those skills is their main priority. What will be the consequences for the colleges after the UK Budget? Brian Doran We have to see the outworking of the Budget and how it translates into decisions made by the Executive here. For colleges it will be down...[full story]
