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Dublin City University, daa and Fingal County Council partner on Sustainability in Aviation

09/11/2022:  A new collaboration will see academics and researchers in DCU work together with daa and Fingal County Council to develop practical and impactful solutions aimed at making aviation more sustainable and to reduce the environmental impact of the aviation sector on the Fingal region.

The partnership between the three organisations aims to advance research into sustainable aviation

The multi-year agreement will bring together the collective areas of expertise of all parties to develop innovative research projects that will provide societal, economic and environmental benefits.

DCU researchers will work with daa and Fingal County Council on areas of sustainability where real impact can be made, including:

  • Public transport connectivity to the airport from the Fingal area
  • Decarbonised energy sources

daa has set a range of corporate commitments in relation to environmental sustainability, including a goal to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. It is hoped that this research will contribute towards achieving, and potentially accelerating, this ambition.

Dublin City University is committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and has been ranked among the world’s leading universities for its impact in addressing inequality and reducing poverty.

Fingal County Council is working under its Climate Change Action Plan to improve energy efficiency, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make Fingal a climate-resilient region. The Council is also working with businesses under the Sustainable Fingal Initiative to encourage the adoption of sustainable business practices, and helping businesses become more resource efficient and promoting active travel measures to improve the health and wellbeing of citizens and to increase the attractiveness of the public realm.

Prof Daire Keogh, President of Dublin City University said:

“I warmly welcome this agreement with two of DCU’s key  regional stakeholders. By deepening our collaboration with daa and Fingal County Council, I am confident that we can make the Irish Aviation sector  more sustainable.”

Andrea Carroll, Head of Sustainability at the daa said:

“daa is delighted to be working with DCU and Fingal County Council on researching and identifying solutions which will help reduce the impact of the aviation sector on the Fingal region. Collaboration and innovation are key enablers of sustainability, and this partnership is a fantastic example of how organisations can work together to bring about changes that will benefit the communities in which we operate.

daa is excited about the long-term potential of this partnership and we look forward to working very closely with both Fingal County Council and DCU over the coming years.”

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Howard Mahony, said

“The aviation sector has a key role in Fingal, particularly given the position that Dublin Airport plays as the nation’s gateway for people and businesses coming to Ireland. Whilst it is important for us to support and assist the growth of economic opportunities that come as part of that, so too is it imperative that we look to minimise the impact aviation can have on the environment around us.

To do that we need to better understand what can be done to protect the natural heritage of not only Fingal, but that which we have across the country. This MOU is an encouraging step forward which will allow us to explore technologies and initiatives that can make aviation a greener and cleaner option, and which I hope will help us bring about real change.”

For further information about Aviation programmes at DCU Business School please see the following links:

MSc in Aviation Leadership

Graduate Certificate in Aviation Sustainability, Leadership and Innovation

Avation Management/ with Pilot Studies / with Air Traffic Controller Studies

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Six questions in six minutes for Elizabeth Munnelly in Wisconsin

Oct 14, 2022

Elizabeth Munnelly lives in Wisonsin, but got there via Dublin, London and Kilkenny. Read more about her journey from rural Mayo to the USA here.

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?

I grew up in a small rural village in North Mayo called Ballycastle which is home to an iconic landmark on the Wild Atlantic Way. I attended college in Dublin City University to study Accounting & Finance and stayed in Dublin for close to 10 years before moving to London, Kilkenny and now finally the US to work across a variety of different roles for a number of companies. I currently work for Kerry Group based in our North America HQ in Beloit , Wisconsin as VP of Financial Control, Tax, Treasury & FPA.

What made you choose to become a Chartered Accountant?

My family run a small restaurant in our local village of Ballycastle, and so I grew up in an environment of understanding how business needs to run in order to be profitable, to always be able to pay your bills, minimise your waste and pay off your debts. The hospitality industry was a great place to learn about business as the margins in food and hospitality are minimal.

Also, I always loved maths and business studies in school so Accountancy did feel like a natural fit. Once I joined the Accounting & Finance degree in DCU it was clear to me that the Chartered Accountant qualification was one I wanted to achieve and so I did this via the route of completing a training contract with Deloitte in Dublin where I worked in the Consumer Business division with a variety of different clients.

Can you tell us a little about how you got to where you are today – both the geographical location and your career path?

While completing my training contract with Deloitte I became very interested in industries in the FMCG space such as retail and food as they are such an integral part of day to day life and I found this very interesting. I would advise people to try and be involved in a business in which they have some interest personally as this really will help to cement your connection with the company you work for and also hopefully create a sense of belonging.

After my training contract I joined Tesco in their Ireland office based in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin and worked in the Commercial division where I learnt a huge amount about the way retail operates at its very fast pace! I subsequently held another role in Tesco based just outside London before moving home to Ireland again and moving to Glanbia to work in both the Corporate Division and the Sports Nutrition division. After that I joined Kerry, initially based in Naas holding an Operations finance role which enabled me to visit a number of factories across the globe. I then relocated to North America, first completing a Commercial Finance role as Finance Director Beverage before moving to my current role as VP of Financial Control, Tax, Treasury & FPA.
One of the key learnings I’ve had in my career to date is to make sure to own your career planning and development as nobody else will have as strong a drive to make it happen as you do.

What do you value most about your membership of the profession and how do you think those benefits can be used to support the economy and society?

The key value I see in the accountancy membership is the professional, educational and ethical standards it sets and maintains for all its members; organisations are assured of certain standards when an individual has this qualification and this is very important for the economy and society at a wider level.

As a member living in the USA, can you tell us about how your membership has been of value to you globally and what do you value about it now that you’re living overseas (and what would you like to see more of)?

As I’ve mainly been overseas during Covid times, I have not utilised the in-person events yet. However I do keep abreast of updates and trends as highlighted by various updates and online courses.

I think the key piece for me is having a ready resource to access services and other professionals when needed and I do see this continuing to be very important for me as my career continues.

And finally, if you weren’t an accountant, what do you think you would have been?

I think I would have worked in the hospitality or tourism sector!

Elizabeth Munnelly is VP of Finance at Kerry.

Article Source: please click here

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DCU Accounting Graduates Take Top Places in the Professional Accounting and Taxation Examinations

22nd August 2022:  We were delighted to host a prize-winning lunch for some graduates of both our BA in Accounting and Finance and our MSc in Accounting to celebrate their fantastic achievements in the Final Admitting Examinations (FAE) of Chartered Accountants Ireland and the Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) examinations of the Irish Tax Institute.

Caroline Kealey was placed first in the 2020 FAE examinations and was awarded the Ulster Society Diamond Jubilee Award. Caroline was also placed second in the 2021 CTA examinations.

Mary McCabe was placed first in the 2021 FAE examinations and was awarded the Ulster Society Diamond Jubilee Award.

Both Caroline and Mary were also awarded the Institute’s prestigious Gold Medal, an award only granted 25 times over the last 131 years.

We were also joined on the day by Daniel Maguire who was placed joint-eight in the 2021 FAE examinations.

Speaking about their achievements Programme Chair (MSc in Accounting) Dr Julie Bertz said:

“Lecturing gives me many wonderful occasions and one of my favourites is catching up with our alumni. Today, Professor Barbara Flood and I had a delightful afternoon marking Caroline, Mary and Daniel’s outstanding examinations successes. It was a pleasure to spend time with them. We know the future of accounting and tax is bright in their hands. These accountants “don’t count the days” they “make the days count” (Muhammad Ali) and all of us here in DCU Business School feel privileged to have been an integral part of their early accounting days.”

Congratulations to all!

Find out more about our BA in Accounting and Finance here.

Find out more about our MSc Accounting here.

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Dublin City University appoints Prof Dominic Elliott as Executive Dean of the Business School

03/08/2022:  Dublin City University has today announced the appointment of Professor Dominic Elliott as the new Executive Dean of DCU Business School.

In welcoming Professor Elliott to the role, Deputy President of DCU, Professor Anne Sinnott, said:

“Dominic has extensive leadership experience and we look forward to welcoming him to DCU in the New Year as Executive Dean of DCU Business School. He will be joining us from the University of the West of Scotland, where he has held the position of Dean of the School of Media, Culture, and Society.

On behalf of the University, I would also like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude to interim Deans, Professors Colm O’Gorman and Barbara Flood for their continuing support over the past two years.”

With more  than twenty years experience in the industry, combining research, publishing, and practice, Professor Elliott’s research interests lie in strategic management and, in particular, organisational learning from crisis and failure.

Prior to his role at the University of the West of Scotland, he spent 16 years at the University of Liverpool, where he served in a number of positions including Interim Dean of the  University’s School of the Arts and Interim Director of Liverpool’s Management School. He also previously lectured in Strategic Management at the University of Sheffield.

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DCU Business School Reaccredited with Small Business Charter Status

21/07/2022:  DCU Business School has been reaccredited with Small Business Charter status as announced today, July 21st, the only university in the Republic of Ireland to hold this prestigious accreditation.

This award is in recognition of the effective role DCU plays in supporting the development of small and medium sized businesses in Ireland and in promoting entrepreneurship among its students and within the Irish entrepreneurship eco-system.

DCU, Ireland’s University of Enterprise, was the first designated Small Business Charter university on the island of Ireland (2017) and remains the only University in the Republic of Ireland to have Charter status.

The Charter recognised DCU’s extensive and effective engagement with businesses and entrepreneurs via specialist enterprise-focused units including the Business School-based Centre for Executive and International Education (CEIE), the National Centre for Family (NCFB) and the Irish Institute of Digital Business (IIDB), DCU Alpha Innovation Campus, DCU Invent, and the DCU Student Entrepreneurial Hub.  Our activities to promote enterprise are supported by research, teaching and industry engagement that are delivered to the highest international standards as evidenced in the University’s and Business School’s international rankings.

The Assessment Panel were particularly impressed with the school’s continued contribution to the development of opportunities for SMEs in the local area, through a comprehensive range of learner focused, immersive initiatives such as the Go Global for Growth Programme and the Family Business Continuity workshops.  Feedback for these events was overwhelmingly positive, with participants commenting that they appreciated the opportunities for continued networking post-event.

Colm O’Gorman, Executive Dean of Dublin City University Business School said:

“DCU Business School is delighted that we have maintained our prestigious Small Business Charter accreditation from the Chartered Association of Business Schools. This accreditation recognises our close collaborations with ambitious Irish small and medium sized enterprises, with Irish family businesses, with the Irish entrepreneurial ecosystem, and our broader engagement with both Irish and multinational enterprises. Close industry connections underpin the school’s focus on ensuring that our graduates are work ready and that our internationally recognised research impacts on organisational successes and managerial practice.”

Anne Kiem OBE, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter and Chief Executive of the Chartered Association of Business Schools, said:

“We congratulate Dublin City University Business School for retaining its Small Business Charter Award. They have remained committed to supporting small businesses, student entrepreneurship and the local economy. The work that the school do to help businesses grow and to support students into entrepreneurship is having a demonstrable positive impact on businesses and entrepreneurs within its regional economy.”

To achieve the Small Business Charter award, universities undergo a rigorous assessment to determine the depth and effectiveness of their business engagement and business support which is overseen by the Chartered Association of Business Schools.

For more information about the award, visit http://smallbusinesscharter.org/about/

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‘Food has shaped my career path. This course is taking those skills to a whole new level’

KAROL KEANE IS a current student of the DCU MSc Insights and Innovation, a fully-funded Masters programme from the Bord Bia Talent Academy. The 18-month course includes a placement in a dynamic food or beverage company, and students receive a monthly bursary.

It was during a stint living abroad after finishing college that Karol Keane first found a love of food, and discovered the doors it could open for him:

“I moved to Belgium aged 20 or 21 with the intention of one day working for the UN or the EU. I was young and a bit idealistic, I suppose. I tried some internships but the path just wasn’t for me. Then I fell into a job in the kitchen of a really high-quality restaurant. The chef there got me hooked on food and the food industry.”

After relocating to Berlin soon afterwards, Karol was able to use his freshly-minted kitchen skills to secure work:

“I couldn’t speak any German, but I could cook. Food in itself is a language. I could go into a kitchen and show my skills that way. So I had lots of different roles while I was in Berlin, always in hospitality.”

Food continued to shape Karol’s path throughout his late twenties and thirties. After leaving Germany, he moved to Port au Prince, Haiti, to train chefs in a sustainable social development project led by an Irish expats.

With chef Christian Schmitt, one of Karol’s earliest employers

New challenges

By 2014, he was back in Ireland with a job at Airbnb, helping to create locally sourced daily menus for employees at the company’s Dublin office. “The food programme was really chef-driven, and there was a huge emphasis on zero waste production, reducing plastic and serving seasonal food. Those were some really happy years for me.”

Word of the DCU MSc Insights and Innovation programme came along at an opportune time for Karol.

Toward the end of his six and a half years at Airbnb, he had been “looking for a change” and wondering about the possibility of a role that “didn’t involve making food, but was still in the food industry… I wanted to help build a fairer food system for all.”

Visiting an organic farm in Galway.

Those wonderings about moving on from Airbnb quickly became a reality when Covid hit. “My team was part of the 25% of the company that was made redundant,” says Karol.

“It was summer 2020, mid-pandemic. I was thinking ‘What’s next for me?’ Then a fellow chef who I knew from the industry gave me a call and said he’d seen a course that could be ‘right up my street’.”

After doing some research into the Bord Bia-funded MSc, Karol could immediately see the potential for him. “Being stuck at home and out of work was difficult. I had been chatting to my wife about a few projects I could start into, but I just wasn’t super passionate. And I want to be passionate about the work I’m doing. The course seemed like a great opportunity to come out of the pandemic stronger, having learned something new.”

Brand new skills

With modules covering design thinking, personal leadership and global marketing among others, the course aims to foster innovation within Ireland’s food and beverage industry, by upskilling those with a proven interest in the field. “I could see elements of an MBA in there, elements of a design course,” says Karol.

“I knew I’d be learning skills that were all very transferable… and that would help me bring my vision for the future to the next level.”

Fast forward almost two years, and Karol is in the final hurdle of his thesis, with a job offer – at Positive Carbon, an “small and ambitious” Irish startup focusing on tackling food waste – lined up for after graduation. “It has been a hugely inspiring experience,” he says of his time on the 18-month MSc programme.

Two semesters of lectures, plus two work placements, gave Karol the opportunity to “learn from the best people in the industry… The standard of teaching was phenomenal.”

The coursework was challenging, “but I soon learned that you get out of this course what you put in. I spent a lot of time studying, learning a whole new language of business and innovation. And I can really see that standing to me now when I talk to people from outside of the course about my plans for the future.”

Like-minded people

But the real highlight of his time at DCU for Karol has been the chance to build a network of like-minded people, who, like him, are passionate about what lies ahead for Ireland’s food and beverage industry.

“I’d love to start a company with a load of them!” he says of his fellow classmates. “We had a really diverse and talented group who had all come from one food background or another. Each person brought so much to the course, and I felt motivated to do and be better because of them.”

Courses like the Msc Insights and Innovation are vital, as Ireland looks ahead to a more sustainable future, says Karol.

“I can see huge opportunities for those within Ireland’s food industry to be leaders in sustainability. This course is training people to keep Ireland at the forefront of innovation, to really lead that charge.”

Do you have a demonstrable passion for food and want a career driven by innovation and entrepreneurship? Get a fully-funded Masters qualification and a placement in a dynamic food or beverage company with the DCU MSc Insights and Innovation, as part of the Bord Bia Talent Academy.

Deadline for applications is 29th April 2022.

This article was first published by thejournal.ie on March 30th 2022.

 

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For Brian Adeleye, DCU’s MSc Management (Business) was the perfect stepping stone from a law degree to a whole new industry

‘I didn’t know where I wanted to go. The MSc opened my mind to new things’

DCU Business School’s MSc Management (Business) is designed for people without a business or management undergrad who are ready to take the leap to a new industry or progress their career in the long term. As well as covering the core business disciplines, students complete an applied project with a client company and develop managerial skills as part of the unique Next Generation Management programme.

After graduating with a law degree in his home country of Belgium in 2016, Brian Adeleye wasn’t sure what his next steps should be. He used the MSc at DCU Business School as a bridge to the world of tech and business management, and is currently an Account Director at LinkedIn’s Dublin office. Here, he shares his experience.

I kind of studied everything at secondary school: science, business, even Latin. I was fairly good at most subjects. My parents didn’t push me to make any one choice. They said, ‘You decide for yourself.’ But of course at that age you’re not sure what you want to do or be.

I figured that law would suit how my brain works. The reasoning, the cautious nature, the aspects of avoiding and resolving conflict… those were all things I could identify with.

But the big issue with a degree in law, at least for me, is that the profession is very set in its ways. I wanted to bring my skills and learnings to something else once I graduated, but I couldn’t see any opportunities for me outside of the legal profession.

Yes, I could be a solicitor, or a barrister, but I had an entrepreneurial mindset and a passion for starting new projects and I wanted to explore those things. I did some thinking and spoke to a few different people, and decided that a Masters in business could help get me where I wanted to go.

Searching for the perfect course

Starting out, my first question was ‘Which courses can I actually apply for?’ A lot of Masters programmes require a business undergrad and obviously I didn’t have that. It was also really important to me to find a course that covered the core concepts of business, without being so broad that I’d feel I was doing an undergrad all over again. The MSc at DCU felt like the right fit.

Ireland as a country appealed to me – I speak English and had spent some time living in the US, so I didn’t feel it would be too tough of a transition from life in Belgium. Also, I thought that studying here could be a good stepping stone to some of the tech companies I had my eye on. (My instincts were right, as it turns out.)

A lot of people would say the workload is the most challenging aspect of a programme like the MSc. I was already pretty used to high workloads from my undergrad, so for me the challenge was more unexpected: I had to learn a whole new way of looking at things.

 

Broadening my horizons

In the legal world, your aim is to be as cautious and analytical as possible. You’re trying to restrict your thinking. In business, it’s the opposite, because you’re always trying to broaden your view. I had a few professors say to me, ‘Brian, you’re being a bit safe, try to open things up a bit.’

It took me the whole of the first semester to really ‘get it’. I had to work hard to transition my way of thinking, but once I did, I started to get a much clearer sense of how the course could help me to move forward in my career.

The MSc changed so much about how I look at things. It even made me see new possibilities for the work I could have done with my law degree – it’s not just about becoming a solicitor or a barrister. I could have taken that degree and become an entrepreneur, I could have worked in contract renewal, or in negotiation.

Mix of backgrounds

The variety of backgrounds your classmates are coming from is a huge advantage of the MSc, and it’s something you’re really encouraged to leverage. We had people coming from nursing, from graphic design, from so many industries, which meant everyone brought their own expertise.

I’d say to anyone doing this course to dive in to those connections. The way the programme is structured almost makes it mandatory to build relationships with your fellow students. I think a lot of people tend to associate being determined with being isolated, but you can want to succeed and also be open to connection. Many of the people that I studied with are still great friends who I’d chat to day in, day out.

Looking to the future

Coming up to graduation in 2017, I didn’t have a clear path forward set out, but I knew where I wanted to get to eventually: I did, and still do, want to become an entrepreneur myself someday.

So my aim to get me there is to work in different facets of business and learn as much as I can. It might take me 10 or 20 years to get to the point of leading my own business but when I get there, I’ll have developed so many different skills.

After graduation, I started as a contractor at Twitter’s Dublin office, before moving to LinkedIn. I’ve worked my way through the ranks there and went from sales to account management to my current role as Account Director. I love the role, and even the Irish weather has grown on me at this stage!

Even beyond applying for jobs, there are lots of other small ways the coursework has helped me in my daily work. I can have a conversation with a business client or executive about invoicing or tax, and I’ll know where they’re coming from. I have a certain level of comfort around business topics that definitely wouldn’t be there otherwise.

Overall, I don’t think I could have put all the various pieces together to start working toward my end goal without doing the MSc. It opened my mind in so many ways.

Want to bring your skills to the next level? DCU Business School’s MSc in Management (Business) is designed for people without a business or management undergrad who are ready to take the leap to a new industry. Join students on an MSc programme that’s ranked in the world’s top 90 Masters in Management courses by the Financial Times. Applications are open now. Find out more here.

This article was first published in thejournal.ie on Jul 29th 2021

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Calling ambitious innovators who want to shape the future of the Irish food and drink industry

Bord Bia and DCU Business School open applications for aspiring innovators to join industry-leading programme

Bord Bia and DCU Business School have opened applications for the next intake of their MSc Insights and Innovation programme which aims to enhance the innovation capabilities within the Irish food, drink and horticultural sector and to fill the existing skills gap in the industry of insight-led innovation management.  The duration of the programme is 15 months full-time (Sept, 2022 to Dec, 2023).

The programme is currently seeking applications from individuals with a demonstrable passion for innovation and a genuine ambition to develop a career within Ireland’s largest indigenous industry.  Irish food and drinks companies with an interest in accelerating new product development can also benefit from having a programme participant join their team for the duration of the course.

This fully funded scholarship programme will combine block-release academic learning with a 12 month industry placement, allowing participants to undertake hands-on innovation projects with leading Irish and international food and drink organisations. 

Michael Murphy, Bord Bia’s Organisation & Industry Talent Director said “The Talent Academy’s partnership with DCU Business School allows us to attract and develop world-class talent in the area of innovation and design thinking which are essential to maintaining our competitive edge on the international stage. The food and drink industry is not just one of Ireland’s biggest employers; it is our biggest indigenous industry and it is an integral part of our economy and society. 

The MSc Insights and Innovation complements our existing suite of Talent Academy programmes which focus on marketing, sustainability and international business and will enable us to expand the industry’s strategic capabilities as we work towards our ambitious growth targets.”

Dr Peter Robbins, Assistant Professor Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Dublin City University said: “We need to professionalise the industry’s approach to insight-led innovation both in terms of NPD and marketing. Shifting consumer patterns and habits alongside emerging technologies and food science, coupled with enterprising companies and individuals make this industry a hotbed of innovation.  The critical issue is, therefore, to ensure that the innovation coming to market is based on insight and creates and captures value.  

To do that requires a professional approach to innovation management and that’s precisely where this programme comes in.  Our vision for this programme is to forge the next generation of world-class innovators to join the food, horticultural and beverage sectors where they will use their creativity, talent and skill to drive sustainable, scalable, profitable and insight-led growth for their host companies and for their industry.”

Application Process

The programme is currently seeking applications from individuals with a passion for innovation and an ambition to develop a career within the Irish food, drink and horticulture industry.  Supported by Bord Bia and industry, successful participants will receive a full scholarship and a tax-free bursary of €28,000 per annum.

Individuals interested in applying can find out more information here. The closing date for applications is April 29th 2022 and the programme will start in September 2022.

More information on Bord Bia can be found at www.bordbia.ie

About the Bord Bia Talent Academy

Bord Bia’s Talent Academy is a unique partnership between Bord Bia and some of Ireland’s most prestigious universities, with participants currently taking part in five distinct programmes located in 15 markets around the world. The Talent Academy offers early to mid-career participants the opportunity to achieve a Master’s level qualification while gaining Irish and international work experience.

The Talent Academy offers 5 separate programmes:

  • MSc. Insights and Innovation
  • MSc. Supply Chain & Account Management
  • MSc. International Business
  • MSc. Marketing Practice (Bord Bia Marketing Fellowship)
  • MSc. Business Sustainability (Origin Green Ambassadors)
Upcoming Webinar

To find out more join us for an exciting webinar showcasing lightning talk presentations from the hottest new talent from the exemplary Bord Bia DCU MSc Insights & Innovation programme. 

Date: Wednesday, 2nd March 2022

Time: 14:00 to 16:00

Register here: https://business.dcu.ie/event/building-innovation-capacity-webinar-insights-from-the-field/

We will also be providing an overview of the application and host company partnership processes for the next programme starting in September 2022.

 

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IIDB collaborates with Wexford Co Council in launch of AI technology to explore smart tourism and public engagement

20/12/2021:  Wexford County Council in collaboration with the Irish Institute of Digital Business (IIDB) at Dublin City University is using Hello Lamp Post to bring state of the art interactive AI technology to various sites across Gorey, encouraging the public to engage with objects in local streets in an innovative and playful way while exploring how technology can change how the public think about and interact with the public realm in Gorey.

The new technology will enable members of the public to interact with objects in their everyday surroundings – all through text messaging on their phones. By scanning a QR code on a public object such as a lamp post or bench, members of the public will be able to engage in a friendly two-way conversation via text, enabling real-time answers to questions and information on Gorey town’s rich variety of cultural sites and landmarks.

Starting at Market House, people will be able to ‘chat’ with objects along the stretch which finishes at Ashdown Park including Gorey Station and Civic Centre. With an SMS enabled phone, they can say ‘Hello’ – sending a text to a particular object, for example, ‘Hello Bench’ and have fun conversations with each object. The public will also be asked to share insights about their experience and vision for the future of the area on an ongoing basis, which will be anonymously fed directly to the Irish Institute of Digital Business at DCU and Wexford County Council.

Hearing from the public about what they’d like to see more of in Gorey forms part of the long-term strategy in this rural town to see it grow into a bigger and better town for future generations. With the population continuing to grow and more businesses finding their home in Gorey, listening to those who live in, work in and visit the area is key to its future expansion and growth.

Gorey is a former IE Domain Registry ‘Digital Town’ winner and was selected for its achievements in cultivating a truly digital environment in the town, and for its ongoing successes in fully embracing digital for its residents and for local business. With innovation, creativity and technology at the core of Gorey’s identity, Hello Lamp Post makes a welcome addition, providing an exciting and accessible way of obtaining real-time insights from a variety of people in the area, whilst sharing important local information.

This pilot project is part of a wider “Town of Things” pilot project funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development under the Digital Innovation Programme 2021. In addition to Hello Lamp Post, connected sensors will also be placed along Gorey Main Street to measure air quality and noise throughout the day as well as the amount of vehicles and pedestrian traffic passing through the street.  Wexford County Council and the Irish Institute of Digital Business at DCU will be undertaking a series of research and outreach projects to support the project including student workshops, hackathons and other promotional events.

All those living in the area and visiting are encouraged to keep their eyes open for QR codes popping up around the town from 17th of December and to engage in a playful exchange or informative chat about the places we visit most. Hello Lamp Post can’t wait to hear from you!

Wexford County Council is delighted to collaborate with the Irish Institute of Digital Business at DCU on this exciting “Town of Things” project. The Digital Innovation Project funding was awarded under the “Innovation” category which included trialling of entirely new technologies or innovative uses of existing technologies. Hello Lamp post will provide an exciting and accessible way of communicating with the people in the area, whilst also sharing important local information to people. It is hoped that this may lead onto to additional sources of funding under the Scaling-up stream for using Smart technologies to implement digital transformation of our towns.

“The rollout of Hello Lamp Post in Gorey is the first in a series of pilot activities in a collaboration between Wexford County Council and IIDB that explores how digital technologies can support the digital transformation of rural towns,” said Theo Lynn, Professor of Digital Business at DCU Business School. “We believe that digital technologies, like Hello Lamp Post, can not only provide residents of Gorey and visitors with useful information but will help Wexford County Council optimise the delivery of public services, and catalyse innovation in Wexford. As the wider Town of Things project unfolds over the coming months, we hope Gorey will be a lighthouse for other rural towns seeking to make greater use of digital technologies to benefit their communities.”

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Conclusion of the 2021 European Aviation Conference offers increased clarity on difficult climate challenges for aviation

The 2021 European Aviation Conference has concluded after detailed and intensive discussions,  involving some 200 delegates and more than twenty presenters, of actions needed this decade  for aviation to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Topics considered included the ways in which  aviation affects climate change, the scope for technologies to lessen emissions, the type of  policies & instruments to incentivise decarbonisation and finally the political-economy issue of  how to bring about the changes needed. 

Conference Chair, Professor Hans-Martin Niemeier, said he was pleased with the attendance and  the response to the conference sessions, which were hosted online by Dublin City University. 

“Our feedback to date is that the conference has been a great success, in terms of the number of  presentations, the clarification of what the issues really are, and the generation of frank and  productive discussions between industry participants, policy-makers and researchers”.  

In his keynote presentation, Sir Dieter Helm (Oxford University) warned about creating incentives  that only displace emissions (‘carbon leakage’) but do not reduce them. He argued that general  decarbonisation will be expensive and that the ordinary consumer such as airline passengers will  in the end bear that cost. Given these costs, policy should be set on an economy-wide and global  level rather than for each single sector which would make decarbonisation even more expensive. 

Henrik Hololei, (EU Director General, Transport and Mobility), argued that sustainable aviation  fuels, on a sufficient scale, could provide the bulk of the power required by aviation while  significantly reducing harmful emissions.  

In his keynote address, Brian Pearce (former Chief Economist, IATA) emphasized that the stock  of long-lived emissions from aviation, rather than the flow, is the problem to be addressed and  that economic analysis based on marginal effects may be ill-suited to address climate change  issues in aviation. He also highlighted the need for a meaningful carbon price.  

Major themes emerging in the conference discussions included the excessively low price  currently being attached to carbon, which will fail to create the necessary incentives to  decarbonize. Other themes included the low likelihood of hydrogen or electric propulsion  technologies helping aviation in the medium term, and a consequent reliance on sustainable  aviation fuels (SAFs), carbon taxation, airframe design, and operational (e.g. ATM) initiatives as the principal means of lowering aviation emissions during the next decade. Despite hope that  SAFs and synthetic fuels can deliver real climate benefits, the conference also heard that there  are significant challenges in the supply of biomass and green electricity required for their  production. Prof Ian Poll (Cranfield University) Prof Ulrich Schumann (German Aerospace  Center) and Dr. Sebastian Eastham (MIT) demanded that action must be taken immediately to  reduce the non-carbon emissions. While policy still claims that the effects of non-carbon emission  are too uncertain to allow for any policy measurers Professors Poll and Schumann argued that  the science of contrails is clear and well understood and that non-carbon emissions, which are as  important as carbon emissions can be reduced at a relatively lower cost.  

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Announcing EAC 2022: Nov 30 & Dec 1, Heilbronn, Germany 

Responding to the legacy of Covid-19: Aviation ownership, regulation and industry structure. 

Please join us for EAC 2022 in Heilbronn where we will consider the appropriate post-Covid  actions and policy frameworks to meet the challenges of the evolving aviation landscape in the  wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has reversed decades of progress towards a  more liberal aviation market, jeopardized improvements in industry efficiency, and led to large 

scale state aid, restrictions on international air travel, and added new procedural health checks  for aviation. Consequently, the 2022 conference will focus on the following crucial questions: 

  • Could the pandemic prompt a review of outdated ownership policies in aviation?
  • How should the charges of aviation service providers be set now, and how if at all  should industry losses from COVID-19 be treated? 
  • What is the best response to the distortions in airline competition due to state aid? 

As at all previous conferences, the goal of EAC 2022 is to bring together theory and practice,  academics and practitioners, in order to develop a practical and deliverable path to the  restoration of a healthy and stable air transport industry. 

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Look for more programme and registration information for EAC 2022 at:  www.eac-conference.com