Speakers

Paul Rellis – MD, Microsoft Ireland

Paul Rellis was appointed Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland in December 2007. As MD he is responsible for Microsoft Corporation’s business in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and also represents Microsoft on all strategic policy and communications issues in Ireland.

Prior to being appointed MD, Paul was the Managing Director for Microsoft’s European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Operations Centre, based in Sandyford, Co. Dublin.  His role included overseeing Microsoft’s channel partners, supply chain, finance and order management across the region.  The EMEA Operations Center services 131 countries across five timezones.  Previously, he held the position of Finance Director for Microsoft Operations in EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

He joined Microsoft in January 2000 from The Coca-Cola Company, where he held a variety of senior positions in Finance, Marketing and Operations in both the Coca-Cola HQ in Atlanta and in Germany.

Paul was President of the American Chamber of Commerce in 2008 and continues to be a board member of the organisation. He is also a member of the Governing Body of IBEC, is a member of the Board of the IMI and of the National Digital Research Centre.

Sarah Newman – Dragons Den

Sarah moved to Ireland in 1994 and set up Needahotel.com. Starting with zero funding, Needahotel.com sold hotel accommodation wholesale to travel agents and tour operators in Ireland at heavily discounted prices.

The big turnaround for needahotel.com came when their website was launched, this combined with partnerships with Ryanair and Aer Lingus brought annual turnover from €1 million to €100 million.

The eventual sale of needahotel.com brought Sarah notoriety for being one of the most successful business women in Ireland and lead to her being asked to be the only Irish female Dragon. RTE’s Dragon’s Den has just been commissioned for a second series and Sarah is hoping to find a suitable investment.

Together with her partner, former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey she also runs a successful Business – DJ Carey Enterprises which will soon launch its website www.djdirect.com and Sarah hopes to duplicate the success she had in Needahotel.com

She has just finished her latest project – a chalet in Zermatt, Switzerland, named after her daughter Grace – www.chaletgrace.com. The chalet is available for rent in the winter for the ski season, and she is planning a mind, body and soul experience in the summer. This was a passion of Sarah’s one which she plans to extend into Ireland and provide Luxury rental properties for the ultimate getaway

David Blumenstein – Founder and Managing Partner, The Hatchery

David Blumenstein has made his mark as a technology strategist with broad skills across diverse technology platforms.  Mr. Blumenstein brings his unparalleled network of technology leaders to The Hatchery, as well as his extensive experience in strategic and tactical deployment of new technologies focused on improving business.

David is both a Founder and Managing Partner of The Hatchery -  a venture collaboration and financial advisory firm working with emerging and established entities in the technology, renewable energy and social enterprise sectors. At its inception The Hatchery focused on the New York City Metropolitan area, and in a matter of months the United States in its entirely and as of this year its gone international reaching out and working with entities in APAC, EMEA and the Americas.

Before founding The Hatchery, Mr. Blumenstein was the Director of Tekworks, from 2006-07, where he specialized in talent management and recruitment across the technology, financial, legal, and internet sectors.  From 2004-05, Mr. Blumenstein authored and defined specifications for the planned selection and purchase of a new campus-wide telecommunications system as a Telecommunications Consultant for City College, City University of New York.

As the Chief Technology Officer for Euro RSCG MVBMS from 1999-2004, David played an integral role in all matters of compliance on IT, security, telecommunications, and purchasing.  He was responsible for the conceptualization and implementation of worldwide projects for over 10,000 users and introduced many solutions that significantly reduced annual budgets by increasing efficiency within the organization.

At Teknowledge Industries, David was the VP, Marketing, Financials, Network Security, Product Development from 1997-99 and was responsible for both traditional and online marketing and publicity for the company.

Martin Curley – Global Director of IT Innovation at Intel Corporation

Dr. Martin Curley is the recently appointed Director of Intel Labs Europe whose mission is to advance Intel research and innovation in Europe while partnering to enable European competitiveness. Martin is also Senior Principal Engineer and Global Director of IT Innovation at Intel Corporation managing a network of IT Innovation centres catalyzing worldwide IT Innovation. Previously Martin has held a number of senior IT Management positions for Intel and held management and research positions at General Electric and Philips. Martin has a degree in Electronic Engineering, a Masters in Business Studies from University College Dublin, Ireland, a PhD in Information Systems from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and has been a visiting scholar at MIT.

Martin is author of “Managing Information Technology for Business Value” published by Intel Press, January 04, co-author of “Managing IT Innovation for Business Value” published in 2007 by Intel Press and co-author of “Knowledge Driven Entrepreneurship” to be published by Springer in Winter 2009.

Martin is Professor of Technology and Business Innovation at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and co-Director of the Innovation Value Institute, helping lead a unique industry-academic open innovation consortium to advance IT management and innovation. Martin is a fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland and the British Computer Society. He is a frequent international keynote speaker on Innovation and Technology.

Jean-Marc Soustre – Director of Multimedia at ERICSSON, Dublin
Non-Executive Director at the National Digital Research Centre, Dublin

Jean-Marc Soustre is the Director of Multimedia with LM Ericsson in Ireland. He is a recognized leader within the media/broadcast industry, and most recently held the position of Director of Network & Services at the European Broadcasting Union/Eurovision, heading up the largest worldwide network of the broadcast industry.

Ericsson, as a market leader in telecoms has a unique position in the delivery of strategic solutions to broadcasters and telecommunication operators globally.

One of Soustre’ responsibilities is to establish a best in class strategic Competence Centre in Ireland in Media and Content within the Ericsson Global Family.

Mid-2009 Soustre has been appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Irish National Digital Research Centre (www.ndrc.ie ).

Soustre leverages his intimate knowledge of the media & broadcast industry with focus on business development, operations and strategy, as well as his ability to deal in politically complex environment. He has a proven track record in successfully formulating clear strategies and objectives and to translate them into realistic initiatives and go-to-market propositions to drive media development forward.

Prior to joining Ericsson, Soustre served for five years the European Broadcasting Union (over 420 TV channels and 900 radio channels, Members’ income over €36 billions). During this high-profile engagement with the EBU the network became global and profitable. Soustre held several executive and managerial positions in the telecommunications industry throughout Europe, notably for a satellite operator, a network operator and a consulting firm.

Pat Byrne – HPSU Section Manager Enterprise Ireland

Pat Byrne works with Enterprise Ireland and is responsible for supporting the development of early stage Irish software firms in the Telecommunications, Digital Media and eLearning technologies. He has specific responsibility for supporting those firms who can be classified as “High Potential Start Ups” – companies who have the potential to develop internationally and grow at an accelerated pace due to a combination of technological, managerial or other competitive advantage.

Pat has spent almost twenty years in the field of industrial development.  He joined IDA Ireland as a financial analyst and worked in several roles including spending eleven years based in the United States where he primarily was responsible for attracting U.S. Lifesciences operations to locate operations in Ireland.

Pat has a B. Comm from UCD.  He received a Diploma in Advanced Management UCD Smurfit Graduate School in 2000 and an MBA in 2001 also from the Smurfit School.

Joan Mulvihill – CEO, Irish Internet Association

Joan Mulvihill has worked across a range of industry sectors; retail, manufacturing and professional services in London, Amsterdam and Dublin.  Over the past decade, Joan has focused her career on consulting and supporting entrepreneurs in all aspects of business change. In her new role as CEO of the Irish Internet Association, Joan brings an extensive knowledge of the Irish SME sector as well as her experience at the forefront of transitioning a major UK retailer from the high street to an online proposition.

Jag Rai – Sales Director, Eutelsat UK

Jag Rai has been Sales Director for  Eutelsat UK  Limited since 2007.  During this  time he has worked with a number of major media and broadcasting organisations in the UK including  the BBC, Discovery Europe, SISlive, Turf TV and the AP helping them design systems for news contribution and content distribution both for occasional use and permanent broadcast content distribution across the UK and Ireland and Europe.

Previously, Jag worked in sales and marketing   for Inmarsat, a major mobile satellite company.  He started his career with BT as an engineer in the GSM field.

Ben Hurley, CEO, NDRC

As CEO of NDRC, Ben Hurley leads an independent enterprise dedicated to accelerating research from idea to income.  NDRC’s collaborative approach with technology and business innovators drives greater collective success while cultivating bolder attitudes towards invention and investment.

A serial entrepreneur with leadership positions spanning both commercial and technical responsibilities, Ben brings over 20 years experience in the ICT sector to his role as NDRC CEO. Having worked in innovative enterprises from start-up to varying stages of maturity and exit, Ben’s focus has always been on development and application of research-driven innovations addressing market need. With a career to date spanning research, industry lab management, innovation management, software engineering, product marketing, business development and company leadership, Ben provides NDRC with the leadership to establish, execute and exploit the collaborative innovation across NDRC’s portfolio.

Ben is a member of the board of the NDRC, and Chairs the centre’s Strategic Review Committee, which is charged with recommending projects for investment by the board.  Ben has previously served as a member of the boards of several technology companies, and served as Chairman of the Wireless Sensor Network Industry Group for several years from its foundation.  Ben is a graduate of both Trinity College, Dublin (BA Comp Sci, MSc Comp Sci) and UCD (MBA).

David Harvey – David Harvey is the founder and Chief Executive of City Channel

David Harvey is the founder and Chief Executive of City Channel, the local channel company which broadcasts in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Waterford. City Channel continues to and new versions of the service are planned

City Channel was launched in October 2005, with a modest investment of €600,000, as a niche television station focusing primarily on providing information and entertainment of specific interest to the Greater Dublin Area. Since then, the company has continued to expand its operations through the NTL digital platform on cable, digital and MMDS.

Harvey is no stranger to media. A former radio and television producer and presenter at Radio Nova, RTÉ Radio One, Century Radio and RTÉ’s Crimeline, he is also a founding shareholder in Star Broadcasting, the company that owns and manages Dublin’s Country Mix 106.8FM. He is Chairman of IADT Dun Laoghaire, Chairman of the national St Patricks Day Festival and a Director of The National Library of Ireland.

Jeremy Biggerstaff – Managing Director, UTV New Media

Jeremy Biggerstaff has been Managing Director, UTV New Media since 2007 having joined UTV 3 years earlier.

Jeremy is responsible for driving New Media growth and is responsible for UTV Internet, Tibus and its new content portals UTV Drive and Recruit NI.

With more than 15 years Internet, IT and telecoms experience, Jeremy was previously Managing Director of Clarity Telecom, and formerly Sales Director with Energis Ireland.

Ivan O’Dwyer – IBM Venture Capital Group

Ivan O’Dwyer works for the IBM Venture Capital Group in Europe working with European Venture Capital Firms to bring the best technologies and companies from their portfolios to the attention of the right business within IBM Corporation.

He works across IBM’s Communications Sector Industry Group which is responsible for IBM Solutions in Telco , Energy & Utilities , and Media & Entertainment Industries. He has a special interest in the potential of unstructured and structured data analytics to create value in these industries.

Mike Byrne – Commissioner, Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) – Ireland

Mike Byrne is a Commissioner with ComReg, the statutory body responsible for the regulation of the communications sector (telecommunications, radiocommunications and broadcasting transmission) and the postal sector.

As independent sectoral regulator of Ireland’s €5.5 billion communications sector, ComReg’s role is to promote competition, support innovation and to protect and inform consumers and end-users of telecommunications and postal services in Ireland. Mike currently leads ComReg’s work in promoting innovation and competition in the electronic communications sector – particularly in use of Radio Spectrum and next generation, IP based, infrastructure.

Appointed as member of the Commission in 2004, Mike held the Chair of ComReg in 2007. Mike is the elected Vice-Chair of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RPSG) for 2010 and has held the role of chairman of its Working Group on the Digital Dividend since 2008. Prior to joining ComReg, Mike was a Director of Vision Consulting, the international technology consulting firm.

Mike holds a Masters of Science (Management Practice) Degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and a Bachelors of Science Degree from University College, Galway. He has also completed post-graduate executive education programmes at University College, Cork and Stanford University, USA.

Ezra Butler – Principal, Ezra Butler Strategy & Creativity

Ezra Butler is the principal at Ezra Butler Strategy & Creativity, a Tel Aviv-based boutique firm that focuses on brainstorming creative solutions using a combination of technological and social science based tools. Currently, Ezra advises companies in Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States. He helps clients see the opportunity for strategic connections between diverse industries and technologies.

Ezra studied Computer Science at Yeshiva University in New York, and History of Religion at Bar Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. He supplemented both degrees with studies in sociology, anthropology and languages, both dead and living. Subsequent to leaving academia, he was the sales director for Wideye Industries, a multinational trading company based in both New York and Yiwu, China. Additionally, Ezra functioned as the technical director at Orpan Group, a creative production company in Tel Aviv.

As a blogger and vlogger, Ezra has been a correspondent for Startup Lucky, TechAviv, and 1938Media. He has also acted as a Seedcamp mentor in both Paris and London.

Please do check back later as more interesting speakers are being added all the time.