South East Technological University (WIT)
South East Technological University (WIT) is a university-level institution in South-East Ireland with over 10,000 students and 1,000 staff. It is one of the largest Institutes of Technology (IoT) in Ireland. Established as a Regional Technical College (RTC) in 1970, it was the first RTC to be awarded IoT status in 1998. SETU Waterford confers its own awards at all levels from Higher Certificate to PhD, subject to standards set and monitored by the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC) which was established by the Government in June 2001, under the Qualifications (Education and Training) Act.
SETU Waterford has the highest number of students within the IoT sector, outside of Dublin, participating at ordinary degree, Masters, PhD, post-doctoral research and executive levels. The Institute also offers unique post-doctoral programmes in a number of specialist areas. The range of academic programmes is exceptionally extensive covering Humanities, Health and Nursing, Science and Informatics, Engineering and Architecture, Business and Education (see www.wit.ie).
The School of Business in WIT
The School of Business in SETU Waterford is a community of over 85 faculty members and almost 1,500 students. It is one of Ireland’s largest integrated Business Schools providing a unique learning community priding itself on its relationship with its students. The School incorporates undergraduate, postgraduate, executive and entrepreneurial education, with links to business, the professions, and international education. The School’s core theme is developing thinking professionals, fit for business and fit for life.
The School ensures that all its students receive training in all professional skills, knowledge and competencies necessary to succeed in their chosen fields. The incorporation of professional practices in its learning programmes affords students the opportunity to apply their learning in challenging real-world business environments, enhancing their ability to solve problems and develop their leadership potential (see www.wit.ie/schools/business).
The Centre for Enterprise Development and Regional Economy (CEDRE)
The Centre for Enterprise Development and Regional Economy (CEDRE) has an excellent international reputation for its expertise and knowledge in nurturing the development of entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial regions and regional innovation systems. The Centre, founded in 2004, is part of the Department of Management & Organisation within the School of Business in Waterford Institute of Technology. Originally named the Centre for Entrepreneurship as its main focus was solely on entrepreneurship research and education at undergraduate, postgraduate and executive levels, its flagship education programmes were the South East Enterprise Platform Programme (SEEPP) and the Post Graduate Diploma in Business in Enterprise Development.
As the Centre’s researchers pursued more in depth investigation and analysis into the design, development and implementation of local, regional and national enterprise and innovation policies, it was renamed CEDRE in 2008. Researchers in, and/or associated with, the Centre have provided inputs to innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship education policies at regional and national levels in Ireland and other European countries (see www.cedre.ie).
INTRE (Ireland's Network for Teachers and Researchers in Entrepreneurship)
INTRE (Ireland's Network for Teachers and Researchers in Entrepreneurship) was established in 2004 to support entrepreneurship teaching, research and dissemination on the island of Ireland. One of the primary ambitions of the network is to improve the quantity and quality of entrepreneurship research in Ireland and to engender a strong international reputation in this arena. It has been proven within the network on many occasions that this goal can best be achieved through collaboration rather than in isolation. INTRE is currently undergoing a process of regeneration which is leading to many new and exciting opportunities which are challenging existing frontiers of entrepreneurship teaching and research for INTRE members.
Salesforce
Salesforce is the world’s number 1 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. Their cloud-based applications for sales, service, marketing, and more don’t require IT experts to set up or manage but to simply log in and start connecting to customers in a whole new way. Salesforce’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) service is broken down into several broad categories: Commerce Cloud, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Data Cloud (including Jigsaw), Marketing Cloud, Community Cloud (including Chatter), Analytics Cloud, App Cloud, and IoT with over 100,000 customers. Salesforce was ranked first in Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" in 2018. www.salesforce.com
Event Sponsors
Southern Regional Assembly (SRA)
The Assembly operates through its Elected Members and in relation to overseeing the European Union Structural & Investment Funds, the Monitoring Committee, set up under the EU Structural & Investment Funds Regulations, works in partnership with the staff, to implement policy. The Regional Assembly has been involved in the management and monitoring of EU programmes in the S&E region along with promoting regional policy in Ireland. http://www.southernassembly.ie/
Waterford City and County Council
Waterford City and County Council (Comhairle Cathrach agus Contae Phort Lairge) is the authority responsible for local government in the City & County of Waterford, Ireland. The organisation came into operation on 1st June 2014 after that year's local elections, and is a merger of Waterford City Council and Waterford County Council, as brought about under the provisions of the Local Government Reform Act 2014. Waterford City & County Council has a Council of 32 elected members.
Day to day management of the organisation is carried out by over 850 staff under the leadership of a management team.
South East Business Innovation Centre (SEBIC)
South East BIC is a public private partnership which supports the generation and development of new innovative enterprises and assists existing SMEs to innovate and expand. South East BIC provides high quality specialised business consultancy and active incubation.
From our Waterford base, we work with entrepreneurs in Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary and focus on project evaluation and development, business modelling, planning and sourcing finance (through links with Enterprise Support agencies, banks, venture capital organisations and business angels).
The BIC team works closely in collaboration with other local, regional, national enterprise support agencies and has strong international connections, particularly in Europe, through its membership of the European BIC Network (EBN).
The South East BIC is a critical link in South East Ireland entrepreneurship ecosystem and Regional Innovation System.
Local Enterprise Office (LEO) of Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny and Tipperary
LEOs aim to promote entrepreneurship, foster business start-ups and develop existing micro and small businesses to drive job creation and to provide accessible high quality supports for Business ideas.
The Packaging Hub
The Packaging Hub is a creative and innovative packaging, supply chain and logistics supplier. The solutions we offer enable our customers to concentrate on their core activity whilst we manage production of their packaging and supply globally. Their design team who work on innovative constructional solutions, many of which have resulted in various fold flat rigid packs and other patented products which has set them apart from many packaging manufacturers.
Fáilte Ireland
Fáilte Ireland is the National Tourism Development Authority. Their role is to support the tourism industry and work to sustain Ireland as a high-quality and competitive tourism destination.
They provide a range of practical business supports to help tourism businesses better manage and market their products and services.
They also work with other state agencies and representative bodies, at local and national levels, to implement and champion positive and practical strategies that will benefit Irish tourism and the Irish economy. They promote Ireland as a holiday destination through our domestic marketing campaign (DiscoverIreland.ie) and manage a network of nationwide tourist information centres that provide help and advice for visitors to Ireland. https://www.meetinireland.com/
Doctoral Consortium Sponsor – Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful. The Kauffman Foundation is based in Kansas City, Missouri, and uses its $2 billion in assets to collaboratively help people be self-sufficient, productive citizens. For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect with us at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Kilkenny County Council
Kilkenny County Council (Comhairle Chontae Chill Chainnigh) is the authority responsible for local government in the County of Kilkenny, Ireland. In 2014 (with the passing of the Local Government Reform Act) in accordance with Local Government Act 2001 Section 10 the State redefined the area of Kilkenny County Council as the entire County & City areas including the former Kilkenny Borough Council area, Kilkenny Borough Council was abolished, the numbers of elected members to Kilkenny County Council was reduced by 2 to 24, the 5 Electoral Areas were reduced to 4, Local Enterprise Offices were established under the remit of Local Authorities and revised Local Community Development Structures were also established.
Tipperary County Council
Tipperary County Council (Comhairle Contae Thiobraid Árann) is the authority responsible for local government in the County of Tipperary, Ireland. Tipperary County Council, as the Local Authority for Tipperary, provides an extensive range of infrastructural services, and plays an active role in the development of the county’s industry, business, social, arts, heritage and cultural affairs. It also functions as the regulatory body for certain matters at local level. Tipperary County Council performs both a representational and an operational role because the Irish system of Local Government encompasses both democratic representation and public administration.
Wexford County Council
Wexford County Council (Comhairle Contae Loch Garman) is the authority responsible for local government in the County Wexford, Ireland. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning and development, amenity and culture, and environment. The council has 34 elected members. Elections are held every five years and are by single transferable vote. The head of the council has the title of Cathaoirleach.
nearForm
nearForm have been developing complex solutions for global organisations since 2011. Their team of more than 120 exceptional people, distributed throughout the world, build better software faster. From high intensity digital transformations, to delivering full stack cloud-native web applications, their pragmatic agile approach is not just proven but is constantly evolving. By delivering world-class design coupled with world-class development, they have fundamentally changed customers' expectations of what's possible. www.nearform.com
Immersive VR Education
Immersive VR Education opened doors in October 2014. Since then they have released a range of educational experiences and won many international awards for their educational software. They are a virtual/augmented reality software company dedicated to transforming how educational content is delivered and consumed globally by providing educators the tools they need to create their own content in virtual classrooms or virtual training environments.
House of Waterford Crystal
Located on the Mall in the heart of the Viking Triangle in Waterford City, the House of Waterford Crystal brings a visit to Waterford to a whole new level. Our staff will be pleased to welcome you on arrival and take you on a journey to see exquisite pieces of crystal created before your very eyes https://www.waterfordvisitorcentre.com/
The Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS)
The Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS) is a charity, established in 1963 by Professor Grigor McClelland, to provide a governance structure for the Journal of Management Studies. SAMS’ broader remit is to advance education in the field of management studies and is governed by a Council of Trustees, which meets three times a year. There are, at present, 22 Trustees based around the world.
ArcLabs Research & Innovation Centre
ArcLabs is the research & innovation centre at Waterford Institute of Technology. At the business incubators in Waterford and Kilkenny, ArcLabs help entrepreneurs to harness amazing ideas, creativity and innovation and to convert concepts into thriving, commercial businesses. The centre believes that entrepreneurs are the key to creating jobs, prosperity and economic growth. The incubators support a community of high-tech start-up companies and growing businesses and enable entrepreneurs to collaborate with each other and with their research teams in a unique work environment. ([url=http://www.arclabs.ie]http://www.arclabs.ie[/url])