On June 21st & 22nd, the Innovation Value Institute (IVI) hosted the Summit 2023 at Maynooth University with the theme of ‘Co-Creating the Digital World; beyond 2027.’
The following headline speaker presentations (from June 22nd) are now available to view:
Barry Lowry Presentation Video | Presentation Slides
Joan Mulvihill Presentation Video | Presentation Slides
Christoph F. Strnadl Ph.D Presentation Video | Presentation Slides
Helen Burke Presentation Video | Presentation Slides
Crystel Robbins Rynne Presentation Video | Presentation Slides
Professor Markus Helfert
Presentation Video | Presentation Slides

On the 21st of June, the Summit kicked off with two workshops. The morning workshop led by Michael Hanley and titled ‘Shaping Digital Transformation in Higher Education’ focused on 4 themes of Leading and Managing Change in HEIs, HEI Administrative & Operational Effectiveness, HEI Digital Infrastructure & Governance and Future Skills & HEI Workforce Development. The afternoon workshop led by Caroline Creamer titled ‘Leadership of Urban Digital Innovation for Public Value’ discussed aspects, competencies and capabilities required to lead Digital Innovation in Urban areas. They provided an overview of the Capability Maturity Model developed at the Innovation Value Institute and introduced a novel competency framework, developed as part of the interdisciplinary research project Digital Cities for Change (DC2) at the University of Cambridge, presented by Dr Jennifer Schooling OBE, Dr Viviana Bastidas & Dr Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong.

During the afternoon we were delighted to have Professor Rachel Msetfi, Vice President for Research and Innovation at Maynooth University launch the IVI’s Research Cluster of Digital Places, focusing on the process of place-making and how we engage with the spaces in urban, regional and rural areas.

Digitalisation plays an increasing role in how we create sustainable, resilient and vibrant places that offer those who live work and visit these places an enhanced quality of life and social connectedness.  The important role of Digitalisation is evidenced across government policy: Ireland 2040 – the National Planning Framework (2018), The Regional and Spatial Economic Strategies (2019-2020), Our Rural Future (2021) and more recently, Harnessing Digital (2022), Ireland’s Digital Framework, the aim of which is to drive and enable the digital transition across the Irish economy and society.

Together, these recognise that the process of place-making and how we engage with the spaces around us are increasingly being informed by enhanced digital usage. Many more people are working remotely or learning online, as well as engaging in online shopping and digital public services. The global pandemic has led to many societal changes – some short-term, others longer-term – that we have yet to fully understand the impacts of. The role of digital techniques in this change process needs to be investigated. The new cluster of Digital Places adds to the research portfolio at the Innovation Value Institute (IVI), a multidisciplinary applied research centre of excellence in Maynooth University creating transformation paths for both a Digital Society and Digital Enterprise.  This is evidenced by the inter-disciplinary nature of its existing Research Clusters, spanning fields such as Digital Health, GovTech, Mobility of the Future, Digital Construction, Digital Retail and now ‘Digital Places’.

For our Summit showcase on June 22nd, there were fascinating presentations, in-depth discussions, captivating panel talks and intriguing insights. This year’s theme was Co-Creating the Digital World; beyond 2027, and with this in mind, we lined up some excellent speakers and panelists that are experts in the realm of digital transformation.

The Summit showcase opened up with a Welcome Address from Professor Eeva Leinonen (President of Maynooth University). President Leinonen highlighted the importance of digitisation in people’s every day lives and celebrated IVI and their continuing work in the realm of digital transformation, recognising IVI as one of the university’s flagship research centres.

The Summit’s headline speakers included Professor Markus Helfert (Director of IVI), Barry Lowry (CIO at Department of Public Expenditure & Reform), Professor Dave Lewis (Interim Director at ADAPT), Joan Mulvihill (Digitalisation & Sustainability Lead at Siemens Ireland), Christoph F. Strnadl, Ph.D. (Deputy CTO at Software AG), Helen Burke (VP at IDA Ireland), Crystel Robbins Rynne (COO at HRLocker), Professor Tuure Tuunanen (Professor of Information Systems at the University of Jyväskylä) and Russell Kane (University Engagement Lead at Microsoft Ireland). Various speaker presentations are available to view by clicking here.

Our morning panel session titled ‘Shaping the digital world – The role policy making plays in practice and research’ was chaired by Denise Manton, Executive Director of EMPOWER – Data Governance. The panel also included four of our morning headline speakers in Dave Lewis, Christoph Stnardl, Joan Mulvihill, Barry Lowry, but with the addition of a fifth panelist in Seán Ó Foghlú (Research Fellow at Maynooth University & Ex Secretary General at the Department of Education).

In attendance at the IVI Summit, we had The Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko. The Ambassador was delighted to announce the winners of the Innovation Challenge Ceremony sponsored by UNUM Ireland and in collaboration with Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, Kyiv National Economics University and Innovation Value Institute/Maynooth University.
Read article here

The afternoon consisted of three breakout workshop sessions. These were as follows: Workshop One: Data Governance – Community of Practice (led by Denise Manton), Workshop Two: Digital Transformation – Examples & Successful Journeys (Led by Dr Marco Alfano) and Workshop Three: Skills and Recruitment (Led Dr Zsuzsanna Zarka). 

Succeding the afternoon breakout workshops, we had our final headline speaker of the day Russell Kane giving his insight into how Chat GPT has collaborated with Microsoft and the benefits this has for the digital economy.

The afternoon panel discussion, chaired by John Judge (Head of Research Development at ADAPT) was titled Realising Innovative Projects – Many ways for Funding Research and Collaborations. John was joined by five panelists that included Professor Neil J. Rowan (Director at Bioscience Research Institute at T.U.S), Peter Hubbert (Director of RD&I at Fidelity Investments), Dr Jane Carrigan (NCP at Marie Skłodowska-Curie Office – Ireland), Dr Aisling McEvoy (Head of Enterprise Partnerships at SFI) and Rebecca Doolin (Vice President of External Affairs at Maynooth University).

Closing out the event, Professor Markus Helfert (IVI Director) awarded 6 receipients at the IVI Awards Ceremony. These were awarded to Ruth Buckley (Leadership for Organisational Digital Transformation), Edwina Fitzmaurice (Thought Leadership in Digital Transformation), Dr Viviana Bastidas (Enduring Strategic International Collaborations), Professor Brian Donnellan (For Strategic Leadership on Innovation and Research), Professor Neil J. Rowan (Promoting Sustainability and Digital Transformation) and the IVI Business Informatics Group (For Contributions and Achievements to Engaged Research).