Here’s some of the ingredients for the event on Thursday the 6th. You can catch the other details and register to attend here. It’s free as usual with some refreshments thrown in.

6:45-7:15 – Opening presentations from

  • Dr. Jimmy Devins, Minister of State for Science and Innovation
  • Paul Rellis, Managing Director of Microsoft Ireland
  • Cliff Reeves, General Manager of Microsoft’s Global Strategic and Emerging Business Group.

7:15-7:45 – Panel Discussion:- ‘How can we foster start-ups and innovation in Ireland today’. Panel members include:

  • Cliff Reeves (above),
  • Brian Caulfield, Irish Venture Capitalist;
  • Pat Phelan, MAXroam, entrepreneur and winner of the IIA Net Visionary Award 2008
  • Anton Mannering, CEO of Irish Startup Udoogoo, Organiser of Digital Island Meetups, Network Facilitator All Island Digital Media Network at Digital Media Forum
  • Pat Brazel, CEO of Irish startup Zignals;
  • Conor O’Riordan, CEO of Irish startup Tradefacilitate

7:45 Presentations from Mobile startups

From when their done we’ll have the usual networking featuring OpenDemo. WE should have some interesting companies opening up their laptops to demo at the event stay tuned for announcement of who’ll be there later on.

Here are some sample questions for the panel discussion but arm yourself with your own for the night. :)

  • What are key drivers of innovation in other market places – how can we replicate that in Ireland?
  • What are the biggest blockers to innovation? How can we overcome them?
  • What assistance is available to help bring technical solutions to market in Ireland? From government bodies / corporations?
  • Please comment on the drop in computer science graduates – will this negatively impact our efforts to become a centre of tech innovation?
  • What do you see as the big opportunities in the IT sector in the next 5 years? Future areas of investment?
  • Web 2.0 has seen a lot of start-ups with an ad-based business model – what are the drawbacks to this model – any recommendations from the panel about alternative business models?
  • How can small businesses attract investment?
  • Any tips for expanding your business into international markets – what support is there from government bodies / corporations?