The University of Limerick recently hosted the Irish Times Innovation Roadshow at the Kemmy Business School. Entrepreneurs, business leaders, researchers took part in the event included featured leading national and international innovators.

The event included speakers; Dr Bettina von Stamm, Founder of the Innovation Leadership Forum, Tony Leto, CEO of international start-up company, iTrac Global, Lindsay MacVean, entrepreneur working with the global programming phenomenon Coderdojo and  Dr Stephen Kinsella, Lecturer in Economics, UL.

The keynotes address ‘Convergence: Innovating Through Collaborating Across Communities’ was delivered by leading innovator, Dr Bettina von Stamm. Dr von Stamm said; “What if more companies started to collaborate across industry boundaries? What other exciting opportunities could be created? That's really exciting, but an even deeper motivation comes from looking at all the challenges we are facing at the economic, environmental and social levels.  How can we possibly address them if we are continuing on existing trajectories?  So, convergence is the way forward for me, whether it is to create amazing opportunities, or address or big and scary challenges." 

In his talk ‘Why Coding is a Moral Obligation’, Lindsay MacVean said; "CoderDojo is a global collaboration of computer programmers creating free open learning environments for Children. For 21st century children to not be learning code at school; is a moral inequity that must be changed, CoderDojo does that. In 16 months it has grown from 1 location to over 150 in 23 countries, and groups in nearly every major technology company, all without a bank account."

Dr Stephen Kinsella said; “Small and medium enterprises should be the engines of our recovery right now. They are not, because they are starved of credit, but also because they exist in a market experiencing depressed demand. There are ways around these two impasses we will explore at the Innovation Roadshow together.”

The event also involved a panel session based at the Nexus Innovation Centre, Tierney Building, UL. The Irish Times Innovation Roadshow event is hosted by the University of Limerick Research Office and the Kemmy Business School.