Why the Irish are the business.

Robert Short from RTÉ interviews Bono after the Global Ireland Economic Forum concluded. He asks about Bono's perspective on Ireland as a place to live and a place to work, considering the character of Irish people, their fighting spirit, self belief, and what he suggests is an openness to thinking different.



Robert Short recalls Bono's earlier reflection on ideas around anarchic mind, Bono replied...

"That really is the key to the digital age..."

"To write code, to write software, to crack the problems of the digital age, you have to think different!"

"In the information revolution, thinking different, smartness; India particularly there are some amazingly brilliant software writers - Ireland this is who we are... That anarchic spirit, it's actually, that's what makes us good at the future."

"We live on a small rock in the North Atlantic Ocean, it is pissing rain here, a lot! We have to be very smart about how we bring people, to want to work here and live here."

"And then think it's other things. It is culture, it's, you know, walking around Temple Bar and there's something in the air."

Bono (Paul Hewson)

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And consider this short promotional video from IBEC, the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, on why Ireland is a good place to do business and to be a base for business with the rest of the world. Naturally IBEC has its own take on the financial crisis, Ireland's position in the world, and the kinds of values we should hold, however it does present a compelling view on 'why Ireland'.



(for more on IBEC see ibec.ie)

Sourcing shift: Polycentric Innovation

Link below to a HBR Blog article on Indian firms shifting to "polycentric" strategy?
Is polycentric just another word for outsourcing or is it code for multi-national? In this case the authors (Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, Prasad Kaipa, Simone Ahuja) trail the idea that it's a battle between Western and Eastern multi-nationals; a non-conflict or not?
blogs.hbr.org

FT special report on outsourcing issues.

(FT login required to read these articles, access limited to 10 articles per month)
Outsourcing enables IT companies to increase flexibility, harness new skills and cut costs.

Outsourcing: The business model that keeps on giving.

Model that works even in turbulent times
Paul Taylor introduces a focus on outsourcing – used for flexibility, to harness new skills and cut costs.

Security: Internet is industry Achilles heel
There is confusion between cloud computing providers and clients about who is responsible for security, says Maija Palmer.

Industry trends: Standardisation is the way to save
Providers look for work that is scalable and repeatable. They avoid complexity and systems that need customising, discovers Jane Bird.

Business case: First, ask 'why are we doing this?'
Only well run IT functions should be delegated, finds Charles Batchelor.

Service location: Governments vie for work in offshoring beauty parade
The leaders of large outsourcing companies are shopping for locations in a buyer's market, says Jessica Twentyman.

150 new jobs at SouthWestern. Focus on BPO

SouthWestern to invest €3.5m in R& D with Enterprise Ireland Support (links).

SouthWestern has bases in Ireland and Poland. HQ is located at the West Cork Business & Technology Park, Clonakilty, Co. Cork. Service offerings surround Customer Relationship Management, Finance & HR, Public Sector and Financial Services. (more info)

A study of Apple and Google mobile phone application developers

Following on from a recent CITO seminar at UCD presented by Prof. Debra Howcroft, based on a study by Birgitta Bergvall-Kåreborn (event notice link).

http://media.falf.se/2011/05/Bergvall-m-fl.pdf

An important study into a nascent industry sector. Of particular interest is the pull towards casualisation of the work of software production, driven in part no doubt from the lower economic rewards (drive down in software price) of mobile apps. The growth of apps as an industry sector is notionally built on the idea that apps may become components of a service, a service that someone will pay for, either the customer for the good or another say for marketing/ad-ware etc that seeks to access the producer's customers. The economics is of course one aspect; the personal and social impact is another important facet and is ultimately the main the focus of this paper.

Outsourcing expansion from Ireland

I.T. Alliance invests €750,000 in cloud infrastructure: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/strategy/item/21765-i-t-alliance-invests-750/


Major growth in IT outsourcing predicted (Joe Peppard produced report...)
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/item/22042-major-growth-in-it-outsourc

Gilt Groupe Establishes International HQ in Ireland... will locate its International HQ and Software Development Centre in Dublin. Its Customer Support Centre will be operational in Limerick by September.
http://www.gilt.com/careers/tech/category/ireland/about-ireland/

A Patent on the Outsourcing Process for Maintenance? You Cannot Be Serious!

Have a look at this and make up your own mind. Seriously, is this an innovation? Is it non-obvious? Is it an invention? Is there no prior art?

www.google.com/patents