NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
– This week Intel Ireland is hosting an Innovation Camp for students aged between 16 and 18 at Kilkenny Castle.
– The two day camp is taking place after Ireland was selected to participate in a pilot program being run by Intel for 3 selected locations across Europe which aims to promote technology driven innovation and social entrepreneurship amongst young people.
– At the end of the two day process the students will be given the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a group of judges and prizes will be awarded at a special closing ceremony which will be presided over by Mayor of Kilkenny, Martin Brett.
Today, Tuesday May 10th, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, officially opened an Intel Innovation Camp for a group of 50 Kilkenny students aged between 16 and 18.
The two day camp, being hosted at Kilkenny Castle, is taking place after Ireland was selected to participate in a pilot program being run by Intel for 3 selected locations across Europe which aims to promote technology driven innovation and social entrepreneurship amongst young people.
The Innovation Camp, which is also being supported by the Invest Kilkenny initiative, gives the students, from Colaiste Pobail Osrai and Colaiste Mhuire, Johnstown, the opportunity to develop innovative technology solutions for a relevant social problem. The framework of the workshop is a game that guides the students through a 4-step innovation process combining technology-driven and user-driven innovation in an easily understandable way. The Kilkenny students will take on the problem of how to address solutions to meet the growing demands of an aging population.
At the end of the two day process the students will be given the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a group of judges and prizes will be awarded at a special closing ceremony which will be presided over by Mayor of Kilkenny, Martin Brett. The first prize for the students is being sponsored by Taxback.com.
The initiative is being facilitated by SPUTNiK|5, who specialise in the delivery of innovation camps, and is being supported by partners in the region including Invest Kilkenny, Kilkenny County Council and Kilkenny Castle. Local entrepreneurs Terry Clune of Taxback.com and Joe Dalton of Intellehealth will share their positive experiences of entrepreneurship with the students. The Camp is also being supported by Mary Aherne from the HSE who will provide important context to the ageing population problem that the students are aiming to address.
In officially opening the challenge Minister Hogan remarked “Ireland is a small country and we will need to be smart if we are to hold our own in a competitive and rapidly changing global environment. Innovation initiatives such as this one are exactly the integration that is needed between science and technology and I would encourage the students here today to think big – there is no reason why young Irish people should not create a world beating company. I would also like to congratulate and thank Intel for the program and for choosing Kilkenny students to participate”.
Also speaking at the launch was Brendan Cannon, Director of Corporate Affairs, Intel Ireland, who commented, “Entrepreneurship is fundamental to economic growth and it is important to first inspire entrepreneurship by inspiring innovation amongst young people who will be the key to driving this future economic growth. Core to this process is that the students are being given the opportunity to consider technology innovations that can address a very real and relatable problem. We hope that the students here today will become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs”.
Invest Kilkenny was launched last October by the Kilkenny local authorities to promote the city and county as a centre of innovation and a place to do business.
Kilkenny County Manager, Joe Crockett, welcomed the nurturing of budding entrepreneurs by Intel, and the effort to equip our young people with the skills to help them become the star innovators of tomorrow.
“We need to get our students excited about science, social entrepreneurship and technology driven innovation and to inspire them. Creativity and progressive thinking are at the very heart of what Kilkenny has to offer and we are delighted to be able to assist the Intel Foundation on the launch of this program, and to support the next generation of entrepreneurs in their creative endeavours and to help create an environment in which our greatest asset, our people, can thrive” Mr. Crockett remarked.
Intel supports the ecosystem of innovation through workshops programs and contests throughout the world. The goal of these initiatives is to build capacity for universities, governments and NGOs around the world to develop a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem for technology start-up companies.
Intel has been involved in Education since it first came to Ireland in 1989 and in that time we have spent more than €25 million driving programs which support transformation in curriculum, infrastructure and teacher development.
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Further Information
Further images from the event can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/55550679@N03/sets/72157626564769447/
About Intel
Intel is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Additional information about Intel is available at http://www.intel.ie/ or follow us on Twitter – @Intel_IRL.
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