Enterprise Ireland held a networking event at Griffith College Dublin on the 2nd July 2015. This event titled “ICT in the Societal Challenges” focused on bringing together the ICT research community in Ireland together with the research communities from the societal challenges in Horizon 2020. With the launch of the 2016-2017 work programs expected in September, this was the perfect time to get experts from a broad spectrum of the ICT and Horizon 2020 community together.
Thierry Boulangé from DG CONNECT in the European Commission presented to the assembled conference and outlined the commission’s views on the H2020 program and how this relates to the ICT aspect of the overall Horizon 2020 program. He was on hand after the presentation to speak with researchers and organisations about the Horizon 2020 program from the EC standpoint.
ICT research groups had the opportunity to present to the conference on their specific areas of research and the skills and resources they could bring to a Horizon 2020 research proposal.
After the presentations, specific interest groups took place in the areas of Agri-Food, Transport, Security, Reflective Society, Environment, Energy and Health. These allowed more specific interaction between researchers and the ICT community and proved an excellent networking opportunity.
The event was open to the research community and industry from north and south of the border and was co-sponsored by Intertrade Ireland.