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Industry Steering Committee

Niall Ó Cléirigh - Chairman

Director of Rapt Labs

Niall Ó Cléirigh is Head of Research and Development at Rapt Touch Ltd (www.rapttouch.com), a leading provider of multi-touch systems. Rapt is creating the next-generation of multi-touch systems for deployment in mobile phones, tablets, ultra books, PCs and larger displays.  Niall is an experienced Technology Executive with strong track record of delivering growth for technology companies. 

Niall has over twenty years of working in the Irish software sector delivering high value solutions to a global customer base. His experience includes all aspects of running a high-tech business including product management, business planning, venture capital fund raising, team creation and recruitment, international expansion and sales & marketing.

For over ten years, Niall was Chief Executive Officer of Macalla Software – a specialist provider of mobile payment software. Niall is also  EVP of Mobile Financial Services with US headquartered Roamware Inc.


Gráinne Dowling

Group HR Manager, Keyword International

Gráinne joined Keywords International as Group HR Manager in April 2013.  Grainne now leads the HR division, as well as contributing to the vision and overall strategy of Keywords’ fast growing group of companies which is headquartered in Dublin with offices in Montreal, Tokyo, Rome & Seattle.
 
Previously Gráinne held the position of Senior HR Generalist at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the largest US K–12 educational publisher in the United States.  She has also worked in Talent Acquisition at Eircom. 

Gráinne holds a Business Management Degree, a Certificate in Personnel Practice from NCI and is an Associate Member of CIPD.


Avril Halpin

HR Strategic Manager, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Avril Halpin is a HR Professional with a proven track record partnering with a variety of business groups, primarily in the technology sector.

Avril’s current role with HMH requires a high level of expertise primarily in the areas of HR Operations, Employee Relations, Talent Management & Development, Resourcing, Succession Planning, HR Projects, etc.

Avril is a graduate of DIT, where she received a BA, Human Resource Management and is a Chartered Member of CIPD.


Mike Roche

Engineer & Chief Technologist, IDM Ireland

Mike leads worldwide research and development of IBM's Social Software product stack and is technical executive for the Ireland Labs.

He has spend the past 25 years in software research and development at IBM, Microsoft, Lotus and at start-ups in Califonia and Ireland. He has been with IBM since 1995, is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology and the IBM Collaboration Solutions Architecture Board and chair of the mentoring panel for the IBM Global Entrepreneur SmartCamp start-up program in Ireland.

David Solan

Software Development Services Manage, FINEOS

David is a senior IT professional with over 20 year’s industry experience in all aspects of software development, delivery and process improvement.

He started his career in Cap Gemini before moving to FINEOS which is a global leader in claims management software. In FINEOS, David has held a number of positions from Technical Architect through to his current role. 

As Software Development Services Manager, David is responsible for all aspects of a global software development and engineering team where he combines a mix of software delivery and technology skills to lead and influence the product development lifecycle and value creation for clients.


Paul McCartney 

HR Director, Accuris Networks

Paul qualified with a B.Sc in Applied Computing from the University of Ulster in 1989. He initially worked as a Software Engineer in the US for Aldiscon, a company that developed and pioneered SMS technology across the world. 
 
He then qualified in the HR area and over the last 20 years he has provided specialized HR services to the Mobile Telecommunications and Mobile Financial Services industry.

He was involved with a number of Irish based start up Technology Companies and helped build out staff and offices across many regions including the UK, US, S. America, Japan and Asia/Pac.


Eileen O'Sullivan 

Chief Financial and Operating Officer, dotMobi

Eileen has 25 years’ experience in management, logistics and financial systems across a variety of industries.

She is responsible for the strategic direction, product delivery and operations within dotMobi, which is an Irish-based international technology company that provides products and services to help business deliver and publish web content to connected devices.
 
Previously Eileen held roles as Director Finance & Information Technology, at Budget Travel (Ireland) and Group Financial Controller in change of Finance and Logistics at Advantage Group. 

Eileen is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.  Eileen holds a postgraduate degree in International Sales.


Josephine Austin 

HR Director, Ocuco Ltd

Josephine graduated from The Shannon College of Hotel Managment with Hons and joined the Ocuco Group in 2004.

Josephine hired Ocuco's first Professional Services team, designed Ocuro's first signiture corporate entertainment invitation and managed Ocuco's first large international marketing project centered arounf the Ryder Cup. 

In 2008 Josephine was appointed as HR Director for the Ocuco Group.