Ireland: New dawn, new opportunities

Under the pressures of the pandemic, businesses around the world had to pivot to implement new strategies and technologies to provide prod- ucts and services digitally. While this new norm of business is built upon new technology, at its core it’s about people and meeting the changed demands of customers and employees.

“By delivering world-class talent and creativity alongside a highly collaborative approach, Irish companies are perfectly set for leading the new business environment,” says Sean Davis, director of Enterprise Ireland North America. “Throughout the difficult pandemic experience, we’ve seen talented Irish industry leaders and their teams step up with innovation to make a positive impact on business communities around the globe, and this effort is not slowing down.”

Redefining interactions

After nearly two years of working remotely, employees are increasingly expect- ing technology-driven initiatives from their employers, particularly around how to stay connected and how they work with others. Today, a large cluster of Irish HR and TalentTech firms are helping companies attract and retain employees, enhance performance management, and expand diversity and inclusion in their business.

WorkHuman, for example, is on a mission to make work more personal for millions of people and organizations worldwide. Through its cloud suite of products, companies can strengthen employee performance and connect people on a more positive and emotional level—in tune with how work gets done.

Another Irish company with the mission of improving employee communications is Workvivo. The company developed an employee communication platform to excite, engage and connect entire companies. Its unique approach combines a social network with an easy-to-use employee app.

In addition to significant shifts in workplace connectivity, current and potential employees now expect to come into organizations where diversity and inclusion are key priorities. In 2020, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government’s trade and innovation agency, launched a new Women in Business Action Plan. This initiative offers a wide-ranging set of actions to support the scaling of women-led businesses, increase startup rates among women, support the recruitment of women as senior managers, and highlight role models and good practices.

Dublin is a renowned hub for technology

Addressing equality issues in the banking sector, Irish companies are pro- viding innovative payment solutions to the unbanked and underbanked. PiP- iT Global has devised a secure and private online payment platform that helps customers spend cash digitally. In particular, it facilitates migrants living and working around the world, who may not have full access to banking facilities, to send money and pay bills internationally, at low cost and in a secure way.

Irish company AID:Tech enables entitlements such as aid, welfare and donations to be digitized, delivered and tracked using blockchain technology, including the distribution of international aid to refugee camps. This solution enables, for the first time, the ability to track a payment from the donation to the recipient. One of its partners, Women’s World Banking, uses AID:Tech to deliver their Caregiver microinsurance at scale, ensuring claims are paid simply, quickly and transparently. Women’s World Banking is committed to making affordable health insurance schemes available to low-income women in developing markets.

With more banking now being conducted online, transaction monitoring, high-quality risk controls and proactive cyber security are ever more critical. Irish company Daon helped invent many of the mobile device authentication systems in use today, and Fenergo’s award-winning digital client lifecycle and regulatory compliance solutions enable financial institutions to create a truly frictionless customer experience.

Internet of Everything

The new business norm not only brings with it new tools and services for employees and customers, but it also brings into businesses a level of insights and actionable data that was simply not possible within the old-school, all-analog world. Today’s devices and sensors generate very valuable data at a rate we could have never predicted. Smartphones, smartwatches, tablets and all manner of IoT-connected products, from refrigerators to health monitors,

Under the pressures of the pandemic, businesses around the world had to pivot to implement new strategies and technologies to provide prod- ucts and services digitally. While this new norm of business is built upon new technology, at its core it’s about people and meeting the changed demands of customers and employees.

“By delivering world-class talent and creativity alongside a highly collaborative approach, Irish companies are perfectly set for leading the new business environment,” says Sean Davis, director of Enterprise Ireland North America. “Throughout the difficult pandemic experience, we’ve seen talented Irish industry leaders and their teams step up with innovation to make a positive impact on business communities around the globe, and this effort is not slowing down.”

Redefining interactions

After nearly two years of working remotely, employees are increasingly expect- ing technology-driven initiatives from their employers, particularly around how to stay connected and how they work with others. Today, a large cluster of Irish HR and TalentTech firms are helping companies attract and retain employees, enhance performance management, and expand diversity and inclusion in their business.

WorkHuman, for example, is on a mission to make work more personal for millions of people and organizations worldwide. Through its cloud suite of products, companies can strengthen employee performance and connect people on a more positive and emotional level—in tune with how work gets done.

Another Irish company with the mission of improving employee communications is Workvivo. The company developed an employee communication platform to excite, engage and connect entire companies. Its unique approach combines a social network with an easy-to-use employee app.

In addition to significant shifts in workplace connectivity, current and potential employees now expect to come into organizations where diversity and inclusion are key priorities. In 2020, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish government’s trade and innovation agency, launched a new Women in Business Action Plan. This initiative offers a wide-ranging set of actions to support the scaling of women-led businesses, increase startup rates among women, support the recruitment of women as senior managers, and highlight role models and good practices.

Dublin is a renowned hub for technology

Addressing equality issues in the banking sector, Irish companies are pro- viding innovative payment solutions to the unbanked and underbanked. PiP- iT Global has devised a secure and private online payment platform that helps customers spend cash digitally. In particular, it facilitates migrants living and working around the world, who may not have full access to banking facilities, to send money and pay bills internationally, at low cost and in a secure way.

Irish company AID:Tech enables entitlements such as aid, welfare and donations to be digitized, delivered and tracked using blockchain technology, including the distribution of international aid to refugee camps. This solution enables, for the first time, the ability to track a payment from the donation to the recipient. One of its partners, Women’s World Banking, uses AID:Tech to deliver their Caregiver microinsurance at scale, ensuring claims are paid simply, quickly and transparently. Women’s World Banking is committed to making affordable health insurance schemes available to low-income women in developing markets.

With more banking now being conducted online, transaction monitoring, high-quality risk controls and proactive cyber security are ever more critical. Irish company Daon helped invent many of the mobile device authentication systems in use today, and Fenergo’s award-winning digital client lifecycle and regulatory compliance solutions enable financial institutions to create a truly frictionless customer experience.

Internet of Everything

The new business norm not only brings with it new tools and services for employees and customers, but it also brings into businesses a level of insights and actionable data that was simply not possible within the old-school, all-analog world. Today’s devices and sensors generate very valuable data at a rate we could have never predicted. Smartphones, smartwatches, tablets and all manner of IoT-connected products, from refrigerators to health monitors,