Digital Debate – Do the Irish have the zest for entrepreneurship?

 Written by @SimonCocking more at.

To celebrate the conclusion of the Webelevate 3.0 and 3.1 programs the Digital Skills Academy hosted this debate.

Niamh Bushnell. Dublin’s new startup czar argued in favour of the proposition. Magnus Ternsjo, CEO of UPC Ireland, got the trickier proposition of arguing against the proposition.

Paul Hayes, founder of Games Ireland, was tasked with mc’ing this relatively civilised affair. Ternsjo spoke about how few Irish brands have world wide status. Bushnell pointed to the vibrant health of the Irish start up scene. Overall it was a very good natured affair. It would be nice to have a few more Irish Ericsson’s and IKEA’s, though as Bushnell pointed out their Irish equivalents may already be emerging.

The debate was also intended as way to celebrate the completion of the 2013/14 intake of students to the Web Elevate programs. There are three streams, for coders, designers and digital marketing / project managers. Many of whom have now gone on to create new companies, go onto NDRC incubator programs, work for existing Irish IT companies or continue their retraining. For more information about their latest programs see http://www.digitalskillsacademy.com/.

In the end the motion was put to the floor, and, unsurprisingly, about 2/3rd’s in favour, and one third against.

No blood was spilled, and after that the speakers toured the various products created by the students for their industry placements. Many products were of excellent quality and are now being used by their client companies, with several of the apps now also available on the Google Play and Apple App stores.

German Alonso Digital Marketing Manager for Mondello Park Website redesign

David Akinsanya Marketing Project Manager, explaining the App created for Learning Data to Magnus Ternsjo