Over 400 business and technology leaders from across the island of Ireland gathered in Dublin recently for the first in-person Dell Technologies Forum in over two years.
With a focus on helping businesses harness technology to unlock new possibilities for growth, attendees to the Forum gained valuable insights on everything from multi-cloud strategy delivered as-a-service, sustainability and hybrid working to modernised and secure technologies and enabling AI decision making at the edge.
Breakthrough innovation
Highlights of the day included an address from Jason Ward, Vice-President and Managing Director of Dell Technologies Ireland and Northern Ireland, on local insights from Dell’s Global Breakthrough Study. The findings show that Irish businesses see people as their most important asset when it comes to driving digital transformation, with almost three-quarters (74pc) of leaders saying that people are the key to influencing digital transformation for the better.
What’s more, after two years of accelerated digital transformation, half of IT leaders in Ireland say their organisation knows what it takes to digitally transform a workforce. However, after such rapid change, many employees are now facing a challenge to keep up the pace. More than two-thirds (80pc) of, believe their organisations underestimate how to engage with their people properly when planning transformation programmes.
Data protection
Another key highlight came in the form of a Q&A with Cambridge Analytica whistle-blower Chris Wylie, who shared his views with moderator Ciara O’Brien on how social media and personal data has been used to profile users and exploit elections. One of Time’s 100 Most Influential People, Chris held the audience captive as he shared important insights on the global data Protection landscape and the biggest risk for businesses and individuals when it comes to managing and storing data.
Given the growing importance of cyber security to businesses in today’s world, a panel discussion also took place with Tom Digan, Cyber Resilience Director, Dell Technologies, Ricky Kelly, Partner, RDK LLP and John Noble, former Director of the National Cyber Security Centre, UK.
Focusing on a day in the life of a cyber-attack, the panel shared their first-hand experience on the best responses to cyberattacks and how businesses can enhance their cyber resilience in the face of mounting cyber threats.
Commenting on this year’s Forum, Jason Ward, Vice-President and Managing Director, Dell Technologies Ireland and Northern Ireland said: “After two years of virtual events, it was a pleasure to be able to come together in person again for the Dell Technologies Forum in Dublin this week. Over the past two years, we have witnessed first-hand the impact that technology has had in empowering businesses and spurring growth at a level we hadn’t imagined before. But for organisations of any size to succeed into the future, they’ll need to invest in new and emerging technologies as they grow.
“Focusing on everything from cyber resilience and multi cloud through to sustainability and the future of work, the Dell Technologies Forum provided an opportunity to discuss with our customers and partners how they can achieve this, while gaining valuable insights into how to manage and analyse data through our latest case studies and keynote speakers.
“Having accessed the insights and solutions from the team of experts at this year’s Dell Technologies Forum, I’m confident that business leaders across Ireland and Northern Ireland will be better placed to harness new growth opportunities, unlock the true value of data and accelerate the pace of digital transformation in 2022 and beyond.”
The team at Dell Technologies are helping to support organisations across Northern Ireland as they look to innovate at speed and do so in a secure manner. From enhancing cyber resilience through its innovative cyber vault offering through to empowering organisations to unlock the benefits of AI, 5G and IoT, among many other emerging technologies, Dell is helping to fuel transformation across Northern Ireland’s business landscape and place Northern Ireland at the centre of digital innovation.
The Dell Technologies Forum, which took place on September 27th, was run in partnership with Intel and Microsoft. Didn’t get a chance to attend on the day? Check out the highlights video below:
DELL Tech Forum Dublin 2022 from Collateral on Vimeo.
