Tony Day
Collaboration at the
conference
The IERC Conference brings together people from a diverse and broad selection of
companies. We spoke to Michael S Kelleher of Bord Gais Energy at the conference about the opportunities the conference is offering them
Michael Kelleher
The IERC has helped put us in contact with technology companies and other service companies in the energy space that we wouldn’t normally touch base with. The conference is a good place to swap ideas and look for solutions for the challenges we face in the energy space in the coming years. The business model of
hugely important because when it comes to demand- led energy innovation, it will not just be about one technology solving the issues we face – it will be about different technologies coming together that are deployed and integrated in a way that everything works better, uses less energy and saves money,” he continued. “That means that multiple stakeholders, from and manufacturers
suppliers to designers of
integrated systems and those who install systems into buildings need to work together. We need the whole value chain coming together and to understand the market they are all working in from every angle. That way they all see the end goal together and discover new opportunities and new markets together. It’s a win-win for everybody.” The IERC has been developed through a novel
collaborative concept by means of a Joint Agency Project Team, comprising representatives from Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland working with multinational companies such as UTRC, Alcatel Lucent and indigenous Irish companies. This Technology Centre is funded jointly by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation and the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and hosted by the Tyndall National Institute. The IERC has a budget of €20 million over five years.
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energy companies didn’t change for many years until recently. The conference provided us with a meeting place to swap ideas and look for solutions for the challenges we face in the energy space in the coming years. Checking in with companies we don’t normally talk to, such as United Technologies and Bilfinger, was a real benefit of the conference. Some of the projects are also very exciting to us, one example of which is the AUTHENTIC project that is looking at home area networks. They are providing a building block for the smart home of the future, which is one of the key ways in which we see us changing our long time strategy, changing our business model from being a commodities supplier to being an energy service provider. With the challenges we are faced with now, we need to provide better
services for our customers and start
reengaging with them. We need to make people value what we do for them again. People sometimes take for granted that the lights come on and that they are warm, so for us its about taking our service to the next level and going that extra mile for them, improving customer loyalty and helping us improve as a business. The opportunities with the IERC will increase as the
number of members increases. Every member that joins brings more ideas. When you get a group of people from different companies together, the good ideas that come out of this don’t just add to each other - they multiply. When you get two companies come together who wouldn’t normally meet, and they each have a piece of a fantastic idea, it can lead to great things. I don’t know where it’s going to lead us, but no doubt it will be to our benefit!
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