Last Thursday I was lucky enough to attend the IT@Cork Tech Summit for 2019 in the Cork City Hall. It was my first time at the summit and I was really impressed by the scale and the calibre of speakers. What really struck me was the vibrancy and the confidence about the future. Just even chatting to the exhibitors you got the feeling that Cork was very much as the Irish Examiner put it “A City on the Rise”. This wasn’t down to ignoring the challenges that every industry has or the potential disruption of the ‘B’ word but based on a belief that the IT industry in Cork has the skills and knowledge to not only manage this but continue to thrive.
The day before I listened to a talk from Eoghan O’ Sullivan from Breakthrough Cancer Research about the amazing things they are doing. In this case it is truly life changing, world class research in the areas of cancer prevention and care. They have a particular emphasis on research of currently incurable cancers where there may not have been improvements of treatment for a long time. Cancer has affected all of us whether it’s through ourselves or someone close to us and to have this center on our doorstep is something we should be very thankful for.
Two days, two world class industries. This is just a sample of Cork. Combine a highly innovative and well educated workforce with a high quality of life and you see why Cork is becoming such an attractive place to live. Without a doubt there are challenges but overall it is a very good place to live. Within 30 minutes you are at some of the best beaches in the country with magnificent scenery. I am excited by the future of Cork and Culture hopes to play a big part in this by supporting the increase in flexible and remote working that will help world class people live and work in Cork.
Andrew
