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The 16th cycle of Going for Growth came to a close at a special celebration in Dublin on Tuesday, June 11th.
Supported by Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, Going for Growth is an award-winning programme for ambitious female entrepreneurs determined to grow their businesses.
A total of 55 female entrepreneurs completed the six-month Going for Growth programme this year. Another 30 female also competed the Starting Strong programme, which is for more recently established, ambitious businesses. They will be celebrated at a separate ceremony later this week.
At the beginning of the cycle, the Going for Growth participants had a turnover in excess of €93m, employed over 800 people and more than half of them were exporters. All set ambitious targets and built on these impressive numbers over the last six months.
Thanks to the continued support of Enterprise Ireland and KPMG, Going for Growth is free for participants who are supported on their growth journey by voluntary Lead Entrepreneurs.
This year's voluntary Lead Entrepreneurs for Going for Growth were: Anne Cusack, formerly Critical Healthcare; Jeananne O'Brien, Artizan Food Co.; Louise Phelan, Phelan Energy Group; Monica Flood, formerly Olas IT; Oonagh O'Hagan, Meaghers Pharmacy Group, serial entrepreneur Hannah Wrixon, most recently co-founder of Kella Hannah Wrixon, and Tara Beattie, Prepsheets.com.
See www.goingforgrowth.com for more information.

Maynooth University's Innovation Value Institute has announced a pioneering initiative, the 'Data Governance Roadmap for Ireland', launched by Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Seán Fleming TD, at this year's IVI Summit in Maynooth University.
As one of the leading forums for data and digital discussion, the summit brought together international experts, policy leaders, practitioners and researchers over three days to shape the digital agenda on innovation and research.
This roadmap aims to foster responsible governance of data and artificial intelligence, leveraging data value as the basis of a sustainable information-enabled and data-informed society.
The roadmap will support fair and responsible value sharing from data across society and the development of data capabilities on a national, organisational and individual level, the alignment of data initiatives and standards, and the development and promotion of data literacy.
The roadmap will contribute to benefits that span organisations, individuals and wider society in a fair, responsible and human-centred way, that empowers users to share and use data while ensuring the protection of data and privacy concerns. Data and data governance are the lifeblood of the AI revolution, driving innovation and sustainability.
Innovative data governance is the enabler, providing the necessary foundation, guidelines and infrastructures to harness the power of data responsibly, ethically and effectively.
Speaking on the initiative, Minister Seán Fleming said: "I am proud to launch and strongly support this Data Governance Roadmap for Ireland. It represents a clear vision for responsible governance of data and artificial intelligence, laying the foundation for a sustainable, data-informed society driven by research and innovation."
Professor Eeva Leinonen, President of Maynooth University, highlighted the power of collaboration, stating: "This initiative highlights how important universities are in shaping our digital future through research, education, and partnerships. The roadmap sets a new standard for handling data responsibly, and showcases Maynooth University's commitment to Ireland's digital leadership."
Professor Markus Helfert, Director of the Innovation Value Institute (IVI) at Maynooth University, emphasised the significance of the initiative, stating: "The Data Governance Roadmap for Ireland is not just a strategic necessity but a critical step towards a future where data serves as a cornerstone for national development and prosperity, supporting technological advancements while safeguarding the rights of data owners and data sharers."
Developed in collaboration with experts in data governance, NSAI and members of the EMPOWER team across participating SFI Research Centres, the roadmap adopts a unique three-tiered approach, encapsulating individual, organisational, and national perspectives. It addresses the critical need for robust data governance structures while fostering an environment conducive to innovation and economic growth.
Aligned with EU Digital Decade policy targets and several other critical EU initiatives such as the Data Governance Act, Data Act and AI Act the initiative aims to bridge skills gaps and develop new competencies to tackle growing challenges across various sectors, including sustainability, security, and education.
The roadmap reflects Ireland's commitment to maintaining leadership in information, data and digital innovation, setting highest standards for governance, promoting transparency, and ensuring equitable distribution of digital benefits that digital and data creates. It sets new benchmarks for success aligned to Ireland's ambition to lead and set standards in Europe, inspiring other nations to follow suit.
The report is available at this link: https://ivi.ie/dgri/.

As the peak travelling season begins, the Irish aviation industry is launching a declaration to combat unruly passenger behaviour in airports and on flights as part of the #NotOnMyFlight campaign. The safety of flights, passengers and crew can be affected by the unruly behaviour of a small minority of passengers.
All Irish airlines and airports, An Garda Síochana, the Irish Aviation Authority, AirNav Ireland, ground handlers and international aviation organisations have all come together to tackle the issue of disruptive and dangerous behaviour, which affects passengers and staff almost every day of the year.
There has been a 3-fold increase in passenger unruly behaviour reported between 2019 v 2023. Unruly behaviour can include intoxication, aggressive or inappropriate behaviour as well as not following the commands of flight crew, who are there to ensure passenger safety.
The declaration sets out how the aviation industry aims to combat the issue of unruly behaviour on flights. The vast majority of passengers comply with instructions and show respect to staff and other passengers.
However, the signatories of this Joint Declaration recognise the need to actively promote good passenger conduct due to the adverse impact that disruptive and unruly behaviour can have on the safety of a flight and passenger experience.
The signatories of the joint declaration will not tolerate any behaviour that has the potential to disrupt the passenger experience, impact the safety of the cabin crew and airport staff or create a safety risk to the aircraft and those on board the flight. This includes physical and sexual assault, threatening and abusive behaviour and generally disruptive acts.
Angela Willis, Assistant Commissioner, DMR of An Garda Síochána, welcomed the Declaration:
"We all want to ensure that air travel is pleasant and, most importantly, safe for all users. While the vast majority of people that use air travel have the highest regard for fellow passengers, unfortunately, there are a small minority whose behaviour at airports or on aircraft can have a significant impact on the experience and safety of other passengers or flight crew.
An Garda Síochána is delighted to sign this declaration and to work with our partners to combat disruptive and dangerous behaviour which will not be tolerated."
A Ryanair spokesperson said:
"Ryanair is pleased to support this Irish aviation industry declaration to combat unruly passenger behaviour on aircraft. The safety and wellbeing of our crew and passengers is Ryanair's No.1 priority and we try to eradicate unruly behaviour onboard our aircraft. We will continue to work closely with An Garda Síochána, the IAA, Irish Airports and the wider aviation industry to eliminate all forms of unruly behaviour in airport terminals and onboard our aircraft."
According to Kenny Jacobs, CEO of daa, the operator of Dublin and Cork airports:
"We've great passengers at Dublin and Cork airports, but like every airport in the world, there's sometimes a few bad eggs whose behaviour impacts everyone. We want our airports to be enjoyable and stress-free for passengers, and we're pleased to see the sector coming together to tackle the issue of unruly and dangerous behaviour.
Everyone needs to play their part, and daa will continue to work closely with our Airport Police teams, our airline partners and An Garda Síochána to ensure unruly passengers are dealt with, and our airports are safe and enjoyable places for all."
Lynn Embleton, Chief Executive of Aer Lingus, commented on the charter:
"At Aer Lingus we put safety first, there is nothing more important. We understand that a comfortable and respectful environment is key to ensuring your journey is a pleasant experience. Aer Lingus does not tolerate unruly behaviour of any kind, and in the rare cases where unruly behaviour does occur, we have strict measures in place to ensure that the safety and comfort of our customers and crew is maintained."
Jim Gavin,

HP Inc. has unveiled a new study with Oxford Economics revealing enthusiasm among global leaders to use technology including AI to advance key impact goals.
The study of business executives and government officials in 10 countries found 3 out of 4 leaders believe technology is key to expanding economic opportunity (76%) and that AI will help drive progress towards sustainability and social impact goals (76%).
Further, business leaders are either already using AI or plan to in the next 1-2 years for goals such as increasing access to digital education (90%), workforce development (89%), and workforce diversity (86%).
"AI's reach holds great promise to help HP accelerate our sustainable and social impact goals," said Val Gabriel, Managing Director at HP Ireland. "From how we responsibly build AI PCs for first-time users to data scientists who use our workstations to help local farmers build more resilient businesses, this is the technology that can move businesses and our communities forward."
Accelerating digital equity for 150 million people by 2030
About one-third of the global population remains offline, costing the world billions of dollars in lost GDP each year. The digital divide has been growing since the advent of technology, and AI could exacerbate these disparities if intentional action isn't taken.
"Everyone deserves an opportunity to access the tools needed to thrive in the digital economy," said Gabriel. "We know technology can be a great equaliser and a powerful tool to drive progress. Yet, to truly narrow the digital divide in our rapidly evolving world, we must also equip individuals with the skills to use technology."
In its latest Sustainable Impact report released today, HP announced it has accelerated digital equity for more than 45 million people since 2021, bringing the organisation nearly a third of the way to its goal of reaching 150 million people by 2030.
The rapid progress is a result of innovative partnerships with key organisations that create tailored solutions for communities. HP pursues impactful programs, strategic investments and partnerships that prioritise those mostly likely to experience the digital divide.
In 2023, HP:
Supported digital equity solutions developed by ten organisations in Malaysia, South Africa and Mexico with the Digital Equity Accelerator, such as improvements in digital literacy to access employment, access to educational hardware and software in schools and development of digital platforms to support improved health outcomes. In total, the Accelerator reached 6.4 million people in 2023.
Launched more than 100 Digital Hubs in partnership with World YMCA to support digital programming and literacy. For example, the West Orem Digital Hub, provided by YMCA Houston in Texas aims to increase community access to educational, economic, and social opportunities for young people, support services for families, and digital literacy courses for aging members of the community. More than 500,000 individuals were reached globally in 2023.
Opened two NABU HP Creative Labs in the U.S. and the Philippines, equipping artists and authors with technology to write and illustrate hundreds of books for children in local languages each year. The free books have helped 1.9 million children in 2023 build confidence, connection to culture and literacy skills, a key building block to participation in the digital economy.
Building skills amid the rise of AI
Both business and government officials report lack of skills as a top barrier to meeting key organisational goals, only economic volatility ranked higher.
Skills-building is a core piece of HP's digital equity approach. As a result, HP is expanding its goal to enrol 2.75 million users in the free skills-building program HP LIFE. The program from the HP Foundation has already enrolled and enabled more than 1.2 million users to access economic opportunities or start businesses.
HP is undertaking new initiatives to expand responsible access and us

Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced the launch of two AWS Certifications focused on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and generative AI, as well as a collection of free and low-cost training to help people prepare for certification exams. With industry-recognized credentials, professionals looking to build careers in AI can be better positioned to compete for in-demand jobs in the booming cloud technology space.
AWS Certified AI Practitioner is a foundational-level certification. It is designed for people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to showcase their understanding of AI and generative AI concepts, their ability to recognize opportunities that benefit from AI, and their knowledge on using AI tools responsibly.
AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate is designed for individuals with at least one year of experience building, deploying, and maintaining AI and ML solutions on AWS. It is beneficial for people who want to demonstrate their ability to make AI models available for real-time usage.
AI will transform the way people work across multiple roles. According to a study commissioned by AWS, organizations are willing to pay a premium for professionals with AI skills. This includes salaries that are up to 47% higher for IT workers, 43% higher for those in sales and marketing, and 42% higher for those in finance, among other fields.
Whether you're a student beginning to explore a career in AI, a professional in a business role with a solid grasp of AI concepts, or an ML specialist operationalizing AI models, AWS's new certifications can help you prove that you're well-positioned to innovate in your field.
AWS Certified AI Practitioner: Showcase your understanding of AI/ML concepts and AI technologies
Organizations recognize that taking advantage of AI and generative AI will require a broader skill set beyond programming. This includes professionals in marketing, sales, project and product management, HR, finance, accounting, and beyond.
By earning this certification, non-IT professionals can feel greater confidence when identifying opportunities that are well-suited to AI, or when collaborating with technical teams. IT professionals with limited exposure to AI/ML and generative AI can make informed decisions while leveraging their core skills when building or managing AI solutions.
According to an AWS Partner: "We are seeing a lack of expertise to help deploy, maintain, monitor models. An AWS certification that covers these skills would carry value to me as a hiring manager, and I would make this a requirement for my team."
AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate: Demonstrate your skills with scaling, deploying, and maintaining AI models
Scaling AI models for real-time usage allows businesses to serve more users or achieve accurate results. This requires proficiency in ML engineering that covers aspects like optimizing model performance, managing computational resources efficiently, updating model versions seamlessly, and securing an AI solution.
This certification validates an individual's skills in developing, deploying, maintaining, and monitoring AI, ML, and generative AI solutions. These are essential skills to influence business objectives like serving millions of users daily, reducing costs of building AI models, faster response time, and rapid model training.
On August 13, you can register for the beta exams of AWS Certified AI Practitioner and AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate.
Free and low-cost training programs to prepare for certifications
In line with Amazon's "AI Ready" initiative to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025, you can get started learning and preparing to earn an AWS Certification now with new digital training available on AWS Skill Builder, our digital learning center.
For training resources for AWS Certified AI Practitioner, you can take advantage of eight free courses, including Fundam

Recently, I was asked to help a team of students prepare a pitch important for them and their college. The college had previously entered this competition for several years but was never shortlisted to present at the final pitch competition.
Initially, I helped the team and their professor prepare a video pitch to promote their business idea. As a result, they were selected to pitch along with seven other teams at the final event.
To be clear, I helped them tell their story, which was a very exciting solution with world-changing possibilities for the industry for which they had created their solution.
They did not win; they did not even make the top three. Their idea was way too big and did not fulfil the criteria of the organisers.
Good News:
However, after the awards announcement, my team was approached by a senior manager from Enterprise Ireland who saw the value and opportunity in their business idea, and he has already engaged further.
"The first shall be last and the last shall be first, depending on the day."
What do I do for entrepreneurs?
I regularly advise my clients to take every opportunity to present their business stories, as you never know who will be in the audience.
In most colleges and accelerator programmes, they work with entrepreneurs over several months to build a business profile using the 'Lean Canvas' or some other such template.
This type of work is invaluable but is also very left brain (academic) and in some way, hard work, particularly for people with a creative entrepreneurial bent.
During this period, I work with individuals and teams to turn the facts and figures into a story they could tell that excites them and potential investors, partners, and, most importantly, prospective customers.
The pitch needs to blend business reality and a vision that will excite people to want to engage further.
In the very early stage, all you may have is a vision. Keep going; the ones who succeed invariably have a very strong vision.
By Executive Coach Andrew Keogh of Aristo.ie