25 October, 2017

On 26th September, Service Republic, a joint initiative by Cork County Council and Cork Institute of Technology, hosted a major international Service Design conference in Fota Island Resort, Cork.

This was the first event of its kind in Ireland and people from all sectors interested in Service Design and Design Thinking, came to meet and share their ideas and experience. The format included rapid-fire presentations and expert panel discussions along with opportunities for delegates to network with national and international leaders in Service Design. Declan Hurley, Mayor of County Cork & Tim Lucey, Chief Executive, Cork County Council opened proceedings.

The conference was a one-day event made up of three sessions:

• Designing for People: Service Design policies, perspectives and practices in an international context
• Transforming the Future: how Service Design is making an impact on addressing the transformation agenda in the public sector
• Impact by Design: the potential for Service Design to ignite innovation in all sectors Design is a major factor in contributing to the transformation of products and services for all types of organisations. It allows companies to become more competitive and innovative and to deliver value to their customers.

The conference is an example of how CIT collaborate with enterprise and the positive impact such collaboration can have on both enterprise and CIT. CIT speakers at the conference included Dr Orla Flynn and Heather Madden, in addition to representation from CIT’s Service rePublic members Catherine Murphy, Dr Fred Creedon and Dr Jennifer Ferreira. CIT’s BIS students volunteered on the day and learned how Service Design tools and techniques could be used on their upcoming work placements in January 2018. Some of the Irish speakers included Dr Simon O’Rafferty, Design Research Fellow with the EPA, Lorna Ross, Group Design Director at Fjord Dublin, and Lesley Tully, Head of Design Thinking at Bank of Ireland. International speakers included Prof Birgit Mager from the Service Design Network, Louise Downe, UK Government Digital Service, Sarah Drummond, Snook and many more.

The CIT Certificate course in Designing Innovative Services, was also highlighted at the conference.  Information on this course, which is open for applications for the February intake, can be found at http://www.cit.ie/course/CRBDEIS8

For further information on the course, contact fred.creedon@cit.ie

Further information about Service rePublic: heather.madden@cit.ie catherine.murphy@cit.ie

More generally, to explore how CIT can collaborate with you and your company, email us today extendedcampus@cit.ie or call us on 021 4335302