The “Must Go To” conference for everyone involved in Product or Service Development…

PDMA UK/Ireland would like to invite you to Europe’s most visionary event…

The Front End of Innovation Europe
8-10 February, 2010  *  Hilton Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL

This is your opportunity to brainstorm, collaborate and build partnerships with hundreds of innovation experts as they discuss the Critical Factors for Balancing Short-term Profitability with Long-Term Sustainability.

Take a look at some of the great companies who have already signed on to attend: 3M, Accenture, AFA Dispensing Group BC, Ahlstrom, Alcoa Architectuursystemen, Antalis, Beiersdorf AG, Berg Toys, BMW, Brabantia S&L Netherlands, Braun, Celanese Emulsion GMBH, Coca Cola, De La Rue Intl Ltd, Dow Corning, Ericsson, Frieslandcampina, GE Money, Heineken, Herman Miller, Insead,

Intron B V, ITI Scottish Enterprise, Johnson & Johnson, Kaefer Aerospace, Kraft Foods R&D, LexisNexis, Life Technologies, Logitech, L’Oreal, Mars Foods Europe, Mars Research GMBH, McCain Foods, Med-El, Nestle, Nokia, P&G, Philips, Plantronics, Powerwind, Reed Elsevier, Rentokil, RHI AG, Sabic Innovative Plastics, Sanofi Pasteur, SCA Hygiene Products GMBH, Schweppes, The Hartford, Time-Matters, Tom Tom, Visa Europe Ltd, WAAG Society, Zimmer,

and many more.

We would like to offer you a special €100 discount off the current rate. Register by 15 January to save €300! Simply mention priority code: XEM2250PDMA4 when registering.

FEI is Europe’s only unbiased platform for showcasing Front End of Innovation best practices, presented by best in class lead users. No other European programme exists that attacks present and future challenges through content rich, thought-provoking conversations.

NEW special enhancements to the 2010 programme include:

• A full day symposium on open innovation and beyond
• A full day symposium on design thinking
• The Inventors Forum featuring the geniuses behind the MP3 Format & Powered Toothbrush
• An Innovation Think Tank designed to develop and create solutions for Vision 2050
• An up-close and personal look at BMW’s new concept – Vision EfficientDynamics - it’s the first time you can see it that close and not at an Autoshow

We have matched unique global visionaries with their area of innovation expertise to create the most comprehensive value-driven innovation programme in Europe to date. Focus areas include:

MEET CUSTOMER DEMANDS / Tap into unfulfilled needs

PERFORM CREATIVE EXECUTION / Do More with Less

AVOID COMMODITIZATION / Move Beyond Product Innovation

FOSTER ORGANIC GROWTH / Continue Long Term Strategies

DESIGN THINKING / In Order to Solve Business Problems

GENERATE PARTNERSHIPS / Make Open Innovation & External Collaboration Work

To see the full agenda – download the brochure.  We hope you will join us at this visionary event.

Visit www.iirusa.com/feieurope. for more details.

Time and space are limited.  Register today to secure your spot.  See you in Amsterdam.

Best Regards,

Dr Adrian Gundy
President – PDMA UK/Ireland,

The Future of Innovation – 350 thinkers share their thoughts:

A website, a community, a book – http://thefutureofinnovation.org/    Here over 350 leading thinkers from business, government, consulting and academia from around the globe share their thoughts, experiences, dreams, visions, hopes, concerns, and passions around The Future of Innovation, providing you with insights into tomorrow’s innovation agenda so that you can start acting on it now.

Adrian Gundy of CforC was one of the 350 asked to share their thoughts, you can find his view at

http://thefutureofinnovation.org/contributions/view/664/where_art_and_literature_fuse_with_science_and_engineering

Visit to Northern Ireland Science Park of Prof Burton Lee Director/Lecturer Stanford University School of Engineering and Member of the Irish Government Innovation Task Force.

Date/Time: Tuesday 15^th December 2009 at 5.00 pm until 6.30 pm

Venue: NI Science Park, Queens Island, Belfast. BT3 9DT.

Burton is a distinguished and highly regarded thinker on all things innovation. He is Director and Engineering lecturer, European Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Stanford University. Currently he is a member of National Innovation Taskforce, Office of the Prime Minister at Department of the Taoiseach, Government of Ireland. In addition, he is Principal & Co-Founder at Space Angels Network LLC, Managing Partner at Innovarium Ventures Investment and Technology and Markets Advisor at Wall Street Investment Research Firms

You’ll find him on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/in/burtonlee

He will be sharing his thoughts on his recent work on the island of Ireland, as a member of the Ireland’s Innovation Taskforce (which is due to complete its report at the close of 2009). He has wide knowledge and experience of innovation Europe, and will bring fresh, innovative and challenging thinking on how we build an innovative community in Northern Ireland.

Burton will make a short presentation, around 45 minutes and will then take part in a Question and Answer session.

This is a great opportunity to meet and discuss with one of the world’s leading thinkers on innovation – book your place now.

Contact: Patricia Williamson on 9073 7950 or e-mail at patricia.Williamson@cforc.org

Two thirds of private sector productivity growth between 2000 and 2007 was driven by innovation..

Claims a new report by NESTA.

The findings are revealed in NESTA’s Innovation Index – the most ambitious attempt yet to measure the contribution of innovation to the UK’s economic growth.

The Index, which will be published on an annual basis, reveals a direct link between the amount of innovation that companies invested and productivity output. UK businesses invested £133bn in innovation in 2007 (the most recent year covered by the Index), representing 14% of private sector output.

The effect of all this innovation is increased productivity. Two-thirds of UK private sector productivity – 1.8 percentage points of productivity growth per year – between 2000 and 2007 was a result of innovation.

Here at the Centre for Competitiveness, we have a portfolio of innovation tools and methodologies, and are seeking companies and organisations from the private, public and voluntary sectors to enrol and participate in the Investor in Innovation Phase II. This will take 80 companies through a structured development of their innovation procedures and practices. With around 50 companies committed so far, places are going fast – so contact us ASAP for further details.

World Quality Day Conference

Making Northern Ireland Competitive

Thursday 12 Nov 2009

9am – 4pm

Malone House, Belfast

International experts, including Google’s European director, will help probe the impediments to competitiveness in Northern Ireland and point the way to more dynamic and successful organisations.

The Conference will cover specific and urgent problems that hamper our competitiveness. Leading local organisations will also share their success stories and discuss what it means to be an excellent organisation, especially given the current economic downturn.

Stephen Lusty is a Chartered Engineer and currently holds the position of Online Sales and Operations Director at Google. He is responsible for the Global service and support architecture for Google’s advertising business and for managing the customer base and revenue for the SME segment. Google is not just a company, it is an entirely new way of thinking. Its founders and executives understand the change brought about by the internet and The Times (of London) dubbed it “the fastest growing company in the history of the world.” Google generously shares its philosophy on its web site, “10 things Google found to be true”. So the smart question to ask is – WWGD? What Would Google Do?

 Pierre Cachet is the CEO of EFQM and came from one of EFQM’s key members, ERDF. He has extensive managerial and business experience in strategy development, operations and HR. Pierre was the Deputy Head of Strategy and Management of ERDF (Electricité Réseau Distribution France). With over 600 member organisations throughout Europe, EFQM is the leader in “The Pursuit of Business Excellence”. It supports organisations to achieve better results by sharing experiences and Best Practice in areas such as Quality, Innovation, Productivity Improvement and Leadership.

European and National Award Winning Organisations

SAM Mouldings are the UK’s leading manufacturer of MDF architectural mouldings for the construction and home improvement industries. The company was founded in 1990 by Managing Director Sam McCrea and quickly embraced the tools of British Standard 5750. The company is now well established as market leader in their sector and attribute this to their focus on meeting customer needs.

Tobermore manufacture and sell a wide range of concrete products and natural stone products to the construction industry and domestic market. They sell directly to all customers both commercial and domestic and the success of the business has been based on providing superior products and services to their customers. They are now the leading paving products supplier and natural stone manufacturer in Ireland.

St. Colman’s College is a voluntary grammar school for boys between the ages of 11 and 19 and was established on 12th May 1823. The outstanding features of St. Colman’s College are its caring, pastoral approach for its students and its academic strength as a grammar school. The mission statement, ‘Preparing for life and pursuing excellence’ is a constant reminder to all students of what is expected of them and to follow their dreams.

The Cedar Foundation is a leading voluntary organisation in Northern Ireland and is a chief contributor to delivering services to disabled people including people with brain injury. The Foundation’s vision is a society in which disabled adults and children are fully included as citizens. The mission is to provide quality support, care, accommodation and training services to enable disabled children and adults to participate in all aspects of community life.

Programme

09:00 Registration

09:30 Welcome

09:50 European Excellence Strategies: Mr Pierre Cachet Chief Executive EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management)

10:30 Customer Driven Innovation: Mr Steve Lusty Online Sales and Operations Director Google

11:15 Coffee Break

11:45 European & National Award Winning Organisations

SAM Mouldings Results Driven Processes in an economic downturn.

Tobermore  Concrete customer Service, because the Customer is King

St Colman’s College A Leadership Group, not a group of leaders

Cedar Foundation Working with Partners to make a difference that is sustainable

13:00 Networking Lunch

14:00 Workshops:

2010 Revision of the European Excellence Model: Marie Lindsay, St Mary’s College George Wilson, CforC

Innovation in Action: Dr Paul Beaney, Technical Manager, Cherry Plastics Group Adrian Gundy, CforC

Service Excellence: Gareth McWilliams, Customer Services Director, BTMichael O’Neill, CforC

Commercial Collaborations: Linda Jamison, Collaborations in Energy, Invest NI Paddy Turnbull, Smart Grid, CforC

16:00 Close

Please note that places are limited

£95+VAT for CforC Members

£120+VAT for non-CforC Members

Regeser now!!

Housing Executive Wins UK Excellence Award

The Centre for Competitiveness would like to congratulate the Northern Ireland Housing Executive on being presented with one of the top business awards at a ceremony in London. The housing body won The UK Excellence Award, which is presented by the British Quality Foundation, ahead of a host of major organisations.

The prestigious accolade recognises that all aspects of an organisation’s business are effective, including its service to customers. The Housing Executive was the only public sector organisation in the UK short listed for the award.

Paddy McIntyre, Chief Executive of the Housing Executive said:

“This is a magnificent achievement on our first submission and assessment for this Award. This is an achievement that every member of staff in the Housing Executive can be proud of, given that it recognises the quality of our work across all areas of the organisation. One of the main benefits from entering the award process is that we will receive a feedback report which will identify further improvements, so we can continue to deliver equally high quality services and support to the Northern Ireland community.”

Social Development Minister, Margaret Ritchie MLA, congratulated the Housing Executive on this prestigious award. Minister Ritchie said:

“I am delighted that the quality and effectiveness of the Housing Executive’s performance, particularly in relation to customer services, has been recognised with this award.”

Bob Barbour, Chief Executive of the Centre for Competitiveness, which organises the Northern Ireland stage of the awards and puts forward local organisations for the UK scheme, said:

“The Housing Executive has shown how public sector organisations can embrace principles of excellence to achieve considerable organisational success. Having engaged in Centre for Competitiveness’s STEPS to Public Sector Excellence programme and having won the Northern Ireland Quality Award, the organisation is considered to be a role model for other public sector bodies. It has consistently improved customer and employee satisfaction and has repeatedly met and exceeded financial targets. Winning the UK Excellence Award is fitting recognition.”

In their report, assessors from the British Quality Foundation found that:

“The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is truly customer focused and this is reflected in the way everyone at all levels interacts with and attempts to improve the customer experience. The Housing Executive has made excellent progress towards becoming a role model for other organisations to aspire to and has exemplified consistently high performance for many years. The leaders, staff, partners and customers all share the same ideals of providing the best service and improving the way of life in Northern Ireland.”

Group boosts turnover by more than 130 per cent

Northern Ireland’s leading social enterprise has grown its turnover by 133 per cent in the past five years, it revealed to business leaders at a recent Breakfast Seminar.

The Bryson Charitable Group, which employs 600 people in Northern Ireland and delivers services to more than 500,000 people each year, explained at a Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) seminar how it has grown turnover from £8.4 million in 2004 to £19.6m in 2009.  The event at Bryson’s offices on Belfast’s Bedford Street heard how the group has used the Balanced Scorecard to significantly enhance its performance.

Jim Perry of CforC, says that the Balanced Scorecard has provided Bryson with a highly effective means of developing, implementing and assessing its business strategy.

“Bryson has a clear strategy to deliver high quality services to its customers in an efficient way.  They are tangible proof of the benefits of planned strategic management. It has achieved significant financial, process and delivery improvements as a result”, he says.

 “Other organisations and businesses can learn much from Bryson’s achievements in this regard and we are pleased to have been able to offer the chance for a wide range of leaders to hear directly from the group about its experiences,” Mr Perry adds.

St Colman’s College Prizewinners at EFQM Forum

At the EFQM Forum in Brussels on 28th September, St Colman’s College, Newry continued the success story of organisations from Northern Ireland in the European Excellence Award Process. 

As previous winners of the Northern Ireland Quality Award and the UK Excellence Award, St Colman’s were one of seven Prizewinners.  The other prizewinners were EDF EDT; France, Volkswagon Motors; Poland, Robert Bosch; France, NXP Sound Solutions; Austria, Bradstow School; UK and EITB; Spain.

St Colman’s success follows on from the success of CCEA in 2008, Cedar Foundation and Tobermore Concrete in 2007, St Mary’s College in 2006 and Springfarm Architectural Mouldings in 2002.

The European Excellence Award Process is Europe’s most prestigious for organisational excellence.  It recognises Europes best performing organisations across all sectors, organisations that have a track record of success in terms of continuously improving their performance.

There was also individual success for the College’s Principal, Canon Brown, as St Colman’s College were recipients of a prize for Leadership.

Congratulations to all involved!!

The 2009 Review of the EFQM Excellence Model

A new version of the EFQM Excellence Model will be launched in September 2009. These are the answers to some important questions

What is going to change?

The Fundamental Concepts, the Model itself and RADAR will all change.

•         Fundamental Concepts

There will continue to be eight fundamental concepts but some of the names and a lot of the contents will change.

•         The Model

The shape of the Model with its nine criteria will not change although some criteria names may change very slightly. There will be significant changes to the criterion parts and bullet points.

•         RADAR

There will be some significant changes to RADAR

When can we order a copy of the new Model?

The new Model brochure will be available for purchase in October 2009.

Will other publications be affected?

All publications with a significant Excellence Model content will be affected and details will be provided as soon as possible. However, if you have an improvement programme based on the current version, there is no reason why it can’t continue.  The current version of the EFQM Excellence Model will be available until mid 2010.

When will the new Model be used as the basis for the N.I. Excellence Award?

It is likely that the 2010 awards will be based on the current version..

How will the changes affect Recognised for Excellence (R4E)?

From 1 January 2010 all R4E assessments will be based on the new version of the Model.

How will the changes affect Committed to Excellence (C2E)?

For the foreseeable future, C2E applicants may use either the current or the new version of the Model.

For more information, please contact George Wilson on 028 9073 7950.

Congratulations to St Colman’s College

St Colman’s College, Newry have been announced as one of the 14 finalists for this year’s EFQM Excellence Award!  The Award and Prize Winners will be named on 28 September in the Plaza Hotel, Brussels at EFQM’s Celebration Award dinner.

For more information and to see the full list of finalists download the EFQM press release.