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Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Programme 2010 - 29.01.2010
IRISH entrepreneurs are being challenged to find new business opportunities in rapidly increasing urbanisation - which will see 70 percent of the global population living in cities by the middle of this century.
Embracing that urbanised world of the future will be the focus of the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the YearŽ awards - whose finalists will visit Shanghai, one of the largest cities on the planet, with a population of some 20 million.
"More than six billion people will be living in cities by 2050, so there's huge urgency attached to finding innovative new ways of supporting that shift", says Frank O'Keeffe of Ernst & Young, Partner-in-Charge of the Entrepreneur of the Year programme, now in its 12th year.
"That demand for innovation presents exciting business opportunities for Irish entrepreneurs, who've shown in the past that they have no shortage of imagination and resourcefulness that such a global challenge demands."
Every year, finalists and past-finalists are invited to take part in the CEO Retreat, an opportunity to meet their peers, hone their skills and share strategic expertise - and this year the venue will be the World Expo in Shanghai, which runs from May to October.
The theme of the Expo - which will attract 70 million visitors from around the world - is "Better City, Better Life", which, say the organisers, represents "the common wish of humankind for a better lifestyle in the urban environment of the future."
With a population of 1.3 billion, China is leading the charge towards urbanisation, and has already grappled with many of the challenges that the rest of the world still faces.
Whole new cities have been built from scratch to accommodate the exodus from the land, so it's the ideal vantage point from which to observe the pace of social change. From a Western point of view, it's a shortcut to the future.
"World expositions have been galleries of human inspiration and thought over the centuries", says Frank O'Keeffe. "They've been showcases for what we've learned, exchanges for scientific, technological and cultural ideas, and prisms through which we've been allowed a glimpse of the future.
"The World Expo in Shanghai should give our finalists an invaluable on-the-ground insight - through networking and industry meetings - into how the world is changing, and the opportunities that change presents. They'll see a new global village already taking shape."
Entries for the 2010 Entrepreneur of the Year can be made in any one of three categories: Emerging, Industry and International. An award will be presented for each category, and an overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in October.
A nominee must be an owner-manager who is primarily responsible for the recent performance of a company that is at least two years old. Founders of public companies are eligible provided the founder is still active in top management. And anyone can nominate an entrepreneur, including the entrepreneur himself or herself, employees or company advisors.
A panel of judges, chaired by Padraig O'Ceidigh, Chairman Aer Arann and recipient of the award in 2002, will select the shortlist, to be announced in May.
Previous winners include Terry Clune, Taxback.com; John Flaherty, C&F Tooling; Aidan Heavy, Tullow Oil; Liam Shanahan, Shannon Engineering; Ann Heraty, CPL; Liam Casey, PCH International, Peter Fitzgerald, Randox Laboratories, Moya Doherty and John McColgan, Abhann Productions Ltd., Martin McVicar, Combilift, Eddie Jordan, Jordan Grand Prix and Denis O'Brien, Communicorp.
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year programme is supported by The Irish Times, RTE, Enterprise Ireland and Newstalk.
Entry forms are available on www.eoy.ie or by contacting Ernst & Young on 01 4750575. Closing date for nominations is 25th March, 2010.