#OI2Dublin – Digital economy is actual economy, IIA CEO and award winner Joan Mulvihill says

21 May 2013

Joan Mulvihill, CEO of the Irish Internet Association

We catch up with Joan Mulvihill, chief executive of the Irish Internet Association at the Open Innovation 2.0 forum. Last night, Mulvihill was recognised among luminaries such as physicist Stephen Hawking and space skydiver Felix Baumgartner at the inaugural Innovation Luminary Awards in Dublin.

Mulvihill received a special Irish Innovation Champion award for her efforts to stimulate the Irish internet ecosystem.

The inaugural Innovation Luminary Awards at Trinity College Dublin took place during the Innovation Celebration Gala Dinner marking the Open Innovation 2.0 conference.

The Innovation Luminary Academy and Awards have been established by the EU Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG) to celebrate and recognise outstanding innovation role models and to inspire the next generation of innovators.

Mulvihill told Siliconrepublic.com: “What we’ve been trying to do at the IIA for the last three years has been to make it clear that there is no digital economy but the actual economy and we need to digitise it for everybody.

“This presents enormous opportunities for Irish businesses of all sizes.”

She said that efforts by Europe’s research community to establish a quadruple helix that incorporates innovation by citizens, as well as by governments, universities and entrepreneurs, is the correct approach.

“We are sincere in our efforts in wanting to make this opportunity available for everybody, it really is recognition for the IIA in support of the ecosystem.

“The quadruple helix is for everybody. No other organisation is as reflective of that helix as we are and it is great recognition for the work we’ve done.”