The top 50 Irish-American technology executives will be recognised at the 4th Annual ITLG Technology Awards, which will be held at Stanford University on 5 April next.
Emily Chang, Bloomberg West anchor, will host the event and the keynote speaker will be Craig Barrett, ITLG chairman and retired CEO and chairman of the board of Intel Corporation. The event will take place at the Stanford Faculty Club, and is being sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank and Invest Northern Ireland.
“The Silicon Valley 50 shows the extent of influence and depth of involvement that Irish and Irish-Americans have had in shaping Silicon Valley into what it is today, and we are pleased to be able to recognise their accomplishments” said John Hartnett, president and founder of the ITLG.
A few included among the 50 are:
· Bill McKiernan – chairman, CyberSource Corporation
· George Moore – chairman and CEO, TARGUSinfo
· Niall O’Connor – chief information officer, Apple, Inc.
· Barry O’Sullivan – senior vice-president, Cisco Corporation
· Cathal Phelan – chief technology officer, Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
· Lorraine Twohill – vice-president global marketing, Google
· Niall Wall – vice-president, Symantec
In conjunction with Irish America magazine, the Silicon Valley 50 will be highlighted in a special edition magazine, which will be unveiled at the awards event.
The next major step
A major next step for many Irish companies to help them recover from the global recession is to take advantage of the world-renowned technological, marketing and management experience that resides in Silicon Valley.
To help facilitate this, the ITLG can draw upon its network of 1,500 Silicon Valley executives and industry leaders who are either Irish or of Irish descent.
Many of these people have had great success in their professional lives and they intend to give back in a number of ways to help foster the next generation of Irish entrepreneurs.
One of the ITLG’s founders and leaders, Limerick native John Hartnett, was honoured in San Jose a few weeks ago when the San Jose-Dublin Sister City Program presented Hartnett with the Spirit of Ireland award.
Hartnett helped found the ITLG, as well as the Irish Innovation Center in San Jose, California, where 22 Irish technology companies have located to spearhead their advance into Silicon Valley.
