Intel’s global director of IT innovation Prof Martin Curley has been given honorary fellowship of the Irish Computer Society in recognition of the work he has done to boost professional standards in the US$1.6trn IT industry.
“The intersection of IT and innovation will and is already creating enormous opportunities and will become increasingly important as we move into ever more challenging times”, stated Curley at the ICS fellow’s luncheon recently, where he was bestowed honorary fellowship by Council of the Irish Computer Society.
Curley was recently among 40 of the world’s most powerful CIOs who have developed what is being hailed as the ‘IT industry’s MBA’ from NUI Maynooth.
He says the impact of the IVI’s IT-CMF qualification could be enormous in terms of shaping the business world as IT becomes more and more indispensable to business strategy.
“In industry we recognise there is a gap – technology companies like Microsoft and Intel are producing technology at a blindingly fast rate, but the management practices we use to turn that technology as a professional community, we are lagging and are several generations behind.
“The intersection of IT and Innovation will create a new discipline which can be of pivotal importance as we move forward.
“IT is one of the most powerful business and societal resources available and we are still learning how to more predictably and profitably exploit IT. Despite all the uncertainty that society and the world faces, one certainty is that IT will become more and more important. In this context, IT will offer exciting and rewarding careers while helping some of the great societal level problems of our time,” Curley said.
The recent luncheon was held in memory of Dr Michael Sherwood-Smith, FICS, who died last year. During the presentations at the event, Sherwood-Smith’s career, which included his remarkable contribution to the society and the profession in general, digital literacy and, of course, his students in UCD, were all celebrated by friends, family, fellows and staff of the ICS. His son, Ed Sherwood-Smith, was present at this event where Jim Friars, CEO, presented him with a gift in honour of his father.
Photo: Prof Martin Curley
