BUSINESS BRIEF - Trends, Submission Deadlines and Much More!

Q1 2018 - BUSINESS BRIEF

Good Morning,

We would like to welcome you to our first quarterly Bridgewater Brief. Herein, you will find valuable information - inclusive of relevant grant deadlines, business development trends, toolkits and a whole lot more. Read on and lead your venture into the future!

Yours sincerely,

The Bridgewater Team

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THE FUTURE STARTS HERE

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SPOTLIGHT TOPICS

Calendar - Submission Deadlines

Sector - Fin-Tech Trends Demystified

HR Toolkit- Performance Management

THIMBLES OF PLENTY

- 3 Min Book Summary

The Virgin Way by Richard Branson - click here

The Innovators Method by Nathan Furr & Jeff Dyer -click here

The Agile PMO by Michael Nir -click here

BRIDGEWATER

Services
House - Discounts
Executive Team

CALENDAR SPOTLIGHT - Deadlines

SME'S

Accountancy & Finance

Quarterly P30 - 23rd Apr
Quarterly VAT Return - 23rd May

Export Grants

Competitive START Fund

Graduate Entrepreneurship -24th Apr
Female Entrepreneurship -15th May
Fin-Tech & Deep Tech - 12th June
Marine & Ag-Tech -10th July

Innovation Voucher

Deadline - 30th May

Export Programme Calls

New Frontiers Phase I

Limerick IT - 3rd Apr
IT Tralee - 6th Apr
Cork IT - 13th Apr

New Frontiers Phase II

IT Tallaght - 11th Apr
Galway-Mayo IT - 18th May
IT Tralee - 29th June
Cork IT - 6th July
IT Carlow - 10th July
Limerick IT - 15th Aug

Business Competitions

NDRC - The Ireland Funds Business Plan Competition - 25th Apr
Seedcorn Competition - 1st June

REPRESENTATIVE BODIES/ORGANISATIONS

Regional Enterprise Development Fund

Deadline -27th June

Horizon 2020

Cluster Facilitated Projects for New Industrial Value Chains - 12th Apr
Block-chain & Distributed Ledger Technologies for SME's - 15 May 2018
Workplace Innovation Uptake by SME's - 17th Jan 2019
European SME Innovation Associate Pilot - 17th Jan 2019

The following represents a small number of EU/National Opportunities - tailored consultations are available!

Request Further Information!

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT: Fin-Tech Trends Demystified

Fin-Tech can be a complicated sector to master. Technology and Business development is growing at an exponential rate and sometimes it is hard to keep up! If you , like so many others are struggling to demystify this emerging area of business development - read on and obtain an overview of some of the key trends responsible for the explosion of Irish companies in this industry.

BIG Data

Big Data Analytics examines large amounts of data to uncover hidden patterns, correlations and insights – this information may relate to usage patterns, risk, purchasing profiles and many other variables across financial services. The sector has huge volumes of data that can be used to generate deep risk insights; however, this information must be mined securely to ensure compliance with data protection legislation. It must also yield valuable, utilitarian data from complex, interrelated processes.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence (AI), can be defined as systems and processes which gather, perceive information from their environment, understand what it means and act accordingly. Advanced systems also have the ability to learn by themselves and in the last number of years; machine learning, robotics and pattern recognition have benefitted from major advancements. Combining service with automation is fast emerging as a core focus for Financial Services e.g. alert notifications, auto-diallers, automated customer service agents; thus, financial institutions are working toward managing relationships easier and with a degree of personalisation.

Internet of Things (IoT)

It is possible to generate huge volumes of data from various types of connected devices in homes, businesses, automobiles and wearables. The insurance industry in particular, is now starting to use this data to provide for more personalised products and services.

Design Thinking

Financial institutions have embraced mobile design as a critical component of their UX and CX strategies. Design Thinking is thus a research approach that is gaining traction in this sector. This is driven by a need to elevate brands, communicate authenticity and engage with customers.

Emerging Sub-Categories

Insur-Tech

Insur-Tech is expected to see an increase in investment in 2018, as incumbents continue to recognize and prioritize the need to evolve with the market place. Supporting this view, 2016/17 saw the introduction of insurance technology accelerator programmes in London, Silicon Valley and Singapore amongst other locations.

Reg-Tech

Reg-Tech is also expected to see an increase in investment in 2017 where big data will be used to ensure proper regulatory reporting (compliant with global prudential & conduct risk requirements). Deloitte in partnership with Bank of Ireland launched a proof of concept initiative in 2016 to tackle this issue, combining blockchain technology and regulatory reporting.

Block-Chain

A block-chain facilitates secure online transactions. Traditionally when transacting money/stocks/valuable information, people have had to rely on intermediaries to perform the validation process (e.g. authentication and record keeping). This process is to ensure that the same value/unit is not spent more than once. It takes time, is open to security issues and has associated administration. Block-chain moves away from a central administrator (e.g. bank, government, accountant) to a distributed model of databases/ledgers, all synchronized via the internet, visible to all within

the network. It is a collaborative verification process and records transactions across many computers, allowing participants to verify and audit transactions in a cost-effective manner, minimizing data uncertainty. Block-chain significantly reduces the risks that come with data being stored centrally via an intermediary – hacking etc.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

RPA is a solution, which often incorporates artificial intelligence - to capture, process and store vast amounts of data. RPA is helping to redefine back-office functions in financial service industries, eliminating human intervention in repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

Cyber Security

Cyber Security is seen as one of the top risks for financial institutions owing to technological trends (cloud computing, data analytics, mobile device, financial technology and the IoT) increasing the exposure to cyber risk.

Ireland is cognisant of this, whereby the Central Bank of Ireland published a Cross Industry Guidance in respect of Information Technology and Cybersecurity Risks in September 2016. Furthermore, it is a key consideration for the private industry also- whereby the PwC FinTech Study ⁷ showed that 54% of IFS companies rated information security as a viable threat to the FinTech industry.

Regulation

Many European regulatory changes and directives from Central Banks have been initiated as a direct result of the financial crisis in 2008. An example of this is Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2) - this regulatory directive forces banks to offer their data through Application Programme Interfaces (APIs) to trusted third parties, such as Stripe. It is expected to bring increased investor interest in complementary technologies, such as data and analytics. There is concern regarding regulatory mandates and the implications that this will have on technology integration (i.e. what can and cannot be actioned). As a result, legislative bodies have begun to introduce sandbox initiatives that are enabling the prototype testing of technologies in specific environments with certain regulatory ease. However, it is now not simply enough to have technical capability, one must also have domain expertise in order to navigate the legislative limitations.

SPOTLIGHT - HR TOOLKIT

Performance Management

Have you undertaken staff performance reviews in the last 12 months?
Do you have KPI's for your Staff?
Do staff understand their respective roles and how that links to business goals?

Make 2018 the year of goal setting - my not follow this practical step by step guide to performance management reviews!

STEPS

Determine what the role/job output should be - break it down weekly, monthly or quarterly (relevant to your business operations and goals)
Hire Based on these goals +/ Evaluate existing jobs
Ask your employee to complete the following document - click here and return to you.
You as line manager will now complete a partner form - click here
Arrange a meeting to discuss variances between both forms, areas for improvement, support and actions moving forward
Set a date for the next review / deadline by which all the actions are to be completed by.