Best Wishes for the Festive Season and a Transformative 2023

On behalf of all of us at Microsoft Ireland, I want to send you my best wishes for the holidays and hope that you have a wonderful New Year. 

After a year that has brought with it so much opportunity and some very real challenges for us all, I wanted to share a snapshot of the resilience and innovation that I’ve had the pleasure to witness across so many areas of our society. 

This year, we have focused our efforts on Digital Perseverance and the ways in which technology can support, not just our business community and our economy to navigate the difficult market forces, but also create positive change for so many people. 

We have been fortunate to have worked with many dynamic small and large organisations, and individuals, that have been a force for good in 2022. From the continued transformation of our public services and innovation in healthcare, to the adoption of digital solutions to support our transition to a greener, fairer society – there are so many examples that I could share to demonstrate a step-change in how we live and work. 

In healthcare, we have collaborated with UCD on AI_PREMie, a cutting-edge and unique AI-powered solution that helps to better manage timely diagnosis of pre-eclampsia, which affects one in every 12 pregnancies, and can have devastating effects for both mum and baby. We were also proud partners of inspiring NGO, GRIT, which supports female start-ups in the healthcare space. This year, we were delighted to present the Microsoft award to 2 companies, OmicsChart, a bioinformatics consulting agency and Irish company, MyPatientSpace, who are digitising the patient journey and enabling remote patient management at scale. 

In education, we have supported Ulster University’s digital transformation journey, that is not only optimising administration time and increasing student engagement, but reducing energy and paper consumption across the campus. I was also delighted to have worked with Capita and the Education Authority in a partnership to supply over 20,000 surface devices to teachers across over 1,100 schools in Northern Ireland – working together we are ensuring that we support teachers to maximise the learning experience for children and young people. 

In public sector, we have worked with the Government of Ireland to provide enhanced security support through the Microsoft Government Security Program that exchanges threat and early warning vulnerability information. Additionally, we have signed a new partnership agreement that enables Public Service organisations to avail of consistent, preferential Government discounts on selected Modern Workplace cloud-based solutions, while supporting the Government’s digital transformation ambition.  

I am personally extremely proud of the significant investment that Microsoft Ireland announced in October with the expansion of Dream Space, our dedicated innovation and education hub, to enable us to engage almost 1 million students on the island of Ireland over the next four years, providing access to critical STEM and future-ready skills. Crucially, we also announced the opening of Microsoft Dream Space in Northern Ireland in a new state-of-the-art learning facility in W5, Belfast’s award-winning science and discovery centre. 

At Microsoft, we aspire for meaningful innovation rather than innovation for innovation’s sake. Great innovation is never in the technology itself, but in what that innovation enables people to achieve and to overcome. When this mindset is adopted, technology can help create new opportunities, protect fundamental rights, and support a sustainable future and we are proud to have made step-changes this year along with our partners. 

While I’ve only been at Microsoft for just over a year, I’ve seen first-hand our growth mindset in action – unlocking richer work experiences, stronger ideas, more impactful products, and ensuring our customers are better served.  

My philosophy is aligned to that of Microsoft – Come as You Are and Love What You Do. My mission for 2023 will be to continue supporting and engaging with colleagues, partners and customers to really instill this ideal and continue making positive impact through digital transformation. 

Take care during the festive period and I look forward to working with you again in 2023!