Chambers Ireland Weekly Digest: 5th June 2018

 

• GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR) – Training your Employees

Every day, your employees handle personal data and are the cause of 80% of data breaches.

Chambers Ireland have now partnered with Olive Media (GDPRcourse.com) to bring to you an easy and cost-effective solution to your compliance challenge.

The course outlines the steps needed in order to ensure your business is in compliance with the regulations.

Course cost is €35 per person

To begin your GDPR compliance solution please just simply clink on this link which will take you to a registration and payment page.

You will then be sent a link to begin your training.

You can also offer this service to your members and Chambers will receive an 8% commission on every member’s employee that uses the training. Chambers will have their own system to track the usage by members, illustrated in the link above. Please let me know that you will be making this service available to members and we can talk you through the service.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact james.kiernan@chambers.ie

• Department of Business, Enterprise & Innovation – Brexit Preparedness Notices

Efforts are currently underway to reach an agreement to ensure the withdrawal of the UK from the EU occurs with minimum disruption and to put in place a framework for a future relationship which will enable the closest possible EU-UK relationship post Brexit.

However, the UK’s notification of its intention to withdraw from the EU has created significant uncertainties. The European Commission has therefore sought to clarify what the situation will be for a number of business sectors in the event that no agreement is reached to mitigate the impacts of the UK’s withdrawal.

Notices have been issued in respect of industrial products, company law, trademarks, auditing and import and export licenses as well as a range of other areas. A list of the notices published to date are available to view on the Commission’s website at the following link: European Commission Brexit Preparedness

The Department of Business, Enterprise & Innovation (DBEI) is encouraging firms to review these notices and consider relevant actions that may be required to mitigate any potential negative impacts that may arise for them in terms of Brexit.

If you have any queries regarding these Brexit Preparedness Notices or the industrial sector which your business operates in, with regards to preparing for Brexit, please contact our EU & International Affairs Manager Emma Kerins, via her email address: Emma.Kerins@chambers.ie

• Save the Date – ‘Is your Border Town Future Proof’? – Monaghan, 21^st of June

An initiative developed in a partnership between Government departments and statutory agencies, the Town Centre Health Check works to evaluate towns and develop action plans that will enable greater economic and social development.

The event on June 21^s at the Westernra Arms Hotel, County Monaghan will give an insight into how we can ‘future-proof’ border towns against the uncertainties of Brexit while celebrating their heritage. The all-day event will provide an insight into the Collaborative Town Centre Health Checks (TCHC), a training programme aimed to foster greater collaboration between border towns to pool resources and guidance on how towns can take advantage of funding opportunities collectively.

• LGiU Briefing Series on Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards Winners –  South Dublin County Council’s ‘€300K: Have your Say!’

The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) is publishing a series of briefings looking at the winners of the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Governance (ELG) Awards from 2017. The LGiU will showcase each of the best in practice projects that won at our Awards in 2017 over the coming weeks.

Please find attached the 13th instalment in the series of LGiU briefings on Chambers Ireland ELG Awards 2017 Winners, this week featuring the winners of the Citizen Engagement category, South Dublin County Council’s ‘300K€ Have Your Say!’.

• Enterprise Ireland – Prepare for Brexit Events – Brexit Advisory Clinic, Thursday 21^st of June

As part of their ‘Prepare for Brexit’ events series, Enterprise Ireland are running a number of Brexit Advisory Clinics across the country. These Clinics provide information and practical support to companies to allow them to take action to address their exposure to Brexit while also providing the opportunity to get personalised and business-specific advice through 40 minute one to one meetings with independent experts across a number of business areas.

The next clinic will take place over the morning of Thursday, June 21st at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

For the agenda to this forthcoming clinic and to register, click here.

• Save the Date – RSA Irish Branch Annual Conference – 7 September 2018, IT Sligo

The Irish branch of the Regional Studies Association (RSA) is holding its annual conference on Friday, the 7^th of September 2018, the theme for which is ‘City Led Regional Development and Peripheral Regions’ and the RSA is calling for presentation submissions from policy makers, academia and practitioners active in the field of regional studies. Post-graduate students are also encouraged to submit for the conference. The themes for submissions include the following:

• Cities as a source of Economic Growth
• Development in Peripheral regions
• The NPF and Governance

Proposals for presentation must be submitted in the form of a 250 word abstract piece.

The submissions deadline is Sunday, 1^st of July 2018.

To submit your proposal, visit the following link: http://rsa-ireland.weebly.com/abstract-submission.html

• Taking Care of Business 2018 – 25 September, Radisson Blu Hotel, Limerick

An initiative of the Government of Ireland, and run by Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in conjunction with the Health and Safety Authority and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Taking Care of Business will bring together more than 25 State bodies, agencies and units for a half-day event aimed at benefitting people considering starting a business as well as SME owners and managers. In the context of Brexit, it is also an opportunity for businesses to seek advice from a range of experts on how to diversify and expand into new markets.

The State offices and agencies represented will provide information across a wide range of areas, including:

• Tax, employment, and Health & Safety obligations;
• Legal requirements for setting up and running a business;
• Requirements in areas such as food and environmental safety;

To register for the event and for more details including the running order of presentations and the full list of State Bodies attending, please visit www.takingcareofbusiness.ie

• InterTradeIreland – Selling to NI Government Meet the Buyer Event – 13 June 2018

InterTradeIreland & its partners are organizing a new information and networking event in the procurement sector for Wednesday, the 13^th of June 2018, to help suppliers across the island who are interested in tendering for Northern Ireland Public Sector contracts.

Throughout the event there will be significant opportunities to meet with the key public sector buyers from Northern Ireland.

If you are an SME this event is an opportunity for you to:

• Meet the sourcing teams from the 9 Centres Of Procurement Expertise (CoPE), CPD and other key NI public sector buyers
• Meet Sourcing teams from the all 11 Councils in Northern Ireland
• Hear from NI public sector buyers about their procurement processes, what they want from suppliers and upcoming opportunities
• Visit one of the eTendersNI.gov.uk information sessions
• Learn out about the latest procurement news and trends
• Find out about funding opportunities and supports available from the key NI business development agencies

For more information and to register for your free place for the event please visit http://www.intertradeireland.com/meet-the-buyer

• EUROCHAMBRES ‘Ready2Go’ Guidebook on SME Internationalisation

Eurochambres, the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry, is involved in the project Ready2GO, preparing a Guidebook on SME Internationalisation.

For the guidebook, EUROCHAMBRES are researching input on current best practices in SME Internationalisation, as a benchmark for European SMEs aiming to expand globally.

If your Chamber frequently engages in supporting trade and internationalisation among your Chamber members, we encourage you to participate in this short questionnaire for EUROCHAMBRES on SME internationalisation, which asks for an example of best practice in a particular SME Internationalisation area.

To access the questionnaire, please click here.

• European Parliament of Enterprises 2018

The European Parliament of Enterprises (EPE), hosted by Eurochambres every two years, is scheduled to take place in the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday, the 10^th of October 2018.

More information on the event will be circulated in the coming months.

If you have any questions about the event, please contact emma.kerins@chambers.ie.