This paper explores the Centre for Insurance, Risk and Data Analytics Studies (CIRDAS) as a case study of online adult education which offers flexible upskilling and reskilling opportunities to employees across the Irish insurance sector. It explores how CIRDAS's agile programme development enabled flexible entry, exit and progression routes for…

This report shares data in the following categories as they relate to graduates in Ontario's economy: (1) Rising Ontario employer requirements for skills; (2) Matching skills to employer needs: pathways, entrepreneurship, and innovation; (3) Ontario's college graduate advantage compared to the U.S.; (4) International competitiveness: the quality…

This report shares data in the following categories as they relate to graduates in Ontario's economy: (1) Number of jobs for young adults without post-secondary credentials; (2) Matching credentials to employer needs: an international comparison; (3) Matching credentials to employer needs: industry, entrepreneurship, and innovation; (4) Access to…

Advanced manufacturing is growing and thriving in the United States. Companies are in great need of reliable employees who can communicate well, effectively make decisions, and are interested in long-term careers with opportunity for advancement. Employers have identified a need for a more robust talent pipeline to narrow America's skills gap--a…

The benefit of external, often industry-based, speakers for a seminar series associated with both undergraduate and graduate programmes is relatively unchallenged. However, the means by which such a seminar series can be encapsulated within a structured learning module, and the appropriate design of an accompanying assessment methodology, is not…

Designers and engineers seem finally to be awakening to the challenge that sustainable development has given. Educators and students alike are keenly aware of the need to become more effective in the training and practice of their specific disciplines with respect to sustainability. In the past four years since this research has developed, there…

To develop our economies and allow the small business sector to achieve its maximum potential, it is imperative we invest in human capital. It is estimated that 97% of Irish businesses are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), with over 95% having fewer than 50 employees. We can therefore agree that the qualification and skill mix of the…

The Irish economy has grown at an unprecedented rate over the last decade and the demand for skilled workers has increased dramatically. The Irish Standards-Based Apprenticeship (SBA) system has been one of the cornerstones of intermediate skills development with the capacity to produce high-quality craft workers and in sufficient numbers to meet…

Examines the current status of and opportunities for university-industry cooperation in Ireland. Also describes the specific developments in University College Dublin and summarizes the benefits that such cooperation bring to both the university and industrial sectors. (JN)

Describes the catalytic role that Ireland's National Board for Science and Technology plays in promoting and fostering university-industry links as well as several ongoing higher education-industry cooperative ventures. Also examines the motivating factors that affect higher education-university interactions and the disincentives that limit…

Discusses the development of industrial collaboration in engineering education in the United Kingdom, focusing on Queen's University in Belfast (Ireland). This example was selected since northern Ireland has suffered severe industrial decline and the importance of collaboration to rebuild its industrial base is recognized both in education and…

The last decade has seen wide-ranging changes in the higher education-industry relationship in Ireland. It is increasingly recognized that colleges have a major role in providing technological and business capability for modern industrial services development and that close cooperation holds appreciable benefits for higher education. (MSE)

Examines reasons why bonds between higher education and industry must be strengthened in Ireland, indicating that competitiveness and unemployment in Ireland require it, that research and development (R&D) resources of universities can be the lifeblood for many future developments for manufacturing companies, and that Ireland lags behind other…

Over the last two decades, Ireland has proactively marketed its educated workforce, its favourable corporate tax rates, membership of the European common market, and other advantages, to multinational technology corporations. The resulting foreign direct investment in high-tech manufacturing operations has driven a booming Irish economy that has…

The purpose of this paper is to examine how recent demand for greater realism in portrayals of Irish life in the television and film industries serves to authenticate existing stereotypes and romantic images which characterize "Irishness" in the popular imagination rather than refute or undermine them. Discussions of a political thriller…