By Business & Finance 
A unique event for Ireland’s youth will take place at Shannon Airport on January 27th 2014, when the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) inaugural Young Innovators event kicks off.
The event, supported by Dell, ITLG, Shannon Airport and Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) among others, will encourage young people to innovate for the world, as they see it, in 50 years from now. Questions about how we will live, learn, shop, play, travel or work in 2064 will be put to over 600 students already registered to attend on Janaury 27th. Divided into teams of 10, they will be supported by the ITLG delegation of successful tech entrepreneurs who will coach and mentor the student groups, bringing their ideas and technology advances to life, creating new solutions for the future.
“Young people and fresh ideas are at the heart of this technological age; this event is all about embracing technology and talent, while inspiring and empowering our young people to shape the innovations of the future,” said John Hartnett, CEO of ITLG.
“Demand for this event has already been exceptionally high. We are looking forward to an exciting day of ideas and innovation from Ireland’s youth at Shannon Airport,” he added.
Aspiring young entrepreneurs will engage their business and innovation skills to imagine solutions for the future, while working with their peers and some of the world’s leading tech executives including the visiting ITLG delegation from Silicon Valley, indigenous success stories and technology entrepreneurs.
LIT are co-ordinating this unique event, which promises to give students a real flavour for how innovation works and how working as a team can create the best solutions.
“This event provides many unique opportunities for secondary school students, giving them technology, innovation and entrepreneurship experience and insights,” said Maria Hinfelaar, president of LIT.
“The speakers and mentors participating at the ITLG Young Innovators event are global leaders, so we are delighted that these young students will be able to learn from industry, and hopefully industry will learn from the students also, as they are our future and therefore best positioned to visualise how we will live, work, play, learn, shop and travel in 2064!”
Dell’s entrepreneur-in-residence Ingrid Vanderveldt, leader of the Dell Founders Club and the Dell Centre for Entrepreneurs, will give a keynote address at the event. Vanderveldt has founded a number of companies and holds the position of the CEO of VH2 Energy Investments & Green Girl Energy. She is also the founding organiser of the GLASS Forum (Global Leadership & Sustainable Success) for women and is a member of the 2013 United Nations Global Entrepreneurship Council. Vanderveldt will join well known RTE ‘Dragons’ Gavin Duffy, Peter Casey, Barry O’Sullivan and Sean O’Sullivan to help judge the projects developed by the students over the course of the day.
Commenting on Dell’s support for the event, Timmy O’Dwyer, site leader at Dell in Limerick, said: “Dell is a global leader in innovation and as the world’s largest start up, is committed to supporting, inspiring and encouraging the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. The ITLG Youth Event at Shannon Airport provides a great opportunity to bring together young people from the region to encourage them to change their own future. We will have a team of Dell mentors in attendance on the day to support and encourage the students as they seek to visualise and implement ideas that will potentially change the world.”
Some of the latest in future technology will be showcased at the event and among the prizes up for grabs will be business bootcamps, and the latest in tech gadgets sponsored by LIT, Dell and Intel.
“Shannon Airport is delighted to be supporting this year’s ITLG Forum and hosting the Young Innovators event, which offers a unique platform for the collaboration of skills between students and top level business leaders,” said airport operations director Niall Maloney.
The delegation from Silicon Valley will be led by ITLG Chairman and Former Chairman and CEO of Intel Corp, Craig Barrett and Limerickman John Hartnett, founder and CEO, ITLG. Top global tech executives will convene for the two day event which will take place on January 27th and 28th in Limerick and Shannon.
Limerick City and County Council, Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT), University of Limerick (UL), Shannon Airport and Limerick Chamber have partnered with the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) to bring the ITLG Forum to Munster.
