• Stephen Mulligan - eircom Unified Communications Principal
  
  
• Joseph Nugent - Director of Passport Services, Department of Foreign Affairs
  
  
• Dónal Rice - Senior ICT Advisor, Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, NDA
  
  
• Professor Barry McMullin Research Institute for Networks and Communications Engineering and DCU. EU e-accessibility expert.
  
  
• Declan Tuite - Lecturer, School of Communications, Dublin City University
  
  
• Fergal O'Byrne - CEO, Sonru.com
  
  
• Maeve Kneafsey {Judging co-ordinator} - Managing Director Elucidate, Strategic Online Communications and Marketing

Stephen Mulligan
eircom Unified Communications Principal

Stephen Mulligan has 15 years' experience in IT with expertise in mobile telecommunications, consultancy, project management and software engineering. Currently, he is Unified Communications Principal at eircom and works closely with our customers in leveraging Unified communications and Collaboration tools to create greater efficiency and productivity. Prior to this, he had responsibility for creating business value using unified communications and mobility solutions across eircom. He pioneered a program in eircom known as the 'New World of Work', which leverages a range of UC&C technologies in eircom’s new flagship building, 1 Heuston South Quarter, to drive productivity gains across the company. For more details, visit http://government.eircom.net/

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Joseph Nugent
Director of Passport Services, Department of Foreign Affairs

Joseph Nugent was appointed Director of Passport Services in September, 2009. As Director, Mr. Nugent has responsibility for the processing and issuance of all passports in Ireland's Passport Offices in Dublin, Cork and London and through the network of Ireland's Embassies overseas. Prior to this appointment Mr. Nugent was Director of the Local Government Computer Services Board, the Board responsible for the provision of leadership, advice, guidance and support in the use of Information & Communications Technologies (ICT) across the local government sector in Ireland. Mr. Nugent has spent over twenty years in a variety of civil service roles including Head of ICT in the Department of Foreign Affairs overseeing the introduction of Ireland's ePassport and the delivery of ICT services at Presidency events in Ireland in 2004 and Project Manager of www.citizensinformation.ie.

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Dónal Rice
Senior ICT Advisor, Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, NDA

Dónal Rice is the Senior Design Advisor on ICT with the Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, NDA. He has over eight years experience working on accessible and user-centred designed ICT projects. He develops and maintains the ICT Accessibility Guidelines and was responsible for developing the ICT component of the NDA’s Excellence through Accessibility awards.

Dónal holds an MSc in Computing Science from Griffith College Dublin. His current academic interests include working on a PhD on web accessibility and legislation with the Centre for Disability and Law and Policy at NUI Galway.

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Electronic Engineer by profession, now working as a lecturer and researcher in Dublin City University, Professor McMullin is one of Europe’s leading experts on creating online services that are accessible to all.

Professor McMullin has extensive experience in the development and evaluation of web sites for accessibility, normally in the context of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

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Declan Tuite joined DCU in 2001 where he lectures in program development and research supervision. Declan’s areas of expertise lie in interactive design, programming, HCI, usability and new media project management.

Declan also acts as a coordinator for reviewing degree/modules and formulating the future direction of course content. In this capacity, he liaises with the industry to identify the changing skills requirement and to access how these impact on course content.

Previously, Declan has worked as a media production manager for Eircom Multimedia (Rondomondo). In that role, he worked on web initiatives for both the general public and on the research and development of new products, which are currently coming on market. Declan has also worked as a freelance programmer, audio engineer and multimedia consultant.

He has spent seven years producing music online, and has also worked with heavy and responsive media, and both look/feel and coding. In addition, Declan has spent 15 years producing audio projects for radio, music soundtracks and interactive installations.

Declan holds a degree in Communications, MSc Multimedia Systems, and a Diploma in Sound Engineering.

In his spare time, he writes and performs music, enjoys the challenge of interactive and algorithmic composition of audio and music, and also enjoys a spot of gardening.

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Fergal O'Byrne
CEO, Sonru.com

Fergal joined Sonru, as Chairman in September 2008, having previously been a mentor to the company. He subsequently became CEO in September 2009, after serving as CEO of the Irish Internet Association (IIA) for 4 years. He is an internet industry entrepreneur and founded Interactive Return (formerly webBusters) back in 1998. He is on the Board of Directors of IGOpeople.com, WINC, and CCD Ltd. He is also Chair of the Project Advisory Group for Fáilte Ireland's eBusiness Support Initiative. He regularly mentors start up and seed capital companies in Ireland and Denmark. In 2004 he was awarded the IIA Net Visionary Internet Marketer of the Year Award. Fergal is a member of the Irish Internet Association, Marketing Institute of Ireland and Engineers Ireland.

Fergal's most recent book - 10 Online Marketing and Search Engine Essentials was published by Aspatore Books. He has been a guest lecturer on the MBA course at the Smurfit School of Business, Dublin. He was part of the original team that helped to set up eircom.net and was Content Development Manager in charge of such projects as the Doras Directory. He holds an Honours Degree in Electronic Engineering from DIT, Kevin Street.

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Maeve has held senior positions in online and traditional marketing and publishing for almost 20 years.

Maeve has devised and implemented numerous public and private sector web communications and marketing strategies. She established the first Customer Respect Index (CRI) for Ireland, an independent index that evaluates how websites treat their customers online. Recently, she was involved in the launch of the eCabinet, designed to migrate the Cabinet from a paper-based system to electronic access.

Prior to establishing Elucidate, she was co-founder of AMAS, CEO of Hoson Publishing (publishers of dot.ie and the Golden Spider Awards), general manager of Mac Publishing and head of marketing for The Sunday Tribune and Attic Press.

She is a co-founder and director of the Irish eGovernment Awards in conjunction with the Public Sector Times. She is also a co-founder of Sanas, the specialist Irish translation service. She holds a BA from Trinity College, Dublin.

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