CeADAR: Bronagh Riordan announced as first female chair of any Irish technology centre
Posted 8 March, 2022
(opens in a new window)CeADAR, Ireland’s Centre for Applied AI has named Bronagh Riordan as the new chair of its Industry Steering Board – the body which helps determine the overall vision and strategic direction for the organisation.
The announcement makes Ms Riordan, the Head of Data and Analytics at Primark, the first female chair of any technology centre in Ireland.
CeADAR, based at NexusUCD, is funded by Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, and is headquartered in University College Dublin and is a partnership with the Technological University Dublin.
It is one of only 30 Digital Innovation Hubs across the European Union focused specifically on delivering AI services to industry and is one of only eight technology centres in Ireland.
“CeADAR is a fantastic centre which is bringing so much value to the business community and the entire eco system in Ireland and across the EU. Its expertise in terms of big data and AI is unrivalled,” said Ms Riordan.
“I have seen enormous change across industry over the 20 years I have been working in this space, and the speed of this change is only accelerating. With the utilisation of data as a response to the pandemic and the related boom in digital, there is an increasing realisation that Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence is at the heart of these changes.
“CeADAR is perfectly placed to play a pivotal role in this changing world, in terms of supporting enterprises to achieve sustainable competitive advantage through applied AI, machine learning and Data Analytics.”
Adding: “I am honoured to be taking up the mantle as Chair of the CeADAR board and my role is to support the team at CeADAR with regards to its overall vision and strategic direction and to provide strong leadership to the board.
“I am also very proud to be first female chair of any technology centre in Ireland, increasing the visibility and representation of women in critical technical Data & Analytics roles and pushing forward the diversity and inclusion agenda in this space.”
Ms Riordan has 20 years of experience as a data professional, and in her current role, leads on delivering Data & Analytics strategy and solutions for Primark.
Prior to this she was Director of the Global Analytics Centre of Excellence for Deutsche Bank and Head of Data Science for Car Trawler.
CeADAR’s primary purpose is to bring innovation in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Analytics into companies to allow them to use the technology to build new/improved products and services, develop their in-house capacity in AI and to give them sustained competitive advantage.
“We are delighted to appoint Bronagh as chair of our Industry Steering Board. Since she joined our board three years ago, she has brought her energy, enthusiasm and practical perspectives to the Board and we look forward to her tenure as CeADAR expands its national profile,” said CeADAR Director Dr Edward McDonnell.
“CeADAR actively pursues diversity in its workforce, and we are delighted that such a high-calibre individual as Bronagh will chair the Board and be such a positive role model for everyone.”
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations (with materials from Micéal Whelan, UCD Research and Innovation)
