WIT News

A Waterford Institute of Technology student has won the award for Best Demonstration of Strategic Thinking at the annual Accenture ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ (LOT) Award which took place at the Accenture offices in Dublin recently. Patricia Williams from Co. Waterford, a Masters Student in Computing, was a finalist in the Awards and narrowly missed out on the top prize to Clare McCollum from the University of Ulster. Patricia's project – ‘Perforium’ - is a scorecard for measuring leadership values and engagement within organisations.

The Accenture ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ Award , open to third-level graduates across the country, seeks out innovative and entrepreneurial young talent in order to foster Ireland’s next generation of leaders who will ultimately shape the public, private and social landscape of this country in coming years.

The 2010 judging panel featured some of Ireland’s most respected business leaders from across various industries: John Herlihy, VP Global Ad Operations Google; John Moloney, CEO Glanbia; Liam Kavanagh, MD The Irish Times; Niamh O’Donoghue, Director General Department of Social Protection; Mark Ryan, Accenture Ireland MD; and Marian Corcoran, Head of Business Consulting at Accenture.

Mark Ryan, Country Managing Director for Accenture in Ireland said, “We are living in a time when the fostering of young entrepreneurs and their innovative ideas has never been more important to the future of this country and the prosperity of our economy.  Our senior line up of business leaders for the 2010 judging panel reflects this fact and speaks volumes about the importance our respective organisations place on finding the next generation of leaders.”

“Now in its third year, the programme has become more relevant than we ever predicted given Ireland’s turn in economic fortunes. It is not surprising that we received an overwhelming response from Ireland’s third level institutions and we believe interest in our programme is growing because it gives graduates hands-on experience in developing the tools and skills necessary for a life in business.,” said Ryan.

There were several hundred applications to this year’s LOT awards, representing all the main universities across the island of Ireland. Many innovative business ideas were submitted in areas such as technology, green business and public policy and the five finalists – comprising both individuals and groups from WIT, University of Ulster, DCU, TCD and UL – were required to present their projects to the adjudication panel.

The overall winner was awarded the specially commissioned Leaders of Tomorrow Trophy and will now participate in the Accenture Global Leadership Experience, which is a two-part prize involving a trip to New York this summer and a Leadership Development Internship at Accenture Ireland. The winning prize is designed to provide students with a hands-on understanding and appreciation of the changing business, technology and leadership landscape which faces Irish leaders today. The Accenture Leadership Experience Tour to New York will provide the opportunity to learn from a global business hub innovation trends which will shape the environment in which Ireland competes.