The Castleknock Print Blog

I was interested to see that NUI Maynooth in association with the I.T/communications technology and academic community in China are running the annual 'China-Ireland I.T conference' this year hosted by NUI Maynooth from the 19th-21st August.

As the website for the conference explains in great detail, 'CIICT is an international conference focusing on topical research in the broad area of Information and Communications Technologies. The conference is jointly sponsored and organized by Chinese and Irish Universities with hosting alternating between China and Ireland. The first CIICT conference was hosted by Hangzhou Dianzi University in October 2006. The 2007 CIICT conference was hosted in Dublin City University, Ireland. The 2008 CIICT conference was hosted by Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. And in 2009 CIICT will be hosted in Maynooth by National University of Ireland Maynooth'.

The conference aims are to strengthen science and technology research collaboration among China, Ireland and other countries and also to provide a platform for facilitating academic and industrial research interaction. CIICT2009 continues this regular series of conferences.

The event will be relevant and timely in my opinion, given the rise and media attention to China, as a global economic power, its continued growth and potential for alliances with other universities, particularly in Ireland for business and trade.

The event holds relevance for me given my own interest in China, from an economic, financial and business point of view. I feel China may hold potential business opportunities for setting up a company, and follow my own interest in a improved standard of living which given the right geographical location will mean a transfer of wealth from the West, which is declining steadily over to the East, which is on the ascendant.

There is much potential for growth in China given the key economic fundamentals, such as a growing middle class, a new aspiring middle class generation, interest in gaining wealthy, western values and commercialization of these values for businesses. Hong Kong, for example, offers tax free incentives and low corporation taxes for business and companies to set up there. Also, I like the Eastern culture, and respect their philosophy through works as 'I Ching' and sports such as martial arts.

So, the key question is, how can I improve my language to overcome the natural barrier that exists for non nationals? Well, that should be taken care of by me going to Shanghai, China next week to start a three week language exchange program with the university of Shanghai and UCC in Ireland. Here, I will study the spoken language with groups of Irish and Chinese students as well as the written text.

Other activities on the trip include martial arts introduction, calligraphy and sight seeing trips to Hangzhou and Suzhou provinces. Interesting, I read an article in the Economist magazine yesterday, which stated that there level of growth since the Chinese government introduced the stimulus package, has meant a marked faster growth in the inland western provinces than the more, Eastern coastal areas and cities such as Shanghai, which have traditionally been wealthier and attracted more investment capital for faster growth. I plan to find out more about these interesting economic points and other things when I go to China next week.

The conference starts from this Tuesday, the 19th to this Friday, the 21st and promises to be a fascinating look at the different developments in technology and science innovation that is collaborating between China and Ireland in academic disciplines. If you are interested in attending, more information can be found at the CIITC website.

The event promises to be a good one, given the tremendous growth opportunities potentially untapped in China by Irish academic and government contacts. Tickets for the event are priced at 150 euros/200 euros for a late registered student and up to 300 for academic staff. There is also a limited number of bursaries available for students those wishing to attend. More details regarding applications and how to apply are available on the link to the website above.

It is with great pleasure that I can say that I have been accepted for the National college of Ireland (NCI) 'Financial services' undergraduate degree course, as part of the 'Labour market Activation Program'.

I have been applying for various different courses that are been offered under the Activation program, as a government funded initiative. All the courses that I have applied for were in the Business or finance related sector as I enjoy business and finance subjects such as trade, investment and how the monetary system works in general.

I have applied to a number of colleges including UCD, DCU, NCI, UCC and NUI Maynooth under the Activation scheme.

I have applied for a couple of the courses through the CAO system as well as the Post graduates application center or PAC as a mature student as I am over 23 years old.

I have accepted the NCI offer for a place as I realize that getting an offer for one of these courses is a great opportunity and is very competitive given that it is a free course and also has great content in its syllabus. I am also waiting to see what will happen when the 1st and 2nd round of offers is announced on the CAO site under the 'Vacant places' section. If I am offered a course under the CAO, then I may consider all my options and to keep them open for the best opportunity to learn more and find employment when the recession finally ends in 3 years time.