Last Tuesday, 27th February, the second CILT Mobility & Supply Chain Summit took place at The Gibson Hotel. Hosting over 100 delegates, with 16 industry speakers and 5 industry sponsors it was one of the biggest events in the wider Logistics and Supply Chain Skills Week calendar as supported by the Department of Transport.
This year, the main aim of the conference was to bring quality speakers on both road passenger transport and freight logistics together to offer delegates a choice of insightful and thought provoking sessions to attend.
Keynote speaker, Joan Mulvihill, Sustainability and Digitalisation Lead at SIEMENS, was a resounding hit with the audience and left attendees long after singing her praises. Joan, as an artist first, allowed through her keynote address, the audience to expand their thought processes to include looking for the right questions to ask rather than looking for solutions.
Douglas Kent, Executive VP for the Association of Supply Chain Managament in the US, addressed attendees and gave an overview of digitalisation and data management to be further expanded upon by our able panel facilitator Conor Molloy.
Post coffee break, CEO of Usyncro, Cristina Martín Lorenzo, who had travelled from Madrid to present at the Summit, gave the audience insights into how blockchain and AI may open digital corridors and sustainable solutions for transport and logistics. Tim Crowe, CEO of WrxFlo, and exhibition sponsor of the Summit followed up this presentation with his own take on 'How to structure digitalisation for success.'
This was followed by a question and answer session led by panel moderator and facilitator Lorcan Sheehan, of PerformanSC.
Straight into a networking lunch, allowed delegates a chance for a brain break, and to meet and chat informally while enjoying a delicious lunch served in Coda Eatery of First Dates Ireland fame.
Directly following the networking lunch, Minister of State for the Department of Transport Jack Chambers arrived to address delegates and take the opportunity to meet with some of our speakers and sponsors.
Anne Graham, CEO of the National Transport Authority of Ireland, presented on the NTA's Strategic Plans with CEO of Iarnród Éireann Jim Meade presenting an in depth presentation on the All Island Strategic Rail Review.
Meanwhile, parallell sessions were in full flow in one of the breakout rooms focused on topics such as micro mobility infrastructure, data analytics improving bus transport reliability, and a tuned- in panel discussion facilitated by Tim Gaston, Former Director of Public Transport Services at the NTA. Participants on this panel included Dervla Mc Kay, Managing Director of Go-Ahead Ireland, Charlie Gleeson, General Manager Free Now, Peadar Golden, Country Manager Tier Mobility and Professor Heletje van Staden of UCD College of Business.
The afternoon sessions brought a panel on 'Skills Shortages within Industry' ably led by Aoife O'Sullivan of Skillnet Ireland with representatives from industry, Nick Clarke of BWG Foods taking part, along with Nora Condon of SOLAS, with the data and insights on this topic and James Kearney, CILT Education Manager and CILT Mobility & Supply Chain Skillnet network manager discussing the supports to industry available - namely specially developed microcredentials.
Douglas Kent, presented on Triple Bottom Line: People, Planet and Prosperity with John Comer, Head of Product Management Volvo UK and Ireland speaking about infrastructure and charging challenges. All speakers from the parallel session rounded out the day with a question and answer session led by Lorcan Sheehan, with the main findings in terms of how these mobility actors may work together, the resounding answer being - 'collaborate not compete.'
A networking drinks reception and dinner took place immediately post conference and provided an opportunity for attendees to stay and chat with other delegates and mingle with guest speakers alike.
We would like to thank our fantastic guest speakers, panel facilitators and sponsors Irish Rail Freight, Customs Window, CILT Mobility & Supply Chain Skillnet, FREE NOW and WrxFlo without whom this event would not be possible.