Sport Innovation and Technology Summit - Speakers

Professional Golfer

Jason Smyth, Irish Para Athlete, and 3-time Paralympic Champion.

CEO of Sport Ireland 

Minister of Sport and Physical Education Thomas Byrne 

Managing Director of Sport Innovators, Netherlands. Merit is managing director of Sport Innovator, a leading sports innovation network in the Netherlands with over 200 member organizations. 

VP Digital and Business Data Operations (Stats Perform) and Co-Founder of Sports Tech Ireland. Gráinne is an accomplished international business operations technology leader with a proven track record of commercial and business delivery.   Gráinne is recognized for her expertise in commercializing technology businesses and in strategic and digitally led operational and digital transformation and in scaling customer and employee centric teams.  

Strategic Alliances & Business Development Director, Global Sport Innovation Centre (GSIC). Inigo has developed his professional career fully linked to the sports industry, working for different right holders and sponsors such as LaLiga. As part of his role, Inigo has led the international expansion of the GSIC Powered by Microsoft, developing projects in Europe, USA, Middle East and APAC, where he has been living the last 2 years. 

Professor of Sports Technology at Loughborough University and Director of the Sports Technology Institute. 

Andy has been a leading figure in sports product research and innovation for over 20 years, supervising over 25 PhD students and leading over 50 projects with a range of sports bodies and brands including adidas, International Cricket Council, England and Wales Cricket Board, Dunlop Slazenger and The FA. 

Noel is CEO of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, Ireland’s largest SFI-funded Research Centre and is also a professor in the School of Electronic Engineering at Dublin City University (DCU). 

Aimée has almost 20 years of working in the fast-paced Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) industry and her experience spans a diverse range of sectors including technology, consumer products & services, engineering, life sciences, start-ups and clean technology across international territories. 

Dr Aoife Lane is Head of Department of Sport and Health Sciences in TUS Midlands. Aoife is a founder of the Women’s Gaelic Players Association, current Chair of the Gaelic Games Sports Science Working Group and is a member of the Sport Ireland Research and Participation Committee.  

Co-founder and CEO of INCISIV. and professor of experimental psychology at Ulster University.  With over 20 years’ research experience in performance psychology and more than 100 scientific publications, she is a recognized ‘thought leader’ in the use of Virtual reality to understand and improve performance in sport.

Craig is a serial entrepreneur, with a strong track record of starting up and growing businesses in both the sports and academic sectors.  SportsKey software helps sports facilities reduce their admin and increase their usage and revenue streams. The company is on a mission to help 20 million people play sport by 2024. 

Professor of Human Performance and Innovation, University of Limerick 

Giles Warrington is Head of Department and Professor of Human Performance and Innovation in the Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) at the University of Limerick and co-Director of the Sport and Human Performance Research Centre (SHPRC).  

Karl has been working with Sport Ireland as an Innovation partner across 30 Dormant Account Funded projects designed to increase participation and inclusion in sport. Karl believes strongly in the power of innovation as a tool for tackling barriers to engagement in sport for traditionally excluded communities.  

Chief Executive Officer of Swim Ireland and President of Olympic Federation of Ireland. Sarah is a member of the Central Bank of Ireland Commission; National Sports Policy of Ireland Government Leadership Group and many more. 

Sinead O'Riordan is a senior business leader who has gained broad experience working with start-up’s, SME's and multinationals. Sinead has a track record in developing and executing Strategic Programs.

Yvonne is the CEO and co-founder of RugbySmarts. RugbySmarts is a company that uses deep tech to revolutionise video analysis in sport.  Yvonne is a former Irish Rugby international and is a board member of IRFU and Vision Sport Ireland,  Chairs the IRFU Women's subcommittee and is President of Corinthians RFC. She has a background in Sports Science alongside an MBA and a BioInnovate Fellowship.

Co-founder and CEO of Orreco.

Brian has led global research into sports haematology since 2005 when he uncovered patterns in the haematology of elite athletes as part of his doctoral research at Brunel University, London. He has worked directly with multiple World and Olympic medalists, and numerous pro sports teams and athletes competing in MLB, NBA, NHL, PGA Tour, UEFA, America’s Cup Sailing and Formula1.  

Benny Cullen, Director of Research and Innovation, Sport Ireland who Leads a multi-disciplinary team which carries out strategic research, evaluation and innovation to inform Irish sports policy and investment in sport.