26 September 2017

230 delegates attended the inaugural ‘International Service Design Experience’, the first event of its kind in Ireland, featuring national and international design and innovation leaders, in Fota Island Resort on Tuesday, September 26th.

The day-long event discussed service design policies and perspectives in an international context, and presented best-practice exemplars of service design in both the public and private sectors. The conference was hosted by Service rePublic, a joint initiative by Cork County Council and Cork Institute of Technology, and was run in conjunction with the Service Design Network (SDN) which represents the global service design community internationally. 

Cork County Council and CIT have developed a centre which is the first of its kind in this country, and comprises a dedicated, multi-disciplinary team of staff specially trained in Service Design and citizen engagement.

Commenting on the practical implications of Service Design, Chief Executive of Cork County Council Tim Lucey said “Design is a major factor in contributing to the transformation of products and services for all types of organisations. It allows companies to become more competitive and innovative and to deliver value to their customers. Design led innovation can make services more efficient, effective and at the same time deliver faster, clearer services that people actually want. Cork County Council is excited to be leading the way in the public sector in Ireland by using Service Design for transforming our services with the public.”

Speaking at the conference, County Mayor, Cllr Declan Hurley, said “Today’s event highlights the proud history of engagement and collaboration that the communities and people of County Cork have with Cork County Council. The incredibly high level of satisfaction with quality of life in County Cork is due in a large part to the sense of being connected with people, community and place. This will be enhanced further through the work being carried out by Service rePublic; the collaboration responsible for bringing today’s conference to fruition and accelerating discussion around the importance of Service Design in the region and beyond.”

Orla Flynn, Vice President for External Affairs in CIT went on to say, “CIT is proud to join Cork County Council in creating Service rePublic.  This partnership has created a host of opportunities through sharing experience and expertise across the public sector and beyond.  This conference has promoted the positive and transformative impact that good service can have on all our lives.”

Presentations from the Tuesday’s conference will be available at www.servicedesignireland.com.