Sponsors

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 223,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.  Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments.

www.accenture.com

Huawei is a leading telecom solutions provider. Through continuous customer-centric innovation, we have established end-to-end advantages in Telecom Networks, Global Services and Devices. With comprehensive strengths in wireline, wireless and IP technologies, Huawei has gained a leading position in the All-IP convergence age. Our products and solutions have been deployed in over 140 countries and have served 45 of the world's top 50 telecom operators, as well as one third of the world's population.

Huawei's vision is to enrich life through communication. By leveraging our experience and expertise in the telecom sector, we help bridge the digital divide and provide people the opportunity to join the information age, regardless of their geographic origin. In order to address the increasingly prominent climate challenges, Huawei has deployed a wide range of green solutions that enable customers to reduce power consumption and carbon emissions, contributing to the sustainable development of the society, economy, and the environment.

www.huawei.com/en/about-huawei/corporate-info/index.htm

The Earth Awards is a global search for imaginative design ideas and cutting-edge innovations in sustainability. With the support of our partners and an esteemed Selection Committee, The Earth Awards has developed into a global gathering of the greatest thinkers, designers, inventors and innovators who are actively creating solutions to build a better, sustainable future for all. The Earth Awards will serve as a catalyst and showcase for new innovative ideas in sustainable design, but beyond that, The Earth Awards will be a connector, ensuring that these innovations will be brought to fruition, and ultimately to market.

For further information, please visit: www.theearthawards.org

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. In the areas of Automotive and Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Building Technology, some 283,500 associates worldwide generated sales of 47.3 billion Euros in 2010. The sector for Bosch is the automotive business sector, accounting for 60% of sales.

In the UK, Bosch employs 4,500 people across 37 locations. Sales in 2010 were 2.04 billion Euros, equating to around 4% of the Bosch Group total sales.

Bosch's special ownership structure, 92% of the company is owned by the Robert Bosch Stiftung (a charitable Foundation), guarantees entrepreneurial freedom and enables the company to plan for the long-term, making significant upfront investments.
These investments include R&D, which in 2010 had an investment of 4 billion Euros, approximately 45% of this went into the development of products that protect the environment and conserve resources. Environmentally friendly products now account for 40% of the company's total sales.

Today, Bosch continues to pursue the customer-oriented business philosophy expressed by its corporate slogan 'Invented for life.' It does so by developing innovative products and practical solutions designed to improve quality of life for people everywhere.

Innovation is the key to finding technological solutions to ecological problems, for example finding innovative and energy-efficient ways to generate electricity to heat homes and power vehicles, helping reduce global warming, CO2 emissions and the current dependence on fossil fuels.

www.bosch.co.uk

IDA Ireland is the Irish Government's inward investment promotion agency, responsible for the attraction and development of foreign direct investment in Ireland. Today Ireland is the location of choice for global companies as it is seen as a business location where the workforce, as well as being highly qualified, has a unique capacity to improve, to innovate and to initiate new ideas, new processes and new ways of working that can make business more dynamic, more efficient and ultimately more profitable.

Leading companies such as Twitter, Facebook, Google, Amazon.com, eBay/Paypal, Yahoo, Zynga, and AOL are just some of the names that have chosen Ireland as their hub in Europe. 

To find out how Ireland can benefit your business, email us at idaireland@ida.ie or log on to www.idaireland.com

GE is a global infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the worlds toughest challenges. From everyday light bulbs to fuel cell technology, to cleaner, more efficient jet engines, GE has continually shaped our world with groundbreaking innovations for over 130 years.

www.ge.com

Sopheon is helping nearly 200 organisations worldwide cut new product development costs and identify and prioritise their most promising innovation opportunities. Our software and services give top innovators such as BASF, Cadbury, Electrolux, PepsiCo, General Motors and SABMiller a unique combination of business-decision support for strategic product planning, idea generation and management, and governance of innovation processes. We help to create a sustainable culture for generating, selecting and developing winning product and service ideas; make sure available resources are focused on the most lucrative ideas and projects; automate roadmapping and NPD processes; and provide strategic decision support for managing product portfolios.   www.sopheon.com