Vodafone Speakers Details

MC Jess Kelly

Jess Kelly is a Radio and TV Broadcaster. She is Newstalk’s Technology Correspondent and host of Tech Talk, every Saturday evening at 5pm.

As Technology Correspondent on a busy national radio station, Jess takes a hands-on look at all the latest gadgets and devices on the market and explains what you need to know. Having worked at Newstalk for more than a decade, Jess’ role has seen her travel across the globe reporting from some of the biggest conferences in the world including CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and Samsung Unpacked in New York City. She is a monthly columnist for The Business Post and has had work published in The Irish Examiner, Tatler and on Independent.ie to name but a few.
Jess is an experience MC, having hosted panels, events and stages for KPMG, The Department of Rural and Community Development, Web Summit, Limerick Chamber and many more. Jess is a supporter of the ISPCC.

In 2019, Jess Kelly was awarded the Irish Tatler Woman of the Year Media Award. Jess was recognised for this award as even the most complex of technology topics are made insightful and jargon-free thanks to her skilled expertise.

Jess has a BA in Gaeilge and Geography from University College Dublin.

Sheila Kavanagh, Network Director, Vodafone Ireland

Sheila Kavanagh has over 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. As a graduate, she joined Eircell in 1996, quickly working her way up to management. Following Vodafone’s acquisition of Eircell, in 2003 Sheila led the successful roll-out of the first 3G network in Ireland and some years later the roll-out of the 4G network. In addition, Sheila was responsible for a number of key Strategic Fibre Build Projects at Vodafone Ireland.

Between 2009 and 2015, Sheila worked in Vodafone’s technology unit, holding a number of senior management roles including Head of Network Engineering – achieving Vodafone Ireland’s first best network certifications.

In 2015, Sheila joined Vodafone Malta as Chief Technology Officer, managing a team spanning IT, Networks, service management, security and programme delivery. Under Sheila’s leadership, Vodafone Malta was the first to market with NB-IoT, 4.5G and first live 5G holographic concert.

In April 2020, Sheila re-joined Vodafone Ireland to lead the Technology Enterprise Solutions Team for Vodafone Ireland Business. This team ensures quality and timely delivery of all fixed, mobile, security and cloud services for our business customers.

In April 2021, Sheila was appointed Network Director, leading Vodafone’s award-winning network team, and joining Ireland’s senior leadership.

Sheila holds a BSc Physics and Mathematics from University College Dublin and has completed a Masters in Business Strategy (MSc) from Trinity College Dublin.

Sheila has two kids and enjoys walking, running and yoga.

Colin Barrett, Head of Internet of Things, Vodafone Ireland

Colin’s career spans over 20 years in the technology industry. With a background rooted in software development, he held several senior client delivery roles for eSpatial, Siebel
and Oracle. This brought him to Singapore with Oracle to run a team delivering large Internet Banking projects for bluechip clients such as DBS Bank.

Colin joined IBM Ireland in 2007 leading presales for middleware before moving into their technology services business where he sat on IBM Ireland’s Cloud panel.

Colin joined Vodafone in 2015 to establish their Cloud & Hosting business in Ireland with responsibility for business growth, datacentre strategy, contract development, delivery coordination; and partner strategy.

In 2021 he became Head of Vodafone Ireland’s IoT business unit delivering societal/business transformation, sustainability, automotive-tech, and Industry 4.0 solutions through 5G automated innovation (Vodafone IoT are market leaders with 170 million IoT connections globally).

Colin holds a B.Sc. in Computer Applications from Dublin City University, and an MBA from UCD Smurfit Business School.

Neil Cunningham, CEO, Civic Group

Neil Cunningham is working within the Intelligent Transportation Systems sector for over 25 years and set-up Civic Group in 2004 with a vision to change an industry that was lacking innovation and ambition.

Over the past 18 years the business has grown to over 55 employees, and are leaders in intelligent transport & smart civil environment solutions.

They design and manufacture a range of traffic control equipment under the Réalta brand, and develop/export IoT software solutions in the USA, Europe, Great Britain and
Australia.