Construction BUSINESS

To combat the shortage of skilled personnel in modern methods of construction and cybersecurity to meet the evolving industry demand, LMETB’s Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence in Dundalk (AMTCE) has announced the planned doubling of available training places to 500 for 2024 in two key areas, 3D concrete printing (3DCP), and cybersecurity.

The announcement was made by Martin O’Brien, CEO of the Louth Meath Education and Training Board (LMETB) and founder of AMTCE, at a recent 3D Concrete Printing and Cyber Skills Showcase, organised by AMTCE,  LMETB, Southern Regional College in Newry and InterTrade Ireland for businesses and key stakeholders on the Island of Ireland.

Martin O’Brien, CEO of LMETB and founder of AMTCE, said: “The planned doubling of the training places in those important areas will be supported through the SOLAS/AMTCE Skills to Advance and apprenticeship programmes, which are designed to address the development and delivery of key skills requirements for Ireland’s future workforce. As the demand for new housing remains extremely high and recruitment into the trades is challenging, 3D concrete printing has proven to be highly effective in the fast delivery of high quality, lower costing, sustainable builds with minimal waste. It has the potential to address Ireland’s need for the fast delivery of affordable housing as it can deliver the concrete structure for a three-bedroom house in less than a week.”

The Showcase began with an introduction to the 3D Concrete Printer, covering its capabilities, features, and the materials that can be used, followed by a practical demonstration of the printer in action. Also highlighted were the growing number of successful 3D house printing projects underway in Europe, worldwide and planned in Ireland.

The second demonstration was a real-time Cyber Risk Assessment (CRA) of a business. The CRA is a dynamic tool that simply and remotely uses a web page address to quickly access and assess all an organisation’s digital assets that are exposed to the internet.

It will produce a detailed report of how effective security is for e-mail, network, host, IP, domain, website and DNS. It is the entire potential attack surface that a hacker could penetrate. The CRA will provide a top-level score from ‘Bad to Excellent’ and a detailed report of the vulnerability details.  The CRA report will also help to determine if company personnel or its IT support have the skills to analyse the report and consequently fix the vulnerabilities identified. CRA produces the report in ten minutes and will continue to run in the background, checking for improvements or further risks.

Martin O’Brien added: “The need for Cybersecurity Risk Assessment (CRA) on the Island of Ireland arises from the importance of protecting sensitive data against increasing cyber threats,  compliance with regulations, addressing the cyber vulnerabilities of SMEs, and the protection of critical infrastructure. It is essential for organisations to proactively assess their cybersecurity risks and implement appropriate measures to mitigate them.”

AMTCE (Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centre of Excellence) was established in 2021 by the LMETB to deliver hands on skills-oriented training needed to underpin the transition of Irish enterprise to industry 4.0 based operations in the manufacturing, pharma, food and drink, construction, and engineering sectors.

CAPTION:

Pictured at the AMTCE 3DCP and Cyber Skills Showcase were: Sadie Ward McDermott, director of further education, LMETB;  Elizabeth Shackels, director of curriculum, Southern Regional College (SRC); and Martin O’Brien, chief executive, LMETB and founder of AMTCE. Photo: Newspics