HEAnet announces the appointment of Ronan Byrne as its new CEO
The Board of Directors of HEAnet has appointed Ronan Byrne as its new CEO. He commenced in the role on 16 August 2021 and has succeeded Kerrie Power who led HEAnet for four years.
HEAnet is Ireland’s national research and education network (NREN). It is a not-for-profit entity, owned and funded by the education sector whose role is to deliver connectivity and ICT services to all publicly funded universities, institutes of technology and other colleges, in addition to all of Ireland’s 4,000 schools.
Ronan’s career at HEAnet extends back to 2004 and he has overseen many large-scale programmes over this time, including the development of the Schools Broadband Network, migration of the Institute of Technologies from ITNet, the establishment of the Edugate National Federated Identity Service, delivery of a 100GB network backbone, and building a high performing Brokerage Services unit that delivers more than €7 million savings for the sector annually.
Ronan is a member of the Board of Directors of the EOSC (European Open Science Cloud) Association, and a member of the Irish Government’s National Open Research Forum steering group. Ronan also represents HEAnet at the GÉANT General Assembly and is Chair of a GÉANT Network Infrastructure Advisory Committee advising on the upgrade of the pan-European GÉANT network.
Prior to joining HEAnet, Ronan established a successful track record of large-scale ICT programme delivery, having led engagements with some of the most respected organisations in Ireland, across both private and public sectors. Previous employers include Fujitsu, Via Networks, ICL Computers, and Aer Lingus.
Ronan holds an MSc in Business Leadership and Management Practice from the Smurfit Business School at University College Dublin and an MSc in Internet Systems from Dublin City University. Ronan is also an Associate Member of the Governance Institute.
In making the announcement, Professor Anne Scott, Chair of the HEAnet Board of Directors, said: “HEAnet is a real asset to Ireland’s education system, delivering common, repeatable and shareable solutions for the sector. Given Ronan’s extensive experience and strong record of accomplishments, I am confident in his ability to lead HEAnet. On behalf of the HEAnet’s Board of Directors, I would like to congratulate Ronan, as we look forward to working with him over the coming years.”
Ronan Byrne, HEAnet’s newly appointed CEO said: “It is truly an honour to be appointed as HEAnet CEO. In my role as the Chief Technology Officer, I have had the pleasure to work with great people and I am proud of how far we have come. While recognising our achievements, I also see many opportunities for the future, and I look forward to this next chapter. We will continue to work on behalf of our clients and together with our clients, leveraging our collective strengths in a trusted way.”
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