Insights
Resilience of Local Economy Should Be Fuel for the Forge
It’s not often that Northern Ireland finds itself at the top of the UK league tables, other than perhaps the recent GCSE results, yet it is great to see the local economy operating on a high.
AIKEN Summer Reading & Listening Recommendations
The books and podcasts that have captured the AIKEN team's attention this summer.
Can you be PM and also have a quality family?
Working long hours and not having family time does not increase productivity or make you an inspirational leader
Insight Analysis into the UK Elections 2024
Reaction to the 2024 Irish Local and European Elections
Contrary to the polls and the views of many, the anticipated significant shifts in power did not play out in Ireland over the last week in the local and European elections. Rather, the people of Ireland voted for centrist government with honours even between the big two of Irish politics which saw both Fine Fáil and Fine Gael each taking 23% of the first preference votes. The big challenger Sinn Féin, which had positioned itself as the party of change, got a bloody nose from much of the electorate polling at only 12%. It is fair to say, Sinn Féin’s performance came as a shock to the party given and potentially its rivals, as it had been polling strongly in the run up to the elections.
Cyber threats are the constant conundrum of today’s corporate world
Constant and camouflaged are the digital threats facing organisations in today’s online world. Cyberattacks in their many forms are now so ubiquitous, the UK’s National Cyber Security Council (NCSC) believes it is a question of when – not if – companies will one day find themselves at the mercy of malicious hackers.
Three decades - and a change of communication
Reflecting on how much has changed socially, culturally and technologically since 1994
UK Spring Budget Brief
With an election expected this year Chancellor Jeremy Hunt laid his Spring Budget before Parliament this afternoon. While there were personal tax giveaways in the form of a National Insurance cut there wasn’t much for Northern Ireland’s politicians to get excited about save for a £100m additional funding in the form of the Barnett Consequential. Certainly not enough to plug some of the funding gaps we have.