Some of NITL’s academic staff recently attended the annual conference of the Logistics Research Network (LRN), which was held at the University of Liverpool Management School. LRN is a special interest group of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT – UK) which brings together academics and practitioners in the fields of logistics and supply chain management (SCM). Its annual conference is a major event and provides participants with a forum for the discussion of the latest thinking in the area.

The theme of the conference was ‘Supply Chain Innovations: People, Practice and Performance’. This theme recognises the key role of innovation in today’s supply chain structures in enabling a rapid, yet structured response to market demands with unique, customer-focused solutions. NITL was represented at the conference by Edward Sweeney, Dr. Claudia Wagner and Colm Ryan.

The first paper was presented by Colm, who is a graduate of NITL’s flagship Executive M.Sc. in SCM and who now works in the supply chain of Apple Inc., based in Cork. The title of his paper was:

• Exploring the digital supply chain: implications & models for online software distribution by Colm Ryan (Apple Inc.) & Edward Sweeney (NITL).
  
  

The second paper is a collaboration between NITL and research partners in Italy and Arizona State University, titled:

• The role of 3PL internet technology in supporting extended enterprise integration: an exploratory survey by Pietro Evangelista (University of Naples, Federico II), Emilio Esposito (University of Naples, Federico II), Edward Sweeney (NITL) and Erica Staller (Arizona State University).
  
  
  

Edward Sweeney, Pietro Evangelista and Dr. Claudia-Maria Wagner prepare their presentation at LRN 2008

 Further information about the event is available at www.LRN2008.ac.uk