This Week in Business: Blair to address Web Summit Lisbon

Monday

Results: Mylan, Avadel Pharmaceuticals, Taro Pharmaceuticals, Avis Budget, Ferrari, Marriott International.

Indicators: Irish services purchasing managers' index (PMI) (Oct), industrial production (Sep); UK car sales (Oct), services PMI (Oct); US services PMI (Oct).

There is an enlightened, modern feel to this year's Web Summit in Lisbon (Monday to Thursday) as organisers prepare the world's largest conference of its kind with promises to plant trees, feed the hungry and empower women. There will be some tech talk too, of course.

Having begun in 2010, the Web Summit is, despite its acrimonious divorce from Dublin, the largest technology event in the world: “No conference has ever grown so large so fast,” its organisers say.

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US consumer spending solid but incomes rise only marginally

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The schedule of speakers is as stellar as one would by now expect. Next Week the speakers include António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations; former UK prime minister Tony Blair; and European Union commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager. And that's before you get to anyone who actually runs a company.

Roundtables will debate innovation and disruption in urban transportation, gaming, blockchain, branding women in sport and “rebuilding in a fake news world”, among an eclectic mix of 21st-century topics.

This year, Web Summit’s admirable initiatives include “zero hunger”, the promise to circulate unsold food to the needy; “climate action”, the promise to plant about 70,000 trees; and “gender equality”, the promise to change the gender ratio at its events and empower women across the globe.

Tuesday

Results: Associated British Foods, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Deutsche Post DHL, First Derivatives, Becton Dickinson, Ralph Lauren, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Jones Lang LaSalle.

Indicators: Euro-zone composite and services PMI (Oct), producer price index (PPI) (Sep); German factory orders (Sep), composite and services PMI (Oct).

Meetings: National Analytics Conference (Mansion House, Dublin 2).

Data analytics are, perhaps unsurprisingly, becoming an increasingly used tool in the corporate world.

Ahead of the National Analytics Conference in Dublin on Tuesday, a study of Ireland’s top 100 organisations sheds a little light on just how much – today, 78 per cent of companies believe analytics have had an effect on competitiveness and strategy.

The report, prepared by the National Analytics Institute (NAI), found 69 per cent of organisations planned to spend more in the next fiscal year. Two-thirds will recruit staff to churn the numbers.

"Business and technology trends have aligned that analytics, artificial intelligence, big data and IoT are key enablers for success in the coming years," NAI chief executive Lorcan Malone said ahead of the conference.

It will hear from Hitachi Vantara's chief technical officer, Bill Schmarzo, on how data powers big business, and from Microsoft's global head of data science, John Hoegger, on the impact of artificial intelligence.

Wednesday

Results: Horizon Pharma, Amadeus IT Group, Buzzi Unicem, Symrise, Wizz Air Holdings, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Office Depot, Liberty Global, Groupon, TripAdvisor.

Indicators: Irish consumer confidence (Oct); euro-zone retail sales (Sep); UK house price index (Oct); German industrial production (Sep), construction PMI (Oct).

Meetings: Greencore Group egm (Westin Hotel, Westmoreland Street, Dublin 2); European Central Bank non-monetary policy meeting; Graphite HR and employment law conference (Clayton Hotel, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4); Small Firms Association event on PAYE modernisation and business taxation (SFA offices, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin).

Thursday

Results: HeidelbergCement, Tate & Lyle, Wienerberger, Liberty Media, Walt Disney, Dropbox, Yelp.

Indicators: Irish inflation (Oct); German imports and exports (Sep).

Meetings: Design Leaders Conference (Lighthouse Cinema, Market Square, Dublin 7); Dublin Tech Job Fair (WeWork, Iveagh Court, Harcourt Street, Dublin 2).

Friday

Indicators: Irish new car sales (Oct); UK GDP (Sep), construction output (Sep), manufacturing and industrial production (Sep), business investment (Q3); US PPI (Oct).

Meetings: Dublin Chamber breakfast with Central Bank governor Philip Lane (Dublin Chamber, Clare Street, Dublin 2); Fingal Dublin Chamber business excellence and CSR awards (Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport, Co Dublin).