The Irish Tech News Podcast

Rhiannon Fletcher talks about Bitbook.network and its travel plans, rewards and fund raising.  BitBook is a platform built for travellers, content creators, and the hotel industry to benefit everyone. Travellers are the biggest winners with more access to travel at lower costs, content creators earn for their contributions, and hotels take advantage of lower commission fees resulting in lower prices for guests, adding to the value of their trip. The travel industry is facing unprecedented challenges while the world goes through the recovery process following the pandemic. Travel bloggers are part of the world’s gig economy and have been hit hard, as have hotels, and of course, travellers have been grounded. We have all been planning our next dream holiday from the confines of lockdowns. When travel opens back up, BitBook is positioned to provide a complete travel ecosystem on the blockchain that will tie together two key industries, crypto, which has boomed with the rise of DeFi and other disruptive technologies, and the travel industry which has been battered. BitBook’s primary mission is: To enable more people to experience the world, creating a self-sustainable and autonomous digital economy. Creator Rewards Content creators and influencers can join the monthly reward pool and get paid tokens for creating articles, guides, blogs, and vlogs. This will draw users looking to travel to these destinations to the website, which will make it more popular for creators and so on. Traveller Rewards Travellers will be rewarded for booking accommodations. This acts as an incentive to use the platform, which results in more bookings and further growth. Driving the token up, which pays the content creators more, encourages more content, and attracts more bookings increasing growth in a viral loop. Review Rewards BitBook goes a step further and provides a complete review platform for travellers backed up by the blockchain, eradicating the fake reviews that plague the industry. Travellers can rest assured that the review is from someone who stayed there because reviewers are verified through the blockchain, and hotels can focus efforts on real guests rather than phantom complaints. In today’s digital economy, content is king. BitBook has built a platform that rewards the best content inherently and provides a complete ecosystem around all things travel-related supported by the crypto industry. BitBook has made the site accessible for those who don’t have crypto by enabling Visa/MC payments converted on the client’s behalf into BBT for a marginal fee. By providing a bridge from fiat to crypto, the customer has a seamless experience utilising the blockchain without having to buy-in directly. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book can be found at https://persons-of-interest.io/

Howard Krieger currently serves as co-founder and CEO of unFederalReserve. Prior to founding unFederalReserve, Krieger served as Managing Director at CBIZ Valuation Group, Valuation Director at WithumSmith+Brown and was also a Senior Manager at one of the Big 4 Accounting Firms. Krieger is well-versed in intangible business valuation, intellectual property valuation, financial modeling, valuation of equity-participating instruments, and exotic financial assets and liabilities. Krieger holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from James Madison University and a MBA with a concentration in qualitative finance from Rutgers University. Twitter: @CryptoKriegerU www.UnFederalreserve.com Jamil Hasan is a Generation X Author and experienced data intelligence technology builder with two decades of experience leading data-based teams at Fortune 100 companies, including AIG, Prudential Financial, and Ingersoll Rand. Jamil believes that skill and experience, not just age, is the most important factor required to build and lead corporate organizations. His unique story, as someone on the ground floor of the 2008 financial crisis and his role to help repay the $180 billion AIG bailout, enabled him to come face-to-face with many of the societal ills facing Generation X today and their causes. As the result of his experience, Jamil has developed a path forward for his fellow Gen Xers to restore his generation’s financial standing in society today and to rebuild the American Dream for Generation X.

Tad Piper acts as a catalyst to growth for emerging businesses. He has spent over a decade working with early stage companies and was a nationally recognized Wall Street research leader in the software and technology marketplace. Tad has served in roles ranging from CEO, President, CFO, Chief Strategy Officer and Product Development, helping drive innovation and sales to achieve rapid growth across multiple industries. His broad background in financial and business analysis, market strategy, and operational leadership has allowed him to quickly assimilate with diverse leadership teams to focus on early market traction, raising capital and success. Tad has a BA from Williams College, a graduate diploma in Financial Analysis from Stirling University, Scotland and is a Charter Financial Analyst charter holder. Jamil Hasan is a Generation X Author and experienced data intelligence technology builder with two decades of experience leading data-based teams at Fortune 100 companies, including AIG, Prudential Financial, and Ingersoll Rand. Jamil believes that skill and experience, not just age, is the most important factor required to build and lead corporate organizations. His unique story, as someone on the ground floor of the 2008 financial crisis and his role to help repay the $180 billion AIG bailout, enabled him to come face-to-face with many of the societal ills facing Generation X today and their causes. As the result of his experience, Jamil has developed a path forward for his fellow Gen Xers to restore his generation’s financial standing in society today and to rebuild the American Dream for Generation X.

Because of the pandemic many of us are driving less, taking less public transport, but we’re walking and cycling a lot more. But when lockdown lifts, offices and shops and other services reopen it is likely we’ll either slip back into old habits or have a changed outlook on how we get around. This will lead to MaaS (Mobility as a Service) becoming more prevelant. Ronan talks to Marie Kress, Product Owner at Voyego which is part of Endava and a trusted provider of software solutions for the airline and ground mobility industries.. Marie Kress talks about her background, MaaS, the infrastructure that MaaS requires, Google Maps MaaS integration, data sharing, how cities can play a vital role, finding good solutions to make more transport options accessible and a credible alternative to privately owned cars. Marie also talks about how the pandemic has impacted MaaS, the future of urban airspace and how transport will be more environmentally friendly More about Marie: As a product owner, Marie oversees digital transformation, automation and Customer Experience (CX) offerings. In addition to her role as a product owner, she also heads up research in Voyego’s Mobility Innovation Lab where she works with partners on creating new cutting-edge concepts and pilot projects within the area of Mobility as a Service (MaaS). The work she does at Voyego enables industry players to build state-of-art digital technology platforms to transform customers’ payment and travel experiences. Marie is also actively involved in consulting global players with new business models, building projects for the next generation of mobility services and supporting airlines with their digital transformation. She has spoken at a number of industry events across the world about Smart Mobility and some of the topics she can deep dive into include MaaS as the new form of mobility, examples of projects in this space and how digitisation is central to success in this space.

What does the future hold for a cashless economy? The day when all of us might have digital wallets with a selection of digital currencies might not be too far out to the future, according to Richard Turrin, author of new book “Cashless”, and an expert on China’s fintech developments and the digital currency revolution. In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley chat with Richard about the current CBDC landscape across different regions around the world, the superapp ecosystem, and the role of big tech in the innovation economy.

Offshore wind is proving to be an effective and environmentally friendly source of energy. As the climate crisis drives people to look for alternatives to fossil fuels, it is important for all nations to develop and expand sources of sustainable energy. Rachel speaks with Yaron Oppenheimer about the virtual trade mission taking place between the 14th and 18th of June, the advantages of offshore wind and the impact of Covid-19 on the industry. Yaron talks about what will take place during the June trade mission and the hope that further cooperation will occur between the Dutch and Irish governments and businesses alike. Yaron is the Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassay of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Dublin, Ireland. From 2015 to 2019, Yaron worked as Human Rights Coordinator at the Netherlands Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Before that, he worked at various posts in The Hauge, Afghanistan, Lithuania and DR Congo. Rachel is a Journalism student at Coventry University, currently interning with Irish Tech News – which marks the start of a partnership between the two institutions. Rachel’s main interests are politics and conflict, human rights, animal welfare and the environment.

In this interview Amir and Philip speak about the inspiration behind the initial marketing book and how the series has developed over time. As well as the impact things such as social media have had on marketing and his most recent book marketing 5.0. Philip also delves into a potential marketing 6.0 and the reasons as to why it is imperative to update the series every few years Philip Kotler is an American marketing author, consultant and professor. He helped create the field of social marketing that focuses on helping individuals and groups modify their behaviours toward healthier and safer living styles. He also created the concept of "demarketing" to aid in the task of reducing the level of demand. He also developed the concepts of "prosumers," "atmospherics," and "societal marketing." He is regarded as, “The Father of Modern Marketing" by many scholars. He has also released a myriad of books such as Marketing 4.0/5.0. Amir Najib is a Student journalist from Coventry University currently interning at Irish Tech News, his main interests are in sports, entertainment and cryptocurrency. He hopes to one day work in the journalism industry where he is doing multimedia on the subjects he enjoys. Twitter - @4mirN9

Erica Stanford, author Crypto Wars In every new, emerging technology and in every industry there are opportunists, and there will always be some who seek to take advantage of circumstances. Lack of regulation, poverty, a global pandemic, or misunderstood, new technologies all create hotbeds for everything from opportunists to organised crime. In what was the Wild West of the fledging ecosystem around the game-changing new technology of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, numbers and the audacity of projects falling into the 'scam' category have been almost unprecedented. In crypto, especially during the 2016-2018 boom- or bubble - depending on who you ask- a time where many new cryptocurrencies and projects were launched and raised millions- then billions- pretty much out of thin air- but sadly still ongoing today- Ponzi schemes, exit scams, and even joke businesses have cumulatively parted tens of billions of dollars, if not more, from millions of people all around the world. If thousands of people can lose billions of dollars in OneCoin, masterminded by the now infamous Missing Cryptoqueen made famous by the BBC's podcast series and called 'one of the biggest scams in history' by The Times, what makes you think your money is safe? OneCoin isn't alone. Crypto Wars: Faked Deaths, Missing Billions and Industry Disruption reveals some of the most shocking scams affected millions of innocent people all around the world with everything from religious leaders to celebrities involved. In this book, you get exclusive access to the back story of the most extreme Ponzi schemes, the most bizarre hoaxes and brutal exit strategies from some of the biggest charlatans of crypto. The book doesn't just touch on scams, but also on some of the mistakes and events that have shaped crypto history, albeit at the cost of some of its investors. Written by Erica Stanford, the founder of the UK's thriving crypto community, the Crypto Curry Club, featuring interviews with several of those who have been driving investigations into the biggest scams including an exclusive interview with Jamie Bartlett from the BBC's Missing Cryptoqueen to give some insight into how some of these scams got so big, often right under the regulators' watchful gaze, how people fall for them, how some people can tell, often within a minute, what is a scam and what isn't, some overview into the Wild West of some of crypto's rockier moments, some clarity into how these scams operate and so hopefully prevent people for falling for them and hopefully some optimism about some of the great that crypto is doing and continues to do for millions of people around the world. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book can be found here https://persons-of-interest.io/

Roman Tsarovsky, founder of Allynow.com, has a strong sense of injustice. He examined the plight of merchants looking to delivery goods, such as food and pharma, and the way individual drivers are treated. He found both were let down by the marketing platforms that have heretofore created a cartel which neither serves the merchants or the drivers well.  As a technologist Roman knew the answer lay in better use of software and AI. The result? Allynow treats the merchants with respect, reducing costs but also looking at better ways to connect merchant to their customers by taking out the middleman. In a similar vein, he also addresses the abuses inflicted on drivers, honouring their work and removing costly and often unfair commissions. This is a software solution to an issue - not a marketing fudge. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book can be found at https://persons-of-interest.io/

The Irish government is expected to pass legislation to regulate the use of e-scooters on Irish roads in the coming months. This coupled with the increased usage of bicycles will bring micromobility to the fore in Ireland. One of the public hire e-scooter operators hoping to launch its services throughout the country is the Ford owned e-scooter company, Spin. Ronan talks to Steve Pyer, Spin’s UK Country Manager. Steve talks about who Spin are, what Spin do, how being bought by Ford has helped them, the legal framework around operating e-scooters and how safe and secure they are. Steve also talks about how the e-scooter usage trends compare between the US and Europe, how easy it is upgrade them via updating their OS, how tech has changed, why e-bikes are the future, and how Spin works with cities to rethink micromobility. More about Spin: Headquartered in San Francisco, Spin is one of the leading micromobility companies and a unit of Ford Mobility. They currently operate dockless electric scooters on colleges and in cities across Europe and North America. Spin has been recognised for launching the first stationless mobility program in the United States and was instrumental in crafting the world’s first mobility permit system. As a technology company that powers individual mobility for the benefit of all and strategically collaborates to reshape policy and redesign urban life, their mission is to create a world full of 15-minute cities and to bring those cities to life by moving people freely through their streets.