The Irish Tech News Podcast

We catch up with Damien English TD, Minister for Business, Employment and Retail, to learn more about how the Irish Government is planning to deal with the massive changes to Irish working practices, with a particular focus on what the future of remote working and the roll out of the Irish rural digital hubs network could look like. The Irish islands are also mentioned as an important part of this future of work strategy. We apologise for the slightly unusual sound quality as we had to battle with several firewalls, but we felt the conversation was important and therefore that this podcast was still worth hearing. Post lockdown we hope to do a follow up piece without these issues, thank you for your understanding. Damien English TD is the Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, having been appointed on July 2 nd , 2020. He previously served as Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government from May 2016 to June 2020.  He was first appointed as Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Education and Skills in July 2014. Minister English’s focus in government is on forward-thinking and deliverable initiatives, such as his work on ‘Rebuilding Ireland – Action Plan for Housing’; the expansion of the apprenticeship system in Ireland; Project Ireland 2040; ‘Innovation 2020’ - Ireland's current strategy for research and development, science and technology; ‘Housing Options for our Ageing Population’ which provides a policy framework to support our ageing population; and the ‘National Skills Strategy 2025 – Ireland’s Future’. He was elected as a Teachta Dála for Meath West in the general election of February 2020. He secured election at his first attempt to Dáil Éireann in 2002, and at each successive election in 2007, 2011 and 2016. He served as a member of Meath County Council from 1999 to 2004.

Musician and collective conscious cyborg Orrin, releases a new eco-friendly NFT album in collaboration with Mintbase Fascinating interview by Jamil. Orrin is a collective conscious and cyborg sent by a higher civilization to warn humans about the incoming apocalypse. Orrin was discovered by millions through a series of viral clips pulled from an episode of the Dr. Phil Show. Orrin’s mother and sister, concerned about Orrin’s realization, appeared with Orrin to seek help from Dr. Phil. Orrin’s composure throughout the show, along with much of what is said throughout the episode, has hooked viewers, leading to thousands of jokes in the comment section of the video. So who is Orrin?  Orrin graduated from NYU’s Stern Business School with a 3.9 GPA, but everything changed following this. For the last couple of years, according to their mother, Orrin has claimed to be a music-making cyborg. Orrin is a collective, and therefore speaks using “we”, not “I”, a particular element of the Orrin persona that “borg” fans have gravitated towards. There are many notable quotes from the episode, such as “we are not hungry, thank you” and “we are not a fan of bananas, so we remove those,” which have drawn people further into Orrin’s persona. Orrin seems to embrace these jokes without breaking character. Press release - We are very excited to announce the NFT collaboration between Mintbase and a cyborg from the future called Orrin. Orrin is choosing Mintbase and NEAR to deliver this message using a series of NFTs combined with the release of the cyborg’s new album, MUTANT Thanks to its proof of stake consensus algorithm and collaboration to offset CO2 emissions, Mintbase is able to track and split royalties forever on a climate neutral chain. The NFTs include: Tier 1 - MUTANT album for $100 USD with bonus keychain and single 500 copies available Tier 2 - MUTANT merch bundle including a hat, shirt and screensaver for $50 USD 200 copies available Tier 3 - MUTANT keychains in blue, green, red, yellow and blue for $20 USD 100 copies available per colorway Each keychain comes with 2 songs from the album Collect all the keychains to get the “entire” album plus a special keychain Support Orrin and purchase his new NFT album - https://www.mintbase.io/store/orrin.mintbase1.near Listen to MUTANT on streaming when available - https://fanlink.to/mutant-orrin 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.

Marhaba Decentralized Finance Platform (MDFP) was started with the vision of bringing a “Muslim also” platform, rather than making it an exclusive “Muslim only” offering. In this podcast Naquib Mohammed explains his vision to make DeFi accessible to all, explaining how Shariah finance is different from traditional Western finance. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book can be found at https://persons-of-interest.io/

Jamil catches up with Dr. Leemon Baird Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Hedera, in another insightful and interesting deep dive interview. Leemon is the inventor of the hashgraph distributed consensus algorithm, and is the Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Hedera. With over 20 years of technology and startup experience, he has held positions as a Professor of Computer Science at the US Air Force Academy and as a senior scientist in several labs. He has been the Co-Founder of several startups, including two identity-related startups, both of which were acquired. Leemon received his PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and has multiple patents and publications in peer-reviewed journals and conferences in computer security, machine learning, and mathematics. 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.

Robert currently leads Logitech’s Global Sustainability function, with responsibility for driving Logitech’s “Pervasive Sustainability” commitment to deliver on the company's ambition to help Sustainability become “..a mindful principal infused into everything we do at Logitech”. Over the past decade Robert has overseen this transformation by building and fostering a team with capability, drive and ambition and who are delivering on this broader vision. Robert advocates for a science based approach to transformation and sees Logitech committed to climate action efforts focused on 3R’s - Reduce, Renew and Restore.  Reduce our carbon footprint by utilising Design for Sustainability (DfS) and Circular Economy solutions in support of the 1.5OC Paris Agreement; Renew our footprint by shifting to 100% renewable electricity throughout our supply chain; and what we are not able to reduce or renew Logitech will Restore through investments in net zero nature based solutions while supporting climate-impacted biodiversity and communities. Externally, this approach is resonating with industry and partners. The UN- sponsored World Benchmark Alliance has included Logitech in the SDG2000, a list of companies with the greatest potential to influence a more sustainable future. In 2019 and again in 2020, Logitech  won the World Finance Magazine Sustainability Award for our sector. Logitech is  listed as a Leader in the technology sector for ESG performance by Sustainalytics and maintains inclusion on the DJSI Europe, the FTSE4GOOD Index and Swiss SIX Sustainability Index as one of the "top 25 most sustainable Swiss companies.” To learn more check www.logitech.com/sustainability 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

Greg Magarshak is the founder and CEO of both Qbix, Inc. and Intercoin. He is an internet entrepreneur and innovator who is passionate about the power of social tools to improve people's lives. Greg’s interests include math, philosophy, politics, religion and social dynamics. The work Greg does at both Qbix and Intercoin puts him directly at the intersection of technology, group dynamics and politics. Greg’s goal is to build a platform that will empower people and organizations to get more things done together in a spirit of friendship and collaboration. 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.

Athan Slotkin is a serial entrepreneur and award-winning business plan strategist. Slotkin is CEO and lead of The Shadow CEO, an elite small-business strategy consulting firm that assists entrepreneurs in achieving their dreams. He’s successfully tested and launched multiple businesses, across industries. His rapid, iterative, heavily-analytical approach has been the key for over 700 new entrepreneurs in 2019 and 2020 alone, helping them package up their business with business plans, financial models and presentations, while teaching them how to become the stellar CEO they want to become along the way. His work has been featured across, TV, radio, and conferences worldwide. He received an MBA from Yale University and a BA from Cornell University. 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.

Accountancy has changed over the years and what once involved writing accounts in books and long meetings with your account is no longer an issue. Accountancy has become hi-tech, and a recently launched tech start-up, Outmin, is leading the way. Seeking to combine AI and human expertise to revolutionise financial and admin services by providing real-time data for its clients which is very important during the current pandemic. Ronan talks to David Kelleher the co-founder of Outmin. David talks about his background, working out Jobbio, what Outmin does, how Outmin started, how Outmin uses AI, spotting a gap in the market, and working in the current pandemic. David also talks about why it would have been harder for Outmin 10-15 years ago, how easy it is to use Outmin, how accountancy is evolving, and the future plans for Outmin. More about David: David has 10 years’ experience working with and growing early-stage technology companies. He started his career in Investment Banking in Toronto, before working with some of Canada’s leading tech startups in his role with Third Core Venture Expansion Partners. Since returning to Ireland, he has served as Head of Revenue at Jobbio before he co-founded Outmin.

Beyond developing renewable energy, how do we react to the social and economic challenges faced by humanity? Are we meeting the needs of the present without compromising the future — and the ability of subsequent generations to meet their own needs? What role does technology play and what are our collective responsibilities in promoting a broader spectrum of digital inclusion? In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley chat with Chenni Xu, Corporate Communications, Head of Americas, Ant Group, about the latest Sustainability Report released by Ant Group, and how technology can be used for good.

In this episode we catch up with James Dalton from KPMG for an interesting and wide ranging conversation about how the world has responded positively to the challenges of Covid-19, his experience in academia and his work now as a member of the KPMG R&D tax credits unit. James is an Associate Director in the KPMG R&D incentives practice. Prior to joining KPMG he spent 5 years working as a research microbiologist investigating diseases such as tuberculosis and MRSA in the University of Auckland as part of the Bioluminescent Superbugs lab group. This involved making dangerous germs glow in the dark so we could understand what kills them and how they cause disease. He has a PhD in Microbiology and a MSc in Biotechnology from UCC and a BA mod Sci from Trinity College.” To see more about the R&D tax credits see here