The Irish Tech News Podcast

In this interview Irish Tech News speaks to Stephen Brennan about the R&D Tax Credit, including what makes a project worth claiming and the nature of R&D. They also discuss current technology trends, including Deep Learning, the ethics of AI and how science and technology as we know it might change with the introduction of Quantum computing and the eventual arrival of the Singularity. Stephen Brennan is a Senior Scientific Consultant within the KPMG Tax Incentives Practice. He leverages past experience in the Silicon Design and Medical Device Industries to advise clients on how to claim the R&D Tax Credit. Stephen has extensive experience working within R&D teams and has had papers published at the Intel INTC conference and the Qualcomm GSOC Summit.  

We catch up with Aidan to discuss his new book Undisruptable, and what it means for our future work experiences and our journeys in life. Aidan McCullen is the author ‘Undisruptable’. Mental Agility Coach, Workshops & Public Speaker on Change, Innovation, Mindset. Host Innovation Show. Lecture Trinity College. Board of National Broadband Ireland. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidanmccullen/ Aidan McCullen (born 5 January 1977) is a businessman and retired Ireland national rugby union team player. He played as a back rower, principally at blindside flanker but also as an openside, no.8 and occasionally in the second row. He played for the Ireland national rugby sevens team in a number of competitions, including Hong Kong Sevensand the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Follow him on twitter here https://twitter.com/AidanMcCullen

We catch up with Scott Taylor to learn more about his data whispering skills and insights. More about Scott via his Linkedin page -> https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmztaylor/ Let me help you TELL YOUR DATA STORY I can be your voice for Data Management Partnering with Enterprises and innovative Data Brands that want to change the nature of data management - and help them tell their story! Too Much Tech Talk?  (A puppet service announcement) Connecting Data Management to the Essence of Your Business https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIf7k6D68HU  Buy the book Here - Telling Your Data Story  - Data Storytelling for Data Management 20% off with code: DATAWHISPERER Scott was brought to you by Simon Cocking Irish Tech News.com in collaboration with DAMA Ireland.  DAMA (International Data Management Association) is the premier international organisation for data management professionals.  A new DAMA Ireland team led by Carl Kane is mobilising at the moment and are affiliating with DAMA International and its Certified Data Management Professionals wing.   DAMA Ireland will aim to promote the understanding, development and practice of managing data and information as key enterprise assets to support organisations and personal development.  Look out for more news and a relaunch of DAMA Ireland in H2 2021. Follow @CarlSugarKane and @DAMAIreland for updates. http://damaireland.org/

Privacy is one of the most compelling conditions to attract our attention right now. An unalienable right, it has been nevertheless eroded in the digital age where, through a combination of feckless sharing and avaricious harvesting of data, there is a thin line between who we are and what we share. Flippant argument in the form of ‘what have you to hide?’ combined with a determination to ferret out real or imagined threats has created a world where democracy is fighting for its life. Without privacy we have no screen to protect our lives, our choices and our children. The stranger peering in the window of our world will make judgements big and small. The world is not made up of binary right or wrong, good or bad. And even if were, there is no one so boring that would not welcome the opportunity to close the bedroom door, the bathroom door. Just as we enter a world where personal financial freedoms are on the table, and there for the taking, so too is the magnifying glass of virtuous onlooker, poised to follow each transaction to its bitter end. Anish Mohammed, co founder of Panther Protocol and responsible for technology and architecture, takes about the challenge of implementing privacy and asserting it as a human right. He advocates for opening a portal where financial freedoms and security are provided through safe and concierge-led routes. Oh and it includes zero knowledge proofs. 

We caught up with Pia Stavrianos, who has just completed a 4 month marketing internship with Irish Tech News Pia is a 3rd year business in marketing student at MTU currently interning with Irish Tech News. She is interested in all things creative such as writing and graphic design. Working closely in building up social media platforms and putting her degree into practice has been the highlight of her college experience to date. Pia strives to do things outside of her comfort zone to gain as much experience as possible and pick up new skills along the way. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/piastavrianos/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/StavrianosMarketing Twitter: https://twitter.com/PStavrianos

The European Parliament is bringing in new AI regulations that will be a world first and will also be passing ePrivacy regulations. But should we be worried about AI and how important will AI ethics be? Ronan talks to Enza Iannopollo a senior analyst in the Security & Risk team at Forrester, a global research and advisory firm Enza talks about her background, what Forrester does, the importance of AI ethics, why we should be careful about creating fake credibility in things that don’t have any, and trusting information that comes from family and friends. Enza also talks about why an opinion is not providing facts, the advice of value based consumers, the different mindsets we can have, social media and the balance of power, why transparency in technology and AI is so important, and how the EU is handling ethics. More about Enza: Enza is a senior analyst on the security and risk team and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E). Enza helps organisations worldwide embed privacy and ethics in their strategic initiatives through approaches that deliver business growth while protecting their customers’ and employees’ trust and their brand reputation. Her research focuses on compliance with data protection rules, privacy as a competitive differentiator, ethics, and risk management. Enza speaks regularly at national and international executive conferences, and her research is often quoted in the media, including The Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

Eoin Costello is the Digital Champion for Small Businesses at DigitalHQ clg. He is an expert trainer in digital marketing, social media and digital productivity tools delivering programmes for DLR LEO and Accelerate. As former CEO of Startup Ireland clg he rapidly built the new organisation’s impact through digital channels (Twitter followers from 0 to 22,000 followers, LinkedIn Group 0 to 13,500 members and Facebook Page to 5,000+ Likes). In this role he was national director of Ireland’s national startup week, the Startup Gathering. By leveraging digital the Startup Gathering saw 420 events take place in 22 counties. It was trending nationally over the 6 days with 5.4m impressions and achieved 400,000 views on YouTube. Eoin was also programme Manager TU Dublin Hothouse for 3 years where he managed the incubation centre and Ireland’s largest entrepreneur programme, the flagship New Frontiers Programme. He was SME Innovation Advocate to the Info2Innovate national programme for Enterprise Europe Network leading delivery of the EU funded action on SME innovation and productivity in 5 cities across Ireland in 2012. Our website - https://www.digitalhq.ie/ Our digital led strategy for the regeneration of Ireland’s towns and villages - https://www.weare.ie/a-digital-led-strategy-for-the-regeneration-of-irelands-towns-and-villages/ Our Digital Growth Hub model for activating the economic growth of localities - https://irishtechnews.ie/converting-vacant-buildings-to-digital-hubs/

Jamil catches up with  Leigh Cuen, to cover the launch of Des Femmes Magazine, which is an annual magazine for women who are thriving at the intersection of tech and finance. We discuss the need for more women to join crypto not just because of gender equality but because building a diverse workforce fosters innovation. The magazine project is led by Leigh, also Camila Russo and Rosalie Lessard. We also discuss Leigh’s role as an educator on crypto wallets at Bitcoin Magazine and the importance of building a resiliency skillset learning technology and sifting through misinformation and disinformation to navigate the crypto economy and build one’s career and wealth as a freelancer. Leigh Cuen is a reporter from California. Her work has been published by TechCrunch, Vice, Business Insider, CoinDesk, Newsweek, Teen Vogue, Al Jazeera English, The Jerusalem Post, and many others. Follow her on Instagram at @leighcuen and subscribe to her newsletter at leighcuen.substack.com. Leigh Cuen, @La__Cuen Twitter: @desfemmesmag 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.

Paul Green was born in Guildford, Surrey. The family moved to Somerset when he was 5. Paul has always been keen on all aspects of natural history, especially plants. He is a self-taught botanist. He currently lives in Co. Wexford, Ireland, where he moved to in 2006. He is currently working for the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) as their BSBI Ireland Officer. Prior to this he worked as the BSBI Wales Officer from 2012 – 2015 and he surveyed rare plants all over Wales. Paul also works part-time as a botanical leader for Greentours Natural History Holidays since 2004. He led trips in Europe, Canada, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Morocco & Turkey. Paul has been a member of the BSBI for 37 years. He took an active role in the BSBI Monitoring Scheme in 1987/88 in Somerset, Waterford and Galway. He was appointed BSBI Vice-county recorder for Somerset in 1992. The Atlas Flora of Somerset, he published in 1997 with his brother, is a highly regarded county flora that won the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI) and Wildflower Society President’s prize for the best botanical work published that year. In the 1990s Paul was invited to come to Ireland to assist with the BSBI New Atlas project. He became the Vice County-recorder for both Co. Waterford and Co. Wexford. He stepped down as the Vice County-recorder for Waterford in 2019. In 2008, he published the Flora of County Waterford which was funded by the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin. In the same year, the National Biodiversity Data Centre, Waterford published his plant dataset through a GIS web version of the Flora of County Waterford. This was the first web flora for a county published in Ireland or Britain. Paul was subsequently awarded the Distinguished Recorder Award in 2009 by the National Biodiversity Data Centre which is an annual award to individuals or organisations that have made an outstanding contribution to the recording of Ireland’s biodiversity. He is currently working on a Flora of Co. Wexford, and hopes to publish in 2022. Ireland twitter account: https://twitter.com/BSBI_Ireland W: bsbi.org BSBI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BSBIbotany BSBI on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BSBI2011 BSBI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bsbibotany/ BSBI News & Views Blog: http://bsbipublicity.blogspot.co.uk/ Latest botanical news: http://bsbi.org/news Press releases/Media: http://bsbi.org/publicity

We caught up with Henry McDonald, Constructive Voices podcast cofounder to discuss ecological initiatives in the construction industry, the possible impact of artificial intelligence and wider trends in technology too. Henry McDonald is a critically acclaimed author & journalist with a career spanning over thirty-five years. He has been Ireland Correspondent for The Guardian and The Observer for 23 years.  In this time he covered the second IRA ceasefire and the road to the Good Friday Agreement co-writing the definitive story of how the historic peace deal was sealed in Easter 1998. Recently retired staff writer Guardian &Observer Now freelancing. Novelist with latest book set in Belfast 70s&80s “Two Souls”. Cliftonville&Everton supporter See more on his website here https://thepunkjourno.co.uk and also follow him on twitter here