The Irish Tech News Podcast

Running a startup during the pandemic can be no mean feat. especially when it’s a startup that was destined to go places. One such startup, TripClip, the ultimate smart travel accessory was launched by Joe Shortt in 2019. Joe went on the New Frontiers program with it and then reached the high of getting Ryanair as a client followed by the low of the travel industry been hit by the global pandemic. Ronan met Joe on Clubhouse and after hearing his story, decided that it needed to be told to a wider audience. Joe is resilient and is sure to inspire other startup founders out there as he tells his story to Ronan. Ronan talks to Joe about his background, what TripClip does, and how TripClip started. Joe also talks about how the global pandemic impacted TripClip and the deal he had with Ryanair, how he pivoted, why you have to remain positive, and the future plans for TripClip. More about Joe Shortt: Prior to setting up TripClip Joe was the founder and CEO of its fabulous.com, an  E-commerce fragrance & cosmetics company. Joe also used to be the head chef in AOL, Coca-Cola, and Oracle.

While few would disagree that financial inclusion is an inequality in our modern day society that still needs to be resolved, and that improving economic prosperity of everyday people is an attainable goal that we should all aspire to - we might not always agree on the path to get there. If we have learned anything from the fintech boom, it’s that having access by itself isn’t enough. Perhaps part of the puzzle piece lies with the movement of money, and how we can best leverage technology to automate our decision making. In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley chat with Chris Hutchins, Head of Autonomous Financial Planning at Wealthfront, on self-driving money, and what’s next for democratization of financial services.

Turning Food Waste into Fashion Dyes & The Exciting Pinks Of Avocadoes In this episode of Irish Tech News Sangeeta Waldron speaks with Jessica Arkin, founder of waYst, an ethical and sustainable fashion brand with a twist. Jessica is a young entrepreneur with a real drive and determination. She discovered the toxic cost of synthetic dyes on the environment and decided to launch waYst, producing her own natural dyes from everyday disposable materials such as seasonal fruits and vegetables. Everything at waYst is well thought through with regards to its impact on nature, from fabric sourcing to the dyeing process, to the making and selling of the end products. Jessica takes us on a journey into food waste and how avocadoes produce exciting pinks, onions create greens and how we should be rethinking synthetic dyes. Jessica is creating a community through WaYst, where she and her followers are redefining their relationship with fashion. She talks to us about the cost of a simple T-shirt and why that UK fashion brands and designers should be doing more for the planet. Connect with Jessica Arkin on Instagram where you can find out more about WaYst. Connect with Sangeeta Waldron, Founder, Serendipity PR & Media and Author of Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations on Twitter. Sangeeta Waldron is a multi-award winning Public Relations professional with over three decades’ worth of publicity, branding, communications, crisis management, marketing, media and social media experience. Sangeeta is a published author; her first business book, The PR Knowledge Book is published by Business Expert Press and received high acclaim by international business leaders. She is a guest lecturer at Coventry University, teaching PR and global journalism. Sangeeta is also a writer specializing in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, where her work has been published by the United Nations and other leading news platforms. Sangeeta started out her career writing speeches for a previous UK Prime Minister and Ministers, and has worked at the top level with big, powerful global brands, which includes - being global communications director for the Economist Group; working for The Times Education Supplement; the Mayor of London; Cass Business School; and charities such as Breast Cancer Campaign.

In this podcast Melanie Boylan sits down with Professor Sally Eaves and learns more about her Aspirational Future. Sally strongly believes in technology as an enabler for social good and has founded Aspirational Futures to help guide, empower and support our next generation of interdisciplinary talent. See more on twitter here https://twitter.com/AspiredFutures & her own account https://twitter.com/sallyeaves https://www.facebook.com/AspirationalFutures/ Sally combines a depth of experience as a Chief Technology Officer, Practising Professor of Blockchain, Founder and Global Strategic Advisor, specialising in the application of emergent technologies for both business and societal benefit Prof. Sally Eaves has been described as the ‘torchbearer for ethical tech’. She is an international advocate for opening access to opportunity and has founded Aspirational Futures to help skill, empower and support the generation of interdisciplinary talent into careers yet to be conceived, alongside scaling the application of emergent technology as an enabler for business transformation and social good. Sally is also Social Impact lead for the Hult Prize and contributes to parliamentary policy thought leadership. She was an inaugural recipient of the Frontier Technology and Social Impact award, presented at the United Nations in 2018 and is now leading major initiatives in this area, including presenting at Davos and leading events worldwide. Sally also brings a depth of experience from both Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer roles, as a Professor in Advanced Technologies and as a Global Strategic Advisor. She specialises in the application and integration of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and associated emergent technologies for business and societal benefit. Sally works globally with bleeding-edge disruptors, governments, academia and leading corporate institutions to apply her expertise for achieving sustainable competitive advantage alongside purpose-driven change. A member of the Forbes Technology Council, Sally is an award winning international keynote speaker, author and influencer with globally leading rankings across all advanced technology disciplines, digital transformation, future of work and social innovation aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. She has recently been ranked 8th in the World in Blockchain impact and is continually ranked in the top 10 for digital disruption and across frontier technology subjects by leading bodies such as Onalytica.

What a fascinating conversation Melanie Boylan recently had with Keith Wichman.  A special opportunity has opened up for this US competition with NASA Convergent Aeronautics and they have cast a very wide net for people of all ages, ranges of knowledge and either in a group or as an individual to come back with their Aviation and Aeronautics ideas and solutions. Listen in for full details and learn what types of industries they would love to hear from. To accept the challenge, visit herox.com/FutureScaping Keith D. Wichman: Leader of NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Keith returned to NASA this year after 24 years in industry. He was brought back to lead the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Project within NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. He started his career with 12 years of Flight Research in Flight Controls and Handling Qualities at NASA Armstrong. Since then, he has worked Reusable-Launch-Vehicle reentry guidance, control, and simulation at Draper Laboratory. Keith led technology development for Avionics and Air-Traffic Management for General Electric Aviation and was GE’s Flight Management Systems Chief Engineer. During this time, he was expatriated for two years to Europe, operating from Toulouse, France as a delegate for various European Commission Air-Traffic Management projects. Migrating to the business side of product and technology development, Keith was immersed in merger and acquisition efforts for aviation-services businesses at GE. Then, for 8 years before his return to NASA, Keith was a business-unit and customer-experience leader for a small, airline operations-efficiencies software company. Keith holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and the University of Michigan respectively. He is an instrument-rated Commercial Pilot and was a Certified Flight Instructor for 10 years. 

We catch up with Karen Bach to chat about entrepreneurship, innovation, tech, female founders and much more. Karen is non-exec chair and director with strong scale-up and transaction expertise. She describes herself as a lover of clever tech and is a huge fan of digitalisation and simplification. She chooses to work with teams with energy, passion and transparency. Karen has 30 years of experience in growing international tech and telecoms. She will also be speaking at the next Bradford Alumni Speaker Series event titled "Why I Love Tech" by Karen Bach, Chairman of Amino Technologies Plc, on Wednesday 21 April, 18:00-19:00. Full details and a registration link can be found here. BASS events feature inspiring and stimulating talks from some of our inspirational alumni. They are delivered as online webinars, giving you direct access to the thoughts, ideas, and experiences of our alumni experts and speakers and an opportunity to expand your knowledge and discuss a variety of topics in real-time. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-i-love-tech-tickets-146839142829 Today, Karen is Chairman of: Amino Technologies Plc (media tech) Consult Red Ltd (media, IoT & connected device consulting) DeepMatter Plc (chemistry digitisation) and non-exec director of: Datapharm Ltd (health-pharma tech) Escape Hunt Plc (physical and digital escape rooms). Previously she was Independent Chairman of IXCellerate Ltd (Russian data centers) and gained much experience internationally as an exec in growing international technology businesses. Karen is also member of the 30% Club which supports boards to appoint more female directors and mentors women in tech through Rebus and Like-minded-Females. She mentors entrepreneurs through Kickstart Global and Neuro Nexus. You can find Karen on Linkedin: Karen Bach | LinkedIn

Hunter Berg is co founder of NiftyDrops. Nifty Drops is a mobile app designed for NFT launch-tracking and project-discovery across all blockchains. Launching soon on iOS and android, the app includes a notification system which alerts users of upcoming drops a week, a day, and hours ahead of time. For version one, he compares it to CoinGecko, but instead of ICOs, Nifty Drops tracks when major NFT projects drop assets for trading/collecting. Currently, he is partnered with top NFT projects including AXIE Infinity, Bitcoin Origins, Aavegotchi, GALA Games, Chain Guardians, Splinterlands, Upland, Picasso Punks, Bitlectro Labs, Avastars, and more. "Let's bring NFTs to mobile!" says Hunter Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her latest book is available at https://persons-of-interest.io/

Melanie Boylan recently spoke with Juliana Novaes, a law Student at the University of Sao Paulo and researcher in law and technology. She is currently head of projects of the Youth Observatory for the Internet Society's Youth Special Internet Group. She is also a fellow of the 2017 Youth@IGF Brasil Program organized by CGI.br and of the 2018 Youth@IGF Program organized by the Internet Society. Why not become the next internet advocate and champion?  Open to all over the age of 18 with chapters globally, offering a free way in to advocate and support others online.  Learn more about the new search in the recent press release. Learn about the Early Career Fellowship.

Jamil learns more about the potential of blockchain with  Sir John Hargrave Blockchain is for Everyone After All!: How New Investors Can Build Long Term Winning Investment Portfolios in the Nascent Crypto Industry, with Sir John Hargrave SIR JOHN HARGRAVE is the CEO of the media and communication company Media Shower (www.mediashower.com). His company publishes the blockchain investor website, Bitcoin Market Journal (www.bitcoinmarketjournal.com) which reaches 100,000 blockchain investors monthly. He is the author of the bestselling investing book BLOCKCHAIN FOR EVERYONE (Simon & Schuster, 2019), as well as BLOCKCHAIN SUCCESS STORIES (O’Reilly, 2020), which has been called “the Bible of business blockchain.” 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.

In this episode of Irish Tech News Sangeeta Waldron speaks with Loïs Acton who was mentored by the late Dame Anita Roddick, founder of the Body Shop. Loïs has dedicated her life to making change, campaigning on social justice by involving music and the arts. She founded one of the first real free schools in the UK – the Bermondsey Lampost in the 70s.  Loïs moved into British TV, working on a variety of programmes and ground-breaking initiatives, which includes the launch of the MOBO Awards, the TV Diversity and Disability Networks, Carlton TV’s support for the Commission for Racial Equality Race in the Media Awards, and the Carlton TV Trust. In this engaging podcast Loïs talk about a digital project that she is part of in Tanzania; why some businesses have taken so long to take CSR seriously; the cancel culture; if we really will build back better from this global pandemic and what she would say to her 21-year-old self. Connect with Loïs Acton on Instagram and/or LinkedIn Connect with Sangeeta Waldron, Founder, Serendipity PR & Media and Author of Corporate Social Responsibility Is Not Public Relations on Twitter. Sangeeta Waldron is a multi-award winning Public Relations professional with over three decades’ worth of publicity, branding, communications, crisis management, marketing, media and social media experience. Sangeeta is a published author; her first business book, The PR Knowledge Book is published by Business Expert Press and received high acclaim by international business leaders. She is a guest lecturer at Coventry University, teaching PR and global journalism. Sangeeta is also a writer specializing in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, where her work has been published by the United Nations and other leading news platforms. Sangeeta started out her career writing speeches for a previous UK Prime Minister and Ministers, and has worked at the top level with big, powerful global brands, which includes - being global communications director for the Economist Group; working for The Times Education Supplement; the Mayor of London; Cass Business School; and charities such as Breast Cancer Campaign. A regular international speaker and moderator. Sangeeta sits on different boards.