The Irish Tech News Podcast

Bheki Gumede, Head of Operations, Yellow Card South Africa I met with Bheki Gumede at a blockchain conference in India, online in time of COVID, and was impressed with his energy and vision. Accordingly, I linked up with him again to talk about his work in bringing access to cryptocurrencies in Africa. I noted while doing research ahead of our conversation that he had a very interesting quote on his Linkedin profile and so we began there. ‘Knowledge without positive action is a wasted effort.’ Bheki is very clear in his explanation of this quote. “Whenever we go into the world to acquire knowledge it’s usually for a specific reason. We may want to use that knowledge to help our business, to skill or empower ourselves, but in the grander scheme of things, I believe we should also and always use that knowledge to assist and empower others, not just ourselves but those less fortunate than us. If we don’t use our knowledge to share and empower others then we have wasted that opportunity.” Bheki’s thinking reminds me of a grumpy old miser who hoards his gold under the bed, no good to him nor anyone else. Knowledge must be shared to have value. Bheki has 15 years background in IT and until six years ago he was working in one of state owned organisation, (called a parastatal in South Africa) as an IT consultant. Around the same time, he started a journey to find himself and his true path in life. How was he meant to contribute to this world other than just making a living? This question and journey would lead him to blockchain, but it was not without its complications. Listen here to find out what Bheki did next. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. You can find our more about her recent book here: https://persons-of-interest.io/

Great conversation with Svein about Climate Change, Renewable Energy and nature news. He is now director Klima 2020, and former UN Director. CV - Svein Tveitdal Born: Arendal, 7. November 1947 Education: Master of Science, Norwegian University of Technology, Trondheim, Norway 1972 Work experience:  2007- Owner and CEO: Klima 2020 www.klima2020.no  2009 Planning and participation in UN SG Ban Ki-moons trip to the Arctic  2008- 2014 Project Manager Climate Partners: www.klimapartnere.no, a private/public network in South Norway with focus on challenges and opportunities related to climate change and climate neutrality  2008 - 2014 Environmental Ambassador to the city of Arendal  2006 – 2007 Senior Advisor, UNEP/GRID-Arendal  2003 – 2006 Director, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) www.unep.org Nairobi. Responsible for Division for Policy Implementation and Division for Environmental Conventions including the IPCC secretariat. Polar advisor to the Executive Director.  1992 - 2003 Managing Director UNEP/GRID-Arendal www.grida,no  1999 – January to May, Non Profit Management course at Harvard Business School and visiting fellow at the World Resources Institute, Washington DC : www.wri.org  1978 – 1992 VIAK A/S, Various positions including international director. Founder of UNEP/GRID-Arendal  1976 – 1978 General planner, The Norwegian State Electricity Board  1973 - 1976 Surveyor in Blom Survey and the Norwegian Mapping Authorities Current activities:  Lecturer, article writer and participation in the public debate on the global climate crises, 300 000 followers on Twitter: @tveitdal  Consulting, Climate leadership, Climate communication  Board participation Current Board positions: Chairman of the Board Norwegian Rainforest Foundation https://www.regnskog.no/en/ Chairman of the Board, Klima2020, Climate Change consultants http://www.klima2020.no Chairman of the Board Purity Holding, Green IT provider. http://www.purity.no Member of the Board, Frameworks, Internet publishing, environmental information http://www.frameworks.no Member of the Board, Sagene Bryggeri http://www.sagenebryggeri.com/ Previous Board positions: Chairman of the Board, Stiftelsen Miljømerking (ECO-labeling) 2012-15 http://www.svanemerket.no/english/ Chairman of the Board, The Energy Farm, Centre for Bio energy in Norway 2011-16 http://www.energigarden.no/engelsk/index.html Chairman Siftelsen Asplan Consulting Company http://www.asplanviak.no/ Vice Chairman of the Board The Energy Farm International Foundation (Dr. RK Pachauri chair) Board member NORFUND  (Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries) 2008-14 http://www.norfund.no/ Board member of The Norwegian Grandparents Association to Combat Climate Change http://www.besteforeldreaksjonen.no Leader Klimavalg 2013, 101 Norwegian organisations http://www.klimavalgalliansen.no/ Publications: 2010: “Climate in Peril” a Popular guide to the IPCC reports http://www.grida.no/publications/climate-in-peril/ Editions in all UN languages and Norwegian 2013: “Green Shift” A handbook for environmentally friendly regions in Europe. English and Swedish editions http://alexandersoninstitutet.se/pub/greenshift/

IgniteNI, the leading accelerator in Northern Ireland, based in Belfast has announced the 10 seed-stage companies on to its upcoming IgniteNI Accelerator. Starting this month and supported by Invest Northern Ireland, the IgniteNI Accelerator will run for three months. Ronan talks to Chris McClelland, Managing Director of IgniteNI. Based in Belfast, the upcoming IgniteNI Accelerator will run for three months beginning in March 2021 and host 10 seed-stage companies that can demonstrate current traction and the potential for future growth. Ronan talks to Chris McClelland, Managing Director of IgniteNI. Chris talks about his background and what IgniteNI does, why starting in the United States might be best, why Northern Ireland is a good place to set up a startup, the challenge of building a team, why pivoting is a part of any startups life, and the various stages of startups. More about Chris: Chris is one of Northern Ireland’s best-known tech entrepreneurs. He co-founded and led Brewbot a beer making technology company, and prior to this, he was the chief executive of mobile software company Ecliptic Labs which was based in Belfast.

Dr Rana el Kaliouby Author of Girl Decoded Interview by Mary Carty Introduction Hello everyone. I’m Mary Carty and I’m here today to interview a pioneer in AI technology with Irish Tech News. I’m so excited and honoured to talk to Dr Rana el Kaliouby. Rana has been working on making computers and our interactions with them more human for 20 years. In other words, Computers have plenty of IQ, what if they had EQ? She holds a BA from the American University in Cairo, A PhD from Cambridge, and worked at MIT Media Lab where she spun out her company Affectiva in 2009, thereby creating a whole new technology category of Artificial Emotional Intelligence. Rana is a Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech and a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum Her fascinating memoir, Girl Decoded, my quest to make technology emotionally intelligent and change the way we interact forever will be published by Penguin Business Books in April. Pre order it now. QUESTIONS The thing that impressed me the most reading your book, is your drive. Against all odds you were going to build this AI, where does this drive come from? What are the advantages of leading with empathy, vulnerability, and kindness? How can we encourage leaders to forge this path, not command and control, win at all costs? I was struck by how much you had to "defeminize" your language around emotions in the early days with investors and funders. How do we find ways not to gender, products, services, and software and help investors and the wider community understand the benefits to society? Finding investment for a startup is hugely challenging, especially for women. Turning down a government contract at a crucial time for the business must have been a difficult decision. Can you tell me a bit about that? What more can we do as consumers to build better, more ethical AI? What's next for you? About the Author Dr Rana El Kaliouby holds a BA from the American University in Ciaro, A PhD from Cambridge, and worked at MIT Media Lab where she spun out her company Affectiva in 2009, creating a whole new technology category of Artificial Emotional Intelligence. She is a Forbes Top 50 Women in Tech and a Young Global Leader with the World Economic Forum. Her memoir Girl Decoded, my quest to make technology emotionally intelligent and change the way we interact forever will be published by Penguin Business Books in April. Find Rana on Twitter https://twitter.com/kaliouby Affectiva https://www.affectiva.com/ Mary Carty Bio Mary Carty is a serial entrepreneur with a background in the arts, education and technology. She is Director of Wilson & Keys working with an international client base. Mary sits on the Board of Science Gallery International and Branar Téatar do Pháistí. Over lockdown, she established AwakenHub, a community to support female founders from the Island of Ireland and her diaspora, with Mary McKenna, Clare McGee and Sinead Crowley. Find Mary on Twitter https://twitter.com/marycarty Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/marycarty/ Wilson and Keys http://www.wilsonkeys.com/ AwakenHub  https://www.awakenhub.com/

Intelligent and heads up conversation with Jay Palter about how to manage your social media profile in a strategic way. Jay is a digital business strategist, specializing in the strategic use of social influencer networks for building online visibility for business leaders and technology brands in B2B settings. He works with businesses and individuals, helping practice professionals, executives and owners to develop social selling programs and productive business relationships with established influencers in their industry. His business experience spans over three decades, during which he has held a variety of leadership positions in financial services, software development and marketing. Jay is a sought-after public speaker at industry conferences and a published columnist in a variety of publications on the topic of social networking strategies for business professionals. He also publishes an annual list of top Fintech influencers that is widely respected as the most authoritative in the industry, along with a wide variety of other sector specific influencer lists. For more information, contact: Jay Palter, Chief Engagement Officer Jay Palter Social Advisory – http://jaypalter.ca/ Email – jay@jaypalter.com Phone – 587-586-8433

Enjoyable and informative conversation with award winner nature writer Ben Goldfarb. More about Ben I’m the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter (Chelsea Green Publishing), winner of the 2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.  More about Ben's book Eager for Beavers -> Eager reveals that our modern conception of a natural landscape is wrong, distorted by the trapping of millions of beavers from North America’s lakes and rivers. The consequences of losing beavers were profound: streams eroded, wetlands dried up, and species from salmon to swans lost vital habitat. Today, a growing coalition of “Beaver Believers” — including scientists, ranchers, and passionate citizens — recognizes that ecosystems with beavers are far healthier than those without them. From the Nevada deserts to the Scottish highlands, Believers are now restoring these industrious rodents to their former haunts. Eager is the powerful story of how one of the world’s most influential species can help us fight drought, flooding, wildfire, extinction, and climate change — and how we can learn to coexist with our fellow travelers on this planet. See more on his website here, and check out great pictures on his twitter feed also https://twitter.com/ben_a_goldfarb

An interview with Trey Rutledge, Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships,  on DragonChain and the Digital Fortress. Dragonchain was birthed at Disney. Back in 2014, the Disney Corporation, as befits an innovator in many tech areas, wanted to look at building a private blockchain for its own use. The corporation approached Joe Roets, who is well known in industry circles and less so in media terms. Joe’s career would explain that as he has held senior positions at Lockheed Martin, the FBI, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. His experience is tightly guarded under a stealth cloak. Joe came on board with a mandate to build a private blockchain for Walt Disney’s theme parks and cruise lines. In 2014 he began R&D into the space and by 2015 he was developing a hybrid platform. He also managed to persuade the notoriously conversative corporation to look at building an open source project which was hived off into a separate entity by 2017 and self-funded by a successful ICO that raised $13 million in funds. Part of the innovation undertaken by Joe was to address issues head on. While still under the Disney mantel, rather than cherry pick solutions, he went to all areas asking executives for problems they needed solving. This resulted into 23 live and case studies where Joe and his dev team applied blockchain technology to issues that had previously proven unsolvable. “They really got under the hood across a variety of departments – making good use of their time within the corporation, finding tough issues and fixing them,” explains Trey in this interivew about how Disney and Dragons made a blockchain Jillian Godsil is your host. Jillian is an award winning journalist, broadcaster and author - find out more here: https://persons-of-interest.io/

We catch up with Jamil Hassan to learn more about the world's number two crypto currency.  Here are some of the questions we look at: # why there is more to crypto than bitcoin, what is ethereum and it's own digital currency ether & the the alt coins, including erc20 built on this platform + what is the difference between ethereum & ether? + who is Vitalik Buterin & why, unlike the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is it a factor in ether + ethereum + what are erc20 tokens and the other flavours that exist too + what trends might we see in the future in terms of the ethereum platform + who are the possible ethereum killers, what are they, why are they possible e-killers? It was an interesting and informative conversation, we hope you enjoy it and find it useful. See more about Jamil on twitter https://twitter.com/CryptoHipster and on his website here https://jamilconnects.com

How do students in Ireland manage when the pandemic has closed colleges and universities? Well, HEAnet and Eduroam are providing the connectivity that allows students to attend all their online classes and do all their coursework. Ronan talks to Kerrie Power the CEO of HEAnet. Kerrie talks about HEAnet started, their partnership with Eduroam, and how  Longford becoming the first Irish County Council to introduce Eduroam Wi-Fi in town centres. Kerrie also tells Ronan if HEAnet has seen a greater increase in usage during the pandemic and what's next for HEAnet. More on Kerrie: Kerrie Power was appointed Chief Executive of HEAnet CLG by the Board of Directors in June 2017. Kerrie has over 15 year’s leadership experience and a strong track record in the technology sector. Before joining HEAnet, Kerrie worked in Google in Dublin and New York and also Facebook. More recently, she has headed up technology start-ups in Dublin including Nordeus Games and YouPass Technologies. Kerrie is a graduate of WIT, with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Computing and holds a Master of Business Administration from Liverpool University, a Professional Diploma in Organisational Change and Transformation, a Professional Diploma in Strategy Development and Innovation. She is currently completing a third Professional Diploma in Leadership as well as completing her final year of Masters of Science in Business Practice and Leadership at UCD Michael Smurfit Business School. Kerrie represents Ireland on the GÉANT General Assembly and was elected to the board of GEANT in Nov 2019. She is also on the Board of HEAnet’s subsidiary company EduCampus. Kerrie was also invited by the Department of Higher Education to join the Covid 19 TES Steering group as a subject matter expert, and currently chairs the connectivity sub-group of the Covid 19 TES Steering group.

Is college education a ticket towards prosperity and job security — or a bottomless pit of student loan debt? If you live in the U.S., that is a $1.7 trillion dollar question. Student loan debt impacts all financial aspects of a consumer; and the burden is amplified for first generation college students and people of color, who don’t typically have access to generational wealth. With wage disparities induced by systemic bias, such gaps continue to grow even after employment. In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Bradley chat with Tobin Van Ostern, founder of Savi, a public benefit corporation focused on tackling the student loan challenge faced by America's 46 million student loan borrowers. While policy reforms are long overdue, we believe that private sector innovation can still play a crucial role to provide much needed immediate relief.