The Irish Tech News Podcast

Informative and interesting interview with Chris Allen,who is the Executive Director of Hemp Federation Ireland (HFI), the national representative body for Irish hemp industry stakeholders. She holds a Masters Degree from Trinity College, Dublin and worked as a researcher in social policy before joining Hemp Federation Ireland in 2018. Chris represents the views and shared interests of Irish hemp industry professionals across government departments and agencies at national and EU level where her extensive knowledge of regulation frameworks has played a key role in safeguarding the future of the Irish industry. Since her arrival in 2018, the expertise of HFI's internal advisory board is underpinned by targeted research to deliver strong, responsive leadership and accurate, evidence-based policy and regulatory advice. Hemp Federation Ireland now proudly represents Ireland's most successful and innovative new CBD companies as well as the vast majority of the country's oldest and most prestigious hemp farms and businesses.

Ronan talks to David Keating, Group Security Sales Director for DataSolutions. David talks about automated incidence response, why DDoS attacks are becoming popular again, some of the companies they work with, securing headless devices, finding heart monitors running as bitcoin miners, the biggest botnet attack of all time that was done via Minecraft, and why education is so important.

Fascinating and positive conversation with  Adam Rein from CapShift about their activities to guide private investor's wealth into sustainable and environmentally positive actions. Adam Rein oversees all aspects of CapShift’s operations, investments, and technology. Since 2014, he has served as a managing director for MissionPoint Partners, an impact asset managing firm. Previously, Adam co-founded Altaeros Energies, a startup launched out of MIT to bring low cost wind energy and tele-communications to the developing world. Adam is also a co-founder of Greentown Labs, the country’s largest clean technology incubator. Previously, Adam worked as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company. Adam has an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a BA from Yale University. See more on their website here https://capshift.com/

Ronan talks to David Keating, Group Security Sales Director for DataSolutions. David talks about the remote working survey they did last August, the security implications the survey noted, some of the solutions they provide so that you can work from home securely. David also talks about two factor authentication, the Solar Winds security breach and zero trust security.

Dr Niamh Shaw, the Irish award-winning STEM communicator, scientist, engineer, writer and performer who has set herself a life mission to get to space sat down with Melanie Boylan to discuss the future of STEM/STEAM. There is so much more we can do to enhance the Science Capital even through online events and training.  Listen in to learn more and hear about the Free event she is MCing at on the 13th of January, full details below: STEM South West 2021 Launched for Ireland’s Budding Science, Tech, Engineering and Maths Leaders “If you see it, you can be it” Kicking off the promotion of STEM, Science Technology Engineering & Maths, in Ireland for 2021, participants from the STEM industry in Ireland have today launched their first event of the year, with STEM South West 2021 scheduled to take place on January 13th between 5-9pm. The virtual event is aimed at students with an interest in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, and its goal is to encourage Ireland’s future workforce to look at a career in these industries in the South West by demonstrating to them just how exciting, interesting and exhilarating the subjects can be in the real world.

Interesting conversation with Dr Mark van Rijmenam, who is The Digital Speaker and available for (virtual) keynotes in-person, as an avatar or as a hologram. He is the Founder of Datafloq and Mavin. Van Rijmenam is the author of the three best-selling management books, including The Organisation of Tomorrow, which discusses how AI, blockchain and analytics turn your business into a data organisation. He holds PhD in management from the University of Technology Sydney on how organizations should deal with Big Data, Blockchain and (Responsible) AI and he is the publisher of the ‘f(x) = ex‘ newsletter read by thousands of executives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rp6rnDceoE&feature=youtu.be

As Veganuary is upon us, Melanie Boylan spoke with Bernat Ananos of Heura Foods about the movement and why it has been building up momentum. Every January is when people sign up to go Vegan for 1 month and it's getting  bigger and bigger every year.  Last year, more than 400,000 people signed up, more than double the number from two years previously (168,500) and up from just 3,300 in 2014, in its first year. In this podcast we hear about the advancements that have been made and why COVID has actually speeded up the changeover.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic one of the problems businesses will face over the coming months is how to return to the office safely. So what are the precautions Irish businesses must consider as staff return to offices and other workplaces? Ronan spoke to David Kindlon, CEO and C0-Founder of Eppione and Screenin.me. David talks about Eppione and Screenin.me a cloud based Covid 19 Employee screening platform, returning to work safely, how to deal with with the new Covid precautions.

Brendan Ó Sé is a multi-award winning fine art photographer/mobile photographer from Cork, Ireland. Brendan offers regular mobile photography workshops for the public in association with Cork’s Glucksman Gallery and The Gallery of Photography in Dublin. Brendan gives mobile photography workshops in @theglucksman & @gallery_of_photography_ireland, online & around the world. Next workshops starting Jan 12 '21. www.galleryofphotography.ie/4-x-90-minute-smartphone-photography-workshops-with-brendan- https://www.instagram.com/brendan.o.se/ He also delivers bespoke workshops for corporate clients. As the world is adapting to life in this global pandemic, Brendan is offering in conjunction with The Gallery of Photography and Cork’s Glucksman Gallery online mobile photography workshops. His DSLR and iPhone photography has been exhibited in Cork, Galway, Dublin, Miami, Idaho, Florence, Brussels, Lecce, Victoria, Ontario, Rome, Porto, Bangkok, Singapore, Penang, and Jakarta. Brendan was part of the original Apple World Gallery of images shot on iPhone 6 in 2015. His photograph was showcased on billboards and posters in 72 cities around the world. such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Paris, Bangalore, Seoul, Tokyo, Bogota, London and Milan. Using either the iPhone, Fuji XT-2 or a Nikon D7000, he tries to see and create in unusual ways and this results in some unique imagery and striking street photography.

The current pandemic has put a strain on medical services but in Northern Ireland technology has helped. Belfast City Hospital used Axial3D powered with AWS to clear the Northern Irish kidney transplant backlog. Ronan talks to Roger Johnston, CEO of Axial3D, and Dr Tim Brown, a kidney transplant surgeon at Belfast City Hospital. They talk about what Axial3D does, how Belfast City Hospital uses Axial3D, and why AWS is important to Axial3D.