The Irish Tech News Podcast

TCS is an IT services, consulting and business solutions organisation that has been partnering with many of the world’s largest businesses in their transformation journeys for over 50 years. TCS has over 1200 employees in Ireland, in Athlone, Cork, Dublin, Galway and, Letterkenny. TCS Letterkenny's focus is on providing world class technology products, consulting, and support services to its clients across the globe; leveraging TCS's scale to deliver services from a regional location uniquely positioned both in terms of time zone, talent and market access to accelerate our customer's technology journey. Ronan recently spoke with Gerard Grant, Director, Strategic Initiatives at TCS Ireland in Letterkenny. Gerard talks about his background, AI, Cyber Security, remote working, hybrid working and more. More about Gerard Grant: A native of Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, Gerard Grant is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at TCS Ireland. Gerard Joined TCS through the acquisition of Pramerica Systems Ireland in December 2020 where for over 20 years he was Vice President of Information Systems. During his tenure he led several technology teams and initiatives including technology support, cyber security, infrastructure services and cloud computing.  Gerard is responsible for growing the operations at the TCS Letterkenny GDC through the acquisition and onboarding of new customers alongside building out new horizontal capabilities around data, digital, cloud, cybersecurity and salesforce. Gerard has over 25 years’ experience in the information technology business starting his career in IT Support in Dublin and growing his career supporting larger and more complex IT projects until his return to Letterkenny in 2000 as one of the founding management team of Pramerica Systems Ireland.

What is the difference between open banking, open finance, and open data? And how can technology enable a true 360 degree view of a consumer, beyond just finance? In this episode of One Vision Podcast — FinTech Fuse! We chat with Michelle Beyo, founder of Finavator, about her career journey, what inspires her, and how she changes the ecosystem around her. As a fearless advocate, Michelle leads by example by being an active participant, and challenging the status quo to make the world more just. We are all part of something bigger and each of us bear the responsibility to make the world a better place. Fight for love and a more inclusive future. Because every voice matters. 

Nick Butler is an industry expert in sales, business and e-commerce, as well as, the amazing technologies behind them. By making technology more useful, usable and desirable, Nick helps companies reinvent significant aspects of their business – from the tools they use to streamline operations, to the experience they provide to their customers, to the products they bring to market. Nick recently spoke to Ronan about his latest venture. Nick talks about his background, pivoting to e-commerce, building a SaaS LMS platform, spinning out a new business, AI and more More about LearnRight: LearnRight is a comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS) designed to cater to various training and educational needs with cutting edge technology support such as inbuilt AI, instructor led training, community features and gamification.

Is inequality the inevitable byproduct of accelerating change?  Can we reverse the winner-take-all dynamic? Common Future is a “think and do tank" dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap by empowering individuals to take ownership of their futures. The three co-CEOs of Common Future tell the Futurists about their strategies and action labs to build economic power and build real estate ownership amid black, brown and indigenous communities across the USA. Because everyone deserves a stake in a fairer future.  Web site:  https://www.commonfuture.co/ Generations of Black and Indigenous communities and other communities of color are intentionally locked out of wealth and power. We collaborate with leaders who have the imagination and courage to rethink our economy, and model new ways for excluded communities to thrive.

In this episode of One Vision — FinTech Fuse! Theo and Barb chat with Simon Taylor, Head of Strategy & Content at Sardine, and the brain behind the Fintech Brainfood, on being infinitely curious. One of Simon’s passion topics and mission at Sardine is to eradicate scams from the Internet. According to Simon, not only is fraud a massively underrepresented trillion-dollar problem, it is also getting exponentially worse, with so much of it being underreported. It is, as Simon calls it, the biggest issue that impacts human misery.  What does the future hold for the financial services industry and its workforce, against the backdrop of credit quality concerns, the rapid development of advanced technology such as artificial intelligence, and with big techs advancing? What are the top things on Simon’s list and what does he think is overhyped? Tune in and find out!

Last year Ronan spoke to Paul Conaty, Principal Consultant at mobile and cloud security specialist CWSI about hybrid working which was one of the biggest predicted trends on the tech industry in 2023. Ronan caught up with Paul who is now Client Solutions Director - Security & Compliance at CWSI. Paul spoke about his background, the coffee shop security model, hybrid working, device as a service, AI and more  MORE ABOUT CWSI: CWSI are one of Europe’s most experienced mobile and cloud security specialists, providing flexibility, security and productivity solutions to the private and public sectors in the UK and Europe. Theirr purpose is to help organisations thrive, and stay secure, in a mobile world. CWSI was founded in Ireland in 2010 by Conor Headon, Philip Harrison and Ronan Murphy. The idea for the business was sparked by the launch of the very first iPad and the realisation that few IT teams had the knowledge or skills to get the best from these devices in an enterprise environment. CWSI originally partnered with MobileIron, one of the first solutions on the market to leverage Apple’s device management APIs to enable enterprise users to maximise the benefits of the smartphone while giving IT teams visibility, control and management of the device. From this simple initial idea, and a single desk in the corner of the living room, the business has expanded to provide a full suite of enterprise mobility, security and productivity solutions to some of Ireland and the UK’s leading organisations and supported by some of the industries most talented technologists.

Against the backdrop of elevated interest rates and lingering economic uncertainty brought about by layoffs and geopolitical conflicts, it is perhaps not surprising to see consumers seeking alternative ways to consume and pay. At the same time, they are also demanding more. In this episode of One Vision, Theo and Barb chat with Julie Muhn, Senior Research Analyst, and the heart and soul of Finovate, on the state of consumer fintech. What challenges will PFM tools face? And how can financial services providers leverage data and technology to help consumers navigate their financial lives?

Ireland’s first sustainability hackathon is coming to Wexford’s GreenTechHQ, Ireland’s premier sustainability innovation hub. in partnership with NDRC and the 2050 Accelerator. Earlier this week Ronan spoke to Ed Murphy, CEO Greentech HQ & Joe Gorman NDRC Programme Manager about the hackathon.    Ed and Joe talk about their backgrounds, the hackathon, and more. More about Ireland’s first sustainability hackathon at GreenTechHQ  The one-day hackathon will welcome up to 80 budding entrepreneurs, who want to o start, grow, and power up a startup with sustainability at its core. Participants will get the chance to tackle themes including biodiversity management and applications of AI in building a circular economy, the carbon credits market, upend social economies, or promote more diverse and equitable perspectives in the professional world. Aspiring founders, developers, and curious minds are encouraged to sign up to join or build a team, develop an idea from scratch, and benefit from expert mentorship before pitching their business at the evening showcase. 

BlackBerry recently got together several of Ireland’s emergency services and public sector organisations to a private event in Dublin. They discussed the state of major emergency management in Ireland and across the EU, sharing lessons learned and best practice. Insights drawn from BlackBerry AtHoc’s work with aid and emergency services organisations; from the UK’s Greater Manchester Police and Civil Nuclear Constabulary, to the United States Senate and International Red Cross. Keiron Holyome, VP UKI & Emerging Markets, BlackBerry Cybersecurity was one of the speakers at the event and Ronan sat down to speak with him after the event. Kieron talks about his background, how Blackberry pivoted, the four pillars of what blackberry does and more  More about Keiron Holyome: In his role as Vice President for the UK, Ireland and Emerging Markets, Keiron applies his depth of knowledge in cybersecurity threats and AI-powered solutions to work with BlackBerry customers and prospects across a broad range of industries including public sector, manufacturing, finance and health. Keiron joined BlackBerry in 2021 from McAfee, prior to which he built his career with global IT organisations including Dell, Lenovo and Computacenter. 

Cloud Capitalism with Yanis Varoufakis GUEST: Yanis Varoufakis DESCRIPTION: Capitalism is dead, according to Yanis Varoufakis, the author of Technofeudalism. This week on The Futurists you’ll learn about the dramatic reconfiguration of the global economy, whereby profit has been replaced by rents and a flood of central bank money, leading to bigger bubbles and worse crises than ever before. Yanis calls this new system Cloud Capitalism.  Find Yanis Varoufakis on the Web: Yanis Varoufakis home page: https://www.yanisvaroufakis.eu/ Follow Yanis on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/yanisvaroufakis?lang=en Read Yanis’s Articles on The Guardian:  https://www.theguardian.com/profile/yanis-varoufakis