The Irish Tech News Podcast

How has COVID-19 effected Irish businesses and forced them to reconfigure work-sites and increase remote working? Ronan talks to Garrett Cronin a partner in PwC. Garrett talks about his background, the latest PwC CFO Pulse survey, the surveys key findings and why over a third of Irish respondents to the survey are planning to scale back digital transformation. Garrett also talks about how the technology available to us today has made remote working a permanent part of our daily working lives, how COVID-19 has become a wakeup call to businesses who have not adopted the latest hardware and software technologies, and how COVID-19 has changed how he works.

How is COVID-19 affecting the eCommerce industry? Ronan talks to Rory O’Connor the CEO and founder of Scurri. Rory talks about Scurri been recently named among the top 50 retail tech start-ups operating globally by RWRC, how COVID-19 has changed how Scurri does business, and if remote working will become the norm for Scurri in the future when things get back to normal. Rory also talks about how COVID-19 has caused a boom in eCommerce and what trends he has noticed because of COVID-19.

How is COVID-19 affecting the chemical and pharma industries? Ronan talks to Kevin Walsh the CEO and founder of Chemishield. Kevin talks about what Chemishield does, the blog posts that he and his CTO have written about managing diverse teams in times of uncertainty and what technologies Chemishield have started to adopt during the COVID-19 crisis. Kevin also talks about how the chemical waste industry adapted to the current COVID-19 world, why Chemishield is a digital PPE and how COVID-19 has changed the working practices of Chemishield and its customers.

Ronan talks to Simon Haigh about his recent article for Irish Tech News. which focused on collaboration and the collaborative balance in the COVID-19 world we live in. Simon talks about the challenges and opportunities facing organisations, resilient leadership, and strategic serendipity. Simon also talks about how salespeople are adapting and pivoting in this COVID-19 world and how technology will help us.

Ronan talks to CEO and Founder of ClearStory International James McCann. James talks about ClearStory International’s COVID-19 Tech Trend Report, some of its key findings, which video conferencing software is being used the most, the future of remote working and all things COVID-19.

Ronan talks to Dr Rich Ferrie the Director of UCC Innovation. Rich talks about GatewayUCC, IGNITE and GatewayUCC now being open for expressions of interest, how COVID-19 affecting what he is doing if remote working will become a part up of start-up life in the future and startups can do as they try and work through the current COVID-19 crisis.

Ronan talks to Jack Fitzsimons from Oblivious AI. Jack talks about his background, what Oblivious AI’s software does, and how they adapted it to help with COVID-19 contact tracing. Jack also talks about how they got AWS and Oracle on board, GDPR compliance, the issues he sees with the apps used in Singapore and South Korea, and the work Oblivious AI has done in India.

Ronan talks to Professor Barry O’ Reilly of Assert & UCC who was involved with the development of the COVID-19 Remote Early Warning System also known as CREW. Professor O’Reilly talks about how the idea of CREW came about, how it works and what you need to use it. Professor O’Reilly also talks about how easy it is to implement and if they are thinking about selling it in other countries.

Ronan talks too Will O’Brien a Director of Cyber Practice at PwC. Will explains how cyber-criminals are exploiting the current COVID-19 crisis, how people working remotely from home can make sure it is a secure environment. Will also mentions what BYOD guidelines he recommends that businesses observe, and as we don’t know how long quarantine will end he also talks about how easy is it install software updates and patches.

Ronan talks to Cedric Aucher a Wexford native who is using his recently acquired 3D printer to print Face Shields for the frontline staff who are helping fight the current COVID-19 Pandemic. Cedric who will be working with his father and sister on this has also set up a GoFundMe campaign to help fund it. Cedric talks about what prompted him to do this, how his 3D printer has made it possible, how his GoFundMe campaign is doing, and the raw materials he is looking for to print the face shields.