The Irish Tech News Podcast

According to a recent staff memo circulating across social media, Elon Musk recently made his stance on hybrid working clear, demanding the end of remote working for all Tesla employees or else they would face termination. As employees make decisions to return to the office there has been global concern that the gender imbalance will be stretched further.  The permanent switch to more home working following the pandemic will cause an increase in inclusivity issues within the workplace, according to experts, unless employers carefully monitor their new working policies to make sure everyone’s performance is recognised equally regardless of whether they work from the office or not. There is a fear that those who receive more “face time” with management will benefit from more recognition and preferential treatment. Ronan talks to Aislinn Mahon, General Manager of Huckletree D2 about this and more. Aislinn talks about her background, Elon Musk’s stance on hybrid working, the positives of co-working spaces, Zoom meetings, mental health and meditation. Aislinn also talks about the different types of companies based in Huckltree, the help companies can get in co-working spaces, and the best strategy that works for companies. More about Aislinn: Aislinn is expert in new market entry and identifying new opportunities for strategic growth, and helped launch Huckletree in Ireland in 2017. She's also deeply passionate about the practice and teaching of yoga. Superpower: Building inner confidence.

2022 has been an eventful year, to say the least. From positive gains in financial inclusion, to crypto winter and the Metaverse, much is evolving. What will be the new players in the emerging Web3 ecosystem as we continue to iterate? And what role will traditional finance play? In this episode of One Vision, we chat with Lex Sokolin, Head Economist at ConsenSys, about what’s next for fintech innovation, cryptocurrency, and regulations, as he moves with the edge of the world.

The Future City ESG Innovation Index The newly developed deep ecosystems have provided a thorough analysis of the capabilities of cities and their innovation ecosystems to capture the immense economic opportunity from the future demand for solutions in the ESG sectors worldwide. The report reveals a total of $60bn being invested in ESG focused start-ups across over 100 cities since 2018. ESG solutions included, are those that will likely see a surge in demand in the future, when the transition to a more green and sustainable economy accelerates. It includes solutions for ecology, waste management and clean energy in the environment sector, health, and education solutions in the social ESG sector and e-government, public transport, and smart city solutions in the governance related ESG sector. With all the potential of creating a more green and sustainable future, Erica Santini discusses the aim of the deep ecosystem, sustainability valley’s effect on the public and more. Dr Erica Santini- Head of Research deep and Professor of University Trento

Providing technical and technological support to a vast range of customers is no easy job. It is even harder and stressing for the CTO of a fairly new company to get it all together, manage their team and solve the issues of the clients. This is exactly what Nick Drouet has been doing. Nick is a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and a Distinguished Engineer for Kyndryl United Kingdom and Ireland. In today's podcast, he talks to Tanjima Elham Khandaker about his work and experience and why more people should build their career in the field of technology. Nick also shares his thoughts and steps he has taken for the LGBTQ+ as a member and advocate of the community. About Nick: Nick Drouet is a CTO for Kyndryl United Kingdom and Ireland, a role in which he serves as the glue which binds the company’s technical groups together. Drouet was selected to be part of the inaugural class of Kyndryl Distinguished Engineers, leading innovators who are shaping the future of Kyndryl and driving change in the industry. About Tanjima: Tanjima Elham Khandaker is an MA student of Journalism, studying at the University of Roehampton, and an intern at the Irish Tech News. She is from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Back in her country, Tanjima worked for six and a half years as a journalist, sub-editor and senior sub-editor with a TV channel, an online news portal and a daily newspaper. She plans on becoming a better-skilled newsperson by pursuing further studies in the UK. Tanjima is a tech-enthusiast and dreams of walking on the moon one day.

In this episode Melanie Boylan chats with Peter McMahon, Founder and MD of the new Irish business called Clear Energy set up in November 2021.  Here we learn about an innovation in solar glass that can help reduce your carbon footprint, remove costs entirely for electricity bills and looks pretty good too! Peter tells us his journey and how he brought this concept from Spain to Ireland and how it well complements what he already does at European Industrial Chillers Ltd. Listen in and find out why this technology should become the go-to way to protect our environment and how funding is also available for it!

AI technology has opened up ethical concerns about the technology when it comes to privacy, surveillance, bias and discrimination. The £7.5m fine imposed by the U.K. on facial recognition company Clearview AI for breaking the UK’s data protection laws reflects the scale of the problem emerging. The Government’s recent appointment of Dr Patricia Scanlon as the country’s new AI Ambassador will help lead a national conversation on the role of AI in people's lives, emphasising Ireland’s commitment to an ethical approach to the use of the technology. The strong emphasis on deploying an ethical approach in the technology’s application should help prevent mishaps similar to the Clearview AI scandal in the U.K, but how can the public be safeguarded from such practices? Ronan talks to legal AI specialist, Victor Timon, Partner at Lewis Silkin about this and more. More about Victor Timon: Victor Timon is Partner in the London and Dublin offices of the international law firm Lewis Silkin. He heads up the commercial, technology, data and intellectual property practice in Dublin. He has over 35 years of legal experience having been an in-house counsel and then a partner in leading law firms in London and Dublin. He authors the Ireland chapters of a number of international publications on AI, Digital Business and Cybersecurity. He is also on the Advisory Board of Digital Business Ireland, the representative body for the digital commerce sector, and chairs its Policy Committee.

ITN's Henry Fox interviews Tablet EX Gear president Brian Saunders about his business, what inspired him to begin, and the foundations of his business. We go into the range of uses for tablet computers in the modern workplace, from event management to forestry, and learn what the future holds for this innovative company. Bios: Brian Saunders is the president and founder of Tablet EX Gear, using his close to 30 years of experience in forestry on Canada's west coast and the emerging to design his first prototype in 2012, alongside his friend Lorraine, for his company's chest rigs, which hold and work as a standing desk for the then-emerging technology of tablet computers. Since then his business has expanded, and these products can be found across the world - between Brazil and Bangladesh. Henry Fox is a freelance journalist and student at Coventry University in the UK, currently interning at Irish Tech News. Originally hailing from Limerick, Henry has a passion for all things nerdy, from emerging computer technology to cult movies.

Dr.Boeckenfeld has more than over 20 years of experience (Asia, Europe, Switzerland) as a Financial Service Executive andNon-Executive in Institutions, such as UBS, Unicredit, Generali, KleinwortBenson and Axa. She focused on the platform economy, dynamic ecosystems, digital business, digital transformation and customer experience, over the past decade. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-martha-boeckenfeld/ The Metaverse Academy https://www.metaverse-academy.ch/

The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) took place for the time in Ireland. FIRST’s 34th Annual Conference, entitled ‘Neart Le Chéile: Strength Together’ took place in the Convention Centre, Dublin, from June 26 to July 1, 2022. One of the speakers was Maddie Stone a security researcher on Google Project Zero. Ronan talks to Maddie about what Google Project Zero does and more. Maddie talks about what Google Project Zero does, their most interesting find, where they decide were they will go next, members of the team having their own expertise, flaws in products, only fixing bugs that are exploitable, and what they consider are security bugs. Maddie also talks about why the OS you use is not important to attackers, the dark web, and her FIRST talk, and the serious vulnerabilities they found so far this year. More about Maddie: Maddie Stone is a Security Researcher on Google Project Zero where she focuses on 0-day exploits used in-the-wild. Previously, she was a reverse engineer and team lead on the Android Security team, focusing predominantly on pre-installed and off-Google Play malware. Maddie also spent many years deep in the circuitry and firmware of embedded devices. Maddie has previously spoken at conferences including Black Hat USA, REcon, OffensiveCon, and others. She holds a Bachelors of Science, with a double major in Computer Science and Russian, and a Masters of Science in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.

Unfettered data collection coupled with powerful emerging technologies have given rise to a new digital era. With so much data at our fingertips, how do we separate information from misinformation and propaganda, and parse facts from fiction? Just because something is trending, it doesn’t mean it’s real.  In this episode of One Vision, we chat with Alaric Aloor, CEO and Co-Founder of Archonsec, and advisor for MATR Ventures, about the benefits and perils of technology. In a world of fractured conversations, sound argument is becoming a lost art and insanity can be contagious. Unless collectively, we are willing to learn and do what is right to solve the hard problem — with intention — together. But will we?