The Irish Tech News Podcast

According to CIO, in 2021, 77.3% of companies globally rated digital transformation as their new top priority, pushing cybersecurity down to second place. John Mitchell, CEO of All human (formerly Strata3), believes that companies digital transformation is currently too focussed on aesthetics. He thinks that it should be focused on what consumers appreciate in a real, everyday sense. John also feels that the industry needs to take a step back and inject more pragmatism into the digital transformation process to drive measurable sales-focussed results. This includes using an analytics-first approach, hard metrics and testing.  Ronan talks to John Mitchell CEO of All human (formerly Strata3) about this and more. John talks to Ronan about what All Human (formerly Strata3) does, why search is a big problem, developing Discover Ireland, and working with well known Irish brands. John also talks about what is online and offline, brands ceding brand equity to a third party, cookies and privacy, advocates of a different way of thinking, and the generational shift. More about All human: All human are one of Dublin’s leading digital transformation consultancies and have recently gone through a rebranding process. They are behind the digital experience of many of Ireland’s biggest brands including An Post, Discover Ireland, Irish Life, LetsGetChecked, Energia, Irish Rail as well as Bank of Ireland. John and the team believe that the web industry is on the precipice of major transformation away from “fluff” towards a much more pragmatic experience that consumers actually value.

On this podcast, Diana Paiva is joined by a full-time paramedic, William Fahy. William decided to create an application to help people find nearby automated external defibrillators in Ireland. He explained how he created his AED locator app and what motivated him to build his own application. William talked about the impact of his application in the Irish Community and his future plans for his application. William Fahy William Fahy is a full-time paramedic based in Ireland. After helping on countless cardiac arrest responses, he noticed a pattern: most people don't know where to find nearby AEDs. William built an AED Locator app using Google Sheets and Retool, and he manages a database of thousands of life-saving AEDs all over Ireland as a one-person team. About Diana Paiva Diana is currently interning with Irish Tech News. She graduated from Birkbeck University, with a degree in modern languages and she is currently doing a master's in Journalism at the University of Roehampton. She has an interest in technology and the environment.

Rui Zhang, CFA, CPA, Co-founder & Managing Partner of gumi Cryptos Capital. Rui co-founded gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC) at the beginning of 2018. Through gCC, he invested in the early rounds of companies and protocols including OpenSea, Qredo, YGG, 1Inch, Agoric, Celsius, etc. Recently he launched $110million gCC Fund II, continuously investing in the early stage blockchain and crypto sector. Before gCC, Rui led the global investment of gumi Group, investing in gaming, social media, VR&AR markets, with successful investments including inXile (acquired by Microsoft), Beat Games (via VR Fund, acquired by Facebook), Theta Network, etc. Rui also had his successful entrepreneurship experience before getting into VC industry. After about 7 years banking and consulting firm experience in his early career, he co- founded Zenith Group Holdings, which successfully exited via acquisition. Jamil Hasan is a crypto and blockchain focused podcast host at the Irish Tech News and spearheads our weekend content “The Crypto Corner” where he interviews founders, entrepreneurs and global thought leaders. Prior to his endeavors into the crypto-verse in July 2017, Jamil built an impressive career as a data, operations, financial, technology and business analyst and manager in Corporate America, including twelve years at American International Group and its related companies. Since entering the crypto universe, Jamil has been an advisor, entrepreneur, investor and author. His books “Blockchain Ethics: A Bridge to Abundance” (2018) and “Re-Generation X” (2020) not only discuss the benefits of blockchain technology, but also capture Jamil’s experience on how he has transitioned from being a loyal yet downsized former corporate employee to a self sovereign individual. With over one hundred podcasts under his belt since he joined our team in February 2021, and with four years of experience both managing his own crypto portfolio and providing crypto guidance and counsel to select clients, Jamil continues to seek opportunities to help others navigate this still nascent industry. Jamil’s primary focus outside of podcast hosting is helping former corporate employees gain the necessary skills and vision to build their own crypto portfolios and create wealth for the long-term.

David Kvitsiani Information about me: Tech entrepreneur from Georgia, Co-Founder and CEO of CNICK, a startup developing smart rings that work as a contactless payment card and a Tesla key.  David started entrepreneurship at the age of 20. He has worked on many tech projects, including social ones, like Hand4help, a project developing high-tech and low cost hand prosthetics for kids in need. He is among Forbes Georgia 30 under 30  and TEDx speaker.About CNICK EVolution: CNICK Evolution is the world’s first agar art NFT, every artwork is hand drawn using living microbes. While the microbial art has a very short life span, which is usually up to one month, they are digitalized  first and then immortalized on the blockchain. The total supply of the collection is 500, this limit is encoded in our Ethereum smart contract, making it a very limited NFT collection. Every NFT comes with a special edition smart ring that enables Tesla lock&unlock, contactless payments and also stores NFT artwork. Jamil Hasan is a crypto and blockchain focused podcast host at the Irish Tech News and spearheads our weekend content “The Crypto Corner” where he interviews founders, entrepreneurs and global thought leaders. Prior to his endeavors into the crypto-verse in July 2017, Jamil built an impressive career as a data, operations, financial, technology and business analyst and manager in Corporate America, including twelve years at American International Group and its related companies. Since entering the crypto universe, Jamil has been an advisor, entrepreneur, investor and author. His books “Blockchain Ethics: A Bridge to Abundance” (2018) and “Re-Generation X” (2020) not only discuss the benefits of blockchain technology, but also capture Jamil’s experience on how he has transitioned from being a loyal yet downsized former corporate employee to a self sovereign individual. With over one hundred podcasts under his belt since he joined our team in February 2021, and with four years of experience both managing his own crypto portfolio and providing crypto guidance and counsel to select clients, Jamil continues to seek opportunities to help others navigate this still nascent industry. Jamil’s primary focus outside of podcast hosting is helping former corporate employees gain the necessary skills and vision to build their own crypto portfolios and create wealth for the long-term.

In this podcast, Shane is joined by Ken Stern, best selling author and host of the Century Lives Podcast from the Stanford Centre of Longevity. Ken discusses the future of work in light of longer life, which is how we rethink work to accommodate careers that will likely last 50/60 years.  Ken also discusses how technology is helping to increase longevity and how it will continue to do so in the future, how well employers and policy makers are doing in addressing longer lives and what the retirement age might be in the future. Twitter: https://twitter.com/kenpstern LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sternken/ Century Lives Podcast: https://longevity.stanford.edu/century-lives/ About Ken Ken Stern is the Founder and Chair of the Longevity Project, which he founded in collaboration with the Stanford Center on Longevity. The Longevity Project fosters public conversation and research on the impact on longer lives on civil society. Stern is the host of multiple podcasts, including Century Lives and When I’m 64, from the Stanford Center on Longevity. He is also the chair of ASCEND, an organization dedicated to building a new leadership culture for American business. Stern is the author of national bestseller, Republican Like Me (HarperCollins 2017) and With Charities For All: Why Charities Are Failing and A Better Way to Give (Doubleday 2013). He is also a regular correspondent on political and business issues for Vanity Fair and has also been a frequent contributor to publications such as The Atlantic, Slate, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Stern also leads the creative and business teams at Palisades Media Ventures, focusing on creating new and innovative programming for digital platforms. Prior to launching Palisades, Stern was the CEO of National Public Radio. During his tenure, NPR’s radio audience more than doubled, to more than 26 million weekly listeners. Stern also launched NPR’s world class digital efforts which included satellite channels, mobile and podcast services, and NPR Music and oversaw the successful expansion of NPR.org. During a period of significant retrenchment at major news outlets, Stern led the dramatic expansion of NPR News, both domestically and abroad, and its evolution as a key daily news source to tens of millions of people. Prior to joining NPR, Stern was a senior executive in American International Broadcasting. Earlier in his career, he held positions in Democratic politics. He began his media career with Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty in Munich. Stern, a lawyer by training, holds degrees from Haverford College and Yale Law School. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife Beth Cooper and their son Nate.

My 2 passions in life, Software Development & Entrepreneurship, have given me a unique opportunity to develop IT solutions & Projects around the globe. Besides my passions that have been a significant factor in my journey, I firmly believe in creating additional value in the world through technology and making it a better place one small step at a time. At the age of 19 I founded my first company AM2 Studio I later expanded into a software development agency with over 50 people around the world. A few years later I merged my agency with myZone Media where I joined as a partner and a CTO, and continued working on strategy, architecture & development of multiple platforms both internally and with our strategic partners. As my role has evolved from a Founder & CEO of an IT startup into Entrepreneurial ventures around the globe, I have gained valuable experience in PM, Sales, HR, Architecture, and team management, as well as business strategy, process optimization, and automation. I am a firm believer in lifelong learning and I am continually expanding my interest in emerging technologies such as Blockchain, Web3 & NFTs - that are positioned to have a tremendous positive impact on the world. Jamil Hasan is a crypto and blockchain focused podcast host at the Irish Tech News and spearheads our weekend content “The Crypto Corner” where he interviews founders, entrepreneurs and global thought leaders. Prior to his endeavors into the crypto-verse in July 2017, Jamil built an impressive career as a data, operations, financial, technology and business analyst and manager in Corporate America, including twelve years at American International Group and its related companies. Since entering the crypto universe, Jamil has been an advisor, entrepreneur, investor and author. His books “Blockchain Ethics: A Bridge to Abundance” (2018) and “Re-Generation X” (2020) not only discuss the benefits of blockchain technology, but also capture Jamil’s experience on how he has transitioned from being a loyal yet downsized former corporate employee to a self sovereign individual. With over one hundred podcasts under his belt since he joined our team in February 2021, and with four years of experience both managing his own crypto portfolio and providing crypto guidance and counsel to select clients, Jamil continues to seek opportunities to help others navigate this still nascent industry. Jamil’s primary focus outside of podcast hosting is helping former corporate employees gain the necessary skills and vision to build their own crypto portfolios and create wealth for the long-term.

One step forward, two steps back. Despite increasing awareness and promises from corporations, metrics such as the gender pay gap and funding for female founders have barely budged. How then, can we truly move the needle for workplace gender equality in financial services and beyond? In this episode of One Vision, Theo chats with Nadia Edwards-Dashti, co-founder of the Harrington Starr Group, on her new book, FinTech Women Walk the Talk. As Nadia pointed out, FinTech, as an industry, has always been about driving changes. Together, we can ignite the passion of our allies, and build an ecosystem that is fully representative of the diversity of the society whom we serve.

Eco Entrepreneur and Climate Campaigner, Dale Vince, OBE There’s a saying that goes, ‘don’t meet your heroes as they may disappoint’, well I pleased to say this wasn’t the case when I spoke to green entrepreneur, Dale Vince, OBE for this episode for Irish Tech News  Dale is one a what I would call a conscious CEO, where his work focuses on three key areas – energy, transport, and food. In 1995 he launched Ecotricity, the world’s first green energy company, which today, powers around 200,000 homes and businesses across the UK with renewable energy from the wind and sun. Dale also owns Devil’s Kitchen, which makes vegan school dinners, and his latest business, Skydiamond creates lab grown diamonds from the wind, rain and sun.  If that wasn’t enough, Dale is Chairman and owner of Forest Green Rovers recognised by FIFA as the “world’s greenest football club” and became a United Nations Climate Champion in 2018.  He launched his first book, Manifesto in 2020, and is Executive Producer of the Netflix Original documentary, Seaspiracy.  In this interview, criss-cross a range of issues from the increase of energy prices in the UK, to how can we make oil companies more accountable, politics, COP26 that took place in Glasgow last year, to veganism, and of course the Netflix success Seaspiracy, which Dale produced. We also have some light-hearted banter about ‘lentils and sandal’ and where he wears his underpants…intrigued, well you will have to tune in! At the end I had to ask Dale, that burning question, of what’s next for him, and his answer might surprise you and give you that little bit of hope for a better tomorrow. On 29 April, Dale is one of the speakers, at the GEI 14 conference in London, which is a partnership with not-for-profit sustainability specialists A Greener Festival and the International Live Music Conference, the world’s leading platform for the touring and festival sectors. Dale will be on a panel discussion, looking at the energy and transport sectors that will play a key role in the fight against the climate crisis, which will impact live music and events significantly in coming years.

Dark Social: Understanding the Darker side of Work, personality, and social media Ian MacRae is the author of six books, the most recent of which is Dark Social. He is a work psychologist, consultant, speaker, and author who writes about a variety of psychology and workplace topics. We’ve all heard of the dark web, but what about dark social, where expressing yourself becomes difficult and interacting with people in our workplaces brings fear. Ian discusses how this affects workplaces and work ethic in businesses. His previous books looked at the positive aspects of leadership and what a leader should look. Dark social is a continuation of those subjects delving into what happens behind the veil of our workplaces, personality, and social media.

During the pandemic we have seen a greater usage of cloud infrastructure. This, has resulted in a greater usage of broadband as remote working became part of how businesses operated. As we use the cloud more we rely more on data data driven strategies which can increase security risks. Ronan talks to Eoin O’Reilly, EY Ireland Assurance Partner and Head of Data Analytics about this and more. Eoin talks about his background, cloud usage, the security risks with data driven strategies, data centres, and his views on the National Development Plan More about Eoin O’Reilly: Eoin O’Reilly, is EY Ireland Assurance Partner and Head of Data Analytics. He focuses on providing consulting and assurance services to listed, multinational, Government and large private companies, and is responsible for driving the growth of EY Ireland’s Data Analytics practice. In his role, he helps organisations design and deliver data-driven strategies to help grow revenues, optimise cost and manage risk. He also has deep experience delivering analytics and AI projects including reporting and visualisation, predictive analytics, simulation modelling, machine learning and text/image processing.