The Irish Tech News Podcast

During the current COVID19 pandemic we have seen remote working and hybrid working become the norm. One of the companies that makes this possible is Aryaka who offer managed connectivity services for all those hybrid workers and businesses wanting to do business during the pandemic. Aryaka is also setting up a facility in Dublin, a Service Point of Presence which helps people working with or from the EU transfer data securely via Ireland. This helps cement Ireland's place as a key location especially in the face of Brexit when data regulations are going to be much more uncertain for a while. Ronan talks to Shashi Kiran Chief Marketing and Product Officer Aryaka about this and more. Shashi talks about what Aryaka does, what he does in Aryaka, remote working, how the pandemic impacted on what Aryaka does, and their new Dublin offices More about Aryaka: Aryaka is the industry leader in Cloud-First WANs delivering network and network security-as-a-service via managed SD-WAN and SASE architectures, helping enterprises accelerate WAN transformation. I oversee marketing, product management and strategy, demand gen and technology partnerships working with a truly world-class team.

We catch up with John O'Doherty, the Enterprise Commercial Director, from Microsoft Ireland to learn more about how working trends have evolved, data security, and what the future might bring. We discuss workplace analytics, and John also explains it also from the customers perspective what it means for the workplace in the future. Director of the Enterprise Commercial sales organization for Microsoft Ireland, focusing on helping customersdigitally transform their businesses, empower their employees, engage their customers, optimise operations, andtransform their products and services - all in conjunction with partners. Microsoft in Ireland 2,000 people. 71 different nationalities. One Campus situated in Leopardstown, Dublin. At Microsoft, our mission is to empower every person and organisation to do and achieve more, not just here in Ireland, but right across the world. From software development, testing and localisation to operations, finance, HR and sales & marketing for Europe, Middle East and Africa, our ambition is to help everyone, through the power of technology, to achieve theirs. Contact Microsoft Ireland: here.

In this podcast I discuss with Xavier De Kestelier about the recent projects they have started on for ESA.  With the march forward to the Moon predicted to be around 2030 his team at Hassell Studio have been collaborating with other agencies to make this idea a reality.  Hear about the upcoming facets of each projects and how they have selected possible features. Xavier leads our global design technology and innovation team, setting strategy and advising on the tools and knowledge we need to succeed. Both an architect and technologist, Xavier harnesses technology to create more powerful, futurefocused design solutions. That means he’s responsible for overseeing our work in computational design, building information modelling, visualisation and virtual reality worldwide. Over the past decade he’s forged a reputation as an industry leader in the exploration and adoption of parametric design and digital fabrication. Most recently, he was behind our concept for a ‘home’ on Mars – part of NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge. A TED talker and regular speaker at major design and tech events, Xavier is also a director of Smartgeometry, a non-profit, global educational network for computational and digital design specialists.

Over the past 30 years books and movies have slowly become less realistic as technology has got more involved. A character getting lost does not really happen anymore as they can pull out their smartphone and use Google Maps. Scenes of characters searching in a library are now replaced with searching via Google or online archives. Ronan talks to thriller writer Sean French about this and more. Sean talks about film casting, Hitchcock, Brian DePalma, violence in movies, technology ruining movies, Cary Grant. Sean also talks about books having their own kind of suspense and action, certain writers don’t translate well to movies, Stephen King, never remaking great movies, movies with cast ensembles, and the Great Escape. More about Sean French: Sean French was educated at William Ellis School in London and then went to Christ Church, Oxford. He is married to Nicci Gerrard and has four children. He was the Deputy Literary Editor at the Sunday Times between 1984-1986, Theatre Critic on Vogue between 1982-1986, Film Critic for Marie Claire between 1989-92 and Columnist for the New Society/New Statesman between 1986-2000. In collaboration with his wife Nicci, he writes the successful novels under the name Nicci French.

Apart from its dramatic coastline, hidden coves, turquoise waters, and beautiful beaches with pink sands, Bermuda is also a well-established offshore financial center, home to the second largest reinsurance market. The island nation has also created an infrastructure and ecosystem to foster innovation in blockchain technology, supported by a tiered regulatory approach that includes the Digital Asset Business Act and a regulatory sandbox. In this episode of #OneVision, Theo and Bradley chat with Chris Garrod, Director, Insurance and Technology at Conyers Dill & Pearman, on the Wild Wild West of crypto and beyond. While there is no CBDC planned for Bermuda, Chris told us that we might be able to buy rum with digital Bermuda dollars soon. Do we need more reason for a fintech meetup on the beach?

Chris Skinner is known as one of the most influential people in technology. He is an independent commentator on the financial markets and fintech, through his blog theFinanser.com and author of the bestselling books Digital Bank, ValueWeb and Digital Human. He is Chair of Nordic Future Innovation, is a non-executive director of 11:FS and on the advisory boards of various firms including Mode, Moven and Meniga. Mr. Skinner has been an advisor to the United Nations, the White House, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum and is a visiting lecturer with Cambridge University as well as a TEDx speaker. Chris is also a successful children's author with a series, focused upon Captain Cake and the Candy Crew, being released in 2021 Captain Cake. He is also co-founder with renowned artist Basia Hamilton of The Portrait Foundation, Portrait Foundation, a non-profit platform to encourage children and the arts. In recent years, he has been voted one of the UK’s foremost fintech observers by The Telegraph and one of the most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal’s Financial News and Thomson Reuters. Your host is Jillian Godsil, award winning journalist, broadcaster and author. Her most recently book can be found at https://persons-of-interest.io/

Over the past 30 years books and movies have slowly become less realistic as technology has got more involved. A character getting lost does not really happen anymore as they can pull out their smartphone and use Google Maps. Scenes of characters searching in a library are now replaced with searching via Google or online archives. Ronan talks to thriller writer Sean French about this and more. Sean talks about how technology has changed books and movies, why new thrillers will be set in the 70’s and 80’s, how to make thrillers dramatic, the terminator, how technology makes it easier to find people, the use of technology in films. Sean also talks about Star Trek, 2001 Space Odyssey, the godfather trilogy, Coppola making art in the midst of chaos, and why 90% of making a film is casting. More about Sean French: Sean French was educated at William Ellis School in London and then went to Christ Church, Oxford. He is married to Nicci Gerrard and has four children. He was the Deputy Literary Editor at the Sunday Times between 1984-1986, Theatre Critic on Vogue between 1982-1986, Film Critic for Marie Claire between 1989-92 and Columnist for the New Society/New Statesman between 1986-2000. In collaboration with his wife Nicci, he writes the successful novels under the name Nicci French.

We catch up with Dara Keogh to learn more about GeoDirectory their innovative work in Ireland, and the challenges and opportunities they have faced since the global pandemic. Dara Keogh is the CEO of GeoDirectory, a cutting edge technology company. GeoDirectory provides a unique and definitive database of all 2.2 million residential and business addresses in the Republic of Ireland. Key to Dara’s role is the development of easy to use, intuitive services that help organisations capitalise on one their most important assets, namely their own data. An MBA graduate of UCD, Dara rose through the ranks of An Post where he served in a number of sales and marketing management roles, before taking up the helm at GeoDirectory in 2007. Dara, who is regular speaker at business and tech conferences, specialises in innovation, data management, location mapping and address management. With a keen interest in marketing and consumer behaviour, Dara applies his knowledge to service improvements and continual upgrades for the business, crucial in such a fast paced sector  Dara uses his leadership skills to empower his team to help grow GeoDirectory’s client base and to manage a wide range of complex data projects. Helping clients increase their revenues through clever applications of data provides him with the greatest job satisfaction. Jointly established by An Post and Ordnance Survey Ireland, GeoDirectory is Ireland's truest source of complete, accurate address and location information services. Set up over 20 years ago to create a directory of all the residential and commercial addresses in Ireland, Geodirectorys database currently contains 1.9 million buildings and over 2.2 million addresses in the Republic of Ireland. Using a team of data scientists and technology experts, GeoDirectory has created and now manages a definitive reference dictionary of addresses for all 1.9 million buildings that receive post in the Republic of Ireland, assigning them with precise postal and geographic addresses, ensuring location accuracy of 1 square meter for all. The combination of An Post’s intimate knowledge of every building in every village, town and city in the Republic of Ireland with the unmatched technology and geographical expertise of OSI, ensures GeoDirectory has the most powerful and sophisticated address database in Ireland. Through this, GeoDirectory has developed an extensive business data toolkit that is used by businesses of all sizes, in all sectors and industries, from delivering pizzas to ensuring emergency services reach their intended location and a whole host of services in between. With customers ranging from Government departments to private organisations, put the power of Ireland’s most comprehensive and accurate database to work for your business.  Some of our core data services below:  GeoAddress   GeoAddress Checked  GeoAddress Fixed For more information, visit our website at www.geodirectory.ie

People are often led to believe that wind and solar energy are effective replacements for fossil fuels on their own. This is not the case, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) is an effective additional system for producing clean energy. Rachel talks with Craig Golinowski about California’s energy crisis, and how it arose from having an energy demand much higher than the supply. Craig discusses the mechanics and market for CCS and also highlights the importance of understanding energy. Craig is the President and Managing Partner at JOG Capital, he has 18 years of experience in the financial and oil and gas industry and has been active in the private equity fund management since 2007. Before working at JOG, Craig worked as an investment banker with RBC Capital Markets, where he focused on equity finance and mergers and acquisitions for domestic and international oil and gas, oil sands and energy service companies. Rachel is a Journalism student at Coventry University, currently interning with Irish Tech News – which marks the start of a partnership between the two institutions. Rachel’s main interests are politics and conflict, human rights, animal welfare and the environment.

The team here at ITN has to remain mobile and diverse in order to engage a wider and loyal audience.  Every few months we bring in new interns who bring fresh perspective and values that help stir up and re-energise the team as a whole.  For the month of July we welcome Ebony to our team.  Learn more about what she brings and find out more about her in this podcast. Ebony Ximines-Parke Ebony is a Journalism postgrad at the University of  Roehampton. After completing her degree in Creative Writing, she wanted  to specialise in Journalism to write stories that she felt needed new angles. She also wanted to highlight the voices that don’t get enough space. Ebony also is a TikTok content creator that works with hair care and hair accessory brands. She also is a women’s empowerment event coordinator. The events are run quarterly and specifically for giving a space for women to come and learn, heal and empower each other. If you would like to see more, please check her TikTok: @jamjamjamillah And her Instagram: @nesiasworkshops