The Big Tech Show

Women in Tech is a four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this week's episode, she meets Iseult Ward, co-founder of Foodcloud, the food waste distribution platform, that in just seven years has already distributed 22,000 tonnes of food, moving meals every 28 minutes and helping over 9,100 charitable groups in Ireland and UK.Samantha spoke to Iseult about the original idea, getting it off the ground, scaling in Ireland and internationally, as well as the growing issue of food poverty and waste.For more from the series go to:www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hailo was a roaring success. Then, two years ago, it became MyTaxi. Since that happened, the company has had its struggles. Now, it’s rebranding yet again in a €3m move – to ‘Free Now’.Adrian Weckler has a candid chat with the company’s general manager, Alan Fox, about why the name change was necessary and whether technology can improve some of the issues the firm has faced.They also talk about future ideas, such as ‘surge pricing’ at busy times, as well as current features, such as a new €5 cancellation charge.And Adrian asks whether it’s a good or bad thing that regulations prevent companies like Uber and Lyft from operating similar services to many other European and US cities.‘Free Now’ is the largest taxi company operating in Ireland with 12,000 drivers, 540,000 “regular” customers and 4.5m passengers carried in the first three months of this year.It is also part of a wider taxi transportation group across Europe, ultimately owned by the German automotive giant Daimler.And it is starting to introduce new services such as shared taxi trips between multiple passengers via its new MyTaxi Match app feature. In future, it hopes to add a fleet of electric scooters around Dublin.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this week's episode, she meets Ingrid Devin, Director of Dell's Women's Entrepreneur Network which creates a forum for global women founders and CEOs to share best practices, build business opportunities, explore international expansion and access new resources.Samantha spoke to Ingrid about the network and the lack of women investors in general as well as her own career in the tech world.For more from the series go to:https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this week's episode, she meets Vanessa Tierney, founder and CEO of Abodoo, the remote working platform that is seeking to empower and enable more remote working for people in Ireland and abroad.Samantha finds out how an illness forced Vanessa into thinking about remote working, how she runs her digital platform from County Wexford, and why more Irish companies need to consider remote working as an option for their employees.For more from the series go to:https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is AIB considering facial recognition for when you walk into a branch?Adrian sits down for a wide-ranging chat with the CIO of Ireland’s biggest bank about its imminent plans.Tim Hynes also assesses the risk from ‘challenger’ banks such as Revolut, while asserting that AIB’s 200 physical branches still “wash their face”, even in an era where so many payments are going cashless.And the two talk in depth about security challenges that banks – and many major companies—face.Tim was also in studio to discuss AIB’s sponsorship of ‘Techies for Temple Street’ the annual event that raises thousands for Temple Street Childrens’ Hospital.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian’s guest is Fianna Fail’s spokesman for science, technology and research, Kildare North TD James Lawless.In a wide-ranging discussion, Adrian challenges James over Irish politicians’ apparent disconnection from tech issues which, at times, veers into illiteracy.From demanding passports for Facebook access to dithering over broadband rollouts, Adrian goes over some of the reasons why Irish politicians are often held in low esteem by the public on tech issues.Adrian and James also discuss ways of improving some issues, such as scientific research and cyber security.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a new four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.In the series, Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this first episode, Samantha is joined by Regina Moran, Enterprise Director with Vodafone Ireland, who, as an engineer by background, has always been involved in the STEM areas and is well-versed in breaking the mould from her early days.Regina talks about her own career and degree in engineering despite not having honours maths, plus the importance and need to introduce girls to STEM subjects before the age of 12.Regina is a chartered fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, served on the council and executive and as president from 2014 to 2015, during which time she promoted STEM and the role of women in engineering. She has received a fellowship of Irish Academy of Engineering, is also a member of the Government-industry led Smart Futures Advisory Board and is a former non-executive director of EirGrid.For more from the series go to:https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adrian spent a week in China getting a look under the hood of Huawei, the world’s most controversial tech company.He discusses his experience here with two INM acolytes, Sunday Independent deputy business editor Fearghal O’Connor and Sunday Independent business correspondent Michael Cogley. He recounts how:- He ended up singing with a band in a Chinese bar only to discover the guitarist was a senior Huawei executive (who then unexpectedly agreed to a revealing interview)- He coped with being behind the great firewall of China, with no access to Google, Facebook, Twitter or any or their associated services (and how the virtual private network he paid for simply didn’t work)- He navigated the astonishing scale of Shenzhen, a giant Chinese city that was designed after local politicians visited Shannon in Co Clare in 1980, and which now has 20m people (unlike Shannon in Co Clare)Adrian, Fearghal and Michael also discuss the wider implications of the Huawei controversy for global security, multilateralism and our choice of mobile phone in the future.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Adrian is joined by Independent News & Media (INM) head of product (and business columnist) Steve Dempsey and INM chief commercial development officer Mark Coan. The subject matter is the current and future prospects of the Irish media. 2019 has so far seen multiple Irish media companies announce layoffs. What does the future hold? Can paywall subscriptions turn traditional titles’ fortunes around? What other models are working at present? Or are there simply too many titles and publishers for the market to sustain at present?The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian is joined by data privacy expert Daragh O’Brien and child protection campaigner Alex Cooney of CyberSafeIreland.The three discuss the reappointment of Helen Dixon as Ireland’s data protection commissioner to a second five-year term.They also look at why, a year after the digital age of consent was raised from 13 to 16, it is no harder for children to access social media services and whether the UK’s upcoming age-verified online pornography system can teach us any lessons here.Finally, the three touch on the issue of e-voting and whether it may be time for Ireland to think again about what was a disastrous introduction of the technology here 15 years ago.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.