The Big Tech Show

Zander Lurie is the boss of the world’s biggest online survey company.The Nasdaq-listed firm has over 17m users and is expanding all over the world.Lurie reflects on the process by which he became SurveyMonkey CEO after the tragic passing in 2015 of his friend Dave Goldberg, husband of Sheryl Sandberg and former chief executive of SurveyMonkey. “The hairs still stand on the back of my neck, thinking about Dave,” he says.He also talks about the expectations on a modern tech CEO to take positions on controversial issues in the news, including immigration or President Trump.And he chats in detail about a number of other things, from the perception that Big Tech now has it all wrapped up to Dublin’s appeal for Silicon Valley.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with Richard Bruton, the government Communications minister at the centre of the state’s €5bn plan to run subsidised fibre broadband to every one of 540,000 rural homes and businesses in the country.He establishes for the first time that the value of the finished rural broadband network will only be a fraction of the €3bn the state is subsidising.Diving deep into some of the issues around the controversial rollout, Adrian asks Minister Bruton some other key questions about the current state of the broadband tender, including:1. SUBSIDIES – did the government’s subsidy rise when Eir pulled out of the National Broadband Plan tender competition, leaving only one bidder?2. WHAT THE NETWORK IS WORTH TO THE BIDDER – how much does the government value the completed broadband network and is it giving this asset away too cheaply to a private company, Granahan McCourt?3. PROFITABILITY – how much is the bidder ‘allowed’ to make under the agreed broadband operation?4. FAILSAFES – what does the bidder have to fail at for the state to legally claim the network back?5. FINANCE – how much responsibility does the state take in checking up on how the bidding company is financed, including the source of that finance?6. SECRECY – why can’t more detail on non-sensitive issues, such as the rate of return the bidder is allowed to make, be disclosed?7. TAXPAYER VALUE – what was the difference, if any, between the bids of Eir and Granahan McCourt?And much more. For anyone with an interest in Ireland’s biggest ever communications contract, this is required listening.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While attention rests on the National Broadband Plan, eir still holds the keys to many of Ireland’s biggest telecoms problems.This week, Adrian sits down with company chief executive Carolan Lennon to ask some of the key questions.On the National Broadband Plan, Adrian asks whether Lennon whether knowing that eir would collect close to €1bn from rental of its poles to the National Broadband Plan was a factor in the company withdrawing from the tender to oversee responsibility for the whole project. Lennon responds in detail about why eir pulled out.Adrian also asks whether, with €400m of new debt being taken on by eir, the company is again being sucked into a pattern of getting overstretched and over-leveraged.Other topics are discussed at length. For instance, eir has also promised 99pc geographic mobile 4G coverage of the country. Is this really possible without tens of thousands of new masts?Does Lennon believe that there’s room in the Irish market for three fully-fledged mobile operators?Are the days of the landline and home phones numbered? In an era of WhatsApp and Skype, is there a long term future for traditional mobile phone numbers?The two also discuss potential uses for 5G and the long term future for telecoms companies. And Lennon says that she believes the copper network that eir owns is on the way out.Lennon even reacts to a suggestion from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week that the government recently considered renationalising eir.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the National Broadband Plan a visionary thing for Ireland? Or is it a grand folly?This week, Adrian talks exclusively to Peter Hendrick, the chief executive of the sole remaining bidder for the €3bn state-subsidised contract.The two talk about rollout timetables, cost and technology.Adrian asks why the last 20pc is being done with fibre and not wireless which, in the short term, might provide a cheaper solution.He also asks whether National Broadband Ireland, the new entity which will build and maintain the network, has resolved its differences with Eir and why it will cost €1bn to rent Eir’s infrastructure over the coming years.For anyone interested in the detail of the National Broadband Plan debate, this is worth listening to.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, we look at war stories from one of the fastest-growing online scams around – email fraud.Whether it’s invoice redirection fraud or CEO fraud, the phenomenon of faking corporate emails to siphon off thousands from a business is rampant in Ireland.Adrian Weckler looks through some of the reported incidences of this happening, including to Dublin Zoo, Trinity College and the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board.He is joined in studio by one of Ireland’s most senior experts on fraud, Conor Flynn of ISAS. Together, they dig down into the mechanics of how the scam takes root, from the first breach to the ultimate withdrawal.They also look at the role of ‘money mules’, often in the guise of third level students who ‘rent’ their bank accounts to the fraudsters, and what might happen to them.Finally, the two discuss ways that companies can protect against it.The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a lot of nonsense spoken about how rural broadband can be delivered.This week, Adrian Weckler and Irish Independent business editor Donal O’Donovan go through some of the myths and tropes around the process.They ask whether wireless or 5G might be an alternative. They also look at the cost of the rollout and whether the government can be trusted or not. And then they discuss the basic questions underpinning the whole process: is rural broadband to every home important? If so, is a state subsidy justifiable? And if that’s agreed, should it be high speed infrastructure or a patch-up job?Also: Adrian gives a very brief, spoiler-free review of ‘Avengers Endgame’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do people really care if Facebook does unwarranted things with our personal data? Are we, in the press, simply overestimating how much it bothers people? The latest privacy breach involves the company saying it 'mistakenly' uploaded the private email contacts of 1.5m people. It has also admitted that millions, not thousands, of Instagram passwords were stored in plain language. But it's all being greeted by a big 'meh' from the public. Other than a few campaigning media outlets and privacy activists, thi+e latest revelations appear to barely bother anyone.Have we just become numb to a neverending stream of Facebook privacy screwups? Or does the company's unmoved account membership figures suggest that people see the breaches but conclude that it's a price worth paying for the utility they get out of it? In this week's podcast, Adrian and Castlebridge privacy expert Daragh O'Brien debate whether Facebook's privacy issues are regarded with disquiet anymore. They also look at the Irish data protection commissioner's recent guidance to schools, where the watchdog said bishops and principals who tell parents that they can't take photos at school events simply "because of GDPR" are wrong. And they consider the wider legal and ethical implications of when taking photos is and isn't okay.Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ZXvz7II5SHeDjDpGvTugjSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So now we know: Amazon is listening to our conversations. Some of its staff are told to listen in to what we tell the Amazon Echo to do.The company has been very secretive about this. But after a Bloomberg story delved into it, the company admitted that it listens to a small percentage of voice recordings to help its artificial intelligence figure out things like accents better.But that’s not all the workers hear. Some say that they have picked up disturbing things, like assaults. But they’re told not to do anything about it.There are a whole host of issues that crop up around this.Is it okay for Amazon staff to physically listen to our voice commands, even if it’s just for quality control?Do we believe them that it’s just for quality control?And a longer term, thornier issue arises -- what responsibility, if any, does a platform have if it detects something like a sexual assault?Joining Adrian to discuss this in depth is Patricia Scanlon, the founder and chief executive of Soapbox Labs, which specialises in childrens’ speech technology and artificial intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we split the podcast into two segments: an interview with GoFundMe chief executive Rob Solomon and an audience with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on his visit to Dublin.While the 34-year-old billionaire was careful in his engagement with Irish journalists during the week, he did agree to talk for a few minutes. Adrian heard what Mark Zuckerberg is thinking on the issues of using Facebook as a tool for election interference, privacy in Europe, harmful content and why Facebook wants to start pushing for the transfer of data from one app to another as a right.GoFundMe’s Rob Solomon explained to Adrian why Ireland is the highest per-capital user base of his fundraising platform’s services. He also talked Adrian through the ways that GoFundMe guards against scam fundraising attempts and gave examples of how the platform disallows misinformation drives, such as recent attempts to raise money for anti-vaccination programmes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apple’s big screen adventure (on a little screen)Why is Apple launching a TV and movie service? And will it be any good?This week, Adrian and Daragh O’Brien of Castlebridge wonder whether Apple can make it in Hollywood against the likes of Netflix, Disney and HBO.They also ask what the future is for old-fashioned linear TV broadcasters like RTE and BBC — will they essentially become the channels of sport, news and talent shows?And the two look at another prominent issue in Ireland this week: broadband. Specifically, will the government’s National Broadband Plan be rolled out? Should it be? How important is broadband, anyway?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.