The Irish Tech News Podcast

Fascinating interview by Melanie Boylan with Rob Metcalf and Natalie LeRoy about their insights into how behavioural economics is usefully impacting on fuel consumption in the aviation industry. If you are planning to save an airline, could you do it through big sweeping changes like new aircraft designs and futuristic fuels, or could you do it through small messages of encouragement and feedback about fuel use? https://www.signol.io/ More about Natalie LeRoy Natalie is a creative director with experience bringing concepts, products and research to life in a variety of mediums and roles. She is leading Signol's creative team, marketing and product. In her community, Natalie runs an experimental architecture group and guides participants through openIDEO design challenges as a mentor. More about Rob Metcalf Rob is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Southern California. His research tests economic theory using field experiments and identifies practical solutions to business and government challenges. He was a collaborator on MINDSPACE, the first influential report about the applications of behavioral economics. Rob’s recent research has been featured in the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and the Financial Times, and was cited in the award of the Nobel Prize in Economics to Richard Thaler. Co Founder of Signol More about Melanie twitter.com/STOMPSMTraining Over the years I have worked with SME, FMCG and State Bodies I'm delighted to say I now support and train all sizes of business and my business has grown with my clients. I provide Adult Education and support for people in Business. With my many years of experience in promoting services and charities in Ireland and the UK; I have been very fortunate to establish a strong network of contacts and over the years have learnt how best to promote a business online and improve their social media scoring. Creating a professional image and maintaining it is the crux of a great marketing plan and is instrumental in today’s climate in making your business stand out, I can tailor my services to your requirements. Over the last few years I have started working in other areas I have a genuine passion in. I have been avid writer for a number years and started working as a Freelance Writer with Irish Tech News since 2016 and StartUp Mindset since October 2019.

We chat with Alessandra Rojas about her work as the Sustainable Entrepreneurship Manager @ Tech4Impact EPFL Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland More about Ale I am part of the team of EPFL Tech4Impact. The EPFL is one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and at Tech4Impact we are focused in how we can use technology for sustainable impact and the UN 2030 agenda. We work with students, researchers, professors, NGOs and corporates to try to build an ecosystem around it. The GSIV program specifically is part of our efforts to collaborate with NGOs and international bodies in Geneva to further push the developing of technology specifically by supporting Global South initiatives. We actually run a second initiative called Tech4Dev grants in which we pair Global South NGOs with researchers at EPFL to develop impactful technologies. Developed and managing the new EPFL Changemakers programme! Check it out: https://www.epfl.ch/innovation/startup/students/epfl-changemakers/

Great interview with climate change campaigner, artist and activist Donna Cooney, green Councellor, by Melanie Boylan. Follow Donna on Twitter here https://twitter.com/donna_cooney1 More about Donna I have been a community activist for 25 years, working to protect Dublin Bay, the Promenade, St. Anne’s Park, and Fairview Trees & Park. I have campaigned against bad developments; improving our area with cycle-ways, playgrounds and sporting facilities. A founder of Dublin Bay North Repeal the Eighth, I am committed to equality and climate action. More about Melanie https://twitter.com/STOMPSMTraining Over the years I have worked with SME, FMCG and State Bodies I'm delighted to say I now support and train all sizes of business and my business has grown with my clients. I provide Adult Education and support for people in Business. With my many years of experience in promoting services and charities in Ireland and the UK; I have been very fortunate to establish a strong network of contacts and over the years have learnt how best to promote a business online and improve their social media scoring. Creating a professional image and maintaining it is the crux of a great marketing plan and is instrumental in today’s climate in making your business stand out, I can tailor my services to your requirements. Over the last few years I have started working in other areas I have a genuine passion in. I have been avid writer for a number years and started working as a Freelance Writer with Irish Tech News since 2016 and StartUp Mindset since October 2019.

We have lived through a massive opportunity for learning and growth. We can change our habits, climate change didn’t go away and we must use 2020’s lessons to engage with it. Going forwards tech must include social, ethics and purpose. We need to use this time as a launch pad for a positive, engaged and conscious 2021 and beyond. https://congregation.ie/ Key Takeaways: 2020 is a massive opportunity for us to change our habits climate change didn’t go away and we must use 2020’s lessons to engage with it tech must include social, ethics and purpose use this time as a launch pad About Congregation Congregation 2020 #cong20 will be a one day online 'mindmesh' designed to foster links between attendees from very diverse backgrounds and create deep discussion and dialogue. Central to the event is earned entry via a submission posted on the site in advance, the use of social venues and huddles and the serendipitous connections that form. All attendees present during the day creating a common bond that is enhanced with plenty of networking time. The theme for 2020 is 'Society 3.0'. Our Mission Congregation is a knowledge exchange platform. Our mission to encourage the sharing of ideas, methodologies, techniques and industry insights that you might find useful and that you could apply be it in your personal journey or in business. We live and breath technology and ideas.

With the pandemic forcing a lot of us to work from home, we are relying more and more on technology. However, there are times when we may have problems with the technology that we are relying on. Ronan talks to Louise McKeown the Marketing Director at Magnet Networks. Louise talks about Magnet Networks new gigabyte broadband service, aimed at remote workers and its talk to a human technical support guarantee. Louise also talks about how 2020 is the right time for remote working as we have the technology to support this, and why working in the office won’t be like it used to be.

We catch up with Eoin Kennedy ahead of the upcoming 8th CongRegation. This year's theme is Society 3.0 See more on their website here https://congregation.ie/ What is Congregation? One day virtual mind mesh festival of thinking, sharing and connecting. Celebrating its 8th year, CongRegation™ #cong20 (Nov 21st), will be a virtual event due to Covid-19 restrictions. With the theme of ‘Society 3.0’ we are looking for curious minds from a range of diverse backgrounds/sectors who will share their unique perspective of our society – where we have come from, what we have become and what we want in our future. We are treating the theme in its broadest form from psychology, technology, personal experiences to methodologies and ideas. We want to hear how people see, experience or what they think of “Society”, be it a personal one, business or career transition. One of the key components of CongRegation™ is the diverse background and thinking of attendees and this includes technologists, psychologists, business people, start up community, academics, visionaries, disruptors and sector specific from farming to manufacturing. Tickets are earned via a submission on the theme which will be debated in virtual huddles on November 21st 2020.

Fascinating and important insights about bees, both in the US and globally with Sam Droege from the US Geological Survey Bee Inventory Monitoring Lab BIML- We are an online museum for bees/insects/life. All Public Domain. Contact:sdroege@usgs.gov Comment Policy:http://tinyurl.com/hr9aebb www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml The link to the images for their amazing Instagram pictures https://www.instagram.com/usgsbiml/ More information about the image used -> This is Euglossa imperialis it, like the rest of its clade of shiny orchid bees, has a long tongue, actually ... this species has a particularly long tongue even compared to other orchid bees. Pretty simple. It sucks nectar with that long tongue from deep throated flowers that other bees often can't reach (because they usually have dinky lapping tongues). As a male it does not gather pollen, but it does have a trick that other bees don't have in that tucked into its expanded hind tibia is a little sachet (note: this is not a technical term) that it stashes various smelly oils and other chemicals to woo orchid bee women. In the American humid tropics they are big time common (as a group). Tim McMahon (whose gets his bank as a government engineer, but in his heart is a complete bee head) collected this in Costa Rica on his annual pilgrimage. Photo by Jade Louis #usgs #orchidbees #orchidbee #euglossa #tongue #longtongue

Fascinating conversation with Jennifer McConnell, general manager of Irish Seed Savers. We cover Irish seeds, apple trees, Stalingrad, biodiversity, Khazakstan, Syrian courgettes, and much more. Listen and learn more about how Irish Seed Savers are helping people all over Ireland and beyond to preserve genetic diversity, bio diversity and to also reduce 'seed miles'. Learn more about their work here http://www.irishseedsavers.ie/ and follow them on Twitter here https://twitter.com/IrishSeedSavers Become a supporter here -> As a supporter you will receive these yearly benefits: 7 FREE packs of organic seed 10% off apple trees 10% off workshops 2 big newsletters, summer and winter Free admission all year round We grow, conserve, & distribute Irish organic vegetable seeds, grains and fruit trees. Irish Seed Savers Association is a registered charity. See here to join. http://store.irishseedsavers.ie/Supportership_s/59.htm

Interesting conversation with Tony Robinson, known as the Happipreneur Twitter https://twitter.com/TonyRobinsonOBE See more on his website here https://tonyrobinsonobe.com/ More about his book ‘The Happipreneur – Why #MicroBizMatters?’ is the sequel to ‘Small is Beautiful’ Two years ago while I was touring with my ‘Micro is Magic’ Show, Taryn Lee Johnston and I began writing this memoir and guide. Schumacher’s influential work has been an inspiration for me and many of my heroes, such as Dr Ernesto Sirroli, also featured in the book. Schumacher wrote about ‘economics as if people mattered’ but our book is about ‘enterprise as if people cared’. How can we live happy, enterprising lives and be useful to others? Everyone who wants to be more enterprising, no matter what size or type of organisation they work in, will find it practical and useful. This book and my ‘Happipreneurship #Rocks’ keynote talk are for everyone, everywhere. Leaders, parents, teachers, academics, students and all who wish to help people be more enterprising will love it too.

Earlier in the year, Ronan spoke to Lisa Murphy Head Of People In Scurri about remote working in the new COVID-19 world, and a lot has changed since then. We have come out of lockdown and recently gone back into lockdown. Ronan catches up with Lisa to see what has changed since they last spoke. Lisa mentions how they coped in our first lockdown, moving back to working in the office when that lockdown ended and how Scurri and their clients are coping with the new lockdown just as the busiest 2 months of the year for them is starting.