The Irish Tech News Podcast

How to do a great podcast, 300 episodes and 4 years of insights with the Tec Dr are shared with us in this interesting podcast. We aim to chat with Ronan Leonard, aka the Tech Dr about his journey into podcasting, why he decided to do it, and to find out what tips he has to share with us from his journey so far. You can also learn more about his insights in this recent article he has written for Irish Tech News https://irishtechnews.ie/10-things-i-learnt-about-podcasting/ and you can follow him on Twitter here https://twitter.com/tecdr

How has technology helped Northern Ireland cope with COVID-19? Ronan talks to Big Motive design directors Rebecca Walsh and Stephen Shaw. Big Motive helped to design a COVID-19 response service app for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland and their COVID-19 track and trace app with Nearform who developed our track and trace app. Rebecca and Stephen talk about what Big Motive do, the COVID-19 response service app they helped design, and the challenges they had to overcome. Rebecca and Stephen also talk about our contact tracing app and their partnership with Nearform to design and develop Northern Ireland’s contact tracing app for the Department of Health in Northern Ireland.

Interesting and informative conversation with Fiona MacLachlan who traveled from Cape Clear to Singapore, Australia and Vietnam for several decades before returning to West Cork to launch her farming business. Fiona describes her journey and the various business pivots she followed before finding the right area for her own activities. This interview is an excerpt from the newly launched West Cork islands radio show that is now broadcasting on FM every Thursday Sunday.

We go for a test drive in the new Nissan EV taxi on Cape Clear with Mairtin O'Mealoid, the first of its kind on any Irish Island. This episode will also air on the Cape Clear radio show too.

PwC released their Global consumer survey earlier this week and it revealed how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing urban consumer purchasing habits and behaviours and how global disruption has forced the acceleration of a more digital way of life. Ronan talks to Owen McFeely, Director, PwC Ireland Retail & Consumer Practice about how the survey came about, why during a noticeable digital shift physical stores will still exist, and the increase in online grocery shopping. Owen also talks about the four key trends that the survey noticed, other trends the survey noticed and the positives they noticed that have come out of the pandemic.

Did you know that there is a Google Maps for the internet otherwise known as ThousandEyes? During the current COVID-19 pandemic ThousandEyes are busier than ever making sure their clients such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Microsoft, SalesForce, Lyft, Slack and MasterCard understand how the Internet works around the world. Ronan talks to Yogi Chandiramani VP Solutions Engineering EMEA at ThousandEyes about this, how COVID-19 has affected internet connectivity globally. what the future of the web looks like. Yogi also talks about the lessons ThousandEyes have learnt from COVID-19 and their recent $1 billion acquisition by Cisco.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has increased the usage and research of AI, so how can AI help your business? Ronan talks to John Clancy the Co-Founder and CEO of the Start-up Chatspace about this and more including what Chatspace does, how they help some of their blue chip clients work with AI, how COVID-19 has changed the usage of AI, and where AI will go next.

This year’s Quest for Quality conference, organised by Comtrade Digital Services. The theme for this year′s event is “AI Demystified” which is taking place in October is now going to be an online event only. Ronan talks to one of the keynote speakers, Nishan Chelvachandran, the CEO & Founder of Iron Lakes. Nishan talks about his background, how sophisticated cybercrime has gotten since he first started working in cybersecurity, and if the advent of cryptocurrencies has made his job harder. Nishan also talks cyberwar, how advanced AI has become and what will be talking about at the Quest for Quality conference.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are spending more of our time looking at computers and mobile devices as we are reading more and more emails and attending more and more Zoom meetings. This will increase the chances of getting digital eyestrain but there is a way to help combat this. Ronan talks to Seamus Flynn the Co-founder of Sapphire Eyewear, a luxury brand of eyewear that blocks blue light from digital screens to reduce the associated symptoms of eyestrain, tired eyes, headaches and sleep disturbance. Seamus talks about how Sapphire Eyewear, what they do, the issues of eye strain and the technology behind Sapphire Eyewear.

When the Irish Health Sector suddenly had to work from home due to government policy, how do you do this easily, quickly, and safely? Ronan talks to Gary Mahon from Enovation and Maebh Coleman from TU Dublin, who in a few weeks rapidly devised and delivered an e-learning package worth €1m for health sector staff on remote working. Gary and Maebh talk about how the e-Learning package came about, how it was developed, and the take-up in the HSE.