2021, like the recent years, saw tremendous growth and advancement in technology. While the Covid-19 pandemic stagnated or hindered the economic progress of quite a few industries, the technology industry was among the least affected ones. This advancement was not limited to specific sectors or industries either, and new developments and introductions were made on a global scale. The fintech in 2021 also witnessed some breakthroughs and milestone achievements that we will discuss in this article.

Technology solutions and digital innovations aimed towards enhancing and optimizing banking, insurance, wealth management, or other financial services constitute the fintech industry. The last half-decade saw the industry make impressive strides pertaining to artificial intelligence, blockchain, and many other spheres giving way to modern and innovative ways of conducting different businesses in the industry of finance. A digital facelift improved the operations of loans, insurance, and electronic payments in a significant manner.

The most significant factor, driven by the pandemic, during the year was the realization of related businesses of all sizes that fintech is more a necessity for them than a disruption. More and more operators in the finance world have come to realize that the potentials of fintech do not only offer customers alternatives to conventional options but provide businesses the same as well. With limitations on several physical approaches that were available in pre-Covid times, many financial services would have been almost impossible to provide to customers had it not been for modern and cutting-edge technology.

Expectations of customers when it comes to funds-handling have shifted to digital experiences that are seamless and agile. Adoption of fintech is not a matter of being efficient anymore, but a matter of maintaining your position in the market or even staying afloat if you are a financial company. This is a major reason why many established companies decided to partner with fintech companies and startups. In 2021, many fintech companies that were operating on a B2C model completely shifted their approach to a B2B model. This allowed them to be able to access a higher clientele volume, and the financial companies were able to leverage their expertise in fintech matters. Let us look at some statistics related to fintech in 2021 and discuss newly developed fintech industry practices and trends that are currently no more than a year old.

Digital-Only Banking

The age of physically spending time at a bank is no more as more and more digital-only banks are getting established. With paperless transactions, P2P transfers, and global and contactless payments, virtual banks are quickly becoming a norm. Consumers look for a one-stop mobile solution for all their payment needs, whether they pertain to conventional currency or digital cryptocurrencies. 2021 saw a major drop in visits people made to banks as they are increasingly preferring resetting pins, reviewing balances, managing costs and payments, and accessing analytics from their smartphones.

Artificial Intelligence

The solution tactics that artificial intelligence offers have revolutionized the fintech industry as more financial institutions and modern financial services are leveraging them to the fullest. There is still a long way to go for AI technology to reach its optimal maturity, but 2021 saw more and more banks, insurance companies, P2P payment platforms, and wealth management, and other financial services adopt the usage of AI.

The current statistics suggest that finance companies can lower their operating expenses by 22% close to the year 2030. The cybersecurity of financial institutions and the collection of relevant data and analytics are two domains that AI manages extremely efficiently. The most popular functionality adoption of AI from the financial sector has been client service and customer relationship management software that utilizes smart ...

As it is the season for giving, Welltel is delighted to be supporting ISPCC’s Childline this holiday season. Today, Welltel has pledged €12,000 to the “Childline for a Day” initiative to help ensure that its doors are open to answer the hundreds of daily calls, texts and online contacts from children in crisis throughout Ireland.

Childline by IPSCC is for children. Established in 1956, its purpose is to listen, support, protect and advocate for change to enhance the lives of children throughout Ireland. These vital services empower children, strengthen their resilience, and enable them to live their best possible lives.

Ross Murray of Welltel said: “The Christmas season is about giving, and we at Welltel could think of no better cause to support than the ISPCC and Childline. They work tirelessly behind the scenes in providing care for children when they need it most. We are honoured that we could play our part through supporting the “Childline for a day” initiative.”

John Church, CEO, ISPCC, said: “I am very grateful for the support of Welltel and their sponsorship of Childline for a day. Not all children and young people will experience the type of Christmas they deserve but thanks to this donation we will be there to listen and offer the support they need.” See more stories here.

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Irish Tech News are Ireland’s No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland’s No.1 Tech Podcast too.

You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here:

If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at [email protected] now to discuss.

Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at [email protected] now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience.

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Digital wallets have revolutionised the financial services industry by providing instant and convenient payment to consumers.

In many countries, digital wallets have democratised payments, by enabling everyone – unbanked or banked to use these services. Consequently, digital wallets have seen mass adoption globally. According to Juniper Research, there were 2.6 billion unique digital wallet users globally in 2020, which will increase to 4.4 billion by 2025.

In emerging economies of Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America, digital wallets were introduced with the primary objective of increasing financial inclusion. Digital wallets met this objective to a great extent by bringing unbanked people into the formal financial ecosystem through pervasive digital channels like mobile phones and today in many countries digital wallet penetration far exceeds bank penetration.

Digital wallets have provided easy-to-use, quick and cost-effective money transfers, payments, savings and micro-loans services to the unbanked people, fulfilling their basic financial needs. With the key objective of financial inclusion on track, digital wallets are now evolving from financial inclusion to financial enrichment.

Digital wallet providers are now moving beyond basic payment use cases to more sophisticated investment use cases such as stock trading, crypto asset trading, gold trading etc. In this article, we will look at some of the recently launched investment services on popular digital wallets from three continents.

Colombia: MOVII Enabling Crypto Asset Purchase and Sale

Government of Colombia’s Ministry of Finance & Public Credit in 2014 introduced ‘Financial Inclusion Law’, under which it allowed the creation of Companies Specialised in Electronic Payments and Deposits (Sociedades Especializadas en Depósitos y Pagos Electrónicos’ abbreviated as SEDPE).

The objective of SEDPEs is to increase financial inclusion by enabling unbanked people to open low-balance financial accounts quickly through digital channels like the mobile phone with minimum documents.

Leveraging Financial Inclusion Law, the first SEDPE launched in Colombia was MOVII in 2018. MOVII is Colombia’s first completely digital wallet where everything from customer on-boarding to payments is done digitally using a mobile phone.

MOVII allows anyone in Colombia over the age of 12 to download MOVII mobile app and open a digital wallet account to transfer money, get loans, receive financial aid, pay bills, make merchant payments, recharge mobile connections and buy digital content etc. MOVII has over 2 million people using its digital wallet.

In April 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia, the Government of Colombia partnered with MOVii to disburse solidarity income (financial aid) to economically vulnerable families. Many of these economically vulnerable families were unbanked.

Hence Government of Colombia selected MOVii as it allows economically vulnerable families to quickly open zero-cost, affordable, no-frills financial mobile wallet account digitally using a mobile phone, without the need for queuing up at physical bank branches, which could potentially lead to the spread of COVID.

More than 200,000 economically vulnerable families are receiving solidarity income of COP160,000 (US$ 43) every month since April 2020 through MOVII.

MOVII did not want to restrict it to the financially underserved segment only. It wants to offer a diverse service portfolio meeting the financial needs of various consumer segments. Crypto transactions have gained immense popularity in Colombia, with the country ranked amongst the leaders in this field.

Hence, in July 2021, MOVII launched a first of its kind crypto transaction service. MOVII has partnered with Crypto exchange ‘Bitpoint’ on which consumers can buy or sell Crypto assets. MOVII is also partnering with another Crypto exchange called ‘Panda’.

Consumers need to make an account at Bitpoint exchange which can be loaded with mon...

The new Engineers Ireland report, ‘The State of Ireland 2021: Infrastructure and a digital future’, recommends that Ireland needs to expedite the National Broadband Plan, implement the National Digital Strategy, secure its own energy grid, and invest more in research and development to position the nation as a global digital leader.

It also states Ireland should take a leadership role in the development of a new ‘supergrid’ that would coordinate energy supply across Europe and drive the reduction in global carbon emissions

Launching a new report on Ireland’s digital future, the body has said Ireland is ideally positioned to play a leadership role in creating a new European smart grid that could coordinate the national back-up systems of countries to support renewable energy usage across the continent.

Damien Owens, Registrar at Engineers Ireland, said: “Ireland should play a vital European leadership role in creating the smart grid of the future, in effect a ‘supergrid’, to drive renewable power. Countries need back-up systems to ensure the security of supply, and while countries and major cities have their own back-ups, a coordinated pan-European grid could streamline this and create further carbon-reduction benefits.

“The Programme for Government clearly outlines the need for Ireland to build its energy interconnectivity with our European neighbours and the need for us to become a major contributor to a pan-European renewable energy generation and transmission system.

“As a hub for engineering and technical innovation, now is the time for Ireland to drive forward by expanding the capacity of our interconnectors and green energy networks to help future proof national and European energy requirements.”

The report highlights that Ireland is currently performing well in many digital areas. The World Digital Competitiveness Ranking 2021, published by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), ranks Ireland 19th worldwide.

The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), published by the European Commission, ranks Ireland 5th highest among countries in the EU, behind Finland, Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands.

However, to take a leading position in these rankings and better prepare Ireland for the digital needs of the future, the report says Ireland can still do more to improve its digital environment and become more competitive globally.

Infrastructure improvements are critical to encouraging positive developments in the digital space, as is further investment in higher education to support the labour needs that are required to build this infrastructure, according to the report.

Speaking about the impact of digitalisation, particularly on the profession of engineering, Professor Orla Feely, President of Engineers Ireland, said: “Over the past decades, technology and digitalisation have become woven into the fabric of society and business, including engineering firms and businesses, at every level.

“Digitalisation is now an integral part of the engineering sector, meaning today’s engineers need to be all-rounders. Core IT skills are more important than ever and digital expertise on sensor networks, artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, and virtual reality are becoming a basic prerequisite.“

Damien Owens concluded by saying the report sets out several recommendations so that in Ireland “we not only integrate emerging technology but also become a world leader in digitalisation.”

Key Recommendations From The Engineers Ireland Report

1. Expedite the National Broadband Plan

Prioritise more populated areas for the rollout of the plan.

Investigate the viability of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband as an interim broadband solution for rural communities.

Offer subsidies (through, for example, a tax credit) for satellite broadband while the network is being built.

2. National Digital Strategy

Publish and implement the forthcoming National Digital Strategy, (building on its first phase). It is needed to provide a whol...

A very special guest to mark the 100th crypto corner podcast episode by Jamil Hassan

Solving the Global Trust Deficit with Bitcoin and Charlie Shrem on Crypto Hipster’s 100th Episode

Charlie is the host of UntoldStories.com. In 2011, at the dawn of the crypto era, Shrem founded BitInstant, the first and largest Bitcoin company. In 2013, he founded the Bitcoin Foundation and served as its Vice Chairman. Since then, Charlie has advised more than a dozen digital currency companies, launched and managed numerous partnerships between crypto and non-crypto companies, and is the go-to guy for some of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs. He recently started Crypto.IQ, a premier advisory firm providing expert research, education and advice in the world of crypto assets.

Untold Stories

Host Charlie Shrem dives deep into the lives and personal histories of some of crypto’s most influential leaders. A focus on personal stories weaves together a nuanced, untold narrative of how the bitcoin, crypto and web3 movements truly came to be.

Jamil Hasan is a crypto and blockchain focused podcast host at the Irish Tech News and spearheads our weekend content “The Crypto Corner” where he interviews founders, entrepreneurs and global thought leaders.

Prior to his endeavors into the crypto-verse in July 2017, Jamil built an impressive career as a data, operations, financial, technology and business analyst and manager in Corporate America, including twelve years at American International Group and its related companies.

Since entering the crypto universe, Jamil has been an advisor, entrepreneur, investor and author. His books “Blockchain Ethics: A Bridge to Abundance” (2018) and “Re-Generation X” (2020) not only discuss the benefits of blockchain technology, but also capture Jamil’s experience on how he has transitioned from being a loyal yet downsized former corporate employee to a self sovereign individual.

With over ninety podcasts under his belt since he joined our team in February 2021, and with four years of experience both managing his own crypto portfolio and providing crypto guidance and counsel to select clients, Jamil continues to seek opportunities to help others navigate this still nascent industry.

Jamil’s primary focus outside of podcast hosting is helping former corporate employees gain the necessary skills and vision to build their own crypto portfolios and create wealth for the long-term.

See more podcasts here.

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Irish Tech News are Ireland’s No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland’s No.1 Tech Podcast too.

You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here:

If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at [email protected] now to discuss.

Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at [email protected] now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience.

You can also find and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

The Irish Universities Association has partnered with RTÉ and New Decade TV to bring Ireland’s Change Makers, the most transformative research-led projects and the inspiring people behind them, to Irish television this coming January and February 2022.

The series will showcase the remarkable and lasting public impact of leading research projects by eight universities in Ireland in areas such as children’s health, health technology, education, youth justice, gender equality and inclusion, as well as the environment.

Take Dingle Peninsula 2030, a University College Cork and MaREI research project using the power of citizen science to reduce Dingle’s carbon emissions by 50% in just under 10 years, or the Neureka App for Mental Health developed by the Global Brian Institute at Trinity College Dublin that combines mobile technology with citizen science to help create a clearer picture of people’s mental health as two transformational projects in the series.

Also changing the game in terms of research impact are University College Dublin’s AI PREMie project which uses Artificial Intelligence to ‘disrupt’ diagnostics practices in pre-eclampsia to help save the lives of mothers and their newborn babies and University of Limerick’s Greentown Project where a new investigation system identifies the most vulnerable young people at risk of joining Irelands organized crime gangs.

Commenting on the unique impact of Irish university research, Jim Miley, Director General of the IUA, said, “Irish universities play a crucial and growing role in solving real-life problems in society. Change Makers shines a light on the transformative research-led projects and partnerships that are delivering meaningful change across Irish society.

“Be it in health, education, social sciences, the environment and across all age ranges, the innovative research at our universities brings untold value to the people of Ireland now and will continue to do so in the future. Covid has shown the real value of science and research and our hope is that these powerful stories will make people realise the everyday benefits to people’s lives made possible by university research”.

The six episodes will feature research from University of Limerick’s ‘SI Drive’ and ‘Greentown’ projects; Dublin City University’s ‘Backdrop’ and its ‘Moving Well Being Well’ projects; Maynooth University’s ‘Story Exchange’ and its ‘STEM Passport’ projects; NUI Galway’s ‘HIVE’ and ‘Health Behaviour in School Aged Children Study’; Trinity College Dublin’s ‘Sorgente’ and ‘Neureka’ projects ; University College Cork’s ‘CIPHER Hip Hop Interpellation’ and ‘Dingle Peninsula 2030’ projects; UCD’s ‘Citizens Assembly’ and Ai PREMie projects; Technological University Dublin’s ‘Happy Maths’ project.

The 6-part series will be broadcast from Monday, January 3rd 2022 at 8.30 pm on RTE One television and the RTE Player.

More information can be found here.

The scope of the National Broadband Plan has expanded in rural Ireland with National Broadband Ireland (NBI) now responsible for serving an additional 17,000 premises across the country.

It comes as NBI reports that 50% of all premises within its remit have had engineering surveys completed, allowing NBI to move to its network design and network build phases of the project.

As of December 2021, NBI, the company rolling out the new high-speed fibre broadband network under the Government’s National Broadband Plan (NBP) initiative, has over 280,000 premises surveyed nationwide; of which more than 230,000 premises are in network design and approximately 150,000 of those premises are in the final phase of the rollout with construction underway. Over 34,000 premises can order / pre-order their connection today.

The engineering surveys, which involve documenting images and taking detailed notes and measurements for premises, are an essential early step in the broadband deployment process, allowing for more accurate design work and ultimately a more efficient fibre network build.

NBI is actively working in communities across the country to design and build the new high-speed, Fibre-to-the-Home network, which will connect over 1.1 million people and over 554,000 premises in the project’s Intervention Area.

At the start of the project, the Intervention Area initially had 537,000 premises in scope. As of December 2021, there are over 554,000 premises, indicating the Intervention Area is growing and that NBI will be delivering high-speed fibre broadband to more premises.

Such an increase can be attributed to the addition of newly built premises and the reclassification of premises as eligible for connection under the National Broadband Plan. The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has determined that premises that cannot receive a minimum of 30mbs from commercial operators will be supported by the NBP.

NBI contractors have been on the ground across the country since January 2020 carrying out engineering surveys. This involves physically walking the routes and documenting images, notes and measurements of the poles, cables and underground ducts in each area.

These vital engineering survey works enable “Fibre-to-the-Home” network designs to be completed for each of the premises in the Intervention Area as identified by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communication (DECC).

Network designs for over 230,000 premises have been developed since the project commenced. Approximately 150,000 of these premises are currently in the build phase of the project, which includes the erection of poles, unblocking of ducts, and the insertion of sub-duct into existing ducts, for fibre to be installed.

David McCourt, Chairman of National Broadband Ireland said: “The completion of engineering surveys for over 50% of premises in the Intervention Area is a key milestone for the National Broadband Plan. At National Broadband Ireland we have the best and brightest minds working tirelessly on the rollout of the National Broadband Plan across Ireland.

“This project is of vital importance in providing equal opportunities for communities across rural Ireland, and will help to promote and support social progress, equality and sustainability. This is the over-arching goal of the National Broadband Plan and we’re incredibly focused on delivering this as quickly and effectively as possible.”

NBI Chief Executive Peter Hendrick said: “The fact that we have seen the scope of this project grow is a vote of confidence in our capacity to deliver high-speed connectivity for families across rural Ireland.

“The Irish people deserve a fibre network capable of transforming the capacity of what can be delivered from rural settings throughout the country and ending the digital divide once and for all.”

Find out if your premise is included in the National Broadband Plan and sign up to receive updates specific to your Eircode at/.

More about Irish Tech...

Science Foundation Ireland’s (SFI) has published the second phase of its Science in Ireland Barometer findings, which reveal the attitudes of the Irish public towards science.

The results of the survey show that public attitudes towards science remain extremely positive, with an overwhelming majority of people indicated that science is fascinating (97%), useful (97%) and essential (94%).

Irish trust in science has also remained strong in 2021, with the majority continuing to trust both science (93%) and scientists (81%).

The Barometer research findings show the ways in which the Irish population’s science attitudes have shifted since the peak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the summer of 2020 when the first phase of this research was conducted.

Notably, this second phase of the research highlights that more people agreed (47%) that the COVID-19 situation has improved some aspects of their daily life compared to those who disagreed (40%).

Despite this, the research also shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a continued negative effect on people’s mental health, with 9% more people (40%) reporting that their mental health has been negatively affected, compared to 2020 (31%).

News consumption continues to be high amongst respondents but there has been a major change in the public’s interest in different types of news.

The research shows that there has been a dramatic increase in those surveyed indicating an interest in ‘technology news’ (+74%; 83% overall), ‘health news’ (+56%; 64% overall) and science news (+52%; 59% overall).

Since 2020, there has also been a decrease (-13%; 27%) in the number of people who completely trust their primary COVID-19 news source.

Director of Science for Society, Science Foundation Ireland, Dr Ruth Freeman, said: “The Barometer offers us the opportunity to assess progress on our goal of empowering and inspiring deep public engagement with STEM – a key objective within Shaping Our Future: Science Foundation Ireland’s Strategy 2025.

“Having a clear understanding of attitudes to science is invaluable to inform and shape how our work meets the needs of the people of Ireland.

“It is also extremely important to understand the public’s perception of how they value science in their everyday lives and their own scientific capabilities, so we can adapt as required. Given the prominence of science during Covid-19, it was extremely positive to see that the Irish population continued to value science strongly in their personal lives.

“In 2021, an even greater majority of people (+5%) agreed that it is important for them personally to be informed about science (91%). As we continue to live through the Covid-19 pandemic, it is important we have an increased understanding of its impact on our perceptions of science and daily lives.”

In addition, the research shows that there has been a notable shift in peoples working lives since 2020, with 21% fewer people working from home (23%).

Phase 2 of the SFI Science in Ireland Barometer 2020 can be accessed here.

More about Irish Tech News

Irish Tech News are Ireland’s No. 1 Online Tech Publication and often Ireland’s No.1 Tech Podcast too.

You can find hundreds of fantastic previous episodes and subscribe using whatever platform you like via our Anchor.fm page here:

If you’d like to be featured in an upcoming Podcast email us at [email protected] now to discuss.

Irish Tech News have a range of services available to help promote your business. Why not drop us a line at [email protected] now to find out more about how we can help you reach our audience.

You can also find and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat.

In 1997 SecureData was founded and started as a computer repair service. Ten years later they grew to become a worldwide leader in professional data recovery services, pioneering many common techniques used throughout the data recovery services industry. Their latest product is the Secure USB BT, portable encrypted data storage with built-in antivirus, which is designed and built in America.

What’s in the box

SecureUSB BT

microB Adapter

USB-C Adapter

Hand Strap

Quick Start Guide

Secure USB BT Design and Specs

The Secure USB BT, is a USB stick that comes in the colour blue, is stylish and easily fits in your pocket. It is designed to work with any OS from Android and iOS through to Linux, Mac OS, or Windows.

FIPS 140-2 Level 3 Validated: Certificate #3349

Works with any device with a powered USB port

Hardware encryption: XTS-AES 256-bit

Interior parts covered in epoxy to prevent media removal from hackers

User authentication with secure wireless mobile app with encrypted Bluetooth (iOS & Android)

Remote wipe

Dual factor authentication, Face ID/Touch ID authentication, password retrieval

Admin/user modes (Admin mode for Remotely Managed drives only)

Read Only mode

Auto-lock

Remote Management-ready (sold separately)

Preloaded with DriveSecurity® ESET Antivirus (1-year license included)

MyPasswords™ prepaid 3-year license

How does the Secure USB BT perform?

The Secure USB BT offers the ultimate personal secure storage system. Out of the box it can only be opened via the SD User which you download app onto your Android device, iOS device or Apple Watch. This can be done with dual factor authentication, Face ID/Touch ID authentication, which means it’s harder for unauthorised users to access it.

When I set it up, I made sure it could be unlocked by using my Apple watch or face recognition on my iPhone. Once it has been setup it is so easy to use and works like any other external drive attached to your computer. This makes dragging and dropping files to it so easy.

When you access the SD User app on your Android or iOS device you will see your Secure USB BT locked and then unlocked as you can see below.

Once it is unlocked you will see the various options pictured below.

As you can see the options vary from making the Secure USB BT Read Only, through to activating two different versions of AutoLock, which will allow you to leave the SecureUSB BT in place whilst you are away doing something else such as getting a coffee.

You also get a 3 year license of MyPasswords which is a simple cloud based system that allows you to store all your passwords in one place. MyPasswords uses your email address to give you access to all your passwords, by sending you a link to your password which you can use to see your passwords.

There is one optional extra that I highly recommend, SecureData Remote Management. This allows you to control your Secure USB BT remotely from another computer via a Web Console, which is very useful if the company you work for intends on using or uses multiple drives.

The Remote Management (RM) enforces the following IT security policies:

Where and when drives allowed to be used

Wipe drives or disable access

Remotely unlock/force password reset

Track and manage multiple drives on one account

Conclusion

As the pandemic is getting us used to hybrid working, we need to be able to access any files we are using and not worry where they are stored. If you are working from home using a family computer, you need to know that any data files you are using such as Word or Excel won’t be compromised. Coming with a years free subscription to DriveSecurity ESET Antivirus is also reassuring as it greatly lessens the chances of you getting a virus and or spreading it.

The only issue I had was removing the Secure USB BT from its case, but once I had done this, I had no further issues. You might think USB sticks are no longer in favour but this USB stick shows that this is not the case.

The Secure USB BT can be bought for € 96.13 from here...

Right now, accountants and finance professionals are working around the clock to “close the books”, to finalise the balance sheets of their respective companies. Their numbers will be analysed and then approved by their board, scrutinised by the investors and – hopefully – will be audited as well.

I have to confess that I do the same: wait, not with my (limited) finances but with my relationships. I call it the “Relationship balance sheet”, a sort of end of the year evaluation where I take stock of the relationships, personal and professional, I have in my life.

It is a sober moment of reflection and self-assessment. As such I may have some regrets myself by asking if I was able to be the person I aspire to become with the people I love, my family, with my friends and with my colleagues. Every year I find reasons to improve: I know I have tried hard, but I am not sure I have always succeeded.

Still, I also evaluate and reflect on other peoples behaviour with me by asking if this relationship brings me joy, energy, intellectual stimulation, emotional connection, caring or.. just the opposite. I then divide relationships – and people – into 3 categories. The “asset people”, the “jury is still out” people and the “liability people”: for then I have a special place. Bear with me.

With the “asset people,” there is a common element: my relationship with them and – I believe – vice versa permeates with reciprocal Respect, Trust, meaningful exchanges, energy, integrity. Take for example “A” a wonderful woman recently appointed as CEO of a Global Bank in her country. She’s just brilliant, generous, a natural born connector, a true positive Leader: a role model. Working with “A” is – to me – pure bliss.

Or take “M” a sharp, intellectually curious mind: her problem? She’s doesn’t know how good she is. She’s caring, compassionate, fun to be with, versatile, a truly beautiful mind: working for her, as an Executive Coach has been an amazing journey surely for me.

Let’s talk about “E”: a true decent man, a Senior Executive of a multi-billion company: when we recently had dinner we ended up talking for 4 hours, with reciprocal trust and respect. What a fantastic person, humble, curious to learn always considerate, wise.

Let me talk about “P”, recently promoted to a big role: she’s keen to learn and improve, a truly caring person able to move mountains with her natural energy. “D” is a hero of mine: a true thought leader in his own field, a caring, wonderful man I am proud to collaborate with: a true gem of a person.

Last, “R”, a kind of genius in mathematics, in love with his job, constantly reinvents new ideas, a generous man with an amazing sense of humour, well in his 50s and yet somewhat still naïve and yet to smart with outstanding business acumen.

The list can go on and I can easily add 50 more people to this list without any problem. I am so lucky I have met these people in my journey as they are enriching my life with meaning, respect, trust. I hope to do the same with theirs.

The jury is still out is about people that have still to demonstrate the element of reciprocity that permeates every adult relationship. Let me explain. Take for example “M”: we have agreed to collaborate on several fronts a couple of years ago.

We did but – so far – I generated all the opportunities: I believe he’s a perfectly decent man but he’s been on a receiving end for quite a while now. Would he deliver with the same commitment and regularity I have demonstrated to him? I am optimistic – I like him – but to be on the safe side I will let you know next year.

And then we have the “liability people”. This main feature of these kinds of people is that they remember you exist only when they need you. They have a shallow idea of a relationship, as is a relationship is a transaction limited to today’s needs.

Take for example former colleagues that magically re-appear when they are looking for jobs, a former colleague who – she asked me to help to find another...