How Personal Privacy Protection With Blockchain Works?

Blockchain has the potential to replace credentials, such as passwords and usernames, by providing individuals with digital identities that are encrypted and personalized. We can manage and access everything we need through them, from our medical records to online information. Our data will get tracked and stored by blockchain, and it, being immutable in nature, will keep it secure and safe. But this is all still in theory as of yet, and the real question to ask is that can we trust it to maintain the safety of our personal and sensitive information?

Privacy Vs. Protection

Blockchain can protect our personal data and information in a foolproof way. However, it is privacy that remains a concern even with blockchain. There is a difference between privacy and protection. Privacy is the ability to allow the type of information that is collected about you and managing or controlling it, while protection is the security of how that information gets used after getting collected. The immutable feature of blockchain does not allow even the user to go back and erase the history or a part of it from the blockchain once it is gathered.

However, currently, there is no technology or system in the digital world that allows for complete privacy, and there is none that beats blockchain for protection. So it is only wise to explore blockchain more and optimize it further. While you cannot completely remove or modify the gathered data in a blockchain, you can control when, where, and by whom it is utilized and for what purpose or opt-out of it. Blockchain has the ability to better data experiences by handling on and off-ramps. Here is how it works:

Consider there are three entities using the blockchain system, nodes, services, and users. Nodes are the entities that, in return for incentives, are entrusted with managing a distributed private key-value data store and maintaining the blockchain. Services are the application providers who require processing and analyzing users’ personal data to enhance their business offerings. And users are individuals with mobile phones who are interested in using the applications the services provided.

Now, the blockchain receives transactions of two different types. One is Tdata, and the other is Taccess. Tdata is used for retrieval and storage, while Taccess is utilized for managing access control. Services can easily integrate these network operations into a mobile SDK (Software Development Kit) during their development process. After the user installs an application and signs up on it, a shared user service identity gets developed and, along with certain permissions, sent to the blockchain using a Taccess transaction. As a Tdata transaction, the blockchain receives the data collected on the phone, such as sensor data, e.g., location, after getting encrypted through a shared encryption key. The blockchain retains only a pointer (SHA-256 hash) to the data on the public ledger and directs it to an off-blockchain key-value store.

The key or the pointer associated with the data can now be utilized by both the user and the service to access the information using a Tdata transaction and a digital signature. Before allowing access to any of the two, the blockchain verifies to who the signature belongs. Now, finally, the user can issue a Taccess transaction at any time revoking accessing to previously stored data or granting full or selected permissions to the service. In short, the user can issue a new set of permissions whenever they want using a Taccess transaction.

Data is valuable in today’s marketplace. Whenever we use our valued customer ID to buy a product or avail a service or perform a search on Google, the pertaining information gets tracked as it is of value for someone. This phenomenon is only going to increase now with the network that connects billions of devices and the Internet of Things on the rise. We will be sharing and providing personal in...

Intel Ireland has signed a two-year research agreement with CONNECT, the world-leading Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) research centre at Trinity College Dublin. The research partnership, which is worth €600,000, will focus on making Passive Optical Networks (PONs) capable of supporting 5G wireless network cells and edge computing nodes in order to deliver new applications such as high-speed mobile streaming, augmented reality and autonomous driving.

PONs are already widely used to provide fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband and are the technology of choice for the National Broadband Plan (NBP). More work is required, however, to achieve the low latency and flexibility needed to host 5G-and-beyond networks.

The new research project, “Beyond 5G, Multi-tenant Low Latency Architectures”, will use network virtualisation and software-defined networking to investigate how the high network densification envisaged by 5G can he delivered in a cost effective, scaled manner.

Intel, via their R&D team in Shannon, Co. Clare, and CONNECT have already successfully collaborated to develop a Virtual PON platform, which makes use of the Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), to provide new multi-tenant and multi-service capability. DPDK is used to speed up network-related functions on servers.

Prof. Marco Ruffini, Principal Investigator at CONNECT in Trinity, said: “This collaboration with Intel has huge potential for tackling a central challenge facing the development of future communication networks – how do we provide low-cost ubiquitous fibre connectivity to the large number of 5G small cells and to the edge computing nodes so that the ambition of a fully connected society can be realised.

“The project will use CONNECT’s Open Ireland research infrastructure, which is funded by SFI, to provide the physical network to test the technology in a live outdoor environment as well as in the traditional laboratory setting.

“Recently our team in CONNECT successfully extended the PON architecture to include support for mesh traffic patterns, which is a key step towards integration of wireless and edge computing nodes.”

CONNECT’s Executive Director, Dr Pat Kelly, welcomed the signing of the new research agreement: “We are delighted to sign another research agreement with Intel. This work addresses a complex real-world challenge facing future communications networks. The project will combine Intel’s innovative approach with the deep research knowledge of the CONNECT team.

“Research partnerships between industry and academia are playing a critical role in the development of solutions for the real-world challenges facing the development of our next-generation networks.”

Brian Aherne, General Manager Intel Shannon, said: “Our ongoing research collaboration with the CONNECT Centre provides the perfect opportunity for Intel to help explore and define the future of networking infrastructure and to showcase the value delivered by the Intel platform for 5G and beyond. The expertise and industry outreach from within Ireland, is a great asset for the TCD research partnership and the broader communications industry in Ireland.”

Bernie Capraro, Intel Research Manager, added: “Intel Shannon’s research engagement with the SFI CONNECT Centre hosted by TCD is another great example of Intel’s commitment to perform world class research in Ireland. Together with our silicon research activities within the SFI AMBER Centre, and our silicon and photonics engagements with the Tyndall National Institute and the SFI IPIC Centre in Cork, we have many facets of our business engaged in meaningful research collaborations which are helping Intel make informed decisions around our Technology developments for the future.

“This University-based research in Ireland is a major pillar of activity within our strategic University engagements, the “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)” which also help us develop a technical talent pipeline for our future operations. TCD was the first of six Iris...

An I Wish study has found it is time to rethink how STEM subjects are presented in schools with over three quarters (78%) of teenage girls saying lack of choices is a barrier to a career in STEM. Further obstacles outlined by young girls in the largest annual survey of its kind in Ireland included lack of confidence in their ability (77%) and a perception that there is not enough gender equality in STEM (83%).

Nine in 10 (87%) of the 2,449 respondents in I Wish’s 2021 Survey of Female Students’ Attitudes to STEMagreed science, technology, engineering and mathematics are growing areas of opportunity. However, more than half interested in studying Engineering (55%) and Construction Studies (52%) did not have access to these subjects. With the exception of Biology and Chemistry, female students are under-represented across the board in terms of STEM subjects. When asked what factors are important to them in choosing STEM subjects, just under half picked ones where they would ‘fit in’.

Striving to de-gender STEM subjects and build female students’ confidence, the I Wish report was launched to announce I Wish 2022. The acclaimed free global STEM event for female secondary school students is to be held in February next year. Registrations are now open at iwish.ie/register.

Gillian Keating, co-founder of I Wish outlined: “The world is rapidly changing. Fifteen out of the 20 fastest growing careers in the world require a background in maths or science. However, only 25% of STEM jobs in Ireland are held by females. If girls today perceive obstacles rather than seeing STEM pathways, we risk excluding them from the economy of the future and the pool of scientists, analysts and engineers that we so desperately need to secure a better future for us all. It is encouraging that many girls see STEM as a growing area of opportunity, and we need to build on this to create a level playing field. At I Wish we’re committed to ensuring that ‘no girl gets left behind’ and this requires the concerted effort of all to get involved and be accountable — policy makers, private sector, communities, men and women.”

Survey respondents outlined positive steps to address barriers including training awareness about STEM from a young age, enhancing confidence through mentorships, and providing access to STEM subjects. Recognising this, I Wish’s annual global STEM event is to be held virtually on 10 February 2022 and will feature some of the country’s top female STEM leaders. The largest conference of its kind, it is open to young female students worldwide. In 2021, over 15,000 viewers across 19 countries attended the showcase.

Caroline O’Driscoll, co-founder of I Wish stated: “It is clear that knowledge is power and we can see that the sense of gender stereotyping in STEM is exacerbated by lack of access to female role models. That said, we can see the enhanced confidence in girls through role modelling and mentoring. It’s why we launched our Mentorship Programme with Deloitte Ireland and also why we run our flagship I Wish event where we ask women to tell their incredible STEM stories. So far there are 10,000 registrations for February’s I Wish 2022 and we encourage every teenage girl in Ireland, and across the world, to attend.”

I Wish is now expanding its offerings to engage girls year-round at key touch points in their lives from Third Level with mentoring programmes; to Primary Level through classroom visits with young STEM professionals and students. I Wish’s Senior Cycle supports include internships and US/Ireland exchange programmes, while the Junior Cycle provides aligned class materials.

An Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “As a former teacher myself, ensuring students can fulfil their potential is close to my heart. The pandemic has accelerated our use of STEM, and education in these fields is critical to future growth. Empowering girls to enter STEM, and stay the course, is imperative. I applaud I Wish for leading the way in advocating for women in...

We look at the Voyager 4300 UC Series Headset created by Poly. See more on their website here.

Poly’s Voyager 4300 UC Series Headset reviewed

The wireless aspect of this headset, with a range of up to 50 metres is a smart idea, and, as long as your connectively can match your roaming, then this is a fun, clever product. If it looks like you are going to run low on charge you can then also switch back to mains to get it charged back up quickly too. The charge is described as being 24 hours, and it seems to come close to that, though in areas with poorer connectivity we wonder if this might run down the charge quicker.

The charging base came with the review set and is sleek, well designed, and not huge too, so it would be no problem to find a place for it on your desk. The mike is not obtrusive and works well, and seems to capture your voice well too. The lens app that comes with it also helps you to try and deal with the challenge of hopping between different types of functionality. The headset controls are fairly intuitive and easy to pick up, and we got a few people to try this out, and no one had any significant issues.

We may well see more people using devices like this going forwards, so it makes sense for Poly to ramp up in this area, and they will be one to watch going forwards.

What a week! Our CEO @daveshull and EMEA Senior VP @PaulNClark officially opened our new Poly Experience Centre in London. A big thank you to all the media journalists, industry analysts, customers, and partners who dropped by to celebrate the #PolyFutureOfWork with us.

Poly EMEA (@PolyCompanyEMEA) October 8, 2021

More about the Poly’s Voyager 4300

As the dynamics of work have shifted, the Voyager 4300 UC Series offers a wireless headset that frees you from your desk, allowing you to roam up to 50 meters from your computer. It’s jam-packed with high-quality audio and multiple connectivity options – all at an accessible price point. The Voyager 4300 UC Series has seamless connectivity to your choice of smartphone or computer via the included BT700 USB adapter to provide you with the flexibility you need throughout the day.

Users can also remain confident and in control of one of the biggest pain points of remote meetings – their mute state. This headset comes with an easy-to-find-and-use mute button so you can remain confident that you are the only person that has to hear the dog howl at the delivery man. Dynamic Mute Alert notifies users when they talk while muted, meaning that talking to yourself or needing to apologize for talking on mute is a thing of the past.

The Voyager 4300 UC Series offers flexibility to work with the partner of your choice. The Microsoft Teams-certified version comes with a dedicated Microsoft Teams button on the headset that instantly invokes the Teams app and provides visual alerts when a Teams notification occurs. For a seamless out-of-the-box Zoom meeting experience, this Zoom-certified headset includes remote call control and mute sync to simplify the way you connect.

Pro-Grade Audio Quality

Wherever you are, whether at home or in the office, the Voyager 4300 UC Series provides outstanding pro-grade audio quality. Poly’s Acoustic Fence technology blocks out unwanted background noise so the person on the other end only hears the speaker’s voice, not disruptive background noises. Poly SoundGuard Digital technology ensures a safe and comfortable listening experience with natural sounding speech to provide a best-in-class audio experience for everyone on the call.

John Lamarque, Poly’s Senior Vice President and General Manager for Voice Collaboration and Professional Headsets said, “Over the last 18 months we have seen demand skyrocket for a flexible, reliable, and affordable solution for workers that are working remotely or from the office. The Voyager 4300 UC Series brings a combination of pro-quality audio, freedom to roam, all-day comfort, and connectivity, wherever you work.”

According to Frost & Sullivan’s lat...

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, has announced that its interactive digital mapping system is being used by marine developer Simply Blue to build a sustainable blue economy and pioneer projects such as floating wind farms, wave power and aquaculture schemes.

Headquartered in Cork, Simply Blue is the leading early-stage developer of transformative floating wind, wave energy and sustainable aquaculture projects in Ireland and the UK. Its aim is to optimise the sustainable development of the ocean’s vast resources in an ethical manner.

Initially, Esri Ireland’s digital mapping system, ArcGIS, will be used to support in-house decision-making. This will include identifying suitable locations for wind turbine fields and assessing how productive they might be by using a wide range of environmental and commercial criteria to analyse vast amounts of data and narrow down a shortlist of potential sites. Underpinned by this advanced technology, Simply Blue has also recently partnered with traditional energy companies to develop floating wind farms in the Celtic Sea.

Simply Blue also plans to deploy ArcGIS to the area of aquaculture, such as a scheme to create new low-impact salmon farms, Loch Long Salmon, in Scotland.

The interactive mapping features will be used to communicate projects to communities and stakeholders, and ArcGIS could play a critical role in helping to convey how big wind farms will be, where they are and what they will look like from different vantage points. Simply Blue hopes to use interactive maps to show communities what offshore wind farms will look like from their homes and to reassure fishermen that proposed marine developments will not affect fishing grounds.

The solution will also allow Simply Blue to collaborate more effectively with clients and consultants. The company will be able to view and share geospatial data in real-time and leverage GIS, especially in the planning and development phase of new sustainable energy projects, which is a focal point for the organisation as an early-stage developer.

Sam Bouma, Energy Resource Modeller and Data Specialist, Simply Blue: “We are passionate about oceans and the huge potential that they offer for renewable energy generation and sustainable aquaculture.

“We needed a reliable GIS that would meet our immediate requirements, but also support us in achieving our longer-term goals. We selected Esri Ireland’s ArcGIS because it has credibility. It is used by lots of other companies in this industry, so contractors and partners are familiar with it.

“We don’t live in a paper world anymore, and being able to interact with maps to explore data on demand creates all kinds of opportunities. ArcGIS will also help to open up conversations with communities and key stakeholders to deliver information clearly and concisely, and help to avoid any misunderstandings.

“As things in the marine development industry are moving so fast, ArcGIS enables us to keep our options open. As new opportunities come up, we will be able to pivot and deliver whatever is needed to ensure the sustainable use of the world’s oceans.”

Dermot O’Kane, Head of Sales, Esri Ireland: “Esri Ireland has delivered a highly-interactive digital mapping solution which is set to play a key role in helping Simply Blue to continue to accelerate its business, and ultimately achieve its goal of building a sustainable blue economy. The solution is scalable and will align with Simply Blue’s business objectives and requirements as it continues to grow.

“Esri is delighted to work with Simply Blue on these exciting projects and help to drive the future of sustainable energy in Ireland and further afield.”

See more stories here.

The Digital Hub has welcomed its latest artist in residence as she begins a 10-month programme at the Dublin 8 campus. Award-winning artist Seoidín O’Sullivan will bring her expertise in collaborative and educational art projects, focusing on the ecology of local areas.

Seoidín specialises in bringing communities together to address issues including land use, lost knowledge, social justice, and biodiversity. Seoidín uses a number of mediums to convey her work, including drawings, videos, publications, and walks.

As part of the residency, The Digital Hub will support Seoidín’s ongoing work with the Urban Grit project. Urban Grit, a collaboration between University College Dublin Geography and Robert Emmett Community Development Project, is looking to map green resources in the Dublin 8 area. Seoidín will also continue her film and story mapping project of Dublin’s River Camac.

Seoidín’s work complements The Digital Hub’s existing Pocket Forests Tree Hub project launched in July, which saw the installation of the first native tree nursery in a city centre location. The nursery will support the planting of over 600 trees as part of a plan to improve tree density in Dublin 8.

Seoidín has worked in the Dublin 8 area over the last 12 years, on projects including Mapping Green Dublin in collaboration with UCD Geography, Connect the Dots and Common Ground, and Hard/Graft, a community project charting the development of urban orchards, which saw a graft taken from one of the oldest fruit-bearing trees in Ireland – the pear tree at The Digital Hub.

Seoidín is the recipient of the Arts Council Bursary Award 2021, Arts Council Next Generation Award 2018 and the inaugural Hyde Park, Chicago art residency award with IMMA and CREATE in 2017. She is also a lecturer in Visual Cultures in NCAD.

Commenting on Seoidín O’Sullivan’s residency Fiach Mac Conghail, CEO of The Digital Hub, said:

“We are delighted to welcome Seoidín as our latest artist-in-residence. She will be our fourth artist who we have supported in The Digital Hub’s engagement with our community and neighbours. Seoidín’s art practice involves working with urban green spaces, the urbanised environment and biodiversity and I look forward to seeing the outputs of Seoidín’s residency with us.”

Seoidín O’Sullivan said:

“The Digital Hub is a real focal point for the Dublin 8 community, and there are several promising initiatives already underway to promote and maintain the urban ecology of the area. I am looking forward to working with local community groups, residents and staff at The Digital Hub over the course of my residency and to have a positive impact on better understanding the importance of urban ecology.”

Seoidín will be The Digital Hub’s fourth artist in residence in as many years, following successful partnerships with artists Elaine Hoey (2020), Kate Nolan (2019), and Mandy O’Neill (2018).

The Digital Hub has a long-standing commitment to supporting the arts and creativity. Ongoing initiatives include sponsorship of the Dublin Fringe Festival and Dublin Theatre Festival, educational programmes in collaboration with BIMM Dublin, and a special programme with the Dublin International Film Festival, called Screen8, which works with local groups to write, produce and film a short movie for the festival each year.

The Digital Hub have introduced a number of initiatives to foster sustainable activities in Dublin 8, including the installation of Ireland’s first urban tree nursery, hosting 6 beehives on the campus in partnership with the Robert Emmet Community Development Project’s Inner-City Bee Keeping Project, the use of solar PV panels on campus buildings and acting as a lead partner in Smart D8, an initiative to improve the health and wellbeing of citizens through collaboration and innovation.

Further information is available at: www.thedigitalhub.com or on Twitter: @TheDigitalHub.

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With remote and hybrid working a new ‘normal’ and cybercrime escalating at a rapid rate, more businesses are at risk than ever before. Quentyn Taylor, Director of Information Security at Canon Europe, Middle East and Africa, says implementing cybersecurity basics is key to reducing risk and building cyber-resilience.

Recent rapid digital transformation and reliance on cloud-based solutions has made businesses – in Africa as in the rest of the world – more vulnerable to cybercrime. In today’s global village getting hacked or being the victim of cybercrime inevitable.

The shift to hybrid working () has expanded network perimeters, which now include the core office location as well as employees’ homes. Mobile and remote work can be beneficial to productivity but does open up new threat vectors with device management. The enormous growth in the use of connected devices – such as laptops, printers and phones – results in more entry points for possible attacks.

At the same time, cybercrime is evolving and becoming increasingly sophisticated. It’s shifted from trying to infect as many devices as possible to look for weak links which can enable criminals to steal data or hold corporate systems to ransom.

A mistake or omission by a single employee – or even a third-party provider – can potentially bring down a whole company.

When employees work remotely – at home or in public spaces – they operate outside of the company’s usual controls; existing security measures may no longer be applicable or effective.

The risk is universal; even large, well-resourced companies have failed at times, often against basic attacks.

Cost

Typical attacks vectors include malware, ransomware, identity theft and email phishing, possibly the most prevalent approach in Africa. Messaging apps like WhatsApp have also been used to compromise victims.

The financial impact of cybercrime can be enormous; the European-based Pathé cinema chain lost over $ 21 million to a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam and in the US, CNA Financial paid out $40 million in ransom in 2020.

Such costs can be crippling, particularly for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that may not have the financial resources to recover. The ‘infosec poverty line’ is a reality – many small businesses, the backbone of most African economies, simply cannot afford to employ dedicated IT professionals and the massive increase in the cost of cybersecurity and cyber insurance puts them out of reach for many.

Countermeasures

While you are never able to completely eradicate risk, there are simple steps to take that can build the cyber-resilience of almost every business. Work with your reality – whilst IS issues are global, they manifest differently in different areas; there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Focus on the basics, develop a plan and lead for success. Don’t attempt to force people to do as they are told, adjust the message dynamically to fit the actual situation. The priority is to lead in a way that keeps your business and your customers safe.

The first step is to check the internal and external IT perimeter for gaps. A single-entry point can allow an attacker in, rather like an open window is an invitation to an opportunist thief. In today’s fully connected workplace, every device is a potential entry point for criminals.

Everyone’s security and every piece of equipment needs to be on par.

You may have a partner who can assist – at Canon we offer our partners comprehensive assessments to help mitigate security vulnerabilities.

Look for third-party service providers with built-in security and a good track record, you may have already paid for security services through your email and internet provider; check what you already have and plan from there. Working at scale allows them to incorporate many security features at a much more reasonable cost.

Most importantly, ensure your employees turn on security features in the software and devices they use. Multi-factor authentication is offere...

Metal-rich near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, are rare, but their presence provides the intriguing possibility that iron, nickel and cobalt could someday be mined for use on Earth or in Space.

New research, published in the Planetary Science Journal, investigated two metal-rich asteroids in our own cosmic backyard to learn more about their origins, compositions and relationships with meteorites found on Earth.

These metal-rich NEAs were thought to be created when the cores of developing planets were catastrophically destroyed early in the solar system’s history, but little more is known about them. A team of students co-led by University of Arizona planetary science associate professor Vishnu Reddy studied asteroids 1986 DA and 2016 ED85 and discovered that their spectral signatures are quite similar to asteroid 16 Psyche, the largest metal-rich body in the solar system. Psyche, located in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter rather than near Earth, is the target of NASA’s Psyche mission.

“Our analysis shows that both NEAs have surfaces with 85% metal such as iron and nickel and 15% silicate material, which is basically rock,” said lead author Juan Sanchez, who is based at the Planetary Science Institute. “These asteroids are similar to some stony-iron meteorites such as mesosiderites found on Earth.”

Astronomers have been speculating as to what the surface of Psyche is made of for decades. By studying metal-rich NEAs that come close to the Earth, they hope to identify specific meteorites that resemble Psyche’s surface.

“We started a compositional survey of the NEA population in 2005, when I was a graduate student, with the goal of identifying and characterising rare NEAs such as these metal-rich asteroids,” said Reddy, principal investigator of the NASA grant that funded the work. “It is rewarding that we have discovered these ‘mini Psyches’ so close to the Earth.”

“For perspective, a 50-meter (164-foot) metallic object similar to the two asteroids we studied created the Meteor Crater in Arizona,” said Adam Battle, who is a co-author of the paper along with fellow Lunar and Planetary Laboratory graduate students Benjamin Sharkey and Theodore Kareta, and David Cantillo, an undergraduate student in the Department of Geosciences.

The paper also explored the mining potential of 1986 DA and found that the amount of iron, nickel and cobalt that could be present on the asteroid would exceed the global reserves of these metals.

Additionally, when an asteroid is catastrophically destroyed, it produces what is called an asteroid family – a bunch of small asteroids that share similar compositions and orbital paths.

The team used the compositions and orbits of asteroids 1986 DA and 2016 ED85 to identify four possible asteroid families in the outer region of the main asteroid belt, which is home to the largest reservoir of small bodies in the inner part of the solar system. This also happens to be the region where most of the largest known metallic asteroids including 16 Psyche reside.

“We believe that these two ‘mini Psyches’ are probably fragments from a large metallic asteroid in the main belt, but not 16 Psyche itself,” Cantillo said. “It’s possible that some of the iron and stony-iron meteorites found on Earth could have also come from that region in the solar system too.”

The paper’s findings are based on observations from the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility on the island of Hawaii. The work was funded by the NASA Near-Earth Object Observations Program, which also funds the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility.

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Another milestone will be reached this week when the first ultrafast 2GB broadband customer in Ireland will be connected by Vodafone, marking a dramatic increase in available broadband speeds; with a number of consumers and businesses joining the trial in the coming weeks.

Homes and businesses throughout Ireland will be able to join them later this month and enjoy extraordinary broadband speeds of 2,000 Mbps, twice as fast as the fastest previously available (1,000 Mbps).

This means faster downloads, faster streaming and faster gaming, all on an ultrafast connection from Vodafone, which has the largest share of fibre to the premises of any internet service provider in Ireland.

Vodafone Ireland CEO Anne O’Leary commented: “At Vodafone we are constantly innovating and evolving our services to meet our customers’ growing connectivity needs. Broadband speeds of 2GB will be transformative for homes and businesses around Ireland.

“Whether you have a busy household or are working from home, connecting multiple devices and downloading movies, or a competitive business keen to grow and knowing a fast, reliable internet connection is mission-critical, 2,000 Mbps broadband will enable you to future-proof your smart home or office.”

Vodafone continues to investment in its network to provide optimum support to communities across rural and urban Ireland. With significant investment and innovation, they have pioneered the development and deployment of mobile and broadband infrastructure in Ireland.

See more stories here.

Maths Week 2021 has been launched by Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD.

The world’s leading maths festival takes place every October and after the great online success of last year’s events, 250,000 pupils are already signed up to take part.

This year will once again see plenty of virtual/online events available for schools and people all over Ireland, showcasing the benefits of mathematical thinking and the opportunities this creates for students, society, and the economy.

Pupils and teachers will be doing special fun and challenging maths activities in schools the length and breadth of the island. An inclusive event, cross-border participation is an important part of Maths Week and activities will take place north and south for everyone to enjoy.

Now in its 16th year, Maths Week Ireland continues to be the leading festival of maths in the world and has been replicated in England and Scotland.

Whether you like maths, patterns and numbers, or even if you don’t, there’s something of interest for all during Maths Week.

Similar to Maths Week 2020, activities will take place largely online and in schools in support of Covid-19 precautions. However, we will see the return of the Hamilton Walk as an outdoor socially distanced event. The walk from Dunsink Observatory to Broombridge along the Royal Canal in Dublin celebrates a famous mathematical discovery by Sir William Rowan Hamilton in 1843.

This year will see the return of ‘MathsWeekTV’ which will broadcast live two daily shows online, one each for primary and secondary schools to pupils and classes across the island.

MathsWeekTV will feature entertaining presenters such as Dr Tom Crawford, mathematician, and creator of the award-winning website ‘TomRocksMaths’; Kjartan Poskitt, who has sold over 5 million ‘Murderous Maths’ books; well-known TV presenter and maths teacher, Bobby Seagull and children’s author and maths teacher Sally Lunt.

Of course, maths is not just for school, it is for life and there are evening events for adults and weekend events for families all to be found on the Maths Week website.

Notable Maths Week 2021 events include:

– Maths Week Magic workshops – schools across the island will have the chance to join in online workshops learning about the magic of maths.

– Nationwide Daily Maths Challenges will be taking place in schools across the country throughout the course of the week.

– Loving Maths: Maths for Pre-schoolers – This year we are delighted to have teamed up with a master storyteller for an adventure designed specifically for pre-school children and 3–6-year-olds.

– Maths Family Scavenger Hunts – Join the Maths week team for a fun, collaborative and energetic scavenger hunt that will have you competing with other families.

– Maths Week Ireland Award Ceremony 2021 – The recipient of the Maths Week Award 2021 will be announced for their contribution to Raising Public Awareness of Maths.

Minister for Education, Norma Foley TD said: “I’m delighted to launch Maths Week 2021. Maths not only helps individuals develop skills including critical thinking and problem-solving, but also helps us makes decisions in our day-to-day life and encourages creativity. Ensuring that children are gaining mathematical skills from a young age is intrinsic to their personal growth and will serve them throughout life. Maths Week supports understanding of maths and numeracy in society through its many activities and is promoting a positive attitude towards the subject.

“I encourage everyone to take part in Maths Week 2021 and I look forward to seeing the continued excellent collaboration of schools, teachers, universities, institutes of technology and partners north and south during this valuable week. I wish this year’s event every success and look forward to its continued progress.”

Dr Ruth Freeman, Director of Science for Society, Science Foundation Ireland, said: “Science Foundation Ireland is delighted to support Maths Week 2021. Maths Week increases public interest...