Sync NI

Journalist Niamh Campbell chats with Erin and Courtney from the Armagh Observatory & Planetarium. They talk about its ongoing online educational resources, the Intergalactic Craic podcast, astronomical news and out-of-this-world facts. You can find out more about AOP's facilities and resources by visiting its social media channels (@ArmaghPlanet on Twitter).

This week journalist Niamh Campbell chats with Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau. She is the CEO of the MIT Technology Review who announced that they will be holding their annual European EmTech conference in Belfast over the next three years. The conference will be held virtually in 2021, but Elizabeth will explain a lot more about that in the episode and why Belfast was chosen to host such a reputable global tech event.

This week journalist Niamh Campbell chats to Lynne Rainey, PwC NI's Head of Place and Purpose. PwC recently released its Women in Work 2021 index, which shows that by increasing more women into the workplace, the Northern Ireland economy could gain £2.3bn. They delve right into this, along with the issues preventing more women from getting into work.

This week journalist Niamh Campbell chats with Ailís McCaul about a recent PwC survey that shows by increasing more women into the workplace, the NI economy could gain £2.3bn. But how do we encourage more women into work? More flexible working is one aspect and that's exactly what Ailís discusses. had a baby during lockdown and wanted to come back to a senior tech career that would allow her to work three days a week so that she could balance her new family life - although she now has this role as a Venture Architect at Belfast-based Whitespace, the journey to get there proved more difficult than she realised.

InterTradeIreland’s Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition 2021, now in its 19th year, has been launched with a €100k cash award for the winning new start or early stage company. Seedcorn Programme Manager, Connor Sweeney and Shannon Beattie, Chief Operations Officer of the 2020 Seedcorn winner, GenoME Diagnostics explain more about the competition and why Northern Ireland's early stage firms should get involved!

This week journalist Niamh Campbell speaks with Dr Jayne Brady MBE, Belfast’s Digital Innovation Commissioner. She has recently been appointed to the new UK Innovation Expert Group that will provide advice on how to drive up the UK’s productivity through innovation. She discusses the future of Belfast’s tech sector, its resilience during lockdown, and the digital job roles and opportunities that are being provided for people across the city.

This week journalist Niamh Campbell chats with Chris McClelland, Managing Director of IgniteNI. He talks about Ignite's latest global accelerator programme, the thriving start-up scene here in Northern Ireland, and offers advice for those thinking of starting their own tech/business journey.

In homage to International Women's Day, journalist Niamh Campbell speaks with Rachael Coulter, who has founded her own tech start-up, Animal Manager. Rachael is a former software engineer and current Grand Prix-level dressage rider. She combined both passions to create the Stable Manager tech platform, which helps horse owners from the ground up. Rachael shares her story as a woman in tech, a woman in business and a woman in sport, with some advice for fellow females hoping to gain success in the same sectors.

Journalist Niamh Campbell chats with Emer Maguire, the award-winning Strabane-born science communicator, presenter, TEDx speaker, event MC and musical comedian who recently gave up her job as a speech and language therapist to pursue all of these creative avenues full-time. Emer discusses how she got to where she is today, her passion for science, tech and communicating, and shares some advice for others hoping to take action in following their dreams full-time.

First Derivatives CEO Seamus Keating discusses the firm's past year, expansion plans and its KX streaming analytics platform with journalist Niamh Campbell.

First Derivatives is the only NI company listed on the Irish stock exchange and Seamus also delves into how a bedroom start-up turned into a successful global tech and consultancy business.