The Big Tech Show

The Eir debate

Eir's audacious €1bn proposal for an alternative National Broadband Plan stirred up a nest of debate and dissent in recent weeks.
One of the senior political figures who backs Eir is Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fail spokesman on Communications, Climate Action and Environment.
He sat down with Adrian to explain why he thinks it's worth taking a risk on an Eir proposal and what he would do as a government Minister.
Dooley also outlined why he is in favour of a new digital tax on online advertising.

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The fad of the week is FaceApp, which makes even the most cherubic youngster look like Gandalf.

But we really helping ‘The Russians’ compile a giant facial database? Or is the current hysteria just this month’s instalment of the neverending moral panic around tech?

Adrian Weckler and Fearghal O’Connor (deputy business editor for The Sunday Independent) discuss the issue from a political and technological perspective.

The two also examine Instagram’s trial move in Ireland to remove ‘likes’ from individual posts. Will it do anything meaningful to help ease mental health issues suffered by teens? And will it cripple so-called ‘influencers’?

Lastly, Adrian and Fearghal look at how online subscriptions are taking bigger and bigger chunks of our monthly pay cheques. Adrian’s now stands at over €100 – with media companies now switching over to paywalls, how far can it go?

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Women in Tech is a new podcast series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.

Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.

On this week's bonus episode, she meets Jennifer Cox, who is a CSM Associate Security Engineer with Tenable, an international cyber security company.

With a background in theatre and media studies, Jennifer is not your typical STEM candidate and Samantha spoke to Jennifer about how and why she got into tech and why not being afraid to speak out has stood to her throughout her career.

For more from the series go to:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/

The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.

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This week Adrian talks to Justin McLeod, the founder and chief executive of the dating app Hinge, which claims to be the fastest-growing such app in Ireland and the UK.

As well as recounting his own dramatic love, McLeod talks about algorithms, safety, age verification and what works best for those using dating apps.

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Women in Tech is a four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.

Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.

On this week's episode, she meets Iseult Ward, co-founder of Foodcloud, the food waste distribution platform, that in just seven years has already distributed 22,000 tonnes of food, moving meals every 28 minutes and helping over 9,100 charitable groups in Ireland and UK.

Samantha spoke to Iseult about the original idea, getting it off the ground, scaling in Ireland and internationally, as well as the growing issue of food poverty and waste.

For more from the series go to:
www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/

The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hailo was a roaring success. Then, two years ago, it became MyTaxi. Since that happened, the company has had its struggles. Now, it’s rebranding yet again in a €3m move – to ‘Free Now’.

Adrian Weckler has a candid chat with the company’s general manager, Alan Fox, about why the name change was necessary and whether technology can improve some of the issues the firm has faced.

They also talk about future ideas, such as ‘surge pricing’ at busy times, as well as current features, such as a new €5 cancellation charge.

And Adrian asks whether it’s a good or bad thing that regulations prevent companies like Uber and Lyft from operating similar services to many other European and US cities.

‘Free Now’ is the largest taxi company operating in Ireland with 12,000 drivers, 540,000 “regular” customers and 4.5m passengers carried in the first three months of this year.

It is also part of a wider taxi transportation group across Europe, ultimately owned by the German automotive giant Daimler.

And it is starting to introduce new services such as shared taxi trips between multiple passengers via its new MyTaxi Match app feature. In future, it hopes to add a fleet of electric scooters around Dublin.

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Women in Tech is a four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.

Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.

On this week's episode, she meets Ingrid Devin, Director of Dell's Women's Entrepreneur Network which creates a forum for global women founders and CEOs to share best practices, build business opportunities, explore international expansion and access new resources.

Samantha spoke to Ingrid about the network and the lack of women investors in general as well as her own career in the tech world.

For more from the series go to:
https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/

The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.

Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.

On this week's episode, she meets Vanessa Tierney, founder and CEO of Abodoo, the remote working platform that is seeking to empower and enable more remote working for people in Ireland and abroad.

Samantha finds out how an illness forced Vanessa into thinking about remote working, how she runs her digital platform from County Wexford, and why more Irish companies need to consider remote working as an option for their employees.

For more from the series go to:
https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/women-in-tech/

The Women in Tech podcast series is in association with 100% Electric Nissan Leaf.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is AIB considering facial recognition for when you walk into a branch?

Adrian sits down for a wide-ranging chat with the CIO of Ireland’s biggest bank about its imminent plans.

Tim Hynes also assesses the risk from ‘challenger’ banks such as Revolut, while asserting that AIB’s 200 physical branches still “wash their face”, even in an era where so many payments are going cashless.

And the two talk in depth about security challenges that banks – and many major companies—face.

Tim was also in studio to discuss AIB’s sponsorship of ‘Techies for Temple Street’ the annual event that raises thousands for Temple Street Childrens’ Hospital.

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This week, Adrian’s guest is Fianna Fail’s spokesman for science, technology and research, Kildare North TD James Lawless.

In a wide-ranging discussion, Adrian challenges James over Irish politicians’ apparent disconnection from tech issues which, at times, veers into illiteracy.

From demanding passports for Facebook access to dithering over broadband rollouts, Adrian goes over some of the reasons why Irish politicians are often held in low esteem by the public on tech issues.

Adrian and James also discuss ways of improving some issues, such as scientific research and cyber security.

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