This week, Adrian tackles the two giant breaking news stories of the week: Apple’s €13bn tax win against the European Commission and what the Schrems data privacy ruling means for ordinary Facebook and web users here. On the first topic, he’s joined by tax expert Brian Keegan, who attended the court case last year. On the privacy ruling, Adrian grills data protection expert Katherine O’Keeffe (from Castlebridge) about where the ECJ decision leaves ordinary people who are now wondering whether th...
Jul 17, 2020•56 min
This week, Adrian talks to John Goulding and Joe Lennon, co-founders of the workplace communications software firm Workvivo. The two just raised almost €15m in venture funding, having decided not to shilly-shally around with Irish VCs. Instead, they followed the bigger money trail stateside and landed it. The chat involves raising money, growing a company from Cork and a host of other things. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 10, 2020•38 min
This week, Adrian has a lively chat with one of Ireland’s most interesting serial entrepreneurs, Norman Crowley. Crowley built and sold three companies for $750m by the age of 40. But he came tantalisingly close to selling one of them for $1bn. He explains how that episode hit him hard for a year. But he also now says that it was “the best thing that ever happened” to him. Crowley has gone on to mix his love for the environment with new successful companies, including Crowley Carbon (which raise...
Jul 03, 2020•42 min
This week, Adrian is joined by the CEO of the country’s biggest online-only media publisher, Journal Media, and the CEO and co-founder of Silicon Republic, one of Ireland’s longest-running and most successful online publishers. Adrian Acosta and Ann O’Dea dive deep into commercial and business challenges that media companies now face in Ireland. Is online advertising for media firms doomed? That’s a big question that the panel discusses in some depth. Alternate funding methods are also discussed...
Jun 26, 2020•44 min
This week, Adrian dives into the amazing story of Ireland’s most fantastically controversial startup of the last 20 years: Steorn. The company raised €20m on the premise of having invented a perpetual motion machine using magnets. The startup claimed to have uncovered an “anomaly” in the laws of physics that would allow for never-ending power. From a full page ad in the Economist boasting of their breakthrough to a dramatic demonstration fiasco in London, the story of Steorn is a mixture of ambi...
Jun 19, 2020•32 min
This week, Adrian is joined by a vastly experienced Irish media panel in the area of digital media and technology: co-founder of Kinzen and Storyful Mark Little, founder of Maximum Media Niall McGarry and co-founder and editor of The Currency, Ian Kehoe. The panel dives deep into the problems and opportunities for media in a technology-dominated landscape. In his first extensive public commentary since his company’s examinership, Niall McGarry also addresses the issue of the ‘click farm’ inciden...
Jun 12, 2020•53 min
This week, Adrian dives into the murky, colourful world of online fraud, scams and cyber security. He and security expert Brian Honan look at the latest threats, occasionally getting side-tracked by the pros and cons of encryption, password managers and just how famous an Irish celebrity you have to be for your face to be illegally attached to diet pills or cryptocurrency scams. They also look at resources in place in Ireland to fight cybercrime and whether more is required. The Big Tech Show is...
Jun 05, 2020•51 min
Zoom is the single biggest breakthrough service of the 2020 global lockdown, in or out of tech. Before February, it was a niche business tech tool. 90 days on, it’s a global household name. Grannies, schoolteachers and friends now use it daily. It has replaced ‘Skype’ and ‘FaceTime’ as our default verb for video-conferencing. And the chief information officer, responsible for making large chunks of it work, is a man from Rathfarnham. Harry Moseley is unlike a typical CIO. He’s relaxed and easygo...
May 29, 2020•1 hr 6 min
This week, Adrian talks to Jonathan Ruane, lecturer in global economics and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), adjunct professor at TCD and a previous co-founder of Eventovate, which he sold in 2016. Do Irish startups deserve a handout from the state? Or should it be considered a handup? After all, aren’t startups supposed to define a bootstrapping and disruptive culture? The two also tackle some much broader contextual issues around the culture behind startups and fu...
May 22, 2020•52 min
In a packed episode this week, Adrian asks whether the gold rush for back-to-work thermal cameras in Ireland is warranted and looks at how startups are coping with live under pandemic conditions. Thermal cameras are being painted as a key tech enabler to get Ireland moving again, from airports and hospitals to ordinary businesses. But TCD’s Dr Seamus O’Shaughnessy explains their limitations to Adrian in plain English. Then the founder and chief executive of one of Ireland’s most successful indig...
May 15, 2020•51 min
This week, Adrian talks to Alison.com founder Mike Feerick, who runs one of Europe’s biggest online learning platforms with 15m registered users. Telling Adrian that April brought 600,000 new registrants to his site, Mike explains why the writing is on the wall for universities which are “too expensive” and “out of date”. “Most employers just want to know that you can do a particular job,” he says from his Galway base. “I loved being at Harvard but it was for the people I met there, not the actu...
May 08, 2020•29 min
As the world watches governments’ introduction of contact-tracing apps, new research from Trinity College Dublin suggests that the involvement of Google could cause privacy problems in at least one contact-tracing model. Adrian Weckler talks to Professor Dough Leith, chair of Computer Systems at the School of Computer Science and Statistics at TCD, who has taken a close look at Google’s involvement in Singapore’s OpenTrace platform, used for its TraceTogether app. His paper, jointly compiled by ...
May 01, 2020•28 min
This week, Adrian brings on veteran tech reporter John Kennedy and former TD Noel Rock to run through some of the stories of the week. Noel gives an insight into the pressures that politicians can face from constituents on issues such as the erection of mobile masts, even when the science behind the arguments seems shaky. (He describes himself as an opponent of vigilante anti-5G groups.) John talks about how he sees tech companies coping with the lockdown and what we might expect to see next. Se...
Apr 24, 2020•44 min
It’s been described as ‘the safety net’ of the pandemic. But how much do we, or should we, rely on GoFundMe? This week, Adrian hosts a Zoom call with Tim Cadogan, GoFundMe’s recently-appointed chief executive. They talk about how much people are committing to GoFundMe campaigns here, including almost €1m to a ‘Feed The Heroes’ campaign in recent weeks. Irish people remain some of the biggest givers per capital on GoFundMe, Tim says. But Adrian asks Tim what it says about society that so many cam...
Apr 17, 2020•27 min
We're become used to hearing giant web companies described as leeches, health risks and agents of discord. But has the tone changed, now that we're all eagerly using their services to survive while locked in our homes? Are we quietly shelving our pearl-clutching hysteria about the dangers of 'screen time' and notional long-term health fears over using smartphones? Do we care as much if their free, or cheap, platforms slurp data? This week, Adrian Weckler is joined by senior Irish tech investor (...
Apr 10, 2020•54 min
This week, we dive into the topic of Twitter bots. Specifically, we ask the question: are pro-government bot accounts being operated in Ireland? We also explain what a Twitter bot is, how they typically operator and how to check whether a suspected account is a bot or not. Adrian Weckler is joined by digital marketing consultant Damien Mulley to explore the figures. Then Adrian is joined by Paul Campbell, founder of the Irish ticketing reservation platform Tito, who has just launched an online v...
Apr 03, 2020•51 min
This week, Adrian talks to Docusign CEO Dan Springer about what it’s like to announce 100 new jobs in Dublin and then have to hire them all over video links. But that’s exactly what Docusign is doing. The e-signature company is flying at present with over €1bn in revenue likely in 2020, even with the current pandemic. And like plenty of other multinational tech firms, it has chosen Dublin as its biggest base outside the US west coast. Dan also tells Adrian why he took a few years out of his care...
Mar 27, 2020•32 min
Week 2 of Ireland’s Covid-19 virtual lockdown continues with many trying to get used to working from home. Videoconferencing is an especially steep learning curve. “Tom? Hello, Tom? Tom we can see you, but we can’t hear you. Try hitting unmute. Actually, hold on - it might be star six. Try star six. Tom? Tom! TRY STAR SIX.” Aside from our diet going to hell and our backs and shoulders wrecked from slouching in inappropriate chairs, Adrian looks at some of the tools to use and talks to tech and p...
Mar 20, 2020•32 min
Everyone is being told to work from home — including Irish and Sunday Independent journalists. So Adrian rang some of them up to see how they are getting on. He found them coping in a brave new world of Microsoft Teams, virtual private networks and remote working amongst kids, dogs and builders. Adrian spoke to Sunday Independent business editor Samantha McCaughren, Irish Independent business editor Donal O’Donovan and Sunday Independent deputy business editor, Fearghal O’Connor. See omnystudio....
Mar 13, 2020•35 min
After a row over whether authorities should or should not have revealed the name of an Irish school where a student tested positive for Covid-19, this week’s panel digs deeper in other potential privacy conflicts that may arise. Should health authorities be asking infected people for their Google tracked location? If things got really desperate, would they even look for dystopian tools, such as Clearview’s facial identification database? The panel, which sees Sunday Independent deputy business e...
Mar 06, 2020•1 hr 2 min
This week, Adrian is joined by Pocket-lint.com editor Chris Hall and Buzz.ie digital editor Mark Kavanagh to go through the wave of top smartphones just launched. Is Samsung’s folding Flip Z a good deal? What are the flaws, if any, in the S20 Ultra’s incredible camera zoom? And how are soon-to-be announced OnePlus 8 Pro and Google Pixel 4a models shaping up? The panel goes in depth on the pros and cons of each model to give you a better idea of what’s worth getting. The Big Tech Show is in assoc...
Feb 28, 2020•34 min
This week, Adrian Weckler is discussing 5G and taking a critical look at its strengths and weaknesses. To help him make sense of whether it is all it’s hyped up to be, Adrian is joined by Bobby Healy, founder of Manna Aero, Con Kennedy, Chief Technical Officer with Ericsson Ireland and Niall Campion, co-founder of VRAI. The panel discusses everything from drone usage to 4K movies to the pros and cons of ‘millimetre wave’ 5G. The Big Tech Show is in association with Vodafone Business. See omnystu...
Feb 21, 2020•31 min
This week, Adrian Weckler’s panel looks at what’s coming next with TV. Is traditional ‘linear’ television mortally wounded, as Eir CEO Carolan Lennon recent told Adrian? Or can Sky, Virgin Media and broadcasters like RTÉ and the BBC hold their own against the tens of billions being invested by Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video and all the rest? Adrian is joined by Sunday Independent business editor Samantha McCaughren and the cofounder of Dublin-based startup LogoGrab, Alessandro Prest. S...
Feb 14, 2020•33 min
The former Ireland international rugby player, Jamie Heaslip, is becoming a textbook example of how to transition from sport into modern business. Eschewing the role of a corporate mascot, Heaslip has chosen the role of tech investor and promoter, meeting young startups to see whether they’re worth a punt. Some are. One of his earliest bets has just paid off spectacularly. Pointy, the retail listing startup cofounder by Charles Bibby and Mark Cummins, recently announced its acquisition by Google...
Feb 07, 2020•1 hr 1 min
This week, Adrian sits down with Eir CEO Carolan Lennon, who says: - the Huawei controversy isn't about security but is a "US-China trade issue" - Minister Michael Ring’s claims about Eir are "factually untrue" - Traditional ‘linear’ TV is toast: we will all move to apps-based television in time - Eir hasn’t decided yet on a new price for GoMo after the current €12.99 “for life” offer runs out Lennon also says that Eir’s 5G launch wasn’t kept private because of the presence at the event of Huawe...
Jan 31, 2020•28 min
Twitter is an angry place. It can drain your natural sense of goodwill and manners. This week, we look at how to behave on the world’s narkiest social network. Adrian is joined by Victoria Turk, features editor of Wired UK and author of the international hit book, ‘Digital Etiquette’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 24, 2020•19 min
Politicians like to say that elections are won on doorsteps. But most of them now spend almost as much time on their Facebook pages and Whatsapp groups. But who is policing Facebook and messaging groups for misinformation, planted false stories and algorithm-gaming? It’s not the BAI. It’s not the telecoms regulator, Comreg. And it’s not the Irish Press Council or Press Ombudsman. Unlike broadcasting or print, there is no official policing for fairness, accuracy or balance. Invariably, it comes b...
Jan 17, 2020•34 min
Trinity College Dublin has a €1.1bn plan to build a new high-end innovation district’ plan that would see the cream of academic and industrial talent come together. The government is to consider putting €150m into the 10 year plan. The resulting five-acre space near Dublin’s Silicon Docks hopes to create a new super-hub for engineering, scientific and tech research, mixing academic stars with multinationals and venture capitalists. Dublin, the college says, should have its own equivalent to Bost...
Jan 10, 2020•46 min
In this podcast, Adrian and Donal O’Donovan (Irish Independent business editor) continue to look ahead at some of the big tech trends, services and products that are set to make a difference in 2020. As usual, Adrian makes a couple of calls on what he thinks will and won’t pan out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jan 03, 2020•25 min
It’s the last week of 2019 (and, depending on your view, the decade). Instead of looking back, we’re going to make some predictions about what you can expect to come at you in tech over the next year. Adrian is joined to discuss his predictions by Donal O'Donovan, Irish Independent business editor. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 27, 2019•33 min
