
Design Talk (dot IE)
A podcast about design in-the-wild: The good, the beautiful, the useful.
Allen Higgins
Show overview
Design Talk (dot IE) has been publishing since 2020, and across the 6 years since has built a catalogue of 197 episodes. That works out to roughly 120 hours of audio in total. Releases follow a fortnightly cadence, with the show now in its 13th season.
Episodes typically run twenty to thirty-five minutes — most land between 25 min and 43 min — though episode length varies meaningfully from one episode to the next. None of the episodes are flagged explicit by the publisher. It is catalogued as a EN-language Technology show.
The show is actively publishing — the most recent episode landed 2 days ago, with 6 episodes already out so far this year. The busiest year was 2021, with 50 episodes published. Published by Allen Higgins.
From the publisher
Design Talk. A podcast for learning about the business of technology design and management. Listen to stories, panels, interviews and discussions about technology and design in-the-wild: the good, the beautiful, and the useful. Whether you've got one big idea, you think of yourself as an organisation designer, product designer, creator, or entrepreneur. Each episode offers a take on how people design, strategise, organise, and develop technology. We want to dig into the essence of design, discover the backstory to technologies, and unpack the design attitude. We started this podcast for you, because you are interested in tinkering, in making, and how ideas become 'things', and because we are all, in some way, involved in designing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Latest Episodes
View all 197 episodes0274 - Techno-colonization with Simeon Vidolov and Stefan Klein
0273 - The Sanctuary Hypothesis by Jean-Fabrice Lebraty
0272 - Beyond Compliance with Liam Brady and Thomas Hamill
0271 - Agentic Transformation with Killian and Albena

S13 Ep 2700270 - Creative Community with Maya Gaul
In this, our first episode on ‘research design’ and ‘research designing’ I talk with Maya Gaul and Dunk Murphy from the Creative Futures Academy at UCD. Maya is completing a BA in Creative & Cultural Industries. Her final year project combines research with performance. The subject is Creative Community; an exploration of Irish Arts organisations and how they produce ‘belonging’. Maya talked about her plan for the production - to include elements of documentary, performance and interaction culminating in an event that digs into what arts and inclusion means for practitioners and audience.Notes:The Creative Futures Academy - https://creativefuturesacademy.ieUCD’s BA Major In Creative & Cultural Industries - https://www.ucd.ie/artshumanities/newsandevents/ucdlaunchesnewbaincreativeculturalindustries/AcknowledgementsMusic Title: DeparturesArtist: PortrayalSource: https://bit.ly/2QkBzvILicense: CC BY 4.0Cover Art Title: In the Think LabArtist: Allen Higgins. Photo credits: Dunk Murphy. Used with permission.Source: MayaGaul.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part, you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2690269 - Johno (Robert Johnston) on Psilocybin, Heidegger and being-toward-death
Psilocybin, Heidegger and being-toward-deathBetween 2020 and 2023 psychologist Marg Ross and psychiatrist Justin Dwyer, together with collaborators, ran the largest Australian randomised control of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of extreme death anxiety in terminally ill patients using psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) (Ross et al, 2025). Over the past 15 months I have contributed to the analysis and reporting of qualitative interview data collected by these researchers before and after treatment. The therapy has been shown to be remarkably effective with 21 out of 28 patients who completed the full trial reporting sustained relief. Whereas before the treatment the patients had found themselves 'stuck' in an oppressive lingering present, after treatment they are able to 'step back into' a life that is in some ways fuller even than before the diagnosis (Dwyer et al, 2026). In this reading group/seminar I will briefly present Heidegger's account in Division II of Being and Time of being-toward-death and its role in prompting a more authentic human existence and richer lived temporality. I will point out its striking similarity to the change phenomenon we observed in the qualitative analysis. I invite discussion of this observation, its implications, and suggestions. Note I will devote little time to describing the clinical trial so reading the accompanying paper (Dwyer et al, 2026) is advised.JohnoRobert B. Johnston is a professor (emeritus) at University College Dublin, and a person in his own right.Dwyer, J., Johnston, R. B., O'Callaghan, C., and Ross, M. 2026. "Stepping Back into Life: How Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy Transforms the Way of Life of the Terminally Ill," General Hospital Psychiatry (98), pp. 86-96. doi: 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2025.12.002AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Justice Little LeagueArtist: Ema GraceSource: https://bit.ly/2tJ6BndLicense: CC BY 4.0Artist notes: Ema Grace is an AI vocaloid produced by Ryoma MAEDA (@Ryoma_Maeda). Styled as virtual Singer&Idol 架空のバーチャルアイドル & シンガー、それがEma Grace.Cover Art Title: Inspired by zoomArtist: Allen HigginsSource: CITO-podcast-Johno.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2540254 - The PMIA Perspective with Fernandos Ongolly
Today we’re talking with Fernandos Ongolly, to learn about home-grown innovations and digital startups from The Continent – in this case, Africa. Our hosts are Selma Anya, Safa A. A. Emam, and Diana Achiro, students on the MSc Digital Innovation programme.Fernandos has a PhD from UCD. He is the current “Proudly Made in Africa” Fellow in Business and Development at UCD College of Business, and the founder of – Non-EU Academics and Researchers Community in Ireland.Our audience is the class of 2025 studying the Outsourcing and Offshoring module taught by Allen Higgins.First, Fernandos, would you like to say a few words about your current role and a little about your journey?· African nations might not be the first place that investors and business associate with “technology ambition”, can you set the context? [notes: technical infrastructure, physical infrastructure, population demographics, connectedness etc.]· Talk about some success stories from Africa and the sectors they occur in? [notes: in FinTech, Education, AgriTech and eCommerce]· What are the opportunities for outsourcing to Africa? [notes: BPO, content moderation and specialized services, much of today’s AI is/was trained by centers in Africa]· For the startup environment, like Silicon Valley, where are the incubators, clusters, and centers of excellence? [notes: the three big regions East, West and South – Kenya; Nigeria; South Africa]· Can you talk about the role culture plays. No doubt there are challenges but opportunities too? [notes: strong social ties, high-trust cultures, entrepreneurial attitude is prevalent – trading is a way of life]· Questions from the hosts· Questions from the audience.Further reading and notesFernandos Ongolly on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/fernandos-ongolly-phd-89927b32/Proudly Made in Africa is a Trade Justice and Global Citizenship Education organization. For more see - https://www.proudlymadeinafrica.orgAlso, the PMIA Podcast on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@proudlymadeinafricaAcknowledgementsMusic Title: Faceplant with UK GarageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: a-Wed23Oct2024License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Includes samples from Ableton Live by Ableton AG and by KORG Inc.Cover Art Title: Guest and classArtist: Allen HigginsSource: Pepperdine_Fernandos.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part, you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2680268 - Why Ireland? with Anna Scally
Our guest for this session is Anna Scally - Partner and Head of Technology Media & Telecoms, KPMG in Ireland and EMA KPMG in Ireland. This is the third of 3 seminars organised by John Mooney as part of the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School MBA programme in collaboration with UCD’s MSc Digital Innovation programme.Anna gave a masterclass intro to corporate taxation in Ireland and its relationship with global trade (focus on technology companies). Yes, we need to talk about Trade, Tariffs, and Taxes, but the answers revolve around Technology, Connection, Trust, and People.Notes:Anna’s profile pages on KPMG.com (link) and LinkedIn (link)For more about the KPMG Global Tech Innovation competition 2025 (link)Washington National Tax (WNT); the KPMG think tank and technical core of KPMG’s U.S. tax practice. (link)Anna sits on the Advisory Board of Scale Ireland - https://www.scaleireland.com - Scale Ireland is Ireland’s leading independent not-for-profit, representative organisation for Irish tech start-up and scaling companies.IDA Ireland (the Ireland Development Authority) - http://idaireland.com - (Irish: An Ghníomhaireacht Forbartha Tionscail) is the agency responsible for the attraction and retention of inward foreign direct investment (FDI) into Ireland.Enterprise Ireland - https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/ - EI invests in and supports the development of Irish-owned companies “on their journey to achieving greater scale and to become global leaders in their field.” Revenue - Irish Tax and Customs – https://www.revenue.ie/ - The Tax Relief Scheme for Capital Expenditure on Intangible Assets (S. 291A) – (link)WTO landing page for learning about Tariffs –(link) AcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Cover Art Title:(Screenshot from KPMG Platform – Global Tech Innovation 2024 launch event.)Artist: Allen HigginsSource: Pepperdine_AnnaScally.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part, you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2670267 - Instructions Not Included with Dajana Achelpohl
Our guest for this session is Dajana Achelpohl. Dajana heads up AI Change Maker and is an alum of Google & PayPal. The second of 3 seminars organised by John Mooney as part of the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School MBA programme in collaboration with UCD’s MSc Digital Innovation programme.Notes:AI Change Maker - https://www.aichangemaker.comDajana on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dajana-achelpohl/On other media:Dajana Achelpohl’s talk with Audrey Chia “A Framework for AI-Ready Teams” (YouTube link)From AI Ireland: ‘Demystifying AI: Practical Applications and Business Integration’ with Google’s Dajana Achelpohl (link)AcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Cover Art Title: Instructions Not Included! (screenshot from Dajana’s talk with Audrey Chia on YouTube)Artist: Allen HigginsSource: Pepperdine_Dajana.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part, you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2660266 - Unlocking Design Expertise with Tom Rourke
Our guest for this session is Tom Rourke. Tom works in Kyndryl as Vice President for Design, Insights and Innovation. The first of 3 seminars organised by John Mooney as part of the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School MBA programme in collaboration with UCD’s MSc Digital Innovation programme.Notes:Tom Rourke – LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-rourke-1a8b70/Tom gave a shoutout to Kevin Bethune - https://www.kevinbethune.comAlso, the MRI design story by Doug Dietz, Industrial Designer – (link)Also, Tom co-hosts The Progress Report, with Sarah B. Nelson (Chief Design Officer at Kyndryl) on:Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-progress-report/id1627095388Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/23hDHHDkOPSeFrrNsa9jcD?si=fa531ad1ec36459bFinally, The Kyndryl Institute (download the app) - https://www.kyndryl.com/gb/en/institute/AcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Cover Art Title: Unlocking Design (screenshot from Tom in Kyndryl leadership video)Artist: Allen HigginsSource: Pepperdine_Tom.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2650265 - Siobhain Duggan on Learning from Leaders
Hosted by Brona RussellWe are delighted to have Siobhain Duggan, CEO of GS1 Ireland in to talk to the first year Economics & finance Organisation Behaviour class today. The interview/podcast is being hosted by UCD’s first year Economics and Finance class as part of the Professional and Academic Development module. Our focus is on the human aspects of organising in corporate settings, recognising the role of human behaviour in determining organisational effectiveness.Welcome Siobhain. So, it would be great to hear first about GS1 and what the work that you do. Then to understand your own career journey and how it has evolved over time: · Your readiness to take opportunities as they presented themselves. · Who were your mentors, and how did they help shape your career?And regarding your current role:· What motivated you to step up and to take on the CEO role in GS1?· What are some of the biggest challenges you have faced, and how did you persevere through them?· How has your leadership style evolved since you took on the role?· What do you maintain a healthy work-life balance juggling work and travel and family?And your thoughts in general on:· What are the most important qualities you look for in a future employee?· How important is diversity and inclusion to you as a CEO trying to encourage creativity and innovation?· How do you foster open communication and a positive work environment?· How do you foster a spirit of collaboration in your organisation?Before we finish, is there anything further you'd like to add?We’ll wrap it up there. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts and experience with us today. Notes, extra questions, and further reading, books, blogs, pods, articles?Siobhain Duggan, CEO - GS1 Ireland - https://www.gs1ie.org/Siobhain on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/siobhainduggan/The UCD BSc Business and Economics programme (link)Article: Keeping track of the COVID-19 vaccine (HSE, 2022: link) AcknowledgementsMusic Title: ImpulseArtist: Ben PruntySource: https://www.benpruntymusic.com/License: Non-transferable license. Permission granted by Ben Prunty (personal letter) Cover Art Title: Pod-CoverArtist: Allen Higgins (photo used with permission)Source: Duggan_GS1.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part, you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2640264 - Navigating Risk with Peter Cripwell
Our hosts are Diarmuid Murphy and Leo CuddiganWelcome to the UCD Economics and Finance class. We are delighted to have Peter Cripwell, CEO at RiskSystem, in to talk to us today about Risk Analytics and Risk Reporting and the value of knowing a bit about programming.To start, Peter, can you tell us how you went from Nuclear Physicist to CEO of RiskSystem.· Can you give us a demo of what Risk Reporting as a service looks like· What technology do you use to design and build the product?· How do I get the most out of RiskSystem?· Do you think risk models are becoming too complex?· Where do you see AI fitting into the business?· With the time left we’d like to open it to questions from the audience…Before we finish, is there anything further you'd like to add?We’ll wrap it up there. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts and experience with us today. Notes, extra questions, and further reading, books, blogs, pods, articles?RiskSystem - https://www.risksystem.comPeter on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-cripwell-a2258b6/Highly recommended reading- Sparklines History by Edward Tufte: 1324 to Now - https://www.edwardtufte.com/notebook/sparklines-history-by-tufte-1324-to-now/ AcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cover Art Title: Class vignetteArtist: Allen HigginsSource: RiskSystem_Peter.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2630263 - Learning from the London Whale with Denis McCarthy
Welcome to the Economics and Finance class.Our hosts are Daksh Wadhwa and Peter Barrett. Today, we are very pleased to welcome Denis McCarthy, Head of Financial Risk Model Development at AIB.Thank you for coming in to speak to us today. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your journey into financial risk modelling?· What does a day in the week look like on your team? [for a finance/economist, quant analyst, programmer]· How can a large organisation manage end-user tools like Excel? [policy, practices, systems management…]· Much of the focus is on the technical characteristics and the actions of individuals but not so much on organisational cultural. How can we address the organisational culture angle? [for example, grow and protect a culture of dissent? What might that look like?]· What about review processes and how to avoid undue influence from one or other actors? [maybe relate to audit trails, version control]· Are our models becoming too complex? [to either understand fully or to apply in a timely manner? What kinds of new systemic risk do you think about?]· Is sentiment analysis applied much to risk measurement? [how to do it? gotchas and the dark art of automated textual analysis for gauging sentiment from company filings, conference call transcripts and other bulk sources]Questions from the audience?Before we finish, is there anything further you'd like to add?Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts with us today. Further reading: Articles, links etc.LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/denis-mccarthy-69970b2b/ AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Voltaic FluctuationsArtist: Ben PruntySource: https://www.benpruntymusic.com/License: Non-transferable license. Permission granted by Ben Prunty Cover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: vignette_version.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part, you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2620262 - From Grid to Dialogue with David Sammon
Hosted by Christina Philips and Anabela Da Silva Filipe Soares.Welcome to today’s seminar by David Sammon from UCC, Cork University Business School.In this session David Sammon from University College Cork talks about his approach to unlocking the value of the 2x2 Matrix in the classroom. David is co-Founder of the Data Value Innovation Group, whose mission is helping organisations to deliver value from their data through data value mapping. The Data Value Map (http://datavaluemap.com) offers resources for visual discursive organisational analysis and facilitation to build shared understanding around data initiatives.Further reading, sources, mentions and acknowledgements.David’s homepage at UCC - https://www.cubsucc.com/faculty-directory/dr-david-sammon/AcknowledgementsMusic Title: Guitar HouseArtist: josh pan (2020)Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL-LId8ZWBMLicense: License CC BY 3.0Cover Art Title: Complex collaboration for BAEFArtist: Nuno Machado and Allen HigginsSource: vignette_version.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2610261 - Data Practices with Hippolyte Lefebvre
Welcome to the CITO Podcast.Séamas Kelly invites Hippolyte Lefebvre to present an overview of his research interests and direction. Hippolyte is a member of CITO and the Management Information Systems group in the UCD College of Business, Dublin, and previously at the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland.Notes, extra questions, and further reading:Homepage at UCD - https://people.ucd.ie/hippolyte.lefebvreAnd Google scholar page linkAcknowledgementsMusic Title: Justice Little LeagueArtist: Ema GraceSource: https://bit.ly/2tJ6BndLicense: CC BY 4.0Artist notes: Ema Grace is an AI vocaloid produced by Ryoma MAEDA (@Ryoma_Maeda). Styled as virtual Singer&Idol 架空のバーチャルアイドル & シンガー、それがEma Grace.Cover Art Title: Inspired by selfie and AIArtist: Allen HigginsSource: CITO-podcast-DataPractices.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2600260 - Data Driven Fintech with Donal Rafferty
Hosted by Alex and Conor. Welcome to the UCD 2nd year Economics and Finance class. Today, we are pleased to welcome Donal Rafferty, Director Product Development in Open Finance at Mastercard, Dublin.Thank you for coming in to speak to us today, can you share a little of your own story?· So, we’d like to start one of the ideas behind this series of talks. Do you think a finance professional’s working life will involve more or less interaction with dedicated development teams, IT or software engineers?· Can you make a case for the value of knowing a bit about programming (e.g. python) for working in Finance.· We are extremely interested in what you’ve learnt from experimenting with advanced aspects of LLMs, Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, agentic knowledge graphs, and process automation. What do you imagine is going to be the impact on the Finance industry?· On your website you used the phrase “embedded finance” a couple of times, can you explain the concept?· About your website, you said it was VIBE coded. What motivated you and what did you learn about the process? With the time left we’d like to open it to questions from the audience…Any recommendations for books, podcasts, blogs??(questions from audience)Before we finish, is there anything further you'd like to add?Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts with us today. Notes and further reading: Key books, articles, blogs, podcasts, channelshttps://www.donalrafferty.comExplore Kaggle for inspiring examples of data analysis - https://www.kaggle.comLearn Python and Pandas! There are many resources available, for example, DataCamp - https://www.datacamp.comThe Unicorn Project and The Phoenix Project. Two books by Gene Kim about tech projects and working in tech.Andrew Ng’s AI education platform - https://www.deeplearning.ai/ Register for a free account to get access to Andrew’s videos. (in fact Andrew Ng coined the term “Agentic AI”, to describe a trend in how people were building applications) AcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: DonalRafferty_Mastercard.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2590259 - Making New Money with Quinn DuPont
Welcome to the CITO Podcast.This episode is a seminar by Quinn DuPont titled “Making New Money: How autonomous communities produce and govern cryptocurrencies.” Paul Dylan-Ennis opens the session with a brief introduction after which Quinn presents an overview of his project, and Donncha Kavanagh makes some observations and invites reactions.Decentralized cryptocurrencies are upending the foundations of economic power, challenging centuries of state and bank control over money. This research critically examines the rise of digital wildcat banking and its profound implications for economic sovereignty. Leveraging digital forensics, data science, and OSINT, this work reveals who actually produces and governs cryptocurrencies—and how their collective labor reshapes value and risk. It explores the forces behind decentralized money, the vulnerabilities these systems introduce, and the future role of state-issued currencies in an era of rapid monetary transformation.Reflecting on the project Quinn notes:"I've been working on this for well over a year now, and while it is still in development, the basic outline is complete. I make some pretty provocative claims, like arguing that global forces first emerging in the 1970s lead us inexorably to this point where the labour required to produce and govern new money has become involuted[1]. It’s a unique project that reveals how new money is made and details the implications for banks, nation states, and society. I also have some fun stories to share, like my effort to vampire attack Trump's WLFI token or my reverse engineering of the FBI's Operation Token Mirrors."[1] Involution; the theory from Clifford Geertz where, in the original context, rice production becomes internally competitive and the processes require more labour without an increase in output - analogous to this story of technological development and precarious technological labour. I argue that the operational infrastructure of crypto expands to require more labour, despite no correlated increase in output. Thus, crypto overtakes national currencies not by meeting a market demand, but by accommodating excess labour supply.Notes, extra questions, and further reading:Quinn’s homepage - https://iqdupont.comChina’s “Involuted” Generation by Yi-Ling Lu | The New Yorker Published MAY 14The president and the billion-dollar crypto businesses – How the Trump companies made $1bn from crypto by Joe Miller and Alex Rogers in Washington, Paul Caruana Galizia, Nikou Asgari, Eade Hemingway, Oliver Hawkins and Chris Cook in London | FT.com Published OCT 16 2025"Overcapacity" or "involution"? How China's manufacturing suffers from over-competition Tracing the roots and perils by Elena Wang and Nina Chen | Baiguan.news Published APR 18 2024AcknowledgementsMusic Title: CrazyMixArtist: Sandbox Korg AbletonSource: CrazyMix.aifLicense: : CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Cover Art Title: Inspired by Wordpress DefaultsArtist: Allen HigginsSource: CITO-podcast-STS.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2580258 - Combining Business AND Technical Knowledge with Jane Antova
Our hosts for this episode are William Mugan and Grace Gunne from the BSc UCD Economics and Finance class.Today, we are very pleased to welcome Jane Antova from IBM Consulting and colleagues Angela Stakelum and Bernadette Keating.First, Jane, can you share a little of your own story and starting out in IBM?So, what does a day in the life look like? These days, do you find yourself needing more, or less interaction with technology specialists to get the job done? Can you talk about typical sources of information and scale or size of datasets?Can you talk about the tools used for modelling, economic simulations, machine learning, and use of AI?Do you think that programming skills necessary or nice-to-have?We have some time for questions from the audience…Before we finish, is there anything further you'd like to add? (favourite pods, blogs, channels, books)Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts with us today.Notes, extra questions, and further reading:IBM Skills Build - https://skillsbuild.org (free learning courses and resources)PL/I – Programming Language OneAcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Cover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: JaneAntova-IBM.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2570257 - Financial Tools and Applications with Raul Afonso
Our hosts are Tara O’Reilly and Jack Kavanagh. Welcome to the Economics and Finance class.Today, we are very pleased to welcome Raul Afonso, Chartered Financial Analyst and Chief Economist at MFW (Multi Family Wealth). MFW is an investment firm providing investment services on managed accounts and investment funds. Thank you for coming in to speak to us Raul. Can you share a little of your own story, how you came to Ireland and talk about the tools you use in your role as Economist and Financial Analyst?[Raul opens with self-introduction and present some slides e.g. asset allocation, fund management, showcase doing analysis on output from Bloomberg]I have a question; would you say that programming skills are necessary or just nice-to-have? Could you share some key information sources you think we as Economics and Finance students should know about and follow?With the time left we’d like to open it to questions from the audience…(question from audience)(question from audience)Before we finish, is there anything further you'd like to add?Well, this has been an informative talk. Thank you so much for your time and for sharing your thoughts and experience with us today. Notes, extra questions, and further reading:Key books mentioned?Key pods, articles mentioned?Other links…Multi Family Wealth – the investment management company - https://mfw.iehttps://yardeni.com/charts/feds-stock-valuation-model/https://www.ft.com/alphavillehttps://www.zerohedge.com – the most famous blog in finance.https://www.cfasociety.org/portugal/homeAcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cover Art Title: Class vignetteArtist: Allen HigginsSource: RaulAfonso.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

S13 Ep 2560256 - Talking about Fintech with Dan Evison from Manakau
Today’s hosts are Isabelle Howard and Adam Golden. We are very pleased to welcome Dan Evison, Founder and CEO of Manakau, a Financial Services Delivery and Consulting company based in Ireland.Thank you for coming in to speak to us today Dan. Can you tell us a little about yourself and the story behind starting Manakau?· You’ve spent your career working in finance. Could you tell us about the types of financial markets and activities you’ve been involved with? · Now let’s get to the premise for this series of talks: For a career in financial markets, can you make a case for the value of knowing a bit about programming (e.g. python)? · I want to become a quantitative analyst; What 3 technologies do you consider must-have?· How is AI going to affect careers in financial services? · What advice would you have for a student who wants to work at one of the top financial firms, whether in Dublin, London, Tokyo or New York? Followed by questions from the audience… Notes, extra questions, and further reading:Manakau - https://www.manakau.comGTD or Getting Things Done - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done Disciplined Entrepreneurship by Bill Aulet - https://www.d-eship.comSimon Willison’s blog is a long-running, practical, technical, openly documented experiments with all the AIs and up to the minute-of-the-day review of new GenAI developments - https://simonwillison.net Getting started on prompt engineering: O’Reilly’s “Prompt Engineering for Generative AI” book by James Phoenix and Michael Taylor AcknowledgementsMusic Title: First TakeArtist: Debajyoti Biswas and Michael O'NeillSource: mis.aup3License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Cover Art Title: Complex collageArtist: Allen HigginsSource: DanManakau.pptxLicense: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Podcast LicenseDesign Talk (dot IE) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 The license can be viewed at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0By taking part you give permission for your voice to be recorded, for the recording to be edited, and for it to be posted and published as a podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.