The Big Tech Show

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.

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 back to the companies themselves.This week, Adrian is joined by Damien Mulley, founder of Mulley Communications, to look under the hood of how targeting works on social media during an election campaign. Mulley talks about an experiment he ran where he was able to target a handful of influential TDs and their political advisers for a couple of euro using Facebook’s ad system.And the two discuss the darker side of the political system and what it can throw up by way of trying to skew political debate online.Techniques have moved beyond the creation of outright false headlines claiming that a particular candidate has been endorsed by the Pope.Modern methods can be subtle and sophisticated, playing off algorithms. This includes getting dozens, or hundreds, of people to swarm online, all leaving comments under a news article or candidate post. Or to search repeatedly for a candidate’s name in an attempt to skew the search engine’s algorithm.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Boston’s Kendall Square or London’s Crick Institute.But is the plan a bold new template for the next stage of Ireland’s industrial ascension? Or is it another symbol of a two-tier city where the super-successful push ordinary citizens out? Could it be both?Adrian sits down with TCD’s chief innovation and enterprise officer, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien to find out.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

This week, Adrian and Buzz.ie editor Mark Kavanagh list the best tech gadgets of the year.These include phones, headphones, smart speakers, cameras, smartwatches, drones, laptops and desktop PCs.The two also look forward to what is expected in 2020.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some Irish tech firms prosper, some go bust and a great many simply run as a going concern.But there is a small number of Irish companies that still get talked about as ones with ‘potential’, even when they’re ten years old and bringing in millions.Ding, the Dublin-based firm that lets people top up their mobile phone credfit, may fall into this category.The company, founded by Mark Roden, has done pretty well to date. It has annual revenue of €38m based on over €500m of phone top-ups through its system. These come via deals with over 500 mobile operators and availability through 600,000 retail outlets.But talk to anyone in the Irish tech industry and it’s still discussed as something yet to see its finest day. Roden himself sets this tone, saying it hasn’t quite fulfilled its ambition. This week, Adrian sits down with Roden to talk about what he thinks the company should do next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost two in five Irish people are leaving themselves open to a likely data breach by not updating their passwords.This week, Adrian sits down with Brad Brooks, CEO of OneLogin. The two talk about online security and why one in five Irish adults haven’t updated their passwords in over two years.One factor in understanding the lack of security hygiene over passwords in Ireland may be a professed level of annoyance that Irish people say they feel at online security measures.Almost a third of us get frustrated by the familiar Captcha random image and number generator system, while nearly one in five get irked by one-time passcodes via text or email.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you cope when your startup fails?The issue of mental health among founders isn’t widely discussed.This week, Adrian talks to Eamon Leonard, the popular Irish startup founder who found it tough going after one of his companies failed.Eamon talks candidly and honestly about the difficulties he had when things didn’t work out.He also talks about the new company he has co-founded, Boundless, and recounts the eye-opening tale of how he was ripped off by fraudsters when trying to buy equipment for a side-business making whiskey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the world tries to decide whether political advertising should be allowed on Facebook, the company has quietly chosen Ireland to try out a new privacy feature over almost all ads.‘Off Facebook Activity’ will let you cut off advertisers from your Facebook identity, either individually or in total.The idea is to address a problem that came into sharp focus in the Cambridge Analytica scandal -- what happens to your personal data outside your Facebook sessions?The new Off Facebook Activity tool will show you the apps and websites that connect to your Facebook profile, usually for the purposes of advertising, and will let you wipe that slate clean. You can then choose not to let Facebook use your general browsing activity to show you personalised ads.Will people use this tool, or just ignore it as they do for many of the privacy settings that services such as Facebook introduce?That’s a question that Adrian puts to David Baser, a senior product director at Facebook responsible for the new Off Facebook Activity tool.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with the world’s most famous PR man and CEO of Edelman Public Relations, Richard Edelman.The Chicago-born executive, whose firm takes in €800m a year in revenue and has an expanding Irish office, gives Adrian his take on the state of the world.This includes the advice he would give to Mark Zuckerberg, why newspapers have to change their business model and the circumstances under which company bosses should speak openly about contemporary issues.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thought food delivery by drone was a distant tech promise?Think again.Irish entrepreneur Bobby Healy says his first Manna Aero drone flights with burgers and chips will start in January.The former Cartrawler CTO says he has clearance from Ireland’s regulators to do it and will start with an area servicing 30,000 people.In the near future, he says, he hopes to scale to 50,000 delivery drones for the Irish and UK markets.Is this really about to happen?Adrian sat down with Bobby at the Web Summit in Lisbon to talk about how Manna Aero will work, the challenges facing it and Healy’s future ambition for the company.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In what he says will be his last wide-ranging Irish interview “for two years”, Paddy Cosgrave speaks at length and in-depth about his business, his politics and his thoughts about the future.The Web Summit is still growing and is quite profitable, while sister events Collision and Rise are also expanding.Paddy reveals some of the background as to why he has campaigned against tax lawyers and an “unjust” economic system in Ireland. He also answers the allegation that he is adopting a double standard with regard to some of his stances, in relation to what he does with his own companies.This is a must-listen interview for anyone interested in the Web Summit founder.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian and Buzz.ie digital editor Mark Kavanagh look in depth at the pros and cons of Google’s latest flagship smartphone, the Pixel 4 XL.Adrian is disappointed with the phone’s battery life and lack of an ultrawide camera, while Mark loves the phone’s 90Hz refresh rate. Both admire Google’s Assistant and Android 10.The two journalists also compare and contrast the new Pixel with the other top phones on the market, while Adrian lists his three favourite smartphones of 2019.Adrian and Mark also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of signing up to Eir’s budget mobile operator, GoMo. Adrian thinks it’s a no-brainer, even if Eir goes back on its word and doesn’t keep the price at €10 per month for 80GB of data.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian invites a couple of guests on to ask about whether we’re anywhere close to realising aspirations of making Dublin into a ‘smart city’.What is a smart city, anyway? Is it just some public wifi? A few sensor-stacked bins? Or does Dublin have a plan for drones and autonomous vehicles?And should we avoid the example of Songdo, the South Korean city that spent €40bn creating a new smart citadel but where hardly anyone wants to live?Adrian talks to Jamie Cudden, Dublin City Council’s Smart City programme manager, and Dr Zohreh Pourzolfaghar from DCU’s School of Computing.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clothes manufacturers are starting to build voice technology into their garments, while Amazon’s new doorbell tech allows it to have autonomous conversations with whoever’s at the door.This week, Adrian Weckler goes through some of the latest developments in voice technology from companies like Google, Amazon and Nuance.He’s joined by Bret Kinsella, founder of Voicebot.ai and commentator of the year on voice technology as defined by the Alexa Conference.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Creating start-ups is hard. -- few of them succeed. This week, Adrian talks to two Irish co-founders, people at very different stages. Des Treanor is the co-founder of one of Ireland’s most successful ever start-ups, Intercom. Ian Kehoe is the co-founder of a new online media business company, The Currency. Both have different perspectives, motivations and challenges. Adrian asks both about particular issues that crop up and how they get over them.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian reviews the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max. Although smitten by the new cameras on the updated handsets, he thinks that the unsung feature that will sell the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max models is the impressive new battery life, up to five hours per day longer than last year’s iPhone X models. He’s joined by John Kennedy, former founding editor of SiliconRepublic.com and now editor of ThinkBusiness.ie, a business information platform run by Bank of Ireland. “After a week using the new iPhone 11 Pro Max, I would upgrade to it for two reasons,” says Adrian. “The cameras and the battery life. When it comes to cameras, I’m slightly biased. For me, the camera system on a phone is about half the reason I choose it. Apple claims that battery life on this model is up to five hours longer than last year’s X Max and it feels like it.”“I know that battery life has always been a pain point for iPhone users compared to some flagship models from rivals. So this is actually a very big deal, especially for power-users or business people relying on it as a workload tool. If anything, Apple is underplaying it.”For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian looks at some of the nuts and bolts of starting a company with a couple of entrepreneurs who have succeeded and failed several times.From choosing a place to work to asking for money from friends and family, Adrian gets the insights from Voxgig and Nearform founder Richard Rodger and serial startup activist Dave Cunningham.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the Big Tech Show, Adrian Weckler looks at 5G not from the point of view of speed or connectivity but health. It’s been an issue bubbling under, in rural areas especially, as to whether mobile phone radiation is safe.The regulators say it is but there are some campaigners who don't believe that is so. Are they mere conspiracy theorists or is there more to it?To find out, Adrian spoke to Tom Butler, Prof of Business Information Systems at UCC, who believes in the dangers, and Prof Kevin Curran from the School of Computing at Ulster University, who believes that if the dangers were as bad as people were claiming it wouldn't have gone unnoticed.For more from the Big Tech show you can visit the show page at:https://www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-big-tech-show/The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with a specialist from St John Of Gods, Professor Colin O’Gara, who says he is seeing more and more people brought in for addiction to video games.Adrian asks Prof O’Gara about the scale and depth of the problem, its effects and how to diagnose it.The two also discuss possible treatments for the problem, including the kinds of medication prescribed.And Adrian asks Prof O’Gara to put the issue into context with established medical addictions, such as gambling, alcohol and drugs.In an era when Irish teenagers are competing globally in esports competitions, how should Ireland deal with the clinical side of it?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian tackles the thorny issue of mobile and broadband operators which advertise "unlimited" services that actually have hidden limits.He sits down with the head of the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI), Orla Twomey, to ask why that organisation allows such a misleading situation to exist.Orla tells Adrian that while the situation is being reviewed, there is a rationale for allowing operators to advertise unlimited services that have limits.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down to find out what, if any, big ideas Dell Ireland's new country manager has.Mark Hopkins starts off defending some industry jargon before expanding into why he thinks tech will have a bigger impact on our education system.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down for a long, in-depth discussion with Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon on why she stopped the government from making its Public Services Card into a national identity card through the backdoor.After years of controversy, this week her office ruled that the PSC card cannot be used as a necessary form of identification for services outside the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection.The move effectively puts a halt to any plans the government had of making the Public Services Card a ‘national identity card’ through stealth.“The Department does not have a legal basis for processing personal data when it's in the case of a person who's seeking to avail of a service with the public sector body other than the Department itself,” she tells Adrian.However, she stopped short of saying that the Public Services Card must be scrapped.“Any cards that have been issued, their validity is not in question by anything we've found in this report,” she said.“They can continue to be used in the context of availing of free travel or availing of benefits that a person is claiming from the Department.”Dixon qualifies this by saying that the PSC can be used voluntarily by a citizen as a valid proof.“If someone optionally brings their public services card to renew their driver's license, there is no issue with that. But what we're saying is that it must be an option. A public sector body cannot now require someone who doesn't already have one, to go and procure one in order to avail of their service.”The PSC has been criticised by civil liberties groups who claim it is an attempt by the government to create a national identity card by stealth.Earlier this year, UN special rapporteur on poverty, Professor Philip Alston, said that the PSC “runs the risk of becoming a centralised database containing intimate, personal information” that was unsafe.Government ministers have repeatedly claimed that the PSC is a protection against fraud, identity theft and helps to cut costs. They say that the card simplifies identity registration for public services and reduces the need for duplicate forms and the repetition of processes. However, Dixon tells Adrian that the PSC as currently constructed is overarching and is sometimes being used without good reason or legal justification.“An example is the Department of Education’s appeal system around school transport,” she said.“It now says that you have to procure a PSC card to make an appeal. It’s very difficult to see why that’s a requirement.”Dixon also tells Adrian that she has opened a new investigation into the owner of The Huffington Post, Techcrunch and Yahoo. The Irish DPC office is now probing Verizon Media, formerly known as Oath, around complaints that its online media properties do not give users choice around online ‘cookies’ that track user activity online.Meanwhile, Dixon tells Adrian that her office’s first major GDPR decision relating to a multinational tech firm looks set to be about Whatsapp.“I expect that file to land on my desk in the next fortnight,” she said.However, it is then likely to take “months” to arrive at a formal decision due to a statutory process of “examination and analysis”.Dixon’s office currently has 61 statutory enquiries underway under GDPR law, 21 of which are focused on tech multinational firms. These include Facebook (8), Twitter (3), Apple (3), Whatsapp (2), Instagram (1), Google (1), Linkedin (1), Quantcast (1) and Verizon Media (1).Under GDPR law, the Irish DPC can fine a company up to 4pc of its annual turnover.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After October 31st, will pensioners still be able to travel on a free pass around Ireland? Will online shops based in the UK be able to process customer information from Irish shoppers?It’s in serious doubt, says the guest on this week’s podcast, Castlebridge’s Dr Katherine O’Keeffe, an expert on data privacy.Adrian and Katherine go deep on why a no-deal Brexit spells chaos for many ordinary activities you wouldn’t have thought of.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with Cillian Kieran, who recently scooped €3.8m in seed funding for his privacy-focused software startup called Ethyca.The two discuss possible solutions to today’s privacy problems.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Eir debateEir'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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.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 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.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 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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Women in Tech is a new four-part series presented by Samantha McCaughren, Business Editor of the Sunday Independent.In the series, Samantha speaks to Irish women involved in tech who are dispelling myths and breaking down barriers.On this first episode, Samantha is joined by Regina Moran, Enterprise Director with Vodafone Ireland, who, as an engineer by background, has always been involved in the STEM areas and is well-versed in breaking the mould from her early days.Regina talks about her own career and degree in engineering despite not having honours maths, plus the importance and need to introduce girls to STEM subjects before the age of 12.Regina is a chartered fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, served on the council and executive and as president from 2014 to 2015, during which time she promoted STEM and the role of women in engineering. She has received a fellowship of Irish Academy of Engineering, is also a member of the Government-industry led Smart Futures Advisory Board and is a former non-executive director of EirGrid.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.

Adrian spent a week in China getting a look under the hood of Huawei, the world’s most controversial tech company.He discusses his experience here with two INM acolytes, Sunday Independent deputy business editor Fearghal O’Connor and Sunday Independent business correspondent Michael Cogley. He recounts how:- He ended up singing with a band in a Chinese bar only to discover the guitarist was a senior Huawei executive (who then unexpectedly agreed to a revealing interview)- He coped with being behind the great firewall of China, with no access to Google, Facebook, Twitter or any or their associated services (and how the virtual private network he paid for simply didn’t work)- He navigated the astonishing scale of Shenzhen, a giant Chinese city that was designed after local politicians visited Shannon in Co Clare in 1980, and which now has 20m people (unlike Shannon in Co Clare)Adrian, Fearghal and Michael also discuss the wider implications of the Huawei controversy for global security, multilateralism and our choice of mobile phone in the future.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Adrian is joined by Independent News & Media (INM) head of product (and business columnist) Steve Dempsey and INM chief commercial development officer Mark Coan. The subject matter is the current and future prospects of the Irish media. 2019 has so far seen multiple Irish media companies announce layoffs. What does the future hold? Can paywall subscriptions turn traditional titles’ fortunes around? What other models are working at present? Or are there simply too many titles and publishers for the market to sustain at present?The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian is joined by data privacy expert Daragh O’Brien and child protection campaigner Alex Cooney of CyberSafeIreland.The three discuss the reappointment of Helen Dixon as Ireland’s data protection commissioner to a second five-year term.They also look at why, a year after the digital age of consent was raised from 13 to 16, it is no harder for children to access social media services and whether the UK’s upcoming age-verified online pornography system can teach us any lessons here.Finally, the three touch on the issue of e-voting and whether it may be time for Ireland to think again about what was a disastrous introduction of the technology here 15 years ago.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zander Lurie is the boss of the world’s biggest online survey company.The Nasdaq-listed firm has over 17m users and is expanding all over the world.Lurie reflects on the process by which he became SurveyMonkey CEO after the tragic passing in 2015 of his friend Dave Goldberg, husband of Sheryl Sandberg and former chief executive of SurveyMonkey. “The hairs still stand on the back of my neck, thinking about Dave,” he says.He also talks about the expectations on a modern tech CEO to take positions on controversial issues in the news, including immigration or President Trump.And he chats in detail about a number of other things, from the perception that Big Tech now has it all wrapped up to Dublin’s appeal for Silicon Valley.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, Adrian sits down with Richard Bruton, the government Communications minister at the centre of the state’s €5bn plan to run subsidised fibre broadband to every one of 540,000 rural homes and businesses in the country.He establishes for the first time that the value of the finished rural broadband network will only be a fraction of the €3bn the state is subsidising.Diving deep into some of the issues around the controversial rollout, Adrian asks Minister Bruton some other key questions about the current state of the broadband tender, including:1. SUBSIDIES – did the government’s subsidy rise when Eir pulled out of the National Broadband Plan tender competition, leaving only one bidder?2. WHAT THE NETWORK IS WORTH TO THE BIDDER – how much does the government value the completed broadband network and is it giving this asset away too cheaply to a private company, Granahan McCourt?3. PROFITABILITY – how much is the bidder ‘allowed’ to make under the agreed broadband operation?4. FAILSAFES – what does the bidder have to fail at for the state to legally claim the network back?5. FINANCE – how much responsibility does the state take in checking up on how the bidding company is financed, including the source of that finance?6. SECRECY – why can’t more detail on non-sensitive issues, such as the rate of return the bidder is allowed to make, be disclosed?7. TAXPAYER VALUE – what was the difference, if any, between the bids of Eir and Granahan McCourt?And much more. For anyone with an interest in Ireland’s biggest ever communications contract, this is required listening.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While attention rests on the National Broadband Plan, eir still holds the keys to many of Ireland’s biggest telecoms problems.This week, Adrian sits down with company chief executive Carolan Lennon to ask some of the key questions.On the National Broadband Plan, Adrian asks whether Lennon whether knowing that eir would collect close to €1bn from rental of its poles to the National Broadband Plan was a factor in the company withdrawing from the tender to oversee responsibility for the whole project. Lennon responds in detail about why eir pulled out.Adrian also asks whether, with €400m of new debt being taken on by eir, the company is again being sucked into a pattern of getting overstretched and over-leveraged.Other topics are discussed at length. For instance, eir has also promised 99pc geographic mobile 4G coverage of the country. Is this really possible without tens of thousands of new masts?Does Lennon believe that there’s room in the Irish market for three fully-fledged mobile operators?Are the days of the landline and home phones numbered? In an era of WhatsApp and Skype, is there a long term future for traditional mobile phone numbers?The two also discuss potential uses for 5G and the long term future for telecoms companies. And Lennon says that she believes the copper network that eir owns is on the way out.Lennon even reacts to a suggestion from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar last week that the government recently considered renationalising eir.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in IrelandSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the National Broadband Plan a visionary thing for Ireland? Or is it a grand folly?This week, Adrian talks exclusively to Peter Hendrick, the chief executive of the sole remaining bidder for the €3bn state-subsidised contract.The two talk about rollout timetables, cost and technology.Adrian asks why the last 20pc is being done with fibre and not wireless which, in the short term, might provide a cheaper solution.He also asks whether National Broadband Ireland, the new entity which will build and maintain the network, has resolved its differences with Eir and why it will cost €1bn to rent Eir’s infrastructure over the coming years.For anyone interested in the detail of the National Broadband Plan debate, this is worth listening to.The Big Tech podcast in proud association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we look at war stories from one of the fastest-growing online scams around – email fraud.Whether it’s invoice redirection fraud or CEO fraud, the phenomenon of faking corporate emails to siphon off thousands from a business is rampant in Ireland.Adrian Weckler looks through some of the reported incidences of this happening, including to Dublin Zoo, Trinity College and the Louth and Meath Education and Training Board.He is joined in studio by one of Ireland’s most senior experts on fraud, Conor Flynn of ISAS. Together, they dig down into the mechanics of how the scam takes root, from the first breach to the ultimate withdrawal.They also look at the role of ‘money mules’, often in the guise of third level students who ‘rent’ their bank accounts to the fraudsters, and what might happen to them.Finally, the two discuss ways that companies can protect against it.The Big Tech show is in association with Magnet Networks, connecting businesses virtually, anywhere in Ireland.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a lot of nonsense spoken about how rural broadband can be delivered.This week, Adrian Weckler and Irish Independent business editor Donal O’Donovan go through some of the myths and tropes around the process.They ask whether wireless or 5G might be an alternative. They also look at the cost of the rollout and whether the government can be trusted or not. And then they discuss the basic questions underpinning the whole process: is rural broadband to every home important? If so, is a state subsidy justifiable? And if that’s agreed, should it be high speed infrastructure or a patch-up job?Also: Adrian gives a very brief, spoiler-free review of ‘Avengers Endgame’.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do people really care if Facebook does unwarranted things with our personal data? Are we, in the press, simply overestimating how much it bothers people? The latest privacy breach involves the company saying it 'mistakenly' uploaded the private email contacts of 1.5m people. It has also admitted that millions, not thousands, of Instagram passwords were stored in plain language. But it's all being greeted by a big 'meh' from the public. Other than a few campaigning media outlets and privacy activists, thi+e latest revelations appear to barely bother anyone.Have we just become numb to a neverending stream of Facebook privacy screwups? Or does the company's unmoved account membership figures suggest that people see the breaches but conclude that it's a price worth paying for the utility they get out of it? In this week's podcast, Adrian and Castlebridge privacy expert Daragh O'Brien debate whether Facebook's privacy issues are regarded with disquiet anymore. They also look at the Irish data protection commissioner's recent guidance to schools, where the watchdog said bishops and principals who tell parents that they can't take photos at school events simply "because of GDPR" are wrong. And they consider the wider legal and ethical implications of when taking photos is and isn't okay.Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ZXvz7II5SHeDjDpGvTugjSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So now we know: Amazon is listening to our conversations. Some of its staff are told to listen in to what we tell the Amazon Echo to do.The company has been very secretive about this. But after a Bloomberg story delved into it, the company admitted that it listens to a small percentage of voice recordings to help its artificial intelligence figure out things like accents better.But that’s not all the workers hear. Some say that they have picked up disturbing things, like assaults. But they’re told not to do anything about it.There are a whole host of issues that crop up around this.Is it okay for Amazon staff to physically listen to our voice commands, even if it’s just for quality control?Do we believe them that it’s just for quality control?And a longer term, thornier issue arises -- what responsibility, if any, does a platform have if it detects something like a sexual assault?Joining Adrian to discuss this in depth is Patricia Scanlon, the founder and chief executive of Soapbox Labs, which specialises in childrens’ speech technology and artificial intelligence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we split the podcast into two segments: an interview with GoFundMe chief executive Rob Solomon and an audience with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on his visit to Dublin.While the 34-year-old billionaire was careful in his engagement with Irish journalists during the week, he did agree to talk for a few minutes. Adrian heard what Mark Zuckerberg is thinking on the issues of using Facebook as a tool for election interference, privacy in Europe, harmful content and why Facebook wants to start pushing for the transfer of data from one app to another as a right.GoFundMe’s Rob Solomon explained to Adrian why Ireland is the highest per-capital user base of his fundraising platform’s services. He also talked Adrian through the ways that GoFundMe guards against scam fundraising attempts and gave examples of how the platform disallows misinformation drives, such as recent attempts to raise money for anti-vaccination programmes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Apple’s big screen adventure (on a little screen)Why is Apple launching a TV and movie service? And will it be any good?This week, Adrian and Daragh O’Brien of Castlebridge wonder whether Apple can make it in Hollywood against the likes of Netflix, Disney and HBO.They also ask what the future is for old-fashioned linear TV broadcasters like RTE and BBC — will they essentially become the channels of sport, news and talent shows?And the two look at another prominent issue in Ireland this week: broadband. Specifically, will the government’s National Broadband Plan be rolled out? Should it be? How important is broadband, anyway?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.