Month: August 2023

How to Build an Algorithmic Trading Bot

The landscape of financial trading has undergone significant transformations over the past few decades. At the heart of these changes is the fusion of technology and finance, embodied in algorithmic trading. 

This powerful mechanism enables high-frequency trades, faster response times, and strategic investment decisions with minimal human intervention.

You can learn how to create a 3Commas trading bot. 

What is an Algorithmic Trading Bot?

At the core of algorithmic trading is an entity known as a trading bot. This is a computer program that conducts trades on your behalf based on a predetermined set of instructions or strategies. 

These instructions are encoded into the bot in the form of complex mathematical models that interpret market signals and make trading decisions. 

The key advantage of an algorithmic trading bot is its capacity to process vast amounts of data and execute trades at a speed and frequency that would be impossible for a human trader. 

Prerequisites to Building an Algorithmic Trading Bot

The journey towards creating your own algorithmic trading bot begins with equipping yourself with certain fundamental skills. 

First, a good grasp of a programming language is indispensable. Python, R, and Java are among the popular choices, given their powerful libraries and data-processing capacities. 

A thorough understanding of the financial markets and various trading strategies is equally important. 

Recognizing patterns, analyzing market movements, and understanding the underlying principles that drive the fluctuations in the market can make the difference between an average and a superior algorithmic bot.

Moreover, don’t overlook the legal and ethical aspects of trading. In a field where significant money is involved, regulations are stringent. Adherence to rules is not just an ethical obligation but also crucial to avoid legal repercussions.

Understanding Financial Markets and Trading Strategies

Trading strategies vary across the financial markets. Traditional stock markets, forex markets, or the relatively new cryptocurrency markets each have unique characteristics that influence how trading bots should operate within them. 

Trading strategies provide a logical and systematic approach to investment. Mean Reversion, for instance, is based on the assumption that the price of an asset will revert to its average over time. 

On the other hand, Momentum strategies bet on the continuation of the current trend in the market. Statistical arbitrage strategies aim to capitalize on market inefficiencies that can be identified through mathematical models. 

Understanding these strategies is pivotal for your trading bot’s design and operation.

Developing the Algorithm

Armed with a chosen strategy and a preferred programming language, the next phase involves coding your algorithm. The choice of language can greatly influence your bot’s performance. 

Python, for instance, offers a user-friendly syntax and a rich ecosystem of libraries and tools tailored for financial analysis. Java, though slightly more complex, is renowned for its speed and scalability. R is another powerful tool, especially for statistical computing and graphics.

The integration of machine learning algorithms in trading bots has been a game-changer. These algorithms can identify patterns in vast datasets and learn over time, leading to strategies that can adapt to changing market conditions.

Backtesting the Algorithm

Before deploying your bot into the live market, it’s critical to test its performance using historical data – a process known as backtesting. 

While a successful backtest does not guarantee future success, it can help identify potential flaws in your strategy and provide an estimate of expected performance.

However, a common pitfall during backtesting is overfitting. This occurs when your algorithm is excessively tailored to the data set, compromising its ability to perform with new data. 

Techniques like cross-validation and out-of-sample testing can help minimize overfitting.

Implementing the Algorithm

Once you’ve refined your algorithm, the next stage involves linking it to a trading platform via an Application Programming Interface (API). 

This connection will allow your bot to receive real-time market data, interpret this data per the algorithm, and place trades accordingly. 

It’s crucial that your bot can process real-time data and execute orders with minimal delay, given the time-sensitive nature of trading.

Risk Management in Algorithmic Trading

Risk management is a critical component of any trading strategy. The inherent volatility of financial markets makes them fraught with risk. 

Thus, your bot should include features that limit potential losses, such as setting stop losses, defining maximum drawdowns, or diversifying investments across various assets.

Maintaining and Improving the Algorithm

The creation of an algorithmic trading bot isn’t a one-off event but a continual process. Financial markets are dynamic, and an effective bot must adapt to these changing conditions. 

Regular checks and updates, coupled with a readiness to refine and tweak your strategies, are essential to maintaining your bot’s efficacy.

Conclusion

The journey to building an algorithmic trading bot is both challenging and rewarding. It’s a multi-faceted process that merges programming, finance, and data analytics, requiring not only technical prowess but also strategic insight. 

The effort invested can yield significant benefits, from efficient trade execution to potentially profitable investment strategies. Remember, success in this domain comes from continual learning, diligent application, and adaptation to the ever-evolving financial markets.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo Vs. Lionel Messi: Perhaps the Last GOAT Duel

Will it be the last GOAT duel? Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi face off in a friendly in Saudi Arabia. On this occasion, we look back on the greatest clashes between what are probably the best players of the 21st century.

The GOAT debate is a bit tiresome, yet it has hung over the world of soccer for years. No other topic lasts longer than the discussion about Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. Who is the better? Which camp do you belong to? Was there ever a better one than the two exceptional talents?

Since many didn’t have the pleasure of seeing the likes of Pelé or Maradona (yes, there are many other legendary kickers) live and in colour, the latter question does not even arise for many fans. However, CR7 and Messi rallied in their successful careers with enough arguments that this opinion is quite justifiable.

The fact that Messi has now led his Argentinians to the world title in Qatar should probably swing the pendulum in his direction – especially since Ronaldo said goodbye to Portugal in the quarter-finals. The direct duel between the two superstars, which would only have been possible in the World Cup final, did not come about.

Lionel Messi Vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: Stats

Before we delve deeper into the most iconic games, it’s worth taking a look at the insane stats of the two Superstars.

Ronaldo scored 701 goals and provided 223 assists in 949 competitive games for his clubs. In addition, there are 118 goals in 196 games for Portugal.

Messi has also scored 702 at club level and 98 for Argentina (172) in 855 games. When it comes to assists, he’s a bit ahead of his rival, with whom he now has a friendly relationship, with 388 overall.

He also won the prestigious Ballon d’Or, twice more than Ronaldo, with seven titles. He has one more Champions League trophy in his showcase. In the big titles with her national team, Messi has now trumped Ronaldo with the World Cup title in Qatar. In addition, the Argentine won the Copa America, CR7 “only” the European Championship, but he was denied the world championship title.

Cristiano Ronaldo & Lionel Messi in Direct Comparison

Statistics Cristiano Ronaldo Lionel Messi
games overall 1.145 1,027
goals total 819 800
total assists 266 388
title overall 34 42
Personal Awards* 7 9

Cristiano Ronaldo Vs. Lionel Messi: The Last Duel

Ronaldo, then already at Juventus Turin, secured his team the group victory with a brace. The Old Lady won 3-0 against FC Barcelona.

Did he score the first goal in the usual way with a penalty, the second – how else? – Also. In the meantime, Weston McKennie made it 2-0 with a sidekick.

Messi, on the other hand, missed several top-class shots. It was the first defeat for Barça in the group stage since 2009 – now, as we know, that’s not uncommon.

Lionel Messi Vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: The First Clásico Duel

Ronaldo had come to Madrid from Manchester the previous summer for the then-record sum of 94 million euros. It was to be the beginning of what might be the greatest feud of all time.

However, FC Barcelona won the game 1-0. A certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored the goal of the day. Sergio Busquets and Lassana Diarra each saw yellow-red in the heated duel. And Messi and Ronaldo? Not much came from either of them. Ronaldo was even substituted, with Karim Benzema coming on.

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi: The Most Important Duel

Ronaldo and Messi only faced each other six times in the premier class. At least once in the final. Barcelona took an early lead through Samuel Eto’o, and Messi decided for the vastly superior Catalans. And how!

After a cross that was too high, the 1.69-meter jumped into the air and came from behind with his head on the ball. Keeper Edwin van der Saar could only watch how the ball hit the far corner. “Messi can do everything. He’s the strongest, he’s the best,” enthused coach Pep Guardiola afterwards.

It was the icing on the cake of Barça’s show of might and perhaps the best team of all time. CR7, on the other hand, was almost completely sidelined. At the same time, it was Ronaldo’s last game for Manchester United before moving to Real. A year earlier he had won the helm pot with the Red Devils after defeating Barcelona in the semifinals.

Lionel Messi Vs. Cristiano Ronaldo: The Biggest Slap

The game not only resulted in one of the most painful defeats in the history of Real Madrid and Ronaldo, but also one of the most legendary moments in the feud: a visibly battered Messi ran towards the 5-0 shortly after Jéffren’s goal centre circle to wait for the restart while Ronaldo looked down the tube, hands on hips.

A picture that should also stand for the differences between Real and Barça in the following years: while the Madrilenians only won the league three times from 2010 to 2020, the Catalans were in the top six times at the end of the season in this period.

Despite the five goals, Messi’s name didn’t end up on the scoreboard. Xavi, Pedro and David Villa scored the first four goals in a brace. It was also a wake-up call for Real – only in 2015 during the Ronaldo era did they lose again at a similar rate (0:4).

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi: The greatest spectacle

Goals from Ronaldo and Messi, a red card for Sergio Ramos and a total of seven goals: this Clásico had everything that makes a spectacle. It was undoubtedly the most attractive duel in the era of the two rivals.

In the end, Barça won 4-3, and Messi became the match-winner with three goals. Ronaldo had meanwhile given Real a 3-2 lead from the point. Messi also scored twice from penalties, equalising 3-3 and making it 4-3.

 

Top Tips for Securing a Personal Loan for Your Startup

Starting a new business is an exciting and daunting prospect. You often need access to money, either in the form of personal savings or credit, to get things off the ground. Taking out a personal loan can give you that additional boost you need for your venture; it can help with paying for start-up costs as well as provide working capital. However, the process isn’t always straightforward – so if you’re considering using a loan to fund your business plan, here are our top tips on securing one without any fuss!

Understand your credit history and score 

Understanding your credit history and score is crucial if you want to secure a loan in the future. Your credit score is a reflection of your creditworthiness and lenders use this information to evaluate the risk of lending you money. The higher your credit score, the more likely you are to qualify for loans with better interest rates and terms. On the other hand, if your score is low, you may struggle to get approved for loans or may only qualify for high-interest loans. Knowing your credit score and understanding how it’s calculated can help you take steps to improve it over time, giving you better financial opportunities in the future. With things apps like Credit Builder Plus, it’s easier than ever to learn and improve your credit score. Make sure to consult credit reporting agencies to get the most up-to-date information and advice. 

Research different lenders and loan types 

Considering the vast amount of options available, researching different lenders and loan types can feel like a daunting task. However, taking the time to compare interest rates, repayment terms, eligibility requirements, and other important factors can end up saving you a significant amount of money in the long run. By doing your due diligence, you’ll be able to choose a loan that not only fits your current financial situation but also sets you up for success in the future. So grab a notebook and start taking notes – the effort you put in now will pay off down the line. In addition, you should also look into taking advantage of government-backed loan programs for small businesses and entrepreneurs. It’s always worth looking into the available options to see if you qualify.

Figuring out the right type of financial aid brings clarity and structure to your entrepreneurial plans. Starting a company requires taking out a small business loan that offers reasonable terms and aligns with your long-term goals. Whether you’re funding equipment, inventory, or office space, the right loan can make a major difference in your launch phase. Taking time to understand the application process and lender expectations will set a strong foundation for growth.

Have a plan for how you will use the funds and how you will repay the loan 

It’s exciting to think about the possibilities that come with obtaining a loan for a business venture. However, it’s important to have a solid plan in place before taking on any debt, whether through a bank or an alternative lender. A loan should be seen as an investment in your future, rather than a quick fix for financial trouble. So, take the time to carefully consider how you will use the funds and how you will repay the loan in a timely manner. This might involve creating a budget or timeline for the project or seeking financial advice from a trusted professional.

By having a clear plan in place, you’ll not only be more likely to secure the loan in the first place but also set yourself up for long-term success. It’s also wise to seek guidance from experienced professionals to optimize your financial strategy—whether it’s consulting with an accountant or working to find the best mortgage broker in Brisbane who can help you navigate financial products that align with your goals.

Talk to an accountant or financial advisor 

When it comes to starting up a business, there are countless factors to consider, and securing a loan is certainly high on the list. To ensure that you are making the right decision for your specific situation, it’s crucial to consult with an expert in the financial field, such as an accountant or financial advisor. These professionals have a deep understanding of the complexities of financing and can provide valuable insight into everything from loan options to payment plans. By seeking out their advice and guidance, you can feel confident in your ability to secure the funding you need to get your startup off the ground. If borrowing money is still not an option for you, there are other financing avenues to explore, such as venture capital or crowdfunding. 

Preparing to secure a loan for your startup is an important part of growing a successful business. You need to have a clear understanding of your credit history and score as well as what lenders/loan types might be the best fit and most beneficial for you. Having a plan for how you will use the funds and how you will repay the loan is key, as is gathering all the necessary documents any lender will require. It may even be worth exploring other financing options such as investor funding or crowdfunding, depending on your needs. Above all else, talking to an accountant or financial advisor to get advice on this important step is invaluable – knowing you’re making the right decisions can give you the confidence needed to take that next Giant Leap!

 

Boosting SEO Performance: Unleashing the Power of Backlink Checker Tools

The majority of businesses these days are moving online, and digital marketing has become a major way of attracting new clients, generating leads, and boosting brand visibility. Search Engine Optimization is the main way to improve a website’s visibility and drive organic traffic. It consists of multiple aspects, including content creation, keyword optimization, and one of the most important factors, the presence of high-quality backlinks. Backlinking signals both search engines and users online that the content you’re creating is trustworthy and relevant. In this article, you’ll learn about the importance of backlinking and how to use backlink checker tools to boost your business’s visibility and rank higher in SERP.

Understanding Backlink Analysis 

Backlinks play a crucial role in SEO. Those are hyperlinks that point from one website to another. For instance, other websites can link to your blog posts in their articles, inviting people to check out your content. These links will indicate that your content is relevant, valuable, and worth reading. Now, let’s talk about the importance of backlinks. 

Importance of Backlinks

Backlinks have numerous benefits for businesses and their websites’ SEO efforts.

 

  • Increased organic traffic: When people read content on a specific website and click on links to your site, it increases organic traffic, especially if they find your content valuable. 


  • Improved credibility: The more backlinks from authoritative websites you have, the more credible people will consider you. It is essential to create high-quality content to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field and can be trusted. 


  • Increased rankings: Backlinks are one of the top ways to increase your ranking in SERP. Search engines like Google consider a large number of high-quality backlinks as a sign that your website can be trusted, and it leads to higher rankings. 


  • Fast indexing: When search engine crawlers index pages that have links to your website, they follow these links and start analyzing your pages, lending to faster indexing and better visibility in SERP.

 

To experience all these benefits, you can use a Backlink Checker Tool by NinjaReports. It is a versatile backlink checker tool with a lot of useful features, such as comprehensive backlink analysis, competitor analysis, customized reporting features, integration with other SEO tools, etc. It simplifies the process of backlink creation by automating the process, visualizing the data, and allowing you to receive actionable insights about your current backlink profile and opportunities. 

Backlink Analysis Process

Not all backlinks are of high quality. It is essential to learn how to analyze them and ensure that they will benefit your SEO efforts. There are a few steps to do that:

 

  • Gather backlink data: You can gather backlinks by using various online backlink checker tools. These tools provide lists of backlinks that are used by other websites and can be beneficial for you. 


  • Check domain authority: Once you have a list of backlinks, pay attention to their authority. You should use backlinks that have the highest authority, as websites with these links have a greater impact on rankings. 


  • Analyze relevancy: All backlinks you use should be relevant to the content you create. For example, if you have a blog about IT development, you should look for websites that write on similar topics because it will help you attract users interested in this domain. 


  • Check link quality: You should also check whether the websites you take backlinks from are reputable, create content of high quality, and can be trusted. Using backlinks that lead to websites with poor content or spam can affect your website’s performance in SERP.

Leveraging Backlink Checker Tools

According to recent statistics, 55.24% of web pages on the internet have zero backlinks, and 29.79% of web pages have less than 3 backlinks. That’s why it’s essential to start using backlink checker tools for your benefit. 

Backlink analysis can be automated and done fast and easily with the help of various backlink checker tools available online. 

Backlink checker tools are SEO tools that help businesses analyze and evaluate their backlink profiles, find new opportunities, and analyze their competitors. Usually, backlink checkers have the following functionality:

 

  • Backlink analysis: These tools collect data about backlinks from multiple sources, providing you with a comprehensive overview of the total number of backlinks, their authority, domains, anchor texts, and the quality of the backlinks. 


  • Link quality assessment: Backlink checkers constantly update information about backlink quality and authority. They assess page authority, citation flow, spam score, domain authority, etc. You can see all these numbers when you click on a specific backlink, which helps you decide whether to use it. 


  • Competitor analysis: This is an essential feature of any backlink checker. You need to compare your website to your competitors to identify gaps in your strategy, opportunities, and possible collaborations. You can also use the same backlinks as your competitors if they see that these links bring real results. 


  • Reporting: Backlink checker tools allow generating reports with graphs, charts, and other visual elements to help you comprehend the data easier and evaluate your backlink profile. 


  • Link discovery: You can discover new potential links through these tools, find broken links, and guest posting opportunities. 

Best Practices for Backlink Analysis

Backlink analysis is a multi-step process that includes various practices, two of the most effective being identifying high-quality backlinks and competitive analysis. 

Identifying high-quality backlinks helps you find links that are relevant to your content, come from authoritative websites, and can be trusted both by users and search engines. Moreover, it is essential to create a natural, balanced link profile with backlinks from different domains, IP addresses, and types of content (image, text, video, etc.). 

Competitive analysis is vital for discovering new opportunities, identifying successful strategies for growth, and outperforming your competitors. It helps you understand your competitors’ link-building strategies and either get inspired by them or see what they are doing wrong and not repeat their mistakes. 

Conclusion

Backlinking is as important for SEO as keyword research and content creation. Your SEO efforts won’t show real results without an effective backlink strategy. Thankfully, numerous online backlink checker tools like NinjaReports can help you streamline your backlinking efforts and collect actionable insights about your backlink profile.

EPAM launches Generative AI orchestration platform, DIAL

EPAM Systems, Inc. , a leading digital transformation services and product engineering company, today announced the launch of its AI-powered DIAL Orchestration Platform (Deterministic Integrator of Applications and LLMs), which merges the power of Large Language Models (LLMs) with deterministic code — offering a secure, scalable and customisable AI workbench to streamline and enhance AI-driven business solutions.

Produced by EPAM’s Reliable AI Lab (RAIL), DIAL helps enterprises speed their experimentation and innovation efforts across an extensive range of LLMs, AI-native Applications and Custom Add-ons as well as provides a practical approach for engineering business solutions with reliable AI capabilities.

The DIAL Platform offers a unified user interface, empowering businesses to leverage a spectrum of public and proprietary LLMs, Add-ons, APIs, Datastores and Business Applications. This integration promotes the development of novel enterprise assets that co-exist seamlessly with an organisation’s existing workflows.

Moreover, Applications and Add-ons can be implemented through diverse approaches, encompassing LangChain, LLamaIndex, Semantic Kernel or custom code — all within an integrated, secure and scalable framework. The DIAL Platform aggregates multi-cloud assets libraries including components, routing, rate-limiting software, monitoring tools, load-balancing solutions and deployment scripts. This extensive, curated toolkit supports a wide range of business use cases and integration scenarios and offers approaches to significantly optimise the consumption of external LLMs.

“Since 2021, we have experimented with thousands of AI use cases, helping EPAM and our customers to identify and adopt Generative AI scenarios to power business transformation initiatives,” said Elaina Shekhter, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at EPAM. “The learnings from these efforts have led us to design and engineer a platform that accelerates the cost-effective development, reliability testing and operations of AI-embedded business applications.”

“RAIL, as part of EPAM’s broader R&D initiatives, concentrates on creating accelerators and components that encompass a full scope of advanced technologies, including Generative AI. These are designed to expedite the implementation of enterprise-scale solutions, embodying our commitment to innovation and our vision for a transformative future, driven by cutting-edge technology,” – added Ilya Gorelik, Head of EPAM’s RAIL Lab.

In keeping with EPAM’s long-standing commitment to Open Source, portions of DIAL will be released under an Apache 2.0 licensing scheme as part of its launch. This initiative encourages responsible use, community innovation and the adoption of responsible AI enterprise standards within the industry.

To learn more about EPAM’s AI-powered DIAL Orchestration Platform, visit https://epam-rail.com.

GoMoWorld Adds 10 more Destination Plans, Connecting Irish Travellers to the World

GoMoWorld, a mobile app that provides international data through eSIMs, revolutionising the way Irish travellers stay connected abroad abroad, adds ten more destination plans, including Belize, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, French Antilles, French Polynesia, further expanding its global coverage.

According to the GoMoWorld team, the United States of America remains the most favoured destination for Irish GoMoWorld customers, constituting a staggering 45% of plans. This is followed by European destinations at 27% where ‘roam like home’ may not be available or if customers need a top up on their own roaming allowance.

With its value, coverage and simple setup GoMoWorld has become a go-to solution for data access while travelling overseas. Other top destinations include Canada and Australia, where soccer fans travelled to support the Irish soccer team in the World Cup. Irish globetrotters are also embracing the app in other locations like Korea, Israel, Mexico, and Serbia.

Travellers are using GoMoWorld to travel and work abroad and also to represent Ireland on a global stage. Irish international footballer Amber Barrett, used GoMoWorld while playing in Australia, and shares her experience, stating, “The GoMoWorld app has been so useful and easy to use abroad. It’s so beneficial to be able to use data with no worries about heavy bills when you come home. It is very accessible and easy to add on data whenever it’s needed.”

Heloise Abraham, Director GoMoWorld: “At the heart of GoMoWorld’s success lie its remarkable features, which we believe is what sets it apart from traditional roaming options. Not only is it great value and easy to use but unlike traditional plans it doesn’t tie users down with contracts. The feedback we’re getting from our customers is that it’s so easy that you almost forget about it, meaning you can stay connected, wherever you are in the world.”

GoMoWorld offers data roaming plans starting at just €3.99 per month. The app connects users to local partner networks in over 160 countries, granting them easy access to the internet through reliable local mobile networks. With no physical SIM card required, GoMoWorld offers a hassle-free experience and GoMoWorld lets travellers roam with no long-term contracts. Users can download the app from the App Store or Google Play, select their destination, and install their eSIM.

Finalists Announced for 6th Annual Diversity In Tech Awards

The Diversity in Tech Awards finalists for 2023 have been announced today. The event in association with J.P. Morgan is set to take place on Wednesday, 27th September 2023, at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin. Over 400 executives from Ireland’s thriving international tech community will be in attendance. The evening’s programme will also include a keynote address by Norah Patten an Irish Aeronautical Engineer about her experience breaking the glass ceiling and a panel discussion entitled The ROI of DEI: Driving Business Profitability through Diversity and Inclusion featuring Steven Fuller of Race In STEM, Angelika Sharygina of Mindguardian, Kyran O’Mahoney of IA Labs and a representative of J. P Morgan.

Since launching in 2018, The Diversity in Tech Awards has highlighted the shift in companies making workplaces more diverse and inclusive, whilst also recognising their efforts to narrow the gender gap. This has been achieved through celebrating Irish women who are driving IT excellence, innovation, leadership and overall success in the tech industry.

This year, in recognition for the efforts of promoting diversity and narrowing the gender gap, the awards have been split into two categories, Diversity in Tech and Women in Tech.

Please see finalists and categories below:

Diversity categories and finalists

  • Diversity Role Model Award (sponsored by IAS Integral Ad Science) – Accenture (Dublin), Amnexis (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Merck (Dublin), NCBI – Working for people with Sight Loss (Dublin), Tenable (Dublin), Trinnovo Group (United Kingdom).

  • LGBTQ+ Inclusion Award – Amazon Web Services (United States), Cognizant Technology Solutions (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Experian Ltd (United Kingdom), Greenhouse Software (Dublin), Microsoft Ireland (United Kingdom), Oracle EMEA Ltd.(Dublin), Workday (Dublin)

  • Disability inclusion Award (sponsored by Carelon Global Solutions) – CPL (Dublin), Employers for Change, The Open Doors Initiative (Dublin), EY (United Kingdom), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin), SAP SE (Germany)

  • Cultural Inclusion Award – Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Cognizant Technology Solutions (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), LinkedIn Ireland (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)

  • Health & Wellness Award – Axonista Ltd (Dublin), Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), EY (Dublin), LearnUpon (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), Tata Consultancy Services (Dublin)

  • Social Impact Award (sponsored by ESB) – Chainlink Labs (United Kingdom), Deloitte (Dublin), Innovate Communities (Dublin), The Big Idea (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)

  • Diverse Company of the Year (sponsored by Oracle) – CPL (Dublin), eBay(Dublin), EY (United Kingdom), Fiserv (Dublin), Google (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), Salesforce Ireland (Dublin), SAP SE (Germany)

 

Women In Tech categories and finalists

  • Tech Leadership Award (sponsored by FTI Consulting) – Fiserv (Dublin), Inclusio (Dublin), KPMG (United Kingdom), Meta (Saudi Arabia), Microsoft (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin), Vodafone Ireland (Dublin)

  • Entrepreneurship Award (sponsored by Fiserv)- EudaOrg (Dublin), Online Buzzing (Dublin), Platform55 (Dublin), ProMotion Rewards (Dublin), shareclub (Dublin), Technological University Dublin (Dublin)

  • Digital Transformation Award – Dell (Dublin), Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Citi (United Kingdom), EY (Dublin), J.P. Morgan Chase (United Kingdom) Meta (Saudi Arabia)

  • Trailblazer Award – Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Rent the Runway (Dublin), Johnson & Johnson (Dublin), Meta (Dublin), Mission Unstoppable (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), The Big Idea (Dublin), Women in AI (Dublin)

  • Young Female STEM Pioneer (sponsored by Mongo DB) – CodLad(Dublin), EY (Dublin), Open College Network (United Kingdom), University College Dublin (Dublin), Workday (Dublin)

  • Rising Star Award – ESB (Dublin), EY (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Galvia (Galway), Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin), Revolut (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)

  • Data Scientist Award (sponsored by J.P. Morgan) – CodLad (Dublin), Ericsson (Dublin), EY (Dublin), EY (Dublin), Women in AI (Dublin)

  • Mentorship Award – Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Deloitte Ireland (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), IADT (Dublin), IBM (Dublin), Tenable (Dublin), Verizon Connect (Dublin), Workday (Dublin)

Finalists for the Diversity in Tech Awards are chosen by a judging panel from a wide range of corporate, not-for-profit and consultancy organisations. Some of this year’s judges include Erica Ryan – Regional VP of MongoDB, Lorraine Deschamps – Head of Corporate Citizenship with Fiserv, Gráinne Bryan – Senior Managing Director of Technology with FTI Consulting, Vessy Tasheva – Founder & CEO of Vessy.com and Sheree Atcheson – Global Diversity & Inclusion Senior Exec with Valtech.

The Diversity in Tech Awards Programme also hosts the Grace Hopper Award along with the Diversity Impact Award sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services. The DIA accolade recognises not-for-profit organisations that have demonstrated exceptional initiative to promote inclusion in the workplace. The Grace Hopper Award honours a female STEM professional whose exceptional achievements and outstanding contributions have made a lasting impact on technology, society, and their profession.

To see the full list of finalists, please see HERE.

Announcing the finalists, Tracey Carney, Managing Director of the Diversity in Tech Awards said: “We are extremely excited to bring the Diversity in Tech Awards back to the RDS this year. Since the awards were created in 2018 as the Women in Tech Awards, the event focused on promoting better balance in tech. In 2020, we pivoted to the Diversity in Tech Awards, and while continuing to keep women in tech as a core part of the agenda, it has grown into a programme celebrating all facets of diversity within the tech industry. The event is not only about celebrating excellence, but also about sharing knowledge and experience. The calibre of finalists this year is exceptional, and we can’t wait to congratulate each and every one of the amazing finalists joining us in September.”

GreenTechHQ announces AI for business workshops

Wexford based Sustainability Innovation Hub, GreenTechHQ has introduced a series of AI workshops to unlock the power of AI for businesses.

Presented by GreenTechHQ resident AI expert Rory Caldicott it is an opportunity for attendees to equip themselves with the knowledge and tools to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving business landscape.

Almost one tenth of Irish adults have used ChatGPT for work purposes according to research by Digital Business Ireland. The study found that 18 per cent of all Irish adults have used the artificial intelligence platform, split 10 per cent for personal use and 8 per cent for work purposes. Findings were extrapolated from the most recent Digital Insights research commissioned by Digital Business Ireland, a representative body for online businesses, based on a national representative sample, collected from a pool of over 30,000 panellists.

“In a world driven by data, those who master AI will navigate the future with foresight, elevate efficiency, and sculpt success.  GreenTechHQ hopes to shine a light into a relatively new digital world which is rapidly improving.  Our aim at GreenTechHQ is to support start-ups and SMEs through innovation, focusing on sustainability and leading of financially viable solutions.  With AI lies an additional key to shaping future successes now” said GreenTechHQ founder Ed Murphy

The workshops are an ideal opportunity to stay updated with the latest advancements in AI and how businesses are leveraging this technology to their advantage. Attendees can gain insights into the success stories of AI implementations and discover the transformative potential for their own enterprises.

Workshops are perfect for business leaders, entrepreneurs, managers, and professionals from all industries looking to harness the power of AI to drive growth and competitive advantage. No prior technical knowledge is required; the content is designed to be accessible and valuable for all.

Course presenter, Rory Caldicott “The future of AI holds endless possibilities.  This workshop delves into the latest trends and predictions, empowering one to make informed decisions that will future-proof your business”

Register online at greentechhq.com

Tech Review – Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE Soundbar

The Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE is the fourth in the series from the company making it slip into a different price bracket so what we have here is a product that suits ones needs when it comes to sound, size and features and the case here there is no subwoofer with this one meaning less space taken up but it is slightly larger than others in the range and with all that in mind this still has plenty of ports and connectivity options that caters for just about anyone and not forgetting the RGB lights built in.

The build quality is excellent here again and it is a familiar affair when it comes to the layout of the I/Os and buttons which makes it good for existing users per say to change up or down their current models, for someone new buying this at its price and target market there will be no issues at all with the product. Check out the unboxing below before you read on if you are a first timer and have decided to go for this one.  You can see the Stage 360 here and the Katana V2X here which was our last model to test and sit nicely in line with this one we have now. There is many other models to find on site if you want to have a look.

Unboxing and Walkthrough – Creative Sound Blaster Katana SE

 

 

How does it sound then, hard to call over video but we have a video review below and in short this is excellent and almost up there with the last model and for me this is ideal for anyone who has not ventured into the soundbar game which is now popular, I have an expensive TV  and one for gaming which was not cheap and you expect decent speakers but no, rubbish and downward firing which is still a feature when you buy a TV today and this is why soundbars are popular. Again a caveat here is where your IR port is on TV and soundbars usually block most of them but you can prop up your TV legs if required or fix the speaker the a wall with a bracket mine luckily enough allows me to use the remote but sometimes it is a pain.

The sound is great and that is all that matter I have tried and test with my Phone TV and gaming console and the result is the same optimal audio performance, no lag latency noted which I have notice this being an issue in the past with some soundbars again though this is with streaming and depending on your tv with some have the option to add delay and yes me having and expensive TV still has not got this feature but I am glad to say there is NO lag latency when streaming.

Best placed on your floor or on your TV stand and tuned up to the max sit back and enjoy the thumping bass and sound if your floors are wooden of course and it vibrates through the couch, not only this is coupled with Super X-Fi technology, 5.1 virtual surround capabilities, and versatile connectivity options, the Sound Blaster Katana SE is the ideal soundbar for gamers, movie lovers, and music enthusiasts who want an elevated audio experience without compromising on space or audio quality. If you have not yet tried this or a pair of compatible headphones you do not know what you are missing..

At the end of the day this soundbar delivers and all fronts, there is cheaper out there the price might put some off but from someone who has tested countless soundbars over the years this is worth the investment as it can be used in many scenarios and not just your TV, it is a one stop for sound quality and connectivity options and it is portable around the home or if needs be the office and in my case it does them all including my external office out my back which I often use to get away from the noise and just chill out.

Sound Blaster Katana SE is priced at UK£299.99, US$299.99, EU€329.99 and is available at Creative.com.For more information, visit www.creative.com/katanase

Video Review