TechFest 2022 returns in-person to Cork City

it@cork has today officially launched TechFest 2022, its annual flagship technology conference, which returns for its first in-person event since 2019. The technology conference will be held in the Clayton Hotel in Cork City from 9:30am on the 25th of May 2022 with a festival of supporting technology events all that week. Tickets for the main conference are currently on sale at https://bit.ly/itcorktechfest22.

The technology festival will feature expert speakers from across the world, including Global Tech for Good practitioner and Director at GitHub Mala Kumar and Environmental Scientist Dr. Tara Shine. The event, MC’d by award-winning industry broadcaster Jonathan McCrea, will also feature workshops, networking opportunities and an industry expo.

Gillian Bergin, it@cork Chairperson and Senior Consultant with DELL Technologies commented: “We are energised and excited that TechFest returns as an in-person event this year. There are two years of networking and knowledge sharing to catch up on, and we have a jam-packed day planned with panel discussions, breakout sessions and keynote addresses.

“With our three key themes of Transform, Innovate and Inspire, attendees will hear from industry leaders and subject matter experts on how tech has enabled them to adapt and succeed, overcoming the lingering impacts of the pandemic. There will also be a focus on how companies can overcome the current talent crisis, how current and future transformative technologies will impact the nature of work and challenging discussions on possibilities and practicalities.” 

Over 250 people are expected to attend the event, giving the opportunity for attendees to network, connect and collaborate. Other speakers include Dr Marguerite Nyhan, Associate Professor in Environmental Engineering and Future Sustainability from UCCRois Ni Thuma, Head of Cyber Governance from Redsift, Niamh Parker, Co-Founder from Altada, Greg Tarr, Chief Executive Officer from Inferex, Conor O’Loughlin Co-Founder of Glofox, and Ross Frenett, Founder and Chief Executive Officer from Moonshot. Plus, many more speakers will be released in the coming weeks. 

TechFest project lead William Dalton, Head of Global Infrastructure Services at Trend Micro and it@cork board member added: “We are also inviting organisations in the region to host satellite events that week, creating a multi-day technology festival, offering diversity of thought and experience, and showcasing the best of what the region has to offer”

As part of the TechFest 2022 schedule, it@cork is inviting organisations in the southwest of Ireland to host an event for it@cork members and beyond. If you have an idea for a partner event, please contact Juliette at juliette@itcork.ie

At their recent AGM, it@cork appointed five new members to their board, including Laura Hughes, Program Manager at Cloudera, Vikram Kunnath, Lifesciences Manufacturing, Supply chain and Technology Consulting leader and Partner at Ernest & Young, Louise O’Neill, Associate Director at Berkley Group, Catherine Evans, RDI Collaboration Manager at Fexco and Matthew Camilleri, Founder and CEO at Castille.

Tickets for the event are now on sale at https://bit.ly/itcorktechfest22but numbers are limited so attendees are encouraged to book early as the event is expected to be a sell-out.

Dublin’s Future Human partners with IT Ukraine in May

Future Human will partner with the IT Ukraine Association for this year’s event. Future Human takes place on May 12-13, at the state-of-the-art Trinity Business School on Pearse Street in Dublin, where leading international thinkers will share their wisdom on the future of everything.

Produced by Silicon Republic, and supported by Aon, the event replaces the award-winning Inspirefest, which ran for five years at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin.

Full details at:  https://hopin.com/events/futurehuman2022/registration

Along with leading thinkers on Entrepreneurship, Web3, Climate, Future of Work and Business, the event will host a special panel on the Future of Ukraine. Along with Irish-based speakers like Neill Dunwoody, co-founder of TechLink Ukraine, IT Ukraine Executive Director Konstantin Vasyuk will be dialled in live to join the panel.

“It was important that at an international event like Future Human, we hear from our peers in the innovation sector in Ukraine at such a tough time,” says Ann O’Dea, founder of Future Human and CEO of Silicon Republic.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Konstantin and the team at IT Ukraine, as well as with other players locally like Tech Link Ukraine and Pryvit.ie to ensure our Ukrainian friends and colleagues have a presence and a voice at the event.”

“We are so pleased that Future Human will be a platform for exploring the Future of Ukraine,” says Vasyuk. “Especially considering that the future – being the joined values of civilized nations – is exactly what Ukraine is fighting for in the war with Russia. I believe at this forward-looking event, we will be able to discuss how Ukrainian tech contributions can inspire the world.”

In Ireland, AWS In Communities is supporting Future Human to bring a group of recently arrived Ukrainian STEM professionals in person to this year’s event for free, and many have already received their tickets, by applying via Pryvit.ie. On Friday afternoon, attendees will get to mingle in smaller groups when the main stage closes early, with a special Masterclasses programme this year, which will include several masterclasses and workshops aimed at recent arrivals from Ukraine.

“We want to ensure our new arrivals get a great welcome into the sector here and make valuable connections, and we’re very grateful to AWS in Community and Pryvit.ie for supporting us to do this,” says O’Dea.

The rest of the main stage programme includes industry leaders like Aon president, Eric Anderson, entrepreneurs like Des Traynor, co-founder of Irish Unicorn, Intercom, and Dee Coakley, co-founder of Boundless, as well as academic speakers like Professor Alice Roberts, who is a familiar face from her 100+ TV appearances in the UK. You can find the speaker line-up and programme to date here.

In-person numbers are limited this year, but the entire main stage programme will be streamed live on 12 and 13 May for virtual ticket holders.

McGreals Health introduce the innovative Irish designed Novaerus Defend 400 air cleaning technology

McGreals Health has launched the innovative Defend 400 as the next generation model to their range of Novaerus air cleaning devices. Using pioneering patented NanoStrike™ air disinfection technology it inactivates 99.9% of all airborne viruses, bacteria and fungi including Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) and mitigates odours, pollen and mould spores to support user’s health and wellbeing all year round.

The medical grade and portable Defend 400 has a four-stage pathogen inactivation and filtration – the NanoStrike system inactivates while the use of medical-grade filters capture nanosized pathogens in the air, providing advanced rapid air dis-infection and purification to users.  The Irish-designed Defend 400 advances indoor air quality (IAQ), is FDA approved and CE marked. Those suffering from respiratory diseases and allergies have seen a positive benefit from using Novaerus devices and its use has also shown to reduce absenteeism* in the workplace.

Deirdre Devitt, CEO of Novaerus by McGreals Health, which distributes the devices in Ireland, said: “We are delighted to be adding the Novaerus Defend 400 to our product portfolio. Indoor air quality has become an essential health and safety component across all businesses and organisations in every sector. Providing clean air is a priority, especially when we know that indoor air can be up to twice, even five times** more polluted than outdoor air. As we’ve learnt, this can lead to illnesses and infections, but we also know that it can reduce cognitive function which impacts productivity levels in the workplace. Clean air technology can play a central role to support everyone’s wellbeing and comfort levels whether they are at home, at work or in any indoor setting.”

The Novaerus range of portable air cleaning devices are available in four sizes (NV 200, NV 800, Defend 400 and Defend 1050) catering for small to large spaces. Developed by WellAir, the Novaerus devices are sold in 72 countries worldwide, supporting all sectors with additional frontline protection without generating any harmful by-products to clean the air 24/7. The Defend 400 is available from €6,500 (ex VAT). For more information visit www.novaerus.ie.

McGreals Health, distributor of Novaerus NanoStrike™ technology in Ireland are the Official Clean Air Partner to Leinster Rugby.

First Look – eppfun Cute Meet 300 ENC true wireless earbuds

A new really sleek pair of earbuds have just landed and they are called the eppfun cute meet 300 ENC, with a super slim case and a small profile overall they look neat and pack quite a few important specs, we take a quick first look today and unbox them and in the interim while we test them out feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Key features:
1. Metal materials and special appearance technology give you better touch and visual feeling. Super small earphones designed for comfort and secure fit.
 
2.13mm size speakers give you a strong base and Qualcomm APTX HD brings you with clear sound.
 
3. IPX5 waterproof, you can use it anywhere Freely for sports.
 
4. 6 Hours Per Charging for Earbuds; Support up to 32hours on vol 80% with charging case.
 
5. Qualcomm CVC8.0 calling noise cancelling and dual mic noise cancelling technology to give you clear calling.
 
6.Support Aptx Adaptive code Automatically switch codec between high sound quality and 60ms low latency.

Seamless Salesforce & Outlook Integration With Revenue Grid

After having spent numerous working hours on processing emails and searching for necessary information, you made up your mind to go digital and apply Salesforce and Microsoft Outlook to your company workflow. However, many pitfalls can become a wall behind the effortless integration of user data between these two systems and your business efficiency. For you not to devote too much time and effort to fix things that have been successfully managed by others, read our helpful guide on one of the most powerful solutions that can aid you on your way — Revenue Grid.

Problems of Using Salesforce and Outlook Simultaneously

It might be tricky for an average business user to deal with tons of scattered data sources. Constantly updating reports and waiting for replies from IT is both time and energy-consuming. Although modern analytics tools can provide you with privileges over competitors, they usually require specialized knowledge and skills to be utilized on a regular basis. 

 

The lack of the latter can worsen forecast visibility and opportunity analytics, and prevent you from getting predictive insights. Luckily, modern solutions such as Einstein Salesforce Analytics or Revenue Grid can help you store all business data in a single place, gain powerful insights, and instantly make data-driven decisions. 

 

When trying to integrate Salesforce and Outlook, users usually have to pass several circles of hell:

 

  • switching back and forth between Outlook and Salesforce trying to duplicate the data in both systems;
  • making occasional errors when re-entering the necessary information into separate apps;
  • missing essential data during the inputting process;
  • wasting much working time on synchronizing the data manually;
  • addressing seemingly reliable at first sight, but ineffective on practice platforms, etc.

 

However, seamless data integration is not impossible with the right service at your hands, like Revenue Grid. Read on to find out which benefits make this software cover all the arising issues you might face when you sync and unify your data between Salesforce and Outlook.

Revenue Grid Advantages for a Business User

Here are the benefits your service, sales, and marketing teams can get with Revenue Grid:

 

  • easily manage Salesforce data in Outlook without logging into the CRM;
  • data auto-capture function to automatically update records for any project;
  • clickable time slots added in emails for optimized scheduling;
  • syncing Salesforce calendars with those used in Outlook;
  • automatically building new records without duplicates;
  • no manual data entry since Revenue Grid automatically captures emails, calendar events, contacts, attachments, and tasks; 
  • overall optimization of user Salesforce account;
  • building an improved sales process;
  • easy installation and straightforward use;
  • a free demo to decide whether you’d like to continue using the service, etc.

 

In the end, you will get a well-structured, easily manageable system of contacts, email threads, events, and tasks. Many users have claimed this smart solution helped them boost their sales and marketing efforts.

Salesforce Plus Outlook Equals to Revenue Grid

By integrating the Outlook app into your Salesforce account, you can maintain and operate all the data in a single place, streamline business workflow, and provide your clients with a unified experience and better service. Using efficient, trustable software like Revenue Grid only enhances your chances to avoid typing mistakes and experience a smooth and seamless integration process. Centralize your company’s Salesforce data into Outlook, save you resources and time, and boost your business efficiency. 

First Look – Soundpeats Free2 Classic true wireless earbuds

Soundpeats is a familiar brand around here and they have quite a lineup or earbuds at affordable prices the latest on offer yet again falls into this category and come in at around 25/30 euro with a good build quality and decent looks, but how do the latest earbud sound, we have them in for review no so over the next week or two we will be testing them out and have a full hands on review soon here on site and on YouTube.

Any questions feel free to comment on the video or below and we will answer them all as always and also you get to see the products here in our hands and less of the stock image stuff which has no context.

  • 【Innovative Design & Comfortable Fit】 Laser-engraved leather texture combined with metal elements achieves a balance between exquisite and comfort. The ergonomic design with each earbud weighing only 0.14oz provides a perfect wearing experience with all-day comfort.
  • 【Long Battery Life & USB-C Charge】 8 hours playtime per charge and another 2.8 recharges by the charging case. The Free2 classic wireless earbuds extend your enjoyment to 30 hours in total. It only takes 1-2 hours to charge the earbuds and the charging case by the convenient USB-C charge.
  • 【IPX5 Waterproof & Various Applications】 Certificated with IPX5 waterproof, SoundPEATS Free2 classic Bluetooth earbuds are resistant to water splash, sweat, and raindrops. You can enjoy the exercise time without worrying about being interrupted by moisture.
  • 【Superior Sound & Reliable Transmission】 6mm dynamic driver presents strong bass, mellow mids, and clear vocals to let you enjoy the immersive beating notes. The Bluetooth 5.1 ensures a stable connection and helps enhance the sound to be more pleasant for your weekly workout and leisure time.
  • 【Smooth Calls & Easy Touch Control】 The mics are equipped with dust-proof metal mesh to reduce wind noises interruption and make the calls clear and smooth. The effortless on-ear touch control allows your access to control volume, switch songs, pause/answer calls, and activate voice assistant.

BUY

VIdeo

Zelda Williams and Tommie Earl Jenkins join star-studded narrative adventure The Last Worker

Publisher Wired Productions, Writer / Director Jörg Tittel and pioneering games studio Wolf & Wood are today thrilled to announce that Zelda Williams (The Legend of Korra) and Tommie Earl Jenkins (Death Stranding) have joined the cast of the upcoming narrative adventure The Last Worker. A brand-new trailer, featuring Zelda, as well as existing cast members David HewlettJason Isaacs and Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, unpackages the dystopian, thought-provoking world of the game and showcases its stunning hand-crafted visuals.

Visitors to PAX East, (Boston, MA) this weekend can get the world’s first hands-on with The Last Worker, by swinging by the Wired Productions booth at 14030, located at the heart of the show floor.

Zelda Williams and Tommie Earl Jenkins join a star-studded cast alongside Jason Isaacs (The Death of Stalin), Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (The Deep), Clare-Hope Ashitey (Children of Men) and David Hewlett (The Shape of Water).

The Last Worker is a first person narrative adventure centred around our struggle in an increasingly automated world. Combining a hand crafted art style with uniquely immersive gameplay mechanics in an epic setting, The Last Worker delivers an emotional, thought provoking and comedic story packaged with rich characters performed by an all-star cast.

Who would’ve thought a casual conversation on Twitter in the middle of a global pandemic would somehow lead us here?”, said Zelda Williams. “I’ll be forever grateful that Jörg saw fit to send another battle-weary warrior woman my way, and it was a joy to lend her my voice.”

Working with such a stellar cast would be miraculous enough on a major feature film or series”, said Writer, Director Jörg Tittel, whose company, Oiffy, is producing the game. “But to have such world class actors lend their talent to an indie game must make me the luckiest man alive. But ultimately this game has been an equaliser, with every team member pouring heart and soul into every minute detail. No matter how dystopian they want to make the real world, ours at least will be full of colour and crafted with love.

The anticipation of seeing the first public demo of the game is really building in the studio” , said Ryan Bousfield, Creative Director of Wolf & Wood, “As a collective, we’ve all had a part in shaping the stylised world and unique characters of The Last Worker, but now, to have such beautiful performances from an amazing cast to top it all off, fills us with confidence for the public response!

The Last Worker continues to be a thrilling project to work on with the groundbreaking storytelling from Jörg, and the technical genius of Wolf & Wood,” said Neil Broadhead, Head of Marketing, Wired Productions. “With the addition of Zelda Williams and Tommie Earl Jenkins to the all-star cast, we are so excited for visitors at PAX to get their hands on The Last Worker for the very first time!

The Last Worker will be released in 2022 on Steam, Epic Games Store, GOG, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Meta Quest 2.

Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is back for 2022 hosted by the Irish Film Institute

The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is now in its fifth year. Ireland’s only International Film Festival dedicated to filmmakers exclusively using mobile devices (Phones & Tablets) is finally going mainstream with a partnership with the Irish Film Institute. Taking place on April 30th-DubSmartFF has the usual exciting mix of shorts, features and workshops, but this time at a beautiful venue at the heart of Ireland’s capital. 

This year’s festival is bigger than ever with filmmaking workshops, a range of short films from 15 countries around the globe, feature films (a first for the festival) and the premiere of an exceptional documentary Are Your Eyes Nicely Open? from award-winning director S.J. van Breda.

The partnership with the IFI is an amazing opportunity for the filmmaking community. The festival team has worked for five years to build a community of mobile filmmakers and this is an exciting culmination of their efforts to finally bringing these talented filmmakers to a wider audience. 

The festival programmers have worked to create an outstanding programme with a focus on strong original concepts and inventive use of the technology. This year the festival teams up with SV Assets, Dreamgrip, Shoulder pod, Alight Creative, Refurbed.ie, Conns Cameras and Pair Mobile as well as Ireland’s premium tech site Goosed.ie to provide amazing prizes and gifts for some lucky filmmakers.

Festival Director Robert Fitzhugh commented: “We just could not believe the success of the festival in the past four years. We sell out each year before the doors even open. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have brought about an incredible period of creativity with people forced to use the tools they have at their disposal to tell stories. This partnership with the IFI means we have an opportunity to showcase these filmmakers to a wider audience and a chance to legitimize their hard work. Despite the current situation we all find ourselves in there has never been a more interesting time to explore Smartphone filmmaking. This is what the Dublin Smartphone Film Festival is here to do; to encourage the next generation of filmmakers to create their stories using their phones and to provide them with the widest possible platform to present these stories to a wider audience”

 

IFI’s Head of Education, Alicia McGivern said: IFI is delighted to partner with DUBSMARTFF 2022, expanding our programme with work in a new format, and opening up our historic building as both screening venue and location to smartphone filmmakers. The collaboration gives us a chance to reach new audiences and to engage with next generation filmmakers, inspired by the energy and creativity of the DUBSMARTFF team.

The Dublin Smartphone Film Festival will take place on the 30th of April 2022 at the Irish Film Institute and online from May 1st to May 7th 

Tickets

Morning:  https://ifi.ie/film/dublin-smartphone-film-festival-2022-morning/

Afternoon: https://ifi.ie/film/dublin-smartphone-film-festival-2022-afternoon/

Full Day: https://ifi.ie/film/dublin-smartphone-film-festival-2022-full-day/   (In person ONLY from the IFI)

Instagram launches new fundraising tools for Earth Week

Instagram is launching a new fundraising feature within Instagram Reels to give people a new way to do this. Now available in more than 30 countries, including Ireland, people can donate and create fundraisers for important environmental causes directly from Reels. Globally, more than 4 million people have donated over $150M (c. 140M EURO) to date through Facebook and Instagram Fundraisers to combat climate change and support environmental protection.

Most popular Earth Day related emojis and hashtags in Ireland

  • Emojis:
    •  (Green heart)
    •  (Globe)
    •  (Honeybee)
    •  (Deciduous tree)
    • ️ (Recycling symbol)
  • Hashtags:
    • #earthday
    • #climatechange
    • #earthdayeveryday

Learn More About Climate Change and Make an Impact for Earth Day:

 Here are some ways you can help tackle climate change across Meta technologies, whether that’s leading the charge on fundraising for a cause on Instagram Reels or just learning more about climate issues:

  • Visit the Climate Science Centre: We’re adding new features, including highlighting everyday actions people can take and showcasing new data that shows country-level emissions. More than 200 million people have visited the Climate Science Centre, now available in 150 countries.
  • Shop second-hand on Facebook Marketplace: Currently in Ireland, there are over 3,500 zero-waste, recycled or up-cycled items listed on Facebook Marketplace. You can use Marketplace to buy, and sell secondhand items in your local community — from bicycles and plants to clothes and home decor.
  • Show support for the environment: 
    • On Instagram, we’ve collaborated with illustrator Ping Zhu to create stickers that encourage people to express their support for Earth Day and the environment. When someone uses one of the stickers in a story, they’ll get added to a multi-author story that shows up in the first spot of the Stories tray at the top of Instagram.
    • On Facebook, we’re adding profile frames that let people show their support. 
    • On Messenger, we’re releasing a custom sticker pack and 3D avatar stickers built just for Earth Day. We’ve also partnered with Ellen DeGeneres to bring an Earth Day-friendly version of her mobile game Heads Up! to video calling on Messenger and Instagram.
  • Explore environmental VR content on Quest: Immerse yourself in conservation experiences across the globe with virtual reality apps and experiences from Meta Quest. Encounter endangered mountain gorillas in the volcanic jungles of northern Rwanda and walk with giant pandas rescued from the wilds of China, or sit with the children of Cabo Pulmo to learn how overfishing is impacting their local reef and livelihood.

Commitment to the Environment

We’re sharing new efforts towards our goals of net zero emissions across our value chain and accelerating the renewable energy transition which you can read on our latest Newsroom Post https://about.fb.com/news/2022/04/make-an-impact-for-earth-day/