Author: Jim O Brien/CEO

CEO and expert in transport and Mobile tech. A fan 20 years, mobile consultant, Nokia Mobile expert, Former Nokia/Microsoft VIP,Multiple forum tech supporter with worldwide top ranking,Working in the background on mobile technology, Weekly radio show, Featured on the RTE consumer show, Cavan TV and on TRT WORLD. Award winning Technology reviewer and blogger. Security and logisitcs Professional.

First look at the Dottir Audio Ultra-Competitive Sports-focused Headphones

At the beginning of this Month Dottir Audio launched their new headphones with have been designed by crossfit champions and some notable features stood out on the launch day which was 72 hours of battery life and they also have an IPX7 rating which both are super features to have, these also have wireless charging which is great as I love to have this feature but having said that it is not a must have feature.

As usual we will get a real hands on up close look review soon and today we let you see what you get in the package which is also impressive and first impressions last on presentation so if you have any questions feel free to ask on our social or You Tube channel and we will be back soon with a full review.

With a packed feature set in a rugged form factor, Dóttir features Active Noise Canceling technology, a fully waterproof construction and an ergonomic, wraparound design that ensures the headphone stays in place, add to this a total playtime of up to 72 hours with a wireless charging case that provides up to five additional charges, and you have a clear winner and dependable companion.

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Access to Technology Has Played a Critical Part in Europe’s Digital Transformation Development

Digital transformation is one of the most important initiatives that organisations undertake in order to stay competitive in today’s digital age.

The rate at which technology is evolving is astounding. It seems like every day, there is a new piece of hardware or software that can help organisations improve their productivity and efficiency. 

According to Contino’s Europe digital transformation report, the rise of technology has allowed organisations to move from traditional methods of doing business to more efficient and effective digital transformations.

The field of digital transformation has been greatly helped by this influx of technological advancements like digital products and some of the most innovative tech leaders from across Europe have managed to integrate technology as part of their strategy to great success.

In this post, we’ll look at how business executives have used technology to help their businesses succeed as well as the current state of digital transformation in organisations.

Here are some the tech leaders from the Europe digital transformation report that managed to use technology effectively with great results.

Paul Whyte

Paul Whyte is the Managing Director of Best Food Logistics, a leading provider of food logistics, warehousing and distribution.

Paul has been in the industry for over 20 years and has worked on many different projects with some of the world’s largest retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons. 

He has also led Best Food Logistics’ digital transformation strategy which includes implementing a new warehouse management system (WMS) that allows customers to track their orders in real-time and gives them access to live inventory updates. 

Paul believes that embracing technology is key for businesses looking to grow and be more profitable than ever before and to transform a loss-making food logistics company into a market-leading data aggregator. Strong project governance is critical to digital transformation success. 

“Carefully managing the execution of a technology implementation is critical: tracking risks, logging issues, flagging barriers to change and celebrating sucesses” said Paul.

It is important to communicate your case for change to create belief across stakeholders, spend the majority of time on change management and strong project governance is essential.

Paul also stresses that technology should be used as an enabler for businesses looking to improve their operations and grow sustainably over the long term.

Best’s on-time deliveries increased from under 40% to over 95%. Customers can now see the company’s success, as well as that of its partners, through the portal and a simple mobile app.

Best’s business rates have improved and expanded. In 2020, Best’s success resulted in it being bought by Booker Group, a Tesco PLC subsidiary.

Fumbi Chima

Fumbi Chima was the Global Chief Information Officer of Adidas at the time of Contino’s report and she is now currently is the BECU’s executive vice president and chief information officer. 

Fumbi has extensive experience in the area of digital transformation, process improvement and technology enablement. She believes technology has a significant part to play in organisations that want to change their business models and operations. 

For firms wanting to future-proof their business, understanding, anticipating, and servicing the consumer with technology is critical.

She believes that successful companies focus on creating aligned incentives throughout the business and are ready to pivot when needed. They also understand that there is no such thing as “done” in the digital age – it’s an ever-changing landscape.

“Customer journeys keep evolving. Behaviours change. Transformation is a journey; you can never stick a pin in it and say that you’re done”

The strategy has resulted in faster throughput of superior products that are more personalised and more responsive to the customer. The flexibility of the new model also gave Adidas the ability to pivot, which is critical when the world is changing so rapidly

Debra Bailey

Debra Bailey leads the technology and digital agenda for O2 in the UK, including developing new propositions, platforms and customer experience to drive growth in both retail and enterprise markets.

It is important to understand the business challenges, automate business processes from end-to-end and build with the future in mind.

She was able to achieve digital transformation by unifying technology and businesses to help digitally connect customers with the things that matter most to them. 

Debra said, “The business challenges are what drives the beahvour of the supporting functions, including I.T. Understanding them is the first port of call.”

After less than a year of the new operating model, O2 has already hit their target of a 10% lift in speed-to-value, is on track to hit 2022’s target of 25% and has a huge target of 75% by 2024.

Conclusion

Technology has a critical role to play in the process of digital transformation, and businesses that don’t embrace it will struggle to keep up with the competition. 

Leveraging technology can help organisations optimize their processes, become more productive and creative, adapt to changes faster, reduce costs and increase revenues.

If you’re looking to succeed in the digital era, your organisation needs to start its journey of transformation as soon as possible.

60% of short taxi trips could be replaced by an electric scooter

Bolt, the largest scooter operator in Europe, and the Institute of Transport Economics, TOI, have shown that in-app encouragement will cause up to 60% of users to shift from ride-hailing to scooters for shorter trips. A shift in mobility habits was observed for long-term app usage as well. In Oslo and Lisbon, users performed additional scooter searches for similar trips after the initial encouragement was performed in-app.

Last year, Bolt ran a pilot program aiming to switch shorter ride-hailing trips to scooter trips. During this modal shift study, randomly selected groups of Bolt customers from 10 European cities have received in-app encouragement to switch from ride-hailing to a scooter for trips shorter than three kilometers. Groups actively encouraged were compared to groups that didn’t receive the encouragement, which allowed scientists to measure the shift in mobility habits.

The data resulting from the three waves of piloting was then independently analyzed by the Institute of Transport Economics, TØI, in Oslo, Norway. According to the final results, up to 60% of users on average shifted from a ride hail to a scooter for short trips if the scooter was 300 meters away or closer.

The implications of the findings are considerable. In Europe, most car trips are less than five kilometers long. Around 25% of Bolt car-hailing trips globally are shorter than three kilometers. This means that encouraging users to adapt their shared mobility option to their trip distance has a considerable impact on the environment. According to Bolt’s data, a scooter’s CO2 emissions are on average three times lower than a car’s CO2 emissions.

Martin Villig, Co-Founder of Bolt said: “Bolt is on a mission to advocate for better cities built around people. Encouraging customers to use scooters to replace personal vehicles and short car trips is part of that mission. We are constantly working with cities to make sure our scooters fit in the urban transportation ecosystem. The report we are launching today confirms that our app is the ideal tool to help build more sustainable commuting habits because customers can be encouraged to shift from cars to scooters, according to the distance they travel. This can significantly reduce pollution but also help manage urban congestion.”

The most successful findings come from cities where there is a high availability of shared scooters. In Lisbon, for example, in-app encouragement led to a 210% increase of users opting for a scooter instead of a shared car ride.

Significant results were also observed in the Scandinavian markets: Stockholm (up to 40% bigger chances of the customer opting for micromobility), Gothenburg (54%), Oslo (42%). In Krakow, the encouragement increased the probability of using a scooter up to 68% and in Madrid 41%.

Bjørn Gjerde Johansen, Chief Research Economist at the research area Economic Models at the Institute of Transport Economics, TØI said: “TØI carries out research aiming to advise authorities, the transport industry and the public at large. This report analyses data from an experiment in which Bolt`s app-users were encouraged to switch from ride hailing to e-scooters. We found the share of users choosing e-scooters to be higher in virtually all experiments and the results demonstrate that encouraging users through changing information in multimodal interfaces can be an effective way of switching users away from cars, at no cost to the user.” 

 

Aisling Dunne, Head of Public Policy for Ireland, said: “This research is aimed at advising authorities, the transport industry and the public at large. It shows that multi-modal platforms have the power to nudge people towards more sustainable and appropriate modes of transport, depending on their needs. For short journeys, where there are alternatives, we now unequivocally see that users will make the switch. As local authorities across Ireland consider the best way to meet our ambitious Climate Action Plan targets, this research shows them the potential for shared mobility services to really shift users’ behaviour.”

Bolt and the Institute of Transport Economics will continue to work together on a modal shift program aimed at improving mobility habits for cities.

This project is aligned to the approach of the new European Urban Mobility Framework released in December 2021. The framework considers new mobility services as part of a multimodal, integrated approach to sustainable urban mobility, reinforcing public transport and substituting car use. By working to build a modal shift program, Bolt is contri

The biggest upcoming businesses in the UK

It is impossible to predict how the commercial environment will evolve. In certain cases, industries that were dominant in one period may be unimportant in another, while specialized sectors which were insignificant 10 years ago have become the economic behemoths of our day.

In the midst of all of this upheaval, it may be difficult to determine which sectors have a promising future. After all, a person’s career is a significant investment, and they want to be certain that they are making the best decision possible when taking on a new position.

In order to shine a new light, we investigated five of the fastest-growing industries in the United Kingdom in order to demonstrate how thrilling transition can be — and to find the most promising chances for another dream job.

FinTech

The phrase ‘FinTech’ is tossed about frequently in the corporate sector, and with good reason. It stands for ‘Financial Technology,’ and it is expected to have a significant impact on the economy of the United Kingdom in 2019.

According to a poll conducted by the London Stock Exchange, FinTech businesses operating in the United Kingdom aim to expand by an astounding 88 percent between 2018 and 2021. The second most popular location, after New York, was named by 38 percent of those who responded to the study as London. This follows the government’s desire for the United Kingdom to be the world leader in progressive banking as a result of the impact of the global financial crisis of 2008.

As a consequence, it is simpler for FinTech companies headquartered in the United Kingdom to acquire capital via the stock market than it is for those based in other countries, resulting in significant development in the industry – as well as many employment possibilities.

Job opportunities in the FinTech industry are perfect for those with a history in web design or financial services. There is also lots of money available via programs such as the government’s digital startup financing competition, Innovate UK. If you want to establish your own FinTech firm, there are several opportunities for you to do so in the UK.

Online Casino Games

A few years ago, the first online gaming websites were launched. This was a far cry from the state-of-the-art platforms now in use. The best online gambling organizations began operating in the Caribbean islands at the beginning of the decade as a result of the Free Trade and Processing Act of Antigua and Barbuda. Small Caribbean island was given unprecedented powers to award licenses to companies interested in building online casinos, creating a new industry.

The inevitable progression from virtual casinos and poker rooms to online sportsbooks was a simple one. In 1996, InterTops became the first platform to provide sports fans a new way to wager on their favorite teams, and it has been in business ever since. As a consequence of InterTops’ early success and rapid growth, some of the world’s most prominent bookmakers, including William Hill and Ladbrokes, created their own casinos within two years.

Gamblers were lured to these platforms by huge bonuses and cashback packages given by these firms in the beginning. The quantity of these transactions has gradually decreased over time as the industry has matured. Take, for example, BetOnline which is a top betting site, it came out with a new promo code where you can claim $1,000 welcome bonus in 5 steps, an offer that is not easy to pass.

Transport and logistics

According to a recent report from Love Energy Savings, the transportation and logistics sector in the United Kingdom is seeing fast growth. Between 2012 and 2016, the number of companies specializing in road freight logistics increased by 229% annually.

Today, transport companies in the North West are doing exceptionally well. With a total of 15,590 transport enterprises in operation. That’s a whopping 24% more expensive than London.

Data analysis is currently the most promising career path in transportation. Since e-commerce has made logistics more sophisticated and extensive than ever before, data management will become more important in maintaining efficiency as operations expand in scope. Graduates in computer science and mathematics will be thrilled to hear this news, as they’re eager to put their skills to the test.

Digital marketing and advertising

For the last decade, the digital sales and advertising industry has grown at an exponential rate.

Advertising spending in Q3 of 2018 increased by 5.1% year over year to reach £5.6 billion, marking the 21st successive quarter of market growth.

There will be an increase in both paid and unpaid advertising, as well. Social media and article marketing services are also growing, which means that the field stays diverse enough for people with degrees in Maths, English, and Graphic Design.

Advertising spending on visual media increased by 40% in 2018 compared to 2017, making filmmakers in great demand.

Energy

The UK’s energy industry is booming, contributing £26 billion to the economy. Green energy, on the other hand, has seen the most dramatic rise. As a result of the government’s goal of using renewable resources for 15% of the country’s total energy consumption by 2020, substantial funds have been invested in UK-based sustainable energy enterprises.

As a consequence, up to 400,000 jobs might be supported by the UK’s renewables sector by the end of next year.

NGMN Calls for the Industry to Support Uplink Performance

Verticals’ use cases need sufficient uplink throughput or cell capacity and low enough latency, when 5G Time-Division Duplex (TDD) bands are used to successfully realize their industrial use cases. The uplink performance is key to fully unlock the value of 5G. Therefore, the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) Alliance calls to increase efforts to enhance the uplink performance in its new White Paper “5G TDD UPLINK”. The Alliance formulates specific recommendations to regulators and other mobile industry stakeholders to support the ecosystem with adequate solutions. Also, various technical possibilities are presented – some of them are related to the management of interference, when differing frame structures are used to support the industries’ requirements.

Wolfgang Fleischer, Head of Network Innovation Technology & Business Evolution, A1 Group, NGMN Board Member and Project Lead, says: “Some of the applications for 5G technology, particularly in industrial settings, have greater requirements on the uplink – both in terms of capacity and shorter latency. This NGMN Initiative puts these into the spotlight and presents features to enable the networks to accommodate the requirements for such uplink dependent use cases.”

NGMN’s recommendations to better support the uplink throughput and latency requirements of Verticals include:

  • To use different TDD configurations
  • To select frame structure to vary uplink/downlink throughput
  • To carefully select more balanced or uplink oriented TDD frame structures in a local network
  • To consider the adoption of other uplink enhancing features such as SU-MIMO
  • To enhance 3GPP specification to fulfil requirements with respect to UL throughput, latency, and support for the co-existence of different frame structures by enhancements
  • To reserve spectrum for certain specific usages

The NGMN project will also reach out to chipset makers, regulators, Standard Developing Organisations and other involved parties to ensure that these NGMN recommendations are considered.

Tech Review – Jabra Elite 4 Active

Jabra have recently released three pair of earbuds to the market and the Elite 4 Actic is the latest edition to hit the shelves and coming in under 140 euro you can see what they have done here, with sub 100 euro offerings and two more expensive pairs they have created a nice portfolio to suit everyone here which is a good thing as it does give us choice and features to pick from but how do these fair out against the rest of the line up and what else is out there.

The Elite 4 Active in my view are an excellent mid range pair or earbuds and also having the better sound tipping towards the 7 series models and for me this is a good thing, you may be down on some features but again there is now 4 pairs to pick from at all price points but the sound from these is super at the price, I am not comparing these to Apple products as I am sick and tired of everyone using them as a standard benchmark when they are not so Apple fans if you have a problem with that you know what to do, there is better earbuds out there that cost less and a long time ago for the price and Jabra like many others fall into this bracket.

Set up on these is simple again with a nice new pop up window showing on your phone this time around unless I have missed this in the past but nice to see, In the personalise your headset option you will see you can now personalise your ANC mode, the rest is as before minus the fitting set up. Again the app is great and giving you a better overall experience.

Once set up you are good to go and then sit back and enjoy the great audio experince you will get by the new Elite 4 Active, these have a great sound and even sound a bit deeper than their more expensive counterparts and in some instances even better, for me they had a wider range and deeper tones and gives the more expensive models a run for their money,highs lows and mids are fine and punchy and off course a nice level of bass present not forgetting you can of course use the Sound Plus app to enhance the listening experience even more,comfort is also fine here calls are excellent and both can be used individually which many folk like to have this as an option.. No lag latency was noted during my usual test loop..

Jabra Elite 4 Active
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SoundPlus app

Overall there is not much more to say here being frank these are the ones to buy if you have the above needs and is on a budget as they com close to their top tier models when it comes to sound and that alone seals it for me not forgetting the benefits of the app too.

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Stats Perform Limerick will celebrate a significant milestone by reaching over 300 employees by year-end

Stats Perform, the sports tech leader in data and AI, has announced it has established a Global Rugby Centre of Excellence in Limerick City.  Stats Perform operates across 25 countries, including Ireland.

The company is actively recruiting for a number of open positions and by year-end will celebrate the significant milestone of reaching 60 full-time and 280 part-time employees by year-end.

Minister for Enterprise Trade & Employment Leo Varadkar TD said: “Congratulations to the Stats Perform team on this really significant milestone.  Stats Perform is a leader in sports tech data and AI. The establishment of a new Global Rugby Centre of Excellence in staLimerick demonstrates the company’s continued dedication to the region and proves that Ireland remains an attractive location for industry leaders in all areas of business. I wish the team continued success in all of their operations.”

Gráinne Barry, SVP Global Operations at Stats Perform said: “In 2017 Limerick was chosen by Stats Perform as an EMEA base due to its lead location for the sports technology cluster in Ireland, and the availability of talent within the local region. Establishing a Rugby Centre of Excellence in Ireland was a natural next step for the company.  Stats Perform is the world’s leading data provider (media and performance) to the world’s top rugby governing bodies and teams. Stats Perform will be providing global rugby and teams with media solutions, digital platforms and team performance analysis services. Stats Perform services every part of the rugby world, including the British and Irish Lions, the Six Nations, Premiership Rugby, The New Zealand All Blacks, Pro 14, France, Australia, along with working with World Rugby during their global competitions.”

The expansion of functions to create Stats Perform’s Global Rugby Centre of Excellence has created over 100 new full and part-time roles in Limerick over the past 12 months, in the areas of Rugby Union, Rugby League and Soccer, as well as supporting functions in video operations, data quality control and business intelligence.

Seamus Monaghan, Director of Business Operations at Stats Perform said: “Limerick is the ideal location for our Global Rugby Operations. The passion and knowledge for Rugby in Limerick, and the greater Mid- West region in general, is well known and has contributed heavily to our success in the sector. Access to Third Level Institutions and overall talent in the area has been a real partnership for Stats Perform and we are extremely positive about our future in the region.”

IDA Ireland’s Executive Director Mary Buckley said: “Stats Perform’s decision to designate the Limerick facility as its Global Rugby Centre of Excellence, demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to the Midwest region. This announcement exemplifies IDA Ireland’s track record in winning jobs and investment in regional locations. I want to congratulate Gráinne and Seamus at Stats Perform on reaching this significant milestone and wish the team every success with its operations in Limerick.”

To view open positions please follow this link Careers – Stats Perform

Jabra partnership music to the ears of EVO customers in Ireland

Jabra has partnered with EVO, Ireland’s largest distributor of workplace supplies, to bring its high-quality audio and video products to customers across the nation.

EVO is now an official distributor of Jabra products for Ireland thanks to its unmatched supply chain connections and stock holding capability in the country. As a result, EVO’s wholesale partners and end customers will have access to next day delivery on Jabra’s entire range, including the Evolve2 series of professional headsets and PanaCast video conferencing cameras.

The global audio, video and collaboration solutions brand, Jabra, offers UC certified headsets, speakerphones and state-of-the art video conferencing solutions to businesses. 

John Nesbitt, Territory Director, Ireland at Jabra, says, “EVO’s presence and expertise will help us to take our business to the next level in the region. With hybrid working on the rise, companies are looking at how to enable staff to be productive and to work from anywhere. We’re thrilled to be partnering with EVO and to be bringing Jabra’s audio and intelligent video conferencing solutions to even more customers in Ireland.” 

Ashley Burke, EVO Ireland Managing Director, commented: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Jabra and to give this incredible brand access to new customers they wouldn’t have been able to reach otherwise. 

This is why we’re the go-to channel partner in the UK and Ireland for global brands. EVO’s make up, with VOW as a wholesaler and Banner as a direct supplier, means we can offer a unique level of consolidated market access.” 

To find out more about EVO, visit www.evo-group.co.uk/.

Irish tech company, STATSports launch first ever GPS Women’s Sports Bra

Today, STATSports, the world’s leading company in GPS performance data, have launched their first ever Women’s GPS Sports Bra along with their new apparel wear. 

The all-new seamless GPS quick dry bra is the industry’s first and will replace the standard unisex performance vest for women. STATSports were assisted in the development and testing of the product by Arsenal and Republic of Ireland star, Katie McCabe and England and Man City captain, Stephanie Houghton – both are ambassadors and investors of the brand.

The STATSports Apex pod, which measures athlete performance across 16 key metrics such as max speed, high speed running, high intensity distance, step balance, sprints, stress load and more, inserts into the bra without the need for the performance vest, reducing layers for female players.

The new design of the bra is longer in length which will provide extra security for females during training and matchdays. There are also removal cups for personal choice, adapting to cup size to ensure the right support is provided. 

Katie McCabe, who sits top of the Women Super League this season, which has seen an increae of 5.9 million viewers in 2021, said: “It’s brilliant to have a new vest specifically for female players, as it’s another positive step for women’s football. STATSports has become essential to the way we train and play, so it’s vital that the kit to support the tech works for us.”

Stephanie Houghton, said: “I’ve been working closely with STATSports around the research and development of the new product, which is so important to feel comfortable when playing the sport. In particular, the soft quick dry yarn feels amazing next to the skin, acting as your base support layer. Football is all about marginal gains, and this product will help elevate players.”

Fellow STATSports ambassador and global soccer star, Megan Rapinoe added: “It is imperative for the brands that I work with to commit to improving women’s sports. Soccer is ever-evolving and it’s great to align with STATSports to develop the game.  We are proud to introduce our first women’s product, which players like myself, Alex Morgan, Stephanie Houghton and Katie McCabe have already put to the test.”

“Katie and Stephanie have been instrumental in the development of the new STATSports Women’s sports bra and we’re delighted to have them on our team. We want to ensure all players feel comfortable in our products, and so we felt that it was imperative to create a female specific holding device for the technology.” says Sean O’Connor, STATSports Co-Founder and COO. 

The new apparel range consists of a unisex performance vest, designed by Liverpool player, Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, ¼ drill top, short and long sleeve performance tees and a women’s drill top – the perfect last minute Christmas gifts for the athletes in the family. 

To purchase the new STATSports Women’s Sports Bra or the apparel range, please visit: statsports.com