Category: Tech News

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made? #tech #MBA #business #entreprenuers

In a male-dominated sector, female business professionals are to further their education to at least undergraduate degree level to climb the ladder in top organisations, according to a closer look at the Forbes Billionaires 2018 List.

The analysis, (available at https://www.hiscox.co.uk/business-blog/entrepreneurs-born-made/) aims to shed light on the correlation between higher education and wealth generation among the world’s top entrepreneurs.

Key Findings

  • Looking at the top ten men and top ten women on Forbes’ list of the world’s most successful billionaires, 60% of men and 80% of women graduated with at least an undergraduate degree.
  • Three of Forbes’ top ten female billionaires are MBA-educated, compared to none of the top ten male billionaires.
  • 50% of males studied an engineering discipline before embarking on their entrepreneurial careers, while 40% of females chose to study business or economics.
  • All of the top ten female billionaires inherited their wealth, while seven of the top ten males built their business from scratch.

Investigating the correlation between business acumen and higher education, the study delves into the secrets behind financial triumph and whether business savviness is something you are simply born with or learn with experience. Women entrepreneurs, it appears, continue in the education system for longer than their male counterparts in order to progress in their careers – Four out of the top ten male billionaires left education before degree level, in contrast to three of the ten female billionaires continuing to MBA level.

While the Forbes’ list would suggest that a University education is essential for career success – 70% of the top 20 billionaires have a degree – this represents just a fraction of the business world as a whole.

Hiscox spoke to members of the Hiscox Business Club[1] – a group of successful small-to-medium business owners based in York – for their thoughts on the value of higher education and the state of the education system today. All respondents have completed a degree and while the majority see benefits in the university experience, only 50% believe it helped with their business, while the other 50% feel they gained no applicable knowledge. None of those interviewed felt that returning to higher education would benefit their business.

Paul Ward, Director of Telo Group, a property development company based in East Riding, suggests that business acumen is innate: “You can’t teach that entrepreneurial drive needed for business success. But if a person has it within them, it can be encouraged, nurtured and coaxed out.”

In a similar vein, Mark Bewick, Creative Director of hospitality marketing agency NIMA, doesn’t see a university education as a prerequisite to succeeding in business: “Running your own business is such a unique experience and not something that education can really prepare you for. Sure, you can gain the necessary qualifications and skills, but that’s just a small part of the journey.” 

In contrast, Stuart Priest, Director of Circus Skills York CIC, has no regrets about staying in the education system: “Going to university when I came from a working-class family and when only 5% of the school population could go felt like a huge privilege. My working life has continued to be an education.”

To find out more about the analysis, please visit: https://www.hiscox.co.uk/business-blog/entrepreneurs-born-made/

Lifesize Brings AirPlay and Added Flexibility to the Enterprise. #AirPlay #Lifesize

Lifesize®, a global innovator of video collaboration and meeting productivity solutions, is further enabling the growing number of Apple enterprise users to easily share their screen and present content using the new Apple AirPlay integration for Lifesize Share.

With the new integration, Mac, iPhone and iPad users can now share their screen at work just as easily as they can at home with an Apple TV. The AirPlay integration adds to the simple, browser-based sharing and convenient, ultrasonic pairing capabilities Windows, Mac, iOS and Android users already experience when using Lifesize Share.

“As more Apple devices penetrate the enterprise, having a wireless sharing device compatible with Apple AirPlay is a smart investment for businesses,” said Rob Arnold, Principal Analyst with Frost & Sullivan. “Enabling employees with easy-to-use, effective meeting solutions that are interoperable with multiple devices and operating systems will boost productivity and create a collaborative environment that impacts revenue over the long term.” 

“We recognise that people like to collaborate and communicate in different ways, which has long fuelled our approach to interoperability,” said Craig Malloy, CEO of Lifesize. “Adding native Apple AirPlay integration to Lifesize Share brings a whole new level of ease and effortlessness to make meetings even more productive and valuable for employees.”

Lifesize Share eliminates the complexity and clutter of cords and dongles by allowing any laptop, tablet or smartphone to painlessly connect and present content. From sharing a laptop screen to playing full-motion videos to driving a presentation directly from a mobile phone, Lifesize Share modernises how businesses wirelessly present both in the meeting room and on digital signage screens.

For more information about Lifesize Share, please visit www.lifesize.com/share.

Telecoms giant Colt to invest €15 million in Dublin city with 150km of new fibre. #Colt #Telecoms

Telecoms giant Colt Technology Services today announces that it will extend is fully optimised 100Gbps fibre network in the greater Dublin area by 150km, as part of a planned €15 million investment in Dublin over the next two years.

Colt views Dublin as being one of Europe’s key growth cities, and the move is in anticipation of greater demand for digital infrastructure. With multinational investment in Ireland only likely to increase, Colt’s extended, fully optimised 100Gbps fibre network will help form Dublin’s digital backbone.

 Colt Technology Services today announced that it will extend its Colt IQ Network in the greater Dublin area with an additional 150km of 100Gbps fibre. The move is in anticipation of greater demand for digital infrastructure from multinational customers with presence in Dublin as well as other Dublin-based customers. The expansion will bring Colt’s fibre network in the capital to more than 300km.

Pictured announcing Colt Technology Services’ 150km expansion of its fully optimised 100Gbps fibre network in the greater Dublin area, as part of a planned €15 million investment in Dublin over the next two years, is (L to R) Jamie Beddoe, Country Manager, Ireland, Colt Technology Services; and Carl Grivner, CEO, Colt Technology Services.;
Photo: John T Ohle Photography..

Currently connecting more than 350 enterprise buildings and 23 data centres in Dublin, demand for Colt’s high bandwidth connectivity solutions is steadily growing in the city. This is fuelled by the ever-increasing number of businesses that are choosing to set up operations in Dublin, attracted by its large ecosystem of data centres, cloud service providers and internet giants, as well as its proximity to key international markets.

As Dublin’s digital economy grows, Colt’s extended, fully optimised 100Gbps fibre network will give it access to a wider customer base in the greater Dublin area. With the West and North Dublin industrial areas experiencing a strong rise in occupancy and new builds, Colt will be able to provide high bandwidth solutions to new, planned and existing enterprises in the locations that need it.

The Dublin expansion forms part of Colt’s wider strategy, which aims to provide agile, on-demand high bandwidth solutions to customers across Europe, Asia and North America. This latest expansion further extends Colt’s global footprint, which currently connects more than 850 data centres and over 27,000 buildings across 28 countries.

Carl Grivner, CEO, Colt Technology Services, announcs Colt Technology Services’ 150km expansion of its fully optimised 100Gbps fibre network in the greater Dublin area, as part of a planned €15 million investment in Dublin over the next two years;
Photo: John T Ohle Photography;

Carl Grivner, CEO, Colt Technology Services said: “We see Dublin as being one of Europe’s key growth cities in the coming years. With multinational investment in Ireland only likely to increase, it’s crucial that Colt has the technological backbone in Ireland to support its anticipated traffic growth. The expansion also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to enabling the digital transformation of businesses in today’s increasingly fast paced digital economy.”

Colt’s expanded connectivity solutions will be rolled out in the Irish capital over a number of phases, beginning in September 2018.

Bluesound Unveils Gen 2i: the Next Generation of Streaming, High-Res Wireless Audio.

Bluesound, the leader in wireless, high-res, multi-room music systems, announced Bluesound Generation 2i (Gen 2i), building on the success of the brand’s previous platform. Gen 2i continues to strengthen the Bluesound line with dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Apple AirPlay 2 support, upgraded Bluetooth codecs, improved amplification and acoustics, and more, while maintaining value for consumers with minimal changes to retail pricing.

Bluesound’s new models are: NODE 2i (US$499 / £499 MSRP), POWERNODE 2i (US$799 / £799), VAULT 2i (US$1199 / £1099), PULSE 2i (US$799 / £749), PULSE MINI 2i (US$499 / £499), PULSE FLEX 2i (US$299 / £299), and PULSE SOUNDBAR 2i (US$799 / £799 in Black, US$899 / £899 in White). There are no changes being made to the PULSE SUB. As before, all Gen 2i models will be offered in a choice of Black or White finishes. All models are available now, with the exception of the PULSE SOUNDBAR 2i, which will follow in November.

All Bluesound models feature BluOS™, an award-winning, music management system that connects, organizes, and controls your music. Choose music from your favorite streaming service or from a music library connected to your home network. Bluesound integrates all these sources and sends the music to every room in the home. Featuring a family of dedicated multi-room, wireless streaming digital music players, Bluesound delivers a compelling high-resolution wireless digital music system with an audiophile-grade feature set.

New features common to all Bluesound Gen 2i models are as follows:

Apple AirPlay 2 Support

All Bluesound Gen 2i models are designed to support AirPlay 2, which will be delivered to Gen 2i owners via an upcoming software update.  With AirPlay 2, Gen 2i owners can stream just about any sound from their iPhone, iPad, or Mac to their Bluesound system — all in sync. Customers can stream music, books, and podcasts from their favorite Apps, or watch videos on their Apple device while streaming the audio through to their Gen 2i Player – imagine watching Netflix or YouTube on an iPad while filling the room with premium sound from a Bluesound system.

AirPlay 2 also gives users more options for control, including using Siri voice assistance. Once you add your Gen 2i Player to the Apple Home App on your iPhone or iPad, Apple Music subscribers can use their iOS device or HomePod to say things like: “Hey Siri, play smooth jazz in the Living Room” or “Hey Siri, turn it up in the Kitchen.”

By grouping a Gen 2i Player with older Bluesound Players in the BluOS App, existing customers can add AirPlay 2 compatibility to their entire BluOS system.

AirPlay 2 will be available for Gen 2i Players in an upcoming software release.

TWO-WAY BLUETOOTH

Gen 2i contains Bluesound’s most advanced take on Bluetooth to date – two-way Bluetooth, featuring both Receive and Transmit functionality. Receive capability allows users to wirelessly stream from their device to a Bluesound Player just like they’re used to doing with Gen 2. The Transmit capability means the user can now use their Bluesound Gen 2i Player as a source, sending what they are listening to via Bluetooth to a pair of wireless headphones. One exception: Bluesound PULSE FLEX 2i only supports the Receive functionality via Bluetooth.

aptX HD BLUETOOTH 

While Bluesound has improved the Bluetooth connectivity in Gen 2i, engineers also made sure that audio quality improvements are part of the Gen 2i Bluetooth story. The advanced Qualcomm CSR8675 chip used in these new products also supports aptX HD Bluetooth wireless audio. aptX HD is an enhanced codec that supports 24-bit audio over Bluetooth and has been engineered to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, resulting in lower background noise. With the ability to support streams up to 24bit/48kHz, a customer streaming from an aptX HD compatible device to a Gen 2i Player is actually able to listen to better-than-CD quality, wirelessly. It all fits into the Bluesound story – modern wireless convenience without sacrificing quality. Note that the PULSE FLEX 2i only supports aptX Bluetooth.

DUAL-BAND WI-FI 

Bluesound has also upgraded the Wi-Fi chipset technology in its Bluesound Players to the latest and greatest Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) dual-band offering. Best-in-class products deserve best-in-class connection; with the new Wi-Fi chip onboard, Gen 2i owners can take advantage of the less noisy 5 GHz band if needed. This results in faster connection times and fewer interruptions from other network traffic.

PULSE FAMILY AMPLIFICATION

Who doesn’t like more power? All-new, custom-designed digital amplifiers in Bluesound’s  PULSE 2i and PULSE MINI 2i effectively double the available power used to drive these speakers. The difference is dramatic with improved bass response and more powerful sonic soundscapes as the new norm in Gen 2i.

New driver configurations in the PULSE 2i, PULSE MINI 2i, and PULSE FLEX 2i complement the upgraded amplification; the PULSE 2i and PULSE MINI 2i in particular now function as true stereo speakers.

Users also have better control over their audio settings with the PULSE 2i and PULSE MINI 2i. Popular DSP settings like Wide Mode, Late Night, and Dialog, much-loved and much-used in the Bluesound PULSE SOUNDBAR, are now available to these updated Gen 2i speakers.

The innovative mix of amp upgrades, driver re-configurations, and updated DSP settings breathes fresh life into the PULSE speaker lineup and reflects Bluesound’s commitment to creating the best wireless, multi-room home audio experience available.

The POWERNODE 2i now features two TOSLINK/3.5mm Optical and Analog inputs while the PULSE SOUNDBAR 2i now includes HDMI (ARC and eARC). These provide improved connectivity and flexibility.

“Ever since Bluesound’s exciting debut five years ago, we have listened to the marketplace and worked hard to make significant improvements throughout the line.” explained Matt Simmonds, Bluesound’s Product Manager. “Gen 2i represents another leap forward with major technological enhancements that make this generation of Bluesound products even more compelling. Best of all, Gen 2i is compatible with existing Bluesound systems.”

BluOS 3.0

All BluOS users, including Bluesound users, will receive a prompt to update their Players and their app on October 1, 2018. Updating to BluOS 3.0, all BluOS users will gain access to new music services like SOUNDMACHINE and Taihe Music Zone (China only) and an easier guided set-up process. As well, the release will include the plumbing for BluOS’s first voice integration, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, with the corresponding library of skills to launch soon.

BluOS 3.0 also contains specific support for Gen 2i features like two-way Bluetooth with aptX HD, and enhanced audio EQ settings including wide mode and deep bass. Software updates to support AirPlay 2 will come in a later release.

Key Features of Bluesound Gen 2i:

1. AirPlay 2 Support (coming soon via software update)
2. Two-Way Bluetooth
3. aptX HD Bluetooth
4. Dual Band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac)
5. PULSE Family Amplification – more power and enhanced driver complement
6. Addition of HDMI ARC/eARC in the PULSE SOUNDBAR 2i

Further Information: 
Follow Bluesound on: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Amazon Announces New Echo Devices in Ireland—New Ways to Add Alexa to Every Room. #Alexa #IoT

Today, Amazon introduced a new line-up of Echo devices, Echo companion devices, and a new Amazon Smart Plug, making it even easier to bring the features and convenience of Alexa to any room in the home. If you have not used something like this you are missing out on tech that makes life much easier around the home they are really great and a popular tech item today and make ideal gifts for the tech partner in your life. I was a bit dubious of this kind of tech in the house but use it still today but there is those whom have security issues but hey just turn em off when not in use.

New Echo devices include:

All-New Echo Dot: The easiest way to bring Alexa into your home, now with a new speaker for louder and crisper sound, an updated fabric design, and still only £49.99. The next-generation Echo Dot features a new fabric design and more powerful sound—and it is still the best way to add Alexa to any room. With an all-new curved shape and fabric finish.

Echo Dot is available in Charcoal, Heather Grey, and Sandstone, letting customers easily mix and match. Echo Dot now has improved sound and a new compact design. Put an Echo Dot in every room to ask for information or for the weather, play your favourite music in a multi-room music grouping, set timers and alarms, and control compatible smart home devices.

 All-New Echo Plus:  Drops in at £139.99.   Just say, “Alexa, discover my devices,” and Echo Plus will automatically discover and setup compatible lights, locks, plugs, switches, and more without the need for additional hubs or apps. Echo Plus now includes an embedded temperature sensor, so you can set temperature-based routines using other smart home devices. For example, when the living room reaches 26 degrees, Alexa can turn on a fan connected to a smart plug.

Echo Plus has a larger 3” Neodymium woofer and increased back volume so that the bass feels stronger and the mids and highs are clearer. It also features an all-new fabric design and is available in Charcoal, Heather Grey, and Sandstone.

All-New Echo Show: An all-new design, upgraded speaker, a stunning 10-inch HD display, and a built-in smart home hub, plus all the glanceable features customers love about Alexa for £219.99.

“Customers tell us they love the convenience of being able to ask Alexa to show them things,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, Amazon Devices International. “Today, we’re making the voice-first, visual Echo Show experience better in every way by adding even more experiences to delight our customers—a dynamic and vivid display makes watching videos even more enjoyable, new speakers for music and music videos, two-way doorbell video calling, simple set-up and control of smart home devices, Skype calling to friends and family, and all-new visual features.” 

The all-new Echo Show is completely redesigned with a vibrant 10-inch HD display that shows colourful, fresh, and compelling visuals. So when you ask Alexa to show you the weather, watch a video or display your shopping list, the experience is even more delightful.  The screen is complemented by dual, side-firing 2-inch Neodymium drivers, a passive bass radiator and Dolby processing to deliver expansive sound with deep, powerful lows and crisp highs, perfect for listening to your favourite music. Just ask to play Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn, BBC Radio and more—plus, with Amazon Music see the on-screen lyrics play along with the music.

The Perfect Sous-Chef for your Kitchen

Cooking with Alexa makes the all-new Echo Show even more useful in the kitchen. Simply ask Alexa for step-by-step cooking instructions. Once you have chosen a recipe, say “Alexa, let’s start cooking.” Alexa will then walk you step-by-step through your favourite recipe with visuals; and there is no need to touch the screen with wet or dirty hands from cooking, you can use your voice to cue next steps in the recipe. Enhanced step-by-step cooking is rolling out to UK customers later this year, including improved visuals, the ability to set timers and more recipes.

 

Video Doorbell and Built In Smart Home Hub

Coming later this year, customers will be able to use a new video doorbell integration that works with Ring doorbell cameras. Customers will be able to ask Alexa to play a chime and make an announcement when someone rings their doorbell. When the doorbell rings, just say “Alexa, answer the front door,” to see and talk to whoever is there without having to open the door. You can also use Alexa Routines to play custom announcements when the front door camera detects movement or someone rings the doorbell.

Echo Input:  £34.99. Echo Input lets you add Alexa to your existing speaker. Echo Input connects to your speaker through a 3.5mm audio cable or Bluetooth, and features a four-microphone array so you can talk to Alexa from across the room. Echo Input is just 12.5mm tall, so it blends easily into every room.

Unlike Echo Dot, which has a built-in speaker, all audio is played through the connected speaker rather than through Echo Input itself. When connected to Echo Input, your speaker can be added to a new or existing multi-room music group. Echo Input will be coming later this year and will be available in Black and White.

Echo Sub: Add deep, rich bass to music playback on Echo devices for £119.99. Echo Sub is the first wireless Echo subwoofer for those who want to pump up the bass when listening to music on their existing or new Echo devices. You can connect Echo Sub to compatible Echo devices to create a 1.1 or 2.1 pairing for stereo sound. Plus, with the equaliser feature you can adjust the bass, mid-range, and treble using the Alexa app.

“We want you to have access to Alexa everywhere—in your kitchen, in your living room, in your office, and more,” said Jorrit Van der Meulen, Vice President, Amazon Devices International.“Today, we’re excited to expand the number of ways that customers can add Alexa to their homes, so they can use Alexa to make their lives more convenient and easy.”

Amazon Smart Plug: Control compatible lights, fans, coffee makers, and more for £24.99.

With the Amazon Smart Plug, you can use your voice to control your lights, fans, coffee maker, and more. The Amazon Smart Plug is the first Wi-Fi smart plug to use Wi-Fi simple setup, making it easier to start – and expand – your smart home with connected devices.

 

All you need is an Alexa-enabled device like Echo, Fire TV, Fire Tablet, Sonos One, or even just the Alexa app on your phone to get started. From there, easily set a routine that turns your lights on at 6:00 a.m. and your lights off at 10:00pm; and with multiple Amazon Smart Plugs, you can control multiple outlets.

Availability – Echo Dot, Echo Plus, Echo Sub and Amazon Smart Plug are available for pre-order starting today and will start shipping next month. The new devices announced today join the all-new Echo Show, Echo, and Echo Spot to create the Echo family of devices

ProtonVPN expands to Ireland offering a better choice for online security. #VPN #Tech #Security

The ProtonVPN map continues to grow — this week they have added Ireland to the list of countries where they offer an IP address. Ireland was the sixth most popular country a recent community poll, further proof that everyone loves the Irish. ProtoVPN now have servers available in 25 countries, including Ireland and still have big plans ahead.

The four new servers in Dublin are reserved for users with one of thier paid plans. ProtonVPN works on various desktop and mobile clients: Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, and iOS.

These servers will allow users to access some of their favorite streaming sites, such as ITV, Channel 4, Hulu, and now, the Irish channel TG4. With these new VPN servers in Ireland, users with a paid account can browse the Internet with an Irish IP address, letting anyone follow their favorite Irish shows from anywhere in the world.

See HERE for more details.

 

Top recognition for Irish-based scale-up success story. #Fleetmatics #VerizonConnect

 Ireland’s first tech scale-up success story Fleetmatics (now known as Verizon Connect) has been named by Berg Insights as the global leader in fleet management solutions. It’s a good news story for the 250 people who work with the company at its Networks Operations Centre here in south Dublin. Fleetmatics was co-founded by Peter Mitchell, who now serves as the CTO for the company globally.

Verizon Connect has been identified as the leading provider of fleet management solutions globally, according to the Fleet Management in the Americas – 8th Edition report 

Fleet management solutions are defined as vehicle-based systems that incorporate data logging, satellite positioning and data communications to a back-office application. The 300-page Berg Insight report covers both Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and aftermarket players in-depth.

“Our strategic research provides expert commentary and unique intelligence on the fleet management market,” said Johan Fagerberg, director of Berg Insight. “Verizon Connect is the clear leader in the fleet telematics space both from a global perspective and in the Americas specifically, and is setting the pace in delivering leading mobile technology platforms and solutions.”

“We are committed to revolutionizing the way people, vehicles and things move through the world, and this report recognizes our leadership in a dynamic market,” said Jay Jaffin, chief marketing officer at Verizon Connect. “We maintain our top position by putting our customers first – helping them to improve safety, efficiency and productivity while lowering costs. At Verizon Connect, innovation, automation and connected data all come together to guide a connected world on the go.”

Verizon Connect offers a full suite of fleet and mobile workforce management solutions, serving commercial customers of any size.

Bitcoin will lose 50% of its market share to Ethereum in five years. #Bitcoin #ethereum #cyrptocurrency

Bitcoin will lose 50 per cent of its cryptocurrency market share to Ethereum within five years, states an influential tech expert and business analyst.

 

The comments from Ian Mcloed, from Thomas Crown Art, the world’s leading art-tech agency that he established with renowned art dealer, Stephen Howes, comes as Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, began a price recovery on Friday after being hit hard with a major sell-off in recent weeks.

Bitcoin – the biggest digital currency – had also been in decline, but it bounced back quicker than its nearest competitor.Indeed, Ethereum had crashed 85 per cent overall this year.

However, Ethereum is regained ground late last week, jumping almost 14 per cent after its most recent plunge, only find itself trading again 10 per cent lower once more in the past 24 hours.

What is happening? And what does the future hold for Ethereum?

Mr Mcloed observes: “Turbulence is a regular, and sometimes welcome, feature of the crypto sector.  Therefore, the Ethereum rebound was, and is, inevitable.  “But not only do we think it will rebound considerably before the end of 2018, I believe that over the longer time it will significantly dent Bitcoin’s dominance.

“In fact, I think we can expect Bitcoin to lose 50 per cent of its cryptocurrency market share to Ethereum, its nearest rival, within five years.”

Why is he so confident? “Simply, Ethereum offers more uses and solutions than Bitcoin, and it’s backed with superior blockchain technology,” says Mr Mcloed.

“This is why we use Ethereum’s blockchain in our art business.  It has allowed us to create a system to use artworks as a literal store of value; it becomes a cryptocurrency wallet.  

“It also solves authenticity and provenance issues – essential in the world of art.  All our works of art are logged on the Ethereum’s blockchain with a unique ‘smART’ contract.”

Last month, Stephen Howes explained: “Using this cutting-edge technology, the art world can eradicate one of its biggest and most expensive problems – forgery – and can protect artists, galleries, and private owners and collectors.”

Ian Mcloed concludes: “Whilst there will continue to be peaks and troughs in the wider cryptocurrency market, due to its inherent strong core values, Ethereum will steadily increase in value in the next few years and beyond.

“Unless Bitcoin does more now to tackle scalability issues, and improves the technology it runs on, we cannot see how it can catch up with Ethereum over the next five years or so, when the crypto market will be even more mainstream.

“Ethereum is already light years ahead of Bitcoin in everything but price – and this gap will become increasingly apparent as more and more investors jump into crypto. ”

Google give over €500,000 to support Camara and Foróige to double TechSpace sites in youth clubs across Ireland #Google #Camara #Foróige

Camara Education Ireland, the Irish NGO which runs the national TechSpace network, has received a €530,000 grant from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, to deliver computer science training, equipment, and ongoing support to over 300 youth workers and 48 senior managers in 60 Foróige youth groups around the country.

Camara Education’s TechSpace program  inspires young people to get creative with technology, and to gain new skills through ‘learning by doing’.   With around 400,000 young people engaged with the youth sector every year,  the partnership between Camara and Foróige is designed to have a major impact on how technology is used in youth groups  across the country.  60 new TechSpace sites – double the existing number – will be established in Foróige youth groups, including in Ringsend and Pearse Street, adjacent to Google’s EMEA headquarters. The youth groups will also receive a total of 360 computers to support the project’s implementation.


 Google to give over €500,000 to support Camara and Foróige initiative. Camara Education Ireland, the Irish NGO which runs the national TechSpace network, has received a €530,000 grant from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, to deliver computer science training, equipment, and ongoing support to over 300 youth workers and 48 senior managers in 60 Foróige youth groups around the country.
Pictured are Sam McMahon, aged 17, Katherine Zappone TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Sean Campbell, CEO of Foróige, Marianne Checkley, CEO of Camara Ireland, Shane Nolan, Community Outreach Lead for Google Ireland.
Picture by Shane O’Neill, SON Photographic

The funding from Google.org will enable Camara to develop and deliver training and support in 2019 to 300 youth workers and 48 senior managers to facilitate Computer Science activities through the TechSpace programme.   Youth workers will also be offered a bursary to complete a Level 8 National University of Ireland Certificate in ‘Digital Creativity in Youth Settings’ which will include a module in Computer Science education. This is a special purpose program run in partnership with Maynooth University, designed to significantly impact the adoption of technology in the youth sector.  Additionally the project will create a Computer Science in Youth Work Toolkit to be made available to youth workers nationwide, containing best practices, activity guidelines and resources.

Speaking at the launch of the programme yesterday in Foroige The Big Picture Youth Club, Tallaght, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone said, “Opportunities for creativity are hugely beneficial to young people.  It allows them to express themselves in fun and innovative ways.  Creativity in technology has the additional benefit of allowing young people to develop skills in problem solving and critical analysis.  I welcome this wonderful initiative and look forward to seeing the TechSpace programme grow across the country.”

Shane Nolan, Director of New Business Sales for EMEA and Community Outreach Lead for Google Ireland said, “We are delighted to be supporting this innovative partnership between Camara and Foróige. There’s a great buzz of excitement around Computer Science these days, with its introduction for the first time as a Leaving Certificate subject earlier this month, and potentially soon to be available at other stages in the school curriculum. More than ever, it is critical that all students have access to Computer Science education – both in and out of school. Computer science education is a pathway to innovation, to creativity and to exciting career opportunities in the 21st century, and Google believes that all students deserve these opportunities. ”


Google to give over €500,000 to support Camara and Foróige initiative. Camara Education Ireland, the Irish NGO which runs the national TechSpace network, has received a €530,000 grant from Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, to deliver computer science training, equipment, and ongoing support to over 300 youth workers and 48 senior managers in 60 Foróige youth groups around the country.
Pictured are Sean Connaughton and James Lucas, both aged 14.
Picture by Shane O’Neill, SON Photographic

Marianne Checkley, CEO of Camara Ireland, commented, “We are really proud to be part of this innovative project that expands the use of technology as a catalyst for youth development. Digital media and new technologies can be wonderful tools to ignite young people’s curiosity, creativity and confidence. Used effectively they  can enhance social awareness and contribute to an ability to engage as active citizens. They can also help to build young people’s sense of agency and enable them to develop new knowledge and skills, and provide platforms for their voices to be heard. ”

Seán Campbell, CEO of Foróige, said “This exciting initiative will make it possible for over 3,000 young people across Ireland to develop a suite of computer science skills that will set them on the pathway for success in the 21st Century. It will challenge young people to harness their innate interest in technology for the betterment of their own lives, their communities and society. In many ways, computer science has become as important as reading, writing and maths, making this partnership between Camara Ireland, Foróige and Google hugely important.”