Tag: Digital

NUMARICS: Switzerland’s First Fully Digitalised Startup & SME Accountant. #Fintech #NUMARICS

Swiss fintech start-up Numarics enables startups, SMEs and freelancers to do their accounting effortlessly and 100% digitally. With this strong business model, the founding team confirms the innovative strength of Switzerland as a business location.

Accounting, payroll, tax returns, invoicing, document management and much more are now streamlined via the Numarics ecosystem on the web or via app. Numarics has made the onboarding process incredibly simple – start-ups and SMEs can be activated on the platform in just a few minutes. Instantly, all the critical, administrative activities that are crucial to running a successful SME can be done in a digital and streamlined way via the Numarics app.

For entrepreneurs who want to organise their accounting seamlessly, independently and mobile.

The founders of Numarics believe that focusing on the core business leads to success – entrepreneurs focus on their key business and Numarics takes over administration and fiduciary services via the digital ecosystem.

Numarics was developed by experts from the fields of accounting, digitalisation, artificial intelligence and auditing. The founders have developed a digital and highly innovative ecosystem that is specifically tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs. With a consistent mobile-first approach, Numarics is Switzerland’s first accounting solution for startups and SMEs that can be completely controlled via a mobile app.

“Switzerland is a safe haven for businesses, and start up hubs like in Zurich are booming. It is simply outdated to still do your business administration with expensive accounting software and manually operating accounting providers. Numarics is the first digital accountant on the smartphone, providing an innovative ecosystem for Swiss startups,“ says Dominique Rey, Swiss Certified Public Accountant and CEO & Co-Founder at Numarics.

Users focus on their business – Numarics does the rest.

Co-founder Kristian Kabashi is an expert in the digitisation of business processes and is instrumental in digitising competent and reliable fiduciary services at Numarics. The digital expert believes that technology should be used to dedicate oneself to creativity by handling repetitive, administrative tasks technologically. In the process of developing Numarics, he has focused on the experience: “The experience of accounting up to now has been the same as a visit to the dentist. You know you have to do it, but it’s just no fun,” Kabashi says, adding, “With Numarics, running a business becomes the easiest thing in the world. Our users do their business, we do the rest.”

Numarics works and learns via intelligent algorithms. Each booking process is broken down from one minute to a few seconds. Documents are scanned with the mobile phone and categorised by setting filters. The app then learns from recurring expenses and income and consequently automates itself more and more, becoming faster and faster.

Kristian Kabashi and Dominique Rey

The founders are committed to creating a digital SME solution that is easy to use and absolutely transparent in terms of costs. Numarics is available for startups from only CHF 149 /month – the package includes all fiduciary services and financial administration for startups and SMEs: document management, accounting, financial statements, tax returns, VAT and payroll. Tax advice is provided via push notifications in the app. In the affiliated Numarics Academy, top experts such as Numarics Board Chairman and Professor for Finance Volker Doberanzke teach business management in free webinars.

If users need specific information, entrepreneurs can book consultations with certified experts at Numarics at the click of a button. Various banking institutions can be connected to the Numarics ecosystem to provide the user with a fully integrated financial experience.

“Expat founders regularly have different needs. They only understand Swiss regulations and tax requirements to a limited extent – also because there are many terms that translate differently. For these entrepreneurs, we want to make Switzerland more open as a start-up country,“ says Rey.

Tech Review – TAPiTAG a digital solution to end paper business cards. #TAPiTAG #Tech

We are all so familiar with the humble business card though recent times maybe no so much and now with things slowly getting back to normal we are probably making orders to get some new business cards done up right now…They have been a staple in the business community for years passing on information to clients but you have to come up with a design or pay someone to do that and from past experience the more you add to the card the card quality the costs stack up and you can only order a certain minimum amount and this is annoying and time consuming and can be costly and with the environment in mind which I am not going to bang on about here you save the planet too..

 

TAPiTAG has the solution here that is simply a win win for everyone and it is cost effective you can design your card add what you like and have a one stop shop to pass on all your information in one go, how much more could you ask for?? This is a simple solution to end the need for business cards that you perhaps carry around in your car, have boxes of them in your office and so on and this fits in your wallet or a tag you can have on your device it is simple, effective and well executed.

How does it work

There is no app required to begin with which is nice for a change and it uses NFC technology. NFC has been around for years and we slowly adopted it here in Ireland for some years and now we see the benefits of how useful it is and most of today’s smartphones have this built in. You simply tap the back of a phone that is NFC compatible and job is done, On the iPhone you tap near the top and on Android devices you tap in the middle.

Set up 

You can create your account on phone or desktop there is a QR code on the card you can scan and once you get going you can then edit as you need and tailor to your requirements

Will it work with phone cases 

A question I have been asked several times and from my own selection of phones and cases here there was no problem even with leather and thick cases like otterbox.

Is the cost worth it

You will have people complain about cost with any piece of tech but when you see what these products do and how easy life is made and the cost savings over time even for the average joe it is well worth the spend, people who network meet at corporate events and trade shows and much more will see just how great this product is and the fact you can customise these to your needs makes it an easy win for everyone.. The tag will cost 14.99 and card 24.99 there is no need for dirty paper and with things as they are this is a contactless solution to benefit everyone.

BUY 

 

What’s Behind the Surge in Digital Payment Options?

Any successful business will tell you that the customer is king, which means that if you want your business to do well you really need to listen to what they’re telling you. If you look carefully enough, there is a tonne of data to be had from any customer interaction with your company – what products did they buy, which pages on your website did they visit, what led them to your website in the first place? This data helps your company perfect the customer shopping experience, which is essential if you want to have a happy customer base which is most definitely something that you should be striving for. 

The Online Shopping Experience

Customers have a lot of expectations from their online shopping experience and in many cases, much more than if they were visiting a physical store. This is because most people recognise that with a store you’re not able to control all eventualities – maybe there will be a queue for the tills or maybe another customer will ruin their day. However, online is seen as something completely different and as a result, customers expect so much more.

When you’re considering the experience your online customer has, looking at their journey on your website and with your brand is essential. Not only will you want a sales funnel that helps you follow the journey of any potential sales leads, but you should look at the bigger picture. It isn’t just retail stores that should look at the customer journey – online casinos, filing streaming websites and even social media platforms should look at what their customers need and what they can do to cater to as many customers as possible. 

The idea behind a smooth customer experience is to encourage your new (or returning) customer to buy from you. When you get them to this stage, you really want to make this as easy and hassle-free as possible. They’ve already got as far as wanting to purchase from you and as such, if you put them off at this stage you’ve wasted the whole customer journey. Your pay page should be easy to read, effective and of course, reliable. This is why so many digital service providers have opted to offer as many different payment options as possible – to ensure customer demand is met as often as possible. 

Why Are There So Many Options?

As a business, imagine you get your customer through every step of your website – they’ve found you, they like what they see, they’ve chosen products, selected a shipping method, agreed to pay the total shown and then they can’t pay in the way they want. Not only are they going to be really frustrated, the chances are they’ll simply close the page and go somewhere else for their products. To lose the sale at this late stage is extremely frustrating and something that no business really wants to go through. Rather than risk this happening lots of businesses have invested in being able to offer a variety of digital payments to their customers. This helps to ensure that even if the customer’s preferred choice isn’t available, there is likely to be a backup choice that they’re happy with; and therefore they complete the transaction.

The gambling industry, in general, has been particularly forward-thinking when it comes to payment options, with many of them even stepping up their game and working with Cryptocurrency. They understand the instant nature of casino transactions and that their users want their payment to be able to go through immediately and with as little hassle as possible.

What Are Customers Looking For From Digital Payment Options?

Different customers will be looking for different things from companies and their payment options. Mostly they are looking for the same as the rest of their experience with the company – for it to be smooth, effective and hassle-free. A big part of this comes from the customer being able to pay in the currency they want using the method that they want. The internet has opened up internationally shopping massively but customers don’t want to be confused by exchange rates or unsure whether what they’re spending is a good deal. As such, offering payments in a range of currencies is really important. This helps to make the payment process as simple as possible and that is the best way to help encourage them to complete their payment transaction.

Then, depending on the online service they’re using, what they’re looking for may vary. For example, if someone is using an online casino then they’ll be looking for payment processes that allow for a superfast process when it comes to withdrawing funds. Over recent years Processing speeds for withdrawing funds are seemingly getting faster and faster, and customers no longer expect to wait 3 to 5 business days for their money and instead want their winnings immediately. 

What Are Companies Looking For From Digital Payment Options?

When considering what payment options to offer their customers, companies will want to ensure that the ones they offer cater well to their customer’s needs. On top of that, they’ll want to consider transaction fees – after all, if you’re a retailer that is selling thousands of products a day even a small transaction fee can add up.  As such, it will be important for a company to know that not only are their transactions going to be smooth and quick but that it will come at a price that is affordable. They’ll also want to be able to offer their customers a secure payment service, so a company that supports this and allows a company to provide this is essential. 

Realistically the surge in digital payment options come down to both customer demand and the fact that there are now so many options available. Advances in technology means that there are more digital payment options than ever, so it makes sense that e-commerce websites take advantage of as many of these as possible, to help ensure that customers are kept happy. 

 

Protect Your Digital Privacy with These 4 Effective Tips

While many of us know that the internet can be a sketchy place, few people are aware of just how important it is to protect their own data and ensure digital privacy for themselves. Yes, it seems clear that bigger companies with financial or healthcare-related data need to be more careful, but ordinary folk? What do we have that hackers would be interested in accessing?

It turns out each of us has a ton of information that could benefit a cyber-criminal. The following will help point out some elements of digital privacy that you can apply to your everyday digital life to help ensure that you and those closest to you are safe from digital threats.

Use Alternative Search Engines

Yes, Google might be the most popular search engine available, but it’s far from being the most secure. Everything you do on Google is monitored and analysed. Sometimes this data is then sold to the highest bidder influencing everything from marketing to elections. Yes, your data can be used to help sway elections. Scary, right?

 

Avoid handing everything over to Google by switching over to an alternative search engine. Many are available, but one of the most secure is DuckDuckGo. You want a search engine that never stores your personal information, never stores your search history (meaning they have nothing to sell to advertising firms), and never tracks your searches whether you’re in private mode or not. 

You might be shocked to realise how biased the information you’ve been getting is when you see the difference in search results. If a search engine doesn’t store your information and use it to feed its algorithms, you end up with data and search results that are outside of your bubble. Be forewarned; for many people making the switch, this can be a scary realisation. Unknowingly, you might have been ingesting false or biased information for years, and suddenly those folks you adamantly disagreed with might not seem so crazy.

 

Blur Out Your Home On Google Street View

Google Maps has taken over navigation and resulted in fewer people than ever getting lost, but this isn’t to say that there aren’t considerations that need to be made. Burglars and other criminals often use Google Maps to figure out entrances or gain vehicle information (including license plate numbers if your car was in the driveway when the image was taken). To blur out your home, face, or vehicle, go to your address on Google Maps street view, click more options (three dots), click “report a problem,” click “report inappropriate street view,” adjust the window to make sure everything you want to be hidden is included and answer the questions presented about what you want to blur.

If this sort of guide feels shocking to you, you’re not alone. There are countless simple, step-by-step outlines to help make online security easier. Spend a bit of time finding a security information website that explains things to you in a way that you can understand. Tutorials and guides have been written for folks with all different backgrounds meaning that you will be able to find the information you need in a digestible way.

Update Your Software

You know those annoying messages you get on your phone and computer asking you to download updates that you keep putting off? It’s a good idea to go through with these updates because often, they include data security elements as hackers get more sophisticated, and so do anti-hacker elements of the software. Security bugs can leak valuable information, and software companies are constantly improving their security features.

 

Use A VPN

 

A VPN is a virtual private network. It adds an extra layer of security by disguising your data through encryption and hiding your IP address while you’re online. Not only does this help keep you safe while browsing the internet on public and open wifi networks, but it also keeps your information safe from your internet service provider. Yes, the internet company that is allowing you internet access in your home. A fun bonus of having a VPN is that you can access online materials that are limited to a single location, like Netflix in another country or free live streams happening all around the world.

The above tips can help you keep yourself and your data safe. It’s important that you don’t bite off more than you can chew right from the get-go. It’s far better to make a small tweak that you can maintain for years to come than to spend two weeks keeping yourself completely safe and burning out. Over time, you can add more and more tweaks to keep improving your privacy.

 

Dalata records one million guest interactions on new contactless platform from Granite Digital. #GraniteDigital #Dalata #Hotels

Granite Digital, Ireland’s leading full-service digital agency, today announces that it has delivered Ireland’s first fully contactless hotel guest services platform for Dalata Hotel Group, which has already reached one million guest interactions. Developed in collaboration with Dublin-based hotel booking software provider P3 Hotels, the innovative web portal is transforming the hotel guest experience, as hotels continue to adapt to operating under COVID-19 restrictions.

Dalata is Ireland’s largest hotel operator with two leading brands – Maldron Hotels and Clayton Hotels – as well as managing a portfolio of further partner hotels. The group has implemented the contactless solution across its 44 owned, leased and operated hotel locations in Ireland and the UK. Many guests will utilise the platform within it’s first 12 months.

The digital platform is designed to aid social distancing and COVID-19 safety protocols in hotels by enabling contactless check-in, check-out and hotel services, as well as securely and seamlessly facilitating the track and trace process for all visitors. Physical interaction is minimised, with hotel patrons accessing the platform through a link in their check-in email and using pick-up and drop-off boxes for room keys on arrival and departure.

Robert Carpenter, Co-Founder, Granite Digital and Stephen McNally, Deputy Chief Executive, Dalata Hotel Group

From the web-based portal, guests can browse hotel information and services, order in-room click-and-collect dining, reserve breakfast and dinner slots and book swimming and gym sessions. The portal also facilitates instant messaging so guests can order additional towels, toiletries, all linen supplies and cleaning services.

To guard against the spread of COVID-19, Dalata is also operating a revised cleaning regime for each hotel room and public space across its locations. It is working with global certification leader Bureau Veritas to ensure compliance and best practice with regards all health and safety measures in the hospitality sector. In combination with its newly launched digital platform, Dalata is seeking to offer guests peace of mind as well as a transformed visitor experience – leveraging technology to deliver convenience and more responsive services.

Stephen McNally, Deputy CEO, Dalata Hotel Group, said: “This new platform is now operating really well across the Dalata Hotel Group, and guest reaction has been excellent. The software is a landmark development for the hospitality sector in Ireland. It is the result of deep consultation with our innovative technology partners Granite Digital & P3 to develop a platform that can not only help achieve compliance with COVID-19 measures, but also revolutionise guest interactions for a more connected world.”

“The health and safety of our valued guests is paramount and the online platform is a cornerstone of our thorough approach to creating a clean and safe environment in each of our hotels. Looking to the future, we wanted to put digital at the heart of the guest experience so visitors can enjoy the same level of information, interactivity and responsiveness that they are accustomed to in other sectors. This platform helps us to do exactly that.” 

 Robert Carpenter, Co-Founder, Granite Digital, said: “Both the Maldron and Clayton Hotel brands are highly regarded and well-known in Ireland and increasingly growing in strength in the UK. It was fantastic to work with a true leader in hospitality who was so open to applying innovative ideas to address the significant challenges posed by COVID-19.

 “The clever application of digital technologies to traditional sectors and processes can be the key to unlocking these challenges and carrying Irish businesses through this crisis and beyond. By moving quickly to bring this platform to the market and rolling it out to all of its hotels, Dalata has demonstrated the almost instantly transformative impact that customised digital solutions can have.”

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council leverages digital mapping to keep community informed and support local business. #Mapping #GIS #Esri

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), today announces that Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council is using its digital mapping platform to develop a number of interactive resources to keep the public informed and support local business throughout COVID-19.

Built using Esri’s mapping software ArcGIS, the council created an interactive Open for Business map, which shows what shops and services are available to the public throughout the borough. The map also shows business opening hours, delivery and collection information and what safety measures the business has in place, all helping to support local enterprises as they reopen.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council COVID-19 Vulnerable and Isolated Persons GIS Dashboard.

 

A dedicated COVID-19 information and advice hub also built using ArcGIS is available on the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council website and homes a wide collection of resources with further information and advice for local businesses, vulnerable members of society and the wider community in the area.

The council’s COVID-19 Coordination Hub connects people to vital community support services and has had more than 1,200 referrals to date from Advice NI and the Northern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts. It helps provide an important continuation of services and access to supports for the most vulnerable people during the pandemic.

Formed in 2015 following the merger of four different councils, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council provides public services to more 144,000 citizens throughout the region. Since its formation, the council has worked closely with Esri Ireland to implement GIS across the entire organisation, digitally transforming its services to enhance engagement with the public and enable better, more informed decision making.

Esri’s software enables legal and finance teams to view all of the council’s agreements, leases and licences on one secure platform, eliminating the need to review unwieldy paper-based records and saving both time and money for the council.

Esri’s survey app, Survey123, enables field-workers to gather data on mobiles, tablets and laptops from anywhere in the borough. This information, for example on the condition of local facilities and amenities, can be made available to view across the entire council for analysis in real-time.

Philip McLaughlin, Client Manager, Esri Ireland, said: “COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of clear communication between local government and the public. Having already rolled out GIS across many functions, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council was well-placed to leverage the power of digital mapping to create numerous rich information resources that are proving incredibly helpful to local businesses and residents.

Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has leveraged Esri’s digital mapping technology to create a number of interactive resources to keep the public informed and support local business during COVID-19. Pictured (L-R) are: Nial McSorely, Digital Services Manager, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council; David Jackson, Chief Executive, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council; and Philip McLaughlin, Client Manager, Esri Ireland.

 

“In both supporting people and businesses during COVID-19, as well as using GIS to transform its processes and services, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council has shown what is possible for a local authority willing to transform how they engage and collaborate with their community.”

Nial McSorley, Digital Services Manager, Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, said: “The biggest challenge for us as a council is in how to interpret the sheer volume of information that is available today. With Esri’s digital platform, we can compress all the different information channels into a single source, enabling us to meaningfully analyse and use data to make intelligent decisions.

 

“As we look to move on responsibly from COVID-19 restrictions, we will again leverage digital mapping to stimulate local tourism and support the reopening of businesses. Beyond that, we will continue to roll out GIS to further areas in the council and ensure all members of our staff can access and use the platform to enhance every aspect of the public services we deliver.”

Lighting technology pioneer Audi fields next-generation OLED technology. #AUDI #Motoring #Tech #OLED

In June 2020, the next generation of a lighting technology premiered in the Audi Q5: digital OLED technology. With organic light-emitting diodes (so-called OLEDs), Audi was a pioneer as far back as 2016. Now digitalisation is ringing in a new age. This technology promises to improve road safety and is the first to allow for personalisation of the tail light signature.

Dr. Werner Thomas, OLED technology project manager at Audi, explains: “Headlight technology has seen a rapid evolution at Audi in recent decades. In addition, we have been decisively driving the development of rear-lighting systems.”  In the latest milestone achievement, the brand is now the first car manufacturer to digitise the tail lights.

Why does Audi focus on OLED technology?

OLED light sources are panel radiators – unlike point light sources such as LEDs using semiconductor crystals. There are many benefits of OLEDs including their light being extremely homogeneous. It is infinitely dimmable and achieves very high contrast. It can be split into segments. These segments are individually controllable and can develop diverse levels of brightness, with minimal gaps between the segments. The lighting unit does not require any reflectors, optical fibers or similar optics. This makes OLED units very efficient, lightweight and flat, which considerably increases design freedom.

An OLED lighting element is just one millimetre thin, while conventional LED solutions require much greater installed depths of 20 to 30 millimetres. The energy requirement of an OLED is once again significantly lower than that of LED optics if the latter are to achieve similar homogeneity. Audi’s OLED technology made its production debut in the tail light of the Audi TT RS* in 2016. Up to now, Audi models using OLED lighting technology have had up to four individually controllable, complex lighting segments that could be used for an individual, defined lighting design.

What benefits do Audi’s new digital OLEDs offer?

The larger number of individually controllable segments can now be randomly activated, with continuous variability of brightness. In the Q5, three tiles of six units each, in other words 18 segments per lamp, are currently used. The high precision and great variability offer light designers a wealth of opportunities, using just one type of hardware. Q5 customers opting for digital OLED technology have a choice of three signatures in the tail lights when purchasing their car. In the “dynamic” Audi drive select mode, the lamps additionally switch to another signature. Moreover, animation effects such as coming-home/leaving-home lighting scenarios can be implemented, plus the dynamic flashing light has been integrated in the new lamp units as well.

How exactly do digital OLEDs differ from established OLED technology?

“Up to now, we have been using OLED segmentation with the Audi TT RS* and A8 for designing signature lighting. This has changed with the Q5,” says OLED technology project manager Dr. Werner Thomas. “Here the tail lights turn into a kind of display on the outer shell, which will provide us with ample opportunities and prospects in terms of design, personalisation, communication and safety going forward.” Thus, the year 2020 marks the threshold of a new age: a pure medium for signal functions is now additionally becoming a medium for displaying diverse types of content.

 

How do digital OLED lamps improve road safety?

In the new Q5, Audi has implemented a proximity detection feature for the versions using digital OLED tail lights. When another road user approaches a stationary Q5 from the rear within less than two metres, all the OLED segments light up. When the Q5 starts to move, it returns to the original light signature. This is just an initial example of the Q5’s car-to-x communication with its surroundings. Subject to legislative approval, predefined warning symbols are conceivable in the future as well. The development and approval of the first dynamic turn signals is a good example of Audi’s effective engagement in collaborating with approval authorities.

The developers present potential technologies and then adapt them as needed – which facilitates the homologation and approval of new ideas and concepts. Audi also shaped the developments around the digital OLEDs in advance in a way that made legislative approval possible for the Q5 in spite of differences in tail light design. Thus, the roads are becoming safer with lighting technology from Audi.

How will the development in this area continue?

Going forward, clearly more segments per tail light are conceivable, allowing for even greater personalisation of signature lighting. For instance, predefined symbols might be displayed to provide other road users with early warnings of hazards such as slippery roads or the tail ends of traffic jams.

Niio introduces Art for a “Digital Age” #NiioArt #Digital #Zoom #Tech #Art

Niio is fast becoming the standard, ‘go-to’ platform for moving image art, making premium video and new media art accessible on a global scale to a global audience, and offering a fresh alternative to the mundane and traditional streaming media.

The company was created to inspire and connect people through moving image art, which is perhaps the most relevant medium of this generation, while also empowering video and media artists to showcase, safeguard and earn from their art.

 

Niio takes a unique ‘collaborative ecosystem’ approach to enabling the medium, offering art professionals (including artists, galleries, curators and museums) the chance to each have their own branded account on the Niio platform, and to empower them with a broad set of dedicated technology tools to store, preserve, publish, privately and publicly distribute, and professionally play back their digital format works. This has in-turn has positioned Niio as the default moving image art repository and management tool.

Before the business was launched, the team had over 200 meetings with artists, collectors, galleries and curators. They found people placed value in the moving image art world and felt passionately about it, but the sector lacked a market or central hub that was accessible to all of the relevant stakeholders.

 

Artists wanted a platform through which they could store moving image artworks, sell directly to affluent collectors, and make some works available for loan on masse to reach a global audience. Collectors had their own concerns, as there was no platform through which to view and purchase exclusive works that they wanted to enjoy privately. Niio realised quickly that whether a gallery, curator, artist or collector, the digital art world was fragmented, and there was a necessity to create an ecosystem that satisfied all of those players.

We live in a digital age, defined by technology and the growth of the online world, and that is reshaping the way we experience art. Increasingly, it means software and film have become the paint, the screen has become the canvas and a new destination for art. Niio specialises in this new generation of moving image artworks.

 

The next generation of art enthusiasts and collectors consume and experience everything online, that is why Niio calls it the “digital age”, and that is what the art world is starting to adapt to. This has already extended to other areas of culture with the emergence of streaming giants in the film and music worlds. Art is experiencing the same shift, because people crave access and unique, meaningful experiences, and Niio was founded with a mission to meet that demand. The screen is the natural environment for that shift to take place: it is a digital canvas that is accessible globally, and creating artworks that are designed to be experienced through it is a solution that satisfies artists, galleries, collectors, and the art-loving public.

 

When the platform was set up, the greatest challenges facing artists and collectors were access and maintaining value. Art is a scarcity market, and typically you might associate a model that allows for streaming of artworks as being targeted to the mass market.

 

Niio’s answers to those challenges were rooted in the technology and giving complete control of the tools they developed to the artists. Just as when purchasing a physical masterpiece, collectors want to own digital artworks that are not consumed by the masses. Niio spent a lot of time early on implementing blockchain and AI technology to underwrite ownership of artworks obtained through Niio to ensure that people were confident in the integrity of the platform. 

 

Most recently in response to the COVID-19 situation, Niio has launched ‘Moving Art for Good’, a project to bring moving image art directly into people’s homes to give them that crucial dose of daily inspiration. The first step of this is the curation of a collection of moving image artworks as Zoom backgrounds. The collection includes a wide selection of artworks from leading artists, including Quayola’s Camouflage series of abstract landscape algorithmic paintings and Joe Hamilton’s Cézanne Unfixed, which blurs the relationships between painting and the museum. They are free to download and can be accessed here: https://www.niio.com/get/zoom/

Microsoft-UCD Digital Policy Programme. #Microsoft #UCD

In collaboration with Microsoft in Ireland and in Brussels, UCD has established the Microsoft-UCD Digital Policy Programme at UCD with the goal of building digital policy capability amongst the public and private sector in Ireland and across the wider European Union.

In today’s rapidly-evolving digital world, it can be a challenge for legislators and policy makers to keep abreast of the pace of change and its potential impact. This programme is designed to support those in government with the skills and knowledge necessary to amend existing legislation and plan for new legislation that will protect society and provide a relevant framework in which organisations can operate.

The features of the programme will fill a short term need while also building a sustainable pipeline of skills for long-term impact. It will build on existing expertise and curriculum already offered at UCD, while also recruiting leading academics to develop and oversee its success.

Under the direction of Programme Director, Professor Kalpana Shankar, the programme aims to fulfil this demand for digital policy knowledge and skills in the policy ecosystem. The Digital Policy Programme, which will welcome its first intake of students in September, includes the establishment of new educational programmes, including a Certificate course and a Masters in Digital Policy as well as the opening of the UCD Centre for Digital Policy under the leadership of Professor Eugenia Siapera. Elizabeth Farries has been appointed Assistant Professor for the programme and there are plans to appoint a Microsoft Newman Fellow in Digital Policy in September.

The last few weeks and months have demonstrated in a very real way, the transformative impact of technology. Digital solutions have been at the heart of the healthcare and societal response that we have seen – not just in Ireland and Europe but across the globe. The technology led response, driven by innovation and the creative thinking of public servants, has been done at a pace not previously imagined. The reality is that the policy environment and legislation are not, by their nature, as responsive. In addition to the need to create a policy environment that caters for a digital future, it is likely that there will need to be amendments to policy to reflect the rapid change that has already happened. This Digital Policy Programme will help equip those in decision making positions with the skills and capabilities that they need to help inform this important work.

Cathriona Hallahan, Managing Director, Microsoft Ireland said: “Microsoft is proud to have worked with industry partners, the public sector and leading academics to help inform the development of a programme that will build digital expertise into existing policy making frameworks. This much needed and timely programme will help to advance capabilities amongst Irish and EU policy makers on legislative and policy matters that arise in the context of digital technologies. Irish policy makers have the potential to take the lead in Europe on the evolution of laws and policies that remain relevant in a digital world while also fostering innovation and building trust.  The Microsoft team here in Ireland and in Europe are delighted to partner with UCD in the development and delivery of this new academic programme.”

Professor Kalpana Shankar, Professor in UCD School of Information and Communication Studies said: “This MSc in Digital Policy is the first of its kind in Ireland. It is designed to offer graduates the opportunity to learn more about some of the core policy issues that are arising with the prevalence of digital and data technology in all dimensions of life. The course will build on the rich offerings in the School of Information and Communication Studies as well as the wider College of Social Sciences and Law through taught modules, independent projects, and interactions with policymakers and evaluators in the public and private sectors.”

For details on the Microsoft-UCD Digital Policy Programme log on here.