FREE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BLOG FOR PROFESSIONALS

Jim White has more than 25 years of experience in software development across a range of industries, working for companies such as Dell Technologies. He is now chief technology officer of IOTech Systems, a UK-headquartered company that specialises in internet of things (IoT) software and services using edge computing. ‘These technologies allow us to see, digitise and understand what was previously only guessed at or lightly understood’ – JIM WHITE Describe your role and your responsibilities in driving tech strategy. I’m responsible for outlining IOTech’s technical vision, which includes designing and implementing the company’s general product strategy and technical direction. I work with partners and industry organisations to align the company’s complementary products and services, industry standards and open-source offerings. A big part of that includes interacting with customers to help guide product vision and incorporate IOTech products into solutions that meet their needs...

After obtaining his PhD from Dublin City University (DCU) in 2011, Dr Rejwanul Haque entered into the language technology industry and worked on industrial machine translation (MT) solutions for seven years. He re-joined DCU’s MT team in 2018 and worked as an industry-oriented postdoc at SFI’s Adapt research centre. Since January 2019, he has been working as a research fellow with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. His research is supported by the  Euraxess Hosting Agreement Scheme , which enables approved research enterprises to recruit experts from outside the European Economic Area for their R&D departments in Ireland. ‘In cases where language is a barrier to access of pertinent information, MT may help people assimilate information published in different languages’ – DR REJWANUL HAQUE What inspired you to become a researcher? Prior to my PhD, I obtained my degree from Jadavpur University, India, where I worked as a research engineer with the Ministry of Communicat...

Sometimes the people you meet on a graduate programme are just as important as the skills you learn. For computer science graduate Oluchi Anyabuike , the Leap programme at Fidelity Investments helped her build a network of colleagues and friends that she still values today. Anyabuike studied computer science and information technology at NUI Galway. She spent her third-year eight-month placement in Fidelity, which gave her the chance to “apply classroom knowledge” in an industry setting. After finishing her placement and completing Fidelity’s Leap programme, she joined the company as a full-time software engineer. ‘The level of support that was afforded to me from my very first day as an intern was striking’ – OLUCHI ANYABUIKE What drew you to Fidelity Investments when you were seeking work as a graduate? I had previously interned in Fidelity as part of the placement programme that is offered with my undergraduate degree. From that experience, I knew that Fidelity’s culture an...

Thycotic provides cloud privileged access management solutions to businesses to help them better control and secure their data. The cybersecurity firm works with companies such as Honda, BAE Systems and BP. Terence Jackson is the chief information security and privacy officer at Thycotic, with more than 17 years of IT and security experience in the public and private sectors. He spoke to Siliconrepublic.com about his role and what major trends he sees coming down the line for the cybersecurity industry. ‘This new normal will help to accelerate the already growing trend for transitioning over to cloud services’ – TERENCE JACKSON Describe your role and your responsibilities in driving tech strategy. My primary role involves protecting Thycotic’s information assets as well as managing the risk and information technology programmes without hampering productivity to enable us to achieve our business goals. I am responsible for providing enterprise-wide leadership to establish and ma...

Automation has been heralded as a wonderful solution for many companies, especially with the rapid development of tech and current situation with Covid-19 accelerating many decisions around automation and digital transformation. But automation isn’t something that can simply be purchased and plugged into a company. There are many things to consider before automating as much of your business as possible and even when faced with a situation such as coronavirus where operations need to change quickly, companies should still take stock before hitting the ground running. Alessandro Perilli is the general manager of management strategy at Red Hat. In his role, Perilli helps to chart long-term strategy in various areas, including enterprise management, automation, cybersecurity and AI. He said the first thing companies need to think about when considering automated solutions relates to the initiative itself. “What do they want to achieve with automation? Cost reduction or operational scala...

Today (28 April), Fidelity Investments announced that it will hire for 100 new technology roles in Ireland. The financial services firm, headquartered in Boston, has said that it will “accelerate” its recruitment drive in response to the changing needs of its clients during the Covid-19 pandemic. The “vast majority” of the new hires will be software engineers and will be based at one of the company’s Irish offices in Dublin and Galway. The company’s general manager, Al Riviezzo, said the new joiners will help the Irish team support the global firm through “critical technology and operations support”. “All of our 1,100-strong workforce are working from home across Ireland and ready to welcome new colleagues to support our expanding need for tech skills and talent we have based here in Ireland,” Riviezzo said. Areas of focus for Fidelity include asset management, brokerage and administrative solutions serving personal, workplace, intermediary and institutional markets. Its “welco...

Liz Beavers is a senior solutions engineer at SolarWinds, despite having originally trained in communications and HR. Here, she explains how she arrived at her current role and why she recommends upskilling in information technology infrastructure library (ITIL), a framework for IT service management (ITSM) that makes managing IT services easier for businesses through standardised best practices. How did you arrive at your current role? Like many of today’s IT professionals, my entry to the tech field was unconventional. I graduated from James Madison University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and human resource development, fully intending to pursue a career in public relations. I landed my first job out of college working with a research platform for bankers, accountants, investors and other business professionals, working as a customer success manager. From there, I moved to IT service management solutions provider Samanage (now SolarWinds), where I continued my work...

On Tuesday (7 April), Intel announced that it is committing $50m in a pandemic response technology initiative to tackle the spread of the coronavirus and its associated disease, Covid-19. Intel’s goal is to accelerate access to technology at the point of patient care, speed up scientific research and ensure access to online learning resources for students throughout the Covid-19 crisis. As part of the relief funding, Intel has included an innovation fund for requests where access to Intel expertise and resources could have an immediate impact. This is in addition to the company’s prior announcement of a $10m donation to support local communities throughout the crisis. The donation comes after the company broke records in its January earnings call, reporting revenue of $20.21bn in the final stretch of 2019. The company’s total earnings for 2019 was $72bn. Sharing access to resources and technology Bob Swan, CEO of Intel, said: “The world faces an enormous challenge in fighting Cov...

In response to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the world, companies and researchers have raced to develop new testing kits , screening technology and other measures to limits its spread. However, speaking yesterday during a press briefing, Dr Michael Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) health emergencies programme, warned that despite the urgency, people’s right to digital privacy cannot be overlooked. He said this this is likely the first pandemic of the 21st century in which “the full power of information technology, social media, AI is being applied to almost every aspect of this response”. “We do always have to have in the back of our minds – especially when it comes to collecting information on individual citizens or tracking their whereabouts or movements – that there are always very serious data protection, human rights principles that re involved,” he said. “We’re very, very cognisant of that and we want to ensure that all products that are ...

In response to the spread of Covid-19 in Europe, Estonian start-up support Accelerate Estonia launched an online hackathon with Garage48 to help the country emerge from the coronavirus crisis and create “competitive advantages” for the post-crisis period. The initiative went on to become the largest online hackathon in Estonia, and was opened by the nation’s president Kersti Kaljulaid and minister of foreign trade and information technology, Kaimar Karu. Commenting on the hackathon, Kaljulaid said: “It is my sincere pleasure to see that this initiative, organised in just a few hours, has become an international event bringing together more than 1,000 participants from more than 20 countries and 14 time zones. “This is a genuine example of an initiative that leads people to look for solutions to the challenges we face. The spread of coronavirus is a threat to our health and to our social and economic environment. It’s important to join forces and work towards solutions.” Some of the...

At various points of her life so far, Fionnghuala O’Reilly has wanted to be anything from a ballerina and a pilot to a truck driver and a paleontologist. Where she ended up, however, is being Miss Universe Ireland and directing NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge . She is also the ambassador for this year’s Engineers Ireland STEPS Engineers Week . Here, O’Reilly reflects on her varied career path to date and explains why she sees immense value in mentors. ‘Nothing valuable comes easy, so I apply a problem-solving attitude to everything that I do’ – FIONNGHUALA O’REILLY What’s your current role and what does it involve? In addition to being Miss Universe Ireland, I am one of the directors of NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge. Space Apps is the world’s largest hackathon and pitch competition, whose mission is to bring international communities together to create innovation to help solve the world’s most challenging Earth science and space-themed problems. In a nut...