An Approach to Life

Dublin startup RelevantM is the brainchild of Niall Larkin and Dawn Reilly who met while researching their PhDs. They’ve developed an innovative solution to the problem of online privacy and are in the process of filing patents. With the growth of social networking sites such as Facebook , privacy is often the critical factor which determines whether it is a positive experience for users. However RelevantM say the conventional approach to online privacy is flawed, in that it is “a technological approach to solve a sociological problem”. They’ve taken a different approach, one they describe as “socially informed”. Niall’s background is in complexity science and game theory, and Dawn is an engineer. They developed their idea with social networks in mind, and they continue to be surprised that no-one else has thought of it! In fact, they claim that not only does their invention solve the privacy problem, it also gives answers to the related questions of identity, reputation and trust online. Dawn and Niall couldn’t tell us the details of their approach. “Our patent agents would kill us!” They’ve filed for 6 patents in total, and when those are secure they intend to approach social networking companies like Facebook to explain their technology. RelevantM has been largely self-funded to date, with support from Dublin City Enterprise Board , Social Entrepreneurs Ireland and the M50 Platform programme . Not surprisingly they are planning to go on the Paddy’s Valley tour in December . No doubt they’ll be dropping in to see Facebook in Palo Alto!

Duration : 0:7:12

(more…)

In this business tv show we look at how businesses can operate sustainably in emerging economies. Experts Stephen Philips, Chief Executive, China-Britain Business Council, Ian Coleman, Partner, Head of emerging markets, PricewaterhouseCoopers UK, Frederique Schillern, COO Asia Pacific, Equity Trust, and Chris Runckel, President of international business consultants Runckel and ociates, look at issues from energy to air quality, and what green steps are being taken in emerging economies.

Ian Coleman: I do believe that this issue of sustainability, broadening beyond climate change but sustainability which would capture thinking about employment practices as well as just sort of the climatic effects of this activity is going to be an absolutely central issue for the way in which emerging markets emerge.

Chris Runckel: In China a lot of water ways if you are standing next o it your eyes are tearing from the smell of chemicals. If you’re in China travelling for a couple of weeks often times you’ll develop a cough because of the higher levels of articulates in the air. In general pollution is a very big problem in most of these developing countries it’s a problem. In China throughout the eastern area it’s an increasing problem in Vietnam, it will be a bigger and bigger problem in India.

Frederique Schillern: I think we talked about China and its political and economic role in the world; it is more and more becoming a global player. That’s going to mean for them to address things like the environment, in turn that means potential for a lot of companies dealing with environmental technology, environmentally friendly systems for example. It means that they have to open up their financial markets amongst other things, is one of the few things that is still very tightly controlled, that means of course an enormous amount of potential for environmental firms and all the advisory professional services that go with that.

Ian Coleman: I think it would be wrong to characterise emerging markets as a …

Duration : 0:4:52

(more…)