NCI Blog

Cyber-attacks and online fraud stories are in the headlines now more than ever before. Grant Thornton Ireland recently reported that the total economic cost of cybercrime in Ireland in 2020 was €9.6 billion, a massive increase since their first report revealed that the cost was €630 million back in 2014.

Dr Anu Sahni, Lecturer and Programme Director in NCI's School of Computing, shares a recent innovation her research group has been working on to help the retail sector boost sales using recommender systems, including a white paper on the process: Innovation Partnership Collaboration between NCI and Glantus Ltd.

This week sees the celebration of NCI’s Technology Transfer Project Showcase. Project Showcase is the launch pad from which final-year computing students progress into their careers. This year’s gold sponsor of Project Showcase, Citi, has a competitive graduate programme that allows successful students to begin their careers gaining experience within a large, multinational organisation.

A viewpoint from one of the many promising career paths in the field of Data Science by Sarah O'Neill, Senior Consultant at TQS Firstly, a little about me... My name is Sarah and I have worked with TQS Integration for the last 3 years. I am fortunate enough to work with a team of brilliant people - our team is called ‘Pod Almighty’.

In one way, Fintech is the easiest of the newer computing buzzwords to explain, as it is simply a portmanteau that combines FINance with TECHnology to make a new word: Fintech. The word first began to be used in the early 1990s, as an abbreviation for Citi’s initiative: Financial Services Technology Consortium, though the move towards understanding the possible impact Technology could have on Finance began as early as the 1980s.

A lot of us have some idea of Artificial Intelligence (AI) - or at least think we do - if only from the movies. At its most sophisticated, we might think of the replicants in Blade Runner (with a bit of bioengineering thrown in), while considering Ex Machina or Chappie as more likely to become Science Fact within our lifetimes. However, often robots, even humanoid ones, don’t have Artificial Intelligence, they cannot read their surroundings and respond to them, but only perform a single pre-programmed task. These machines help us *do* things more quickly or carry out repetitive physical processes; AI helps us *think* more quickly, sorting through vast amounts of information.

A quick search at time of writing this blog post displayed 240 Blockchain roles currently recruiting in Ireland through LinkedIn alone. Even if you are not currently job-searching, you will have come across the word in news reports and articles about everything from Brexit to cybersecurity to cryptocurrency. This is your speedy guide to understanding what people are talking about when they mention ‘Blockchain’.

Human resource management, data analytics, economics and TikTok… John Geraghty, HR Business Partner at TikTok, explains how these areas come together in his current role. Drawing from his undergraduate degree, his interest in data and economics has kept him grounded and ensured that he has always based his decisions on facts and tangible metrics. Studying the MA in Human Resource Management at NCI was a real lightbulb moment for John; he was certain that this was the field he wanted to pursue a career in. Starting off in recruitment, he soon moved into HR roles in technology companies where he developed an understanding of the impact of employee insights on business success. This sparked a desire to develop analytical skills to make decisions that would drive business growth, leading him to study the Higher Diploma in Science in Data Analytics at NCI.

Molly interviewing Tommy Tiernan about his chat show, image taken pre-covid. Photo credit: Bren Murphy Rubbing shoulders with the stars isn't something you imagine doing as a data analyst. However, NCI data analytics graduate, Molly O'Dwyer, has found a way to combine her creative marketing side with her analytical strengths in her role as a Social Media and Data Lead at RTÉ where she works on shows such as The Late Late Toy Show and The Tommy Tiernan Show. While 1.5 million viewers tuned in to watch the record-breaking Late Late Toy Show in November, Molly was hard at work sharing special moments from the show with online audiences and uncovering insights from online engagements and behaviour.

Data analysis is an area of great opportunity and there is increasing demand for people with these skills in the jobs market, both here in Ireland and internationally.