By Business & Finance 
Dublin Tech Summit returned for an in-person, two-day event at the RDS which saw some of the most influential and innovative thought leaders in tech converge on Dublin to network, exchange insights and see the latest, cutting edge developments in tech.
This year’s DTS returned to an in-person event following the DTS Virtual in 2021. Following the success of last year, this year saw Europe’s fastest growing tech summit welcome 6,500 registered attendees to see 200 international speakers and 100+ sessions across four stages. With delegates from 60+ countries in attendance, there were 100+ startups, 200+ members of the global media and 80+ corporate partners all networking and sharing insights. The Summit kicked off with Ignite X at the Van Gogh exhibition.
Themes this year included Irish unicorns, rebooting the news, tech for good, cyber security and much more. The international event explored numerous topics affecting the global tech community with speakers including company founders, CEOs, innovators, leaders, activists and researchers drawn from industry sectors all over the world.
Dublin Tech Summit’s partners included Threatlocker, Lenovo, Globalization Partners and Payhawk.
Wednesday 15 June
On the Prism stage, thought leaders in the media space participated in a panel discussion theme, ‘Rebooting the News’. Panelists included Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, CEO and Publisher, MIT Technology Review; Josh Benson, Partner and Co-Founder, Old Town Media and Deep Bagchee, Chief Product Officer, ITV. The discussion was moderated by Eric Schurenberg, Former CEO Mansueto Ventures.
Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau noted, “We are clearly in a situation where tech media are calling tech leaders to task on their bottom lines.”
Harry Moseley, Global CIO, Zoom
Day one of the tech event featured the launch of the Business & Finance CIO 100 Index 2022, in association with Equinix, at a breakfast event. It featured a keynote address from Harry Moseley, Global Co-CIO, Zoom and a panel discussion on the theme, ‘The evolution of the CIO – the change leaders for our digital world’, opened by Michael Galvin, Enterprise Sales Director, Ireland, Equinix. Joining the discussion were some of Ireland’s leading IT professionals, Colin Kennedy, CIO DPD Ireland and Ashling Cunningham, CIO, Irish Water. The panel was moderated by Joan Mulvihill, Digitalisation & Sustainability Lead, Siemens.
Harry Moseley spoke about the importance of tech. “Every company is a tech company irrespective of industry.” He said it was never a better time to be in tech, adding that with tech evolving on a daily basis, ‘it’s staggering the things we will be able to do’. He referenced his secondary school english teacher who advised pupils to ‘learn something new every day otherwise it’s a day wasted’, adding that it was important to always follow one’s gut. He offered some words of inspiration for those in attendance:
“It is most important to love what you do. I ask of my colleagues out here: go do amazing things.”
Pictured (from l-r): Joan Mulvihill, Digitalisation & Sustainability Lead, Siemens, Harry Moseley, Co-CIO of Zoom, Ashling Cunningham, CIO, Irish Water and Colin Kennedy, CIO DPD Ireland. Photographer Paul Sherwood
Christopher Wylie, Head of Insight & Emerging Tech, H&M
Christopher Wylie received a standing ovation following his fireside chat with Eric Schurenberg where he spoke about blowing the whistle on Cambridge Analytica. During the chat, Mr. Wylie discussed the dangers of the internet and the implications of the privacy issues he blew the whistle on.
“Colonialism never died, it just moved onto the internet,” he said at one point during the conversation. He elaborated on the trappings of the internet and it’s influence on society. “Racism is alive and well everywhere and the internet just makes it worse.”
Wylie also delved into the data-sharing scandal Facebook found itself embroiled in. “Facebook knew about all of it,” he claimed before explaining the implications of the privacy breach and how it led o the radicalisation of individuals.
“Isolating a person happened online with Facebook” he said. ““If you want to radicalise a country, you’ve got to isolate that country.”
Zaria Parvez, Global Social Media Manager, Duolinguo
Duolingo social media coordinator and TikTok trailblazer Zaria Parvez addressed attendees on how to communicate with consumers and go viral. The little green owl with an affinity for Dua Lipa took the platform by storm and Parvez shared her knowledge on how others can do the same.
Intersectionality is the “golden ticket” according to Parvez. Another key element was calculated risk, which goes hand in hand with intersectionality.
“To make something go viral you often have to break through the noise and that involves risk,” she said. Parvez cited her ability to “shapeshift” due to her identity as a Pakistani-American as one of the reasons for her skills as a social media coordinator.
“The best superpower any social media manager can have is shapeshifting,” she said.
Jack Pierse, co-founder of Wayflier and Conor and James McCarthy, co-founders of Flipdish
Jack Pierse, Conor and James McCarthy formed a panel moderated by Robin Wauters, Tech.eu, discussing Ireland’s fastest growing unicorns.
Pierse spoke about the important of having a good team around you and how a business is not a one-ship fleet. “You on your own can no longer move the needle in you business.”
Conor McCarthy doubled down on the importance of team work when he said “When the company grows, you cannot handle every problem yourself,” and added that “a strong culture is very important.” Brother James touched on the importance of making your company visible when he said “It’s important to be very visible.”
Michele Romanow, founder/CEO, Clearco
Michele Romanow participated in a fireside themed, ‘How startups can grow during times of uncertainty’, in conversation with Anna Flockett, Editor, UK Startups.
Michele told the audience that her parents said she could study anything as long as it was engineering. She gave insights into the success of startups, saying, “You have to perform at a 9 out 10 or else you don’t get a second meeting” and that as an entrepreneur, your mindset always has to be optimistic. She said that Start-ups can grow during times of uncertainty and that, “Capital never goes away, it just switches the types of deals people are looking for”. Her advice to the audience was to have self-belief in abundance. She noted, “Whoever you are, there will be so many people who doubt you” and “The only thing you can control is your output”.
Ben Jenkins, Director, Cyber Security, ThreatLocker
Ben delivered a keynote on the theme, ‘How to Stop Ransomware with Zero Trust’. He told the audience, “Times have changed. We are fighting with gangs, sophisticated businesses and nation states.”
David Singleton, CTO, Stripe
David delivered a keynote themed, ‘Evolving infrastructure: 12 years of user-first engineering at Stripe’. He said, “The very first operating principle we decided was ‘Users First'”, noting that “The true challenge comes not from building the first product, but what comes next”
