Tag: tech

  • Understanding Public Spending in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

    Understanding Public Spending in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

    PublicPurse.ie is a brand-new independent transparency project that collects and organises information about government spending. Built by William Kennedy, the project aims to answer the question: “Where is Ireland’s public money actually going?” 

    The site aggregates spending data already published by public bodies, with the end goal of providing a complete index of every line of public spending. 

    Anyone can access the site and filter data from Government departments, city and county councils, third-level education institutions, and other public bodies such as An Garda Síochána or An Coimisiún Pleanála. 

    Organisations can be compared using a transparency score that evaluates them based on the legibility of their data and how much information is provided about the procurement and supplier. Additionally, AI agents such as Claude or ChatGPT can easily connect to the site, allowing users to quickly sort through data or get answers in plain language. 

    Some readers may notice similarities to StateSpend.ie, launched earlier this month by Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan. Kennedy and Dolan both identified the same problem: public bodies were already publishing large amounts of spending information, but it was scattered across hundreds of websites and presented in inconsistent formats. 

    Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

    Improving transparency in state spending is a key focus for Dolan. In a recent blog post, he claimed that 65% of the public do not trust the Government to manage public finances. Projects such as PublicPurse and StateSpend are, in Dolan’s view, a first step towards reforming public expenditure. He believes open and transparent sites such as these will act as a ‘Panopticon’, forcing public bodies to improve their practices. 

    I asked Kennedy whether the data matched the public’s perception of Government waste. 

    “We actually don’t know if the money is being spent correctly. Anecdotally, we think the money is being wasted but when we look at the data we can’t tell for sure because when you examine a line item, there’s no invoice attached to it. If there’s no invoice it’s hard to match it up to the tender,” said Kennedy.

    “Basically, there’s no way of connecting money spent to the outcome. That means we have a system that we put money into it, and we might get some results, but we’re not sure what the effect more money has on it.”

    Where the two platforms differ, is that Kennedy built PublicPurse in his spare time over a few weeks. Initially started in 2025 as a hobby project, Kennedy was further inspired upon hearing of Dolan’s efforts. He even arranged a meeting between them and Matthew Fenlon of The Problem Solving Association (TPSA), the co-founder of StateSpend.

    Unfortunately, other commitments, including his career as a software engineer of 15 years, and the vast amount of data that needed to be sorted meant PublicPurse was put on hold for a while.  

    It wasn’t until recent advancements in AI that the project came back online. These new developments allowed Kennedy to automate a lot of the workload. Collaboration with Fenlon also sped up the process significantly, as Fenlon shared relevant URLs and data, even coming up with feedback and ideas for the project. Cooperation between the projects benefitted everybody. 

    However, even these increasingly capable AI agents struggled to parse information released by some of Ireland’s county councils. Kennedy spoke of documents being printed off, manually rescanned and re-uploaded, with some pages often crooked or askew.  

    I then asked Kennedy whether there was any way to standardise archaic methods such as these. 

    “Well, they should be using cloud-based accounting tools,” he said. “When you use these tools, you don’t need to print off the data. We could just grab the information instantly. These accounting tools must meet certain criteria, like they would need a REST API, essentially allowing computers to talk to each other, as each API endpoint would be allocated to a different public body. Then all the government has to do is get just one developer to write a small program that can gather that data. Now you can monitor each public body easily.”

    Kennedy also runs CitizenData.ie, a directory of independently made civic-tech tools, platforms and initiatives that aims to improve democratic participation and empower everyday people. Many might recognise Bustimes.org, a tool arguably better than the official TFI app, or Contactyourtd.ie, which facilitates easy contact with local TDs and provides access to their voting records and results. 

    “I think there’s a misunderstanding that you need to hire experts for these things, actually the public are the experts. There are so many smart people on this island and if you give them a bit of time and you give them the data, they will do amazing things.”

    Although, if Ireland has a wealth of talented and technically gifted people, why is that not translating into government projects? 

    “Being honest, government entities are just not good at building software. It is a real puzzle because they have all the resources, and in theory, they do all the right things; they put out a plan, they have a tender. But when they finally get the product, it’s just not good quality.”

    “Software is an odd kind of industry. Small teams and individuals regularly outperform giant companies. It’s why this industry has so much development. People are always coming up with smarter ways of working, that’s why it’s constantly a very competitive area. Small teams are just very effective, and they’re even more effective now in the age of AI.”

    Continuing the theme of AI, I was keen to find out Kennedy’s thoughts on the rapid advancements being made in the field. In recent news, Jacob Coxon, a researcher at Anthropic, publicly resigned amid fears that the company was prioritising commercial and competitive pressures over safety considerations. This was notable given that Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI executives who left the company over similar concerns. 

    Pope Leo with Chris Olah, the co-founder of AnthropicPhotograph: Alberto Pizzoli

    Even stranger, Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah met with Pope Leo XIV, reportedly with concerns over the possibility that AI could soon possess something resembling internal experience or consciousness, and what humanity’s role would be in such a world. 

    I questioned Kennedy on whether these concerns were well founded. 

    “You have to understand when you see this kind of fear mongering, that it comes from OpenAI and Anthropic, but not from China, who have just as advanced models. Silicon Valley is very good at this; they want people to be afraid. They want to send out this message so that they can corner the market.”

    “These companies are huge lobbyists; they spend a fortune on lobbying; despite giving off the idea they hate it. They just want regulations in place so that other competitors can’t enter the market.”

    “Yes, there are going to be concerns. Things are going to happen that we’re not going to be comfortable with. But guess what? Humans just solve these problems.”

     

  • The new world of Hipster Banking

    The new world of Hipster Banking

     

    The term ‘hipster banking’ has been around quite a while, and both the banks and the term are here to stay.

    N26 and Revolut are the two biggest ‘Finetech’ start-up banks available to people in Ireland. Their purpose is to serve up an undeniably slick and “easy” way to bank.

    N26 was launched in Germany in 2015 and has since found its way into the wallets of 1.5 million customers across Europe. Revolut is based in England and has over a million users with 75,000 based in Ireland.

    So what’s the difference between the two? N26 has a European Banking License while Revolut is backed by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. They have, however, applied for an EU banking license, but this is still in the works.

    While it is easy to get into the nuances of these finetech companies, it is much more interesting to see the waves they are making in the financial world.

    “The bricks and mortar banks are currently scrambling to start offering the features these Finetech companies have already rolled out,” John Armstrong, editor of Irish Tech News said.

    “The disruption has caused a beneficial knock-on for everyone, even those who have no idea why their antiquated banks now want to offer them features they have wished for, for years,” Armstrong continued.

    These services are for people who own and use smartphones as the banks have no physical shop fronts. To set up a N26 account you need to have a high-speed internet connection and a willingness to take a Facetime call.

    Revolut involves downloading an app and signing up from there. The apps these banks operate on are slick, sophisticated and most importantly, convenient.

    “Fintech banks know that you may not be able to do financial transactions during normal working hours, so they are designed for this and they will have support staff that you can talk to after normal business working hours,” Ronan Leonard, a freelance tech journalist explains.

    The main demographic target for N26 and Revolut are young adults with N26 pushing advertisements on YouTube that read: “#nobullshit – Banking. But without the bullshit.”

    “Banking should be easier than it is. The main reason there is still a clear divide between the likes of AIB and Revolut is that of loans. People need to establish a relationship with banks to allow them to buy cars or houses so for now, these two products will remain separated,” Armstrong said.

    This has all played into Finetech banking’s rise. Also, more competition in markets is usually a good thing as it means more variety and lower prices.

    According to Visa’s 2017 annual report, people in Ireland are now making 3 million contactless payments a week. With that being said, Bank of Ireland is still to set a date for when it will support contactless Apple and Android payments.

    “If legacy banks and financial institutions don’t adapt to what the modern customer wants they will start losing customers left, right and centre. They will have to adapt or die and so far I don’t see them adapting enough but they still have time to do this,” Leonard said.

    N26 has said in 2017 it was gaining 1,000 customers a day with its ‘Black Account’ option supposedly very popular with frequent flyers as it doesn’t have additional charges for using ATMs while abroad.

    According to N26: “The only fees on this are a €2 ATM withdrawal fee if you make more than 5 ATM Euro withdrawals in a month. The €2 fee does not apply to non-Euro ATM withdrawals – but there is a 1.7% fee for all non-Euro withdrawals.”

    This fee compares quite well with the “main” Irish banks, who all charge around 3.5% for non-Euro cash withdrawals.

    N26 has a European Banking Licence which means that funds up to €100,000 are guaranteed by the German Bank Guarantee. Revolut is still waiting to get its European license but it is backed by Lloyds Bank.

    “As far as I am aware some of these Fintech banks are as secure as legacy banks. One example of this is Revolut who use Lloyds Bank to provide banking services, and is now worth over $1.7 billion,” says Leonard.

    The interesting thing about this new era of banking is that there are no physical branches, no ATM deposits and no human faces, bar, maybe, those viewed through a screen.

    These Finetech companies are really trying to represent their #nobullshit notions by throwing their hipster weight around.

    An example of this is how you can use and store some of the major online currencies like Cryptocurrency, Ether and Litecoin on Revolut through their ‘Vaults’.

    “All banks want physical money to die and contactless payments have facilitated its near demise. The Fintech pseudo banks are already operating without it so it’s only a matter of time before it becomes the default method of payment,” Armstrong says.

    A completely seamless banking operation is closer than could have been anticipated.

    The main thing separating these new banks and the legacy banks, is their ability to loan out mortgages. But, what is to stop this being done over a phone call. A lot of loans can be secured this way already.

    “Can the old banks change quick enough before the ‘new’ banks find a reliable way to provide mortgages? Time will tell but I doubt it. Peer to peer lending has already proved itself in businesses so consumer loans will be imminent,” John concluded.

  • Coal Mining Health Study Is Halted by Interior Department

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  • Smartphones are about to get a lot smarter

    Smartphones are about to get a lot smarter

    Image by Saad Faruque via Flickr
    Image by Saad Faruque via Flickr

    As computers get smarter, faster and more compact we often find ourselves wondering: how much further can we push this technology?

    The singularity is a theoretical instance during which artificial intelligence will surpasses human intelligence and bring about radical change in human nature. While this notion seems closer to science fiction than science fact, recent breakthroughs in computer processing show computers that can mimic the human brain.

    In a statement last week, technology specialists Qualcomm announced they were making headway in relation to their “biologically-inspired” processor that is modelled on real-life neurons.

    “Instead of preprograming behaviours and outcomes with a lot of code, we’ve developed a suite of software tools that enable devices to learn as they go and get feedback from their environment,” states Samir Kumar, director of business development at Qualcomm.

    The tech giant has recently set up operations in Cork creating 100 digital IT security positions and has expressed interest in setting up a research and development wing, which could lead to up to 150 more jobs.

    Qualcomm have already built a robot which uses this ground-breaking technology. The machine learns by means of a reward system. If the machine preforms a task correctly a “good robot” message is sent.

    The companies “neuro-inspired” chips will find their way into robots, vision systems, brain implants and smartphones. They are designed to be massively parallel, reprogrammable, and capable of cognitive tasks such as classification and prediction.

    The ultimate aim is for users to be able to train their devices. The use of this technology in cell phones opens up the possibility for a customised user experience for each individual.

    The enabling of devices to see and perceive the world as humans do is a goal that Qualcomm feels is realistically within reach. “A major pillar of Zeroth processor function is striving to replicate the efficiency with which our senses and our brain communicate information,” said Kumar.

    Other companies such as IBM and Google are also investing millions into the field of cognitive computing. Last year Google unveiled a “neural network” that taught itself how to identify cats after being exposed to YouTube videos.

    Earlier this month IBM announced a collaborative research initiative with four leading universities. The study seeks to develop a system which can learn, reason and help human experts make complex decisions.

    “I believe that cognitive systems technologies will make it possible to connect people and computers in new ways so that–collectively–they can act more intelligently than any person, group, or computer has ever done before,” said Thomas Malone, Director of the MIT Centre for Collective Intelligence, in a press release.

    What will come of this research and how will it affect the average user’s virtual experience? Only time will tell. In the mean time we will have to make do with our not-so-brainy smart phones.