Weekend takeaway: Uprise in Dublin; to 5G or not to 5G?

7 Oct 2016

Essential weekend reading including the Uprise festival in Dublin. Image: Nick Starichenko/Shutterstock

From the start-ups at Uprise in Dublin and the future of telecoms, we cover all the important areas in the sci-tech world this week.

1. 12 start-ups you should get to know at Uprise Dublin

The fourth edition of Uprise brings the start-up festival to Dublin on 20 October, aiming to make new young business more approachable, investable and connected.

2. Black Girls Code hits the big time with Empire cameo

It was a proud moment for Kimberley Bryant and the team at Black Girls Code, as the organisation popped up in the hit Fox show Empire, giving it huge exposure.

3. The future of networks: lighting up the digital world

The biggest challenge facing the communications world, driven by more and more connected people, devices and bandwidth-sucking apps, will be physics.

4. Arcane capital gains tax rules are forcing Irish start-ups into exile

Ireland’s outmoded capital gains tax rules are forcing Irish entrepreneurs to register their businesses in the UK. But is there some good news just around the corner?

5. This Irish chip has heart: Boston Scientific and MCCI in nano breakthrough

A new nanotech chip developed by Tyndall-based MCCI and medtech giant Boston Scientific could make heart pacemakers more efficient.

6. What is 5G? Signalling the next generation of high-speed networks

5G is being proclaimed as the next step in the future of communications, promising speeds 100 times faster than today’s 4G networks. How realistic is this?

7. Intercom takes more floors at Stephen’s Green offices in Dublin

Fast-growing tech firm Intercom has signed a lease to take two more floors at its Stephen’s Green offices where it is creating 100 new jobs.

8. Hurricane Matthew: A destructive week as seen from the skies

Hurricane Matthew has been battering the Caribbean and some states of the US this week, with NASA’s view of the event quite spectacular.

9. Small tech stands to enable big advances for healthcare

Lab-on-a-chip systems are opening up new analyses for biology and medicine. Claire O’Connell spoke to Dr Sabeth Verpoorte ahead of a major conference hosted by DCU in Dublin.

10. Here are 8 areas 5G will revolutionise in future

Connectivity is going through a growth spurt that is outstripping modern capabilities, with 4G’s suitability gradually fading. So 5G is the solution, right?

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com