Web 2 Ireland

We all know what unmitigated disasters Digg V3 and later were. In a world of Twitter and Facebook they kept thinking it was still 2007. When V3 launched I said that it should have been built around the popular stories on Twitter since that’s what people are really interested in, rather than the closed coven of Digg power-users. So I was thrilled to see the recent launch of NewsWhip which does exactly that.

The site is an aggregation of popular news based on sharing and RTs across Twitter and Facebook. So there is no gaming, no moderation, just a smart algorithm bubbling up the hot news right now. They give a score to a news story by measuring how many Tweets, Likes, Shares, and other interactions it gets.You can filter by the location you are interested in and various categories and sub-categories.

At the moment the front page is showing some stories on the possible return of Arrested Development. That makes me very happy indeed.

For a great snapshot of interesting news across the realtime web during the day, I think the guys have nailed it.

Here are two of the Decks that were presented at the recent Facebook Garage in Gateway Ireland.

RightRental:

Local Social:

The next Facebook Developer Garage is on Wednesday February 9th in Gateway House, Dublin from 5pm-7pm. If you are interested in speaking, please contact web2ireland.editor@gmail.com

Some of the hot topics which we can expect to hear about include:

• Facebook Places
• Facebook Credits
• Gaming
• fCommerce

If you have interest in any aspect of where Facebook is going, you should attend. It is free but you must register over on Eventbrite.

The Gateway House venue at 133 Capel Street (top of Mary Street and just left) is very interesting too. It is the former tram station:

The aim of Gateway House is to provide a dynamic environment for established companies in the area of online activities. We will build clusters of like-minded people and initiatives who will build synergies with Gateway Ireland. Together we aim to be part of a movement to innovate and reinvigorate Ireland. A number of relevant companies have already committed to joining us in Gateway House.

Hope to see you there. If there is anything specific you’d like to hear about on the day, leave a comment below.

It’s a Worldwide Programming Competition kicking-off today. $5,000 cash and all the glory to the winner. Do it.

Interesting to see references to local Web2Ireland community in IDA Ireland Horizon 2020 strategy document

The ICT sector in Ireland is already playing a leading role in showing this model in operation, with Facebook connecting with local application developers through its
Developer Garage programme and Google's Code Jam engaging in a similar way.

One of the sections is very interesting – titled – Connect with Tomorrow's Twitter

High growth technology companies have impact hugely disproportional to their size. They are often first to market with new ideas and new business models in digital media, life sciences, mobile technology and financial services. These young companies are the seeds of tomorrow's multinationals whether through organic growth or in mergers or acquisitions, often with more established firms. IDA will increase its emphasis and focus on these high potential companies in support of the development of
Ireland as a global innovation hub. IDA has established a dedicated team focused on the needs of these companies. Working with sister agencies and other stakeholders, we will assist these emerging companies with financial support and in making connections in Ireland. These high-growth firms
will become an increasingly important part of Ireland's innovation ecosystem, linking up with established multinationals in ICT and globally traded businesses; third level institutions and their talented graduates; and indigenous companies of similar scale and potential.

Newbay are hiring, Facebook are hiring in Dublin and Crowdstar are looking for a biz analyst (see below)

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Job Specification Business Analyst
Crowdstar International is seeking a Business Analyst to join its fast-growing HQ located in Dublin, Ireland. This role involves providing ongoing market, competitor and product analysis within the Business Development team, to assist the company in successfully identifying and evaluating new business opportunities.
Responsibilities Include:
* Performing competitor and market analysis to facilitate ongoing strategy development.
* Recommending and assisting in the development of strategies for growth.
* Analysing product performance, trends and activity to provide business insights.
* Identifying emerging market trends and patterns in customer behaviour.

* Developing intelligence on the social gaming industry by playing current games, gathering and analysing relevant industry news and reports.

* Building and using strategic and analytic tools to evaluate current and emerging business opportunities.

* Creating clear and concise dashboards, presentations and reports as required.

The requirements for this position are:
* Strong passion for social media and gaming
* Strong analytic skills and experience with metrics driven strategic decision making
* Experience in online games, social media or consumer internet
* Understanding of virtual economies, viral channels, and online monetization
* Strong verbal and written communication skills
* Enjoy working in a fast paced start-up environment
* Apply a collaborative and consensus driven approach
* BA/BS degree

Applications may be submitted by email to Business Development Manager Gavin Barrett – gavin@crowdstar.com

A video from recent Facebook Developer Garage in Dublin

Thanks to Jan at TouristRepubic for organizing video and pictures from event

We’re delighted to announce the First Facebook Developer Garage Ireland of 2010

Speakers include:

Gavin Barrett, Crowdstar
Charles Dowd, tickettruck
Declan Kennedy, Betapond
David Lenehan, Polldaddy
Sonia Flynn, Facebook

Thanks to The Science Gallery for hosting the event and Enterprise Ireland for providing support.

Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: Science Gallery, Pearse Street, Dublin 2

Sign up on Facebook for event

Facebook officially opened their EMEA HQ in Dublin today.

Currently Facebook employ 70 people, and they intend to double the workforce over the coming year (see vacancies), under the leadership of Colm Long, who has provided great support for the Facebook Garage Ireland initiatives

Facebook also has over 1m users in Ireland – which is pretty impressive.

Some Job Opportunities within Web2Ireland Community

Realex Payments are hiring – reference Colm Lyon, CEO’s tweet

Leading Irish property site, Daft.ie are hiring – PHP Developers

Pat Phelan is hiring in Cork – .net developer with XML, SQL

Facebook are hiring in Dublin – loads of open positions

Newbay are hiring – Engineers, etc

Do drop us a line if you’re hiring