Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast

#ownyourdata with Brittany Kaiser Whistle blower and data activist Brittany Kaiser, whose story is told in the Netflix documentary “The Great Hack”, joins Gareth and Ania on stage at Web Summit Rio. She talks about her latest initiative that will allow Brazilians to get paid for sharing their data. RoostEdge – new SOEP sponsor CEO of RoostEdge Eliezer Silveira Filho is on stage to tell us about ho...

From Algorithm to Action: How AI & Automation are Redefining Business In this episode, we dive into the booming technology scene in Brazil — now the 5th largest digital economy in the world. With over 260 million active mobile phones (more than there are people in Brazil!) and major investments in digital transformation, Brazil is rapidly becoming a global tech powerhouse. We’re joined by Alexandr...

Love, Lies & Digital Crime: The Global Web of Romance Scams In this episode, we uncover the dark side of the internet where romance scams flourish across major technology platforms—and the heartbreaking consequences they leave in their wake. Victims are deceived by online personas, only to find themselves emotionally betrayed and financially devastated. But the story doesn’t stop there. Freelance...

Lifestyle and mental health - Nigerian startups empowering choice through tech Buying electronic toys that speak your language or even a doll that looks like the proud owner is easy – that is if you’re white and speak English. It’s much harder to buy other ‘lifestyle’ products, for example, a child’s plate with Arabic writing on it, or a doll wearing a hiyab. Oyindamola Kazeem, realized this when...

Kenya has a blood deficit and it’s especially urgent in places like the northwestern region of Turkana, where malaria, anaemia and violence are rife, driving up the demand for blood transfusions. The Ministry of Health is now planning to roll out technology to modernise blood transfusion services, extending the shelf life of blood and being able to automate the entire process. The most detailed co...

This week we have an AI-free show – instead we’re going to tell you about the latest tech in food packaging. Metalchemy is a startup that has created a biodegradable material designed to enhance the freshness of your food. Although this may not seem particularly groundbreaking, it is important to note that the material in question is at the cutting edge of nanotechnology. This represents advanced...

Restoring US Government websites since Trump came to power Since January 20th this year there has been a significant reduction of content on US government websites, following directives from the Trump administration to eliminate extensive data and resources, particularly those related to health equity, equity, diversity, and inclusion, or any other topics the administration considers excessively "...

Agritech in Uzbekistan: helping small-scale farmers recover from communist farming methods Uzbekistan is tackling the many problems it faces in farming and agriculture with the help of technology. During its time as part of the Soviet Union, the country was forced to grow cotton which led to major environmental problems. The country has 5.5 million smallholders, many of whom are women. A new digit...

Myanmar tops the charts for the most internet shutdowns in 2024 India stands as a global leader in various sectors - technology, innovation, space exploration, and education in science and engineering. However, it has also consistently ranked first in internet shutdowns for six consecutive years. From 2016 to 2023, there were a total of 771 recorded incidents. According to the Freedom Law Centre I...

The first African-born Arab woman to go into Space Sara Sabry, is an engineer, citizen astronaut, and entrepreneur of Egyptian-Lebanese descent. In 2022, she made history by becoming the first Egyptian to journey into space during the Blue Origin NS-22 mission, as well as the first woman of African descent and Arab heritage to achieve this milestone. Additionally, she is the founder and CEO of the...

Are teachers keeping up with their pupils when it comes to AI in the classroom? A recent survey in the United States showed that more than 70% of students report using AI for their school assignments, even in the face of institutional restrictions on tools like ChatGPT. This finding comes from a study conducted by The Harker School, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California, San...

AI can now sell your intentions – marketing your decisions before you make them Machine learning is on the verge of commercialising your decisions even before you make them. New research shows that we are moving away from an attention economy to an intention economy as machine learning models, which can already imitate the way we write or talk, can now map previous activity onto future actions. Wr...

Is Arabic another language that goes unchecked online? A few weeks ago we reported on the almost impossible task of monitoring Kiswahili content online. This situation exposes millions of people to harmful and abusive content while the major social media companies continue to profit. In another report by the Centre for Democracy and Technology, similar conclusions have been drawn about Maghrebi Ar...

Is AI going to replace your job? Is artificial intelligence a threat to your employment? If your profession involves machine learning or chatbot development, the outlook appears promising but for translators and some writing roles it’s not.  Those are the findings of a study recently published in the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation.  Researchers analysed over three million job posti...

Podextra - how you can get a bit more of Somewhere on Earth... Just a gentle reminder that we produce two versions of each show of Somewhere on Earth. There's the main show, which is available to everyone for free and there's an extended PODEXTRA edition where we delve a little deeper and chat longer to our guests - there are also no ads in this one. That's just $10US a month and you can cancel an...

Robobees – could they help solve world hunger? A drone approximately the size of a thumb and weighing less than one gram is currently under development by a team at MIT. This team is focused on creating robotic insects that could serve various purposes, including functioning as pollinators in vertical farms—environments where crops are cultivated within tall structures designed for optimal growth...

Can Kiswahili online content be moderated? It appears that 2025 will see a significant shift in content moderation practices, as Meta plans to eliminate independent fact-checkers on Facebook and Instagram.  This change may suggest a decline in standards, particularly in regions that have historically experienced limited online moderation. In many parts of Africa, small content teams have been task...

Capturing shooting stars with your doorbell cam We’ve had the first meteor shower of 2025 – you may have missed it but your doorbell cam may have recorded it. The Quadrantids shower has captivated both amateur and professional astronomers, some of whom are now working together to find the meteors once they land on the Earth’s surface. When this occurs, there is a strong likelihood that the aptly n...

How to keep your data safe when protesting The government of Georgia is set to deport 25 foreign nationals who were involved in protests that occurred late last year. This information has been reported by several news outlets referencing the Interior Ministry of Georgia. The demonstrations arose in response to the parliamentary elections held in the country. Considering the protests and the subseq...

Your favourite SOEP shows from 2024 Thank you for all your suggestions and comments; we have selected the most popular choices and put them together in our final show of 2024. From our special programme with Jimmy Wales, to the reliability of French language chatbots, we look at what you thought were our best bits of the year.   The PodExtra - The Creator Economy This week we have a completely new...

Biometrics – do we have a choice in who has this data and how they use it? This week we dive deep into the world of biometrics, with a particular focus on facial recognition technology. What is the current state of facial recognition, and why are legal experts and privacy advocates so concerned? Additionally, we’ll explore the realm of health data; is there a necessary compromise between collectin...

How technology led to the rise of HTS and the fall of Assad in Syria HTS presented the removal of a brutal dictatorship that had lasted for five decades as a straightforward task accomplished in a matter of days. Currently, the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has assumed control in Syria, while former president Bashar al-Assad reportedly resides in Russia. Although the narrative often em...

Protecting submarine cables, how the big players are now involved Submarine fibre optic cables are responsible for carrying 99% of the world's internet traffic yet they are often subject to damage. Therefore, it is fortunate that a coordinated organisation exists to ensure the resilience of these essential cables. Gareth and Ania discuss why this has only been set up recently. Proton – from VPN’s...

A new feeding robot could return people’s independence at mealtimes A group of friends is enjoying lunch together, however one of the friends is unable to use their arms so rely on a carer help them eat. Now a new robot – called FIDI – could return their independence at mealtimes. A robotic arm positioned on the table automatically delivers food to their mouth, using AI and cameras to adapt to the...

Kyiv – a smart city adapting to war As the full-scale Russian invasion surpasses the thousand-day milestone, Ukrainians are keeping the war on the news agenda. One aspect that was discussed at Web Summit is Kyiv's transformation into a self-proclaimed 'smart city', highlighting the increasing availability of digital municipal services for its citizens. Oleg Polovinko, an advisor on digitalization...