Hello, everyone. This is Alice Gao. Welcome to our second lecture on artificial neural networks. In this lecture, I'm going to talk about how we can train a multi-layer feedforward neural network using gradient descent. Throughout this lecture, I'm going to work with this simple three-layer feedforward neural network. This is one of the simplest cases that I can come up with. So we have three layers, input layer, hidden layer, output layer. Input layer has two real input values. Then hidden layer, there are three nodes, but one of them, H0 is a dummy one. And then in the output layer, we have two output nodes. So I've labeled all the weights. Our goal is to, given some training data, we want to learn the weights such that our actual output values, 0102, are close to the expected output values given by the training data. Let me first talk about gradient descent. Gradient descent is a well-known optimization problem. You might have learned it in a stats class or in another math class. So if you have learned this, the next few slides will be revealed for you. Another way of thinking about gradient descent is that you can think about it as a local search algorithm. Think about having a search space where the dimension is given by the number of weights we have. So we have a quite high dimensional space. And in this space, we're looking for a combination of weights in order to minimize the errors we're making on the training examples. Gradient descent is actually quite similar to greedy descent. Except greedy descent, we were talking about it in sort of a discrete setting where each node has a finite number of neighbors. But in this case, everything is real valued. So we are going to use the gradient or the partial derivative to decide on which direction we want to go and also how big of a step we want to take. In the case of a multilayer feedforward neural network, we are trying to minimize a function, and the function we're trying to minimize is the error function. Now the error we're trying to minimize is between the expected outputs based on the training data and the actual outputs based on the weights in our current network and also the training data. The quote at the top of this slide, this gives a nice intuition about what gradient descent is doing. So it's walking downhill. We're trying to find a place in a search space such that the error is minimized. And we're always taking a step in the direction that goes down the most, the steepest. So the gradient or the partial derivative is trying to help us find that direction. Let's talk about the steps of the algorithm. So first of all, we have a neural network. We have a lot of weights. We are going to initialize the weights randomly. Next, we're going to figure out how to update the weights. So for each training example, we're going to calculate the negative of the partial derivative of the error with respect to that weight. So this is the partial derivative. I'm showing you right here. Then we'll take that partial derivative multiplied by eta, which is the learning rate. And then I'm missing sort of a summation here. We need a summation because for gradient descent, we need to calculate this quantity I've highlighted for every training example and add all of those together. So once we have this sum, we're going to update the weight by decreasing the weight by this sum. Just to reiterate, for each training example and for each weight, we are going to calculate the partial derivative of the error with respect to the weight. Multiply that by the learning rate eta and then we'll add together this quantity for all of the training examples. And the sum will be how much we're going to decrease that weight by. So I've just described one weight update. And we're going to potentially do this weight update many times. So gradient descent is iterative method. And after some number of steps, when the error is small enough or when the changes in the weights are really small, then we can decide to terminate. These are the high level ideas of how gradient descent would work for our neural network. Now, when I learned gradient descent for the first time, I didn't find the formula to be very intuitive. I wasn't sure it's not intuitive to me why the change has to be related to the partial derivative and it wasn't also clear to me why we need to decrease the weight instead of increasing the weight. So I thought of some explanations to help me re-derive the properties of gradient descent if I couldn't remember all the details. So I thought this would be useful to share it with you. But of course, this is not mandatory. If you choose to memorize this algorithm, go ahead, that's fine. But maybe in the future, there will be an occasion where, say, you're stuck with your idol in an elevator and they ask you to derive gradient descent on the fly. Maybe this will be useful for you. So I'm going to include the explanation in a separate short video. You can watch it if you like. And the explanation is done on the next slide right here. So the main idea of this derivation is that I'm going to use a very simple function, the quadratic, the squared function. And I'll use this to derive some intuition about in which direction should we change the value of x when we're trying to minimize the function and also by what amount should we change the value of x. And using these intuition, I can rederive the formula for gradient descent anytime I want. Now that I've talked about the idea of gradient descent, here is something you might be wondering. So I mentioned that gradient descent updates each weight after going through all of the examples. For each example, we're going to determine a change in the weight and we'll add up all these changes together and that's by how much we're going to update each weight. But what if we have a giant training set with lots and lots of examples? Doesn't that mean that we don't do weight updates very often? We have to go through the entire training set in order to figure out how to update each weight once. So that doesn't seem very efficient and that sounds like we're going to learn, update the weights very infrequently, so we're going to learn very slowly. So how can we speed up the learning process? Well, one way to split up the learning process is that let's not update weights after looking through all of the examples. Let's update the weights after looking at just one single example. This variant of gradient descent is called incremental gradient descent. So we only look at one example, calculate the changes for all the weights and update the weights immediately. Another related version is called stochastic gradient descent. So it's exactly the same as incremental gradient descent except that each example is chosen randomly. So we're not systematically going through the examples one by one, but every time we do an update, we'll randomly choose one of the training examples and do the update weights. There's some pros and cons of doing the updates after each example instead of doing the updates after seeing all the examples. The pros are we are doing updates much more frequently. So each step is cheaper and the weights are going to be updated more frequently and they will become more accurate much more quickly. That's great. That means that we're learning faster. However, the downside is that if we're updating after every example, this process is not guaranteed to converge, because each example might take us, a single example might take us in a direction that's not towards the local minimum. It might take us to a direction that's away from the local minimum. So you can see that there's a trade-off here. If we want to learn faster, we risk not converging to the local minimum. So can we change this trade-off in our favor? Certainly. So the following idea is that let's try to manipulate this trade-off in our favor and the idea here is using another variant of gradient descent called batched gradient descent. So batched gradient descent, as you can guess from the title, it updates the weights after a batch of examples. So the size of the batch can be decided by us. On one extreme, if the batch only contains one example, this is exactly the same as incremental gradient descent. On the other extreme, if the batch is equal to the entire training set, then that's the same as the original gradient descent. So by changing the batch size, we could sort of move between these two extremes. And often people will use batch gradient descent as follows. They will start with small batches so that we will learn very quickly. And then at some point, we'll start increasing the batch size because once you increase the batch size, it's going to be closer to the entire training set so that eventually the weights will converge. So the batch size gives us a really nice way of trading out the speed of learning versus convergence. That's everything for this video. After watching this video, you should be able to do the following. Explain the high-level ideas of gradient descent and how we can apply it to learn the weights in the neural network. Explain how we can use variants of gradient descent to trade off learning speed and convergence to a local minimum. Thank you for watching. I will see you in the next video. Bye for now.


and headline news update. Welcome folks. We have the down industrial finished up 382. Nasdaq was up 73. S&P is up 33. Gold. Gold contract down $29 trading 17.68 an ounce. We had silver off 11 cents, $23.36 an ounce, light sweet crude up 91 cents, $82.22 a barrel notes and bonds. Ten year down 16, 6, 130, 31, 30 off 22 at $159.13. Now both the 10 and the 30, they're down in light volume. We'll see how they shake out next week. And I'm talking about tremendously light of volume. We went up one volume on Tuesday. We pull back today. King dollar. King dollar down 14 ticks trading 93, 9, 42, Euro 116, yen 114.22 and the British pound 137. We get over and we take a look at the spy. You close that high folks. That is saying they guess what you can get a pop on Monday also. That's interesting. Oh man. Yeah, you get two gaps. See, okay. All these gaps, all these gaps inside the spy folks, that is what happens when you're in consolidations. So my take is that we're still going to be coming back down. When you get gaps all over the place, meaning on the way down, plus on the way up, that's consolidation and the X 100. We take a look at the three cues. Three cues out here. They closed at 368 94 and bottom line. Same type of set up there. The difference with the three cues is that they're really weak, man. The three cues haven't been able to even get to the high of the downdraft that was created out there. That baby that was a 370. We've hit 369 06. Now we came into that with 36. So check it out. We come into that with 36 million shares versus 92 million on the way down. We just took a swing point out that had 39 million and you're at 36. So bottom line, I suspect, you know, this consolidation and this pullback is not over. Gold. Gold contract pullback had light volume in the pullback. We went up with 299,000 contracts. You're back with 197. My take, gold still wants higher price. In fact, if you look at the XAU and the HUI, what just might have happened is that they might have just set up an additional ABC structure in the way up. We pull back. It's going to be on lighter volume. You can take a look at the GDX.  So look at it. It's a beautiful thing, man. Bottom line, you broke topside with 36 million. You down with 19 million. This could be a very, very nice ABC structure on the way up. Have a great one, folks. Have a safe one. Come back and visit Tommy Monday morning, 9 o'clock. Great show. Wee! We'll get him, folks.


Barista asks man to leave, has no idea he's a cop. The change was drastic, no one in the store including the staff could believe was happening. The customers feared the worse. The problem had occurred less than a day ago. And it would end with policemen coming through the store's doors. Arizona is a place known for its heat. Now imagine a heat wave sweeping through the state. This means that areas that were normally quite hot were saunas. Andy Greener was happy that he worked in a place with air conditioning. It also meant that hopefully, people would come inside to seek shelter from the heat and give him a tip while they were there. He needed the money for college. With the heat wave in full swing, Andy lost count of the ice lats and smoothies he had made for flustered customers. Before his shift was even halfway over he could smell his sticky apron infused with a cocktail of coffee and berries. It was hard keeping up with the customer's demands and non-stop line of people. But he immediately noticed an older man enter the room. He had a certain air about him that caused discomfort. He joined the line with a scowl on his face. The people around him notably tried to avoid eye contact with the man and cover their noses, like the man was giving off a foul odor. His clothing wasn't clean, and it seemed that nor was his skin. Some customers even left the establishment when they saw and smelled the man. But it wasn't just the customers that seemed uncomfortable at the sight and smell of this man. The manager was a 17-year-old girl that didn't look ready to handle her first real problem. She gasped as the man got to the counter and they started the exchange. The man looked Andy straight in the eyes before grinning and say, three iced mochas and one mango juice, please. Andy couldn't believe the manager's frightened expression. He knew it was ridiculous, his money may have been crumpled up, but it was still money at the end of the day. The manager rushed the order into a bag and pushed it across the counter. Being obvious that she wanted him to leave as soon as he could. We're really busy today and don't have free seats. You'll have to take these and go, Andy couldn't believe what he was hearing. He countered her statement with, it's fine. There are lots of seats. You're more than welcome to stay, sir. The man flat out ignored the manager and said, thanks, kid. I'll be on my way. See you around. He winked as he said it. Andy tried insisting but the man just smiled and walked out the door. But Andy didn't know that he would be back soon, with friends. However, when the guy stepped through the doors that Wednesday afternoon, it was like an entirely different person had walked through the door. The transformation was so stark that the assistant manager didn't connect the dots, even as she took his order with a bright, welcoming smile. The guy stood in his police uniform with the rest of his cop friends. He looked right at Andy. Thanks for your help yesterday, he said. We were dying doing renovations in that heat. It all finally made sense, at least to Andy. The poor assistant manager, however, dug herself into an even deeper hole when she put together the exact same order he had made the previous day, and still not putting two and two together. It turned out the group cops had banded together to help one of their own do some much needed home repairs and yard work. And in the hot Arizona sun, the dirt, drywall dust, and sweat made for a pretty potent combination that had offended many noses. Still, Andy was sure of one thing. It didn't matter if the guys were in uniform or in overalls. A customer was still a customer, and everyone deserved to be treated with respect and kindness, especially in these current times of turmoil. But Andy noticed the guy had handed over far too much money for the order, and he tried to hand it back. Keep it, kid. Andy couldn't believe it. It was a $100 tip. Even the assistant managers eyes turned wide, and she tried to explain that all tips were pooled. The officer answered, Nope, this is just for him for being so kind. Why would I tip you when you kicked me out yesterday? The penny finally dropped. The girl turned red from head to toe, and Andy held back a laugh. The officer added, The drinks were great, so my buddies and I decided to make this a regular stop. Andy shook his hand thanked him again put the large tip in his pocket with a huge smile.


What's going on everyone? Sam here with late in sports garage. We're been 22, Panina Daumers Optic football blaster, 20 box full case break, number three random team style. I was looking at your random results. As always you can find those on the website under the results tab. As well as link that's in chat. So good luck. Daumers Optic Blast those. My finish up had bit behind on this one. Should be able to make it up with select and such. It's because... Oh is this a vet? I'm assuming this is a vet split. No, I'll cart you up. Wonderful. Yeah, I don't know where that'll... it depends on uh, I don't know what else has been pulled this week.  Like some of the big top chrome stuff will probably get pretty high. Like Matt's Adley. Matt's Red Adley will be on there for sure. Let's say George Pickett's My House. Purple shock. That's not in Haskins. Picket ready for me. Can we riot? Hello, Joe Mixon, Rashad White. Brock Purdy, Purple Shock. Nice. There's Bresaul. Yeah, right. There's Wontail Robinson, Sauce Garden. I think the Adley's been pulled from what I've heard and seen. Hello, Sam Howell. Man, that was a good box, dude. Purple Shock, Purdy, and a Sam Howell, uh, Hollow. That was good. Nice. On the back. So, this is all furniture. Beautiful. Let's go. Hot rookies Trayvon Walker, Josh Pascal, uh, Isaiah Spiller, Chris O'Lave, Paulo Khalil Mack, Evan Neal. I'll get this guy out of here. Chris is what, working his way to a yellow card. Louis Seen, Purple Shock, Brian Robinson, Junior. Sauce Gardener, Lighted Up Rookies, Purple Shock, Alante Taylor, Nick Benito. Traps Kelsey, and Hutch Rated Rookie. Can I pick it for the Steelers? Yeah, I got you, Greg. That is a downtown Drake London. Going to the Falcons. Michael G.R. Congrats on that, Michael. There we go, buddy. Hell, yeah. Downtown Drake London. All ready. Let's go. That's cool. Got the peaches. Nice. Get that into a Mac. Purple Shock, Tyquan Thornton for the Patriots, and base. Hello, Kenneth Walker, Seahawks. What's the castle supposed to be? I don't know. Gotta be something. If you're real, something in a landlord. Probably. That is a Purple Shock and your boots for the Bikings color match. Lighted Up Saquan, there's Garrett Wilson, Purple Shock for the Jets. Dexter Lawrence for the Giants, and Snoop Connor. Rookie. Adlio Tani, Corbin Superdose. Starts from what I've seen. That is a retro series, War and Moon for the Titans, Flash Hoylers. Say hello, Jake Ferguson for the Cowboys. Malik Willis, Titans. Rising Suns, Andrew Luck. Romeo Dobbs, Purple Shock for the Packers. Oh, the Skyline. That's Roger McCreary. Titans, Purple Shock, Christian Watson, Rookie. It was like a castle to me, I don't know. Trayvon Walker, that is Rookie Fina. I'm going to the Jags on the Jersey Card. I forgot there's jerseys in this. Nice. Hello, Jim Kelly and a Hassan Haskins. Huyple Shock, John Mechie. Rated Rookie for the Texans, Logan Hall. Make it look very modern, that's for sure. Darnit is not approved. I just don't see it.  The right front is on. Like, I got a pretty clear view of what I'm looking at. Rising Suns, Jalen Petrie. Purple Shock for the Texans, Rated Rookie. There is a castle in Atlanta. Oh yeah, that is, I guess that is the Skyline. It looks a little cartoony. I know what you mean, yeah. Magi Sanders, Purple Shock, Rookie for the Cardinals. It looks like some of the feeling in Assassin's Creed too. Roger McCreary, Hollow Rated Rookie for the Hacksack. Jermaine Johnson, Hollow Black and White. Nice one there. Rated Rookie for the Jets. Pierce Strong Jr., Purple Shock for the Patriots. Retro Series at Thomas, going to the Dolphins and Daniel Belinger. Yeah, true. It's a good point too. Downtowns aren't necessarily known by the football ones. The basketball ones are a little bit because of how like rare they are. My House, Josh Allen for the Bills. Poiple Shock, Tyler Algier, Rookie at Falcons. Hollow Randy Moss, Vikings. Bass, I'll feel it shown in the Junior. Purple Shock, Alec Pierce for the Colts. Troy Anderson, Domineers Moss. Boya Moffay, Purple Shock. Rookie for the Seahawks. Broquan Smith, Lewis Seen. Yeah, that was cool. That was really cool, that Drake London. That's sweet dude. Robinson, Fadarian Mathis, Rookie. A nice homemade cookie is baller. The Rookie's of Skymore. Logan Hall, Purple Shock for the Bucks. Minty Cows, this guy. Dax Hill, Rated Rookie. Purple Shock for the Bangle. We got a Jersey coming up here. It is going to be an Isaiah Spiller. First-year Fresh Jersey card going to the Chargers. There you go, L.A. Dean. Boya Moffay, Hollow Rated Rookie. Poiple Shock, James Cook for the Bills. That's Marshall Falk and Devontae White. Pop Rookie's, James Cook. Traylon Burks as well. That's Bills and Titans. Blue, Kyle Hamilton. Nice one there. That's a short print. Take that. Ravens. Very nice. Purple Shock, Jalani Woods for the Colts. And base, these blues are cool. I like that a lot actually. Hello, Demarcus Lawrence and Kyle Phillips. These plaster cases are low-key very solid. Vilas Jones Jr. Purple Shock, Erica Zucanma. Did he actually? Kenneth Walker. There's Troy Anderson, Purple Shock Rated Rookie, and Ty Chandler. Post Malone bought the one-ring PSA9 from PCG for 2.6 million. Magic card. There's Alec Pierce, Hollow Rated Rookie for the Colts, and Trayvon Walker. That's insane, dude. Again, guys, we've got Mega Dual Case 5 to go. That is a good signal. Aaron Donald, My House Rims. Purple Shock, Skyler Thompson for the Dolphins. Dolphins. Joe Michael Carter, Lil Shakir. Purple Shock is Charles Cross for the Seahawks. The Elite Series Rookie is Chris Olave for the Saints. Krillio Shakir, Purple Shock for the Bills. And George Pickens Steelers Rookie. Rated Rookie. Because I've only done two cases of this myself when I hit a downtown in both of them. This is our third one. So I don't know if we hit a downtown in the other one. We've definitely hit two. Triple Lawrence, Legendary Logos for the Jags. I want to say Taylor. Say Matt Judon and Jordan Davis. We hit a Brady last time. Out of this? Really? Nice. Malik Willis. Jake Ferguson, Purple Shock. Who's either out of this or the... Some Mega. Yeah, it was something. That's Trent McDuffie. Purple Shock for the Chiefs. David Bell, Hollow Rated Rookie Browns. Purple Shock, Sam Howell, and a Brock Purdy in the same box. Or same pack. Nice. That again. A show for show. Yeah, I'll probably finish about five minutes behind on this. I didn't imagine. Again, guys, a mega dual case. There is a free box of 2020 Obsidian football. Hello, Kristen Watson, Rated Rookie. And Traylon Burks. That is Packers and Titans. Cave on Timidow, Purple Shock, Sam Williams. Malik Willis, Purple Shock for the Titans. And Kobe Bryant. Tony Pollard, Jermaine Johnson. Purple Shock of Arnold McKeithay, James Williams. That's Falcons and the Lions. That's a My House, Devonta Adams for the Raiders. And Juan Prisker. Bonnie Woods, Hollow Rated Rookie. And Kenneth Walker. George Pickens, Tyler Algier, Purple Shock. Expo's Tom Brady, Super Fractured.  Romeo Dobbs, Purple Shock. Did you see what he inscribed it to? No. So you know what Bowman Draft's doing, right? Yeah. Vaughn Miller, James Cook. He inscribed it. If baseball doesn't work, there's always football. Oh, yeah, I did hear about that. Purple Roger McCreary, Shock for the Titans. Brian Cook. So cool. There's My House Brady and Bailey Zappie. I don't know if there's going to be more, but I know that the Super Fractury inscribed it. That's White Hot Rookie's Brian Robinson, Jr. For the Commanders. Purple Shock, Sauce Gardener, Jets. Oh, Geer. That was Garrett. And out of the Pierce. Purple Shock, Cam Taylor Britt. The Bangles and Boy and Mafia. Yeah, I can imagine there's going to be more than like 10 overall. Out of Pierce, Breesault. And Sam Howe. Purple Shock, Breesault for the Jets. James Cook, Hollow Rated Rookie. Trent, make a Duffy. Let's pay in rent. That was Duke's Den. Fran Tarkinson, Jalen Petrie. That's not awesome, dude. You should just love it. Same here, actually. Erica Zucanma, Variation. Nice one there in the Black and White for the Dolphins. Purple Shock, Crystal Lave for the Saints. And Desmond Ritter. Nice one there. Finished my retail box series one. How'd you do, John? Overall, Alex Highsmith there, Extingly. Three Home Run Contest. That's pretty solid. Three Home Run Contest. There's Evan Neal. Nice one there. Later, Chris. Have a good one. See you tomorrow, I'm assuming. Purple Shock, Brian Robinson, Jr. For the Commanders. Bailey Zappy. A few Blues. One Chrome All-Stars MLB. That's cool. Nice. There you go. Not bad. There's Shannon Sharp Retro Series Broncos. Purple Shock, Kway Walker for the Packers. Rookie. Barber, dude. Rest in peace. That's sick. Congrats, Cowboys.  Michael Geo. Congrats, buddy. Marion the Barbarian. Congrats. Rest in peace, man. Jaya Alexander, Garrett Wilson. That is Daniel Bellinger. Nice one there. Purple Shock for the Giants. Kway Walker. The Rookies, Crystal Lave. Shock Danny Gray for the Niners. Hello, K-Dot and Rated Rookie. Bucks and base. Yeah, that is a little annoying, Vaughn. That is annoying. There's again, guys. Mega Dual Case at 5 to go. 5 to go on Mega Dual Case. Just 5 left. That is its Red Hot Rookie Sky. More, Derek Stingley. Nicoby Dean, Purple Shock for the Eagle Space. Bajeria Sneed, Bailey Zappie, Rated Rookie Patriots. Say, Purple Shock, John Mechie. The Texans, Brian Cook.  There we go, John. Lighted up, Kenneth Walker, Seahawks. Roger McCreary, Purple Shock, Titans, Rookie. James Cook. Hello, Jeremy Rockert, Rated Rookie, and Dax Hill. AJ Brown, Legendary Logers for the Eagles. That's a cool one. That's a Donny card right there. Yeah. Purple Shock, Jalani Woods Colts. Kyle Phillips. Evan Ingram. Erica Zucanema. EZEE. There's Vilas Jones Jr. Purple Shock for the Bears. Oh, yeah. Traylon Burks. Troy Anderson. And Trayvon Walker. Troy Anderson is a Falcon. Purple Shock, Rated Rookie. Glad Edward Toler, and a face. Cutty Piggett, Legendary Logo, Steelers. Hollow. Purple Shock, Alec Pierce, Rated Rookie Colts. Christian Watson for the Hackers. That's a memorabilia in here. That is a Cortland Sutton. Player worn as well. Nice. There you go, Broncos. Cortland Sutton on the blue pulsar. Tua and Arnold Bacchite. Grat Broncos on that Cortland Sutton jersey card. Very nice. Purple Shock, Boy Mothay for the Seahawks. And Malik Willis. Crystal Lave, Gridiron Kings. Purple Shock, Sam Howell Commanders. Kavon Tibidou, Jalani Woods. Bruce Smith, Retro Series. Jake Ferguson. And that's George Carlaft. It's Purple Shock. David Bell. I'm more or another Jerseyan here. Yes, we do. It is a Sky Moor. First year fresh. That's going to the Chiefs. Congrats, Kansas City. Nice one there. Hollow, Mike Evans. And Martin Emerson. Purple Shock, Tariq Woolen for the Seahawks. And Kenneth Walker, Rated Rookie. Both for the Seahawks there, I should say. Late Series, Howard Pierce. Pierre Strong, Jr. Purple Shock. Patriots, Kay Dotton. Calvin Austin. Great thumbnail tomorrow, by the way, everybody. Great thumbnail. Just want to let everybody know there's a great thumbnail tomorrow night. It's my house, Jonathan Taylor. James Cook. Purple Shock, Nick Benito for the Broncos and Dax Hill. Treson Ebner, Hollow Rated Rookie Bears. And Logan Holm. Purple Shock, Aiden Hutchinson for the Lions. Son Haskins. Here we go. Aiden Pierce, Devontae Wyatt. Purple Shock for the Packers. Christian Watson, Rated Rookie. And last pack here. Good luck, everybody. Hollow, Big Ben. And Arnold McKeith. Quick recap here of some of the hits we had. The Skymore. Cortland Sutton. Isaiah Spiller. Trayvon Walker. Marion Barber. And Drake London. I'm going to do it for the break, guys. Thanks again for the fill. Coming up next is Select Team.


Ladies and gentlemen, good morning or good afternoon, as the case may be. My name is David Donahue. On behalf of the Institute of International and European Affairs, I'd like to welcome you to this, the first in the Institute's new Development Matters lecture series, which is supported by Irish Government Development Cooperation Programme. We're delighted to have with us, as our guest speaker today, Mr Colin Brophy TD, who is the Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and the Diaspora in the Irish Government. The minister will speak to us on the subject of Ireland's priorities for international development. He'll speak for about 20 minutes or so, and then we will open up to questions from the audience. Just some housekeeping points first. Please use the Q&A function on the Zoom, which you'll see at the bottom of your screen, to send in questions or comments as they occur to you during the minister's presentation. And please identify yourself when you're putting in a question. The minister's remarks and the Q&A session will all be on the record. You're very welcome to tweet from the event using the handle at IIEA. We're also live streaming the event. So a very warm welcome to all of you who are joining us on YouTube. So I'd now like to hand over to Roy DeBurke, Director General of Irish Aid, who will introduce the series. Roy. Thanks, David, and hello everybody. This development matter series is about 10 years old now. And over that time, we've had many, many important interventions and exciting conversations with many thought leaders, Irish and international, on really interesting and salient development issues.  And that's been part of the conversation I've had with Minister Brophy since he came into position as minister with responsibility for overseas development aid and the diaspora last July. A curious time to become a minister with responsibility for things abroad, because as we all know, going abroad has been a challenge. But a time when those two elements of a portfolio in some ways have never been more important because the impact of the minister's portfolio is one which touches on not just Irish people at home, but Irish people abroad and other people in very, very many ways. So I know the minister will touch on a number of key areas that from my conversation to him, I know he attaches real importance to in terms of addressing those really pertinent questions of our time. And, you know, issues where he's had to struggle to work maybe in two dimensions more than three more often than perhaps any of us would have liked. You know, I think this conversation has moved from the confines of the IAEA, you know, where we've had many development matter seminars to this more globalized format through Zoom and YouTube. And we all know the strength of that and the inclusivity of that. And I think we've all begun to know the downside of that as well. But, you know, enough for me. I mean, I think the minister will touch on a number of really key issues, drawing, I think, on the experience of this last year and of our interconnectedness between our life here in Ireland and our impact abroad. So with no further ado, David, I'd like to introduce Minister Colin Brophy, Minister for overseas development out in the diaspora. Thank you. Thank you very much, Rory, and thank you to the Institute for the invitation and opportunity to set out my priorities for development cooperation. This is everyone knows it's a turbulent time in our global history. There's a pandemic and the ramifications of we see the rise of Asia and a more multi polar world. Climate change is a reality which we must address. And our multilateral system is being strained and closer to home our European vocation, which has been strengthened for us just as our nearest neighbor has waned. And against that complex backdrop, it is important that we have a safe space, such as provided by the Institute, a sanctuary in which we can take stock to debate to ponder our world and Ireland's place within it. For a decade now, the Institute has been our partner in this development matter series of seminars, in which we have benefited from thought leaders of world standing, sharing their insights, difficult questions have both asked and answered, as well as moved forward in the spirit of intellectual inquiry and civic mindedness that defines your work. I'm very pleased to be the inaugural speaker in this year's development matter series. So ladies and gentlemen, we may live on an island, but we cannot be insular of prosperity. Our security is intertwined and interdependent on the prosperity and the security of others. We have seen Ireland transformed over the past 50 years or so, from what the economist described once says the poorest of the rich to last year being ranked second in the human development index. This change has been accelerated by Ireland opening up to the world, complemented by a new engagement with our diaspora. Today, as an EU member state we are playing our full part in the United Nations and engaging wholeheartedly in the global system. International development is an essential foreign policy tool, a means for us to secure prosperity at home through investment in the prosperity and security of others. The transformation of Ireland that I and you have lived through informs our approach to development, as does of course our history of poverty, of famine and of migration. This well articulated in the white paper on international development a better world which we launched two years ago by my party colleagues Leo Varadkar and Simon Kovni, which sets out the framework for the government's approach to development cooperation. We have been working on the success of Irish aid program over the four decades and sets the targets for 2030 2030 is the deadline for delivery of sustainable development goals, the SDGs are a course a product of Irish diplomacy, working with our current partners on the UN Security Council, like Kenya, stewarded by the Institute's own David Donnell, the OECD last year published its latest very positive peer review of Irish aid. He said that Ireland walks the talk. It's a leading advocate of multilateralism, with a clear focus that enables us to exercise leadership and make a visible difference. So today, I want to highlight a number of areas where Ireland will make a difference over the next year. Challenges for us here at home challenges shared with others around the world such as climate change, addressing hunger, fixing global food systems, global public health and education. Each of these issues require change, and I want us to be part of the global coalition of change coalition and partnership is at the heart of our approach. It is why Ireland saw a seat on the UN Security Council. It's why we are deeply committed to multilateralism. It's why we work to build personal connections with partners overseas, as we invest in their development. It's because working together with others makes us stronger and more effective. And we will need to be our strongest and our most effective. If we are to meet the world meet the challenges in the world of climate change. The government recognizes that we must take action at home. Climate action is the essence of the program for government, the climate action bill, which we've introduced. That's a really ambitious even world leading timeframe for transition transition here in Ireland. But ambition cannot remain just at home. We must also help others to take that action abroad. If we are to avoid a two degree temperature rise. It could be degrees could see islands sink beneath the oceans. It could see crops fail. It could see entire species at risk of extinction. The consequences for those further behind are unthinkable. The time fraction is now. And that's why I have established the climate humans within Irish age to drive the Department of Foreign Affairs climate response.  This is a critical year for climate diplomacy, one where Ireland can help influence the global agenda. Now, last week, Minister Ryan participated in the Earth Day Summit hosted by President Biden. This is the first of a number of global meetings this year, which will come in late in November in Glasgow in COP 26, the 25th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Climate Change Convention. As part of the journey to Glasgow, amazed Dublin climate dialogues will help us build momentum. I would encourage every wall to participate. If climate diplomacy is to be effective, we need to bring something to the table. And I'm committed to at least doubling the proportion of Ireland's official development assistance that goes to international climate finance by 2013. This will build on our contribution of 93 million in 2019. The vast majority of Irish AIDS climate finance supports climate adaption in the poorest and most vulnerable countries in the world. Why, and I tell you because we very simply is that those countries have asked us to provide that. However, support for climate adaption is not the norm. In spite of the outsized impact of climate change on the most vulnerable. I want to champion getting more and better finance, especially for adoption. To this frontline of China climate change, leading by us leading by example. It's why I was proud to endorse the principles for the locally led adaption at the recent climate adaption so much. I'm driving the mainstreaming of climate action, right across the Irish aid program. We are in Ireland, and it's a call to action, we are vulnerable. The sense of our own vulnerability informs us our partnership with small island developing states, which is climate action at its heart. As an island, we are literally defined by the water that surrounds us. And that's why we are committed to scaling up Irish aid support for what is called the sustainable blue economy.  The climate diplomacy this year has a particular focus on climate and security, on which Ireland has a role at the UN Security Council climate change is already impacting on social cohesion and threatening peace and security in many parts of the world. Effective climate action is essential to building and maintaining peace in this century. Climate action is essential if we are to overcome another of the great global challenges, the challenge of hunger. While it seemed for a while that we had hunger on the run conflict climate change and the pandemic has seen the numbers of people living in food insecurity rise. Today, 690 million people, almost 9% of the world's population will go to bed hungry. We are just not good enough, but we can do something about it. And we are doing just that, drawing inspiration from our family past, and our food island present in preparation for next September's UN food system so much island is the center of efforts to reform global food systems. Climate change is in all aspects of sustainable, safe and nutritious food. We do this with a degree of moral authority, as we can recall the shaping of our demography our landscapes and our social structures, which famine raw. And in many ways, which still impacts on us as a country. Climate change is creating new uncertainties for farmers, new plant science, new props, new techniques and different husbandry is and will be required. This means investing in research in education in dissemination and in new systems. Irish aid is doing that through our country programs in Africa and in global partnerships, such as in the International Fund for Agriculture Development, where Ireland has just taken a seat on the board. Conflict continues to disrupt food systems. COVID-19 and associated restrictions are playing havoc with agricultural markets. And globally, too many subsistence farmers are unable to produce enough nutritious foods to feed their families. As our food systems become more industrialized, food safety emerges as a serious concern. In many countries, the prevalence of cheap food, high in sugar and driving new forms of malnutrition is creating obesity epidemics. In response, the Department of Foreign Affairs in close partnership with the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine is working towards adopting a sustainable food systems approach. Such an approach tries to get the balance right between the environmental societal and economic aspects of food systems. We will show leadership in the food system in the Irish food system, but importantly, we also reflect this in our development activities. This month and next, the two departments are convening national dialogues and sustainable food systems. The second of these four free events on health and wellbeing of people in society was held yesterday. I'd like to thank all those who participated, and I would also like to encourage you to participate in the remaining two dialogues, which are in May, and the last one which we'll look at the work of Irish age. These domestic conversations are our unique experiences and our expertise will also inform Ireland's contribution to the food system so much, linking food diplomacy to the climate diplomacy. I mentioned earlier, bringing a new dimension to the old clip about dining for Ireland. We cannot separate food from health and what a time to be thinking about our health and health systems. The pandemic has more than any other global issue in my lifetime, being a reminder of the interdependence and interconnectivity. And while we have, there are grounds for some optimism at home as our vaccines are rolled out, and I reflect though on Dr Mike Ryan's phrase that no one is safe until everyone is safe. And I am reminded that we have more to do. We are well placed to play our part, as Irish age has been working on global health for many years. The pandemic has been standing still to us as we responded in the early days of the pandemic, and deeply proud that we were able to mobilize 150 million in 2020 to support the health response and to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our development partners. This year, Irish age will invest at least another 50 million in the global public health, including our response to the pandemic. During this time of great challenge, Irish expertise matters as much as Irish aid money. So I'd like to acknowledge our partnership with the HSE in supporting partners in Africa. This includes by sharing Irish experiences with infection control in the COVID context, and mentor well being support for frontline healthcare workers in partner countries. Working with the HSE we've been able to share the tools and experience from supporting our own healthcare heroes back here in our country, who have done so much for us. Much of our investment in global public health will support the fight against COVID-19. Countries don't just need vaccines, they need the capacity to roll out vaccination campaigns and programs. That is a priority for our investment. We are also contributing to the COVAX system. Irish aid and also as part of the EU. 177 countries and economic economies have started vaccination with 905 million doses administered around the world. With EU support so far, COVAX has provided vaccines to 20% of the world's population. We are working with other countries that there is more to do to support the global effort. And we will do it. Working with others. Already we're working in places as diverse as Liberia, Mozambique and Zambia on their health system responses. We are active in Brussels and at the World Health Organization in Geneva, and we will remain so. We will play our full part in the control of the pandemic to help others to be safe, so that we can be safe ourselves. So many people have had their lives impacted by the virus. Among those impacted are children who have lost a year's education. Across the world, too many, particularly girls, will not return to school, will probably not return to school ever. I am determined that Irish aid will work to help to address this. It does not well mean evidence that educating girls transforms lives and also entire societies. Yet girls continue to face barriers to education. And as the virus has revealed too often, they have to drop out. But they drop out and there is no pandemic for reasons such as the cost of secondary education, domestic responsibilities, early marriage and early pregnancy. All of these are contributing factors. All means that girls of poorer education outcomes in low income countries. Only 53% of girls aged 15 to 24 can read a simple sentence that compares to 76% of boys in the same age. This is why a better world commits Ireland to providing 250 million for global education by 2024. And we are delivering on this through our partnerships we are targeting efforts of girls education, as well as continuity of education in emergencies. Just recently, I approved a grant of 2 million towards education cannot wait, a fund dedicated to supporting the urgent needs of children and youth caught up in emergencies and protracted prices. And shortly, I look forward to announcing Ireland support for the global partnership for education, one of our longest standing and large largest education partners. Ladies and gentlemen, it can sometimes appear that the development challenges facing us are insurmountable, and that the needs are infinite. But I am actually optimistic. Every day I see amazing innovation and spirit of people who are working for change, people who are actually making this a better world. Powerful people thought leaders such as those who speak at the least development matter seminars. Every day Irish people also make a difference, whether through giving through other contributions, such as Trish and Irish doctor working on pediatric oncology in Tanzania, who I met a few months ago, and who is truly an inspiring person. Our people, like Joseph in Uganda, who are listening to what he calls corona time on public health radio programs, part of a goal initiative, which Irish aid fund setting up hand washing stations outside his front door. All the small steps together make a difference, a coalition for change, which will help us address the global challenges, which I have outlined here today. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Minister, for that very wide ranging and extremely interesting presentation, which covers really a lot of the priorities on your agenda and the government's agenda over the coming period. So with that, we can go into the Q&A session and a couple of questions have come in already. Let me begin with two or three Ministers, which I have in front of me here. One really picks up on what you were saying about the impact of the pandemic. A Better World document promised that we would future proof Ireland's international development work. But do you think that there has been a major setback for our development efforts because of the pandemic? And if so, what sort of mitigation actions could be taken? A second question is about, well, the government's commitments in relation to ODA resources. As you know, the current commitment is to reach 0.7% by 2030. Can that still be met with the budgetary uncertainties which have been introduced by the pandemic? In other words, are we still on track? And maybe a third one, a third one really is about the focus within a better world on the poorest and the most vulnerable communities. And you have touched on that already in a sense, reaching the furthest behind first. Can we continue to defend that priority when, because of the pandemic, there could be greater needs at home as another person? Thank you, Minister. Maybe you might have a go at some of those. Well, thank you. Thank you very much for some of those questions. I suppose I was going to start in the order you gave them to me until you gave me the last one. And since the last one is one of my pet issues, I'm going to start with it first. Yes, the answer is we must absolutely always be reaching out to protect those birds behind and to reach out with Irish aid to the people most in need. And we will always be conscious of needs here at home. We will always absolutely. But I think if one thing we have to have learned out of COVID as a global world society is that you cannot ignore the impacts of what is happening in different parts of the world to people, to their lives, to families, to societies, and that something that happens in a small, unknown city in an unknown town in an unknown village or an unknown market somewhere in the world can have devastating impact on the whole of our planet and the whole of the way in which everybody lives their lives. And if ever we can take one lesson out of COVID is the importance of international aid, the importance of recognising that we work together. And not just in terms of the COVID use of the expression which I know Mike Ryan has always talked about that no one is safest until everyone is safe. But actually, in all forms of talking about how we collectively live on our planet together and how we use aid, until we are reaching out for everybody. So we are working together with everybody to mitigate the systems that we have now of extreme poverty and extreme wealth. Then we will not, I think, have the type of world that we should be wanting to live in. And to go back to your question. I am absolutely committed to reaching the 0.7 target by 2030. I think that's something I firmly believe in. I think it's something the government believes in. We are working towards that track. I think it's really important that we recognise that we increased funding this year. And I think it's a real credit to the thinking in government at the moment, that with all the economic difficulties which we face and with all the incredible COVID crisis, which we were in the midst of, we still looked at the importance of development aid and still looked as to how we could increase the funding. We also have our commitment within the programme for government on the maintenance of funding and the working towards the zero, you know, and making sure that we have that maintenance of funding right across the years. And as I say, I'm personally government is still really more on target for that 0.7 by 2030. It's difficult to do economic circumstances change all the time. And, you know, no one at all could have predicted just over 14 months ago, but we would have gone through in this 14 months and the impact it would have had. But I think it's clearly important to keep that goal, particularly if you like to look in contrast at other countries, other neighbouring countries or whatever, who have reprioritised the way they're approaching development and their supports and commitments to it. I think it's something we should be absolutely proud of and continuing to do. And so your final question, which was actually the first question was, has COVID set back development. And I suppose the straightforward answer to that is, is, is yes. The least developed countries has been very, very devastating. I talked about it and mentioned particularly in relation to some of the progress and gains which have been taking place in education, particularly in gender equality and education and in terms of support for young girls to remain in education, all of these things came under real stress because of the impact of COVID on the immediate health impact of COVID on those countries, but also the economic impact of COVID on the economies of countries. And I think therefore we need to focus in two ways on this. We need to which we are doing and which we committed to a straight away to put in whatever emergency supports we can do to deal with COVID impact. We need to be able to look in the longer way of how we need to refocus and reshape what we're doing on the ground to take account of the fact of the impact that COVID has had on some of our programs and operations in countries in which we have a particularly a bilateral set of issues going. So it is, I think really important that we continue to do that work. And I think that we recognize the fact that you will have the COVID impact, but coming up very much on top of that and immediately on top of that is the impact on the climate we'll be having as well. And we'll obviously be looking at that as well. Thank you very much, D Minister. I'm picking up on what you said a moment ago about setting a good example for neighboring countries. I just read you a question or comment which very much endorses that. It's from Rhino Tool on behalf of the presentation sisters in Ireland and England. And they thank you for your inspiring words and they ask if we could reach the 0.7% target as soon as possible. But this would signal a message of best example to all of Europe and might inspire others in, for example, the UK to rethink their ODA obligations and responsibilities just as they have reduced theirs. So I mentioned that perhaps against the word but I think you have dealt with it. Going on then there was a question from Quiba Dabara who, as you know, is the CEO of Trocra. And Quiba asks whether we would support a waiver in the trips agreement in order to help to get vaccines developed as rapidly as possible at global level. Would you like to take that or will I add another couple of questions as well? If you want to add a few in, if you want to add the three problems. Minister, perhaps you might just reflect generally on the UK as a partner from the development point of view in the post Brexit context. What scope you see for Ireland and the EU to continue to work with the UK and then maybe another one that's come in relates to Ireland's Security Council membership. How can we use that to advance development priorities such as climate would you put you partly address that already, gender equality and women, peace and security that that set of issues. Okay, well, the first of all just to look at the trips area which you mentioned at the start and the obviously the privacy there is going to be at the EU level in terms of engaging on that along with obviously the United States. It is something that is under review, it is being looked at. For me, my primary focus on what we're doing here and the thing that I think is vitally important is that we continue the delivery through particularly covax and through what Team Europe is doing and through a number of other out which is we're making to ensure that we get vaccines out there. And that we support the systems that are in place on the ground and as I mentioned in my remarks earlier on, we have both the necessity to get vaccines out there and to get the systems in place, and the delivery systems in place. We have been working very strongly on supporting that. And I think there obviously will be a very engaged conversation around trips around being at EU at US at international level, at WHO level. But I think primarily working from my perspective on this in support of the covax system and support of the work we've done through Gavi and in support of making sure that not only are we seeing an increase in actual vaccines but we're ensuring that we support and putting in place the delivery systems. There is no point in getting vaccines into location if there is no ability to deliver on the ground and that's something which we've worked very hard on. Very important I think to remember in relation to the UK and I know that there has been changes in relation to the what they're doing at the moment, but they are very strong development partners and they've worked very strongly with us over many many years as an EU member I have no doubt they will continue to work with us from their new position outside the EU, as they will continue to work with other EU member states, and they are still a large player within development aid and within what's taking place around the world. And I think we have a lot of programs which we have developed over many years, which have run in conjunction together, and I'm a great believer in working with and developing harmony and developing structures. And what we want to do is make sure that whatever systems we can put in place, working with whether it's the UK or any other person that we do that, and we do that primarily for the purpose of ensuring that, you know, the people on the ground who don't care how it comes through, or what structures are in place that they get their help. And that's really the focus we have there on the security council side of stuff. You know, I think you can see the impact of Ireland already within the security answer because we bring a particular type of politics to the security council. And it's a politics that shaped out of our experiences of people and as a nation, and it's a politics that very much as a multinational review is a view towards conflict resolution is a view towards how to solve problems and issues. And we saw Minister Coveney working there recently in the area of Tigray, in terms of authoring a proposal to, to, to de-escalate that situation, to deal with the issue, the appalling, the appalling issue of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and to allow for international monitoring to come in on the ground on that. And that really gives an idea of the type of views and politics that are part of our make up on how we will be contributing to the security council. And you'll be seeing more of that over our membership of the security council. But it will be very much based on the, at the heart of it, the type of things that Ireland has stood for, for so many years, particularly in the development aid area. Thank you very much, Minister. I just give you, we have quite a number of questions coming in, very interesting ones, and I know you're, we will do our best to get to them. But let me give you a couple straight up from Suzanne Keating, who as you know is the head of the ministry. Minister, it's great to see you wear your STG badge and showing your commitment to the goals. Where do you think Ireland is doing best? And where is it doing worst? We're conscious that we have less than 10 years to go. So that's one, then I want to come to one, which I saw from Dominic McSorley, as you know, CEO of Concern. He welcomes your comments and especially your emphasis on conflict, climate and hunger. Ireland continues to be an exemplary donor, extraordinarily generous nation. However, we're seeing at global level a lack of response to unprecedented levels of hunger and conflict crisis in Yemen, South Sudan, and so on. How can we best engage the media, and importantly, the next generation on these issues of our time? And the third one I would give you, Minister, if you don't mind, is one from Jim Clarken. Jim Clarken, as you know, well, no, I'll give you those two that I made to begin with. That's fair enough. Well, global leadership is really important. I mean, how do you engage on issues around hunger and the type of things I mentioned again in the contribution earlier through the international institutions, through the various bodies. But I also think if you want really media, and I refer to this as new and old media to take account of what's happening, you need to, I think, be doing something which we are doing a lot of, which is intergenerational talking, which is raising these issues as an issue for the next generation, for children who are in school, for young Irish people right across third level and second level and whatever, and getting buy-in from people. So as they start to talk about it, as they start to generate the ideas that the media will pick up on this, I do think we do have a real problem sometimes in the global media, local media, national media. The way in which they sometimes address development-aid issues or issues like this is they step in at a time of emergency, there is a blanket coverage, and then they step out at other times and you don't get the message coming across. So it's always going to be an ongoing battle, but one of the areas which I'm quite pleased with is that we're developing our programs in terms of looking at that whole new area of communication, which is particularly prevalent amongst our younger generations, which is that whole new source of social media, online contact and all that area there, and I think that's the way we'll drive attention to it, because global hunger is absolutely linked to and part of climate change, but is absolutely a huge issue, which will face us in this century. In terms of areas we do well in Worcester, it's always very, very difficult to pick areas like that. The area I always like to see, and I think we make a tremendous impact on as a country, is the area around our support for gender equality, and particularly through education, and particularly through the supports and programs we put in place for young girls and women to have access and remain in education. And it's not just that direct support that goes into the education side of it, but it's the societal change that we support, which enables a different set of thinking to be there to enable young girls to have an education. And that means working with whole communities and working with a countrywide approach, or an approach that says you must change the way you view this, so as that you can enable young girls to remain in education. It's an incredible poverty breaker, if you can get young girls to remain in education, it breaks that cycle of poverty, and really has tremendous benefits for a country. And I mean, it's not so long since we saw the benefits of that in our own country. We're not a country blessed with huge natural resources in terms of minerals or various things, and really what we did was we educated our people, and we educated them to turn them into the greatest natural asset which our country would have, the economic benefits which we started to gain out of that in the latter half of the last century. So I think it is really important that we look at that as a real success story of what we're doing and we'll be working on it very strongly. Thank you very much, Minister. If I may give you another three or four questions, Nor Owen says sadly it's over 30 years since the promise of 0.7% was made, so fingers crossed now. Thank you, Colin. Could I ask, are we failing in our development policy in the actions we take for asylum seekers here in Ireland, many of whom are from the countries that we're now helping? Then Anne Barrington asks about your current thinking on global citizenship and the need to have greater support here for our development aid program. Mark Coleman asks the question, Minister, about really about how Ireland can help to strengthen trade and investment links with Africa at EU level and also I think bilaterally. And if you can bear with me for one further one, Finola Finan of Trocra asks about strengthened governance, which is a key priority in a better world. Can you talk about our commitment to human rights, including protecting the space for civil society, which is under threat in many countries? Thank you very much. And some of those people are asking questions I have had the privilege of knowing for a number of years, in particular, Nora. And so just to start by obviously that saying hello to Nora, and I do recognize that it is a long time in terms of 0.7, but I do think that that is something that, as I said, I'm very much committed towards. And in terms of treatment of asylum seekers and that that area there, I think that is something which the government is looking at. I think we need to be cognizant of that and we need to make sure that particularly it crosses over into a part of my work, which is more diaspora nearly even the development aid side, which is that we as a government we as a country are very strong advocates for undocumented Irish, particularly in the United States, and the way in which we want them to be treated and the way in which we think and I think we need as a country to also recognize therefore that we need to look at our own house and what we're doing there, some very interesting new initiatives from Minister McIntyre in relation to that and looking at how we would actually treat people who were here a long time in the country through that process. And also, I think we really do need to be looking at how we can resolve quickly people's issues who arrive here as refugees claiming asylum. In terms for Mark, who I also know in terms of global trade systems. Yes, absolutely. I think it is really important to remember that there's a whole area of work which can be done by governments and by aid programs. And we also need that huge cooperation, and we need the structures to be put in place to reform and take away the barriers that will enable therefore business to take place. Because if you strengthen the economies of these countries, and if you put in place and give them the facilities to trade and develop, and that is a real real positive. I think we have shown as a very multilaterally focused country through our membership of the European Union, the UN and whatever that we are very much a country that looks at trying to work on those type of barriers and to strengthen international trade. And the final one, which you'd asked me what was in terms of governance issues and in the around human rights and that is something that is part of what our role on the Security Council over the next 12 months and having that Irish voice which is particularly strong in relation to those areas will be part of. Thank you very much, Minister. A question from Breeder Gahan of concern worldwide. Breeder points out that, you know, as we've learned now, development is is impeded by by and slow down by illness by pandemics and children dropping out of school and so on. Will Irish aid under your leadership prioritise investment in health going forward. And I might also give you a question which has come in about about. Well, you've partly answered it but the really the issue of whether the EU is doing enough to promote vaccine equity and access to vaccines. You may leave that with you and then really a question about what in what specifically we can do to address the climate challenge for the small island developing states. Again, you've partly touched on it but if you'd like to respond to those. Thank you. I will I think it's the last one there you mentioned in terms of small and developing states is really a huge issue, because it's one of these things where sometimes a lot of conversation that takes place within the context of climate change within our own country or within European countries talks about the need for action to prevent the problem becoming X or Y for small island developing states that is today, it's not a case of it becoming that is a case of they are living through the impact of climate change, as it has occurred, and as it has directly happened, and we are really working quite closely with them as a group to try and put in place particularly the items I was referring to around mitigation around real changes in adaption, funding to adapt processes to change processes to do some work on mitigation, but also to the fact that they are living through climate change as an immediate issue that is impacting their countries at this moment in time. I mean, it's one of the things I suppose that has really impacted me the most is because I've had a number of really almost emotionally distressing calls with people who are on islands right across the Caribbean or the Pacific, and you see countries doing tremendous work investing in everything they can do to see that wiped out and destroyed in a single night of a hurricane or a eruption or something like that and the real devastation that that causes, and it's the type of thing that we are very, very conscious that so many of these weather particular events which are now wreaking havoc for these small island states are directly based on what has happened in terms of climate so we will very much be working on that. I have indeed talked about COVAX and the real importance of COVAX and health systems in terms of both Team Europe and Ireland's response to making sure we have vaccines getting out there. I think it's really important to note that right across the board, the entire way in which we deliver vaccines as we look forward into the summer and later on, we will be constantly reviewing that and constantly looking at what both at a national level and at an international level, but systems are in place and what systems can best deliver the fastest available access to both vaccines and the systems to ensure delivery. So health systems and supporting within that has already always been a really important part for us, health and education are two key areas which we play a really important role. In one of the first things I did as a minister was look at how we could reach out to health systems in some of our key partner countries in terms of the mental health impacts of COVID. Because we're always conscious of the fact that while we do a very large amount we do as much as we can with a budget, we're still a small country. So when we're looking for systems and things we can do, it's sometimes being innovative in how you can channel that resource so as you can best get a delivery of it. And one of the key things which we looked at was putting it in place in conjunction with HSE supports for frontline workers in those countries to deal with the mental health impacts of working in a COVID pandemic, because we've saw what the impact and that was on our own incredible heroes here in Ireland, delivering that, and we wanted to be able to reach out and help those frontline workers dealing with the same type of awful day to day problems that our own frontline workers were experiencing here. So health will remain a key priority for us. Thank you very much Minister I think we have time for perhaps two or three final questions and then I know that you have to you have to go to another engagement. One question is whether we can use the the biannual African Ireland Economic Forum to help to provide Irish assistance in the context of the of the COVID-19 pandemic. Another question relates to the work of humanitarian agencies, you know, whom Irish aid traditionally has supported. Increasingly, we have private sector actors who are potential partners when it comes to delivering humanitarian assistance. What is your view on that? Do you see some scope for private sector actors? I think I leave it at that Minister if you were good enough to tackle those two there were dozens of further questions. I'm very sorry. I can't get to them within the time available. But if I could leave those couple of final questions with the Minister. Of course, no bother if for a brief moment David there you sounded like you had ascended to the top of the mountain and we're booming down into a good background surround side. So I was it was a very interesting development there and I will be brief just on those final two. Obviously, there is the African Ireland Forum in 2022. And I think we'll be looking at all types of ways and means in which we can work together on anything like that in terms of supports for COVID and supports for that. And my key thing is we have some really good NGO partners we have some really good established relationships. We're always looking at the from my perspective is the people who are furthest behind we're trying to help those are the people and we need to look at every means of delivery there is. And if it fits in with what we're trying to do in terms of Irish aid, if it fits in with the ethos and approach and the ethical values, which we hold within it. And then we'll, you know, we should be open to looking but we have to meeting be meeting all of that in that area, but certainly we have developed in many, many decades and Irish aid. I think a really good system where we do two things. We work with our really strong developed NGO partnerships, which really do deliver for us in that focused way. But we've also developed the international way of working where why we've actually looked at how we contribute to team Europe we've actually looked at how we contribute through the much bigger organizations. So is that if we're putting in a contribution that we're getting as the expression goes the bank for the book, and very often that's a multilateral system of delivery, which enables us to do that. And that very much be driving most of our delivery in the future as well. Thank you very, very much for that. And for your generosity and commitment to answering a very, very wide range of questions, as well as your initial presentation. We've all been for the Thomas. And I know the session could go on for another couple of hours easily. But on behalf the Institute, thank you very, very much for giving us your time, laying out your views and so many issues. And I thank all I thank the audience who took part and sent in questions. And I look forward to the continued success of this series, which you have now inaugurated Minister. Thank you very, very much for coming. And we look forward to having a back on many future occasions. Thank you very much. Thank you. And thank you to everybody.


This Brett was Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin and today I am on assignment at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show. It is getting late, we are almost closing time at the Auto Show and this is about the only time that I got to take a video of this particular vehicle. This is a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. So this one has the supercharged 6.2 liter 707 horsepower motor in it and just a really really good looking Grand Cherokee. Grand Cherokees look great on their own but this one's got everything going for it. It has the 20-inch rims, the painted yellow Brembo brakes, of course the supercharged 6.2 liter helps as well, has the SRT Grand Cherokee hood on here, granite crystal probably one of the best colors on the Grand Cherokees, LED headlamps, HID headlights, LED running lights, has the adaptive cruise, the front bumper sensors, the gloss black grille insert, the gloss black Jeep lettering. Under the hood here we have the supercharged 6.2 liter Hellcat motor. Oh we are closed. So I need to get this video done as soon as possible. Unfortunately I cannot start it up and rev it but we can get a close-up of those 20-inch rims and the Brembo brakes on there. You got these slotted rotors, Pirelli Scorpion Zero, 285, 45, ZR20 tires on here and we're gonna close this up as they are turning the lights off on me. Anyways the inside's very similar to the regular Grand Cherokees. We'll take a quick peek at that see if there's anything special to this one. Oh you get the nice bolstered leather seats, the Trackhawk embossed backrest and very very good looking. Get the carbon fiber dash and door trims, of course the Harman Karnan sound system and down here you get the launch control as well as the track four-wheel drive system and I think they are gonna kick me out right now. Anyways hope you liked the video, take a quick look at the back seats before since I'm not getting thrown out yet. Got the cool bolsters, this one of course has the Vista Roof. They option out all these vehicles for the auto show and anyways thanks for checking out the video. I know it wasn't very long but sometimes the best videos are short and sweet. Remember to like, subscribe and share on this video and you can check out more videos at youtube.com summit auto. Remember to like, subscribe and share and we'll be doing more videos tomorrow from the 2019 Chicago auto show. Thanks again for checking out this super good look in 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk.


The selection of the most appropriate additive manufacturing process depends on several factors, including the material being used, the complexity of the part, and the desired design features. For example, if the part requires high strength and stiffness, then selective laser melting may be the best option, however, if the part needs to be lightweight and flexible, then binder jetting would likely be more suitable. Additionally, the design features of the part should be taken into consideration when selecting the right process. For instance, if the part has intricate details, then electron beam melting may be the best choice since it can create fine details with precision accuracy. This article was authored by Prashant Khanda Gokuldas, Sri Kala, and Jurgen Eckert.


So I'm going to talk about Mongoid, about some of the latest developments that have been going on, what we're doing to keep pushing it forward. My name is Bertard Schaefer, it's a BJ Schaefer on Twitter, I'm on GitHub, and that's my blog at Zoinipa.com, and I work for Hash Rocket. So we're going to be talking about Mongoid, and in particular I want to talk about how we've come to embrace Rails 3, and how Mongoid has all along really embraced Mongoid itself. But first, I want to wish Mongoid a happy birthday. This is exactly one year ago today that Durin pushed the first commit for Mongoid, and it's been growing like crazy. We've had 88 contributors, 40 contributors in the last two months with 300 commits, that's the impact graph for on GitHub. If you look at another Mongo library, that's the impact graph. So there's a real community behind Mongoid, we've got good documentation, we've got an active IRC channel, we have a mailing list, and it's global now, we've got for all of the error messages and validation messages, we have all of these languages supported, it's really easy to fork and add your own, we're always looking to gather as many new languages and people as possible. So that's kind of the, just a quick intro I just wanted to say, so we're going to talk about Rails 3. We really love Rails 3 and we've been trying to embrace it as much as possible, get as much in there. First thing is the rail ties, you can start up a new Mongoid app, you Rails new, give it your app name, dash m, pass it at Mongoid.org, Rails.rb, that gives you a lot of different things, it gives you the generators, you can create a model just like you would with ActiveRecord, you can pass it the field names and types, that will spit out this. And then we've also taken on ActiveModel, because it's all sorts of things, validations, all the standard validations that you expect with Rails, serialization, JSON, XML, all that good stuff, mass assignment, adder protected, accessible, works just like it would with ActiveResource, but still agnostic. So we're running with Sinatra, all of our stuff that's rail specific is in the rail tie, it's only there if you need it. Sinatra Pedrino has built-in support for Mongoid and what's cool is that Mongoid lets you work with other ORMs, because eventually, or oftentimes you'll need to have some sort of SQL solution, you can use it with Datamapper, you can use it with ActiveRecord, it just works for cross-associations. All right, so that gets a little bit of the Rails 3 stuff out of the way. We've been spending a lot of time recently on that, but now I want to talk about MongoDB and like to say that an ORM or an ODM is what we call object document mapper, that it loves its database, I think seems like it doesn't need to be said, but it still does need to be said. We've embraced all of the core tenets of MongoDB and for us, if there's something that you can do with Mongo that you can't do with Mongoid, then that's a bug and you should file an issue and let us know, because we want to support everything that Mongo supports. The Mongoid is really built to support a lot of the core Mongo features, fast in place updates, rich document based querying, replication and high availability. These are pulled just straight from the Mongo website. Some of the core tenets, I think, of how MongoDB is built and how you can best use it, and so I want to focus on these things, what we've done recently to really support all of these things that Mongo does, is in place updates. So you've got a person and it embeds many addresses, so that's going to be stored on the actual person document. And then our address embeds many locations as well. So a person might have, I don't know, summer home somewhere or something, and locations might be city names. And so if you look at the person's attributes, you'll see you've got your person's attribute, its ID, has it addresses, there's an array of hashes, which also have IDs, and then that's going to have an array of hashes of locations. We could go through and we could grab the location, set it to Austin. Other Mongo libraries will push the full document graph when we go to do that update. So this is what it would turn into like in Mongo. We're going to call update, and we're going to have to pass it the entire document graph in order to do this update. So Mongo does it the Mongo way, which is that when you call update on something that's nested, it's only going to push exactly what is nested. So here what it's doing is it's finding, the first part is saying, okay, we're going to update the user, the ID one, and the, who has an address with an ID of two. And then we're going to push onto that, this new value for our location, which is significantly more optimized, much better way to do it, and it's the way that Mongo suggests you do it. And this applies to almost everything in Mongo. So all of the, it tracks your dirty changes and only pushes the new things. It uses the same syntax to do that. It'll, it finds the best way to push it out to the database, while pushing the least amount of data as possible across the wire. Rich query language, you know, this is one of the big features that Mongo has over other document databases, is that, say, like Couch, where you've got everything is MapReduce. Mongo doesn't take that point of view. They want to have a rich query language, but still built on top of a document database. And so Mongo supports all of this as well. You can have, you know, standard where clause, if you have an, an all, you can pass it multiple parameters like that. You can say it less than 24, greater than 18. You run in queries. You can also efficiently query nested documents. So here we're gonna find the person who has any address or location that maps to Austin. And then that carries over into the name scopes as well. So we get active, you know, this was the, kind of like the query that we ran before where we said, you know, age is greater than something. We'll wrap it up into a scope and call that over. Now we can say where the name matches a regular expression. It's active and is over 40. And this will turn into a very efficient Mongo query. And you can even do more filtering on top of that. Geospatial indexes, this is something that was added to Mongo in 1.4, which is just a few months ago. And it's another place where Mongo really tries to emphasize that you should be able to query whatever you want. And so here's how you do it with Mongo aid. We have our spot, I'm using terminology from Gawalla. We have a spot, we put something like a lat long field that's in array. It's gonna be, you know, two numbers. And we're gonna create a geo 2D index. Mongo doesn't have 3D geo indexing yet, but it's in the works. And if you're interested in that, then you should upvote the ticket. So we can create our spot, Old Town Ale House. This is my favorite bar in Chicago. Those are the coordinates for it. And so now what can we do with this? Oh, we can try to find other things that are nearby. So again, we could use the same rich query syntax that Mongo gives us to say, we want all the spots where the lat long is near that. And so that's with Mongo, it's gonna turn into almost exactly the same query and that will sort all the results by the distance that they are from the current location. So you would want to add some sort of a limit at the end of that. We also do something a little bit more complex. We can find, we can do a radius search. So here we're gonna try and find all of the places that are within 0.01. And I'm not exactly sure what the radius corresponds to. You have to tweak it to figure out. But so we're gonna find all the things that are nearby in this circular radius. You can also do box radiuses, radii, and except for ourselves. But that looks pretty ugly, I think at least. So we can again use the scopes that Mongo had exposed here to create a very nice API on top of the existing supported features. So we'll write the same query that we did before. We'll wrap it up in a scope and now we can find all the spots near the ale house with a certain limit. So replication and high availability. This is again, no SQL databases. This is what most of them are built for. And this is one of the core features of Mongo. But I think first I wanna talk about how it worked in 1.4. Before I talked about how it now works in 1.6. Which came out just a couple of weeks ago. 1.4, your replication option was master slave. You got one big master and some number of slaves. You started like this, you'd say, Mongo D master, here's where it is. Take the slave, point it at the master, some other slave, point that one at the master. And the way that it works then internally is you'll go, you'll write something to the master. At some point, it will be synced to the slaves. There's no guarantee of when it would be pushed. But it's required for durability. So Mongo right now does not have single server durability. So you have to have at least two servers running. And so we have to have at least one master and at least one slave. With Mongo, this is all we have to do. We just point it at master, we create, it's gonna write master. But we need the slaves, so why don't we use them? So MongoD comes with the ability to specify the list of slaves that you have. And then you can run queries, you can run read queries against your slaves. So here this in slave can be attached to almost anything that you do in MongoD. And it will, it has an internal counter and it will round robin between all of your slaves. But the problem with this is that it doesn't give you enough control. There's no guarantees for syncing, no automatic fail over. So in this case, if we create this user, it's gonna write to the master. Then we connect to the slave, we go to ask for the user and it's not there. And at some point, maybe it's two seconds, maybe it's not. Then we finally get it there, but no control over that. The other thing is master goes down. You can't see that, but I said kill, bit of master. In order to recover from this, we have to kill one of the slaves, bring that one back up as the master and then try to figure out what went wrong with the master. So the solution to that then is replica sets in 1.6. This is a significantly better way to do it. And so now what we do is we start up MongoD with a repl set.   And what's great is that it works the same way.  Guarantees for syncing, MongoD, you can say attach safely to almost anything. Here you can pass it an fsync option, which will make sure that it writes to disk before it returns. You pass it w, then it's for write, and that will ensure that it's written to two of your nodes before it returns. You also pass it a timeout to have it raise an error if it takes too long. And it can be done on anything. You can do it on the instance level, class level, destruction, updates, inserts, all that stuff. And then automatic failover. What's great is that all of this stuff is handled by the actual Ruby driver. We kill our Mongo process, try to create, it doesn't work. Two seconds later we try to create, and it works. And so what happened there is that when our server went down, the Mongo Ruby driver says, I got a connection failure. I'm gonna try and find one of the other nodes available in the system. And I'm gonna redirect rights to that. So after some number of seconds, Mongo will have the ability to promote one of the other service master. And then everything starts working again without having any intervention. And we've implemented a lot of other things as well. Recently, basically everything that was new in 1.6 is supported in Mongo and it was supported within like a week or two of the new release. And like I said, if you can do it with Mongo, then you'll be able to do it with Mongo and so what's next for us really depends a lot on what happens in Mongo, that's what really drives most of the features other than all the things that we like to do for day to day support. We're gonna have the release candidate up end of next week. This weekend we'll have beta 17 up, which will support RC2 of Rails. And we'll have a lot of fixes for associations. We've done a rewrite of the associations to make them significantly better and faster. And then it's whatever happens in Mongo. Virtual collections for embedded documents. This is something that's up on the JIRA. It would allow you to query for and insert directly into embedded documents without having to talk to the parent documents. Real date support, this has long been a frustration for us using Mongoid and there hasn't been a great solution yet, but it's supposed to be fixed in 1.7. Another feature that's up that people are talking about is capped arrays. So this would work just like Mongo has capped collections, which allow you to specify a particular size in a sort order. And you can just throw all the data that you want at it and never grows above the size that you want. People are talking about doing the same thing to have for embedded documents. And that's how Mongoid versioning works. You just include that. And as you make changes, it inserts a copy of the document on itself. And this would be a great use case, being able to do that. Yeah, I guess I want to do that kind of quickly. But this is where you can get the slides if you're interested. Mongoid site and Mongoid source.  Anyone? Yes? Does your Ruby 1.9 support? Fully supported. Yes, we run the entire test suite against 187, REE, 187, 191, 192. And we've run it against JRuby as well and that's all good. Yes? I guess about a year ago, when you had relational associations, has that changed? So the question is about using Mongo for relational sort of association. No, I mean, I think it's all about the different use cases that you envision, the way that you're modeling your documents. Certainly, embedding everything is a bad idea. And people from Mongo will tell you that, and that's what Dern will say too. But if you have too many relational associations, then you begin to, you have to question whether Mongo is really the right choice. Because you can't have, there's no consistency between, there's no safety between making changes to separate collections. There's no transactions between them. Each, you have atomic updates for embedded documents, not for the others. So if you find yourself using too many of them, then that's a good sign that you should probably be looking at using a relational database for at least some of those links. Any others? Yes? Yes, you can say, you can set in the config, there's a safety config option, I think. And you can just say safety equals whatever you want. So Fsync1 or W2, any of those sorts of things. And that will apply through your entire app. All right, well, I guess if that's it, then come ask me any questions if you want. And you should hop on, come contribute. We love having you people working on it. Thanks.


In this training video, we're going to look at the use of manually scheduling tasks within Microsoft Project. So for this example, we've now got three training courses, which are IT training courses, which we're going to join them. We're going to now put them all under one summary for IT courses shortly. What you'll notice is there's a little blue pin next to manual schedule. It tells you at the top on the task tab. It tells you it's manual scheduled. If you also wanted to see the drop-down arrow, it also tells you manually scheduled. Now what manual schedule is ideally used for is if you want to control tasks yourself in a part of a project or a small process whereby you want to fully control it yourself without Microsoft taking over and automating it for you. So in this example, we don't want Microsoft to automate it. We want us to be able to physically control the tasks ourselves in this example. So we've got two-day task, one-day task and another two-day task for Excel training two days, Word training one day and visual training two days. And they're all taking place on different days. So I want them to... I now want to know what the total is for the IT training course duration and when the start and finish is. So with the manual tasks, I'm now going to join them together as a summary. Now you might say, well, what is the manual summary task with a question mark next to it? Well, we can see there's no start or finish date and no duration. That's when that feature comes in, when you've got no information, whereas the manual schedule pins below don't have a question mark. So I'm going to highlight two, three and four and under the task tab is a green arrow pointing to the right. I'm going to indent tasks and this will give me a summary of all three. Now I know all three are now taken 12 days in total from the first date to the last date of the visual training. But we also can see that there's only five days of training. You can see they spread out. So we might want to manually change things around. But what you'll notice is one of the indicators has changed to what's called auto scheduling. So even though we we want everything to be manual, the auto takes over when you put a summary task together unless the summary goes wrong. We make changes where this will go wrong and you'll see a red line up here with that word to be the case. So say now the Excel training which is due to start on Monday the 6th could only start on the following Monday. We would have to physically update it ourselves. Now in auto scheduling if I right click the task or double click the task I'll use in this case under advanced there's a feature called constraints where we can control the delay ourselves and use Microsoft to show us all kinds of indicators of why there's a problem. This is now removed from manual scheduling. So in this example we cannot let Microsoft help us. We've got to physically make the change ourselves. So that's what we're about to do. So I'm going to cancel that and I'm now going to change the start date from the 6th and I'm going to go a week later the 13th. Now we can see the manual effect and we can now see the duration has decreased because it was one day before the word training. Now it's gone in the middle but if I were to delay the Excel training for say three weeks let's see what happens. So one, two and we'll go to the 2nd of August and we can see it stretching and doing things as we see fit. Now I'm going to put it back to its original date which was the 6th of August. Now if you ever manually update a summary task, so for example you might want to say for whatever reason that these three courses can be covered within a 30, within a say 21 day period. So for the 6th I could actually physically change the finished date to a date that I want to give these three courses. So if I say 21 days at the moment we can see it's 12. So I'm going to now look at the 6th of August and I'm going to see okay I want this to delay by three weeks so one, two, three, 27th. Now all of a sudden you'll see the pin has changed to manually scheduling for the summary task. Now the reason for that is because we have physically updated the summary date. So if you ever change the summary date yourself for whatever reason it automatically turns to manual. Now let's see what happens if we start changing some dates around now. Now we've got it in manual scheduling. So if I wanted to delay the Visio course by say two weeks so it's now finished on the 21st I'm going to delay that by to the 4th and now you'll see red because it's now gone past the manual summary task that we changed. So Microsoft itself is thinking what are you doing now? Do you really know what you're doing? So when you start using manual project doesn't really like it's way of use because we can see now there's reds going on, there's it's underlining dates so the minute you go into change things manually yourself you might see some indicators come on and this would be the reason why. But it also gives you flexibility into making changes yourself to your way of working where you don't want Microsoft project to govern everything. Now if we ungrouped and if we now took the summary away from this, so if I go 2, 3 and 4 take the summary away it's now back to a 16 day so you've got 12 days of Visio training. So sometimes you've got to be pretty careful what you're doing with summary tasks to make sure that things work out correctly for you. So in this case we know Visio training isn't 12 days we'd have to readjust it and think okay well what should it be? It should be a 2 day task 2 day and we've now got a manual summary we might want to change that back to auto now it starts working for us again if that's what we want so let's group it again now under an auto summary and we're now back to project giving us a little bit of help because it's now in an automated control for the 3 manual tasks. So you've got choices with manuals you can either take full control yourself you might see some red symbols you might see date changes you might see some indicators a little bit of auto scheduling like we have in this case with the 3 manual tasks or you don't even have to use summary tasks so this gives you an idea of the use of manual schedule tasks within Microsoft project it gives you flexibility but it does take away a lot of projects automated features hope to see you for the next tutorial and thanks for watching


Hello, Developers! It's Sabrina from Okta. I'd like to invite you to Okta Developer Days on May 16th through 17th, our free two-day virtual event. We will explore how to manage the complexities of authentication using the latest capabilities of Auth0 by Okta and Okta's workforce identity cloud. Each day includes over three hours of engaging technical content from Okta engineers and developer advocates. Here's what to expect. Tuesday, May 16th is all about using Auth0 by Okta to secure your apps and APIs. In the afternoon, we'll have guided workshops using the latest capabilities of Auth0. Wednesday, May 17th, we'll focus on Okta's workforce identity cloud. We'll explore how to build your apps to enterprise standards, making them easy for Okta's workforce customers to discover and adopt. Presentations and workshops will be available online shortly after the event, so you can watch and learn at your own pace. Together, we can build a world where anyone can safely use any technology powered by identity. Dev Day is free, so make sure to register to save your spot. See you there!