Ray Michael
Digital Architect for the Borderlands.
Building the Digital Heartland across Cavan, Fermanagh and the wider region – with SmartWeb, SmartTraffic, SmartData and SafeNet.
“Everything I build – from a single webpage to a cross-border hub – serves one purpose: helping people grow, connect and transform.”
What I do – in simple terms.
I help small shops, families, local businesses and community groups get online – beautifully, affordably and sustainably.
Through SmartWeb, SmartTraffic, SmartData and SafeNet, I build digital stability in rural areas that have been left to manage everything on their own for too long.
But my work goes deeper than websites or WiFi. I am designing the Innovation Belt – a cross-border digital ecosystem that strengthens peace, prosperity and community in the Irish Borderlands.
Everything I build – from a simple homepage to a future Web3 governance layer – follows one line: serve people, protect communities, strengthen the Heartlands.
On the ground: I sit in kitchens, back rooms of shops, nursing homes, parish halls and small offices – listening first, then designing simple digital structures that people actually use.
In the background: I map how these small pieces connect – into hubs, corridors, data flows and safe networks that can carry an entire border region forward.
From cold rooms to a calling.
After leaving almost everything behind – home, security, past life – I arrived in the quiet landscapes of the Irish Borderlands.
Cold rooms. Empty castles. Forgotten villages. But also kindness, openness and a sense that this place is ready for renewal.
I realised: this region deserves more than survival. It deserves transformation.
So my mission became clear:
- revitalise lost places into centres of peace and learning,
- bring digital presence to the Heartlands,
- connect communities across old borders,
- build a Web3-ready Innovation Belt,
- create the Heartland Peace Hub,
- serve people – not profit.
Everything I do now – SmartWeb projects, SmartHub Heartlands, Beth Nousaya, Castle Saunderson – flows from this calling.
What I build every day.
On any given day you might find me fixing a shop’s WiFi, writing a governance blueprint for a DAO-ready heritage site, or helping a senior citizen move safely to a new phone. All of it belongs together.
Hands-on work:
- Websites that make local shops and projects visible.
- Google presence and SmartTraffic systems that bring real customers.
- SafeNet connectivity that protects families & seniors.
- Data solutions for shops, nursing homes and community services.
- Digital mentoring for people who feel left behind by technology.
Strategic work:
- Cross-border frameworks for the Innovation Belt.
- Concepts for the Heartland Peace Hub at Castle Saunderson.
- Spiritual renewal and community building through Beth Nousaya.
- Future SmartHub clusters in towns and villages across the region.
Every shop I help, every person I support, every hub I design is a small but real piece of a much larger picture.
A growing network of local pioneers.
SmartHub Heartlands will connect shops, creators, charities, families and local initiatives into a digital backbone for the region.
It is not a single building. It is a distributed hub – a set of people and places that share tools, infrastructure and a common story: the renewal of the Heartlands.
First hubs will go live in Cavan and Fermanagh, then spread across the wider Innovation Belt.
What this means in practice:
- small digital spaces where people can get help, learn and connect;
- shared infrastructure for safe WiFi, cameras and cloud tools;
- programmes for cyber safety, evidence workflows and SmartWeb presence;
- a human network that can carry EU and cross-border programmes well.
SmartHub Heartlands – public launch planned around Christmas 2025 / early 2026.
Beth Nousaya & An Lár Geard.
Behind the digital work lies a deeper spiritual and cultural layer.
Beth Nousaya is the spiritual foundation – a place for inner healing, clarity and alignment. An Lár Geard – “the Middle Ground” – is the cultural heart: a neutral, rooted centre for the Borderlands.
Together they form the future Heartland Peace Hub and the soft infrastructure for a DAO-ready Innovation Belt Special Zone.
If you are interested in this deeper layer – faith, calling, reconciliation and peace-work – you will find more under Beth Nousaya soon.
For now you can visit:
bethnousaya.org
(extended An Lár Geard pages planned for early 2026)
Let’s build something good together.
Whether you’re a shop owner, community leader, family business, parish, charity or public-sector partner: if you want to strengthen the Heartlands with real, grounded digital work – I’m ready to help.
Call / WhatsApp (Ireland): +353 89 220 8150
WhatsApp (UK / NI): +44 7564 948645
Email: contact@smarttrades.training
One short call is enough to see where we can start. If I’m not the right person, I’ll tell you honestly and point you in a better direction.
For councils, programmes & partners:
I’m available as a practical architect and advisor for EU, PEACEPLUS and cross-border programmes that focus on digital inclusion, community hubs, cyber safety, innovation zones or heritage-driven renewal.
My strength is to translate large frameworks into concrete, local structures that work: shops, hubs, networks, governance and clear reporting.
If you are exploring a 6–10 million programme for new digital mini hubs in Cavan, Fermanagh or the wider region, I’m ready to help you design and deliver it in a way that truly serves people.