For the record 27 September

27-09-2006

by Maxim Kelly

IBM launches European VC centre in Dublin | E-commerce growing in popularity, says EU survey

IBM is to open its European Venture Capital Centre and an Innovation Centre at its technology campus in Mulhuddart, Dublin. The joint venture with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland was launched by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheal Martin, and it is expected to become a focal point for Irish high-tech start-ups seeking exposure to the European VC community. It will also facilitate access for Irish start-up companies to IBM strategy, technology-sharing and mentoring. IBM technology experts will also provide information and support to Irish companies in the form of workshops, seminars, access to design, scalability testing, porting and enablement services. Two months ago IBM announced a EUR46 million investment in its Technology Campus in Mulhuddart to significantly grow its Dublin-based software development operations, establish a business incubation centre and enhance its supply chain capacity with support from IDA Ireland.

EMC Corporation, which employs 1,500 people in Ireland, has initiated a joint venture with Intec Telecom Systems and SenSage to provide internet service providers with technology to satisfy the EU's Data Retention Directive. The solution helps ISPs to manage their communication records, and also enables law enforcement agencies to quickly access historical phone and internet records to pinpoint and prosecute criminal activity.

The European Commission has published the results of its latest Eurobarometer survey on consumer protection in the internal market. The study shows e-commerce is becoming a more popular sales channel: in the last 12 months, 27 percent of citizens made an e-commerce purchase and 50 percent of those with internet access at home did so. However, online confidence has not yet developed on a cross-border basis. Only 6 percent of EU citizens made a cross-border online purchase, and only 12 percent of those who had an internet connection at home did so. A majority of Europeans polled said they are less confident purchasing from providers based in other European Union countries than their own.

In response to the latest Eurobarometer findings, chief executive of the IE Domain Registry, David Curtin, has issued a statement saying security is the main barrier to online consumer confidence. "When online shoppers buy from the largely anonymous dot-com or dot-eu websites, they may not always know who they are doing business with. On the other hand, top level country code domain names such as dot-ie in Ireland or dot-fr in France are governed by a managed registry, therefore a series of checks are made on all new registrations, authenticating applicants' claim to the name," he said.

Three Ireland has launched what it terms a "thumb friendly" mobile phone from LG. The LG U400 video phone has an external scroll wheel for menu navigation rather than the more traditional cross-hair style button interface. The LG U400 is also an MP3 player with a 512MB memory card capable of storing 1,000 tracks. Other features include a melody composer and two megapixel camera. Prices range from EUR129 to EUR249 depending on bill-pay option, or EUR299 on a pre-paid tariff.