NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 28 November
28-11-2008
by Deirdre McArdle
Currys opens new store, creates jobs | EIB provides loan for biomed centre in TCD
Electrical retailer DSG Ireland, which owns the Currys and PC World brands in Ireland, has announced it has opened a new Currys store in Carlow, with the creation of 20 jobs. This brings to 19 the number of Currys stores across the country and the total number of people employed by DSG Ireland to over 750.
The European Investment Bank is helping with the construction of a biomedical sciences research and training facility at Trinity College Dublin through financing of EUR75 million. The planned eleven-storey facility will be located close to Trinity College in central Dublin and will house both academic and commercial office space. Once finished, it will accommodate up to 1,000 biomedical science researchers. The EIB loan to Trinity College, which is the first of its kind to an Irish university, was finalised at a signature ceremony in Dublin on Thursday.
Dublin-based heritage firm Eneclann, which runs the www.irishorigins.ie website, is offering Irish taxpayers what it claims is a "unique opportunity" to invest in its company. The firm digitises and publishes Irish historical records online. Recent TV programmes such as "Who Do You Think You Are?" and "Where Was Your Family During the Famine?" have sparked an interest in genealogy and many people are turning to the net to look up their roots. Eneclann, which has already published a large number of historical records online, is looking to boost the amount of data it has available on its site and is inviting Irish taxpayers to participate in its Business Expansion Scheme (BES). "Enneclan's BES represents a unique opportunity for Irish investors to reduce their 2008 tax liability while supporting our plans to publish additional Irish historical content online," said Eneclann CEO Brian Donovan. Interested parties can find out more about the scheme at a presentation in the O'Reilly Building, Trinity College, Dublin at 4pm on Tuesday, 2nd December, or visit www.eneclann.ie/bes.
In a bid to help Irish SMEs understand how adopting sustainable business practices and ICT can not only aid the environment but also their bottom line, BT Business has launched its 'Understanding Green Business Practices'. In Dublin on Thursday, Dr Chris Tuppen, BT's chief sustainability officer, outlined five key business practices firms can act on immediately. He suggested the use of web conferencing to reduce travel for meetings; remote access technologies to reduce unnecessary trips back to the office; encouraging employees to shut down computers and other electrical kit at the end of the day; use of recycled stationery to save paper; and finally, Dr Tuppen urged the adoption of flexible working. "The 250,000 SMEs in Ireland are not only the lifeblood of the economy, but they can make a big difference to tackling climate change, while at the same time discover new long-term commercial opportunities."
Broadband penetration in Europe reached an average of 21.7 percent in July 2008, up from 18.2 percent in July 2007. That's according to a report published by the European Commission, which reveals that mobile broadband is starting to take off, with 6.9 percent penetration in the EU. Broadband speeds are also improving, according to the report, which showed that 75 percent of broadband lines in the EU have download speeds of 2Mbps and above, 62 percent are between 2 and 10 Mbps and 12.8 percent above 10 Mbps. "Under the European Economic Recovery Plan presented by the Commission this week, we plan to channel a further EUR1 billion of EU funding into high-speed internet infrastructures. I expect that this additional measure, together with a strong policy emphasis on effective competition and further market opening, will pave the way for broadband for all Europeans by 2010; and for high-speed internet for all Europeans by 2015," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 