NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 10 February
10-02-2009
by Emmet Cole
Kerry business gets transferred | Technology sector still trustworthy
The money transfer business unit of Kerry-based financial services company Fexco is to be bought by Western Union for a reported USD159.5 million, it was announced on Tuesday. The US-based money transfer giant bought a 25 percent interest in Fexco in 2001, but will relinquish its stake in Fexco's other businesses as part of the new deal. An estimated 300 Fexco workers are expected to become part of Western Union when the purchase is completed later this year.
A Clarion Consulting survey into the evolving role of IT in Irish organisations reveals that 28 percent of companies will be reducing IT staff numbers over the next year, with the primary drivers being cited as market conditions and rationalisation pressures. Eighteen percent of respondents said they will be hiring people only in the short term compared to 35 percent in last year's survey. Temporary staff reductions are forecast across many Irish IT functions with 44 percent suggesting that desktop support personnel, project managers and IT management could lose out. The poll was conducted online and was completed by 120 public and private sector organisations.
Meanwhile, recession-bucking DataBackup.ie has announced that the company won contracts valued at over EUR500,000 in January. The contracts came from both public and private sector bodies and the company is now targeting a total of EUR5 million worth of new business before the end of 2009.
The Edelman Trust Barometer -- an annual global survey of opinion leaders -- has revealed that the technology sector is the most trusted industry in Ireland for the third year in a row, with 64 percent of Irish opinion leaders expressing trust in the sector. The Biotechnology/Life Sciences sector was ranked as the second most trusted sector. However, 83 percent of Irish opinion leaders trust business less than they did a year ago -- the largest percentage in any of the 20 countries surveyed. The survey also found that trust in traditional media sources has fallen, with 61 percent of respondents saying that they need to hear information about a company three to five times before they believe it. Academics and industry analysts are the most creditable spokespeople for a company, according to 73 percent of survey participants. Only 21 percent of Irish opinion leaders treat information from CEOs as credible when forming opinions about a company.
A business survey commissioned by supply chain services company, SerCom Solutions, shows strong interest among Irish-based companies in developing trading links with South East Asia, particularly China. Over 80 percent of respondents see China as an opportunity for business as opposed to a threat, with 57 percent of the companies surveyed already doing business in Asia. The survey, which was conducted by the research team at the National Institute for Transport & Logistics (NITL), also found that while 67 percent of companies rate their company's environmental performance as strong or very strong, almost 80 percent agree that environmental and sustainability issues are likely to become more critical in the years ahead.
A European agreement aimed at improving the safety of under 18s on social networking sites was signed by 17 leading web companies -- including MySpace, Bebo and Facebook-- on Tuesday as part of European Commission's annual Safer Internet Day. This year's focus is on the prevention of cyberbullying and grooming and the protection of personal information. Social networking sites have agreed to work under a defined protocol to be known as 'Safer Social Networking Principles'. Under the protocol, social networking sites have agreed to a number of measures, including the provision of an easily accessible "report abuse" button on sites, automatically setting under 18s' profiles to private by default and making under 18s' profiles not searchable via websites or search engines.
In other Safer Internet Day news, Microsoft published research showing that 22 percent of Irish teens have experienced bullying online. The survey also found that 55 percent of teens use the internet without any parental restrictions. Of those teens that have experienced bullying online, seven out of ten experienced it via instant messaging and 48 percent were bullied on social networking sites. The research revealed that just 11 percent of Irish teens never post photos or personal information online, compared to 36 percent of Spanish and Italian teens. Interestingly, when feeling threatened online, 38 percent of European teenagers said parents would be their first port of call for advice, with 30 percent turning first to friends. In Ireland, however, 33 percent turned to their parents while 41 percent would approach friends first.
And Jimmy Devins, T.D., the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation also got in the act on Tuesday, as he launched a multimedia campaign promoting safer internet use by young people. The "WATCH_YOUR_SPACE – STOP CYBERBULLYING" campaign encourages young people to take control of their online environments by reporting inappropriate content and contact on their favourite websites. An initiative of the EU Safer Internet Programme, the campaign is being launched in all EU countries on Tuesday. In Ireland, the campaign includes a website with advice for young internet users.
Online cooking site iFoods.tv on Tuesday launched a re-branded website called Lookandtaste.com. The site, which provides recipes and cookery video demonstrations, has also announced that it has attracted EUR400,000 in new investment, which the company said will allow it to add new video recipes to the site, as well as develop an iPhone application and add other new features to the site. Last year founder Niall Harbison was featured on the BBC show Dragons' Den and missed out on EUR100,000 worth of investment from the 'dragons'.
Finally, CERN management have confirmed the restart schedule for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The move follows recommendations from last week's Chamonix workshop. CERN expects the first beams in the LHC at the end of September, with the first collisions taking place in late October. The LHC will then run through to autumn 2010 with the first new physics analyses and results being announced shortly thereafter. "The schedule we have now is without a doubt the best for the LHC and for the physicists waiting for data," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. "It is cautious, ensuring that all the necessary work is done on the LHC before we start-up, yet it allows physics research to begin this year."
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 