NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 14 October
14-10-2009
by Emmet Ryan
Imagine to create 200 WiMAX jobs | Over 100 jobs go in Cork at Harris
Imagine is to create 200 jobs as part of a roll out of its WiMAX network. Sean Bolger, founder of Imagine, has said the jobs will primarily be in the area of technical engineering as the firm deploys the high-speed network nationwide. Imagine is to invest EUR100 million in the service. The company says that the first phase of the roll-out -- covering 250,000 homes in Dublin, Wexford, Sligo, Tralee and Athlone -- will be completed by mid-November 2009. The network was launched on Wednesday by Taoiseach Brian Cowen. Cowen said Intel, Google, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard had all backed Ireland's efforts in supporting the technology. He added other multinationals, such as Comcast, had also thrown their weight behind WiMAX. The Taoiseach said Imagine's move would aid government efforts to roll out broadband to every house in the country by 2012. Imagine have a website dedicated to the WiMAX rollout at imagine.ie
It wasn't all good news on the employment front on Wednesday as 119 jobs are to go in Cork with the closure of Harris Corporation’s plant. The US firm took over the security electronics operation from Tyco Electronics earlier this year. The 69 full-time and 50 part-time staff at the Little Island plant will all be made redundant.
Ireland could become a world leader in tackling climate change by growing our energy management industry, potentially creating thousands of new jobs, according to a joint announcement by the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) and Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI). "We already have considerable experience in developing world-class standards in energy management and have a growing industry around energy, well ahead of Europe. Ireland can play a leading role in climate change solutions through developing energy standards and innovating in energy management, potentially creating thousands of jobs," said Maurice Buckley, chief executive of the NSAI. He made the comments at the launch of World Standards Day which took place on Wednesday.
The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport is inviting submissions from students, businesses and individuals for the Institute's 'Ideas of the Year Awards 2010'. The awards recognise people who have developed innovative ideas that make a significant contribution to the logistics and transport industry. Two awards will be presented: the Innovator of the Year Award will be awarded to a professional or company while the Student Idea of the Year Award will go to a full-time student.
The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan has announced over EUR4 million in funding for the establishment of a new Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Strategic Research Cluster. The new Financial Mathematics and Computation Cluster will create a centre of financial research excellence by bringing together researchers with complementary expertise in financial mathematics, financial economics and computer science.
The Minister for Trade and Commerce Billy Kelleher has officially opened the new China office of Cork transport software firm Avego. The new facility in Dalian, China will focus on research and development and was opened during this week's Enterprise Ireland trade mission to China. The office will employ 15 engineers and support staff.
The Digital Hub's 'Best in Show' exhibit will take place from 16 October to the 23 October in the Digital Exchange in Dublin. The event aims to showcase cutting edge digital media creativity and technology. In all 12 works from students from colleges around Dublin will be on display and the exhibits will use sound and animation, computer-generated imagery, music, photography and cutting-edge design techniques to depict topics ranging from an unlikely romance to an unplanned pregnancy. This is the third year of the event. The exhibition will be open from 10am until 5pm each day (except at weekends) and admission is free.
PC maker Acer has revealed two new products it is developing with Google's Android mobile operating system on board: the Liquid smartphone and the Aspire One netbook. The Liquid is a touchscreen device running Android version 1.6. The phone includes a camera that tags photos with location information from a built-in GPS receiver, so people know where and when they snapped a shot. The Aspire One netbook will run both Android and Microsoft Windows, and users will be able to switch between the two operating systems simply by clicking to switch OS. The release dates and prices for both products have yet to be revealed.
Finally, Microsoft is to sponsor a advertisement-free special episode of the popular cartoon sitcom Family Guy as part of its promotion of Windows 7, which is due for launch on 22 October. The special will air 8 November in the US on Fox and will feature Microsoft-branded programming. Fox said this programming will blend with the show's content.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 