NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 2 December
02-12-2009
by Sylvia Leatham
Gov banks on green economic future | Dell's Lodz plant changes hands
Ireland has the potential to create thousands of jobs in the 'green economy' sector, according to a new government report. The study, 'Developing the Green Economy in Ireland', was published by the High-Level Action Group on Green Enterprise, which included businesses, State agencies and civil servants. It says that the green economy is already a EUR2.8 billion a year industry and that it could create up to 80,000 jobs in future years. Areas of action highlighted in the report include green procurement, renewable energy and energy efficiency, green enterprise zones, green R&D, waste management, and water and waste water treatment. "The green economy represents the single best bet for Ireland to lift itself out of recession," said Eamon Ryan, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.
PC maker Dell is to "transfer ownership" of its Lodz manufacturing plant in Poland to Taiwanese electronics firm Foxconn. The terms of deal were not disclosed. Dell said in a statement it would "best serve its regional customers" and strengthen its long-term position in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with the move. Foxconn Technology Group will take over the plant and current Dell staff will continue in their roles, the PC maker said, adding that it would become a customer of Foxconn's. The agreement is subject to EU regulatory approval. Dell also noted that there would be no effect on its Irish employees, nor on its sales and marketing office in Warsaw. Earlier this year Dell closed its manufacturing facility in Raheen, Limerick, with the loss of 1,800 jobs, and moved its operations to Lodz.
Handset giant Nokia offered some cheer for the mobile phone industry on Wednesday, predicting that the market would recover faster than analysts expect next year. Nokia forecast that handset volumes would increase around 10 percent in 2010, ahead of the general analyst consensus of 8.6 percent growth. That said, the company predicted that its own market share would remain flat next year. "Going into 2010, the overall mobile devices market is stabilising and it is growing more in the areas where Nokia has competitive advantages," said Nokia's finance director, Timo Ihamuotila. Nokia expects its handset unit's operating profit margin to come in at between 12 percent and 14 percent next year.
Irish web content management firm TerminalFour has announced a transatlantic partnership with US digital media solutions provider iFactory. Financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed. The two companies said their first joint customer is the University of Virginia in the US, where they have a contract to provide the university with a web development solution that includes an overhaul of its website.
E-mail is dead, according to Erik van Ommeren of IT services company Sogeti. Speaking at a Socitm (Society of Information Technology Management) Northern Ireland event, van Ommeren said that as e-mail loses its effectiveness as a standalone communications medium, organisations need to turn to collaborative technologies and cloud computing. "The IT department of the future will make a significant contribution to the organisation achieving its goals by facilitating, enabling and supporting the users. IT will broker services in a collaborative cloud computing environment, build knowledge, provide guidelines and inspire the organisation to deploy technology in support of the organisation's goals," he said.
Telecoms regulator ComReg is seeking input into the development of its strategy for 2010 through 2012. At the moment, ComReg is seeking views specifically in relation to environmental, technology and market trends affecting the communications industry and regulation over the next three years. Interested parties are invited to send written submissions to ComReg by 22 December 2009. Submissions can be sent to jason.reid@comreg.ie.
Data loss can occur in the most unusual ways, according to data recovery specialist Kroll Ontrack. The company has published details of the "most alarming data disasters" it's had to deal with this year in its annual 'Data Disaster League'. The top spot on the list went to a criminal who threw his laptop out of a 12th-storey window in a last-minute bid to dump evidence as authorities entered his home. The 2009 league table also features disasters resulting from a fight in a server room, a cat who vomited on a computer, and a deep-sea shipping accident. More details are available at Ontrackdatarecovery.com.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 