NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 12 January
12-01-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Komplett to sell three e-stores | Stokes Bio in Monsanto deal
Online IT retailer Komplett is selling three of its web stores to Dutch firm ParaDigit Holding. Komplett is selling its Irish, Dutch and Belgian operations, but has an option to buy back the stores in three years' time. The financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close by 1 April, were not revealed. ParaDigit has signed a licence agreement allowing it to continue to use the Komplett name on the three stores. Aaron McKenna, country manager of Komplett Ireland, told ENN that the move would have no effect in the near term on Komplett's nine-strong team in Ireland.
IT management software company CA has acquired Oblicore, a provider of service level management software, for an undisclosed sum. Oblicore's customers include AT&T, British Telecom, Cable & Wireless and France Telecom, all of which use Oblicore solutions to design, monitor and manage service level agreements. CA said the deal would enhance its ability to set, measure and optimise service levels in enterprise and cloud environments.
Monsanto, a US provider of technology solutions for the agriculture industry, and Limerick-based biotech firm Stokes Bio have announced a licensing agreement and R&D collaboration. Under the agreement, Monsanto will have exclusive rights to Stokes Bio's patented plant-breeding technology. Stokes Bio will deliver a number of its next-generation genotyping instruments to Monsanto this year. These instruments help accelerate the plant breeding process. Stokes Bio was established in 2005, with financing from Kernel Capital, as a spin-off from the Stokes Institute at University of Limerick.
The global tech industry is set for growth this year, according to Forrester Research, which is predicting an 8.1 percent increase in IT spending for 2010. Last year there was an 8.9 percent decline in global spending. Worldwide IT spending will reach USD1.6 trillion this year, said the research firm. The strongest growth is expected in Europe, followed by the US. Spending on software will rise 9.7 percent, purchases of IT equipment will rise 8.2 percent, while communications equipment will increase around 7.6 percent, Forrester predicted.
Last year was a record year for dot-ie (.ie) domain registrations, according to internet registry IE Domain Registry (IEDR). The number of new dot-ie domain registrations reached 37,055 for 2009, an increase of 8 percent on the previous year. The total number of dot-ie domains is now almost 136,000. For the fourth quarter, a total of 8,533 dot-ie domains were registered, 11.5 percent growth over the year-earlier period. "The 2009 registration figures indicate continued demand from Irish sole traders and limited companies, who account for over 80 percent of new registrants, for the trusted dot-ie namespace," said the IEDR in a statement.
Students from Rosemont Secondary School in Blackrock, Co Dublin, took advantage of online learning to get on with their studies during the recent bad weather. Teachers uploaded school work to the school's online learning management system, Moodle. Students with internet connections logged on from home to complete the assignments. The school said 60 percent of its students had logged on to Moodle between 7 and 11 January.
Discover Science and Engineering, a programme run by government agency Forfas, has added a new resource about science, technology, engineering and maths to its website, Careersportal.ie. The resource outlines all courses available at third level in these areas. A number of new courses are coming on stream this year at various institutes of technology to meet the projected IT skills shortage among the workforce.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 