NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 26 January
26-01-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
DSG to create Irish jobs | IAB Ireland appoints CEO
DSG Retail Ireland, which trades as Currys and PC World in Ireland, is to create 100 jobs through the opening of new stores this year and the roll-out of a new format for its shops. A development programme will start this summer, and details of the new store locations will follow. The company plans to introduce its "2 brands in 1" format to Ireland, combining Currys and PC World under one roof. This model is already up and running in DSG's UK and Italy stores. In addition, DSG plans to re-fit the PC World store in Galway and the Currys and PC World stores in Limerick. The company said the business will operate as normal during these developments and no existing jobs will be affected.
Scientists at TCD's School of Physics unveiled the first solar observations from the European Space Agency's latest satellite, Proba-2, on Tuesday. The TCD solar physics team were responsible for developing novel image processing techniques to enhance and analyse the images. The team, in cooperation with researchers at the Royal Observatory of Belgium, led the development of object-oriented data analysis software for the archiving, distribution and scientific analysis of images from Proba-2. The satellite was launched from northern Russia last November and is aimed at improving scientists' understanding of solar storms.
Digital advertising organisation IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) Ireland has announced the appointment of Suzanne McElligott as chief executive officer. IAB Ireland, a new industry body whose goal is to promote the use of digital advertising, is funded by Crimtan, Daft Media, Google, Microsoft Advertising, RTE, the Irish Times, Trader Media Group and Yahoo. PriceWaterhouseCoopers has been engaged by IAB Ireland to provide detailed research on digital advertising spending in the Irish market. McElligott formerly worked at Radio Kerry and CBS Outdoor, and is a former chairperson of the Outdoor Media Association.
SIMI (Society of the Irish Motor Industry) has launched a used car website called Beepbeep.ie, reports BusinessWorld. SIMI members can advertise cars which carry guarantees of a full history check and warranty. "All dealers selling on the site are SIMI members who have signed up to the required code of practice and every car is history checked before it appears on the website," said SIMI director general Alan Nolan.
The internet of the future will be dominated by video, according to network equipment maker Cisco, reports V3.co.uk. Speaking at the firm's Networkers Live event in Barcelona, Marthin De Beer, senior vice president of Cisco's emerging technologies group, said Cisco expects a five-fold increase in internet traffic by 2013, and that 90 percent of traffic on the internet will be dedicated to video by 2019. "We believe that the future of collaboration will be in video as the next generation of networks will enable its use in areas such as education, healthcare and entertainment, providing businesses with the ability to communicate more efficiently," he said.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 