NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 9 February
09-02-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
D&B to create Dublin jobs | EI leads New York trade mission
D&B, a provider of business information, is to establish a business operations centre in Dublin. The IDA-supported investment will create up to 100 highly skilled jobs by the middle of next year, said D&B, formerly known as Dun & Bradstreet. The hub will be responsible for the collection and processing of data on companies. D&B said it will "in-source" operations roles from existing off-shore arrangements, and that many of these roles will be filled in Dublin. Recruitment will commence over the coming months to fill positions at a new office space in Sandyford.
Irish-based technology, telecoms, animation and digital media companies are taking part in an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to New York this week. A total of 36 companies are on the trip, including 13 digital media firms. Sectors represented on the mission include software, telecoms, e-learning, life sciences and environmental services. The digital media firms, which include the Oscar-nominated Brown Bag Films and Cartoon Saloon, will showcase their latest productions at KidScreen, the annual children’s entertainment industry conference.
Tuesday is 'Safer Internet Day 2010', and more than 60 countries are taking part in the annual event, whose theme this year is 'Think before you post'. The event, organised by the European internet safety network (INSAFE) and co-funded by the European Commission's Safer Internet Programme, aims to promote safe and responsible use of the internet and mobile phone technologies, especially among children and young people. The European Commission urged social networking firms to do more to protect children, noting that less than half of such companies make profiles of under-18 users visible only to their friends by default, while only one-third reply to user reports asking for help.
Meanwhile, here in Ireland, the executive director of the Office for Internet Safety, John Laffan, advised people to "always take a moment to think before you post any sensitive information about yourself online. You never know who might be reading it." He also urged the public to report suspected illegal internet content to www.hotline.ie. Other initiatives to mark the day included UPC's launch of a new website called esafetykit.net and Eircom's issuing of safety tips on Twitter and at Eircom.net/connect.
Minister for Education Batt O'Keefe, along with former Taoiseach Garret Fitzgerald, have officially opened the EUR1 million Science and Discovery Lab at the National Wax Museum Plus in Dublin. The museum uses interactive exhibits and artefacts to pay tribute to the pioneers of Irish scientific discoveries and inventions through the ages. The Lab, at Foster Place, College Green, was created with the primary and secondary school science syllabus in mind and has already been visited by dozens of school students since it opened in October 2009.
Norkom Technologies, which has a presence in Ireland, has signed a deal with Daiwa Capital Markets Singapore, a global investment bank. Norkom will provide its financial crime and compliance software to the Southeast Asian bank. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. The deal is the latest in a series for Norkom in the Asia-Pacific market -- the company has taken on 11 new clients in the past 18 months, including ANZ, St.George and Westpac.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 