IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 15 March
15-03-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Irish Innovation Center opens in San Jose | UPC set to acquire Broadworks assets
The Irish Times reports that Taoiseach Brian Cowen has formally opened the Irish Innovation Center in San Jose, California. The centre is the brainchild of the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG), a Silicon Valley-based group of Irish and Irish-American technology executives who are trying to foster the growth of innovative Irish start-up companies. The 8,000 sq ft facility will have deskspace for about 50 people when the fit-out is completed. Already a number of Irish companies have signed up to be tenants of the centre, according to Gordon Ciochon, executive director of the Irish Innovation Center.
The Irish Independent reports that Broadcasting Authority chairman Bob Collins has said his board has "very little patience" left with stalled negotiations over the Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) project. The Eircom-led One Vision consortium was offered the commercial contract for DTT last May. The project was designed to go hand-in-hand with RTE's public service DTT, which will replace traditional analogue public service transmission ahead of the Europe-wide analogue switch-off in 2012. One Vision was expected to sign on the dotted line for DTT in a matter of months, but negotiations with network provider RTE have proved protracted and the contract remains unsigned ten months on. "I sincerely hope the One Vision project comes to early fruition and the emphasis is on the adverb 'early'," said Collins. "We wanted this concluded before the end of 2009. We have been very patient; we have very little patience left."
The paper also says that UPC is finalising a deal to acquire the assets of cable company Broadworks, which is due to be wound up on 22 March. It is not clear at this stage how much will be paid for Broadworks' assets, but it is unlikely to be a significant amount. UPC is understood to be hoping to finalise a deal by the end of the month.
The Irish Examiner says that Cork-based scientific research and technology company Glantreo has signed a USD10 million licensing deal with a major US company. Although details of the other company have not been fully disclosed, the tie-in is with a major player in the area of chromatography -- the name given to collective laboratory techniques for the separation of mixtures and a part of the manufacturing process in the food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Under the deal, Glantreo will license its own technology, which speeds up and improves the separation process.
The paper also says that Dr Rachel O'Connell, a University College Cork graduate and former chief safety officer with social networking site Bebo, is to give a talk at UCC titled 'The internet, technology and well-being'. The talk is part of a week-long initiative to promote positive mental health among students. Dr O'Connell has been a key contributor to the development of policy on internet-related issues in Britain, and most recently chaired the Public Awareness Group of the Home Secretary's Internet Task Force on Child Protection. She is also a social media strategist and a board member of online mental health service ReachOut.com.
According to the Wall Street Journal, China's product-quality agency has said it is looking into complaints from a small number of Chinese consumers about Hewlett-Packard's handling of flaws in some of its PCs. The investigation, announced on the website of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, appears to be a response to a complaint filed by a group of Chinese consumers earlier this month. The consumers claimed HP discriminated against them in its handling of a problem with faulty graphics components in some of its laptops, by not offering them the same warranty extension given to customers in the US.
The Financial Times says that UK mobile operators are threatening to launch a legal challenge to the government's plans to increase the availability of internet access on mobile phones. The government is hoping that parliament will approve a law before the end of the month that will allow for a large auction of spectrum in the first half of 2011. But O2 and Vodafone are threatening to launch a judicial review that might delay the auction. If the auction timetable slips, it could delay the start of mobile services based on 4G technology, which would enable faster web surfing on handsets. Mobile operators in the US and Japan are starting 4G services this year.
The Sunday Tribune reports that a government task force that was established to oversee the disposal of the State's e-voting machines met only three times last year. According to Minister for the Environment John Gormley, the committee will hold its first meeting in 2010 on Tuesday. The Minister was responding to questions on the matter from Fine Gael and Labour. He said that seven storage leases for the machines have been terminated at no cost to the State, but warned four others could incur buyout costs. More than 4,700 of the machines have been moved to a central facility at Gormanston army camp, but the rest are still stored at 13 local storage premises.
The same paper reports that national broadcaster RTE is embroiled in a row with actors on the soap 'Fair City' over internet broadcasting of the show. The dispute between union Equity and RTE has meant that 'Fair City' has not appeared on the online player service since before Christmas. Equity says RTE broke an agreement that neither side would make a financial gain from the online screening after RTE said it could not afford to pay secondary media costs to the actors. However, Equity said the broadcaster ran ads on the player, gaining commercially and breaking the agreement. The union has now told RTE it can't broadcast 'Fair City' online, and said it has had no contact from the broadcaster to resolve the dispute. A spokeswoman for RTE said it did not have "on demand" rights for 'Fair City', but hoped to resolve the issue in the future.
The paper also reports that Dublin City Council believes Dublin's Digital Hub will expand to the site of the former Chamber Weaver flats, demolished 18 months ago. The site was intended to be sold for commercial and residential development before the downturn in the market. The council is also considering using the site in the interim for allotments, community gardens, car parks or events like a circus or a market.
The Sunday Business Post leads with a story claiming that a computer system for patient records built by the Health Service Executive has been "plagued" with by security flaws and operational problems. The Integrated Patient Management System (IPMS), which cost EUR60 million, is used by 10 acute hospitals and 20 other HSE centres. It was originally intended to help patient treatment by linking up records nationwide. The article says there are fundamental differences between how the hospitals implement and operate the system which would cause difficulties if the HSE tried to link IPMS into a national database of patient records. Internal audits last year discovered five "high level" security risks within the system.
The paper also reports the demise of IT firm Systemhouse Technologies, which collapsed leaving debts of almost EUR2 million. Some 15 jobs were also lost when the company stopped trading, following a High Court petition by one of the company's creditors, technology distribution firm Commtech Distribution. Its liquidator is seeking a trade buyer for the business. Systemhouse traded as part of Top Security's IT security division, Topsec, but was a separate company, according to Top Security's owner Emmet O'Rafferty.
Despite all the publicity around the "three strikes" rule Eircom agreed with music firms more than a year ago, it has yet to be implemented, the Sunday Business Post says. A spokesman for the company confirmed that the rule, which forces Eircom to disconnect customers suspected of downloading or swapping copyrighted work, has not yet been brought in. Other ISPs in Ireland have come under pressure to adopt a similar agreement to Eircom, but have so far resisted.
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