NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 23 March
23-03-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
Enterprise Dept to focus on 'innovation' | Northgate to create 88 NI jobs
In Taoiseach Brian Cowen's Cabinet 're-shuffle' on Tuesday, the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Employment has been renamed the Department of Enterprise, Trade & Innovation. Batt O'Keeffe has been given the portfolio and funding for the Programme for Research in third level institutions will transfer to this department. Read full details of the re-shuffle here.
Northgate Managed Services is to create 88 new jobs in Northern Ireland as it pumps STG19.4m into its business. Northgate provides infrastructure and ICT managed services to public and private sector organisations in the UK and Ireland from its head office in Newtownabbey. Read the press release here.
One quarter of firms in EMEA that use cloud computing believe the risks outweigh the benefits, but carry on using it anyway. That's according to a survey by the ISACA, which revealed that 9.4 percent of respondents said they plan to use cloud computing for mission-critical IT services; 8.8 percent will only use the cloud for low-risk, non-mission-critical IT services; and 35.6 percent do not plan to use the cloud for any IT services.
An ongoing Dublin Chamber of Commerce poll on its website shows that 48 percent of businesses are using "social media" as a "communication route". A further 37 percent are "testing it out", while 14 percent are not using social media.
Opera has announced that it has submitted its mobile browser for inclusion on the iPhone. Industry observers are waiting to see how Apple responds, with commentators speculating that it may reject the application.
Nintendo is readying a 3D version of its DS handheld gaming console. The device will succeed the DS, Nintendo says. Provisionally named 3DS, the device will allow users to play 3D-enabled games without the need for special glasses.
The Large Hadron Collider has smashed its own record. CERN said beams of protons circulated at 3.5 trillion electron volts in both directions around the tunnel that houses the LHC. This latest test generated energy of up to three times that which had previously been achieved.
This is the last week for nominations for the Irish Internet Association Net Visionary awards. Interested parties can nominate here.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 