NEWS IN BRIEF
For the record 5 July
05-07-2007
by Emmet Ryan
New ratings system aims to make online gaming safer | Clare County Library among most popular Irish websites
Caribbean mobile operator Digicel Group has announced a number of senior promotions. The company has appointed Kevin White as chief operations officer Caribbean and Donal O'Shaughnessy as chief operations officer Central America. Niall Dorrian, formerly the chief operations officer of Digicel Jamaica, has been promoted to the position of chief executive for the firm's Trinidad and Tobago operation.
IT security firm Espion launched its new forensics website on Thursday at a seminar hosted by the Irish Computer Society in Dublin. The forensics.ie website offers Irish businesses access to a forensic consulting service, as well as forensic hardware, software and training. IT forensics involves the use of computer investigation and analysis techniques to gather evidence suitable for presentation in court if required.
The Irish Computer Society and Dublin City University (DCU) have announced details of a new partnership, which will enable experienced ICT professionals without formal third level qualifications to apply for direct entry to postgraduate study at the university. From September, ICT professionals with a minimum of four years' industrial experience in the ICT sector, and who demonstrate continuous career development, can apply for entry to DCU's Graduate Diploma in Information Technology programme. In addition, graduates of the Irish Computer Society's European Certification for Informatics Professionals programme, who hold a minimum of three years' relevant industry experience, are eligible to apply. The DCU programme is offered on a one-year full-time or two-year part-time basis. In addition, graduates who achieve an overall distinction may progress to DCU's part-time MSc in Information Technology programme.
A new pan-European games rating initiative has been launched in a bid to make online gaming safer and to help boost parental confidence in the online games industry. The PEGI rating system, which currently evaluates all games released in the UK and the rest of Europe, is now to be expanded to include games playable online via consoles, PCs and mobiles. The extended powers of PEGI Online are intended as a solid guide to players and parents on the suitability of titles for different ages. The new ratings system was rolled out at the Expert Conference 2007 in Brussels by ISFE, the Interactive Software Federation of Europe, the European industry body for games publishers.
Irish firm RedMere Technology has signed a supply agreement with Fairchild Semiconductor. Under the deal the Dublin-based firm will supply semiconductor devices for connectivity products for the HDTV and consumer multi-media markets to Fairchild.
Clare County Library's website is among the 100 most popular websites in the country, according to a survey conducted by top100ireland.com. The survey ranked the website, clarelibrary.ie, at number 48. Over 2.3 million internet users worldwide have logged on to clarelibrary.ie since it went live in 1998. The website is one of two libraries to make the list, with the National Library of Ireland coming in at number 74. RTE's website tops the list, followed by the Irish Times' ireland.com website, with University College Cork claiming the third spot.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 