Tech industry in bid to lure students

A new internship programme is trying to lure ICT students into jobs with high-tech companies, in a bid to address the problem of falling interest in the industry. Under the programme, over 50 students will be employed on a part-time basis in the final two years of their course, working two days a week with selected companies. The project is a joint initiative between ICT Ireland and the Higher Education Authority. The new initiative hopes to create a pool of graduates from a range of disciplines for the ICT sector. Recent reports have noted that interest in ICT courses has fallen over the past three years, creating 8,000 job vacancies for those with IT skills. For more on this story read ElectricNews.Net.

Technology park opens in Ennis

A new technology park in Ennis, Clare, may create up to 3,500 jobs for the region over the coming years. Officially opened on 9 June, the 30-acre technology park is aiming to become a hub of Irish and foreign-owned technology, service and knowledge intensive enterprise. Among the businesses the park hopes to attract are research, software development, back-office and headquarter facilities. The first phase of the project, which involved an investment of EUR11 million by Shannon Development, was opened by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin. For more on this story see RTE News.

New worm poses as legitimate mail

New versions of the Mytob worm which are more sophisticated than previous versions are spreading quickly through cyberspace, according to security firm Sophos. These variants use new ways to lure PC users by posing as legitimate email from an organisation's IT department or ISP. The mails suggest to recipients that a security problem has been found with their email account. These latest versions work in much the same way as phishing attacks, in that the email contains a web link that leads users to a site from where the virus will automatically download onto their PC. Sophos expects these versions of the Mytob worm to cause big problems for IT departments in the coming months. For more on this story read Vnunet.com.

EU launches i2010 strategy

The European Commission has launched a five-year strategy called "i2010: European Information Society 2010". The strategy is aimed at boosting jobs and growth in the information society and media industries, as well as stimulating the digital economy in Europe. Although 45,000 broadband access lines are being installed daily in homes and offices across the European Union, spending on ICT still lags behind that of the US and Japan, according to the Commission. Under the i2010 initiative, the Commission is pressing for an 80 percent increase in investment in ICT from 2007. The three main aims of the strategy are to create an open, market-oriented, regulatory framework for the digital economy; to increase EU investment in research in ICT technologies; and to promote an inclusive European information society. For more on this story visit the Cordis website.

Blogging enables instant reports from trade mission

The events at last month's trade mission, led by Irish president Mary McAleese, to Seattle, Washington were made available to a wider audience than ever before thanks to innovative blogging technology. The FoneBlog software was developed by Enterprise Ireland in association with Dublin-based Newbay Software. It allowed Ireland's Minister for International Trade, Michael Ahern, and other officials on the trade mission to post information and photos to the web on the fly and to make them available immediately at www.irishtrademission.com. The officials' comments could then be viewed immediately through a WAP-enabled mobile phone or through a standard web browser. The blog proved handy for those who were unable to attend the event and other interested parties, enabling them to receive instant information and post their own comments to the website. The trade mission, which took place between 23 and 25 May, showcased Irish companies from the aerospace, wireless and enterprise sectors.

IT compliance, the law and you

How ICT can improve efficiency

Case study: Irish Provincial Hampers

Defragmentation

Sometimes referred to by our technical colleagues as "defragging", defragmentation is simply a process by which files, which get jumbled and broken up into many small pieces across your hard disk, are rearranged into one block. The benefits of regular defragmentation for PC users include faster loading and re-writing of files which, in theory, should speed up the PC, saving time. All Windows PCs have a basic defragmentation program, which can be found by opening "My Computer", right-clicking on your hard drive, selecting Properties and then Tools. Apple users of OS X 10.3 and above enjoy automatic disk defragmentation.

22 June, Guinness Storehouse, Dublin 8
One of the problems with ICT is the new headaches that it creates for businesses. Email is a classic example - it can give rise to an array of new documentation that your company may be legally obliged to keep. This free Executive Breakfast Briefing - aimed at company directors and IT and HR professionals - attempts to clarify Irish companies' legal and regulatory responsibilities for document retention. A solicitor will also be on hand offering free advice on legislation relating to document retention and the consequences for businesses of non-compliance.

Sometimes you get pointed in the direction of a site that makes you wonder how you ever managed without it. Lifehacker is one of these rare beasts. It is a blog-based website focusing on all things that can make your daily grind that little bit easier. It recommends the downloads, websites and shortcuts that will actually save you time. Of course, the danger is that you could waste a lot of it just reading Lifehacker's advice!