An overview of the week in deals in the Irish technology sector, including UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s recruitment of worldwide web creator Tim Berners-Lee to create an Institute of Web Science.
UK PM joins with Berners-Lee to create ‘radical’ digital future
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has unveiled plans for a “digital future of Britain” that will result in 250,000 new jobs and has recruited the creator of the worldwide web Tim Berners-Lee to create a stg£30m Institute of Web Science. The plan includes super-fast broadband for every home and hundreds of thousands of new jobs to transform the UK by 2020 into a digital nation. Some stg£30 million will be allocated to create an Institute of Web Science, headed by Berners-Lee and leading scientist Prof Nigel Shadbolt.
Dublin-based IT firm expands into UK market
Irish-owned logistics supplier Heavey RF has announced it is to expand into the UK market on the back of deals valued at more than £250,000 struck with existing and new customers in the UK since January 2010. The Dublin-based IT company has opened an office in the UK and will hire three new employees there.
€25m NDRC gets ready to launch to next phase
The National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) is about to embark on the next phase of its journey, with 14 out of 17 projects having attracted commercial partners. The CEO of the NDRC, Ben Hurley, told Siliconrepublic.com that the recently unveiled LaunchPad initiative, a boot-camp style programme for emerging start-ups modelled on the highly successful Y Combinator initiative in Silicon Valley, will be the core model the next generation of companies to emerge from the NDRC will follow. The LaunchPad programme assists individuals and/or teams through the provision of incubation space in Dublin’s Digital Hub, project mentoring and advisory services and financial assistance of up to €20,000 per project.
Ireland positions itself as a global ocean tech hub
A new innovation strategy to bring together Ireland’s ICT sector and marine natural resources to tap into global markets has been unveiled. The strategy document – ‘Harnessing Ireland’s Potential as a European and Global Centre for Ocean Technology’ – was compiled by a working group comprised of representatives of ICT industry, research institutes and State agencies. The working group has identified ocean innovation as a possible “game changer” for Ireland by focusing our existing ICT cluster and significant investments in science and technology on our 220m-acre marine resource in order to leverage opportunities to develop new products and services for global markets.
Amazon takes wraps off Kindle app for Mac and iPad
Amazon has unveiled a free software application that will allow readers worldwide to enjoy Kindle e-reader books on their Mac computers. The company also confirmed a forthcoming iPad version of the app. Kindle books can now be read on the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, iPod touch, BlackBerry, PC and Mac, and soon the iPad. Users in more than 100 countries can now go online to download the Kindle for Mac application.
