Pfizer invests EUR190 million in Cork plant
Global pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer is to invest EUR190 million to establish a biologics facility at Shanbally, County Cork. The project is being supported by IDA Ireland. The new plant will create approximately 100 highly-skilled jobs over three years. The investment forms part of Pfizer's bid to become a global leader in the biotherapeutics market. The facility will be located on a 30-acre site adjacent to Pfizer's existing facility in Ringaskiddy, and will be completed and fully commissioned by the end of 2009. Biologics or biotherapeutics are large-molecule medicines based on proteins, peptides and antibodies that primarily come from molecular biology developments. They need to be manufactured in highly-specialised and sophisticated processing plants. » read more

Biznet IIS tops at ICT awards
Belfast-based Biznet IIS was the big winner at the 2008 ICT Excellence awards, taking the honours in two categories. The Belfast-based business software firm won the awards for IT Project of the Year (Private Sector) and Best Use of Technology in Education & Training. The ICT Excellence Awards recognise professional standards in the ICT sector. The big winners on the night included Magnet Business, which, in one of the most hotly-contested categories on the night, came up trumps, claiming the title of Telecommunications Company of the Year. Airspeed Telecom and Complete Telecom also competed in this category. Other notable winners included mobile marketing firm Puca Ireland, which won the award for Mobile Technology Project of the Year. » read more

Ballmer has price in mind for Yahoo
[See ENN comment] Microsoft chief executive, Steve Ballmer, told employees he has a figure in mind as to what Yahoo is worth but doesn't plan to pay "a dime above" that amount, according to The Wall Street Journal. But, at the same time, he concedes that there aren't a whole lot of other options for the software maker to add scale in its battle against Google. Ballmer told the Journal: "Look at all the properties on the internet -- everything on the internet. There's really only five or six that really have any scale. Worldwide, you'd maybe get seven or eight." Among those Ballmer named were AOL, Facebook, MySpace and Yahoo, giving a sense of who might be part of Microsoft's "plan B" should it be forced to go that route. But Ballmer has not been able to come up with another alternative that would enhance Microsoft's online advertising business the way Yahoo would. » read more

	Between the devil and the deep blue sea -- Last week ENN did a piece on Microsoft's plans to launch "Live Mesh". Essentially it's a web service which allows you to pool all your computer kit and access any of these resources from a remote PC via a browser. In the future it might even be from a mobile phone. But it's telling. It clearly signposts Microsoft's efforts to get away from reliance on a future where the company makes money from selling operating systems and software, to one where development is centred on a form of computing anywhere. Of course, Google is already moving us to this approach and other portals see the future in web, rather than desktop based applications. Judging by Microsoft's online demo of how it works, it already looks pretty slick. But perhaps that matters less than whether it does what people want, at a price point they can accept. Given Microsoft's previous charging models, this is going to be a tough one as the online model is significantly cheaper than selling shrink-wrapped product with hefty mark-ups and guaranteed long-term upgrade sales. And then there's the updated releases. If everything is online and updated on-the-fly, how can Microsoft charge for a new release? It's a case of being between the devil and the deep blue sea. Microsoft must do this to ensure long term survival, yet, if it could go back and erase this future, we're betting it would... » earlier blogs

Twenty new tech jobs for Dublin
Global pharmaceutical services company United BioSource Corporation is seeking up to 20 project managers after opening an office in Dublin. The Dublin office of United BioSource Corp (UBC) will focus on providing interactive voice response (IVR) and web technologies to help pharmaceutical companies conduct clinical trials across Europe. UBC is seeking professionals experienced in developing technologies for conducting patient randomisation and drug supply management, particularly those with experience using the latest interactive and web technologies. Gareth Lee, the first project manager to be recruited for the Dublin office, told ENN the company's technology was already in use in hundreds of clinical trials across the globe to enrol patients, randomise them and manage the supply of drugs. » read more

NovaUCD outlines inventions growth in 2007
The growth in commercialisation of research in Irish universities has been underlined by a 35 percent increase in invention disclosures by NovaUCD last year. The innovation and technology transfer centre at University College Dublin revealed there had been 50 invention disclosures in 2007, including 26 patent applications arising from research in life sciences, engineering and ICT. NovaUCD Director Dr Pat Frain told ENN the increase in invention disclosures showed the growing commitment of UCD and its researchers to the commercialisation of research-generated intellectual property for the benefit of the Irish economy and society, and he expected the trend to continue in 2008. » read more

Firms struggling to deal with ICT projects
Irish companies are finding it difficult to deal with ICT projects, with a third admitting that up to half of all projects are not delivered on time or on budget. A new survey by Clarion Consulting revealed that firms are having difficulties bringing their projects in on time and on budget, with undefined project parameters, unclear objectives and inadequate staffing among the most common project pitfalls. Some 40 percent also rated their own project management capabilities as only satisfactory or poor. Pat Millar, managing director of Clarion Consulting, said there were a number of reasons why projects were failing, including a lack of definition of the project's scope, the differing expectations among stakeholders and the lack of a senior sponsor for the project within the business. » read more

	By Ralph Averbuch Website of the week: Live from Daryl's House -- If you're of a 'certain age' you may have enjoyed the music of Hall & Oates the first time round. With a musical pedigree that started in the 70s, both Daryl Hall and John Oates, originally from Philadelphia, continue to perform today, though now primarily as solo acts. And this is where the web adds a fresh twist. Take yourself down to 'Live from Daryl's House' and you can see the man who has sold over 60 million albums, perform many well-known hits in acoustic sets in both his UK and US homes. Playing with other artists, such as KT Tunstall, it's another timely reminder that musicians, both large and small, no longer need the help of big labels to keep in touch with their fan base. » more picks Got a Web site you think is great & deserves a review? Let us know click here.

Iona boosts revenue, posts loss
Irish software giant Iona Technologies has recorded first quarter revenue growth of 6 percent, but still recorded a net loss. The Dublin-based company, which develops middleware and web services software, saw its revenue rise to USD16.4 million compared to USD15.6 million a year earlier. The firm saw losses widening year-on-year from a loss of USD2.8 million, or USD0.08 per share, in the first quarter of 2007, to a net loss of USD5.1 million, or USD0.14 per share, for the first three months of 2008. The 2008 loss includes share-based compensation expenses, amortisation and a USD1.5 million restructuring charge. Licence revenue from the company's flagship product Artix grew 31 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, its Corba revenue outperformed expectations, but still declined 5 percent. Iona chief executive Peter Zotto said the firm was on course to meet 2008 revenue targets. » read more

Dell to cut 250 Irish jobs
Dell has announced it is cutting up to 250 jobs from its operations in Dublin and Limerick -- a move labelled a "bitter blow" and "very worrying" by politicians. The company's employees were informed on 29 April about the mandatory job losses, although no details of a redundancy package have been announced. The 250 job cuts, from a total Irish workforce of 4,500, are part of Dell's wider organisational change across its European, Middle East and African (EMEA) operations. Overall, around 850 staff are being let go from Dell's 17,500-strong workforce in the EMEA area. The Irish job losses will take place over the next nine months and will primarily affect Dell's Dublin-based staff in administrative and support functions such as IT, marketing, sales and technical support. A company spokesperson stressed that no Irish manufacturing jobs are being cut. » read more

Enzolve products target developing world
Enzolve Technologies, a UCD spin-out, is to begin production of a range of diagnostic kits which screen for disorders affecting newborn infants. The company has just completed a successful funding round to begin its work and is targeting the developing world. It received funds from Enterprise Ireland, under the National Development Plan, and from around 10 different private investors. While Enzolve Technologies would not disclose how much it received, the figure is understood to be substantial. The investment will enable Enzolve, which is based at NovaUCD, to begin production of its NeoScreenPak. Each kit contains sufficient materials to allow up to 1,000 newborns to be tested. Enzolve is currently in consultation with a company based in Armenia and a distributor for China, Chile and Brazil for its products. » read more

Intel lands Cray
Intel has busted into Cray, securing a deal with the high-performance computing specialist to slot Xeon processors in future systems. Cray's latest line of hardware remains centered around AMD's Opteron processors. But now Intel will join the fold, starting in the 2010-ish time-frame, when Cray releases a new line of hardware dubbed the Cascade computers. This win marks a move by Intel to reach the highest-end of supercomputing systems. Representatives from the two companies stressed that this deal will include substantial co-engineering work in the years to come. With Cascade, Cray is looking to combine general purpose processors such as Xeon with a host of co-processors dedicated to handling specific software tasks. » read more