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BEARINGPOINT SET FOR E-GOV ROLLOUT
The selection of BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting) was widely expected after Reach, the government agency responsible for the new system, named BearingPoint its preferred supplier late last year. The announcement also included a full list of companies involved in the important contract: Esat BT, for infrastructure management outsourcing, as well as BEA, Netegrity, Oracle and Sun Microsystems for technology. BearingPoint, which is also building a EUR22 million system that will let Irish citizens order passports on-line, beat out three other contenders for the PSB contract: Accenture, HP Services Consulting & Integration and Siemens Business Services. The value of the PSB tender has not been revealed, but construction of the first phase of the multi-phase project was rumoured to be worth about EUR15 million. Source: www.enn.ie/frontpage/news-9408783.html
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NEW ADULT LITERACY WEB SITE
A Web site designed to help adults improve their literacy skills has been formally launched by the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA). The site, www.literacytools.ie, has had a successful run as a pilot project for the past six months. NALA said that the site is targeted at all adult learners who wish to improve their literacy skills — from independent learners who cannot, or do not want to, attend literacy classes to those in learning environments who want to boost their spelling, reading and numeracy skills. The site boasts interactive on-line exercises, games and printable worksheets, as well as resources for adult literacy tutors. While the site’s primary function is as a teaching tool, NALA said its secondary aim is to introduce adult literacy learners to information and communications technology (ICT). www.literacytools.ie
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IIA FACILITATES MACROMEDIA BREAKFAST SEMINAR
Date: Thursday, 3rd June, 2004
Venue: National College of Ireland
Time: Registration 8.00am – 10.00am
Cost: No Cost
Directions: http://www.ncirl.ie
Who Should Attend: HR Managers or Directors, Marketing and Sales Directors, IT Managers and Business Managers who would like to find out how to reduce the time and cost associated with travel to and from meetings or who need to train and educate employees, partners and customers faster, more effectively and at a lower cost. Register online now at: www.macromedia.com/uk/macromedia/events/breakfast_seminar/
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THE DOGS DIRECTORY
Sales Online is publishing a media planner`s guide to Online Advertising in Ireland. In addition to listings of over 100 commercial advertising web sites in Ireland, The DOGS Directory will include analysis of the Irish market. The DOGS Directory costs just €35 and will be distributed to over 3,500 marketing professionals in the UK and Ireland. Sales Online are giving away Free copies of The DOGS to the first 100 IIA Members that send their name, company, title and address to TheDogs@SalesOnline.ie with The DOGS in the subject line. If you would like your website to be included in The DOGS Directory please register details at www.salesonline.ie/thedogs
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IRISH ANIMATED FILMS FOR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
Four Irish animated short films have been selected for competition at the Annecy Film Festival 2004 (7–10 June). The festival is devoted to animation. 604 fiction films (18 features and 586 short films), 333 TV and commissioned films and 514 school films were received for selection this year. The Irish films are: Boiled Eggs n`Beer, directed by Mark Cumberton , Script: Cearbhall O`Siochain, Animation: Alan Shannon; M. Bird, directed, script by Trevor Murphy, Animation: Trevor Murphy, Veronica O`Connell; Sex, Booze and a Sheep Named John: CrimeScene, directed by John Prendergast, Emmet O`Neill, Script: Brendan O`Connell Animation: Frank Prendergast Music: Son of Manhole; Toilet Humour, directed by Jason Tammemägi, script: Michael Mee, Graphics: Simon Crane, Jason Tammemägi. You can see details and vote online at: www.annecy.org/home/index.php?Page_ID=468
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SUN UNVEILS NEW SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Sun Microsystems has announced new security solutions and technologies to address the growing tide of costly network security threats. The new offerings include features of the next-generation Solaris(tm) Operating System, Sun(sm) Managed Security Services, a Reference Solution for building secure global government computing networks and advanced features for the Sun(tm) Crypto Accelerator 4000 board. “Dealing with security breaches is costing businesses and government more every year,” said Scott McNealy, chairman, president and CEO of Sun Microsystems, Inc. “With the Java(tm) security model; Solaris, the gold standard for defense agency-grade operating systems; Java Card(tm) technology for secure smart card authentication; and the world-class Sun Java System Identity Server, we`re delivering the industry`s leading end-to-end strategy and architecture for trusted network computing.” http://sun.com
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WEBSITE CELEBRATES EUROPE LANDSCAPES
A website initiative which features the diversity and beauty of European landscapes was launched to mark the accession to the European Union of the new member states on 1st May, 2004. The initiative features exhilarating images of a myriad of landscapes from across Europe as a way of celebrating a remarkable shared heritage for this Day of Welcomes. Hosted on the website of the Geological Survey of Ireland, it can also be accessed by hot-link from the Irish EU Presidency site. The initiative is the result of co-operation between the relevant National Geological Surveys. www.gsi.ie
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SECURITY IN EUROPE A BOOMING MARKET
According to a new IDC study, 2003 has seen another tidal wave of viruses and worms, security breaches, productivity concerns, and legal liability issues. Despite a very uncertain economic environment and the skepticism surrounding new investments, IT security spending is increasingly important for European enterprises. And as a result, Western European revenue for the security software market reached almost $2.5 billion in 2003. www.idc.com
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SOME GOVERNMENT WEBSITES NOT ‘ACCESSIBLE’ SAYS REPORT
A new report launched today by Ennis Information Age Services (EIAS) finds that a number of central Government websites are not easy for everyone to use including people with a disability. In 1999 the Department of the Taoiseach published recommended guidelines for public sector organisations, which referred specifically to the issue of accessibility and making websites easy for everyone to use. Five years later this report by EIAS shows this has not happened. The EIAS Government websites report provides an analysis of the standards of accessibility achieved by 30 Irish central Government state organisation websites. The research conducted for the report used eight criteria, all part of achieving WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative) compliance ‘A’, ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ respectively. Of the 30 sites examined by EIAS only one website used valid HTML which implies that only one can be AA compliant. Only three sites display the WAI logo and two of these do so inappropriately as they were found to be non compliant. However all sites tested indicate an awareness of the guidelines and 24 of the 30 sites achieved a score of 65% or greater. www.eias.ie
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NEW CONNECTIONS – 2ND PROGRESS REPORT LAUNCHED
The second progress report on the Irish Government’s action plan for the Information Society has been launched. This second report on the implementation of New Connections – the Government’s Action Plan for the Information Society in Ireland – points to much progress in a number of crucial areas such as Telecommunications Infrastructure, Legal and Regulatory, Environment, ICTs in Government and eInclusion, according to the foreword by Minister Mary Hanafin. To read the full foreword and to download the report see: www.taoiseach.gov.ie/index.asp?locID=181&docID=1773