Editorial

Not many people realise that Ireland has the highest penetration per capita of Playstations outside of Japan. It seems that we are a nation of gamers. You only need to look at how the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 flew out of the shops to attest to that.

And for many of those avid gamers who turned up at The Digital Hub last year to see the World Cyber Games Ireland 2006, they would have also seen a number of firsts for the Irish gaming community:  It was the first time an Irish team competed with teams from over 70 other countries at the World Cyber Games Grand Final held in Monza, Italy in October 2006. It also proved to be among the largest gaming LAN ever held in Ireland with over 100 players and some 300 – 400 spectators. It was the first time that such a broad cross section of the active Irish games community participated in one event. It was also the first time both PC and Console gamers shared the same platform for the same prize and it was the first true gaming event to get substantial national and local TV, Radio Newspaper and internet media coverage.

Last year Team Ireland 2006 were selected during a mammoth 24 hour tournament starting on Saturday September 23rd 2006 in The Digital Hub. The venue contained three areas: one dedicated to the PC tournament, one for the Xbox tournament and a bring your own machine warm-up area.  Members of the public were encouraged to come and look at what was happening, and Images and video content from the event is available online at: www.worldcybergamesireland.com/

This year’s 2007 Irish qualifiers will take place again in The Digital Hub on September 15th & 16th 2007.  Gamers can register their interest by emailing e-mail exhibit@thedigitalhub.com. This year regional finals will take place in Streete, Co. Westmeath, from 4 PM on Friday 20th July to 6 PM Sunday 22nd July 2007. Further information on this regional final at www.midlans.net, where as more details of further regional finals to be announced on www.worldcybergamesireland.com

But The Digital Hub is not just about playing games; it is also about creating games too. That is why The Digital Hub is a proud sponsor of Dare to be Digital Ireland 2007. Teams of 5 students, usually a mix of artists, programmers and audio students, assemble in a regional hosting centre for 9 weeks to develop a prototype video game, receiving daily support and weekly training sessions from industry specialists.

 

Dare to be Digital is a video games development competition first piloted among computer games students at the University of Abertay in 1999. The Digital Hub has been involved since 2003, sending a team to represent the Republic of Ireland at the competition. This year Dare to be Digital has moved to a regional hosting model and The Digital Hub, with Belfast City Council are hosting the first all Ireland competition with teams from both North and South taking part.  

On April 25th the Judging day took place at Intertrade offices in Newry. Two teams were eventually selected from 13 entries. The Teams were made up of students from Ulster University, Queens, NWIFE, Letterkenny IT, Dublin City University and Carlow IT, Dundalk IT and Ballyfermot Senior College.

The two winning teams chosen to represent Ireland this year were Zero One from the Republic (DDCU/Carlow) and Artificial Entertainment from the North (University of Ulster). Both of these teams will be hosted at Queens University Belfast from June 11th for 9 weeks to develop their game. On August 12-14th Dare Protoplay will take place in, in which, Dare contestants will put their games on display for the public to play as part of Games Festival, Edinburgh. Finally, on August 25th, the Judging of all games from different regions will take place at the University of Abertay in Dundee, Scotland.
Further info available on http://www.daretobedigitalireland.com/ and daretobedigital@thedigitalhub.com

Dare to be Digital 2007 has assembled an impressive list of sponsors, including Electronic Arts, AMD, NCR, Realtime Worlds, Microsoft, Disney Interactive Studio, TIGA, the Scottish Executive, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Dundee City Council, London Development Agency, NESTA, the Digital Hub in Dublin and Belfast City Council with the Northern Ireland Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment’s Building Sustainable Prosperity Programmeand Intertrade Ireland.

The Hub would also draw your attention to another opportunity based in The Digital Hub. The Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund has a number of grants available for content producers to help them create content whose themes broadly centre around international development and challenges faced by developing countries. While not exclusive, the themes and topics addressed could include: globalization, poverty, education, health, nomadic peoples, environment, women and development, international trade, democracy, war and conflict, HIV/AIDS and the role of aid.

For more information on the fund, simply go to:
http://www.connect-world.net/Media_Focus/Simon_Cumbers_Fund.html
email mediafund@connect-world.net or telephone Lorraine at (+353) 1-480 6222.

Virtual Worlds -Part 3

Frequent readers of The Hub may think that we are developing an unhealthy obsession by returning to the topic of Virtual Worlds again, but it seems to be an obsession shared by the media at large. Not a Sunday supplement goes by these days without some mention of the rapidly ubiquitous Second Life. The Sunday Times recently ran an article in its Travel section where one of its journalists went on a Virtual Holiday for four days in order to indulge in an environmentally-friendly vacation. His holiday, however, was quickly cut short when his wife found him kissing a virtual French avatar on a virtual nudist beach. He was quickly relegated to a very real sofa for the rest of his virtual holiday while his wife steamed. Even the BBC has just aired an edition of “The Money Programme” sending its investigative reporter Max Flint into various virtual worlds to report on the money being made in and from these enterprises.

So what is it about Second Life that has so captured the imagination? The Digital Media Forum ran a seminar on the subject of Second Life last month which provided some of the answers. One of the key speakers was John Mahon, (aka Hans Rambler) who has built a virtual version of Dublin in Second Life, of which he is the sole proprietor.

The interesting thing about John is that he doesn’t come from a technical background – he is in fact a commercial pilot. Second Life is just a hobby. This seems to be a common thread with many of the residents and proprietors – although there are plenty of business people making money in the virtual realm.

However, the aficionados are mainly there for the social aspect, not the techy geek-thrill that you might expect. Likewise, the majority of attendees on the night of the seminar were not from digital media companies, but rather from more traditional marketing and advertising companies. This probably gives a good signal as to where Second Life and other virtual worlds will add value in the future.

As John Mahon points out brands are seeing huge opportunities in these virtual worlds.

"Perhaps one of the most intriguing of the findings is that residents were asked to name and react to up to ten brands they have encountered in Second Life. Of the 21 brands ultimately named (unaided), four do not actually have an official SL presence. They are, however, still getting positive brand impact from their “unofficial” (or perceived) presence.

Contextual marketing is about putting the brand into the virtual world in a subtle and “real-life” orientated way. For example, John’s highly popular virtual bar – the Blarney Stone – highlights the new contextual marketing opportunities afforded by virtual worlds. Residing on virtual Dame Street, the Blarney Stone is nearly always busy and serves virtual pints of Guinness. The contextual brand awareness is also helped by the fact that John frequently runs music events and activities to draw footfall into his virtual sim. The thing about Second Life is that most of the rules of First Life apply. It is not a case of “Build it and they will come”; No, you have to give them a reason to come - and fancy architecture is not reason enough.

This is something the larger brands have been slow to realise. Already Sony, IBM, Toyata, Reuters, Channel 4 and the BBC have built virtual presences in Second Life. But as John illustrates below, Second Life has remarkable similarities to the early internet:

For example, the Traffic figures for Sunday April 22nd 2007 (a traffic Point is registered in Second Life when an Avatar spends 5 minutes on your land) were as follows:

SONY BMG MEDIA ISLE	325
TOYOTA	1526
THE WEATHER CHANNEL	1457
DUBLIN	20458
SEXY LAND, FREE SEX, ORGY, XXX	136258

As you can see, sex still is a driving motivation for online users, but in Second Life there is the added bonus of role-play. However, the figures also attest to how important it is to do more then just push your brand to the user. Running events is the cornerstone of drawing traffic to your sim – and there are new sims being added everyday so competition for those 6 million subscribers is getting heated.

Fig, 1: Second Life Statistics

A new start-up based out of The Digital Hub, going by the uber-minimalist name of “V”, are aiming to remedy this problem by providing a number of services to clients in Second Life and other Virtual Worlds. As well as building virtual presences, V aims to run and manage events on behalf of their clients. As Samantha Kotey of V points out: “On the 2D web, it is taken for granted that you need to keep your site updated and relevant if you want to maintain traffic. The same is even truer of virtual worlds. People get bored in virtual worlds far quicker then in real life.”

Author Tim Guest’s new book “Second Lives: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds” is one of the most comprehensive analysis of all the different Virtual Worlds, from Second Life to the Massively Multi-Player Role Playing games like World of Warcraft and the recently released, Lord of the Rings MMORPG, Shadows of Angmar.  

As Guest says, “We've always dreamed of perfect places: Eden, heaven, Oz - places over the rainbow, beyond death and loss. Now, through computer technology, we can inhabit those worlds together. Each week, between 35 and 50 million people worldwide abandon reality for virtual worlds.” But as Guest’s nook points out, not all of this obsession with Virtual Worlds is perverse, voyeuristic or escapist.  In Boston, Massachusetts, a group of nine disabled men and women inhabit one virtual body, which frees them from their lifelong struggle to be seen and heard.  In these new computer-generated places, which at first glance seem free from trouble and sorrow, you can create a new self. With the click of a mouse you can select eye colour, face shape, height, even wings.

But the Virtual Worlds are rapidly becoming a distorted reflection of the real world. The Pentagon, not surprisingly, has begun to develop virtual worlds to help in real-world battles. In Korea, where one particular game has 8 million residents, virtual violence has spread into the real world. Fortunes have been made, and mafia gangs have emerged to muscle in on the profits. People build houses, make and sell works of art, earn real money, get married and divorced. On websites like eBay, people sell virtual clothes and rent virtual property for real cash - for a total of 400 million worth each year.

However, it is fundamentally clear that the web is going 3D and that some of the more nefarious aspects of it are just part of the process of any new medium development. Second Life has been successful because it is built around three core principles that provide value and enhance the user experience. These principles are:

1) Tools - All the tools for content creation are available within the Second Life client. They can be used by anyone. While they take some learning, they do not require special skills or knowledge. The scripting language is also accessible from within Second Life, and any object in Second Life can be scripted to create an interactive environment. People are encouraged to collaborate in creating content in Second Life, since content creation happens in real time in front of anyone who’s present.

2) User-owned IP - All intellectual property rights to content are owned by the creator.  Linden Lab does not restrict nor take any rights to content in Second Life.

3) Economy - A robust in-world economy, linked to real world currencies through a floating exchange allows the content creator to monetize their intellectual property.

Its potential downfall is perhaps the lack of control that this “open source” approach warrants. Rivals such as Active Worlds may succeed in the long run as they offer clients a level of control and the ability to build their own virtual worlds with their own rules. Another watershed moment is about to arrive soon – and this is Voice Over IP. Already, Linden Labs – the makers of Second Life – are beta testing a new VOIP product which will allow users talk naturally with headsets instead of using the laborious Instant Messaging. This will open up new possibilities such as video conferencing and more intriguingly, virtual payphones. Yes, Second Life residents may well be able to make calls to landlines through Virtual payphones installed in streets and bars in Second Life. Reality gone made? Perhaps…

 

News

Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund
The Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund is funded by Irish Aid and run by Connect World, a not-for-profit group based in The Digital Hub. It is a grant scheme aimed at assisting and promoting more and better quality media coverage of development issues in the Irish media.

Simon Cumbers was 36 when he died. He was murdered by terrorist gunmen while filming a report for BBC Television News in Saudi Arabia. The attackers opened fire on Simon and his colleague, BBC correspondent Frank Gardner, in a suburb of Riyadh in June 2004. Simon died at the scene and Frank was seriously injured.

Simon was an experienced journalist and cameraman from Navan, Co. Meath, with an insatiable curiosity about the world and what happened in places thousands of miles away. He wanted to make a difference by telling the stories that needed to be told and his camerawork gave him that opportunity.

In 2005, a little over a year after Simon’s tragic death, Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Conor Lenihan TD, in close consultation with Simon’s wife and family, decided to establish the Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Fund in his memory. In October 2006, Connect-World took over the management of the fund.

Connect World are also running an Applicant workshop. For further information on the workshops or the fund, please email mediafund@connect-world.net or telephone Lorraine at (+353) 1-480 6222.
http://www.connect-world.net/Media_Focus/Simon_Cumbers_Fund.html

Upcoming Deadlines are as follows:

Standard Grant Round II Monday 1 October 2007 

TV Seed Grant Monday 3 March 2008 

Standard Grant Round I Wednesday 30 April 2008 

Standard Grant Round II Tuesday 30 September 2008

The Darklight Festival Symposium 2007 is a three day event which will combine debates, workshops and master classes with the obligatory festival screenings.

Darklight Festival Symposium Director, Nicky Gogan outlined for The Hub what the topics of this years symposium will be about: “We will be asking what the developments of the past 10 years actually means for cultural producers from all art forms and genres.  How is this impacting and influencing creative practice, decision making, budgets, education, exhibition choices and possibilities.”

There are five forums in this years Symposium tackling a range of critical topics. These include “Television 2.0 and the future of TV” which brings a panel together to discuss the far-reaching implications of IPTV and the looming death of the tyrant that is TV scheduling.  Another Forum will tackle the convergence of animation, films and games with industry stalwarts such as Guy Miller, a game designer and writer with EA Games and Greg Maguire from Zoogloo, a San Francisco-based digital creature effects house.  The often-overlooked but critical issue of the archiving and preservation of digital content will also be discussed in the Forum dedicated to “Memory Technologies.”

“With many contemporary digital artworks already facing technical obsolescence, it is an important and timely subject to be tackled.” says Gogan.

The Symposium will also carry a series of workshops including Brown Bag Films “Toonboom Workshop”, which will showcase how the studio used this new animation software tool for their upcoming series “Wobbly Land”. A Second Life Workshop by Sam Kotey will bring an audience through the ubiquitous virtual world while Saoirse Higgins will present a Location Tagging Mobile Workshop.

Other events include; DATA, kids workshop, Open Mike Salon, Swap-meet, Wares area, Pod casts, Symposium launch/registration, YouTube video lounge, networking events, music and closing Bar-B-Q party.

Full details are available on the website http://www.darklight.ie while ticket bookings are available at http://www.darklight.ie/pages/tickets.htm

June 26th – 27th: Express your iLife: Making the transition from iMovie to Final Cut Express
Location: Digital Exchange, Crane Street, The Digital Hub, Dublin 8
Time:  10:00am – 4:00pm daily
Price:  €200 payable in advance

Take your filmmaking to the next stage with Final Cut Express HD. Along with powerful DV editing tools, Final Cut Express HD now offers high-definition video (HDV) capability to beginners and experienced editors alike. With support for multiple video layers, real-time special effects and transitions, and powerful tools like colour correction and matting, over two days learn how Final Cut Express HD can let you achieve these professional-looking results.

Who the course is aimed at?

The course is aimed at those who would like make the transition from iMovie to a more advanced editing system. In addition the course is also ideal for those who would like to dip their toes in to the advanced world of Final Cut Pro.

The course will address the following:

• Insert, overwrite, replace or fit to fill clips into your sequence.
• Using precision tools and techniques like slip, slide, ripple, roll, split and extend.
• Compositing Layers
• Realtime Effects & Transitions
• Audio and Voiceover

Lunch is included.  The Digital Hub is an Apple Regional Training Centre

For more Info: Contact Louise Morgan on 01 4806208 or learning@thedigitalhub.com

Children’s Photo Stories premiered at The Digital Hub

Digital photo stories, which have been produced and directed by school children from the Liberties, were premiered at an event in Dublin’s Digital Hub on the 23rd May 2007. Each photo story is based on a storyline developed by the children using Microsoft Photo Story and other digital media tools.

Over 320 students and 44 teachers from 12 schools in the Liberties took part in the project during the 2006/2007 school year. The project was delivered as part of The Digital Hub’s learning programme.

Councillor Aodhán Ó’Ríordáin, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin was the special guest at the event. The Deputy Lord Mayor, himself a teacher in Sherriff Street, has led the Right to Read Campaign (www.righttoread.ie) over the last year, which aims to tackle literacy problems among children.

Among the stories which were showcased at the event was Stripes. It tells the story of ‘Stripes the Tiger’, and his best friend ‘Eimear’, who is a 6th class student at Warrenmount Primary School. Stripes is disappointed that it is raining, which means he can’t play outside. He then discovers the ‘quiet room’ where he engages in a host of adventures, including meeting Bart Simpson, working on Eimear’s computer, and creating a mess for Eimear to clean up.

Speaking at the event, Philip Flynn, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Hub Development Agency said “this showcase is another demonstration of the role which The Digital Hub is playing in the lives of children in the Liberties area. For many of the children who engage in our learning programmes, interaction with technology is just another part of their regular school-based learning. Indeed, for many it’s a way of life and it pervades their homework clubs and out-of-school activities.

“All of these programmes which we deliver aim to tackle the digital divide, and ultimately provide a pathway to employment in The Digital Hub for local people,” said Mr. Flynn.

Addressing the event, Aodhán Ó’Ríordáin paid tribute to the work of the children, and The Digital Hub. “As a teacher, and as a public representative, I see everyday the challenges which our children, parents and teacher face trying to raise levels of literacy. It is very encouraging to see a government agency like The Digital Hub take such an innovative approach to learning.”

The Digital Photo Stories project was delivered as part of The Digital Hub’s Learning Programme. The programme is operated in 15 schools, and 17 community groups in Dublin’s Liberties and beyond. The objective of the initiative is to research, develop and implement innovative learning to grow high value human capital within the Digital Hub knowledge community through lifelong learning initiatives with clear pathways to take full advantage of digital media in a living and working context.

March 26th: Independent evaluation finds that digital hub learning programme is a remarkable success story of creativity and innovation in action

An independent evaluation of digital media learning programmes, which have been rolled out in schools and the community since 2002 by The Digital Hub, has found a marked increase in levels of digital literacy among participants. The evaluation was launched by Noel Dempsey TD, Minister for Communications, Marine & Natural Resources at an event in The Digital Hub on March 26th.

The Digital Hub’s learning programmes – delivered through the Diageo Liberties Learning Initiative (DLLI) – operates in 15 schools and 17 community groups in Dublin’s Liberties and beyond. The objective of the initiative is to bridge the ‘digital divide’ and ensure that the people of the Liberties can benefit from The Digital Hub being located in their neighbourhood.

Among the findings of the evaluation is that The Digital Hub’s learning initiative has raised the level of achievements among students who are academically weaker. The evaluation has found that The Digital Hub’s approach - which comprises a high level of targeted, professional education and development for teachers - has resulted in increased confidence among teachers who are using technology in the classroom.

As well as operating in local schools, the initiative is delivered in the local community of the Liberties. The evaluation found that much of the success of the programme is the involvement of local people in designing the courses themselves.

According to Philip Flynn, Chief Executive Officer, Digital Hub Development Agency, “the success of the community projects has raised the level of confidence and ambition among participants, and according to this evaluation, 46% expect to seek employment in the digital media sector, while 44% intend to go on to further education.

“The evaluation points out that the initiative is a model of best practice for schools and communities in tackling the “digital divide” using a creative programmatic approach. It has achieved positive outcomes for pupils, teachers, residents and community organisations.

“We have been aware since the beginning of the learning programmes that they are making a significant impact on local schools and the local community. Now we have evidence to back this up, and this will help us to continue and grow the programme.

To date, the programme has been mainly funded by Diageo Ireland, with significant support from the National Centre for Technology in Education (NCTE) among others.” A number of public and private sector organisations have partnered with us to deliver the programme. Without the support of Diageo Ireland and the NCTE in particular, we would not achieved this success. This evaluation provides them with proof of the value of their investment, while giving us the information needed to attract new partners.

“One of the findings of the report was that the public-private sector funding method used meant that the funding levels and resources that were able to put in place within the timeframe were far in excess of anything that an education or community initiative alone could have hoped to attract”, said Mr Flynn.

According to Michael Patten, Corporate Relations Director, Diageo Ireland, “the resources that we were able to provide through our funding meant that outcomes of the Diageo Liberties Learning Initiative even exceeded our very high expectations for the programme. We worked very well with the Digital Hub Development Agency and the findings within this evaluation report is a testament to this great work and partnership.”

A bursary to support talented and highly motivated students to pursue studies in digital media was also launched at the event. The William Burgess bursary has €100k committed over a three year period, and will provide support to talented and highly motivated students in digital media. The Bursary which has been set up in memory of William Burgess, former Chairperson of Digital Hub Development Agency, is funded by the family of William Burgess; Digital Hub Development Agency; FINEOS Corporation Limited; IONA Technologies; Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC); IBM and The Ulster Bank Group.

Tune into Digital Hub FM

Digital Hub FM will be broadcasting on 94.3FM across inner city Dublin from its studio in The Digital Hub. Tune in every Friday from 10th November to 15th December 2006 and 26th January to 22nd June 2007.

Digital Hub FM will also broadcast live on the Internet.  For more information on the wide range of programmes in Digital Hub FMs schedule and to listen live online visit: www.digitalhubfm.com

 

Events

June 3rd – 7th:  4th European Semantic Web Conference 2007
Location: Congress Innsbruck: Tirol, Innsbruck, Austria.
Time: 9am

ESWC2007 presents achievements in research and application in aspects of the Semantic Web. The ESWC is an annual forum for the dissemination and discussion of the latest results in research and application in the Semantic Web and Semantic Web technologies. ESWC2007 hosts a variety of workshops, tutorials and demonstrations dedicated to current trends in Semantic Web technologies. New to this year's ESWC is the Knowledge Web PhD Symposium aiming to bring together doctoral students within the Semantic Web community to open their research up to discussion.

More info: melanie.plattner@deri.org
http://www.eswc2007.org/

June 7th: Irish Microsoft Technology Conference
Location: Cineworld Cinemas, Parnell Street, Dublin 8.
Time: 9am
Price: EUR50

The Microsoft Technology User Groups in Ireland have got together to put on a day-long conference for 2007. This year it's called the Irish Microsoft Technology Conference. With 18 sessions from expert international and local speakers, this is one event that you will not want to miss. The event represents the largest ever Irish gathering of top-quality speakers on Microsoft technologies. They cover everything from the newly-announced Silverlight and Expression products to WCF, Biztalk, SQL Server, Longhorn Server, Security, mobile development, Infocard, game development (Microsoft Ireland's Rob Burke even promises some Mindstorm robotics integration in his long-awaited talk on XNA). Visit the web site for more details.

More info: imtc@mtug.ie Tel: +353 (0)87 918 7478 http://www.mtug.ie/imtc

June 11th – 14th: The Third International Conference on Open Source Systems
Location: University of Limerick, Limerick.
Time: 9am
Price: EUR295 to EUR595

Over the past decade, the Open Source Software (OSS) phenomenon has had a global impact on the way organisations and individuals create, distribute, acquire and use software and services. OSS has challenged conventional wisdom and has been instrumental for educators and researchers. It has become an important aspect of e-government and information society initiatives. OSS is a complex phenomenon and requires an interdisciplinary understanding of its engineering, technical, economic, legal and socio-cultural dynamics. The goal is to provide an international forum where a diverse community of professionals can come together to share research findings and practical experiences. The conference is also meant to provide information and education to practitioners, identify directions for further research, and to be an ongoing platform for technology transfer.

More info: Gary.Gaughan@lero.ie
http://oss2007.dti.unimi.it
Tel: 061202712

June 12th:  iReach Inspired IT Summit 2007
Location: Four Seasons Hotel, Conference Centre, Simmonscourt Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Time: 8.30am
Price: EUR400

iReach's Inspired IT Summit 2007 will show you how to drive business value with innovative technologies, architecture, and IT practices. If you are an IT professional or business executive charged with choosing and implementing technologies to gain and maintain a competitive advantage, you should attend. At this all day Event, iReach analysts, Senior IT Executives and leading Industry speakers will share their views on the evolving IT organisation and its future. More info on the event can be found on the iReach website.

More info: sinead.daly@ireach.ie Tel: +353 (0)1 210 7000  Fax: |+353 1 278 5794 http://ireach.ie/ITSummit

June 13th: Automotive Open System Architecture: Challenges and Opportunities
Location: Lero, International Science Centre, University of Limerick.
Time: 10am
Price: Free

AUTOSAR stands for AUTomotive Open System Architecture. It is the leading trend in automotive engineering where all leading OEMs and suppliers participate. The mission statement of AUTOSAR is to "pave the way for innovative systems" and to be "a key enabling technology to manage complexity". AUTOSAR propagates the motto "Cooperate on standards, compete on implementation." With AUTOSAR under full steam it's high time to learn about the AUTOSAR consortium, how AUTOSAR works, and, from a software engineering perspective, how software in tomorrow's cars will be created and how it will look. This two hour talk will present AUTOSAR, challenges, and opportunities.

More info: niamh.odonovan@lero.ie 061 213584 Fax: 061 213036 http://www.lero.ie/Events/Talks/2007/DrUweWerner.html

June 14th:  IP Multimedia Systems Technology Seminar
Location: Red Cow Moran Hotel, Dublin.
Time: 9am
Price: Free

Data Edge is hosting a free half day seminar on IP Multimedia System (IMS) technology for telecoms managers and engineers. The focus will be on the architecture and make up of the IMS network, understanding SIP protocol, general packet radio services (GPRS) and IMS services such as GPS and video quality. The seminar will also feature live demonstrations of IMS technology in action using Spirent technologies.

More info:  cglynn@dataedge.ie Tel: 01 2866777| http://www.dataedge.ie/index.php?content=seminar.htm

June 18th - 20th: 2007 BICSI European Conference
Location: City West Hotel, Dublin.
Time: 9am
Price: EUR495 BICSI Member/EUR595 non-Member

BICSI Ireland is the professional association supporting the information transport systems industry with information, education and knowledge assessment for individual companies. With more than 500 registered guests anticipated, this event will be a memorable BICSI experience. The venue, the Citywest Hotel, is an excellent place for learning, networking and re-energising with business partners and friends. This European Conference promises to provide education and motivation so delegates can lead their organisation to a new level of success. It is packed with the highest quality educational and networking opportunities, and many excellent opportunities to network in the Exhibit Hall. Whether delegates are attending the educational sessions, visiting vendors in the Exhibit hall, or networking during breaks, this conference is all about helping delegates learn and grow.

More info: kenneth@communicatepr.ie Tel: +353 22 20213 http://www.bicsi.org/events/conferences/dublin/2007/index.aspx

June 20th:  Accessibility in 2007 Information Day
Location: Alexander Hotel, Merrion Square, Dublin 2.
Time: 9am
Price: EUR35 Members (EUR65 Non-Members)

The IIA in partnership with Texthelp present an Information Day dedicated to ensuring websites are accessible to all. Accessibility is becoming increasingly critical to the Internet experience. Web accessibility is about designing for everyone, independent of who they are or how they access the Internet. It specifically addresses the needs of disabled people, giving them the opportunity to use your site. This half day seminar will focus on the key issues of accessible web applications, the print disabled community, issues faced by the private sector as well as measuring accessibility. It will show you how to develop strong, usable websites.

More info: events@iia.ie
Tel: 01-542 4154
http://www.iia.ie/events.asp?eventid=149

June 28th:  Irish Internet Association -- eCommerce: Realising the Opportunity
Location: Clonea Hotel, Clonea, Co. Waterford, Co. Waterford.
Time: 1.30pm
Price: EUR25

The IIA and Waterford County Enterprise Board present this half day seminar devoted to implementing eCommerce in the day to day lives of businesses. Our mission is to ensure that businesses are ready to fully realise the opportunity to do business online, both buying and most importantly selling. An expert panel of speakers with a wealth of experience will be at hand to help businesses in County Waterford to realise the eCommerce Opportunity.

More info: events@iia.ie Tel: 01-542 4154
http://www.iia.ie/events.asp?eventid=150

June 30th: Dublin City Enterprise Board -- New Product/Service Development & Innovation
Location: Guinness Enterprise Centre, Dublin 8.
Time: 9.30am
Price: EUR20

This one-day course focuses on understanding the process of generating ideas for new products and services, sources of ideas including patent searches, evaluating ideas and reducing the risk of selecting bad ones, as well as case study examples.

More info: mgallagher@dceb.ie|01 677 6068 Fax: 01 677 6093 http://www.dceb.ie/opencontent/default.asp?id=226&itemId=226

July 5th: Irish Internet Association - Search Engine Optimisation & Google Adwords
Location: Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Rd, Dublin 4.
Time: 9:30am
Price: Starting at EUR145

The IIA present these two modules on one day. The morning will be an introductory course on Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the afternoon will be devoted to Pay Per Click / Google Adwords campaigns. The modules can be taken individually or jointly as a full day course.

More info: events@iia.ie
01-542 4154
http://www.iia.ie/events.asp?eventid=147