Editorial

The Hub found itself in a situation which we are sure is familiar to everyone. Having had a hard week – both working and socialising – we decided to stay in and watch a video. (Yes, even though the video cassette is now well and truly obsolete, we find it difficult not to refer to DVDs as videos. It’s the modern equivalent of when our grandparents persistently used to call the radio the “wireless”. )

Anyway, The Hub found itself in a local video shop and had quickly decided upon “The Devil wears Prada” – a film recommended to us, no less, then by a male colleague who guaranteed that it wasn’t just a “chick flick”. By that, he meant he liked it. So the empty DVD box was taken to the counter and we waited while the assistant tried to locate it among the mass of boxes behind the counter. After a good deal of searching and then resorting to the computer, she finally revealed that it was actually out on “loan”. Unfortunately, she explained, someone earlier must have asked for it at the counter and so it wasn’t taken off the shelf of New Releases. The Hub, of course, was devastated as the rest of the videos (sorry, DVDs) on offer seemed woeful, either slasher movies or kids films. So we left empty handed.

So while watching bad television later, two things struck us about this incident. One was - to paraphrase Negroponte from his seminal book, Being Digital - the over-arching value of “bits over atoms”. The analogue world of the local video shop, as well as putting us through a futile endeavour (although perhaps much needed exercise), had also robbed a studio and a producer of its potential share of €5 in revenue purely because they were held to ransom by the confines of delivery of their digital product as “atoms” i.e. in the limited physical storage format of the DVD. Had we been able to “rent” the video through a Video On Demand service over a set-top box or the internet, all would have been well. We, the customer, would have got what we wanted. The producer would have got paid too. Of course, this technology is coming down the line in a variety of forms – such as IPTV over broadband.

However, the second thing that struck The Hub was how ill-prepared the current retailers (or middlemen) are for this ensuing technological revolution. The video shop clearly had a database on their customers that they simply were not utilising. The computer database would know every video we have rented over the past five years and, with a simple logarithm, would be able to work out our preferences and how they relate to the current and future retail stock. Why weren’t they signing us up and sending us SMS text messages or emails as to videos we might like to rent? Why weren’t they offering to post us the DVD when it did arrive in?

The writing is clearly on the wall for media retailers who have built their businesses on solely selling “atoms”.

Even in the US, the Blockbuster chain is beginning to emulate the Screen Click model (or Netflix as it is known stateside) by signing up customers to a postal service for DVD delivery and utilising their chain of stores as a potential drop off point if you do not wish to post the DVD back. Ironically, they are also closing stores all across America, no doubt in anticipation of the burgeoning VOD market.

However, it seems clear that, like the video cassette, the video store is on its merry way to obsolescence as we move towards a rental model over Internet Protocol. Even now the once piratical web peer to peer applications like Bit Torrent and Napster are turning to the legal download model in order to get in on the action. There are also the new players like Babelgum.com (who have recently just headquartered in Ireland) and Joost.com (from the people who brought us Skype) who are looking toward offering television style content over the internet. Even the Xbox 360 looks set to become an IPTV player. The fight for eyeballs in the living room is warming up. With plasma screens and LCD screens becoming larger and more ubiquitous, it is now easier then ever to connect your PC (or Mac, with the upcoming Apple TV hardware) to the television and get whatever you want on demand.

Animating Ireland

The Hub recently attended the prestigious KidScreen conference held in New York between the 7th and 9th of February 2007. Billed as “the ultimate opportunity for kids entertainment execs to do business, make connections, pitch ideas...and have fun while doing it!”, the conference didn’t disappoint. With well over 1500 delegate from around the world, Ireland was well represented with over 30 delegates attending.

This highlights the startling growth of Irish animation over the past few years with Irish animation companies developing a considerable global reputation.

As Paul Cummins, the Animation representative on IBEC’s Audio-visual Forum and CEO of Telegael points out:: ”The Irish animation industry has made substantial progress in the last number of years and the sector is now substantially bigger than it was during the early 1990s when the US animation studio Sullivan Bluth was based here”

To digress for the moment, it is an interesting lesson in hindsight to recount the short history of the Sullivan Bluth animation studios in Ireland. The studio, initially set up by Don Bluth and Irish-American businessman Morris Sullivan in California, were approached by Stephen Spielberg with an idea about a family of mice emigrating to America. In 1985, during the production on “An American Tail” – as it became know, Sullivan drew up plans to move the majority of the Sullivan Bluth’s studio operations to Ireland to take advantage of a scheme set up by the Industrial Development Authority encouraging filmmakers to invest in the country by offering grants, tax benefits and lower operating costs.

The IDA offered Sullivan Bluth Studios the largest grant in the country's history (up till that point) to relocate to Dublin, in return for a 5% government ownership of the studio. This, along with Sullivan's own investment, funded the foundation of a large and sophisticated new animation studio near Dublin's Phoenix Park. The studio opened with a staff of 85, mostly handling the ink-and-paint process, but expanded to employ over 300 people, including some 100 staff relocated from the California studio, and to cover all aspects of the animation process and even film processing.

To build up this workforce, the studio brought young Irish people to the USA studio to train, and Bluth helped to set up an animation course at the Ballyfermot Senior College.

Despite some initial success, the company was eventually wound up and closed, and was viewed as a substantial failure on behalf of the IDA. A media investment of this scale was never countenanced again by the government. However, when one considers that the majority of the animators working in Ireland today (and contributing €21 million spend in 2005) are either ex-Sullivan Bluth or graduates from Ballyfermot Senior College, it is worth re-considering the investment in a new light. Certainly, when we see the fracas that developed around the failed Media Lab venture in The Digital Hub, we should look at the seeds that were laid from the Sullivan Bluth “failure”. As a country, we have to acknowledge that it costs money to make money. You don’t always get it right the first time, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. Had the Irish government invested further in animation at the time, it is quite likely that the industry would have been even more successful and could have played a pivotal role in the development of CG animation that came about during the 1990s. Perhaps, that lesson has been learnt if the recent decision to relocate a new National Digital Research Centre where the Media Lab was is anything to go by.

Anyway, to the present day, what is truly momentous is that Irish animation companies are now creating and developing their own indigenous projects and reaching international audiences by raising their own finance from a variety of sources including international broadcasters and distributors, S481, BCI, MEDIA and Irish Film Board investment. This allows Irish animation companies to build up significant intellectual property rights in their projects with a view to generating future revenue streams.

In 2006, Irish animation company Jam Media announced two key global distribution and broadcast deals with HIT Entertainment and the BBC. Worth an estimated €3.5m, the deals will see Jam’s award winning series ‘PICME’ and ‘Twisted Tales’ reach an audience of 100million people in over 50 territories.

The Dublin based company signed an exclusive worldwide distribution deal with HIT, one of the world’s leading pre-school children’s entertainment producers for both ‘PICME’ and ‘Twisted Tales’.Hit Entertainment also controls the global rights for ‘Bob the Builder’, ‘Barney’ and ‘Thomas the Tank Engine’.

But the fascinating thing about the animation industry in Ireland is that, unlike most of the media industry, it isn’t centred necessarily in Dublin.

In Kilkenny, for example, Cartoon Saloon are putting the finishing touches to the first feature length Irish animation film, “Brendan and the Secret of Kells” which recounts the story of the boy behind the Book of Kells.

Brendan and Secret of Kells Artwork

It is an Irish co-production with Les Armateurs, France & Vivi Film, Belgium. You can see work in progress at http://theblogofkells.blogspot.com/

Cartoon Saloon are also responsible for Skunk Fu, a 52 x 13 mins series about a Skunk learning Kung Fu from a wise old Panda in China, so that he can help the resistance fight against the Evil Black Dragon and his Army of Ninja Monkeys. It is being partnered by Telegael, TG4, CBBC and Super RTL. (Work in progress: http://skunkfu.blogspot.com/)

In Galway, there are two other highly successful animation companies, Magma Films and Telegael. Telegael are based on the west coast in Spiddal and originally started life as a post-production facilities house until they successfully entered the animation fray with their Emmy-award winning co-production, “Tutenstein”. The half-hour series features young mummy Tutankhensetamun who is awakened about 3,000 years after his accidental death and now has to face the fact his kingdom is gone.

Magma Films was set up in Ireland in 1994 by Ralph Christians, an established German producer who worked for German broadcasters before starting Magma Films in 1984 in Germany and Iceland. Magma now centres all of its activity in Galway City and also has a Munich office. Magma have since produced many feature films, popular TV features, animation series and documentaries for English and American broadcasters.

Its current big animation project is Ugly Duckling and Me which is billed as “an adventure comedy for the whole family, with reference to H.C. Andersen’s wonderful fairy tale ”The Ugly Duckling”. But not much..”. The producers have taken a unique approach in that they have developed both a feature length animation and series at the same time, centered on the exploits of Ugly, Ratso and their female friend, spunky duck Daphne.

In Dublin there are of course the highly successful companies like Kavaleer Productions, Brown Bag Films and Boulder Media. Kavaleer are starting on “Garth”, a series created by Andrew Kavanagh, which features a time travelling brother and sister team and looks set to transmit on RTE and Cbeebies in the UK early next year.

Boulder Media have come off the highly successful “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends” for Cartoon Network, a cartoon series that takes place in a home where imaginary friends go, when their creators outgrow them. On the back of that, they are now working with Nickelodeon on “El Tigre”, a flash-animation series featuring a Mexican boy superhero.

Finally, there is Brown Bag Films, who in many ways brought prominence to the burgeoning animation boom when their short film “Give Up Yer Aul Sins” was nominated for an Oscar. They are working on a number of projects including “Wobbly Land”.

This series was created by Cat Little as her college graduation project and is set in a 'fuzzy felt' world of soft, bouncy play mats, where trees squeak and grass grows on the sun.Production on the first series is due for completion in spring 2007 and the property has been acquired by Hit Entertainment.

However, as much as this productivity is something to be celebrated, one of the main challenges facing these companies is ironically, their success. Many returned from the Kidscreen Summit with sizeable commissions but have found that there is a dearth of skilled animators in the country. The education providers such as Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Colaiste Dulaigh and Ballyfermot Senior College are just not able to turn out the level and number of students required to fill the places on offer. As such, Cartoon Saloon fro example have found themselves hiring Canadian animators to fill the employment gap. This is a serious issue that needs to be remedied quickly if we are to retain skills, labour force and intellectual property within this country. It seems what is necessary if we are to keep pace with the rapidly developing animation industry is that all stakeholders need to sit down and carefully strategise to ensure that Irish animators remain at the top of their game and that graduates from the colleges have the prerequisite skills that will allow them take up employment in these burgeoning new studios.

Already The Digital Hub, with the Digital Media Forum and Enterprise Ireland have convened an Animation Forum consisting of the major animation players with the aim of resolving such issues. However, it will need wider participation across the educational and government agencies to ensure that the sector is not hampered from the outset. Whatever the outcome, I think we can safely say that Don Bluth can be proud of the legacy he has left.

News

February 23rd: The Digital Hub and Belfast City Council call for entries for Dare to be Digital 2007

The Digital Hub and Belfast City Council, with support from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Investment’s Building Sustainable Prosperity Programme, called for entries for Dare to be Digital, the premier computer games design competition for third level students.

The contest, which is sponsored in Ireland by Digital Hub Development Agency and Belfast City Council, is a competition for third level students on the island of Ireland, to design their own video game. Ten students will be selected to represent Ireland in the international Dare to be Digital finals, which is hosted by Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland.

The winning teams, which will be selected in early June, will spend nine weeks developing their game in Queen’s University, Belfast. During this time they will receive mentoring and support from the very best in the Irish gaming sector. At the end of the nine weeks, the team will travel to Dundee where their game will be showcased at the International Dare to be Digital Awards Ceremony, which is a highlight of the computer games industry calendar.

Michael Hallissy, Director of Learning, Digital Hub Development Agency said, “There are now more reasons than ever for teams to get together and enter Dare. The track record of previous participants shows how very highly regarded it is within the computer games industry. This is the fourth year that The Digital Hub has supported the competition, and the enthusiasm and standard of entries is increasing every year.”

“The Digital Hub houses five gaming companies – Havok, Pop Cap Games, Eirplay Games, Groove Games and Gala Networks Europe. As the preferred location for the gaming sector in Ireland, we are very keen to support the Dare to be Digital competition. These companies are having a significant impact on the international market, and it is essential that we work with these companies and the third-level sector to ensure that Ireland is best placed to take advantage of the growing gaming sector,” said Michael.

Brendan McGoran, Creative Industries Officer at Belfast City Council comments: “Dare to be Digital is an exciting opportunity to showcase local talent in the creative sector at an international level. Belfast City Council recognises that the creative industries is a major growth sector and contributor to wealth in the economy and initiatives such as this will provide a unique platform to harness individual talent, develop business ideas and further enhance the development of this exciting sector.”

Dare to be Digital has established an enviable reputation for producing high-grade talent. Teams from previous years have gone on to set up their own game development companies selling products to the world’s major publishers. Individuals who have taken part in Dare have also been snapped up by major international games companies such as Lionhead, Electronic Arts and Microsoft, as well as Dundee-based developers such as Realtime Worlds and Denki.

Contestants from last year’s competition are now working for Codemasters, BBC Scotland, Rockstar North, Electronic Arts UK and Electronic Arts Shanghai.

Applications for Dare to be Digital 2007 can be made via www.daretobedigital.com
t: 01 4806200

February 20th: Digital Hub will rely on community views as the project’s development accelerates

The Digital Hub Development Agency has said that the delivery of a new city quarter in the Liberties and Coombe area will be shaped by the views and input of the local community, as well as enterprise and public sector representatives.

Unveiling the Project’s Development Plan (today 20/02/07) – which is the blueprint for the delivery of the Digital Hub project over the next five years – the Agency’s Chief Executive, Philip Flynn said, “community, enterprise and public sector representatives have painstakingly agreed twenty-eight principles that will inform the shape of the Digital Hub Project as it rolls out. These principles range from providing education and enterprise opportunities for local people in the digital media sector to preserving the unique heritage of the buildings within the South West Inner City.

The plan sets out the aims of the project, as well as comprehensive targets, across three key headings: Enterprise & Research; Community, Education & Training and Property & Heritage.

“Over the coming months and years, as the delivery of the Digital Hub Project accelerates, we will be constantly referring back to the representatives from the community, enterprise and public sector for their views and opinions. This way, we can achieve a unique international centre for digital media research, innovation and enterprise development, while making the South West Inner City a vibrant place to live for the existing community and those who may choose to settle here in the future.

The Digital Hub Development Agency was established in 2003. The First Phase of the Project’s development - incorporating the completion of commercial arrangements for the major construction work, as well as implementing enterprise developments and learning initiatives – was delivered by the end of 2005. The Second Phase of the project commenced in 2006 and will be completed by 2012. This Phase will oversee the delivery of a complete city quarter based on digital media enterprise. The Development Plan will underpin this Phase of delivery.

“During the first year of Phase Two we oversaw a 44% increase in the number of companies locating at the project. There are now 76 digital media enterprises based at the project, ranging from new start-ups to international companies, including Zamano and Amazon.

“The growth of The Digital Hub in 2006 has consolidated our reputation, in Ireland and abroad, as one of Europe’s most desired locations for companies in the digital media sector. Approximately 25% of companies currently located in The Digital Hub are foreign direct investment. We expect this to rise significantly as the benefits of locating in The Digital Hub continue to attract international digital media companies.

“All the while, as we have been getting the project off the ground and implementing our enterprise aims, some of The Digital Hub’s greatest success has been at community level. In particular, a number of learning programmes are operating in 17 local schools and a number of local community groups in the Liberties. Digital Media education for the local community is a key delivery of the project, and we continue to deliver on this remit everyday,” said Mr Flynn.

Jan 18th: Brandmail Solutions partner with BT Ireland

Brandmail Solutions' secure e-mail service is to be used by BT Ireland as part of its service to protect customers against e-mail scams such as spoofed emails and phishing attacks. The new service called BT Secure Mail will be free and BT Ireland is expected to roll this out in early 2007.

Brandmail Solutions was founded in 2004 and also has offices in Silicon Valley, and Cologne, as well as The Digital Hub. Brandmail Solutions offers a complete, scalable, secure and robust end-to-end e-mail branding and security solution that enables organisations’ brands in the end-users inbox and also secures the e-mail communication channel, guaranteeing delivery and providing extensive reporting to brand managers.

Built upon industry standards, Brandmail Solutions has created a verified mail system to restore confidence in email communications, and does this by establishing relationships with ISPs and Mailbox Providers to ensure that email, supposedly sent by its customers, is only delivered if it is genuine. Spoofed email messages are discarded before the recipient ever sees them. Genuine emails are allowed to bypass the content-based filters which are commonly used by ISPs. These emails are identified as secure by replacing the sender’s email address with a graphical representation of their corporate logo along with a secure icon.

Jan. 18th: Digital Hub company’s family safety solutions bolster built-in security of Windows Vista

PixAlert, based in The Digital Hub since 2005, are one of the top security companies aligned to support the consumer launch of Windows Vista.

Microsoft have announced the leading security providers who have committed to delivering fully tested and compatible versions of their consumer and small-business security solutions by the 30th of January when the Windows Vista™ operating system becomes generally available on new PCs and in retail stores around the world.

PixAlert are providers of intelligent image auditing and monitoring solutions for home and business use, has made its advanced PC protection and real-time image-monitoring solution, SafeScreen, available in Windows Vista. SafeScreen actively blocks unsuitable images from all sources (including the Internet, DVDs and cell phones), helping to protect the family from unwelcome content.

Jan. 9th: Podcastingireland.ie sign new one year contract with VHI

Vhi have signed a one year contract with podcastingireland.ie to provide a unique online consumer health audio show, Vhi Health Club. The show is produced by podcastingireland.ie, an online portal run by the production company, Athena Media, based in The Digital Hub.

The show, presented by Aileen O'Meara, RTE's former Health correspondent, has been running as a fortnightly edition since July 2006 on both www.vhi.ie and www.podcastingireland.ie but its popularity has led to a new weekly edition for 2007. It can be downloaded through the websites or through iTunes and it has already been downloaded over 25,000 times.

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 Digtial Hub FMs schedule and to listen live online visit: www.digitalhubfm.com

Events

March 7th: IT Security Event in Croke Park
Time: 8:00 - 9:30am
Location: Croke Park, Dublin 8.
Price: No fee
Registration 7:30

This Breakfast Security Seminar will explore topics such as how to protect your network in an evolving environment, where both the threats to and the needs of your network are changing rapidly. TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention Systems from 3Com address the security needs of complex network environments. In addition, we will explore the growing threats to the efficiency of one of your most important business tools: e-mail & on the changing landscape of email security.

More info: sile.oneill@complete.ie  Tel: 085 1114251  +353 1 8855401(fax)
http://www.complete.ie/PR_007.asp

March 8th: Internet Marketing for 21st Century Businesses
Location: The Brandon Hotel.Tralee, Co. Kerry
Time: 9:00
Price: EUR90 (SME), EUR295 (Large)

This seminar offers ideas, tips, insider secrets and strategies for turning your website into a highly trained 24/7 global sales executive. Presented as a programme of the 2007 National Centre of Excellence, the seminar will teach you how to design and build effective internet marketing campaigns for sales lead generation. The seminar is non-technical and is aimed at owner-managers in the SME sector and senior marketing management in larger companies.

More info: seminars@praxisnow.ie Tel: 01-236 0076
http://www.praxisnow.ie/NCE.htm

March 13th:  Creating Accessible PDF Documents
Location: Engineers Ireland, 22 Clyde Rd, Dublin 4.
Time: 2pm
Price: EUR95 Members (EUR145 Non-Members)

The IIA and iQ Content present the third in the joint Masterclass series. Although using the PDF format is one of the easiest ways to deliver documents on your website, it can create significant difficulties for people with disabilities - undermining your efforts to create an inclusive web presence and to achieve full conformance. How can you continue benefiting from the convenience of PDF while ensuring that the documents you create are accessible? And how do you go about fixing the documents that are currently on your site?

More info: events@iia.ie Tel: 087 292 3333
http://www.iia.ie/events.asp?eventid=122

March 13th: Bricks and Blades Technology Briefing
Location: IBM Ireland Limited, 24/32 Pembroke Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
Time: 9:30am - 1pm
Price: Free

Datapac and IBM are hosting a specialist technology briefing aimed at organisations who want to build a flexible and cost-effective IT infrastructure. The briefing will outline the latest market trends and show live, hands-on demonstrations on how to utilise VMware software on the powerful and diverse IBM System x servers and the fastest growing server platform, IBM BladeCenter. Places are limited to a maximum of 20 therefore places will be allocated on a strictly first come first serve basis.

More info: 1850 328 272   http://www.datapac.com/Company/Events_03_2007_Invite.asp

March 15th:  Email, Web and Wireless Security: New Frontiers
Location: The Westbury Hotel, Grafton Street, Dublin 2.
Time: 9am - 1.30pm
Price: No Charge

The state of enterprise security is in constant flux, old threats are addressed just as new ones emerge. This seminar will look at new solutions to old challenges such as Spam and internet access control. We will also highlight the new risks areas, wireless networks, the rise of video and P2P.

More info: events@entropy.ie Tel: 01 294 0199 Fax: 01 294 0121
http://www.entropy.ie/ev_upcoming.asp#March

March 21st:  Search Marketing World 2007
Location: Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin.
Price: EUR345
Time: 8am

Ireland will host its first Search Marketing Conference with a host of international speakers from Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and leading Search Engine Marketing agencies. The conference is being organised by Interactive Return. The day is aimed at Irish and international business, marketing, advertising and PR professionals and covers 3 different tracks, allowing the expected 350 attendees to tailor the day to their areas of interest. An all day clinic will also offer attendees a free consultation session with a Search Engine Marketing professional. Experts such as Search Marketing guru, Danny Sullivan, John Herlihy EMEA Head of Online Sales & Operations, Google; Mel Carson, MSN adCenter Community Manager, Europe; and Richard Firminger, Regional Sales Director, Northern Europe, Yahoo, are some of the speakers at the event. During the session the speakers will discuss the future of Search in 2007 and beyond.

More info: martin@interactivereturn.com Tel: 01 6729154 http://www.searchmarketingworld2007.com

March 21st:  Blogging: New Media, Business and the Law
Location: The Shelbourne Hotel, St Stephens Green,Dublin.
Time: 6.30pm
Price: EUR25 Members (EUR35 Non-Members)

The growth of blogging as a news source is changing the media landscape. Readers, listeners and "news junkies" are no longer passive audiences but can now comment on stories, write their own editorial or columns and, in some case, sway public opinion. Some people say that this is leading to a democratisation of the news, liberating it from the hands of a few powerful news institutions. Others say that blogging has led to the phenomenon of the "camera-phone journalist" crowding the news space with trivial items that are of no public interest and devoid of useful analysis. Hear leading speakers from Microsoft, Gubu.ie, The Sunday Tribune and Merrion Legal Solicitors.

More info: events@iia.ie Tel: 087 292 3333
http://www.iia.ie/events.asp?eventid=123
March 23rd:  it@cork half-day seminar on ASP.NET AJAX
Location: Suite 16, Cork County Hall, Cork.
Time:1pm
Price: EUR30 members, EUR75 non members

it@cork, in association with MTUG presents a half day seminar on ASP.NET AJAX. This half-day session introduces developers to ASP.NET AJAX and goes under the hood to show how it works, how it's extended, and how to leverage it to create cutting-edge Web apps. We will also include a session looking at where Microsoft's latest web technologies are being used closer to home, featuring Rob Burke from Microsoft Ireland. Don't miss this special event and an opportunity to see ASP.NET AJAX up close and personal.

More info: deirdre@itcork.ie Tel:+353 (0)21 2307076
http://itcork.ie/index.cfm?page=events&eventId=86

March 27th:  Your Linux is ready roadshow
Location: Radisson SAS St Helen's Hotel, Stillorgan Road, Dublin 4.
Time: 9:30am - 4pm
Price: See website

Novell will host seminars demonstrating how to build, secure and manage an Open Enterprise with SUSE Linux Enterprise 10, the next generation Linux platform from Novell. From data centre to desktop, SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 delivers the security, reliability and flexibility needed to open the enterprise to Linux and leverage the latest open source innovation with confidence.

More info: UKMarketing@novell.com  Tel: +44 (0)1344 326129
http://www.novell.com/linux/tour_emea/index_ir.html

March 27th:  HP Roadshow - 'Implementing the next generation of IT'
Location: The Radisson SAS Hotel, Belfast.
Time: 8.30am
Price: FREE - Enterprise customers

 

This half-day event will address key concerns for IT managers and specialists as they assess how the next generation of IT hardware, software and services can shape their infrastructure and meet their needs. Learn how you can leverage HP's comprehensive portfolio of products, services, and solutions to meet these challenges. You will hear from industry experts how HP can help you move from high-cost IT islands to low-cost IT assets, lowering operational costs and improving service levels.

More info: http://www.hp.com/ie/roadshow

 

March 29th:  IBAC Annual Conference
Location: IMI in Sandyford, Dublin.
Time: 9am
Price: EUR295 members, EUR360 non

Entitled, "If Business is from Venus, then is IT from Mars? -- How to derive maximum business value from good collaboration", the conference will address the challenges of creating successful organisational synergy between Information Technology and Business Strategy. Aimed at senior managers, programme/project managers and business analysts who wish to improve their effectiveness in leading cross-functional initiatives within their organisations, the conference seeks to explore innovative approaches and practices in implementing business-led IT projects. Taking place on the 29th March at the IMI in Sandyford, the conference will chaired by newscaster Bryan Dobson with a keynote from Andrew Healy, CEO of National Irish Bank. The agenda will be supported by other industry specialists and will include practical case studies on how organisations can construct business/IT relationship management programs that are appropriate for their particular circumstances. The morning plenary will be followed by interactive workshops on key issues in the afternoon, promising a stimulating, insightful and educational session for all attendees.

More info: admin@inbusans.ie Tel: 01 8107685
http://www.ibac.ie