Archive for the ‘Business Briefs’ Category
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012
 Atlanta airport terminal Smartphone adoption among passengers at the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, has jumped from 28% to 75% in the last 12 months, fueling one of the highest rates of self-service use at any airport in the world.
The 2011 SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey found that frequent, or occasional, use of self-service channels among Atlanta passengers is now running at 78% for online check-in and 90% for kiosk check-in compared to global rates of 73% and 65% respectively.
Frequent or occasional use of mobile check-in is running at 24%.
The rising influence of the smartphone is a key finding from the 6th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey, carried out with a representative sample of the 283.5 million passengers who pass through six of the world’s leading airport hubs, including Abu Dhabi International Airport; Beijing International Airport; Frankfurt International Airport; Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta; Mumbai International Airport; and São Paulo Guarulhos International Airport.
Worldwide trend
In Atlanta, 92% of frequent flyers (10+ trips per year) and 83% of business/first class passengers were carrying a smartphone. Atlanta frequent flyers who carry smartphones lead a worldwide trend towards adoption of the mobile boarding pass; 34% having used it at least once compared to 28% in the survey overall.
The high number of passengers with mobile phones at Atlanta could also support Bluetooth-enabled queue management. Here, 28% of all respondents carrying a mobile device had Bluetooth switched on, which is above the percentage required for effective use of sensors to measure the time passengers have to wait in line and allow a response to tackle potential bottlenecks.
Getting up-to-date information is of particular interest to time-conscious smartphone carriers with 85% interested in information on gate changes, flight delays and boarding status; 66% in wait times at security; 43% in the time to reach the departure gate; 15% in the location of the nearest lounge, and 21% in information on airport parking,
When it comes to flight information by SMS notification, 41% of Atlanta passengers report they already receive them and the remainder of survey respondents carrying mobile phones would also like to get them.
There is less enthusiasm for getting shopping information on mobiles, with only 12% showing interest.
In the 2010 survey, 71% of Atlanta passengers booked online and this has risen to 82% in 2011 compared to a global rate of 57%. The breakdown in online bookings includes 53% for online travel agencies and 45% for airline websites.
On the day of the survey, only 23% of passengers used a traditional check-in counter at Atlanta compared to a global use rate of 44%, underlining the general popularity of self-service check-in with Atlanta passengers. Online check-in grew from 33% to 37%.
Traditional checkin dropping
Use of the traditional check-in counters is also dropping among the 58% of passengers who had to check in a bag. Among those who checked in a bag, 57% used a bag drop-off counter compared to 42% globally. In Atlanta, 77% of business and first class passengers used a bag drop-off counter.
While there is high interest in using airline websites for air and non-air offers, actual use among Atlanta passengers lags behind overall survey rates; with the exception of 79% using the websites to modify reservations compared to 72% globally.
Otherwise, comparative rates for other services are: purchase preferred seating, 51% in Atlanta compared to 63% globally; booking a hotel room, 34% to 55%; car hire, 39% to 49%; book a vacation, 31% to 44%; buy products and gifts, 14% to 27%; and purchase additional transport, 30% to 37%.
Paul Houghton, SITA Regional Vice President for North America, said: “Atlanta is maintaining its position as a global showcase for the efficient and effective deployment of self-service technology to the benefit of both passengers and airlines. The smartphone is beginning to have a significant impact at key points on the passenger journey and this will spur the demand for new self-service options.”
Tags: Atlanta Hartfield Airport, online booking, Paul Houghton, SITA, smartphone adoption, worldwide trend toward self-service airport checkins
Posted in Business Briefs, smartphones, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Thursday, January 26th, 2012
 Want to know the way to an employee’s heart? Professionals interviewed by OfficeTeam identified work/life balance (28 percent) and opportunities to learn and grow (27 percent) as the top contributors to their job satisfaction.
The results are in line with those from a similar survey in which managers were asked about the factors most tied to employee morale.
The surveys of professionals and managers were developed by OfficeTeam, a leading staffing service specializing in the placement of highly skilled administrative professionals. They were conducted by an independent research firm and include responses from 404 workers 18 years of age or older and employed in office environments and 1,013 senior managers at companies with 20 or more employees.
Workers were asked, “Aside from salary, which one of the following aspects of your job is most tied to your satisfaction?” Their responses:
Work/life balance……………………………………………………. 28%
Opportunities to learn and grow………………………………… 27%
Ability to accomplish goals………………………………………….. 20%
Camaraderie with coworkers………………………………………… 13%
A good working relationship with the boss……………………….. 11%
Don’t know………………………………………………………………. 1%
100%
The survey of workers also revealed differences by age: Respondents between the ages of 35 and 44 were most concerned with work/life balance (46 percent), and those between the ages of 18 and 34 indicated the greatest interest in opportunities to learn and grow (37 percent).
“Professional priorities change over time,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. “Because there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for encouraging job satisfaction, supervisors should get to know their team members individually to better understand what motivates and inspires each of them.”
Everyone appreciates the ability to successfully juggle business and personal obligations, Hosking noted.
OfficeTeam offers five tips managers can use to help their teams achieve work/life balance:
- Be flexible. If it’s practical for your business, offer alternative work arrangements such as modified schedules or job sharing.
- Reduce their commute. Give personnel whose jobs can be done remotely the option of working from home one or more days a week.
- Watch the clock. Avoid contacting staff outside of office hours unless the matter is urgent and cannot wait until the next business day.
- Take a breather. Remind workers to take breaks and vacations. Set a good example by doing so yourself.
- Bring in reinforcements. Encourage employees to seek help when they are overwhelmed with projects. Use temporary professionals, when necessary, to alleviate workloads.
Tags: employee satisfaction, Office Team, work/life balance
Posted in Business advice, Business Briefs, Studies, surveys, reports, TechJobs | Comments Off
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
 Low fares business class specialist Lets Fly Cheaper (LFC) has compiled its first “world’s worst airports” list of international and domestic airports with the worst records for delayed flights.
LFC culled through several sources to ultimately come up with its own criteria and list of worst performing airports.
“There are tons of year-end worst airports lists out there. Some are based on overall satisfaction, while others focus on details like how easy it is to sleep in the airport,” said Ramon Van Meer, Lets Fly Cheaper marketing director. “We wanted our list to be relevant to our customers, who travel primarily for business, and to our company, which specializes in getting customers the best travel deal, right here, right now.”
“Business travelers live in the moment,” said Van Meer. “They care about making their flight connections today, not whether they could have made them 11 months ago. Their #1 concern is getting to their next big deal on time. Period.
That’s why LFC has shortened our time horizon from all year to the past month and focused exclusively on delays, not airport amenities. Our data is based on December 2011 statistics only. This gives us the flexibility to publish new results monthly, if customers find our list useful.”
Lets Fly Cheaper’s 10 worst airports based on delayed departures:
International Airports:
5. Pu Dong, Shanghai
4. Madrid-Barajas, Madrid
3. Charles De Gaulle, Paris
2. Changi, Singapore
1. Capital International, Beijing
Domestic Airports:
5. George Bush Intercontinental, Houston
4. Denver International, Denver
3. Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta
2. O’Hare, Chicago
1. Dallas/Ft. Worth International
Not surprisingly, all “winners” are among the world’s busiest airports. LFC’s international list includes three Asian-Pacific entries and two European entries. Charles De Gaulle is one that appears consistently on almost every “worst” compilation across the board.
Yet it only clocks in midway down the LFC list. The “top” honor for most delayed flights – by a margin of almost 2:1 is Beijing, with a whopping 12,864 delayed flights for December.
Domestically, the “usual suspects” that seem to always top other worst lists (Miami, JFK) are notably absent from LFC’s picks for delayed flights. LFC’s list includes two Texas airports, plus three that come as no surprise, given the volume of air traffic they handle.
WORST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS:
5. Pu Dong Airport (PVG), Shanghai
Number of Delayed Flights: 5,175
Shanghai Pudong International Airport (sometimes noted as Pu Dong) is the world’s 20th busiest airport and China’s third busiest, hosting over 40 million passengers annually. The airport is a hub for both Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
4. Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD), Madrid
Number of Delayed Flights: 5,448
Madrid-Barajas Airport is an international bridge connecting Europe with Central and South America. The airport serves Spanish carriers, members of Star Alliance and Skyteam Iberia Airlines, as well as international carriers.
3. Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG), Paris
Number of Delayed Flights: 6,731
Charles de Gaulle Airport is Europe’s second busiest airport (after London’s Heathrow). The airport serves international travelers, Air France and other European airlines.
2. Changi Airport, (SIN), Singapore
Number of Delayed Flights: 7,428
Changi Airport in Singapore is the world’s 17th busiest airport serving 100 international airlines to more than 60 countries. The airport handles over 19 million passengers every year. Changi has received the “World’s Best Airport” award from Ultratravel Magazine the last four years.
1. Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK), Beijing
Number of Delayed Flights: 12,864
Beijing Capital International Airport is the busiest airport in Asia and the second busiest in the world. The airport hosts over 73 million passengers annually with 70+ airlines flying to more than 200 cities worldwide.
WORST DOMESTIC AIRPORTS:
5. George Bush Intercontinental (IAH), Houston
Number of Delayed Flights: 4,919
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston is the eighth busiest airport in the United States and #3 for non-stop domestic and international service. It is also provides service to 30 destinations in Mexico.
4. Denver International (DEN), Denver
Number of Delayed Flights: 5,300
Denver International Airport is the fifth busiest airport the United States and 11th busiest in the world. Denver Airport opened in 1995 and in less than 20 years has become a major transportation hub, handling some 50 million passengers annually.
3. Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL), Atlanta
Number of Delayed Flights: 5,472
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest, serving 90 million domestic and international passengers. The airport has spent the last decade making major improvements. The Air Transport Research Society named Atlanta the world’s most efficient airport in 2011. [Note: Considering the tremendous volume it processes, we’d say Atlanta is doing pretty darned well with “only” 5,472 delays for the month!]
2. Chicago O’Hare International (ORD), Chicago
Number of Delayed Flights: 6,817
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport is well known as the second busiest airport in the states. It’s also the world’s fourth busiest. O’Hare is the major hub for United/Continental Airlines. The vast airport has four terminals, with three serving both domestic and international flights and one serving international flights only.
1. Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW), Dallas
Number of Delayed Flights: 7,231
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is the fourth busiest airport in the US and eighth busiest in the world. The airport has five terminals with two dedicated exclusively to serving American Airlines passengers.
Tags: Atlanta, Beijing, Capital International, Changi, Charles De Gaulle, Chicago, Dalla/Ft. Worth International, Denver International, flight delays at domestic airports, George Bush Intercontinental, Houston, Madrid-Barajas, O'Hare, Paris, Pu Dong, Singapore, Texas, worst airports for business travel
Posted in Business advice, Business Briefs, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Friday, December 16th, 2011
 An overwhelming 92% of executives think that business travel is failing to improve, with almost half saying it is getting worse or even much worse, according to a survey by ON24, a web casting and virtual event firm.
When asked which cities they would choose to avoid for a convention or trade show if a substitute virtual event were available, Houston topped the list, with almost half (49.3%) of the respondents preferring not to travel to the largest city in Texas.
In fact, respondents said they would prefer attending a virtual conference over actually visiting several American cities, including:
- Houston – 49.3%
- Los Angeles – 41.7%
- Orlando – 37.5%
- Miami – 33.3%
- Chicago – 27.8%
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson was ranked as the nation’s worst airport, followed by Washington D.C.’s Dulles and Los Angeles’ LAX.
The survey respondents cited a variety of reasons for the woeful state of business travel. The worst part about flying was the possibility of sitting in the middle seat (53%), followed by potential delays (50.6%), security lines (40.9%) and rude airline employees (25.6%).
Executives also noted the possibility of sitting next to a “nightmare passenger” as a concern, with three quarters (74.2%) of respondents saying they do not want to sit next to a sick person, followed by a baby or annoying child (42.9%), an arm rest hog (42.9%), a snorer (35%) and a couple who can’t keep their hands off each other (26.4%).
Hotels fared no better, with a surprising 52.8% of executives concerned about the risk of bed bugs, along with dirty linens (44.8%) and noisy guests (42.3%). Responses about trade shows and conventions reflected the usual criticisms about boring presentations (60.7%) and getting behind at work (60.1%). However, an interesting 19.6% of respondents said that the so-called “booth babes” who often staff trade show exhibits are sexist relics.
“These results demonstrate that virtual communication is more ‘in sync’ than physical events with how people today prefer to work,” said Denise Persson, ON24′s Chief Marketing Officer.
“In today’s digital age, professionals increasingly prefer virtual events and webcasts to traveling to in-person events. Virtual event attendees can consume content conveniently and efficiently wherever they are — at their desks, on their laptops or with any mobile device. With virtual communication, there are no logistical barriers interfering with getting the information you need.”
Tags: air travel, business travel, ON24
Posted in Business Briefs, Studies, surveys, reports | Comments Off
Thursday, October 6th, 2011
 Steve Schmidt By Steve Schmidt, VP, Product Management, Flexera Software
Moving to the cloud can be a daunting initiative for Enterprises. What the numerous studies and statistics fail to provide are the reasons such enterprises are struggling with the overall migration of applications to either private or public cloud environments, and how to address those issues.
There is a normal evolutionary cycle that customers have to complete to cross the proverbial cloud chasm. Part of the evolutionary cycle will require key learning and enhancements across people, processes and technologies.
The lack of automation and process in other areas such as application migration, application readiness (application packaging and deployment), and Software License Optimization (licensed versus deployed) causes significant challenges for migrating to the cloud (private or public).
Furthermore, limited standards and visibility around licensing in the cloud is one of the biggest factors cited by customers prohibiting free migration to both public cloud and hybrid private/public cloud solutions.
Migrations of applications to a cloud based environment require the same care, planning, and consideration as other migration projects. One of the issues around application migrations is understanding the required skills and tests that need to happen. In a traditional application development or virtualization project, the packager works with experts that understand the infrastructure requirements for that given piece of software.
The cloud provides generic slices of compute resources that enable the application owner to configure and test on a more generic infrastructure environment. However, oftentimes knowledge around thresholds, network capabilities for links, hardware I/O or CPU limitations is lost in the process.
Developers may have a slice of compute power, but the hardware characteristics of that box may vary if the workload is migrated over to another server cluster or different hardware configurations are used. Part of the skill set ramp will be to gain the understanding of system limitations of not only the virtual machines, but also other supporting factors like network, storage, physical systems, and monitoring across solutions.
This will take time, but automating key steps in the process will alleviate the risks. In addition to automating the application compatibility testing and packaging phases of the migration process, it’s also critical to implement automated license optimization solutions that can manage the license complexity of hybrid ‘on-premise and cloud’ environments.
One key element would be to leverage workflow solutions to help automate the following steps :
1. Analyze Application Compatibility– leverage automated application compatibility tools that specialize in physical to virtual migration to determine what applications should be migrated and which ones should not.
2. Automating the Distribution Across Multiple Deployment Tools: Many large Enterprises have several different systems management tools in use. Having mitigation tools that can automate deployment and packaging without requiring different scripts or package types for each provider will save key time in the overall process. This is fundamental to continual application readiness.
3. Analyzing Usage – just because you can migrate an application doesn’t mean you should. For example if an application is just used once per year by accounting for an annual report – how much time and expense really should be spent on migrating the application? Particularly if it is resource intensive, the best approach may be to eliminate that application from the migration project. Part of the planning process is to see who actually is using what, why and if it is needed.
4. Assessing Deployed versus Purchased Software and Optimizing the Software Estate – part of the migration process is knowing what applications can be deployed in a Cloud environment per the terms of the vendor license agreement. What are the license restrictions (private vs public) and what are vendors’ support policies? Organizations must establish processes and procedures within the various levels of support and engineering for proper escalation resolution.
Given the complexity of software licensing terms and virtualized/cloud environments, automated enterprise license optimization solutions are critical to controlling software costs and maintaining license compliance. These tools provide the visibility and transparency into a company’s license position essential for migrating with confidence to the cloud. Without these tools, it will be difficult for enterprises to avoid greater cost and risk exposure due to over or under-purchasing of software. In the latter case, enterprises are faced with increased vendor audit risk and associated true-up costs due to license non-compliance.
Crossing the Cloud Chasm will be no easy task for any company. As the technology, people, and processes become more defined it will become far easier and adoption will accelerate. However, automating key tasks both in application readiness and Software Asset Management and license optimization processes will reduce the risks, challenges and more importantly the impact to the business as a whole. Planning is now more critical as is taking a step back to assess the overall approach for your journey to the cloud.
Tags: analyze application compatibility, automating distribution across multiple deployment tools, Flexera Software, optimizing software, Steve Schmidt, tips for virtualization, Viewpoint
Posted in best practices, Business Briefs, Cloud, IT, Viewpoint | Comments Off
Friday, March 11th, 2011
 Atlanta is 2nd on the list of most socially networked cities. RESEARCH TRIANGLE, NC – Washington, DC took the top spot as most socially networked, followed by Atlanta in the number two position in a ranking by Men’s Health magazine, it calls “Twittertowns.” Raleigh ranked 12th, Orlando, 7th, Tampa, 31st, and Baltimore 58th.
The magazine ranked US cities by adding up the number of Facebook and LinkedIn users per capita and overall Twitter use as monitored by NetProspex.It also measured traffic generated in each city by social networks and factored in the percentage of households checking out chat rooms and blogs.
You can meet some of the most wired people in Atlanta at TechMedia’s Digital Summit May 16-17 at the Cobb Galleria.
Here’s the top ten, according to the magazine:
Most socially networked
1 Washington, DC
2 Atlanta, GA
3 Denver, CO
4 Minneapolis, MN
5 Seattle, WA
6 San Francisco, CA
7 Orlando, FL
8 Austin, TX
9 Boston, MA
10 Salt Lake City, UT
Here’s the Full List.
TechJournal South is a TechMedia company. TechMedia presents the annual conferences:
SoutheastVentureConference: www.seventure.org
Internet Summit: www.internetsummit.com
Digital East: www.digitaleast.com
Digital Summit: www.digitalsummit.com
Tags: Atlanta, Baltimore, DC, Digital Summit, facebook, LinkedIn, Men's Health TwitterTowns ranking, most socially networked cities, Orlando, Raleigh, social media, Tampa, twitter
Posted in Business Briefs, Carolinas, Facebook, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Potomac, social media, Washington, DC | Comments Off
Friday, January 28th, 2011
 Despite lingering concerns about the U.S. economic recovery, Americans worry more about having their online privacy violated (25%) than declaring bankruptcy (23%) or losing their job (22%). Coinciding with Data Privacy Day today, new survey research by Opera Software in the United States, Japan and Russia examines what people worry about online.
Internet fraud as a result of online privacy violations was among the top four concerns in all three countries, recorded between 22 and 29 percent of respondents. Distress over being hurt in a traffic accident topped the lists in Japan (35%) and United States (27%), while relationship problems kept 40% of Russian respondents awake at night. Relationship drama and pandemics like swine flu tied for second place in Japan’s worries (34%). Here’s a graphic comparing the results.
The online survey, administered by market research company YouGov, aimed to uncover what concerns people have for their online safety and privacy. A thousand or more people in each of the United States, Japan and Russia completed the survey between January 19 and January 24. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all adults aged 18 or more in the three countries.
A large majority (79%) of Americans use anti-virus solutions to protect their privacy. Despite concerns over privacy violations, less than two-thirds of respondents in the United States report that they use safe passwords (61%). Regularly deleting browsing history fared even worse (47%), though men (52%) delete browsing history more often than women (42%). Just 15% of respondents only use software and websites that do not collect personal information.
Gap between worries and action
Here’s something we’ve harped on for sometime: you have to take action to protect yourself online. I recently changed all my passwords to tougher versions and plan to change them again regularly, for instance and I’m more careful about how I set privacy settings everywhere. Even being proactive, I’ve had a bank reissue a debit/credit card because one of its customers had a data leak, something likely to be more and more damaging to businesses that allow it to happen.
“It is interesting to note the gap between what people say concerns them online and what they do in practice to protect themselves,” said Christen Krogh, Chief Development Officer, Opera Software. “We often see that it is human nature to fear traffic accidents but not wear a seatbelt or helmet, or dread bankruptcy but continue spending, and it very much seems like it is the same for online behavior.”
Worried about who’s watching you online? U.S. participants were most concerned about the government (35%). Only 15% of U.S. respondents were wary about the data social networks collect. 16% of U.S. respondents said they did not worry about anyone having too much insight into their online behavior.
When asked which device they feel is safer for accessing the Internet, 54% of U.S. respondents believed the desktop computer was safer, while 3% said a mobile phone was safer. 31% did not believe one was safer than the other.
So who should be mostly responsible for ensuring people’s online safety and privacy? 54% in the United States and 46% in Russia believe the onus lies with users themselves, while this response took second place in Japan (42%). Japan instead pinned responsibility on web companies (47%), which took the no. 2 spots in Russia (41%) and the United States (25%).
In sunnier news, all countries agreed that the most effective way to make the world a fairer place would be to give everyone equal rights and opportunities (between 51 and 65%). Vying for second and third place were ending all wars and ensuring everyone has the same access to information and participation in society. U.S. respondents were the most pessimistic; 21% felt nothing could be done to make the world a fairer place, double the 11% in Japan and 9% in Russia.
“It is insightful to speak to people about what worries them online. There are important lessons for all of us about expectations people have for their web experience, and what we can do to improve their feelings of safety and security,” said Christen Krogh. “Opera believes strongly in the Web as a universal right, and it is heartwarming to see that people so highly value access to information as a means to make the world a better place.”
Tags: Americans worried about online privacy, Internet fraud, Internet privacy concerns, Operat Software survey
Posted in Business Briefs, Internet/New Media, Security | Comments Off
Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
 DIGITAL UPDATE – The dominant players in the digital landscape rise and fall like characters in a video game. Google Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOG), which seems to want a slice of every hot space in the digital world, says it plans to hire more than 6,200 employees this year, while Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), has slashed more than 700 from its payroll in the last two months, laying off another 100 to 150 yesterday.
Yahoo was once the very symbol of Internet success, just as the now struggling My Space was a social media leader.
The Yahoo cutbacks came even as the company doubled its earnings in Q4. The company’s revenue fell 12 percent from a year before, however, and its earning gains were largely due to cost-cutting. Some investors have questioned whether CEO Carol Bartz is on the right track and its stock price has suffered (it fell 12 percent Tuesday to $15.64 and was down to $15.50 in mid-morning trading Wednesday).
Bartz, who took the helm at Yahoo in 2009, is halfway through a four-year contract. The company’s downturn began way back in 2006.
Google, on the other hand, while it’s venture into the social networking space with Google Buzz flopped, has entered another red hot space, local social deals. We’re wary of such me-too imitations of other successful digital ventures, but Google’s revenue in Q4 was up 26 percent to $8.4 billion – more than Yahoo’s $6.3 billion for the entire year.
The expansion Google plans this year will be the biggest in its history. The company operates a large data center in Lenior, NC, and a Chapel Hill software development office. The company boosted its workforce by about 4,200 people in 2010 to end the year with 24,400 employees.
But if you’re planning on sending Google an application, you’ll be competing with more than 1 million others who want to work for the search engine giant – and the company is famous for its hiring only the best and brightest as determined by grades, SAT scores and rigorous, mind-bending test questions.
Twitter worth $4 billion
Social media continues to dominate the digital world. Reports from SharesPost, a secondary market that deals in buying and selling privately held company stock, Twitter, which just raised $200 million in funding in a round led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & byers, , is now valued at $4 billion, up $300 million in a month.
Facebook still rules the social media space though, even if “The Social Network,” the film about its founders, did not lead the Oscar nominations. On the secondary markets, its value soared to $75 billion, following its most recent funding round.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating secondary markets currently to evaluate if they may be violating SEC regulations.
Email TJS editor Allan Maurer: Allan at TechJournal South dot com.
Tags: Digital update, facebook, Google, Google hiring, Q4 2010, twitter, Yahoo, Yahoo firing
Posted in Business Briefs, Carolinas, Internet/New Media, IT, Money, North Carolina | Comments Off
Friday, December 17th, 2010
 WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced a total of more than $22 million in funding for nine research projects targeting innovative manufacturing technologies in fields ranging from biopharmaceuticals and electronics to renewable energy sources and energy storage.
Funded by NIST’s Technology Innovation Program (TIP) the awards will be matched by other funding sources and are expected to result in an estimated $46 million in new advanced manufacturing research over the next three years.
“Keeping our nation’s high-tech industries at the forefront of innovation is a key component to maintaining and improving U.S. industrial competitiveness in an increasingly competitive world,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said. “Through these TIP awards, we will help advance cutting-edge research in major growth sectors of 21st century manufacturing, including renewable energy and advanced pharmaceuticals.”
TIP is a merit-based, competitive program that provides cost-shared funding for research projects by single small- or medium-sized businesses or by joint ventures that can include higher education institutions, nonprofit research organizations and national laboratories.
The nine projects announced were selected from 110 proposals in the “Manufacturing and Biomanufacturing: Materials Advances and Critical Processes” competition announced last April (see “2010 TIP Competition Focuses on Manufacturing Technologies.”
The competition focused on technologies that could significantly improve manufacturing processes for advanced materials such as nanocomposites or in biomanufacturing, which produces vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals.
TIP promotes technological innovation by providing funding support to transformative, high-risk, high-reward research projects that address critical national needs. TIP awards are limited to no more than $3 million over three years for a single company project and no more than $9 million over five years for a joint venture.
Tags: DC, NIST funding 9 research projects, US Dept. of Commerce
Posted in Business Briefs, Government/Defense, Money, Potomac, Washington, DC | Comments Off
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From the stone age to the modern era, businessmen have used the technology of the day and shaped their societies cultures.
