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21/05/2013 08:54
NCC Roads chooses new active alert service from MeteoGroup to boost safety on Sweden’s road network
NCC Roads, one of the four biggest contractors to work with the Swedish Transport Administration, has awarded MeteoGroup a contract to supply year-round forecasting services and a new active alert service for the winter season. With active weather monitoring of the operating region, NCC Roads will be able to optimise their winter highway maintenance operations, in particular ensuring safety on the road network.

NCC Roads is is one of the main contractors responsible for maintaining the national road network in Sweden, a task that is particularly challenging during the winter. With public safety at stake, they are required to ensure engineering work is carried out cost-effectively, whilst never compromising on quality. MeteoGroup will supply NCC Roads with a complete weather forecasting service, specially tailored to provide highway maintenance engineers with all the weather information required to ensure the safety of the road network. From October to April, MeteoGroup will provide an additional alert service.

The alert service is an active monitoring and consultancy service developed by MeteoGroup in response to the specific needs of their roads customers. MeteoGroup’s specialist roads meteorologists monitor observations and the latest forecast data, alerting NCC Roads to any potentially hazardous conditions or to sudden changes in the forecast. The meteorologists are all experts in forecasting for winter roads and their experience and understanding of the hazards, enable them to spot potentially hazardous weather conditions and to identify if the observed weather starts to deviate from the forecast. NCC Roads’ maintenance engineers can therefore make quick and timely decisions 24 hours a day.

Peter Knutsson, NCC Roads Eastern Region commented: “The alert service will help us streamline our operations and reduce overtime hours. Of course, with timely weather alerts from the meteorologists, we also hope to increase safety on the highways.”

Ralf Davidsson, General Manager, MeteoGroup Scandinavia AB added: “We are very proud that NCC, as one of the largest contractors in Sweden, has chosen MeteoGroup’s alert service as a key part of their decision process for their winter maintenance operations. The importance of meteorological decision support for operations and maintenance of the transport infrastructure is becoming more widely recognised in Scandinavia and we are pleased to now be able to offer our consultancy and support services 24/7/365.”
25/04/2013 07:50
NORMA Group raises profile with new web and social media presence
NORMA Group, a global market and technology leader for engineered joining technology, presents its new website www.normagroup.com and social media platforms today. The new Internet presence emphasises the innovative strength and international reach of the specialist for joining technology. “NORMA Group is developing swiftly. This dynamic is now also reflected in our external Internet and social media presence,” says Bernd Kleinhens, board member business development.

The corporate website has been re-organised and comes in an innovative design with large-scale imagery. User-friendly navigation makes corporate information quickly accessible. Animated teasers on the homepage highlight the company’s top topics. Here, the visitors can also find press releases and information on the NORMA Group share. The Product Finder is the new core element of the website. Visitors get the relevant information on a desired product from a selection of over 30,000 clamps, joining elements and fluid systems with only a few clicks. Application examples illustrate individual product uses. The company’s brands have their own space on the website. “The new Internet presence helps visitors to quickly understand what NORMA Group stands for and what value our products and solutions add. The website holds a veritable brand experience in store for visitors,” Kleinhens adds.

The “Press” portal offers media information that can be selected by topic and date. It also incorporates extensive graphical material. The heading “Corporate Responsibility” is new. It presents NORMA Group’s corporate responsibility and sustainability activities. In a first step, the English language corporate website has been launched. The affiliates of NORMA Group will roll out their local websites over the coming weeks. The website will also be expanded to include additional offerings. Going forward, job offers will be shown centrally on a global career portal where prospective employees can apply online. Videos with assembly instructions provided in a “Knowledge Centre” will offer additional value to visitors.

NORMA Group has also gone live with its social media channels today in order to further increase the company’s communications reach. NORMA Group is now officially on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and XING. Here, visitors get the most current company information and can connect with NORMA Group. The channels will be integrated in the new website soon.

Additional information on the company is available on www.normagroup.com. Press photos are available from our platform on www.normagroup.com/presspictures.
31/01/2013 11:09
Dassault Systèmes Launches a New Industry Solution Experience
Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, a world leader in 3D design, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions has announced the launch of “Lean Construction”, an industry solution experience for the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry that empowers companies to take advantage of collaborative project management and execution.

In today’s construction industry, all stakeholders do not necessarily align well. There is a wide gap between planning, designing and project realities, which often directly translates into cost overruns, missed deadlines and fewer profits. Built from Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the “Lean Construction” industry solution experience provides a collaborative project backbone that helps companies from all parts of the AEC industry to develop, manage and organize complex projects from anywhere with full governance. A centralized 3D environment eliminates language barriers and enhances communication between offices and onsite teams. The visibility into real-time project status also allows all players to quickly make any needed improvements, helping to control costs and eliminate needless waste.

With “Lean Construction”, companies can also review and analyze different options to ensure they’ve created the best construction approach and assembly sequences. Resources can then be applied to understand the cost-effectiveness and profitability of the plan, enabling any adjustments or changes to be made before work begins. Once the project is underway, “Lean Construction” helps track progress in real-time to avoid field collisions between contractors, subcontractors, and others, as any disagreements or issues that force a schedule change can drive up expenses and reduce profits.

“For years, the global construction industry has been plagued by delays, cost overruns and inefficiencies. It has been estimated that some 25 percent of construction industry cost is nothing but waste,” said Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President, Industry and Marketing, Dassault Systèmes. “In this context, our Lean Construction industry solution experience helps AEC companies understand their projects better from start to finish, and improves on the promise that BIM-Building Information Modeling technology made but hasn’t fulfilled yet.”

For more information on Dassault Systèmes’ industry solution experiences for AEC, please visit: http://www.3ds.com/solutions/architecture-engineering-construction.
17/01/2013 09:48
Orange Business Services launches a joint venture in the State of Qatar
Orange Business Services, the business services arm of France Telecom-Orange, has announced the launch of a joint venture company in Qatar, through the establishment of EGN LLC, which will trade in Qatar as Orange Business Services. The new local Qatari company has been established in partnership with Sheikh Fahad Bin Ghanem [Al Abdul Rahman] Al Thani as the majority shareholder.

Through the new company, Orange Business Services will address the significant ICT market opportunities in Qatar, one of the world’s fastest growing economies with ambitious investment programs in place, as host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals and with a strategic national vision to diversify the economy by 2030. The launch of the new joint venture company in Qatar is the most recent local company established by Orange Business Services in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and is the first of its kind dedicated to large systems integration programs and operations. It follows the launch of a new local company in Saudi Arabia in 2012 under a growth strategy focused on the developing markets in MEA, as companies are poised to translate economic growth into business opportunity. Orange Business Services has a strategic focus on emerging markets where it seeks to generate one billion euros in revenues by 2015.

Orange Business Services has also announced the appointment of Antoine Farah as general manager of the company in Qatar, along with a team of senior professionals to qualify, design and build targeted projects. The new team will comprise program directors, senior architects, project managers, subject matter experts and operations directors, and will focus on target business sectors including oil and gas, government sector projects, telecom company systems integrators, new cities and large infrastructure projects. Commenting on the new Qatar joint venture, Sheikh Fahad Bin Ghanem [Al Abdul Rahman] Al Thani said: “This new joint venture company is a very significant step that will support the development of world class ICT infrastructure in Qatar, and the broader economy, as a partner for the long term, bringing new technology and complex integration capability.

Qatar has already developed leading ICT systems in the areas of e-government and border security, and through this new joint venture company, Orange Business Services will bring the global experience and capabilities of France Telecom-Orange to Qatar. This will help accelerate our progress towards achieving the economic vision laid out in the Qatar National Vision 2030, for the development of a competitive and diversified economy capable of creating and sustaining a high standard of living for all our citizens.” The official launch of Orange Business Services in Qatar took place at the Hilton Doha, on Jan. 8, 2013 at a reception hosted by Sheikh Fahad Bin Ghanem [Al Abdul Rahman] Al Thani and Vivek Badrinath, CEO of Orange Business Services, and attended by Qatari VIPs and senior representatives of Orange Business Services and the extended business community.

Philippe Koebel, senior vice president, Emerging Markets and Indirect, Orange Business Services, commented: “We are delighted to announce the launch of this joint venture company in Qatar, which comes as Orange is accelerating its growth strategy in the Middle East, following another strong performance in 2012. This new local company is a clear sign of our commitment to the Qatari market and to developing the ICT infrastructure of Qatar by offering and supporting new and advanced ICT services and solutions to the public and private sectors.”

Orange Business Services supports more than 500 multinational companies in Middle East and Africa, bringing proven experience with implementing large projects globally and regionally, and as a systems integrator serving high profile companies including 3M, JTI, Sorin and Sagemcom. In the Middle East, Orange Business Services has been generating strong growth in revenues as the regional economy continues to achieve robust growth.
10/01/2013 08:30
LUXeXceL Partners with FX64 Software Solutions for Optics Design Software
LUXeXceL Group B.V., manufacturer of optics for the LED lighting industry, has partnered with FX64 Software Solutions of Arzberg, Germany for development of custom optics design tools to facilitate use of LUXeXceL’s patented Printoptical fabrication process.

LUXeXceL manufactures optical solutions using their patented “Printoptical” 3D printing process which requires no use of molds, special tooling, or post processing. This novel one step “CAD-to-Optic” process offers luminaire manufacturers significant cost reductions and time savings and offers optics design professionals greater design freedom and rapid prototyping.

FX64 Software Solutions CEO Igor Zupevc commented, “While optics design software has previously been oriented toward subtractive manufacturing methods such as diamond turning, full exploitation of the new additive manufacturing process invented by LUXeXceL demands and deserves new design tools with more advanced capabilities for parametric customization and creation of freeform, asymmetric geometries. FX64 is proud to be among the first software firms to have recognized the potential of LUXeXceL’s innovations and is excited to become one of their first partners for development of the new web-based design software needed to provide easy access to their capabilities.”

Richard van de Vrie, LUXeXceL’s CEO, explained, “From using the commercially available LambdaSpect light simulation software from FX64 we became confident that they would be an excellent partner for development of custom software also. We are extremely pleased that Igor and his team have come to understand how our manufacturing process enables new design freedoms and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with them for development of custom software to take better advantage of those freedoms.”
08/01/2013 12:42
Molex Debuts Brad Direct-Link Unmanaged Switches for Harsh Duty Ethernet Networks
Molex Incorporated introduces new Brad® Direct-Link® unmanaged switches available in 5- and 8-port modules, both featuring patented Ultra-Lock® push-pull technology. The new IP67 sealed Direct-Link switch modules provide a fast, simple and secure on-machine Ethernet switch solution reducing network cabling and installation costs.

“As our world becomes more connected; manufacturers and installers are increasingly specifying harsh-duty Ethernet devices,” states George Kairys, product manager, Molex. “The Brad portfolio of rugged connectivity products for Ethernet infrastructure brings our customers high speed performance in a wider range of industrial applications requiring LAN networks for plant floor robotics and automated manufacturing cells.” The small footprint, field-proven, and rugged design also make the Direct-Link switches suitable for heavy-duty transportation and military vehicle applications.

Direct-Link Ethernet switch modules allow users to quickly convert from traditional in-cabinet to on-machine mounting. Relocating the switch closer to the machine reduces installation time and costs for lengthy wiring runs, cabling and protected cabinet enclosures. The durable Ultra-Lock system of switch connectors and cordsets features a full sealed connection and secure mating, with easy push-pull plug-and-play installation.

Suitable for installations located in extreme temperature conditions, the Direct-Link 8-port switches operate in -40 to +75 degC. Tested to NEMA 6 and IP67 environmental ratings, the Direct-Link Ultra-Lock connection ensures continuous operation in ambient dust, pressure washing and submersion in water. Mechanical keying and radial seals eliminate the need for skilled installation and risk of operator error commonly found in other switch connector systems.

“Unmanaged Direct-Link switches provide cost-effective, robust performance across complex networks in a wide range of control and monitoring applications, where harsh environments create vibration, heat and other hazards. Brad brings Ethernet connectivity for PC-based or PLC-based control, supervision, data storage and protocol bridging where our customers need it most,” adds Kairys.
17/12/2012 09:07
National Composites Centre Celebrates Government funding for Phase II project
Chancellor George Osborne announced an investment of £28m to enhance the capabilities and capacity of the National Composites Centre (NCC). The NCC, located near Bristol, opened in November 2011 to meet the needs of industry which is increasingly making use of composite materials which are light, strong and corrosion resistant. The Centre, which is owned by the University of Bristol, has world-class expertise and industrial-scale facilities that are being used to develop the technologies which will result in more fuel efficient land, sea and air vehicles as well as, for example, the next generation of wind and marine renewable energy devices. The NCC, which is a part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, will invest the money to construct additional facilities adjacent to the existing building. As well as providing increased capacity and a dedicated high speed composite manufacturing technology facility, part of the new building will be utilised to ensure a sustainable future for the Composites Manufacturing skills in the UK workforce by bringing together leading businesses, colleges and Universities at a world-class training facility. The announcement has reinforced the NCC’s continued success in providing a Hub for the UK Composites industry, and brings the total Government funding contribution to the centre to over £40m. In his Autumn Statement Speech Chancellor George Osborne said, “Today we’re confirming almost half a billion pounds for scientific projects, from supercomputing and satellite technology to a world-beating animal health laboratory.” Within that there is ‘£28 million to increase the capacity of the National Composite Centre in Bristol, which brings together entrepreneurs and academics to deliver world-class innovation in the design and rapid manufacture of composite materials’*. NCC Chief Executive Peter Chivers said, “I am thrilled by the announcement today, which reflects Government’s on-going commitment to High Value Manufacturing and its growth in the UK. Composites, is key to the future of many UK sectors and their endeavours to reduce CO2 emissions. The extended NCC, which will provide for further innovation in multi-sectoral manufacturing and technology development, skills and education, and offering greater support for SME’s and the supply chain, will be fundamental in allowing the UK to remain competitive in this rapidly growing global market. Working with the newly formed UK Composites Leadership Forum, we now have a world-class platform for catalysing growth.” Professor Guy Orpen, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research at the University of Bristol added, “This is a clear signal that the renaissance in research-driven high value engineering is a key pillar in the UK’s economy. This is great news for the interface between leading research and industry, for Bristol and for the UK.” Chairman of the NCC Steering Board speaking for the industrial partners Jim Godman of AgustaWestland said, “This is most welcome news, showing the true collaboration between the UK Government, the National Composites Centre and industry at this critical time. This funding will enable the NCC to build upon the phenomenal success of phase 1 and make the centre more accessible and even more relevant to UK business. This investment will support UK industry’s on-going competiveness in this rapidly growing global market and further enhance High Value Manufacturing’s ability to bring real benefit to our economy. The investment announced today is great news at a very exciting time for the composites industry. As we prepare to meet the challenges of light-weighting and sustainability in all sectors, industrial partners need to work together to invest in the infrastructure and skills we need to support growth. The NCC project will play a key role in this and we’re extremely proud to be part of it.” The new building is planned to be completed by 2nd quarter 2014.
11/12/2012 09:53
Advanced Computer Software Group plc acquires Serco Learning for £7.25m
Advanced Computer Software Group plc (Advanced), a leading provider of healthcare and business management software and services, today announces that it has acquired Serco Learning for a total cash consideration of £7.25m payable £6.25m to Serco Group and £1m to iGate for the novation of a material services contract. Completion is expected on 31 December 2012.

Serco Learning will be incorporated into the Advanced Business Solutions (Public Sector & Enterprise) division headed up by Managing Director, Dean Dickinson. This acquisition perfectly complements Advanced’s portfolio of IT solutions for the public sector, where it has almost 50 higher education customers and over 80 local government customers. This provides the company with a strong foothold in the education software sector and enables cross-selling opportunities into Advanced’s education and local government customer base. This will also generate significant opportunity within the growing ICT education market.

Serco Learning is a trading division of Serco Group plc and is the number two supplier of management information systems to the UK education market, providing training and support to over 2,000 academies, independent schools and higher and further education providers. In the year ended 31 December 2011, Serco Learning had sales of £13.5m.

Vin Murria, Chief Executive of Advanced Computer Software Group plc, says, “The acquisition of Serco Learning provides the Group with a significant presence within the education software sector across the UK and Ireland.”

“Serco Learning has an impressive range of software solutions which are critical in helping a wide range of education facilities to intelligently manage their information. We are excited about strengthening our presence in the education market and the up-selling and cross-selling opportunities this acquisition provides.”
10/12/2012 08:58
Akamai Completes Acquisition of Verivue
Akamai Technologies, Inc. has announced it has completed its acquisition of Verivue, a privately-held company based in Westford, Massachusetts that provides licensed content delivery network (CDN) infrastructure solutions for network operators. On November 13, 2012, Akamai announced a definitive agreement between the parties pursuant to which Akamai would acquire Verivue in a cash transaction.

The combination of the two companies’ technologies and teams is expected to help Akamai accelerate market availability of a comprehensive portfolio of Operator CDN products.

“Network operators are turning to CDN technologies as a strategic and highly complementary way to offer new and differentiated content services, reduce network infrastructure costs, and ensure a quality experience for subscribers across a variety of IP-connected devices,” said Paul Sagan, President and CEO of Akamai. “Since the launch of our Aura Network Solutions earlier this year, Akamai has been meeting with network operators worldwide. With our acquisition of Verivue now complete, we believe we are well-positioned to offer network operators a more robust, operator CDN solution as well as federation with the world’s leading content delivery platform.”

The company does not expect the acquisition of Verivue to materially impact results of operations in the current quarter. Accordingly, Akamai will not be updating fourth quarter 2012 guidance as a result of this acquisition. The acquisition is expected to be slightly dilutive by approximately one cent on a normalized, diluted per share basis* in 2013.
05/12/2012 12:45
SATO opens office in Vietnam
SATO, a leader in barcode printing, labelling and EPC/RFID solutions, today announced the official opening of its sales office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

For the last eight years, SATO has been operating a manufacturing factory in Hanoi and providing locally based companies auto-identification and data collection (AIDC) solutions through an established network of business partners.

“Vietnam is a key market for SATO and we are no stranger to Vietnam. We have already been operating locally for a number of years and with Vietnam leading the region’s growth, technology will play a huge role in supporting the various industries in the country. To meet this growth, the opening of our office will allow us to introduce AIDC technology to a broader audience, faster. And it complements our factory which manufactures label printers and hand labellers,” said Kaz Matsuyama, President and CEO of SATO Holdings Corporation.

According to Susumu Tasai, President of SATO Vietnam Solutions, “With a full-fledged local presence, we will be able to meet the needs of the market better and provide better service to customers”.
21/11/2012 07:53
Orange and Akamai form Content Delivery Strategic Alliance
Orange, one of the world's largest telecommunications companies, and Akamai Technologies, Inc., one of the world's leading providers of cloud infrastructure and CDN services, have announced today a strategic alliance to address the growing needs of the enterprise sector for improved content delivery. Orange has agreed to use technology from Akamai’s Aura Network Solutions to provide CDN services to business customers. Upon deployment, the operator's enterprise division Orange Business Services will market these solutions initially inFrance. In addition, the two groups have formed an innovation steering committee to identify areas of innovation in the field of CDN solutions.

With best-of-breed content delivery network (CDN) solutions based on Akamai technology,Orangewill address the exponential increase in web-based traffic, in particular HD video and e-commerce services. CDN systems use a widely-distributed network of servers to spread content that would otherwise be concentrated in a few locations. The result is greater network efficiency and a more secure system, as well as better service quality for end users by improving uptime, and enabling faster access and download speeds.

Through this partnership, Orange aims to meet its business customers' needs, particularly in the media and e-commerce markets, by providing cutting-edge video solutions and web-acceleration services.

The partnership between the two companies is intended to provide enterprises with access to Akamai's optimization and acceleration technologies through Orange Business Services. By combining Akamai’s expertise in improving Internet performance for end users across multiple devices with Orange’s network, both companies look to address the growing market demand for content delivery.

Today’s news brings together two major players in their respective industries with the aim of developing and offering innovative solutions for optimizing online media, web-based applications and mobile content. In addition, Akamai and Orange will also jointly explore areas of innovation to bring new solutions to market.

“We see great potential in this partnership with Akamai,” said Gilles Prunier, Senior Vice President in charge of the Smart Networks program at Orange. “Developing an Orange CDN service, powered by Akamai, will allow us to enrich our existing BtoB services portfolio and to support our customers’ growth by providing them with new and differentiated web features that improve the end-user experience and ultimately increase customer loyalty.”

“Akamai and Orange have a history of bringing unique and innovative solutions to address enterprises' needs,” said Mark Vargo, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Akamai EMEA. “By combining the strengths of two leading technology companies in a single partnership, we believe we can provide enterprises in the French market with a robust and comprehensive set of acceleration and optimization offerings that will help address all aspects of their online businesses.”

The partnership, which reflects a binding Memorandum of Understanding between the two companies, is subject to the execution of one or more definitive agreements setting forth the final terms and conditions for the companies’ activities.
19/11/2012 07:41
STREET LIGHTING IN SAN FRANCISCO TURNS SMART WITH PARADOX ENGINEERING
Paradox Engineering SA, the Swiss hi-tech company specialized in advanced solutions for Smart Cities, industrial wireless sensor networks and global virtual networks, is starting the deployment of the pilot project for remotely managing the public lighting infrastructure in San Francisco, California. Endorsed by the San Francisco Public Utility Commission (SFPUC), the project will lead to the implementation of a citywide secure wireless communication network to monitor and control different urban services such as street lighting, electric vehicles charging stations, electricity meters and traffic signals.

Strongly committed to sustainable development and energy efficiency, the SFPUC intends to replace the existing HPS street light poles with dimmable LED luminaires in the next two years, and to remotely manage them through an integrated wireless control system. In May 2012, Paradox Engineering won the prestigious Living Labs Global Award by proposing the SFPUC a very innovative solution consisting in a multifunctional bidirectional 6LoWPAN and IPv6 wireless full mesh narrowband / broadband communication network to support, monitor and manage public lighting and other urban services.

In the next few weeks, the pilot project will be kicked-off in downtown San Francisco. First step will allow remote monitoring and control of luminaires; electric vehicles charging stations, electricity meters and traffic signals control cabinets will be added shortly after. The project scope has in fact already been extended to include a first set of additional applications. Outcomes will be accurately analyzed to measure quantitative and qualitative benefits, therefore validating a model for future implementations.

“The project we’re piloting with the SFPUC is highly innovative since it puts into practice the new paradigm of the ‘Internet of Things’, where any object can be associated with an IP address and integrated into a wider network to transmit and receive relevant information. The full interoperability granted by Paradox Engineering’s solutions, which allows to manage different devices on one integrated platform, ensures one network can deliver multiple urban applications and services”, states Gianni Minetti, President and CEO, Paradox Engineering.

Working closely with the SFPUC, Paradox Engineering is taking care of the solution’s design, engineering and delivery, also providing technology and expertise to streamline the implementation of the IPv6 wireless full mesh network and its different components. Other relevant industry players such as Philips Lighting and Oracle have embraced the SFPUC's approach to a smarter and more livable city, fully supporting the project through practical and conceptual endorsement, and creating conditions for easy implementation and scalability. Philips Lighting provides the network compatible lighting solutions, and Oracle’s City Platform will help managing and analyzing data coming from this ground breaking system.

PE.AMI AS THE FOUNDATION OF SAN FRANCISCO’S PILOT PROJECT
The solution being implemented in San Francisco is entirely based on Paradox Engineering’s PE.AMI, the open standard platform featuring hardware (nodes and gateways), software and a web based management system for machine-2-machine, Smart Cities and utility applications. The SFPUC preferred this platform out of several candidates because of its higher levels scalability, interoperability and security.

Fully compliant to 6LoWPAN protocol, PE.AMI is a truly multipurpose technology and allows the SFPUC to develop multiple applications on the same wireless network, without the need to build additional infrastructures for hosting present and future services. Another key benefit of PE.AMI is the possibility to improve wireless communications by supporting both narrowband and broadband data traffic within the same gateway, therefore increasing data transmission and reliability among on-field devices and the remote server.

PE.AMI is an out-of-the-box, self configuring and self healing solution, so it is particularly easy to implement, maintain and manage. Being totally independent from devices and applications, the SFPUC will not be required to change or upgrade any of its deployed devices (meters, EV charging stations, luminaries).

Paradox Engineering and the San Francisco Public Utility Commission will discuss the pilot project and its expected outcomes during the conference “Smart Cities: the making of”, to be held on November 15th at swissnex San Francisco, 730 Montgomery Street, San Francisco. The event will gather together municipalities from the Bay area, industry and academic representatives to discuss how cutting-edge technologies can contribute to shaping Smart Cities and improve public services and urban sustainability. Keynote speaker will be Professor Michael M. Hsieh, Director of Green IT Task Force and Education Training Program at US China Green Energy Council, and Instructor at UC Berkeley Extension.

The event program will also include speeches by Shannon Spanhake, Deputy Innovation Officer, San Francisco City; Barbara Hale, Assistant General Manager, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission; Sascha Haselmayer, General Director, Living Labs Global; Scott Frendt, Vice President Public Sector, CRM Solutions, Oracle; Niels Van Duinen, Global Marketing Director, Professional Outdoor Lighting, Philips; and Gianni Minetti, President and CEO, Paradox Engineering.

With this event, Paradox Engineering is also celebrating the recent opening of its new branch office in San Francisco. Headquartered in Switzerland, Paradox Engineering faced a consistent growth in the last two years and now has operations in Europe and Middle East, two offices in Far-East Asia (Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and the new business seat in the United States.

The San Francisco office will leverage sales and marketing operations in North America and provide customer support. Paradox Engineering’s office will be addressed at 730 Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94111, co-located with swissnex San Francisco, the public-private venture endorsed by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Education and Research, whose aim is to expand education, research and innovation around the world.
05/11/2012 08:05
H.B. Fuller to Exhibit New Mobile Web-App at Emballage 2012
H.B. Fuller has developed a mobile application that will debut in its stand at the upcoming Emballage trade show, 19 – 22 November. The new mobile application offers instant access to H.B. Fuller’s latest product information. Visitors can calculate how premium Advantra® adhesive’s performance makes a real difference to operational running costs. The app demonstrates how significant operational cost savings may be realized by putting the focus on the performance and not just the price of adhesives.

In its 125th year, H.B. Fuller is one of the world’s leading adhesive companies with a well-developed and proven product range fine-tuned for high performance to deliver the operational efficiencies needed for the packaging industry. Working hand-in-hand with customers and OEMs to get the solution right is fundamental to H.B. Fuller’s approach. At Emballage H.B. Fuller will feature its Advantra® premium hot melt packaging adhesives. This metallocene based line of hot melts now an industry standard, was invented by H.B. Fuller and is carefully formulated to ensure that it offers excellent thermal stability and robust adhesion with clean machining.

Elizabeth Staab, Marketing Manager at H.B. Fuller, commented: “Time and time again customers are reporting significant savings on their adhesive usage with a switch to Advantra®, because it is clean running and needs little or no intervention by the operators during a shift. Not only do they need less adhesive but Advantra® hot melts are so much kinder to the machinery, meaning fewer replacement nozzles are required, less cleaning is needed, less waste is generated and the headache of unscheduled downtime is reduced.

We have worked with lots of customers who were initially skeptical about the many benefits of Advantra®, and who are now higly enthusiastic loyal users after experiencing the product in action, the operational efficiencies and the longer term cost savings.”

05/11/2012 07:52
Rolv-Erik Spilling appointed Head of Digital Services in Telenor
Rolv-Erik Spilling was today appointed Executive Vice President and Head of Digital Services and will become member of Group Executive Management. Mr Spilling has served as the Deputy Head of Digital Services since the unit was established. His appointment secures the continuation of Telenor's innovation activities in the Digital Services area. Spilling takes on his new role with immediate effect. Digital Services was established with the purpose of developing new services in the digital economy, focusing specifically on Internet services that Telenor Group and partners will deliver globally. Substantial innovation efforts are channelled through Digital Services, and Telenor Group has high ambitions for the services that are being developed.

""Rolv-Erik Spilling has held many key positions in all parts of our value chain. His broad experience makes him an ideal candidate for developing new services, and combining traditional telecommunications services with the new and open Internet technologies. I am very pleased that he has accepted this responsibility and I expect great performances from him and the rest of the Digital Services team going forward,"" said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO and President of the Telenor Group.

""I am pleased to accept the challenge of leading Digital Services, and I will continue to work towards meeting the goals that have been set for me and the entire Digital Services team. In order to call our innovation efforts a success, we need to be adopted by a high number of customers and generate substantial new revenues. These two objectives form the basis of Telenor's priorities in the Digital Services area,"" said Rolv-Erik Spilling.

Rolv-Erik Spilling has been holding various positions in Telenor Norway before he became the Deputy Head in Telenor Digital Services in September 2011. He has acted as Chief Marketing Officer Business, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Services, IT and Technology. Spilling first joined Telenor in 2000. He received his MSc in Mathematics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
26/10/2012 10:58
Telenor signs agreement with new Indian partner
Telenor Group has on 26 October 2012, through its new wholly owned Indian entity, Telewings Communications Pvt. Ltd. (Telewings), signed a partnership agreement with Lakshdeep Investments & Finance Pvt. Ltd (Lakshdeep), a company controlled by Mr. Sudhir Valia. This is a financial investment by Mr. Valia in his personal capacity.

Lakshdeep will contribute an agreed amount of equity into Telewings. Upon successful participation in the upcoming spectrum auctions and post all required government approvals, Telenor Group will eventually own 74% of the joint venture. Telenor Group will maintain operational control and upon necessary approvals all assets of Unitech Wireless (Uninor) will be transferred to this company for seamless continuity of operations.

Telewings has already applied for prequalification to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction. A final decision on whether to participate or not will be made before the auction starts.
25/10/2012 13:40
Telenor opens the door to social media for millions of customers
New partnership with U2opia Mobile enables access to Facebook® without any Internet connectivity, using only the USSD protocol to post your status, check your newsfeed or ""like"" a comment on the popular social networking site.

Telenor Group has now entered into an agreement with U2opia Mobile, an innovator in social Internet and mobile convergence, to bring Facebook to its millions of non-Internet connected customers via USSD. USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a low bandwidth data service that allows you to send information on a 2G network with no Internet connectivity.

As Telenor's new partner, U2opia Mobile is sharing its ""Facebook by Fonetwish"" platform with Telenor customers - starting in India, followed by Malaysia and Bangladesh before the year end. Facebook by Fonetwish is easy to use, fast and affordable for both customers and operators, as it is text-based and uses very little bandwidth. There are no handset requirements to use this type of service. This means that a 10+ year old phone with no Internet and/or GPRS connectivity can still use USSD to send and receive information.

""Telenor seeks ways to innovate for people's everyday lives. Today, we see that many customers in Asia and Europe are using very basic handsets that are incapable of connecting to the Internet. I am proud to say that through our agreement with U2opia Mobile, the handset is no longer a barrier, and we can now give the lion's share of our customers an easy-to-use, affordable and interactive social media experience,"" said Rolv-Erik Spilling, Deputy Head of Telenor Digital Services.

To get Facebook via USSD, Telenor subscribers simply dial *325# or *fbk# to start. A username and password is required. Once logged on, the user is presented with a menu of Facebook options: browse newsfeed, update status, post on walls, view friend requests, send friend request, send messages and view notifications. Telenor's Indian operator, Uninor, rolled out a beta version of Facebook by Fonetwish in September this year, charging Rs20 per month ($0.39/mo) for unlimited access.

""Our platform, Facebook by Fonetwish, gives people the opportunity to connect to a social network, often for the first time ever on their mobile-phones. This opens up new business opportunities for Telenor as a mobile operator, allowing them to provide an Internet service to a new group of people who do not actually have access to the Internet,"" said Sumesh Menon, Co-Founder & CEO, U2opia Mobile.

Starting in 2013, Telenor plans to expand their partnership with Wikimedia, making Wikipedia via USSD available for customers as well. Telenor and Wikimedia Foundation first announced their collaboration in February 2012 to bring Wikipedia to Telenor customers at absolutely no cost (for data usage).

""We are now entering a phase in which we can give all of our customers, regardless of their phone, subscription, connection, etc. a means to engage and connect with friends and family via Facebook, as well as access to a vast pool of knowledge on Wikipedia. This is innovation at its best and a true step towards greater digital inclusion in our markets,"" said Spilling.
25/10/2012 07:38
Energy management and FPGA innovations to be showcased by CC-Link at SPS/IPC/Drives Fair
Major advances in open industrial communications will greet visitors to the CLPA (CC-Link Partners Association) booth, Hall 6 Number 122, at the SPS/IPC/Drives Fair. These will include a new Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) solution and the launch of CC-Link Energy.

There will also be details of the Gateway to China business development program and displays showing how CC-Link is being used in vertical industries such as food and beverage, consumer packaged goods and water.

CC-Link, one of the world’s leading open network technologies, which now execeeds 1700 member companies, allows field devices from many different manufacturers to be integrated onto the same control network and to communicate freely. Organisations wanting to make CC-Link compatible products or to use CC-Link as a control solution can join the CLPA, as can relevant researchers and academics., Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) are integrated circuits that can be configured by users ‘in the field’, rather than during their manufacture. This allows bespoke and customized solutions to be easily realized. Device manufacturers will be able to use them for short production runs, allowing them to be more flexible in addressing the changing needs of their markets.

John Browett, General Manager CLPA Europe, says: “FPGA could be a game changer in industrial communications. It opens up many new possibilities and gives users considerable power over their own destiny.”

He is similarly enthusiastic for CC-Link Energy, noting that with energy prices rising most organizations consider energy management to be a key concern, “A modern energy management system collects data from every point of usage, so a communications network is vital. CC-Link Energy does this very efficiently and aids converting the raw data into clear concise reports.CC-Link’s ability to automatically reconfigure its network is also very useful when energy managers adapt or update their equipment.”

The Gateway to China program is always a crowd pleaser at fairs such as SPS/IPC. CC-Link was developed in Asia and is by far the most popular open industrial communications network in region. The program leverages this by offering business support services, such as market research, personal introductions, in-country advertising and promotion and technical and commercial support through over 20 locations.

“This year we are also demonstrating our support for vertical industry sectors,” says Browett, “showing how CC-Link can benefits different areas within a given industry. One of the main benefits of CC-Link is the easy integration of networks and the data sharing this engenders.”

The SPS/IPC/Drives fair is one of the world’s leading fairs for automation and will run from Tuesday 27th November – Thursday 29th November 2012 in Nuremburg, Germany.

Concludes Browett, “SPS is possibly the most important event on the European calendar for us. We have seen a consistent rise in the number of visitors to our booth each year. This shows us that the interest in what CC-Link can offer is continuing to rise. So we make an open invitation to any user who needs a completely reliable, high productivity open network solution for their machine or system to come and spend some time with us, so they too can see what we can offer.”
12/10/2012 09:06
SATO and CSD announce strategic alliance
SATO, a leading supplier of solutions for automatic identification and data capture, and CSD, a software specialist, have agreed to future collaborations in the transport and logistics sector. The aim is to merge various products from the two companies in order to offer customers integrated solutions.

CSD, with headquarters in Bad Düben, Germany and branches in Weßling near Munich and Arlesheim near Basel, is an established software consulting and outsourcing service provider specialising in online business, online security and client/server solutions. TransWareOne® client/server software from CSD Logistik Software is a powerful tool for an end-to-end order handling for logistics services. Freight forwarders, carriers, shippers and the manufacturing industry use TransWareOne to not only automate standard functions, such as generating quotations, capturing order data, dispatching and billing, but also to manage their equipment, implement document management and optimise fully automatic lorry shipments.

SATO offers a full spectrum of labelling and tracking solutions for the transport and logistics industry and supports customers in all phases from consulting and specification to design and implementation. In this regard high speed and the minimisation of potential sources of errors are important factors. For example, user-friendly thermal barcode printers from SATO deliver labels with good text legibility and persistently accurate barcode markings. Particularly in combination with automated high-speed systems, this enables fast identification, precise sorting and effective tracking at every stage of the shipping and delivery process. Mobile printers enable printing on demand, so that the right labels can be printed and affixed locally, such as during order picking in a stockroom.

“We see considerable potential from our ability to cooperate, share ideas and jointly develop comprehensive solutions, including both hardware and software, in the interest of our customers"", commented Detlev Müller, General Manager SATO Germany in Raunheim. “CSD has an established position as a competent software partner for companies in the central European market and has been successfully serving the transport and logistics sector for many years. We are pleased with the collaboration and the opportunity to offer our customers additional capabilities and a broader range of solutions.""