InfoTextX

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the January issue of InfoTextX – the e-newsletter from the Knowledge Business Centre at InfoLab21, keeping you informed about developments inside InfoLab21 and other news which we hope will be of interest to you. To subscribe or contribute news items to InfoTextX and our website, please contact the editor – Sarah Maginness.

Join IT! New Associate Company Profiles

Here are the latest companies to submit their profile online to our Associate Company Scheme section of the website and take advantage of the eMarketing benefits of having a weblink from the InfoLab21 site:

Creative Imagineers

Creative Imagineers is a multimedia production company specialising in high quality video production. The company offers a complete one-stop-shop service from scripting and shooting to post-production and DVD authoring for training, sales, demonstration, product promotional films and Video News Releases.

T & J Photographic

A long Established (1981), studio based Professional Photographers. Husband and wife team. David Thexton holds the Licentatiteship with the Master Photographers Association and the British Institute for Professional Photographers. Wedding, Portrait, Commercial and Industrial, Legal/Site Work.

2008 ICT Cluster Meetings Begin Tonight

This year's ICT Cluster meetings will begin with a "get to know your cluster" event for the Lancaster Cluster group tonight (Wednesday 16 January 2008 5.30-7.30pm). The meeting will be held at Savant Limited at Dalton Hall Business Centre, Burton-in-Kendal.

The next Blackpool and Fylde ICT Cluster meeting will be on Wednesday 30 January 2008 and West Lancs will be on Wednesday 13 February 2008. More details will soon be available on our website. For more information about the 5 regional ICT Cluster Groups please follow the link below.

Graduate Academy: New Case Studies

To see how businesses have already benefited from support from the InfoLab21 Graduate Academy (IGA) you can read some more mini case studies on our website. They show just some of the examples of assistance already given to eligible businesses in the region including expert technical advice, secure networking and an online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database. If your business has received assistance from the IGA and you wish to discuss having a similar case study please contact Sarah Maginness.

Firefly Lights Up City Centre

Over the Christmas period you may have noticed some fairy lights with a difference at CityLab in Dalton Square, Lancaster. The Glass Fronted building was chosen to showcase one of the latest innovations to come out of InfoLab21 - Project Firefly.

How 'The Strange' Becomes 'The Ordinary

A workshop on 'Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies' has been held at Melbourne University. The workshop, organised by Lancaster University researchers Connor Graham and Dr. Mark Rouncefield (Microsoft European Research Fellow) was sponsored by Microsoft and was unusual in that, instead of looking at strange and new technology, it looked at how technology has become part of our daily lives.

Let Your Business Benefit From an E-Business Project

Deadline for project proposals: February 8, 2008

The Lancaster Masters in E-Business & Innovation (EBIN) is a unique multidisciplinary programme that provides students with the management, entrepreneurial and ICT knowledge required for managing enterprises driven by innovations in e-business. We are seeking proposals for dissertation projects that can be undertaken by students during summer 2008.

Please use the proposal template. Send your proposal outline to:
Dr. Gerd Kortuem
Programme Director E-Business & Innovation
Email: kortuem@comp.lancs.ac.uk
Phone: 01524 510324

Network With North West's Premier Start Up Community

17 January 2008

NW Start Up 2.0 is the North West's premier event for software entrepreneurs, investment community, deal makers and anyone else who might be interested in software startups to meet under one roof in an informal setting. This event will be at KPMG Manchester for an evening of conversation and potential deal making.

NW Start Up Success For Ahoy!There Ltd

After seeing the last NW Start Up event advertised in November's InfoTextX, Ahoy There Ltd, an associate company of InfoLab21, went along to pitch to an audience of fellow technologists, entrepreneurs, start-up companies and investors. They kindly provided us with some feedback which you can read by following the link below.

Action Learning Is Therapy For Business Leaders

Owner-managers can feel as isolated as Everest explorers when it comes to making big business decisions, according to academics at Lancaster University Management School (LUMS). To address that isolation, LUMS has launched an Action Learning programme for owner-managers of small businesses.

Get Inside The Mind Of A Hacker

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) 4-8 February £2000.00

For IT Security professionals. This 5-day course differs from most security courses in that it teaches how to defend network & systems against hacking by studying in depth at how hackers work. Rather than focussing on security audits the course gives plenty of hands-on experience of attacking systems. By immersing the delegates in the tools and tricks of the “hacking” trade, they learn how to secure their systems & networks against them.

For further information and details of more courses go to the link below or call 01524 510425/7.

Speed Networking Event - Enterprising West Lancashire

31st January 2008 6-8pm, The Wrightington Hotel and County Club

Dinner will be included in this FREE networking event. The event includes: Speed networking - 2 minutes to 'pitch' to other attendees and an opportunity to pitch to the whole audience. If you wish to attend this event or find out more, please email karen.kerrigan@westlancsdc.gov.uk or call on 01695 712642 no later than Thursday 24th January 2008.