InfoTextX

Welcome to the June 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 - at s.maginness@lancaster.ac.uk.

Join IT! New Associate Company Profiles

Here is the latest company to join InfoLab21's Associate Company Scheme and have a web profile on our website. This section of the website provides Associate Companies with the opportunity to include a 120 word profile about their company, including corporate logos and a link to their site. This should provide E-Marketing benefits due to the prominence of the InfoLab21 site on the web. We would value your contributions. Associate Companies can fill in their details online.

Find out more about our Join IT opportunities and how you can join with InfoLab21 to take your technology further.

The Baby Maze

The Baby Maze is an online guide for parents-to-be and families with young children based in the Lancaster and Morecambe area. Featuring details of antenatal classes, baby and toddler groups, child-friendly places to visit, local childcare options, a shopping directory and much more, www.babymaze.co.uk is a one-stop website for all things baby-related.

InfoLab21 Prepares For Innovation Exchange Event

Overviews of some of the projects to be featured at InfoLb21's next Technology Matters Event - The Innovation Exchange, on June 14th, are now available to view on our website. The Innovation Exchange will showcase research in marketable new technology from the Computing and Communication Systems departments, and the Knowledge Business Centre. Entrepreneurs and Technology Businesses from accross the region have been invited to come and meet the researchers and discuss possibilities of collaboration.

InfoLab21 Presents Big Chip Award for 'Best From Lancashire'

InfoLab21 sponsored the 2007 Big Chip Awards held in Manchester on 24 May. The Big Chip Awards are for North West companies excelling in the use of IT and digital technology.

Steve Riches, Director of InfoLab21 presented the Best From Lancashire award to iknow-uk.

InfoLab21 Students Represent UK at International Conference

Students from InfoLab21 demonstrated their LocoBlog service and MobSlinger game at the annual Series 60 Summit in Madrid alongside the Nokia Research Centre and other leading international mobile applications developers.

InfoLab21 has established an excellent international reputation for teaching and developing innovative mobile applications and Lancaster University was the only British University to be invited and InfoLab21 students were the only student demonstrating.

Funding Boost For Carnforth Businesses

Over £100,000 of funding is to be made available for small to medium businesses in the Carnforth area to encourage expansion. The funding can help to fund capital and revenue expenditure such as new machinery or equipment, new or upgraded business premises, staff training, advertising, websites and much more.

Small and medium sized enterprises within Carnforth's ten parishes are eligible for the grants. The fund is open now and will accept new applications until 31 August 2007.

'Locomash' Mobile Technology At Wray Festival

Locomash, a mobile mass observation system developed by InfoLab21, was used at the 2007 Wray Scarecrow Festival for the first time. People at the event were given mobile camera phones and asked to take pictures of the event, which are displayed on the website in specific zones.

InfoLab21 Hosts Nokia Innovation Competition

The finals of the UK leg of the Nokia Innovation Competition have been held at InfoLab21, hosted by Forum Nokia Champion, Dr. Reuben Edwards of InfoLab21. The six finalists were invited to present their applications/ideas to the judging panel. The competition was designed to encourage entrants who could develop innovative applications, as well as to generate interest in the mobile developers of the future.

Lancaster University Hosts National Competition for Chinese Entrepreneurs

Teams of young Chinese entrepreneurs recently competed in the semi-final of a 'Dragon's Den' style enterprise competition to boost UK-China business collaboration. The competition was designed to inspire and generate new high-growth businesses and to encourage entrepreneurial talent amongst Chinese students and scholars.

InfoLab21 Holds First Cross-Discipline Wireless Sensor Networks Event

SensorNet 2007 brought together over 65 regional experts in wireless sensor networks (WSN) from research & industry to share ideas, demonstrate commercial applications of WSN and foster collaboration. Keynote speaker was Prof. Kevin Warwick, Professor of Cybernetics, Reading University, internationally renowned for implanting a device into his arm in order to link his nervous system directly to a computer.

Other presenters included InfoLab21 Associate Savant Enterprises Ltd , InfoLab21 spin out company Big Dog Interactive and Dr. Malcolm Joyce, Engineering Department who explained WSN are being used to develop more effective treatments for cancer.

E-Collaboration Software Demonstration Workshop for Enterprises

Tuesday 3rd July 2007, 1330-1600
Cafe21, InfoLab21

The Lancaster Centre for e-Science, InfoLab21 and Lancaster University Management School would like to invite the decision makers of enterprises to participate in a software demonstration and discussion on the role of web based e-collaboration software in business.

There will be a demonstration of a sample of the technologies that are presently in development followed by the opportunity to provide a critical eye as to the usefulness of the applications both within your enterprise but importantly also, between enterprises.  With your views and collaboration we can begin to seek government development funds that would make the deployment of web based software a reality for small and medium sized enterprises in the UK.

Training: ICT Focus Courses June & July

MS2779/2780 SQL Server Accelerated SQL Server 2005 : (6 days in 5) 25 - 29 June £785.00
Implementing a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database with Maintaining a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database
The five-day workshop teaches individuals how to use and maintain SQL Server 2005 product features and tools related to maintaining a database.

MS2400 Implementing and Managing Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 (5 days) 9-13 July - special offer for associated Infolab companies £675.00
This course provides students with the knowledge and skills required to update and support a reliable, secure messaging infrastructure and is aimed at those working in a small-medium sized business environment.. There's a significant amount of hands-on practices, discussions, and assessments that assist students in becoming proficient in the skills that are needed to update and support Exchange Server 2003.

Latest Business Support Opportunites From LU Management School

fresh*

Marketing Intensive 2 day Workshop This will be held at Lancaster University's Leadership Centre on the 10th and 11th July. It is free for Objective 2 ERDF fully eligible companies only and will cover all the topics that appear on the extremely popular fresh* marketing programme.
   

LEAD

We are currently recruiting for the next cohort of LEAD, a highly successful programme designed for SME owner-managers to increase their leadership abilities. Along with improving leadership skills the programme has also helped participants achieve an average increase in annual turnover of £200,000.
Preview days will be taking place on 12th June and 3rd July, from 9.30 - 2.00pm.

University Prizes for InfoLab21 Staff

Three of this year's University prizes have gone to InfoLab21 staff.

Dr. Reuben Edwards & Dr. Paul Coulton, of the Communication Systems department have been awarded a prize for commercialisation. Dr. Reuben Edwards has also won a Teaching prize and Dr. Jim Wild, also of the Communication Systems department, has won the prize for Media & Communication.