News in brief

On the move at HP and Sun

Norman McCann has been appointed managing director of Hewlett-Packard Australasia. McCann joins HP from his current advisory positions on the federal government's Industry Research and Development Board's IT&T committee, and the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation council's IT&C Research and Development skills working group. Meanwhile, at Sun Microsystems, managing director Russell Bate has moved to the position of vice president product sales operations for the Asia-Pacific. James Hassell will be the new managing director Australasia, promoted from his position as Sun's UK channels director.

Telstra helps Beijing group

Telstra has offered to assist Beijing in its telecommunications preparations to win the 2008 Olympic Games. Telstra and the Beijing Bid Committee have formed an initial, six-month joint study group to exchange information and to prepare the telecommunications component of China's bid to the International Olympics Committee (IOC). Mayor of Beijing, Liu Qi met with Telstra chairman Bob Mansfield in China last week as a follow-up to discussions held between both parties in Sydney during the 2000 Olympic Games.

Feds fund incubator in WA

The federal government has opened its first IT incubator in Western Australia. Entrepreneurs in Residence (EiR), funded by the government's BITS (Building for Information Technology Strengths) program, will provide seed capital, management expertise, accommodation and mentoring to start-up companies in the Bentley Technology Precinct and East Perth.

CSC Australia slashes 200 jobs

CSC Australia has cut its workforce by 200. The company acquired BHP IT earlier this year and gained 2000 employees as part of the deal. In a prepared statement CSC said: "In the interest of its customers and shareholders, CSC has increased efficiencies and accountability across the organisation, as well as refocused some of its delivery units closer to the customer".

ACT govt enrols Cisco

The ACT government has included courseware developed by Cisco Systems for its Networking Academy program in its senior secondary college curriculum. From the first term next year seven senior secondary colleges and one private school in the ACT will establish Networking Academies and teach advanced computer networking to years 11 and 12 using Cisco's Web-enabled study materials.

Access1 acquires Didasko

Access1 has announced the acquisition of Australian vocational training developer, Didasko Software. Under the agreement Access1 will purchase all shares in the privately owned company for a combination of shares and cash and will issue 50 million new shares plus pay $1.13 million cash over the next 18 months to acquire 100 per cent of Didasko. These shares will be escrowed for a period of two years and 20 million shares will be cancelled if substantial revenue and profit targets for the 2001 and 2002 years do not exceed $20 million and the associated profit (EBITDA) does not exceed $4 million, provided Access1 has traded cash flow neutral for at least one quarter in the next six .

Security toolkit for mobiles

Baltimore Technologies has launched a digital signature toolkit for mobile devices. KeyTools Telepathy m-Sign provides wireless developers with the technology required to develop first-to-market secure mobile applications enabling transactions on phones and personal digital assistants. It extends Baltimore's e-security product range to mobile devices via digital signatures and their associated keys, certificates and cryptographic engines within the WIM (Wireless Identity Module).

New MD for CRM player

E.piphany has announced a new managing director as it gears up its operations in the Asia/Pacific region. Chris Ciauri, former vice president and general manager for the company in Latin America, now heads up the Australia and New Zealand arm of the Melbourne-based operations. Ciauri will be based at the new North Sydney office, with additional offices opening in Singapore and Hong Kong.

• Bookmark this page
• Share this article
  •  
  • facebook
  • slashdot
  • digg
  • Reddit
  • stumbleupon
  • linkedin
  • twitter
• Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
• Follow Computerworld on twitter

• Share
  Share this article

  •  google+
  • facebookfacebook
  • slashdotslashdot
  • diggdigg
  • RedditReddit
  • stumbleuponstumbleupon
  • linkedinlinkedin
  • twittertwitter
• print
• email
• Bookmark