Manchester wins £500k KT challenge prize

The University of Manchester has emerged from fierce competition as the winner of the £500k science and engineering prize of the Dragon’s Den-style contest at the inaugural Knowledge Transfer (KT) Challenge in London, Tuesday.

It would be recalled that the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) launched the KT Challenge earlier this year to celebrate outstanding examples of knowledge transfer from the academic world into industry and the public sector, and also to encourage further innovation and development in this field, presently by United Kingdom-based institutions.

The entry from the University's Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences made the five-strong shortlist after detailing the success of Transitive Ltd, which was founded in 2000 by long-standing Computer Sciences lecturer, Alasdair Rawsthorne, according to Natasha Richardson of EPSRC.

Transitive Limited, a spin-off company, develops computer chip technology that makes life easier for people around the world.

The technology allows software designed for one type of processor or Operating System (OS) to run on a different type of processor or OS, thus removing a problem that traditionally limiting the range of software that could be utilised by hardware.

The company's QuickTransit family of products has enables Apple to adapt its entire Macintosh product line for Intel processors in an extremely short period of time.

Vice-President and Dean, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at The University of Manchester, Prof. John Perkins, described the prize as a fantastic achievement and great news for the entire university community.

"I would like to pay tribute to the team who worked so hard on the proposal and the final presentation to the judges. If the UK is to compete effectively in the global marketplace, we need to increase our knowledge transfer and collaboration to ensure innovative and novel research is put into practice,” Prof. Perkins said.

He stressed that the university, has adopted a proactive approach to ensure better knowledge transfer into many areas of industry and the injection of funding through the prize will allow the institute to build upon the firm foundations already laid and build new bridges between the institute and business sector.

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling, while congratulating the Manchester team and the four runners up, said "The high calibre of the five finalists shows the tremendous strength of UK research in engineering and the physical sciences. The UK has a rich history in innovation and discovery in these areas and it's great to see so many researchers continuing this trend.”

For research to be truly useful, Darling said, “it needs to be turned into the products and services that we will need in the future - these awards will support this process. The winners have a proven track record in taking their research all the way through to developing viable businesses, which is exactly the kind of work we want to encourage.”

The secretary further said that boosting innovation is key to helping to create the products and services to benefit the economy and society in years to come.After being invited down to London, the University of Manchester team had to present their proposal to a panel of industry experts and convince them they were offering the best investment for the prize money.

They also had to show the panel they have innovative ideas for undertaking future knowledge transfer activity.

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3 African states to benefit from reversing brain drain project

Three African countries of Ghana, Senegal and Zimbabwe are to benefit from the latest initiative launched by the United States-based Hewlett Packard (HP) and the United Nations Education and Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The new project code named, “Piloting Solutions for Reversing Brain Drain into Brain Gain for Africa” is aimed at assisting in reducing brain drain on the continent through provision of grid computing technology to universities, beginning with the trio of Ghana, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

Public Relations Manager at the Europe, Middle East and African office of Corporate Affairs & Human Resources, Hewlett-Packard Company, Claudia Martens, said that the project would help to improve scientific research by establishing new interconnectivity systems in university laboratories and research centres in Ghana, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

Martens also said that this would encourage students and faculties to stay in the region, just as the project would also aim at connecting scientists to international colleagues and the diaspora, research networks and funding opportunities.

At the launch held in Paris, Wednesday, were Zimbabwean Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, I.S.G. Mudenge, joined by UNESCO representatives from Senegal and Ghana, as well as Peter Smith, Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Education, and Bernard Meric, Senior Vice President External Affairs of HP for Europe, Middle East and Africa, to present the project and discuss how to move it forward.

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PIR protects .org domain name holders

The Virginia-based Public Interest Registry (PIR) has introduced a campaign to assist dot org (.org) top-level domain name holders to protect them.

PIR is a not for profit corporation formed by the by the Internet Society (ISOC) to manage the .org top-level domain in a manner that supports the continuous evolution of the Internet as a research, education and communications infrastructure.

The campaign PIR said is to educate and empower the non-commercial community on how to most effectively utilize the Internet.

Chief executive of PIR, Mr. Edward G. Viltz while announcing this development, said it is an international public awareness campaign aimed at protecting .org domain name holders from the potentially damaging consequences of allowing their domain names to expire.

The campaign, labelled "protectyour.org: Preserving the Value of Your .ORG Domain", he said, seeks to educate registrants about the value of .ORG domains, even those that are not currently being used as web sites.

“It offers steps for locating, managing, consolidating, and securing domain names in order to reduce the potential for problems that may occur when domain names lapse either intentionally or because the registrant was unaware that a name had expired,” PIR said.

In a letter to the Security and Stability Advisory Committee Liaison at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization currently overseeing the administration of the Internet’s domain names system globally, Mr. Viltz stated the concern of PIR over management of .org domain names.

PIR also stated that the “growing practice of selecting, testing, and keeping or rejecting expired domain names based on the names' monetary value and the subsequent use of those names in a manner that is contradictory to the original registrant's or organization's mission.”

Mr. Viltz equally cited the case of a rape counselling center's web site, which, following expiration and deletion of the site's domain name, was registered by another registrant and relaunched with a similar design that featured links to subscription-based pornographic pages.

"There are any number of unintended consequences that can result from allowing domain names to expire—in terms of both an organization's public image and the relationships the organization has established with its audience," Viltz said, stressing, "We believe the impact of this phenomenon on the .ORG community can be even more dire because of the level of trust that exists between non-profit, non-commercial, and charitable organizations—which tend to use .ORG domain names to convey their non-commercial status—and their members and constituents."

PIR is working in partnership with organizations that serve the needs of non-profit and non-commercial enterprises in order to spread the campaign's message to .ORG domain name holders around the world, just as a web site dedicated to the campaign and titled www.protectyour.ORG is up and running, providing information for .ORG domain name holders and registrars.

In addition, a pamphlet titled Protectyour.org: 5 Simple Steps for Protecting Your .ORG Domain Names has recently been published.

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EC endorses Nokia Siemens Networks

The Nokia and Siemens team-up of their networks which began over five months ago, has received the endorsement of the European Commission (EC) for a go-ahead.

It would be recalled that on June 19, this year, Nokia and Siemens announced the plans to combine Nokia’s Networks business group and Siemens’ carrier-related operations for fixed and mobile networks into a new company to be known as Nokia Siemens Networks.

Confirming this development, the chief executive officer designate of Nokia Siemens Networks, Mr. Simon Beresford-Wylie, described it as a welcome development, stressing that it is a remarkable step in putting the new company on its foots.

While assessing the deal, the EC said the transaction would not restrict effective competition in the relevant markets of mobile and fixed telecom networks and services.

Elated Mr. Beresford-Wylie, also said that the endorsement paves the way for the full regulatory approval and therefore good news for customers.

“We believe this decision by the European Commission is a key milestone in obtaining all the relevant approvals for the transaction. While there are notifications still pending in some countries, based on this decision we are optimistic that the merger can be closed within the timetable anticipated by both parties,” he asserted.

He equally pointed out that the benefits and strengths of the new company would be anchored on scale and broad product portfolio, which is necessary to compete globally and create value for shareholders.

“We will be well-positioned to help our customers meet the challenges of lowering costs, growing revenue, and seizing the opportunities presented by converging technology," he said.

Emphasising that the new company, with 2005 calendar year pro forma revenues of EUR 15.8 billion, is uniquely positioned to deliver compelling customer benefits with a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for the converging telecommunications market.

It is expected that the Nokia Siemens Networks will take off operationally by January next year.

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Yunus to address Telecom World @ Hong Kong

The 2006 Nobel peace prize laureate and founder, Grameen Bank, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, has been slated to address participants at the opening session of the International Telecomunication Union (ITU) organised Telecom World-06, which takes place in Hong Kong early next month.

ITU said that the event scheduled for December 3, would afford Prof. Yunus the opportunity to make relevant industry-based pronouncements.

A press statement from ITU, said that as one of the inspirational leaders and early supporters of ITU's Connect the World initiative, Prof. Yunus is expected to make proclamations on some milestones in the programme which aims at bridging the digital divide and "connect the unconnected by 2015".

With the theme, "Living the Digital World", Telecom World-06, ITU said the subject matter will be thoroughly explored at the weeklong event.

Earlier this year when receiving the ITU World Information Society Award, Prof. Yunus had called on the global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies to work with governments, non-governmental and international organizations to develop technology and business models to transform ICT towards an income generating tool by the populace, mostly the poor.

"I got interested in information and communication technology because I saw this as a powerful way to help poor people, particularly poor women, out of poverty, very fast," Yunus said, stressing that he also saw how micro credit could bridge the gap between the poor and ICT.

According to him, what is needed at the moment is a business model where ICT could become an income-generating activity to the poor.

At the forthcoming opening ceremony, the out-going Secretary-General of ITU, Mr Yoshio Utsumi, will introduce Prof. Yunus to the assembly of industry leaders, government officials and the media.

Mr. Utsumi also said that that Telecom World would explore the concept of shared digital resources for access to the vast wealth of the world's knowledge, culture, education and learning, while Prof. Yunus offers the first-hand knowledge of the achievements made through technology in developing countries.

“We congratulate him on his award from the Nobel Foundation and we are delighted that he will join us on stage at ITU Telecom World," Utsumi said.

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MTN partners Lady Mechanic on training for girls

MTN Foundation, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of the MTN Nigeria, has entered into partnership with a non-profit organisation, the Lady Mechanic Initiative, to train girls on the job.

Executive Director, MTN Foundation Mrs Amina Oyagbola, disclosed this and said that MTN is supporting the Lady Mechanic Initiative financially to facilitate free vocational skills in auto care to young Nigerian women.

The project, a collaboration of MTN Foundation and chief executive, Sandex Autocare, Mrs Sandra Aguebor, is popularly known as “Lady Mechanic,” began recently with a two-day road show across Lagos, was to sensitize the target beneficiaries of the offer, even as its expected turn-out about 50 capable lady mechanics, refrigerator, pumping machine and generator technicians, plumbers and sundry artisans.

Beneficiaries, Mrs Oyagbola said, would be granted micro credits to open their own workshops or given employment by reputable autocare centres on completion of their training.

The collaboration, described as a veritable vehicle designed to rehabilitate and empower deprived and disadvantaged young women by equipping them with skills traditionally perceived as the men’s affair.

Put succinctly, the Lady Mechanic Initiative is targeted at school dropouts and other young women involved in illicit trades as well as those who have either been abused or lost hope for a better life or career.

According to Mrs Oyagbola, also disclosed that the project has three stages, namely community outreach, induction, training and franchise set-up.

“We are concerned about society’s most vulnerable; people who have been denied the luxury of hope. The MTN Foundation wants to re-assure them that it is not over yet for them as long as they are willing to learn a trade. The Foundation is prepared to assist them in getting a career,” she said.

Emphasising that beneficiaries of the programme have an option to decide the length of time of their apprenticeship.

“In the first year, beneficiaries shall learn about auto servicing, lubrication and brake systems.
Following this, they can be employed in filling stations to service cars. In the second year, they will be taught vehicle suspension and diagnostics after which they can be employed in auto care garages. Then in the third year, beneficiaries will have the opportunity to set up a micro business of their own which will be a franchise of the Lady Mechanic Initiative,” Oyagbola explained.

In her remarks, the Lady Mechanic, Mrs Aguebor, said the idea was to reach out to young women in densely populated parts of Lagos and demonstrate to them that they could earn an honest and profitable living as mechanics and technicians.

“The Lady Mechanic Initiative and MTN Foundation are determined to restore hope in the hopeless. I am a lady mechanic but my job has not taken the glamour away from me. That is what we want young Nigerian women to know. That they can be anything they want and still remain beautiful,” Aguebor said.

Successful applicants to the scheme will be trained at Peugeot Association of Nigeria, (PAN) Kaduna, General Motors, Lagos and several other pay-and-train centres in Lagos.

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Zambian wins science journalism grant

Zambian science journalist, Mr. Talent Ng'andwe, has been named the recipient of the first International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Science Development Network (SciDev.Net) Science Journalism Award worth CAD$60,000 (US$53,000) about , will allow Ng'andwe to work with the Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) for several months to develop his professional skills as a science journalist.

Marketing Manager at SciDev.Net, Jemima Tonks, informed our correspondent that dduring grant period he would spend time working both in the organisation's main office and reporting from the developing world.

Reacting to the grant, elated Ng’andwe expresses hope that he would be working among learned science journalists, declared, "I am delighted to receive the award” he said.

Mr. Ng’andwe also praised the organisers and partners of the grant, describing the grant as a means of bridging the gap in developing nations, especially on the African continent.

"This is a step in the right direction to help build the capacity of science journalists in developing countries," he asserted.

Director, SciDev.Net, Mr. David Dickson, equally expressed delight that Talent Ng'andwe was selected to receive the award, which will allow him to work directly with SciDev.Net news team for several months in the year 2007.

"He will be bringing to us his insights and personal experience developed through his work as a journalist in Zambia. In return, we will be able to provide him with an opportunity to develop his practical skills as a science journalist," he enlightened.

The award is one of four granted this year by IDRC and SciDev.Net, on an experimental basis. Applications were invited by SciDev.Net from regular contributors to the website.

Mr. Ng'andwe will be based at SciDev.Net in London, United Kingdom; two Francophone journalists will be based at Agence Science-Presse in Montreal, Canada; and a Canadian English-speaking journalist will be based at another institution. Each award will be valued at US$53,000 to cover living and travel expenses.

IDRC has created these awards to "foster a vibrant culture of science journalism" and to "promote a field-based understanding of developing countries' scientific realities".

The journalists will spend time in a number of developing countries and take part in the 5th World Conference of Science Journalists, taking place in Australia, in April 2007.

SciDev.Net looks forward to the lessons about science communication in developing countries that it will learn, and be able to share with its readers, through the award programme. IDRC is funding this new award through its training and awards programme while its being managed and administered by SciDev.Net.

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OOU students drive home with Glo Picanto cars

Two students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye in Ogun State, Sanya Adedamola Adeniyi and Ogunwomoju Omolara Omobola, drove home recently with Glo Picanto cars as winners in the telco’s Jumbo promotion, which offered Nigerians the opportunity of winning 180 cars in 180 days.

Adeniyi, 20, is a 100 level student of Basic Medical Sciences and Omobola, 23, students of English in the Arts Faculty of the school won Kia Picanto cars, along side Adepoju Nafisat Abiola who won a 5KVA generator as well as 11 others went home with N25, 000 cash prizes each.

Damola’s father, Mr. Omotayo Sanya who was at the presentation said he did not believe initially that his son won when he informed him of the development.

He, however, gave kudos to the management of Globacom for rescuing hundreds of Nigerians from the grips of poverty through the promotion and further prayed God to continued to lift the company up as it continues to lift poor Nigerians up, fulfilling their dreams.

Omolara was however short of words as she collected the keys to her car from Prof Kayode Ajayi, the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, who stood in for the Vice Chancellor, Prof Odutola Osilesi, she could only utter, “May God continue to bless the management of Globacom.”

Prof. Ajayi in his remark said that Globacom within its few years of existence had identified more with Nigerians than any other operator in the telecommunications market.

He also urged Gobacom to remain committed to the people, as they have availed it of the support, which has sustained the company since it began operations.

Earlier in his welcome address, Mr. Henry Okpe, Regional Manager, Lagos 4 at Globacom, reiterated the telco’s resolve to reward as many people as possible with the promo as well as empower Nigerians with its products and services.

He equally said Globacom decided to enlarge the scope of the promo to benefit students who constitute 30 per cent of its subscriber base.

“As long as you recharge up to #1000 before the draw date, we are assuring you that you are eligible to win in this expanded jumbo promo,” he said.

The promotion, which kicked off in March to appreciate Globacom’s subscribers costs a whopping N.5 billion and has drawn winners from the six geo-political zones of the country.

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ICT is a double-edged sword – NAS

National Security Adviser (NAS) to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Major General Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar (retd) has described the evolution of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as a double-edged sword.

He spoke at the opening session of the ICT capacity building workshop on “Law enforcement and national security in the digital economy,” held in Abuja.

Major-General Mukhtar said that it is not enough to simply acknowledge the double-edged nature of ICT, stressing that officers and men of security agencies in the country must work assiduously to remain viable at this age.

He explained that though ICT has successfully obliterated the fundamental basis upon which traditional law enforcement and security operations were predicated, “that is, the twin notions of ‘national jurisdiction’ and ‘physical presence’.”

ICT, he pointed out today, presented a better potential for increased technical for modern day law enforcement and security.

He also said at the workshop put together by the Nigerian Cybercrime Working Group (NCWG) with the support of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), that based on the aforementioned, law enforcement and security agencies, especially in the country should work diligently in order to secure lives and property in Nigeria and protect her territorial integrity.

“By addressing all the issues that are pertinent to the increasing interplay between ICT and law enforcement on the one hand; and ICT and national security on the other hand,” the NAS asserted.

He further highlighted some issues desiring for attention in the security sphere, including how to solve the problem of online identity, and identity of devices in the networked environment.

Mukhtar equally wondered on how security agencies should track, trace and investigate illegal activities carried out in digital media.

In addition, the NAS called for solution on how security agencies could prompt electronic attacks so as to stop same before it actually happen.

“What modalities have we adopted to ensure that electronic harms, when they occur, do not spread to unsuspected users,” he said.

Above all, the successful prosecution by way of linking individual offenders with their criminal online actions is of paramount.

“We know that without establishing such a link, we cannot be said to have apprehended anyone for the crime, neither can we even begin to think of drafting a criminal charge,” he declared.

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Africa shines @ ITU Radio Regulations Board election

African continent seems to have out-shined others at the just concluded International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations Board (RRB) election held in Antalya, Turkey at the on-going 17th ITU Plenipotentiary Conference.

This came with the winning of three seats at the RRB by African nation’s namely Nigeria, Morocco and Cameroon.

RRB is a part-time body comprising 12 individual experts representing the world's five regions, namely the Americas, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia, for a four-year term.

While Mr Shola Taylor of Nigeria was elected into the board alongside Moroccan Hassan Lebbadi with 154 votes respectively, Mr Aboubakar Zourmba of Cameroon scored 151 votes to emerge into the board.

Other nine members of the new board consists of Mr Mindaugas Zilinskas of Lithuania, 154 votes, Ms Martine Limodin of France, 151 votes, Ms Julie Zoller of United States with 122 votes, Mr Baiysh Nurmatov of Kyrgyzstan, 122 votes, Malaysian Ali Ebadi scored 117 votes, Pakistanian Shahzada Malik followed with 110 votes, Indian Mr P. K. Garg got 103 votes, Mr Robert Jones of Canada 94 votes and Mr Wladyslaw Moron of Poland 93 votes.

Speaking after his re-election into the board for another four years at the event attended by over 2,000 participants worldwide, Nigerian Shola Taylor, described it as a double victory.

He expressed appreciation to all those delegates that supported Nigeria during the preparation for the election and election proper as well as calling for their continuous support.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government had earlier nominated Mr. Taylor, who also is the chief executive, Kemilinks International and a leading international telecom expert to contest for re-election.

“It is a double victory for Nigeria given that Nigeria was also elected to the ITU Council with one of the highest votes polled,” he declared.

Emphasising that as for his re-election, “I really thank God and I am indeed very grateful to our President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Minister of Communications, Dr. Femi Anibaba, former Minister of Communications Chief Cornelius Adebayo, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications Alhaji Umar Aji, NCC Chief Executive Dr. Ernest Ndukwe and the Director of Technical Services Ministry of Communications Mrs Esther Gonda, for the confidence they have expressed in me by presenting my name, and for the excellent support given towards my campaign,” he said.

Mr. Taylor further said expressed gratefulness to the Nigerian Government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this wonderful gesture.

“I am also grateful to all the members of the Nigerian delegation to the conference and to my family for their extensive moral support. I can only continue to discharge my responsibility as the custodian of an international public trust and I look forward to working with my other colleagues on the Board to discharge my duties effectively,” he asserted.

It is the Board's job to approve the Rules of Procedure, which include technical criteria used by the Radiocommunication Bureau in the application of the Radio Regulations, to consider matters that could not be resolved by the application of the Radio Regulations or existing Rules of Procedure, to consider reports by the Bureau on investigation of cases of harmful interference, and to formulate recommendations for resolution of such interference, among others.

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