In Short

A round-up of the day's business technology news

Research in Motion looks for new staff

CANADIAN FIRM Research in Motion (RIM) is in Dublin this week as part of a European tour to recruit technical staff willing to relocate to the Canadian city of Waterloo.

RIM, maker of the popular Blackberry mobile e-mail device, held an open day today and yesterday at the Jury's Croke Park Hotel in Dublin. The vacancies are on its reliability team, which tests the quality of its hardware and software.

Generous relocation packages are on offer, including a paid-for home finding trip, relocation allowance, immigration support and tax advice.

Google sees advantage online

Almost 200 Google customers and advertising agencies who gathered in Dublin this week for the internet giant's advertising summit heard that companies that exploit their online presence will be best positioned to take advantage of the upturn when it comes.

"We're not saying that online will buck the trend, but there is a lot of value for those who recognise the opportunities now," said Ronan Harris, director of online sales and operations at Google. Harris said outperforming companies do even more during a downturn because they invest and look for opportunities in the market, citing Ryanair's decision to invest in its fleet post-9/11.

AirSpeed wins HEA broadband contract

AirSpeed Telecom has won a contract understood to be worth about €1 million to facilitate the extension of the Higher Education Authority's (HEA) broadband network to the Galway and Donegal Gaeltacht regions. The three-year contract is part of HEAnet's National Backbone Extension Programme and will see AirSpeed provide high speed network services of up to 300Mbs using its wireless radio transmission network.

HEAnet, the national education and research network, provides internet services to educational institutions nationwide. The move means that HEAnet clients such as NUI Galway and Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology will have high capacity interconnections to their off-campus locations in areas such as Carraroe, Inverin, Carna, Castlebar and Letterfrack.

Consumer tech pressure on bosses

Corporate IT managers are under increasing pressure to accommodate consumer technologies, such as MP3 players, instant messaging and voice-over IP (VoIP), according to new research from enterprise software firm Quest. Its survey of 200 IT managers in the UK found that 70 per cent felt the prevalence of consumer technology was creating headaches for their business.

Solaris applies for European licence

Solaris Mobile, the Dublin-based joint venture between satellite communications providers Eutelsat and SES Astra, has confirmed that it has submitted an application for a pan-European licence to provide mobile broadband services via satellite. The European Commission, which is to award a European-wide telecommunications licence for the first time, will allow successful bidders to provide services such as mobile TV, high-speed broadband and disaster recovery, via satellite.

Passed-on devices retain information

A significant number of hand-held communication devices that are bought second-hand still contain sensitive company and personal information, according to new research from BT, the University of Glamorgan in Wales and Edith Cowan University in Australia. The survey of more than 160 used gadgets found a range of information, including salary details, financial company data and bank account details.