In Short

A round-up of other technology stories in brief

Business spam triples in three years

Spam sent to Irish businesses has more than tripled over the past three years, according to hosting company IE Internet.

Almost half of all e-mails sent to Irish businesses in June were spam, down on the previous month, but consistent with the ongoing trend, the group said. It also pointed out that the rate of virus-infected e-mails sent to Irish businesses in June remains persistently high at 16.5 per cent.

Ken O'Driscoll, chief technical officer at IE Internet, urged companies to install a spam filter to block unsolicited e-mails and save staff time.

Magico wins web contracts

Magico, a Co Clare-based software and development company, has won four contracts worth over €105,000 to develop websites and e-commerce solutions for companies including Lily O'Briens Chocolates and the Morgan and Beacon hotels.

Software group doubles staff

Irish software engineering research centre Lero is to double its staff in a bid to take advantage of the increased demand for software research in the automotive industry.

The group employs 22 staff at four of the country's universities and plans to take on seven post-doctoral researchers and 16 graduate students. Software research in the automotive industry is expected to be worth up to €133 billion by 2015.

NI tech firm in UK schools deal

Northgate Information Solutions, a Northern Irish group that specialises in education ICT packages, has agreed an £8.9 million (€12.9 million) partnership with Bristol City Council in the UK to raise standards in schools through technology.