A pioneering new business centre in Hammersmith, west London is set to develop stronger ties with South Korea, making the UK the leading link in Europe for one of the world’s most techno-competent nations. The iPark incubator complex, set up by the Korea IT Industry Promotion Association (KIPA), will provide small and medium-sized Korean companies with a fully-serviced working environment from which to launch their European operations. Once established, companies will move out to larger premises, allowing new entrants to benefit from the support of the centre.
Four Korean companies are at present involved in the iPark project, covering areas such as multi-player internet and Wap games, data compression and transfer technology and software for website construction; this number is expected to grow quickly to at least ten. The centre is also expected to act as a focus for collaboration between UK and Korean high-tech companies. In early December Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt signed a memorandum of understanding with her Korean counterpart stating that the two countries would work together to develop and facilitate e-commerce.
In Northern Ireland, Northbrook Technology, a subsidiary of the Allstate Corporation of Chicago, has announced a $15.4 million expansion that represents one of the biggest ever software investments in the province. Allstate, one of the world’s largest property and casualty insurers, set up its Northern Ireland operation in Belfast in 1999. It already employs 250 people; the expansion will see a further 300 taken on in Belfast and 250 at a new centre in Londonderry. Northern Irish exporters meanwhile have banded together in a new internet database that provides an overview of the products and services they offer, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized companies. More than 800 companies are represented on the ‘cyber signpost’ which can be accessed at: www.idbni.co.uk/keyexport.
The R&D expertise of UK companies will be highlighted at CeBIT, the trade show for the high-technology industries which takes place in Hannover, Germany on 13-20 March 2002, in particular research that is at present developing the next generation of information and communication technology. All the UK’s regional and national development agencies will be supporting the UK@CeBIT initiative, and academics from 16 leading UK universities will deliver presentations on subjects ranging from new communications architectures to self-timed circuit techniques and hybrid semiconductors.
A large group of companies from the UK’s Computing Services and Software Association (CSSA) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) will also be attending the show. For more information, call Claire Nettley on +44 1275 850900.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment