A round up of other Innovation stores in brief...

IRISH COLLEGE TEAMS AIM FOR TECHNOLOGY PRIZES

PARIS:A MOBILE phone car parking solution and an algorithm to help convert diesel engines to run on vegetable oil have gained two Irish teams entry to the world's biggest university level technology competition in July. Microsoft's Imagine Cup final, which will be staged in Paris this year from July 3rd-8th, will have Irish teams competing for prizes for the second consecutive year. The theme for student entries for this year's sixth annual Imagine Cup is "imagine a world where technology enables a sustainable environment."

Following its first place win in the Irish national competition in Dublin in April, Sligo Institute of Technology's Team ParkIT will represent Ireland in the cup's centrepiece competition in software design.

The team will go up against other national finalists from countries all around the world to compete for a $15,000 top prize. The top three teams, plus three other teams chosen by a panel of venture capitalists and business specialists, will also get a Microsoft/BT Innovation Accelerator award that sees the teams travel to Silicon Valley.

There, they receive intensive coaching and workshop experience from Valley VCs and entrepreneurs to develop their business idea - which may be the same project they took to the Imagine Cup, or a fresh idea - into a real business proposal. The Imagine Cup also has many smaller competitions in other categories ranging from hardcore techie topics like algorithm design to more arts-oriented events like filmmaking.

Finalists for those categories are selected by online international competitions. Here, an Irish team has qualified as a finalist for the Embedded Development category. From NUI Maynooth, Team AcidRain (Aodhan Coffey, Brian Byrne, and Karl O'Dwyer) has developed what they call Voila - Vegetable Oil Algorithm - an algorithm that enables diesel engines to be converted to run on any plant-based fuel.

The two teams have big shoes to fill. Against all reasonable expectations for Ireland in the first year we participated in the Cup, two Irish teams last year reached the finals in Seoul, South Korea, and took home two of the top prizes.

In software design, a four-man team from NUI Maynooth won the Innovation Accelerator prize, after their project was deemed to have particularly innovative technology and commercialisation potential. The students - Cathal Coffey, Daniel Kelly, Mark Clerkin, and Eric McClean - also placed in the final shortlist of six teams out of 55 in the competition.

A second Irish team, Marouf Azad and Mohammed Al-Tahs from the Dublin Institute of Technology, took second place and a $4,000 prize in the Web Development category of the cup.

The emphasis on polished presentations for the judges - most of them technology industry executives and high level venture investors - keeps teams thinking about entrepreneurship as well as algorithms. KARLIN LILLINGTON

TAKING THE PAIN OUT OF THE CV GAME

DUBLIN:WRITING A CV can make most people squirm, but a new website is offering to take some of the pain out of selling yourself to potential employers.

Set up by Dublin-based marketing professional Ali Deegan and software designer Sinéad Nulty, the site (www.cvcafe.com) allows registered users build their own cv online for free through a series of templates and menus.

Deegan started the service by compiling cvs manually for clients, but hooked up with Nulty when they hit on the idea of an online automatic cv generator.

"It's aimed at everyone, from the student who is doing up a cv for the first time to people who are changing career and need to update their details," said Nulty.

She noted that many people are unaware that the accepted format of cvs has changed over recent years: "Industry now demands that you put your key skills upfront, saying why you are suitable for job," she said. "Your cv is now a marketing tool, and the best one you have."

Users can build up their cvs by entering and storing their details on the password-protected site. "You don't write your cv in a linear fashion and sometimes you may need to go away and think about certain sections for a few days and then come back to it," said Nulty.

So what's the catch for users who are getting a free cv? There is no catch, according to Nulty, who said the site would generate advertising revenue, and that they also hope to link in as a service with job agencies and schools. See www.cvcafe.com  CLAIRE O'CONNELL

NEW SCREENING SYSTEM FOR BABIES

DUBLIN:SOME CLEVER biochemical trickery means it will soon be easier to screen newborn babies for a range of genetic conditions that affect metabolism.

In many countries (including Ireland) newborns are routinely screened for inherited metabolic disorders using commercially available kits to test drops of their blood collected on to a card.

Enzolve Technologies, a spin-out company at University College Dublin, has now developed a one-stop NeoScreenPak kit that is more convenient, cheaper and faster than current offerings on the market, according to one of the company's directors and co-founders, Professor Paul C Engel.

The crucial difference lies in the enzymes they use to measure indicator molecules in the blood samples, explains Engel, who is professor of biochemistry at UCD. "Enzyme tests currently on the market involve two stages - an enzyme and a chemical - and this makes it much more complex," he says. "We carry out the two stages by using two enzymes, which work under the same conditions, meaning it is more convenient for the person carrying out the test."

The specific enzymes in each kit are produced in the lab and can be tweaked to improve performance, making the tests more cost-effective and sensitive, he adds.

The company, which is based at NovaUCD, will now start production of a commercial diagnostic kit to screen for phenylketonuria (PKU), and others will follow over the next 18 months to target maple syrup urine disease, homocystinuria and galactosaemia. Their ease of use makes them particularly attractive for healthcare workers in developing countries, notes Engel.

CLAIRE O'CONNELLCHINA PLANS ITS SUPERJUMBO

CHINA:CHINA HAS taken a leaf out of Ireland's book in the latest innovation in its domestic market by banning the use of free plastic bags.

Chinese people use three billion plastic bags a day, and one trillion plastic bags a year creates a lot of waste, and combating the country's environmental woes are part of the reason for the ban. Rising oil prices are also a factor - China consumes 37 million barrels of crude oil each year to manufacture the bags.

The main focus of the new anti-plastic bag laws are ultra-thin bags less than 0.025 millimetres thick, which are generally disposed of without a second thought and which litter the highways and byways of the country causing "white pollution".

People love their plastic bags, and it is often a real challenge to stop a shopkeeper from giving you a plastic bag. Shopkeepers also have to charge for carrier bags. Those found breaking the law face fines and could have their goods confiscated.

One Beijing shop was fined 10,000 yuan (€900) - the maximum fine - for what the Beijing Evening News described as the "secret use of ultra-thin plastic bags". At Jenny Lou's supermarket in Beijing, the owners took the initiative a few months back to charge for plastic bags, and cashiers say it has been a success, although manya big part o of the shop's clientele are Westerners. The ban has had a mixed start. Most successful have been the supermarkets and big department stores, where there have been reports of a 90 per cent drop in consumption.

China's State Council, which is the country's cabinet, wants shoppers to better plan their trips and bring cloth bags or baskets as in the old days. Unsurprisingly, market stalls are still giving out the bags, especially in the "wet markets" of the country's south, where stallholders are worried about turning away customers. People don't like carrying tofu and fish-heads in a cloth bag. CLIFFORD COONAN

GETTING IDEAS FROM BENCH TO BOARDROOM

DUBLIN:A CONFERENCE on the commericalisation of research from Irish third-level institutions will be held in Dublin next week.

Researchers will showcase their work and discuss strengths and weakness of State supports for commercialisation. The Tanaiste Mary Coughlan will present an award to the research project judged to have the most commercial potential.

Over the last eight years Enterprise Ireland has invested €275 million in third-level research and innovation. Last year, this scheme resulted in 136 patents being filed and 264 invention disclosures.

Feargal O'Morain, Enterprise Ireland executive director, said the forum: 'From the Bench to the boardroom - commercialising Irish research' would allow researchers demonstrate the quality and variety of their work.

Among the research projects to be presented is a control system to ensure that healthcare professionals and those in the food preparation sector wash their hands properly.

Dr Gerard Lacey of Trinity College Dublin has used his background in computer engineering to design the system which records movements used by a person washing their hands.

These movements are compared to a prescribed set of movements that ensure the hands have been completely washed.

If the person misses a thumb, finger or part of the hand a warning light flashes and a screen displays the area missed. The system is small enough to be mounted over the average sink and he says in-hospital tests of the prototype have been successful. Mr Lacey's research is awaiting a licence.

The forum takes place in the Guiness storehouse on June 18th DAVID LABANYI

AUSSIE ELECTORAL ARCHIVE ONLINE

AUSTRALIA:CANDIDATE BADGES, election posters and newspaper headlines may once have been the ephemera that summed up election campaigns of years gone by, but without a doubt today's equivalent is online: election and candidate websites, blogs and videos.

The problem is that sites and election materials tend to exist only for the duration of a campaign, and are pulled off the internet afterwards. That means a digital mountain of valuable historical material vanishes forever - or used to. Now, however, the National Library of Australia is maintaining a growing archive
of such sites under its Pandora initiative.

An acronym for Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia, Pandora was established in 1996 by the National Library to preserve selected online publications, and is now a collaborative project with other Australian institutes and libraries. The library just added a section on Australia's 1997 national election, comprising archived websites for political parties, lobby groups, some candidates' sites, blogs, videos and media websites.

According to senior librarian Edgar Crook, Pandora has been archiving Australian election materials since 1996 on the assumption that the internet would gradually become the main location for national debate. Crook says that the 2007 national election was the first in which the internet played a major role, including blogs. His interesting, illustrated analysis of how the web came centre stage can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/5ghhgt.

For anyone considering the creation of an Irish internet election archive, where better to start than with materials associated with the Lisbon Treaty campaign? But aspirant archivists better be quick before the Yes and No online natterings vanish post-election. KARLIN LILLINGTON

ASSET-BACKED LENDING IN IRELAND

DUBLIN:AS PROPERTY values fall, banks will want to ensure that any new loans to businesses will be secured on assets they are sure will hold their value in an economic downturn. Burdale Financial, a subsidiary of Bank of Ireland that provides loans backed by assets such as a company's plant and machinery, debtors or stock, is eyeing opportunities in the Republic, having signed off recently on its first Irish asset-backed loan.

The UK-based Burdale bankrolled the €38 million management buyout of Glanbia's meat business in March. The new company, based in Edenderry, Co Offaly, is called Rosderra Irish Meats, but still trades under licence as Glanbia Meats. Asset-backed lending is more common in the US but is now becoming a feature in the UK corporate lending market.

Burdale has been involved in up to 10 deals a year in the UK and a further 20 in the US. It has a loan book of more than €2 billion and its funding is suited to asset-rich businesses with high working capital needs. It can provide more finance with fewer covenants than conventional lenders.

The company claims to have signed off on the biggest asset-backed lending facility in Europe when it underwrote a €483 million loan for retailer Woolworths earlier this year. Pat Gaynor, head of Bank of Ireland corporate banking in Ireland, says Burdale's type of lending will suit businesses that cannot rely on traditional cash flow for their borrowings.

"It's a product that suits a tougher economic climate," says Gaynor. "Businesses are going through restructuring or phases where their income is not as clear as in the past and the level of funding is based. . . on the value of their assets." He says there is now scope for more asset-backed loans in the Republic, as businesses are likely to have to think laterally for new loans.

CHINA MOVES TO CURB ITS 3 BILLION-BAG-A-DAY HABIT

CHINA:CHINA HAS taken a leaf out of Ireland's book in the latest innovation in its domestic market by banning the use of free plastic bags.

Chinese people use three billion plastic bags a day, and one trillion plastic bags a year creates a lot of waste, and combating the country's environmental woes are part of the reason for the ban. Rising oil prices are also a factor - China consumes 37 million barrels of crude oil each year to manufacture the bags.

The main focus of the new anti-plastic bag laws are ultra-thin bags less than 0.025 millimetres thick, which are generally disposed of without a second thought and which litter the highways and byways of the country causing "white pollution". People love their plastic bags, and it is often a real challenge to stop a shopkeeper from giving you a plastic bag. Shopkeepers also have to char for carrier bags.

Those found break the law face fines and could have th goods confiscated. One Beijing shop was fined 10,0 yuan (€900) - the maximum fine - what the Beijing Evening News described as the "secret use of ultra-thin plastic bags". At Jenny Lou's supermarket in Beijing, the owners took the initiative a few months back to charge for plastic bags, and cashiers say it has been a success, although many of the shop's clientele are Westerners. The ban has had a mixed start. Most successful have been the supermarkets and big department stores, where there have been reports of a 90 per cent drop in consumption.

China's State Council, which is the country's cabinet, wants shoppers to better plan their trips and bring cloth bags or baskets as in the old days.

Unsurprisingly, market stalls are still giving out the bags, especially in the "wet markets" of the country's south, where stallholders are worried about turning away customers. People don't like carrying tofu and
fish-heads in a cloth bag

GLOBAL ICONS GAZPROM

Perhaps nothing symbolises today's Russia better than Gazprom, the natural gas monopoly majority-owned by the Russian government. It is now expanding to cover other continents. We take a look at how Gazprom has become one of the key pillars of the Kremlin's power

Why is Gazprom so important to Russia?
"The fate of Gazprom is inseparable from the fate of Russia" - Boris Nemtsov, former Russian deputy prime minister.

Why is this so?
"Gazprom is unique. There's nothing like it in other countries because of the role gas plays in the economic life of Russia" - Dmitry Medvedev, president of Russia and former Gazprom chairman.

Has Gazprom become critical to Russia's foreign policy?
"When Putin makes official visits, he knows that half of Europe depends on him for natural gas. That gets him a place at the table" - Boris Fyodorov, former finance minister.

What about the close linkes between Gazprom and the government?
"There is no doubt that Russia, Inc exists. Mr Medvedev's career path from Gazprom to the presidency is a perfect illustration of that" - FT

How do the Western media view the relationship?
"This is not the geopolitical monster of Soviet times. This is all about money. The government is business" - Washington Post

Should Europe be concerned about its reliance on Gazprom?
"As long as Gazprom remains opaque, Europe will never know whether its key supplier is spending enough to develop reserves crucial to Europe's future" - Robert R Amsterdam

FACTFILE

42
The number of countries out of the 54 in Africa where median age is below 20 years old - United Nations Population Division

3
The number of bathrooms in more than 25 per cent of new homes in the United States- New York Times Book Review

2020
The year when the Arctic Ocean could be ice-free during the summer - Worldwatch Institute

$5,000
The cost per second of the war in Iraq to the US - Office of the US Senate Majority Leader

2
Shipping is responsible for about twice the emissions of CO2 as aviation - New York Times

72
The percentage of the urban population in sub-Saharan Africa that lives in slums - Finance and Development

1st
Europe became China's biggest export market for the first time in 2007 - Wall Street Journal

$115
The cost in Afghanistan to feed the average family for a month - British Foreign Office

$42
The average monthly pay for prison guards in Afghanistan. Judges get less than $100 per month - British Foreign Office