TechRepublic published its list of the 10 Most Important Business Technology Products of 2008.  These will continue to impact business in the coming year.  These are the technologies that are deemed as having the most important impact of businesses: HP EliteBook Laptops – Already a leader in worldwide PC sales, the EliteBook from Hewlett Packard is complete with a full complement of industrial-strength features sure to make this the workhorse of corporate IT departments. ...

John Biggs, editor in chief of TechCrunch’s TechGear blog, called together members of the Columbus tech community for an impromptu and informal meet and greet at a local restaurant this week.  In town to visit family for the holidays, Biggs, who writes not only TechCrunch, but also for the New York Times, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Laptop, Linux Journal and other leading publications, was quite surprised and pleased by the energy and enthusiasm of Columbus’ vibrant tech community – ...

It’s hard to remember a time when the computer mouse wasn’t right there within fingertips reach.  The mouse, which was met with some skepticism when it was introduced some 40 years ago, has now become ubiquitous as the primary man-machine interface in computing.  However now, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone, the mouse may soon be replaced by the increasing use of touch screen technology.  MIT’s Technology Review recently reported on two promising systems that are predicted ...

A recently released report from Forrester Research projects growth in IT spending for both business and government to grow by 1.9 percent in 2009.  Although this is well below growth projections of previous years, it is still seen as a bright spot within the increasing tide of bad economic news.  Forrester reported that this growth, while meager, should be considered as positive especially when compared to the major downturns that occurred in 2001-2002 following the dot-com ...

Japanese Billboard “Looks Back” at Viewers This January, a Japanese communications agency will test a technology that may transform the business of outdoor advertising and will certainly pique the interests of those concerned with privacy protection.  NTT Communications plans to install a flat panel display in a Tokyo railway station that will advertise various products through a series of digital ads.  While there’s nothing really revolutionary about that, the display will be ...

Platform Lab hosts a variety of events and activities for the Central Ohio tech community. The January line up has recently been announced and can be viewed on the Lab’s Web site at www.PlatformLab.com

TechWeek 21-Nov-08 December 26, 2008 Breakthroughs at Nationwide Children´s Research Institute May Hold Key for Treating Lou Gehrig´s Disease and Other Nervous System Disorders  ...

Researchers at  Nationwide Children’s Research Institute have developed a non-invasive way of delivering gene therapy to the central nervous system.  Such therapies were previously impossible because of the difficulty of penetrating the body’s protective blood-brain barrier or because they were considered too invasive, numerous or complicated.    For this study, researchers used AAV9, a subtype of adeno-associated virus that can act as a vehicle for gene ...

TechRepublic  has published its top trends that impacted IT in 2008.  These trends have been quietly transforming  traditional IT strategies and impacting operating procedures.  Trends range from it being IT’s time to shine during the economic crisis to green technology finally being take seriously, not so much out of corporate consciousness, but in reaction to energy shortages and looming government regulations.   The list of most impactful IT trends in 2008 ...

Following glitches the Secretary of State's Web site experienced on election night 2004, the state office revamped its Web site. Part of that overhaul included stress testing to make sure the site would be ready for the thousands of visitors it would receive on election night this year. The office chose TechColumbus' Platform Lab to conduct the test, which showed that the site would perform well with 7,500 concurrent users.   To read the full story, download the December insert in ...

President-elect Barack Obama has named a veteran venture capitalist and leader in technology based economic development to head the U.S. Small Business Administration.  Karen Gordon Mills has been named administrator of the SBA.  Mills is president of the private equity investment firm, MMP Group which she founded in 1993.  In addition, she serves as a director on the board of the Maine Technology Institute, an organization similar in mission and scope to TechColumbus that offers ...

Ever wondered how Santa Claus can travel around the world in just one night on his reindeer-pulled sleigh and delivery toys to all the children?  “He exploits the space-time continuum,” says Larry Silverberg, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at North Carolina State University.   Santa’s magic may go far beyond merely traveling across 200 million square miles to visit hundreds of millions of homes of believing children in just one night, Silverberg ...

TechWeek 21-Nov-08 December 19, 2008 Over $1M in Third Frontier Grants Intended to Attract New High Tech Businesses to Central Ohio  ...

The Ohio Department of Development awarded nearly $15 million in its latest round of funding for Ohio high tech companies under the Third Frontier Project.  More than $1 million of those monies were granted to attract two companies to expand in Central Ohio. Modular Genetics Inc. of Cambridge, Mass, is a chemical firm proposing a new facility in Dublin.  This two-year expansion would help the specialty chemicals and pharmaceutical developer to launch from pilot stage into ...

In a collaborative joint effort, all four of Columbus’ health systems have formed a study group to determine the feasibility of bringing a proton therapy cancer treatment center to Central Ohio.  Facilitated by Battelle, the group will evaluate the business case and technology involved in this advanced treatment facility.   Proton therapy delivers radiation to a more targeted area than traditional therapies, thus minimizing the amount of healthy tissue affected by the ...

An analytical instrument that will help scientists understand and predict climate change through the measurement of particle pressure of carbon dioxide in the ocean and atmosphere will be manufactured in Central Ohio for commercial availability in summer 2009.   Battelle, in cooperation with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, will commercialize the technology which is critical to understanding the global oceanic uptake of ...

A recent post on Forbes.com suggests that during times of recession IT leaders have the perfect opportunity to rethink their IT strategies, opting more for open source or SaaS solutions rather than traditional closed end software licenses.  Many CIOs discovered the benefit of pay-as-you-go IT solutions during the economic downturn of 2001.  Some were faced with cutting their budgets by as much as half and found that such open source and “cloud” solutions helped them to maximize ...

OCLC is currently involved in helping lead a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access.  The national initiative was launched by the National Science Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation along with other leading international libraries and information systems.  The mission of the task force is to address growing concerns over the collection and preservation of key digital data that must be retained in order to provide an accurate and complete ...

Entrepeneurial News December 2008 Unique Software Exchange Helps CIOs Exploit Investments in Custom Developed Applications After more than a decade as a consultant for SAP America, Norman Powell recognized some common themes when it came to the actual implementation of the platform into many of his customers´ operations. Often, in deploying SAP´s Enterprise Resource ...

TechWeek 21-Nov-08 December 12, 2008 Reserve Your Place Now for the 2008 TechColumbus Innovation Awards Ceremony and Gala Event - February 5, 2009  ...