Archive for November, 2011

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NEHTA licenses CSIRO software for e-health rollout

November 28th, 2011
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The National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) has licensed software from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to aid the move to a standardised dictionary of clinical terms as part of the Federal Government’s Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) project.

The $467 million project involves the establishment of a PCEHR system that encompasses patient health summaries which both patients and their healthcare providers can access by 1 July 2012.

Australian e-Health Research Centre (AEHRC) chief executive, David Hansen, told Computerworld Australia that the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and NEHTA would soon require healthcare software vendors to make the transition to SNOMED CT, a clinical terminology which encompasses a group of terms that would underpin the PCEHR going forward.

“Whenever there’s a problem, a diagnosis or a clinical description that’s needed to be put in our electronic health records, clinicians, whether they know it or not because it’s in the software, will be picking a term from the SNOMED CT vocabulary,” Hansen said.

NEHTA adopted SNOMED CT about five years ago when they started standardising electronic health information, but usage is still quite low, Hansen said.

CSIRO will provide a free download of the software, called Snapper, which was developed at the AEHRC – a joint venture between CSIRO and the Queensland Government – from November 2011 until 30 June 2013 to support software companies and healthcare providers in making the move.

“Most existing electronic systems do not use the SNOMED CT dictionary, but a mix of existing standard and local data dictionaries. The Snapper tool will help to translate terms in the existing system to terms from SNOMED CT,” Hansen said.

“The Snapper tool will enable information captured in an emergency department computer system to be understood by the computer systems used for hospital in-patients, and again by GP computer systems once the patient has been discharged.

“It will also help with the maintenance as SNOMED is released every six months and help them know which terms they might want to add and so on.”

The Java-based software, compatible with PCs, Macs and Linux, is standalone and while SNOMED CT comes as part of the package, Hansen said, users will be able to update automatically in the future.

According to Hansen, the software contains multiple parts, one of which is a search function which can be used to search for specific terms and the software will provide a populated list along with an autocomplete function.

“Term sets might have a couple of thousand terms and converting those to SNOMED has traditionally been a case of searching in a browser [and] copying it to a spread sheet, whereas this contains the help for you to do and then you can go through each one and check that you’re happy or look for a better term.”

NEHTA head of policy and information services, Bettina McMahon, said having a single language for clinical terms was a necessary standard in order for healthcare systems to effectively talk to each other, but stresses the need to support software vendors in the transition.

“The CSIRO Snapper software will enable a huge leap forward in getting all the computer systems involved in our healthcare system to talk to each other in the same language,” she said.

“Licensing Snapper to NEHTA creates a pathway to adoption for state health departments, health IT software vendors and other health providers moving to electronic health record systems.”

The DoHA and NEHTA have yet to finalise negotiations for the most recent round of funding for the project, which will support the management of delivery partners to complete the build of the system, the implementation of strategies for change and take-up of the PCEHR, and to support the e-health sites in implementing and testing aspects of e-health record.

NEHTA also released its final Specifications and Standards Plan for the project, confirming it would abolish the current development strategy in favour of the establishment of five “tiger teams” or groups of experts assigned to examine particular problems associated with the project.

Source:http://www.cio.com.au/article/408608/nehta_licenses_csiro_software_e-health_rollout/

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Kleiner Perkins Backs Fixmo as Wireless Security Threats Rise

November 28th, 2011
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Mobile-security software maker Fixmo Inc. raised $23 million in new financing from backers including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, banking on rising demand as the government lets employees use their own devices for work.

“We’re seeing mounting pressure now to ensure these devices are being used in proper ways,” Tyler Lessard, chief marketing officer of the Toronto-based company, said in an interview. That creates “a lot of opportunity.”

Faced with demands to cut costs, government agencies are increasingly allowing workers to use personal iPhones and other handsets for business. While it saves money that might otherwise be spent on government-issued BlackBerrys from Research In Motion Ltd., it creates a security headache that Fixmo wants to resolve with its software.

Fixmo, founded in 2009, worked with the U.S. National Security Agency to develop the technology behind its Sentinel software that it is betting will give it an edge over rivals, such as Redwood City, California-based Good Technology Inc.

Fixmo, with customers in government, defense, financial services and health care, plans to use the money to add new products and expand into Europe and Asia, Lessard said.

Silicon Valley venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins has previously backed companies such as Google Inc., Zynga Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Other investors in Fixmo include Rho Ventures, Horizon Ventures and Paladin Capital Group, which led the latest round.

Spyware, Viruses

The move to personal devices means technology departments have to support a wider range of smartphones and tablets. As a result, information chiefs need to be wary of the risk of computer bugs, or malware, on devices such as those running Google Inc.’s Android software, Lessard said.

“We’re seeing a lot of headlines lately about the amount of malware being focused on the mobile space and particularly on Android,” said Lessard, who joined Fixmo in September from RIM, where he oversaw software-developer relations.

The Android operating system has had an almost sixfold increase in threats such as spyware and viruses since July, Juniper Networks Inc. said this month. Android’s market share more than doubled to 53 percent in the third quarter as RIM and Apple Inc. lost share, according to research firm Gartner Inc.

“Especially if you’re reducing budgets, you can’t afford a compliance breach where you could actually be fined,” Lessard said. “We want to help these organizations not get fined or sued.”

Source:http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-27/kleiner-perkins-backs-fixmo-as-wireless-security-threats-rise.html

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Software developed to harmonize implementation of Rio Conventions

November 28th, 2011
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The Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of the Ghana Environmental Conventions Coordinating Authority (GECCA) has developed software to link-up agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on environment related issues.

The software, called dBase Manager, is to help to ensure effective implementation of projects under the Rio Conventions, which cover the areas of climate change, bio-diversity and environmental degradation.

Consequently, the PCU of GECCA, which operates under the Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, organised a day’s workshop in Tamale, to enhance the capacity of stakeholders, especially civil society groups in the northern part of the country, on database management, on Friday in Tamale.

The workshop was also to create opportunity for the PCU to collate data on activities related to the Rio Conventions.

A component of the GECCA project relates to access to and sharing of data and information among stakeholders on activities and programmes directly or indirectly related to Rio Conventions through the establishment of database and capacity building on database management.

Speaking at the workshop, Dr Raymond Babanawo, technical assistant at Ministry, called on environment related NGOs and stakeholders to embrace the system to prevent duplication of work.

He said due to the down-turn of European and American economies, most donor agencies were considering cutting down sponsorship for projects in developing countries.

Dr Babanawo said this called for harmonization of activities to reduce cost, to ensure good results and value for money to the benefit of the people.

Source:http://www.modernghana.com/news/363397/1/software-developed-to-harmonize-implementation-of-.html

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Mid-sized IT cos go for buyouts

November 28th, 2011
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Mumbai-based software products and services provider Infrasoft Technologies has mandated three investment banks including Avendus Capital to look for acquisitions in the US in the range on $10-15 million. This comes on the heels of Infrasoft’s acquisition of the financial services business of KPIT Cummins in October this year.

Infrasoft is amongst a host of small-sized companies that are making acquisitions despite global economic conditions looking uncertain. Srividya C G, partner, valuation services, in advisory firm Grant Thornton, said the IT sector has done the most number of M&A deals this year.

Companies say that technology services with evolved business models and pricing mechanisms are vital for customers even during difficult times. They have become partners as opposed to pure vendors to clients. Grant Thornton data shows that overall M&A deals in the first 10 months of this year amounted to $33.6 billion, a fall of over 21% from the year-ago period. The number of deals fell to 523 from 662. The corresponding figure for IT stood at $3.3 billion compared to $0.68 billion in the previous year. The number of deals fell marginally from 102 to 99. This includes some large-sized deals concluded by companies like Wipro, iGate and Genpact.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Mid-sized-IT-cos-go-for-buyouts/articleshow/10898955.cms

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The BSA Rejects the Current Stop Online Piracy Act

November 28th, 2011
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In a blog post, BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman wrote that SOPA “needs work” as the current proposal does not “balance key innovation, privacy and security considerations with the need to thwart the threat rogue websites pose.” At this time BSA does not support SOPA, he wrote.

According to Holleyman, SOPA “could sweep in more than just truly egregious actors.” He noted that the bill needs “definitions of who can be the subject of legal actions” as well as “narrow” and “tighter” descriptions of possible remedies. … Due process, free speech, and privacy are rights that cannot be compromised. And the security of networks and communications is indispensable to a thriving Internet economy.” He also objected any activities such as “filtering or monitoring the Internet”.

Holleyman stressed that he believes the bill’s “basic goals should be to promote creativity,” while it also needs to deter “bad actors that profit from selling copies of software and other works they do not own.”

Source:http://www.tomshardware.com/news/bsa-piracy-stop-online-piracy-act-sopa-software,14094.html

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Student Developed Software Helps To Detect Near Earth Asteroids

November 28th, 2011
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An asteroid impact with the earth can really ruin your day: just consider the dinosaurs. Most asteroids, also known as minor planets, orbit the sun beyond the planet Mars and present no danger, but there is a class of asteroids whose orbits cross the orbit of the earth. If one of these asteroids and the earth are at the same point in their orbits at the same time, a collision could occur.

Called Near Earth Objects (NEOs), astronomers are interested in discovering as many of these as possible, and then tracking them in order to compute more accurate orbits. In this way, if a potential future collision were to be identified many years in advance, space probes could carry out steps to tweak the path of the NEO and deflect the collision.

A program to track NEOs is being carried out at NOAO by Mark Trueblood with Robert Crawford (Rincon Ranch Observatory) and Larry Lebofsky (Planetary Science Institute). And last summer, a Beloit College student, Morgan Rehnberg, has developed a computer program (PhAst), available via the web, to help with this effort.

Asteroids move quickly across the sky, so in order to recover and track them, fast and accurate data reduction and analysis is essential.

Unlike most of the data that astronomers work with, tracking a fast moving asteroid requires that the observer view multiple digital images obtained at the telescope by blinking between them, almost like a movie.

In addition, accurate coordinates locating the NEO in the sky need to be computed. (Termed right ascension and declination, these are similar in concept to the latitude and longitude of a position on earth.)

While there are many software packages that amateur and professional astronomers use (Maxim DL, Astrometrica) none did exactly what the group required. Seeing the need for better software but not having the time to devote to the task of writing it, Trueblood saw this as an ideal project for a summer student.

The National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) has a long history of hiring college students for the summer.

Through this Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, supported by the National Science Foundation, undergraduates learn what an astronomical career is really like. Many of these students go on to become professional astronomers after a summer spent at the National Observatory.

Morgan Rehnberg, who attends Beloit College in Wisconsin, had the required computer skills and was selected to work in the very competitive REU program by Mark Trueblood, Ken Mighell, and Robert Crawford.

His task involved modifying an existing image viewer program (ATV, written in the code IDL) so that it could examine as many images as desired, and in any order, and perform the astrometric (positional) as well as photometric (brightness) analyses.

Although Morgan tested his new software on existing data, the first actual trial occurred in October, during an observing run at the 2.1m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

The group observed a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA), designated NEO2008 QT3: these are asteroids with orbits that bring them within 50,000 km of the earth (the earth-moon distance is about 385,000 km).

Morgan’s software program was able to correctly compute the position and brightness of this object with half the measurement errors in the previous software. The results were submitted and accepted by the clearinghouse for all such observations, the Minor Planet Center.

Source:http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Student_Developed_Software_Helps_To_Detect_Near_Earth_Asteroids_999.html

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Callidus Software Sponsors First Sales Performance Management India Conference

November 28th, 2011
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Callidus Software Inc. (NASDAQ: CALD), the leader in Sales Performance Management (SPM), announced today that it is a Gold Partner at the Sales Performance Management India 2011 Conference, hosted by ITP Publishing, Ltd. The event will be held November 24-25, 2011, at the Hotel JW Marriott in Mumbai, India. The conference brings together Sales, Finance, and Human Resources executives and industry leaders to discuss emerging techniques for managing and increasing the effectiveness of sales teams and channel partners.

“We are proud to organize the first ever Sales Performance Management conference in India,” said S. Saikumar, Deputy Managing Director, ITP Publishing, India. “There is a growing recognition here that sales performance is not about deploying more sales people but about improving sales productivity and making the most of existing sales talent. Callidus is the global leader in Sales Performance Management and we welcome the opportunity to partner with them to explore leading-edge techniques that have been tried and tested at the world’s largest companies.”

Barry Carson, Vice President, European Sales, Callidus Software, will speak at the conference on “Improving Productivity through Sales Technology” on November 25th at 11:30 a.m. IST. Mr. Carson will speak about the newest innovations and technologies adopted by large multinational companies to drive the productivity of their internal sales teams and external channels and make them more effective at each stage of the sales cycle.

“Callidus is very excited about sponsoring the first Sales Performance Management conference in India,” said Jimmy Duan, Senior Vice President, International Sales, Callidus Software. “There is growing recognition that high performing sales forces leverage better tools and processes so they can compete more effectively throughout the deal cycle. Callidus has the broadest SaaS sales effectiveness platform in the industry today. We look forward to showcasing our SaaS and mobile Sales Selection, Sales Enablement, Incentive Management, and Sales Coaching solutions at this groundbreaking conference and sharing our ideas on the next wave of innovation to drive more effective sales cycles.”

The announcement follows recent news about Callidus’ business win at Tata Communications, a member of one of India’s largest conglomerates, the Tata group, and the continued growth of Callidus’ solutions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Callidus Software’s Cloud is a comprehensive SaaS suite designed to help businesses drive more effective selling at each stage of the sales talent lifecycle, from improved sales hiring — the foundation of strong sales performance — to improved campaign execution, to high frequency coaching and development. The Callidus Cloud suite includes Callidus’ 100% multi-tenant, high-availability SaaS infrastructure; its Sales Selection, Sales Effectiveness, Sales Performance, and Learning modules; SPMConnect for data management; and Reporting & Analytics. Callidus Software powers more than 2.5 million users across the globe.

Source:http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/computer-software/20111127104756.htm

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