EuroCloud Ireland, the first Irish cloud computing representative body, has started operations in Ireland. It will be an organisation “for the cloud computing community as a whole while working with the public to enhance its understanding of the role, capabilities and importance of cloud technologies,” says Noel Shannon, EuroCloud Ireland’s chairman.

EuroCloud Ireland plans to, among other things, provide policy statements on cloud computing best practice, conduct periodic surveys to gauge how the industry in Ireland is competing effectively, use sub-groups to research specific topics and issue white papers and provide a framework where service providers can benchmark themselves against industry best practice.

EuroCloud, a European network of cloud computing communities, includes vendors and industry experts and has a presence in 15 other European countries.

Further details can be found at http://www.eurocloud.org or it can be followed on twitter via www.twitter.com/eurocloud.

Traditionally, the first thing we notice when we meet people is their physical appearance. This aspect of connecting with others is lacking in the digital environment. However, the fact that the online venue still provokes and generates connections in a vast and profound way, bridging the gaps of time and distance, is possibly a proof that we’ve been doing it wrong all along.

The web has made interactions with others extremely easy and by connecting with others whose ideas, values or beliefs you share and are willing to disseminate, you become a part of a tribe. Groups, as opposed to tribes, are one or more people who can be brought together mostly by the need for compliance.

Compliance is largely met in work environments, for instance, where you may or may not agree with the behaviours of the group, but you go along with them. Acceptance, on the other hand is largely about embracing the values and behaviours of a group and this is what defines a tribe– that profound connection people believe it’s worth spreading. And being connected is why we’re all in for.

Tribes are formed around an idea, that encourages members to connect and spread this idea or take it further, perhaps even lighting the flame of a change.

In one way or another we’re all part of a tribe. Some may love dancing or music, others could be passionate about painting or comedy. Whatever our passion is, all the blogs we read and comment on, all the tweets we send out there, all the groups we join and all the posts we share on Facebook related to what we’re passionate about, make us part of that tribe.

The Love Lab and the Connector Tribes event, which took place at the Science Gallery this February, sent out the message that what matters is the way in which we connect and share our passions with people within the tribe and those outside it. Let’s connect further and spread the ideas of our tribes.
Sabina Piter is a social media enthusiast, has been involved in sales and marketing for the past five years, is currently pursuing a MA in Marketing in Dublin and writing her dissertation on the subject of social media and how it has radically changed the consumer – brand communication and interaction.

The latest ‘state of the net’ study from online consultancy Amas hits desks this week. One of the key findings of the report is that businesses and government bodies under-specify their web projects and digital campaigns and lose money as a result.

The reasons for this include an absence of detailed planning and a lack of knowledge about the full range of technology solutions available.

“Companies often commission online projects without a strategic context,” says Aileen O’Toole, MD of Amas.

Other trends in the report suggest digital advertising in Ireland will overtake radio in 2010 to become the third largest category. Online shopping is increasing significantly in Ireland e.g. 43% of 25-34 year olds purchase goods online regularly.

The full report is here http://bit.ly/9jJlzO.

Telefónica O2 Ireland has hooked up with email specialist Mimecast to offer large and small businesses a new cloud-based email management service.

The service will provide businesses with a solution for email archiving, security and continuity. Users can search 10 years of archived or deleted email without needing support from IT staff.

Recent research by Forrester Consulting, on behalf of Mimecast, measured the financial impact of using the cloud-based service. It estimates an 86% return on investment in seven months. Not a bad return.

Watch the video explaining cloud computing (in very simple terms).

Here’s a pretty cool animated summary of what’s going on with the Internet in 2010. Could be handy for anyone who wants tips and facts for digital presentations. Enjoy. This video was designed and animated for the JESS3 lecture at AIGA Baltimore in Feb 2010.

Electric Media, owned by Dermot Hanrahan, purchased Sales Online (for an undisclosed sum) from Simon Ferguson.

Electric Media handles the ad sales for such premium sites as entertainment.ie, myhome.ie and irishtimes.com and will now sell for Sales Online’s premium clients, including ft.com, breakingnews.ie, eBay and irishexaminer.com. Over sixty premium online brands/publishers will now be represented by Electric Media.

Dermot Hanrahan, chief executive, Electric Media says, “In both the US and the UK, online advertising is now the number one medium. While we do not yet have exact figures for online spend in this market – and we look forward to the new IAB Ireland’s figures later this year – we do know we are not yet near the UK online share. There, digital advertising accounts for 23.5% of all advertising spend – I estimate that in Ireland, we are still hovering in the late teens.”

The deal “provides for a centralised planning and buying point, delivering near 100% reach of the Irish mobile and online audience,” says Simon Ferguson.

One of the biggest debates surrounding the advancements of the digital age concerns the privacy of individuals. Some argue that privacy is no longer an issue for people with social media accounts – if you’re on social media you can’t expect privacy. As someone put it recently: “If Andy Warhol was alive today he’d say ‘Everyone wants 15 minutes of privacy’”.

The trouble for privacy advocates in the digital age is the sheer number of applications designed and launched every week that strip away our layers of confidentiality. Take The Astonishing Tribe’s latest app – Recognizer.

The user points their phone camera at a person’s face and face-recognition software creates a 3-D model of that person’s head, sends it to a server where it’s matched with an identity in the database. A cloud server conducts the facial recognition and sends back the person’s name as well as links to any social networking sites the person has provided access to.

Privacy is dead, long live privacy.

Muzu.tv has launched a music vdeo jukebox. It enables users to create music video playlists, rearrange the video queue in the playlist in real-time, and get videos recommended, based on artists the user likes.

“In the simplest of terms, Jukebox is like a free ‘Spotify for video’, but with the addition of these in-built recommendations which opens up new music for users to discover,” says Muzu.

To fund this free content, and to avoid disrupting the experience with ads, Muzu skins the outside of the video player with premium entertainment-related ads, which don’t interrupt the viewing experience.

Above is one of the world’s first jukeboxes. Annoying, isn’t it?

Here at Digital Times we’ve been having a lot of conversations about twitter with non twitter users and light sceptics. Many still simply don’t get it and don’t see its value. With this in mind we thought it would be good to post this handy instructional video. Twitter can be whatever you want it to be, but its best to think of it as an colossal resource for whatever subject (professional and lifestyle-realted) you are interested in. Have a go, you could be surpised by its value.

The course will bring entrepreneurs from business concept and planning stage right through to first sales and to being investor ready.

Applicants will undergo a rigorous screening process however, successful candidates, who also meet Enterprise Ireland criteria, may be eligible to receive CORD grant funding of up to