IT security not receiving adequate attention 6. February 2008 by Thomas Jannot Half of all German enterprises do not invest sufficient time in order to secure their in-house IT systems. Quite often there is no comprehensive IT security strategy for the entire company. Furthermore, many investments in this respect are ineffective given that individual measures are not consistent so that security loopholes arise. These findings were the …
SMEs are insufficiently prepared for EU payment transfers 5. February 2008 by Thomas Jannot On January 28th the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) was launched. Almost fifty percent of companies in Germany, however, hardly know about the effects of SEPA, e.g. reduced costs due to facilitation of direct debit and money transfer procedures. In particular small businesses with an annual turnover of up to two million Euros know little …
2008 will be a year of acquisitions in the IT sector 5. February 2008 by Thomas Jannot The Software-Initiative Deutschland (SID) predicts massive acquisitions for the year 2008 among major enterprises in the IT sector, in particular by software giants such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP. The reasons for this are said to be rapidly increased turnover and fierce competition.
Consumer prices up by 2.7% in January 4. February 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to estimates by the Federal Statistical Office consumer prices in Germany increased by on average 2.7% in January this year as compared to January 2007. In comparison to December 2007 prices presumably slightly fell by on average -0.3% in January this year.
Lower costs for European patents 3. February 2008 by Thomas Jannot In future patents will be significantly less expensive in Europe given that costs for translations are going to fall. France deposited in Berlin the ratification certificate for the so-called London Protocol. According to this agreement dating from the year 2000 signatory countries agree that patents granted by the European Patent Office in Munich need not …
Employment keeps growing 3. February 2008 by Thomas Jannot According to preliminary calculations by the Federal Statistical Office, the number of employed people in December 2007 surpassed that of December 2006 by 596.000 people or 1.5%. As compared to November 2007, it fell by just 139.000 which is less than is usual the case due to seasonal factors. In December 2007 there were 40.15 …
FED once more lowers key interest rate to 3.00 percent 31. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot As was expected the US Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) today in the course of its rotational meeting lowered the US key interest rate by another 50 basis points to 3.00%. Thus, the current rate is as low as it was for the last time in the middle of the year 2005. This latest lowering was …
Volume of domain trading up by 60 percent 31. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot In the year 2007 the domain market, i.e. the trade in internet addresses for homepages and websites grew at a breathtaking pace. This was confirmed by a yearly study carried out by the Sedo domain trading network. Thus, the trade volume increased by 60% last year. While in the year 2006 the money spent on …
2006 significant investment in innovative technologies 30. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot In the year 2006 investment in innovation by German businesses increased significantly by 6%. In total, investment amounted to 115.5 billion Euros. For 2007 companies aimed at spending 5.5% more on innovation. For 2008, however, the increase planned is relatively moderate and amounts to about 2%. This was revealed by a study carried out by …
Increase in music downloads by 40 percent worldwide 30. January 2008 by Thomas Jannot In the year 2007 music downloads already accounted for about 15 percent of global music sales. In 2006, this percentage had been 11%. These findings were published in the “Digital Music Report 2008” by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). According to this report, the turnover in music downloads increased by 40% to …