October 15, 2003 (No. 15)
The NTC News Summary Edition Sponsor
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Other NTC Sustaining Sponsors, here.
NTC News Summary, Resources and
Calendar of Scheduled
Events:
Note: The next edition of
the news summary is scheduled for Thursday, Oct.
23rd.
This morning, the State Building
Commission (SBC) issued a major RFP in support of TN
Office of Information Resources for statewide premise
telecom wiring, equipment, related services. Roughly
35 firms showed interest before the previous RFP
(317.03-091) was cancelled and the process resumed
within SBC Capital Projects Management, as required by
law. The new project SBC 529/000-06-03 is posted here.
File-sharer Grokster
chief appears at Vanderbilt, becomes lightning rod for
music pro's who fling questions as "60 Minutes"
films, City Paper, Oct. 15, p. 13, here.
Asurion's new Davidson County headquarters will
be at 648 Grassmere Office Park, the Deutsche Bank
building, where they've signed a letter of intent for
combined 70,000 sq. ft., anticipating a two-phase
move-in during next 12 months, according to VP
Michael Powers (10/14). Tennessean story, Oct. 15, here. Meanwhile, Asurion SVP-Operations Joe
Rando says the real-estate deal at Smyrna in Rutherford
County seems nearly done for Asurion's electronics
repair/distribution center, with 500 jobs in prospect
for the community. There, the local Industrial
Development Board learned the benefit-to-cost ratio for
supporting the Asurion-location deal is 20:1,
Tennessean, Oct. 13, here.
Asurion CEO Bret Comolli is keynote speaker for
Oct. 30 NETWORK 2003 Business & Technology Showcase,
details here.
TECH Initiative: State Economic & Community
Development Commissioner Matt Kisber announced yesterday
(Oct. 14, 2003) that ECD will strengthen its focus on
technology development and tech-jobs creation,
creating a new ECD Technology Director position and
partnering with Governor Bredesen's planned Technology
Commission; with the state's regional Technology
Councils; the TN Biotechnology Association; members of
the Board of TN Technology Development Corporation, and
others. Yesterday, also, Governor Bredesen toured
a Cleveland, TN, plant and stressed need to create
higher-skill jobs in Tennessee, citing inevitability of
economic changes, Knox. News Sentinel, Oct. 15, here. In his Oct. 7 address at Chattanooga,
the Governor proposed a statewide Technology Commission
and emphasized the leverage inherent in a Technology
Corridor for east Tennessee. The Governor spoke of
leveraging UT and Oak Ridge National Lab. That Oct. 7
speech, here. Related
story on Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit, Tennessean,
Oct. 8, here.
Webposting of new annual TN Economic Development Guide,
here.
Nashville Capital
Network officers,
Angel investors and invited allies gather this
evening, Oct. 15, for a briefing on the nonprofit
organization's mission helping entrepreneurs acquire
early-stage funding. For further information on NCN
services, contact Executive Director Sid Chambless at
(615) 322-3154 or schambless@nashvillecapital.com
Digital
Reasoning
information-technology (AI for national security and
medical sectors) firm chooses to relocate to Nashville
from Virginia. The move brings Digital Reasoning CEO
Timothy Estes back to Nashville, and brings the company
closer to a key subcontractor, Comframe Software
Development Corp. in Birmingham. Nashville Business
Journal, p. 1, Oct. 10, here.
Dialogic Communications Corp. of
Franklin agrees to refund payments to 3 Arkansas
counties, Tennessean, Oct. 15, 3E, here. Earlieron litigation, Oct. 14, p. 3E,
scroll down here.
DCC's 'Communicator'
product was at issue in counties without adequate
mapping data.
(NTC MEMBERS) Nashville Technology
Council is identifying NTC Members who are creating
proprietary software products that
they own and re-sell, license, deliver via web, etc.,
with an eye toward possible creation of an NTC
special-interest focus group focusing on software
development and marketing. Initially, the emphasis is on
firms that create products for sale to other
enterprises. If your firm meets these criteria, please
write Milt Capps at mcapps@technologycouncil.com or call (615)
743-3168.
Fisk University and Vanderbilt win NSF
$2.9 million grant for nanotechnology, involving
scores of Fisk and VU Engineering and Physics
professors. VU release, Oct. 14, here. Tennessean item, Oct. 15, here. Fisk
earlier announced NASA Physics grant, here.
Discussing new Nashville headquarters,
Louisiana-Pacific Corp. Chairman/CEO Mark Suwyn says
he'll encourage Portland employees to relocate to
Nashville, City Paper, p. 17, Oct. 10, here. See related item Oct. 7th news summary,
here.
Governor Bredesen stresses recruitment of high-tech
businesses during L-P announcement celebration, Green
Hills News (GCA), Oct. 16 edition, p. 12, not on
web.
Engineer, technologist Marcus Shute
named vice president-research at Tennessee State
University, Oct. 13, Tennessean, p. 3 Davidson A.M.,
not on web. Shute's experience includes tech development
for Luxcore Networks. TSU release, here.
BMI's Frances Preston named chair of
Fast Track international copyright, which manages
database of 11 million copyrighted works. Tennessean,
3E, Oct. 10, scroll down here.
Southwestern/Great
American, Inc. and
IDS Scheer complete an implementation of mySAP CRM and
mySAP Business Intelligence. This first pilot
project was to support a marketing campaign effort for
one of their subsidiaries, Favorite Recipes Press.
Future plans call for rolling this out more broadly. IDS
has been a SW/GA partner for six years. SW/GA VP of
Information Services is Donna Lea.
NTC President David Condra will convene
the Nashville Technology Council Forum, Thursday, Oct.
30, as part of the NETWORK Showcase of Business &
Technology, Oct. 29-30, Convention
Center. Other NETWORK Technology track sessions include
CIO Challenges; Customer Service Technologies; Guarding
Your Information Assets (Security); WiFi-Cellular
Update. Tech, Management Ed track details here.
Exhibitor sign-up, here. FAQ for
attendees, here. More
than 180 exhibitors, including about 70 tech companies,
are signed-up, already.
Nashville market involved: United
Online (NetZero, Juno,
BlueLight) says it struggles to create profits via
Comcast relationship, while Comcast exec questions value
of ISPs, Wash. Post, Oct. 11, here.
DELL Roundup -
Dell "Lonestar" Linux supercomputer cluster is
humming-away in Texas Advanced Computing Center,
boosting Dell's server sales; strategy arose as Linux
moved beyond university labs and as Dell learned its
customers were themselves clustering Dell's Intel-driven
computers. Tennessean (Cox News Svc), Oct. 13, not on
web. Related Dell release, Oct. 3, here. U.
Texas release, Sept. 29, here. Dell
ties to investment community described, NY Times, Oct.
13, here. Dell
cancels orders for computer mispriced on web, Oct. 11,
Tennessean, here.
HEALTHCARE:
Nashville's Tod Fetherling, vice
president, First Consulting Group
Information Services
(FCGIS), says the FCG unit that's been home the past two
years for Codigent and UCR Solutions stands to gain
revenue and staff as a result of a projected $40 million
healthcare IT services agreement announced Oct. 6
between First Consulting Group, Inc (NASDAQ: FCGI) and
Stellaris Health Network (Armonk, NY). Fetherling says
40 of FCGIS' 90 FTEs are based here, with the balance
onsite with clients elsewhere. FCGIS and two other FCG
acquisitions -- Phyve and FCG Call Center Services,
formerly Coactive Systems -- call the Nashville location
home. FCG has offices in the Gulch and a 24K sq. ft.
data center on 12th Ave, which Fetherling says is
operating near 75 percent of capacity. Release, here.
Total e-Med merger with EDiX yields new
Nashville company -- Spheris, Oct. 8 release here. Spheris management team, here.
NASHVILLE MEDICAL
NEWS- October/03
edition: Renewed investor interest in biotech
opportunities (Velocity; Qgenics; BioMimetics); TN Board
of Regents' online Nursing Master's; HIPAA Information
Security (Mark Fulford, LBMC IT Assurance Services);
Compliance with Federal Regs (Baker Donelson; Waller
Lansden); Financial Modeling of deals, transactions
(Harpeth Capital).
Cumberland Emerging
Technologies' Life
Sciences Facility at Union Station gets RHIZOMA
Corporation as tenant, release Sept. 25, here. RHIZOMA
recently received an SBIR grant, funded by U.S.
Department of Agriculture. The Shared Laboratory at CET
received a TN Industrial Infrastructure Program grant,
awarded to CET and TN Technology Development
Corporation. News, here.
CTI Molecular Imaging reshuffles
exec team after CEO's departure, Knox. News Sentinel,
Oct. 8, here. CTI executes Euro lease-finance
partnership with Deutsche Leasing AG, Knox. News
Sentinel, Oct. 14, scroll down here.
WebMD cuts profit estimate, citing software
sales, HIPAA-related revenues, Oct. 14, City Paper,
p. 13, not on web.
Vanderbilt program in Biomedical
Informatics, portal, here. Informatics Center, here.
Vanderbilt Center for Better Health "Clinical IT
Bootcamp," Spring 2004, other events.
Design Shop events, here.
WEST & EAST
TENN:
King Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: KG) of
Bristol is only Tennessee firm on Deloitte's new Fast
500 ranking, details here. Related USA Today story, Oct. 13, here.
Executive pushes Biotech corridor for
Memphis-Little Rock axis, citing biomedical
development, Angel investors near the I-40 path,
Commercial Appeal, Oct. 11, here.
Oak Ridge clean-up contracting hits
snag, Knox. News Sentinel, Oct. 7, here.
FedEx Institute at U. of Memphis to
serve as pipeline, showcase for Memphis technology,
two stories, Sept. 29, Memphis Bus. Journal. Story 1 and Story 2.
FedEx Institute wins major Advanced Distribution
Learning initiative laboratory, Sept. 15, MBJ here.
East Tenn. mounts "Jobs Now!" campaign
to spur economy, Knox. News Sentinel, Oct. 12, here.
Memphis cited among cities trying
hipness to reverse brain drain of younger
professionals, USA Today, Oct. 10, here.
Memphis and Shelby County meet
today (Oct. 15) on tax deal to keep Nike
distribution facility as it upgrades supply-chain and
materials-handling systems, Commercial Appeal, Oct. 8,
here.
Memphis biotech conference represents
big push, Oct. 9, Commercial Appeal, here.
Internet Pictures (IPIX) of Oak
Ridge-San Ramon announces software sales partnerships,
Knox. News Sentinel, Oct. 14, here.
VENTURE /
ENTERPRISE:
Conditions improving for Entrepreneurs
and Angels? Thursday, Oct. 9,
Atlanta-based Angel investor Bill Henagan told an
audience gathered in the Owen Graduate School of
Management at Vanderbilt that entrepreneurs seeking
Angel investment must "work longer and harder to raise
new money" than during the Dot.com bubble -- but, in
reality, this means things have returned to normal.
Henagan said early-stage investing is, more than ever,
"all about management," in the sense that investors are
once again looking for deep expertise within the
entrepreneur's management team, and are seeking more
than facile ideas about "the next big thing." Venture
concepts must be mature, scalable, with "demonstrated
saleability." Ventures must also be "morphable," able
quickly to adapt to changing market conditions. In
addition, seed and other early capital infusions must
last longer before the company is reprovisioned, and
actual customers are prerequisite to moving up the
financing ladder. Henagan, who helped found Atlanta
Technology Angels, said Angel investing is maturing
rapidly in the southeast, where such resources have long
been underdeveloped. Henagan's visit was sponsored by
the Owen Entrepreneurship
Center, the Vanderbilt School of Engineering,
and the Nashville Capital
Network.
Veran
Technologies seeks
funding for Dynamic Track computer image-guided
surgical technology, Nash. Business Journal, p. 27, Oct.
10, here.
In June, Digiscript
gained Voyent and Claritas venture capital as Eddie
Pearson became CEO. Related story, Nash. Business
Journal, Oct. 8, here. Related item, Tennessean, Oct. 8, not on
web. Related item, Sept. 18, Green Hills News, not on
web. Pearson serves on board of American Retirement
Corporation, Nash. Bus. Journal, p. 9, Sept. 25, here.
Venture capitalists being forced to
disclose more information, Oct. 12, Wall St. Jrnl.
via Knox. News Sentinel, here.
Knoxville trust-management exec
describes satisfaction of backing hard-working
entrepreneurs, Knox. News Sentinel, Oct. 12, here.
Memphis-based Buckeye Technologies
Inc. gains shareholder approved to amend notes,
gains financing flexibility, Commercial Appeal, Oct. 9,
here. Earlier related story, Memphis Business
Journal, Sept. 1, here.
Heidtke & Co. Midsouth Investor
Fund LP invests working capital in International
DisplayWorks Inc., Tennessean, Oct. 10, p. 3E, scroll
down here.
Knoxville-based Southeast Capital
venture fund (formerly, TennesSeed) faces closure as
deadline for federal approval approaches, Knox. News
Sentinel, Oct. 13, here.
Tips on relationships between early-stage
companies and industry analysts, Tech2020 (Ackerman
PR), Feb. 2002.
Digitalnet first government contractor
IPO in nearly a year gains $85 million in a day,
Washington Post, Oct. 11, here.
GOVERNMENT:
Provocatively
un-identified "Nashville
institution" lands share of nonprofit Draper
Laboratory's Department of Defense
work related to inertial guidance technology, Nash.
Bus. Journal, p. 9, Oct. 10, not on web. Draper overview
here.
State Building Commission (SBC) is
preparing to reissue an RFP for TN Office of Information
Resources, for multimillion-dollar premise telecom
wiring, equipment, related services. Roughly 35
firms showed interest before the RFP (317.03-091) was
cancelled and the process resumed within SBC Capital
Projects Management, as required by law. The new RFP is
expected soon and will be posted here.
TN Lottery resists disclosure of RFP
review panel, hires general counsel, Tennessean,
Oct. 15, here. Lottery CEO hires two senior execs
for corporate affairs, City Paper, p. 6, Oct. 15,
here.
Homeland Security: Public disclosures
of IT security measures may be required in firms' SEC
filings, Washington Post, Oct. 9, here. Ridge advocates more government-private
partnerships, GovExec.com, Oct. 9, here. OHS
Research and Technology, here. U.S.
House seeks to mandate tighter computer security in
peer-to-peer networks, Washington Post, Oct. 8, here.
Oct. 31 is deadline for Metro
RFP
03-139 for Business continuity and
disaster recovery
services.
Metro Property Taxes may be checked,
paid online, here.
Tennessean, p2B, Oct. 14, not on web.
Resources:
Donate computers to needy Nashville
organizations: Community Resource Cntr, here.
$1.7 million EdTech
grant benefits 13 TN K-12 schools, Tennessean, 1B,
Oct. 14, not on web.
CIO Research Report: State of
Information Security, 2003, Sept. 29, 2003, here.
Despite potential losses, corporations
not insuring against costs of electronic sabotage,
NY Times, Oct. 12, here.
Intel's Andy Grove says U.S. technology
losing edge to China, India, Washington Post, Oct.
10, here.
Microsoft's Ballmer outlines security
plans, Washington Post, Oct. 10, here. InfoWorld, Oct. 9, here.
MUSIC: File-sharing coalition offers
music revenue model, Washington Post, Oct. 9, here.
Music and the Internet, Special
Report, New York Times, here.
NTC co-sponsored Management Skills for
IT Professionals educational event, Nov. 5-7,
registration materials now on web, here.
CNN reports on the quest for the
perfect mobile phone, Oct. 14, here.
Monitoring Metro and State Requests for
Proposals and Bids
Metro Nashville/Davidson County
government, here.
State of Tennessee:
Tennessee Lottery, here.
Lottery procurement policies, here.
Capital Projects Management,here.
University of Tennessee:
University of Tennessee purchasing, here. UT
contracts list, here.
TN Board of Regents IT Contracts, here.
Scheduled Events: Asterisk (
* ) denotes new or revised
item.
(Oct. 16) ISSA-InfraGard "Hands-On
Cyber-Security Workshop," with speakers from
Gartner, U.S. Secret Service, Deloitte, Packet Leap
Networks. 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. at Belmont University. For
details and registration, here.
(Oct. 16, 17) Sm. Busin. Innovation
SBIR opportunities, meetings Memphis, Chattanooga,
here.
* (Oct. 20) 20th Anniversary
Celebration of the Oak Ridge Technology Corridor at
Pellissippi State Technical Community College. Speakers
include Sen. Lamar Alexander, with Reps. John Duncan and
Zach Wamp also attending. RSVP today via (865) 215-2005
if you plan to attend.
* (Oct. 22) Tech Council Monthly
Luncheon at Technology 2020, "The Art of Modifying Human
Behavior with Technology," Guille Cruze, Founder
& CEO of The White Stone
Group addresses how technology solutions
are created with human behavior modification in mind, to
ensure high user adoption and fulfillment of value
proposition.
(Oct. 22) State of TN, Information
Systems Conference, Nashville Public Library conf.
center, here.
* (Oct. 23-24) e-Security/HIPAA
security & Privacy Conference, in conjuction
with AITP National conference, St. Louis, details here.
* (Oct. 28) "Wireless Technology":
Trends & Solutions for Business, by Sumner County
Technology Council, Forward Sumner and area
Chambers. No charge, 4-6 p.m., Hendersonville High
School, register (615) 822-9320 or rsvp@sumnertechnology.org
(Oct. 28) Women in Technology in
Tennessee (WITT) program, details here. Business Continuity Planning:
Corporate Pain or Corporate Gain? Panel: Gary Seay,
CIO, Community Health Systems; Rick Henry, CTO/COO,
Paymaxx; Belinda Watkins, IT VP and CISO, Federal
Express; Mary Beth Wilson, Principal, Business
Resilience and Continuity Services Consulting Practice.
(Oct. 28) PMI Nashville meeting with
Herb Gabora on "No-Bull Project Management,"
details
here.
(Oct. 29-30) NTC / Chamber - Annual
"NETWORK Showcase of Business & Technology":
Networking, educational tracks -- more than 100
exhibitors already signed, click.
(Oct. 29) Bob Chaput, American
Technology Group on "Starting your own IT business."
AITP Nashville, register, here.
(Oct. 30) Nashville Technology Council
Forum, President David Condra, for details,
registration, write here.
* (Nov. 5) Professional-Technical
Career Fair, Nashville State Community College,
details, here. Current
exhibitors, here.
(Nov. 5-7) Nashville Technology
Council, "Management Skills for IT Professionals,"
Jay Ress of TMA Seminars, TN Economic Development
Center, 8:30a-4:30p., click.
(Nov. 6) NTC Technology Round Table,
"Sarbanes-Oxley: Risk Assessment and IT
responsibility," Steve Tisdell, Principal, Nashville
Management Group, register, here.
(Nov. 10-11)
Innovation Strategy: Identifying Barriers to
Business, Owen GSM, Vanderbilt, here.
(Nov. 10-12) Healthcare Delivery
Solutions Congress, co-sponsored by NTC, for
details, click.
Speakers announced, here.
(Nov. 12-15) American Society of Civil
Engineers, national conference and expo,
Nashville, here.
(Nov. 13) HIPAA Impact on IT, Ed
Miller, CTO of Digichart, AITP Nashville, register,
here.
(Nov. 17-19) TN Venture Forum, by
TN Tech. Development Corp., Chattanooga, details, here.
(Nov. 19-20) ITEC, Memphis. TN OIR
Deputy Commissioner Richard Rognehaugh and City of
Memphis CIO Darryl Anderson are the keynote speakers,
here.
(Dec. 3-5) Tennessee Education
Technology Conference, details here.
Related, here.
(Dec. 4) Seminar on Liability issues
for engineers, Tennessee Engineering Center,
Adventure Sci. Center, Don Friedman of Crow Friedman
Group, presented by TN Society of Professional
Engineers, et al, write ctoler@tnec.org
for details or call (615) 242-2486
* (Dec. 4) NTC Technology Round Table,
"State of Tennessee IT: Strategic Planning, Project
Management, & Cyber Security," Richard Rognehaugh,
Deputy Commissioner - Office of Information Resources,
State of Tennessee, reception and dinner. Related
resources, here.
* (Dec. 9) Nashville Technology Council
"Holiday Business Mixer," Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., Two
Doors Down, Demonbreun Street, cash bar. Map, here.
(Dec. 11) AITP Nashville chapter
meeting, Dr. Sonny Reynolds (humor). Register, here.
(Dec. 18) InfraGard mid-TN, chapter
meeting, presentation topic to be announced.
Updates,
here.
For information about Nashville Technology
Council programs, services and sponsorships:
For previous editions of "News of
Nashville Technology," click here. |
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