Monday, March 18, 2002		Latest in IT world

For malicious computer hackers and virus writers, the next frontier in mischief is the mobile phone. A phone virus or Trojan horse program might instruct your phone to do extraordinary things, computer security experts say. It might call the White House or the police as a bizarre hoax. It might forward your personal address book to a sleazy telemarketing firm, AP reported. As cellular phones morph into computer-like smartphones able to surf the Web, send e-mail and download software, they're prone to same tribulations that have waylaid computers last decade.

Software grows

Software exports is the fastest growing sector of the Indian economy. Exports grew at the CAGR of 57 per cent, according to the Ninth Plan figures, The Economic Times, reported. The IT department has drawn up the Tenth Plan strategy for further growth of this sector. A Rs 100 crore fund is proposed to market and enhance India's image abroad through multiple marketing channels and a wide industry-government network. However, in the last few years, setting up of offices by software companies in various countries has seen a decline in the trend of direct marketing, the report added.

Dubai firm

Dubai-based International Expo-Consults (IEC) has teamed up with DimensionFour, an Indian event management company, to organise the first exhibition for free trade zones in India, according to Khaleej Times. To be staged at Mumbai's World Trade Centre from September 30 to October 2, the World Free Trade Zones Expo 2002 will bring together free trade zone operators, investors and regulators under one roof. The exhibition is targeting airport and port free zones, offshore zones, software technology parks, biotech parks, export promotion industrial zones, hardware technology parks, special economic promotion zones, info-media parks and dedicated real estate parks. The expo has the support of the Federal Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Maharashtra government, the India Trade Promotion Organisation, the Software Technology Parks of India and the country's 29 state industry development corporations.

Supercomputer

One of the world's top 10 supercomputers devoted to life sciences research will be set up at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). The computer would be able to crunch data that normally takes three days, in half a day, Associate Professor Chia Tet Fatt, head of NTU's new Bioinformatics Research Centre, told The Straits Times. The centre's formation is a part of NTU's overall plan to become a life-sciences research hub. NTU president Cham Tao Soon said the $12.4-million investment in the fast-speed computer project would be shared equally between the university and Compaq Computer, its project co-partner. The computer to be set up at NTU can run half-a-trillion calculations per second, Compaq spokesman said, placing it among the top 10 supercomputers devoted to life-sciences research. The centre will also train experts in bioinformatics, who are now very scarce around the world. A new masters course in bioinformatics will start in July. Compaq is also pumping another $ 4 million into the centre, which will go to research grants and scholarships.