Long Island Technology Briefs May 30, 2003

Long Island Business News, May 30, 2003 by Ken Schachter

Study: CEO's wary

on tech spending

Growth in Information Technology budgets is expected to lag growth in revenues among fast-growing companies, according to a new study.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Trendsetter Barometer survey found that chief executives expect to restrain IT spending in the next 12 months. While the executives project that revenues will increase 16.4 percent over the period, they plan to hold IT budgets to 9 percent on average.

The study found that almost six of 10 executives surveyed found no pressing need for an IT upgrade versus 40 percent who found a compelling reason to devote funds to technology.

"In today's sluggish economy, many 'Trendsetter' companies are concentrating on attaining the full capability from their existing IT platforms, before making more-extensive investments," Robert Sturm, Long Island technology industry leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers, said in a statement. "There is a reluctance to make major new commitments, and a resistance to the temptation of new applications."

Among the technologies projected by executives to "blossom" in the next two to three years included: faster data transactions; security applications; wireless networks; XML Web language and Web services; wireless telephones (Bluetooth or 3G wireless); global positioning systems, and Internet telephony. Also cited were smart cards, speech recognition, nanotechnology, RFID wireless tags and grid computing.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers survey interviewed chief executives of 403 U.S. companies -- whose annual sales ranged from about $5 million to $100 million -- identified as the fastest growing over the last five years.

Omnicon opens offices

in Montreal and Rome

Hauppauge-based Omnicon Group Inc. has opened new offices in Montreal and Rome as part of an expansion initiative, the company announced.

The 30-person company, which provides specialized engineering services, opened the offices in the second quarter. The company also won a $25,000 economic incentive grant from the state Empire State Development Corp.

Omnicon offers reliability, maintenance and safety engineering, specialized test equipment and software development.

"Our expansion into the international market allows us not only to better serve current customers with global operations, but also to offer our services to numerous foreign companies with an increasing demand for them," Omnicon Group President Scott Abrams said in a statement.

Abrams also said the company plans to open offices in Asia and Australia by 2005.

As part of its expansion strategy, Omnicon has tapped advice from the Hauppauge Industrial Association through that organization's "Operation Export" for companies seeking to open foreign links.

4 high schoolers get

Brookhaven award

Four female Long Island high school students each have won a $1,000 award to encourage them to pursue careers in science and math.

The students who received the awards at a ceremony at Brookhaven National Laboratory included Alison Castaneda, Longwood High School; Margaret Mars, Riverhead High School; Amy Morgenstern, Shoreham- Wading River High School; and Amelia Poquette, William Floyd High School.

The award was established by Battelle, an Ohio-based corporation that manages Brookhaven National Laboratory with SUNY Stony Brook and by the not-for-profit Brookhaven Women in Science.

In another event at the Upton-based laboratory, the winners of 2003 BNL Elementary School Science Fair were announced. Winners chosen from the 485 projects submitted through more than 100 Suffolk County schools were:

* Two Sachem Central School District students, Danielle Curren, a kindergartener at Tamarac Elementary School; and Megan Horber, a second-grader at Gatelot Avenue Elementary School. Danielle's project was called "Cuddling Will Keep You Warm," and Megan's experiment was named "Soaking Seeds."

* Schuyler Swanson, a first-grader at Raynor Country Day School in Westhampton. She won first place for her grade level with a project called "Goldilocks and the Six Lima Beans."

* Two Northport-East Northport School District students, Austin Stack, a third-grader at Dickinson Avenue Elementary School; and Maeve Dwyer, a fourth-grader at Ocean Avenue Elementary School. Austin's project was called "Diabetes and Carbohydrates," and Maeve's experiment was named "Getting the Wings Wright!"

* Melanie Yovino, a fifth-grader at Wading River Elementary School. Her project was called, "Does Color Hinder or Help Short Term Memory?"

* Jessica Schiesser, a sixth-grader at Elwood Middle School. Jessica's project was called "Are Backpacks Too Heavy?"

SARS fears shift

Internet traffic

English-speaking Internet users conducted 6.4 million SARS- related searches in April, according to a study by Web-tracker comScore Media Metrix.

The study also found that Internet traffic to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control (cdc.gov) climbed 80 percent from November 2002 to April 2003, spurred by concerns over SARS and bioterrorism.