News | Page 30

A new industry alliance whose main purpose is to promote the development of an open standard for securing transactions based on wireless technology and biometrics has been established, a news report in the media has revealed.The Alliance is made up of 24 numerous influential companies from the retail, banking, payment provider, and IT communities whose common goal is to create a payment mechanism that merges wireless technology, a personal device and biometrics.

The University of Leicester is set to create a testing and analysis centre for the automotive, aerospace and space industries within the MIRA Technology Park at the enterprise zone site near Hinckley, a news report in the local media has revealed.The new scheme represents a £2.5m investment, supported by the government's Regional Growth Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, and is delivered in partnership with Polytec.

A 1 million sq ft manufacturing facility is set to be built on a 23-acre South Cambridgeshire site, creating no less than 460 jobs for the local area in the process, a news report in the local business media has revealed.

Drive Medical, a multinational manufacturer and distributor of medical equipment for use in the home healthcare, surgical, medical and rehabilitation sectors, has just signed a six-year lease to move to a 71,956 sq ft space in Newtown Industrial Estate at Crosskeys, Newport.According to a new report in the local business media, the move follows the acquisition of Blaenau Gwent-based rival Mountway.

Construction services company Morgan Sindall has just been awarded a £40.8m contract by the University of Cambridgeshire for the development of a new chemical engineering and biotechnology facility, a news report in the local media has revealed.The building, designed by architects BDP, will feature biological laboratories, cleanrooms and a magnetic resonance research centre, with the estimated date of completion being set for June 2015.

A 4.5m pounds business support and learning centre has just recently officially opened in Dunstable, and is set to offer support, training and development in addition to meeting rooms and offices to rent, a news report in the local business media has revealed.The Incuba targets mostly start-ups and has been developed by Central Bedfordshire College, while also being supported by Central Bedfordshire Council.

HMP Peterborough, a privately operated category B prison, is set to undergo a significant extension process that will be carried out by international support services and construction group Interserve, who also designed and constructed the original prison back in 2005.

The National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) has just announced a second round of bidding for aerospace suppliers, set to open in January, that will enable more companies to apply for a share of the £40m funding pot to help innovate technologies for new products or manufacturing processes over the next four years.

A new report commissioned by the University of Oxford and Science Oxford, and written by economic consultancy SQW, has revealed that Oxfordshire has the potential to generate an extra £1bn in economic output for the UK thanks to its growing cluster of high-tech businesses.

A new specialist biotechnology manufacturing facility located in Billingham has just been officially opened, representing Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies' latest investment from a series totalling £30m over the past two years.According to a news report on this matter, the new facility, which has been built and commissioned in less than 15 months, is the first facility of its kind in the UK, and is focused on mammalian cell culture.

The use of near field communications-enabled smartphones as access control credentials is becoming an increasingly hot topic for security experts around the world, with pro and con con opinions simply flying across the board.For those not familiar with the technology, NFC provides simplified transactions, data exchange and wireless connections between two devices that are in close proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few inches.

A 50-acre site at Gaerwen is the preferred location for building a new Science Park to serve North West Wales, Menai Science Park in Anglesey has confirmed.As a news report in the local media has revealed, the site is currently owned by the Isle of Anglesey County Council and was one of three sites on the island shortlisted by the science park project team.