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Fuel cell joint venture formed
In an effort to accelerate the development of fuel cells, two companies form a JV to target the light industrial, commercial, and residential markets in the United Kingdom and Ireland
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Resistance to a U.K. hedge fund's effort to control CSX
Ever since the 2006 Dubai Ports World’s takeover of management operations in major U.S. seaports, Congress has shown increasing irritation with attempts by foreign companies to own U.S. critical infrastructure assets; there is a growing resistance in Congress to U.K.-based TCI to take control of rail operator CSX
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Singapore embarks on water reclamation project
Singapore suffers increasing water shortages; the country’s Public Utility Board (PUB) has joined with two specialists in the field in a joint development of wastewater reclamation technologies using separation membranes
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Bosch acquires Extreme CCTV
Video surveillance is a growing market, and Bosch moves in by acquiring Canadian specialist in infrared illuminators
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Canberra shows Falcon 5000 portable radiation detector
The company has more than four decades of experience in radiation measurements of all kinds; the Falcon 5000, a portable radionuclide identifier for first responders, determines whether there is a radiation source present, the location of that source, and which isotopes are emitting the radiation
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VCs invest $3 billion in clean tech in 2007
VCs investment in clean tech in 2007 increased 43 percent over similar investments in 2006; U.S.-based companies received $2.52 billion, or 83 percent of the total, in 159 clean-tech deals
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Chevron, Weyerhaeuser to develop fuels from non-food sources
Using food crops such as corn to produce fuel may not be such a good idea after all, as the contribution to pushing up the price of corn-based fuel would likely be greater than the contribution to reduce oil dependence or clean up the environment; two companies offer a way out
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Qinetiq in £951 million test and evaluation MoD contract
Good news for Qinetiq: the Ministry of Defense signed a £951 million contract with the company, part of a contract values at £5.6 billion over 25 years; company has already been paid £964 million for the 2003-9 period
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Israeli clean-car project largest recipient of VC clean-tech funding in 2007
Israeli electric car venture raises $200 million in first round financing — the largest single recipient of VC cleantech funding in 2007; total VC 2007 investment in cleantech: More than $3 billion
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Europe's Northrop Grumman/EADS group wins $35 billion aircraft deal
A big loss for Boeing, as its European rivals win a $35 billion U.S. Air Force tanker deal; Boeing may have paid the price for the tanker contract it had in 2003, but which was annulled after revelations of procurement fraud; Boeing paid a record $615 million settlement to the government
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More than $3 billion lost in 2007 in phishing attacks
New survey shows the 3.6 million U.S. adults lost an average $886 each to phishing schemes, totaling in $3.2 billion loss; the good news: More victims were able to recover some of their losses relative to previous years; phishing and malware attacks will continue to increase through 2009 because it is still a lucrative business for the perpetrators
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Integrating smart cards with biometrics a growing market
The market for integrated smart cards and biometric products earned $249.1 million in 2007 and is expected to reach $822.2 million by 2013; market driven by growing interest in national biometric IDs; market grew in 2006 by 55.2 percent, despite many of the national ID projects not operating at full scale
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Bankrupt Pay By Touch to auction off its assets
Pay by Touch came to market with a big splash; its system was installed in more than 700 U.S. retail locations; its biometrics and personalized marketing businesses, however, lost $137 million last year on only $600,000 in revenue; it sought buyers, but there were no satisfactory offers, so it is planning to auction off its assets
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Bain's effort to acquire 3Com on verge of collapse
Bain Capital and a Chinese partner wanted to buy 3Com for $2.2 billion; 3Com’s TippingPoint unit sells security software used by U.S. government agencies, and persistent questions were raised over the national security ramifications of the deal; Bain and Huawei Technologies have now withdrawn their application to CFIUS
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Aussie company in $20 million wave energy project for Maui
Australian specialist in wave energy to build three platforms off the coast of Maui; project aims to provide up to 2.7 megawatts
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More headlines
The long view
New Bill Proposes Banning TikTok in the U.S.
Both the administration and Congress have moved to limit, or even ban, TikTok in the United States because of worries about China using the Chinese-owned platform to gather personal data on millions of Americans. Justin Sherman writes that “all told, it is a noteworthy piece of legislation, and it delineates between the risk of data access and the risk of content manipulation better than then-President Trump’s executive order on TikTok.”
$4.8M to Address National Cybersecurity Workforce Shortage
Oregon State University has received $4.8 million from the National Science Foundation to help the United States close a big gap between the number of cybersecurity job openings and the number of qualified applicants for those positions.
Leveraging U.S. Capital Markets to Support the Future Industrial Network
$56 trillion is nearly three times the size of the U.S. economy. This vast pool of capital in U.S. capital markets — $46 trillion in public capitalization and another $10 trillion in private money – dwarfs that of China. Tapping U.S. equity and debt markets would enable the Department of Defense to remedy current capability shortfalls, fund technological advances from leading private-sector innovators, invest in generational transformation efforts across the military services, and upgrade antiquated global infrastructure to sustain U.S. forces.
Insurance for a Changing Climate
Among the many facets of the economy being challenged and changed by warming global temperatures is the insurance industry. Damaging extreme events such as wildfires, hurricanes, and floods are happening with greater frequency and intensity, which leaves insurance companies facing larger financial risks and paying out more in claims — and it also leaves policy holders paying higher prices to insure their homes and businesses.
Batteries Are the Battlefield
The United States is one of many countries pursuing the clean energy revolution, and which have ramped up investment in electric vehicles manufacturing and renewable energy sources to power the shift away from fossil fuels. Christina Lu and Liam Scott write that this is an industry that has already been staked out by another power: China.