IBM has announced the signing of a seven-year contract with Qantas, an Australian airline, for the provision of project delivery functions as part of the airline’s improved business efficiency goals.

Under the agreement, IBM will bring a combination of project management delivery know-how to Qantas’ project portfolio to ensure timely delivery of business and IT change programs.

IBM said it will also provide analytics and research services aimed at helping Qantas improve the speed and quality of its business decisions.

Under the contract, Qantas will gain access to IBM’s research, analytics and business optimisation capabilities.

Alcatel-Lucent has launched a new IP Transformation Centre (IPTC) in Chennai, India. First centre of its kind in the sub-continent, the IPTC is aimed at developing, integrating and testing end-to-end IP networking solutions for Alcatel-Lucent’s Indian and global customers as they migrate to next generation architectures.

The centre will enable service providers to design, test and integrate their solutions in a ‘risk-free environment’, the company said. It will reportedly help them shorten the IP transformation trajectory and their time to market.

The IPTC is networked with Alcatel-Lucent’s existing IPTCs and network integration centres located in Antwerp, Belgium; Singapore; Murray Hill, Naperville and Plano in the USA, as well as with multiple R&D labs world-wide, including India.

Alcatel-Lucent has announced the appointment of Subhash Bana as vice president R&D reporting to Vivek Mohan, managing director of Alcatel-Lucent India.

In his new role, Subhash will be responsible for improving engineering performance across the carrier and applications software activities, including R&D service delivery, quality and innovation enhancing support to the Indian customers.

He will also liaise with the business divisions to develop and execute products and solutions for emerging markets.

Subhash comes with over 24 years of experience in the defence, telecom, media and entertainment markets. Prior to his appointment, he was vice president of Thomson’s operations in India and Sri Lanka.

Before joining Thomson in 2007, Subhash had worked with Alcatel-Lucent in various capacities for 14 years. His last assignment with Alcatel-Lucent was as managing director of Alcatel Development India.

KDF Electronic & Vacuum Services has announced its role in the opening of a $165m digital X-Ray mammography production facility in New York state.

The facility is headlined by a health equipment OEM and will manufacture and transfer its technology to healthcare facilities worldwide.

KDF, a New Jersey-based producer of batch-sputtering systems used in the manufacture of a variety of R&D and production formats, provided two 844i systems that support essential digital diagnostic radiography equipment.

KDF’s 844i systems are used in the development of digital X-ray diagnostic equipment. The radiographic equipment is aimed at improving the diagnostic process for breast cancer doctors and patients by providing digital images, while also providing instantaneous re-shoots.

The 844i is a large area, four-target, batch-sputtering system, designed for processing high-density interconnect, 300 mm semiconductor wafers, solar photovoltaic cells and flat panel displays.

Among other things, the system has remote PC accessibility allowing for software upgrades and file repair via an internet/Ethernet connection.

IBM has announced the launch of a Tokyo-based IBM Analytics Solution centre, which is part of a global network of analytics focused centres.

Through these centers, IBM hopes to address the demand for advanced analytics capabilities need to help clients build smarter business systems and drive improved decision-making.

The new centre is co-located at IBM’s Marunouchi office in Tokyo as well as at IBM’s Yamato Lab in Kanagawa Prefecture. It aims to draw on global IBM know-how, including more than 150 mathematicians and software engineers at IBM Research – Tokyo and Yamato Software Development Laboratory to help companies turn data into predictive intelligence.

Initially, the centre will be staffed by up to 500 IBM Japan consultants, researchers and software experts.

Consumers are unwilling to part with their broadband services at home even in the midst of the economic downturn, preferring to cut spending on things like dining out and leisure travel, according to a series of recent studies sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent.

These findings were uncovered as part of a global study exploring the impact of the economic recession on spending for telecom services and the role broadband services can play in promoting global economic growth and social welfare.

The study, conducted under Alcatel-Lucent’s Market Advantage Program (MAP) — in cooperation with market research firms Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Ipsos MediaCT — employed statistical analysis to determine how consumers prioritise household spending, given a recessionary mindset, comparing the relative value of a variety of specific fee-based services.

Broadband services appear to be nearly recession-proof, with 84 per cent of consumers identifying broadband as an essential network service and, therefore, the least likely target for spending cuts.

The studies also showed that more consumers globally are planning to subscribe to and/or upgrade their broadband services, even while reducing spending in other areas.

Key factors driving this preference include a desire to reduce the cost and travel time associated with commuting, coupled with a preference for greener alternatives. In developed countries, respondents also noted a growing dependence on the Web as an information source, business tool, social network and entertainment venue.

The research indicated that attitudes about broadband cut across regions and socio-economic strata. However, it also revealed distinctions in attitudes about the economy between consumers in high-growth markets and those in more developed markets.

In markets such as France, for example, consumers indicate that the financial crisis has had a greater negative impact on their household when compared to consumers in other countries.

In contrast, people in emerging countries are more optimistic about the future than those in developed countries around the world. While two thirds of consumers indicated they are cutting expenditures, 85 per cent of consumers from emerging countries indicated that their household economic situation would be the same or better a year from now compared to 64 per cent of respondents in the developed countries, Alca-Lu noted.

Vdopia, a Video Ad Network and Video Ad Platform focused on Indians across the globe, has announced the launch of VDO Labs.

The research lab will focus exclusively on taking video advertising experience to the next level by creating innovations around video content. VDO Labs is building ad formats such as Skin Branding, Skin Branding with product placement, and Skin Branding with overlay.

Vdopia’s proprietary Dynamic Skin Branding technology allows the video player skin to change dynamically according to the targeting criteria specified by the advertiser. With this launch, advertisers can now target online video consumers with contextual, interactive advertising for videos watched, the company said.

The ad formats powered by VDO Labs are interactive display advertising formats delivered in a customisable Flash ‘skin’ integrated around the video player.

Globant, the Latin American player in software product development, R&D, and IT maintenance outsourcing, is opening offices in Bogota, Colombia.

With the intention of broadening its presence in the country and strengthening its growth in the region, Globant is inaugurating offices for working with clients such as Microsoft, the Ministry of Defense – with projects in conjunction with Microsoft, CAFAM and other companies.

Microsoft has announced a partnership with technology industry players and academia to implement a coordinated, global response to the Conficker (aka Downadup) worm.

Together with security researchers, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and operators within the Domain Name System, Microsoft coordinated a response designed to disable domains targeted by Conficker.

The company has also announced a $250,000 reward for information that results in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for illegally launching the Conficker malicious code on the internet.

Cygate, a provider of integrated information network solutions, and Sourcefire, an open source player, have signed a partnership agreement on selling systems for detecting and preventing network intrusion and vulnerabilities and on providing related system consultation and services for enterprises and public corporations.

Sourcefire combines an Open Source product with its own commercial applications by adding, for example, network analysis tools and correlation and reporting intelligence to SNORT.

In addition, Sourcefire’s own Vulnerability Research Team (VRT) generates new identification data on attacks and vulnerabilities on a 24/7/365 basis.

With this agreement, Cygate becomes a certified Sourcefire Premier Partner.