MARKETO UPBEAT ON IRELAND'S CLOUD COMPUTING CAPABILITIES - Despite the pressure from Europe to raise our corporate tax rate, another Silicon Valley company seems happy to start employing here. IT firm Marketo is to create 125 jobs in Dublin over the next three years. The company specialises in revenue-performance management.
Marketo's managing director for Europe, Fergus Gloucester, says that cloud computing is a simple but powerful technology. It means that companies can have their computing solutions delivered to them over the internet and they all they need is a browser. He says that Marketo allows businesses' sales and marketing departments to co-operate with each other. Mr Gloucester says the country's broadband capabilities have improved dramatically from the situation of five years ago and he says that potential jobs in cloud computing will be spread nationwide.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Germany today announced plans to become the first major industrialised power to shut down all its nuclear plants in the wake of the disaster in Japan, with a phase-out due to be wrapped up by 2022. Environment Minister Norbert Roettgen announced the decision by the centre-right coalition, which was prompted by the crisis at Japan's Fukushima plant, in the early hours of this morning. Germany has 17 nuclear reactors on its territory, eight of which are currently off the electricity grid.
*** Greece will be the object of euro zone concern throughout the week after the Government there failed to win support to put through a new austerity programme as the country battles to regain its international reputation amongst investors. This morning the Financial Times reports that European leaders are negotiating a deal that would lead to unprecedented outside intervention in the Greek economy. This could include international involvement in in tax collection and privatisation of state assets in exchange for new loans.
*** Accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers surveyed 182 chief executives in March on confidence and they found that confidence is deteriorating compared to a year ago while only one in ten is expecting economic growth this year. Just over half of them expect to see a growth in their own company's revenues this year by exploring new markets and developing new products. Unsurprisingly, 60% say their top priority is reducing costs while a whopping 85% feel finance is less easily available now compared to a year ago.
*** The visit of England's Queen Elizabeth and US President Barack Obama have had positive results for Ireland according to a new survey by the UK website, Hotels.com. The survey shows searches for hotels in Kildare are up by 191% and up 80% for Tipperary. Cork saw a surge of 74% while queries about hotels in Dublin are up 69% on the same time last year.
*** On the currency markets, the euro is worth $1.4275 US cents and 86.65 pence sterling.
