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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Just when you thought airport lines couldn’t get any longer

This isn’t a column about business technology per se, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to write about a half-dozen states thumbing their noses at the federal government and potentially backing up travel this spring at airports all over the country, including some of the world’s busiest, all over a piece of plastic. After the tragedy of 9/11, one of the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations was to create a hard-to-fake identity card for Americans. In 2005, Congress passed a huge defense…

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Businesses eager for canal to be a ‘selling point’ again: Water should be back – and sparkling – soon

For nearly five months, leasing agents at Canal Overlook Apartments have relied on photos and visual aids to show potential renters what a perk a canal view can be. If the would-be renters take a gander now, all they get is a view of a drained Central Canal and workers scraping out decades worth of slime. “It is usually a selling point, but [the cleanup] has been long and it smells bad,” said Lynn Grine, leasing manager for the 125-unit…

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Students finding robotics irresistible: Competitions promote interest in technology

On the same day this month when high school boys’ basketball teams compete to advance to the state finals, another event showcasing the talents of Indiana’s youth should be just as climactic. Only this contest emphasizes academics over athletics. The three-day Boilermaker Regional at Purdue University that culminates March 15 will host roughly 40 high school robotics programs, including 26 schools from Indiana. Students will apply their engineering and computer programming skills to design and build task-performing machines. The winning…

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IU follows Purdue lead, overhauls business-development strategy

Indiana University President Michael McRobbie calls it “Innovate Indiana.” His ambition is to corral all of IU’s strengths
under one new branded initiative to boost the Hoosier economy. Purdue University already has leveraged a similar strategy,
promoted with “Go BusinessMakers!” billboards, to national acclaim.

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Telamon on the rebound: Diversification puts Carmel technology firm back on fast track, prevents layoffs

In 2003, Carmel-based Telamon Corp. hit rock bottom. So, founder Albert Chen returned to his roots. Taiwanese native Chen, 63, had spent two decades building his firm to serve telecommunications giants. But when the dot-com bubble burst, the telecom industry tanked along with it. Telamon-then Indiana’s largest minority-owned business-saw its annual revenue plummet $300 million, down from $456 million in 2001. Most managers would have chosen to shrink Telamon to reflect its new reality. But Chen doesn’t do mass layoffs….

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VIEWPOINT: Suffering a slow death by technology

Somebody help me! I want to go back to the ’80s! This technology stuff is killing me. A rotary phone and a busy signal, that’s the ticket. Ma Bell: She’s my gal. Simplicity. Doesn’t that sound good? I used to think the advances in electron ic technology were a good thing. The early developments were excellent and, like most people, I rushed out to buy them. The iPod, now, that was a great advance. A complete Beethoven collection in a…

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Many of state’s new jobs are at call centers

The state’s economic development leaders have been touting 2007 as a banner year that brought commitments for more than 22,000
new jobs, including positions in manufacturing, logistics and life sciences. But almost 20 percent of the announced jobs would
be in call centers–jobs that typically pay near or below the state’s $35,000 average annual wage.

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ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Telecom reform is paying off big for Indiana

In the relatively unromantic world of economic policy, telecommunications research is notable for its blandness and practicality. Yet few things matter as deeply as good public policy toward the deployment of telecommunications. Here, Indiana has a remarkable story to tell. In the waning days of the 2006 legislative session, Indiana lawmakers passed a telecom reform act that quickly became the national standard for reforming access to broadband communications. It bears repeating: Indiana’s video franchising reform has become the national standard….

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Insurance insecurities: Data-breach policies touted as way to protect businesses from cyber-related losses

Several local entities, ranging from St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital to the state of Indiana to Indianapolis Public Schools, last year experienced wellpublicized electronic security breaches involving confidential data. While the victims of the lapses and those at fault emerged relatively unscathed, such incidents underscore the ease in which personal information can be lost or stolen in today’s computerized world. With roughly 165 million people tapping into to the Internet nationally, the opportunities for security breaches are plentiful. Throw in the…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Get away from techno-gadgets and breathe deeply

When I worked in a factory some 30 years back, it was a dangerous place filled with heavy machinery, slick floors, sharp edges, overhangs and chemical fumes. Many of us envied the office workers who never got dirty and never seemed to face anything more dangerous than a bad-hair day. Now that I work in offices, I’ve discovered a whole new realm of dangers, such as carpal-tunnel syndrome and headache from squinting at computer monitors. But little did I guess…

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VIEWPOINT: Could design transform your company?

At first glance, it seems like an odd scenario: a group of Indianapolis architects attending an auto show in Detroit so they can hear an Ohio guy talk about golf clubs. As convoluted as that seems, though, the trip makes perfect sense when you understand its purpose. We went to hear people talk about design and how it can define a product, brand or company. The event we attended was the AutoWeek Design Forum, presented as a part of the…

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Uphill battle ahead: State poses tough test for new enviro leader

By the time Jesse Kharbanda earned a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford, the University of Chicago student already knew he wanted to advocate environmental policies in the developing world, someday. Eight years later, some might say Kharbanda has landed in the developing world, all right-Indiana, insofar as it’s considered the backwater of environmental stewardship. One might recall the state’s 49thplace ranking in a 2007 review of “greenest” states by Forbes magazine. Only West Virginia-a national leader in illiteracy-scored worse….

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Steak n Shake showdown sure to escalate from here

Investors Sardar Biglari and Philip Cooley didn’t exactly hit it off with The Steak n Shake Co.’s top brass when they met in August to discuss the company’s future. Company Chairman Alan Gilman and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Blade “refused to disclose basic information” and “rebuffed disclosure of even niggling details like the number of employees at headquarters,” according to Biglari’s account of the meeting, which he included in a Jan. 23 letter to company shareholders. “We are suspect of…

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Law firms making green push: Environmental teams provide marketing boost

The next generation of environmental law is coming to a firm near you. Many law firms have existing practices that counsel clients on the complexities of complying with air and water permits or cleaning up contaminated properties. But now that the corporate sector is embracing “green” initiatives quicker than Al Gore accumulates carbon credits, environmental law is becoming as sexy as, say, intellectual property. Two of the city’s largest firms-Ice Miller LLP and Baker & Daniels LLP-recently unveiled so-called “green”…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: The right time for climate change may finally be here

While the world’s political climate is heating up, its economic climate is cooling down. Meanwhile, the real climate is finally getting the attention it really deserves, as the “tipping point” has been reached. Green is everywhere these days. New York Times For homes that no longer grow in value. If the personal consumption rates in China rose to the levels of the United States, annual oil consumption in the world would go up more than 100 percent! Oil consumption in…

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Local Girl Scouts take lead in national consolidation: Larger councils to mean more opportunities for girls

Last year’s merger of five area Girl Scout councils into one central Indiana organization has gone so well that it’s being used as a model for others to follow. Local staffers are being flown around the country-at national Girl Scouts’ expense-to coach other councils on how to achieve the same results. The local merger was the first in a national drive to consolidate far-flung and often uneven Girl Scout councils, reducing their numbers by almost a third. With the local…

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VIEWPOINT: Cookie-cutter schools: a fatally flawed idea

What would happen if Congress passed a law requiring every U.S. statehouse to use the exact same building design? And that every city hall, every fire station and library must be built from a canned design? Imagine being told that, from now on, every house in the state would have the exact same design, so homeowners could spend less on design costs. It sounds crazy to think one design fits all, but that’s exactly what lawmakers are considering for educational…

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Technology park could boost area’s biomedical efforts: First phase of Purdue project, featuring accelerator building for up to 25 startups, should be finished this year

The park is expected to be a major amenity for the area’s growing biomedical economic development efforts. Purdue Research Foundation paid $2.5 million in June to purchase a half-interest in 78 acres at AmeriPlex industrial park. The university ultimately anticipates filling it with as many as 75 businesses and 1,500 jobs. AmeriPlex owner Holladay Properties, a South Bend developer of industrial parks, owns the other half of the site. Dubbed Purdue Accelerator Park at AmeriPlex-Indianapolis, the project is intended to…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is technostress threatening your employees?

As I watched someone write an actual paper check in a checkout line one day, I saw one reason why a lot of companies have turnover problems. I pay for almost everything with cash or with plastic. Both are very fast, so when somebody is methodically writing out a check, it gives me just enough time to stew over how slow he is. When I use my card, I can swipe it with a practiced flick, tap a few keys,…

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BEHIND THE NEWS: Pending IPOs bode well for tech startups of tomorrow

Initial public offerings often are bonanzas for company management and other insiders. In the case of Aprimo Inc. and ExactTarget Inc. -two Indianapolis software firms on deck to go public-a throng of local business and technology leaders who provided early financial backing would see a rich payoff as well. Filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show the companies snared as investors a who’s who of Indianapolis business, from former venture capitalist Bob Compton to financial adviser David Knall and…

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