The new website for the Irish Software Association (ISA) has been launched.

Arekibo worked in partnership with the ISA to deliver the following services:

• Internet Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Web Site Design & Development

The new website showcases the work of the Irish Software Association and includes a press area and an events calendar.

The new website is available to view at www.software.ie

Edward Hill-Wood, executive director of Morgan Stanley’s European media team said the report was  “one of the clearest and most thought-provoking insights we have seen – so we published it”

Matthew claims that, “Teenagers do not use Twitter, most have signed up to the service, but then just leave it as they realise that they are not going to update it (mostly because texting Twitter uses up credit, and they would rather text friends with that credit). They realise that no one is viewing their profile, so their tweets are pointless” and that teenagers, “cannot be bothered to read pages and pages of text while they could watch the news summarised on the internet or on TV.

Arekibo conducted a report with the Ombudsman for Children back in 2006 – Teens prefer web over TV that had similar feedback .

See more articles on the Morgan Stanley report

Financial Times - Intern in the News: Matthew Robson

Guardian - How Teenagers Consume Media: the report that shook the City

Guardian - Has Morgan Stanley’s teen media expert met his match?

Bloomberg - Morgan Stanley Intern Says Teens Don’t Twitter, Prefer Events

CrunchGear - Morgan Stanley report shows that teens don’t use Twitter, don’t buy music (but still go to the movies)

Since I began monitoring persiankiwi who is inside Iran – (unconfirmed)  I’ve been following his activities and updates every few hours.   His tweets are having an effect as his  twitter following is increasing each day currently  at 34000 when writing this post (now at 34120 – 30 mins later)

I’ve looked at a number of other twitter sites and it’s very interesting to see how Twitter is being used inside Iran (and outside) and how the twitter community are following the activities…

see

http://twitter.com/#search?q=Iran

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23iranrevolution

http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23Iranelection

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=iran

Arekibo develop IFG Pensions, Investments and Advisory Services website

Arekibo have continued our partnership with IFG Group to develop and design the IFG Group Pensions website.

Arekibo have developed the website to be fully content managed  using the  Sitefinity Content  Management System. Arekibo worked with IFG to develop the website in tandem with their new brand strategy.

The  Arekibo services which were used to deliver this project were:

• Internet Strategy
• Web Design and Development

Future enhancements include – the integration of the new design for the Pension Portal Login Area.

The new website is available to view at  http://www.ifg.ie/content/homepage.aspx

The list can viewed on Arekibo’s corporate site at Tips for planning a web design project

Good Luck.

Arekibo worked with the National Qualifications Authority to create the Qualifax Portal.

Arekibo supported the Qualifax team to create and define the information architecture as well as the online branding for the Qualifax portal.

The new portal is intended to be a “one stop shop” for students.

Arekibo services on this project included:

• Internet Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Web Design and Development

Arekibo worked in partnership with Version 1 to deliver this  project to the National Qualifications Authority.

The new portal can be viewed at  http://www.qualifax.ie

It’s very interesting as I was interviewed this morning for an article in a upcoming Sunday paper and was asked what our clients think of social media. I said that we are finding that many of our clients are not convinced about entering the social media space however it is on the agenda and many will hop on the bandwagon once it make sense to their business strategy.

Watch this space.

Read the article - Marketers not hooked to social media on the Sydney Morning Herald and let us know what you think.

Martin Casey is Managing Director at Arekibo Communications.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association website has been given a new web design. Arekibo are delighted to have worked on this project.

This project involved – internet strategy, web design and development and the integration of a content management system.

The new website can be viewed at  http://www.ipha.ie/

Blue State Digital are the company who were responsible for the Obama website – my.barackobama.com

So what’s the reason for this post.

Ireland have a number of excellent web development companies that could provide Fianna Fail and any other Irish company with innovative, creative and world class internet solutions. So why did Fianna Fail not choose an Irish company to advise, design and deliver their new website?

It doesn’t say much for their confidence in our ability and it upsets me to think that the party in government would do this. Its ironic that the Irish public were being called unpatriotic by choosing to go shopping in Northern Ireland. Read Brian Lenihan’s ‘It’s a call to patriotic action’ budget speech

As managing director of Arekibo I believe that Irish companies should have been exclusively asked to pitch for this project. This is not sour grapes on my part but there numerous experts in Ireland who could have advised Fianna Fail on their internet strategy.

I admire what Blue State Digital do but I believe that we should practise what we preach and in this case the project should have been delivered by an Irish company.

Would Obama have gone to Dublin, London or Paris for his website? I dont think so.

Opera’s mobile browser Mini and Opera Mobile (which I prefer) and is another great browser that surprisingly doesn’t even feature on Net Applications results. I would highly recommend it enhances or should I say saves any windows mobile phone when you’re looking to browse the web.

Your Money at Work from White House on Vimeo.

The site has only been launched and I will keep an eye on it to see if it delivers over the coming months but there are several things on the site that should be commended.

There is a section on the homepage called Accountability and Transparency and it states-  ‘This is your money. You have a right to know where it’s going and how it’s being spent. Learn what steps we’re taking to ensure you can track our progress every step of the way.’

The recovery.gov site also asks people to Share your recovery Story, now let’s not be sceptical of this request as  offering this facility immediately shows that Obama’s team actually want to hear from people. This isn’t a hotline to Obama but it is something that his team feel is important to offer to the American people.

There is also a Timeline that highlights the plan for the coming months and even though its tentative at least its being shared to the world.

So what’s the purpose of this post? It strikes me that there seems to be no plan by the Irish Government to use the internet as a vehicle to communicate its plans and strategy for the Irish recovery.

At a time like this should they not take inspiration from Obama?

Martin Casey is Managing Director at Arekibo Communications.

Working in partnership with the Irish Hospice Foundation, Arekibo has developed the new website to reflect the work of the Forum on End of Life in Ireland and to appeal to all sectors of society.

About the end of life Forum

The Forum will engage all sectors of society in the development of a vision of how modern Ireland can address the challenges of dying, death and bereavement.

Marian Finucane is the Chairperson of the Forum while actor Gabriel Byrne is a Patron.

During the year, the Forum will examine a range of issues around end of life in Ireland such as the care available to older people, the plight of carers, regulation of the funeral industry, the need for the public to engage in advance care planning and register their care preferences. It will also consider the needs of families affected by suicide or homicide.

Visit the end of life website for more information on the forum.

Speaking on the launch Martin Casey Managing Director said –

“Arekibo are delighted to be involved with this very important project, and the great work that the Irish Hospice Foundation undertakes.”

Paul Murray, Forum Coordinator, stated:

“The website created by Arekibo is very simple and clear for people to use. We hope that people will visit the site regularly in order to keep abreast of developments. The Forum can only be strengthened by hearing from various interest groups and individuals with widely differing perspectives.”

The deadline for written submissions is Friday, February 20th. They can be sent to submissions@endoflife.ie or to Paul Murray, Forum Coordinator, Irish Hospice Foundation, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin 2.

Following the official launch on March 11, a series of workshops will take place throughout the year where end-of-life issues will be discussed.

A regional consultation programme will be organised from January-April 2010. The final report is expected to be published by the end of April 2010.

A National Coalition will then be established to advance the vision and action plan emerging from the Forum.

Arekibo provided, information architecture, web design, web development and content management services.

“When people are looking for cheaper products or services, whether it is airline flights or lawnmowers, they are going to go online,” said Martin Casey, managing director of web design and internet consultancy firm Arekibo.

“When things are tighter and they have less money in their pockets, they are going to start looking more and more online to get the best deal.” Casey said that nowadays most customers look to the internet first when considering any kind of purchase, therefore companies should ensure they present the best possible online image.

“The internet has become the de facto reference point for people to find services,” he said. “Everyone is going to Google or Yahoo. The website is your virtual front door, it gives the customer an insight into who you are, what you do, and how you treat people. It is vital in times like these that your internet is very much at the front of what you are trying to achieve with your business.” Developing a website as an alternative sales channel should be a key objective for many businesses faced with challenging markets, according to Casey.

There is no doubt that the internet has become an essential tool to any businesses strategic and communication objectives and Arekibo have seen very positive signs that the internet is most certainly back in the boardroom and that 2009 will be a fantastic year for the internet in Ireland.