News Desk

A breakthrough by researchers at the University of Sydney is set to harmonise two of today's hottest emerging trends: cloud computing and energy efficiency.

Last year, we were forced to ask the question, 'Where are the female entrepreneurs?' when, according to the nomination form, only 8% of the nominated companies in 2008 were run by women. Of course, our provocatively titled post had our female Anthillians nominate en masse, getting our female contingent up to a more respectable 28%. This year, only one month into the process, nominated companies run by women represent 35% of the total!

You might, from time to time, forget to give your kids money to pay for their lunch orders. Or perhaps your children have a habit of using the lunch money you give them to buy lollies instead of the alfalfa sandwiches for which it is intended. Either way, mHITs is hoping both parents and schools will sign up for Easy Canteen.

Australian businesses are cautiously optimistic that overall business conditions will improve through the rest of 2009 according to the latest D&B National Business Expectations Survey released today.

Today, the Australian Federal Minister for Small Business, Dr Craig Emerson, officially launched a free phone service that will provide advice and support for people running and working in small businesses.

Margaret Thatcher once remarked that anybody over the age of 30 who used a bus could consider themselves a failure. Now, Adelaide commuters might be clamouring over one another to get on the bus thanks to a new free mobile entertainment platform.

To coincide with today's relaunch of the oodles.com website, Sherlock and his team are inviting Twitter users to suggest a tagline for their online car rental platform. The author of the winning tweet tagline (twagline?) as chosen by Oodles staff will receive $1,000 cash.

Sad news this week that INNOVIC, the support organisation for innovative Victorian startups, will be restructured due to lack of government funding.

The Federal Government has just launched a new grant for third party service providers to help small and home based businesses with: • ‘free or low cost’ IT skills development • training and mentoring services • improved web presence and e-business capability Funding is available up to $500,000.

So while this $US32.5 million US Government funding for UltraBattery is certainly a tremendous validation for the technology and the CSIRO researchers who developed it, the international licensing option pursued means that Australia will, in all likelihood, only receive couch change from what stands to be an extremely lucrative venture for the foreign companies (Furukawa Battery Company and East Penn) that are actually doing the commercialisation.

Do you get your best ideas in the bathroom? If you answered yes, you're in the majority, according to research conducted by thinking expert and occasional Anthill contributor Ken Wall and three colleagues.

A bunch of small business owners on the Central Coast recently formed a connection on Twitter, sharing experiences, advice and business tips. So they decided to meet (known in twitter circles as a "tweetup"). Since meeting, the group has grown into a fully-fledged organisation - the Central Coast Small Business Network, or CCBiz - and it is officially launching on 27 August. Great work, people.

The website www.buyaustralianmade.com.au is not much fancier than a listing business - a directory. But it is being launched at a time when many manufacturers, especially in regional areas, are finding it tougher to sell their products through traditional retail outlets as the major chains cull their product lines.

The website www.buyaustralianmade.com.au is not much fancier than a listing business - a directory. But it is being launched at a time when many manufacturers, especially in regional areas, are finding it tougher to sell their products through traditional retail outlets as the major chains cull their product lines.

The BizExchange Index for the June 09 quarter has been released and and it provides further evidence that the economy may have bottomed out.

The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, late last week announced funding of $243 million for "world-class collaborative research and innovation" under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program.

The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator the Hon Kim Carr, late last week announced funding of $243 million for "world-class collaborative research and innovation" under the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres (CRC) Program.

Playford Capital, the SA government backed seed investor fund, announced today that it will receive $7.45 million from the Federal Government to invest in its portfolio of emerging companies.

Last Thursday the Federal Government announced that 11 fund managers had been named to oversee investment of $64 million into promising early-stage Australian companies under the Innovation Investment Follow-On Fund (IIFF).

Last Thursday the Federal Government announced that 11 fund managers had been named to oversee investment of $64 million into promising early-stage Australian companies under the Innovation Investment Follow-On Fund (IIFF).