CA ANNOUNCES DEALS IN SWEDEN AND INDONESIA
Islandia-based Computer Associates reported that Vattenfall Data has selected CA's Unicenter TNG, an enterprise management solution, to monitor its production computing environment.According to CA officials, Vattenfall Data will utilize Unicenter TNG to manage its information technology environment which incorporates Windows NT, HP-UX, Sun Solaris, Silicon Graphics Irix and Digital Unix platforms in a TCO/IP network.
Vattenfall Data is the information technology subsidiary of Vattenfall Group, Sweden's largest energy group and one of Europe's largest energy providers.
In related news, CA announced PT Astra, an Indonesian conglomerate, atlas created a multimedia automotive shopping experience utilizing CNs Jasmine object-oriented database. The new application will allow PT Astra to display, promote and market its range of Toyota cars to the Indonesian marketplace.
Lufthansa increases interest in Hudson
Great Neck-based Hudson General Corp., a service provider at airports throughout the U.S. and Canada, has been advised that the supervisory board of Deutsche Lufthansa approved the exercise by LAGS, an indirect subsidiary of Lufthansa, to increase its interest in Hudson General LLC from 26 percent to 49 percent.
According to Hudson General officials, the company expects notice regarding the option from LAGS on or about Oct. 1. The price of the option is estimated at $29.6 million. [ read full article ]
SWEDEN IMPROVES COMPETITIVE POSITION AS POPULAR PLACE FOR BUSINESS
According to U.N. statistics in 1995, Sweden was one of the top three European locations of worldwide corporate investment, surpassed only by the United Kingdom and France. The number of U.S. companies in Sweden increased from 350 to 560 between 1990 and 1996, and there are now more than 47,000 employees in American-owned companies located in Sweden.In the past year, Sweden has improved its competitive position as a popular location for call centers, health care facilities and other economic relocations. American executives are learning that:
In a recent survey among foreign companies in Sweden, almost 90 percent said Sweden offers an adequate supply of skilled labor. Skilled labor costs about 20 percent less than in The Netherlands and about 35 percent less than in Germany.
Office space in Stockholm costs less than the European average. Interest rates are less than 6 percent; inflation is below 1 percent; and Sweden's 28 percent corporate tax rate is the lowest in the European Union.
In the first half of the 1990s, Sweden's increases in-labor productivity have been among the largest within the western world, ahead of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Sweden offers free tuition for all levels of schooling, from elementary and secondary schools through universities and graduate schools.
Swedes are highly computer-literate -- for example. Sweden has some 600 software companies plus 400 companies that specialize in new media, such as the Internet and multimedia.
Stockholm's cost-of-living index is below Frankfurt and Paris, just above Amsterdam. But its quality-of-living index is the second highest in Europe and ranks above New York's. [ read full article ]
Sweden makes own miracle
The Swedish women's hockey team doesn't have to watch "Miracle" - the story of the gold medal-winning U.S. men's hockey team in 1980 - to see what a major Olympic upset on ice looks like.Instead, the Swedes can just watch the game tape of their own 3-2 shootout win over Team USA after a 10-minute overtime period last night - their first win against the U.S. in 26 games.
"I always thought the bigger heart will always beat talent, and today proved it," said Sweden forward Maria Rooth, who scored the clinching shootout goal on U.S. goalie Chanda Gunn.
Sweden will play Canada, who defeated Finland 6-0 yesterday, in the gold medal game Monday. The U.S. meets Finland in the bronze medal game the same day.
Rooth, who played at University of Minnesota-Duluth, also scored both of Sweden's regulation goals in the first three minutes of the second period, tying the game 2-2.
In the shootout, Pernilla Winberg scored first for Sweden.
Meanwhile, Swedish goalie Kim Martin, in her second Olympics at 19 years old, stopped all four U.S. shootout attempts and 37 of 39 shots in regulation and overtime. One U.S. shootout try was discounted because Martin moved too soon, but she stopped the second attempt, too. [ read full article ]