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IT February 11, 2020

Boot camp rewrites the workforce development code

By GREGORY ZELLER // They’re connecting important new dots at the Nebula Academy, where an innovative approach to software development is answering a 21st century workforce challenge. You don’t need an Excel spreadsheet to know coders, programmers and other software specialists are in high demand; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook projects a 21 percent surge in software-development jobs between 2018 and 2028, easily outpacing national averages. And developers bring home the…

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IT January 15, 2018

Homeland Security coming for Westbury hackers

By GREGORY ZELLER // A multistate hacking effort centered in Westbury has attracted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s attention – and agents are coming. But no arrests are imminent: When Westbury nonprofit We Connect the Dots hosts its Back-To-School Code-a-Thon later this month, it will welcome DHS representatives as partners in an educational data dump for high schoolers on potential cybersecurity careers, including government work. The federal agents are among several tweaks marking the…

IT November 28, 2017

Comtech inks $96.2M in new emergency-call contracts

By GREGORY ZELLER // A Long Island-based communications cornerstone will manage a 911 emergency network and wireless 911 services affecting millions of U.S. customers, according to a series of new deals. Melville-based Comtech Telecommunications Corp. has announced a multitude of new contracts with “a major U.S. telecommunications company” providing for various 911-related services. The first deal – involving Comtech’s Safety and Security Technologies group, part of the company’s Commercial Segment – involves the implementation, maintenance…

IT November 13, 2017

Digital-writing pro lends a hand to the caregivers

By GREGORY ZELLER // A new alliance with a national caregiver-support network is among the biggest deals to date for digital-writing specialist FJD & Associates. The 2010 Westbury-based startup, which distributes high-tech document and data-capture solutions for paper and tablets, has announced a partnership with Caregiver Support Services, a Nebraska-based 501(c)3 dedicated to the wellbeing of personal and professional caregivers who look after homebound patients. Financial terms of the distribution deal were not disclosed, but…

IT November 6, 2017

Cemtrex closes in on key VR software acquisition

By GREGORY ZELLER // Reality check: A Farmingdale-based tech firm is reinforcing a lucrative virtual vertical with a big push into VR. International tech manufacturer and distributor Cemtrex Inc. announced Monday that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire a New York City-based virtual-reality software-development firm. While it has revealed some clues as to the target company’s identity – it was founded in 2010, employs more than 30 programmers and boasts annual sales…

IT September 26, 2017

Digital Donations eyes $5M (real) to back crypto ‘coin’

By GREGORY ZELLER // A Melville tech developer pursuing distinct nonprofit and commercial verticals has launched a $5 million crowdfunding campaign to help create its own cryptocurrency. Digital Donations Inc. on Sept. 17 flipped the switch on its ambitious Crowdfunder.com equity effort, targeting what the company called “expanded development” of its proprietary cryptocurrency CoinGIV and its “digital wallet” PayGIV. Both services are designed to streamline charitable giving opportunities. It’s a return to form, somewhat, for…

IT September 6, 2017

A profitable pivot (sorta) for Digital Donations

By GREGORY ZELLER // They’re thinking big at Digital Donations Inc., as in Big Data. The Melville tech manufacturer has made its bones providing “alternative fundraising solutions” for nonprofit organizations, including ATM-based and point-of-sale-centered donation options. It even founded a virtual school to train charity-group founders, directors and staffers. Now, the 2014 startup is focusing its tech on for-profit customers – not abandoning its nonprofit doctrine but adding to it, according to co-founder and President…