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Consulate of Sweden in San Diego Launches New Website
It has been quite some time since the original website for the Consulate of Sweden in San Diego was launched. A few updates have been made along the way but increasing activity and needs of the Swedish community demands a new format with an easier overview of the consular services.
"The new website is an optimization of the former, made to ease the visitors way through the different services provided by the Consulate," says the webmaster, Christophe Eléhn. Christophe, who is currently interning at the Consulate, states that by integrating social media in a more extensive way than before, the Consulate can reach out to a higher number of people who want information about services and events related to the Consulate and other Swedish organizations in San Diego.
The Consulate's Facebook site is an example of how the Consulate is using social media to spread information. "Since the Consulate General in Los Angeles closed down, it has been important for us to reach out not just to San Diegans but to communities all over southern California. This stresses the need for us to be heard through other channels than just our own website," says Katarina Keane, Vice Consul; who frequently posts updates regarding events and consular services on the Facebook page. The Facebook page is also used to document events organized, sponsored or attended by the Consulate. Photos and comments are posted on the page and people who attend the events can easily interact with each other. "It's a great forum for Swedes in San Diego to find other Swedes in the area; especially if you've just recently moved to San Diego and want to get in touch with the local Swedish community," says Consul Erik Nowacki.
Other than the fresh new design, there will be new creative features on the website. "We're looking to integrate our newsletter with the website by providing an active news flow of excerpts from different news sources. The excerpts will be linked to the original news sources and the complete news articles would just be a click away," says Adam Bostrom, intern for Technology and Trade and the Editor of the San Diego Outlook. The newsletter will still be distributed in the same manners every month; and will consist of a collection of the posted news excerpts. "This is an effective way to expose our news coverage and to more actively report on politics, economics, and technology from southern California."
San Diego is a center for telecommunication, biotechnology, clean technology and defense. The Consulate takes an active role in facilitating investment and commercial alliances in these fields.
Twice a year the Consulate is offering Swedish citizens the opportunity to renew their passports in San Diego and Los Angeles. People have to register far in advance to get a chance to renew their passports, without having to travel to Washington D.C. "We're using the website as well as Facebook to announce the dates when the passport station will be on site. This way people have plenty of notice, in order to make arrangements," says Joanna Kot, Consular Assistant.
The Consulate will showcase the new website on Friday, May 20, 2011 during a release party at House of Sweden in San Diego's Balboa Park. The party will be attended by specially invited people who all have played important roles in the Consulate's history and for the local Swedish community. | |
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San Diego Researchers Make Major Diabetes Breakthrough
Scientists at Salk Institute have made a remarkable discovery in the efficiency of diabetes treatment.
Researchers were studying how the widely used diabetes drug, Metformin, works in the body and tried to find out what functions it regulates; when the researchers discovered a type of enzyme directly involved in the production of blood glucose. The diabetes drug inhibits those enzymes and consequently lowers the blood glucose. Scientists have since performed trials on four different types of mice and have now found a way to suppress the enzyme. The goal of the research is to develope better and more effective medicines. These findings will hopefully lead to more effective medicines for type 1 and type 2 diabetes within the next five years.
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San Diego Makes "Best Of" Vacation Lists
San Diego ranks No. 3 in U.S. News & World Report's list of the 21 most popular vacation spots in the U.S.
Based on recommendations of travel writers and users of the U.S. News Travel website, 49 U.S. and 35 European destinations were evaluated and ultimately narrowed down to make the lists. San Diego appeals to visitors because of the consistently sunny weather and the diversity of its attractions. With beaches, world famous zoo, theme parks as well as dining, sports and nightlife venues, San Diego is described as the most well-rounded destination. San Diego ranks right behind San Francisco and Washington D.C and above New York City.
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San Diego Company Develops Greener Diesel Engines
The engineers at Achates Power, Inc. are working on a different kind of diesel engine which can produce the same amount of power while using 10 percent less fuel than a conventional diesel engine.
With rising oil prices and growing global environmental concerns, there are increasing incentives to make more efficient engines. Fossil fuels are slowly being replaced by biofuels, a process which will take considerable time. As a step in that direction, San Diego based Achates Power, Inc. can provide a more efficient and lower-cost diesel engine. The reason for its effectiveness is the elimination of the cylinder head and use of two pistons in a single cylinder. Thus eliminating the cost associated with the extra parts and the energy lost through the cylinder head. The reason Achates chose diesel fuel is because it is very energy-dense. Almost all commercial trucks in the US, as well as globally, run on diesel because of its higher energy content. Diesel engines are more efficient than engines running on gasoline or ethanol. Strict emission regulations have resulted in even cleaner diesel engines. "Diesel engine emissions is no longer the problem, and now we can take advantage of fuel efficiency", says Achates CEO David Johnson. Achates expects to have their revolutionary engines on the road by 2016.
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Location Apps On The Rise
Despite privacy concerns, a growing number of mobile software applications rely on location as a key part of what they do.
Two San Diego companies are entering the location-based services field. One is Qualcomm Services Labs with their family member tracking app; and the other is VMix with its video sharing app. Most smartphones have GPS functionality, which in combination with certain software enables users to track their location, or their friends' location. The GPS can be used to make the user visible to others. Combined with other data, marketers could develop detailed profiles of peoples' lives. The extensive use of location services raises concerns regarding the privacy of the user. In a study carried out by The Nielsen Company, 51% of the men said they have allowed a mobile phone application to detect the user's current location to suggest nearby businesses, compared to 46% of the women. In San Diego, Qualcomm Services Labs created an app which to some extent addresses privacy concerns associated with location sharing. The Qualcomm app, Neer, shares the user's location automatically, but allows only a select group, such as family and friends, to know your location. Neer targets busy families and aims to let parents know their children made it to school etc. VMix application Vidcinity notifies users nearing a location, of available videos. Videos may be a tourism clip about a museum or a video preview of what's showing in the theater.
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Surveillance Plane Secretly Developed in San Diego
The demand for small aircraft which can be used for surveillance is constantly increasing. Northrop Grumman has recently unveiled a new spy plane which has secretly been developed in San Diego and the nearby Mojave Desert. The new plane is able to operate as both an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and with a pilot. The 34-foot Firebird was built for Northrop by Scaled Composites, the aerospace company which created SpaceShipOne, the first private manned rocket to hit space. The purpose of the plane is to merge the military and non-military markets into one multi-purpose vehicle. Northrop has a long background in the UAV market. In the 1990s, Northrop introduced Global Hawk which has been used extensively for high altitude surveillance in Afghanistan and Iraq. The new Firebird will fly much lower and work closely with the ground forces by using sensors which send data directly to the soldier. The worldwide aerial drone market is expected to double in size - to more than $11 billion by 2020.
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Dear Reader,
This newsletter is created by the Consulate of Sweden in San Diego in cooperation with Acceleratus, Inc. and AmeriSwede Bridge, Inc.
The purpose of this newsletter is to stimulate interest in research, technological breakthroughs and investment trends in clean- information and communication- and high technology, as well as within the political and life sciences areas of Southern California. The views expressed in this newsletter are not the official views of the Swedish Government.
The newsletter will be revised continually to fit the interests and needs of the subscribers. If you have any suggestions or comments or do not wish to receive this newsletter, please do not hesitate to contact me at
Best regards,
Adam Bostrom
Editor of The San Diego Outlook
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Annual Golf Tournament
Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce
The ASI Show
ASI San Diego
37th Annual SDCAA Education Conference and EXPO
SDCAA
The Business of Cloud Computing
Opal Events
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| | SAN DIEGO LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS | |
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MARCH, 2011
Index of Leading Economic Indicators: +1.0%
The index for San Diego which includes the components listed below.
Building Permits: +1.70%
Residential units authorized by building permits, San Diego County.
Unemployment Insurance: +1.89%
Initial claims for unemployment insurance, San Diego County.
Stock Prices: -0.36%
San Diego Stock Exchange.
Consumer Confidence: +0.92%
An index of consumer confidence, San Diego County.
Help Wanted Advertising: +1.27%
Online Help Wanted advertising, San Diego.
National Economy: +0.86%
Index of Leading Economic Indicators.
Source: The University of San Diego's Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County
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| | TOP INDUSTRIES IN SAN DIEGO | |
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The city of San Diego focuses on six main industry clusters:
- Biotechnology/Biosciences
- Defense and Space Manufacturing
- Electronics Manufacturing
- Financial and Business Services
- Software
- Telecommunications
Source: The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce
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| | INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: CLEAN TECHNOLOGY | |
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The San Diego region is home to more than 600 Cleantech companies including Aptera Motors, Kyocera Solar, Inc. and Synthetic Genomics.
San Diego is one of the greenest cities in the U.S., according to the National Defense Council.
San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography is the world's preeminient center for ocean and earth research.
The City of San Diego mandates all new facilities and major renovation projects must achieve LEED "Silver" Level Certification.
The region's Cleantech companies received $197 million in venture capital investment in 2008.
Source: The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation
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| | INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: IT & SOFTWARE | |
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The San Diego region is home to more than 850 communication firms which thrive on the area's established network of support industries, professional trade organizations and dynamic educational community.
Products manufactured and distributed worldwide by San Diego's communications industry include wireless communications systems, software engineering devices, digital transmission and reception systems, multi-protocol routers, servers, modems and microwave components.
San Diego's communications equipment manufacturing industry employs 25,470 people and has a $12.3 billion annual economic impact on the region.
The software industry contributes $3.7 billion annually to the local economy. The $82,011 average salary for software positions is 83 percent above the regional average of $44,715 for all positions.
Source: The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation |
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| | INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT: LIFE SCIENCES & BIOTECH | |
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San Diego is home to more than 550 biomedical companies. Local universities and reserach institutions have spun off nearly 200 biotech firms.
San Diego's biotech cluster employs an estimated 40,000 people and has a $9.2 billion annual impact on the local economy.
In 2009 San Diego companies and research institutions received more than $1.2 billion in research funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.
San Diego is home to 21 Nobel Laureates in the sciences.
Source: The San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation |
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