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Today in international tech news: France bans mobile phones during cabinet sessions; HP coughs up nine figures to make a bribery fiasco go away; a Swiss-built, solar-powered plane may fly around the globe; and Canada shuts down its online tax-filing service amid security fears. French President Francois Hollande has imposed a ban on mobile phones during cabinet sessions, forcing ministers to leave their devices at the door. The move is designed to help "focus on what we must do," a spokesperson said, and will ensure that government folk "talk and listen to what is said and will no longer be able to tap away at this magnificent tool." French politicians have indeed been caught fiddling on devices when they should be, you know, executing the will of the people: Two French Members of Parliament last year were photographed playing Scrabble on devices during a gay marriage debate. Of course, France is far from the only country where politicians hav...

The idea of a 3D printer in every home seems a bit more likely with the debut of the Micro -- a small, colorful, inexpensive, user-friendly device. Who wouldn't want to avoid a trip to the hardware store by quickly manufacturing a replacement for that broken little thingamajig? "3D printing is going to change our lives for sure, especially in the medical field," said mechanical designer Alan Lund. The Micro is the latest consumer-targeted 3D printer to generate buzz after flying past its US$50,000 Kickstarter goal this week. It took only 11 minutes for the printer to reach its goal. As of mid-day Wednesday, the Micro had brought in more than $1.8 million from more than 6,400 backers. The Micro is the world's "first truly consumer 3D printer," its makers claim, in part because of its affordable price. Two hundred fifty Kickstarter backers were able to claim the Micro for $199, and another 500 pledged $249 or more to get their hands on one...

Facebook may have gummed up its messaging works by killing the feature that lets users send messages directly within its mobile app. Instead, they must go to its dedicated Messenger app, which many consider a pain. The goal most likely is to increase mobile advertising revenue. "From now on, every feature that we see is going to be driven by money," said social media expert Lon Safko. Facebook is ditching the private messaging function in its main mobile application in favor of having the entire messaging experience take place inside the dedicated Messenger app. The company launched the dedicated messaging app on iOS and Android in 2011, and later debuted it on Windows Phone. Facebook redesigned the app in November, with a focus on aiding those who want to be reachable at all times. The company made the app faster, mobile focused, and easier to contact friends and important contacts. Users get replies 20 percent faster through Messenger than on Facebook, sa...

ive years ago, after numerous acquisitions, the IT environment at Ricoh Europe was spiraling out of control - running 26 ERP instances was just one issue. "We reached a point in the journey where we had to tackle three things: Make ourselves more efficient internally, make ourselves more effective for our customers and [make our IT function less hazardous to the environment]," says Ian Winham, CIO and CFO for Ricoh Europe. "We work with customers on improving their infrastructure, and it came to a point where we had to start doing that for ourselves." Facing an increasing number of pan-European and global requirements from its printing, document management and IT services customers, standardisation was a necessity. "There was lots of chaos and lots of difficulty figuring out how to manage a client effectively," Winham says. The IT group started with application rationalisation, throwing out everything and starting from scratch with the aim ...

The alarm clock. The personal computer. The smartphone. The radio. You know the greatest gadgets of all time (and you’ve probably owned most of them), but which has changed the world more than any other? To make our list of 101, a gadget had to be something you could hold in your hands, mechanical or electronic, and a mass-produced personal item. The rest was up to the judges. Check out our selections, and let us know in the comments what you think!    Duct Tape NASA astronauts have used it to make repairs on the moon and in space. The MythBusters built a boat and held a car together with the stuff. Brookhaven National Laboratory fixed their particle accelerator with it. And enthusiasts have used it to make prom dresses and wallets. You might say it's a material, not a gadget, but trust us: Duct tape is the ultimate multitool.    Fiberglass Fishing Rod When hostilities in Asia curtailed bamboo imports...

Innovation and modern technology improve the ability of enterprises to face a competitive business environment. Technology can increase a firm's exporting potential, increase operational efficiency, and enhance market share. The six indicators on this page measure the impact of innovation and technology in 135 countries. The results are based on surveys of more than 130,000 firms. A database query tool is available to help you better understand the prevalence of innovation and technology across various firm subgroups. You can also  generate graphs to compare countries.