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SAN FRANCISCO -- A December poll of the nation's CIOs revealed IT budgets will grow 8% over the next 12 months, up from 6% in November.

Spending projections were up in most categories month over month with modest declines in security software and telecom equipment, said Chris Whitmore, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, which cosponsors the monthly poll.

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's manufacturing output rose 22.4% in November year-over-year, the nation's Economic Development Board said last week. Electronics grew 19.9% year-on-year, driven by demand for semiconductors, computer peripherals and data storage.

The three-month moving average growth was 20.6% for total manufacturing, the EDB reported. The seasonally adjusted month-on-month manufacturing output growth was up 1.5%.

Through November, total manufacturing output rose 9.9% over last year. Electronics was up 7.5% over that period.

Semiconductor production spiked 42% in November, computer peripherals were up 24.4% and storage was up 10.4%.

Telecom and consumer electronics fell 4.2% as lower demand for mobile products offset increased production of PCs and consumer items.

TEMPE, AZ -- The PMI index of U.S. manufacturing dipped in December but grew overall for the 31st straight month. The December PMI was 54.2%, down 3.9 points from November, according to the latest Institute for Supply Management poll. A score over 50% shows expansion.

Fayetteville, AR -- The University of Arkansas will host an organizational workshop for its International Research Consortium for Packaging, Manufacturing and Reliability for Low-Cost RFID and related Integrated SMART Tag Systems. The workshop will be held Jan. 24-26 in Fayetteville.

A part of the University’s RFID Research Center, the consortium aims to enable development of infrastructure, design and modeling tools and manufacturing processes to support low-cost RFID tags and systems for reliable performance.

Any commercial, non-profit, government or academic organization interested in attending should contact Claudia Cochrane at U of A: 479-575-3605 or Becky Travelstead at TechSearch International: 512-372-8887 or becky@techsearchinc.com.

SAN JOSE – Worldwide sales of semiconductors continued on a record pace, reaching $20.4 billion in November, according to SIA. Worldwide semiconductor sales rose 7.2% from last year and were up 1.7% sequentially.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – The appeal of low-cost and portable PCs will continue to drive double-digit growth of the PC market in 2006, despite fewer replacements and slower economic growth, according to IDC.

Following third-quarter growth of more than 17% year-on-year, worldwide PC shipments are now expected to grow by nearly 15% in the fourth quarter, boosting annual growth a half point ahead of the 15.3% rate in 2004 to 15.8% in 2005 and raising the outlook for growth in 2006 to 10.5%.