Today, USAID joined consumer goods multinational companies PepsiCo, Unilever, Danone, McCormick & Company, and Nespresso in launching a new public-private partnership that aims to accelerate gender equality and enhance environmental sustainability in agricultural supply chains. The new initiative, Advancing Women for Resilient Agricultural Supply Chains, aligns with the Women in the Sustainable Economy (WISE) initiative – a partnership launched by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2023 to bolster women’s economic security in sectors that address climate change.
With a planned, collective investment of $50 million to start – including over $11 million of USAID funding – this new agricultural supply chain initiative will help catalyze industry-level change through learning, scaling, and providing evidence on how supporting women in agricultural supply chains can help deliver environmental sustainability goals. The initiative will drive scale by bringing in new organizations and additional funds, with a total target of $90 million over the next five years.
In parallel, USAID also welcomed the Skoll Foundation as the newest partner to WISE through its support of the USAID-led Climate Gender Equity Fund – a public-private partnership with Amazon, Reckitt, the UPS Foundation, and the Visa Foundation that seeks to increase access to climate finance for women-led and women-benefiting organizations working at the forefront of climate action. Three of its newest grantees – Altree Capital, The Rallying Cry, and Villgro Philippines – were also announced.
Finally, Acumen, Germany, Heading for Change, the Republic of Cyprus, and the United Kingdom announced $339 million in new aligned commitments to advance the WISE Initiative through their independent efforts that advance WISE objectives. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, and the U.S. Department of Energy announced $289 million in additional aligned U.S. government commitments to the WISE initiative. In all, today’s announcements total $681 million in direct and aligned commitments – bringing the collective commitment of 33 governments, corporations, foundations, and civil society organizations to a total of over $2 billion towards the WISE Initiative.
For more information about the WISE Initiative, please visit ClimateLinks or email wise@usaid.gov.
Advancing Women for Resilient Agricultural Supply ChainsWomen in the Sustainable Economy WISE
GOVERNOR GREENWILL SEEK $45 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL WELFARE RELIEF FOR HAWAIʻI FAMILIES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 23, 2024
The state of Hawai‘i will implement rule changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that are expected to generate an additional $45 million in benefits for Hawai‘i’s struggling families.
The changes — prompted by a recent study by the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization (UHERO) — mean that an extra 13,000 to 14,000 households will be eligible for an average of $3,200 a year in SNAP benefits, commonly known as food stamps.
“This is going to provide a huge relief for our working-class families who are struggling with Hawai‘i’s highest-in-the-nation cost of living,” said Governor Josh Green, M.D. “In identifying a critical opportunity for our SNAP program, UHERO’s research team is enabling us to make much-needed changes to our social welfare system so that families living from paycheck to paycheck can afford to put more food on their tables.”
In Hawai‘i, SNAP is one of the largest welfare programs available to low-income families. Currently, a family of four can receive as much as $1,759 a month in SNAP benefits. In a typical month, the total value of SNAP benefits in Hawai‘i exceeds $60 million.
For decades, the SNAP eligibility criteria were controlled by the federal government. Following changes to the program in 2000, states were given more flexibility to adjust the eligibility rules by establishing a program of “broad-based categorical eligibility” (BBCE). Through BBCE, states were able to eliminate asset limits, which prevented households with high savings from receiving SNAP benefits. BBCE also allows states to raise limits on the amount of income households can receive and still qualify for SNAP.
According to UHERO, eliminating another income criteria known as the “net income limit” will expand the number of Hawaiʻi households receiving SNAP benefits by 13,000 to 14,000. (“Net income” in the SNAP program is defined as the total monthly household income after deducting certain non-food household expenses like rent, utilities, medical costs, childcare costs and others. Before BBCE, households needed to have a net income below the federal poverty line to qualify for SNAP benefits.)
Also according to UHERO, eliminating this limit will add little overhead: The state only needs to pay half of the additional administrative costs associated with the additional SNAP cases that would result. In 2019, Hawai‘i’s share of SNAP administrative costs was only about 5.6% of the amount of SNAP benefits that the state paid out to Hawai‘i families.
“This decision has far-reaching implications,” said Dylan Moore, a co-author of the UHERO report. “This change may further increase benefit payments by making it easier for households to understand whether they are eligible for SNAP.”
The Hawai‘i Public Health Institute’s Social Impact Policy Manager Nate Hix co-authored the report.
# # #
Media Contacts: Erika Engle Press Secretary Office of the Governor, State of Hawai‘i Phone: 808-586-0120 Email: [email protected]
Makana McClellan Director of Communications Office of the Governor, State of Hawaiʻi Cell: 808-265-0083 Email: [email protected]
**UPDATE** News Release – Missing Work Furlough Inmate arrested, returned to custody
Posted on Sep 23, 2024 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION
KA ‘OIHANA HOʻOMALU KALAIMA A HOʻOPONOPONO OLA
JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA
TOMMY JOHNSON
DIRECTOR
KA LUNA HO‘OKELE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 23, 2024
UPDATE: Missing Work Furlough Inmate arrested, returned to custody
HONOLULU — O‘ahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) work furlough inmate Bobby M. Cotton is back in custody after sheriff’s deputies arrested him at The Queen’s Medical Center Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.
Cotton, 51, failed to return to OCCC Module 20 from his job-seeking pass by 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. Sheriffs and the Honolulu Police Department were notified.
Cotton sought medical care at Queen’s Saturday and someone recognized him. Sheriffs were called and sheriff’s deputies subsequently arrested him at the hospital. He was returned to custody at OCCC at approximately 2:25 p.m. Saturday.
Cotton is serving time for second-degree robbery. He may now face an additional second-degree escape charge. Second-degree escape is a Class C felony that is punishable by up to five years in prison, if convicted.
Cotton is a community custody inmate in the work furlough program with pass privileges. Community custody is the lowest classification status.
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Media Contact:
Rosemarie Bernardo
Public Information Officer
Hawai‘i Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Posted on Sep 23, 2024 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
ʻOIHANA MAHIʻAI
JOSH GREEN, M.D. GOVERNOR
KIAʻĀINA
SHARON HURD CHAIRPERSON
HAWAI`I BOARD OF AGRICULTURE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NR24-28
September 21, 2024
COCONUT RHINOCEROS BEETLE FOUND IN WAIKOLOA TRAP
HONOLULU – A single coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB) has been found in a trap this week by the Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture (HDOA) during routine monitoring in Waikoloa on Hawai‘i Island. This is the first detection of CRB on the island since October 2023 when a Waikoloa resident reported finding a total of six grubs (larvae) in a decaying palm tree stump. The trap that the CRB was found in this week is located about 200 yards from the earlier detection.
HDOA set 30 traps around Waikoloa and has been conducting routine monitoring with the assistance of volunteer area residents. The Big Island Invasive Species Committee has set additional traps, as has the University of Hawai‘i, whose traps have cameras that allow real-time monitoring.
The pheromone traps are used for early detection of infestations. The traps do not attract all CRB in the area and are not effective as an eradication method. Surveillance for CRB has been ongoing on all islands, including traps at airports, harbors and other strategic locations.
HDOA and CRB Response teams are now focusing on eradication efforts in the area where the beetle was found. Initial surveys in the immediate area did not detect obvious signs of CRB damage in palm trees.
“CRB surveillance on Hawai‘i Island has been ongoing and early detection is key to prevent the establishment of breeding populations,” said Sharon Hurd, chairperson of the Hawai‘i Board of Agriculture. “We ask everyone to keep an eye out for CRB, especially in their compost and mulch piles which are major breeding grounds of the beetle.”
Residents on all islands are asked to be vigilant when purchasing mulch, compost and soil products, and to inspect bags for evidence of entry holes. An adult beetle is about 2-inches long, all black and has a single horn on its head. CRB grubs live in decomposing plant and animal waste. Adult CRB prefer to feed on coconut and other larger palms and are a major threat to the health of these plants.
Residents may go to the CRB Response website at: https://www.crbhawaii.org/ to learn more about how to detect the signs of CRB damage and how to identify CRB life stages. Reports of possible CRB infestation may also be made to the state’s toll-free Pest Hotline at (808) 643-PEST (7378).
The CRB is a large scarab beetle that was first detected on O‘ahu in 2013. The beetle has since been detected in many neighborhoods on O‘ahu and was detected on Kaua‘i in May 2023, where collaborative eradication efforts continue. CRB grubs were found in Kīhei, Maui, in November 2023, but have not been detected on the island since.
CRB is a serious pest of palm trees, primarily coconut palms, as the adult beetles bore into the crowns of the palms to feed on the trees’ sap. New unopened fronds are damaged in this way and when fully opened, may break and fall unexpectedly. If CRB kill or damage the growing point of the palm, the tree may die. Secondary fungal or bacterial pathogens may also attack the wounds caused by CRB, thereby killing the tree as well. Tree mortality after CRB attack has been reported to be anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent. Dead trees then become a safety hazard as they may fall unexpectedly after the trunk rots, potentially resulting in bodily injury or property damage.
CRB is a major pest of palms in India, the Philippines, Palau, Fiji, Wallis and Futuna, Nukunono, American and Western Samoa and Guam. It is still not known exactly how the beetles arrived in Hawai‘i.
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Media Contact: Janelle Saneishi, Public Information Officer Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture Phone: 808-973-9560 Cell: 808-341-5528 [email protected] http://hdoa.hawaii.gov
NAVAL AIR STATION SIGONELLA, Sicily (Sept. 4, 2024) – Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jose Navarro, 25, from Bremen, Indiana, joined the Navy in 2016 to be part of something bigger than himself. He arrived at Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella in March 2023.
“I show up and take care of my Sailors, day in, day out,” said Navarro, who was recently selected as U.S. Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Sigonella’s Senior Sailor of the Quarter. According to his leadership, Navarro has demonstrated exceptional leadership and worth ethic as the Human Resources department leading petty officer.
Four junior Sailors have benefitted from Navarro’s mentorship; two have been promoted and two have earned college degrees. He has also managed more than 1,000 pieces of correspondence, more than 100 permanent change of station transfer transactions, ten awards boards, five awards ceremonies, and one command physical readiness assessment as the command fitness leader.
“Petty Officer Navarro’s dedication and achievements exemplify his outstanding performance in his leadership role,” said Lt. Julius C. Wiseman III, human resources department head, U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella. “Furthermore, he recently achieved the milestone of graduating with a Master of Healthcare Administration from Louisiana State University Shreveport.”
In addition to his administrative duties, Navarro holds several collateral duties, including: serving as Morale, Welfare and Recreation president; supply officer; assistant command fitness leader; and command, pay and personnel administrator. Navarro feels these roles help the command improve and help Sailors.
“Serving means making sacrifices to help others,” said Navarro.
Navarro’s proudest achievement in the Navy is promoting quickly and proving to himself that he can get what he wants if he works hard for it.
U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella ensures maximum readiness by providing high-quality, safe patient and family-centered care to maximize force health protection for all beneficiaries, to included NATO and transient DoD forces in the U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Sixth Fleet areas of operation.
NAS Sigonella provides consolidated operational, command and control, administrative, logistical and advanced logistical support to U.S. and other NATO forces. The installation’s strategic location enables U.S., allied, and partner nation forces to deploy and respond as required, ensuring security and stability in Europe, Africa and Central Command.
For more news and information from NAS Sigonella, visit https://cnreurafcent.cnic.navy.mil/Installations/NAS-Sigonella/ or https://www.facebook.com/nassigonella/.
Wilmington, DE, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RAIR Technologies, the leading open-source platform for building Web3 applications, today announced it has been accepted into the protocol-agnostic Web3 tokenomics accelerator Denarii Labs, powered by leading Web3 advisory and early-stage VC RedBeard Ventures and mentorship directly from Futureverse. RAIR Technologies will use the comprehensive 12-week program to help refine its tokenomics as it begins to raise more funding and strengthen core technologies like the RAIRprotocol.
The Denarii Labs accelerator empowers Web3 innovators from conceptualization to execution with unparalleled expertise in crafting, refining and executing tokenomics and launch strategies over the course of its 12-week accelerator program. The accelerator’s very selective due diligence process ensures it only chooses and nurtures the best early-stage companies, sending a strong signal to the market.
“We couldn’t be more proud to be accepted into this unique and elite program for the Web3 industry,” said Ed Prado, CEO of RAIR Technologies. “Denarii Labs will allow us to drill down on our tokenomics before we significantly expand both the technology and our partner base.”
The Denarii Labs accelerator tailors members’ tokenomics to align with their business and marketing goals, including whitepaper creation, technical and development checks, and investor readiness with mentorship from Insomnia Labs, GSR, Tao Tao, Coinbase and Omniscia. The program also offers top-notch legal and regulatory advice from the accelerator’s partners at leading technology business law firm Fenwick & West.
RAIR Technologies last year participated in Sony’s accelerator, which eventually led to RAIR Technologies being announced as an infrastructure partner for Soneium, the blockchain recently announced by Sony.
RAIR Technologies is paving the way for a more inclusive and collaborative future in the realm of decentralized application development. Among its offerings is the RAIRprotocol, which has been in active development since 2019 as an investor-backed, heretofore proprietary enterprise SaaS product. To learn more about RAIR Technologies visit https://rair.info.
ABOUT RAIR TECH RAIR Technologies enables enterprises to seamlessly navigate asset creation, DRM security, royalty tracking, and marketplace trade and execution within a secure white-label environment. RAIR is driving innovation with its open-source RAIRprotocol. RAIRprotocol fosters scalability and innovation through a distinctive token licensing model that allows full access to the underlying RAIR Technologies source code.
Introduces PayMate in Indonesia with Immediate Market Share Expansion, Targeting 2025 Public Listing
MUMBAI, India and NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PayMate India (“PayMate”), a leading provider of B2B payments and services with reputable investors such as Visa & Lightbox, today announced that it has entered into a binding term sheet (the “Proposed Transaction”) for the potential acquisition of DigiAsia Bios Pte Ltd., Singapore, a leading Fintech-as-a-Service (FaaS) company in Indonesia and a fully owned subsidiary of DigiAsia Corporation (NASDAQ: FAAS) (“DigiAsia”).
Under the terms of the Proposed Transaction, an enterprise valuation of US $400 Million for DigiAsia’s business has been determined. Additionally, post the Proposed Transaction, PayMate intends to invest up to US $25 Million in cash, the aggregate financing structure and terms will be finalized in mutual agreement. PayMate and DigiAsia will continue joint due diligence on both entities, identification of the right transaction structure, entering into definitive agreements and the necessary corporate and regulatory approvals of PayMate and DigiAsia which is expected to take up to 60 days. Subsequent to the closing of the Proposed Transaction, PayMate intends to initiate proceedings to list the combined entity in India.
About PayMate
PayMate India Ltd – a leading digital B2B payments company that empowers businesses of all sizes to enhance financial efficiency and streamline B2B payments. The platform simplifies and digitizes B2B payment processes, optimizing working capital, and ensuring timely supplier payments. PayMate’s solutions encompass Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Invoice Discounting, Cross Border and Embedded Finance. In FY24, PayMate processed USD 10.5 billion in transactions, serving over 522,000 customers worldwide. With a strong presence in India, CEMEA, and APAC regions, PayMate is the trusted partner for businesses seeking to streamline payment processes.
DigiAsia is a leading Fintech as a Service (FaaS) provider operating a B2B2X model offering its complete Fintech solution in emerging markets. DigiAsia’s fintech architecture offers small and medium business enterprises (SMEs) comprehensive embedded finance APIs to streamline processes across the commerce value chain of distributors and customers. DigiAsia’s embedded fintech solutions equally address democratizing digital finance access that supports financial inclusion of underbanked merchants and consumers in emerging markets resulting in growth for enterprise business. The suite of B2B2X solutions provided by DigiAsia include, but are not limited to, cashless payments, digital wallets, digital banking, remittances and banking licenses. DigiAsia has recently established a strategic initiative to develop its embedded FaaS enterprise solution with AI capabilities in Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East, with plans for global expansion. For more information, please visit DigiAsia’s Corporate website here or Investor Relations website here.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “project”, “targets”, “optimistic”, “confident that”, “continue to”, “predict”, “intend”, “aim”, “will” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements concerning DigiAsia and the Company’s operations, financial performance and condition are based on current expectations, beliefs and assumptions which are subject to change at any time. DigiAsia cautions that these statements by their nature involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially depending on a variety of important factors such as government and stock exchange regulations, competition, political, economic and social conditions around the world including those discussed in DigiAsia’s Form 20-F under the headings “Risk Factors”, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Business Overview” and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. All forward-looking statements are applicable only as of the date it is made and DigiAsia specifically disclaims any obligation to maintain or update the forward-looking information, whether of the nature contained in this release or otherwise, in the future.
PayMate Contact
DigiAsia Company Contact:
Vishvanathan Subramanian
Subir Lohani
Wholetime Director & Chief Financial Officer
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer
SINGAPORE, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Web 3.0 liquidity layer, Orderly Network, proudly sponsored this year’s Singapore edition TOKEN2049, one of the most prestigious events for global leaders in the Web3 space. As a key player in Web3 trading, Orderly Network showcased its vision and cutting-edge innovations throughout the week across multiple events, highlighting its work in the convergence of AI and DeFi, and providing thought leadership into the evolving landscape of decentralized trading and the potential role these technologies may play in the future of Web3.
A key meeting of minds in the emerging AI meets DeFi space, Orderly Network and Google Cloud teamed up last Tuesday, 17 September to host a cast of decision-makers and crypto KOL’s at their highly anticipated ‘Bounty Bash’ event. This collaborative initiative marked the announcement of the Orderly Network x Google Cloud Bounty – Unleashing the Power of AI Trading Agents program, developed in partnership with Google Cloud and Empyreal. The program is designed to empower developers to build AI agents capable of autonomously trading on Orderly’s decentralized infrastructure, contributing to the future of Web3 trading and decentralized finance by making it easier than ever for new users to gain results and confidence trading.
A key highlight in the week was the keynote presentation of Orderly Network Co-Founder Ran Yi at the TOKEN2049 event. Entitled ‘DEXs 3.0 and the Transition from CEX to DEX’, in his address, Ran shared key insights into the evolution of DEXs and the forward path toward greater adoption. As a TradFi and DeFi veteran, Ran’s discussion explored his unique perspective on how the future of DEXs lies in combining the strengths of CEXs—such as intuitive user experiences, deep liquidity, high performance, and lower trading costs—with the inherent benefits of DEXs, including transparency, permissionless access, interoperability, and decentralized governance.
This keynote presentation built on an overarching theme for the week – how centralized and decentralized worlds can work together to grow the space by producing more compelling solutions for users.
At Caladan’s Liquidity Day event, in a panel discussion aptly named ‘The CEX and DEX Transition’, Ran had delved into the growing convergence between centralized and decentralized trading platforms. Discussing the potential for building a powerful DEX that could rival Binance in the decentralized space, he further emphasized the importance of fostering innovation while maintaining user trust and security.
At Morph Consumer Day, Ran joined a star-studded cast that included well-known trader and Orderly supporter Nani XBT on stage to discuss ‘The Future of Consumer DeFi & Stablecoins’. In this session, Ran delved into the growing convergence between centralized and decentralized trading platforms, examining the role of DeFi and stablecoins in shaping the next generation of consumer-facing financial services.
To conclude a week of engaging discussions and transformative ideas, Orderly Network also co-hosted the official TOKEN2049 afterparty, AFTER2049, joining forces with several other prominent projects in celebrating the successes of the event and fostering deeper connections within the community.
For more information on the Orderly Network and its innovative solutions for liquidity, please visithttps://orderly.network/
About Orderly Network
Orderly Network is a cloud liquidity infrastructure for Web3 trading. Built on omnichain architecture, Orderly enables deep liquidity for any asset across multiple blockchains. Focused on a future of DeFi that’s open to all, Orderly empowers developers to fluidly create a comprehensive array of financial products for any level of trader, without the risks of wrapped asset movement through cross-chain bridging.
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Silvaco Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SVCO, “Silvaco” or the “Company”), a provider of TCAD, EDA software, and SIP solutions that enable semiconductor design and digital twin modeling through AI software and innovation, today announced that its 2024 TCAD Baseline Release simulation platform with digital twin modeling, provides support for planar CMOS, FinFET and Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor technologies, enabling semiconductor companies to accelerate technology development.
Silvaco’s latest TCAD technology platform, enables advanced CMOS Process and Device simulation to support the development of next-generation semiconductor devices. This platform boosts performance, yield and efficiency across the evolving semiconductor design and manufacturing landscape. The solution enables highly accurate 3D process simulation, using digital twin-like precision and integrates stress simulation to model deformed structures. Additionally, the platform supports cryogenic applications through an atomistic quantum transport approach, enabling straightforward modeling of transistor structures down to 1 Kelvin.
“Our TCAD platform has gained significant traction in the Display, Photonics, Memory and Power Semiconductor markets, where our solutions have been instrumental in driving innovation and enhancing performance,” said Dr. Babak Taheri, Chief Executive Officer, Silvaco. “We have now extended our comprehensive suite of tools to the advanced CMOS market, enabling next-generation advancements in technologies to address growing markets such as foundries, 5G, AI and high-performance computing. Our newly released TCAD platform has been utilized by a strategic customer for the past few years and is now available for broad market adoption. This new capability for advanced CMOS technology enables customers to accelerate their technology development with significant cost savings.”
“Nanotechnology, like GAA, exhibits advanced quantum physical effects,” said Tillmann Kubis, Associate Professor in the Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University. “Over the past six years, our team of scientists has collaborated with Silvaco to enable the simulation of full devices, such as nanowires and GAAs, powered by NEMO5 which is an NEGF-based atomistic quantum transport simulation tool developed at Purdue and licensed by Silvaco. This collaboration is now enabling Silvaco’s TCAD simulation performance with atomistic accuracy.”
“This latest release of our TCAD platform is the culmination of years of intensive development, refinement and industry collaboration in order to meet the demanding needs of designing in advanced CMOS process technologies,” said Eric Guichard, Senior VP and General Manager TCAD Business Unit, Silvaco. “The latest release of our TCAD platform now incorporates digital twin modeling for CMOS technologies, as well as atomistic simulation technologies to provide a highly competitive and attractive alternative solution for semiconductor companies designing in advanced Planar CMOS, FinFET and emerging GAA process technologies.”
About Silvaco
Silvaco is a provider of TCAD, EDA software, and SIP solutions that enable semiconductor design and digital twin modeling through AI software and innovation. Silvaco’s solutions are used for semiconductor and photonics processes, devices, and systems development across display, power devices, automotive, memory, high-performance compute, foundries, photonics, internet of things, and 5G/6G mobile markets for complex SoC design. Silvaco is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and has a global presence with offices located in North America, Europe, Brazil, China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” provisions of those sections. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans, or strategies related to the release and adoption of its 2024 TCAD Baseline Release simulation platform, the anticipated benefits of this platform for advanced CMOS, FinFET, GAA, and other emerging technologies, and the potential advantages for customers in terms of performance, cost savings, and accelerated technology development. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words.
These statements are based on the Company’s current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, including those described in the Company’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Media Contact Tyler Weiland +1 972-571-7834 press@silvaco.com
There was nothing in the Reserve Bank’s (RBNZ) announcement to greatly challenge our view of the world. The Official Cash Rate (OCR) was lowered 25bps to 5.25% as we expected. The interest rate brake is still on, just less so than before.
The most important aspect of the meeting in our view was the confirmation that the OCR will move a lot lower over the coming 18 months.
It needs to. Our rough estimate of the ‘real’ (inflation-adjusted) cash rate has increased in recent months, even with this week’s cut. And it’s a long way down for the OCR to the RBNZ’s estimate of the long-run neutral rate around 3%.
Chart 2: Chop
The RBNZ’s updated forecasts were a shadow of their former selves. GDP growth, inflation and OCR forecasts got a chop while unemployment rate expectations were lifted ½% or so to a 5½% peak.
This brings the RBNZ’s view of the economy down to, or even a touch weaker than, where we’ve been seeing things. Importantly, CPI inflation is now seen well inside the 1-3% target range in Q3 (2.3%y/y from 3.0% in May). As of yesterday, we concur.
It means there’s a higher hurdle for incoming data to surprise the RBNZ on the downside. That doesn’t rule out a larger 50bps OCR cut being deployed at some point, but it does lean against the possibility in the short term.
Chart 3: Joining the rate race
Having been something of an outlier for a while, NZ is now back in the policy easing peloton. Most developed markets anticipate sizeable interest rate cuts over the coming 12 months.
Markets price a better than even chance of a 50bp start to the US Federal Reserve’s easing cycle next month which, if delivered, may embolden global rate cut pricing further.
Of those markets covered opposite, implied policy easing to February 2025 is most aggressive for the US (-185bps), NZ (-150bps), and Canada (-130bps), with Australia (-65bps) and Japan (+10bps) at the other end of the field.
Chart 4: US sniffles
Global financial markets have recovered much of their poise following the steep equity market declines of early last week. Sentiment is not what it was though. Investors are suddenly alert to any number of global fragilities.
Most of the ‘blame’ for the wobble has been pinned on cooling tech/AI exuberance and US growth concerns. The outsized reaction last week may reflect the additional, creeping reliance on the US to drive the global expansion this year. The old ‘US catches a cold’ adage is still relevant.
Chart 5: Jobs growth stalled
The number of people employed nudged up 0.4% in the June quarter, according to official figures released last week. We’d pencilled in a small decline. Unemployment still rose to 4.6% as expected.
Q2’s employment kick is unlikely to be repeated this quarter, and it also doesn’t change the broader narrative of jobs growth effectively stalling around mid-2023.
Amongst the sectoral detail, it’s clear that the construction sector has been at the vanguard of the changing employment market.
Chart 6: Relocating for work
The lift in NZ’s unemployment rate in Q2 maintained a ½ percentage point gap to the (4.1%) Aussie equivalent.
It doesn’t sound large, but that gap is the widest since 2013. Not coincidentally, net migration outflows to Australia are also running at the strongest level since 2013. People move to where the jobs are.
Our forecasts imply both trends have got a ways to run. A climb in the NZ unemployment rate to a 5.5% peak in early 2025 against a lower (4.6%) peak in Australia would, on past form, be consistent with an acceleration in net outflows.
Chart 7: Green f(lags)
Wage inflation peaked in NZ about a year ago. We saw another notch in the downtrend last week. The private sector Labour Cost Index eased to 3.6%y/y in June, down from 3.8% the prior quarter and the 4.5% peak.
More of the same easing is expected over the coming 12 months. It’s something that should help drain still-elevated domestic services inflation pressure. So, it’s not that high interest rates have been ineffective on non-tradables inflation, it’s that the impacts take time to turn up. The lags are real!
Chart 8: No retail respite
The trend in NZ retail card spending abruptly turned in early 2023, and it’s been downhill ever since. July’s 0.1%m/m contraction was the 6th consecutive monthly decline. Discretionary categories remain the hardest hit.
The weakness is even more pronounced once buoyant population growth is accounted for. Our estimate of the average monthly spend per (working age) person is 8% below March 2023 levels. It’s a deeper and longer contraction than during the 2008 GFC.
We’re hopeful the downtrend soon stabilises. Tax and interest rate cuts are supports, but falling population growth and job security are not.
Chart 9: Housing market in focus
The release of July REINZ housing market numbers has been shunted out to Tuesday, thus missing the cut for this edition of TEITC.
But, it’s fair to say, housing stats will be watched more closely than usual as folk scour for green shoots in a sector likely to be one of the earlier responders to (recent and expected) falls in retail interest rates. There are stirrings in some of the anecdote and surveys, but we think the prognosis is more stabilisation than acceleration, for now.
In the least, we’d expect a hearty bounce-back in July sales activity following the outsized, Matariki holiday-related, drop in June. That’s what we saw from this week’s Barfoot & Thompson figures covering a share of the Auckland market.
Chart 10: Food for thought
Food prices lifted 0.4%m/m (seasonally adjusted) in July. Prices have been flattish for the past year, but they’re still up 24% on 2020 levels.
As you’d expect, there’s been a fair bit of variation amongst the components over that time. If you’re partial to an omelette and/or yogurt for breakfast you will be feeling the pinch a lot more than some. At least your morning brew is still, relatively speaking, cost effective.
Disclaimer: This publication has been produced by Bank of New Zealand (BNZ). This publication accurately reflects the personal views of the author about the subject matters discussed, and is based upon sources reasonably believed to be reliable and accurate. The views of the author do not necessarily reflect the views of BNZ. No part of the compensation of the author was, is, or will be, directly or indirectly, related to any specific recommendations or views expressed. The information in this publication is solely for information purposes and is not intended to be financial advice. If you need help, please contact BNZ or your financial adviser. Any statements as to past performance do not represent future performance, and no statements as to future matters are guaranteed to be accurate or reliable. To the maximum extent permissible by law, neither BNZ nor any person involved in this publication accepts any liability for any loss or damage whatsoever which may directly or indirectly result from any, opinion, information, representation or omission, whether negligent or otherwise, contained in this publication.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — This year, CodeMonkey, an award-winning EdTech platform, marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of pioneering coding education for children worldwide. Since its founding in 2014, CodeMonkey has reached over 34 million students in 206 countries, inspiring a new generation of coders through fun, game-based learning. Now used in over 18,000 schools and after-school centers, CodeMonkey continues to redefine what it means to teach computer science in a playful, engaging, and effective way.
A Vision Driven by Passionate Leadership
At the heart of CodeMonkey are Jonathan Schor, Co-Founder & CEO, and Ido Schor, Co-Founder & CTO. As lifelong tech enthusiasts who started coding as 4th graders in the 1990s, the brothers founded CodeMonkey to share their love for coding with children everywhere. “We are a passionate team of technology, gaming, and pedagogy experts crafting together the world’s best computer science playground for children,” says Jonathan Schor.
He adds, “We believe that the old-fashioned ways of learning should be challenged. New learning resources are the future of education systems worldwide. When we design our products, we focus on engagement and user experience to create a fun and effective learning process. Our deep understanding of technology and pedagogy results in a product that teachers can use without fear and kids enjoy tremendously.”
Since Jonathan’s early success teaching children to code through playful activities, CodeMonkey has grown into a platform that brings fun, knowledge, and opportunity to millions of learners across the globe.
Milestones Along the Journey
2024: Linus the Lemur debuts in special monthly coding courses and CodeMonkey expands into Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, going beyond basic coding.
2023: CodeMonkey adds a block-based design platform to create games.
2022: Digital Literacy courses are introduced to accommodate for the educational needs of post COVID-19.
2021: CodeMonkey partners with the King of Bhutan and the Ministry of Education to bring coding education across the country.
2020: Beaver Achiever, a block-based coding course, and CodeMonkey Jr., the platform’s first block-based coding app, are launched.
2019: CodeMonkey introduces Banana Tales, its first game-based Python course.
2018: Dodo Does Math, a cross-curricular coding course, and Game Builder, a game design tool, are introduced to the platform.
2016: CodeMonkey partners with Code.org as part of the Hour of Code initiative.
2014: CodeMonkey is born, and by December, the company launches its first text-based coding game, Coding Adventure.
What’s New in 2024
As CodeMonkey looks ahead to the next 10 years, it’s introducing several exciting new initiatives:
Linus the Lemur: A brand-new character debuting in monthly coding challenges, offering students fresh opportunities to develop their coding skills.
New AI and Data Science Courses: Expanding beyond coding, these courses equip children with skills for the future, diving into artificial intelligence and data science at an accessible level.
BananaCast Podcast: A newly launched podcast that features interviews with educators, tech innovators, and thought leaders to explore the intersections of technology, education, and the future of work.
Merch Store: Teachers and students can now get CodeMonkey-branded swag, including classroom supplies and fun items that motivate kids to code.
Award-Winning Leaders in EdTech
In the past decade, CodeMonkey has earned numerous prestigious awards for its innovative approach to teaching computer science. These accolades serve as recognition of the platform’s impact on the education industry and its unwavering commitment to preparing children for a tech-driven future.
Just this year alone, CodeMonkey has won multiple prestigious awards, including:
Educators Pick – Best of STEM® 2024 Award for Best AI Curriculum for Teaching and Learning
2024 Overall Early Childhood Education Solution Provider of the Year
The Best Products for Elementary Kids 2024
The Best Educational Products in the World – 2024/25
The Best Middle School Products & The Best High School Products of 2024, I-LEARN Awards
2024 Practical Homeschooling® i-Learn Award
Social Responsibility
Social responsibility is at the core of CodeMonkey’s mission. The company is committed to making coding accessible to all students, especially those from underserved communities. Through partnerships and grant programs, CodeMonkey has ensured that schools in need have access to its platform, meeting the requirements for federal funding under Titles I, II, and IV of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
In 2022, CodeMonkey partnered with the King of Bhutan and the Ministry of Education to bring its curriculum to students across Bhutan, further extending its reach to empower children globally, regardless of socioeconomic background.
Looking Ahead
With a bold mission to “Write Code. Catch Bananas. Save the World,” CodeMonkey is poised to lead the next wave of coding education. Through its continued innovation, dedication to social responsibility, and passion for engaging young learners, CodeMonkey is set to empower millions more children as they embark on their journeys into the world of technology.
Here’s to the next 10 years of coding adventures, creativity, and problem-solving—one banana at a time!
Commander 3XL to be used as a primary transport vehicle for the TB2 Aerospace DROPS UAV Cargo POD for autonomous tactical resupply
Saskatoon Sask, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO) (FSE: 3U8A) (“Draganfly” or the “Company”), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, is pleased to announce that it has received a purchase order from TB2 Aerospace (TB2) for Commander 3XL Drones to be deployed with TB2 Drone Recharging Operational Payload System Pods (DROPS) within the DoD for various mission types. This order represents the beginning of the deployment and scaling of the DROPs system in conjunction with the Draganfly line of drones.
The Commander 3XL will be utilized to carry out various logistics missions. The Commander 3XL is well suited as a transport vehicle, as is the entire Draganfly drone product line for TB2 Aerospace’s smart logistics PODs, as Draganfly Drones are interoperable, providing operators a variety of aircraft size, payload capacity and weight configurations that utilize common communication, counter electronic warfare options, mission planning software, accessories, payloads and more. TB2 Aerospace and Draganfly have collaborated to integrate TB2’s DROPS Pods on Draganfly’s drones, positioning Draganfly as a primary transport vehicle for TB2 Aerospace deployments within the DoD.
“We are honored to be doing this exciting work with TB2 and to have been selected for this important work in the military logistics sector,” said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. “Draganfly thrives at working to provide exceptional capabilities by integrating our line of drones, experience, and technology stack into mission profiles and use cases with our commercial and military partners—and doing it within time frames and at costs that few others can.”
“We chose Draganfly to be our launch and developmental partner as they have a fantastic series of UAVs,” said Hank Scott, CEO of TB2. “Their aircraft are very stable, easy to fly and set up, and we were impressed by the commonality between their three UAVs. Common controllers, batteries, motors, and parts mean that the DoD can train a Warfighter to operate three different-sized UAVs with a simple, standardized training package. The commonality and interchangeable components will reduce DoD operational and training costs, and standardize the supply chain. Adding the DROPS system will make each of their UAVs a Multi-Mission Payload capable system too. It’s a win-win.”
About Draganfly
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO; CSE: DPRO; FSE: 3U8A) is the creator of quality, cutting-edge drone solutions, software, and AI systems that revolutionize how organizations can do business and serve their stakeholders. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 24 years, Draganfly is an award-winning industry leader serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, mapping, and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity, and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money, and lives.
For more information on Draganfly, please visit us at www.draganfly.com. For additional investor information, visit:
TB2 Aerospace from Golden, Colorado, USA is the developer the Drone Recharging Operational Payload System. This system enables a UAV to turn into a Multi-Mission Payload System capable of autonomously capturing, delivering, and recovering Cargo Pod and other payloads such as Weapons Systems and Ground Sensors without the need to place a Warfighter in harm’s way.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain “forward looking statements” and certain “forward-looking information” as defined under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “plans” or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the purchase order positioning Draganfly as a primary transport vehicle for TB2 Aerospace deployments within the DoD. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out here in, including but not limited to: the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on the Company’s business, operations and financial condition; the successful integration of technology; the inherent risks involved in the general securities markets; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates; the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions; and liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors“ in the Company’s most recent filings filed with securities regulators in Canada on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on EDGAR through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents managements’ best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
ALLIANCE TRUST PLC At the close of business on Monday 23 September 2024:
The Company’s NAV per ordinary share, valued on a bid price basis with Debt at Par, was
– excluding income, 1251.6p
– including income, 1251.3p
The Company’s NAV per ordinary share, valued on a bid price basis with Debt at Fair Value, was
– excluding income, 1257.5p
– including income, 1257.2p
For further information, please contact: –
Juniper Partners Limited
Tel. +44 (0)131 378 0500
Notes
Net Asset Values are calculated in accordance with published accounting policies and AIC guidelines.
The fair value of the Company’s fixed loan notes is calculated by reference to a benchmark gilt.
The dividend of 6.62p, due to be paid on 27 September 2024, has been deducted from each of the ‘including income’ figures cited above as from 29 August 2024, being the date upon which the Company’s shares went ex-dividend.
BOSTON, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Tyton Partners, a strategy consulting and investment banking firm focused on the education sector, unveiled Listening to Learners 2024: Stay Safe, Stay Informed: How Awareness of Support Services and Safety Relate to Re-enrollment, focusing on student learning outcomes. Following its widely cited debut last year, the second annual installment dives into the student perspective, linking it to institutional practices and technologies to spotlight impactful trends supporting student success in and outside the classroom.
With data from 3,000 higher education administrators, frontline advising staff, and students, Listening to Learners 2024 offers an in-depth analysis across six pivotal areas: Safety, Learner Awareness, Basic Needs Costs, Generative AI, Stopped-out Learners, and the Equity-Excellence Imperative. These areas are critical in understanding and bridging gaps between what students need to succeed and institutional efforts.
Safety Concerns: Although rarely discussed during advising sessions, students are four times more likely to want to discuss safety issues as a topic than advisors, highlighting a disconnect that impacts re-enrollment.
Learner Awareness: Only 54% of institutions effectively communicate available student support services, underscoring an awareness gap that could significantly boost retention and re-enrollment rates. This gap is larger for students with disabilities and online students.
Basic Needs Costs: 60% of students cite the cost of course materials as a crucial factor in course selection, stressing the financial burdens impacting their academic choices.
Generative AI: 50% of students would continue using generative AI tools even if banned, indicating robust student interest in these technologies.
Stopped-out Learners: FAFSA delays have had disproportional effects on re-enrolled learners’ decisions to re-enroll and potentially transfer to a different college or university
Equity-Excellence Imperative: Despite having a perspective on which student populations are most at risk, 54% of academic advisors don’t know if student utilization of support services is tracked by at-risk sub-populations (e.g., students who are working while in school or from rural areas), suggesting a lack of targeted support.
“At Tyton Partners, we believe deeply in the power of data to inform actionable insights,” said Catherine Shaw, Managing Director at Tyton Partners and lead author of Listening to Learners. “Through Listening to Learners, we aim to bridge the gap between student experiences and institutional strategies, fostering environments that support all aspects of student success, both in and outside the classroom.”
“This research underscores the urgent need for higher education to equip learners with the skills for a lifelong learning journey,” said Dr. Cristi Ford, Vice President of Academic Affairs at D2L. “As people live and work longer, the traditional three-stage model of education, employment, and retirement must transform into a continuous cycle of learning and earning.”
This year’s research, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, D2L, and Lumina Foundation, highlights the critical need for educational institutions to align more closely with student needs. By bridging this gap, we can not only enhance equity and effectiveness within the educational landscape but also pave the way for innovative practices that will shape the future of learning.
About Tyton Partners Tyton Partners is the leading provider of strategy consulting and investment banking services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in Boston and New York City, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at tytonpartners.com.
Acquisition of German HESA Solutions GmbH – MySchleppApp
Nextalia SGR and Alkemia Capital SGR lead the Series B round of the Italian scale-up in the digital motor assistance sector
MILAN, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — hlpy, the leading Italian scale-up in full digital services for mobility and vehicle assistance, has successfully completed a capital raise of 18 millioneuros aimed at strengthening its growth process in major European markets and acquiring a leading operator in Germany in digital roadside assistance: HESASolutionsGmbH–MySchleppApp.
The operation was co-led by Nextalia SGR through the Nextalia Venture fund and the current partner Sinergia Venture Fund of Alkemia Capital SGR, with the participation of all major shareholders of hlpy, including TheTechshopSGR,CDPVentureCapital –fondoCorporatePartnersI,ServiceTech, and Simest. The Series B consists of 80% capital increase and 20% long-term financing provided by credit institutions.
Thanks to this financial injection, hlpy accelerates its international expansion plan and announces its first M&A operation in Europe with the acquisition of 100% of thecapital of HESA Solutions GmbH, commercially known as MySchleppApp, one of the leading digital roadside assistance companies in Germany and Austria, with annualgrowthratesexceeding130%.
The acquisition of MySchleppApp allows hlpy to consolidate its position as theprimary European operator of full-digital roadside assistance, offering its services not only in Italy, France, and Spain but also in Germany and Austria. These services include assistance, repair, and vehicle maintenance through the use of a software platform based on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
MySchleppApp delivers its services through a network of over 1,500 partners on the ground, with operations and a technology platform that integrate well with hlpy’s.
“This operation,” explained Valerio Chiaronzi, CEO of hlpy,“supported by leadinginvestors,strengthenshlpy’sleadershipintheEuropeanmarketfordigitalcarassistance.The capital increase reflects our shareholders’ confidence in hlpy’s growth path, whichrecorded a revenue increase of 157% in 2023 compared to 2022, and this year will alsogrowbytripledigits.Despiteexponentialorganicgrowth,wesawtheopportunitypresentedbyMySchleppAppastherightonetoseizetoenteranimportantmarketlike Germanyandclearlymarkourgrowthtrajectoryandfuture:tobecomealeaderinmobilityservices, redefining the rules and standards in roadside assistance, as well as in vehiclerepair and maintenance, without any geographical limits. We are excited to welcome theMySchleppAppteam,withwhomwehaveformedauniquesynergyfromdayone,thanksto shared corporate values, an operational model, and a technological approach alignedwithourvision.
“We also believe that the integration of our realities can bring concrete benefits to ourbusinesspartners–manyofwhomarecommonandcross-country–who,post-integration,willhaveaholisticviewoftheirvehiclesanddriversinmultiplecountries.”
“We are proud and excited to join the hlpy group,” added Santosh Satschdeva, CEOofHESASolutionsGmbH.“TheintegrationbetweenhlpyandMySchleppApprepresentsthe union of two of the most technologically advanced entities in the vehicle assistancesectorinEurope,withthecommongoalofprovidingourcommercialpartnersanddriverswith a superior customer experience, while also reducing operational costs and vehicledowntime. Together, we can expand a unique service model without any geographicalbarriers,acceleratingthegrowthofthenetworkandcustomerbase.”
hlpy was born in Milan in May 2020 with the aim of reinventing vehicle assistance. Thanks to its innovative digital platform, hlpy aims to create value for insurance companies, car manufacturers, rental companies, rescue operators, and, above all, to make the service more reliable and secure for end users.
HESA Solutions GmbH, with its brand MySchleppApp, was founded in Germany in 2016. The business focus is on roadside assistance and support in the event of vehicle breakdowns. MySchleppApp’s approximately 75 clients include automobile manufacturers, fleet managers, and leasing companies. Its strength lies in the fully digital management of rescue requests, with a highly efficient rescuer engagement process and short waiting times for customers.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QuestionPro, a global leader in online survey and research services today announced the agenda and speaker lineup for its annual customer event, XDay 2024 North America. The event takes place Thursday, October 3, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (U.S. Central Time) at the Thompson Austin in Austin, Texas. The event features keynotes, in-depth panels, and one-to-one chats with industry leaders on a range of topics related to the future of insights, experience, and delight.
The day begins with opening remarks from Vivek Bhaskaran, QuestionPro’s founder and CEO, whose irreverent personality is combined with deep industry knowledge and vision. He will unveil exciting new products and feature updates across QuestionPro product lines and set the stage for a day of innovation and inspiration.
Bhaskaran is followed immediately by the morning keynote from Dr. Dipul Patadia, a visionary healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience of leadership, innovation and insights. As the Head of Health System Strategy and Innovation at Salesforce, he has been pivotal in aligning technology with the unique needs of health systems. His extensive background, including roles as Chief Medical Officer at hospitals within Ascension and Advocate Health, uniquely equips him with insights into the melding of data, and new trends.
Attendees will benefit from his leadership in national healthcare organizations and advisory roles with multiple healthcare startups. Expect to gain actionable insights into transforming your data, AI-driven empowerment, and leading with human centric data.
Following the morning keynotes will be a series of practitioner-led breakouts featurimg experts who have held senior roles at some of the most recognized brands in the world, including: Microsoft, Twitch, HubSpot, Cost Plus World Market and others. Panels, workshops and keynotes will cover workplace experience; AI in research and experience; deep dives on CX and many others. A full agenda is available via the web at: https://www.questionpro.com/xday/2024/
The afternoon keynote address will be delivered by Tim Sanders, currently the Vice President of Research Insights at G2. He brings a deep understanding of AI, digital transformation, and customer-centric strategies after serving as Vice President of Client Strategy at Upwork and many other prestigious institutions. As an Executive Fellow at Harvard’s Digital Data Design Institute, he drives AI adoption and data-driven business decisions. With a rich history at Yahoo and a bestselling author, Tim’s insights on leadership, digital transformation, and change management are not to be missed.
The event concludes with a rooftop dinner reception at Arriba Abajo, on top of the Thompson Hotel. Arriba Abajo beckons guests with its unique blend of cantina concept and elevated hospitality while captivating guests with its awe-inspiring rooftop patio and pool.
About QuestionPro: Founded in 2006, QuestionPro is a global provider of online survey and research services that help companies make better decisions through data. Our fully integrated online platform includes surveys, research & insights, customer experience (CX) and workforce/employee experience software. We additionally offer polling, journey mapping, employee 360s, and data visualization. Our clientele ranges from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies, who rely on us for insights about customers, employees, and the marketplace. With offices in the US, Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, Japan, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and India, we offer customers 24-7 access to highly trained support specialists and engineers. More information is available at www.questionpro.com.
BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC), AI for a world in motion, today announced that Tuya Smart (NYSE: Tuya, HKEX: 2391), a global cloud platform service provider, is partnering with Cerence to provide multi-lingual text-to-speech (TTS) for its cloud developer platform designed specifically for two-wheeled vehicles, including motorcycles, e-bikes, and more.
Tuya’s cloud developer platform provides its customers – in this case, the more than 100 two-wheeler manufacturers using the “Works with Smart Life” app – with a complete set of smart solutions, including apps, cloud capabilities, hardware, and more. Tuya will integrate Cerence TTS into its cloud developer platform designed for two-wheeler solutions, which will further enable riders to request and hear via voice real-time riding speed, riding time, battery information, phone and text messages, etc., making each ride safer and more enjoyable. In the future, the companies will partner to bring additional Cerence solutions to Tuya’s cloud developer platform, further enhancing voice-powered interaction for two-wheeler riders.
“As voice-powered interaction continues to gain relevance and usage among consumers, it only makes sense that we would enhance our offerings with voice capabilities,” said Tony Kong, General Manager of Outdoor Business Department, Tuya Smart. “By leveraging Cerence’s industry-leading TTS, we bring best-in-class technology to our customers looking to enhance the two-wheeler rider experience with improved safety and functionality.”
“Two-wheelers continue to present an exciting opportunity for Cerence to expand its industry-leading innovation to new areas of transportation,” said Nils Schanz, Chief Product Officer, Cerence. “We look forward to expanding the reach of our two-wheeler solutions, and transforming the rider experience, by partnering with Tuya to reach developers driving innovation within two-wheeler manufacturers.”
About Cerence Inc. Cerence (NASDAQ: CRNC) is the global industry leader in creating unique, moving experiences for the mobility world. As an innovation partner to the world’s leading automakers and mobility OEMs, it is helping advance the future of connected mobility through intuitive, AI-powered interaction between humans and their vehicles, connecting consumers’ digital lives to their daily journeys no matter where they are. Cerence’s track record is built on more than 20 years of knowledge and 500 million cars shipped with Cerence technology. Whether it’s connected cars, autonomous driving, e-vehicles, or two-wheelers, Cerence is mapping the road ahead. For more information, visit www.cerence.com.
About Tuya Smart Tuya Inc. (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391) is a global leading cloud platform service provider with a mission to build a smart solutions developer ecosystem and enable everything to be smart. Tuya has pioneered a purpose-built cloud developer platform with cloud and generative AI capabilities that delivers a full suite of offerings, including Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS, Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, and smart solutions for developers of smart device, commercial applications, and industries. Through its cloud developer platform, Tuya has activated a vibrant global developer community of brands, OEMs, AI Agents, system integrators and independent software vendors to collectively strive for smart solutions ecosystem embodying the principles of green and low-carbon, security, high efficiency, agility, and openness.
BRISBANE, Australia, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Softlink Information Centres, a Volaris Group company, has acquired Aurora Information Technology (AIT), developer of library automation software used in public and special libraries. Their flagship product, Aurora Library Management System (LMS), is based on Aurora Montage – a patron web catalogue. This year, a new, cloud-based library staff solution called Aurora Astria was introduced to the market.
AIT was established in the late 1990s. Co-founders, Doug Coulson and Martin Fisk, designed and developed the product.
“It took us almost one year to build Aurora software to the point of winning business. Our first customer was the Royal Blind Society (NSW) which over time became part of Vision Australia. AIT is now providing software for Vision Australia’s major digital transformation project. With software capabilities for Libraries for the Blind, we also won business with national organisations in New Zealand and South Africa.” Doug Coulson, AIT Co-founder.
Today, Aurora is found in large and small public libraries, predominantly in Australia. This includes the Rural Libraries Queensland network, managed by the State Library of Queensland. The solution supports the delivery of a centralised catalogue and networked library services throughout the State.
For more than 10 years, AIT has donated Aurora LMS software, hosting and services to all indigenous knowledge centres through Queensland.
“The average life of a small business is less than 9 years, so to have been in business now for 28 years, still having our original customers and being able to help support indigenous library services along the way, is something for which AIT founders are very grateful.We are pleased that Aurora has found a home at Softlink Information Centres.” Doug Coulson, AIT Co-founder.
Sarah Thompson, General Manager of Softlink Information Centres adds: “It is exciting to include AIT as part of our wider community of software businesses across the globe that work tirelessly to provide exceptional solutions to librarians, researchers and library managers.”
The AIT team will join Softlink Information Centres, led by Sarah Thompson.
About Softlink Information Centres
Softlink Information Centres has been a leader in providing library, knowledge and research management solutions for over 40 years. Our products are trusted by hundreds of businesses worldwide, including some of the largest multi-branch law firms, parliamentary, government libraries and top management consulting firms. We combine the latest technology with ease of use and affordability, enabling our clients to adapt, grow and deliver superior services. Visit us at Softlink Information Centres [https://ic.softlinkint.com/].
For further information on Softlink Information Centres, please visit ic.softlinkint.com
About Volaris Group
Volaris acquires, strengthens and grows vertical market technology companies. As an operating group of Constellation Software Inc., Volaris is all about strengthening businesses within the markets they compete and enabling them to grow – whether that growth comes through organic measures such as new initiatives and product development, day-to-day business, or through complementary acquisitions. Learn more at www.volarisgroup.com.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Thompson General Manager Softlink Information Centres Sarah.Thompson@softlinkint.com
It’s been less than six months since Google Cloud Next, and the pace of innovation across industries has been nothing short of extraordinary. We’re proud of our AI leadership and differentiation as we continue pushing the technology frontier for our customers. From launching more powerful versions of Gemini 1.5 Pro, to rolling out general availability for Gemini Flash and Imagen 3, to investing in our Vertex AI platform, our teams have been building off the product momentum of Next. And all of this innovation is driving incredible use of our products.
Today, as part of our Gemini at Work global event, we are showcasing nearly 50 new customer stories from organizations around the world to highlight just how impactful generative AI can be when you put it to work at scale — including Pods, Snap, Volkswagen US, Warner Bros. Discovery and many others. We’re inspired by what customers are building and excited by how quickly they’ve been able to move ideas from experimentation into production with our Vertex AI platform. We’re also seeing major boosts in productivity through Gemini for Google Workspace, with customers saving an average of 105 minutes per user, per week, according to our recent study of enterprise customers.
They can access and customize the best foundation models from both Google and the industry, including Gemini. We are the only Cloud provider to offer widely-used first-party, third-party, and open models. Enterprises want to choose a platform that gives them choice.
They can create sophisticated gen AI agents and experiences faster with our single, integrated development platform, Vertex AI. It sits on top of our world-class infrastructure and is the only unified platform that lets customers discover and access models, tune and augment models, and create, ground, deploy, and manage AI agents and experiences.
They can be more productive with our AI agents. We offer Gemini for Google Cloud and Gemini for Google Workspace, as well as purpose-built agents for Customer Engagement and Search. Customers are really appreciating these packaged agents, in addition to building their own.
They are deploying models with confidence, with the most comprehensive approach to grounding in enterprise truth. This significantly improves response accuracy and completeness, and lets them control their brand voice and customer experience.
Six types of AI agents
We continue to see customers and partners benefiting from AI agents — intelligent systems that go beyond simple chat and predictions, to proactively take actions. What makes AI agents unique is they help achieve specific goals, whether that’s guiding a shopper to the perfect pair of shoes, helping an employee look for the right health benefits, or supporting nursing staff with smoother patient hand-offs during shift changes. We see AI agents centering around six use cases:
Customer agents help make great recommendations
Customer agents work seamlessly across channels including the web, mobile, and point of sale, and can be integrated into product experiences with voice and video.
Bell Canada pioneered using digital agents to provide self-service — improving customer experience and delivering $20 million in cost savings.
Best Buy resolves issues up to 90 seconds faster using automated call summarization.
GoTo Group launched Dira, a Bahasa Indonesia AI-powered voice assistant integrated into their GoPay fintech app. Customers use voice commands and complete tasks like bill payments and money transfers with fewer steps. Check out a live demo of the app from GoTo in this video.
ScottsMiracle-Gro built an AI agent on Google Cloud Vertex AI to provide tailored gardening advice and product recommendations.
Snap deployed the multimodal capability of Gemini within their “My AI” chatbot and has since seen over 2.5x as much engagement within Snapping to My AI in the United States.
10:25
Telecom Italia (TIM) implemented a Google-powered voice agent to address many customer calls, increasing efficiency by 20%.
UPS Capital uses an agent built on Google Cloud technology to analyze package movements, insurance claims, and address data in real time to identify anomalies.
Volkswagen US built a virtual assistant in the myVW app, where drivers can explore their owners’ manuals and ask questions such as, “How do I change a flat tire?” or “What does this digital cockpit indicator light mean?” Users can also use Gemini’s multi-modal capabilities to see helpful information and context on indicator lights simply by pointing their smartphone cameras at their dashboards. Watch how the myVW app works in this demo.
We continue to build on this momentum with our own packaged agents. For example, today we are announcing Customer Engagement Suite with Google AI, an end-to-end application that combines the rich features of our leading Contact Center AI solution with the latest gen AI capabilities.
This new solution offers four key benefits:
Omnichannel features, so you can orchestrate consistent customer experiences across web, mobile, voice, email, and apps with a single platform.
Multimodal approach, so your customers can use text, voice, and images.
Rule-based controls AND generative AI so you can address a broad range of issues that may come up from your customers. For instance, a customer speaking with a bank representative may have to verify their identity through a specific set of verification questions. At the same time, they may ask the bank: “Tell me what’s the best mortgage offering for me? Can you compare it across the products you offer?” The first requires a deterministic flow. The second requires a generative flow.
Grounding to provide the highest levels of accuracy
All of this can be connected with any customer service application — whether it’s a SaaS application like Salesforce, Servicenow, SAP, Dynamics, or Oracle — or an on-premise app.
Employee agents help workers collaborate and get more done
Employee agents can streamline processes, manage repetitive tasks, answer employee questions, as well as edit and translate critical communications.
Click Therapeutics develops prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat disease. Their Clinical Operations team leverages Gemini for Google Workspace to transform complex operations data into actionable insights; so they can quickly pinpoint ways to streamline the patient experience in clinical trials.
Dun & Bradstreet built an email-generation tool with Gemini that helps sellers create tailored, personalized communications to prospects and customers for its research services. They also developed intelligent search capabilities to help users with complex queries like, “Find me all the companies in this area with a high ESG rating.”
Elanco, a world leader in animal health, has implemented a gen AI framework, powered by Vertex AI and Gemini, to support critical business processes, such as Pharmacovigilance, Customer Orders, and Clinical Insights. This has resulted in an estimated ROI of $1.9 million since launching last year.
Randstad is using Gemini for Google Workspace to enhance our relationships internally and externally with candidates, making them more efficient and giving them time back to focus on the human aspect of their work.
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SURA Investments, the largest Asset Manager in Latin America, developed a gen AI-powered analysis model for employees built on Google Cloud that allows them to better understand customer needs. It has already improved sentiment analysis on more than 90% of calls and delivered a 10-point increase in customer satisfaction.
Thomson Reuters added Gemini Pro to its suite of large language models (LLM). The 2 million token context window makes some skills as much as 10x times faster to process and unlocks the ability to create new skills that require the LLM to process entire documents in context
The employee agents we deliver through Gemini for Google Workspace, our leading collaboration and productivity tools, are helping customers get more done, with greater confidence and in less time. In a recent survey of our enterprise customers using Gemini, we found they save an average of 105 minutes per user, per week. And it’s not just about getting more done, but getting it done really well — 75% of daily Gemini for Workspace users say it improves the quality of their work.
To help more people boost productivity with AI, we’re making the Gemini app with enterprise-grade data protection available as part of existing Google Workspace subscriptions. Starting next month, customers will have a round-the-clock brainstorming partner, research assistant, and more, to help where they need it most.
Data agents help you do research and data analysis more effectively
Data agents can help answer questions about internal and external sources, synthesize research, develop new models — and, best of all, help find the questions we haven’t even thought to ask yet, and then get the answers.
Bayer’s Crop Science team developed a Field Answers application built on Vertex AI to make critical, timely decisions in the field, contributing to more sustainable and efficient farming.
The CME Group is building a first-of-its-kind cloud-based commodities trading platform with Google Cloud’s AI tools built in, offering CME’s trading customers access to deeper insights and smarter trades as well as rapid experimentation on new trading strategies that won’t interrupt existing trade flows
Hiscox, one of the oldest syndicates in Lloyd’s of London, used BigQuery and Vertex AI to create the first AI-enhanced lead underwriting model, automating quoting for complex risks, from three days down to a few minutes.
Ipsos, a multinational market research firm, built a data analysis tool grounded in Google Search for its market researchers, eliminating the need for time-consuming requests to analysts.
Intelligencia AI, a healthcare technology company, uses Cloud SQL for Postgres for the data infrastructure that powers its AI-driven drug development predictions, enabling the company to deliver accurate and transparent results to customers, while reducing overhead.
NeuroPace, a medical device company, built a solution using Google Cloud gen AI technologies, to quickly identify effective epilepsy treatment options. By analyzing brainwave patterns, they can find similar patients and apply successful therapies faster.
Warner Bros. Discovery built an AI captioning tool with Vertex AI and saw a 50% reduction in overall costs, and an 80% reduction in the time it takes to manually caption a file without the use of machine learning.
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Security agents significantly increase the speed of investigations
Security agents automate monitoring and response for greater vigilance and compliance controls. They can also help guard data and models from cyberattacks, such as malicious prompt injection.
Apex Fintech has accelerated the creation of complex threat detections, reducing the time required from hours to mere seconds with Google SecOps.
Certify OS is working with Google Cloud to automate credentialing, licensing, and monitoring of medical providers for healthcare networks, relieving the burden of time-consuming and often siloed information.
Fiserv is working with Gemini in Security Operations to summarize threats, find answers, and detect, validate, and respond to security events faster.
NetRise‘s “Trace” product is enabling AI-powered semantic search — built using Google Cloud gen AI — in the software supply chain.
Creative agents can help everyone build design, artistic or production skills
Creative agents can empower organizations with the best design and production skills, working across images, slides, and more. Many businesses are building agents alongside their marketing teams, audio and video production teams, and creative teams to help explore and build creative concepts.
Formula E is using Google Cloud gen AI to summarize two-hour-long race commentary into a two-minute podcast in any language, using driver data and ongoing seasonal storylines.
Globo, the largest media group in Latin America, is using Google Cloud’s AI to hyper-personalize content for its streaming users, and create a better experience for spectators.
PODS, working with advertising agency Tombras, used Gemini to create the “World’s Smartest Billboard,” a campaign on their trucks that could adapt to each neighborhood in New York City. The ads used live feeds of data so they updated in real-time hitting all 299 neighborhoods in just 29 hours creating more than 6,000 headlines.
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PUMA is using Imagen to customize product photos on their website, saving time and ensuring they are locally relevant. Puma India has already seen a 10% increase in click-through rate, and they share how they did it in this demo.
Radisson Hotel Group worked with Accenture and Google Cloud to use Vertex AI and Gemini models to personalize its advertising at scale by training AI models on extensive datasets stored in BigQuery; ad teams saw productivity rise 50% while revenue increased from AI-powered campaigns by more than 20%.
Google’s open platform drives more momentum with partners and customers
The success of AI depends on an open platform that offers choice, is easy to integrate with existing systems, and is supported by a broad ecosystem. Google Cloud works closely with important partners, like Accenture and Deloitte, who report more than 45% of their Google Cloud gen AI projects have moved from proof of concept to production. In addition, expanded partnerships and dedicated Google Cloud centers of excellence with Accenture, BCG, Cognizant, Deloitte, HCLTech, KPMG, McKinsey, PwC, and Wipro have spurred thousands of successful projects. This collaborative ecosystem is the key to unlocking AI’s true potential. At Google Cloud, we truly value our partnership with this ecosystem, which is vital to helping our entire industry in its transformation — from systems updates to organizational change management to an overall mindset shift.
We’re inspired by the ingenuity and speed with which our customers are embracing gen AI. And we continue to work hard to partner with customers to help them deliver real business value in the form of incremental leads, conversions, sales, and profits. We’re committed to taking a bold and responsible approach to make AI helpful for everyone, helping organizations of all sizes solve real-world challenges in entirely new ways.
This is the new way to cloud. It’s a journey we’re on together with all of you — our customers and partners — all around the world.
This post originally appeared on theTransform with Google Cloud blog. It was first published April 12, 2024; last updated with new use cases September 24, 2024.
Since generative AI first captured the world’s attention, there’s been a vigorous discussion about what, exactly, the new technology is best used for. While we all enjoyed those early funny chats and witty limericks, we’ve quickly discovered that many of the biggest AI opportunities are clearly in the enterprise, government, and with exciting new companies.
When we first published this post during Google Cloud Next ‘24, we showcased 101 of the best use cases out of the hundreds featured across the event. Now, we’re adding another 84 to the list as customers across the globe continue to put generative AI to work.
[If you’ve visited this post in the past, you can find the newest use cases listed at the top of each section.]
In a matter of months, organizations have gone from AI helping answer questions, to AI making predictions, to generative AI agents. What makes AI agents unique is that they can take actions to achieve specific goals, whether that’s guiding a shopper to the perfect pair of shoes, helping an employee looking for the right health benefits, or supporting nursing staff with smoother patient hand-offs during shifts changes.
In our work with customers, we keep hearing that their teams are increasingly focused on improving productivity, automating processes, and modernizing the customer experience. These aims are now being achieved through the AI agents they’re developing in six key areas: customer service; employee empowerment; code creation; data analysis; cybersecurity; and creative ideation and production.
Hundreds of Google Cloud customers have now put AI agents and gen-AI solutions into production throughout their businesses and the world — with many seeing a tangible return on investment. They have come to rely on Google Cloud technologies that include our AI infrastructure, Gemini models, Vertex AI platform, Google Workspace, and Google Distributed Cloud.
Here’s a snapshot of how 185 of these industry leaders are putting AI to use today, creating real-world use cases that will transform tomorrow.
Customer agents
Similar to great sales and service people, customer agents are able to listen carefully, understand your needs, and recommend the right products and services. They work seamlessly across channels including the web, mobile, and point of sale, and can be integrated into product experiences with voice and video.
1.Alaska Airlines is developing natural language search, providing travelers with a conversational experience powered by AI that’s akin to interacting with a knowledgeable travel agent. This chatbot aims to streamline travel booking, enhance customer experience, and reinforce brand identity.
2. Bennie Health uses Vertex AI to power its innovative employee health benefits platform, providing actionable insights and streamlining data management in order to enhance efficiency and decision-making for employees and HR teams.
3. Beyond 12, a tech-enabled nonprofit focused on student empowerment, has developed an AI-powered college coach to offer scalable coaching to first-generation students that’s available over text, app, and the web.
4. CareerVillage is building an app called Coach to empower job seekers, especially underrepresented youth, in their career preparedness; already featuring 35 career development activities, the aim is to have more than 100 by next year.
5. Character.ai built its realistic conversational chat platform using the full stack of Google Cloud AI services, including for model training and daily operations, allowing it to manage terabytes of conversations each day without interruption.
6. Click Therapeutics develops prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat disease. Its Clinical Operations team leverages Gemini for Google Workspace to transform complex operations data into actionable insights, so they can quickly pinpoint ways to streamline the patient experience in clinical trials.
7. Formula E can now summarize a two-hour long race commentary into a 2-minute podcast in any language, incorporating driver data and ongoing seasonal storylines.
8. General Motors’ OnStar has been augmented with new AI features, including a virtual assistant powered by Google Cloud’s conversational AI technologies that are better able to recognize the speaker’s intent.
9. Gojek, an Indonesia-based super app, launched “Dira by GoTo AI,” a Bahasa Indonesia AI-powered voice assistant integrated into their GoPay service, allowing customers to use voice command to eliminate typing and scrolling, and complete tasks like bill payments and money transfers with fewer steps.
10. GroupBy, an ecommerce service provider, developed an AI-first Search and Discovery Platform powered by Vertex AI Search for Retail. This solution is meticulously designed to optimize revenue, strengthen brand loyalty, and drive sales growth for B2C and B2B retailers.
11. Hotelplan Suisse built a chatbot trained on the business’s travel expertise to answer customer inquiries in real-time, and, following that success, it plans to use gen AI to create travel content.
12. Justicia Lab is developing an AI-powered assistant that will simplify legal processes for asylum seekers and immigrants; by uploading a picture from a legal letter or document, users can extract valuable information and then receive personalized guidance and next steps.
13. Mercado Libre has incorporated semantic search into its digital shopping platforms, using AI embeddings from the Vertex AI Agent Builder, which greatly improved product recommendations and discoverability for more than 200 million consumers across Latin America.
14. Motorola’s Moto AI leverages Gemini and Imagen to help smartphone users unlock new levels of productivity, creativity, and enjoyment with features such as conversation summaries, notification digests, image creation, and natural language search — all with reliable responses grounded in Google Search.
15. mRelief has built an SMS-accessible AI chatbot to simplify the application process for the SNAP food assistance program in the U.S., featuring easy-to-understand eligibility information and direct assistance within minutes rather than days.
16. Personal AI offers a “personal language model” using only the data of one individual or brand and allowing them to control and own how it is used. Built on your own data, facts, and opinions, it creates a responsive and interactive messaging experience that helps people be more productive and deepen relationships.
17. PODS worked with the advertising agency Tombras to create the “World’s Smartest Billboard” using Gemini — a campaign on its trucks that could adapt to each neighborhood in New York City, changing in real-time based on data. It hit all 299 neighborhoods in just 29 hours, creating more than 6,000 unique headlines.
18. Quora developed Poe, its own generative AI platform for people to discover and chat with AI-powered bots, including Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, Meta’s Llama, and Mistral’s Large 2 — many of which are hosted on Google Cloud’s purpose-built AI infrastructure.
19. ScottsMiracle-Gro built an AI agent on Vertex AI to provide tailored gardening advice and product recommendations for consumers.
20. Snap has deployed the multimodal capability of Gemini within its “My AI” chatbot and has since seen over 2.5-times as much engagement within Snapping to My AI in the United States.
21. Tabiya has built a conversational interface, Compass, that helps young people find employment opportunities; the platform asks questions and requests information, drawing out skills and experiences and matching those to appropriate roles.
22. Telecom Italia (TIM) implemented a Google-powered voice agent to address many customer calls, increasing efficiency by 20%.
23. UPS Capital launched DeliveryDefense Address Confidence, which uses machine learning and UPS data to provide a confidence score for shippers to help them determine the likelihood of a successful delivery.
24. Volkswagen of America built a virtual assistant in the myVW app, where drivers can explore their owners’ manuals and ask questions, such as, “How do I change a flat tire?” or “What does this digital cockpit indicator light mean?” Users can also use Gemini’s multimodal capabilities to see helpful information and context on indicator lights simply by pointing their smartphone cameras at the dashboard.
25. ADT is building a customer agent to help its millions of customers select, order, and set up their home security.
26. Alaska Airlines is developing a personalized travel search experience using advanced AI techniques, creating hyper-personalized recommendations that engage customers early and foster loyalty through AI-generated content.
27. Best Buy is using Gemini to launch a generative AI-powered virtual assistant this summer that can troubleshoot product issues, reschedule order deliveries, manage Geek Squad subscriptions, and more; in-store and digital customer-service associates are also gaining gen-AI tools to better serve customers anywhere they need help.
28. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is using Vertex AI to modernize transportation operations for a smoother, more efficient journey.
29. Etsy uses Vertex AI training to optimize their search recommendations and ads models, delivering better listing suggestions to buyers and helping sellers grow their businesses.
30. IHG Hotels & Resorts is building a generative AI-powered chatbot to help guests easily plan their next vacation directly in the IHG One Rewards mobile app.
31. ING Bank aims to offer a superior customer experience and has developed a gen-AI chatbot for workers to enhance self-service capabilities and improve answer quality on customer queries.
32. Magalu, one of Brazil’s largest retailers, has put customer service at the center of its AI strategy, including using Vertex AI to create “Lu’s Brain” to power an interactive conversational agent for Lu, Magalu’s popular brand persona (the 3D bot has more than 14 million followers between TikTok and Instagram).
33. Mercedes Benz will infuse e-commerce capabilities into its online storefront with a gen AI-powered smart sales assistant. Mercedes also plans to expand its use of Google Cloud AI in its call centers and is using Vertex AI and Gemini to personalize marketing campaigns.
34. Oppo/OnePlus is incorporating Gemini models and Google Cloud AI into their phones to deliver innovative customer experiences, including news and audio recording summaries, AI toolbox, and more.
35. Samsung is deploying Gemini Pro and Imagen 2 to their Galaxy S24 smartphones so users can take advantage of amazing features like text summarization, organization, and magical image editing.
36. The Minnesota Division of Driver and Vehicle Services helps non-English speakers get licenses and other services with two-way real-time translation.
37. Pepperdine University has students and faculty who speak many languages, and with Gemini in Google Meet, they can benefit from real-time translated captioning and notes.
38. Sutherland, a leading digital transformation company, is focused on bringing together human expertise and AI, including boosting its client-facing teams by automatically surfacing suggested responses and automating insights in real time.
39. Target uses Google Cloud to power AI solutions on the Target app and Target.com, including personalized Target Circle offers and Starbucks at Drive Up, their curbside pickup solution.
40. Tokopedia, an Indonesian ecommerce leader, is using Vertex AI to improve data quality, increasing unique products being sold by 5%.
41. US News saw a double-digit impact in key metrics like click-through rate, time spent on page, and traffic volume to its pages after implementing Vertex AI Search.
42-45. IntesaSanpaolo, MacquarieBank, and Scotiabank are exploring the potential of gen AI to transform the way we live, work, bank, and invest — particularly how the new technology can boost productivity and operational efficiency in banking.
Employee agents
Employee agents help workers be more productive and collaborate better together. These agents can streamline processes, manage repetitive tasks, answer employee questions, as well as edit and translate critical communications.
46. 2bots offers technology solutions, such as chatbots and virtual agents, built with Google Cloud’s AI solutions; these intelligent chatbots and content generation tools are transforming the way companies interact with their customers.
47. Augment is building an AI personal assistant that offers enhanced note-taking and collects information across your apps, including calendar, email, texts, and social media, so users can more quickly and easily find personal information and keep their lives organized.
48. Bayes Impact builds AI products to support nonprofits, and its flagship product, CaseAI, is a digital case manager that integrates with an NGO’s current system to add smart features to draft action plans tailored to a beneficiary’s unique history; caseworkers have saved 25 hours of work per week on average.
49. Bell Canada has built customizable contact center solutions for its business customers that offer AI-powered agents to address callers, and Agent Assist, which listens when a human agent is on, offering suggestions and sentiment analysis. AI has contributed $20 million in savings across customer operations.
50. Best Buy can generate conversation summaries in real time using Contact Center AI, allowing live agents to give their full attention to understanding and supporting customers, resulting in a 30-to-90-second reduction in average call time and after-call work. Both customers and agents have cited improved satisfaction.
51. Camanchaca, a Chilean seafood company, took only six weeks to develop Elon, a virtual assistant that aims to provide more efficient customer service through digital channels, enhancing Camanchaca’s customer interactions.
52. Certify OS is automating credentialing, licensing, and monitoring of medical providers for healthcare networks, relieving the burden of time-consuming and often siloed information.
53. Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs widely uses Gemini for Google Workspace, estimating that employees are saving an average five hours per week just with AI capabilities in Gmail. Gemini is also streamlining time-consuming, manual processes through uses like AI-generated transcriptions and auto-formatting of pharmaceutical lab results or FDA compliance documentation.
54. Dun & Bradstreet built an email-generation tool with Gemini that helps sellers create tailored, personalized communications to prospects and customers for its research services. The company also developed intelligent search capabilities to help users with complex queries like, “Find me all the companies in this area with a high ESG rating.”
55. England’s Football Association is training Vertex AI on the FA’s historical and current scouting reports so they can be transformed into concise summaries, helping national teams discover future talent.
56. Fireflies.ai can transcribe, summarize, and analyze meetings, recordings, and other voice conversations to save time and improve collaboration and information sharing across teams.
57. Fluna, a Pan-African digital services company, has automated the analysis and drafting of legal agreements using Vertex AI, Document AI, and Gemini 1.5 Pro, achieving an accuracy of 92% in data extraction while ensuring security and reliability for sensitive information.
58. Hemominas, Brazil’s largest blood bank, partnered with Xertica to develop an omnichannel chatbot for donor search and scheduling, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency. The AI solution has the potential to save half-a-million lives annually by attracting more donors and optimizing blood supply management.
59. Hiscox used BigQuery and Vertex AI to create the first AI-enhanced lead underwriting model for insurers, automating and accelerating the quoting for complex risks from three days down to a few minutes.
60. LiveX AI delivers AI Agents that swiftly enhance product education, boost customer conversion, reduce churn, and provide personalized customer support, with the goal of offering everyone a seamless VIP experience across their customer journey.
61. Opportunity@Work is applying gen AI to scale a suite of software tools and APIs that help employers identify “STAR” job candidates — “skilled through alternative routes” such as community college, military service, and on-the-job experience — helping fill roles in a tight market and expand opportunities.
62. QuantumMetric has introduced Felix AI, powered by Gemini Pro, to simplify digital analytics and decision making. Felix AI automatically summarizes a user’s web or mobile session and consolidates the moments that matter most into short, readable summaries for customer service workers.
63. Randstad, a large HR services and talent provider, is using Gemini for Workspace across its organization to transform its work culture, leading to a more culturally diverse and inclusive workplace that’s seen a double-digit reduction in sick days.
64. Sprinklr built Sprinklr AI+ into its unified customer experience management platform, giving brands gen-AI capabilities for customer service, insights, social media management, and marketing that has enterprise-grade governance, security, and data privacy built-in.
65. Thomson Reuters added Gemini Pro to its suite of large language models approved for employee use; with its 2-million-token context window, Gemini makes some tasks as much as 10-times faster to process and can process entire documents in context.
66. Warner Bros. Discovery built an AI captioning tool with Vertex AI and saw a 50% reduction in overall costs, and an 80% reduction in the time it takes to manually caption a file without the use of machine learning.
67. The U.S. Air Force built a new proof-of-concept portal for searching, browsing, and reading e-published PDFs — all within a 90-day deadline that leveraged the prebuilt tools and speed of Vertex AI Search and Conversation.
68. Avery Dennison empowered their employees with generative AI to enable secure, flexible, and borderless collaboration for enhanced productivity to drive growth.
69. Bank of New York Mellon built a virtual assistant to help employees find relevant information and answers to their questions.
70. Bayer is building a radiology platform that will assist radiologists with data analysis, intelligent search, and to create documents that meet healthcare requirements needed for regulatory approval. The bioscience company is also harnessing BigQuery and Vertex AI to develop additional digital medical solutions and drugs more efficiently.
71. Bristol Myers Squibb is transforming its document processes for clinical trials using Vertex AI and Google Workspace. Now, documentation that took scientists weeks now gets to a first draft in minutes.
72. BenchSci develops generative AI solutions empowering scientists to understand complex connections in biological research, saving them time and financial resources and ultimately bringing new medicine to patients faster.
73. Cintas is using Vertex AI Search to develop an internal knowledge center for customer service and sales teams to easily find key information.
74. Covered California, the state’s healthcare marketplace, is using Document AI to help improve the consumer and employee experience by automating parts of the documentation and verification process when residents apply for coverage.
75. Dasa, the largest medical diagnostics company in Brazil, is helping physicians detect relevant findings in test results more quickly.
76. DaVita leverages DocAI and Healthcare NLP to transform kidney care, including analyzing medical records, uncovering critical patient insights, and reducing errors. AI enables physicians to focus on personalized care, resulting in significant improvements in healthcare delivery.
77. Discover Financial helps their 10,000 contact center representatives to search and synthesize information across detailed policies and procedures during calls.
78. HCA Healthcare is testing Cati, a virtual AI caregiver assistant that helps to ensure continuity of care when one caregiver shift ends and another begins. They are also using gen AI to improve workflows on time-consuming tasks, such as clinical documentation, so physicians and nurses can focus more on patient care.
79. The Home Depot has built an application called Sidekick, which helps store associates manage inventory and keep shelves stocked; notably, vision models help associates prioritize which actions to take.
80. Los Angeles Rams are utilizing AI across the board from content analysis to player scouting.
81. McDonald’s will leverage data, AI, and edge technologies across its thousands of restaurants to implement innovation faster and to enhance employee and customer experiences.
82. Pennymac, a leading US-based national mortgage lender, is using Gemini across several teams including HR, where Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides and Gmail is helping them accelerate recruiting, hiring, and new employee onboarding.
83. Robert Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, revolutionizes marketing through gen AI-powered solutions, streamlining processes, optimizing resource allocation, and maximizing efficiency across 100+ decentralized departments.
84. Symphony, the communications platform for the financial services industry, uses Vertex AI to help finance and trading teams collaborate across multiple asset classes.
85. Uber is using AI agents to help employees be more productive, save time, and be even more effective at work. For customer service representatives, they’ve launched new tools that summarize communications with users and can even surface context from previous interactions, so front-line staff can be more helpful and effective.
86. The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs is using AI at the edge to improve cancer detection for service members and veterans. The Augmented Reality Microscope (ARM) is deployed at remote military treatment facilities around the world. The prototype device is helping pathologists find cancer faster and with better accuracy.
87. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has improved the quality and efficiency of their patent and trademark examination process by implementing AI-driven technologies.
88. Verizon is using generative AI to help teams in network operations and customer experience get the answers they need faster.
89. Victoria’s Secret is testing AI-powered agents to help their in-store associates find information about product availability, inventory, and fitting and sizing tips, so they can better tailor recommendations to customers.
90. Vodafone uses Vertex AI to search and understand specific commercial terms and conditions across more than 10,000 contracts with more than 800 communications operators
91. WellSky is integrating Google Cloud’s healthcare and Vertex AI capabilities to reduce the time spent completing documentation outside work hours.
92. Woolworths, the leading retailer in Australia, boosts employees’ confidence in communications with “Help me write” across Google Workspace products for more than 10,000 administrative employees. It’s also using Gemini to create next-generation promotions, as well as for quickly assisting customer service reps in summarizing all previous customer interactions in real time.
93-97. Box, Typeface, Glean, CitiBank, and Securiti AI discuss developing AI-powered apps across the enterprise, with measurable returns on investment for marketing, financial services, and HR use cases.
98-99. Highmark Health and Freenome join Bristol Myers Squibb to explore how AI can improve efficiency and innovation across care delivery, drug discovery, clinical trial planning, and bringing medicines to market.
Code agents
Code agents are helping developers and product teams to design, create, and operate applications faster and better, and to ramp up on new languages and code bases. Many organizations are already seeing double-digit gains in productivity, leading to faster deployment and cleaner, clearer code.
100. Labelbox has built a fully managed AI model evaluation solution directly integrated into the Vertex AI platform, allowing Google Cloud users to seamlessly launch human evaluation jobs and set specific criteria for evaluation, such as question-answering and summarization; this eases and accelerates the ability to deploy human-in-the-loop AI systems with higher levels of trust and authority.
101. Leroy Merlin, a global home improvement retailer, developed its Pull Request Analyzer using Vertex AI. This generative AI solution summarizes code changes, helping developers understand projects faster and improve code review efficiency.
102. Linear, a product development platform, built Similar Issues, a feature that uses AI to detect and prevent duplicate or overlapping tickets and ensures cleaner and more accurate data representation.
103. Magic is building a developer platform with a 100-million-token context window, so organizations can upload extremely large code bases and more easily query and build on them using gen AI assistance.
104. Pinecone provides infrastructure for developers to build accurate, secure, and scalable AI applications, allowing companies to easily ground gen AI apps in their proprietary data for use in AI search, retrieval-augmented generation, coding agents, and more.
105. Regnology built its Ticket-to-Code Writer tool with Gemini 1.5 Pro to automate the conversion of bug tickets into actionable code, significantly streamlining the software development process.
106. Weights & Biases, a creator of AI tools for developers, created W&B Weave, a lightweight toolkit to track, evaluate, and debug gen AI applications built with Gemini, so teams can confidently go from demo to production.
107. Capgemini has been using Code Assist to improve software engineering productivity, quality, security, and developer experience, with early results showing workload gains for coding and more stable code quality.
108. Commerzbank is enhancing developer efficiency through Code Assist’s robust security and compliance features.
109. Quantiphi saw developer productivity gains of more than 30% during their Code Assist pilot.
110. Replit developers will get access to Google Cloud infrastructure, services, and foundation models via Ghostwriter, Replit’s software development AI, while Google Cloud and Workspace developers will get access to Replit’s collaborative code editing platform.
111. Seattle Children’s hospital is using AI to boost data engineering productivity and accelerate development.
112. Turing is customizing Gemini Code Assist on their private codebase, empowering their developers with highly personalized and contextually relevant coding suggestions that have increased productivity around 30 percent and made day-to-day coding more enjoyable.
113. Wayfair piloted Code Assist, and those developers with the code agent were able to set up their environments 55 percent faster than before, there was a 48 percent increase in code performance during unit testing, and 60 percent of developers reported that they were able to focus on more satisfying work.
Data agents
Data agents are like having knowledgeable data analysts and researchers at your fingertips. They can help answer questions about internal and external sources, synthesize research, develop new models — and, best of all, help find the questions we haven’t even thought to ask yet, and then help get the answers.
114. 180Seguros is powering its data management platform for employees with Google Cloud AI and BigQuery to improve operational metric tracking, allowing for 3X faster query times.
115. Addy AI is helping mortgage lenders and banks automate their lending processes with custom AI models trained on Vertex AI. For example, the platform can extract loan opportunity details from lengthy email threads with numerous attachments.
116. Bayer Crop Science has developed Climate FieldView, a comprehensive agricultural platform with more than 250 layers of data and billions of data points; AI-powered recommendations allow farmers to design and monitor their fields for greater yields and efficient fertilization, with the added benefit of reduced carbon emissions.
117. CME Group is building a first-of-its-kind cloud-based commodities trading platform with AI tools built-in, offering CME’s trading customers access to deeper insights and smarter trades as well as rapid experimentation on new trading strategies that won’t interrupt existing trade flows.
118. Digits is developing next-gen accounting software for startups and small businesses; using AI-driven bookkeeping, expense management, and financial analysis, Digits enables business owners to achieve financial clarity and focus on growth.
119. Elanco, a leader in animal health, has implemented a gen AI framework supporting critical business processes, such as Pharmacovigilance, Customer Orders, and Clinical Insights. The framework, powered by Vertex AI and Gemini, has resulted in an estimated ROI of $1.9 million since launching last year.
120. Full Fact, a UK-based nonprofit working in 18 countries to combat misinformation, is now using gen AI to actively monitor stories so its 30 fact-checking partner organizations can focus on addressing specific claims and harmful information.
121. Fullstory, a digital behavioral data platform, is building the ability to analyze and summarize user behavior on a site to create more informed and enriching chatbot experiences; responses are more relevant and accurate, ultimately improving virtual agent performance and customer experience
122. GamudaBerhad, a Malaysian infrastructure and property management company, has integrated a Gemini-powered conversational agent into its cloud-based Tunnel Insight platform, providing faster information and insights during construction projects.
123. IntelligenciaAI is using AI models to research novel new drugs, relying on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure to deliver scalable research that is accurate and transparent to meet the stringent needs of medicine.
124. IPRally built a custom machine-learning platform that uses natural language processing on the text of more than 120 million global patent documents, creating an accurate, easily searchable database that adds more than 200,000 new sources a week.
125. Ipsos built a data analysis tool for its teams of market researchers, eliminating the need for time-consuming requests to data analysts, which is powered by Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash models as well as Grounding with Google Search to enhance real-world accuracy from contemporaneous Search information.
126. Materiom, a startup researching zero-waste, bio-based alternatives to fossil-fuel-made products like plastics, is creating a gen AI tool that enables entrepreneurs to develop novel compostable materials with broad applications; AI offers faster research and information gathering to speed up the development process.
127. Mendel has built a clinical AI system designed to break down the longstanding silos in medical data, boosting accuracy, accessibility, and ultimately patient health outcomes.
128. NeuroPace, a medical device company, built a solution to quickly identify effective epilepsy treatment options best suited to different patients; by analyzing brainwave patterns, it can find similar patients and apply successful therapies, streamlining personalized care.
129. NotCo, a Chilean food tech company, partnered with Eleven Solutions to develop a conversational AI chatbot powered by Gemini; the chatbot has revolutionized data access, allowing employees to instantly query their SAP system and gain real-time insights for faster, data-driven decision-making.
130. SURA Investments, the largest asset manager in Latin America, developed an AI-based analysis model for employees that allows them to better understand customer needs and improve customer experience and satisfaction.
131. AI21 Labs offers a BigQuery integration called Contextual Answers that allows users to query data conversationally and get high-quality answers quickly.
132. Anthropic has partnered with Google Cloud to offer its family of Claude 3 models on Vertex AI — providing organizations with more model options for intelligence, speed, cost-efficiency, and vision for enterprise use cases.
133. The Asteroid Institute is using AI to discover hidden asteroids in existing astronomical data. This is a major focus for astronomers researching the evolution of the Solar System, investors and businesses hoping to fly missions to asteroids, and for all of us who want to prevent future large asteroid impacts on Earth.
134. Contextual is working with Google Cloud to offer enterprises fully customizable, trustworthy, privacy-aware AI grounded in internal knowledge bases.
135. Cox 2M, the commercial IoT division of Cox Communications, is able to make smarter, faster business decisions using AI-powered analytics.
136. Essential AI, a developer of enterprise AI solutions, is using Google Cloud’s AI-optimized TPU v5p accelerator chips to train its own AI models.
137. Generali Italia, Italy’s largest insurance provider, used Vertex AI to build a model evaluation pipeline that helps ML teams quickly evaluate performance and deploy models.
138. Globo, one of Brazil’s largest media networks, is using Service Extensions and Media CDN to fight piracy during live events by blocking pirated streams in real time.
139. Golden State Warriors are using AI to improve the fan experience content in their Chase Center app.
140. Hugging Face is collaborating with Google across open science, open source, cloud, and hardware to enable companies to build their own AI with the latest open models from Hugging Face and Google Cloud hardware and software.
141. Kakao Brain, part of Korean technology company Kakao Group, has built a large-scale AI language model that is the largest Korean language-specific LLM in the market, with 66 billion parameters. They’ve also developed a text-to-image generator called Karlo.
142. Mayo Clinic has given thousands of its scientific researchers access to 50 petabytes worth of clinical data through Vertex AI search, accelerating information retrieval across multiple languages.
143. McLaren Racing is using Google AI to get up-to-the-millisecond insights during races and training to gain a competitive edge.
144. Mercado Libre is testing BigQuery and Looker to optimize capacity planning and reservations with delivery carriers and airlines to fulfill shipments faster.
145. Mistral AI will use Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, to further test, build, and scale up its LLMs, all while benefiting from Google Cloud’s security and privacy standards.
146. MSCI uses machine learning with Vertex AI, BigQuery and Cloud Run to enrich its datasets to help our clients gain insight into around 1 million asset locations to help manage climate-related risks.
147. NewsCorp is using Vertex AI to help search data across 30,000 sources and 2.5 billion news articles updated daily.
148. Orange operates in 26 countries where local data must be kept in each country. They are using AI on Google Distributed Cloud to improve network performance and deliver super-responsive translation capabilities.
149. Spotify leveraged Dataflow for large-scale generation of ML podcast previews, and they plan to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with data engineering and data science to build better experiences for their customers and creators.
150. UPS is building a digital twin of its entire distribution network, so both workers and customers can see where their packages are at any time.
151. Workday is using natural language processing in Vertex Search and Conversation to make data insights more accessible for technical and non-technical users alike.
152. Woven — Toyota‘s investment in the future of mobility — is partnering with Google to leverage vast amounts of data and AI to enable autonomous driving, supported by thousands of ML workloads on Google Cloud’s AI Hypercomputer. This has resulted in resulting in 50% total-cost-of-ownership savings to support automated driving.
152-153. Broward County, Florida, and Southern California Edison are using geospatial capabilities and AI to improve infrastructure planning and monitoring, generate new insights, and create regional resilience for communities facing climate challenges today and tomorrow.
154-155. Kinaxis and Dematic are building data-driven supply chains to address logistics use cases including scenario modeling, planning, operations management, and automation.
156-157. NOAA and USAID are among the U.S. government agencies using Google Cloud AI to unlock critical data insights to streamline operations and improve mission outcomes — all with an emphasis on responsible AI.
Security agents
Security agents assist security operations by radically increasing the speed of investigations, automating monitoring and response for greater vigilance and compliance controls. They can also help guard data and models from cyberattacks, such as malicious prompt injection.
158. Apex Fintech is using Gemini in Security to accelerate the writing of complex threat detections from hours to a matter of seconds.
159. Exabeam has built a generative AI copilot for security analysts into its New-Scale Security Operations Platform.
160. Fiserv, a developer of financial services technology, can now summarize threats, find answers, and detect, validate, and respond to security events faster with the Gemini in Security Operations platform.
161. NetRise developed Trace to provide software supply chain security by introducing AI-powered intent-driven searches; these allow users to search their assets based on the underlying motives or purposes behind the code and configurations, rather than solely relying on signature-based methods.
162. Palo Alto Networks is using Gemini to create a grounded AI assistant for 24/7 security platform support in order to improve agent efficiency and response time; grounding the assistant in organizational data and security protocols has greatly improved the accuracy of responses.
163. BBVA uses AI in Google SecOps to detect, investigate, and respond to security threats with more accuracy, speed, and scale. The platform now surfaces critical security data in seconds, when it previously took minutes or even hours, and delivers highly automated responses.
164. Behavox is using Google Cloud technology and LLMs to provide industry leading regulatory compliance and front office solutions for financial institutions globally.
165. Charles Schwab has integrated their own intelligence into the AI-powered Google SecOps, so analysts can better prioritize work and respond to threats.
166. Fiserv’s security operations engineers create detections and playbooks with much less effort, while analysts get answers more quickly.
167. Grupo Boticário, one of the largest beauty retail and cosmetics companies in Brazil, employs real-time security models to prevent fraud and to detect and respond to issues.
168. Palo Alto Networks’ Cortex XSIAM, the AI-driven security operations platform, is built on more than a decade of expertise in machine-learning models and the most comprehensive, rich, and diverse data store in the industry. Backed by Google’s advanced cloud infrastructure and advanced AI services, including BigQuery and Gemini models, the combination delivers global scale and near real-time protection across all cybersecurity offerings.
169. Pfizer can now aggregate cybersecurity data sources, cutting analysis times from days to seconds.
Creative agents
Creative agents can expand your organization with the best design and production skills, working across images, slides, and exploring concepts with workers. Many organizations are building agents for their marketing teams, audio and video production teams, and all the creative people that can use a hand. With creative agents, anyone can become a designer, artist, or producer.
170. AdoreMe marketers write differentiated product descriptions in one hour, a tedious task which used to take 30-40 hours a month thanks to Gemini for Google Workspace.
171. Globo, the largest media group in Latin America, is using Google Cloud’s AI to hyper-personalize content for its streaming users, and create a better experience for spectators.
172. Higgsfield.ai built a number of text-to-video apps for consumers, including Diffuse 2.0, which can combine users photos, videos, and texts through AI models to create more realistic avatars.
173. Jasper trains its suite of creativity-, writing-, and marketing-focused AI models on Google’s AI infrastructure, delivering on-brand, data-optimized assets faster and at scale to teams large and small.
174. Puma is using Imagen to customize product photos on its website, saving time and ensuring they are locally relevant across markets; PUMA India has already seen a 10% increase in click through rate.
175. RadissonHotel Group personalized its advertising at scale in collaboration with Accenture and using Vertex AI and Gemini models, training them on extensive datasets stored in BigQuery; ad teams saw productivity rise around 50% while revenue increased from AI-powered campaigns by more than 20%
176. SquareEnix is using customer data to develop AI-optimized marketing assets to keep its gamers engaged, sharing personalized emails suited to each player’s preferences, leading to a 20% increase in email opens and a 10% increased retention rate.
177. Urmobo, a mobile-device management platform, created a virtual agent, Odin, that significantly improved user experience and reduced support tickets by enabling clients to interact with the platform using natural language.
178. The World Bank is developing a tool to extract key information from research literature on the causal impact of development interventions, with the ultimate goal to empower decision-makers to allocate the $220B in annual aid and trillions in annual impact investing more effectively.
179. Belk ECommerce is using generative AI to craft better product descriptions, a necessary yet time-consuming task for digital retails that has often been done manually.
180. Canva is using Vertex AI to power its Magic Design for Video, helping users skip tedious editing steps while creating shareable and engaging videos in a matter of seconds.
181. Carrefour used Vertex AI to deploy Carrefour Marketing Studio in just five weeks — an innovative solution to streamline the creation of dynamic campaigns across various social networks. In just a few clicks, marketers can build ultra-personalized campaigns to deliver customers advertising that they care about.
182. Major League Baseball continues to innovate its Statcast platform, so teams, broadcasters, and fans have access to live in-game insights.
183. Paramount currently relies on manual processes to create the essential metadata and video summaries used across its Paramount+ platform for showcasing content and creating personalized experiences for viewers. VertexAI Text Bison is now helping to streamline this process.
184. Procter & Gamble used Imagen to develop an internal gen AI platform to accelerate the creation of photo-realistic images and creative assets, giving marketing teams more time to focus on high-level planning and delivering superior experiences for its consumers.
185. WPP will integrate Google Cloud’s gen AI capabilities into its intelligent marketing operating system, called WPP Open, which empowers its people and clients to deliver new levels of personalization, creativity, and efficiency. This includes the use of Gemini 1.5 Pro models to supercharge both the accuracy and speed of content performance predictions.
To find even more customers using our AI tools to build agents and solutions for their most important enterprise projects, visit the Google Cloud customer hub.
At our Gemini for Work event in Sunnyvale, California, we showcased how companies are using Google Cloud’s generative AI technology to transform their businesses. From healthcare providers to car makers to retailers, our customers are solving crucial problems and becoming more efficient using generative AI — and they’re choosing Google Cloud as their partner to make it happen. Here’s a look at how Google AI is reshaping businesses across the globe.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Lithium Ltd. (“Standard Lithium” or the “Company”) (TSXV:SLI) (NYSE American:SLI) (FRA:S5L), a leading near-commercial lithium company, today announced its financial and operating results for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended June 30, 2024.
“We delivered on our promises in fiscal 2024 with the advancement of our world-class lithium brine assets and by securing a strategic partnership with global energy major, Equinor,” said David Park, CEO and Director of Standard Lithium. “Standard Lithium holds globally-significant lithium brine assets in the Smackover with the potential to help meet the growing demand for sustainable lithium production in the U.S. We are the most advanced DLE play in North America, having proven direct lithium extraction at a commercial scale. The Standard Lithium team has done an outstanding job of differentiating itself from the pack by systematically de-risking its business, including the consummation of it’s partnerships with Equinor and Koch. Now, with the recent announcement of the conditional DOE grant of US$225 million, is the time for us to prioritize, focus and execute. We look forward to working closely with our partners to advance our South West Arkansas and East Texas projects.”
Highlights Subsequent to the Fourth Quarter Ended June 30, 2024
All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise indicated.
Received conditional $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) for the South West Arkansas Project.The grant is expected to support the construction of the Central Processing Facility for Phase 1 of the SWA project and is dependent on successful negotiations with the DOE. The grant is one of the largest ever awarded to a U.S. critical minerals project.
Appointed David Park as Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Company. On September 1, 2024, Mr. Park, a highly experienced executive with a strong energy and industrial sector background, assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Park joined the company as a strategic advisor in July 2023 following his retirement from Koch Industries after 28 years.
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Highlights
Secured strategic partnership with global energy major Equinor to advance the South West Arkansas (“SWA”) and East Texas projects.Equinor ASA (“Equinor”) acquired a 45% interest in two Standard Lithium entities holding the SWA and East Texas projects for a gross investment of up to $160 million. The transaction immediately strengthened the Company’s financial position and resulted in no dilution to existing shareholders.
De-risked commercialization of the direct lithium extraction (“DLE”) process. The Company successfully installed, commissioned, and continues to operate the Li-ProTM Lithium Selective Sorption commercial scale unit at its Demonstration Plant in El Dorado, Arkansas. The Company’s partner, Koch Technology Solutions, supplied the commercial scale unit, which is believed to be the largest commercial-scale column operating in a DLE facility globally. The results to date have exceeded design parameters, including average lithium recovery of 97.3%, key contaminant rejection of greater than 99%, and boron rejection greater than 95%.
Executed drilling programs yielding the highest-ever reported lithium brine values in North America. The South West Arkansas Project’s current resource averages among the highest lithium concentrations in North America. As part of its PFS for SWA, the Company reported an Upper Smackover Indicated and Middle Smackover Inferred resource of 1.4 Mt and 0.4 Mt lithium carbonate equivalent, respectively, at an average lithium concentration of 437 mg/L. In East Texas, the Company delivered globally-significant results with confirmed lithium concentrations up to 806 mg/L and an average concentration of 644 mg/L in the drilled area. The drill results represent the highest-ever reported and confirmed lithium brine concentrations in North America.
Advanced and de-risked the South West Arkansas Project. The Company delivered a Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”) for the project in the first half of the fiscal year, demonstrating robust economics assuming average annual production of 30,000 tonnes per annum (“tpa”) of lithium hydroxide beginning in 2027. Post publishing the PFS, the Company secured brine production rights and purchased a 118-acre parcel of land to further advance the project. Most recently, SWA received a conditional $225 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy in support of its construction and development. The grant was awarded based on an updated scope from the original PFS; the Project’s design is being updated and now targets a larger total output of 45,000 tpa of lithium carbonate to be developed in two phases of 22,500 tpa each. SWA is being developed in partnership with Equinor, with ownership shared 55% by Standard Lithium and 45% by Equinor. Ausenco Engineering Canada ULC is leading the Definitive Feasibility Study and Front-end Engineering and Design currently underway to support the larger project scope.
Strengthened the senior management team with the appointment of key executives. Michael Barman was appointed Chief Development Officer and Salah Gamoudi joined as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Barman most recently served as Managing Director in Investment Banking at Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. (formerly GMP Securities L.P.) and brings over two decades of banking experience advising senior executives and their boards. Mr. Gamoudi brings extensive experience from the oil and gas sector. Prior to joining the Company, he served as Chief Financial Officer of SandRidge Energy, Inc. where he successfully generated significant value for its shareholders.
Delivered the Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) for the Phase 1A project at LANXESS South Plant.The DFS assumed an average annual production of 5,400 tpa of lithium carbonate over a 25-year operating life beginning in 2026. Phase 1A represents a modest scale-up from the Company’s existing Demonstration Plant that has been operating since May 2020. Advancement of the Phase 1A project is dependent on ongoing commercial discussions with LANXESS and the finalization of the Arkansas lithium royalty.
Established an at-the-market equity program. Net proceeds to the Company for the fiscal year totaled C$2.8 million and US$13.3 million from the issuance of 1.5 million shares on the TSX Venture Exchange and 9.1 million shares on the NYSE American LLC, respectively. No issuances have been completed under the ATM Program since April 10, 2024.
Cash and working capital of C$52.9 million and C$39.6 million, respectively, as of June 30, 2024.
The Company has no term or revolving debt obligations as of June 30, 2024.
Consolidated Financial Statements
This news release should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements and MD&A for the year ended June 30, 2024, which are available on the Company’s issuer profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
Q4 AND FISCAL YEAR 2024 RESULTS CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST
The Company will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 on Tuesday, October 1st at 3:30 p.m. ET. Access to the call is available via webcast or direct dial.
Conference Call and Webcast Details Standard Lithium Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Results Call and Webcast October 1, 2024 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Participant Information: USA / International Toll +1 (646) 307-1963 USA – Toll-Free (800) 715-9871 Canada – Toronto (647) 932-3411 Canada – Toll-Free (800) 715-9871
Standard Lithium is a leading near-commercial lithium development company focused on the sustainable development of a portfolio of large, high-grade lithium-brine properties in the United States. The Company prioritizes projects characterized by the highest quality resources, robust infrastructure, skilled labor, and streamlined permitting. Standard Lithium aims to achieve sustainable, commercial-scale lithium production via the application of a scalable and fully integrated Direct Lithium Extraction (“DLE”) and purification process. The Company’s flagship projects are located in the Smackover Formation, a world-class lithium brine asset, focused in Arkansas and Texas. In partnership with global energy leader Equinor ASA, Standard Lithium is advancing the South West Arkansas project, a greenfield project located in southern Arkansas, and actively exploring promising lithium brine prospects in East Texas. Additionally, the Company is advancing the Phase 1A project in partnership with LANXESS Corporation, a brownfield development project located in southern Arkansas. Standard Lithium also holds an interest in certain mineral leases in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California.
Standard Lithium trades on both the TSX Venture Exchange and the NYSE American under the symbol “SLI”; and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “S5L”. Please visit the Company’s website at www.standardlithium.com.
Qualified Person
Steve Ross, P.Geol., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and Vice President Resource Development for the Company, has reviewed and approved the relevant scientific and technical information in this news release.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target”, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to intended development timelines, future prices of commodities, accuracy of mineral or resource exploration activity, reserves or resources, regulatory or government requirements or approvals, the reliability of third party information, continued access to mineral properties or infrastructure, fluctuations in the market for lithium and its derivatives, changes in exploration costs and government regulation in Canada and the United States, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.
CashX’s Self-Service Kiosks and Mobile Wallet App Launch Across the OPMX Retail Network in California, Colorado and Texas Beginning in October 2024
SAN DIEGO and SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CashXAI Inc. (“CashX”) and OPMX are pleased to announce that they have signed an international agreement to install CashX Self Service Financial Services Kiosks at OPMX customers’ retail locations including approximately 500 supermarkets in California, Colorado and Texas. This expands CashX’s reach to comprise 5,000 retailers across the United States and over 5,000 locations in Mexico and Latin America.
In addition to physical kiosk access, CashX offers its CashX Mobile Wallet Application, which enables consumers digital access to all their financial needs without an evaluation of financial history. This mobile solution consists of services including check cashing, money transfer, mobile recharge, bill payment, gift cards, e-tickets and other high demand financial transactions.
Stephen Combe, CEO of CashX, said, “We are delighted to partner with OPMX and expand their offering with accessible financial offerings, providing additional vital services to the Latin Community. Pharmacies and supermarkets have long been a hub in Latin neighborhoods and stocked with OPMX’s well known and trusted brands and products that provide that close-to-home feel to consumers from other countries. With our recent steps to innovate CashX’s financial services infused with AI retail sector marketing technology, we provide consumers an adjacent essential utility that digitizes and simplifies routine purchases.”
Fernando Garces, CEO of OPMX, commented, “We proudly maintain a strong presence in well-recognized locations that cater to the Hispanic community. Our strategic distribution network allows us to reach our valued customers in these vibrant communities, making our products readily available and accessible to those who matter most to us – adding Financial Services and helping our customer’s gain access to financial freedom is a key extension to our mission. We would also like to thank our channel partner, Mr. Quedon Baul for bringing this opportunity to us and facilitating the partnership between OPMX and CashX.”
CashXRollout Plan
Installation of CashX solutions will begin in October 2024 in approximately 500 retailers in California, Colorado and Texas, with a parallel rollout throughout Mexico. Further expansion to all states and additional key countries in Latin America is expected in early 2025. The total network is expected to cover 5 countries and over 15,000 retail locations.
The second phase of the rollout will launch CashX’s next generation of kiosks with AI integrated retail marketing strategies of consumers at point of sale, which is empowering the future interplay of business, consumers and retail advertising.
AboutCashXAIInc.
CashXAI Inc., a leader in financial innovation, offers a dynamic platform for individuals lacking traditional banking access. The CashXAI mobile app simplifies converting cash into digital currency, supporting transactions from check cashing to money transfer without requiring a bank account. With an extensive retail network, CashXAI provides unparalleled financial freedom and management capabilities, empowering users to effortlessly control their finances from anywhere. CashXAI stands at the forefront of bridging financial gaps for underbanked communities. Further illustrating CashX’s innovative business structure, its previously announced intellectual property license agreement with Alpha Modus permits CashX with the exclusive right to use all of Alpha Modus’ patented intellectual property in connection with CashX’s promotional, advertising, and operational functions, including co-development arrangements with Alpha Modus, within the Exclusive Industry. The “Exclusive Industry” means the industry relating to self-service kiosks located in retail food, drug and convenience stores for the purpose of serving Unbanked and Underbanked consumers, by offering banking, phone and insurance solutions to the consumer. An “Unbanked” consumer means a person that does not have a checking or savings account with an FDIC-insured institution, and an “Underbanked” consumer means a person that has or had a checking or savings account with an FDIC-insured institution, but regularly uses non-traditional banks such as Venmo or the Cash App, or lenders such as a check cashing company or payday lender.
For more information, please visit the CashX website at https://cashx.ai/.
AboutOPMX
OPMX are leaders in the Latino pharmaceutical market in the United States through stores and brands that connect consumers with their countries of origin, evoking trust and a feeling of being close to home.
Latino consumers have a strong sense of cultural identity and pride in their heritage, and by seeing brands that represent their culture, they can feel an emotional connection to the products and companies behind them. With a focus on quality, cultural relevance, and a dedication to serving the Hispanic market in the United States, our pharmaceutical products stand as a testament to our unwavering commitment to providing innovative, effective, and compassionate healthcare solutions to this vibrant and diverse audience. Discover more at www.opmx.us
Forward-LookingStatementsDisclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “ongoing,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time the statements are made and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainty and other factors that may cause our results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release. This press release should be considered in light of all filings of the Company that are contained in the Edgar Archives of the Securities and Exchange Commission at SEC.gov.
Agreements to Significantly Improve Balance Sheet by Reducing Total Debt, Deferring Principal and Interest Payments, and Substantially Lowering Near-Term Cash Needs
SEATTLE, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Banzai International, Inc. (NASDAQ: BNZI) (“Banzai” or the “Company”), a leading marketing technology company that provides essential marketing and sales solutions, today announced that it entered into agreements with lenders and service providers to write off up to $5.6 million of outstanding liabilities and restructure a further $19.2 million of its existing debt obligations, improving the Company’s overall financial position by amending certain credit obligations and extending the maturity of certain debt facilities. Including the previously executed Cantor Fitzgerald fee restructuring, this represents a total of $28.8 million in anticipated reduced and restructured liabilities.
Banzai has reached an agreement with creditors to eliminate approximately $15.3 million of debt via a combination of private placement and debt restructuring, with participation from insiders including Alco Investment Company (“Alco”).
As part of the debt restructuring, a term loan with CB BF Lending is being converted to a fixed-price convertible with a maturity date extended to February 19, 2027, a two-year extension. This substantially increases the cash runway and improves working capital; we believe it will also enable the Company to achieve its near-term growth initiatives.
“These agreements are delivering on our commitments and taking meaningful steps to significantly reduce our debt burden and strengthen Banzai’s financial position,” said Joe Davy, CEO of Banzai. “I am confident that this restructure will provide the financial flexibility needed to significantly improve the company’s balance sheet, allowing us to continue executing our strategy to build a data-driven platform with essential marketing technology solutions that integrate seamlessly.
“We are committed to making progress in improving liquidity and strengthening our capital structure to position us for long-term success. We appreciate the support of our lenders and stakeholders who have demonstrated their belief in the Company’s strategy and future,” concluded Davy.
About Banzai
Banzai is a marketing technology company that provides essential marketing and sales solutions for businesses of all sizes. On a mission to help their customers achieve their mission, Banzai enables companies of all sizes to target, engage, and measure both new and existing customers more effectively. Banzai customers include Square, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Thinkific, Doodle and ActiveCampaign, among thousands of others. Learn more at www.banzai.io. For investors, please visit https://ir.banzai.io.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements often use words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “target,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “propose,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “predict,” “potential,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar variations and expressions. Forward-looking statements are those that do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Examples of forward-looking statements may include, among others, statements regarding Banzai International, Inc.’s (the “Company’s”): future financial, business and operating performance and goals; annualized recurring revenue and customer retention; ongoing, future or ability to maintain or improve its financial position, cash flows, and liquidity and its expected financial needs; potential financing and ability to obtain financing; acquisition strategy and proposed acquisitions and, if completed, their potential success and financial contributions; strategy and strategic goals, including being able to capitalize on opportunities; expectations relating to the Company’s industry, outlook and market trends; total addressable market and serviceable addressable market and related projections; plans, strategies and expectations for retaining existing or acquiring new customers, increasing revenue and executing growth initiatives; and product areas of focus and additional products that may be sold in the future. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity and development of the industry in which the Company operates may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Therefore, investors should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially include changes in the markets in which the Company operates, customer demand, the financial markets, economic, business and regulatory and other factors, such as the Company’s ability to execute on its strategy. More detailed information about risk factors can be found in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q under the heading “Risk Factors,” and in other reports filed by the Company, including reports on Form 8-K. The Company does not undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements after the date of this press release.
Investor Relations: Chris Tyson Executive Vice President MZ Group – MZ North America 949-491-8235 BNZI@mzgroup.us www.mzgroup.us
PHOENIX, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Award-winning real estate technology innovator Lofty today unveiled an enhanced Enterprise platform, purpose built to support the unique and complex needs of all brokerages – both traditional and virtual. Top brokerages including Epique Realty, Lucido Global, and REAL rely on the AI powered platform, proven to help boost agent productivity and accelerate profitable growth. Featuring enhanced reporting capabilities, extensive custom branding options, and an innovative new pricing scheme, Lofty’s Enterprise platform provides the foundation brokerage owners need to recruit and retain a powerhouse team and effectively compete in today’s market while also helping them to reduce their technology costs. To learn more about Lofty, visit HERE.
All-in-One Platform Expressly Built for Modern Brokerages Lofty’s Enterprise platform features a new flexible org structure designed to fit brokerages of all types – including both traditional and virtual models – and effectively scale as the business grows. With enhanced reporting capabilities to help increase agent and team productivity, capture campaign ROI and critical performance metrics, the updated platform delivers the operational intelligence needed to drive the business forward. New pricing models include a unique revenue-sharing option that empowers brokerages to significantly reduce their cost of ownership, and with a robust library of custom white label options, Lofty Enterprise helps customers amplify brand loyalty efforts.
The award-winning platform is also a lynchpin to recruiting and retaining a powerhouse team. Lauded for its easy to use and intuitive interface, Lofty ensures agents are up and running quickly and immediately benefit from access to an all-in-one platform, designed to support the entire real estate process, from search to settlement. By automating time consuming, mundane tasks through intuitive AI capabilities, Lofty empowers agents to focus on building essential customer relationships to close more deals faster. And with an unwavering commitment to innovation, Lofty delivers new features regularly– from marketing automations and social media content development to sleek IDX templates and effective smart plans – to support evolving agent needs.
Top Brokerages Rely on Lofty Enterprise Platform Large brokerage customers who rely on Lofty’s Enterprise platform report increased agent adoption, significant time and cost savings and accelerated business growth. In just one year since implementing Lofty Enterprise, fast growing virtual brokerage Epique Realty has increased their agent base by 342%, more than 2,000 agents. Today, 90% of Epique agents rely on Lofty, an adoption rate three times higher than with the company’s previous CRM. According to CEO and Co-Founder, Josh Miller, “If you’re a large, growing brokerage, I encourage you to consider Lofty as your platform of choice. We currently manage more than 500k leads through Lofty with no plans to slow down. Lofty has the massive scale we need to grow our business, the features our agents require to be successful, and the powerful technology backbone to support our commitment to innovation.”
As Chief Strategy Officer for Lucido Global, Robert Lucido Jr. understands the power of innovative technology to drive efficiencies, support scalability and boost the bottom line. In fact, since relying on Lofty, Lucido Global has increased business growth by more than 40%. “Everything we do is about optimizing the value of time and Lofty is instrumental in helping us achieve this goal. Almost immediately, Lofty helped us eliminate more than 41% of labor intensive, manual data entry, recouping value time and ensuring our agents stay focused on revenue generating activities,” reports Lucido.
“With so much pressure to demonstrate bottom line results amid continued market uncertainty, we understand why brokerage owners may be hesitant to invest in technology right now,” said Stuart Sim, Vice President, Industry Development Lofty. “Yet with interest rates trending down, now is exactly the right time to implement an end-to-end tech platform, designed to help agents work smarter not harder, and maximize the opportunity for new revenue. Rest assured, our Enterprise platform was purpose-built and thoughtfully priced to support the complex and unique needs of brokerages, proven to deliver the results needed to effectively grow the business. Brokerage owners should feel confident that an investment in Lofty is an investment in their future.”
To learn more about how Lofty can help you meet your business growth goals, visit www.lofty.com.
About Lofty Inc. Lofty Inc. (formerly Chime Technologies) provides an AI-powered platform that helps real estate professionals increase their productivity and accelerate business growth. Featuring award-winning technology, the Lofty platform is designed to optimize every step of the real estate journey, from search to settlement. By leveraging one unified hub, customers can automate marketing programs, streamline the sales process, and maximize collaboration between agents empowering them to spend more time building relationships and their business. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Lofty operates as a US subsidiary of Moatable, Inc. (OTCPK: MTBLY). For more information, visit lofty.com.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, September 24, 2024/APO Group/ —
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) on 20 September 2024 approved a $129.71 million loan to Tanzania for the implementation of a youth-focused agribusiness program.
The loan will fund the first phase of the “Building a Better Tomorrow: Youth Initiatives for Agribusiness” program, which aims to create business opportunities and jobs for young people in key agricultural sectors.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $241.27 million. In addition to the Bank’s loan, which covers 53,76 percent of the cost, the funding package includes grants of $1.15 million from the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund and $210,000 from tropical vegetable seed firm East-West Seed. The Tanzanian government will provide $110.41 million, representing 45.76 percent of the total.
Patricia Laverley, the Bank’s Country Manager for Tanzania, said: “This project is expected to incubate and empower approximately 11,000 ‘agripreneurs,’ including at least 6,000 young agribusiness owners.” She added that the program will facilitate access to finance for an additional 2,500 young people already involved in agribusiness but lacking access to commercial loans. We expect each agribusiness run by a young person will employ an average of five workers.”
The project will implement strategies to raise awareness and manage knowledge using youth-oriented information and communication technologies. It will also provide training and support for agrifood business incubation and acceleration, with a particular focus on the recruitment of female applicants.
Digital technologies, including satellite technology and artificial intelligence, will be utilized to improve agricultural productivity and decision-making processes for young farmer cooperatives.
As of 30 June 2024, the African Development Bank approved 25 projects in Tanzania, with a total commitment of $3.48 billion.
Since his first day in office, President Biden has been committed to restoring American leadership at the United Nations. Our world today faces many challenges that no one country can or should confront alone. But when the United States shows up and leads at the UN, we can rally global action to tackle problems that affect us all. That is why the Biden-Harris Administration has worked tirelessly at the UN to advance American values, safeguard human rights for all, and address conflict and instability. Alongside our allies and partners from around the world, we have worked with UN agencies to tackle the climate crisis, shape our digital future, and fight poverty and disease.
At a time of increasing geopolitical challenges and growing global needs, strong and effective American leadership at the UN is more critical than ever. The Biden-Harris Administration has worked to strengthen American leverage at the United Nations, uphold the UN Charter, and keep human rights at the core of the organization. Without robust American engagement, our competitor nations would gain leverage to advance their interests and values at our expense.
The Biden-Harris Administration has also been committed to reforming and adapting the UN to the needs of the 21st century. For example, President Biden announced a new U.S. openness to expanding the membership of the UN Security Council, including permanent seats for Africa and Latin America. The UN is not a perfect organization, but given the scale of today’s challenges, the world needs global institutions that are more inclusive and effective.
Over nearly four years, the Biden-Harris Administration’s leadership at the UN has delivered results for the American people. At the UN, we have:
Responded to Threats to International Peace and Security
After Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, we worked at the UN to build support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and hold Russia to account. We rallied 141 countries in the UN General Assembly to condemn Russia’s violations of international law. We used UN Security Council debates to shine a spotlight on Russia’s illegal war and atrocities. We pressed the UN General Assembly to kick Russia off the UN Human Rights Council. We isolated Russia by denying it senior UN appointments and preventing its election to UN bodies.
Responding to the security situation in Haiti, we partnered with Ecuador to obtain UN Security Council authorization of a new Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support mission.
Working with African partners, we secured a UN Security Council decision to create in December 2023 a new mechanism to largely fund future African Union-led Peace Support Operations from the UN-assessed budget.
Following the horrific October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, we defended at the UN Security Council Israel’s right to defend itself and demanded the release of hostages. Also in the Security Council, we called for increased humanitarian assistance to Gaza and established a new UN mechanism to improve aid coordination. In July 2024, we secured Security Council endorsement of President Biden’s plan for a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
As the Sudan conflict worsened, we mobilized action in the UN Security Council, including the adoption of a resolution in June 2024 demanding an end to the siege of El Fasher.
Responding to concerns that Russia intended to deploy nuclear weapons in space, we and Japan proposed a UN Security Council resolution calling on countries not to develop such weapons.
In 2022, we partnered with Ireland at the UN Security Council to reform, expand and strengthen humanitarian exemptions for UN sanctions.
Working with the United Kingdom, we secured adoption of the first-ever UN Security Council resolution condemning the February 2021 military coup in Burma.
Protected and Upheld Universal Human Rights
We rejoined the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, enabling the United States to once again lead multilateral efforts to hold accountable human rights violators worldwide.
We issued a standing invitation to all UN thematic human rights monitors to visit the United States and assess our human rights record at home. In contrast to authoritarian governments, this invitation showed that a confident democracy is willing to have its record scrutinized and receive advice on strengthening rights protections for its citizens.
We pressed for the release of a landmark report from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on human rights violations against Uighurs in China.
We worked in the UN Human Rights Council to establish a new Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Russia to examine Moscow’s crackdown on dissent at home and a Commission of Inquiry on violations and abuses in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
We restored American leadership at the UN in defending the human rights of LGBTQI+ individuals around the world. This included participating in high-level meetings of the Core Group of countries advocating for LGBTQI+ rights, including a September 23 meeting where the First Lady represented the United States. We also secured the renewal of the mandate of the UN’s Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and urged the UN to release its first-ever organization-wide strategy on LGBTQI+ rights, co-sponsoring the first-ever Human Rights Council resolution on the rights of intersex persons, and convening the second-ever informal UN Security Council meeting on the rights of LGBTQI+ individuals.
We spotlighted egregious human rights violations by North Korea, including by organizing the first briefing of the UN Security Council on North Korea human rights since 2017.
We helped establish mechanisms through the UN Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violations and abuses in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Nicaragua.
We worked at the UN to advance the global fight against antisemitism, including to ensure 36 countries and four multilateral organizations joined the U.S.-led Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism. In 2023, we convened a UN meeting on antisemitism with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and, in 2022, a roundtable at UNESCO.
We advanced the UN’s work to promote racial equality, including by championing the inaugural session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent. We co-sponsored a UN General Assembly resolution designating July 25 as International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent.
We engaged seriously with the human rights treaty body process, including through periodic reports about our domestic human rights record to the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Reaffirming support for the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, we pressed for enhanced participation of Indigenous Peoples throughout the UN system. In 2022, Ambassador (ret.) Keith Harper, the first-ever Senate confirmed U.S. ambassador from a federally-recognized tribe, was elected to the UN’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous issues.
We supported efforts in the UN General Assembly to advance discussion of a proposed convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.
After assuming the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), we hosted the UNCAC conference in Atlanta, Georgia in 2023, with approximately 2,600 delegates, including an unprecedented 1,000 from civil society.
Advanced Gender Equity and Equality
We restored American leadership in pressing at the UN for the rights of women and girls, advancing their inclusion in societies, and supporting strong language in UN resolutions and at the Commission on the Status of Women on sexual and reproductive rights.
The January 2021 Presidential Memorandum on Protecting Women’s Health at Home and Abroad restored life-saving funding to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA).
We announced that the United States will contribute for the first time to the UNICEF–UNFPA Global Program to End Child Marriage.
Following the Iranian regime’s killing of Mahsa Amini and crackdown on protestors, we helped establish a new UN Fact-Finding Mission to investigate human rights abuses. We spearheaded efforts to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women.
In 2024, we reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action.
We launched the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online Harassment and Abuse, which included actions at the UN to address online safety for women and girls.
Shaped Our Digital Future, Promoted Labor Rights, and Tackled Synthetic Drugs
We sponsored the first-ever UN General Assembly resolution outlining principles for the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). This landmark resolution helped define a global consensus on safe, secure and trustworthy AI systems for advancing sustainable development.
We hosted events at the UN on misuses of new technologies, such as countries using commercial spyware to surveil dissidents and journalists.
We worked at the International Labor Organization (ILO) to empower workers worldwide and joined the ILO’s Equal Pay International Coalition to share best practices to close the gender wage gap.
At the first Summit for Democracy in 2021, we announced the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights (M-POWER), an initiative working with governments, trade unions, labor support, civil society organizations, and philanthropy to uphold and promote workers’ trade union rights around the world.
In coordination with the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), we launched and hosted at the UN high-level meetings of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats and secured adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution to enhance international action to fight such drugs.
Strengthened Global Health Cooperation, Advanced Sustainable Development, and Bolstered Climate Action
We redoubled efforts to support implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, launching a U.S. Strategy on Global Development to accelerate progress and mobilizing $150 billion of U.S. funding and billions more from the private sector, philanthropic, and other donor resources.
In 2021, we reversed the previous administration’s decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), enabling the United States to shape the WHO’s work on global health and reform. With the WHO, we led the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic by launching the COVID-19 Global Action Plan and donating nearly 700 million vaccine doses to 117 countries.
We hosted the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’s 7th Replenishment in 2022, resulting in more than 75 governments, foundations, and corporations delivering pledges totaling a record $15.67 billion.
We worked at the UN to advance universal health coverage, continue the fight against tuberculosis and mpox, and combat global antimicrobial resistance (AMR), including to push countries for commitments on AMR that are bold, aspirational, and implementable.
We focused attention at the UN on addressing global food insecurity, repeatedly using the U.S. presidency of the UN Security Council to focus on the nexus between food security and conflict. We hosted at the UN ministerial-level meetings to generate new commitments to expand agricultural capacity and respond to famine with over 100 partner countries.
U.S. Representative to the UN Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland co-led the U.S. delegation to the 2023 UN Water Conference, where they announced more than $49 billion towards water security both at home and abroad.
In 2024, Secretary Haaland co-led the U.S. delegation to the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), where we announced new efforts to enhance our partnerships with SIDS.
After rejoining the Paris Agreement, we galvanized efforts at the UN to combat climate change, raising global climate ambition through countries’ enhanced national contributions, accelerated action to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, forward-leaning decisions at annual UN Climate Change Conferences, and major initiatives for ocean-climate action catalyzed by the annual Our Ocean Conference.
Former Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Senior Advisor for International Climate Policy John Podesta have helped lead an all-out effort, including critical agreements at the UN Climate Change Conference COPs 26 and 28 to partner with countries to accelerate climate efforts worldwide and reduce global emissions sufficiently to limit warming to 1.5° Celsius.
We advanced efforts within the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, and other multilateral organizations to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from the aviation, shipping, and other sectors.
Strengthened American Presence at the United Nations
After a five-year absence, we rejoined the UN Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This allowed us to partner with UNESCO to combat the scourge of antisemitism, support global Holocaust education, promote journalist safety, safeguard Ukrainian cultural heritage, bolster ethical uses of AI, and advance science education for girls in Africa.
We led robust campaigns resulting in the election of U.S. citizens to key UN positions, including Doreen Bogdan-Martin as Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Amy Pope as Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and Sarah Cleveland as Judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
We supported the appointments of highly qualified Americans to lead UN agencies, such as Ambassador Cathy Russell as Executive Director of UNICEF, Ambassador Cindy McCain as Executive Director of the World Food Program, and Ian Saunders as Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization.
Co-chairing the UN Accessibility Steering Committee, we worked to make UN headquarters in New York more accessible for all delegates, including construction of a 24/7 entrance for wheelchair users and the installation of a lift so everyone can address the General Assembly from behind the official rostrum.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has announced the launch of its Islamic Account, making it the first global cryptocurrency exchange to offer such a service to Muslim traders worldwide. This initiative represents a major step towards providing crypto trading that is both accessible and compliant with Islamic law.
Bybit’s Islamic Account offers a comprehensive suite of Shariah-compliant trading products, providing Muslim traders with an inclusive platform to engage in the digital asset market. Developed in consultation with ZICO Shariah Advisory Services Sdn. Bhd. (ZICO Shariah) and CryptoHalal to ensure compliance with the Shariah principles, the account ensures that all products strictly adhere to Islamic finance principles.
Key Features of Bybit’s Islamic Account:
Global Accessibility: Available to all users, regardless of region, except in countries with legal restrictions.
Shariah-Compliant Product Offerings: Initial offerings include spot trading (limited to 75 Shariah-compliant tokens), DCA trading bot, and Spot Grid Bot.
Double Shariah Certification: Crypto Halal Certification, along with official Shariah certification from ZICO Holdings, guarantees that all products meet the highest standards of Islamic law.
The Islamic economy serves approximately 1.9 billion people worldwide, with the Islamic finance sector currently estimated to be worth $2.3 trillion. The Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region is expected to contribute to the sector’s further expansion. By offering a Shariah-compliant trading platform, Bybit is entering the sector in hopes of providing Muslim traders with a trusted and reliable solution.
“We are thrilled to introduce our Islamic Account, which represents a major milestone in our commitment to providing inclusive and accessible trading solutions,” said Joan Han, Sales & Marketing Director at Bybit. “By partnering with Crypto Halal and ZICO Holdings, we have ensured that our offerings align with the principles of Islamic finance, empowering Muslim traders to participate in the growing cryptocurrency market.”
Bybit’s Islamic Account is a testament to the exchange’s dedication to diversity and inclusivity. By offering a Shariah-compliant trading environment, Bybit is breaking down barriers and aiming to create new opportunities for Muslim traders around the globe.
#Bybit / #TheCryptoArk
About Bybit
Bybitis the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving over 40 million users. Established in 2018,Bybitprovides a professional platform where crypto investors and traders can find afast matchingengine, 24/7 customer service, and multilingual community support.Bybitis a proud partner of Formula One’s reigning Constructors’ and Drivers’ champions: the Oracle Red Bull Racing team.
For more details about Bybit, readers can please visitBybit Press.
For media inquiries, readers can please contact:media@bybit.com
PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media GroupNews Commentary – Abuse-deterrent transdermal technology can be used to prevent the misuse of drugs with abuse potential, such as fentanyl, by incorporating aversive agents into transdermal patches. Abuse-deterrent opioid formulations (ADFs) are designed to make it more difficult to abuse opioids by making them less attractive or rewarding, or by increasing the difficulty of manipulating them. ADFs can help reduce the risk of adverse effects associated with snorting or injecting opioids, and may also help prevent medication errors. Active companies in the industry include: Nutriband Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRB), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRX).
Some benefits of ADFs include:
Reduced risk of abuse: ADFs can help reduce the risk of abuse, addiction, and substance use disorder.
Reduced risk of overdose: ADFs can help reduce the risk of opioid overdose and poisoning.
Reduced risk of medication errors: ADFs can help prevent medication errors, such as when a caregiver crushes an extended-release opioid to mix into applesauce.
According to OXFORD Academic: “The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids constitute a growing public health problem, which is described in detail in The Burden of the Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioid Analgesics. Recent efforts to decrease abuse of opioids through formulation engineering have focused on creating broader impediments to abuse, such as incorporating physical barriers, combining agonists with antagonists, including components that cause aversion, and formulating opioid prodrugs, with the goal of reducing abuse by oral and intranasal, as well as, routes. Several of these newer formulations are in late-stage clinical testing and, if approved, may reach the US market later this year. The true “abuse-resistance” or “abuse-deterrence” of these products will be established only when epidemiologic data on their impact confirming such effects are available.” As reported by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “The FDA is encouraging the development of prescription opioids with abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) to help combat the opioid crisis. The agency recognizes that abuse-deterrent opioids are not abuse- or addiction-proof but are a step toward products that may help reduce abuse.”
Nutriband Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRB)RECEIVES CHINA PATENT NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE FOR ITS AVERSA™ ABUSE DETERRENT TRANSDERMAL TECHNOLOGY
Notice of Allowance received from Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for a patent application covering its Nutriband AVERSA™ abuse deterrent transdermal technology
Nutriband abuse-deterrent transdermal technology consists of a proprietary aversive agent coating that employs taste aversion to deter the oral abuse of and accidental exposure to transdermal opioid and stimulant patch products
Nutriband Inc.(NASDAQ:NTRB) (NASDAQ:NTRBW), a company engaged in the development of prescription transdermal pharmaceutical products, today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for patent application entitled, “Abuse and Misuse Deterrent Transdermal Systems,” which protects its AVERSA™ abuse deterrent transdermal technology.
The Aversa™ abuse deterrent technology is now covered by a broad international intellectual property portfolio with patents issued in 46 countries including the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and China.
Nutriband’s AVERSA™ abuse-deterrent technology incorporates aversive agents into transdermal patches to prevent the abuse, diversion, misuse, and accidental exposure of drugs with abuse potential including opioids and stimulants. The AVERSA™ abuse-deterrent technology has the potential to improve the safety profile of transdermal drugs susceptible to abuse while making sure that these drugs remain accessible to those patients who really need them.
Nutriband abuse-deterrent transdermal technology consists of a proprietary aversive agent coating that employs taste aversion to deter the oral abuse of and accidental exposure to transdermal opioid and stimulant patch products. Preliminary studies have shown that the coating is very difficult to scrape off and the technology has a patented immediate and extended-release profile which presents an additional layer of deterrence to prevent the aversive layer from easily being washed off in an attempt to separate the drug from the aversive agents.
Nutriband is currently working with its partner Kindeva Drug Delivery, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization focused on drug-device combination products, to develop its lead product, AVERSA™ Fentanyl, which incorporates Nutriband’s AVERSA™ abuse-deterrent transdermal technology into Kindeva’s FDA-approved transdermal fentanyl patch system.
AVERSA Fentanyl has the potential to be the world’s first abuse-deterrent opioid patch designed to deter the abuse and misuse and reduce the risk of accidental exposure of transdermal fentanyl patches. AVERSA Fentanyl has the potential to reach peak annual US sales of $80 million to $200 million. (Health Advances Aversa Fentanyl market analysis report 2022). CONTINUED…Read this full press release and more news for NTRB at:https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-ntrb
Other recent developments in the industry of note include:
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA)announced recently that a new analysis from the European cohort of the RIM-TD open-label extension (OLE) study revealed that deutetrabenazine treatment of patients with Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) was associated with long term improvement of TD symptoms. The improvement in symptoms was sustained throughout the three-year study, and deutetrabenazine was well tolerated. The data were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual congress in Milan.
TD is a stigmatising and debilitating involuntary movement disorder characterised by repetitive movements of the tongue, lower face, jaw, and limbs, which develops in around 15%-25% of patients receiving antipsychotic medications for conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder.
As part of the Lilly 30×30 pipeline efforts, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is collaborating with NIDA through a Screening Agreement to explore the potential of some early-phase therapies that might be repurposed for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).
OUD is the chronic use of opioids that causes clinically significant distress or impairment. More than 9.5 million people over age 12 in the U.S. alone misused opioids in the past year. Opioid and other addictive disorders disproportionately affect people with limited resources. Nearly half of non-elderly adults with OUD in the United States have low incomes and almost a quarter live in poverty. Although there are three drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid dependence, misuse of opioids remains a significant public health concern, and there is a high unmet need to develop new and effective treatments for opioid and other addictive disorders.
Sandoz Inc., a Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) division, and Pear Therapeutics, Inc., in 2019 announced the US commercial launch of reSET-O(TM) for patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). reSET-O, cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December, is immediately available.
The reSET-O prescription digital therapeutic (PDT) is a 12-week cognitive behavioral therapy intended to be used in addition to outpatient treatment. It includes transmucosal buprenorphine, a commonly used medication to treat opioid addiction, and contingency management designed to provide incentives to reinforce positive behaviors. reSET-O is available by prescription only for patients 18 years or older under the care of a clinician.
“The launch of reSET-O provides an important technology-based treatment option for patients with Opioid Use Disorder and may fundamentally change how they interact with their therapies,” said Richard Francis, CEO, Sandoz. “At Sandoz, we are proud and excited to push the frontiers of medical innovation.”
Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRX) earlier this year announced the availability of Over the Counter (“OTC”) Naloxone Hydrochloride (Naloxone HCI) Nasal Spray, USP, 4mg, following Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Amneal’s Naloxone HCI Nasal Spray, manufactured in the U.S., is a generic equivalent to OTC NARCAN® HCI Nasal Spray, a medication that is widely used to help treat drug overdose from opioids, including heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioid medications.
“With today’s launch, Amneal is proud to help address this public health emergency by providing naloxone nasal spray at an affordable price and without a prescription. Our business is deeply rooted in a commitment to helping others. By enhancing access to naloxone nasal spray, we hope to get this affordable emergency treatment into the hands of even more people who could potentially save countless families and communities from further heartache and loss,” said Chirag and Chintu Patel, Co-Chief Executive Officers.
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