NewzIntel.com

Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI Economics: AI Data Drop: The surprising way AI makes hard work easier

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: AI Data Drop: The surprising way AI makes hard work easier

    Imagine running a 5K, and instead of feeling exertion, your heart rate eases, each stride becoming smoother and easier as you go. We’re not built for that—but new research suggests that AI could make complex tasks feel just as effortless.

    What we did:  
    Our researchers asked employees at a multinational IT services company to complete a challenging project: digest information from an array of documents and draw up a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), along with an accompanying set of training materials. Twenty-six study participants had access to Copilot, while a control group of 22 did not. 

    Participants shared their experiences after completing each of the six tasks in the project, providing feedback about the perceived mental effort they required. They were asked to rate how much mental effort each step took on a scale from one to 10. 

    After the work was finished, researchers surveyed participants about their experience, including how draining they found the process. Then they compared the answers.  

    What we found:
    Employees with Copilot access found the task five times less draining than the control group did, and they were far less likely to report that the task took a lot of effort.

    But here’s what came as a surprise: Copilot users experienced a noticeable reduction in mental effort with each step of creating the SOP and training materials. On average, their perceived effort decreased 6.3% per instance. In contrast, the control group’s effort level increased about 2% with each subsequent step—like the runner who gets more fatigued as the race goes on. 

    Crucially, Copilot users saw no adverse impact on quality: In fact, they had significantly higher scores in dimensions like “comprehensiveness” and “structure and effectiveness.” They also completed the materials at a similar rate or even faster than the control group.

    AI Reduces Mental Load Over Time

    Employees with Copilot found a set of tasks increasingly easier, while those without it faced growing challenges.

    What it means:  
    AI doesn’t take all the mental effort out of work—indeed, learning to use it requires building a new set of habits. But our study shows that once employees master Copilot, difficult tasks become less mentally draining over time.  

    Mental energy is a finite and precious resource that every company should use as intelligently and purposefully as possible. Helping employees harness AI frees them to focus on what matters most—and gives them the endurance to go the distance. 

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Protecting the public from abusive AI-generated content across the EU

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Protecting the public from abusive AI-generated content across the EU

    As a long-standing technology partner to European governments, businesses, and citizens, Microsoft seeks to ensure that the continent benefits from digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI), while continuing to respect the rights of EU citizens online.

    AI is no longer a distant prospect but a present reality, reshaping the business landscape, revolutionizing healthcare, and accelerating scientific discovery across the EU. Yet, as with any transformative technology, AI brings potentially significant challenges as well as immense opportunities. As a technology company providing AI services, we bear a responsibility to make sure that the solutions we deliver are deserving of public trust.

    The start of the new EU mandate offers an opportunity to reflect on how best to leverage new technologies for the benefit of people across the continent — driving innovation and competitiveness —as well as to take proportionate steps to protect people from potential abuses of the same technology. At Microsoft, we are looking forward to working with the new decision makers in the European institutions as they embark on the 2024-2029 mandate.

    Strong political leadership is all the more necessary as we stand at the beginning of a new age of technological innovation. As President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said, “Europe is leading the way in making AI safer and more trustworthy, and oin tackling the risks stemming from its misuse.”. In this pursuit, however, the EU should not lose sight of AI’s central role in driving the continent’s digital transformation and potential for economic growth. Indeed, the EU should therefore “focus on becoming a global leader in AI innovation,” as emphasized by President von der Leyen in her political guidelines. In her commitment to protecting democracy, President von der Leyen also expressed her intention to continue strengthening the EU’s approach to AI-produced content in the current mandate.

    Advancing innovation and safety will require a balanced, whole-of-society approach that recognizes the respective roles of government, civil society, and industry. The EU is already at the forefront of creating  robust legal and regulatory frameworks, making industry players accountable for the development of safe online products, including AI. Microsoft recognizes the legislative developments undertaken during the 2019-2024 mandate of the Commission and stands ready to engage in dialogue with EU stakeholders on implementing these in an effective and proportionate way. We also see a need for modernized criminal and other laws to help address the misuse of AI. The pace of innovation calls for a continued focus on these challenges as the AI revolution unfolds.

    Our annual safety research reveals the scale of the potential challenge. Certain societal groups are disproportionately at risk from deliberate misuse of this technology. We therefore see a need for practical steps to protect people — most notably children, women, and older adults — from the harms that arise from abusive AI-generated content.

    In this white paper, we outline steps that Microsoft is taking to address this harm, as well as policy recommendations to build on the existing efforts and rules that address these issues head-on.

    Central to our recommendations is the need to establish clear and proportionate rules that protect individuals while enabling Europe to continue innovating. In our paper, we advocate for the EU to integrate provenance tools, strengthen appropriate existing legal frameworks, and enhance measures that put victim-based decision making at the forefront.

    As a company, we know we need a strong safety architecture for our services, grounded in safety by design, and incorporating durable media provenance and watermarking. Equally, we must continue to safeguard our services from abusive content and conduct (whether synthetic or not), through robust collaboration across industry and with governments and civil society, supported by ongoing education and public awareness efforts. It is crucial that we build trust in AI across society for its benefits to be fully realized.

    In the context of the EU’s mature regulatory landscape, we center our recommendations on enhancing the response to the misuse of AI, through the lens of three key risk areas:

    1. Protecting children from online exploitation.

    2. Safeguarding women from non-consensual intimate imagery.

    3. Safeguarding older adults, especially against AI-enabled fraud.

    The challenges we face are significant, but so is the opportunity. By proactively addressing these issues, we can build a future where AI enhances human creativity, protects individual privacy, and strengthens the foundations of our democracy. 

    At Microsoft, we are committed to playing our part, but we recognize that we cannot do it alone. We welcome engagement and feedback from stakeholders across the EU’s digital ecosystem. It is essential that we get this right, and that means working together. 

    Microsoft stands for technology that is a positive force in society and people’s lives, in line with our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. The time for action is now. 

    Read our full report here: aka.ms/SyntheticMediaEUWhitepaper 

    Tags: cybersecurity, Digital Transformation, Responsible AI, security, synthetic media

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Can books be bad for you? Only if you’re a ‘bad reader’ like Don Quixote

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Karen Attar, Research Fellow in Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London

    An illustration from an edition of Don Quixote where the eponymous protagonist goes mad from reading. Wikimedia, CC BY

    Books as a backdrop in a portrait or an interview lend gravitas. They stand for literacy, for education, for a way to open the mind, develop the imagination and get on in life. But not all books are considered to convey such benefits.

    Opinions about which books are worthy and which are not have dogged fiction. Which are frivolous nonsense, sure to pollute the mind, and which are worthy intellectual pursuits? Also, are there books which are just too dangerous to read?

    Is Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye sure to influence unwanted behaviour? Are there those who can read a book like Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince and not see it as real advice of how any immoral act is justified if they lead to power and glory?

    In short, are there bad books, or are there just bad readers?

    The theme of bad books versus bad readers runs through my recent publication Books, Reading and Libraries in Fiction, which I wrote with Institute of English Studies Reader Andrew Nash. It starts with Don Quixote (1605), which is considered the first modern novel in Europe and an enduring classic of world literature.

    By the beginning of the 17th century, medieval chivalric romances about knights riding around the countryside seeking adventures and saving damsels in distress were distinctly old-fashioned. Don Quixote did not realise that. He spent all his time reading such romances, neglecting all other duties, to the extent that he went mad.

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    Believing the stories implicitly, he set off in search of knightly adventures. Don Quixote is the quintessential bad reader who takes fiction literally and who focuses on the activity of fighting instead of the metaphorical value of striving for good against evil. It’s the uncritical way children may read, but not the way we expect adults to.

    It is because he was a man that Don Quixote had the purchasing power to surround himself with books (there were no public libraries in those days) and travel around. So, it has more often been women who have typically been portrayed as poor readers, over-identifying with the heroines of novels, reading books that are bad for them, or reading when they should be doing something else.

    The Female Quixote, a little-known novel by Charlotte Lennox (1752), draws consciously on Don Quixote as heroine Arabella expects life to reflect the French novels she has read. At the end a doctor must explain to her the difference between fiction and reality. The reader of The Female Quixote is expected to have a lot more sense and distance than the reader within the novel. They are supposed to learn from Arabella’s silliness.

    Jane Austen, who we know loved reading novels, has most to say about relegating fiction to its place. She does it famously in a gentle, high-spirited way through her heroine in Northanger Abbey (1817), Catherine Morland. This young woman gorges on sensational gothic romances and this fiction starts to seep into her perception of reality.

    On one particularly stormy gothic night in a strange country house, she finds a roll of paper in a drawer. “What is it?” she thinks. Her candle goes out and she tosses and turns until early morning, her imagination leading her to terrifying conclusions. In the cold light of morning, she discovers that the paper is only an old laundry bill.

    The worst case of “bad reading” in our book occurred in a 1855 novella Faust by Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev. The story deals with a young woman whose mother had banned the reading of fiction. The young male narrator introduces her to the first part of Goethe’s drama Faust. Overwhelmed by the emotions it arouses, unequipped to deal with them from any former contact with imaginative literature, the heroine falls ill and dies.

    Like her fictitious predecessors, she over-identifies with fiction. In her case she suffers because, had she read fiction when she was younger, she would have been more robust now. Typically in fiction of the past, fortunate women had wise men to guide them and their reading. Vera in Turgenev’s tale is rather unfortunate in her guide’s lack of discrimination.

    Does it mean that Faust, considered by many the pinnacle of German literature, is a “bad” book? No. Neither are gothic romances. We know from her letters that Jane Austen devoured novels, and that she liked Ann Radcliffe, one of the most prominent Gothic writers. Also, medieval chivalric romances can be inspiring.

    The challenge for characters in fiction, as for us, is to read with distance and discernment. It helps to start young, unlike Turgenev’s Vera. We must read to understand and follow worthy principles, rather than blindly imitating the behaviour of characters in novels. But most of all, we must read all sorts of fiction. And then we shall be reading thoughtfully, wisely and well.

    Karen Attar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Can books be bad for you? Only if you’re a ‘bad reader’ like Don Quixote – https://theconversation.com/can-books-be-bad-for-you-only-if-youre-a-bad-reader-like-don-quixote-252428

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Glastonbury is as popular than ever, but complaints about the lineup reveal its generational challenge

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Adrian York, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Music Performance, University of Westminster

    Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock since 1970 you will be aware of the five-day Glastonbury festival held every June (apart from “fallow” years to rest the land and the organisers), near Pilton in Somerset. Glastonbury is as much a pillar of the English summer as tennis at Wimbledon or opera at Glyndebourne.

    It’s a white, middle-class rite of passage and an easy win for people wishing peer approval and the cultural capital that comes with the price of a ticket. It’s expensive and exclusive and the booking policy reflects its audience.

    This year’s headliners include indie pop-rock darlings The 1975, angry girl supreme Olivia Rodrigo, old-school superstar Neil Young with his band the Chrome Hearts, with family favourite Rod Stewart filling the Sunday teatime “legend” slot.

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    Other acts filling the 100-plus stages include Brat popster Charli XCX, English hip-hopper Loyle Carner, original bad boys The Prodigy (without original frontman Keith Flint, RIP) plus Raye, Doechii, Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, and old pros Alanis Morissette, En Vogue and Gary Numan.

    With tickets costing £378.50 for Glastonbury 2025, are the 210,000 attendees getting value for money?

    A Reddit thread titled “Glastonbury 2025 lineup, thoughts?”, gives a flavour of some commonly aired opinions. Disappointed customer praf973 “tried to get tickets but was unsuccessful. I’m not bitter, but the line up isn’t really looking that great.” Another commenter, Whilst-I-was-forced, declared: “Nothing to get excited about. It’s gone too commercial and sterile.”

    Ok_Handle_3530 gave a different perspective: “This line-up looks … great, people are too hard to please.” ShankSpencer opined, “There are no good line-ups any more. No one young listens to bands any more, so there are no headline acts.”

    The exceptionally popular festival sold out in 35 minutes this year even before the artists had been announced, raising the question: has Glastonbury become a victim of its own success?

    Last year there were issues with overcrowding at some of the smaller stages creating issues for fans wanting to see acts such as the Sugababes. Some sets were even being stopped early because of crowd surges.

    But what’s really behind these complaints about the lineup and are they justified? There’s been a changing of the guard as the veteran generation of performers from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s step back from performing because they have retired, are too ill or have died.

    There doesn’t seem to be enough credible stadium acts from the 1990s onwards to fill their shoes, leading to a lack of enthusiasm for the current offerings. The new generation of acts have an opportunity to impress, but many of them don’t have the volume of hits that legacy acts such as Elton John or Paul McCartney provide – nor the cross-generational appeal.

    There is also a growing sense that the cultural importance of the rock band is fading. Gen Z has far more in the way of distractions than previous generations with myriad forms of social media and digital entertainment. With so much competition for their attention, the tribal allegiances that bands used to command may feel dated and irrelevant to many younger people.

    On their single Guys, one of this year’s headliners, The 1975 trill: “The moment that we started a band was the best thing that ever happened.” Perhaps lead singer Matty Healy’s love affair with the mythology of rock’n’roll is no longer widely shared.

    Glastonbury has also been criticised for a lack of diversity. Clubbing magazine Mixmag made the point that in 2023, “the number of male acts playing this year’s Glastonbury Festival is nearly double that of female acts”.

    Similarly, the festival’s lineup and audience are predominantly white and fail to adequately reflect the British music industry. Though there have been a few black bands and artists headlining over the years, it wasn’t until 2019 that the first solo black British performer headlined on the Pyramid stage, with an unforgettable set from London rapper Stormzy in a black Union Jack stab vest designed by Banksy.

    For Glastonbury to move with the times, a more diverse booking policy is needed to widen the audience demographic and the festival’s appeal. Despite having enjoyed the event, mixed-heritage music journalist and academic Jenessa Williams noted: “I was still left with the feeling that certain punters saw black artists as a mockable novelty, a by-product to tolerate rather than truly a piece of the event’s heart and soul.”

    And then there’s the issue of cost. According to a 2024 report, two-thirds of UK adults feel that music festivals are becoming too expensive. Popular music artists have had to pivot towards live events for income generation because of the poor returns from streaming compared to selling albums.

    So are major tours and larger festivals such as Glastonbury sucking revenue out of the music economy? Research shows that while big high-profile event tours are making millions, at the other end of the spectrum grassroots venues – where new talent is incubated – are buckling under a lack of support and the prohibitive costs of running their operations.

    Glastonbury won’t be making an appearance in 2026, the next fallow year for rest and recovery. This will create an opportunity for organiser Emily Eavis to reflect on some of the more problematical issues the festival faces, from diversity in the audience and artists, to the sustainability of the talent pipeline.

    Maybe the last word should go to American rapper Azealia Banks commenting on this year’s festival lineup: “Glastonbury is kinda cooked.”

    Adrian York does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Glastonbury is as popular than ever, but complaints about the lineup reveal its generational challenge – https://theconversation.com/glastonbury-is-as-popular-than-ever-but-complaints-about-the-lineup-reveal-its-generational-challenge-252588

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: WithSecure Corporation: SHARE REPURCHASE 20.3.2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WithSecure Corporation, STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE, 20 March 2025 at 6.30 PM (EET)  
               
               
    WithSecure Corporation: SHARE REPURCHASE 20.3.2025      
               
    In the Helsinki Stock Exchange          
               
    Trade date           20.3.2025        
    Bourse trade         Buy        
    Share                  WITH        
    Amount             15 000 Shares      
    Average price/ share    0,9229 EUR      
    Total cost            13 843,50 EUR      
               
               
    WithSecure Corporation now holds a total of 211 890 shares      
    including the shares repurchased on 20.3.2025        
               
    The share buybacks are executed in compliance with Regulation       
    No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and Council (MAR) Article 5    
    and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052.      
               
               
    On behalf of Withsecure Corporation        
               
    Nordea Bank Oyj          
               
    Janne Sarvikivi           Sami Huttunen        
               
               
    Contact information:          
    Laura Viita          
    Vice President Controlling, Investor relations and Sustainability    
    WithSecure Corporation          
    Tel. +358 50 4871044          
    Investor-relations@withsecure.com          
               

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Security Federal Corporation Announces Special Dividend

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AIKEN, S.C., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Security Federal Corporation (“Company”) (OTCBB: SFDL), the parent company of Security Federal Bank (“Bank”), today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a special cash dividend of $0.10 per share. The dividend will be paid on April 15, 2025 to shareholders of record as of March 31, 2025.

    Chief Executive Officer J. Chris Verenes, commented that “As a result of our continued profitability, we are very pleased to provide this additional payment to our shareholders. This is a special dividend and the payment and amount of future dividends will be predicated on the Board’s assessment of the financial condition, earnings and capital requirements of the Company.”

    Security Federal Bank has nineteen full-service branch locations in Aiken, Ballentine, Clearwater, Columbia, Graniteville, Langley, Lexington, North Augusta, Ridge Spring, Wagener and West Columbia, South Carolina and Augusta and Evans, Georgia. A full range of financial services, including trust and investments, are provided by the Bank, and insurance services are provided by the Bank’s wholly owned subsidiary, Security Federal Insurance, Inc.

    Security Federal Corporation common stock is traded on the Over-the Counter Bulletin Board under the symbol SFDL.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains certain 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. Such forward looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods, or by the use of forward-looking terminology, such as “estimate,” “project,” “believe,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “seek,” “expect,” “will,” “may,” “continue,” or similar terms or variations on those terms, or the negative of those terms. Forward-looking statements, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results include our credit quality and business operations, as well as its impact on the real estate and economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which the Bank operates; increased competitive pressures; changes in the interest rate environment; general economic conditions or conditions within the securities markets; and legislative and regulatory changes affecting financial institutions, including regulatory compliance costs and capital requirements that could adversely affect the business in which the Company and the Bank are engaged; and other factors described in the Company’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are available on our website at www.securityfederalbank.com and on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: PARADISE Looks To Revolutionize Gaming Through Upcoming Launch

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HONG KONG, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PARADISE is set to officially launch on April 2nd, 2025. It is the only Web3 game in the world to achieve such massive success in terms of player numbers. It will be available on Epic Games, Steam and its own launch program.

    In anticipation of the official release, a playtest will take place at the end of March, giving players an exclusive opportunity to try out the game before the Initial DEX Offering (IDO/Presale $PAR token) concludes, which runs through March 31.

    Popularity & Market Traction

    PARADISE has already captured the attention of the global gaming community, with over 700,000 players across various platforms. The game ranks as the TOP-1 free-to-play game on Steam and holds a spot in the TOP-40 on the Epic Games Store.

    It also has over 700,000 wishlists on Steam alone and 1 million views on the game’s official trailer. The game has additionally garnered over 100 million views from top influencers on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

    Web3 Integration & The $PAR Token

    PARADISE incorporates the $PAR token, which allows players to buy in-game items, real estate, fancy clothes, and more. This integration offers players the unique opportunity to experience both traditional and blockchain-based gameplay.

    Furthermore, players can switch between the standard version and the blockchain (XRPL) version whenever they wish to do so. Lastly, PARADISE has also formed key partnerships with industry leaders like xMagnetic and Epic Games, further highlighting the game’s credibility.

    IDO Countdown

    Currently, the IDO for the $PAR token is underway, with the IDO scheduled to conclude on March 31, 2025. In an effort to make the token more accessible to early supporters, PARADISE’s team has priced it at 0.0001 XRP. After the IDO, unsold tokens will be burned, and the token will be listed on Tier 2-3 exchanges initially, with plans for a listing on a Top-1 exchange in the future.

    For those interested in purchasing $PAR tokens before the IDO ends, a comprehensive guide is available. The $PAR token follows a deflationary tokenomics model, with a blackholed address ensuring no new tokens will be issued after the IDO.

    Lastly, PARADISE is carrying out an airdrop for IDO buyers, wherein additional $PAR can be earned by holding. Payments will be made in $PAR to XRP Wallets following the IDO’s conclusion. The Top 5 IDO buyers will also receive exclusive rewards.

    Massive Marketing Campaign

    PARADISE is conducting a robust marketing campaign with mentions from top international influencers and bloggers across multiple social media platforms. The idea behind these global partnerships is to ensure that PARADISE maintains its momentum, keeping players engaged while attracting even more attention as the launch date approaches.

    Moreover, in order to separate itself from its competition, PARADISE took the time to build its game first, gather a substantial audience, and prove its traction before turning to fundraising. This approach has resulted in a project that is already highly anticipated and has demonstrated real-world engagement, setting it apart from others that often launch tokens before building a product or community.

    About PARADISE

    PARADISE is an innovative, free-to-play game that blends AAA-quality gameplay with blockchain technology. The game offers players the chance to engage in exciting shootouts, car races, and complete daily missions, all while earning $PAR tokens to buy in-game assets and items.

    With a growing community of over 600,000 players and significant backing from industry leaders like Epic Games and xMagnetic, PARADISE looks to reshape the future of gaming.

    For more information and regular updates, visit PARADISE’s official website as well as its X (Twitter), YouTube, and Telegram channels.

    Contact Information:
    For media inquiries or to schedule an interview, please contact:
    Robert Lee
    CMO, PARADISE®
    Email: admin@paradisevs.com

    Disclaimer: This press release is provided by PARADISE. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector–including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining–complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose.Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility.

    Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8194f7d1-7d13-4574-8b28-ddbcefb5fc51

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Enhance Your Lifestyle & Home with Samsung’s A Better Life Campaign

    Source: Samsung

     
     
    Samsung has launched its annual lifestyle campaign – A Better Life with Samsung, which focuses on improving the everyday lives of its customers through Samsung’s multi-device experience. This campaign is centred around the idea that Samsung products are not just about function, but about making life better, convenient, efficient and more enjoyable.
     
    Samsung’s diverse range of products serve as an enabler for improving customer’s daily experiences. From cutting edge home appliances, to stylish and immersive TVs, efficient air conditioners and productivity boosting monitors, Samsung’s line-up empowers users to elevate and enhance their lifestyles with convenience, comfort and stylish innovation. These products and experiences are tailored to elevate daily living, blending innovation with style for a premium experience. In addition, Samsung’s product offerings aim to enhance convenience, enjoyment and overall well-being.
     
    For eleven consecutive years, the company has held its ground as a trailblazer in the global soundbar market. This is according to market research firm FutureSource Consulting that confirmed that Samsung captured a global market share of 20.1% in revenue and 18.4% in sales volume in 2024, further strengthening its top position in the premium audio industry since 2014. This is due to the fact that Samsung has continuously raised the bar for home entertainment systems over the years, earning its soundbars a reputation for superior sound quality and ground-breaking innovation.
     
    And, it doesn’t stop there. For 19 consecutive years, Samsung managed to secure its position as the global pioneer in the TV market. Samsung has, over the years, managed to continuously standout in the market and this is due to the high-end features, design and durability of its product. And, in an effort to improve the lives of users in South African homes and beyond – Samsung added 10 more years to its initial 10-year warranty on key components on selected appliances.
     
    The 20-year warranty[1] on the Digital inverter compressor[2], in particular is a testament of the reliability in Samsung fridges that are able to offer silent durability and energy efficiency. The two decades of warranty now offered to local consumers, is clear evidence of Samsung’s devotion to providing high-quality and durable appliances that stand the test of time.
     
    Importantly, Samsung’s renowned commitment to energy-saving goals is also evident in products like the Bespoke refrigerator, which monitors and controls energy consumption through SmartThings. The WindFree air conditioner’s motion-detecting eco-cooling optimises power usage, contributing to overall household energy efficiency.
     
    All of these technological innovations and accolades have, over the years reaffirmed Samsung’s products as the ideal choice for enhancing the lives of consumers — from transforming entertainment experiences to creating a seamless and enjoyable daily routine. Products such as The Frame, The Music Frame, The Serif, Neo QLED and OLED TVs, The Freestyle and the premium Soundbar, redefine home entertainment by providing beauty and immersive audio visual experiences that could take your leisure time to new heights.
     
    So, in a world where technology increasingly shapes our daily lives – Samsung is committed to helping customers enhance their productivity, entertainment as well as potentially improving their health and well-being. The Samsung brand is well known for its reputation for excellence and its commitment to providing exceptional customer experiences.
     
    The Better Life lifestyle campaign complemented by the innovation, premium quality and integration of all these products made possible by SmartThings, make Samsung an ideal fit and an ultimate choice for customers who want to live a better life. For more information, go to www.samsung.com/za
     
    Disclaimer:
    [1] . The 20-year warranty is only applicable to the inverter motors and compressors in refrigerators, washers and dryers sold in the E.U. starting in July 2022 in addition to Digital Inverter Motors and Compressors found in refrigerators and washers sold in the U.S.[2]20-year warranty on Digital Inverter Technologies (motor/compressor) only applies to refrigerators and washing machines manufactured by Samsung and subcontracted manufacturers. 20-year warranty does not apply to any outsourced products.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Salinas Leads Oregon Delegation in Calling on Trump Administration to Protect American Manufacturing

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore)

    March 20, 2025

    Salinas Leads Oregon Delegation in Calling on Trump Administration to Protect American Manufacturing

    Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (OR-06) led the Oregon delegation – including U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with U.S. Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), and Janelle Bynum (OR-05) – in a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, expressing concern about the Trump Administration’s decision to fire dozens of workers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST provides guidance, training, and assistance to American manufacturers to help them grow and stay competitive on the global stage.

    “We write with deep concern regarding reports of significant ongoing and planned layoffs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST plays a critical role supporting Oregon businesses and workers. Widespread and indiscriminate terminations of hard-working public servants at the agency would undermine our domestic manufacturing industrial base and threaten technological innovation that drives future economic progress,” wrote the members.

    Oregon manufacturers contribute nearly $40 billion to our state’s economic output and support over 175,000 good paying jobs in a wide variety of industries, including wood products, aerospace components, and microelectronics. NIST-supported programs like the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) help drive innovation and deliver critical resources that local businesses need to succeed. In their letter, the members stress how mass layoffs will undermine NIST’s work and jeopardize manufacturing in Oregon and across America.

    “President Trump has consistently promised Americans that he will support domestic manufacturing – and the good jobs that come with it,” the lawmakers continued.

    “That is why it is so concerning to see that, instead of doubling down on what works, the President is attacking the federal programs manufacturers rely on, calling to repeal the CHIPS and Science Act, and imposing punishing tariffs that will harm American businesses while making everyday goods more expensive for consumers.”

    Read the full letter below or click here.

    The Honorable Howard Lutnick

    Secretary of Commerce

    U.S. Department of Commerce

    1401 Constitution Avenue N.W.

    Washington, D.C. 20230

    Dear Secretary Lutnick,

    We write with deep concern regarding reports of significant ongoing and planned layoffs at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST plays a critical role supporting Oregon businesses and workers. Widespread and indiscriminate terminations of hard-working public servants at the agency would undermine our domestic manufacturing industrial base and threaten technological innovation that drives future economic progress.

    Oregon manufacturers contribute nearly $40 billion to our state’s economic output and support over 175,000 good paying jobs. These represent a wide variety of industries, producing everything from innovative wood products to aerospace components, to the microelectronics development and manufacturing at the heart of Oregon’s Silicon Forest. NIST is responsible for implementing some of our nation’s most effective and cost-efficient programs to help these manufacturers succeed:

    • Across the United States, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) leveraged just $175 million in federal investment to deliver more than $5 billion in new investments and over 108,000 jobs created or retained in fiscal year 2024. In Oregon, the return was even greater. Just $2.2. million in federal funding led to $165.6 million in private investments – a remarkable $75 of economic output for every dollar of taxpayer support.
    • The CHIPS Program Office is responsible for stewarding over $2 billion of public investment in Oregon companies, which is catalyzing tens of billions of dollars of corporate investment in Oregon’s high-tech economy – while ensuring America’s self-sufficiency in this critical technology.
    • ManufacturingUSA fosters collaboration between industry and researchers to develop and deploy next-generation manufacturing methods and technologies. These partnerships support and benefit from partnerships with Oregon businesses and universities.
      • Examples include Oregon State University’s contributions to the RAPID institute, semiconductor companies like Analog Devices and Microchip working with PowerAmerica to accelerate the adoption of advanced semiconductors, and businesses such as Twist Bioscience partnering with BioMADE to enable the expansion of bioindustrial manufacturing.

    All these activities build on NIST’s core measurement science and standards work that provides tools manufacturers rely on every day. Mass layoffs at the agency will undermine the work NIST has carried out over years to ensure American businesses have the tools they need to compete on the world stage.

    President Trump has consistently promised Americans that he will support domestic manufacturing – and the good jobs that come with it. During his inaugural address, he asserted that “America will be a manufacturing nation once again” and you recently echoed the President’s rhetoric, telling reporters that “We want factory production in America. We want employment to blossom in America. We’re going to bring factories back to America.”

    We agree.

    That is why it is so concerning to see that, instead of doubling down on what works, the President is attacking the federal programs manufacturers rely on, calling to repeal the CHIPS and Science Act, and imposing punishing tariffs that will harm American businesses while making everyday goods more expensive for consumers.

    We are seriously worried that any attacks on NIST will undermine its capacity to support Oregon’s manufacturers and request that you respond to the following inquiries no later that March 31, 2025:

    1. How many NIST employees accepted the “Fork in the Road” deferred resignation offer, including those who departed the agency [at that time] without having signed the paperwork required by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)? Please provide a breakdown of which offices were affected and to what extent.
    2. Recent reports indicate over 70 probationary employees were terminated. Please confirm the accuracy of this reporting and provide a breakdown of which offices were affected and to what extent.
    3. CHIPS Incentives awards rely on complex contracts to ensure that industry partners successfully and responsibly invest taxpayer dollars. How will you ensure that any layoffs, deferred resignations, or future reductions in force do not impede the CHIPS Program Office’s ability to conduct robust oversight of and effective support for these awards, including in Oregon?
    4. How will you ensure that any layoffs, deferred resignations, or future reductions in force do not limit the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program’s capacity to offer services to small- and medium-sized domestic manufacturers, including in Oregon?
    5. NIST has decades of experience serving as a trusted partner to industry, providing some of the United States’ strongest tools to support and expand domestic manufacturing. How do you plan to leverage this experience to achieve your stated goal of bring manufacturing jobs back to America, including in our home state of Oregon?

    Thank you for your prompt response.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Press Release – Cruise Ships and Manche Iles Express 2025 Thursday 20 March 2025

    Source: Channel Islands – States of Alderney

    Press Release
    Date: 20th March 2025

    Alderney is getting ready to welcome 9 luxury cruise ship visits this summer.

    The Island’s special brand of welcoming hospitality will also be in full swing for several visits of the France-based ferry company Manche Iles Express.

    “This is a great opportunity to showcase Alderney’s famous warm welcome,” said Visit Alderney’s Caroline Gauvain. “Although the cruise ship guests are here for only a short time, we are confident they’ll enjoy our hospitality and our unique island and want to come back for a longer stay next time.”

    The scheduled cruise ship visits are:
    • Tuesday April 29 – Ocean Nova (morning)
    • Wednesday July 2 – MS Hamburg (morning)
    • Sunday July 13 – MS Hamburg (morning)
    • Wednesday August 6/Thursday 7 August – Hebridean Princess (overnight 8.30pm-1pm)
    • Saturday August 9/Sunday 10 August – Hebridean Princess (overnight 1pm-8am)
    • Sunday August 31 – Island Sky (all day)
    • Monday September 1/Tuesday 2 September – Hebridean Princess (overnight 5pm-1pm)
    • Sunday September 7 – Island Sky (all day)
    • Tuesday September 9 – MS Hamburg (afternoon)

    The full schedule is available at www.harbours.gg/cruiseships.

    Scheduled visits by Manche Iles Express from Dielette are:
    Sunday 4 / Friday 23 / Sunday 25 May
    Sunday 6 /Sunday 20 July
    Monday 4 / Monday 18 August
    Sunday 7 September

    They will also be running from Alderney to Diélette for the French Exchange on 7 June, with a return sailing on 8 June evening. Information: www.manche-iles.com/en

    End

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Press Release – P&F Welcomes P&R Runway Policy Letter 2025 Thursday 20 March 2025

    Source: Channel Islands – States of Alderney

    Press Release
    Date: 20th March 2025

    Policy & Resources’ Runway Policy Letter Welcomed

    The Policy & Finance Committee (P&F) conveys its thanks to Guernsey’s Chief Minister Lyndon Trott OBE and welcomes the Policy & Resources Committee’s (P&R) Runway Rehabilitation policy Letter.

    The Policy Letter outlines solutions for the runway project and strongly highlights that they should fall within the £24million cost envelope that was previously agreed by the States of Deliberation in 2022. P&F is encouraged that this will be debated before the conclusion of this political term; however, there is an air of disappointment that a new aerodrome expert is to be appointed and will effectively mean that the project will revert to the design stage. P&F’s support for the development of a solution that includes modernising and futureproofing the runway remains unwavering and absolute.

    Alongside the runway proposals, the formal establishment of a Bailiwick Commission has been prioritised within the Policy Letter. P&F believes that to date, this proposal demonstrates the clearest sign of intent to modernise the constitutional relationship between the islands and move forward from the 1948 agreement, which continues to serve its purpose in delivering essential services to our island in fiscal union with Guernsey.

    Chairman of P&F, Bill Abel said “The rehabilitation of the airport is of paramount importance to Alderney and its community, and the Bailiwick Commission is a long-awaited formal proposal which seeks to benefit the Bailiwick as a whole. We look forward to engaging with the States of Guernsey on taking both of these matters forward.”

    P&F remains committed to working constructively with Guernsey to deliver the best outcomes for Alderney and will continue discussions to ensure our island’s interests are fully represented.

    Ends

    States of Alderney media enquiries: publications.alderney@gov.gg

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Secretary of State Peter Kyle speech to Nvidia GTC 2025

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Speech

    Secretary of State Peter Kyle speech to Nvidia GTC 2025

    Secretary of State Peter Kyle addressed the Nvidia GTC 2025 Conference in San Jose on Thursday 20 March.

    For centuries, a succession of raw materials defined which governments and economies grew – and which did not.

    First, coal and steam, then, oil and electricity.

    Each of those ages brought with it a period of profound change. Radically reshaping living standards and the labour markets of the time, with new jobs in different places. More money, and more things to spend it on.

    Today, we find ourselves in the midst of another epochal shift. Its implications for our prosperity and our security will be no less seismic than those before.

    Who swims – and who sinks – all depends on compute. Because, when it comes down to it, the AI era is no less material than any other.

    The places and people who are shaping our economies have simply changed. Instead of collieries and oil wells, it’s the mines and refineries where silicon is processed.

    It’s not the vast manufacturing plants of the past who dominate the stock exchange, it’s the companies who are designing ever more powerful chips and the businesses using them to train ever more powerful models.

    I don’t want to underplay the significance of this change. To dismiss the economic consequences of the ‘rewiring’ we are witnessing in real time. But where the dynamics of the age of compute really differ, I think, is in the role of the state.

    The state’s role in the economy has never been stable or predetermined. Each era poses the same questions of each government.

    How to grow the economy? How to protect people? How to build better lives for our citizens?

    Each time, the state must respond to those questions anew. Its legitimacy and longevity simply depend on it.

    Today, though, these questions feel almost existential. The old answers just simply won’t cut it any more.

    And the certainties we have depended on for decades are being swept away.

    In the age of compute, we cannot – must not – be afraid to contemplate a sweeping change of course. That is what the UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan sets out to do.

    In the UK and the US, there are communities that have been left behind by the pace of change. Abandoned by industry, they are left clinging to the rusting remnants of the industrial age.

    Losing faith in governments that have failed to deliver promise after promise and failed to deliver rebirth and renewal. I understand why people in these places worry that AI will not be working for them.

    That, as start-ups in Silicon Valley and London create wealth and prosperity for some, the rest of the economy will remain just as stagnant and unproductive as before. But I don’t believe there’s anything inevitable about that story.

    In empty factories and abandoned mines, in derelict sites and unused power supplies, I see the places where we can begin to build a new economic model.

    A model completely rewired around the immense power of artificial intelligence, where, faced with that power, the state is neither a blocker nor a shirker – but an agile, proactive partner.

    In Britain, we want to turn the relics of economic eras past into AI Growth Zones.

    With access to large power connections and a permissive planning system designed to cut the time it takes to start construction, these are the places where we’ll work with industry and local government to build compute infrastructure on a scale that our country has never seen before.  

    There is a real hunger for investment in Britain. People who are optimistic about the future, and hopeful for the opportunities which AI will bring them and deliver for their families and communities.

    Earlier this year, we asked local leaders across the country to come to us with proposals for Growth Zones and how it could impact their areas. Since then, we’ve had over two hundred responses.

    That is evidence of the ambition and appetite you can find in equal measure at the top of government in Britain right down to the grassroots of communities across the United Kingdom.

    Today, I can announce that the responses we’ve received include several sites that could host very powerful data centres. 

    One of those sites will get close to 2 GW. In our former industrial heartlands, hundreds of acres of flat land are sitting completely unused and ready for construction.

    Soon, though, this could be home to the largest data centre in Europe. And we have no time to waste. I want shovels in the ground this year.

    Because, if states are to secure their sovereign role in the future of this technology, they simply cannot afford to wait. And we will not.

    In the age of compute, we must offer more than just a place to invest. That’s why our AI Growth Zones will be the anchor for a more ambitious project. A project designed to unleash a new age of growth and prosperity across our nation, and build a smaller, smarter state.

    One that is ready for the century to come.

    Home to Nobel Prize winners like Sir Demis Hassabis, the U.K. has world-leading scientific capability in the development and deployment of AI. With a cradle-to-grave health service that has been running for 75 years, we also have uniquely rich data sets you cannot find anywhere else in the world.

    And we have a government with the capacity and the political will to deploy transformative technology in every part of our public sector, from courtrooms and classrooms to hospitals and job centres.

    Because we know that, if we want to deliver better services for citizens and better value for taxpayers, we have no other choice. In a country whose language and legal system are used around the world, that unique contribution – of global talent, data, and political will – can yield extraordinary results.

    Today, every single stroke centre in England is using AI to interpret acute stroke brain scans and support doctors to make decisions about treatment. Early data shows this is cutting the time it takes to get patients in and out the door from 340 to 79 minutes.

    [The incorrect figure was given in the speech as delivered. 140 minutes is the correct figure.]

    And it’s tripling the chance of independent living following a stroke. 

    It’s something of a truism that compute is only as good as the people who are using it, and the data they put in it.

    In Britain, we have both of those things in abundance. But the AI Opportunities Action Plan offers something else, too. A chance to test the models you are training in a country that is crying out for reform, and with a government ready to use AI to take on the great challenges that will define the century to come.  

    Tackling those challenges will require more than brute capacity. Building bigger or faster is not enough.

    In the age of compute, states must build smarter, too. That’s part of the reason I’m here in San Jose.

    Just around the corner at Lawrence Livermore, scientists are using El Cap – the world’s most powerful supercomputer – to advance the safety, security and reliability of your nuclear arsenal.

    At Oak Ridge, they’re using Frontier to model stellar explosions, neutrino physics experiments and global climate patterns.

    The US model of national labs shows what states can achieve by investing in world-class research infrastructure.

    The strategic advantage it provides is unparalleled.

    It won’t surprise you to know that I want to replicate that success in the UK.

    Because I believe government has not just a role to play, but a responsibility to shoulder in ensuring that AI delivers better lives for all of its citizens.

    And we cannot fulfil this responsibility without publicly accessible compute.

    In our Action Plan, we are committed to increasing our public compute capacity by twenty fold by 2030.

    And last year, Isambard, the first phase machine of our AI Research Resource, came online.

    Built using Nvidia chips, it is named after Isambard Brunel – the engineer who built the British ships and railways that changed the age of steam forever.

    Our scientists are already using it for protein mapping to deepen their understanding of heart disease – the leading cause of death globally.

    If we want to make our economies strong again, our countries healthy and our citizens safe, ambitious, rigorous research will be critical.

    States owe it to their citizens to support it. Not through diktat or directive, but through partnership.

    That’s why, last week, we opened market engagement for the private partnerships we will need to deliver our public compute ambitions.

    If you want to work together, I urge you to get in touch.

    I spoke earlier about the big questions that all states must answer in the age of compute. About how to ensure that technical progress translates into prosperity. How to protect our national security in a new global economy. The question of research, and how states should support it, can be added to that list.

    But there is another big question which we must confront. That is the question of energy.

    Because, in this respect at least, the age of compute is no different from any other. Power – and its availability – will shape it indelibly.

    I reject the doomers who claim that the energy demands of AI undermine the promise that this technology somehow possess. They were wrong before and they’re wrong now.

    The very existence of the GPU defies what were once believed to be the limits of scientific possibility.

    In the decades since, those limits have been defied again and again.

    So there is no reason why the challenge of energy efficiency should be somehow insurmountable. Together, we have already made impressive progress.

    NVIDIA’s Blackwell architecture – backed by processors designed by Arm – uses 25 times less energy than previous generations, and Isambard AI is the fourth most energy-efficient supercomputer in the world.

    The real challenge, I think, is to ensure that innovation is not left behind in the race for scale.

    To ensure that – even as we invest billions in compute infrastructure – we do not fail to challenge the tried and tested ways of delivering it. You don’t need me to tell you that.

    You are the people who are pushing against the frontiers of energy efficiency – rethinking architectures, rethinking cooling systems and energy sources.

    I mention energy, though, because I believe that states can be partners in that progress.

    And I want the UK to be a laboratory for change.

    A place where pioneers can challenge old orthodoxies.

    Where they can achieve the impossible and set a new course for the age of compute.

    Today, that project feels more urgent than ever before.

    In the last few months, we have witnessed the emergence of a new ‘scaling law’ in AI. A law that – some argue – will make compute less important than it was before. I couldn’t disagree more.

    Test-time scaling offers a complement – not a replacement – to pre- and post-training scaling methods.

    An opportunity to use the compute we do have to unlock deeper forms of intelligence.

    But it does not reduce in the slightest the critical significance of compute for states looking ahead to the century to come.  

    The age of compute isn’t going anywhere.

    Without compute, no economy can thrive. No country can protect its people. No government can retain the trust of its citizens.

    AI will bring deep disruption to almost every aspect of life as we know it. The logic of our economies and the legitimacy of the state are at stake.

    Britain stands ready not just to face that disruption, but to embrace it with you.

    Time and time again, we have worked together to shape a shared future, anchored in freedom, fairness, and the rule of law.

    Government with government, business with business, researcher with researcher. This is an alliance whose breadth and depth have no parallel.

    Today, we are the two foremost AI nations of the democratic world, and that alliance matters more than ever.

    Britain is full of talented, forward-thinking people. People who are ready to throw off the shackles of caution and conservatism and seize the once-in-a-generation opportunity that AI offers.

    With a government that is ready to get behind them. Ours is a country that is ready for investment, and ready for change. 

    I have talked a lot about collaboration already today, because, when it comes down to it, that is what I have come here to offer.

    Not just an opportunity to invest in Britain but a chance to form a new kind of partnership.

    A partnership that is tailored to the needs of our economic era.

    That partnership does not shy away from wealth creation but embraces it, because we know just how much our citizens stand to gain.

    It is rooted in a recognition of AI’s power to transform our economies – and a willingness to do what is necessary to make that transformation happen.

    And it is anchored in the values we share – because a future without them is simply unthinkable.

    This, I believe, is how the state survives in the decades to come.

    Not through retreat or withdrawal.

    Nor by rushing towards excessive rules and regulations that will stifle innovation and growth.

    But through strategic, purposeful partnership with you – the protagonists of the age of compute.

    Thank you.

    Updates to this page

    Published 20 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SEC Announces Agenda, Panelists for Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the agenda and panelists for the March 27 roundtable on artificial intelligence in the financial industry.  

    “I look forward to hearing from the panelists on how emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can both improve the cost-effectiveness of the Commission’s regulations and provide additional value to market participants,” said SEC Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda. “I encourage members of the public to provide data and other evidence on how artificial intelligence can be used to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation.”

    The roundtable, announced in February, will be held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. from 9:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. The event will be open to the public and webcast live on the SEC’s website. Doors will open at 8:00 a.m.

    For online attendance, no registration is necessary. A link to watch the event will be available on March 27 on www.sec.gov. Please register for in-person attendance.

    More information, including how to submit feedback on artificial intelligence in the financial industry, is available on the SEC Artificial Intelligence Roundtable’s event page.

    Agenda

    8:00 am

    Doors Open

    9:00 am – 9:30 am

    Opening Remarks from Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, Commissioner Hester Peirce, and Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw

    9:30 am – 10:45 am

    Panel: The Benefits, Costs, and Uses of AI in the Financial Industry

    Moderator:  Rob Hegarty, Division of Trading and Markets

    Panelists:

    • Mike Kelly, Head of Strategic AI Governance and Enablement, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
    • Gregg Berman, Director of Market Analytics and Regulatory Structure, Citadel Securities
    • Douglas Hamilton, Head of AI Engineering and Research, Nasdaq
    • Hillary Allen, Professor of Law, American University, Washington College of Law
    • Daniel Pateiro, Managing Director, Office of Chief Operating Officer, Strategic Initiatives/Artificial Intelligence, BlackRock

    10:45 am – 11:00 am

    Break

    11:00 am – 12:15 pm

    Panel: Fraud, Authentication, and Cybersecurity

    Moderator:  Alexis Hall, Division of Examinations

    Panelists:

    • Brad Ahrens, Senior Vice President of Advanced Analytics, FINRA
    • Michael Wellman, Professor of Computer Science & Engineering, University of Michigan
    • Kristen McCooey, Chief Information Security Officer, Edward Jones
    • Alexander Leblang, Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection, Department of Treasury

    12:15 pm – 1:15 pm

    Lunch

    1:15 pm – 2:30 pm

    Panel: AI Governance and Risk Management

    Moderator:  Valerie Szczepanik, Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology

    Panelists:

    • Jeff McMillan, Head of Firmwide Artificial Intelligence, Morgan Stanley
    • Johnna Powell, Managing Director and Head of Technology, Research and Innovation, The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation
    • Ryan Swann, Chief Data Analytics Officer, The Vanguard Group, Inc.
    • Scott Mullins, Managing Director, Worldwide Financial Services Industry, Amazon Web Services
    • Conan French, Director of Digital Finance, Institute of International Finance

    2:30 pm – 2:45 pm

    Break

    2:45 pm – 4:00 pm

    Panel: What’s Next/Future Trends

    Moderator: Marco Enriquez, Division of Economic and Risk Analysis

    Panelists:

    • Hardeep Walia, Managing Director, Head of AI & Personalization, Charles Schwab
    • Tyler Derr, Chief Technology and Product Officer, Broadridge
    • Peter Slattery, MIT FutureTech
    • Sarah Hammer, Executive Director, Wharton School; Adjunct Professor, University of Pennsylvania Law School; CEO of Wharton Cypher Accelerator

    4:00 pm – 4:15 pm

    Closing Remarks

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Former CEO Of Kubient, Inc. Sentenced To Prison In Connection With Accounting Fraud Scheme

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PAUL ROBERTS, the founder, former Chief Executive Officer, and former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kubient, Inc., a publicly traded digital advertising technology company, was sentenced today to one year and one day in prison. ROBERTS previously pled guilty to securities fraud for his execution of a scheme to defraud investors and auditors of Kubient, during which he caused Kubient to improperly recognize more than $1.3 million in fraudulent revenue in financial statements at the time of Kubient’s initial public offering and made material misrepresentations about the efficacy of Kubient’s proprietary fraud detection tool, Kubient Artificial Intelligence (“KAI”). ROBERTS’s sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon.

    Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “Paul Roberts cooked the books. He lied to investors and auditors about his company’s revenue and about his company’s premier product: an AI-powered tool that, ironically, was supposed to detect fraud in the digital advertising industry. This Office is committed to holding corporate executives who defraud the investing public accountable for their crimes.”

    According to information in court filings:

    From October 2019 through March 2021, ROBERTS knowingly caused Kubient to improperly recognize more than $1.3 million in fraudulent revenue in Kubient’s financial statements, which was over 94% of Kubient’s reported revenue for 2020 at the time of its initial public offering (“IPO”) in August 2020. With his scheme, ROBERTS misled Kubient’s auditors and deceived the investing public about Kubient’s financial condition.

    At the core of ROBERTS’s accounting fraud scheme was a fraudulent $1.3 million transaction that ROBERTS arranged between Kubient and another digital advertising technology company (“Company-1”). Kubient and Company-1 agreed to provide certain services to the other for nearly identical fees. For its part, Kubient agreed to use its proprietary fraud detection tool, KAI, to scan data provided by Company-1 and an affiliate for instances of digital ad fraud and then deliver the results of KAI’s findings to Company-1 and its affiliate. Neither Kubient nor Company-1, however, provided the agreed-upon services, yet they still paid each other $1.3 million, which Kubient improperly recognized as revenue.

    To conceal his fraudulent scheme, ROBERTS directed Kubient employees to generate fake KAI reports based on made-up metrics and no underlying data at all. ROBERTS used the fake reports to mislead Kubient’s independent certified public accountants (the “Audit Firm”) into believing that Kubient had performed its contractual obligations when, in fact, Kubient had not, so that Kubient could recognize the associated revenue in its financial statements.

    ROBERTS repeatedly made material misrepresentations in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings and in management representation letters submitted to the Audit Firm relating to Kubient’s KAI revenue recognition. ROBERTS also repeatedly made material misrepresentations in SEC filings about the efficacy of KAI in identifying and preventing digital ad fraud, including in connection with Kubient’s initial and secondary public offerings when Kubient was touting KAI as one of the company’s premier products that would differentiate it from its competitors.

    Fueled by the misrepresentations about Kubient’s KAI revenue recognition and the efficacy of KAI in identifying and preventing digital ad fraud that ROBERTS made in Kubient’s SEC filings and elsewhere, Kubient raised more than $12.5 million in its IPO in August 2020, resulting in its shares being publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange, and more than $20 million in its secondary public offering in December 2020. Now, Kubient is in Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings.

    *               *                *

    In addition to the prison term, ROBERTS, 48, of Melville, New York, was sentenced to one year of supervised release.

    Mr. Podolsky praised the outstanding work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Mr. Podolsky also thanked the SEC, which filed a civil action against ROBERTS after he pled guilty, for its assistance and cooperation in the investigation.

    This case is being handled by the Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin V. Rodriguez is in charge of the prosecution.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: XRP News: XploraDEX Becomes XRP’s First AI-Powered DEX! XRP Whales Are Accumulating—Join $XPL Presale Now!

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ZURICH, Switzerland, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The XRP ecosystem is experiencing a massive shift in decentralized trading, and the whales are taking notice! XploraDEX, the first-ever AI-powered decentralized exchange (DEX) on the XRP Ledger (XRPL), is here to change the game. By integrating cutting-edge AI technology into trading, liquidity optimization, and market analysis, XploraDEX is empowering XRP traders to maximize profits like never before!

    The $XPL Presale is now live, and XRP whales are securing their positions early—don’t miss your chance to join them!

    XploraDEX: The Smartest Way to Trade XRP!

    For too long, XRP traders have been limited by manual trading strategies, emotional decision-making, and missed opportunities. Now, with XploraDEX’s AI-powered trading system, users can tap into advanced automation, predictive analytics, and real-time market intelligence to stay ahead of the curve.

    GET YOUR $XPL TOKENS TODAY!

    What Makes XploraDEX Different?

    AI-Powered Trading Strategies – No more guesswork! AI scans XRP markets 24/7 to execute high-probability trades.

    Lightning-Fast Execution on XRPL – Trade XRP assets instantly with minimal fees and zero intermediaries.

    Predictive Market Analytics – AI-driven forecasting models help traders spot profitable opportunities before they happen.

    Arbitrage & High-Frequency Trading (HFT) – AI bots detect price inefficiencies and execute trades in real time for maximum gains.

    Liquidity Optimization – AI automatically manages liquidity pools to minimize slippage and increase trading efficiency.

    [BUY $XPL TOKENS ON PRESALE]

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    Disclaimer: This press release is provided by the XploraDEX. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice.

    Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.

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    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/51260947-1a3e-484e-a82c-48ff7a2dc303

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Telnyx announces no-code AI Assistant Builder, enabling businesses to deploy AI voice agents in minutes

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    AUSTIN, Texas, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Telnyx, a global leader in communication and connectivity solutions, has announced the launch of its no-code voice AI Assistant Builder, available directly in the Telnyx Mission Control Portal. This method of building empowers businesses to create, customize, and deploy AI-powered voice agents effortlessly, eliminating the need for complex development cycles.

    As enterprises increasingly look to AI-driven automation for customer engagement, Telnyx is making it easier than ever to implement conversational AI, at scale. With just a few clicks, users can configure intelligent assistants tailored to their specific needs, leveraging advanced AI models hosted by Telnyx.

    “Businesses need scalable, intelligent automation solutions that don’t require deep technical expertise,” said Ian Reither, COO at Telnyx. “The AI Assistant Builder brings a no-code approach to AI voice applications, allowing companies to deploy sophisticated, task-oriented agents in four simple steps.”

    Create custom voice AI assistants in minutes, without the complexity

    The new AI Assistant Builder empowers users to quickly create and deploy custom AI-powered voice assistants with no-code tooling, built-in intelligence, and customizable voice options, all via the Telnyx portal.

    Intuitive AI configuration empowers users to define assistant behavior with simple instructions, greetings, and responses, while a broad range of Telnyx-hosted AI models give businesses control over how to power their assistants.

    Pre-configured tools such as Check Availability, Book Appointment, and Transfer make it easy to automate routine tasks without any added development time. Users can also select their preferred voice characteristics and speech-to-text settings for optimized performance.

    Finally, built-in testing and deployment features allow builders to test their new conversational AI assistant directly in the portal before going live, avoiding a subpar deployment experience.

    Leverage AI for FREE through Telnyx’s AI Accelerator

    To further make AI adoption available for all, Telnyx is offering access to its AI Assistant Builder through their AI Accelerator at no cost. The accelerator provides companies with up to $20k in free credits to access Telnyx-hosted AI models, automation tools, and testing capabilities, allowing them to experiment with and deploy AI-powered voice assistants without upfront investment.

    By removing financial and technical barriers, Telnyx empowers startups and enterprises alike to explore AI-driven automation with zero risk while accelerating their innovation efforts.

    Experience the future of AI voice with a full-stack provider

    With the launch of the AI Assistant Builder, Telnyx continues to expand its portfolio of AI-driven solutions, ensuring businesses have access to intuitive, scalable automation tools. This no-code builder is designed to serve a wide range of industries, including customer support, healthcare, financial services, and logistics where intelligent voice interactions can enhance both operational efficiency and the customer experience.

    “AI-powered voice automation is changing how businesses operate, and our goal is to make that technology accessible to everyone,” Ian Reither added. “By eliminating development barriers, we’re enabling teams to innovate faster and deliver more intelligent customer interactions.”

    Availability

    The AI Assistant Builder is now live in Telnyx’s Mission Control Portal to all users. Businesses can sign up and start building no-code AI-powered voice agents today.

    For more information, visit tlyx.co/build-no-code-ai-assistants.

    About Telnyx
    Telnyx is a global communications and connectivity platform that powers seamless voice, messaging, networking, and AI-driven solutions for businesses. With a private, cloud-based network and industry-leading APIs, Telnyx enables developers and enterprises to build innovative applications with reliable, scalable infrastructure.

    For media inquiries, please contact:
    Maeve Sentner
    Product Marketing Manager
    maeve@telnyx.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Canada’s Africa strategy is a landmark moment for Canada-Africa relations, but still needs work

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By David J Hornsby, Professor of International Affairs and the Vice-Provost and Associate Vice-President (Academic), Carleton University

    For the first time in its history, Canada has unveiled a comprehensive Africa strategy, marking a significant milestone in the Canadian approach to engaging with the African continent.

    Launched on March 6 by Liberal MP Rob Oliphant, the parliamentary secretary to the foreign affairs minister, the strategy represents a crucial step towards a more coherent and intentional relationship with Africa.

    This development is worthy of praise for several reasons.

    The strategy’s strengths

    First, it demonstrates Canada’s recognition of Africa’s growing importance on the global stage. It acknowledges the need for Canada to work closely with African states and organizations in multilateral forums such as the United Nations, the G20 and the Francophonie.

    It also positions Canada not only as a partner in enhancing Africa’s voice in global affairs, but also as an ally in advancing the Canadian government’s strategic interests abroad.

    The strategy’s development process was remarkably inclusive, with more than 600 stakeholder submissions. This consultative approach not only ensured a diverse range of perspectives, but also promotes accountability in the strategy’s implementation.

    Finally, the initiative’s broad scope is commendable. By intentionally crafting the strategy to encompass a wide array of African partners — from the African Union to diaspora groups in Canada — the government has created a framework that allows various African nations and organizations to see themselves reflected in the partnership.

    Remaining questions

    However, as with any significant policy development, there are areas for improvement and questions to be addressed. These include:

    Resource allocation: While the strategy sets ambitious goals, it’s unclear how these will be achieved without new funding.

    Although the argument can be made that the government has the option to reconfigure existing funding to align with broader policy shifts, that would leave major gaps in current development programming. The government must provide more specific details about funding and, just as importantly, metrics for implementation.

    Competitive landscape: The strategy doesn’t fully acknowledge Canada’s current position in Africa. While it identifies increased competition from familiar players like China, the European Union and Russia, as well as a growing array of competitors like Brazil, Turkey and the Gulf states, it doesn’t confront the degree to which, relatively speaking, Canada has lost ground.

    This needs to be acknowledged alongside Canada’s residual reputational strength, rooted in a history of supporting democratic transitions for African nations — particularly during the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, but also during numerous peacekeeping engagements.



    Read more:
    Brian Mulroney’s tough stand against apartheid is one of his most important legacies

    Investments in developmental projects related to education and health in Africa have led to Canada garnering a reputation as a constructive and responsive collaborator on African issues. That said, Canada’s reputation in terms of mining and other extractive activities on the continent is an unhelpful counterpoint.

    Canada must strongly position itself as a state that can be trusted to champion African issues while forging partnerships based on mutual interest and respect in the fast-changing global competitive environment.

    Innovation and education: Despite the strategy’s mention of engaging youth and diaspora communities, it’s unclear on how to do this. A crucial way to connect with youth in particular is to enhance education connections and expand the links between universities and science and technological innovation institutions in Canada and African states.

    Dual degrees, funded collaborative research projects, student exchanges and scholarships are all tried-and-tested mechanisms to foster cross-cultural understandings that bind societies together.

    A sustainable Canada-Africa strategy must see educational and scientific partnerships, training and knowledge circulation as cornerstones for success.

    It would be a missed opportunity if the government fails to use this blueprint to leverage Canada’s extensive educational and scientific assets to generate innovative ideas that support the strategy’s implementation. This approach could also create opportunities for Canadian and African youth to build a strong foundation for a lasting and meaningful Canada-Africa relationship in the future.



    Read more:
    Why international students could be a critical factor in bolstering Canada’s economic resilience

    Ethical considerations: The strategy doesn’t adequately address issues related to the mining sector and the need for more ethical practices.

    Given Canada is touted as a mining superpower in Africa, a clear commitment to supporting human rights-centred and community development-oriented mining practices would go a long way to sustaining Canada’s interest in the extractive sector in Africa. This would also enhance its overall reputation on the continent.

    Furthermore, the ethics of Canada’s immigration regime and the often punitive approach to giving out temporary visas to African travellers is starkly missing from the strategy.

    It’s critical in terms of Canada’s future engagements and relations with African nations to recognize the current system is broken and considered overly intrusive by Africans. If Canada is serious about learning from Africa and forming equitable partnerships based on mutual respect, it cannot mete out indignities at the border.

    High-level commitment: The launch of the strategy by a parliamentary secretary, rather than the foreign affairs minister or the prime minister, raises questions about the perceived importance of this strategy at the highest levels of government.

    The launch was diplomatically underwhelming, with no invitations extended to the Canadian media or the African diplomatic community in Canada. This created the impression that the government was either already distancing itself from the strategy, or was anxious to manage expectations.

    Given that the launch of the strategy coincided with the Independence day of Ghana, one of the first African countries that Canada established official diplomatic relations with, the Canadian government should have seized on this historic moment to send a strong diplomatic message to the African continent.

    Substantial starting point

    Despite these concerns, the Africa strategy represents a significant and promising starting point.

    It provides a coherent, multidimensional and multi-purpose framework for Canada’s engagement with Africa. It synthesizes ongoing initiatives, sets intentions for future collaborations and seeks to move beyond paternalistic motivations to build an enhanced Canada-Africa relationship based on trust and respect.

    The strategy is realistic not only about Canada’s own limitations and needs, but also about the complexities of building partnerships with a large and diverse continent. It highlights humanitarian and security priorities while also emphasizing economic and political opportunities in Africa. The combination of humanitarian concerns with strategic interests signals a shift toward a more balanced and consistent approach towards the continent.



    Read more:
    Why Canada must seize the moment and launch its long-awaited Africa strategy

    As we move forward, the Canadian government must address the strategy’s shortcomings and provide more concrete plans for its implementation.

    Nonetheless, this moment deserves recognition. Canada has taken an important first step towards a more strategic, intentional and mutually beneficial relationship with Africa. It’s now up to policymakers, businesses, the academic community and civil society to build upon this foundation and turn this strategy into tangible, positive outcomes for both Canada and its African partners.

    David Black receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

    Thomas Kwasi Tieku receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

    David J Hornsby and Edward Akuffo do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Canada’s Africa strategy is a landmark moment for Canada-Africa relations, but still needs work – https://theconversation.com/canadas-africa-strategy-is-a-landmark-moment-for-canada-africa-relations-but-still-needs-work-252367

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: All-action launch reveal plans for Armed Forces Day

    Source: City of Plymouth

    A high-speed commando race across the sound marked the official launch of Plymouth Armed Forces Day – 100 days before we celebrate on Plymouth Hoe.

    The adrenalin fuelled launch saw an all-action military exercise, as part of a Royal Marines recruitment drive to inspire the next generation of Commandos. The event included a high-speed on-water display, bringing eight Royal Marines from the recruiting team of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, across Plymouth Sound National Marine Park in their new Commando Raiding Craft, flying the Armed Forces and sponsor’s flag.

    After landing on the Hoe foreshore, the Royal Marines climbed the 70ft walls of The Royal Citadel to the battlements, before the Armed Forces flag was presented to the Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Councillor Tina Tuohy. The flag was proudly flown from the battlements of the Citadel. The Marines departed by abseiling the Citadel walls and returning to their craft.

    Today’s launch revealed the epic programme of displays, parades, demonstrations and entertainment that is planned for Armed Forces Day, in association with defence company Babcock International Group (Babcock), which owns and operates the Devonport Royal Dockyard. It’s a cracking way to remember to put a date in the diary for Saturday 28 June!

    The launch party watched this thrilling exercise from battlements of The Royal Citadel. This included: WO2 Battery Sergeant Major Jim Feasey from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Deputy Lord Mayor and Consort, Managing Director of Babcock‘s Devonport facility John Gane, representatives from Plymouth City Council and each Military Service, including Veterans, Cadets and Military Kids Club Heroes.

    Plymouth Armed Forces Day is a celebration and a chance to show your support for the men and women who make up the Armed Forces community. It is expected that over 45,000 people will flock to Plymouth Hoe, to enjoy the free family-fun event.

    This year’s line-up will see audiences wowed by the all-day arena and stage programme, parades, hands-on displays and challenges, military vehicles and equipment, thrilling demonstrations and entertainment. 

    Cabinet Member for Events, Councillor Sally Haydon, said: “Armed Forces Day is not only a brilliant day out, filled with fun for the whole family, but an important opportunity to show our support for all members of the armed forces and thank them for their hard work and dedication.

    “Plymouth is incredibly proud of its military history and our Armed Forces based in the city. Thank you also to Babcock for their continued support, and all the other sponsors of this great event.”

    John Gane, Managing Director of Babcock’s Devonport facility, said: “We recognise the important role our Armed Forces play in keeping our country safe and we are proud to work alongside them, which is why we always look forward to celebrating this great event. As the main sponsors of Plymouth Armed Forces Day for more than a decade, we’re delighted to be able to support bringing our community together and showcase the many career opportunities available with us.”  

    Regimental Sergeant Major Stefan Spink from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, said: “We are delighted to host this year’s Plymouth Armed Forces Day launch at The Royal Citadel on The Hoe and support the Royal Marines recruitment drive. Armed Forces Day brings communities together – strengthening the connection between the military and the local people, we look forward to playing our part on the 28 June.”

    Plymouth Armed Forces Day will open at 10am, with the Parade of Standards at 11am – open to all veterans – which will see Veterans and Cadets parade across the Hoe Promenade, led by the City of Plymouth Pipe Band, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year.

    There will be plenty of action-packed activities and displays to experience throughout the day, including the Royal Navy Dive Tank. Visitors can chat to service personnel, with representatives from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Royal Air Force and British Army in attendance. Members of the Fire Service, Devon and Cornwall Police, RNLI and Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth will also be there on the day, all with lots of hands-on equipment to try.

    The Veteran’s Village will be full of charities and organisations that offer support and advice for both serving personnel and veterans.

    Foster for Plymouth, sponsors of the pre-school entertainment, will be providing lots of free fun activities suitable for young children including glitter tattoos and appearances from some very popular characters in the afternoon. Find them in the marquee on the Hoe promenade where you can also speak to the team to learn more about fostering in Plymouth. 

    The event offers a multitude of entertainment and thrills, with Cadet displays, Junior Field Gun tournaments, demonstrations from REORG Jiu Jitsu members and Team Endeavours Punishers Wheelchair Rugby, plus live music from the City of Plymouth Pipe Band, Military Wives Choir, Rock Choir and much more.

    The entertainment continues into the evening with a free outdoor music concert from 5.30pm to 10.30pm, sponsored by C&G Catering, featuring the jive jump band Company B, Not the Cowboys and Oasis tribute – Be Here Now. The evening will finish with a dazzling, energy-packed performance from Good Times, which will have the crowds dancing to the raw funk, soul and disco dynamics of Nile Rodgers’ music.

    For all the latest information about Plymouth Armed Forces Day, visit: plymoutharmedforcesday.co.uk. For further information about Babcock International, visit: babcockinternational.com

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Establishing Canada’s first large-scale bioinnovation centre

    Source: Government of Canada News (2)

    Significant federal contribution supports bioprocessing manufacturing, growing green supply chain

    March 20, 2025 · Dartmouth, Nova Scotia · Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)  

    Strengthening the biomanufacturing sector creates opportunities, supports Canadian production and moves our country towards a more sustainable future. The Government of Canada is investing to help position Nova Scotia as a leader in life sciences, clean tech, health tech and precision fermentation.

    Building a world-class facility for biomanufacturing, clean tech

    Today, the Honourable Darren Fisher, Member of Parliament for Dartmouth – Cole Harbour, announced a $5 million, non-repayable contribution to Neptune BioInnovation Inc. to establish a multi-user bio-innovation hub and Contract Manufacturing Organization (CMO). The announcement was made on behalf of the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry.

    The funding will help transform an underutilized facility in Dartmouth into a fully-equipped multi-user space for innovation and industry that will enable Canada to compete globally, strengthen domestic supply chains, and foster biotechnology advancements across critical sectors. It will provide shared industrial space, contract manufacturing, spray drying, and precision fermentation up to 100,000L, enabling companies to scale locally instead of leaving Canada.

    A one-of-a-kind facility in Canada, the Neptune BioInnovation Centre (NBC) will encourage biotechnology advancements in areas such as smart materials, bioplastics, functional foods, green chemicals, therapeutics and alternative proteins. It will attract users locally and from across Canada and globally. As NBC grows, there will be job creation, measurable progress toward sustainable development goals and a stronger domestic supply chain to address environmental and human health challenges.

    Today’s announcement further demonstrates the Government of Canada’s commitment to support innovation, keep manufacturing and Intellectual Property at home, attract investment and strengthen the national economy.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: Monolithic Power Systems Updates First Quarter 2025 Financial Guidance

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    KIRKLAND, Wash., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (“MPS”) (Nasdaq: MPWR), a fabless global company that provides high-performance, semiconductor-based power electronics solutions, today announced updates to its financial guidance for the three months ending March 31, 2025.

    The following table presents the updated financial guidance for the three months ending March 31, 2025:

      Previously Announced on
    February 6, 2025    		 Updated as of
    March 20, 2025
    Revenue $610.0 million to $630.0 million $630.0 million to $640.0 million
    GAAP operating expenses $180.2 million to $186.2 million $184.9 million to $190.9 million
    Non-GAAP (1) operating expenses $126.9 million to $130.9 million $131.6 million to $135.6 million

    As previously announced, on March 20, 2025, MPS will host an Analyst Day at 9:00 am Pacific Time. During the course of the event, management will discuss MPS’s corporate strategy, business and product updates, and financial metrics. The webcast of the event can be accessed, free of charge, at https://mpsic.zoom.us/j/98462171986 (meeting ID: 984-6217-1986). In addition, MPS will provide more information on the first quarter financial results and second quarter guidance in our earnings release and webinar at the end of April 2025 / beginning of May 2025.

    (1) Projected non-GAAP operating expenses exclude the effect of stock-based compensation and related expenses. These non-GAAP financial measures are not prepared in accordance with GAAP and should not be considered as a substitute for, or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. A schedule reconciling non-GAAP financial measures is included at the end of this press release. MPS utilizes both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures to assess what it believes to be its core operating performance and to evaluate and manage its internal business and assist in making financial operating decisions. MPS believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP financial measures, together with GAAP measures, provides investors with an alternative presentation useful to investors’ understanding of MPS’s core operating results and trends. Additionally, MPS believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures, together with GAAP measures, provides investors with an additional dimension of comparability to similar companies. However, investors should be aware that non-GAAP financial measures utilized by other companies are not likely to be comparable in most cases to the non-GAAP financial measures used by MPS. See the GAAP to non-GAAP reconciliations in the tables set forth below.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    This press release contains, and statements that will be made during the live webcast will contain, forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, among other things, (i) updated first quarter of 2025 financial guidance, (ii) our 2025 three-year financial goals, (iii) our outlook for the first quarter of 2025 and the near-term, medium-term and long-term prospects of MPS, including our ability to adapt to changing market conditions, performance against our business plan, our ability to grow despite the various challenges facing our business, our industry and the global economic environment, revenue growth in certain of our market segments, potential new business segments, our continued investment in research and development (“R&D”), expected revenue growth, customers’ acceptance of our new product offerings, the prospects of our new product development, our expectations regarding market and industry segment trends and prospects, and our projected expansion of capacity and the impact it may have on our business, (iv) market trends, market growth projections, anticipated market drivers and our ability to penetrate new and existing markets, (v) the seasonality of our business, (vi) our ability to reduce our expenses, and (vii) statements regarding the assumptions underlying or relating to any statement described in (i)-(vii) above. These forward-looking statements are not historical facts or guarantees of future performance or events, are based on current expectations, estimates, beliefs, assumptions, goals, and objectives, and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results expressed by these statements. Readers of this press release and listeners to the accompanying conference call are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, continued uncertainties in the global economy, including due to the Russia-Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, inflation, consumer sentiment and other factors; adverse events arising from orders or regulations of governmental entities, including such orders or regulations that impact our customers or suppliers, and adoption of new or amended accounting standards; adverse changes in laws and government regulations such as tariffs on imports of foreign goods, export regulations and export classifications, and tax laws or the interpretation of same, including in foreign countries where MPS has offices or operations; the effect of export controls, trade and economic sanctions regulations and other regulatory or contractual limitations on our ability to sell or develop our products in certain foreign markets, particularly in China; our ability to obtain governmental licenses and approvals for international trading activities or technology transfers, including export licenses; acceptance of, or demand for, our products, in particular the new products launched recently, being different than expected; our ability to increase market share in our targeted markets; difficulty in predicting or budgeting for future customer demand and channel inventories, expenses and financial contingencies (including as a result of any continuing impact from the Russia-Ukraine and Middle East conflicts); our ability to efficiently and effectively develop new products and receive a return on our R&D expense investment; our ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers; our ability to meet customer demand for our products due to constraints on our third-party suppliers’ ability to manufacture sufficient quantities of our products or otherwise; our ability to expand manufacturing capacity to support future growth; adverse changes in production and testing efficiency of our products; any political, cultural, military, regulatory, economic, foreign exchange and operational changes in China, where a significant portion of our manufacturing capacity comes from; any market disruptions or interruptions in our schedule of new product development releases; our ability to manage our inventory levels; adequate supply of our products from our third-party manufacturing partners; adverse changes or developments in the semiconductor industry generally, which is cyclical in nature, and our ability to adjust our operations to address such changes or developments; the ongoing consolidation of companies in the semiconductor industry; competition generally and the increasingly competitive nature of our industry; our ability to realize the anticipated benefits of companies and products that MPS acquires, and our ability to effectively and efficiently integrate these acquired companies and products into our operations; the risks, uncertainties and costs of litigation in which MPS is involved; the outcome of any upcoming trials, hearings, motions and appeals; the adverse impact on our financial performance if its tax and litigation provisions are inadequate; our ability to effectively manage our growth and attract and retain qualified personnel; the effect of epidemics and pandemics on the global economy and on our business; the risks associated with the financial market, economy and geopolitical uncertainties, including the collapse of certain banks in the U.S. and elsewhere and the Russia-Ukraine and Middle East conflicts; and other important risk factors identified under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including, but not limited to, our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 3, 2025. MPS assumes no obligation to update the information in this press release or in the accompanying webinar.   

    About Monolithic Power Systems
    Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (“MPS”) is a fabless global company that provides high-performance, semiconductor-based power electronics solutions. MPS’s mission is to reduce energy and material consumption to improve all aspects of quality of life. Founded in 1997 by our CEO Michael Hsing, MPS has three core strengths: deep system-level knowledge, strong semiconductor expertise, and innovative proprietary technologies in the areas of semiconductor processes, system integration, and packaging. These combined advantages enable MPS to deliver reliable, compact, and monolithic solutions that are highly energy-efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally responsible while providing a consistent return on investment to our stockholders. MPS can be contacted through its website at www.monolithicpower.com or its support offices around the world.

    Monolithic Power Systems, MPS, and the MPS logo are registered trademarks of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. in the U.S. and trademarked in certain other countries. 

    Contact:
    Bernie Blegen
    Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
    Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.
    408-826-0777
    MPSInvestor.Relations@monolithicpower.com

    UPDATED 2025 FIRST QUARTER OUTLOOK
    RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING EXPENSES TO NON-GAAP OPERATING EXPENSES
    (Unaudited, in thousands)
     
      Three Months Ending March 31, 2025
      Previously announced on February 6, 2025   Updated as of March 20,
    2025
      Low   High   Low   High
    Operating expenses $ 180,200     $ 186,200     $ 184,900     $ 190,900  
    Adjustments to reconcile operating expenses to non-GAAP operating expenses:              
       Stock-based compensation and other expenses   (53,300 )     (55,300 )     (53,300 )     (55,300 )
    Non-GAAP operating expenses $ 126,900     $ 130,900     $ 131,600     $ 135,600  
                   

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Idaho Copper retains Barr Engineering and Whittle Consulting for Preliminary Economic Assessment Update

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Boise, Idaho, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Idaho Copper Corp. (OTC Pink: COPR) is pleased to announce it has retained Barr Engineering Co. of Salt Lake City, Utah and Whittle Consulting Pty Ltd of Melbourne, Australia, to aid in its forthcoming, updated PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment) Technical Report, which is anticipated to be released in mid-year 2025.

    Barr, which will be acting as the study manager and lead author of the updated PEA, brings to the project decades of broad capabilities in environmental and geologic services, mine engineering, process engineering, civil engineering, and facility and infrastructure design. Their engagement will be supplemented by Lycopodium, Inc., which are experts in ore-sorting technology; they will be reviewing extensive test work conducted during 2024 that demonstrated the variability of the CuMo orebody and its strong amenability to ore sorting. (see Press Release dated September 19, 2024).

    Whittle Consulting are leaders in the optimization of mining projects and operations, materially improving their cashflow, NPV and overall economic performance. Since 1999, they have conducted over 180 optimization studies around the world, for both open pit and underground mines across all commodities, with clients that include many of the world’s major mining companies as well as numerous junior ones.

    Idaho Copper has, since March 2024, been working on its PEA update, which is expected during the first half of this year. The updated PEA will be compliant with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 and US SEC Regulation S-K 1300. The PEA update integrates ore-sorting as a key component of the mine design, mine plan, and production schedule; optimizing separation of higher-grade mill feed from lower-grade stockpile ore and waste. The company expects these changes to significantly reduce initial capital and operating costs, and dramatically increase project economics compared to the 2020 PEA.

    About Idaho Copper Corporation

    Idaho Copper Corporation is a mineral exploration and development company focused on exploring and developing a massive copper-molybdenum-silver deposit in Idaho (United States), (“the CuMo” project). The CuMo project currently consists of one hundred and twenty-six (126) federal unpatented lode mining claims, and six (6) patented mining claims. In total, the project comprises approximately 2,640 acres. The unpatented lode mining claims and patented claims are situated in an unorganized mining district in Boise County, Idaho.

    For more information, visit: www.idaho-copper.com.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    This press release contains forward looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those anticipated or expected. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company’s current expectations, estimates, and projections regarding its business, operations and other similar or related factors. Words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “anticipate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “believe,” “estimate,” and other similar or related expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Actual results and the timing of certain events could differ materially from those projected in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. Stockholders and potential investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that its plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements in this report are reasonable, the Company cannot assure stockholders and potential investors that these plans, intentions or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company’s control and difficult to predict and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in the forward-looking statements. Except to the extent required by law, the Company has no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, a change in events, conditions, circumstances or assumptions underlying such statements, or otherwise. You are urged to carefully review and consider any cautionary statements and other disclosures, including the statements made under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on May 15, 2024, and the Company’s other periodic and quarterly filings with the SEC.

    For further information, please contact: info@idaho-copper.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Annual general meeting 2025 of Danske Bank A/S

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Company announcement no 13 2025 Danske Bank
    Bernstorffsgade 40
    DK-1577 København V
    Tel. + 45 45 14 14 00

    20 March 2025

    Page 1 of 2

    Annual general meeting 2025 of Danske Bank A/S

    At the annual general meeting of Danske Bank on Thursday, 20 March 2025, the general meeting

    • adopted the Annual Report 2024 and the proposal for allocation of profit according to the adopted Annual Report 2024,
    • approved the Board of Directors’ proposed Remuneration Report 2024 by advisory vote,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal for approval of the Remuneration Policy 2025,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal for remuneration of the Board of Directors in 2025,
    • re-elected Martin Blessing, Martin Nørkjær Larsen, Lars-Erik Brenøe, Jacob Dahl, Lieve Mostrey, Allan Polack and Helle Valentin to the Board of Directors. Rafael Salinas and Marianne Sørensen were elected as new members of the Board of Directors,
    • re-appointed Deloitte Statsautoriseret Revisionspartnerselskab as external auditor regarding auditing as well as assurance engagements relating to sustainability reporting,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal to amend the Articles of Association regarding reduction of Danske Bank’s share capital by nominally DKK 271,894,960 by cancellation of shares,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal to amend the Articles of Association regarding extension by three years and reduction of the existing authorisations in articles 6.1 and 6.2 regarding capital increases with pre-emption rights and issuance of convertible debt,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal to amend the Articles of Association regarding extension by three years and reduction of the existing authorisation in article 6.5.a regarding capital increases without pre-emption rights,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal to amend the Articles of Association regarding extension by one year of the existing authorisation in articles 6.5.b and 6.6 regarding capital increases without pre-emption rights and issuance of convertible debt,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal to renew the Board of Directors’ existing authorisation to acquire own shares until 1 March 2030,
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal for renewal of the existing indemnification of directors and officers with effect until the annual general meeting in 2026, and
    • adopted the Board of Directors’ proposal for authorisation to the chairman of the general meeting.

    The general meeting did not adopt the shareholder proposal recommending payment of dividends quarterly instead of once a year.

    At the board meeting held immediately after the annual general meeting, Martin Blessing was elected Chairman and Martin Nørkjær Larsen Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors.

    The composition of the Board’s committees will be announced on danskebank.com under “Our management” as soon as possible.

    The Board of Directors of Danske Bank A/S

    Contact: Stefan Kailay Wind, Head of Corporate Communications & Media Relations, tel. +45 45 14 14 00

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Blue Mantis Expands Network and Carrier Services with Strategic Triple Acquisition

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PORTSMOUTH, N.H., March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Blue Mantis, a leading provider of digital strategy and services specializing in managed services, cybersecurity and cloud solutions, today announced the acquisition of three firms focused on IT, networking, telecommunications and managed services – TELigence Partners, Brevin Systems and Calkins Networks, each headquartered in Vermont with customers and employees located throughout the Northeast and greater U.S. The acquisition will bring nearly 200 new customers to Blue Mantis.

    Strategic Acquisitions Enhances Blue Mantis’ Network Services

    There is a growing need for carrier services and network security investments in the mid-market sector, as companies seek to modernize their infrastructure, protect their assets and capitalize on new business opportunities. According to Grand View Research, the U.S. telecoms market, which includes carrier services, was valued at $468 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $726 billion by 2030. With the acquisitions, Blue Mantis enhances its capabilities in networking and carrier services, enabling existing and future midmarket clients to reduce costs and increase security and efficiency with expanded SD-WAN, network, voice and messaging, AI, AI-driven automation, 5G networks, customer experience and managed services and more.

    TELigence Partners’ President and founder John King, Brevin Systems’ founder and security architect Dan Brisson and Calkins Networks’ President and founder Derrick Calkins have joined Blue Mantis’ leaders across the services and sales functions.

    “The addition of TELigence Partners, Brevin Systems and Calkins Networks significantly enhances our carrier services and networking practice and unlocks an underserved, but growing market in major business hubs such as Albany, Buffalo, Burlington and Rochester, allowing Blue Mantis to further expand into the healthcare and higher education sectors,” said Josh Dinneen, Blue Mantis CEO. “All three companies stood out for their customer-first attitudes, technical acumen and long-tenured client relationships. Blue Mantis’ clients, prospects and partners will benefit greatly from the exceptional value of the acquired firms’ expertise.”

    “Blue Mantis’ commitment to innovation and its customers aligns perfectly with TELigence Partners, Brevin Systems and Calkins Networks’ values” said John King, TELigence Partners’ president and founder. “Dan, Derrick and I all view this as a significant opportunity to expand our capabilities and reach, especially in the critical areas of carrier services, networking and security and managed services. As part of Blue Mantis, we gain invaluable scale and skillsets allowing us to continue to lead the way in enhancing the efficiency and security of our client base.”

    Acquisition Highlights

    • Customer Expansion: With the triple acquisition, Blue Mantis will add nearly 200 customers, including many enterprise-class organizations, in the upstate New York and Vermont corridor.
    • Enhanced Services Capabilities: The deal strengthens Blue Mantis’ existing carrier services, wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) networking and managed services, which creates further growth opportunities for the firm.
    • Client-First Approaches: TELigence Partners, Brevin Systems and Calkins Networks’ strong customer-focused culture and each talented team with more than a decade’s worth of experience will benefit current and future Blue Mantis customers, in addition to the new services.
    • Partnerships with Technology Leaders: The three companies each bring deep relationships with Blue Mantis’ current technology partners including Microsoft, Fortinet and Cisco, to Blue Mantis’ key practice areas.

    “At a time where companies are struggling to manage distributed teams and technologies, this acquisition marks a pivotal step in solidifying Blue Mantis’ position as a leader in networking and carrier services,” said Mike Grady, partner at Recognize, Blue Mantis’ majority investor. “By integrating TELigence Partners, Brevin Systems and Calkins Networks into its existing offerings, Blue Mantis is well-positioned to continue to expand its presence in the markets where organizations need it the most. Recognize looks forward to seeing the immediate impact and long-term value these acquisitions have for Blue Mantis.”

    “With these acquisitions, Blue Mantis is in a key position to help the demand for secure, efficient carrier and networking solutions in key industries such as healthcare, higher education and more,” said Rob Nicewicz, partner at Abry Partners. “Further expanding into these critical sectors and enhancing its technical capabilities is positioning Blue Mantis to create new opportunities for value and sustained growth for today’s digitally-powered organizations.”

    For more information about Blue Mantis’ full portfolio of services, visit www.bluemantis.com.

    About TELigence Partners
    TELigence Partners is an independent sales and consulting agency whose staff brings more than 150 years of combined experience in the telecommunications and information technology industries. Formed in 2006, the company serves Northeastern & East Coast businesses with telecommunications and information technology consulting, network design, solution procurement, billing audit, cost recovery resolution services and more.

    About Brevin Systems
    Brevin Systems is a provider of advanced network and security solutions using a combination of consulting and managed services. Brevin Systems focuses on delivering the right solution for the right situation, with customers located across the U.S. Brevin Systems has expertise in multiple areas of data networking, including small to campus-sized networks, enterprise wireless deployments and network security services.

    About Calkins Networks
    Calkins Networks is a premier managed service provider proudly serving customers across the northeast. Located in Shelburne, Vermont, they focus on delivering first-class support across a vast customer base. Calkins Networks offers a wide range of IT services from end-user device support, network management and security, cybersecurity, disaster recovery and cloud computing.

    About Blue Mantis
    Blue Mantis is a security-first, IT solutions and services provider with a 30+ year history of successfully helping clients achieve business modernization by applying next-generation technologies including managed services, cybersecurity, cloud and collaboration. Headquartered in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the company provides digital technology services and strategic guidance to ensure clients quickly adapt and grow through automation and innovation. Blue Mantis partners with more than 1,500 leading mid-market and enterprise organizations in a multitude of vertical industries and is backed by leading private equity firm, Recognize. For more information about Blue Mantis and its services, please visit www.bluemantis.com.

    Contact

    Tim Hurley
    Touchdown PR for Blue Mantis
    Bluemantis@touchdownpr.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Sift Unveils Global Identity Insights and Other Innovations to Deliver Rapid and Accurate Risk Decisioning

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sift, the AI-powered fraud platform, today announced significant new product innovations following the recently unveiled Identity Trust XD framework.

    The latest enhancements include the introduction of Global Identity Insights, along with substantial improvements to Sift’s payment fraud protection model and several Sift Console upgrades designed to streamline operations and improve decisioning accuracy across the platform.

    “Understanding user identity signals and behavior across digital platforms is the cornerstone of modern fraud prevention,” said Raviv Levi, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Sift. “Our latest product innovations give fraud teams unprecedented context about their users, allowing them to distinguish between legitimate customers and fraud actors in milliseconds. This combination of rich identity data and rapid decisioning both protects revenue but drives profitable growth.”

    Key updates to the Sift Platform include:

    • Global Identity Insights – a Shortcut to Trust: Reduce research time and minimize human error during reviews through a Sift Console tab providing a comprehensive profile view of users behavior, and risk outcomes with other Sift customers.
    • Account Takeover (ATO) Activity Analyzer (Coming April 2025): Intervene before risk undercuts revenue with immediate insights into account security threats. Sift now surfaces behavioral anomalies and suspicious patterns linked to credential stuffing, brute force attacks, and unusual login attempts.
      Related insight: Account takeover (ATO) remains a persistent threat to online businesses, jumping 24% year-over-year in Q2 2024
    • Console Enhancements: Multiple workflow improvements including Integration Health Reports, Review Queue Auto-Clean functionality, and Feature Pruning capabilities that automatically eliminate unnecessary data points from fraud detection models.
    • Payments Model Updates: Improvements including Payment Data Intelligence for cryptocurrency transactions, and Physical Address Normalization and Risk Signals.
    • Industry-Specific Solutions: Track betting patterns more precisely, including minimum and maximum betting matches and deposit/withdrawal velocities, using new Wager Risk Signals for iGaming customers.

    For more information about Sift’s latest innovations visit the Sift blog here.

    About Sift

    Sift is the AI-powered fraud platform delivering identity trust for leading global businesses. Our deep investments in machine learning and user identity, a data network scoring 1 trillion events per year, and a commitment to long-term customer success empower more than 700 customers to grow fearlessly. Brands including DoorDash, Yelp, and Poshmark rely on Sift to unlock growth and deliver seamless consumer experiences. Visit us at sift.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

    Media Contact:
    Victor White
    VP, Corporate Marketing, Sift
    press@sift.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d29a7459-c3a7-476b-ab9c-11fec3274728

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: UK TRA readies itself for more new remedies

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    UK TRA readies itself for more new remedies

    The TRA has this week initiated the last review of all 43 measures carried over to the UK following the country’s departure from the European Union.

    The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has this week initiated the last review of all 43 measures carried over to the UK following the country’s departure from the European Union. 

    This major achievement has been completed ahead of schedule and means the review of all relevant EU trade measures are now either complete or underway. 

    The TRA’s expert and analytical focus now fully shifts to defending UK industry against new and emerging unfair international trading practices and supporting the government with the pressures of a rapidly changing and complex global trade environment.

    In reviewing the EU’s transitioned measures, the TRA has recommended to the UK government, on the basis of evidence, what trade remedy measures the UK should maintain unchanged, which measures should be revoked (because no UK industry was affected) and which measures should be amended to better protect the UK’s economic interests. 

    Since the TRA began its programme to review the transitioned measures in 2020: 

    • 3 trade measures on alloy wheels, stainless steel bars and rods and Category 2 steel products have been revoked completely;  
    • 12 trade measures covering such industries as e-bikes, biodiesel, tyres, ceramic tiles and glass fibre have been amended to suit the UK’s need better; and
    • 14 trade remedy measures have been maintained as they were when the UK was part of the EU, as the trading conditions were assessed as not significantly changed for products such as certain steel products and rainbow trout to warrant a new tariff. 

    TRA Chair Nick Baird said:

    “I’m immensely proud of the TRA for initiating all measures transitioned from the EU ahead of schedule. We’re now seeing more new cases being brought by UK industry to combat unfair trading practices. As we look to the future, we stand ready to take applications from the UK government or UK industry to respond to real global trading pressures now faced by UK businesses”  

    The TRA’s 140-strong expert team is also dedicating its specialist investigative, legal, and analytical capability to reviewing existing trade measures that are due to end or expire, including the safeguard measure on steel imports, or anti-dumping and countervailing measures on imports of biodiesel.  

    Since being established as an arms-length body of the Department of Business and Trade in 2021, the TRA has matured to: 

    • now deliver a range of trade injury investigations to bring it alongside its more established trade remedy authority counterparts – such as the US, Canada, New Zealand or Australian administrations who have been undertaking trade defence for significantly longer than the UK’s trade body,
    • and position its capacity and capabilities to offer a broader remit of trade defence options to the Government, while remaining within the legal powers that the TRA was granted as part of the Trade Act 2021.  

    The TRA ensures it is defending UK trade from unfair international trading practices and has so far defended British producers across over £21 billion or more than 3% of all UK imports.

    Any UK producer that believes that they are being harmed by unfair overseas trading practices can contact the TRA’s contact@traderemedies.gov.uk for informal guidance and support on how to complete an application and follow our processes, as well as answers for more general queries about our work. 

    Notes to Editors

    • The TRA is the UK’s independent body for investigating and recommending trade remedies. It is an Arm’s Length Body of the Department for Business & Trade
    • The anti-dumping measure on imports of ammonium nitrate from Russia is the final trade remedy measure transitioned from the EU to be reviewed, with 29 transition reviews having been completed and 14 now underway.  
    • UK industries concerned about imports have been able to submit applications for a new trade remedy measure since January 2021. These applications are considered by the TRA to see if there are grounds for an investigation.

    Updates to this page

    Published 20 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Correction: Equinor presents 2024 Annual report

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Correction: The below stock market announcement (SMA) is a correction of the SMA published on 20 March 2025 message ID 641734. The reason for the correction is that information related to the balance sheet of Equinor ASA was inadequately presented in the attachment “Equinor Annual Report 2024.pdf”. The presentation is now complete in the attached reporting. 

     * * *

    Equinor ASA (OSE: EQNR, NYSE: EQNR) publishes annual report for 2024, including financial and sustainability reporting.

    “2024 was marked by continued unpredictability in energy markets, with growing energy demand, political uncertainty and uneven progress in the energy transition. Our focus is on producing the energy the world needs today, and at the same time developing the energy systems needed for the future,” says Anders Opedal, President and CEO of Equinor ASA.

    Safety

    “A systematic approach to safety over time is paying off with the best safety results to date in 2024. However, the year was marked by the fatal search and rescue (SAR) helicopter accident where we lost a dear colleague. We believe close collaboration with suppliers and shared learning in the industry is important for our continued safety improvement effort”, says Opedal.

    The twelve-month average Serious Incident Frequency (SIF) for 2024 was 0.3, down from 0.4 in 2023.

    Strong operational and financial performance

    Equinor delivered adjusted operating income* of USD 29.8 billion, and adjusted net income* of USD 9.18. Net operating income was reported at USD 30.9 billion and net income at USD 8.83 billion.

    “Our operational performance was strong, built on the dedicated efforts from employees across the company. Our role as a major supplier of energy to Europe is important and I am proud of the work we have done to provide energy security”, says Opedal.

    Strong operational performance across the portfolio contributed to an equity production of liquids and gas of 2,067 mboe per day in 2024, on par with the year before. Equity production of renewable power increased by 51% to 2,935 GWh.

    Strong financial result contributed to a return on average capital employed (RoACE)* at 21% for 2024. Capital discipline remained firm with organic capital expenditures* ending at USD 12.1 billion for the year. Equinor maintained a strong balance sheet with net debt to capital employed adjusted* of 11.9% at the end of 2024.

    The strong financial results of 2024 also led to strong contributions to society through taxes. In 2024, Equinor paid USD 20.6 billion in corporate income taxes of which USD 19.7 billion was paid in Norway, where Equinor has the largest share of its operations and earnings.

    Firm strategy and progressing industrial development

    “We have a consistent growth strategy, and our strategic direction remains firm. By adapting to market situation and opportunities, we are positioned for stronger free cash flow and growth, and set to create shareholder value for decades to come”, Opedal continues.

    Through progressing projects and portfolio shaping transactions Equinor spent 2024 high-grading the portfolio and positioning for stronger growth and cash flow.

    On the Norwegian continental shelf, the development of the portfolio continued with 39 new licences and approvals of the PDOs of Eirin, Irpa, Verdande and Andvare projects. The Johan Castberg FPSO arrived at the field and started preparations for startup.

    The international upstream portfolio was focused with the exits from our long-standing positions in Nigeria and Azerbaijan and deepened in core areas with the acquisitions of US Onshore gas assets close to premium markets. In the UK an agreement was signed to establish an incorporated joint venture with Shell UK Ltd., which will become the largest independent oil and gas company on the UK continental shelf.

    Through 2024 Equinor high-graded the renewables portfolio to ensure profitable growth, in a market challenged by cost inflation and regulatory delays. In the UK the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Dogger Bank, continued to progress towards commercial start-up. Production was commenced at the Mendubim solar plants in Brazil.

    The long-term view on the importance of offshore wind remains firm. Through an acquisition of a 10% stake in Ørsted, Equinor got exposure to a premium portfolio of offshore wind projects and assets in operation.

    Value chains for carbon transport and storage progressed notably. In Norway, Northern Lights, the first commercial CO2 transport and storage infrastructure was completed and is expected to receive and store CO2 in 2025. In the UK, execution started for two of UK’s first carbon capture and storage infrastructure projects where Equinor is a partner.

    Progress on the Energy transition plan

    In 2024, Equinor achieved a year-on-year reduction of 5% in operated scope 1+2 greenhouse gas emissions, bringing the total down to 11.0 million tonnes CO2 equivalents. This is a 34% reduction from 2015, which is the reference year for Equinor’s ambition to reduce group-wide operated emissions by 50% on a net basis by 2030. Throughout 2024, actions were taken for further emission reductions with the partial electrification of the Sleipner field center, the Gudrun platform, as well as the Troll B and C fields.

    The average upstream CO2 intensity of Equinor’s operated portfolio was 6.2 kg of CO2 per boe in 2024 (100% basis), an improvement from 6.7kg of CO2/boe in 2023 and well below the industry average. The scope 3 GHG emissions from use of our products were 251 million tonnes in 2024, on par with the level in 2023.

    Equinor improved in the net carbon intensity of energy produced (including scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions) in 2024, which is now 2% below the 2019 baseline. The reduction was mainly driven by increased renewable energy production and lower scope 1+2 emissions.

    Equinor ambition is to to be a leading company in the energy transition. The updated Energy Transition Plan, published on March 20 2025, outlines the approach to deliver on Equinor’s strategy of creating value in the transition, while adjusting to changing external context and market realities.

    ***

    The previously announced decision of the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE), includes a requirement for Equinor to publish the following summary language:

    “Les sociétés Danske Commodities A/S et Equinor ASA ont été condamnées, par une décision n° 08-40-23 de la Commission de régulation de l’énergie (CRE) du 20 janvier 2025, au titre de la méconnaissance de l’article 5 du règlement REMIT qui prohibe les manipulations de marché, au paiement de sanctions pécuniaires, dont les montants s’élèvent à huit millions d’euros (8.000.000 €) pour la société Danske Commodities A/S et quatre millions d’euros (4.000.000 €) pour la société Equinor ASA, pour des manipulations commises sur le marché de gros en 2019 et en 2020, en ce qui concerne les capacités de transport de gaz naturel entre la France et l’Espagne.

    Danske Commodities A/S and Equinor ASA were ordered by decision no. 08-40-23 of Commission de régulation de l’énergie (CRE) of 20 January 2025 to pay – for infringement of Article 5 of REMIT Regulation prohibiting market manipulations – financial penalties in the amount of eight million euros (€8,000,000) as regards Danske Commodities A/S and four million euros (€4,000,000) as regards Equinor ASA, for manipulations committed on the wholesale market in 2019 and 2020, with regard to natural gas transmission capacity between France and Spain.”

    The full decision is included in the attached appendix “Full decision text”. Equinor does not agree with the decision from CRE and will appeal the case to the Higher Administrative Court in France.

    * * *

    Our annual report and the subsidiary reports published separately can be downloaded from equinor.com/reports.

    * * *

    In accordance with Section 203.01 of the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual, Equinor ASA announces that on 20 March 2025 it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission its 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F that includes audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024.

    The Equinor 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F may be downloaded from Equinor’s website at www.equinor.com. References to this document or other documents on Equinor’s website are included as an aid to their location and are not incorporated by reference into this document. All SEC filings made available electronically by Equinor may be obtained from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Shareholders may also request a hard copy of the annual report free of charge at www.equinor.com.

    * * *

    (*) These are non-GAAP figures. See Use and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures in the annual report for more details.

    Further information:

    Investor relations
    Bård Glad Pedersen, senior vice president Investor Relations,
    +47 51 99 00 00

    Press
    Rikke Høistad Sjøberg, media spokesperson financial communication,
    +47 901 01 451(mobile)

    * * *

    Cautionary Note regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect current views with respect to future events, are based on the management’s current expectations and assumptions, and are, by their nature, subject to significant risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including those discussed under “Risk Factors” in the 2024 Annual report and elsewhere in Equinor’s publications. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and, except as required by applicable law, Equinor undertakes no obligation to update any of these statements, whether to make them conform to actual results, changes in expectations or otherwise.

    * * *

    This information is subject to disclosure obligations pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation, ref. section 3-1 in the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, and section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Darren Jones speech to Institute for Government

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Speech

    Darren Jones speech to Institute for Government

    In a speech at the Institute for Government today, Darren Jones laid out his plans to transform and upgrade the government’s central finance system.

    Well, good afternoon everyone. It’s great to be back at the Institute for government. And as has been alluded to, I was here not very long ago. But I’m delighted to be back because I’ve been working on a project with colleagues in the Treasury that I’m told is not particularly newsy, but for me and a select group is very, very exciting. And so we wanted to talk about it and this was a perfect venue to do so. So thank you once again for hosting us.

    When I became Chief Secretary to the Treasury and therefore responsible for public spending, I didn’t quite envisage that I would be giving a speech like this, starting with a story about the sinking of the General Belgrano during the Falklands War. Nor to be making the connection between that event and my plans to modernize how we use finance and performance management data in Whitehall. But following a conversation with Lord Sainsbury, it turns out I am. And so I’m now going to tell you the story, if you don’t mind me pinching it.

    So some of you might remember that Clive Ponting was a senior civil servant who leaked government information about the sinking of the General Belgrano, and in 1985, after a court case that resulted in the then cabinet secretary Robert Armstrong, drafting something that’s now called the Armstrong Memorandum, which, based on some earlier constitutional principles, set out essentially how ministers and civil servants are accountable for their actions.

    The memorandum, in a classically British way, has become entwined in the Constitution and become an important part of our While constitutional principles, it’s now become a doctrine. The Armstrong doctrine, I’m told by the House of Commons library. And essentially what it means is that government departments are autonomous, independent organizations that report directly to Parliament. Now, that doctrine is important and obviously will continue. But in this modern world where we are trying to use data and technology to better deliver public services, we need to move on a little. And let me explain why.

    So when I arrived at the Treasury last year, I had assumed that the Treasury acted a bit like a finance department in a kind of multinational organization or a group, organizations with different lines of business or parts of the business that reported up to the Treasury.
    But what I’ve realised over the last few months is that actually the way our finance systems are designed means the relationship is a little bit more like a bank and its customer. So the Treasury, as the bank has a load of customers, the departments in government, and it’s our job to anticipate their financing needs, to think about how we’re going to raise the money, to be able to give them the money, to request information from them about what they want to do, which we do via letterhead and Excel spreadsheets. and then use word based document advice notes to talk about what they’d like to do and how much it might cost. And in that process, we then attach conditions to the spending. So we say, fine, you can have X million billion pounds. And in return we think these things should happen. We apply ring fences to different pots of money. You can only use this bit for this particular outcome. And we put loads of compliance reporting over it, a kind of grander scale of getting a loan from a bank where it might just be for your home development or debt consolidation or a car or whatever.

    And then we check in and we see how the departments are getting on, how they’re spending that money, whether they’re spending it broadly in line with what we agreed. And we do that on the basis of a monthly submission from the departments to an IT system called Oscar, which essentially is an Excel spreadsheet that the departments fill out and then upload. And that tells us at a very high level, how much they’re spending against what we thought they were going to spend. It’s essentially cash flow. And it doesn’t really tell us a huge amount more.

    And so what that means is that the information that we get is not only high level and a bit disaggregated, but it’s also retrospective. It’s looking backwards, not looking at current performance and not really able to predict future performance.

    And so in practice, because of this Armstrong doctrine, all of the finance, accounting and performance data sits within the departments on their own IT systems, often structured in different ways. Or they. Whitehall has been doing some good work in trying to get them to report their data in a unified way, and then turned into PDF management board packs that go to the departmental boards each month, which they send us as a courtesy, and we kind of have a look at them. But it’s all essentially not very ideal.

    And the problem with that is that not only does the Treasury then, in exercising its responsibility to manage public money, attach loads of conditions and ring fences and compliance reporting and kind of meddling essentially a lot in the departments, but then the departments in turn end up applying an enormous number of performance metrics and KPIs to all of the different services that they provide.

    We then in the Treasury layer some of our own on the top, the Cabinet Office layer, some of theirs on the top, and if it’s a Prime Minister or Prime Minister or priority number ten, layer some more on the top. And essentially you’ve then got this enormous list of KPIs that people are constantly manually reporting against the long side of the ring fences and the conditions and the compliance requirements. And quite frankly, it’s a wonder that anything gets done.

    And so that has to change. And it needs to change because it’s frustrating to all of our brilliant officials, our spending teams in the Treasury, but also all of our officials in Whitehall departments who want to get on and deliver the public’s priorities. It wouldn’t be acceptable to behave in this way in a modern company, and it is not acceptable to act in this way in the modern British state.

    So the reforms that I’m going to be taking forward will help deal with this problem and as a consequence, improve productivity and performance across Whitehall. It’s in line with what you’ve heard from the Prime Minister in terms of our ambitions to rewire the state, to modernize the state and public services, to deliver better outcomes for the public in return for greater transparency between the departments and the centre of government.

    We then, in the centre of government, have to offer greater autonomy and delegation to the departments. The transparency that we want will make it easier for the Treasury to continue to manage public money robustly, but in return they will have to be fewer conditions, better levels of delegation and a reduction in the amount of reporting and compliance against too many KPIs.

    Only yesterday I met with some CEOs and chief technology officers from leading businesses who are harnessing data through their complex multinational operations to help deliver better decision making.

    There was a private equity firm with over 60 portfolio companies, for example, and despite the huge number of individual operating entities and jurisdictions around the world in which they operate, they use some what seem to be pretty normal tools that the private sector now uses to pull that data through. They have some AI that read these PDF board packs and automatically put it into their IT systems, and they focus crucially on the data that matters most. That is most important to them, and which in turn gives them the best shot of being able to predict future performance as well as track current performance. It means that they’re able to see how individual business units and their sales are performing, where costs are mounting up, where revenue is falling, where problems are so that they can grab them and deal with them, but also to be able to allocate capital more efficiently and deliver better outcomes.

    As I say, these software products are available today. They’re not complicated, but we do need to bring them into the public sector at last, because a smarter, data driven approach to understanding, tracking and evaluating spending, performance and delivery is the right ambition for any government, and it’s definitely an ambition of ours.

    We’ve made some strides already. We’ve already, as I’ve talked about when I was here last time, updated the Spending Review. We’re using technology, dashboards, AI. We’re talking about things across departments with the cabinet. This is very different to the way it used to happen with the Treasury bilaterally via Excel spreadsheets, with not everyone knowing what was happening. You get one department in, you get them out, you get another department in, you get them out. We’ve transformed that already as best we can. But this type of approach will make it much easier and allow ministers to make much more informed decisions to deliver better outcomes for the public.

    So these reforms will update our operating model, and they will transform the digital and data architecture of public spending across government. We’re building on existing work that’s taking place, which is implementing shared enterprise resource planning software, ERP software, back office functions, basically where the departments are already integrating some of those functions in the cloud through various groupings of departments. And we will develop a single digital interface that sits over the top of these IT solutions and will bring the data up into the centre of government to allow us to look at financial and performance management.

    We’ll then be able to use data analytics and AI to track trends, spot emerging challenges, and to be able to share best practice in real time. It will also allow us to spot earlier where there are points of failure that lead to excessive spending. Too often there are lots of examples. We only realise that something is going wrong and costing a lot when it’s a very large number. We need to be able to spot those and deal with it much sooner in that process, for the benefit of people who are relying on those public services, but also for the benefit of taxpayers.

    The good news is that our officials, our finance professionals, the departments, they will all welcome this. They’ve been looking for. I think politicians to prioritise this niche but exciting opportunity for quite some time. And here we are at last, with ministers who are excited by the potential of data.

    We won’t be changing the constitutional basics. Of course, departments will still be accountable to Parliament through their ministers and accounting offices, but we will be taking this new approach to a shared, transparent evidence base where data flows in the way that it should, whether the centre of government has sites where departments can collaborate when they’re part of a system together, to have a more informed view about how their decisions affect each other and how ultimately that’s affecting people across the country.

    We start from a decade where the performance of public services went backwards. The Whitehall Monitor is a great evidence base for showing that productivity is nosedived, and as a consequence, public spending had spiralled out of control. We’ve already taken steps, as you all know, to get a grip of public spending, to embed our fiscal rules, to strengthen independent oversight from the office for Budget Responsibility, and to take the tough and sometimes unpopular decisions we’ve had to take in order to make sure that we’re spending in line with our means as a country.

    But after 14 years of behaving in that way, the public rightly look at government irrespective of party and ask, why am I paying all of this tax and not seeing basic public services work? This is an important part of the answer to that challenge, and it will give us the tools, the data and the insight to really be able to drive modernisation and productivity across the public sector so that we’re operating as a modern government fit for the 21st century.

    And as part of wider sets of reforms that you’ve heard Pat McFadden and others talk about ultimately delivering a more productive and lean state that can deliver better outcomes for people at lower cost thanks to our investment and modernisation of the state and public services. Thanks very much.

    Updates to this page

    Published 20 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: St James’ BID ballot results | Westminster City Council

    Source: City of Westminster

    As part of our statutory duty, we were appointed to hold a ballot for the proposed new St. James’s occupier and property owner Business Improvement Districts (BIDs).

    The results were announced for the two BID ballots on 13 March 2025.

    For the occupier ballot, 32 out of 61 votes were in favour (52%), but only 46.9% of those who voted, by aggregate rateable value were in favour, which resulted in an unsuccessful ballot. In order for a new BID to be established, the votes in favour of the BID proposal must form a majority, both in terms of aggregate rateable value, and numbers voting. 

    For the property owner ballot, 58 out of 77 votes were in favour with the majority of voters in the proposed BID area who voted, voting in favour of the proposal, both by aggregate rateable value (84%) and numbers voting (75%). 

    In order for a property owner BID to be established, an occupier BID must be established first in line with BID regulations.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Bringing dry numbers to life: the head of Mosstat presented representatives of the State University of Management with gratitude for popularizing statistics

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On March 20, 2025, a presentation of projects by 2nd and 3rd year students of the State University of Management of the educational program “Business Analytics and Forecasting” was held at the Office of the Federal State Statistics Service for Moscow and the Moscow Region (Mosstat) and the presentation of gratitude from the head of Mosstat Leonid Kalimullin.

    The presentation featured two projects aimed at popularizing statistics and developing the Mosstat brand.

    The project “Visualization of agricultural statistics data by municipalities of the Moscow region” attracted great interest. Mosstat employees who attended the presentation were interested in the dashboard that resulted from the work.

    “Work on the dashboard inspired us with its dynamism – we literally “brought to life” dry numbers, turning them into interactive graphs and maps, which caused genuine delight. After the presentation, we felt proud of the result. We not only proved the value of the idea, but also felt how our analytics can really change the approach to managing the agro-industrial complex in the region,” commented second-year student Venera Chorbadzhyan.

    No one was left indifferent by the statistical board game developed by students, which will help them acquire not only knowledge in the field of statistics, but also teach them to communicate with others and work in a team.

    “Developing the game gave us the opportunity to show schoolchildren the diversity and greatness of statistics, making this product interesting and exciting, to convince them that statistics are not just boring numbers, but the result of research and events. The uniqueness of the project lies in the original idea of a game with statistics. It has different levels of difficulty, which allows people with different levels of knowledge and training to play. The game allows you to develop statistics skills in a game form, which makes the learning process more interesting and faster,” 3rd-year students of the Business Analytics and Forecasting program commented on their work.

    Following the speeches, the head of the Federal State Statistics Service for Moscow and the Moscow Region, Leonid Kalimullin, presented official thanks to the staff and students of the State University of Management.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 03/20/2025

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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  • MIL-OSI Russia: Press Release – IMF and the Statistical Community Release New Global Standards for Macroeconomic Statistics

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    March 20, 2025

    Washington, DC: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released the seventh edition of the Integrated Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM7, the Manual) (https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Data/Statistics/BPM6/draft-bpm7-wcv.ashx). This new edition provides updated global standards for compiling external sector statistics, including balance of payments and integrated international investment position. It highlights key changes in the global economy, such as the increasing economic interconnectedness, digitalization, and innovations in financial markets since the time of the last update of the manual in 2009.

    The launch of BPM7 marks the culmination of several years of work by the IMF Statistics Department in consultation with the IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics (BOPCOM), with support from the global balance of payments (BOP) community of statisticians and users. BPM7 serves as a key framework for member countries, guiding the preparation of internationally comparable statistics and the production of high-quality data that reflects economic realities.

    The release of BPM7 coincides with the release of the updated System of National Accounts, 2025 (2025 SNA) which was adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission on March 5, 2025 (https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/sna2025.asp). The Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 and Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual and Compilation Guide 2016 will also be revised in the near term to maintain their harmonization with the two updated standards. This uniform set of statistical methodologies ensures policymakers can make well-informed, data-driven decisions.

    Countries are encouraged to implement both standards by 2029–2030. The IMF will support implementation of the updated BPM7 by providing additional guidance and technical assistance.

    The white cover (pre-edited) version of BPM7 is available electronically in English, with publication in other languages—Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish—expected to be completed following the release of the final version.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Rahim Kanani

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/03/20/pr25072-imf-and-statistical-community-release-new-global-standards-for-macroeconomic-stats

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