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  • MIL-OSI: NANO Nuclear Energy Executives Scheduled to Present at the Upcoming Mississippi Public Service Commissioners’ Nuclear Summit

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    New York, N.Y., Oct. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear energy and technology company focused on developing portable, clean energy solutions, today announced that its Chief Executive Officer and Head of Reactor Development, James Walker, will lead a virtual presentation alongside Founder and Chairman, Jay Yu, at the upcoming Mississippi Public Service Commission Nuclear Summit.

    “A key aspect of the NANO Nuclear story is our participation in the emerging nuclear energy renaissance in the U.S. It is inspiring to see states like Mississippi, in addition to the growing support within the federal government, take the initiative to adopt nuclear-based solutions for their expanding energy needs,” said Jay Yu, Founder and Chairman of NANO Nuclear Energy. “Advanced reactors, such as NANO Nuclear’s ‘ODIN’ and ‘ZEUS’ microreactors in development, can play a pivotal role in this transition, allowing states to deploy portable, safe nuclear energy solutions where they are most needed. We look forward to engaging with fellow attendees and presenters at the Nuclear Summit to discuss the future of Mississippi’s energy landscape.”

    Featuring prominent speakers such as Jeff Merrifield, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Industry Council and former NRC Commissioner, and Mike King, Special Assistant for ADVANCE ACT Implementation at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Summit will provide a platform to explore safe, reliable, and sustainable energy solutions that benefit Mississippi’s communities and economy.

    The Summit is scheduled for October 22, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Jackson, MS. All interested parties are welcome and encouraged to register at ww.psc.ms.gov. “Mississippi has the potential to be a leader in nuclear energy, and this summit will serve as a proactive platform for meaningful dialogue. The Mississippi Public Service Commission is grateful to have an industry leader such as NANO Nuclear Energy take part in the summit.” stated the Commissioners.

    Figure 1 – NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. Executives to Present at the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s Nuclear Summit 2024.

    “We are excited to participate in this Nuclear Summit and support Mississippi in achieving its goals of a sustainable, secure, and efficient energy future powered by advanced nuclear technologies,” said James Walker, Chief Executive Officer and Head of Reactor Development of NANO Nuclear Energy. “Our participation in this important event alongside key representatives of the United States nuclear energy sector is a testament to our continuing networking efforts. The support of both federal and state governments is crucial in accelerating this shift to more sustainable energy solutions, and we are pleased to contribute to discussions on how advanced nuclear technologies and our own microreactors can play a key role in achieving this goal.”

    About NANO Nuclear Energy, Inc.

    NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) is an advanced technology-driven nuclear energy company seeking to become a commercially focused, diversified, and vertically integrated company across four business lines: (i) cutting edge portable microreactor technology, (ii) nuclear fuel fabrication, (iii) nuclear fuel transportation and (iv) nuclear industry consulting services. NANO Nuclear believes it is the first portable nuclear microreactor company to be listed publicly in the U.S.

    Led by a world-class nuclear engineering team, NANO Nuclear’s products in technical development are “ZEUS”, a solid core battery reactor, and “ODIN”, a low-pressure coolant reactor, each representing advanced developments in clean energy solutions that are portable, on-demand capable, advanced nuclear microreactors.

    Advanced Fuel Transportation Inc. (AFT), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is led by former executives from the largest transportation company in the world aiming to build a North American transportation company that will provide commercial quantities of HALEU fuel to small modular reactors, microreactor companies, national laboratories, military, and DOE programs. Through NANO Nuclear, AFT is the exclusive licensee of a patented high-capacity HALEU fuel transportation basket developed by three major U.S. national nuclear laboratories and funded by the Department of Energy. Assuming development and commercialization, AFT is expected to form part of the only vertically integrated nuclear fuel business of its kind in North America.

    HALEU Energy Fuel Inc. (HEF), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is focusing on the future development of a domestic source for a High-Assay, Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel fabrication pipeline for NANO Nuclear’s own microreactors as well as the broader advanced nuclear reactor industry.

    NANO Nuclear Space Inc. (NNS), a NANO Nuclear subsidiary, is exploring the potential commercial applications of NANO Nuclear’s developing micronuclear reactor technology in space. NNS is focusing on applications such as power systems for extraterrestrial projects and human sustaining environments, and potentially propulsion technology for long haul space missions. NNS’ initial focus will be on cis-lunar applications, referring to uses in the space region extending from Earth to the area surrounding the Moon’s surface.

    For more corporate information please visit: https://NanoNuclearEnergy.com/

    For further information, please contact:

    Email: IR@NANONuclearEnergy.com
    Business Tel: (212) 634-9206
    PLEASE FOLLOW OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES HERE:
    NANO Nuclear Energy LINKEDIN
    NANO Nuclear Energy YOUTUBE
    NANO Nuclear Energy TWITTER

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

    This news release and statements of NANO Nuclear’s management in connection with this news release or the Mississippi Nuclear Summit described herein contain or may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In this context, forward-looking statements mean statements (including relating to the potential for nuclear energy innovation and expansion in Mississippi) related to future events, which may impact our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “potential”, “will”, “should”, “could”, “would” or “may” and other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to us as of the date of this news release and represent management’s current views and assumptions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, events or results and involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may be beyond our control. For NANO Nuclear, particular risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the following: (i) risks related to our U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) or related state nuclear fuel licensing submissions, (ii) risks related the development of new or advanced technology, including difficulties with design and testing, cost overruns, development of competitive technology, (iii) our ability to obtain contracts and funding to be able to continue operations, (iv) risks related to uncertainty regarding our ability to technologically develop and commercially deploy a competitive advanced nuclear reactor or other technology in the timelines we anticipate, if ever, (v) risks related to the impact of government regulation and policies including by the DOE and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, including those associated with the recently enacted ADVANCE Act, and (vi) similar risks and uncertainties associated with the business of a start-up business operating a highly regulated industry. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this news release. These factors may not constitute all factors that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed in any forward-looking statement, and the NANO Nuclear therefore encourages investors to review other factors that may affect future results in its filings with the SEC, which are available for review at http://www.sec.gov and at https://ir.nanonuclearenergy.com/financial-information/sec-filings. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a predictor of actual results. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after the date of this news release, except as required by law.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: AMD Expands Alveo Portfolio with Launch of World’s Fastest Electronic Trading Accelerator in Slim Form Factor for Broad, Cost-Effective Server Deployments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today announced the AMD Alveo™ UL3422 accelerator card, the latest addition to its record-breaking family of accelerators1 designed for ultra-low latency electronic trading applications. AMD Alveo UL3422 provides trading firms, market makers and financial institutions with a slim form factor accelerator optimized for rack space, cost and designed for a fast path to deployment in a wide range of servers.

    The Alveo UL3422 accelerator is powered by an AMD Virtex™ UltraScale+™ FPGA that features a novel transceiver architecture with hardened, optimized network connectivity cores, custom built for high-speed trading. It enables ultra-low latency trade execution, achieving less than 3ns FPGA transceiver latency and breakthrough ‘tick-to-trade’ performance not achievable with standard off-the-shelf FPGAs1.

    “Speed is the ultimate advantage in the increasingly competitive world of high-speed trading,” said Yousef Khalilollahi, corporate vice president & general manager, Adaptive Computing Group, AMD. “The Alveo UL3422 card provides a lower-cost entry point while still delivering cutting-edge latency performance, making it accessible to firms of all sizes that want to stay competitive in the ultra-low latency trading space.”

    New Slim Form Factor for Cost-Effective Deployment
    The Alveo UL3422 accelerator card is packaged in a slim FHHL (full height, half length) form factor designed to fit into a wide range of servers and co-location exchange data centers.

    Compared to its predecessor, the Alveo UL3422 accelerator reduces port density, on-board memory, and connectivity options, while still being powered by the same AMD Virtex UltraScale+ VU2P FPGA for ultra-low latency.

    As a result, the Alveo UL3422 is half the size with equivalent performance to the existing Alveo UL3524 accelerator card which holds the current STAC-T0 benchmark world record for tick-to-trade performance1. The slim FHHL form factor of the Alveo UL3422 allows financial institutions to cost-effectively optimize compute density and rack-space.

    Ecosystem Solutions and Fast Path to Trade
    The Alveo UL3422 accelerator card is designed for a fast path to deployment by utilizing available infrastructure ecosystem solutions and reference designs, giving trading developers the edge they need for rapid design closure and time to market.

    It is supported by a growing network of ecosystem partner solutions that provide IP and development frameworks to enable the rapid implementation of trading solutions.

    • Exegy, a provider of end-to-end, front-office trading solutions, is supporting the AMD Alveo UL3422 card with its Development Framework (nxFramework). nxFramework is a hardware and software development environment designed to efficiently build and maintain ultra-low latency FPGA applications for the financial industry.
    • Hypertec, a provider of hardware, cloud, and value-added solutions for the financial services industry, has closely collaborated with AMD. The company’s HF X410R-G6 server is certified to support the Alveo UL3422 accelerator, making it the first 1U server fully optimized for this card.
    • Xelera Technologies, a software provider for high-speed network technology and machine learning (ML) applications, collaborated with AMD to help overcome the latency drawback of ML algorithms in high-frequency trading. With Xelera Silva users can take advantage of real-time, ML-based trading decisions while leveraging XGBoost, LightGBM, CatBoost and other advanced models.

    The Alveo UL3422 supports traditional FPGA flows using the AMD Vivado™ Design Suite and comes with a suite of reference designs and performance benchmarks that allow FPGA designers to quickly explore key metrics and develop custom trading strategies to specification.

    AMD is also providing developers with the open-sourced and community-supported FINN development framework, enabling low-latency AI models to be deployed into high-performance trading systems. FINN uses PyTorch and neural network quantization techniques designed to reduce the size of AI models while maintaining accuracy. The FINN compiler generates Quantized Neural Network (QNN) Hardware IP blocks that can be used with AMD FPGAs.

    The AMD Alveo UL3422 accelerator card is currently available and shipping in production volumes to global financial services customers.

    Supporting Resources

    About AMD
    For more than 50 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. Billions of people, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research institutions around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. AMD employees are focused on building leadership high-performance and adaptive products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages.

    AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, Alveo, UltraScale, Virtex, Vivado and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other names are for informational purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

    1 The 2024 AMD world record for actionable latency is based on 3rd party testing commissioned by AMD and Exegy, by Strategic Technology Analysis Center, LLC (STAC®) in April 2024, using the STAC-T0 benchmark to test the AMD Alveo UL3524 accelerator card powered by the AMD Virtex Ultrascale+ VU2P FPGA, running on the Exegy nxFramework and Exegy nxTCP-UDP-10g-ULL IP Core, in a Dell PowerEdge R7525 server with AMD EPYC 7313 processors. See https://stacresearch.com/news/AMD240422 for the full STAC report. AMD holds the previous world record for latency (2020): https://www.stacresearch.com/news/XLX200514. Stated results for the Alveo UL3524 accelerator have been extrapolated to the AMD Alveo UL3422 card based on identical silicon and product features. (ALV-20).

    Media Contacts:
    Mike Sanchez
     AMD Communications
    +1 209-262-7458
    M.Sanchez@amd.com

    Mitch Haws
    AMD Investor Relations
    +1 408-749-2845
    Mitch.Haws@amd.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/416bce0e-416e-4cd3-8e25-a89b97c24f09

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: LPL Financial Welcomes Financial Advisor Ashton Medina

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN DIEGO, Oct. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LPL Financial LLC, announced today that financial advisor Ashton Medina, CFA®, CFP®, has joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer and corporate RIA platforms, aligning with existing firm GradePoint Financial Group. He reported having served approximately $155 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets* and joins LPL from Synovus Securities.

    Based in Miami, Fla., Medina is in his fifth year as an advisor following an initial career as a portfolio manager at a private bank. He’s committed to delivering a broad spectrum of wealth management and financial planning services, with a focus on education to help his clients better understand the complexities of their financial lives.

    “I am very passionate about the world of investments,” said Medina, who immigrated from Colombia after graduating high school at age 16. “Transitioning from a portfolio manager to a financial advisor has allowed me to provide clients with a more holistic approach to their needs, so that I can address every facet of their finances and offer a higher level of value.”

    Looking for independence and the autonomy to run his business on his own terms, Medina turned to LPL and GradePoint.

    “I’m excited to be part of LPL and GradePoint Financial Group,” said Medina. “I really appreciate LPL’s comprehensive digital platform with single sign-on where I can access everything in one place. This will allow me to expand my service offering and create more positive experiences for clients. I am also impressed with GradePoint’s localized support and dedicated resources.”

    Jeff Hughes, President of GradePoint Financial Group, said, “We’re thrilled to welcome our newest team member, Ashton Medina, to Gradepoint Financial. Ashton excels at transforming intricate challenges into customized solutions, especially in unique situations. With a keen focus on multi-generational wealth and estate planning, his personalized approach and attention to detail make him a great addition to our team. Welcome Ashton!”

    Scott Posner, LPL Executive Vice President, Business Development, said, “We welcome Ashton to LPL and congratulate him on making the move to independence. At LPL, we’re committed to delivering differentiated support services and robust resources, along with the freedom, choice and ability advisors need to build a business of value on their own terms. We look forward to supporting the entire GradePoint Financial Group for years to come.”

    Related

    Advisors, learn how LPL Financial can help take your business to the next level.

    About LPL Financial

    LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) was founded on the principle that LPL should work for advisors and institutions, and not the other way around. Today, LPL is a leader in the markets we serve, serving more than 23,000 financial advisors, including advisors at approximately 1,000 institutions and at approximately 580 registered investment advisor firms nationwide. We are steadfast in our commitment to the advisor-mediated model and the belief that Americans deserve access to personalized guidance from a financial professional. At LPL, independence means that advisors and institution leaders have the freedom they deserve to choose the business model, services and technology resources that allow them to run a thriving business. They have the flexibility to do business their way. And they have the freedom to manage their client relationships, because they know their clients best. Simply put, we take care of our advisors and institutions, so they can take care of their clients.

    Securities and Advisory services offered through LPL Financial LLC (“LPL Financial”), a registered investment advisor.
     Member FINRA/SIPC. LPL Financial and its affiliated companies provide financial services only from the United States. GradePoint Financial Group and LPL Financial are separate entities.

    Throughout this communication, the terms “financial advisors” and “advisors” are used to refer to registered representatives and/or investment advisor representatives affiliated with LPL Financial.

    We routinely disclose information that may be important to shareholders in the “Investor Relations” or “Press Releases” section of our website.

    *Value approximated based on asset and holding details provided to LPL from end of year, 2023.

    Media Contact: 
    Media.relations@LPLFinancial.com 
    (704) 996-1840

    Tracking #641811

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: VP Roberta highlights ADB’s work on sustainable finance, local currency at Hamburg Sustainability Conference

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Article | 10 October 2024
    Read time: 1 min

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    From 7 to 8 October, VP Roberta led ADB’s delegation, in coordination with the European Representative Office,  to the first Hamburg Sustainability Conference, a joint initiative by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the UNDP, and the City of Hamburg. The VP met with Germany’s Parliamentary State Secretary and ADB Governor Niels Annen and State Secretary Baerbel Kofler. VP Roberta also participated in the Multi-stakeholders Collaboration to Enhance Credit Ratings and Country Risk Assessments roundtable with high-level representatives from governments, peer multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, credit rating agencies. At the side event Sustainable Finance Forum on 9 October, VP Roberta highlighted ADB’s work in local capital markets development, currency lending, and sustainable finance.

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    Subjects
    • Climate change

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Helping Older New Yorkers Save in Health Care Costs

    Source: US State of New York

    Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that nearly one million New Yorkers are now enrolled in State-administered Medicare Savings Program (MSP), which can help eligible older adults save an estimated average of $7,400 per year in health care costs. With the Medicare open enrollment period starting tomorrow, Governor Hochul also encouraged more New Yorkers to learn about and enroll in the MSP. Many older adults are eligible for this program following the Governor’s historic expansion of the MSP, which increased income eligibility limits to ensure more New Yorkers can benefit from health care savings.

    “Our work to expand the Medicare Savings Program is helping ease the burden of healthcare costs for nearly one million New Yorkers and putting thousands of dollars back in their pockets,” said Governor Kathy Hochul. “I encourage older adults in New York to use the Medicare open enrollment period to find out if they are eligible for the program and to learn if other Medicare coverage options can provide additional cost savings.”

    The Medicare open enrollment period begins tomorrow, Oct. 15, and will remain open until Dec. 7. While New Yorkers can enroll in the MSP all year round, the open enrollment period is a great time to learn about the benefits and address any Medicare questions.

    The MSP helps Medicare beneficiaries living on limited incomes by paying their Medicare Part B premiums and automatically enrolling them in the federal government’s Extra Help program, which helps with prescription drug costs.

    In 2022, Governor Hochul secured an historic expansion of the MSP that increased income eligibility limits for New Yorkers. The 2024 income eligibility limits for the MSP are $2,355 per month for an individual and $3,189 per month for a couple.

    Medicare beneficiaries or Medicare-eligible individuals are encouraged to contact the state’s Health Insurance Information, Counseling and Assistance Program (HIICAP) for information on enrolling in the MSP or to receive assistance with other Medicare enrollment questions. New Yorkers can call the HIICAP toll-free hotline at 1-800-701-0501.

    Below is a regional breakdown of the nearly one million New Yorkers already enrolled in the MSP as of late Sept.

    REDC Region Number of MSP Enrollees

    Western New York

    Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara

    		 62,004

    Finger Lakes

    Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, Yates

    		 49,062

    Southern Tier

    Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Tompkins

    		 30,340

    Central New York

    Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego

    		 30,409

    Mohawk Valley

    Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, Schoharie

    		 24,673

    North Country

    Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence

    		 20,973

    Capital District

    Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren, Washington

    		 39,803

    Hudson Valley

    Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester

    		 71,200
    New York City 574,665

    Long Island

    Nassau, Suffolk

    		 79,863
    Statewide Total 982,992

    New York State Office for the Aging Director Greg Olsen said, “This important milestone – nearly 1 million individuals enrolled in the MSP – is a direct result of state and local programs like New York HIICAP providing outreach and assistance for Medicare beneficiaries so that they can collectively save millions of dollars annually on out-of-pocket expenses. I applaud Governor Hochul for expanding this program in 2023, with annual income eligibility updates each year, and for supporting our network’s outreach and education activities to help.”

    New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, “The Medicare Savings Program is a vital resource to assist people with limited income in paying their Medicare premiums and individuals who may not qualify for Medicaid because of income limits can still qualify for this savings program. That enrollment has reached close to one million individuals highlights the ongoing commitment to health equity by Governor Hochul and the Department, by ensuring those who need financial help can access timely medical care at an affordable cost.”

    AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel said, “AARP New York worked for years with other advocates to expand the Medicare Savings Program so more low- and moderate-income older adults could afford essential health care. Now, enrollment in the program is approaching the one million mark – something all of us can be proud of. We applaud the Hochul administration for its ongoing efforts to ensure more older New Yorkers have access to the benefits they need, benefits that put money back in their pockets and alleviate financial burdens. We want people to have better lives, and this program was created to do just that.”

    President of the Medicare Rights Center Fred Riccardi said, “New York’s successful expansion of the Medicare Savings Program is a testament to the importance of collaboration to ensure older adults and people with disabilities can access and afford the health care they deserve. We commend the New York State Office for the Aging, New York State Department of Health, and our partners across the state. Our collective efforts and dedication have been vital in expanding access to this crucial program, ensuring more New Yorkers can experience the financial relief and enhanced health care access it provides. The Medicare Rights Center is proud of this milestone and wholeheartedly committed to helping thousands more navigate the enrollment process and secure the benefits they are entitled to.”

    More About the MSP

    The MSP helps Medicare beneficiaries living on limited incomes by paying their Medicare Part B premiums and automatically enrolls them in Extra Help. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) estimates a potential cost savings of $5,300 per person enrolled in Extra Help. The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees is$174.70 per month. Combined this assistance equals nearly $7,400 in savings annually. This financial assistance can be a lifeline for enrollees, allowing them to maintain their Medicare coverage, access needed care, and afford other necessities.

    In 2022, Governor Hochul announced an historic expansion of the MSP, which is administered at the state level. The 2024 income eligibility limits for the MSP are $2,355 per month for an individual and $3,189per month for a couple.

    Beneficiaries with income just above the posted limits should still consider contacting New York HIICAP for assistance in the application process, as individuals may be paying for out-of-pocket costs that can be deducted from their gross income to make them eligible. HIICAP offers free and objective counseling for Medicare beneficiaries needing assistance applying for the MSP or any other Medicare-related questions. Simply call HIICAP at 1-800-701-0501. Callers will be routed to their local program for assistance.

    An application for the MSP is also available on the New York State Department of Health website here . The application and required documentation should be sent your local Department of Social Services (LDSS) or Human Resource Administration (HRA). Find the address in your county here. To apply, applicants will need photocopies of their Medicare card, proof of income, documentation about health insurance premiums other than Medicare, proof of date of birth and residence. Learn more on NYSOFA’s website.

    About Medicare Open Enrollment

    Open enrollment is the time when Medicare beneficiaries can make changes in their health plan or prescription drug coverage and other options.

    During open enrollment, or at any time of the year, HIICAP can help you:

    • Understand the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Medicare Part D) and how to select the best plan.
    • Understand low-income subsidy programs, including Extra Help and Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs).
    • Find ways to pay for your medications or medical equipment.
    • Understand and apply for the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) program.
    • Choose between original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.
    • Understand Medicare rules and your medical bills.
    • Report possible Medicare fraud or abuse.
    • Provide information on how to appeal a decision by Medicare, your managed care provider or other health insurance company.
    • Discover ways to fill in Medicare’s gaps.
    • Learn how to file a Medicare or Medigap complaint.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Correction: Invesco Ltd: Form 8.3 – StoneX Group Inc; Opening Position disclosure

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Amendment – this form replaces the Rule 8.3 Disclosure published at 10:58 on 14/10/2024. Changes have been made to section 1(f) of the form.

    FORM 8.3

    OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1. KEY INFORMATION  
       
    (a) Full name of discloser: Invesco Ltd.  
    (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
    The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		    
    (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
    Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 StoneX Group Inc.  
    (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree:    
    (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken:
    For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 10.10.2024  
    (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
    If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 No  
       
    2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE  
       
    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.  
    (a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)  
       
    Class of relevant security: Common US8618961085  
      Interests Short Positions  
      Number % Number %  
    (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 437,054 1.37      
    (2) Cash-settled derivatives:          
    (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:          
      Total 437,054 1.37      
       
       
    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    		  
       
       
    (b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)  
       
    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:    
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:    
       
    3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE  
       
    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    		  
    (a) Purchases and sales  
       
    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit  
    Common US8618961085 Purchase 63 85.56 USD  
    Common US8618961085 Sale 256 85.56 USD  
       
    (b) Cash-settled derivative transactions  
       
    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. CFD Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit  
               
       
    (c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)
     
    (i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying
     
    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
                   
       
    (ii) Exercise  
       
    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit  
               
       
    (d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)  
                 
    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable)  
             
             
       
    4. OTHER INFORMATION  
       
    (a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements  
       
    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”    		  
    None  
       
    (b) Agreements, arrangements, or understandings relating to options or derivatives  
       
    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”    		  
    None  
       
    (c) Attachments  
       
    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO  
       
    Date of disclosure 14.10.2024  
    Contact name Philippa Holmes  
    Telephone number +441491417447  
       

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at http://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Chancellor announces new plans to secure UK investment

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Chancellor closes the International Investment Summit promising the government is bringing investment and jobs back to Britain.

    In a speech to some of the world’s biggest businesses and investors, Rachel Reeves revealed that restoring fiscal stability will be at the centre of her first Budget on 30 October. She made the case that it is the only way to ensure government and business can invest with confidence. 

    The Chancellor went on to set out how two new bodies will drive long-term investment in Britain as the government works hand in hand with business to create new high skilled jobs right across the UK, helping make people better off. 

    Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, MP said: 

    When we said we would end instability, make growth our national mission and enter a true partnership with business we meant it.  

    The decisions which lie ahead of us will not always be easy. But by taking the right choices to grow our economy and drive investment we will create good jobs and new opportunities across every part of the country. That is the Britain we are building. 

    The first announcement from the Chancellor was that from today the UK Infrastructure Bank will operate as the National Wealth Fund (NWF), with its headquarters in Leeds. 

    The National Wealth Fund will catalyse tens of billions of pounds of private investment into in the UK’s clean energy and growth industries, including green hydrogen, carbon capture and gigafactories.

    Building on UKIB’s leadership and expertise, the NWF will go further, able to make investments that maximise the mobilisation of private investment. This will include the ability to trial new blended finance solutions with government departments that take on additional risk to facilitate higher impact in individual deals and performance guarantees. 

    The National Wealth Fund will have a total of £27.8 billion and will work with key industry partners, including mayors, to support delivery of their investment plans. 

    The Government will also bring forward legislation to give the NWF a broader mandate than just infrastructure, ensuring it is a permanent part of government’s investment offer. 

    John Flint, CEO, at the National Wealth Fund said: 

    It is a huge privilege to be entrusted with the responsibility of leading the National Wealth Fund. Building on the strong foundations we have laid as UKIB, we will hit the ground running, using sector insight and investment expertise that the market knows and trusts to unlock billions of pounds of private finance for projects across the UK.

    With additional capital to deploy against a bigger mandate, we stand ready to help the market invest with confidence, in support of the Government’s growth ambitions.

    Alongside this the Chancellor, together with Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds, announced a new British Growth Partnership as part of the British Business Bank (BBB). 

    The BBB already supports the UK’s fastest growing, most innovative companies deploying £3.5bn to support over 23,000 businesses last year. 

    The British Growth Partnership will allow it to do more by creating a new way for the British Business Bank and institutional investors to invest in innovative companies together.

    Leveraging the British Business Bank’s market expertise, these long-term investments will be made independently of government on a fully commercial basis. In the coming months, the British Business Bank will seek to raise hundreds of millions of pounds of investment for this fund, with the aim of making investments by the end of 2025.

    Additionally, the government will implement a set of reforms to the British Business Bank’s financial framework that will increase its impact and increase its ability to respond flexibly to the market, including by putting the British Business Bank’s £7.9bn set of commercial programmes on a permanent footing.

    Louis Taylor, CEO, British Business Bank said:

    Today’s announcement is a strong endorsement of the British Business Bank’s 10-year track record, market access and capabilities. By establishing the British Growth Partnership, the Bank will encourage more UK pension fund investment into the UK’s fastest growing, most innovative companies. 

    In addition, reforms to the Bank’s financial framework, putting our £7.9bn commercial programmes on a permanent footing, means we can flexibly re-invest our investment returns over the long term to increase growth and prosperity across the UK.

    Today’s measures follow the Government announcing more than £24 billion of private investment for pioneering energy projects and thousands of jobs in the green industries secured ahead of International Investment Summit.

    This adds to the announcement last week that up to 500 UK manufacturing jobs are set to be supported as bus operator Go Ahead confirms a major £500 million investment to decarbonise its fleet. This includes creating a new dedicated manufacturing line and partnership with Northern Ireland-based UK bus manufacturer Wrightbus.    

    And it also builds on the Government confirming funding to launch the UK’s first carbon capture sites in Teesside and Merseyside. Two new carbon capture and CCUS enabled hydrogen projects will create 4,000 new jobs, in a boost for the economy and British industry, helping remove over 8.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year – the equivalent of taking around 4 million cars off the road.    

    Further quotes:

    Dame Julia Hoggett, CEO, London Stock Exchange Plc said:

    It is critically important for the growth of the UK economy that home grown companies are able to access the investment they need to grow, scale and stay in the UK. 

    Access to meaningful UK capital at the scaling phase has been a long-recognised challenge and so we are delighted that British Growth Partnership is being established to help address this problem. This will also facilitate more investment by UK pension schemes into scaling UK companies, providing greater returns for their savers and giving UK investors a greater stake in the UK economy.

    Sir Nicholas Lyons, Group Chair, Phoenix said:

    The UK needs scale and skills to convert our brilliant science and technology start-ups and university spinouts into the successful and sustainable companies of tomorrow.  British Growth Partnership will complement the private sector DC pension industry’s undertakings under the Mansion House Compact to expedite this, directing investment to deliver the best returns for our pension savers.

    Professor Sir John Bell, President, Ellison Institute of Technology said:

    Making sure the best innovative British companies can access the capital they need to scale and stay in the UK is critical for the future of the economy. The Chancellor’s announcement today of the new British Growth Partnership, in addition to confirming £7.9bn of permanent capital for the British Business Bank, are both very welcome and significant steps forward in solving this problem

    Sir Jonathan Symonds CBE, Non-Executive Chair, GSK said:

    This is a welcome step; encouraging institutional investment into the UK’s high-growth-potential companies can provide a real boost to the economy and generate better returns for individuals’ pension investments

    Brent Hoberman, Chairman and Co-Founder, Founders Forum Group, Founders Factory, firstminute capital said:

    It’s great to see the new government taking concrete steps to amplify the Mansion House reforms.   This new British Growth Partnership should help UK startups access further scale up capital to create more world leaders.

    Saul Klein, Co-founder, Phoenix Court and Member of the Council for Science and Technology said:

    The UK has more than 750 venture backed companies generating more than $25m in revenue – this is more than France, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands combined. These companies have created over 200,000 new jobs and continue to grow but the UK still has $35bn less scale up capital to support these companies than the United States’ Bay Area alone.

    The government’s continued support for the British Business Bank and its focus on addressing this scale up opportunity will be very much welcomed by these 750 companies as well as the cohorts coming behind them.

    Peter Harrison, Group Chief Executive, Schroders plc said:

    These are further helpful initiatives in creating an environment where risk capital can flow into strategically important industries. Every step is welcome in supporting future economic growth.

    Edward Braham, Chairman, M&G said:

    We welcome the creation of the British Growth Partnership which should unlock much needed investment into the UK’s high growth innovative businesses.

    The combination of private and public sector partnerships, underpinned by long term patient capital, is essential to create the conditions for sustainable growth. 

    As a leading international investor, M&G has a proud history of supporting the progress of businesses and communities across the UK, investing in new innovative companies and private assets such as housing, hospitals and transport.

    Steve Bates OBE, CEO of the BioIndustry Association, said:

    Our world-leading, innovative life sciences and biotech sector is a unique competitive advantage for economic growth. The sector attracts expert global investors but a lack of investment from UK-based institutional investors means the economic and social returns are too often lost overseas.

    The British Growth Partnership will help turbo-charge innovative businesses with fresh UK-based capital, enabling them to scale in the UK and deliver more returns to the British economy, and to ordinary people saving for their retirement. This is a win-win-win for UK life science businesses, for UK pension savers and for the forward-thinking financial services sector.

    Kate Bingham, Managing Partner, SV Health and Former Chair UK Vaccine Taskforce welcomed the announcements saying:

    The UK has the potential to be a global leader and hub for healthcare breakthroughs with its strong entrepreneurial and academic base, together with our expertise and innovation in data science and artificial intelligence.

    Making the British Business Bank independent of government as well as launching the British Growth Partnership enables the Bank to catalyse institutional investment, including from pension funds, into brilliant UK companies that are supercharging the development of revolutionary medical treatments including smarter medicines for cancer, Alzheimer’s and blindness.

    Dom Hallas, Executive Director, Startup Coalition said:

    Tech startups and scaleups need a stable and improving funding environment to compete globally. The British Business Bank’s role in helping create that landscape is critical and today’s announcement will help the UK continue to build VC-backed tech companies across the country that are ready to compete with the very best.

    Michael Moore, Chief Executive, BVCA said:

    It is extremely welcome that the Government and the British Business Bank have brought this hugely significant programme forwards so quickly.

    The prize is to get significant new capital into the growth equity and venture capital funds that are creating new industries and backing innovative businesses that will be the backbone of the British economy of tomorrow. The British Business Bank has a vital role catalysing institutional investment into fast growing British businesses and this announcement will boost that work substantially.

    Just 3% of the pensions investment into UK led growth equity and venture capital funds is from UK pension funds. Alongside the Government’s pensions review this major new vehicle can be the start of a major shift that sees UK pensions savers get the improved retirement income that can come from backing funds which deliver active ownership and long-term investment in business.

    Kerry Baldwin, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, IQ Capital said:

    The launch of the British Growth Partnership and the confirmation of a permanent capital allocation for the British Business Bank are two crucial steps forward in solving the lack of access to domestic capital for the UK’s most promising growth companies.

    I very much welcome the Chancellor’s announcement today, she has been hugely engaged with the venture capital and technology sector, and champions the incredible societal impact that our sector enables through investments into innovative technologies across the UK.

    The British Business Bank has been at the heart of powering the next generation of UK venture and growth funds and the launch of the new fund is welcome as part of the pension reforms.  This fund will enable access to world-leading science and innovative investments which increase productivity by transforming legacy industries through the adoption of novel technologies and also by providing growth capital to the next generation of globally leading frontier technologies which are solving pressing critical global issues from climate change to energy transition.

    Dr Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and member of BVCA Council said:

    Since its formation in 2018, British Patient Capital has played a central role in the growth of the UK’s knowledge-intensive innovation ecosystem.  It has built a world leading team and investment platform with a strong track record of investing in UK deeptech and life sciences companies and the venture capital funds that support these companies. 

    The British Growth Partnership will make the Bank’s extensive expertise available to a broader range of institutional investors, providing attractive returns for those investors and increasing the capital available for leading UK start-up and scale-up businesses.

    Duncan Johnson, Chief Executive Officer, Northern Gritstone said:

    We at Northern Gritstone believe that skilled partnerships that channel patient investment into long-term growth and innovation are more important than ever for the UK. 

    By establishing the British Growth Partnership, the British Business Bank is creating a pathway for pension funds and institutional investors to support the future today. Through investment we can create and scale the world class businesses of tomorrow in the UK which is the platform for growth for our economy over the decades to come.

    Irene Graham OBE, CEO, ScaleUp Institute said:

    The ScaleUp Institute has long evidenced the important role of development banks and Sovereign Wealth Funds to global scaleup economies.  The Government’s  placement of the British Business Bank commercial initiatives into permanency, with greater  flexibility, alongside the creation of the great British Growth Partnership are very much welcome and represent significant milestones for the UK economy. 

    Alongside a National Wealth Fund these entities and commitments should further address structural, regional and sectoral disparities and ensure our innovative scaling businesses across the country are better connected, at all stages of growth, to the vital patient capital and institutional funds to enable their global scale and continue to foster our international competitiveness.

    Lisa Quest, Managing Partner UK and Ireland, Oliver Wyman:

    Today’s announcement is a significant milestone for the UK economy. The National Wealth Fund will increase investment across key sectors and accelerate the UK’s clean energy transition. I look forward to the many contributions this initiative will unlock for years to come.

    Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas, Chair of the Taskforce and CEO of the Green Finance Institute said:

    The NWF creates an opportunity for simplification and scale. The challenge now is to ensure it delivers private capital at the pace we need, through innovative risk-sharing transactions in new technologies.

    On top of today’s announcements, the government expects both successful bidders of the Long-Term Investment for Technology and Science (LIFTS) competition, Schroders and ICG, to begin making investments via their new funds in late 2024. Supported by pensions capital from Phoenix Group, the aim is to generate over a billion pounds of investment into UK science and technology companies.

    Updates to this page

    Published 14 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: John C Williams: All about data

    Source: Bank for International Settlements

    Introduction

    Good morning. I’m so pleased to be here at Binghamton University, a true gem of the SUNY system. Meeting with students, educators, and business and community leaders is a valuable and enjoyable part of my job.

    The New York Fed represents the Federal Reserve System’s Second District, which includes New York State, northern New Jersey, western Connecticut, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is a diverse region made up of many smaller local economies. Therefore, it’s important for me and my colleagues at the New York Fed to collect data and learn about the challenges and opportunities facing all of the communities we serve.

    That said, monetary policy affects everyone, and the Federal Reserve is committed to using its tools to achieve its dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability. Today, I will talk about monetary policy and how the Fed is working to fulfill this dual mandate. I’ll also give you my outlook on the U.S. economy.

    Before I do, I will give the standard Fed disclaimer that the views I express today are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) or others in the Federal Reserve System.

    Obsessing Over Data

    As I’ve traveled around the Southern Tier region, I’ve enjoyed seeing the emergence of the colors of autumn. Tracking fall foliage is a hobby for many. What I like is that it’s all about data. “Leaf peepers” submit field reports on changing color conditions, and experts pore over the information. One forecast predicts we will hit peak foliage in four days.1

    At the Fed, we’re equally obsessed with data. In our case, we study data about the economy-whether here in the district, across the country, or around the world. So, I’ll highlight some of the data that help my understanding of how the economy is performing relative to our dual mandate goals, as well as what policy actions we can take to achieve these goals.

    When inflation became unacceptably high and the labor market exceptionally tight, the FOMC acted with resolve to bring inflation back down to our 2 percent longer-run target. The Committee’s strong actions have helped bring the economy much closer to our goals. Imbalances between supply and demand in the economy have mostly dissipated, even as the economy and employment have continued to grow. And inflation, as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, has declined from over 7 percent in June of 2022 to just 2-1/4 percent in the latest reading. There’s still some distance to go to reach our goal of 2 percent, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction.

    The data paint a picture of an economy that has returned to balance, or in a word that the English majors in the room may appreciate, “equipoise.” In light of the progress we have seen in reducing inflation and restoring balance to the economy, the FOMC decided at its most recent meeting to lower the interest rate that it sets. Simply put, this action will help maintain the strength of the economy and labor market while inflation moves back to 2 percent on a sustainable basis.

    Moving to Price Stability

    I’ll go further into our policy decision and what it means for the economic outlook in a minute. But first, I’ll give more details about each side of our dual mandate, starting with inflation. I’ll use an onion analogy that I have found useful over the past two years to demonstrate how inflation’s three distinct layers are normalizing at different rates.2

    The onion’s outer layer represents globally traded commodities. As the economy started to rebound from pandemic shutdowns and demand began to soar, inflation surged, then rose further when Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, supply and demand have come into balance, and these prices have generally been flat or falling.

    The middle onion layer is made up of core goods, excluding commodities. Demand for goods rose sharply as the economy emerged from the pandemic downturn-just as global pandemic-related supply-chain disruptions significantly hampered supply. But, as seen in the New York Fed’s Global Supply Chain Pressure Index, those supply pressures have eased, and core goods inflation has returned to pre-pandemic norms.3

    The inner onion layer comprises core services. Although this category is taking the longest to normalize, the disinflationary process is well underway here too. For example, measures of underlying inflation that tend to be heavily influenced by core services inflation today average around 2-1/2 percent.4

    One positive piece of data that reinforces my confidence that inflation is on course to reach our 2 percent goal is that inflation expectations remain well anchored across all forecast horizons. This is seen in the New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations as well as other surveys and market-based measures.5

    A Labor Market in Balance

    Now I’ll turn to the employment side of our mandate. And no surprise, I’ll point to data. A wide range of metrics-including the unemployment rate; measures of job openings, hiring, quits, and employment flows; and perceptions of job and worker availability-indicate that the very tight labor market of the past few years has now returned to more normal conditions and is unlikely to be a source of inflationary pressures going forward.

    Recent analysis by researchers at the New York Fed provides a useful way to gauge whether the labor market is tight or loose.6 They find that you can effectively summarize the state of the overall labor market in terms of its effect on compensation growth by using just two indicators: the rate at which employees quit their jobs and the ratio of job openings to job seekers. In fact, once you take these two measures into account, other labor market metrics that get a lot of attention-such as the unemployment rate and the vacancy-to-unemployment ratio-don’t provide additional useful information. 

    Combining these two measures into an index of labor market tightness provides two key insights. First, data as of the second quarter of this year indicate that the labor market is about where it was in early 2018-a period of solid labor market conditions and low inflation. Second, compensation growth should soon return to levels that prevailed prior to the pandemic.

    Seasons of Change

    So, the labor market is solid. The economy is in a good place. And inflation is closing in on our 2 percent longer-run goal. With the risks to achieving our goals now in balance, the FOMC decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by half a percentage point, to 4-3/4 to 5 percent. In addition, the Committee continued to normalize the holdings of securities on the Fed’s balance sheet.7

    Looking ahead, based on my current forecast for the economy, I expect that it will be appropriate to continue the process of moving the stance of monetary policy to a more neutral setting over time. The timing and pace of future adjustments to interest rates will be based on the evolution of the data, the economic outlook, and the risks to achieving our goals. We will continue to be data-dependent and attuned to the evolution of economic conditions in making our decisions.

    With monetary policy moving to a more neutral setting over time, I expect real GDP to grow between 2-1/4 and 2-1/2 percent this year and to average about 2-1/4 percent over the next two years. I anticipate the unemployment rate to edge up from its current level of about 4 percent to around 4-1/4 percent at the end of this year and stay around that level next year. With the economy in balance and inflation expectations well anchored, I expect overall PCE inflation to be around 2-1/4 percent this year, and to be close to 2 percent next year.

    Conclusion

    The economy has been on a remarkable journey. In two years, the red-hot labor market has normalized, and inflation has come within striking distance of our 2 percent longer-run goal-all while employment and the economy continue to grow.

    We instituted and maintained a very restrictive monetary policy stance until the data gave us confidence that inflation is sustainably on course to 2 percent. With this progress toward achieving price stability, moving toward a more neutral monetary policy stance will help maintain the strength of the economy and labor market. Although the outlook remains uncertain, we are well positioned to achieve our dual mandate goals.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Shaktikanta Das: Central banking at crossroads

    Source: Bank for International Settlements

    I feel highly privileged to be here at this High Level Conference on ‘Central Banking at Crossroads’ and share some of my thoughts. When the definitive history of our times is written, the turn of the current decade will, in all probability, be regarded as a watershed in the evolution of central banking. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and the persistent geopolitical strife thereafter, central banks are treading in the uncharted terrain of a twilight zone. Today, like never before in the five centuries of their existence, central banks are confronted with a future where their mandates, their functions and their performances are all up for unforgiving scrutiny.

    Around them, the environment in which central banks have been operating is undergoing tectonic transformations. Structural changes are underway that have the power to fundamentally alter the context of central banking with headwinds from geo-economic fragmentation; muscular industrial, trade and financial policies that are already reshaping supply chains and the availability of critical minerals, intermediates, resources and services; new technologies; and climate change. In this rapidly evolving environment, central banks are required to navigate not just known unknowns but unknown unknowns too.

    Yet, even at these exceptional intersections, central banks are exploring new pathways and striving to reinvent their remit and functioning as the guardians of financial stability. Their effort is to stay ahead of these developments by strengthening guardrails and leveraging on technological innovations.

    For the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as we commemorate its 90th year, it has been an eventful journey since its establishment in 1935. In many significant ways, the Reserve Bank embodies the developmental aspirations of India. The landmarks of its journey are equally milestones in the progress of India. At the current juncture and looking ahead, developments around the world are impacting India on a continuous basis and challenging us as practitioners of central banking.

    Today’s conference gives us an opportunity to introspect on the journey of central banking so far and how we want to visualise and shape our role in the future. In my remarks today, I propose to briefly focus on three areas where central banking is likely to be redefined in the future: monetary policy; financial stability; and new technologies. In fact, these are among the themes of specific sessions in today’s conference. My observations would be mainly in the context of central banking across countries.

    Monetary Policy

    The three decades of restrained volatility of business cycles and the co-existence of price stability and uninterrupted growth that preceded the global financial crisis (GFC), perhaps lulled central banks into the belief that inflation expectations are enduringly anchored. The beast of inflation of the 1970s and early 1980s seemed completely behind our times. Conditioned by that experience, central banks shed their role of ‘lender of the last resort’ and became lender of the first resort to defend their financial systems when they responded to the GFC. They continued from their GFC moment and once again rushed to the frontline as warriors of the first resort to protect and preserve lives and livelihood when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world. They took interest rates to all-time lows, undertook unconventional policy measures to reach out to interest rates across the spectrum, including at the longer end, and gave assurances about low for longer interest rates. This was an uncharacteristic departure from the monetary mysticism that had prevailed up to the 1990s. Clearly, central banking has evolved in line with the developments of the 21st century.

    While the pandemic time measures provided the much needed support to the economies, in the aftermath of the pandemic the limits and downsides of easy monetary policy in protecting economic activity in a crisis period became evident. Today, rightly or wrongly, the central banks are accused of distributional consequences of their actions. The negative equity that weighs in the balance sheets of certain central banks is seen as compromising their independence in the conduct of monetary policy. The story in India was, however, different as most of our liquidity measures were calibrated and carried end dates at the time of their announcement itself.

    Another challenge staring at central banks today emanates from soaring public debt caused, in a considerable measure, by the pandemic-related fiscal stimuli and the subsequent efforts for fiscal consolidation not gaining adequate traction. Such a situation is becoming a binding constraint on monetary policy in several countries. Global public debt has surged post the pandemic to 93.2 per cent of GDP in 2023 and is likely to increase to 100 per cent of GDP by 20291. In major economies, debt-GDP ratios are on an upward trajectory, raising concerns about their sustainability and their negative spillovers for the broader global economy. In several other countries, central banks are willy-nilly expected to facilitate financing of such huge public debts. In fact, the debt overhang is simmering underneath the radar of central banks, threatening to un-anchor inflation expectations and undermine macroeconomic stability.

    For emerging market economy (EME) central banks, the international dimensions of monetary policy continues to be a testing challenge. For them, the trilemma is real. Today the global economy is more financially integrated than ever before. Monetary policy actions in systemic economies produce large fluctuations in capital flows and exchange rates, which can then feed into domestic liquidity, inflation and eventually affect the real economy. While monetary policies in the systemic economies are determined by their domestic inflation-growth considerations, they have large spillovers to the emerging and developing economies and even to other advanced economies. These spillovers can be expected to accentuate as capital flows dwarf trade flows. Quite naturally, emerging economies are having to strengthen their policy frameworks and buffers to manage this external flux and mitigate its adverse consequences.

    Financial Stability

    Financial stability is the essential reason why central banks exist. Price stability as a central bank objective is of more recent vintage. There is a growing opinion today that ‘low for long’ policies practiced during the GFC and again during the pandemic, apart from providing support to the real economy, also produced exuberant financial asset prices that have come back to haunt central banks in their role as guardians of financial stability. Amidst ultra-low interest rates and super abundant liquidity, leveraging and risk-taking were celebrated as if there is no tomorrow. Consequently, when central banks were confronted with inflation surges in 2022 in the shadow of the war in Ukraine, they reacted with one of the most aggressive and synchronised tightening of monetary policies in history. This resulted in risks to financial stability, especially when these risks morphed into banking crises in certain countries in March 2023 and sell-offs in financial markets in August and September 2024. These developments have once again brought to fore the role of central banks in securing and preserving financial stability. Specifically, how should they account for financial stability considerations in their pursuit of price stability?

    Let me now address some of the emerging risks to financial stability. First, the divergence in global monetary policies – monetary easing in some economies, tightening in a few, and pause in several other economies – can be expected to lead to volatility in capital flows and exchange rates, which may disrupt financial stability. We saw a glimpse of this with the sharp appreciation of the Japanese Yen in early August which led to disruptive reversals in the Yen carry trade and rattled financial markets across the globe.

    Second, private credit markets have expanded rapidly with limited regulation. They pose significant risks to financial stability, particularly since they have not been stress-tested in a downturn.

    Third, higher interest rates, aimed at curtailing inflationary pressures, have led to increase in debt servicing costs, financial market volatility, and risks to asset quality. Stretched asset valuations in some jurisdictions could trigger contagion across financial markets, creating further instability. The correction in commercial real estate (CRE) prices in some jurisdictions can put small and medium-sized banks under stress, given their large exposures to this sector. The interconnectedness between CRE, non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), and the broader banking system amplifies these risks.

    New Technologies

    In recent years, the technology-driven digitalisation wave in the payments sphere has been revolutionary. While most of the innovations have been at the national level focusing on retail payments, the market for cross-border payments has also expanded substantially. The significant volume of cross-border worker remittances, the growing size of gross flows of capital, and the increasing importance of cross-border e-commerce have acted as catalysts to this growth.23 Remittances are the starting point for many emerging and developing economies, including India, to explore cross-border peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. We believe there is immense scope to significantly reduce the cost and time for such remittances.

    India is one of the few large economies with a 24×7 real time gross settlement (RTGS) system. The feasibility of expanding RTGS to settle transactions in major trade currencies such as USD, EUR and GBP can be explored through bilateral or multilateral arrangements. India and a few other economies have already commenced efforts to expand linkage of cross-border fast payment systems both in the bilateral and multilateral modes.4

    India has developed a world-class digital public infrastructure (DPI), which has facilitated the development of high-quality digital financial products with enormous potential for cross-border payments. India is now home to the world’s third most vibrant startup ecosystem, with over 140,000 recognised startups, more than a hundred unicorns, and over US$150 billion in funding raised. India’s experience in DPI can be leveraged by other countries to improve and usher in a global digital revolution.

    Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is another area which has the potential to facilitate efficient cross-border payments. India is one of the few countries that have launched both wholesale and retail CBDCs. Programmability, interoperability with the UPI retail fast payment system and development of offline solutions for remote areas and underserved segments of the population, are some of the value added services which we are now experimenting as part of our CBDC pilot.

    Going forward, harmonisation of standards and interoperability would be important for CBDCs for cross-border payments and to overcome the serious financial stability concerns associated with cryptocurrencies. A key challenge could be the fact that countries may prefer to design their own systems as per their domestic considerations. I feel we can overcome this challenge by developing a plug-and-play system that allows replicability of India’s experience while also maintaining the sovereignty of respective countries.

    It is well recognised that growing digitalisation of financial services has enhanced the efficiency of the financial sector across the globe. At the same time, it has brought in several challenges which central banks have to deal with. For instance, in the modern world with deep social media presence and vast access to online banking with money transfer happening in seconds, rumours and misinformation can spread very quickly and can cause liquidity stress. Banks have to remain alert in the social media space and also strengthen their liquidity buffers.

    Latest technological advancements such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have opened new avenues of business and profit expansion for financial institutions. At the same time, these technologies also pose financial stability risks. The heavy reliance on AI can lead to concentration risks, especially when a small number of tech providers dominate the market. This could amplify systemic risks, as failures or disruptions in these systems may cascade across the entire financial sector. Moreover, the growing use of AI introduces new vulnerabilities, such as increased susceptibility to cyberattacks and data breaches. Additionally, AI’s opacity makes it difficult to audit or interpret the algorithms which drive decisions. This could potentially lead to unpredictable consequences in the markets. Banks and other financial institutions must put in place adequate risk mitigation measures against all these risks. In the ultimate analysis, banks have to ride on the advantages of AI and Bigtech and not allow the latter to ride on them.

    Conclusion

    Despite the difficult trials and trade-offs, central banking in the current decade is a success story. In the realm of monetary policy, central banks have been successful in bringing inflation closer to targets. Major financial collapses or recessions, seen during earlier episodes of crisis, have been averted. Central banks are now at the forefront of technological innovations and are driving them through sandboxes, innovation hubs and hackathons.

    As we navigate the high intensity tail events and black swans of the current decade, the lessons imbibed can well form the basis of our deliberations today to chart out a course for the future. Central banks must remain vigilant, adaptable, continuously assess risks and build resilience. They should remain prepared to navigate complex challenges, support sustainable growth, maintain price stability and promote sound and vibrant financial systems.

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Eddie Yue: China and the changing global trade landscape – challenges and opportunities

    Source: Bank for International Settlements

    Professor Wei [Shang-Jin, N.T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy, Columbia University], Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, Good Morning!  

    It is my pleasure to welcome you all to the 14th Annual International Conference on the Chinese Economy, organised by the Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research. The theme of this year’s conference is “China and the Changing Global Trade Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities”.  This is a timely and important topic – not just for China, but also with far-reaching and enduring implications for the global economy.     

    There is ample evidence that globalisation has brought enormous benefits to the world, through increasing cross-border flow of trade, investments, technology, ideas, and people. For emerging market economies, integration into the global supply chain has been a crucial contributor to their economic development.  As global income rose in tandem with global trade from the 1980s onwards, billions of people have been lifted out of poverty. 

    Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the golden era of globalisation has given way to a gradual slowdown in global trade in goods. There is a combination of factors.  First, it reflects doubts or even scepticism about the distributional effects of globalisation.  Secondly, rising geopolitical considerations in recent years have led to a re-imposition of various trade and investment restrictions by some jurisdictions.  And thirdly, recent disruptions to supply chain, caused by the pandemic and regional military conflicts, have prompted discussions about ways to mitigate such risks.

    These developments have not yet translated into a wholesale reconfiguration of the global trade landscape. But it appears that the slow-down in global goods trade is likely to continue.  A recent joint study by the HKMA and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) suggests that some supply chain realignment has already been taking place during the pandemic.  

    Any escalation of geo-economic fragmentation would almost certainly result in a costly transition, especially for Asia given the region’s relatively open economies. For those who believe in the value of free trade and globalization, the key question then is how best to collectively minimise the risks of full blown economic fragmentation, and what actions can be taken to sustain globalisation, even in the face of a changing global trade landscape?

    Since this is a conference about the Chinese economy, perhaps we can start with a quick examination of how China is adapting to the change and turning the challenge into opportunity. Despite the headwinds in the trade sector, China’s world export share has remained at around 15 per cent since 2018.  This reflects two important trends. 

    First, China has continued its economic diversification and regional collaboration through expanding its import and export network, particularly to broader emerging markets. It has also stepped up outward direct investments to establish stronger footholds in the global supply chain amidst friend-shoring or near-shoring.

    Second, China’s manufacturing industries have doubled down on their efforts to move up the value chain, from low-end, labour-intensive component manufacturing to higher-tech, full-spectrum product manufacturing, supported by China’s own domestic market and growing capability in more sophisticated technology goods.

    Indeed, this is a process that pre-dates the recent rise in global trade protectionism, if just for the classic reason of comparative advantage. What we have witnessed is that even as some production may have been diverted away from China, these have been largely concentrated in a few sectors – namely, textiles, electronics and autos – and in the assembly segment rather than upstream.  While Chinese exports might take up a smaller share of some markets as a result, it is exporting more intermediate goods and capturing a larger share of imports from other regional economies. 

    China’s search for new trade opportunities through diversification and supply chain upscaling has brought structural transformation to the Chinese economy and helped maintain China’s key position in global manufacturing. The process, together with other changes in the global supply chain, will bring fundamental changes to global trade and investment.  It would be premature to predict what the new order will be.  But one thing is for sure, those who embrace the change and rise to the challenge will benefit greatly, and it should not be a zero-sum game. 

    Now let me shift gear and touch on some emerging opportunities we are going to discuss at this conference. I will focus on two panel themes: digital trade transformation and innovative trade finance – two topics that are increasingly relevant as we transition towards a digitalised global economy.

    Digitalisation of trade offers a range of benefits. For firms, digital transformation of trade and supply chain processes can produce efficiencies in terms of time and labour saved. It also enhances the traceability and security of cross-border trade in goods and services, by enabling real-time visibility into all stages of the supply chain from production to delivery.

    For economies, digital trade transformation offers substantial productivity gains through, for example, rapid growth of e-commerce. It also offers better prospects of helping to distribute the gains generated from trade more widely and equitably among the various stakeholders. 

    Indeed, digitally delivered services already account for a little over half of total services trade1. They are increasingly facilitating trade flow across borders, in support of raising the market share of developing economies, which has increased from about 20 percent to 30 percent of global service trade between 2005 and 2023. 

    Meanwhile, digital technologies can be leveraged to enhance cross-border trade settlement and financing, where there is plenty of scope for coordinated solutions to existing pain points. For example, Project mBridge has been exploring the use of wholesale central bank digital currencies of Hong Kong and a number of other participating central banks as a way to speed up cross-border payments at reduced cost, faster settlement, and with better transparency. 

    Equally exciting is the use of innovative technologies in trade finance – from blockchain, AI to digital signatures – and greater cooperation around cross-border interoperability that will help close the widening global trade finance gap, estimated by the Asian Development Bank last year to have reached a record US$2.5 trillion.

    Another area of opportunity and cooperation is around green technologies. The consequences of climate change, in the form of higher frequency of extreme weather events, have only become more visible these last few years, and Asia is particularly exposed. 

    We need open and predictable trade to enable scale economies and direct low-carbon technologies and services to where they are most needed. In this respect, major regional trade networks can serve as key platforms that facilitate sustainable trade and investment, support climate-resilient economic developments, and enhance the ecosystem of green finance.

    Let me close by noting that the global trading system as we know has brought mutual benefits and shared prosperity to the world economy. Granted, there’s always scope to make the system work better and fairer.  Let’s focus not just on the challenges, but more on the solutions and the opportunities.  

    There are excellent research papers to be presented at the conference, covering many of the topics I outlined just now. So I wish you all a most engaging and productive conference. 

    Thank you.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Adrian Orr: Improving Māori access to capital

    Source: Bank for International Settlements

    Introduction

    Kia orana tatou katoatoa, tēnā tātou katoa
    Ngāti Tūwharetoa, te whare tapu o Te Heuheu, tēnā koutou
    Ko Tongariro te maunga
    Ko Taupo te moana
    Ko Taupo te whenua tipu
    Heoi, nō Atiu ōku tīpuna
    Nō reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa

    I would like to acknowledge Tā Tumu Te Heuheu and the iwi of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, whose leadership continues to inspire and guide us.

    Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.

    All of you will be familiar with the kaupapa kōrero today, Māori access to capital.

    Kiingi Tawhiao established Te Pēke o Aotearoa in around 1885 to support a growing Māori economy. At that time the financial system was excluding Māori. Te Pēke o Aotearoa was a response. It was a vehicle for Māori to participate in this new system.

    Te Peeke o Aotearoa was a pioneer for financial inclusion that was for all New Zealanders. Historians point to an inscription on each of the banknotes saying ‘e whaimana ana tenei moni ki ngā tāngata katoa’, meaning ‘this money is valid for all people’.

    This highlights the inclusive goal that was pursued, a mindset we can all learn from.

    Why Māori access to capital matters

    Financial inclusion means that people have access to financial products and services that meet their needs. All New Zealanders should be able to benefit from inclusion in the financial system. At the Reserve Bank, we would be at a loss if we did all the hard work to promote a financial system that was strong, stable, and efficient, only for people to tell us that they are unnecessarily excluded.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Joachim Nagel: Introducing a digital euro – the cross-border dimension

    Source: Bank for International Settlements

    Check against delivery 

    1 Introduction

    Dear Governor Das,

    dear colleagues,

    ladies and gentlemen,

    I am delighted to be here with you today, at this wonderful location, visiting this wonderful country – one of the cradles of world civilisation and culture. 

    The Reserve Bank of India is currently celebrating its foundation 90 years ago. My heartfelt congratulations to all members of staff on this anniversary! Last year, Indian real-time payment systems processed about 129 billion digital transactions.1 This means that 84% of electronic payment transactions took place in real time. During the same period, only about 19% of electronic payments worldwide were real-time transactions. In my view, this is impressive evidence of the excellent work the RBI has accomplished over the last few years.

    Payment systems and their cross-border interaction are also an important topic at this conference. This is because cross-border payments are an integral part of our globalised world. Historically, from the Renaissance to modern times, correspondent banks have acted as the bedrock for cross-border payment transactions.2 However, even today, transferring funds by means of correspondent banking is often slow, involves many steps and may result in high and non-transparent fees. 

    Moreover, in the last two decades, correspondent banking has been subject to a downward trend, mainly due to increasingly strict compliance requirements. Between 2011 and 2022, the number of active correspondents decreased by roughly one third, while the value of cross-border payments increased by almost 40%.3 Obviously, this is an alarming trend in terms of market competition.

    To some extent, technical progress might be able to compensate for a tighter correspondent banking market. In particular, in the last decade, a number of FinTech companies have provided new opportunities to streamline cross-border payments using innovative methods like blockchain and digital wallets.  The FinTech revolution focused on private money. However, it now appears there may be another revolution on the horizon – this time involving payments in central bank money: the introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

    In my talk, I would like to address CBDC developments with a particular focus on cross-border payments. First, I will outline some general points about the potential impact and benefits of the introduction of CBDC for processing cross-border transactions. Second, I will aim to highlight this topic in the context of the Eurosystem’s work on a digital euro – the envisaged European retail CBDC.

    2 CBDCs and cross-border payments

    Given that there are correspondent banks and FinTechs working on digital innovations as well, let me begin with a question. What would be the additional benefits of CBDCs in the area of digital payments? The introduction of CBDCs would facilitate a setup of new infrastructures for digital payments. On the one hand, this makes high initial investment necessary. On the other hand, once a CBDC is established with its new infrastructure, it could catalyse broad improvements in payment systems, including cross-border transactions – by introducing new message standards and shorter process chains, for example.4

    Starting on a green field may be one major advantage of CBDCs. Experience shows that, in particular, implementing common standards is not an easy task. Take ISO 20022, for example.5 The International Organisation for Standardisation proposed this common standard for financial messages in cross-border payments in 2004. It will be probably more widely used in payment systems on a global level next year – 21 years after the initial proposal. This period feels even longer when you think of all the innovations that have taken place in the meantime – the first iPhone was presented in 2007, the concept of a decentralised blockchain in 2008.

    However, to be able to reap the benefits for cross-border payment, interoperability between CBDCs must be ensured early on. To this end, central banks should already begin to consider the best ways for interaction in the planning phase. In my view, we have a historic opportunity to vastly improve cross-border transactions by making different CBDCs interoperable from the very beginning.

    Indeed, a number of projects are already researching the best ways of making CBDCs interoperable. For instance, the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) Innovation Hub in Singapore and a number of national central banks in the Indo-Pacific region set up Project Dunbar to explore how a common platform for CBDCs could enable cheaper, faster and safer cross-border payments.6

    I am strongly in favour of a multilateral approach in this area, because this best serves the interests of all participants. If central banks proceed in a largely unilateral way instead, we not only risk inefficiencies, but also undesirable interferences. Consider a scenario in which a CBDC is made available for holders abroad in a unilateral way. In such a case, we could see currency substitution or appreciation pressure for the domestic currency. Also, the balance sheet of the CBDC emitting central bank could strongly expand. A knock-on effect may be that domestic monetary policy in countries that suffer from increased currency substitution becomes less effective. By contrast, a multilateral approach including reasonable holding limits could mitigate these risks.

    Meanwhile, the RBI has made valuable contributions to the topic of retail CBDC. The digital rupee based on blockchain technology was launched on 1 December 2022. It is issued by the central bank and distributed by commercial banks. As I understand it, the RBI intends to tap the potential for using CBDCs in cross-border payments as well.

    3 A digital euro: The cross-border dimension

    In the Eurosystem, we expect a digital euro to be launched in just a few years’ time. The primary goal of a digital euro is meet the domestic needs of the euro area. To some extent, however, this goal already includes a significant cross-border dimension. Let me explain what I mean by that. A quarter century on from the introduction of the euro, there is still no single pan-European solution for digital payments when people go shopping in stores or online. This means there is a risk that traditional cashless payment solutions offered by private European payment service providers will not match customer needs.

    To be fair, some euro area Member States have successfully implemented innovative digital solutions in the area of payments – I am thinking, for example, of the online payment system iDEAL in the Netherlands or Bizum Wallet in Spain. However, such payment solutions by themselves usually only function within national borders. Promising initiatives have been underway in recent years to widen the scope of these solutions. For example, iDEAL was successfully acquired by the European Payments Initiative, a company founded by several European banks and financial services companies. This initiative seeks to create a truly pan-European payment solution in the near to medium term. 

    This shows that the European payments sector has made meaningful progress; however, there are challenges further ahead. International payment providers, particularly those offering credit card schemes, still heavily dominate the European market for payment services – and even more when it comes to payments abroad.

    A digital euro would be a major step forward in this context. It would provide a standardised digital means of payment for day-to-day transactions throughout the euro area. Despite the need for a more integrated payment system, we are determined to prevent the Eurosystem’s footprint in the European financial system from becoming too large. We are therefore planning to issue a digital euro, but not to distribute it. This means that banks and other payment providers should assume the role of the CBDC interface between the Eurosystem and the customers.

    The euro area currently consists of 20 Member States, each of which has its own banking system with its own unique features. Against this background, I am sure you can imagine the overall complexity of our task. Therefore, our current focus is on making the digital euro accessible for all users within the euro area. We are investing great effort in our work on this, and we are constantly explaining what we do and why we do it, not least because a number of people are sceptical of CBDCs. 

    Once we have accomplished a digital euro for all users within the euro area, it will, in my view, be worth considering making it accessible to users outside the euro area as well. Rules for geographical access to a digital euro will be set down in legislation. If European legislation allows, access to a digital euro can also be granted to consumers and firms in the Member States of the European Economic Area outside the euro area. Selected non-EU countries can be included as well.7

    Ideally, the D€ would be interoperable with other CBDCs from the very start, for example, for person-to-person payments or commercial payments from or to firms outside the euro area. However, this is currently a vision for the future, since, as already mentioned, we first have to overcome numerous challenges to establish a retail digital euro that works within the euro area.

    4 Concluding remarks

    Let me conclude. So far, CBDCs are newcomers to the world of payment systems. We can only estimate how large a role they will end up playing in payment transactions. This is all the more true when it comes to cross-border payments.

    The scepticism about CBDCs in many quarters is not uncommon for many technological innovations. For example, in the early 1980s, “computerphobia” was a widespread phenomenon.8 This took a wide range of forms, even fear of physically touching a computer or feeling threatened by those who worked with them. Today, this may seem very strange to us. Computers have since become an essential day-to-day tool for us.

    And so we will continue our efforts to implement CBDCs. I am confident that this will ultimately make our payment systems better, faster and more efficient.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Former Lord Mayor Keiran Mulhall

    Source: City of Coventry

    Tributes have been paid to a former Coventry Lord Mayor and councillor who died at the weekend.

    Keiran Mulhall served as a councillor for Radford ward between 1998 and 2018, and as Lord Mayor in 2011.

    He was made an Honorary Alderman in 2018.
     

    Leader of the Council, Cllr George Duggins, said: “Keiran played a full part in the life of the city and laid a wreath in the Memorial Park on behalf of the Royal Army Medical Corps as recently as November last year.

    “He was a dedicated and caring councillor and loved his city. I shall miss Keiran as a friend, as I know many of us on the Council will.”

    Lord Mayor Cllr Mal Mutton, who served with Keiran as a fellow Radford councillor, said: “I know that being named Lord Mayor of his city was a great honour for him and he was so proud.

    “He was a brilliant ward councillor who cared deeply for the city, for Radford and for its people. He will be truly missed, and I have lost a really dear friend. Our thoughts are with his loved ones.”

    Cllr Gary Ridley, Leader of the Opposition Conservative Group, added: ““Keiran was a real servant of the people, and he contributed fully to civic life over many years in a number of different roles.

    “He was also great company, and I enjoyed spending time with him on many occasions. I’ll particularly remember his wit and sense of humour.”

    Keiran was married to Norma who died during his year as Lord Mayor. He was born in the city and spent almost his whole life in Wyken and worked at Daimler Motor Company for 40 years.

    He joined Daimler when he was 15 and spent his entire working life with the company – except for a short gap in the 1950s when he travelled to Germany and Belgium with the Royal Army Medical Corps as part of his National Service.

    Details of the funeral have yet to be announced.

    Monday, 14th October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: A classroom equipped by Novard Group of Companies opened at the State University of Management

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    On October 14, 2024, the State University of Management opened a new auditorium equipped by the university’s industrial partner, the Novard Group of Companies.

    The opening was attended by the rector of the State University of Management Vladimir Stroyev, vice-rectors Dmitry Bryukhanov, Vitaly Lapshenkov and Artem Terpugov, director of the Institute of Marketing Gennady Azoyev, head of the advertising and public relations department Vasily Starostin, as well as the management of the Novard Group of Companies, graduates of the State University of Management: president Andrey Iliopulo, vice-presidents Sergey Sarkisov and Vadim Kirillov.

    Auditorium A-535 will primarily be used for master’s students, international students, and anyone wishing to attend classes with renowned guest lecturers. It is equipped with a teacher’s computer, a stationary microphone and a mobile headset, three screens, and a camera with speaker tracking.

    Rector of GUU Vladimir Stroyev thanked the management of “Novard” for their assistance in equipping the auditorium and active participation in the life of the university, including the activities of the Association of GUU Graduates. Vladimir Vitalyevich noted that it was at GUU that the first department of entrepreneurship in Russia was opened, and following traditions and honoring history is one of the most important trends in modern domestic education.

    The President of the State Institution “Novard” Andrey Iliopulo said that the photographs with quotes from famous entrepreneurs of the 19th century, reproductions of which decorate the walls of the office, were taken from the Museum of Entrepreneurs, Patrons and Philanthropists, together with which “Novard” holds a thematic competition for students and schoolchildren. Andrey Andreyevich noted that for domestic entrepreneurship, it was initially important not only to enrich, but also to care about honor and dignity, therefore, studying the activities of patrons of the past is useful for the educational process.

    Director of the Marketing Institute Gennady Azoyev thanked the management of the Novard Group of Companies and the rector’s office of the State University of Management for their comprehensive assistance and support in the development of the Marketing Institute. Gennady Lazarevich expressed the opinion that the active participation of Novard in the life of the university should serve as a good example for other successful graduates of the State University of Management. He also noted that this year the anniversary is celebrated by the State University of Management, Novard, the Marketing Institute, and the Marketing Department.

    On the occasion, the IM employees demonstrated to the audience another new classroom next door – a computer lab for design and advertising classes.

    The Novard Group of Companies was founded in 1989 in Moscow by students of the State University of Management. It is represented by the fashionable footwear and accessories chain EKONIKA, the full-cycle developer City21, the commercial real estate management company Novard Estate Management Limited and one of the leading suppliers of industrial and construction equipment in the Russian Federation – Rutektor. Novard sees its mission as the development and promotion of a model of successful creative entrepreneurship that combines the best Russian traditions and modern business practices.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/14/2024

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    https://guu.ru/auditorium-equipped-opened/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: AGBA TAKES FINAL STEP TOWARD COMPLETION OF TRILLER MERGER

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The previously announced reverse stock split to comply with Nasdaq’s rules in connection with the merger will take effect on October 15, 2024.

    NEW YORK, NY / LOS ANGELES, CA , Oct. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  AGBA Group Holding Limited (Nasdaq: AGBA) (“AGBA” or the “Company”) and Triller Corp. (“Triller”) today announced that Nasdaq approval for their merger was received on October 11, 2024. The merger is now expected to be completed on October 15, 2024.

    This merger represents the next step in AGBA and Triller’s collective strategic visions in the digital economy. The combination of AGBA and Triller will accelerate innovation, clear a path towards rapid growth and expand the combined company’s market presence globally, creating unparalleled value for all stakeholders of the company.

    The 1-for-4 reverse stock split is implemented in order to remain in compliance with Nasdaq’s rules in connection with the merger with Triller Corp. (“Triller”). The combined company’s shares will commence trading on a split-adjusted basis on October 16, 2024.

    About AGBA   

    Established in 1993, AGBA Group Holding Limited (Nasdaq: “AGBA”) is a leading, multi-channel business platform that incorporates cutting edge machine-learning and offers a broad set of financial services and healthcare products to consumers through a tech-led ecosystem, enabling clients to unlock the choices that best suit their needs. Trusted by over 400,000 individual and corporate customers, the Group is organized into four market-leading businesses: Platform Business, Distribution Business, Healthcare Business, and Fintech Business.

    For more information, please visit http://www.agba.com.

    About Triller Corp.     
    Triller Corp. is a next generation, AI-powered, social media and live-streaming event platform for creators. Pairing music culture with sports, fashion, entertainment, and influencers through a 360-degree view of content and technology, Triller Corp. uses proprietary AI technology to push and track content virally to affiliated and non-affiliated sites and networks, enabling them to reach millions of additional users. Triller Corp. additionally owns Triller Sports, Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC); Amplify.ai, a leading machine-learning, AI platform; and TrillerTV, a premier global PPV, AVOD, and SVOD streaming service.

    For more information, visit http://www.triller.co.

    Investor Relations:     
    Bethany Lai
    ir@agba.com

    Safe Harbor Statement
    This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements that are other than statements of historical facts. When the Company uses words such as “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate” or similar expressions that do not relate solely to historical matters, it is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations discussed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the following: the closing of the merger; the expected date of the merger; the market effective date of the Company’s actions; the Company’s goals and strategies; the Company’s future business development; product and service demand and acceptance; changes in technology; economic conditions; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against us following the consummation of the business combination; expectations regarding its strategies and future financial performance, including its future business plans or objectives, prospective performance and opportunities and competitors, revenues, products, pricing, operating expenses, market trends, liquidity, cash flows and uses of cash, capital expenditures, and its ability to invest in growth initiatives and pursue acquisition opportunities; reputation and brand; the impact of competition and pricing; government regulations; fluctuations in general economic and business conditions in Hong Kong and the international markets the Company plans to serve and assumptions underlying or related to any of the foregoing and other risks contained in reports filed by the Company with the SEC, the length and severity of the recent coronavirus outbreak, including its impacts across its business and operations. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available for review at http://www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward–looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

    # # #

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Registration of share capital increase in IDEX Biometrics 14 Oct 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Reference is made to the notice on 9 October 2024 regarding issue of Tranche 2 shares and the warrants of the private placement completed on 16 September 2024. The private placement consisted of two tranches, with total gross proceeds amounting to NOK 70 million.

    The share capital increase related to the Tranche 2 shares has been registered and the shares will be delivered soonest. The Tranche 2 shares will be delivered on a separate and non-tradable ISIN, pending publication by the Company of a prospectus approved by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority.

    Following the issue, the Company’s share capital will be NOK 120,812,483.10 divided into 805,416,554 shares, each with a nominal value of NOK 0.15.

    For further information contact:
    Marianne Bøe, Investor Relations
    E-mail: marianne.boe@idexbiometrics.com
    Tel: +47 918 00186

    About IDEX Biometrics
    IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX) is a global technology leader in fingerprint biometrics, offering authentication solutions across payments, access control, and digital identity. Our solutions bring convenience, security, peace of mind and seamless user experiences to the world. Built on patented and proprietary sensor technologies, integrated circuit designs, and software, our biometric solutions target card-based applications for payments and digital authentication. As an industry-enabler we partner with leading card manufacturers and technology companies to bring our solutions to market. 

    For more information, visit http://www.idexbiometrics.com

    About this notice
    This notice was issued by Erling Svela, Vice president of finance, on 14 October 2024 at 18:10 CET on behalf of IDEX Biometrics ASA. The information shall be disclosed according to section 5‑8 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act (STA) and released in accordance with section 5‑12 of the STA.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Customer experience still an untapped opportunity to drive sales growth for auto brands and mobility providers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Press contact:
    Florence Lièvre
    Tel.: +33 1 47 54 50 71
    Email: florence.lievre@capgemini.com

    Customer experience still an untapped opportunity to drive sales growth for auto brands and mobility providers

    • Three quarters (76%) of vehicle/mobility services customers expect the same hassle-free end-to-end experience offered by other industries
    • However, most organizations (73%) are over-indexing on the importance of reputation in customer experience instead of prioritizing digital experiences and post-purchase services
    • Nearly half of consumers (48%) are likely to shift to mobility subscription-based services over vehicle ownership given the flexibility these services offer

    Paris, October 14, 2024 – The Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report titled ‘Joining the race: Automotive’s drive to catch up with customer experience’, published today, reveals a significant gap between how automotive business leaders and consumers perceive the quality of their customer experience (CX). In today’s competitive landscape, customer expectations are shaped by exceptional service standards across various industries, yet the survey shows that automotive CX frequently falls below par, ranking 9thout of 13 major consumer-facing industries. In comparison, mobility-as-a-service is overall ranked higher by customers, but with a significant variation depending on the country.

    According to the report, the Net Promoter Score (NPS®)1 for vehicle brands shows a notable gap between customer and organizations’ perceptions of CX. Whilst executives surveyed estimate this score at 14, consumers score automotive brands an average NPS rating of 2, lower than any other consumer-facing industry.

    Perception gaps in brand reputation, ease of use and access, and emotional connection
    While 73% of vehicle brands or mobility providers consider brand reputation as the top factor in the buying decision, only 48% of consumers surveyed do. In addition, emotional connection with the brand is also considered as an important factor by consumers (41%) compared to only 24% of organizations surveyed.

    Ease of use and accessibility emerge as a top priority that influence the large majority (76%) of consumer decisions to opt for or stay with a vehicle brand or mobility service, whereas only 51% of organizations consider it as a priority: consumers surveyed expect seamless and hassle-free functionality across apps, dashboard screens, battery charging, and insurance claims (77%), best-in-class digital experience (59%), and eco-friendly options (51%).

    According to the report, only 29% of automotive brands and mobility services customers rate consistent experiences across channels as extremely good or good. The vast majority (90%) report dissatisfaction with the integrated services – pre-purchase to aftersales – provided to them, for instance, the availability of a single app for all vehicle or transport needs.

    Seven in ten organizations consider CX as a C-level priority, with opportunities to be seized in digital experiences and post-purchase services
    Fewer than one in five (17%) organizations surveyed involve IT or digital teams in CX initiatives while three-quarters of customers are feeling dissatisfied with digital experiences.

    In 41% of organizations surveyed, CX is limited to a few functional areas, such as sales, customer service and support. Only one-third (27%) involve marketing and communications, in contrast to research and development for nearly half of them (49%).

    Overall, the report highlights that CX initiatives are disproportionately focused on the pre-purchase and purchase phases in contrast with the post-purchase stages of the customer journey, like servicing and maintenance and end of life of vehicle, including reselling, renewing subscriptions, and refurbishing. 57% of consumers surveyed who are planning to switch brands within 6-18 months express dissatisfaction with their post-purchase service and maintenance experience.

    “Amid constant industry change, focusing on customer interactions is essential. But, when it comes to delivering a consistent customer experience ‘one size does not fit all’,” said Laurence Noël, Head of Global Automotive Industry at Capgemini. “Mobility consumers demand the same level of experience than the one offered by other sectors that is hassle-free, digitalized, and sustainable. A cultural shift is underway, notably among Gen Z, millennials, and Gen X consumers in Europe from vehicle ownership to on-demand access to transportation. Automotive organizations should seize the opportunity offered by CX-enhancing digital solutions to create true end-to-end customer journeys focusing the full lifecycle, beyond pre-sales/sales offerings, that include maintenance, software updates, and personalized services. In this fast-changing highly competitive market, a full-mobility experience across the customer journey until the end-life of the vehicle, can be seen as a top priority for brands to differentiate themselves.”

    Report Methodology
    The Capgemini Research Institute surveyed 600 senior executives from large automotive OEMs (including passenger cars, two- and three-wheelers, trucks, and buses), fleet service organizations, dealers, aftersales organizations, and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) providers (e.g., car rental, taxi, and ridesharing providers). The surveyed automotive passenger-car OEMs and dealers each have an annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, while the OEMs producing two- and three-wheelers, trucks, and buses, as well as the fleet service and aftersales organizations, and MaaS providers each have annual revenue over $300 million. These executives are based in 10 countries across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. The global survey took place in August 2024.
    The research also included a global survey of 10,000 consumers over the age of 18 across 11 countries. To complement the survey findings, the Institute also conducted in-depth discussions with 32 CX experts from automotive and MaaS organizations, as well as from other consumer-facing industries, such as hospitality and hotels, consumer products and retail, luxury goods and retail, consumer electronics, airlines and transport, and banking and insurance.

    About Capgemini
    Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2023 global revenues of €22.5 billion.
    Get The Future You Want | http://www.capgemini.com

    About the Capgemini Research Institute
    The Capgemini Research Institute is Capgemini’s in-house think-tank on all things digital. The Institute publishes research on the impact of digital technologies on large traditional businesses. The team draws on the worldwide network of Capgemini experts and works closely with academic and technology partners. The Institute has dedicated research centers in India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was recently ranked #1 in the world for the quality of its research by independent analysts.
    Visit us at https://www.capgemini.com/researchinstitute/

    1 Net Promoter Score (NPS®) is a metric used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction with a company’s products or services.

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: RUBIS: Transactions carried out within the framework of the share buyback programme (excluding transactions within the liquidity agreement) – 7 to 11 october 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Paris, 14 October 2024, 06:00pm

    Issuer Name: Rubis (LEI: 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742)
    Category of securities: Ordinary shares (ISIN: FR0013269123)
    Period: From 7 to 11 October 2024

    In accordance with the authorisation granted by the Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting held on 11 June 2024 to implement a share buyback programme, the Company operated, between 7 and 11 October 2024, the purchases of its own shares in view of their cancelation presented below.

    Aggregate presentation per day and per market

    Name of issuer Identification
    code of issuer
    (Legal Entity Identifier)    		 Day of transaction Identification code of financial instrument Aggregated daily volume (in number of shares) Daily weighted average price of the purchased shares* Market (MIC Code)
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 07/10/2024 FR0013269123 2,139 25.7405 AQEU
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 07/10/2024 FR0013269123 8,899 25.7427 CEUX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 07/10/2024 FR0013269123 1,684 25.6253 TQEX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 07/10/2024 FR0013269123 26,278 25.7109 XPAR
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 08/10/2024 FR0013269123 2,180 25.4284 AQEU
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 08/10/2024 FR0013269123 4,993 25.5350 CEUX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 08/10/2024 FR0013269123 1,051 25.5351 TQEX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 08/10/2024 FR0013269123 48,276 25.5142 XPAR
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 09/10/2024 FR0013269123 1,905 25.1645 AQEU
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 09/10/2024 FR0013269123 14,955 25.1057 CEUX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 09/10/2024 FR0013269123 1,127 25.1368 TQEX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 09/10/2024 FR0013269123 39,013 25.1636 XPAR
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 10/10/2024 FR0013269123 2,199 25.1777 AQEU
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 10/10/2024 FR0013269123 11,084 25.1848 CEUX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 10/10/2024 FR0013269123 1,556 25.1570 TQEX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 10/10/2024 FR0013269123 33,681 25.1718 XPAR
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 11/10/2024 FR0013269123 18,467 25.2196 CEUX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 11/10/2024 FR0013269123 237 25.2755 TQEX
    RUBIS 969500MGFIKUGLTC9742 11/10/2024 FR0013269123 25,931 25.2114 XPAR
    * Four-digit rounding after the decimal TOTAL 245,655 25.3396  

    Detailed presentation per transaction

    Detailed information on the transactions carried out from 7 to 11 October 2024 is available on the Company’s website (http://www.rubis.fr) in the section “Investors – Regulated information – Share buyback programme”.

      Contact
      RUBIS – Legal Department
      Tel. : + 33 (0)1 44 17 95 95

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Record-breaking International Investment Summit secures £63 billion and nearly 38,000 jobs for the UK

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Nearly 38,000 UK jobs are set to be created across the UK after a total of £63 billion of investment was announced around today’s International Investment Summit.

    • Total of £63 billion of private investment committed around International Investment Summit, more than doubling amount secured at 2023 Global Investment Summit
    • New investments today include £6.3 billion in UK data centres as well as world class UK university Imperial College London
    • Innovative investment projects announced over the last month across infrastructure, renewables and life sciences will create close to 38,000 new jobs across the UK

    Nearly 38,000 UK jobs are set to be created across the UK after a total of £63 billion of investment was announced around today’s International Investment Summit, turbocharging growth and innovation across the country. 

    The record-breaking total figure more than doubles the £29.5 billion committed at last year’s Global Investment Summit and spans partnerships across the infrastructure and tech sectors, including over a billion pounds in new investments announced today by DP World, Associated British Ports (ABP) and Imperial College London. 

    Through serious, stable governance, the UK is attracting tens of billions of pounds of new investment which is crucial to the government’s driving mission of delivering economic growth. Today’s historic figure demonstrates that businesses have confidence in Britain as a place to invest. 

    The investments follow immediate action taken by the new government to reform planning, focus on AI and data centre expansion, and set a clear commitment to net zero by almost doubling the funding for renewable energy projects. 

    Four major tech firms based in the US have today announced £6.3 billion in UK data centres which is critical to enhancing the UK’s AI capacity – in turn fuelling Britain’s economic growth and spurring on AI development. Data centres store the vast amount of information and data needed to power AI, and store the information generated by AI to keep the systems running. 

    ABP, the UK’s largest port operator, has committed over £200 million to a joint investment with ferry company Stena Line in a new freight ferry terminal at the Port of Immingham, significantly boosting the capacity and resilience of UK trade with Europe. It is expected to create around 700 jobs during construction and around 200 permanent jobs once operational. 

    Leading UK university Imperial College London is also today announcing a £150 million investment to secure a new R&D campus to add to its rapidly expanding deep tech ecosystem in West London. The new campus will expand scale-up capacity in the WestTech Corridor, supporting the UK’s innovation sector and driving investment, economic growth and job creation. 

    Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:

    Global investors should be in no doubt that under this new government Britain is truly the best place to do business. The record-breaking investment total secured at today’s Summit marks a major vote of confidence in the UK and our stability dividend across industry and innovation.

    We’re determined to deliver economic growth in every part of the UK and these investments, together with our forthcoming Industrial Strategy, will give global businesses the certainty they need as we lead the charge for the innovation and jobs of the future.

    Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said:

    After the investments secured as part of this summit, my optimism for Britain burns brighter than ever. It’s a sign of the confidence in the British economy. And it matters because it will support the growth of businesses big and small across the U.K. Helping them create new jobs and making people better off.

    CEO of ABP Henrik L. Pedersen said:

    We are delighted that the Development Consent Order (DCO) for the Immingham Eastern Ro-Ro Terminal (IERRT) has been granted in a timely way by the Secretary of State to allow us to move forward with investment. The IERRT project is a key component of our strategy to strengthen the UK’s supply chains and improve trade connectivity, whilst also bringing substantial economic benefits including the creation of hundreds of jobs during construction and ongoing operations. IERRT forms part of the intended £5.5bn pipeline of UK investment we have in front of us over the next 10 years and we look forward to working closely with the Government to deliver the right conditions to realise this investment.

    President of Imperial College London Hugh Brady said:

    Imperial College London is investing in its ambitious vision for a new globally competitive deep tech innovation ecosystem in West London. The Imperial WestTech Corridor will act as a powerful engine for investment, inclusive economic growth, and job creation at a local, regional, and national level supported by the Government’s emerging Industrial Strategy.

    Please see below for a list of all the investments announced in the run-up to and during today’s International Investment Summit:

    • Iberdrola doubling their investment in the UK, through Scottish Power, from £12 billion to £24 billion over the next 4 years. This includes £4 billion for the East Anglia 2 wind farm off the Suffolk coast which was unlocked by this Government’s expanded allocation at the most recent wind auction round. Iberdrola Executive Chairman Ignacio Galan CBE confirmed on Friday that the UK has become their largest Investment destination. 

    • Blackstone confirmed a £10 billion investment in Blyth, Northumberland to create one of the largest artificial data centres in Europe, creating 4,000 jobs, including 1,200 roles dedicated to the construction of the site. 

    • Amazon Web Services announced an £8 billion investment last month which is estimated to support around 14,000 jobs per year at local businesses, including those across the company’s data centre supply chain such as construction, facility, maintenance, engineering and telecommunications. 

    • CCUS investors (including Eni, BP and Equinor) reached a commercial agreement with the government that will unlock £8 billion of private investment to launch carbon capture clusters in the heartlands of the North West and North East of England, directly creating 4,000 jobs and supporting 50,000 jobs in the long-term. 

    • Orsted and Greenvolt confirming that the Government’s recent expanded offshore wind auction means their projects will unlock £8 billion (Orsted) and £2.5 billion (Greenvolt) of investment respectively in their planned offshore wind farms. Orsted says its commitment will see thousands of jobs for local people, while Greenvolt says it will create up to 2800 construction jobs.  

    • CyrusOne, a leading global data centre developer headquartered in the United States, announced plans to expand their investment into the UK to £2.5 billion over the coming years. Subject to planning permission, the two data centres should be operational by Q4 2028, projected to create over 1,000 jobs both directly and within its immediate design and construction value chain.   

    • Octopus Energy have committed to a £2 billion investment in renewable energy generation, including four new solar farms in Bristol, Essex, East Riding of Yorkshire and Wiltshire that will power up to 80,000 homes as well as breaking ground on a new 12 MW battery in Cheshire which Octopus say will store enough power for nearly 10,000 homes every day. 

    • SeAH Wind has made an additional £225 million investment into wind technology manufacturing in Teesside, thanks to new backing from UK Export Finance, and expects to create 750 direct jobs by 2027. This brings their total investment into the site at Teesworks up to £900 million and will help them make their ongoing factory build – one of the biggest facilities of its kind worldwide – even bigger. 

    • CloudHQ is developing its new state-of-the-art £1.9 billion data centre campus in Didcot. The hyper-scale data centre is currently in development and will help meet the UK’s growing demand for AI and machine learning. It will create 1,500 jobs during construction, and 100 permanent jobs once fully operational.  

    • Macquarie supporting investment of £1.3 billion into new green infrastructure including its Island Green Power solar farm in Stow, as a result of planning consents having been granted by the Government, and its Roadchef portfolio company installing electric car ultra-fast charging points across its sites along the UK motorway network. 

    • ServiceNow also confirmed its commitment to the UK market, with plans to invest £1.15 billion into its UK business over the next five years. The investment will not only support the future development of AI in the UK, expanding its data centres with Nvidia GPUs for local processing data, but also support new office space as the company significantly grows into employee base beyond its current headcount of 1,000 employees.  

    • Manchester Airports Group is investing more than £1.1 billion in London Stansted Airport to expand its existing terminal by around a third, help secure new air routes to key business and leisure destinations, boost local supply chains and create 5,000 jobs. This includes around £600 million to extend the terminal and £500 million to deliver a suite of improvements to the existing terminal building and wider airport estate. 

    • Eren Holdings confirmed a £1 billion investment in the redevelopment of Shotton Mill in Deeside, North Wales which is set to become the UK’s largest recycled paper manufacturing campus. This is expected to safeguard 147 jobs and create a further 220 when the site is fully commissioned. 

    • Network Rail and London & Continental Railways are creating a new property company which will attract additional private and public sector investment with the potential to deliver brownfield regeneration schemes across the rail estate with a value exceeding £1 billion. 

    • CoreWeave is building on its £1 billion investment announced in May and the opening of its European headquarters in London by investing a further £750 million-plus in the UK to support the demand for critical AI infrastructure. The investment in the UK is CoreWeave’s second largest investment in a country following the USA.  

    • DP World are investing up to £1 billion in their London Gateway container port operation. This new investment will fund two additional berths and a second rail terminal. Once built, the berths will add vital transport capacity and increase the resilience of UK supply chains, enabling businesses to access domestic and international markets and supporting the Government’s growth and decarbonisation missions. 

    • Holtec, a major US advanced nuclear engineering company, has confirmed a significant investment of £325 million in a new factory in South Yorkshire which will supply materials for civil and defence nuclear industries. They say this will create up to 490 direct and 280 indirect jobs annually during the construction phase and 1,200 direct engineering jobs created over 20 years. 

    • BW Group proceeding with a £500 million investment, which includes new battery energy storage projects in Hampshire and Birmingham. 

    • Eli Lilly and Company is collaborating with government through a memorandum of understanding which will see the pharmaceutical giant intending to commit £279 million to tackle significant health challenges – including obesity. Lilly also plans to launch the first ‘Lilly Gateway Labs’ innovation accelerator in Europe to support early-stage life sciences businesses to develop transformative medicines and technologies. 

    • Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s largest port operator, has announced a £200+ million investment in a new freight ferry terminal at the Port of Immingham, boosting the capacity and resilience of UK trade with Europe. This is expected to create around 700 jobs during construction and 200 permanent jobs once operational. 

    • Imperial College London investing £150 million to build The WestTech Corridor – a new innovation ecosystem in West London which will act as a powerful engine for investment, inclusive economic growth, and job creation at a local, regional, and national level. 

    • Haleon has received planning permission to develop a new £130 million Global Oral Health Innovation Centre in Weybridge, Surrey. This state-of-the-art facility will primarily support Haleon’s global oral health business by developing new products that advance consumers’ better everyday health. 

    Background 

    • The International Investment Summit is being sponsored by Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, M&G plc, Octopus Energy, and TSL.

    Updates to this page

    Published 14 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Secretary of State for Northern Ireland attends International Investment Summit

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn MP today met with a number of leading businesses at the International Investment Summit in the Guildhall in London, together with the First Minister Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly and Kieran Donoghue of Invest NI.  

    Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn MP, First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Invest NI CEO Kieran Donoghue.

    Speaking ahead of the Chancellor’s speech, Mr Benn said: 

    Today’s International Investment Summit has been a great opportunity for the First Minister, deputy First Minister and I to promote Northern Ireland as an exciting and dynamic place for foreign direct investment.

    This government and the Northern Ireland Executive know that to grow Northern Ireland’s economy, we need more high quality, long-term investment, and today’s event has brought together the world’s leading companies and investors to help support that.

    Stability is the foundation for growth, and that is exactly why this government is working closely and collaboratively with the Executive to unlock more investment and improve the opportunities for everyone across Northern Ireland.

    Updates to this page

    Published 14 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Frieze 2024: it’s an industry art fair you’re not supposed to like – but here’s why you might

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Martin Lang, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader in Fine Art , University of Lincoln

    The average art lover isn’t supposed to like art fairs because they’re so corporate. When you pay £9 for a sandwich and your wifi is sponsored by a big bank, you can understand the reservations. They’re also too big and crowded. Even the VIPs are left queuing to get in.

    But the fair provides opportunities to see work from galleries from all over the world in London and there is plenty of good art on display. As Frieze describes itself “[it] is one of the world’s most influential contemporary art fairs, focusing only on contemporary art and living artists”. It is primarily for those in the art world, those who create, critique and those who collect, and a lot of money changes hands as the world’s galleries show the best they have. But it has also become a cultural day out.

    Apart from loads of great painting and the occasional noncommercial showpiece, Frieze goes out of its way to balance the corporate with more thoughtful displays. There’s a chance to see big-name artists, international galleries and work by new artists. The “Artist-to-Artist” section returned this year, containing work by emerging talents (selected by established artists). With so much on show, Frieze can be daunting. You can easily spend a whole day at the fair, but with so much on display there is truly something for everybody.

    At this year’s Frieze, international highlights included Proyectos Ultravioleta from Guatemala city, who showed miniature paintings by Rosa Elena Curruchich hung alongside larger works emblazoned with the text “me venden” (they’re selling me) by Edgar Calels. Calels also brought the smell of a forest into the booth by covering the floor with pine needles.

    Jhaveri Contemporary (Mumbai, India) presented work by the Bangladeshi duo Kamruzzaman Shadhin and Gidree Bawlee. The piece Kaal (Pala) consists of seven delightful jute figures – among the most enchanting figurative sculptures I have seen recently. Joydeb Roaja’s pen drawings of people, tanks, and people with tanks on their heads are as enigmatic and disturbing as they are engaging.

    Non-commercial art appeared in Jenkins Van Zyl’s Sweat Exchange at Edel Assanti (London). This video installation housed in what Van Zyl has called a sauna-cum-“sweat extraction brewery”, which features two doppelgangers, who alternate between self-care and abuse. Imagine the Pink Panther crossed with Jar Jar Binks as a drag queen and you’re nearly there.

    Then there was Patrick Goddard’s silver cast bees on the floor of Seventeen Gallery, and Lawrence Lek (winner of the Frieze artist award) who has produced Guanyin: Confessions of a Former Carebot – an interactive videogame installation about an AI created to service self-driving cars.

    Most of the works were are those hung on walls. Gallery booths have a small storage area in which they are able to keep paintings and prints, (but less able to store sculptural works). Collectors also favour paintings, prints and photographs to adorn their walls (or similarly put into storage) over artists’ films or video installations.

    What’s to complain about though when there is so much good painting on display?

    Highlights included Tom Anholt and Ryan Mosley at Josh Lilley Gallery (London); Carl Freedman Gallery (Margate), which showed great paintings by Ben Senior, Laura Footes and Vanessa Raw (as well as Lindsey Mendick’s ceramic sculptures) and Tanya Leighton Gallery (Berlin and LA), which had plenty of good painting on show, including works by Matthew Krishanu. Ingleby (Edinburgh) showed Andrew Cranston and Hayley Barker and Arcadia Missa (London) showed Lewis Hammond’s Schmetterling, an eerie blue interior with an unsettling blue-eyed figure, and Jesse Darling, whose Come on England (up the) takes a novel approach to wall-based work by leaning crowd-control barriers in the corner of the gallery booth.

    Counter Editions (Margate) presented a Tracey Emin solo show. You’re not supposed to like Emin, since she outed herself as a Tory sympathiser. Opposite is a Billy Childish solo show at Lehmann Maupin (London, Seoul, New York), where the artist paints live while wearing a beret next to a dirty stepladder for reaching the tops of the large canvases. You’re not supposed to like Billy Childish either because he is a Stuckist (stuck in the age of Van Gogh and Edvard Munch – his only two art heroes). Funnily enough, Charles Thomson, co-founder of Stuckism, derived the name from an insult by Emin, who told Childish, her ex-lover, that his art was “stuck, stuck, stuck”. Don’t tell anybody, but the Emin and Childish works were quite good.

    With an annual curated section, more solo shows and over 270 Galleries from more than 40 countries, if you love art in all its forms (and can afford it) you should experience Frieze London at least once. If you didn’t go this year, you really should spend a day there next. Despite what people say… you’re bound to find something you like.


    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    Martin Lang 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. Frieze 2024: it’s an industry art fair you’re not supposed to like – but here’s why you might – https://theconversation.com/frieze-2024-its-an-industry-art-fair-youre-not-supposed-to-like-but-heres-why-you-might-241293

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kelly Announces Nearly $31.5M for 31 Bicycle, Pedestrian Projects Across Kansas – Governor of the State of Kansas

    Source: US State of Kansas

    TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly announced today that nearly $31.5 million will be awarded for 31 projects in communities across Kansas to create safer, more walkable and bike-friendly routes through the Transportation Alternatives (TA) Program.

    “This investment is more than just improving infrastructure – it’s about strengthening the safety, accessibility, and mobility of our communities,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “I’m pleased the state can offer the support needed to help advance these projects.”

    The competitive grant program, administered by the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and provided by the Federal Highway Administration, is currently the primary source of KDOT funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects statewide, including Safe Routes to School. The program also funds transportation projects of a historical nature and scenic and environmental projects, including Main Street beautification projects.

    Since 2019, under the Kelly administration’s bipartisan Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, also known as IKE, KDOT has awarded more than $95 million for 122 TA projects, benefiting both urban and rural communities.

    Transportation Secretary Calvin Reed said this year’s announcement marks the largest grant funding the state has awarded since the launch of the federal program.

    “By partnering with local communities, we can enhance our state’s transportation infrastructure while improving accessibility and fostering more connected neighborhoods,” Secretary Reed said.

    The program requires a 20 percent local match of the project cost. The non-federal required share will consist of $2.79 million in local matching funds and $5.15 million in KDOT state funding.

    The TA projects selected to receive an award are:

    Community Sponsor Project Title  Federal Award District
    City of Atchison Unity Street Pedestrian Improvements – 2nd Street to 6th Street  $814,479.20 1
    City of Atchison North 5th Street Safe Routes to School  $924,389.00 1
    City of Eudora Safe Routes to School Sidewalk Improvements  $781,676.00 1
    City of Holton Highway 75 Pedestrian/Non-Motorized Vehicle/Bicycle Safety Project  $2,115,513.00 1
    City of Lawrence 2025 Safe Routes to School  $1,096,000.00 1
    City of Lawrence Massachusetts St 14th St to 23rd St Multimodal Improvements  $2,376,000.00 1
    City of Leavenworth Downtown ADA Sidewalk Ramp Improvements  $629,750.00 1
    City of Topeka Traffic Calming, Crossing Improvements, & Bike Lanes Installation on 4th, 5th & Adams streets  $1,722,931.20 1
    City of Wamego Safe Routes to School Crossing Improvements  $239,872.00 1
    Central Kansas Conservancy Sunflower Santa Fe Trail – Canton KS  $649,485.60 2
    City of Concordia Concordia Sidewalks for School Construction Project  $1,032,931.00 2
    City of Council Grove Streetscape and Pedestrian Safety Project along Main Street  $1,880,000.00 2
    City of Herington Safe Routes to School Phase II Construction Project  $1,136,075.00 2
    City of Hillsboro Orchard Drive Hike/Bike Trail  $525,100.00 2
    City of Linn Pedestrian Safety Sidewalk Project  $1,407,957.00 2
    City of McPherson McPherson Ave A Trail Phase III  $849,913.60 2
    City of Phillipsburg Sidewalks and Crosswalk Project to School  $763,124.00 3
    USD 270-Plainville Safe Routes to School Implementation Project  $853,991.00 3
    City of Altamont Pedestrian Connections to School & Food Retail  $1,528,469.00 4
    City of Burlington 6th Street Prefabricated Pedestrian Bridge  $654,256.00 4
    City of Girard Pedestrian Transportation Facilities to Connect Vital Services to Residents  $633,277.00 4
    City of Iola US-54 Multimodal Project  $4,236,812.00 4
    City of Pittsburg Meadowlark Elementary School Safe Routes to School  $286,400.00 4
    City of Augusta Pedestrian bridge over the Whitewater River on Redbud Rail Trail  $560,000.00 5
    City of Great Bend Downtown Great Bend Sidewalk Repair and Accessibility Improvements  $800,000.00 5
    City of Greensburg Greensburg Connecting Sidewalks  $342,548.00 5
    City of Hutchinson Downtown Hutchinson Pedestrian Safety and Access Improvements  $908,800.00 5
    City of Larned Safe Routes to School Phase II  $850,400.00 5
    City of Sedgwick Commercial Avenue Pedestrian Access and Streetscape Improvements  $215,384.80 5
    City of South Hutchinson South Hutchinson Pedestrian Connectivity Project  $273,600.00 5
    City of Ulysses Kepley Middle School Crossing  $400,475.00 6
      31 Projects Total  $31,489,609.40  

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lumber Company Selects Rutherford County for New Distribution Operations

    Source: US State of North Carolina

    Headline: Lumber Company Selects Rutherford County for New Distribution Operations

    Lumber Company Selects Rutherford County for New Distribution Operations
    mseets

    Today, Governor Roy Cooper announced that Cedar Direct, LLC, a lumber distributor, will create 20 new jobs in Rutherford County. The company will invest $925,000 to locate a distribution and warehousing facility in the Town of Spindale.

    “Cedar Direct is setting up operations in Rutherford County at a time when the spirit of collaboration and resiliency is on full display,” said Governor Cooper. “This decision by Cedar Direct provides new economic opportunities for a skilled and hardworking people.”

    Cedar Direct distributes cedar and specialty lumber to wholesalers and suppliers. The company supplies lumber yards, mills, supply houses, and contractors with high quality Western Red cedar and other specialty building products. This site will be a third location for the company offering boards, lumber, and timber in different sizes and edges and for various applications.

    “We are happy to announce our 3rd location in Spindale, North Carolina. A big reason we chose this location is the collaborative efforts between Cedar Direct and The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina,” said Dale Hatfield, Manager of Cedar Direct. “The progressive business stance the State has taken, along with the growing market of cedar, is really what led us to choose North Carolina. Cedar Direct is extremely excited to be a part of Spindale and serving the community.”

    “Rutherford County has a storied history with manufacturing and industrial operations that will be a great foundation for Cedar Direct’s next phase of growth,” said N.C. Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “This history, combined with our convenient, East Coast location and commitment to being ‘First in Talent’ will support the company for years to come.”

    Although salaries will vary by position, the average annual wage will be $61,800, exceeding the Rutherford County average of $45,030. These new jobs could potentially create an annual payroll impact of more than $1.2 million for the region.

    A performance-based grant of $50,000 from the One North Carolina Fund will help facilitate Cedar Direct’s expansion to North Carolina. The One NC Fund provides financial assistance to local governments to help attract economic investment and create jobs. Companies receive no money upfront and must meet job creation and capital investment targets to qualify for payment. All One NC grants require matching participation from local governments and any award is contingent upon that condition being met.

    “This investment is a great signal that the Town of Spindale is open for new business,” said N.C. Senator Timothy D. Moffitt. “I appreciate all the diligent work of the state and local officials, as well as the economic developers that helped bring Cedar Direct to our community.”

    “This announcement is great news for Rutherford County,” said N.C. Representative Jake Johnson. “In light of the devastation left by the storms, it is more important now than ever to expand economic opportunities in our region and these good paying jobs will help do just that.”

    In addition to the North Carolina Department of Commerce and the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, other key partners in this project include the North Carolina General Assembly, Commerce’s Division of Workforce Solutions, North Carolina Community College System, Isothermal Community College, Rutherford County, and the Town of Spindale.

    ###

    Oct 14, 2024

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Chernyshenko discussed the development of the state program “Development of Physical Culture and Sports” with the sports community and business

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting dedicated to the development of a comprehensive state program “Development of physical culture and sports”

    October 14, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting dedicated to the development of a comprehensive state program “Development of physical culture and sports”

    October 14, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting dedicated to the development of a comprehensive state program “Development of physical culture and sports”

    October 14, 2024

    Dmitry Chernyshenko and Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev at a meeting dedicated to the development of a comprehensive state program “Development of Physical Culture and Sports”

    October 14, 2024

    Previous news Next news

    Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting dedicated to the development of a comprehensive state program “Development of physical culture and sports”

    Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko held a meeting dedicated to the development of a comprehensive state program “Development of physical culture and sports.”

    It was attended by the Minister of Sports Mikhail Degtyarev, the Governor of the Tula Region, Chairman of the State Council Commission on Physical Culture and Sports Dmitry Milyaev, the Minister of Physical Culture and Sports of the Moscow Region Dmitry Abarenov, the General Director and Chairman of the Board of JSC Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov, the President of the All-Russian Federation of Dance Sport, Breaking and Acrobatic Rock ‘n’ Roll Nadezhda Erastova, as well as other representatives of federal and regional executive authorities, sports federations and the business community.

    The participants discussed the formation of the program and its management system. During the meeting, Dmitry Chernyshenko emphasized the need for a comprehensive approach to the development of the sports industry.

    “On the instructions of President Vladimir Putin, the Government, together with the State Council commissions, is developing a comprehensive state program, “Development of Physical Culture and Sports,” taking into account federal, national and other state programs. In the changed conditions, Russian sports have become an area that requires the integration of a huge number of infrastructure development activities in the field of high-performance sports, mass and youth sports. When forming a state program, a comprehensive approach to the development of the sports industry is needed, taking into account the interests of all interested parties: government bodies, the sports community, and business,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

    He thanked the Ministry of Sports for its prompt work in preparing the necessary documents, as well as for fulfilling the instructions of President Vladimir Putin.

    Mikhail Degtyarev noted that the comprehensive state program will include measures aimed at developing physical culture and sports, implemented, among other things, through extra-budgetary sources.

    “Seven state corporations and large companies with state participation have already agreed to provide such information – these are Rostec, VTB, Otkritie Bank, Russian Post, Rosatom, Rostelecom, Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. 32 sports federations are ready to provide such information; in the future, their concealment of attracted extra-budgetary funds may become grounds for revoking accreditation. We have included this norm in Government Resolution No. 1661 on the approval of the state program. In order to promptly resolve issues at the interdepartmental level and improve coordination, we propose creating a Government Commission for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports. Its composition will be approved by a resolution of the Government of Russia, and the presidium may subsequently be transferred the functions of the governing council of the state program,” the minister said.

    During the meeting, proposals from state commissions, the experience of the Tula region in assessing the level of citizen satisfaction with the conditions for physical education and sports were discussed, and proposals were made to include new events in the comprehensive program, such as “Sports in the countryside”, “Development of adaptive physical education and sports”, including rehabilitation of participants in a special military operation, and “Development of corporate sports”.

    CEO and Chairman of the Board of JSC Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov spoke about the support of sports schools located on the Eastern Polygon of the railways, the renovation of sports halls and the acquisition of sports equipment for comprehensive schools in the Far East. He emphasized that all funds allocated by the company to support corporate physical education and sports, as well as to support other sports organizations, are extra-budgetary and Russian Railways is ready to provide the necessary information for the analytical accounting of these funds in the comprehensive state programs of the Russian Federation for the development of physical education and sports.

    The President of the All-Russian Federation of Dance Sport, Breaking and Acrobatic Rock ‘n’ Roll Nadezhda Erastova noted that the main sources of funding for the federation are sponsorships and donations. These funds are used for athletes to participate in international competitions, conduct training events for national teams, support promising young athletes, as well as finance treatment, internships, monthly bonuses for coaches, assistance and support for regional sports organizations and the popularization of this sport.

    Summing up, Dmitry Chernyshenko noted that the comprehensive program must take into account the activities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to improve the level of the sports industry and Rosmolodezh to develop sports among young people.

    Decisions were made to include in the program events for the development of the sports industry and sports among young people, as well as to form a Government Commission for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports. The Ministry of Sports was instructed to analyze the methodology for calculating the level of satisfaction of citizens with the conditions for sports activities proposed by the Governor of the Tula Region, and to take into account off-budget financing of events within the program.

    In conclusion, the Deputy Prime Minister invited everyone involved in the topic of sports to attend the forum “Russia – a Sports Power”, which will be held in Ufa on October 17–19.

    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.

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    http://government.ru/nevs/52992/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five simple questions can help spot exaggerated research claims over sex differences in the brain

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gina Rippon, Professor Emeritus of Cognitive NeuroImaging, Aston University

    shutterstock FocalFinder/Shutterstock

    In the last ten years, some 20,000 or so academic papers have been published on the neuroscience of sex and gender. Perhaps you have read the media coverage of such papers, suggesting there’s finally proof that stereotypical abilities such as men being good at reading maps or women excelling at nurturing can be pinpointed in the brain.

    Given the sheer quantity of output in this area, how can you tell what is really groundbreaking research, and what is an overenthusiastic application of hype?

    Misleading spin is often blamed on university PR teams, non-specialist science writers in mainstream newspapers, or social media. But the source of deceptive impressions may sometimes be the research papers themselves.

    For example, researchers may hyper-focus on a limited set of findings. They may fail to report that many of the differences they were looking for didn’t make the statistical cut. Or they may be less than cautious in discussing the impact of their findings.

    Just as much as researchers need to be meticulous about the best methodology and the most powerful statistics, they need to manage the impressions they make when communicating their research. And, if they don’t, then the interested but non-expert reader may need help to spot this.

    Magic: spotting the spin

    My colleagues and I recently published a set of guidelines which offer just such assistance, identifying five sources of potential misrepresentation to look out for. The initials helpfully form the acronym “Magic”, which is short for magnitude, accuracy, generalisability, inflation and credibility.

    For magnitude, the question is: is the extent of any differences clearly and accurately described? Take this 2015 study on sex differences in the human brain. It reported on 34,716 different patterns of functional brain connectivity, and found statistical differences between females and males in 178 of them.

    Yet given that less than 0.5% of all possible differences they were measuring actually turned out to be statistically significant, they wouldn’t really be justified in reporting sex differences as prominent. In this study, they weren’t.

    The next question is to do with accuracy. Are techniques and variables clearly defined and carefully used in the interpretation of results? It should be really clear how the study was run, what measures were taken, and why.

    For example, a recent paper suggesting that the Covid lockdown effects had a more pronounced effect on adolescent girls’ brain structure than boys’ fell at this hurdle. The abstract referred to “longitudinal measures” and much of the narrative was couched in longitudinal “pre- and post-Covid” terms. Longitudinal studies –– which follow the same group of people over time –– are great as they can discover crucial changes in them.

    But if you peer closely at the paper, it emerges that the pre- and post-Covid lockdown comparisons appear to be between two different samples – admittedly selected from an ongoing longitudinal study. Nonetheless, it is not clear that like was compared with like.

    Don’t believe everything you hear about male and female capabilities.
    CrispyPork/Shutterstock

    The third question has to do with generalisability. Are authors cautious about how widely the results might be applied? Here we encounter the problem with many scientific studies being carried out on carefully selected and screened groups of participants – sometimes just their own students.

    Care should be taken to ensure this is clear to the reader, who shouldn’t be left with the impression that one or more sets of participants can be taken to be fully representative of (say) all females or all males. If all study participants are selected from the same single community, then referring to “hundreds of millions of people” in interpreting the relevance of the results is something of an overstatement.

    The fourth category, inflation, is to do with whether the authors avoid language that overstates the importance of their results. Terms such as “profound” and “fundamental” may be misplaced, for instance. Remember, James Watson and Francis Crick merely described their discovery of DNA’s double helix structure as of “considerable biological interest”.

    Finally, we should consider credibility: are authors careful to acknowledge how their findings do or do not fit with existing research? Authors should be up front about alternative explanations for their findings, or suggest other factors that might need to be investigated in further studies.

    Suppose, for example, they are looking at the allegedly robust sex differences in visuospatial skills, which include things like visual perception and spatial awareness. Have the authors acknowledged research suggesting that the amount of time people spend on practising this skill, such as when playing video games, has been shown to be more significant than biological sex in determining such differences?

    If gamers are more likely to be boys, that doesn’t necessarily mean their brains are wired for them – it could equally well be reflecting gendered pressures that make such games a popular, culturally comfortable pastime among boys.

    The focus of these guidelines is on sex/gender brain imaging studies, but they could well be applied to other areas of research.

    Post-lockdown surveys have suggested that the public has greater trust in what scientists are saying than they did before the pandemic. Scientists need to be careful that they retain that trust by ensuring that what they report is unambiguous and free from hype.

    Hopefully the Magic guidelines will help them and their editors achieve this; if they don’t, then eagle-eyed readers, Magic-ally armed, will be on their guard.

    Gina Rippon 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. Five simple questions can help spot exaggerated research claims over sex differences in the brain – https://theconversation.com/five-simple-questions-can-help-spot-exaggerated-research-claims-over-sex-differences-in-the-brain-240356

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Sudan’s brutal war has become many wars, making peace even harder to reach

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Justin Willis, Professor of History, Durham University

    A fire in Omdurman market near Khartoum following fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces. Abd Almohimen Sayed / Shutterstock

    Sudan’s war runs grimly on. The two main protagonists (though there are others involved) are each claiming local victories. The Sudanese army appears to be slowly regaining control of the ruined capital, Khartoum, and has recovered some ground it lost elsewhere in Sudan. And the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continues its brutal siege of the western city of El Fasher.

    But, while the army seems to have the upper hand at present, neither they nor the RSF looks likely to win outright. Instead, the two sides keep up a mutual battering with ill-aimed barrages of artillery fire and bombs that destroy markets, wreck hospitals, and each day add to the grim toll of civilian death and misery.

    Abdel-Fattah al Burhan, the general who seized power and derailed what was supposed to be a transition to civilian rule after the revolution of 2019, still insists he is the head of Sudan’s legitimate government, and that the army will win the war.

    The RSF’s leader, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who is referred to as Hemedti, had initially been willing to play deputy to Burhan, but is now his bitter enemy. He makes a show of being willing to negotiate, but relentlessly pursues a military victory.

    It is tempting to point the finger at actors outside Sudan for their part in the spiralling violence. There are multiple credible allegations that the governments of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and Russia have all helped arm or finance one side or other in pursuit of regional influence or economic gain. Libya’s eastern – but not internationally recognised – government has also been accused of complicity.

    Some would say there are sins of omission as well as commission. The US, EU and others have all called for an end to this war. But they could be doing more to stop the flow of weapons and money that helps keep the fighting going, and to mobilise more concerted action to protect civilians.

    The world stands accused of turning its back on Sudan, despite being its biggest hunger and displacement crisis. But external actors did not start the war, and they cannot simply end it.

    Despite their common cause in a counter-revolutionary coup in 2021, the war started when Burhan and Hemedti fell out over who would have military and political primacy – and the associated economic benefits – in Sudan.

    They’ve already decided the country isn’t big enough for the both of them, so it’s nigh-on impossible to negotiate the usual kind of deal that shares power between foes.

    Burhan is intensely sensitive about the fragile sovereignty of his government, and views external mediation as foreign meddling. He has always insisted that the army can win an outright victory, and now he is encouraged by recent gains. Yet he is a long way from regaining control of the whole country.

    Hemedti, who craves the status that would come from negotiations, makes grandiloquent offers of ceasefires, coupled with promises to respect human rights – all while the RSF continues to murder, rape and loot. Hubris and hypocrisy make poor bases for negotiation.

    A precarious balancing act

    This is also not a war simply being waged between two individuals. Neither the army nor the RSF are coherent or well disciplined – the RSF, in particular, is a messy constellation of armed men, mostly from western Sudan (and, allegedly, further afield). They share a distinctive style of camouflage dress and a sense of long-term exclusion, but are not under close or effective control.

    The army has more formal structures – too many, perhaps – but these are also fragmented. Strong on generals and air firepower but weak on fighting forces, the army is adapting the government’s old playbook of mobilising local militias.

    The war has become several wars, drawing in other armed groups whose alliances with either the army or the RSF are contingent or opportunistic.

    Since independence in 1956, Sudan has mostly been a militarised state, where power was won by force. Those who ruled it feared their fellow soldiers and so created alternative forces, hoping these would back them against potential coups. Some of these groups had distinct social bases in particular regions or ethnic groups.

    This fragmentation had been happening since the 1970s, but it became endemic during the long reign of Sudan’s former president, Omar al-Bashir. Bashir stayed in power for 30 years by dividing possible rivals within the ruling elite, and used the multiplying, competing arms of the “security forces” to fight rebels on the margins.

    What seemed like a powerful, authoritarian system was, in fact, a brutal but precarious balancing act. After Bashir fell in 2019, the transitional government floundered. The soldiers seized power, then the complex rivalries and institutional fragmentation proved unsustainable. The core institutions that held Sudan together have shattered.

    So who, if anyone, can put Sudan back together again? Burhan and Hemedti are in no mood, and may anyway lack the control of their followers needed for any deal to stick.

    Civilian politicians were discredited by the bickering of the transition, and the most prominent of them seem confused between claiming to be a government-in-exile or trying to build a bigger anti-war coalition.

    At present, Sudan faces either the long-term absence of central authority or, more dramatically, an effective division into two or more states, whether or not these are internationally recognised. Some might say we should not mourn this – Sudan was a colonial creation, made by violence and predation. But this is an outcome that may only increase misery and misrule.

    However, there is still resistance amid the ruination. Sudan’s post-Bashir transition to democracy, as envisaged by the UN and others, is long dead. But in some vital ways, the popular revolution that toppled Bashir lives on.

    Grassroots emergency response rooms organise whatever lifesaving support for desperate communities that they can. And women and youth – the revolution’s vanguard – continue to organise, agitate and debate Sudan’s future among themselves, as well as demand a role in making it. They deserve our solidarity.

    Many, both Sudanese and non-Sudanese, refuse to let go of the idea of a better Sudan that has never yet been realised, but just might rise up from these ashes.

    Sharath Srinivasan is a Fellow and Trustee of the Rift Valley Institute.

    Justin Willis 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. Sudan’s brutal war has become many wars, making peace even harder to reach – https://theconversation.com/sudans-brutal-war-has-become-many-wars-making-peace-even-harder-to-reach-240585

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Biden IRA, Dept of Energy funding restarts Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear, boosting Boilermaker jobs

    Source: US International Brotherhood of Boilermakers

    Thanks to President Biden, Governor Whitmer and the Democratic policies, union Boilermakers at Local 169 are being rewarded with work opportunities that would otherwise not exist. And because of policies championed by the Democratic party, such as the Davis-Bacon Act, employees on site must receive prevailing wages, which protects union workers and provides opportunities for union contractors.

    Bob Hutsell, Local 169, Detroit, BM-ST

    Read more about the Palisades Nuclear project from CNBC. 

    When the Palisades Nuclear Plant in southern Michigan was mothballed in May 2022 after more than 40 years of commercial operation, it seemed the decommissioning was likely permanent.

    Just two years later in an “about face,” nuclear is regaining favor as a clean, efficient energy producer, and the plant has attracted an infusion of government funding that puts Palisades on track for a restart as early as the end of next year.

    Palisades owner, Holtec International, credits Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer for taking the initial action to help the plant return to service, noting that Whitmer made it a priority and signed bipartisan legislation that provided state funding and supported Holtec’s application for federal financing. Whitmer pushed for and secured $150 million in state funding for the plant’s re-opening. Another $150 million was later invested.

    According to the Holtec’s website, plans are in motion for repowering the facility, “Thanks to the groundswell of support from the State of Michigan and the U.S. Department of Energy… Getting Palisades back online gives Michigan a clean, reliable, safe source of continued energy. It provides hundreds of jobs to the community, as well as extended economic benefits for the region.”

    The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act provided an additional $1.5 billion to recommission the plant.  

    “Thanks to President Biden, Governor Whitmer and the Democratic policies, union Boilermakers at Local 169 (Detroit) are being rewarded with work opportunities that would otherwise not exist,” said L-169 Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer Bob Hutsell. “And because of policies championed by the Democratic party, such as the Davis-Bacon Act, employees on site must receive prevailing wages, which protects union workers and provides opportunities for union contractors.”

    There are currently 22 Local 169 Boilermakers working at the Palisades site, and with the future work and proposed construction of two new modular units, Hutsell expects 60 Boilermakers will be on site.

    Palisades is planning to install two modular nuclear units once the recommissioning is complete.

    As of December 2023, Holtec had begun its program to build its first two SMR-300 reactor units at Palisades. The existing Palisades plant, refurbished with an array of enhancements, is on track to be restarted by the end of 2025 and is designed to provide decades of safe and reliable service. The addition of two SMRs near the existing 800-MW plant will nearly double the Michigan site’s total carbon-free generation capacity.

    On their website, Holtec stated: “A restart of Palisades could mark a turning point for the nuclear industry after a decade in which a dozen reactors have shut down across the country.”

    Palisades is being credited as the catalyst for the recent announcement from Constellation on restarting Pennylvania’s Three Mile Island Unit 1, which provides Boilermaker work for Local 13 (Philadelphia).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nobel economics prize: how colonial history explains why strong institutions are vital to a country’s prosperity – expert Q&A

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Renaud Foucart, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Lancaster University Management School, Lancaster University

    This year’s Nobel memorial prize in economics has gone to Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and James Robinson of the University of Chicago for their work on why there are such vast differences in prosperity between nations.

    While announcing the award, Jakob Svensson, the chairman of the economics prize committee, said: “Reducing the huge differences in income between countries is one of our times’ greatest challenges”. The economists’ “groundbreaking research” has given us a “much deeper understanding of the root causes of why countries fail or succeed.”

    The award, which was established several decades after the original Nobel prizes in the 1960s, is technically known as the Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic sciences. The academics will share the award and its 11 million kroner (£810,000) cash prize.

    To explain their work and why it matters, we talked to Renaud Foucart, a senior lecturer in economics at Lancaster University in the UK.

    What did Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson win for?

    The three academics won the prize mostly for providing causal evidence of the influence of the quality of a country’s institutions on its economic prosperity.

    At first glance, this may seem like reinventing the wheel. Most people would agree that a country that enforces property rights, limits corruption, and protects both the rule of law and the balance of power, will also be more successful at encouraging its citizens to create wealth, and be better at redistributing it.

    But anyone following the news in Turkey, Hungary, the US or even the UK, will be aware that not everyone agrees. In Hungary for instance, cases of corruption, nepotism, a lack of media pluralism, and threats to the independence of the judiciary have led to a fierce battle with the European Union.

    Rich countries typically have strong institutions. But several (wannabe) leaders are perfectly comfortable with weakening the rule of law. They do not seem to see institutions as the cause of their prosperity, just as something that happens to be correlated.

    In their view, why does the quality of institutions vary across countries?

    Their work starts with something that has clearly not had a direct effect on today’s economic prosperity: living conditions at the start of European colonialism in the 14th century. Their hypothesis is that, the richer and the more inhospitable to outsiders a place was, the more colonial powers were interested in brutally stealing the country’s riches.

    In that case, they built institutions without any regard for the people living there. This led to low quality institutions during the colonial period, that continued through independence and led to bad economic conditions today.

    All of this is because – and this is another domain to which this year’s laureates contributed – institutions create the conditions of their own persistence.

    In contrast, in more hospitable and less developed places, colonialists did not take resources. They instead settled and tried to create wealth. So, it was in their (selfish) interest to build democratic institutions that benefited people living there.

    The researchers then tested their hypothesis by looking at historical data. First, they found a “great reversal” of fortune. Places that were the most urbanised and densely populated in 1500 became the poorest by 1995. Second, they found that places where settlers died quickly from disease and could therefore not stay – while local populations were mostly immune – are also poorer today.

    Looking at the colonial roots of institutions is an attempt to disentangle causes and consequences. It is also perhaps the main reason why the committee would say that even if this year’s laureates did not invent the idea that institutions matter, their contribution is worthy of the highest distinction.

    Some have suggested the work simply argues ‘democracy means economic growth’. Is this true?

    Not in a vacuum. For instance, their work does not tell us that imposing democracy from scratch on a country with otherwise malfunctioning institutions will work. There is no reason for a democratic leader not to become corrupt.

    Institutions are a package. And this is why it is so important to preserve their different aspects today. Weakening even a little bit of the protections the state offers to citizens, workers, entrepreneurs and investors may then lead to a vicious circle where people do not feel safe that they will be defended against corruption or expropriation. And this leads to lower prosperity and more calls for authoritarian rules.

    There may also be outliers. China is clearly trying to push the idea that capitalism without a liberal democracy can be compatible with economic success.

    The growth of China since Deng Xiaoping’s reforms in the 1980s coincides with the introduction of stronger property rights for entrepreneurs and businesses. And, in that sense, it is a textbook version of the power of institutions.

    But it is also true that Deng Xiaoping ordered the crushing by the military of the Tiananmen Square protests for democracy in 1989. China today also has a clearly more authoritarian system than western democracies.

    And China is still much poorer than its democratic counterparts, despite being the world’s second-largest economy. China’s GDP per capita is not even a fifth of that of the US, and it is facing major economic challenges of its own.

    Actually, according to Acemoglu, Xi Jinping’s increasingly authoritarian regime is the reason why China’s economy is “rotting from the head”.

    What trajectory are democratic institutions throughout the world currently on?

    Acemoglu has expressed concern that democratic institutions in the US and Europe are losing support from the population. And, indeed, many democracies do seem to be doubting the importance of protecting their institutions.

    They flirt with giving more power to demagogues who claim it is possible to be successful without a strong set of rules that bind the hands of the rulers. I doubt today’s prize will have the slightest influence on them.

    But if there is one message to take home from the work of this year’s laureates, it is that voters should be cautious not to throw the baby of economic prosperity with the bathwater of the sometimes frustrating rules that sustain it.

    Renaud Foucart 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. Nobel economics prize: how colonial history explains why strong institutions are vital to a country’s prosperity – expert Q&A – https://theconversation.com/nobel-economics-prize-how-colonial-history-explains-why-strong-institutions-are-vital-to-a-countrys-prosperity-expert-qanda-241305

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How AI can help you make a computer game without knowing anything about coding

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Daniel Zhou Hao, School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences, University of Leicester

    Even kids can do it. Lassedesignen

    Just as calculators took over the tedious number-crunching in maths a few decades ago, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming coding. Take Kyo, an eight-year-old boy in Singapore who developed a simple platform game in just two hours, attracting over 500,000 players.

    Using nothing but simple instructions in English, Kyo brought his vision to life leveraging the coding app Cursor and also Claude, a general purpose AI. Although his dad is a coder, Kyo didn’t get any help from him to design the game and has no formal coding education himself. He went on to build another game, an animation app, a drawing app and a chatbot, taking about two hours for each.

    This shows how AI is dramatically lowering the barrier to software development, bridging the gap between creativity and technical skill. Among the range of apps and platforms dedicated to this purpose, others include Google’s AlphaCode 2 and Replit’s Ghostwriter.

    In another example of the power of these apps, an eight-year-old American girl called Fay built a chatbot that purported to be Harry Potter. She had it up and running in just 45 minutes, at which point it asked if she had heard the rumours about the Deathly Hallows and suggested they discuss it over a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.

    For those that already know how to code, numerous AI apps have become incredibly helpful too. At the other extreme from the natural language coding apps described above, tools like Tabnine and GitHub Copilot act as intelligent assistants, predicting and autocompleting code as you type.

    Alternatives such as Sourcery and DeepCode go a step further, offering real-time code cleanup, suggesting improvements and fixing vulnerabilities. New tools are emerging weekly, such as OpenAI’s GPT Canvas, a new GPT version designed to help with sophisticated coding. Many of these tools can also translate code from one programming language to another, say from JavaScript to Python.

    The productivity gains that these tools offer are revolutionising the software industry. As many as 70% of companies have already adopted the likes of GitHub Copilot, with coders reporting that AI is enabling them to write software that is more reliable and bug free.

    By removing the need to spend so many hours ironing out human errors, coders are able to spend more time focusing on higher value tasks such as designing system architecture and collaborating with colleagues.

    It is also changing the game for university educators like myself as we race to keep up. We’ve been having to rethink teaching materials and also assessment methods, wrestling with how exactly to grade a student’s coding in situations where AI tools are doing much of the work.

    Today’s limitations

    As exciting as all this is, AI coding is still in its infancy. At this stage it can only help non-coders to build simple applications or games. It can’t yet oversee big complex IT projects by understanding the big picture in a way that a human coder would.

    It can’t yet invent new ways to solve problems either, and is still more likely to lag in areas like, say, spacecraft navigation that require highly specialised knowledge.

    Many tools also don’t write perfect code: a program will often work but won’t be efficient or secure enough for use in the real world. Similarly, AI tools don’t inherently understand the context of the data they process, so may mishandle sensitive information or perpetuate biases present in the data on which they were trained.

    For all these reasons, in professional situations there’s still a need for a coder to make sure that everything is meeting the necessary standards. No doubt in future we may see AI coding tools designed to handle everything from security issues to highly specialised subject matter. Their ability to help non-coders to build apps will also only improve. For now at least, however, AI coding is still amplifying the skills of coders rather than replacing them altogether.

    How to build your own game

    All the same, it’s incredible what you can do with these tools as a non-coder already. Here’s a quick guide to making a simple platform game:

    Step 1: Sign up for an AI tool: Create an account with, say, Cursor or AlphaCode 2 and follow the setup instructions. Depending on which tool you choose, you may need to do a quick install. You may also need to install a programming language such as Python, as well as a source code editor such as VS Studio Code 2 – the coding platform will keep you right on this.

    Step 2: Start your game: Open a new project in the tool. Into the prompt, type: “Create a simple platform game where the platforms are made of sweet treats”.

    Step 3: See what it’s like: Click “run” or “preview” to see what you’ve created (depending on which system you are using, you may have to do this in the source code editor). You should see platforms made of candy or cakes.

    Step 4: Make some changes: Let’s say we change the main character into a parrot. Simply type into the prompt: “Make the avatar a green parrot”.

    Step 5: Add features: Now type into the prompt: “Let the parrot be controlled by the cursor arrows, insert some sweets for it to collect and add a score counter for how many it has collected”.

    Step 6: Test and tweak: Click “run” or “preview” again to test the updated game. Make changes by typing things like, “Insert a black crow that will chase the parrot around the screen. If the crow touches the parrot, freeze the screen and display a message in the middle of the screen saying ‘Too Bad!!!’”. Keep repeating these steps until you’re happy with the results.

    Step 7: Get it out there: You might now want to share your game with friends or online via an app store. It must be said that AI coders are not yet doing this well, so you may find this trickier without prior knowledge. One option is to deploy the game online via a free platform such as Zeabur, as explained here.

    Daniel Zhou Hao 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. How AI can help you make a computer game without knowing anything about coding – https://theconversation.com/how-ai-can-help-you-make-a-computer-game-without-knowing-anything-about-coding-240584

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why autumn 2024 is your best chance to see lots of weird and wonderful fungi

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rowena Hill, Postdoctoral Researcher in Mycology, Earlham Institute

    Parrot waxcaps fruit in autumn across northern Europe. Dan Molter/Wikipedia, CC BY

    The UK and north-western Europe have had a particularly wet 2024. Extreme weather patterns caused by climate change are nothing to celebrate, but there is one group of organisms that will have appreciated all the rain.

    Numerous languages have a saying to the effect of “growing like mushrooms after the rain”. Indeed, rainfall across the year is a major factor in the prevalence of mushrooms. These are the short-lived structures we see poking above the soil that fungi use for reproduction. The rest of the fungus is actually there all the time, growing within the soil in a web of filaments known as mycelium.

    Similar to the way plants spread their offspring via seeds, fungi produce mushrooms to release spores that can be carried on the wind or spread by animals. As with any organism’s reproduction, it costs the fungus a lot of energy to make mushrooms, so its decision to make this investment will be attuned to when it is likely to have the best chance of success.

    Spores need moisture to germinate, and it generally helps if it’s not too cold. Autumn in the temperate climate found across much of Europe usually provides these conditions in abundance. Add in a mild, wet summer to get things started and that’s why we’re probably looking at a bumper autumn for wild mushrooms in 2024.

    Do the seasons feel increasingly weird to you? You’re not alone. Climate change is distorting nature’s calendar, causing plants to flower early and animals to emerge at the wrong time.

    This article is part of a series, Wild Seasons, on how the seasons are changing – and what they may eventually look like.

    How to make the most of it

    Some of the most prized gourmet mushrooms can be foraged in autumn, like chanterelles or porcini. When done responsibly, it’s a great hobby. But foragers beware: there has been an influx of mushroom identification books written by generative-AI and riddled with (potentially deadly) errors, so always get information about edible mushrooms from a safe and reliable source.

    Chanterelle mushrooms are edible (and delicious).
    lzf/Shutterstock

    If you ever feel tempted to pick something without being certain what it is, remember the adage: “there are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunters”. Never munch on a hunch.

    Autumn is the most productive season for mushrooms in temperate regions, though spring is fruitful too; St George’s mushroom was named for its tendency to appear around April 23. It’s also not only mushroom-forming fungi that have these seasonal and weather-driven patterns. Cases of a nasty lung infection called valley fever in the south-western US are caused by the microscopic Coccidioides soil fungi. They peak in the autumn, with particular surges in years following wet winters.



    Read more:
    Fungal infections known as valley fever could spike this fall – 3 epidemiologists explain how to protect yourself

    Considering fungi are so dependent on weather and temperature, it’s not surprising that the timing and overall length of mushroom production is being affected by climate change. This mirrors the shifts in seasonal patterns for plants and animals.

    While an extended mushroom season could sound like good news to foragers, unfortunately, changing conditions may make fungal diseases like valley fever a bigger problem. And as extreme floods become more common, exposure to mould fungi will probably become a more pressing health issue in homes.

    Mushrooms are full of water, so wet autumn weather tends to favour fungi.
    Sergei Kochetov/Shutterstock

    Fungi aren’t just rain-lovers, though, they’re actually also rain-makers. Spores released into the atmosphere from fungi can act as a surface on which moisture in the air can form water droplets, and when this happens on a large scale it can contribute to the formation of clouds.

    This is just one example of the many underappreciated ways that fungi support our environment. Come rain or shine, I hope that you have the opportunity to get out into nature this autumn and enjoy the fungi.

    Rowena Hill 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. Why autumn 2024 is your best chance to see lots of weird and wonderful fungi – https://theconversation.com/why-autumn-2024-is-your-best-chance-to-see-lots-of-weird-and-wonderful-fungi-240280

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –