Commander 3XL to be used as a primary transport vehicle for the TB2 Aerospace DROPS UAV Cargo POD for autonomous tactical resupply
Saskatoon Sask, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO) (FSE: 3U8A) (“Draganfly” or the “Company”), an award-winning, industry-leading drone solutions and systems developer, is pleased to announce that it has received a purchase order from TB2 Aerospace (TB2) for Commander 3XL Drones to be deployed with TB2 Drone Recharging Operational Payload System Pods (DROPS) within the DoD for various mission types. This order represents the beginning of the deployment and scaling of the DROPs system in conjunction with the Draganfly line of drones.
The Commander 3XL will be utilized to carry out various logistics missions. The Commander 3XL is well suited as a transport vehicle, as is the entire Draganfly drone product line for TB2 Aerospace’s smart logistics PODs, as Draganfly Drones are interoperable, providing operators a variety of aircraft size, payload capacity and weight configurations that utilize common communication, counter electronic warfare options, mission planning software, accessories, payloads and more. TB2 Aerospace and Draganfly have collaborated to integrate TB2’s DROPS Pods on Draganfly’s drones, positioning Draganfly as a primary transport vehicle for TB2 Aerospace deployments within the DoD.
“We are honored to be doing this exciting work with TB2 and to have been selected for this important work in the military logistics sector,” said Cameron Chell, CEO of Draganfly. “Draganfly thrives at working to provide exceptional capabilities by integrating our line of drones, experience, and technology stack into mission profiles and use cases with our commercial and military partners—and doing it within time frames and at costs that few others can.”
“We chose Draganfly to be our launch and developmental partner as they have a fantastic series of UAVs,” said Hank Scott, CEO of TB2. “Their aircraft are very stable, easy to fly and set up, and we were impressed by the commonality between their three UAVs. Common controllers, batteries, motors, and parts mean that the DoD can train a Warfighter to operate three different-sized UAVs with a simple, standardized training package. The commonality and interchangeable components will reduce DoD operational and training costs, and standardize the supply chain. Adding the DROPS system will make each of their UAVs a Multi-Mission Payload capable system too. It’s a win-win.”
About Draganfly
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO; CSE: DPRO; FSE: 3U8A) is the creator of quality, cutting-edge drone solutions, software, and AI systems that revolutionize how organizations can do business and serve their stakeholders. Recognized as being at the forefront of technology for over 24 years, Draganfly is an award-winning industry leader serving the public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, mapping, and surveying markets. Draganfly is a company driven by passion, ingenuity, and the need to provide efficient solutions and first-class services to its customers around the world with the goal of saving time, money, and lives.
For more information on Draganfly, please visit us at www.draganfly.com. For additional investor information, visit:
TB2 Aerospace from Golden, Colorado, USA is the developer the Drone Recharging Operational Payload System. This system enables a UAV to turn into a Multi-Mission Payload System capable of autonomously capturing, delivering, and recovering Cargo Pod and other payloads such as Weapons Systems and Ground Sensors without the need to place a Warfighter in harm’s way.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains certain “forward looking statements” and certain “forward-looking information” as defined under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements and information can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “plans” or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements and information are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the purchase order positioning Draganfly as a primary transport vehicle for TB2 Aerospace deployments within the DoD. Forward-looking statements and information are subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the ability of the Company to control or predict, that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out here in, including but not limited to: the potential impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, on the Company’s business, operations and financial condition; the successful integration of technology; the inherent risks involved in the general securities markets; uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates; the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions; and liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors“ in the Company’s most recent filings filed with securities regulators in Canada on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on EDGAR through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents managements’ best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
Source: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – In English
The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority BaFin warns consumers against offers on website esx-gruppe.com. According to information available to BaFin, financial and investment services are being provided on this website without the required authorisation.
Anyone conducting banking business or providing financial or investment services in Germany may do so only with authorisation from BaFin. However, some companies offer these services without the required authorisation. Information on whether companies have been authorised by BaFin can be found in BaFin’s database of companies.
The information provided by BaFin is based on section 37 (4) of the German BankingAct (Kreditwesengesetz – KWG).
Please be aware:
BaFin, the German Federal Criminal Police Office (Bundeskriminalamt – BKA) and the German state criminal police offices (Landeskriminalämter) recommend that consumers seeking to invest money online should exercise the utmost caution and do the necessary research beforehand in order to identify fraud attempts at an early stage.
Helmut Schlesinger turns 100 on 4 September, an anniversary that adds a wholly new numerical dimension to the honorary title of former Bundesbank President. Helmut Schlesinger is certainly no stranger to accolades celebrating his milestone birthdays. The “Börsen-Zeitung”, for one, marked his 80th birthday by writing that his name is synonymous with the pursuit of monetary stability, in a reference to the Bundesbank’s particular culture of stability, in which Mr Schlesinger’s thinking and attitudes resonate to this day. Mr Schlesinger’s presidency marked the pinnacle of over 41 years at the Bundesbank and in pursuit of a stable currency. He is rightly regarded as one of the most influential Bundesbankers of all time. The “Börsen-Zeitung” once dubbed him a home-grown product of the Bundesbank, a description that I like a lot. It wrote that Helmut Schlesinger embodied an exceptional period of monetary history, which came to an end as it were with the transition to the euro, characterised, on balance, by the continuity of success. During the 1950s and 1960s, in the early days of the Deutsche Mark, Mr Schlesinger followed an unusually steep career as a Bundesbank civil servant, culminating in him heading the Economics and Statistics Department. It was a time in which West Germany was experiencing the economic miracle. Under the fixed exchange rate regime, the Bundesbank led the money and credit sector out of planning and currency reform until it was finally opened and liberalised in 1958. Over the entire period, the Bundesbank succeeded in keeping the Deutsche Mark stable. In 1972, Mr Schlesinger was appointed to the Bundesbank’s Directorate and became its chief economist. The circumstances of the time required a complete realignment of monetary policy: the Bretton Woods exchange rate system teetered and finally collapsed in 1973. Western Europe’s exchange rates entered a new equilibrium – first in the European exchange rate arrangement, then in the European Monetary System (EMS). In economic terms, the 1970s were dominated by oil crises and rising unemployment. The combination of high inflation and a stagnant economy led to a new term being coined: stagflation. At that time, the Bundesbank was the first central bank to introduce monetary targeting. Mr Schlesinger played a key role in translating monetarist theory into a monetary policy strategy. He always saw the importance of explaining monetary policy, in personal contributions and in the Bundesbank’s Monthly Report, which he edited meticulously and with a sure sense of style. Many at the Bundesbank will remember the notes he made in pencil – he preferred an HB, or medium, hardness grade. As a monetary policymaker, however, some considered him a hard pencil lead, his argumentation consistent, but never simplistic. Time and again, he demonstrated the interaction between economic analysis, theoretical monetary concepts, political decision-making and historical change. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Deutsche Mark proved one of the world’s most stable currencies. Mr Schlesinger, who was made Vice-President in 1980, was regarded as the “conscience of stability policy”. US Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III is once said to have accused Schlesinger of seeing inflation under every pebble. This period saw the Deutsche Mark evolve into the anchor currency of the EMS. In 1991, Schlesinger was promoted from Vice-President to President – for a tumultuous 26 months. The Bundesbank used interest rate hikes in a bid to bring down the inflation caused by German reunification. Its stubborn high-interest-rate policy met with criticism within Germany and elsewhere. Many of the EMS partner countries likewise blamed the Bundesbank for the currency crises and rounds of depreciation of 1992‑93. When the United Kingdom was forced to withdraw from the EMS in 1992, UK politicians and the British media levelled serious accusations at Mr Schlesinger. Yet he was never a narrow-minded monetary policy nationalist; he followed a clear monetary compass. When Mr Schlesinger, a passionate hillwalker, was asked on a Himalayan tour about the importance of the oldest Buddhist mantra om mani padme hum, he is said to have answered: keep the money supply tight. Nowadays, the monetary targeting he introduced and that proved so successful back then has a different role to play. The structure of the economy has changed fundamentally. Mr Schlesinger himself always underscored that monetary policy strategy had to be adapted to structural change if it was to maintain monetary stability. Another of Mr Schlesinger’s insights also remains as true now as it was then: Stable money not only needs stability-oriented policies from both the government and the central bank. Business, employers and trade unions, and consumers also need to behave appropriately – what you might call a culture of stability. He established this culture of stability not just within the Bundesbank, but throughout west German society and later German society as a whole. It is a culture that is an obligation to all of his successors in the office of Bundesbank President. As the fifth in this line, I am honoured to offer my felicitations: heartfelt congratulations on your 100th birthday, Helmut Schlesinger!
A staff member walks past the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong province, Sept. 21, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
Chinese stocks rallied on Tuesday, fueled by a package of stimulus measures announced on the same day.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 4.15% to 2,863.13 points, and the Shenzhen Component Index closed 4.36% higher at 8,435.7 points.
China’s central bank, top securities regulator and financial regulator earlier in the day announced a raft of monetary stimulus, property market support and capital market strengthening measures to support the country’s high-quality economic development at a press conference.
The country will cut the reserve requirement ratio, lower mortgage rates on existing home loans, and create new monetary policy tools to support the stock market, among others.
These policies, which exceed market expectations, will boost market confidence, stimulate the vitality of market entities, stabilize credit levels, and enhance the sustainability of financial support for the real economy, said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.
Gains are seen across the board on the two bourses, with shares related to steel and coal leading the surge.
The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 974.8 billion yuan (about $138.25 billion), up from 551 billion yuan recorded on the previous trading day.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, surged 5.54% to close at 1,615.32 points Tuesday.
An undated file photo shows the entrance to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]
China’s Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday that it will probe into PVH Corp. of the United States under the unreliable entity list framework for suspected discriminatory measures and other practices violating market trading principles regarding Xinjiang-related products.
The U.S. company is suspected of boycotting cotton products from China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region without any factual basis, which seriously undermined the legitimate rights and interests of relevant Chinese enterprises, and jeopardized China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, said the ministry.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, at the forum titled Hong Kong: The Common Law Gateway for Vietnamese Businesses to China and Beyond in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, today (September 24):Vice President Vo (Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr Vo Tan Thanh), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon, xin chào buổi trưa. Firstly, a very warm welcome, a very big thank you to all of you joining our forum this afternoon co-organised by the Department of Justice of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The theme of today’s forum is “Hong Kong: The Common Law Gateway for Vietnamese Businesses to China and Beyond”. In my opening remarks, I simply wish to try to answer two questions, two very obvious questions that I suppose you have in mind. Firstly, who we are; secondly, why are we here. For the purpose of this forum, I have a very big delegation consisting not simply of government lawyers from my Department. The Department of Justice of Hong Kong is in fact quite similar to the Ministry of Justice in Vietnam. So, a lot of people would think I will be responsible for criminal prosecutions, giving advice to the Government. But perhaps not so well known is that, it is also one of my duties to promote legal services in Hong Kong to friends outside the jurisdiction. Apart from my colleagues from the Department of Justice, I am very fortunate to have the support of about 15 legal practitioners from Hong Kong. They are very experienced legal practitioners specialised in different areas. And in fact we have all together, if I recall correctly, six supporting organisations. And you can tell from the nature of the organisations to have some idea as to who these legal practitioners are representing. We have representatives from the two legal professional bodies in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Bar Association and the Law Society of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, we still adopt the British system, we still have a divided legal profession. We have barristers who go to the courts to do advocacy work, and then we have solicitors handling all sorts of legal matters from non-contentious commercial matters to dispute resolution. So the representatives from two legal professional bodies, and then we have representatives from the main arbitration institutions in Hong Kong, including the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, HKIAC, which is the main arbitration institute in Hong Kong. We also have the South China International Arbitration Center (Hong Kong), which is also a very important institution. And then we have the AALCO, Asian African Legal Consultative Organization, with a regional arbitration centre in Hong Kong. We also have a representative from eBRAM which provides electronic services, not just for dispute resolution, but also for deal making. So from looking at the nature of these organisations, I hope you will be convinced that we have a wide spectrum of legal practitioners who are going to share their experiences and their knowledge about Hong Kong legal services to you in due course. Having told you very briefly who we are, the second question perhaps is even more relevant and important: Why are we here? What do we aim to achieve in the next couple of hours? We have two hours for the forum. We decided to share with you some of the things about Hong Kong which you may be interested in for the two hours. And I believe many of you will join our dinner after the forum, so it will be around four hours. A lot can be achieved within four hours. As I said earlier, I come across this question quite often. People wonder, in my capacity as the Secretary for Justice, I should be responsible for legal matters. It is not really my responsibility to promote trade and finance. I am not a minister of commerce. So what on earth am I doing here? To answer this very pertinent question, I think we should remind ourselves of the very close relationship between Vietnam and Hong Kong. I think we have to set the scene, we have to put things in context first. As a matter of fact. I am sure you would agree that Hong Kong and Vietnam share very close ties both as a matter of history and also at present. Now we are in the beautiful city of Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh is the founding father of Vietnam, and I am sure you would remember that Mr Ho Chi Minh actually founded the Communist Party of Vietnam in Hong Kong in the early 1930s. I had a very quick chat with Vice President Vo just a moment ago. He reminded me that in the last century, from the 60s, 70s, all the way up to 90s, a lot of trade concerning Vietnam actually went through Hong Kong for a lot of reasons. And then fast forward, what is the position as at today? At the moment, I think there are more than 7 000 Vietnamese settling in Hong Kong, because I attended the national day celebration held by the Consul-General of Vietnam last week, so I got all the figures. There are more than 7 000 Vietnamese settling in Hong Kong. We have a lot of good Vietnam restaurants. I like the pho and banh mi. But more than that, we have roads and streets in Hong Kong named after places in Vietnam. We have the Saigon Street, Hanoi Road, so on and so forth. Last October, the Hong Kong Government has relaxed some immigration regulations, and as a result, it is much easier and convenient for Vietnamese talent to come to work in Hong Kong. In addition, the criteria for taking multiple visas, either as tourists or on business, have also been relaxed. And a little bit closer to today, about two months ago, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Government came to Vietnam. I think he held a forum exactly in this particular venue. On that occasion, I was told that altogether 22 co-operation agreements have been signed between business people in Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong, covering a wide range of areas. And you look at the figures, look at the statistics, Vietnam is Hong Kong’s second-largest trading partner within ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries. I don’t remember the exact figures, but the amount is huge. And in terms of direct investment in Vietnam, the Vice President also confirmed to me that Hong Kong ranks among the top five. So plainly, if you put the matter in context, the relationship between Vietnam and Hong Kong has always been very close. And we look to the future. The Permanent Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam actually paid a visit to Hong Kong about two weeks ago to attend the Belt and Road Summit. And he gave a very inspiring speech touching upon the relationship between Vietnam and Hong Kong. He mentioned the development plan of “Two Corridors, One Belt”, which is a very important development plan of Vietnam. He said he is hoping that we can connect the Vietnamese “Two Corridors, One Belt” plan with the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China. So these two plans actually can have a sort of very good synergy. So this is the background that I would like to remind ourselves. But still you might think, well, I haven’t answered the very pertinent question yet, because so far I did not mention the word “law” very often. So how is legal service, how are lawyers in Hong Kong relevant to what I have said to the future relationship between the jurisdictions? I think the answer must be obvious, because most of you are very successful, very influential business people in Vietnam, and most of you will be engaged in international commercial investment transactions. And you must recognise that no matter how much you hate lawyers, in particular the fees that they are charging you, lawyers are indispensable from the moment you decided to set up a business in a foreign place to the point you have to negotiate or conclude a contract with a foreign party; when it comes to how to manage your risk when you set up a business in a particular place, including: should I be concerned about the labour law there, tax or whatsoever; and in the im
portant event that you run into dispute with your business partner or other people that clearly you will require legal service to assist you to resolve dispute. So the point that I wish to make is that, in the whole business cycle, I would use the analogy “from cradle to grave” but need to be more precise in the context from the inception of a business to the termination, to the point when you rip your profit from your joint venture, at each and every stage, legal service would be indispensable. But that still doesn’t answer the question. Assuming legal service is indispensable, obviously you have to consider who should I instruct? Legal services of which jurisdiction would be to my advantage, would serve my best interest? Now, here comes the ultimate objective of today’s event. I am hoping that after four hours, you will be convinced that Hong Kong will be your best choice. I am not suggesting that Hong Kong is the only choice because the choice is yours, but I am assisting you to make an informed choice. We will be trying our best to persuade you that among all the options, Hong Kong is the best choice. Why? Because Hong Kong is a common law gateway for Vietnamese businesses to China and beyond. This is my short answer. We do have a long answer, but I am afraid that the long answer is not going to be given by me. It is going to be provided by my eminent friends coming from Hong Kong. They will speak from their own area of practices, from their experiences to substantiate the point that I wish to make. And of course, after they share their experiences and what they wish to tell you, at dinner time, I am hoping that most of you would join the dinner, I will have the chance to speak to you again, just to do my closing submission. I will wait for your verdict at the end of your dinner. On this note, I hope you all have a very enjoyable afternoon and a very fruitful afternoon. And I hope that I will be able to convince you, because the duty of a lawyer is to convince people. I will be failing my duty if I am unsuccessful in this respect. I need your support and I am very optimistic because I have very good friends with me doing the job together with me. Thank you very much.
Members of the UConn community and the general public are invited to join in a bipartisan conversation about fostering civic and democratic engagement at The Dodd Center for Human Rights at UConn Storrs on Thursday, September 26, 2024, when Congress to Campus comes to UConn.
The flagship program of the nonprofit organization FMC – a bipartisan, voluntary alliance of former U.S. Senators and Representatives who advocate for representative democracy at home and abroad – Congress to Campus offers a unique civic educational experience by engaging honest dialogue with bipartisan teams of former members of Congress, congressional staff, and American diplomats.
“We know from our own work at UConn on programs like Democracy and Dialogues just how powerful it can be to engage in meaningful and civil discussion on the most critical issues we, as a society, are facing,” says James Waller, the inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice at UConn and director of Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, which is hosting the Congress to Campus event.
“We hope that this event will showcase how civil discourse, and even disagreement, can be a productive and healthy part of our democracy,” Waller says.
Congress to Campus sessions have been held on 183 campuses in 43 states and seven countries, reaching more than 57,000 students in the last 10 years alone.
Loretta Sanchez (contributed photo)
UConn’s Congress to Campus event will feature a discussion with the Honorable Loretta Sanchez (D-CA, 1997-2017), a former senior member of the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees; and the Honorable Fred Upton (R-MI, 1987-2023), a former chairman of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and top Republican leader of the Subcommittee on Energy.
Their discussion will be moderated by NBC Connecticut anchor and reporter Amber Diaz ’11 (CLAS), and UConn President Radenka Maric will deliver welcoming remarks
While visiting UConn, Reps. Sanchez and Upton will also engage with members of the broader community in a series of workshops small group discussions, keynotes, and classroom visits on topics including civil discourse, messaging and disinformation, democracy and human rights, and participation and inclusion.
The event is co-sponsored by UConn’s Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, School of Public Policy, Department of Political Science, Undergraduate Student Government, Department of Residential Life, Community Outreach, Office of Outreach and Engagement, and the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work.
Fred Upton (contributed photo)
It’s supported by Citizen Travelers, the nonpartisan civic engagement initiative of Travelers.
“We’re so grateful for our many partners on this event, and we hope students as well as members of our UConn community and the greater public will join us for this important conversation,” says Waller.
The Dodd Center is home to robust academic programs and innovative external engagement in human rights, including the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute, its Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs, the University Archives and Special Collections, and the Center for Judaic and Contemporary Jewish Life.
The outreach and engagement arm of human rights at UConn, Dodd Human Rights Impact works to develop and support programs and initiatives that seek to directly impact local and global communities by helping them meet their human rights challenges.
Space is limited. Please click here to register for this event.
For more information about Dodd Impact, visithumanrights.uconn.edu/dodd-impact-programs.
Source: United Kingdom UK House of Lords (video statements)
Overhaul inquiries to make them more efficient and effective, says House of Lords committee in new report.
Public inquiries are set up to consider incidents of major public concern, such as the Grenfell Tower fire, the Post Office Horizon scandal and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Statutory Inquiries Committee has been considering the way these inquiries work. In its new report it found inefficiencies leading to delays and unnecessary costs. It calls on the government to conduct a major overhaul, including supporting an independent body responsible for following up on recommendations and ensuring that those accepted by the government are implemented.
Find out more and read the report in full https://ukparliament.shorthandstories.com/statutory-inquiries-lords-report/index.html?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=statutory-inquiries-report&utm_content=lords-youtube-channel
#HouseOfLords #PublicInquiries
Catch-up on House of Lords business:
Watch live events: https://parliamentlive.tv/Lords
Read the latest news: https://www.parliament.uk/lords/
Stay up to date with the House of Lords on social media:
With effect from Monday, 2 September 2024, Dr Sabine Mauderer was appointed Vice-President of the Deutsche Bundesbank. Furthermore, Lutz Lienenkämper and Michael Theurer joined the Bundesbank’s Executive Board. The responsibilities within the Executive Board have therefore been reallocated. The following reallocation of responsibilities comes into effect immediately. President Dr Joachim Nagel Economics Directorate for Board and International Affairs Communications Strategy and Innovation Legal Services Deputy President Dr Sabine Mauderer Markets Controlling, Accounting and Organisation Sustainability Burkhard Balz Cash management Digital Euro Payments and Settlement Systems Centre for International Central Bank Dialogue Lutz Lienenkämper Human Resources Internal audit Compliance Michael Theurer Banking and Financial Supervision Financial Stability N.N. Information Technology Data and Statistics Risk Control Research Responsibilities within the unallocated area have been temporarily assigned to Dr Joachim Nagel (Risk Control and Research Centre), Dr Sabine Mauderer (Data and Statistics) and Burkhard Balz (Information Technology).
BOSTON, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Tyton Partners, a strategy consulting and investment banking firm focused on the education sector, unveiled Listening to Learners 2024: Stay Safe, Stay Informed: How Awareness of Support Services and Safety Relate to Re-enrollment, focusing on student learning outcomes. Following its widely cited debut last year, the second annual installment dives into the student perspective, linking it to institutional practices and technologies to spotlight impactful trends supporting student success in and outside the classroom.
With data from 3,000 higher education administrators, frontline advising staff, and students, Listening to Learners 2024 offers an in-depth analysis across six pivotal areas: Safety, Learner Awareness, Basic Needs Costs, Generative AI, Stopped-out Learners, and the Equity-Excellence Imperative. These areas are critical in understanding and bridging gaps between what students need to succeed and institutional efforts.
Safety Concerns: Although rarely discussed during advising sessions, students are four times more likely to want to discuss safety issues as a topic than advisors, highlighting a disconnect that impacts re-enrollment.
Learner Awareness: Only 54% of institutions effectively communicate available student support services, underscoring an awareness gap that could significantly boost retention and re-enrollment rates. This gap is larger for students with disabilities and online students.
Basic Needs Costs: 60% of students cite the cost of course materials as a crucial factor in course selection, stressing the financial burdens impacting their academic choices.
Generative AI: 50% of students would continue using generative AI tools even if banned, indicating robust student interest in these technologies.
Stopped-out Learners: FAFSA delays have had disproportional effects on re-enrolled learners’ decisions to re-enroll and potentially transfer to a different college or university
Equity-Excellence Imperative: Despite having a perspective on which student populations are most at risk, 54% of academic advisors don’t know if student utilization of support services is tracked by at-risk sub-populations (e.g., students who are working while in school or from rural areas), suggesting a lack of targeted support.
“At Tyton Partners, we believe deeply in the power of data to inform actionable insights,” said Catherine Shaw, Managing Director at Tyton Partners and lead author of Listening to Learners. “Through Listening to Learners, we aim to bridge the gap between student experiences and institutional strategies, fostering environments that support all aspects of student success, both in and outside the classroom.”
“This research underscores the urgent need for higher education to equip learners with the skills for a lifelong learning journey,” said Dr. Cristi Ford, Vice President of Academic Affairs at D2L. “As people live and work longer, the traditional three-stage model of education, employment, and retirement must transform into a continuous cycle of learning and earning.”
This year’s research, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, D2L, and Lumina Foundation, highlights the critical need for educational institutions to align more closely with student needs. By bridging this gap, we can not only enhance equity and effectiveness within the educational landscape but also pave the way for innovative practices that will shape the future of learning.
About Tyton Partners Tyton Partners is the leading provider of strategy consulting and investment banking services to the global knowledge and information services sector. With offices in Boston and New York City, the firm has an experienced team of bankers and consultants who deliver a unique spectrum of services from mergers and acquisitions and capital markets access to strategy development that helps companies, organizations, and investors navigate the complexities of the education, media, and information markets. Tyton Partners leverages a deep foundation of transactional and advisory experience and an unparalleled level of global relationships to make its clients’ aspirations a reality and to catalyze innovation in the sector. Learn more at tytonpartners.com.
CINCINNATI, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Paycor HCM, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYCR) (“Paycor”), a leading provider of human capital management (HCM) software, today announced a suite of innovative features designed to transform time-off management for the modern workforce. These cutting-edge additions to Paycor’s HCM platform streamline time-off operations through automation, real-time visibility and proactive controls to drive efficiency and promote employee well-being.
“It’s so important for workers to feel in control of their time, and Paycor’s new time-off features help leaders address this pain point,” said Ryan Bergstrom, Chief Product & Technology Officer at Paycor. “Our new experience helps workers unplug, empowers employees and leaders to take control of time-off management, reduces stress, and ensures smooth operations. We’re proud to offer flexible solutions that not only meet the needs of today’s workforce but also set a new standard for the future of work.”
Key benefits include:
Better Insights & Visibility to Help Leaders Make Decisions Paycor now offers seamless integration of time-off requests with scheduling, providing leaders with real-time visibility of these requests while building schedules. This feature allows for enhanced productivity and coordination through comprehensive visibility into time-off schedules for employees and leaders. Seamless integration across our ecosystem through APIs and data streams, including automatic syncing to cloud-based calendars, ensures accurate and up-to-date information.
Faster Communication and Approvals Time Off Advisor provides employees with peak time visibility through blackout dates and balance forecasting, enabling better planning and communication with managers for time-off planning. Within this module, leaders can establish predefined criteria for automatically approving or denying time off requests. Additionally, managers can conveniently manage approvals on-the-go through preferred methods, such as the mobile app or email.
Prevent Burn-out and Encourage Time Away Paycor Paths offers bite-sized training to empower leaders to recognize and prevent causes of burnout while easily accessing time-off balances and requests to identify potentially at-risk employees via the COR Leadership Dashboard.
Paycor has received several accolades for these enhancements, including “Best Advance in Time” and “Best Advancement in Online Coaching Tools” from Brandon Hall Group and “Business Intelligence Solution” from Titan Business Awards.
To learn more about how our time experience can streamline operations and provide flexibility to your workforce, visit Paycor Time & Attendance.
About Paycor Paycor’s human capital management (HCM) platform modernizes every aspect of people management, from recruiting, onboarding, and payroll to career development and retention, but what really sets us apart is our focus on leaders. For more than 30 years, we’ve been listening to and partnering with leaders, so we know what they need: a unified HR platform, easy integration with third party apps, powerful analytics, talent development tools, and configurable technology that supports specific industry needs. That’s why more than 30,000 customers trust Paycor to help them solve problems and achieve their goals. Learn more at paycor.com.
Media Relations: Carly Pennekamp 513-954-7282 PR@paycor.com
Investor Relations: Rachel White 513-954-7388 IR@paycor.com
SUFFOLK, Va. and MIDLOTHIAN, Va., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hampton Roads based TowneBank (NASDAQ: TOWN) and Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp. (NASDAQCM: VBFC) (“Village”), the parent company of Village Bank, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement and plan of reorganization pursuant to which TowneBank will acquire Village and Village Bank. The proposed transaction will enhance TowneBank’s continued and growing presence in the Richmond MSA while providing opportunity for diverse revenue synergies with Towne Financial Services Group and strategic capital deployment.
“Our TowneBank family is humbled and excited to partner with Village Bank and its team members,” said G. Robert Aston, Jr., Executive Chairman of TowneBank. “We believe our partnership can bring additional products and expanded services to the clients of Village Bank while meaningfully enhancing our Richmond presence, which is core to our franchise and future growth.”
“We’re excited to partner with TowneBank,” said Jay Hendricks, President and Chief Executive Officer of Village. “This merger is not just a business decision but a strategic move to enhance the value we deliver to our customers. This partnership will give us the ability to continue to meet our customers’ banking needs with greater resources and products while providing increased opportunities for our employees.”
Based on financials reported as of June 30, 2024, the combined companies would have total assets of $17.8 billion, loans of $12.1 billion and deposits of $14.9 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, shareholders of Village will receive $80.25 per share in cash for each share of Village outstanding common stock. This corresponds to an aggregate transaction value of approximately $120.0 million, based on Village common stock currently outstanding.
TowneBank expects the transaction to be approximately 6% accretive to earnings per share with fully phased-in cost savings on a GAAP basis.
In consideration of the transaction, extensive due diligence was performed by the management teams of TowneBank and Village. The definitive agreement was approved by the boards of directors of TowneBank and Village. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025 and is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approval, as well as the approval of Village’s shareholders.
Piper Sandler & Co. served as the financial advisor and Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP served as legal counsel to TowneBank in the transaction. Janney Montgomery Scott served as the financial advisor and Williams Mullen served as legal counsel to Village in the transaction.
About TowneBank: Founded in 1999, TowneBank is a company built on relationships, offering a full range of banking and other financial services, with a focus of serving others and enriching lives. Dedicated to a culture of caring, Towne values all employees and members by embracing their diverse talents, perspectives, and experiences.
Today, the bank operates over 50 banking offices throughout Hampton Roads and Central Virginia, as well as Northeastern and Central North Carolina – serving as a local leader in promoting the social, cultural, and economic growth in each community. TowneBank offers a competitive array of business and personal banking solutions, delivered with only the highest ethical standards. Experienced local bankers providing a higher level of expertise and personal attention with local decision-making are key to the TowneBank strategy. TowneBank has grown its capabilities beyond banking to provide expertise through its controlled divisions and subsidiaries that include Towne Wealth Management, Towne Insurance Agency, Towne Benefits, TowneBank Mortgage, TowneBank Commercial Mortgage, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Towne Realty, Towne 1031 Exchange, LLC, and Towne Vacations. With total assets of $17.1 billion as of June 30, 2024, TowneBank is one of the largest banks headquartered in Virginia.
About Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp. Headquartered in Midlothian, Virginia, Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp. is the holding company for Village Bank. Village Bank was founded in 1999 and operates nine branch offices serving the greater Richmond Metropolitan area and Williamsburg, Virginia. Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp. had total assets of $747.7 million as of June 30, 2024. Additional information is available at the company’s website, http://www.villagebank.com.
Media contact: G. Robert Aston, Jr., Executive Chairman, TowneBank, 757-638-6780 William I. Foster III, Chief Executive Officer, TowneBank, 757-417-6482 James E. Hendricks Jr., Chief Executive Officer, Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp., 804-419-1253
Investor contact: William B. Littreal, Chief Financial Officer, TowneBank, 757-638-6813 Deborah M. Golding, Vice President, Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp., 804-897-3900
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains certain forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but instead represent only the beliefs, expectations, or opinions of TowneBank and Village and their respective management teams regarding future events, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and beyond the control of TowneBank and Village. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as: “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional terms, such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “likely,” “probably,” or “possibly.” These statements may address issues that involve significant risks, uncertainties, estimates, and assumptions made by management, including statements about (i) the benefits of the transaction, including future financial and operating results, cost savings, enhancement to revenue and accretion to reported earnings that may be realized from the transaction and (ii) TowneBank’s and Village’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties, estimates and assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change and difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood and degree of occurrence. Although TowneBank’s and Village’s respective management teams believe that estimates and assumptions on which forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, such estimates and assumptions are inherently uncertain. As a result, actual results may differ materially from the anticipated results discussed in these forward-looking statements because of possible uncertainties.
The following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially from the anticipated results or other expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements: (1) the business of Village and Village Bank may not be successfully integrated into TowneBank, or such integration may take longer, be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than expected; (2) the expected growth opportunities or cost savings from the transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected; (3) deposit attrition, operating costs, customer losses and business disruption following the transaction, including adverse effects on relationships with employees and customers, may be greater than expected; (4) the regulatory approvals required for the transaction may not be obtained on the proposed terms or on the anticipated schedule; (5) the shareholders of Village may fail to approve the transaction; (6) economic, legislative or regulatory changes, including changes in accounting standards, may adversely affect the businesses in which TowneBank and Village are engaged; (7) competitive pressures in the banking industry that may increase significantly; (8) changes in the interest rate environment that may reduce margins and/or the volumes and values of loans made or held as well as the value of other financial assets held; (9) an unforeseen outflow of cash or deposits or an inability to access the capital markets, which could jeopardize TowneBank’s or Village’s overall liquidity or capitalization; (10) changes in the creditworthiness of customers and the possible impairment of the collectability of loans; (11) insufficiency of TowneBank’s or Village’s allowance for credit losses due to market conditions, inflation, changing interest rates or other factors; (12) adverse developments in the financial industry generally, such as the recent bank failures, responsive measures to mitigate and manage such developments, related supervisory and regulatory actions and costs, and related impacts on customer and client behavior; (13) general economic conditions, either nationally or regionally, that may be less favorable than expected, resulting in, among other things, a deterioration in credit quality and/or a reduced demand for credit or other services; (14) weather-related or natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, or public health events (such as the COVID-19 pandemic); (15) changes in the legislative or regulatory environment, including changes in accounting standards and tax laws, that may adversely affect TowneBank’s or Village’s businesses; (16) cybersecurity threats or attacks, whether directed at us or at vendors or other third parties with which we interact, the implementation of new technologies, and the ability to develop and maintain reliable electronic systems; (17) competitors may have greater financial resources and develop products that enable them to compete more successfully; (18) changes in business conditions; (19) changes in the securities market; and (20) changes in the local economies with regard to TowneBank’s and Village’s respective market areas.
Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements are discussed in TowneBank’s reports (such as Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K) filed with the Federal Deposit Corporation (“FDIC”) and Village’s reports (such as Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K) filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). TowneBank and Village undertake no obligation to update or clarify these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Additional Information This press release does not constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval. Village will deliver a definitive proxy statement to its shareholders seeking approval of the transaction and related matters. In addition, each of TowneBank and Village may file other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction with the FDIC and SEC.
Investors, TowneBank shareholders and Village shareholders are strongly urged to read the definitive proxy statement regarding the proposed transaction when it becomes available and other relevant documents filed with the FDIC and SEC, as well as any amendments or supplements to those documents, because they will contain important information about TowneBank, Village and the proposed transaction. Free copies of the definitive proxy statement, as well as other filings containing information about Village, may be obtained after their filing at the SEC’s website (http://www.sec.gov). In addition, free copies of the definitive proxy statement, when available, also may be obtained by directing a request by telephone or mail to Village Bank and Trust Financial Corp., 13319 Midlothian Turnpike, Midlothian, Virginia 23113, Attention: Investor Relations (telephone: (804) 897-3900), or by accessing Village’s website at https://www.villagebank.com under “About Us Investor Relations.” The documents described above also may be obtained by directing a request by telephone or mail to TowneBank, 6001 Harbour View Boulevard, Suffolk, Virginia 23425, Attention: Investor Relations (telephone: (757) 638-6794), or by accessing TowneBank’s website at https://townebank.com under “Investor Relations.” The information on TowneBank’s and Village’s websites is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this presentation or incorporated into other filings either company makes with the FDIC or SEC.
TowneBank, Village, and their respective directors and executive officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Village in connection with the proposed transaction. Information about the directors and executive officers of Village and other persons who may be deemed participants in the solicitation, including their interests in the transaction, will be included in the proxy statement when it becomes available. Information about TowneBank’s directors and executive officers can be found in TowneBank’s definitive proxy statement in connection with its 2024 annual meeting of shareholders, filed with the FDIC on April 11, 2024. Additional information about Village’s directors and executive officers can be found in Village’s definitive proxy statement in connection with its 2024 annual meeting of shareholders filed with the SEC on April 9, 2024. Free copies of each document may be obtained as described in the preceding paragraph.
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — QuestionPro, a global leader in online survey and research services today announced the agenda and speaker lineup for its annual customer event, XDay 2024 North America. The event takes place Thursday, October 3, 2024 from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (U.S. Central Time) at the Thompson Austin in Austin, Texas. The event features keynotes, in-depth panels, and one-to-one chats with industry leaders on a range of topics related to the future of insights, experience, and delight.
The day begins with opening remarks from Vivek Bhaskaran, QuestionPro’s founder and CEO, whose irreverent personality is combined with deep industry knowledge and vision. He will unveil exciting new products and feature updates across QuestionPro product lines and set the stage for a day of innovation and inspiration.
Bhaskaran is followed immediately by the morning keynote from Dr. Dipul Patadia, a visionary healthcare executive with over 20 years of experience of leadership, innovation and insights. As the Head of Health System Strategy and Innovation at Salesforce, he has been pivotal in aligning technology with the unique needs of health systems. His extensive background, including roles as Chief Medical Officer at hospitals within Ascension and Advocate Health, uniquely equips him with insights into the melding of data, and new trends.
Attendees will benefit from his leadership in national healthcare organizations and advisory roles with multiple healthcare startups. Expect to gain actionable insights into transforming your data, AI-driven empowerment, and leading with human centric data.
Following the morning keynotes will be a series of practitioner-led breakouts featurimg experts who have held senior roles at some of the most recognized brands in the world, including: Microsoft, Twitch, HubSpot, Cost Plus World Market and others. Panels, workshops and keynotes will cover workplace experience; AI in research and experience; deep dives on CX and many others. A full agenda is available via the web at: https://www.questionpro.com/xday/2024/
The afternoon keynote address will be delivered by Tim Sanders, currently the Vice President of Research Insights at G2. He brings a deep understanding of AI, digital transformation, and customer-centric strategies after serving as Vice President of Client Strategy at Upwork and many other prestigious institutions. As an Executive Fellow at Harvard’s Digital Data Design Institute, he drives AI adoption and data-driven business decisions. With a rich history at Yahoo and a bestselling author, Tim’s insights on leadership, digital transformation, and change management are not to be missed.
The event concludes with a rooftop dinner reception at Arriba Abajo, on top of the Thompson Hotel. Arriba Abajo beckons guests with its unique blend of cantina concept and elevated hospitality while captivating guests with its awe-inspiring rooftop patio and pool.
About QuestionPro: Founded in 2006, QuestionPro is a global provider of online survey and research services that help companies make better decisions through data. Our fully integrated online platform includes surveys, research & insights, customer experience (CX) and workforce/employee experience software. We additionally offer polling, journey mapping, employee 360s, and data visualization. Our clientele ranges from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies, who rely on us for insights about customers, employees, and the marketplace. With offices in the US, Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, Japan, Australia, the United Arab Emirates and India, we offer customers 24-7 access to highly trained support specialists and engineers. More information is available at www.questionpro.com.
Acquisition of German HESA Solutions GmbH – MySchleppApp
Nextalia SGR and Alkemia Capital SGR lead the Series B round of the Italian scale-up in the digital motor assistance sector
MILAN, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — hlpy, the leading Italian scale-up in full digital services for mobility and vehicle assistance, has successfully completed a capital raise of 18 millioneuros aimed at strengthening its growth process in major European markets and acquiring a leading operator in Germany in digital roadside assistance: HESASolutionsGmbH–MySchleppApp.
The operation was co-led by Nextalia SGR through the Nextalia Venture fund and the current partner Sinergia Venture Fund of Alkemia Capital SGR, with the participation of all major shareholders of hlpy, including TheTechshopSGR,CDPVentureCapital –fondoCorporatePartnersI,ServiceTech, and Simest. The Series B consists of 80% capital increase and 20% long-term financing provided by credit institutions.
Thanks to this financial injection, hlpy accelerates its international expansion plan and announces its first M&A operation in Europe with the acquisition of 100% of thecapital of HESA Solutions GmbH, commercially known as MySchleppApp, one of the leading digital roadside assistance companies in Germany and Austria, with annualgrowthratesexceeding130%.
The acquisition of MySchleppApp allows hlpy to consolidate its position as theprimary European operator of full-digital roadside assistance, offering its services not only in Italy, France, and Spain but also in Germany and Austria. These services include assistance, repair, and vehicle maintenance through the use of a software platform based on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
MySchleppApp delivers its services through a network of over 1,500 partners on the ground, with operations and a technology platform that integrate well with hlpy’s.
“This operation,” explained Valerio Chiaronzi, CEO of hlpy,“supported by leadinginvestors,strengthenshlpy’sleadershipintheEuropeanmarketfordigitalcarassistance.The capital increase reflects our shareholders’ confidence in hlpy’s growth path, whichrecorded a revenue increase of 157% in 2023 compared to 2022, and this year will alsogrowbytripledigits.Despiteexponentialorganicgrowth,wesawtheopportunitypresentedbyMySchleppAppastherightonetoseizetoenteranimportantmarketlike Germanyandclearlymarkourgrowthtrajectoryandfuture:tobecomealeaderinmobilityservices, redefining the rules and standards in roadside assistance, as well as in vehiclerepair and maintenance, without any geographical limits. We are excited to welcome theMySchleppAppteam,withwhomwehaveformedauniquesynergyfromdayone,thanksto shared corporate values, an operational model, and a technological approach alignedwithourvision.
“We also believe that the integration of our realities can bring concrete benefits to ourbusinesspartners–manyofwhomarecommonandcross-country–who,post-integration,willhaveaholisticviewoftheirvehiclesanddriversinmultiplecountries.”
“We are proud and excited to join the hlpy group,” added Santosh Satschdeva, CEOofHESASolutionsGmbH.“TheintegrationbetweenhlpyandMySchleppApprepresentsthe union of two of the most technologically advanced entities in the vehicle assistancesectorinEurope,withthecommongoalofprovidingourcommercialpartnersanddriverswith a superior customer experience, while also reducing operational costs and vehicledowntime. Together, we can expand a unique service model without any geographicalbarriers,acceleratingthegrowthofthenetworkandcustomerbase.”
hlpy was born in Milan in May 2020 with the aim of reinventing vehicle assistance. Thanks to its innovative digital platform, hlpy aims to create value for insurance companies, car manufacturers, rental companies, rescue operators, and, above all, to make the service more reliable and secure for end users.
HESA Solutions GmbH, with its brand MySchleppApp, was founded in Germany in 2016. The business focus is on roadside assistance and support in the event of vehicle breakdowns. MySchleppApp’s approximately 75 clients include automobile manufacturers, fleet managers, and leasing companies. Its strength lies in the fully digital management of rescue requests, with a highly efficient rescuer engagement process and short waiting times for customers.
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DocNetwork announced that it has successfully completed a SOC 2 Type 2 audit for its CampDoc and SchoolDoc platforms, reinforcing its commitment to the highest standards of data security and privacy.
After completing their SOC 2 Type 1 and HIPAA audits in April 2024, Sensiba LLP completed a new audit to affirm that DocNetwork’s information security practices, policies, procedures, and operations meet the Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 standards for security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy over a period of time.
SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA are the gold standard for data security and privacy, ensuring companies handle data responsibly. Completing these audits marks a significant milestone for DocNetwork, and sets their software apart from competitors. CampDoc is the only camp management software to achieve SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA certification, and SchoolDoc is the only school Electronic Health Record (EHR) software to achieve SOC 2 Type 2 and HIPAA certification.
As camps and schools continue to rely on external vendors for essential operations, it is vital they trust and understand the software systems they use. DocNetwork’s independent security validation helps safeguard the Personal Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) of campers, students, and staff.
“Achieving SOC 2 Type 1 and HIPAA certification was an important milestone, but progressing to SOC 2 Type 2 demonstrates our ongoing commitment to rigorous privacy and security standards,” said Dr. Michael Ambrose, Founder and CEO of DocNetwork. “This achievement reinforces our dedication to protecting the camps and schools we serve, ensuring their confidence in our continuous efforts toward compliance and data protection.”
CampDoc and SchoolDoc offer the most comprehensive solution to help ensure the health and safety of children while they are away from home. DocNetwork is trusted by over 1,250 programs across all 50 states and internationally, including traditional day and residential camps, YMCAs, Jewish Community Centers (JCCs), Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, parks and recreation facilities, colleges and universities, and K-12 public, private, and charter schools.
About DocNetwork DocNetwork is an international, comprehensive electronic health record system, offering solutions to improve efficiency and maximize safety in camps, schools, and businesses. A collaborative effort between doctors, nurses, camp and school directors, and business owners, DocNetwork helps organizations manage health forms, allergies, medications, immunizations, and illness and injury tracking. DocNetwork also offers online registration, travel and emergency medical protection, emergency text message alerts, check-in, and attendance. For more information about DocNetwork and web-based health management, please visit www.campdoc.com, www.schooldoc.com, or call 734-619-8300.
Contact: Michael Ambrose, M.D. DocNetwork 734-619-8300 michael@docnetwork.org
BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cerence Inc. (NASDAQ: CRNC), AI for a world in motion, today announced that Tuya Smart (NYSE: Tuya, HKEX: 2391), a global cloud platform service provider, is partnering with Cerence to provide multi-lingual text-to-speech (TTS) for its cloud developer platform designed specifically for two-wheeled vehicles, including motorcycles, e-bikes, and more.
Tuya’s cloud developer platform provides its customers – in this case, the more than 100 two-wheeler manufacturers using the “Works with Smart Life” app – with a complete set of smart solutions, including apps, cloud capabilities, hardware, and more. Tuya will integrate Cerence TTS into its cloud developer platform designed for two-wheeler solutions, which will further enable riders to request and hear via voice real-time riding speed, riding time, battery information, phone and text messages, etc., making each ride safer and more enjoyable. In the future, the companies will partner to bring additional Cerence solutions to Tuya’s cloud developer platform, further enhancing voice-powered interaction for two-wheeler riders.
“As voice-powered interaction continues to gain relevance and usage among consumers, it only makes sense that we would enhance our offerings with voice capabilities,” said Tony Kong, General Manager of Outdoor Business Department, Tuya Smart. “By leveraging Cerence’s industry-leading TTS, we bring best-in-class technology to our customers looking to enhance the two-wheeler rider experience with improved safety and functionality.”
“Two-wheelers continue to present an exciting opportunity for Cerence to expand its industry-leading innovation to new areas of transportation,” said Nils Schanz, Chief Product Officer, Cerence. “We look forward to expanding the reach of our two-wheeler solutions, and transforming the rider experience, by partnering with Tuya to reach developers driving innovation within two-wheeler manufacturers.”
About Cerence Inc. Cerence (NASDAQ: CRNC) is the global industry leader in creating unique, moving experiences for the mobility world. As an innovation partner to the world’s leading automakers and mobility OEMs, it is helping advance the future of connected mobility through intuitive, AI-powered interaction between humans and their vehicles, connecting consumers’ digital lives to their daily journeys no matter where they are. Cerence’s track record is built on more than 20 years of knowledge and 500 million cars shipped with Cerence technology. Whether it’s connected cars, autonomous driving, e-vehicles, or two-wheelers, Cerence is mapping the road ahead. For more information, visit www.cerence.com.
About Tuya Smart Tuya Inc. (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391) is a global leading cloud platform service provider with a mission to build a smart solutions developer ecosystem and enable everything to be smart. Tuya has pioneered a purpose-built cloud developer platform with cloud and generative AI capabilities that delivers a full suite of offerings, including Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS, Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, and smart solutions for developers of smart device, commercial applications, and industries. Through its cloud developer platform, Tuya has activated a vibrant global developer community of brands, OEMs, AI Agents, system integrators and independent software vendors to collectively strive for smart solutions ecosystem embodying the principles of green and low-carbon, security, high efficiency, agility, and openness.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, DISQO released its 2024 Holiday Advertising report, offering marketers actionable insights into consumer holiday shopping behaviors and advertising preferences. Shoppers today have more options than ever for purchasing, discovery, and engagement. Understanding these shifts is critical for brands seeking to effectively tailor their strategies, break through the noise, and drive meaningful connections that influence purchasing decisions.
DISQO’s new report underscores the increasing importance of employing omnichannel strategies, embracing test-and-learn approaches, and innovating advertising to capture consumers throughout their shopping journey. DISQO asked over 3,000 US members of its 100% owned and opted-in audience of 2.3M people about their 2024 holiday shopping plans. The results are balanced and weighted to the US population on gender, household income, and age.
Key insights from the report reveal:
Holiday shopping is starting earlier: 52% of holiday shoppers plan to begin before November, with almost one-fifth (18%) starting before October.
Enabling an omnicommerce shopping journey is essential: 45% of shoppers plan to shop both in-person and online equally this year.
Retail media and interactive ads are gaining traction: 87% of shoppers said they had seen a seasonal ad on a retail platform that led to a purchase, while 41% said they were likely to engage with interactive ads offering exclusive holiday deals.
Social media drives holiday purchases: 76% of shoppers said they had purchased a product after seeing a holiday ad on a social platform, with Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram leading the way.
Cost and convenience win: 61% of shoppers found “free shipping” the most appealing message, and 51% were drawn to budget-friendly offers.
Gen Z leads in-store Black Friday shopping: 52% of Gen Z shoppers said they plan to shop in person on Black Friday, offering brands a key opportunity for in-store engagement.
“As the holiday shopping season shifts earlier and spans across more platforms, it’s crucial for marketers to adopt a data-driven approach,” said Stephen Jepson, President, Media Effectiveness at DISQO. “To stay at the top of consumer’s wish lists, brands and retailers must continuously test campaign timing, messages, and channels, and invest in cross-platform measurement that breaks through siloed walls.”
About DISQO
DISQO is building the most trusted experience platform that fuels brand growth. DISQO powers smart business decisions by helping clients measure every customer, touchpoint, and outcome. DISQO’s identity-based ad measurement and audience products are powered by millions of consumers on the industry’s largest opt-in consumer data platform. DISQO is recognized in Deloitte’s Fast 500 and Ad Age’s Best Places to Work, and has won ad measurement awards from Digiday and Cynopsis Media. Follow @DISQO on LinkedIn.
FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH), a global energy technology company and the world’s leading supplier of microinverter-based solar and battery systems, announced today the launch of its most powerful Enphase® Energy System™ to-date, featuring the new IQ® Battery 5P™ and IQ8™ Microinverters, for customers in India.
India’s power grid is among the most challenging in the world, with frequent outages disrupting daily life for many households. The new Enphase Energy System transforms this situation by enabling uninterrupted, reliable backup power. Key components of the system include:
IQ Battery 5P: Enphase’s most powerful home battery yet, designed for modularity. Starting at 5 kWh, it can scale up to 40 kWh to meet varying home energy needs. With 3.84 kW continuous power and 7.68 kW peak power for short bursts, it enables homeowners to run even the most power-hungry appliances during outages. Built with advanced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, the battery offers enhanced safety and significantly less maintenance compared to the widely used lead-acid batteries in India.
IQ®System Controller: The controller (or backup switch) isolates the home from the grid during outages, allowing seamless power supply from Enphase’s solar and IQ Battery 5P systems. The transition is instant, so most homeowners won’t even know there was an outage.
IQ®Microinverters: Homeowners can choose between IQ7 or IQ8 Microinverters. The IQ8HC™ and IQ8P™ Microinverters, launched in India last year, deliver peak AC output power of 384 W and 480 W, respectively, and seamlessly pair with solar panels up to 670 W DC. IQ8 Microinverters are grid-forming and feature Enphase’s Sunlight Jump Start™, allowing the system to restart using sunlight after a prolonged grid outage that drains the battery.
“The launch of the IQ Battery 5P marks a significant milestone for India,” said Harsha Kuntur, managing director at Ecosoch Solar. “These are some of the most advanced batteries, with built-in smart inverters that integrate seamlessly into Enphase’s ecosystem, providing complete control over both critical and non-critical loads. Homeowners can optimize energy use and ensure resilience, even under high demand. Scalable and future-ready, they allow power export to the grid during non-solar hours. With a long warranty and a durable design that eliminates any single point of failure, these batteries set a new standard in energy solutions for Indian homes.”
“Our customers are increasingly looking for energy independence, and the Enphase Energy System, powered by the new IQ Battery 5P, delivers just that,” said Rakshith Talanki, director at SunPV Energy Pvt. Ltd. “The system’s flexibility and advanced technology, including the IQ8 Microinverters, enable us to provide solutions that are not only reliable but also scalable for future growth. This gives homeowners the confidence to power through outages and reduce their reliance on the grid.”
Homeowners can use the Enphase® App to monitor performance and intelligently manage their battery systems, including the self-consumption feature to minimize grid electricity use. The App also offers homeowners the ability to disconnect from the grid entirely and reconnect with ease, all with just a few taps when desired. Enphase provides 24/7 customer support and industry-leading warranties, including a 15-year limited warranty—extendable up to 25 years—on IQ8 Microinverters and a 15-year limited warranty on IQ Batteries activated in India. Both limited warranties require the installation of an IQ® Relay device. The IQ Relay is integrated into the IQ System Controller for systems with IQ Batteries.
“Homeowners prioritize reliability and safety when selecting a home energy system,” said Thejas Babu, director at Thapas Energy. “The Enphase Energy System with the IQ Battery 5P is designed to provide exceptional reliability, safety, and performance, enabling homeowners to effectively harness solar power for their daily energy needs.”
“At Enphase, we strive to provide world-class technology for homeowners and businesses to support their energy needs,” said Mehran Sedigh, senior vice president of sales at Enphase Energy. “As India aims to increase its clean energy generation, we’re proud to work with our installer network across the country to equip homeowners with smart, safe, and powerful solar and battery products.”
Distributors and installers in India can now place pre-orders for the IQ Battery 5P, with shipments to installers expected to begin in December. For more information about the IQ Battery 5P in India, please visit the Enphase website.
About Enphase Energy, Inc.
Enphase Energy, a global energy technology company based in Fremont, CA, is the world’s leading supplier of microinverter-based solar and battery systems that enable people to harness the sun to make, use, save, and sell their own power—and control it all with a smart mobile app. The company revolutionized the solar industry with its microinverter-based technology and builds all-in-one solar, battery, and software solutions. Enphase has shipped approximately 76.3 million microinverters, and over 4.3 million Enphase-based systems have been deployed in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit https://enphase.com/.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including statements related to the expected capabilities and performance of Enphase Energy’s technology and products in India, including safety, quality and reliability; and the availability and market adoption of Enphase products in India. These forward-looking statements are based on Enphase Energy’s current expectations and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements as a result of such risks and uncertainties including those risks described in more detail in Enphase Energy’s most recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, Annual Report on Form 10-K, and other documents filed by Enphase Energy from time to time with the SEC. Enphase Energy undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations, except as required by law.
BRISBANE, Australia, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Softlink Information Centres, a Volaris Group company, has acquired Aurora Information Technology (AIT), developer of library automation software used in public and special libraries. Their flagship product, Aurora Library Management System (LMS), is based on Aurora Montage – a patron web catalogue. This year, a new, cloud-based library staff solution called Aurora Astria was introduced to the market.
AIT was established in the late 1990s. Co-founders, Doug Coulson and Martin Fisk, designed and developed the product.
“It took us almost one year to build Aurora software to the point of winning business. Our first customer was the Royal Blind Society (NSW) which over time became part of Vision Australia. AIT is now providing software for Vision Australia’s major digital transformation project. With software capabilities for Libraries for the Blind, we also won business with national organisations in New Zealand and South Africa.” Doug Coulson, AIT Co-founder.
Today, Aurora is found in large and small public libraries, predominantly in Australia. This includes the Rural Libraries Queensland network, managed by the State Library of Queensland. The solution supports the delivery of a centralised catalogue and networked library services throughout the State.
For more than 10 years, AIT has donated Aurora LMS software, hosting and services to all indigenous knowledge centres through Queensland.
“The average life of a small business is less than 9 years, so to have been in business now for 28 years, still having our original customers and being able to help support indigenous library services along the way, is something for which AIT founders are very grateful.We are pleased that Aurora has found a home at Softlink Information Centres.” Doug Coulson, AIT Co-founder.
Sarah Thompson, General Manager of Softlink Information Centres adds: “It is exciting to include AIT as part of our wider community of software businesses across the globe that work tirelessly to provide exceptional solutions to librarians, researchers and library managers.”
The AIT team will join Softlink Information Centres, led by Sarah Thompson.
About Softlink Information Centres
Softlink Information Centres has been a leader in providing library, knowledge and research management solutions for over 40 years. Our products are trusted by hundreds of businesses worldwide, including some of the largest multi-branch law firms, parliamentary, government libraries and top management consulting firms. We combine the latest technology with ease of use and affordability, enabling our clients to adapt, grow and deliver superior services. Visit us at Softlink Information Centres [https://ic.softlinkint.com/].
For further information on Softlink Information Centres, please visit ic.softlinkint.com
About Volaris Group
Volaris acquires, strengthens and grows vertical market technology companies. As an operating group of Constellation Software Inc., Volaris is all about strengthening businesses within the markets they compete and enabling them to grow – whether that growth comes through organic measures such as new initiatives and product development, day-to-day business, or through complementary acquisitions. Learn more at www.volarisgroup.com.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Thompson General Manager Softlink Information Centres Sarah.Thompson@softlinkint.com
Fort Lauderdale, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cross Keys Capital, LLC, a leading independent investment banking firm providing M&A advisory services, is pleased to announce it acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Propel Engineering, a distinguished civil engineering firm based in West Palm Beach, FL, in its partnership with Traffic & Mobility Consultants (TMC), a portfolio company of Grovecourt Capital Partners.
Founded in 2013, Propel Engineering has built an impressive reputation for delivering high-quality civil engineering services, with a particular focus on highway design, traffic analysis, and structural design. The firm’s expertise in working with both public and private sector clients, including the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), aligns perfectly with TMC’s growth strategy and commitment to excellence in transportation engineering.
Traffic & Mobility Consultants is a Florida-based engineering company specializing in Transportation Planning and Traffic Engineering. Founded in 2012, TMC serves private clients and governmental agencies at the local, county, and state levels. TMC’s goal is to provide its clients with the highest quality services, offering innovative, strategic, and effective solutions for safe and efficient mobility.
Maj Alam, Founder and President of Propel Engineering, commented, “Over the past decade, Propel Engineering has established itself as a trusted partner in Florida’s transportation infrastructure development. By joining TMC, we’re not just combining our expertise – we’re amplifying our ability to deliver innovative solutions for complex engineering challenges. This partnership will allow us to take on larger, more impactful projects and contribute even more significantly to Florida’s rapidly evolving transportation landscape. We’re excited about the enhanced value we’ll bring to our clients and the new opportunities this creates for our talented team.”
Neil Dhruve, Director at Cross Keys Capital, shared his excitement, saying that “Working with Maj was an absolute pleasure, and we are excited to watch unfold all the incredible opportunities the combined companies are able to realize.”
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Greenberg Traurig acted as legal advisor to TMC. Cross Keys Capital acted as M&A advisor to Propel, and De Biase | Alvarez acted as legal advisor to Propel Engineering
About Cross Keys Capital
Cross Keys Capital is a leading middle-market investment bank providing a full range of investment banking merger and acquisition advisory services to a variety of businesses.
This was Cross Keys’ 10th successful sell-side engagement completed in 2024.
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Computer Modelling Group Ltd. (“CMG” or the “Company”) (TSX: CMG) is announcing the launch of Focus CCS, a purpose-driven simulation tool designed to accelerate the preliminary selection and validation process for CO2 storage sites.
With its intuitive interface and guided workflows, Focus CCS enables engineers to quickly and accurately evaluate risks, predict safe CO2 storage capacities, and expedite the process leading up to permitting and regulatory approval.
“Carbon storage is one of the most advanced and viable options to support global climate goals and ensure a sustainable future. Increasing the deployment of CCS is critical, and it must be done without compromising accuracy and safety,” said Pramod Jain, CEO of CMG. “Focus CCS leverages our decades of leadership in advanced physics modelling to significantly speed up the preliminary analysis required for successful CO2 storage site selection. This accelerates decision making and can shorten the planning and approval cycle, moving new CCS projects forward.”
Focus CCS supports faster model building which allows users to concentrate on critical analysis for proper site selection and long-term CO2 storage. Key features include:
Single solution: guided workflows integrate pre-processing, simulation, and visualization into an intuitive interface, ensuring reliability for new users while offering full customization for advanced users
Risk mitigation: assess containment effectiveness by simulating CO2 spread and stabilization over time, based on well location and injection parameters, ensuring long-term project reliability
Optimize storage capacity: assess and optimize operational strategies to achieve maximum storage capacity
Confident business decisions: reliable data and information ensure accurate preliminary evaluation of potential storage sites, critical to the long-term success of a CCS project and avoidance of costly mistakes
Focus CCS is now available worldwide and will make a critical contribution to getting more CCS projects into operation – supporting the global goal of progressing towards net zero.
For more information on Focus CCS, visit our website.
About CMG
CMG (TSX: CMG) is a global software and consulting company that combines science and technology with deep industry expertise to solve complex subsurface and surface challenges for the new energy industry around the world. CMG is headquartered in Calgary, AB, with offices in Houston, Oxford, Dubai, Bogota, Rio de Janeiro, Bengaluru, and Kuala Lumpur. For more information, please visit www.cmgl.ca.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words “potential”, “target”, “optimize”, “benefit”, and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on CMG’s assumptions or beliefs as to the outcome or timing of such future events. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the expected benefits of newly developed software products. Various assumptions are applied in setting such expectations, including, but without limitation, the operational benefits and the potential time and cost savings relating to the integration and use of these products. Although such statements are based on the reasonable assumptions of CMG’s management, there can be no assurance that any conclusions will prove to be accurate. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is made as of the date hereof. Except as required by applicable securities laws, CMG is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Because of the risks and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:
NEW YORK, United States of America, September 24, 2024/APO Group/ —
The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) has urged Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and other development partners to scale up innovative partnerships and initiatives to build peace and security in Africa, home to eleven of the world’s most conflict-affected states.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, African Development Bank Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Complex led the charge during a session held September 21, on the sidelines of the 79th Assembly of the United Nations titled: Investing in Prevention: Scaling up Peace – A Call to Action for DFIs.
Over the last 20 years, the level of global conflict has escalated, with one-fifth of Africa’s population residing in conflict affected areas, affecting the future of the world’s fastest-growing continent.
“Our goal today is very clear. We would like to mobilise institutions to prioritise peace building and through innovative partnerships and new financial mechanisms. This is a call for action.” Akin-Olugbade said in opening remarks.
The New Agenda for Peace, which is at center stage of the UN’s Summit of the Future, highlights how different actors, including DFIs can serve as peace agents, and emphasises the role of partnerships, especially in the context of fragile and conflict affected countries, urging increased political and financial mobilisation to prevent conflicts.
The effect of three decades of a devastating civil war in Mozambique are still evident, Amilcar Tivane, Mozambique’s Vice-Minister of Economy and Finance told participants, stressing the need for prevention.
The Mozambique government has learned innovative solutions to deal with the root causes of conflict and to address lingering security challenges in northern Mozambique such as terrorism and insurgency. What has worked is a resilience building strategy together with partnerships, Tivane said. The country is also launching a new initiative for peace for the reconstruction of affected tourism areas
« We have learned that prevention is critical, » he said. « Sometimes its difficult (for governments) to acknowledge that the social dimensions could have a significant impact.»
Issa Faye, Director General of the Islamic Development Bank ( IsDB) said his institution’s blend of ordinary and concessional financing has been key to the successful financial support for 32 fragile African countries out of the 52 they support.
The IsDB have aided thousands of refugees through programmes to address skills gap, training and education, combining economic empowerment and food security.
Faye underlined Islamic financing as a concept framing a lot of the institution’s programmes and stressed the need to find alternative financing which is dedicated, responsive and resilient.
Risk perception, another major constraint to financing peace initiatives in Africa, was the subject of Pradeep Kurukulasuriya, the Executive Secretary of the UN Capital Development Fund (UN CDF), submission. He offered a concrete example of successful de-risking of a peace initiative in Burundi.
« UN DCRF works to de-risk so that larger streams of finance can flow from the larger and more established institutions, » he said.
Since 2021, UNCDF has been working in collaboration with the UN Peacebuilding Fund and the Government of Burundi to address interconnected and transnational root-causes of instability and nature loss in the Kibara National Park and surrounding buffer zones. The joint initiative with several partners including UNESCO, uses a unique blended finance approach.
Peace finance needs new a lens
Itonde Kakoma, President of Interpeace said a new paradigm approach, which moved away from the donor focus and instead sees development partners investing in peace investment hubs and creating a pipeline of peace positive projects, is much needed.
He said the need to connect development finance and peace building while leveraging the private sector to build peace, safety and social cohesion between communities living in complex environments, was more imperative than ever.
« We have a conviction that the Sustainable Development Goals can be unlocked by peace finance, » Kakoma said.
Other participants such as Elizabeth Spehar, Assistant Secretary General, United Nations Peacebuilding Support stressed the importance of inclusion and the role of DFI’s such as the African Development Bank.
“We need the economic might of the DFI’s. We have to work on this together,” she said.
Spehar paid tribute to the African Development Bank which emphasizes peace and security as public goods in its new Ten-year strategy (2024-2033). The Bank’s joint pilot project in Central African Republic with UNHCR has the UN “working with communities on the peace part and the African Development Bank working on the employment part,” Spehar said.
The Bank has been on the forefront of systematically addressing issues of fragility in Africa and has built up over 20 years of experience in building Africa’s resilience by providing intellectual leadership and dedicated financial instruments, such as the Transition Support Facility, which mobilizes additional resources for affected countries. The Bank’s Private Sector Credit Enhancement Facility allows it to do more private investments in these riskier markets.
The audience also heard from the g7+, Asian Development Bank, Civil Society Platform for Peacebuilding and Statebuilding (CSPPS), the World Economic Forum (WEF), the Aswan Forum, UNHCR, and the African Union Peace Fund whose Director Dagmawit Moges spoke of the institution’s reforms and the importance of governance.
“We’ve gone beyond theory and talk. We at the African Development Bank are interested in strengthening partnerships. We are not going to work in silos. We are looking forward to continuing this discussion at COP 29 and at the Africa Resilience Forum next year,” Akin-Olugbade said.
It’s been less than six months since Google Cloud Next, and the pace of innovation across industries has been nothing short of extraordinary. We’re proud of our AI leadership and differentiation as we continue pushing the technology frontier for our customers. From launching more powerful versions of Gemini 1.5 Pro, to rolling out general availability for Gemini Flash and Imagen 3, to investing in our Vertex AI platform, our teams have been building off the product momentum of Next. And all of this innovation is driving incredible use of our products.
Today, as part of our Gemini at Work global event, we are showcasing nearly 50 new customer stories from organizations around the world to highlight just how impactful generative AI can be when you put it to work at scale — including Pods, Snap, Volkswagen US, Warner Bros. Discovery and many others. We’re inspired by what customers are building and excited by how quickly they’ve been able to move ideas from experimentation into production with our Vertex AI platform. We’re also seeing major boosts in productivity through Gemini for Google Workspace, with customers saving an average of 105 minutes per user, per week, according to our recent study of enterprise customers.
They can access and customize the best foundation models from both Google and the industry, including Gemini. We are the only Cloud provider to offer widely-used first-party, third-party, and open models. Enterprises want to choose a platform that gives them choice.
They can create sophisticated gen AI agents and experiences faster with our single, integrated development platform, Vertex AI. It sits on top of our world-class infrastructure and is the only unified platform that lets customers discover and access models, tune and augment models, and create, ground, deploy, and manage AI agents and experiences.
They can be more productive with our AI agents. We offer Gemini for Google Cloud and Gemini for Google Workspace, as well as purpose-built agents for Customer Engagement and Search. Customers are really appreciating these packaged agents, in addition to building their own.
They are deploying models with confidence, with the most comprehensive approach to grounding in enterprise truth. This significantly improves response accuracy and completeness, and lets them control their brand voice and customer experience.
Six types of AI agents
We continue to see customers and partners benefiting from AI agents — intelligent systems that go beyond simple chat and predictions, to proactively take actions. What makes AI agents unique is they help achieve specific goals, whether that’s guiding a shopper to the perfect pair of shoes, helping an employee look for the right health benefits, or supporting nursing staff with smoother patient hand-offs during shift changes. We see AI agents centering around six use cases:
Customer agents help make great recommendations
Customer agents work seamlessly across channels including the web, mobile, and point of sale, and can be integrated into product experiences with voice and video.
Bell Canada pioneered using digital agents to provide self-service — improving customer experience and delivering $20 million in cost savings.
Best Buy resolves issues up to 90 seconds faster using automated call summarization.
GoTo Group launched Dira, a Bahasa Indonesia AI-powered voice assistant integrated into their GoPay fintech app. Customers use voice commands and complete tasks like bill payments and money transfers with fewer steps. Check out a live demo of the app from GoTo in this video.
ScottsMiracle-Gro built an AI agent on Google Cloud Vertex AI to provide tailored gardening advice and product recommendations.
Snap deployed the multimodal capability of Gemini within their “My AI” chatbot and has since seen over 2.5x as much engagement within Snapping to My AI in the United States.
10:25
Telecom Italia (TIM) implemented a Google-powered voice agent to address many customer calls, increasing efficiency by 20%.
UPS Capital uses an agent built on Google Cloud technology to analyze package movements, insurance claims, and address data in real time to identify anomalies.
Volkswagen US built a virtual assistant in the myVW app, where drivers can explore their owners’ manuals and ask questions such as, “How do I change a flat tire?” or “What does this digital cockpit indicator light mean?” Users can also use Gemini’s multi-modal capabilities to see helpful information and context on indicator lights simply by pointing their smartphone cameras at their dashboards. Watch how the myVW app works in this demo.
We continue to build on this momentum with our own packaged agents. For example, today we are announcing Customer Engagement Suite with Google AI, an end-to-end application that combines the rich features of our leading Contact Center AI solution with the latest gen AI capabilities.
This new solution offers four key benefits:
Omnichannel features, so you can orchestrate consistent customer experiences across web, mobile, voice, email, and apps with a single platform.
Multimodal approach, so your customers can use text, voice, and images.
Rule-based controls AND generative AI so you can address a broad range of issues that may come up from your customers. For instance, a customer speaking with a bank representative may have to verify their identity through a specific set of verification questions. At the same time, they may ask the bank: “Tell me what’s the best mortgage offering for me? Can you compare it across the products you offer?” The first requires a deterministic flow. The second requires a generative flow.
Grounding to provide the highest levels of accuracy
All of this can be connected with any customer service application — whether it’s a SaaS application like Salesforce, Servicenow, SAP, Dynamics, or Oracle — or an on-premise app.
Employee agents help workers collaborate and get more done
Employee agents can streamline processes, manage repetitive tasks, answer employee questions, as well as edit and translate critical communications.
Click Therapeutics develops prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat disease. Their Clinical Operations team leverages Gemini for Google Workspace to transform complex operations data into actionable insights; so they can quickly pinpoint ways to streamline the patient experience in clinical trials.
Dun & Bradstreet built an email-generation tool with Gemini that helps sellers create tailored, personalized communications to prospects and customers for its research services. They also developed intelligent search capabilities to help users with complex queries like, “Find me all the companies in this area with a high ESG rating.”
Elanco, a world leader in animal health, has implemented a gen AI framework, powered by Vertex AI and Gemini, to support critical business processes, such as Pharmacovigilance, Customer Orders, and Clinical Insights. This has resulted in an estimated ROI of $1.9 million since launching last year.
Randstad is using Gemini for Google Workspace to enhance our relationships internally and externally with candidates, making them more efficient and giving them time back to focus on the human aspect of their work.
10:25
SURA Investments, the largest Asset Manager in Latin America, developed a gen AI-powered analysis model for employees built on Google Cloud that allows them to better understand customer needs. It has already improved sentiment analysis on more than 90% of calls and delivered a 10-point increase in customer satisfaction.
Thomson Reuters added Gemini Pro to its suite of large language models (LLM). The 2 million token context window makes some skills as much as 10x times faster to process and unlocks the ability to create new skills that require the LLM to process entire documents in context
The employee agents we deliver through Gemini for Google Workspace, our leading collaboration and productivity tools, are helping customers get more done, with greater confidence and in less time. In a recent survey of our enterprise customers using Gemini, we found they save an average of 105 minutes per user, per week. And it’s not just about getting more done, but getting it done really well — 75% of daily Gemini for Workspace users say it improves the quality of their work.
To help more people boost productivity with AI, we’re making the Gemini app with enterprise-grade data protection available as part of existing Google Workspace subscriptions. Starting next month, customers will have a round-the-clock brainstorming partner, research assistant, and more, to help where they need it most.
Data agents help you do research and data analysis more effectively
Data agents can help answer questions about internal and external sources, synthesize research, develop new models — and, best of all, help find the questions we haven’t even thought to ask yet, and then get the answers.
Bayer’s Crop Science team developed a Field Answers application built on Vertex AI to make critical, timely decisions in the field, contributing to more sustainable and efficient farming.
The CME Group is building a first-of-its-kind cloud-based commodities trading platform with Google Cloud’s AI tools built in, offering CME’s trading customers access to deeper insights and smarter trades as well as rapid experimentation on new trading strategies that won’t interrupt existing trade flows
Hiscox, one of the oldest syndicates in Lloyd’s of London, used BigQuery and Vertex AI to create the first AI-enhanced lead underwriting model, automating quoting for complex risks, from three days down to a few minutes.
Ipsos, a multinational market research firm, built a data analysis tool grounded in Google Search for its market researchers, eliminating the need for time-consuming requests to analysts.
Intelligencia AI, a healthcare technology company, uses Cloud SQL for Postgres for the data infrastructure that powers its AI-driven drug development predictions, enabling the company to deliver accurate and transparent results to customers, while reducing overhead.
NeuroPace, a medical device company, built a solution using Google Cloud gen AI technologies, to quickly identify effective epilepsy treatment options. By analyzing brainwave patterns, they can find similar patients and apply successful therapies faster.
Warner Bros. Discovery built an AI captioning tool with Vertex AI and saw a 50% reduction in overall costs, and an 80% reduction in the time it takes to manually caption a file without the use of machine learning.
10:25
Security agents significantly increase the speed of investigations
Security agents automate monitoring and response for greater vigilance and compliance controls. They can also help guard data and models from cyberattacks, such as malicious prompt injection.
Apex Fintech has accelerated the creation of complex threat detections, reducing the time required from hours to mere seconds with Google SecOps.
Certify OS is working with Google Cloud to automate credentialing, licensing, and monitoring of medical providers for healthcare networks, relieving the burden of time-consuming and often siloed information.
Fiserv is working with Gemini in Security Operations to summarize threats, find answers, and detect, validate, and respond to security events faster.
NetRise‘s “Trace” product is enabling AI-powered semantic search — built using Google Cloud gen AI — in the software supply chain.
Creative agents can help everyone build design, artistic or production skills
Creative agents can empower organizations with the best design and production skills, working across images, slides, and more. Many businesses are building agents alongside their marketing teams, audio and video production teams, and creative teams to help explore and build creative concepts.
Formula E is using Google Cloud gen AI to summarize two-hour-long race commentary into a two-minute podcast in any language, using driver data and ongoing seasonal storylines.
Globo, the largest media group in Latin America, is using Google Cloud’s AI to hyper-personalize content for its streaming users, and create a better experience for spectators.
PODS, working with advertising agency Tombras, used Gemini to create the “World’s Smartest Billboard,” a campaign on their trucks that could adapt to each neighborhood in New York City. The ads used live feeds of data so they updated in real-time hitting all 299 neighborhoods in just 29 hours creating more than 6,000 headlines.
10:25
PUMA is using Imagen to customize product photos on their website, saving time and ensuring they are locally relevant. Puma India has already seen a 10% increase in click-through rate, and they share how they did it in this demo.
Radisson Hotel Group worked with Accenture and Google Cloud to use Vertex AI and Gemini models to personalize its advertising at scale by training AI models on extensive datasets stored in BigQuery; ad teams saw productivity rise 50% while revenue increased from AI-powered campaigns by more than 20%.
Google’s open platform drives more momentum with partners and customers
The success of AI depends on an open platform that offers choice, is easy to integrate with existing systems, and is supported by a broad ecosystem. Google Cloud works closely with important partners, like Accenture and Deloitte, who report more than 45% of their Google Cloud gen AI projects have moved from proof of concept to production. In addition, expanded partnerships and dedicated Google Cloud centers of excellence with Accenture, BCG, Cognizant, Deloitte, HCLTech, KPMG, McKinsey, PwC, and Wipro have spurred thousands of successful projects. This collaborative ecosystem is the key to unlocking AI’s true potential. At Google Cloud, we truly value our partnership with this ecosystem, which is vital to helping our entire industry in its transformation — from systems updates to organizational change management to an overall mindset shift.
We’re inspired by the ingenuity and speed with which our customers are embracing gen AI. And we continue to work hard to partner with customers to help them deliver real business value in the form of incremental leads, conversions, sales, and profits. We’re committed to taking a bold and responsible approach to make AI helpful for everyone, helping organizations of all sizes solve real-world challenges in entirely new ways.
This is the new way to cloud. It’s a journey we’re on together with all of you — our customers and partners — all around the world.
MSF suspended outreach activities in Yei, Central Equatoria state, South Sudan, after a critical security incident.
MSF cannot resume activities until the safety of our staff is assured.
Juba – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has suspended all outreach activities in Yei, in Central Equatoria state, South Sudan, until further notice, following a critical security incident involving MSF staff and staff from a partner organisation on Friday, 20 September 2024. We strongly condemns this attack against health workers in an area where people already face difficulty accessing healthcare.
“We are deeply shocked by this unacceptable attack on the provision of neutral and impartial humanitarian assistance for communities in need,” says Iqbal Huda, MSF’s Head of Mission in South Sudan. “As a result of the attack, our outreach movements and activities to communities surrounding Yei and Morobo have been suspended until we can have concrete guarantees that medical humanitarian services and lifesaving work can continue unhindered in the area.”
At approximately 3 pm on Friday, two clearly marked MSF vehicles were coming back to the town of Yei from an outreach activity, when along the road unknown armed men forced our staff to disembark from their vehicles at gunpoint, while looting MSF and the staff’s personal belongings. The armed men then forcibly took an MSF staff member and a staff member of a partner organisation to the bush, while letting the two remaining MSF staff members, the drivers, proceed with their vehicles.
While the two abducted staff were safely released 24 hours later, this is the third attack on humanitarian organisations occurring around Yei in three months, pointing to a systematic attack on the provision of humanitarian aid. Until the safety of MSF activities and staff are assured, MSF cannot guarantee resumption of activities in the area.
The real victims of these incidents are the most vulnerable people living in underserved areas, as MSF is the only provider of healthcare services in this area outside of Yei town.
“Attacks against humanitarians and healthcare workers are unacceptable and they directly affect the provision of healthcare for communities who desperately need it. We call on all armed groups to uphold their responsibilities under international humanitarian law and respect the provision of humanitarian assistance,” says Huda.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been working in the region that today constitutes the Republic of South Sudan since 1983. In Yei, MSF offers primary healthcare services by supporting four Ministry of Health facilities, delivering outpatient consultations, routine vaccinations, and maternal and child healthcare. MSF also conducts mobile clinics and provides community-based healthcare through the Boma Health Initiative programme in the area.
In South Sudan, MSF teams provide a range of services including general healthcare, mental healthcare and specialist hospital care. Our mobile teams also provide health assistance to displaced people and remote communities in six of the country’s 10 states and in two administrative areas. In addition to responding to emergencies and disease outbreaks, we also carry out preventative activities, such as vaccination campaigns, seasonal malaria chemo-prevention, safe drinking water and distribution of non-food items.
You could also be interested in
Palestine
Access to medical care at risk in West Bank as Israeli incursions intensify
Press Release5 Sep 2024
Gaza-Israel war
With Al-Aqsa hospital under threat, MSF opens field hospital in central Gaza
Press Release28 Aug 2024
South Sudan
Action needed on HIV and tuberculosis amid South Sudan’s crises
This post originally appeared on theTransform with Google Cloud blog. It was first published April 12, 2024; last updated with new use cases September 24, 2024.
Since generative AI first captured the world’s attention, there’s been a vigorous discussion about what, exactly, the new technology is best used for. While we all enjoyed those early funny chats and witty limericks, we’ve quickly discovered that many of the biggest AI opportunities are clearly in the enterprise, government, and with exciting new companies.
When we first published this post during Google Cloud Next ‘24, we showcased 101 of the best use cases out of the hundreds featured across the event. Now, we’re adding another 84 to the list as customers across the globe continue to put generative AI to work.
[If you’ve visited this post in the past, you can find the newest use cases listed at the top of each section.]
In a matter of months, organizations have gone from AI helping answer questions, to AI making predictions, to generative AI agents. What makes AI agents unique is that they can take actions to achieve specific goals, whether that’s guiding a shopper to the perfect pair of shoes, helping an employee looking for the right health benefits, or supporting nursing staff with smoother patient hand-offs during shifts changes.
In our work with customers, we keep hearing that their teams are increasingly focused on improving productivity, automating processes, and modernizing the customer experience. These aims are now being achieved through the AI agents they’re developing in six key areas: customer service; employee empowerment; code creation; data analysis; cybersecurity; and creative ideation and production.
Hundreds of Google Cloud customers have now put AI agents and gen-AI solutions into production throughout their businesses and the world — with many seeing a tangible return on investment. They have come to rely on Google Cloud technologies that include our AI infrastructure, Gemini models, Vertex AI platform, Google Workspace, and Google Distributed Cloud.
Here’s a snapshot of how 185 of these industry leaders are putting AI to use today, creating real-world use cases that will transform tomorrow.
Customer agents
Similar to great sales and service people, customer agents are able to listen carefully, understand your needs, and recommend the right products and services. They work seamlessly across channels including the web, mobile, and point of sale, and can be integrated into product experiences with voice and video.
1.Alaska Airlines is developing natural language search, providing travelers with a conversational experience powered by AI that’s akin to interacting with a knowledgeable travel agent. This chatbot aims to streamline travel booking, enhance customer experience, and reinforce brand identity.
2. Bennie Health uses Vertex AI to power its innovative employee health benefits platform, providing actionable insights and streamlining data management in order to enhance efficiency and decision-making for employees and HR teams.
3. Beyond 12, a tech-enabled nonprofit focused on student empowerment, has developed an AI-powered college coach to offer scalable coaching to first-generation students that’s available over text, app, and the web.
4. CareerVillage is building an app called Coach to empower job seekers, especially underrepresented youth, in their career preparedness; already featuring 35 career development activities, the aim is to have more than 100 by next year.
5. Character.ai built its realistic conversational chat platform using the full stack of Google Cloud AI services, including for model training and daily operations, allowing it to manage terabytes of conversations each day without interruption.
6. Click Therapeutics develops prescription digital therapeutics designed to treat disease. Its Clinical Operations team leverages Gemini for Google Workspace to transform complex operations data into actionable insights, so they can quickly pinpoint ways to streamline the patient experience in clinical trials.
7. Formula E can now summarize a two-hour long race commentary into a 2-minute podcast in any language, incorporating driver data and ongoing seasonal storylines.
8. General Motors’ OnStar has been augmented with new AI features, including a virtual assistant powered by Google Cloud’s conversational AI technologies that are better able to recognize the speaker’s intent.
9. Gojek, an Indonesia-based super app, launched “Dira by GoTo AI,” a Bahasa Indonesia AI-powered voice assistant integrated into their GoPay service, allowing customers to use voice command to eliminate typing and scrolling, and complete tasks like bill payments and money transfers with fewer steps.
10. GroupBy, an ecommerce service provider, developed an AI-first Search and Discovery Platform powered by Vertex AI Search for Retail. This solution is meticulously designed to optimize revenue, strengthen brand loyalty, and drive sales growth for B2C and B2B retailers.
11. Hotelplan Suisse built a chatbot trained on the business’s travel expertise to answer customer inquiries in real-time, and, following that success, it plans to use gen AI to create travel content.
12. Justicia Lab is developing an AI-powered assistant that will simplify legal processes for asylum seekers and immigrants; by uploading a picture from a legal letter or document, users can extract valuable information and then receive personalized guidance and next steps.
13. Mercado Libre has incorporated semantic search into its digital shopping platforms, using AI embeddings from the Vertex AI Agent Builder, which greatly improved product recommendations and discoverability for more than 200 million consumers across Latin America.
14. Motorola’s Moto AI leverages Gemini and Imagen to help smartphone users unlock new levels of productivity, creativity, and enjoyment with features such as conversation summaries, notification digests, image creation, and natural language search — all with reliable responses grounded in Google Search.
15. mRelief has built an SMS-accessible AI chatbot to simplify the application process for the SNAP food assistance program in the U.S., featuring easy-to-understand eligibility information and direct assistance within minutes rather than days.
16. Personal AI offers a “personal language model” using only the data of one individual or brand and allowing them to control and own how it is used. Built on your own data, facts, and opinions, it creates a responsive and interactive messaging experience that helps people be more productive and deepen relationships.
17. PODS worked with the advertising agency Tombras to create the “World’s Smartest Billboard” using Gemini — a campaign on its trucks that could adapt to each neighborhood in New York City, changing in real-time based on data. It hit all 299 neighborhoods in just 29 hours, creating more than 6,000 unique headlines.
18. Quora developed Poe, its own generative AI platform for people to discover and chat with AI-powered bots, including Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, Meta’s Llama, and Mistral’s Large 2 — many of which are hosted on Google Cloud’s purpose-built AI infrastructure.
19. ScottsMiracle-Gro built an AI agent on Vertex AI to provide tailored gardening advice and product recommendations for consumers.
20. Snap has deployed the multimodal capability of Gemini within its “My AI” chatbot and has since seen over 2.5-times as much engagement within Snapping to My AI in the United States.
21. Tabiya has built a conversational interface, Compass, that helps young people find employment opportunities; the platform asks questions and requests information, drawing out skills and experiences and matching those to appropriate roles.
22. Telecom Italia (TIM) implemented a Google-powered voice agent to address many customer calls, increasing efficiency by 20%.
23. UPS Capital launched DeliveryDefense Address Confidence, which uses machine learning and UPS data to provide a confidence score for shippers to help them determine the likelihood of a successful delivery.
24. Volkswagen of America built a virtual assistant in the myVW app, where drivers can explore their owners’ manuals and ask questions, such as, “How do I change a flat tire?” or “What does this digital cockpit indicator light mean?” Users can also use Gemini’s multimodal capabilities to see helpful information and context on indicator lights simply by pointing their smartphone cameras at the dashboard.
25. ADT is building a customer agent to help its millions of customers select, order, and set up their home security.
26. Alaska Airlines is developing a personalized travel search experience using advanced AI techniques, creating hyper-personalized recommendations that engage customers early and foster loyalty through AI-generated content.
27. Best Buy is using Gemini to launch a generative AI-powered virtual assistant this summer that can troubleshoot product issues, reschedule order deliveries, manage Geek Squad subscriptions, and more; in-store and digital customer-service associates are also gaining gen-AI tools to better serve customers anywhere they need help.
28. The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is using Vertex AI to modernize transportation operations for a smoother, more efficient journey.
29. Etsy uses Vertex AI training to optimize their search recommendations and ads models, delivering better listing suggestions to buyers and helping sellers grow their businesses.
30. IHG Hotels & Resorts is building a generative AI-powered chatbot to help guests easily plan their next vacation directly in the IHG One Rewards mobile app.
31. ING Bank aims to offer a superior customer experience and has developed a gen-AI chatbot for workers to enhance self-service capabilities and improve answer quality on customer queries.
32. Magalu, one of Brazil’s largest retailers, has put customer service at the center of its AI strategy, including using Vertex AI to create “Lu’s Brain” to power an interactive conversational agent for Lu, Magalu’s popular brand persona (the 3D bot has more than 14 million followers between TikTok and Instagram).
33. Mercedes Benz will infuse e-commerce capabilities into its online storefront with a gen AI-powered smart sales assistant. Mercedes also plans to expand its use of Google Cloud AI in its call centers and is using Vertex AI and Gemini to personalize marketing campaigns.
34. Oppo/OnePlus is incorporating Gemini models and Google Cloud AI into their phones to deliver innovative customer experiences, including news and audio recording summaries, AI toolbox, and more.
35. Samsung is deploying Gemini Pro and Imagen 2 to their Galaxy S24 smartphones so users can take advantage of amazing features like text summarization, organization, and magical image editing.
36. The Minnesota Division of Driver and Vehicle Services helps non-English speakers get licenses and other services with two-way real-time translation.
37. Pepperdine University has students and faculty who speak many languages, and with Gemini in Google Meet, they can benefit from real-time translated captioning and notes.
38. Sutherland, a leading digital transformation company, is focused on bringing together human expertise and AI, including boosting its client-facing teams by automatically surfacing suggested responses and automating insights in real time.
39. Target uses Google Cloud to power AI solutions on the Target app and Target.com, including personalized Target Circle offers and Starbucks at Drive Up, their curbside pickup solution.
40. Tokopedia, an Indonesian ecommerce leader, is using Vertex AI to improve data quality, increasing unique products being sold by 5%.
41. US News saw a double-digit impact in key metrics like click-through rate, time spent on page, and traffic volume to its pages after implementing Vertex AI Search.
42-45. IntesaSanpaolo, MacquarieBank, and Scotiabank are exploring the potential of gen AI to transform the way we live, work, bank, and invest — particularly how the new technology can boost productivity and operational efficiency in banking.
Employee agents
Employee agents help workers be more productive and collaborate better together. These agents can streamline processes, manage repetitive tasks, answer employee questions, as well as edit and translate critical communications.
46. 2bots offers technology solutions, such as chatbots and virtual agents, built with Google Cloud’s AI solutions; these intelligent chatbots and content generation tools are transforming the way companies interact with their customers.
47. Augment is building an AI personal assistant that offers enhanced note-taking and collects information across your apps, including calendar, email, texts, and social media, so users can more quickly and easily find personal information and keep their lives organized.
48. Bayes Impact builds AI products to support nonprofits, and its flagship product, CaseAI, is a digital case manager that integrates with an NGO’s current system to add smart features to draft action plans tailored to a beneficiary’s unique history; caseworkers have saved 25 hours of work per week on average.
49. Bell Canada has built customizable contact center solutions for its business customers that offer AI-powered agents to address callers, and Agent Assist, which listens when a human agent is on, offering suggestions and sentiment analysis. AI has contributed $20 million in savings across customer operations.
50. Best Buy can generate conversation summaries in real time using Contact Center AI, allowing live agents to give their full attention to understanding and supporting customers, resulting in a 30-to-90-second reduction in average call time and after-call work. Both customers and agents have cited improved satisfaction.
51. Camanchaca, a Chilean seafood company, took only six weeks to develop Elon, a virtual assistant that aims to provide more efficient customer service through digital channels, enhancing Camanchaca’s customer interactions.
52. Certify OS is automating credentialing, licensing, and monitoring of medical providers for healthcare networks, relieving the burden of time-consuming and often siloed information.
53. Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs widely uses Gemini for Google Workspace, estimating that employees are saving an average five hours per week just with AI capabilities in Gmail. Gemini is also streamlining time-consuming, manual processes through uses like AI-generated transcriptions and auto-formatting of pharmaceutical lab results or FDA compliance documentation.
54. Dun & Bradstreet built an email-generation tool with Gemini that helps sellers create tailored, personalized communications to prospects and customers for its research services. The company also developed intelligent search capabilities to help users with complex queries like, “Find me all the companies in this area with a high ESG rating.”
55. England’s Football Association is training Vertex AI on the FA’s historical and current scouting reports so they can be transformed into concise summaries, helping national teams discover future talent.
56. Fireflies.ai can transcribe, summarize, and analyze meetings, recordings, and other voice conversations to save time and improve collaboration and information sharing across teams.
57. Fluna, a Pan-African digital services company, has automated the analysis and drafting of legal agreements using Vertex AI, Document AI, and Gemini 1.5 Pro, achieving an accuracy of 92% in data extraction while ensuring security and reliability for sensitive information.
58. Hemominas, Brazil’s largest blood bank, partnered with Xertica to develop an omnichannel chatbot for donor search and scheduling, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency. The AI solution has the potential to save half-a-million lives annually by attracting more donors and optimizing blood supply management.
59. Hiscox used BigQuery and Vertex AI to create the first AI-enhanced lead underwriting model for insurers, automating and accelerating the quoting for complex risks from three days down to a few minutes.
60. LiveX AI delivers AI Agents that swiftly enhance product education, boost customer conversion, reduce churn, and provide personalized customer support, with the goal of offering everyone a seamless VIP experience across their customer journey.
61. Opportunity@Work is applying gen AI to scale a suite of software tools and APIs that help employers identify “STAR” job candidates — “skilled through alternative routes” such as community college, military service, and on-the-job experience — helping fill roles in a tight market and expand opportunities.
62. QuantumMetric has introduced Felix AI, powered by Gemini Pro, to simplify digital analytics and decision making. Felix AI automatically summarizes a user’s web or mobile session and consolidates the moments that matter most into short, readable summaries for customer service workers.
63. Randstad, a large HR services and talent provider, is using Gemini for Workspace across its organization to transform its work culture, leading to a more culturally diverse and inclusive workplace that’s seen a double-digit reduction in sick days.
64. Sprinklr built Sprinklr AI+ into its unified customer experience management platform, giving brands gen-AI capabilities for customer service, insights, social media management, and marketing that has enterprise-grade governance, security, and data privacy built-in.
65. Thomson Reuters added Gemini Pro to its suite of large language models approved for employee use; with its 2-million-token context window, Gemini makes some tasks as much as 10-times faster to process and can process entire documents in context.
66. Warner Bros. Discovery built an AI captioning tool with Vertex AI and saw a 50% reduction in overall costs, and an 80% reduction in the time it takes to manually caption a file without the use of machine learning.
67. The U.S. Air Force built a new proof-of-concept portal for searching, browsing, and reading e-published PDFs — all within a 90-day deadline that leveraged the prebuilt tools and speed of Vertex AI Search and Conversation.
68. Avery Dennison empowered their employees with generative AI to enable secure, flexible, and borderless collaboration for enhanced productivity to drive growth.
69. Bank of New York Mellon built a virtual assistant to help employees find relevant information and answers to their questions.
70. Bayer is building a radiology platform that will assist radiologists with data analysis, intelligent search, and to create documents that meet healthcare requirements needed for regulatory approval. The bioscience company is also harnessing BigQuery and Vertex AI to develop additional digital medical solutions and drugs more efficiently.
71. Bristol Myers Squibb is transforming its document processes for clinical trials using Vertex AI and Google Workspace. Now, documentation that took scientists weeks now gets to a first draft in minutes.
72. BenchSci develops generative AI solutions empowering scientists to understand complex connections in biological research, saving them time and financial resources and ultimately bringing new medicine to patients faster.
73. Cintas is using Vertex AI Search to develop an internal knowledge center for customer service and sales teams to easily find key information.
74. Covered California, the state’s healthcare marketplace, is using Document AI to help improve the consumer and employee experience by automating parts of the documentation and verification process when residents apply for coverage.
75. Dasa, the largest medical diagnostics company in Brazil, is helping physicians detect relevant findings in test results more quickly.
76. DaVita leverages DocAI and Healthcare NLP to transform kidney care, including analyzing medical records, uncovering critical patient insights, and reducing errors. AI enables physicians to focus on personalized care, resulting in significant improvements in healthcare delivery.
77. Discover Financial helps their 10,000 contact center representatives to search and synthesize information across detailed policies and procedures during calls.
78. HCA Healthcare is testing Cati, a virtual AI caregiver assistant that helps to ensure continuity of care when one caregiver shift ends and another begins. They are also using gen AI to improve workflows on time-consuming tasks, such as clinical documentation, so physicians and nurses can focus more on patient care.
79. The Home Depot has built an application called Sidekick, which helps store associates manage inventory and keep shelves stocked; notably, vision models help associates prioritize which actions to take.
80. Los Angeles Rams are utilizing AI across the board from content analysis to player scouting.
81. McDonald’s will leverage data, AI, and edge technologies across its thousands of restaurants to implement innovation faster and to enhance employee and customer experiences.
82. Pennymac, a leading US-based national mortgage lender, is using Gemini across several teams including HR, where Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides and Gmail is helping them accelerate recruiting, hiring, and new employee onboarding.
83. Robert Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, revolutionizes marketing through gen AI-powered solutions, streamlining processes, optimizing resource allocation, and maximizing efficiency across 100+ decentralized departments.
84. Symphony, the communications platform for the financial services industry, uses Vertex AI to help finance and trading teams collaborate across multiple asset classes.
85. Uber is using AI agents to help employees be more productive, save time, and be even more effective at work. For customer service representatives, they’ve launched new tools that summarize communications with users and can even surface context from previous interactions, so front-line staff can be more helpful and effective.
86. The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs is using AI at the edge to improve cancer detection for service members and veterans. The Augmented Reality Microscope (ARM) is deployed at remote military treatment facilities around the world. The prototype device is helping pathologists find cancer faster and with better accuracy.
87. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has improved the quality and efficiency of their patent and trademark examination process by implementing AI-driven technologies.
88. Verizon is using generative AI to help teams in network operations and customer experience get the answers they need faster.
89. Victoria’s Secret is testing AI-powered agents to help their in-store associates find information about product availability, inventory, and fitting and sizing tips, so they can better tailor recommendations to customers.
90. Vodafone uses Vertex AI to search and understand specific commercial terms and conditions across more than 10,000 contracts with more than 800 communications operators
91. WellSky is integrating Google Cloud’s healthcare and Vertex AI capabilities to reduce the time spent completing documentation outside work hours.
92. Woolworths, the leading retailer in Australia, boosts employees’ confidence in communications with “Help me write” across Google Workspace products for more than 10,000 administrative employees. It’s also using Gemini to create next-generation promotions, as well as for quickly assisting customer service reps in summarizing all previous customer interactions in real time.
93-97. Box, Typeface, Glean, CitiBank, and Securiti AI discuss developing AI-powered apps across the enterprise, with measurable returns on investment for marketing, financial services, and HR use cases.
98-99. Highmark Health and Freenome join Bristol Myers Squibb to explore how AI can improve efficiency and innovation across care delivery, drug discovery, clinical trial planning, and bringing medicines to market.
Code agents
Code agents are helping developers and product teams to design, create, and operate applications faster and better, and to ramp up on new languages and code bases. Many organizations are already seeing double-digit gains in productivity, leading to faster deployment and cleaner, clearer code.
100. Labelbox has built a fully managed AI model evaluation solution directly integrated into the Vertex AI platform, allowing Google Cloud users to seamlessly launch human evaluation jobs and set specific criteria for evaluation, such as question-answering and summarization; this eases and accelerates the ability to deploy human-in-the-loop AI systems with higher levels of trust and authority.
101. Leroy Merlin, a global home improvement retailer, developed its Pull Request Analyzer using Vertex AI. This generative AI solution summarizes code changes, helping developers understand projects faster and improve code review efficiency.
102. Linear, a product development platform, built Similar Issues, a feature that uses AI to detect and prevent duplicate or overlapping tickets and ensures cleaner and more accurate data representation.
103. Magic is building a developer platform with a 100-million-token context window, so organizations can upload extremely large code bases and more easily query and build on them using gen AI assistance.
104. Pinecone provides infrastructure for developers to build accurate, secure, and scalable AI applications, allowing companies to easily ground gen AI apps in their proprietary data for use in AI search, retrieval-augmented generation, coding agents, and more.
105. Regnology built its Ticket-to-Code Writer tool with Gemini 1.5 Pro to automate the conversion of bug tickets into actionable code, significantly streamlining the software development process.
106. Weights & Biases, a creator of AI tools for developers, created W&B Weave, a lightweight toolkit to track, evaluate, and debug gen AI applications built with Gemini, so teams can confidently go from demo to production.
107. Capgemini has been using Code Assist to improve software engineering productivity, quality, security, and developer experience, with early results showing workload gains for coding and more stable code quality.
108. Commerzbank is enhancing developer efficiency through Code Assist’s robust security and compliance features.
109. Quantiphi saw developer productivity gains of more than 30% during their Code Assist pilot.
110. Replit developers will get access to Google Cloud infrastructure, services, and foundation models via Ghostwriter, Replit’s software development AI, while Google Cloud and Workspace developers will get access to Replit’s collaborative code editing platform.
111. Seattle Children’s hospital is using AI to boost data engineering productivity and accelerate development.
112. Turing is customizing Gemini Code Assist on their private codebase, empowering their developers with highly personalized and contextually relevant coding suggestions that have increased productivity around 30 percent and made day-to-day coding more enjoyable.
113. Wayfair piloted Code Assist, and those developers with the code agent were able to set up their environments 55 percent faster than before, there was a 48 percent increase in code performance during unit testing, and 60 percent of developers reported that they were able to focus on more satisfying work.
Data agents
Data agents are like having knowledgeable data analysts and researchers at your fingertips. They can help answer questions about internal and external sources, synthesize research, develop new models — and, best of all, help find the questions we haven’t even thought to ask yet, and then help get the answers.
114. 180Seguros is powering its data management platform for employees with Google Cloud AI and BigQuery to improve operational metric tracking, allowing for 3X faster query times.
115. Addy AI is helping mortgage lenders and banks automate their lending processes with custom AI models trained on Vertex AI. For example, the platform can extract loan opportunity details from lengthy email threads with numerous attachments.
116. Bayer Crop Science has developed Climate FieldView, a comprehensive agricultural platform with more than 250 layers of data and billions of data points; AI-powered recommendations allow farmers to design and monitor their fields for greater yields and efficient fertilization, with the added benefit of reduced carbon emissions.
117. CME Group is building a first-of-its-kind cloud-based commodities trading platform with AI tools built-in, offering CME’s trading customers access to deeper insights and smarter trades as well as rapid experimentation on new trading strategies that won’t interrupt existing trade flows.
118. Digits is developing next-gen accounting software for startups and small businesses; using AI-driven bookkeeping, expense management, and financial analysis, Digits enables business owners to achieve financial clarity and focus on growth.
119. Elanco, a leader in animal health, has implemented a gen AI framework supporting critical business processes, such as Pharmacovigilance, Customer Orders, and Clinical Insights. The framework, powered by Vertex AI and Gemini, has resulted in an estimated ROI of $1.9 million since launching last year.
120. Full Fact, a UK-based nonprofit working in 18 countries to combat misinformation, is now using gen AI to actively monitor stories so its 30 fact-checking partner organizations can focus on addressing specific claims and harmful information.
121. Fullstory, a digital behavioral data platform, is building the ability to analyze and summarize user behavior on a site to create more informed and enriching chatbot experiences; responses are more relevant and accurate, ultimately improving virtual agent performance and customer experience
122. GamudaBerhad, a Malaysian infrastructure and property management company, has integrated a Gemini-powered conversational agent into its cloud-based Tunnel Insight platform, providing faster information and insights during construction projects.
123. IntelligenciaAI is using AI models to research novel new drugs, relying on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure to deliver scalable research that is accurate and transparent to meet the stringent needs of medicine.
124. IPRally built a custom machine-learning platform that uses natural language processing on the text of more than 120 million global patent documents, creating an accurate, easily searchable database that adds more than 200,000 new sources a week.
125. Ipsos built a data analysis tool for its teams of market researchers, eliminating the need for time-consuming requests to data analysts, which is powered by Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash models as well as Grounding with Google Search to enhance real-world accuracy from contemporaneous Search information.
126. Materiom, a startup researching zero-waste, bio-based alternatives to fossil-fuel-made products like plastics, is creating a gen AI tool that enables entrepreneurs to develop novel compostable materials with broad applications; AI offers faster research and information gathering to speed up the development process.
127. Mendel has built a clinical AI system designed to break down the longstanding silos in medical data, boosting accuracy, accessibility, and ultimately patient health outcomes.
128. NeuroPace, a medical device company, built a solution to quickly identify effective epilepsy treatment options best suited to different patients; by analyzing brainwave patterns, it can find similar patients and apply successful therapies, streamlining personalized care.
129. NotCo, a Chilean food tech company, partnered with Eleven Solutions to develop a conversational AI chatbot powered by Gemini; the chatbot has revolutionized data access, allowing employees to instantly query their SAP system and gain real-time insights for faster, data-driven decision-making.
130. SURA Investments, the largest asset manager in Latin America, developed an AI-based analysis model for employees that allows them to better understand customer needs and improve customer experience and satisfaction.
131. AI21 Labs offers a BigQuery integration called Contextual Answers that allows users to query data conversationally and get high-quality answers quickly.
132. Anthropic has partnered with Google Cloud to offer its family of Claude 3 models on Vertex AI — providing organizations with more model options for intelligence, speed, cost-efficiency, and vision for enterprise use cases.
133. The Asteroid Institute is using AI to discover hidden asteroids in existing astronomical data. This is a major focus for astronomers researching the evolution of the Solar System, investors and businesses hoping to fly missions to asteroids, and for all of us who want to prevent future large asteroid impacts on Earth.
134. Contextual is working with Google Cloud to offer enterprises fully customizable, trustworthy, privacy-aware AI grounded in internal knowledge bases.
135. Cox 2M, the commercial IoT division of Cox Communications, is able to make smarter, faster business decisions using AI-powered analytics.
136. Essential AI, a developer of enterprise AI solutions, is using Google Cloud’s AI-optimized TPU v5p accelerator chips to train its own AI models.
137. Generali Italia, Italy’s largest insurance provider, used Vertex AI to build a model evaluation pipeline that helps ML teams quickly evaluate performance and deploy models.
138. Globo, one of Brazil’s largest media networks, is using Service Extensions and Media CDN to fight piracy during live events by blocking pirated streams in real time.
139. Golden State Warriors are using AI to improve the fan experience content in their Chase Center app.
140. Hugging Face is collaborating with Google across open science, open source, cloud, and hardware to enable companies to build their own AI with the latest open models from Hugging Face and Google Cloud hardware and software.
141. Kakao Brain, part of Korean technology company Kakao Group, has built a large-scale AI language model that is the largest Korean language-specific LLM in the market, with 66 billion parameters. They’ve also developed a text-to-image generator called Karlo.
142. Mayo Clinic has given thousands of its scientific researchers access to 50 petabytes worth of clinical data through Vertex AI search, accelerating information retrieval across multiple languages.
143. McLaren Racing is using Google AI to get up-to-the-millisecond insights during races and training to gain a competitive edge.
144. Mercado Libre is testing BigQuery and Looker to optimize capacity planning and reservations with delivery carriers and airlines to fulfill shipments faster.
145. Mistral AI will use Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure, to further test, build, and scale up its LLMs, all while benefiting from Google Cloud’s security and privacy standards.
146. MSCI uses machine learning with Vertex AI, BigQuery and Cloud Run to enrich its datasets to help our clients gain insight into around 1 million asset locations to help manage climate-related risks.
147. NewsCorp is using Vertex AI to help search data across 30,000 sources and 2.5 billion news articles updated daily.
148. Orange operates in 26 countries where local data must be kept in each country. They are using AI on Google Distributed Cloud to improve network performance and deliver super-responsive translation capabilities.
149. Spotify leveraged Dataflow for large-scale generation of ML podcast previews, and they plan to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with data engineering and data science to build better experiences for their customers and creators.
150. UPS is building a digital twin of its entire distribution network, so both workers and customers can see where their packages are at any time.
151. Workday is using natural language processing in Vertex Search and Conversation to make data insights more accessible for technical and non-technical users alike.
152. Woven — Toyota‘s investment in the future of mobility — is partnering with Google to leverage vast amounts of data and AI to enable autonomous driving, supported by thousands of ML workloads on Google Cloud’s AI Hypercomputer. This has resulted in resulting in 50% total-cost-of-ownership savings to support automated driving.
152-153. Broward County, Florida, and Southern California Edison are using geospatial capabilities and AI to improve infrastructure planning and monitoring, generate new insights, and create regional resilience for communities facing climate challenges today and tomorrow.
154-155. Kinaxis and Dematic are building data-driven supply chains to address logistics use cases including scenario modeling, planning, operations management, and automation.
156-157. NOAA and USAID are among the U.S. government agencies using Google Cloud AI to unlock critical data insights to streamline operations and improve mission outcomes — all with an emphasis on responsible AI.
Security agents
Security agents assist security operations by radically increasing the speed of investigations, automating monitoring and response for greater vigilance and compliance controls. They can also help guard data and models from cyberattacks, such as malicious prompt injection.
158. Apex Fintech is using Gemini in Security to accelerate the writing of complex threat detections from hours to a matter of seconds.
159. Exabeam has built a generative AI copilot for security analysts into its New-Scale Security Operations Platform.
160. Fiserv, a developer of financial services technology, can now summarize threats, find answers, and detect, validate, and respond to security events faster with the Gemini in Security Operations platform.
161. NetRise developed Trace to provide software supply chain security by introducing AI-powered intent-driven searches; these allow users to search their assets based on the underlying motives or purposes behind the code and configurations, rather than solely relying on signature-based methods.
162. Palo Alto Networks is using Gemini to create a grounded AI assistant for 24/7 security platform support in order to improve agent efficiency and response time; grounding the assistant in organizational data and security protocols has greatly improved the accuracy of responses.
163. BBVA uses AI in Google SecOps to detect, investigate, and respond to security threats with more accuracy, speed, and scale. The platform now surfaces critical security data in seconds, when it previously took minutes or even hours, and delivers highly automated responses.
164. Behavox is using Google Cloud technology and LLMs to provide industry leading regulatory compliance and front office solutions for financial institutions globally.
165. Charles Schwab has integrated their own intelligence into the AI-powered Google SecOps, so analysts can better prioritize work and respond to threats.
166. Fiserv’s security operations engineers create detections and playbooks with much less effort, while analysts get answers more quickly.
167. Grupo Boticário, one of the largest beauty retail and cosmetics companies in Brazil, employs real-time security models to prevent fraud and to detect and respond to issues.
168. Palo Alto Networks’ Cortex XSIAM, the AI-driven security operations platform, is built on more than a decade of expertise in machine-learning models and the most comprehensive, rich, and diverse data store in the industry. Backed by Google’s advanced cloud infrastructure and advanced AI services, including BigQuery and Gemini models, the combination delivers global scale and near real-time protection across all cybersecurity offerings.
169. Pfizer can now aggregate cybersecurity data sources, cutting analysis times from days to seconds.
Creative agents
Creative agents can expand your organization with the best design and production skills, working across images, slides, and exploring concepts with workers. Many organizations are building agents for their marketing teams, audio and video production teams, and all the creative people that can use a hand. With creative agents, anyone can become a designer, artist, or producer.
170. AdoreMe marketers write differentiated product descriptions in one hour, a tedious task which used to take 30-40 hours a month thanks to Gemini for Google Workspace.
171. Globo, the largest media group in Latin America, is using Google Cloud’s AI to hyper-personalize content for its streaming users, and create a better experience for spectators.
172. Higgsfield.ai built a number of text-to-video apps for consumers, including Diffuse 2.0, which can combine users photos, videos, and texts through AI models to create more realistic avatars.
173. Jasper trains its suite of creativity-, writing-, and marketing-focused AI models on Google’s AI infrastructure, delivering on-brand, data-optimized assets faster and at scale to teams large and small.
174. Puma is using Imagen to customize product photos on its website, saving time and ensuring they are locally relevant across markets; PUMA India has already seen a 10% increase in click through rate.
175. RadissonHotel Group personalized its advertising at scale in collaboration with Accenture and using Vertex AI and Gemini models, training them on extensive datasets stored in BigQuery; ad teams saw productivity rise around 50% while revenue increased from AI-powered campaigns by more than 20%
176. SquareEnix is using customer data to develop AI-optimized marketing assets to keep its gamers engaged, sharing personalized emails suited to each player’s preferences, leading to a 20% increase in email opens and a 10% increased retention rate.
177. Urmobo, a mobile-device management platform, created a virtual agent, Odin, that significantly improved user experience and reduced support tickets by enabling clients to interact with the platform using natural language.
178. The World Bank is developing a tool to extract key information from research literature on the causal impact of development interventions, with the ultimate goal to empower decision-makers to allocate the $220B in annual aid and trillions in annual impact investing more effectively.
179. Belk ECommerce is using generative AI to craft better product descriptions, a necessary yet time-consuming task for digital retails that has often been done manually.
180. Canva is using Vertex AI to power its Magic Design for Video, helping users skip tedious editing steps while creating shareable and engaging videos in a matter of seconds.
181. Carrefour used Vertex AI to deploy Carrefour Marketing Studio in just five weeks — an innovative solution to streamline the creation of dynamic campaigns across various social networks. In just a few clicks, marketers can build ultra-personalized campaigns to deliver customers advertising that they care about.
182. Major League Baseball continues to innovate its Statcast platform, so teams, broadcasters, and fans have access to live in-game insights.
183. Paramount currently relies on manual processes to create the essential metadata and video summaries used across its Paramount+ platform for showcasing content and creating personalized experiences for viewers. VertexAI Text Bison is now helping to streamline this process.
184. Procter & Gamble used Imagen to develop an internal gen AI platform to accelerate the creation of photo-realistic images and creative assets, giving marketing teams more time to focus on high-level planning and delivering superior experiences for its consumers.
185. WPP will integrate Google Cloud’s gen AI capabilities into its intelligent marketing operating system, called WPP Open, which empowers its people and clients to deliver new levels of personalization, creativity, and efficiency. This includes the use of Gemini 1.5 Pro models to supercharge both the accuracy and speed of content performance predictions.
To find even more customers using our AI tools to build agents and solutions for their most important enterprise projects, visit the Google Cloud customer hub.
At our Gemini for Work event in Sunnyvale, California, we showcased how companies are using Google Cloud’s generative AI technology to transform their businesses. From healthcare providers to car makers to retailers, our customers are solving crucial problems and becoming more efficient using generative AI — and they’re choosing Google Cloud as their partner to make it happen. Here’s a look at how Google AI is reshaping businesses across the globe.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louise Arseneault, Professor in Developmental Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London
When was the last time that you felt lonely? It’s an uncomfortable question, but for 3.83 million people in the UK, 7.1% of the population, the answer is probably “right now”.
Loneliness has become a worrying public health matter because it is common and is often associated with people experiencing physical and mental health problems. There is now taxpayers’ money being spent at the local, national and international levels on initiatives to minimise loneliness and the harmful effect it can have on people’s health. But are those investments misjudged?
New research from Guangzhou Medical University in China has challenged the notion that loneliness can cause ill health. Instead, the findings suggest that loneliness might be considered an associated feature for many diseases (a so-called “surrogate marker”) as it was shown to not be a root cause for poor physical and mental health.
The researchers used data from the UK Biobank in which over half a million people aged 37 to 73 were asked to report how often they felt lonely. They conducted analyses based on the distribution of genetic variants in the population (known as “Mendelian randomisation”) to test the causal effect of loneliness on a wide range of diseases, including physical and mental health problems.
This is certainly an interesting study; however, there are several points we must consider when reflecting on the findings. It is important to note that UK Biobank data isn’t the best for testing the causal effects of loneliness on health.
Although many participants have taken part in UK Biobank, they are volunteers who tend to be white, older and have higher levels of education than the general population in the UK. Many of the participants also follow a healthier lifestyle than the population as a whole.
Although loneliness doesn’t discriminate and can affect anyone, at all ages, and from all walks of life, this participation bias can influence the findings as it may conceal important associations.
The study also captured a snapshot of loneliness from a single time in adulthood. We all experience loneliness from time to time, but its effect on health depends at what age a person feels lonely, why they feel lonely and for how long. This detail isn’t captured in this data.
Some of our own research in this area shows that mental health difficulties and poor general functioning are often experienced alongside feelings of loneliness. However, our findings also show that loneliness in early adolescence can have long-lasting effects, especially related to education and employment prospects –– so-called “socioeconomic outcomes”.
This study also measured loneliness in participants in their late 30s and older. Again, previous research has shown that loneliness can start early in life and is associated with later depression and poor socioeconomic outcomes, both of which are shown in this paper to be important factors associated with health.
The ideal is to conduct analyses with data from studies that observe people from childhood to old age, and which have measured loneliness earlier in life and health in later life to best understand the links between loneliness and health.
Also, this study used hospitalisation data to determine health outcomes. While this type of data is valuable, it captures information only from participants who seek treatment and represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to diseases. Loneliness may affect health in more subtle ways that won’t be caught here.
This is not to be over-critical of the study, however. The importance of depression and socioeconomic status as mechanisms through which loneliness translates into poor health is an essential message from this study. For example, loneliness may result in difficulties at work or worsening mental health, which could in turn increase a person’s risk of physical disease.
Identifying surrogate markers of poor health is also valuable as it opens the door to better and earlier ways to support vulnerable people. For example, someone may not feel comfortable revealing that they experience symptoms of depression, but they are fine with talking about their feelings of loneliness. Loneliness may act as a red flag in some circumstances. This is especially important when diseases are accompanied by stigma, such as many mental health conditions.
Loneliness is intertwined with a range of health conditions throughout life and is considered both a contributing factor to and an outcome of poor health. This study acknowledges that.
Loneliness has a complex relationship with health
To measure the importance of loneliness for public health relevance solely as a causal factor oversimplifies its complex and intricate relationships with health. This is where further research using data that is representative of the general population is needed. It would allow researchers to unpick the pervasive role of loneliness in shaping health and wealth for all people.
What this study cannot answer is an important question: should we continue to invest in initiatives designed to tackle loneliness as a means of improving population health? As ever, the answer is not a binary one.
While this study may not report a causal relationship between loneliness and diseases, ample evidence indicates that it precedes, accompanies and results from poor health. Current strategies have proven to be limited in their effectiveness, particularly for people with lower incomes and less education.
If we consider the occurrence of loneliness alongside mental health difficulties and low socioeconomic status, and a better understanding of the mechanisms that underpin loneliness, we might find these initiatives become more effective.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Army Mission – our purpose – remains constant: To deploy, fight and win our nation’s wars by providing ready, prompt & sustained land dominance by Army forces across the full spectrum of conflict as part of the joint force.
Interested in joining the U.S. Army?
Visit: spr.ly/6001igl5L
Connect with the U.S. Army online:
Web: https://www.army.mil
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/USarmy/
X: https://www.twitter.com/USArmy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/usarmy/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/us-army
#USArmy #Soldiers #Military #Shorts #Howizter
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Following the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting at the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, the following statement was made by Chair Antonio Tajani.
1. Introduction
In today’s meeting in New York, in the wake of the Summit of the Future, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and the High Representative of the European Union reiterated their commitment to upholding the rule of law, humanitarian principles and international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, and to protecting human rights and dignity for all individuals.
They re-emphasized their determination to foster collective action in order to preserve peace and stability to address global challenges, such as the climate crisis and to advance the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In doing so, the G7 members renewed their commitment to the promotion of free societies and democratic principles, where all persons can freely exercise their rights and freedoms.
2. Summit for the Future
In the spirit of the renewed determination to strengthen the multilateral system based on the UN Charter’s principles, as reflected in the Pact for the Future adopted at the Summit of the Future by world Leaders, the G7 members committed to continue working with countries and all relevant stakeholders within the UN system through dialogue, mutual understanding and respect in the pursuit of common solutions, with the aim of upholding and reforming the multilateral system so that it better reflects today’s world and is fit to respond to the complex global challenges of the future. They reaffirmed their commitment to work with all UN member states to strengthen the roles of the UNSG as well as the UNGA. They also recommitted to the reform of the UNSC.
3. Steadfast Support to Ukraine
The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering support to Ukraine as it defends its freedom, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, against Russia’s brutal and unjustifiable war of aggression. The G7 members strongly condemned Russia’s blatant breach of international law, including the UN Charter, and of the basic principles that underpin the international order. They strongly condemned the serious violations of international humanitarian law perpetrated by Russia’s forces in Ukraine, which have caused a devastating impact on the civilian population. Violence against civilians, including women, children, and prisoners of war is unacceptable.
They expressed their outrage at Russia’s repeated attacks against critical infrastructure and they condemned in the strongest possible terms any targeting of civilian buildings and even hospitals. Ensuring the protection and resilience of Ukraine’s energy grid and its power generation capacity remains a fundamental and urgent priority as winter approaches. They welcomed the international conference on energy security held on August 22. .as well as the ongoing coordination of the G7 energy group. They reiterated their commitment to help Ukraine meet its urgent short-term financing needs, as well as support its long-term recovery and reconstruction priorities.
Russia must end its war of aggression and pay for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. The G7 members reiterated their commitment to explore and use all possible lawful avenues by which Russia is made to meet those obligations.
The launch of the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans for Ukraine, as mandated by G7 leaders, will make available approximately USD 50 billion in additional funding to Ukraine that will be serviced and repaid by future flows of extraordinary revenues stemming from the immobilization of Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union and other relevant jurisdictions.
The G7 Foreign Ministers and the High Representative are working, together with Finance Ministers, to operationalize the G7 Leaders’ commitment by the end of the year. They will maintain solidarity in this commitment to providing this support to Ukraine. The G7 members confirmed that, consistent with all applicable laws and their respective legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in their jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.
They also committed to strengthening the Ukraine Donor Platform to help coordinate the disbursal of funds and ensure they align with Ukraine’s highest priority needs at a pace it can effectively absorb. This will play a key role in advancing Ukraine’s reforms in line with its European path and in contributing to a successful Ukraine Recovery Conference to be held in Italy in 2025.
Any use of nuclear weapons by Russia in the context of its war of aggression against Ukraine would be inadmissible. They therefore condemned in the strongest possible terms Russia’s irresponsible and threatening nuclear rhetoric, as well as its posture of strategic intimidation. They also expressed their deepest concern about the reported use of chemical weapons as well as riot control agents as a method of warfare by Russia in Ukraine.
The G7 members remained committed to holding those responsible accountable for atrocities in Ukraine, in line with international law. They also condemned the seizures of foreign companies and called on Russia to reverse these measures and seek acceptable solutions with the companies targeted by them.
They condemned Russia’s seizure and continued control and militarization of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which poses severe risks for nuclear safety and security, potentially affecting the entire international community. They reiterated their support to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts directed at mitigating such risks.
They underlined once again their support for Ukraine’s right of self-defense and reiterated their commitment to Ukraine’s long-term security, recalling the launch of the Ukraine Compact in Washington on 11 July 2024. They re-affirmed the intention to increasing industrial production and delivery capabilities to assist Ukraine’s self-defense. They highlighted their support to Ukraine in its efforts to modernize its armed forces and strengthen its own defense industry. They expressed their resolve to bolster Ukraine’s air defense capabilities to save lives and protect critical infrastructure.
They remained committed to raising the costs of Russia’s war of aggression by building on the comprehensive package of sanctions and economic measures already in place. Though existing measures have had a significant impact on Russia’s war machine and ability to fund its invasion, its military is still posing a threat not just to Ukraine but also to international security.
The G7 members expressed the intention to continue taking appropriate measures, consistent with their legal systems, against actors in China and in third countries that materially support Russia’s war machine, including financial institutions, and other entities that facilitate Russia’s acquisition of items for its defense industrial base.
They expressed their intention to continue to apply significant pressure on Russian revenues from energy and other commodities. This will include improving the efficacy of the oil price cap policy by taking further steps to tighten compliance and enforcement, including against Russia’s shadow fleet, while working to maintain market stability.
They especially emphasized the urgency to support Ukraine’s energy security, including by coordinating international assistance through the G7+Ukraine Energy Coordination Group. They underscored the importance to continue working with the Ukrainian authorities and International Financial Institutions through the Ukraine Donor Platform, and by mobilizing private investments and fostering participation of civil society.
They highlighted the reality of millions of internally displaced Ukrainians and the importance of an inclusive rights-based, gender-responsive recovery, including the reintegration of veterans and civilians with disabilities, and to address the needs of women, children as well as other population groups who have been disproportionately affected by Russia’s war of aggression. They reiterated their condemnation of Russia’s unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children and welcomed coordinated efforts to secure their safe return. They called on Russia to release all persons it has unjustly detained and safely return all civilians it has illegally transferred or deported, starting with children. They welcomed the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10 point peace formula that will be hosted by Canada on October 30-31.
They reiterated the need to support Ukraine’s agriculture sector, which is critical for global food supply, particularly for the most vulnerable nations, and called for unimpeded exports of grain, foodstuffs, fertilizers and inputs from Ukraine.
They acknowledged the importance to involve the private sector in the sustainable economic recovery of Ukraine. They welcomed and underscored the significance of Ukraine itself continuing to implement domestic reform efforts, especially in the fields of anti-corruption, justice system reform, decentralization, and promotion of the rule of law. These endeavors are in line with the Euro-Atlantic path Ukraine has embraced. The G7 members were unanimous on the need to continue to support efforts of the Ukrainian government and people in these endeavors.
They resolutely condemned Russia’s holding of illegitimate ‘elections’ in the occupied Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Russia’s actions once again demonstrate its blatant disregard for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, and the UN Charter. They called on all members of the international community to refrain from recognizing Russia’s illegitimate actions.
They welcomed the Summit on Peace in Ukraine that took place in Switzerland on June 15-16 and its focus on the key priorities needed to achieve a framework for peace based on international law, including the UN Charter and its principles, and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They remained committed to follow up on the Conference through constructive engagement with all international partners to reach a comprehensive, just and lasting peace.
The G7 members acknowledged that Russia continues to expand its campaigns of foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI). They condemned Russia’s use of FIMI to support its war of aggression against Ukraine. They reiterated their determination to bolster the G7 Rapid Response Mechanism by developing a collective response framework to counter foreign threats to democracies.
4. Situation in the Middle East
The G7 members reiterated their condemnation of Hamas’ horrendous attacks on October 7, 2023. 101 hostages are still in the hands of Hamas. They noted with deep concern the trend of escalatory violence in the Middle East and its repercussions on regional stability and on the lives of civilians shattered by this conflict, from the Gaza Strip to the Israeli-Lebanese Blue Line. Actions and counter-reactions risk magnifying this dangerous spiral of violence and dragging the entire Middle East into a broader regional conflict with unimaginable consequences. They called for a stop to the current destructive cycle, while emphasizing that no country stands to gain from a further escalation in the Middle East.
They expressed their deep concern about the situation along the Blue Line. They recognized the essential stabilizing role played by the Lebanese Armed Forces and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon in mitigating that risk. They demanded the full implementation of UNSCR 1701 (2006) and urged that all relevant actors implement immediate measures towards de-escalation.
The G7 members reaffirmed their strong support for the ongoing mediation efforts undertaken by the United States, Egypt and Qatar to reach a resolution between the parties to the conflict in Gaza. They reiterated their full commitment for the implementation of the UNSC Resolution 2735 (2024) and the comprehensive deal outlined by President Biden in May that would lead to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, and an enduring end to the crisis, to secure a pathway to a two-state solution with a safe Israel alongside a sovereign Palestinian state. They urged the parties to the conflict to unequivocally accept the ceasefire proposal, stressing the need for countries in a position to directly influence the parties to cooperate in strengthening mediation efforts. They called for the full implementation of the terms of the ceasefire proposal without delay and without conditions.
They called on all parties to fully comply with international law, including international humanitarian law. They expressed their deep alarm for the heavy toll this conflict has taken on civilians, deploring all losses of civilian lives equally and noting with great concern that, after nearly a year of hostilities and regional instability, it is mostly civilians, including women and children, who are paying the highest price. Protection of civilians must be an absolute priority for all parties at all times.
The G7 members expressed concern at the unprecedented level of food insecurity affecting most of the population in the Gaza Strip. Securing full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access in all its forms and through all relevant crossing points remains an absolute priority. They urged all parties to allow the unimpeded delivery of aid and ensure protection of humanitarian workers by properly implementing de-confliction measures. They recognized the crucial role played by UN agencies and other humanitarian actors in delivering assistance especially health care for the most vulnerable persons, including the polio vaccination campaign. They expressed their support for UNRWA to effectively uphold its mandate, emphasizing the vital role that the UN Agency plays.
The G7 members reaffirmed their unwavering commitment, through reinvigorated efforts in the Middle East Peace Process, to the vision of a two-state solution where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace within secure and recognized borders, consistent with international law and relevant UN resolutions, and in this regard stress the importance of unifying the Gaza strip with the West Bank under Palestinian Authority. We note that mutual recognition, to include the recognition of a Palestinian state, at the appropriate time, would be a crucial component of that political process. They expressed their concern about the risk of weakening the Palestinian Authority and underlined the importance of maintaining economic stability in the West Bank. They welcomed the EU’s 400 million Euro emergency package for the Palestinian Authority. All parties must refrain from unilateral actions and from divisive statements that may undermine the prospect of a two-state solution, including the Israeli expansion of settlements and the “legalization” of settlement outposts. They condemned the rise in extremist settler violence committed against Palestinians, which undermines security and stability in the West Bank and threatens prospects for a lasting peace. They expressed their deep concern regarding the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank.
They reiterated their commitment to working together – and with other international partners – to closely coordinate and institutionalize their support for civil society peacebuilding efforts, ensuring that they are part of a larger strategy to build the foundation necessary for a negotiated and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace. The G7 members called on Iran to contribute to de-escalation of tensions in the region. They demanded that Iran cease its destabilizing actions in the Middle East. They underlined that they stand ready to adopt further sanctions or take other measures in response to further destabilizing initiatives.
They reiterated their determination that Iran must never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon and that the G7 will continue working together, and with other international partners, to address Iran’s nuclear escalation. A diplomatic solution remains the best way to resolve this issue. As the IAEA remains unable to verify that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, they urged Iran’s leadership to cease and reverse nuclear activities that have no credible civilian justification and to cooperate with the IAEA without further delay to fully implement their legally binding safeguards agreement and their commitments under UNSCR 2231(2015).
They condemned in the strongest possible terms Iran’s export and Russia’s procurement of Iranian ballistic missiles. Evidence that Iran has continued to transfer weaponry to Russia despite repeated international calls to stop represents a further escalation of Iran’s military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Russia has used Iranian weaponry such as UAVs to kill Ukrainian civilians and strike their critical infrastructure.
They reiterated that Iran must immediately cease all support to Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine and halt such transfers of ballistic missiles, UAVs and related technology, which constitute a direct threat to the Ukrainian people as well as European and international security more broadly.
They reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to hold Iran to account for its unacceptable support for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine that further undermines global security. In line with their previous statements on the matter, they underscored that they are already responding with new and significant measures.
They also reiterated their deep concern about Iran’s human rights violations, especially against women and minority groups. They reiterated their call on Iran to allow access to the country to relevant UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures mandate holders.
De-escalation efforts in the region must also include the immediate and unconditional termination of any attack by the Houthis against international and commercial vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea. The G7 members reiterated their strong condemnation of these attacks and the right of countries to defend their vessels from attacks. They called for the immediate release by the Houthis of the Galaxy Leader and its crew. They expressed their strong concern about the August 21 attack on the merchant vessel Sounion and the ongoing risk of an environmental catastrophe as salvage operations continue. They welcomed the efforts by the EU maritime operation Aspides and by the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian to protect vital sea lanes. They appreciated the efforts of those countries that are committed to protect freedom of navigation and trade, as well as maritime security, in line with UNSCR 2722 (2024) and in accordance with international law.
5. Fostering partnerships with African Countries
The G7 members reaffirmed their commitment to support African nations in the pursuit of sustainable development as well as the creation of jobs and growth. The focus remains on fostering fair partnerships, built on shared principles, democratic values, local leadership, and practical initiatives.
They reiterated their intention to align actions with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the specific needs of African countries, including plans to improve local and regional food security, infrastructure, trade, and agricultural productivity. They expressed their support for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a crucial factor for Africa’s growth in the next decade.
The G7 members emphasized the need to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation with African countries and regional organizations. In addition to maintaining financial support for African nations, they expressed their determination to improve the coordination and effectiveness of G7 resources, mobilizing domestic resources and encouraging increased private investments.
They welcomed the African Union’s permanent membership in the G20, and the creation of an additional Chair for Sub-Saharan Africa on the IMF Executive Board in November.
They reaffirmed their commitment to the G20 Compact with Africa, a tool aimed at enhancing private investment, driving structural reforms, supporting local entrepreneurship, and fostering cooperation, particularly in the energy sector. The G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), and initiatives like the EU’s Global Gateway can contribute to promote sustainable, resilient, and economically viable infrastructure in Africa, ensuring transparency in project selection, procurement, and financing. In this framework, they welcomed Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa.
They recognized that sustainable development, peace and security and democracy go hand in hand, reaffirming their commitment to help African governments in strengthening democratic governance and respect for human rights, while addressing conditions conducive to terrorism, violent extremism, and instability.
They expressed their deep concern about the destabilizing activities of the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group and other Russia-supported entities. They called for accountability for all those responsible for human rights violations and abuses.
6. Indo-Pacific
The G7 members reiterated their commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, based on the rule of law, which is inclusive, prosperous and secure, grounded on sovereignty, territorial integrity, peaceful resolution of disputes, fundamental freedoms and human rights. They reaffirmed the importance of working together with regional partners and organizations, notably the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). They reaffirmed their thorough support for ASEAN centrality and unity. They reaffirmed their intention to work to support Pacific Island Countries’ priorities, as articulated through the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.
As they seek constructive and stable relations with China, they recognized the importance of direct and candid engagement to express concerns and manage differences. They reaffirmed their readiness to cooperate with China to address global challenges. They expressed their deep concern at the China’s support to Russia. They called on China to step up efforts to promote international peace and security, and to press Russia to stop its military aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops from Ukraine. They encouraged China to support a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on territorial integrity and the principles and purposes of the UN Charter, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine. They also expressed their deep concern at China’s ongoing support for Russia’s defense industrial base, which is enabling Russia to maintain its illegal war in Ukraine and has significant and broad-based security implications. They called on China to cease the transfer of dual-use materials, including weapons components and equipment, that are inputs for Russia’s defense sector.
They recognized the importance of China in global trade. However, they expressed their concerns about China’s persistent industrial targeting and comprehensive non-market policies and practices that are leading to global spillovers, market distortions and harmful overcapacity in a growing range of sectors, undermining our workers, industries and economic resilience and security, as well as impacting on currencies. The G7 members are not decoupling or turning inwards. They are de-risking and diversifying supply chains where necessary and appropriate and fostering resilience to economic coercion. They called on China to refrain from adopting export control measures, particularly on critical minerals, that could lead to significant supply chain disruptions. Together with partners, the G7 members will invest in building their respective industrial capacities, promote diversified and resilient supply chains, and reduce critical dependencies and vulnerabilities.
They remained seriously concerned about the situation in the East and South China Seas and reiterated their strong opposition to any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or coercion. They reaffirmed that there is no legal basis for China’s expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea, and they reiterated their opposition to China’s militarization and coercive and intimidation activities in the South China Sea. They re-emphasized the universal and unified character of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and reaffirmed UNCLOS’s important role in setting out the legal framework that governs all activities in the oceans and the seas. They reiterated that the award rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal on 12 July 2016 is a significant milestone, which is legally binding upon the parties to those proceedings and a useful basis for peacefully resolving disputes between the parties. They reiterated their strong opposition to China’s dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia in the South China Sea and its repeated obstruction of countries’ high seas freedom of navigation. They expressed deep concern about the dangerous and obstructive maneuvers, including water cannons and ramming, by the China Coast Guard and maritime militia against Philippines vessels.
The G7 members reaffirmed that maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is indispensable to international security and prosperity, and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues. There is no change in the basic position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including stated One-China policies. They supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations as a member where statehood is not a prerequisite and as an observer or guest where it is.
They remained concerned by the human rights situation in China, including in Xinjiang and Tibet. They are also worried about the crackdown on Hong Kong’s autonomy and independent institutions, and ongoing erosion of rights and freedoms. They urged China and the Hong Kong authorities to act in accordance with their international commitments and applicable legal obligations.
The G7 members strongly condemned North Korea’s continuing expansion of its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions and its continuous destabilizing activities. They reiterated their call for the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and demanded that North Korea abandons all its nuclear weapons, existing nuclear programs, and any other WMD and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner, in accordance with all relevant UNSC resolutions. They called on North Korea to return to dialogue to promote peace and stability in the Korean peninsula. They urged all UN Member States to fully implement all relevant UN Security Council resolutions. They reiterated their deep disappointment with Russia’s veto last March on the mandate renewal of the UNSC 1718 Committee Panel of Experts.
They condemned in the strongest possible terms the increasing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including North Korea’s export and Russia’s procurement of North Korean ballistic missiles and munitions in direct violation of relevant UNSCRs, as well as Russia’s use of these missiles and munitions against Ukraine. They are also deeply concerned about the potential for any transfer of nuclear or ballistic missiles-related technology to North Korea, in violation of the relevant UNSCRs. They urged Russia and North Korea to immediately cease all such activities and abide by relevant UNSCRs. They urged North Korea to respect human rights, facilitate access for international humanitarian organizations, and resolve the abductions issue immediately.
They called on China not to conduct or condone activities aimed at undermining the security and safety of our communities and the integrity of our democratic institutions, and to act in strict accordance with its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
7. Regional Issues
Venezuela
The G7 members reiterated their deep concern about the situation in Venezuela, following the vote on July 28.
They emphasized that the announced victory of Maduro lacks credibility and democratic legitimacy, as indicated by reports of the UN Panel of Experts and independent international observers as well as data published by the opposition. They underscored that it is essential for electoral results to be complete and independently verified to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people.
They expressed their outrage for the arrest warrant and constant threats to the security of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who decided to seek refuge in Spain. According to the above-mentioned independent reports, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia appears to have won the most votes.
They urged Venezuelan representatives to cease all human rights violations and abuses, arbitrary detentions and widespread restrictions on fundamental freedoms, particularly affecting the political opposition, human rights defenders, and representatives of independent media and civil society. They called for the release of all political prisoners and for a path to freedom and democracy for the people of Venezuela.
They urged the international community to keep Venezuela high on the diplomatic agenda and they expressed their support for efforts by regional partners to facilitate the Venezuelan-led democratic and peaceful transition that the people of Venezuela have clearly chosen in the polls.
Haiti
The G7 members expressed their determination to continue supporting Haitian institutions – including the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT) and the Government of Prime Minister Conille – in their commitment to create the necessary conditions of general security and stability for the convening, by February 2026, of free and fair elections. The expression of popular will would set the foundation for the full restoration of democracy and the rule of law in Haiti.
They also expressed full support to the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which is providing critical support to the Haitian National Police as they counter criminal gangs engaged in illicit trafficking and inflicting brutal violence upon the population.
The G7 members emphasized the importance of continued support to the MSS mission through financial contributions to the UN Trust Fund as well as contributions in kind. They expressed their strong appreciation for the commitment of the Government of Kenya – which has already deployed 380 personnel on the ground – to support the Haitian National Police in restoring peace and security.
They called on all countries that have committed to deploy their contingents to the MSS mission to do so as soon as possible, to consolidate the mission and its fundamental role in the Country. They called on Haiti’s partners to continue their humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people and to expedite their financial and in-kind contributions to the MSS mission to help ensure that the mission is resourced for success.
They called also on the United Nations Security Council to consider a UN Peace Operation to maintain the security gains of the Haiti National Police and the MSS mission for holding free and fair elections and called on the Secretary-General accordingly to provide support.
The G7 members welcomed the work of the G7 Working Group on Haiti in monitoring institutional, political, social and security developments in Haiti, with a view to supporting the stabilization of the country and the restoration of full democratic governance.
Libya
The G7 members reiterated their unwavering commitment to Libyan stability, sovereignty, independence and unity. They expressed deep concern about recent developments in the country, in particular those involving the leadership of the Central Bank of Libya and the High Council of State, which show the fragility and unsustainability of the present status quo. They urged relevant Libyan parties to rapidly reach the necessary compromises to begin to restore the institutional integrity of the Central Bank of Libya and its standing with the international financial community. They called on Libyan political actors to refrain from taking harmful unilateral actions that create further political tension and fragmentation and make the country vulnerable to harmful foreign interference.
They noted advances made in the organization of local elections and they called for a free, fair and inclusive participation of all Libyans. It is now imperative to relaunch a Libyan-led and Libyan-owned political process facilitated by the UN towards free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections.
They expressed their support and commended the efforts made by UNSMIL officer in charge Stephanie Koury in support of the stabilization of Libya. They called on the Secretary General to appoint a new Special Representative without delay.
Sudan
The G7 members reiterated their grave concern over the ongoing fighting, mass-displacement and famine in Sudan.
They condemned the serious human rights violations and abuses against the civilian population, including widespread sexual and gender-based violence, as well as international humanitarian law violations by both sides to the conflict. They called for an immediate end to the escalating violence, which is creating further displacement, and urged the warring parties to ensure the protection of civilians. They reiterated their commitment to holding accountable all those responsible for violations of international law in Sudan.
They condemned the emergence of famine in Sudan as a direct consequence of efforts to restrict access of humanitarian actors. They noted recent progress in relation to the re-opening of the Chad-Sudan Adre border crossing, in the wake of the Paris Conference and of the Geneva talks. They called for full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access both into Sudan and across lines of conflict so aid can reach all those in need.
They urged all parties to cease hostilities immediately and to engage in serious negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting ceasefire, humanitarian access and protection of civilians without pre-conditions.
They called on external actors to refrain from fueling the conflict, to respect the UN arms embargo on Darfur, and to play a responsible role in resolving the crisis.
They welcomed mediation efforts by regional and international actors and organizations to facilitate a durable peace for the country.
Inclusive, national dialogue, aimed at restoring democracy, re-establishing and strengthening the civilian and representative institutions after the end of the conflict, is a prerequisite for lasting peace. The G7 Members emphasized that it is necessary for representatives of Sudanese civil society, including women, to be fully engaged in the reflection on the political future of the country.
Coventry City Council has received an award for the way it works to support the Armed Forces.
The Council received the Silver Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.
Cllr Linda Bigham, the Council’s Armed Forces Champion, received the award at the National Memorial Arboretum from Air Vice Marshall Adam Sansom.
Cllr Bigham said: “The Council and the city of Coventry are proud supporters of our Armed Forces.
“They have done so much for us over the years, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. We are honoured to receive the Silver Award and we promise we will continue our work to help those who wear, or have worn their uniforms with such pride and courage.
“This award will help us to show them we are there for them and we care, and it will help us to inspire others to offer their support to the Forces, families, their veterans and cadets.
“Coventry is a city of peace and reconciliation and that work is supported so well by the Armed Forces. We look forward to building closer links in the years ahead.”
The Employer Recognition Scheme works to encourage employers to support the Armed Forces and their personnel and inspire others through their work. The award is open to all companies and businesses, as well as public organisations such as the emergency services, local authorities, and NHS trusts.
To earn the Silver Award, employers must have pledged to support the Armed Forces, including existing or prospective employees who are members of the community, and they must have signed the Armed Forces Covenant.
They have to promote being Armed Forces-friendly and be open to employing reservists, veterans (including the wounded, injured and sick), cadet instructors and military spouses/partners.
They have to proactively demonstrate that service personnel and the Armed Forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged as part of their recruiting and selection processes; and ensure that the workforce is aware of their positive policies towards defence people issues. They must also show support to training by providing at least five days’ additional unpaid/paid leave and demonstrate support to the Cadet movement.
The Council has been a long-time supporter of the Armed Forces and is proud to be signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant.
The Covenant is a promise to acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy, and society they serve with their lives.