Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Rescuers make all-out efforts to find survivors after landslide in SW China
Category: KB
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MIL-OSI China: Rescuers make all-out efforts to find survivors after landslide in SW China
Rescuers search for missing people in Junlian County in the city of Yibin, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Feb. 9, 2025. Rescuers are making all-out efforts to find survivors after a landslide in southwest China’s Sichuan Province left one dead, 28 missing and two injured. The landslide also buried 10 residential houses and a production building. The landslide occurred at about 11:50 a.m. on Saturday in Jinping Village, which is located in Junlian County in the city of Yibin. [Photo/Xinhua] Rescuers head for the rescue site of a landslide in Junlian County in the city of Yibin, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Feb. 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] This aerial drone photo taken on Feb. 9, 2025 shows the rescue site of a landslide in Junlian County in the city of Yibin, southwest China’s Sichuan Province. [Photo/Xinhua] A rescuer uses a drone to illuminate the rescue site in Junlian County in the city of Yibin, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, Feb. 9, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua] -
MIL-OSI China: China accelerates reform of renewable power pricing to promote sustainable development
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China accelerates reform of renewable power pricing to promote sustainable development
BEIJING, Feb. 10 — China is accelerating the market-oriented reform of its renewable power pricing system in a bid to build a new power system and promote the sustainable development of renewable energy generation.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the National Energy Administration (NEA) recently issued a joint notice on deepening the pricing reform for electricity generated from renewable energy.
The reform focuses on three key aspects: allowing market forces to determine renewable power pricing, establishing a pricing and settlement mechanism that supports the long-term sustainability, and adopting differentiated policies for existing and new projects.
“This new pricing policy will significantly accelerate the construction of a modern power system and ensure the sustainable development of renewable energy,” said Zhang Dayong, deputy secretary-general of the China Association for the Promotion of Industrial Development.
Industry experts believe this reform is essential as China enters a new stage of renewable energy development.
China highly values the new energy sector, such as wind and solar power, rolling out an array of favorable policies spanning pricing, finance and industry. The supportive measures, including a fixed pricing mechanism, have led to exponential growth in renewable energy capacity.
At the end of 2024, the country’s total installed renewable power capacity reached 1.41 billion kilowatts, accounting for over 40 percent of its total electricity capacity and surpassing coal-fired power installations.
Despite this rapid expansion, the existing fixed-pricing mechanism for renewable power has struggled to reflect real market supply and demand dynamics.
Conditions are now ripe to shift to market-based pricing, analysts said, citing falling power generation costs and an evolving market and predicting that the reform will enhance industry efficiency and ensure sustainable high-quality growth.
The costs of wind and solar power generation in China have dropped significantly compared to early development stages, now ranging between 0.2 yuan (about 3 U.S. cents) and 0.3 yuan per kilowatt-hour. Meanwhile, local electricity markets have matured, with improved regulations facilitating broader participation.
Song Hongkun, deputy head of the NEA, has highlighted the increasing role of market forces in power distribution. From January to October 2024, China’s market-based electricity transactions reached 5.08 trillion kilowatt-hours, with the share of market-traded electricity rising from 17 percent in 2016 to 62 percent. Notably, nearly half of all renewable power generation was traded in the market.
“China’s renewable energy sector has taken a lead in the world, but to ensure long-term strength and healthy development, it must be tested in a competitive market environment,” said Liu Manping, an economist of the NDRC, stressing that market-based electricity pricing is at the heart of this reform.
Experts predict that the market-oriented push will drive technological advancements in wind and solar power and further reduce costs.
At the same time, it could lead to lower returns for some projects, steering social capital toward non-electric renewable energy applications, which will help foster the growth of China’s broader renewable energy ecosystem, Zhang said.
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MIL-OSI: IP Fabric 7.0 Transforms Cloud and Edge Innovation Across Hybrid Networks
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — IP Fabric, the Automated Network Assurance Platform, today announced the release of Version 7.0, designed to simplify compliance with regulations and security frameworks and strengthen operational resiliency across multicloud environments.
Global enterprises require an end-to-end view of complex cloud and edge environments. Legacy solutions only provide a technology- or domain-specific view, which doesn’t meet the mandate of boards, CISOs and IT leaders, who must balance security, stability, compliance and risk with the pursuit of strategic transformation.
IP Fabric 7.0 addresses this with a comprehensive view of infrastructure and intelligent analytics, creating the security and operational posture for innovation (e.g., automation, AI, cloud migration, SD-WAN). This lets teams deliver secure services, ensure business continuity, plan and manage budgets, and optimize processes across domains.
“The release of IP Fabric 7.0 represents another step in empowering all IT teams to achieve panoramic network visibility, efficiency and collaboration,” said Pavel Bykov, CEO and co-founder of IP Fabric. “New features let organizations streamline workflows and proactively address infrastructure and security challenges like never before.”
Key features in IP Fabric 7.0
- Improved Productivity Across Teams and Business Functions
- 160+ Automated Intent Verification Checks: Proactively identify and address compliance, configuration and maintenance risks with out-of-the-box integrated vendor database checks.
- Multi-View Dashboards: Create custom dashboards to provide tailored views for the executive team, security practitioners, platform engineers, network engineers and more — without writing a single line of code.
- Shareable Snapshots and Tables: Enhance collaboration with Shareable Snapshots, which are fully functional simulations of the network (also known as digital twins), and tables, which let users analyze and correlate network state information and parameters across multiple devices.
- Exportable Network Diagrams: Seamlessly export network diagrams to Visio and other platforms for broader usability.
- End-to-End Visibility
- Expanded Cloud Discovery and Support: Troubleshoot faster with unified data, gain full visibility into backend-to-frontend application communications and prepare for cloud migrations or repatriations. New inventory tables and AWS Direct Connect Transit VIF support enable deeper insights into traffic flow in AWS, especially when leveraging Transit Gateways and multiple VIFs.
- Enhanced SD-WAN Support: Increase visibility for security teams with new insight into the performance and connectivity of SD-WAN in Silverpeak and Viptela.
- Auto-Discovery of Security Technology: Identify vulnerabilities and automate security and compliance remediation with instant insights from Check Point, Palo Alto Networks and Stormshield.
- Advanced Routing Data: Unlock insights into the exact BGP routes devices advertise to neighbors for faster troubleshooting, smarter optimizations and increased confidence that routing aligns with network policies. New BGP capabilities also enable AWS Direct Connect visibility.
- Accelerated Business Outcomes
- Early Snapshot Insights: Network snapshots record the state of the network in time, retrieve historical information, follow network state changes, analyze connectivity and more. Now users can access partial data from devices, tables and diagrams while snapshots are still processing to get insights faster for large environments.
- Interactive API Documentation: Test CRUD (create/read/update/delete) commands directly in the platform so DevOps and platform engineers can more efficiently build complex lifecycle automation workflows.
For a complete list of features included in IP Fabric 7.0 visit the company blog.
About IP Fabric
IP Fabric is the industry’s leading Automated Network Assurance Platform, offering a continuously validated view of cloud, network and security infrastructure to improve stability, security and spend. Within minutes, the platform creates a unified view of devices, state, configurations and interdependencies, normalizing multi-vendor data and revealing operational truth through automated compliance checks.By uncovering risks and providing actionable insights, IP Fabric enables enterprises to accelerate IT and business transformation while reducing costs. Trusted by industry leaders like Red Hat, Major League Baseball and Air France, IP Fabric delivers the foundation for a secure and modern network.
Learn more at www.ipfabric.io and follow the company on LinkedIn.
Media Contact
Liesse Jayalath
ipfabric@lookleftmarketing.com - Improved Productivity Across Teams and Business Functions
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MIL-OSI: Municipality Finance issues EUR 10 million notes under its MTN programme
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Municipality Finance Plc
Stock exchange release
10 February 2025 at 10:00 am (EET)Municipality Finance issues EUR 10 million notes under its MTN programme
Municipality Finance Plc issues EUR 10 million notes on 11 February 2025. The maturity date of the notes is 11 February 2035. The notes bear interest at a fixed rate of 2.819% per annum.
The notes are issued under MuniFin’s EUR 50 billion programme for the issuance of debt instruments. The offering circular, the supplemental offering circular and the final terms of the notes are available in English on the company’s website at https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/for-investors.
MuniFin has applied for the notes to be admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki. The public trading is expected to commence on 11 February 2025.
ABN AMRO Bank N.V. plc acts as the dealer for the issue of the notes.
MUNICIPALITY FINANCE PLC
Further information:
Joakim Holmström
Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Sustainability
tel. +358 50 444 3638MuniFin (Municipality Finance Plc) is one of Finland’s largest credit institutions. The company is owned by Finnish municipalities, the public sector pension fund Keva and the Republic of Finland.
The Group’s balance sheet totals over EUR 50 billion.MuniFin builds a better and more sustainable future with its customers. MuniFin’s customers include municipalities, joint municipal authorities, wellbeing services counties, corporate entities under their control, and non-profit organisations nominated by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA). Lending is used for environmentally and socially responsible investment targets such as public transportation, sustainable buildings, hospitals and healthcare centres, schools and day care centres, and homes for people with special needs.
MuniFin’s customers are domestic but the company operates in a completely global business environment. The company is an active Finnish bond issuer in international capital markets and the first Finnish green and social bond issuer. The funding is exclusively guaranteed by the Municipal Guarantee Board.
Read more: https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/
Important Information
The information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into any such country or jurisdiction or otherwise in such circumstances in which the release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, any securities or other financial instruments in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
This communication does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The notes have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or under the applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
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MIL-OSI: Capgemini reveals gen AI-driven breakthrough to accelerate the bioeconomy
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Press contact:
Mollie Mellows
Tel.: + 44 (0) 7342 709384
E-mail: mollie.mellows@capgemini.comCapgemini reveals gen AI-driven breakthrough to accelerate the bioeconomy
New methodology reduces the data requirements for protein engineering by 99% so organizations can unlock innovation even in resource-constrained environments
Paris, February 10, 2025 – Capgemini today announced a new generative AI-driven methodology for protein engineering that uses a specialized protein large language model (pLLM) to predict the most effective protein variants. With a patent pending,1this novel approach will help accelerate the advancement of the global bioeconomy2and drive critical scientific breakthroughs across industries including healthcare, agriculture, and environmental science. By reducing the datapoints required to design protein sequences by over 99%, the new methodology harnesses the power of generative AI (gen AI) to drastically reduce the time and resources needed for research and development (R&D). Using this approach, Capgemini can help clients reduce the development cost of biosolutions and unlock business cases that were not previously viable.
Breakthrough solves the data bottleneck challenge
Advancements in engineering biology3 are expected to disrupt all industries, with half of business leaders predicting this transformation will happen within the next five years.4 However, data can be a critical bottleneck in research timelines. This new methodology makes scientific breakthroughs possible with significantly smaller data sets, enabling organizations to innovate even in resource-constrained environments. Using this novel approach, Capgemini is exceptionally positioned to help clients find and develop innovative solutions to global challenges such as disease, food security, and climate concerns.The methodology was created in the bespoke gen AI-driven biotechnology lab of Cambridge Consultants, the deep tech powerhouse of the Capgemini Group. The methodology was applied to several critical use cases to demonstrate how it could drive a step-change in innovation. Examples that can be readily translated to other applications include:
- 60% increase in plastic degradation efficiency: Capgemini’s gen AI-driven approach enhanced the cutinase enzyme, increasing its ability to break down PET plastic by 60%. This advancement is one example of how protein engineering can create novel, highly efficient and cost-effective solutions to tackle global plastic waste. By making it easier to degrade plastic, this breakthrough can support sustainability objectives and help lower operational costs associated with waste management.
- Reduced experimentation for faster innovation: Using gen AI predictions, Capgemini reduced the number of experiments needed to identify an improved variant of the commonly cited Green Fluorescent Protein benchmark, from thousands to just 43 data points, achieving a brightness level seven times greater than that of the natural jellyfish protein. This significantly cuts down on the time and resources typically required for experimental testing, enabling quicker deployment across a range of fields, from accelerating drug discovery and enhancing diagnostic tools to advancing bioengineering applications.
“Capgemini’s proprietary generative AI-driven approach means we are uniquely placed to enable clients to significantly accelerate their bio-journey in previously untapped areas and, crucially, contribute to helping solve many of humanity’s most pressing challenges,” said Roshan Gya, CEO of Capgemini Invent and member of the Group Executive Board. “Our new methodology is faster, more cost-effective, and opens the door to new opportunities for clients to develop innovative bio-based solutions. The Capgemini Group delivers end-to-end engineering biology and scale-up capabilities so that our clients can derive significant business value and develop proprietary IP, moving away from traditional carbon-based approaches and fueling growth in the bioeconomy.”
Prof. Stephen Wallace, Professor of Chemical Biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh, stated: “Capgemini’s generative AI-driven approach represents a significant leap in protein engineering. By drastically reducing data requirements, Capgemini has fundamentally transformed the innovation timeline in bioengineering. This breakthrough reflects a clear vision for the future of engineering biology, leveraging the design and engineering of new biocatalysts to enable more sustainable and scalable industrial processes. With its expertise and adaptability, Capgemini is well-positioned to drive technological advances in this exciting and rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field.”
Building on 10 years of pioneering engineering biology and AI development, the bespoke AI-driven biotechnology lab at Cambridge Consultants has been created at its UK headquarters, home to an unrivalled combination of multidisciplinary experts in biology, chemistry, gen AI, digital twins, electronics, software, sustainability and more.
About Capgemini
Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2023 global revenues of €22.5 billion.
Get The Future You Want | www.capgemini.com
1 A priority patent application has been submitted in GB – patent pending
2 The bioeconomy refers to economic activity that relies on biological resources and processes (animals, plants, microorganisms, and biomass)
3 Engineering biology is also known as synthetic biology
4“Unlocking the power of engineering biology: The time is now”, Capgemini Research Institute, July 2024Attachment
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MIL-OSI: MEXC Expands Web3 Ecosystem with Solayer (LAYER) Listing: Enhancing Security and Efficiency on Solana
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
VICTORIA, Seychelles, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MEXC, the world’s leading cryptocurrency trading platform, announced the launch of the Solayer (LAYER) on February 11, accompanied by Airdrop+ rewards.
Empowering Users through Solayer’s Decentralized Re-Staking Innovation
As a pioneer in the cryptocurrency industry, MEXC continues to drive innovation and support emerging blockchain ecosystems.
The listing of LAYER highlights MEXC’s first-mover advantage in offering users access to advanced blockchain projects. By adding LAYER to its platform, MEXC reinforces its commitment to providing seamless access to decentralized solutions, empowering users within the Solana ecosystem and beyond.
About Solayer (LAYER)
Solayer is a re-staking protocol within the Solana ecosystem, enhancing network security and efficiency. It allows users to re-stake assets like SOL, mSOL, and JitoSOL, supporting decentralized applications (dApps) and the Solana network. Learn more about Solayer pre-market trading activity in MEXC.
Celebrate the LAYER Launch with a prize pool of 201,000 LAYER & 50,000 USDT
To celebrate the launch of Solayer (LAYER), MEXC is introducing five exclusive activities with generous rewards, commencing on February 8, 2025, at 04:00 (UTC). These activities offer participants the chance to win LAYER tokens, USDT bonuses, and other exciting benefits, tailored for both new and experienced users.
These activities include:
- Event 1: Deposit and Trade to Share 160,000 LAYER (New User Exclusive).
Deposit at least 120 LAYER or 100 USDT to qualify.
Trade LAYER ($100) or trade LAYER perpetual Futures ($500) to earn 20 LAYER each, on a first-come, first-served basis.- Event 2: Spot Challenge – Trade to Share 10,000 LAYER.
- Event 3: Futures Challenge — Trade to Share 50,000 USDT in Futures Bonuses.
The top 2,000 users with trading volumes over 20,000 USDT will share the pool, with rewards ranging from 10 USDT to 5,000 USDT.
- Event 4: Invite New Users and Share 30,000 LAYER (first-come, first-served).
- Event 5: Spread the Word and Win 1,000 LAYER Rewards.
Your Easiest Way to Trending Crypto
MEXC aims to become the go-to platform offering the widest range of valuable crypto assets. The platform has grown its user base to 300 million by providing a diverse selection of tokens, high-frequency airdrops, and simple participation processes. In 2024, MEXC launched a total of 2,376 new tokens, including 1,716 initial listings and 605 memecoins, with total airdrop rewards exceeding $136 million.
MEXC, known for quickly listing trending tokens, expands its offerings with Solayer (LAYER). The LAYER/USDT trading market officially launched in the Innovation Zone on February 11, 2025, followed by the introduction of the LAYER USDT perpetual futures, offering adjustable leverage from 1x to 50x with both cross and isolated margin modes. MEXC also will launch Solayer Foundation (LAYER) on Convert on February 12, 2025.
About MEXC
Founded in 2018, MEXC is committed to being “Your Easiest Way to Crypto”. Serving over 30 million users across 170+ countries, MEXC is known for its broad selection of trending tokens, frequent airdrop opportunities, and low trading fees. Our user-friendly platform is designed to support both new traders and experienced investors, offering secure and efficient access to digital assets. MEXC prioritizes simplicity and innovation, making crypto trading more accessible and rewarding.
MEXC Official Website｜ X ｜ Telegram ｜How to Sign Up on MEXCContact:
Lucia Hu
PR Manager
lucia.hu@mexc.comDisclaimer: This content is provided by MEXC. The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the content provider. The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities. Please conduct your own research and invest at your own risk.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7b1f7c5d-d7a3-434d-8410-500971fc2341 -
MIL-OSI: Notification of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them in Konsolidator A/S
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Company announcement no 5-2025
Søborg, February 10, 2025
Notification of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them in Konsolidator A/S
In accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation article 19, Konsolidator must notify Finanstilsynet and publicly disclose transactions made by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them on trading of Konsolidator shares.
Konsolidator A/S hereby notify and submit the attached transactions of shares in Konsolidator.
Contacts
Certified Adviser
About Konsolidator
Konsolidator A/S is a financial consolidation software company whose primary objective is to make Group CFOs around the world better through automated financial consolidation and reporting in the cloud. Created by CFOs and auditors and powered by innovative technology, Konsolidator removes the complexity of financial consolidation and enables the CFO to save time and gain actionable insights based on key performance data to become a vital part of strategic decision-making. Konsolidator was listed at Nasdaq First North Growth Market Denmark in 2019. Ticker Code: KONSOLAttachment
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MIL-OSI: Oma Savings Bank Plc’s Financial Statements Release 1 January – 31 December 2024: The year ended with a fourth quarter in line with expectations – comparable profit before taxes was strong for 2024
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
OMA SAVINGS BANK PLC, STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 10 FEBRUARY 2025 AT 9.15 A.M. EET, FINANCIAL STATEMENTS RELEASE
Oma Savings Bank Plc’s Financial Statements Release 1 January – 31 December 2024: The year ended with a fourth quarter in line with expectations – comparable profit before taxes was strong for 2024
This release is a summary of Oma Savings Bank’s (OmaSp) January-December 2024 Financial Statements Release, which can be read from the pdf file attached to this stock exchange release and on the Company’s web pages www.omasp.fi
CEO Sarianna Liiri:
“The year 2024 has been very exceptional in the history of OmaSp. Both main sources of income developed in line with expectations and the year ended with a good quarter. Significant investments in the development of risk management processes and the implementation of an extensive action plan continued. The acquisition of Handelsbanken AB’s Finnish SME business and the expansion of the distribution network strengthened OmaSp’s market position towards the end of the year and provide a good starting point for the year beginning.The comparable profit before taxes was EUR 27.9 million for the fourth quarter and the comparable return on equity was 15.6 percent.
As expected, changes in market interest rates were reflected in the development of net interest income, and in the last quarter net interest income fell by 11 percent from the comparison period. The net interest income increased by 8 percent for the whole year. Our customers value our personal and easily accessible service model. This is reflected in the development of the number of customers, which remained despite an exceptional year at a good level. With Handelsbanken’s business acquisition, OmaSp gained approximately 10,000 new customers in the autumn, and in addition to this, approximately 1,000 new customer relationships were organically created every month. In particular, fee and commission income and expenses net were increased by card and payment fees, which increased by 16 percent from the previous year. Fee and commission income and expenses net increased by 8 percent in the last quarter and by 7 percent for the full year. At the end of the year, the business focus has been especially on the reception of customers who have transferred from Handelsbanken and the start of operations in three new branches. With the expanded distribution network OmaSp now has excellent coverage in all of Finland’s key growth and provincial centers.
OmaSp’s loan portfolio and deposit base were boosted by volumes transferred from Handelsbanken. The portfolio of housing loans grew by 5 percent, corporate loan portfolio by 8 percent and deposits by 6 percent from a year ago.
Accumulation of impairment losses on financial assets was significantly affected by non-compliance with the guidelines and related additional allowances. In 2024, credit losses amounted to approximately EUR 84 million, of which approximately EUR 64 million were related to non-compliance with the guidelines. In the last quarter, the credit loss level remained at last year’s level.
The Company has continued to make significant investments in risk management and the implementation of the action plan launched in the summer. As a result, the cost level remained high in the last quarter of the year. An additional EUR 5.4 million was invested in risk management processes in October–December and comparable costs increased by 44 percent during the fourth quarter. Expenses were also increased by the increased number of personnel. During the financial year, the Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA) carried out audits of the Company. Based on the audits, the observations raised by the supervisor and the development targets already identified by the Company itself support each other. The measures to develop the processes are proceeding well on schedule and the goal is to complete the development measures planned during 2024 in the first half of 2025.
The comparable cost/income ratio remains at a good level despite significant investments and was 47.7 percent in the last quarter.
Customer and personnel satisfaction at the center of everything
OmaSp’s competitive advantage has been and will continue to be built on excellent customer experience. According to research, customer and personnel satisfaction have remained at an excellent level as in previous years, despite the exceptional year. Our personnel are our most essential resource, so committed and motivated personnel play a vitally important role for OmaSp’s future success. The renewed board of the Company started its work in December, and we have got five experienced board experts to strengthen the bank’s operations. In addition, the Company’s new CEO, Karri Alameri, will start his work in April at the latest.OmaSp’s financial position is stable, and the Company’s solvency and liquidity position is at a good level. The total capital (TC) ratio was 15.6 percent at the end of the year and the accumulation of equity is nearly EUR 580 million.
After the changes implemented in 2024, we will now be able to focus on our core business and strengthen the customer experience of our existing and new customers. OmaSp’s ambition is to enable and solve the needs of households and small and medium-sized enterprises in all areas of the bank’s operations. In February, the history of OmaSp stretches back 150 years. From these strong starting points, we will continue in 2025 with confidence.
Warm thanks to all customers and owners, and especially to OmaSp’s personnel for 2024!”
January-December 2024
• Oma Savings Bank Plc’s Extraordinary General Meeting was held on 10 December 2024. The Extraordinary General Meeting confirmed on the remuneration, number and composition of the members of the Board of Directors. The number of members of the Board of Directors was confirmed to be eight, i.e. the number of members increased by one. Aki Jaskari, Jaakko Ossa and Jaana Sandström were re-elected as Board members and Juhana Brotherus, Irma Gillberg-Hjelt, Carl Pettersson, Kati Riikonen and Juha Volotinen were elected as new members.
• The Company’s Board of Directors appointed Karri Alameri, B.Sc. (Econ.), CEFA as the Company’s new CEO on 30 September 2024. Alameri will start his position no later than 1 April 2025.
• On 1 September 2024, the Company completed the acquisition of Svenska Handelsbanken AB’s SME business in Finland as planned. The deposit portfolio transferred to the Company was approximately EUR 440 million and the loan portfolio approximately EUR 500 million. A goodwill of EUR 15.3 million was recognised from the acquisition. Approximately 10,000 customers transferred to the Company in the acquisition, and at the same time 30 people transferred to the Company as old employees.
• During the second quarter, the Company launched an extensive risk management action plan (the “Noste”), which has been implemented according to plan.
• In January–December, net interest income grew 8.1% compared with the same period last year. Net interest income totalled EUR 213.1 (197.0) million. In the last quarter, net interest income decreased by 10.5% compared to the comparison period.
• Home mortgage portfolio increased by 5.0% during the previous 12 months. Corporate loan portfolio increased by 8.0% during the previous 12 months.
• Deposit base increased by 5.5% over the past 12 months.
• In January-December, fee and commission income and expenses (net) increased due to volume growth by 7.0%. In the last quarter, fee and commission income and expenses (net) increased by 7.5% compared to the comparison period.
• In January–December, total operating income grew by 9.3% compared to the comparison period. In the last quarter, comparable total operating income remained at the same level compared to the last quarter and was EUR 68.2 (69.4) million.
• In January-December, total operating expenses grew in total by 22.6%. The growth is mainly explained by expenses arising from business arrangements as well as from extensive risk management development projects and investigation costs related to non-compliance with the guidelines. In addition, the number of personnel increased during the year due to the business arrangements, the opening of new branches and the strengthening of risk management processes. Other operating expenses were in total EUR 69.3 (52.5) million, of which the development costs of the risk management action plan and investigation costs related to non-compliance with the guidelines amounted to EUR 11.8 million.
• Comparable total operating expenses grew by 44.0% in the last quarter and were EUR 32.4 (22.5) million. Of this the risk management action plan (the ”Noste”) amounted to EUR 5.4 million.
• For January-December, the impairment losses on financial assets were in total EUR -83.4 (-17.1) million. A total of EUR 64.4 million in impairment losses on financial assets were recorded in relation to non-compliance with the guidelines, of which EUR 4.9 million was final impairment losses on financial assets. Impairment losses on financial assets amounted to EUR 7.6 (7.3) million in the last quarter.
• For January-December, profit before taxes was EUR 74.6 (138.0) million. For the last quarter, profit before taxes was EUR 22.6 (35.5) million.
• In January-December, comparable profit before taxes was EUR 86.7 (143.6) million. For the last quarter, comparable profit before taxes was EUR 27.9 (38.8) million.
• In January-December, cost/income ratio was 41.3 (36.9)%. In the last quarter, cost/income ratio was 52.9 (35.4)%. In January-December, comparable cost/income ratio was 37.8 (35.1)%. In the last quarter, comparable cost/income ratio was 47.7 (32.8)%.
• In January-December, comparable return on equity (ROE) was 12.4 (25.3)%. For the last quarter, comparable return on equity (ROE) was 15.6 (23.5)%.
• Total capital (TC) ratio was 15.6 (16.5)%.The Group’s key figures (1,000 euros) 1–12/2024 1–12/2023 Δ% 2024 Q4 2023 Q4 Δ% Net interest income 213,097 197,045 8% 50,913 56,907 -11% Fee and commission income and expenses, net 50,745 47,421 7% 13,105 12,188 8% Total operating income 270,068 247,067 9% 64,381 67,190 -4% Total operating expenses -111,004 -90,550 23% -33,917 -23,483 44% Impairment losses on financial assets, net -83,379 -17,126 387% -7,572 -7,269 4% Profit before taxes 74,589 138,048 -46% 22,582 35,546 -36% Cost/income ratio, % 41.3% 36.9% 12% 52.9% 35.4% 49% Balance sheet total 7,709,090 7,642,906 1% 7,709,090 7,642,906 1% Equity 576,143 541,052 6% 576,143 541,052 6% Return on assets (ROA) % 0.8% 1.6% -52% 0.9% 1.5% -40% Return on equity (ROE) % 10.7% 24.3% -56% 12.6% 21.5% -41% Earnings per share (EPS), EUR 1.80 3.49 -48% 0.54 0.85 -36% Total capital (TC) ratio % 15.6% 16.5% -6% 15.6% 16.5% -6% Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio % 14.4% 14.9% -3% 14.4% 14.9% -3% Comparable profit before taxes 86,656 143,609 -40% 27,945 38,790 -28% Comparable cost/income ratio, % 37.8% 35.1% 8% 47.7% 32.8% 45% Comparable return on equity (ROE) % 12.4% 25.3% -51% 15.6% 23.5% -34% Outlook for the financial year 2025:
The Company’s business outlook for the financial year 2025 will be affected by lower market interest rates and the continued high cost level due to IT investments and system improvements required by risk management and quality processes. In addition, the Company continues to invest in customer experience on different channels. The uncertainty of the operating environment and economic situation affects the development of balance sheet items and comparable profit for the financial year 2025.Oma Savings Bank Plc provides earnings guidance on comparable profit before taxes for 2025. Earnings guidance is based on the forecast for the entire year, which takes into account the current market and business situation. Forecasts are based on the management’s insight into the Group’s business development.
We estimate the Group’s comparable profit before taxes to be EUR 65-80 million for the financial year 2025 (comparable profit before taxes was EUR 86.7 million in the financial year 2024).
Board of Directors’ proposal for the distribution of profit to AGM
The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting a dividend in accordance with the dividend policy, at least 20% of the Company’s net profit. The proposal for the distribution of profit aims to increase capital buffers and maintain strong liquidity. The Board of Directors proposes that, on the basis of the Financial Statements to be adopted for 2024, a dividend of EUR 0.36 be paid from the Parent Company’s distributable profits for each share entitled to a dividend for 2024.The proposed record date for dividends would be 10 April 2025 and the payment date 17 April 2025.
No material changes have taken place in the Company’s financial position after the financial year. The Company’s liquidity is good, and the proposed profit distribution does not compromise the Company’s liquidity according to the Board of Directors’ insight.
General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held on 8 April 2024. The Company’s Board of Directors will convene the Annual General Meeting separately at a later date.Oma Savings Bank Plc
Additional information:
Sarianna Liiri, CEO, puh. +358 40 835 6712, sarianna.liiri@omasp.fi
Minna Sillanpää, CCO, tel. +358 50 66592, minna.sillanpaa@omasp.fiDISTRIBUTION
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Major media
www.omasp.fiOmaSp is a solvent and profitable Finnish bank. About 500 professionals provide nationwide services through OmaSp’s 48 branch offices and digital service channels to over 200,000 private and corporate customers. OmaSp focuses primarily on retail banking operations and provides its clients with a broad range of banking services both through its own balance sheet as well as by acting as an intermediary for its partners’ products. The intermediated products include credit, investment and loan insurance products. OmaSp is also engaged in mortgage banking operations.
OmaSp core idea is to provide personal service and to be local and close to its customers, both in digital and traditional channels. OmaSp strives to offer premium level customer experience through personal service and easy accessibility. In addition, the development of the operations and services is customer-oriented. The personnel is committed and OmaSp seeks to support their career development with versatile tasks and continuous development. A substantial part of the personnel also own shares in OmaSp.
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MIL-OSI Economics: Media Release: NT gas industry welcomes crackdown on activist lawfare – Australian Energy Producers
Source: Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association
Headline: Media Release: NT gas industry welcomes crackdown on activist lawfare – Australian Energy Producers
The NT gas industry says the Territory Government’s moves to clamp down on lawfare will boost investment and energy security.
Australian Energy Producers NT Director David Slama welcomed the Petroleum, Planning and Water Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, set to be introduced in Parliament this week, as an important step in stopping activist groups from vexatiously using the legal system to delay critical gas projects in the Territory.
“We commend the Territory Government for moving decisively to stamp out activist lawfare putting at risk economic and energy security for Territorians,” Mr Slama said.
“At a time when Australians are facing cost-of-living pressures, the Territory Government has recognised the need to remove barriers to new gas supply so Territorians continue to have reliable and affordable energy.
“It is not in the public interest for activist lawyers to damage the Territory’s attractiveness as a place to do business and to invest, undermining our economic and energy security.”
Mr Slama said activists exploiting the Merits Review process had deterred much-needed investment in the Territory.
“A long list of vexatious cases has exposed the extreme tactics of activists who are more interested in delaying projects than genuinely representing the interests of Territory communities,” he said.
“Removing the Merits Review process is a significant step towards streamlining approval processes to enable new gas supply to be brought online sooner.
“We need to expedite project delivery, improve environmental outcomes, and attract the investment in new gas supply that will be essential to the NT’s long-term energy security and economic prosperity.”
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MIL-OSI Economics: ADB and Local Currency Financing: A 20-Year Journey
Source: Asia Development Bank
Twenty years ago, ADB issued its first local currency bond. The Indian rupee bond represented about $110 million equivalent at the time. Over the following three years, ADB raised funding from onshore bond issues in Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht, Chinese renminbi and Philippine peso – acting as an “icebreaker” to open these markets to foreign issuers.
Such borrowing exercises introduced a new funding stream for ADB’s development assistance, allowing borrowers to mitigate potential currency risks associated with borrowing in foreign currencies.
Fast forward to today, and local currency finance has gone mainstream. Development partners are no longer surprised when ADB issues bonds denominated in currencies as diverse as the Azerbaijan manat, the Indonesian rupiah or the Mongolian togrog and they recognize the invaluable role that local currency finance plays in crowding in foreign investment to developing countries.
About a third of ADB’s private sector loans are currently delivered in local currencies, with the Thai baht, Indian rupee, Chinese renminbi, Kazakhstan tenge, and Georgian lari featuring prominently. ADB’s aggregate local currency portfolio reached more than $3.75 billion equivalent as of 31 October 2024 across more than 15 local currencies with local currency loans expected to reach 50% of private sector lending over the next years.
What has catalyzed local currency finance?
Over the last 20 years, local capital markets have evolved and developed significantly across Asia and the Pacific. These developments were driven by the experience of the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, which was at least partially caused by excessive foreign currency exposures.
Since then, regulators, banks, and investors have made significant strides to develop local currency bond markets and improve the local currency capital market infrastructure.
Over the last 20 years, local capital markets have evolved and developed significantly across Asia and the Pacific.
ADB can reach certain target borrowers more effectively when it offers loans in their own currencies rather than in dollars, euros, or yen. For many of the projects that ADB supports, foreign currency denominated loans would not be feasible: a dairy business owner in Mongolia has no understanding of the risks involved in borrowing a foreign currency. Equally, a female worker in rural Kazakhstan would not begin to consider borrowing a home loan in a foreign currency. For both of these projects, ADB was able to provide suitable local currency financing solutions to meet borrower needs and avoid foreign currency mismatches.
Importantly, the rapid development of derivative markets in the region, which include the availability of both interest rate and cross-currency swaps in several markets, has facilitated the management of liquidity by decoupling funding and disbursement transactions, while also allowing for tailored back-to-back funding transactions.
The availability of longer-tenor financing solutions has also improved significantly in a number of the more developed Asian markets: for example, ADB was able to derive a 20-year Thai baht funding solution through the cross-currency swap market to finance a project in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, which delivered a perfect hedge for the borrower.
Similar liquidity of varying tenors is now available in swap and bond markets in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
A capital market innovation: the emergence of currency-linked bonds
Another important innovation has also improved the availability of local currency financing: the so-called “currency-linked bond” has been a game changer for development finance. In essence, this is a debt security denominated in a local currency but settled in US dollars.
It relies on international documentation usually under English law, settlement occurs in international central securities depositaries, and the bonds are listed on major international stock exchanges. The impact of such structures is to crowd in international investors into local currencies by providing an easily accessible trading infrastructure.
ADB issued its first Indian rupee currency-linked bond in 2014 and since then has issued such instruments in Armenian dram, Azerbaijan manat, Georgian lari, Indonesian rupiah, Kazakhstan tenge, Kyrgyz sum, Mongolian togrog, Pakistan rupees and Philippine pesos. In Indian rupees alone, ADB has raised more than one billion US dollars equivalent to finance private sector projects.
Issuing innovative local currency bonds
In countries such as Georgia and Kazakhstan where the environment is enabled, ADB has issued multiple domestic bonds including fixed rate, floating rate and even inflation-linked. Furthermore, ADB auctioned the first green (2020) and gender (2021) bonds on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, delivering a new asset class to the local market.
In Georgia, ADB was the first organization to issue its domestic bonds through the Georgian Securities Settlement System (GSSS) in 2015, which operates delivery versus payment Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS) with central bank money through the National Bank of Georgia.
In Kazakhstan, ADB settled its domestically issued bonds through the Kazakhstan Securities Depositary, which crucially has an operational “bridge” with Clearstream in Luxembourg.
These innovations have fostered knowledge sharing and the shift of local currency issuance infrastructure towards international best practices.
Creating local currency liquidity pools
Liquidity pools are commonly used to warehouse the proceeds of bond issues in mainstream currencies until project disbursements happen. ADB has developed liquidity pools in Chinese renminbi and Indian rupees, which have played an important role in shepherding in high levels of local currency development finance by providing continuous availability of funding, decoupling such availability from any specific funding transactions Further liquidity pools are in the making, as ADB’s pipelines in local currency grow and evolve.
Working closely with national regulators and market participants, ADB’s engagement in local currency markets over the last 20 years has made significant progress.
The next frontier: sovereign local currency loans
Local currency finance is already well established as a financing source for ADB’s private sector loans, but it has been deployed much less in the sovereign context, which for ADB represents the largest share of lending activity. A number of sovereign borrowers have recently started to avail local currency solutions from ADB, including a recently completed $1.45 billion sovereign local currency loan conversion.
Working closely with national regulators and market participants, ADB’s engagement in local currency markets over the last 20 years has made significant progress: ADB is now able to offer funding solutions in more than 15 local currencies in Asia and the Pacific. As local currency markets will further develop, the future of local currency financing in the Asia-Pacific region looks bright.
Authors: Roberta Casali, ADB Vice-President for Finance and Risk; Tobias Hoschka, ADB Treasurer; Jonathan Grosvenor, former ADB Assistant Treasurer
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MIL-OSI Economics: Early-stage VC funding rounds volume declines significantly in 2024 globally, reveals GlobalData
Source: GlobalData
Early-stage VC funding rounds volume declines significantly in 2024 globally, reveals GlobalData
Posted in Business Fundamentals
A total of 10,384 venture capital (VC) funding deals with disclosed funding rounds were announced globally during 2024, which is a decline of 11.9% compared to the 11,786 VC deals announced during the previous year. Among all VC funding rounds, early-stage funding rounds* witnessed a significant decline in their volume last year compared to 2023, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Even though most of the funding rounds experienced a decrease in volume, the majority of the overall decline is driven by double-digit fall in the number of early-stage funding rounds during 2024 compared to 2023.”
An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that the total number of early-stage funding rounds declined by 14.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. A total of 8,086 early-stage funding rounds (comprising 4,457 Seed rounds and 3,629 Series A funding rounds) were announced globally during 2024 compared to the previous year’s announcement of 9,424 early-stage funding rounds that included 5,359 Seed rounds and 4,065 Series A funding rounds.
However, despite the decline, early-stage funding rounds continued to dominate the global VC funding landscape in 2024. These accounted for a 77.9% share of the total number of VC deals with disclosed funding rounds announced globally during 2024.
Meanwhile, the number of growth, expansion and late-stage funding rounds** declined by 2.7% from 2,362 VC deals in 2023 to 2,298 VC deals in 2024. Growth, expansion and late-stage funding rounds collectively accounted for a 22.1% share of the total number of VC deals with disclosed funding rounds announced globally during 2024.
*Comprising Seed and Series A funding rounds
**Series B onwards
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MIL-OSI Economics: AI advancements to accelerate China digital health sector, says GlobalData
Source: GlobalData
AI advancements to accelerate China digital health sector, says GlobalData
Posted in Medical Devices
China’s rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), underscored by the recent launch of Qwen2.5-Max, Kimi k1.5, and DeepSeek v3, are sparking excitement among AI professionals. This progress is expected to have a considerable impact on multiple industries, including healthcare. Consequently, the Chinese digital health market is likely to see further developments, provided the data security is safeguarded, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s research reveals that in 2024, China represented around 20% of the digital health market in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, reflecting the increasing demand for innovations such as DeepSeek within the healthcare sector.
Pratibha Thammanabhatla, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The recent launch of Qwen2.5-Max, Kimi k1.5, and Deepseek highlights China’s increasing presence in the AI sector and its dedication to achieving technological self-sufficiency. The advanced AI features they assert, including huge efficiency gains, better reasoning, and accessibility, may have considerable potential to provide enhanced diagnostic abilities, personalized recommendations, and improved communication between patients and healthcare professionals.”
Alibaba Cloud claims that its latest Qwen2.5-Max demonstrated significant advantages over other AI models such as Llama-3.1-405B, DeepSeek V3 and Qwen2.5-72B when evaluated using benchmark tools such as Arena-Hard, LiveBench, LiveCodeBench, and GPQA-Diamond and they are expecting that advancements in post-training techniques will elevate the next version of Qwen2.5-Max to new heights.
Thammanabhatla concludes: “Although AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by improving efficiency and patient outcomes, challenges such as data privacy, doctor-patient relationship, and lack of sufficient trained personnel must be addressed to ensure its successful implementation. A collaborative approach involving stakeholders from various countries and sectors, including healthcare professionals, regulators, and data privacy experts, is essential for overcoming these challenges, which would result in wider adoption.”
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MIL-OSI China: Announcement on Open Market Operations No.25 [2025]
Source: Peoples Bank of China
Announcement on Open Market Operations No.25 [2025]
(Open Market Operations Office, February 10, 2025)
In order to keep liquidity adequate in the banking system, the People’s Bank of China conducted reverse repo operations in the amount of RMB215 billion through quantity bidding at a fixed interest rate on February 10, 2025.
Details of the Reverse Repo Operations
Maturity
Volume
Rate
7 days
RMB215 billion
1.50%
Date of last update Nov. 29 2018
2025年02月10日
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MIL-OSI China: New Yorkers hold Lantern Festival parade for 2nd year
Source: China State Council Information Office 3
The Chinese American community in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on Sunday held a Lantern Festival parade for the second year as part of the Lunar New Year celebrations.
The parade in Chinatown had hundreds of participants from many walks of life and thousands of revelers from Chinese communities and other areas.
The hours-long parade featured multiple floats, God Pageant Ceremony, dragon and lion dances, big mascots, as well as traditional Chinese art and costume performances.
In particular, the 8th Avenue in Brooklyn was filled with people setting off fireworks, firecrackers and party poppers.
Organized by the Asian American Community Empowerment, an Asian American advocacy group, the parade also had the presence of a number of elected officials or their representatives.
Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator of New York and the Senate minority leader, greeted Chinese Americans in Mandarin and commended their traditional values of respect for family, love of children, law-abiding, peace and hard-working.
Schumer vowed to fight for the community and to keep the neighborhood safe.
“It may be a cold day, but not here in Brooklyn, Chinese American community. It is a warm and beautiful day,” added Schumer.
“It’s important to celebrate our heritage and culture,” said Lester Chang, a Republican, representing the 49th district in the New York State Assembly.
Chang expressed his hope that the Lunar New Year could become a holiday for all people in New York State by building on the declaration of the Lunar New Year as a public school holiday in the state in September 2023.
Chinese Consul General in New York Chen Li called on people on the spot to light up the lanterns of auspiciousness to express good wishes for a bright future of China-U.S. relations.
The Chinatown in Lower Manhattan also celebrated the Lantern Festival on Saturday afternoon.
The Museum of Chinese in America is also scheduled to celebrate the Lantern Festival on Wednesday.
Symbolizing family reunion, the Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year and wraps up celebrations of the Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival.
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MIL-OSI: Netcompany enters into an agreement with SDC to create ‘the future of banking services’
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Company announcement (inside information)
No. 09/202510 February 2025
Netcompany Group A/S (“Netcompany”), SDC A/S, (“SDC”), and a majority part of the shareholders of SDC have today entered into an agreement of a transaction whereby a newly formed company of Netcompany and SDC will merge into a combined company fully owned by Netcompany. Together, Netcompany and SDC will create innovative and best-in-class banking solutions and services to the benefit of current banks running on SDC’s platform, as well as for new banks to be onboarded to the platform in the future.
The transaction values SDC at DKK 1 billion and will include a cash payment of DKK 1 billion from Netcompany to SDC’s shareholders. The cash consideration is funded by way of utilising current credit facilities.
Closing of the transaction is expected to take place around mid-2025, subject to regulatory and other customary conditions.
Strategic rationale
The transaction with SDC provides a strong foothold for Netcompany in the financial services industry, which is the highest spending vertical within IT services in Europe. In 2025, the total addressable market in DK, NO, and SE is estimated to be more than DKK 44 billion and the market is expected to grow more than 10% annually towards 2028, supporting Netcompany’s ambition of delivering continued sustainable organic growth.Within the financial services industry, Netcompany offers a solid product and platform suite, including AMPLIO, mit.dk, AMI and EASLEY, combined with products from Festina Finance such as Festina Advisor and Festina Life and Pension. These products and platforms supplemented by SDC’s core banking platform will be the foundation of ‘the future of banking services’. Together, Netcompany and SDC will improve the banking experience for bank customers, as well as bank employees and advisors, by introducing improved and personalised advice, self-service solutions, and end-to-end digital processes to support activities such as housing journeys and onboarding, through new industry-specific and vendor-independent banking services.
Following the transaction, the combined workforce of Netcompany and SDC is more than 9,200 FTEs.
André Rogaczewski, CEO Netcompany states:
“I am thrilled to announce that we have successfully agreed on a transaction with the majority shareholders of SDC. This strategic move marks a significant milestone for Netcompany, and it aligns with our Go-To-Market strategy to expand our capabilities and enhance our service offerings within the financial services industry.
Digitalisation is the key driver for strengthening Europe’s most critical societal areas – including the financial services industry. Netcompany already provides the digital foundation with our products and platforms in the areas of pension, customs and tax, transport and logistics, and now we are going to do the same in the financial services industry. With SDC’s core banking platform and Netcompany’s innovative DNA, products, and platforms, we are looking into unprecedented opportunities for the entire banking sector. The goal of this transaction is to create innovative and best-in-class services in Denmark, Scandinavia, and the rest of Europe, to the benefit of current and future customers, thereby adding substantial value for our shareholders and stakeholders.”Klaus Skjødt, Chair SDC states:
“This is a significant milestone in SDC’s history, as we are now building upon past investments in the market’s most modern core banking platform and future-proofed online and mobile banking. Together with Netcompany, we have a shared ambition to make the banking sector a driving force for digital innovation, setting new standards for the advice and service customers can expect from their bank. We will achieve the scale and development power necessary to enhance our competitiveness and create the market’s strongest banking experience.”About SDC
- SDC is a prominent IT service provider headquartered in Ballerup, Denmark, specialising in delivering comprehensive IT solutions to the financial services industry across the Nordic region.
- SDC was founded in 1963 and offers a wide range of services, including core banking systems, digital banking solutions, and regulatory compliance tools.
- At the end of 2024 SDC’s workforce counted 980 FTEs in three countries.
- Prior to closing of the transaction, SDC is owned by its member banks. SDC functions as the internal IT department of the member banks, which are also in turn customers of SDC, as well as other commercial non-member banks.
- In 2023, SDC realised revenue of DKK 1,837 million and EBITDA of DKK 286.8 million.
- For additional information: https://www.sdc.dk/
About Netcompany
- Netcompany is a leading IT services company headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with a strong focus on digital transformation in Europe.
- Netcompany was founded in 2000 and delivers innovative and high-quality solutions to both public and private sector clients.
- At the end of 2024 Netcompany’s workforce counted 8,260 FTEs in nine countries.
- In 2024, Netcompany realised revenue of DKK 6,540.6 million and adjusted EBITDA of DKK 1,097.9 million in 2024.
- For additional information: https://www.netcompany.com/
Summary of the transaction
- Netcompany will acquire 100% of the shares in SDC for a cash consideration at closing of DKK 1 billion.
- Netcompany will make the acquisition through a newly formed company – Netcompany Banking Services A/S – which will be merging with SDC and as a consequence resulting in a fully owned subsidiary of Netcompany in which the activities of SDC are fully embedded.
- The cash consideration is funded by way of utilising current credit facilities. The transaction will be fully debt financed within the existing covenants.
- Due to integration costs, the transaction is expected to have a dilutive impact on EPS for the financial year 2025.
- The transaction is expected to be EPS accretive to Netcompany from 2026 compared to 2024. Furthermore, the transaction is expected to be double-digit percentage EPS accretive by 2028 – also compared to 2024.
- The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in Denmark, Norway, and Faroe Island and other customary conditions.
- Netcompany and the majority shareholders, who will continue as customers in the newly formed company after closing, will enter into a commercial IT-framework agreement (to enter into effect after closing) based on an already agreed term sheet. The agreed term sheet includes key provisions on the continued delivery of the current as-is services on a commercial market conform delivery and payment basis, a governance model with continued involvement of Netcompany and the bank customers, a fair and market-based exit model, and the transformation of the SDC platform to create ‘the future of banking services’.
- As the agreed transaction structure is set as a merger, the closing of the transaction will formally require a two-thirds approval at a general meeting in both Netcompany’s newly formed company and SDC. The majority shareholders representing 70.94% of the outstanding share capital and voting rights in SDC have at signing of the agreement with Netcompany irrevocably provided their commitment to vote for the merger.
- The remaining shareholders, and customers of SDC, will be given the opportunity to enter into a commercial IT-framework agreement with Netcompany on the same terms as the majority shareholders and irrevocably provide their approval to vote for the merger.
Financial Guidance
Financial guidance for 2025 for Netcompany on a stand-alone basis, as provided in the Annual Report 2024, is based on organic performance metrics and hence maintained. Organic revenue growth is expected between 5% and 10% and adjusted EBITDA margin between 16% and 19%.Netcompany expects to reinitiate it’s share buyback programmes after closing of the transaction and expects leverage at the end of 2025 to be around 1.5x.
Webcast
In connection with the publication of the merger, Netcompany will host a conference call on Monday, 10 February 2025 at 8.15 am CET. The conference call will be held in English and can be followed live via the company’s website; www.netcompany.comDial-in details for investors and analysts:
DK: +45 78 76 84 90
UK: +44 20 3769 6819
US: +1 646 787 0157PIN: 598046
Webcast Player URL: https://netcompany-as.eventcdn.net/events/webcast-10-februar-2025
Additional information
For additional information, please contact:Netcompany Group A/S
Thomas Johansen, CFO, +45 51 19 32 24
Frederikke Linde, Head of IR, +45 60 62 60 87Disclaimer
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that reflect Netcompany’s current expectations and views of future events. Some of these forward-looking statements can be identified by terms and phrases such as “estimate”, “expect”, “target”, “plan”, “project”, “will” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements include statements relating to: the expected characteristics of the combined company; expected financial results and characteristics of the combined company; expected timing of the launch and closing of the proposed transaction and satisfaction of conditions precedent, including -regulatory conditions; and the expected benefits of the proposed transaction, including related synergies. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions, and expectations of future performance, taking into account the information currently available to us. These statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and projections about future events. Risks and uncertainties include: the ability of Netcompany to integrate SDC into Netcompany’s operations; the performance of the global economy; the capacity for growth in internet and technology usage; the consolidation and convergence of the industry, its suppliers and its customers; the effect of changes in governmental regulations; disruption from the proposed transaction making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; and the impact on the combined company (after giving effect to the proposed transaction with SDC and the shareholders of SDC) of any of the foregoing risks or forward-looking statements, as well as other risk factors listed from time to time in Netcompany’s public disclosures. The forward-looking statements should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included elsewhere, including the risk factors included in any public disclosures of Netcompany. Any forward-looking statements made in this announcement are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurance that the actual results or developments anticipated by us will be realised or, even if substantially realised, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, us or our business or operations. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.Attachment
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MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Face the Nation on CBS to Discuss Trump’s Government Reform
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Tennessee Bill Hagerty
PALM BEACH, FL—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations, Banking, and Foreign Relations Committees and former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, today joined Face the Nation on CBS to discuss President Donald Trump reforming the Executive Branch through eliminating wasteful spending and unnecessary government programs.
*Click the photo above or here to watch* Partial Transcript
Hagerty on Trump’s buyout to federal workers: “Eventually, it will save taxpayers money. I think what President Trump is trying to do is be humane in the process of allowing them to make plans to find other employment. But I certainly think the government is far too big, far too bloated, and we’re on a path now to start to see it shrink. This is the first step only, but we’re moving in the right direction […] What we’ll see, Margaret is each agency go through a top to bottom review to decide exactly what they need to do to deliver on behalf of the American public. As you know, there’s been a lot of consternation and pearl clutching about the activities of Elon Musk and his team, but their charge, led by President Trump, is to go in and find efficiencies, find opportunities, and frankly, deliver more of taxpayer dollars to the actual programs that are intended, less to overhead an Administration […] I’m from the private sector, Margaret, my entire background has been in business. This is the way you do it. You come in, you look at the opportunities before you—President Trump has brought a new Administration in—this is not unusual to take a hard look at these programs and also to look for opportunities to cut bloat and waste. Look, we’re 36 trillion dollars in debt. Clearly, the American public Needs to see more accountability, more visibility, more performance for their taxpayer dollars.”
Hagerty on bringing accountability to the CFPB: “I’ve had significant conversations with Russ Vought, who is our new [Office of Management and Budget] Director. The [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] has been out of control for some time. The way it’s designed, I think is unconstitutional. It has no oversight; it’s been basically a reckless agency that’s been allowed to go way beyond any mandate that I think was originally intended. So, it’s time to rein it in, and I’m applauding anything that we can do to bring more stability, more control to the federal government, and take agencies like this back into some sort of sense of accountability and oversight […] It was established as an agency that does not have the jurisdiction of the Congress. Its funding source is separate from us. It has no accountability. This is not the type of agency I think that the founding fathers contemplated. We actually contemplated a balance of power. Yet, this rogue agency has been created, and frankly, it’s been used as a tool to come in and just hammer the American private sector and pursue initiatives that certain people like Rohit Chopra might have approved, or that Senator Elizabeth Warren might have approved, but this is not the way the American public should be funding and supporting programs of this nature.”
Hagerty on the need to reform USAID funding: “I think there’s a tremendous appetite to do it, Margaret, because what we want to see is alignment of our programs with America’s National Security interest. USAID has been out of control. I’ve demanded accountability from [USAID], they’ve refused it. As an appropriator, I’ve asked them to be very clear about, for example, their role funding Hamas and Gaza. They would not comply. They will not tell us what they do. Now that we start to find out some of the programs that [USAID] has been funding—if you think about it, sex change operations in Guatemala, LGBTQ programs in Serbia […] And that is not true, Margaret. I couldn’t get the Secretary of State [Blinken]—I asked him three times to tell me that we were not funding Hamas through [USAID]. He couldn’t do it, and frankly, what we found is that we have been funding [terrorism] […] Certainly, the funds that have gone to UNRWA. You saw the UNRWA members who were also Hamas members […] [UNWRA is] supporting terrorist groups. And if you look at what UNRWA has done, it’s been so counter to our national interest. It’s unbelievable that we would fund it.”
Hagerty on reciprocity in trade agreements: “I talked with President Trump on Friday about this broadly, Margaret. This is a concern that he has had for some time. As you know, I served in his previous Administration and worked my heart out to get two trade agreements executed with Japan. I was the U.S. Ambassador to Japan in his Administration. Here’s what we’re trying to deal with, and it goes all the way back to World War II, in the aftermath, we made very favorable terms of trade with countries whose economies have devastated in Europe and Japan. We should have time limited that. We should have put some type of GDP-per-capita limit on it, because what we have now are countries that have very unfavorable and unfair terms that are fully developed. So, it’s time to address this; it’s already begun to happen.”
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MIL-OSI Russia: First victory in the regional Spartakiad “Cheerfulness and Health”
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –
The annual traditional Spartakiad “Cheerfulness and Health” among teachers and employees of higher educational institutions of the Novosibirsk Region has begun. And for the first time, the NSU team won gold medals in table tennis competitions!
In total, there are 9 types of the program in the Spartakiad: badminton, billiards, volleyball, darts, skiing, swimming, shooting, table tennis and chess. The 7 best results are counted towards the overall standings of the University, so the competition will be serious.
We are pleased to congratulate our table tennis team on their brilliant victory and a wonderful start to the Spartakiad!
The honor of NSU was defended by:
Yuriy Efremenko, postgraduate student of the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics
Alexander Byvaltsev, Associate Professor, Faculty of Natural Sciences
Timur Nasybullov, Doctor of Sciences, Deputy. Dean of the MMF
Larisa Zelenkina, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Physical Problems
Dmitry Trotsenko – playing coach, veteran of the MMF
We thank everyone for the great game and wish them success and longevity in sports!
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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MIL-OSI New Zealand: Education – Ara and Lanzhou City University strengthen relationship
Source: Ara Institute of Canterbury
For many decades, Ara Institute of Canterbury has enjoyed strong connections with Lanzhou City University in Gansu province, north-west China.The relationship grew out of the sister-city relationship between Christchurch and Gansu Province. Lanzhou City, on the banks of the Yellow River is the capital of the province.During a visit to Ara amid both Chinese New Year and Waitangi Day celebrations, the leadership of both education providers expressed hopes for a new era in their relationship.The LCU delegation included President Mr Gaonian Han, Director of Personnel Mr Dingjun Wang, Director of International Exchange Office Ms Xiaoxia Liu, Dean of School of Economics and Management Ms Jing Li and Associate Dean of School of Environment and Urban Development Mr Chao Wang.Welcoming the group last Friday, Ara’s International Director Deanna Anderson was quick to honour their shared history but also expressed strong hopes for reinvigorating their close association. She said Covid had “impacted our longstanding relationship for too long”.“It is time to reestablish our tradition of exchanges, both for language study and research, but also to share new ideas and bring them life,” she said, particularly noting the scope for growing cultural exchanges.“Our sister-city relationship is strongly based on cultural exchange – we’d like to show you what Ara has to offer in this space.”Expressing a keen interest in hosting a return delegation from Ara, LCU President Mr Gaonian Han said the relationship between the tertiary providers was one of the closest his university enjoyed. He reflected that their frequent exchanges and collaborations dated back to the 1980s with Ara students visiting LCU to learn Chinese, and LCU staff improving their English proficiency and teaching methods through Ara.Mr Han said LCU was also seeking to further cultural exchanges at the tertiary level.“I sincerely hope that the exchanges and cooperation between us will not only promote teaching and scientific research programmes and exchanges on both sides but also deepen and consolidate the friendship between China and New Zealand.”His associates highlighted free study and accommodation and scholarship options on offer at LCU during their presentations.Members of several Ara departments including Humanities, Creative Industries and Digital Technologies as well as Architectural Studies and Interior Design, presented to the delegation highlighting study options with scope for collaboration.After an exchange of gifts, Ara’s International Market Sector Manager Andy Ge escorted the visitors on a tour of campus before they were formally welcomed into Te Puna Wānaka whare on campus for a hāngī lunch prepared by Level 5 cookery students. -
MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with CEO of AirAsia Cambodia
Source: ASEAN
Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN, today met with Mr. Vissoth Nam, CEO of AirAsia Cambodia, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. During their discussion, they explored collaborative opportunities to boost regional aviation and enhance seamless connectivity across the ASEAN region. Dr. Kao commended AirAsia Cambodia’s efforts to make air travel more accessible and affordable for everyone. He also emphasised ASEAN’s commitment to developing an integrated, competitive, and environmentally sustainable aviation sector that supports regional tourism and socio-economic growth.
The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with CEO of AirAsia Cambodia appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.
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MIL-OSI Submissions: NTT DATA Unveils Global Insights on GenAI Adoption in Banking: Divergent Strategies for Boosting Productivity vs. Cutting Costs
Source: NTT DATAResearch from NTT DATA finds that as GenAI adoption rises, new pressures on return of investment are at the forefront of the challenges facing the banking industry.
TOKYO – BUSINESS WIRE – NTT DATA, a global digital business and IT services leader, has today launched a new global research report uncovering the use of generative AI (GenAI) in the banking sector worldwide. The report, titled “Intelligent banking in the Age of AI,” has found that despite the growing adoption of GenAI technology in the banking industry, banks and financial institutions are split when it comes to outcome-based strategies – only half of banks (50%) see it as a tool for improving productivity and efficiency. Similarly, half (49%) believe it can be used for reducing operational IT spend.Transforming Banking Through GenAI
GenAI is more disruptive than any previous advance in banking technology. It is less a question of if, but when banks embrace this technology, due to its transformative ability to embed intelligence at every layer of the banking ecosystem, from core banking to front-end systems. GenAI is already making waves in the banking industry, with 6 in 10 organizations (58%) already fully embracing its transformative potential, an increase from 2023, when only 45% of organizations had fully embraced GenAI, according to NTT DATA’s research.
“Generative AI represents a pivotal moment for the banking industry,” said Robb Rasmussen, Head of Global Marketing & Communications, NTT DATA. “While the potential benefits are enormous, the challenges of implementing GenAI are complex and varied, requiring careful navigation and a structured approach. Given the anticipated high spending on GenAI, achieving a return on investment is crucial. Many banks will be expecting GenAI to drive long-term savings by automating IT tasks, improving operational efficiency, and creating competitive advantages, but it’s important to note that achieving meaningful ROI requires a clear strategy, tailored implementation, and robust governance at the same time.”
Financial constraints increasing pressure on ROI
ROI has become a top priority for GenAI implementations, yet banking organizations are split in their opinions of which strategies are most important to them. Banks have long struggled with boosting productivity, and GenAI is poised to present a solution to this problem, but only half of banking leaders (50%) see it as a solution to current productivity woes. Cost optimization is another area where banks are split, with just under half (49%) looking to reduce IT budgets accordingly.
This disparity is highlighted on a global scale too – for example, almost 6 in 10 US banks (59%) are keen to reduce IT budgets and almost half (47%) want to cut operations budgets, while only 4 in 10 banks in Europe (43%) have IT budgets front of mind and just over a third (36%) are concerned with operations costs. Meanwhile productivity is the most important factor for European banks (46%), yet the US and APAC are placing even more emphasis on productivity themselves in comparison.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) that financial institutions are using or planning to use to evaluate the success of Generative AI initiatives:
Differing strategies across differing regions
Strategies for realizing these benefits of GenAI differ vastly among organizations too. While around half of organizations are focusing on collaboration between humans and AI (51%) or a hybrid approach with existing systems (47%), over a quarter (28%) of banks are hoping to fully automate tasks and remove the need for manual input entirely. Fully automating tasks is an area which divides opinions worldwide as well, with a quarter of banks in the UK (25%) and Europe (24%) looking to fully automate the process, while almost a third of banks (32%) in the Americas and 35% of Japanese banks are looking to do the same.
Robb Rasmussen, Head of Global Marketing & Communications, NTT DATA added: “It is clear that the ability to balance innovation with fiscal responsibility will define success for banks. However, many banks are lacking in maturity when it comes to this technology and are unsure where to start. Partnering with systems integrators can be a good starting point, allowing them to access the latest knowledge while ensuring compliance with industry regulations. By working with specialized providers, banks can ensure that GenAI implementations can deliver the desired ROI, while maintaining robust data protection measures and meeting both internal security standards and regulatory requirements.”
NTT DATA’s research dives into specific areas of the banking industry, including Payments and Wealth Management, as well as Fraud Prevention. To read the full report, please go to “Intelligent banking in the Age of AI”
About the Research
NTT DATA’s survey was carried out on 810 banking leaders, from all global banking markets, and provides a 360-degree perspective on the sector’s journey towards innovation and GenAI adoption. This survey was led by NTT DATA Group’s Global Industry Office, part of the Global Marketing & Communications Headquarters.
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MIL-OSI: Inside information: Nokia announces a leadership transition – Justin Hotard appointed as successor to Pekka Lundmark
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Nokia Corporation
Inside information
10 February 2025 at 08:00 EETInside information: Nokia announces a leadership transition – Justin Hotard appointed as successor to Pekka Lundmark
Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced a leadership transition. Nokia’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Pekka Lundmark, has informed the Board that he will step down. The Board has appointed Justin Hotard as the next President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia. He will start in his new role on 1 April 2025.
Hotard joins Nokia with more than 25 years’ experience with global technology companies, driving innovation, technology leadership and delivering revenue growth. He currently leads the Data Center & AI Group at Intel. Prior to this role, he held several leadership roles at large technology companies, including Hewlett Packard Enterprise and NCR Corporation. He will be based at Nokia’s headquarters in Espoo, Finland.
“I am delighted to welcome Justin to Nokia. He has a strong track record of accelerating growth in technology companies along with vast expertise in AI and data center markets, which are critical areas for Nokia’s future growth. In his previous positions, and throughout the selection process, he has demonstrated the strategic insight, vision, leadership and value creation mindset required for a CEO of Nokia,” said Sari Baldauf, Chair of Nokia’s Board of Directors.
“I am honored by the opportunity to lead Nokia, a global leader in connectivity with a unique heritage in technology. Networks are the backbone that power society and businesses, and enable generational technology shifts like the one we are currently experiencing in AI. I am excited to get started and look forward to continuing Nokia’s transformation journey to maximize its potential for growth and value creation,” said Justin Hotard.
After leading Nokia since 2020, Nokia’s current President and CEO, Pekka Lundmark, has decided to step down from executive roles and move on to the next phase of his career.
“I want to thank Pekka for his significant contributions to Nokia, he will leave with our highest respect. The planning for this leadership transition was initiated when Pekka indicated to the Board that he would like to consider moving on from executive roles when the repositioning of the business was in a more advanced stage, and when the right successor had been identified. Now, both of those conditions have been met, and he has decided to step down,” said Sari Baldauf.
She continued: “Pekka joined at a difficult time in Nokia’s history. Under his tenure, Nokia has re-established its technology leadership in 5G radio networks and built a strong position in cloud-native core networks. Network Infrastructure has delivered growth and significant profit improvement, and Nokia has secured the longevity of its patent licensing business. At the same time, Nokia has built strong foundations in new growth areas, refreshed the company’s brand and culture, transformed its operating model and rebalanced its portfolio.”
“Leading Nokia has been a privilege. When I returned to Nokia in 2020, I called it a homecoming, and it really has felt like one. I am proud of the work our brilliant team has done in re-establishing our technology leadership and competitiveness, and positioning the company for growth in data centers, private wireless and industrial edge, and defense. This is the right time for me to move on. I have led listed companies for more than two decades and although I do not plan to stop working, I want to move on from executive roles to work in a different capacity, such as a board professional. Justin is a great choice for Nokia and I look forward to working with him on a smooth transition,” said Nokia’s President and CEO Pekka Lundmark.
Lundmark will step down on 31 March 2025. He will continue as an advisor to the new CEO until the end of the year.
An event for media and financial analysts will be held today at 10:00 EET. Link to join the webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/hjd9zmyx.
Journalists and financial analysts, who wish to ask a question during the event, must dial-in to an audio-only conference call line. The attendees must pre-register here: https://dpregister.com/sreg/10196883/fe7f25be61.
If you wish to ask a question on the call, you must mute the webcast and only use the participant dial-in during the Q&A session as there is a delay of approximately 15-30 seconds.
Journalists and financial analysts can join via webcast or in person (Nokia’s Executive Experience Center at Karakaari 18, Espoo). Members of the media and analysts who want to participate in person, are kindly requested to show their press credential or valid ID on arrival.
Justin Hotard, CV
Born: 1974
Nationality: US national
Experience:
- Intel, Santa Clara, CA, 2024–present: Executive Vice President and General Manager, Data Center & AI Group
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Houston, TX / Tokyo, Japan, 2015–2024: various leadership positions including:
- Executive Vice President and General Manager, High Performance Computing, AI & Labs
- President and Managing Director, Japan and China
- NCR Corporation, Duluth, GA, 2007–2014: various leadership positions including: President and General Manager, Global Small Business Cloud Platform
- Symbol Technologies (acquired by Motorola, Inc), Holtsville, NY, 2003–2007: Director, Product Management and Senior Manager, Corporate Development
- Motorola, Inc, Arlington, IL, 1996–2000: Senior Systems Engineer
Education:
- Master of Business Administration, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, 2002
- Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 1997
About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.
With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.
Inquiries:
Nokia Communications
Phone: +358 10 448 4900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
Maria Vaismaa, Global Head of External CommunicationsNokia
Investor Relations
Phone: +358 931 580 507
Email: investor.relations@nokia.comFORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements reflect Nokia’s current expectations and views of future developments and include statements regarding: A) expectations, plans, benefits or outlook related to our strategies, projects, programs, product launches, growth management, licenses, sustainability and other ESG targets, operational key performance indicators and decisions on market exits; B) expectations, plans or benefits related to future performance of our businesses (including the expected impact, timing and duration of potential global pandemics, geopolitical conflicts and the general or regional macroeconomic conditions on our businesses, our supply chain, the timing of market changes or turning points in demand and our customers’ businesses) and any future dividends and other distributions of profit; C) expectations and targets regarding financial performance and results of operations, including market share, prices, net sales, income, margins, cash flows, cost savings, the timing of receivables, operating expenses, provisions, impairments, taxes, currency exchange rates, hedging, investment funds, inflation, product cost reductions, competitiveness, revenue generation in any specific region, and licensing income and payments; D) ability to execute, expectations, plans or benefits related to our ongoing transactions, investments and changes in organizational structure and operating model; E) impact on revenue with respect to litigation/renewal discussions; and F) any statements preceded by or including “anticipate”, “continue”, “believe”, “envisage”, “expect”, “aim”, “will”, “target”, “may”, “would”, “see”, “plan” or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from such statements. These statements are based on management’s best assumptions and beliefs in light of the information currently available to them. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based upon our current expectations and views of future events and developments and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Factors, including risks and uncertainties that could cause these differences, include those risks and uncertainties specified in our 2023 annual report on Form 20-F published on 29 February 2024 under Operating and financial review and prospects – Risk factors.
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MIL-OSI: WISeKey’s WISeID Empowers Users with Digital Identity Control in a Geopolitically Uncertain World
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
WISeKey’s WISeID Empowers Users with Digital Identity Control in a Geopolitically Uncertain World
Geneva, Switzerland, February 10, 2025 –WISeKey International Holding Ltd (“WISeKey”) (SIX: WIHN, NASDAQ: WKEY), a leading global cybersecurity, blockchain, and IoT company, today announces latest suite of enhancements of WISeID, the Company’s WebTrust-compliant identity management system built to protect users’ digital identities and personal data.
In light of current geopolitical tensions and the growing centralization of technology resources in only a few countries, it is more essential than ever for consumers to maintain control over their own digital identity. People’s digital identity represents their online persona, and ensuring it remains under each individual’s control allows them to attach various attributes to it while navigating the internet with full autonomy and consent.
Unfortunately, many platforms compel users to create digital identities within their ecosystems, not as a service to the consumer but as a means of controlling identity data for commercial exploitation. These platforms act as identity providers, leveraging user data for monetization by selling personal information to advertisers and other third parties.
For over 25 years, WISeKey has been a leader in digital identity solutions, prioritizing user autonomy without locking individuals into a proprietary ecosystem. WISeKey’s WISeID WebTrust-compliant identity management system, is accessible to all and designed to seamlessly integrate with existing blockchain technologies. WISeID.com enhances user protection against identity theft and strengthens privacy in today’s hyper-connected world.
The Next Generation of WISeID: Elevating Digital Identity Security
The latest iteration of WISeID builds upon WISeKey’s legacy of cutting-edge cybersecurity innovation, introducing a suite of enhancements that further protect users’ digital identities and personal data.
1. Free Identity Validation
WISeID now enables all users to verify their real identity using their computer or smartphone camera. By capturing an official identity document—such as a National ID, Driver’s License, or Passport (from most countries)—and utilizing facial recognition technology, users can confirm their identity securely and conveniently.
2. New Types of Digital Certificates
WISeID introduces a range of digital certificates with varying validation levels to suit different user needs:
- Free Certificates – Available to all users, containing only an email address and valid for three months.
- Basic Certificates – An optional subscription-based certificate with a two-year validity.
- Advanced Certificates – Includes additional verified information such as the user’s name and country, enhancing credibility when sending emails or signing documents. This requires completing our Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.
- Advanced PRO Certificates – Designed for professional use, these certificates also include company details and require an organization validation process conducted by WISeKey.
3. New Document Signing Service
WISeID now offers a free digital document signing solution. Users can sign PDF documents directly from their computer or mobile device without needing to manually create or install certificates. Our platform automatically and securely generates single-use certificates for each signature request. The only requirement is a valid WISeID account with identity verification.
4. New Corporate Identity Management Services
Organizations can now leverage WISeID to provide secure identity services to their employees and customers through a corporate account. Corporate administrators gain full control over user identity creation and certificate management, eliminating the need for individual verification processes. Additionally, companies can acquire WISeSign packages, enabling employees to securely request and manage digital signatures.
By providing decentralized, user-controlled digital identity solutions, WISeID stands in stark contrast to identity-restricting platforms. Our mission is to empower individuals and businesses with secure, verifiable, and privacy-enhancing digital identity tools, ensuring they remain in full control of their online presence.
For more information, visit WISeID.com.
About WISeKey
WISeKey International Holding Ltd (“WISeKey”, SIX: WIHN; Nasdaq: WKEY) is a global leader in cybersecurity, digital identity, and IoT solutions platform. It operates as a Swiss-based holding company through several operational subsidiaries, each dedicated to specific aspects of its technology portfolio. The subsidiaries include (i) SEALSQ Corp (Nasdaq: LAES), which focuses on semiconductors, PKI, and post-quantum technology products, (ii) WISeKey SA which specializes in RoT and PKI solutions for secure authentication and identification in IoT, Blockchain, and AI, (iii) WISeSat AG which focuses on space technology for secure satellite communication, specifically for IoT applications, (iv) WISe.ART Corp which focuses on trusted blockchain NFTs and operates the WISe.ART marketplace for secure NFT transactions, and (v) SEALCOIN AG which focuses on decentralized physical internet with DePIN technology and house the development of the SEALCOIN platform.
Each subsidiary contributes to WISeKey’s mission of securing the internet while focusing on their respective areas of research and expertise. Their technologies seamlessly integrate into the comprehensive WISeKey platform. WISeKey secures digital identity ecosystems for individuals and objects using Blockchain, AI, and IoT technologies. With over 1.6 billion microchips deployed across various IoT sectors, WISeKey plays a vital role in securing the Internet of Everything. The company’s semiconductors generate valuable Big Data that, when analyzed with AI, enable predictive equipment failure prevention. Trusted by the OISTE/WISeKey cryptographic Root of Trust, WISeKey provides secure authentication and identification for IoT, Blockchain, and AI applications. The WISeKey Root of Trust ensures the integrity of online transactions between objects and people. For more information on WISeKey’s strategic direction and its subsidiary companies, please visit www.wisekey.com.
Disclaimer
This communication expressly or implicitly contains certain forward-looking statements concerning WISeKey International Holding Ltd and its business. Such statements involve certain known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause the actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements of WISeKey International Holding Ltd to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. WISeKey International Holding Ltd is providing this communication as of this date and does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.This press release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities, and it does not constitute an offering prospectus within the meaning of the Swiss Financial Services Act (“FinSA”), the FinSa’s predecessor legislation or advertising within the meaning of the FinSA. Investors must rely on their own evaluation of WISeKey and its securities, including the merits and risks involved. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied on as, a promise or representation as to the future performance of WISeKey.
Press and Investor Contacts
WISeKey International Holding Ltd
Company Contact: Carlos Moreira
Chairman & CEO
Tel: +41 22 594 3000
info@wisekey.comWISeKey Investor Relations (US)
The Equity Group Inc.
Lena Cati
Tel: +1 212 836-9611
lcati@equityny.com -
MIL-OSI: EdgeSynergies Unveils Edge Data Centre Breakthrough at DSbD Showcase
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
LONDON, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EdgeSynergies are showcasing their pioneering UKRI-funded project under the Digital Security by Design (DSbD) programme, at the upcoming UK Digital Security by Design Showcase. This milestone event showcases EdgeSynergies’ secure, sustainable edge data centres, delivering low-latency compute while repurposing waste heat for decarbonisation—key to the UK’s digital future, economic resilience, and Net Zero goals.
At the event, EdgeSynergies will unveil MoatE (Morello at the Edge), a revolutionary digitally secure, energy-efficient edge computing solution. MoatE enables data centres to repurpose waste heat energy into usable energy, supporting urban heat networks and advancing the UK’s drive towards green, low-latency computing infrastructure. This breakthrough innovation directly contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), reinforcing the UK’s leadership in secure, climate-conscious digital infrastructure.
With the rapid rise of AI, IoT, AV, VR, and edge computing, the demand for ultra-secure, high-performance, and energy-efficient edge data centres for low-latency computing has never been greater. EdgeSynergies’ MoatE harnesses the power of the UKRI-backed Morello architecture, embedding next-generation digital security by design principles to protect against cyber threats while ensuring high-efficiency computing.
Joydeep Mondal, Founder & CEO of EdgeSynergies, said: “The UK stands at a pivotal moment in defining the future of secure, sustainable computing. EdgeSynergies’ innovation represents a critical leap forward—combining next-gen cybersecurity with circular economy principles to transform edge data centres into green energy hubs. We are excited to present MoatE at the DSbD Showcase and invite governments, investors, and industry leaders to join us in scaling this ground-breaking solution.”
Margaret Blight, Co-Founder & CCO of EdgeSynergies, added: “The meteoric rise of AI inference is fueling a surge in demand for Edge compute. Without green solutions that revolution will have an unprecedented impact to energy, water and carbon emissions. MoatE enables us to decarbonise compute by reusing waste heat for good in the community. Our work under the UKRI Digital Security by Design programme underscores the importance of embedding security at the silicon level while addressing the environmental impact of compute infrastructure. We call on policymakers, industry leaders, and tech innovators to support this mission and drive adoption of climate-positive digital infrastructure.”
EdgeSynergies invites government bodies, investors, compute customers, and industry partners to engage with us at the UK Digital Security by Design Showcase on 11th February 2025. This is a unique opportunity to support the UK’s ambition for secure, sustainable, and high-capacity edge computing—a vital step towards achieving Net Zero and digital sovereignty.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/13711d6e-dbaf-4d9d-b3de-ed4f4dc1cdd8
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MIL-OSI: TGS Awarded Two 4D Streamer Contracts Offshore Norway
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
OSLO, Norway (10 February 2025) – TGS, a leading provider of energy data and intelligence, is pleased to announce the award of two 4D streamer contract acquisition projects, one in the North Sea and one in the Norwegian Sea. The 4D projects are scheduled to be acquired back-to-back and commence in June. The total duration of the two surveys is approximately 80 days.
Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, commented, “We are pleased to secure two new 4D streamer contracts. Now we have a total of six 4D streamer contracts scheduled for the 2025 summer season on the Norwegian continental shelf. The clients value our GeoStreamer technology combined with the Ramform acquisition platform, ensuring efficient delivery of high-quality data.”
For more information, visit TGS.com or contact:
Bård Stenberg
VP IR & Communication
Mobile: +47 992 45 235
investor@tgs.comAbout TGS
TGS provides advanced data and intelligence to companies active in the energy sector. With leading-edge technology and solutions spanning the entire energy value chain, TGS offers a comprehensive range of insights to help clients make better decisions. Our broad range of products and advanced data technologies, coupled with a global, extensive and diverse energy data library, make TGS a trusted partner in supporting the exploration and production of energy resources worldwide. For further information, please visit www.tgs.com (https://www.tgs.com/).Forward Looking Statement
All statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict and are based upon assumptions as to future events that may not prove accurate. These factors include volatile market conditions, investment opportunities in new and existing markets, demand for licensing of data within the energy industry, operational challenges, and reliance on a cyclical industry and principal customers. Actual results may differ materially from those expected or projected in the forward-looking statements. TGS undertakes no responsibility or obligation to update or alter forward-looking statements for any reason. -
MIL-Evening Report: Eugene Doyle: Trump and foolish old men who redraw maps
COMMENTARY: By Eugene Doyle
It generally ends badly. An old tyrant embarks on an ill-considered project that involves redrawing maps.
They are heedless to wise counsel and indifferent to indigenous interests or experience. Before they fail, are killed, deposed or otherwise disposed of, these vicious old men can cause immense harm.
To see Trump through this lens, let’s look at a group of men who tested their cartographic skills and failed: King Lear and, of course, Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte, and latterly, George W Bush and Saddam Hussein.
I even throw in a Pope. But let’s start first with Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump himself.
Benjamin Netanyahu and a map of a ‘New Middle East’ — without Palestine
In September 2023, a month before the Hamas attack on Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to an almost-empty UN General Assembly. Few wanted to share the same air as the man.In his speech, he presented a map of a “New Middle East” — one that contained a Greater Israel but no Palestine.
In a piece in The Jordan Times titled: “Cartography of genocide”, Ramzy Baroud explained why Netanyahu erased Palestine from the map figuratively. Hamas leaders also understood the message all too well.
“Generally, there was a consensus in the political bureau: We have to move, we have to take action. If we don’t do it, Palestine will be forgotten — totally deleted from the international map,” Dr Bassem Naim, a leading Hamas official said in the outstanding Al Jazeera documentary October 7.
Hearing Trump and Netanyahu last week, the Hamas assessment was clear-eyed and prescient.
Donald Trump
In defiance of UN resolutions and international law, he recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, recognised the Syrian Golan Heights as part of Israel, and now wants to turn Gaza into a US real estate development, reconquer Panama, turn Canada into the 51st State of the USA, rename the Gulf of Mexico and seize Greenland, if necessary by force.And it’s only February. The US spent blood, treasure and decades building the Rules-Based International Order. Biden and Trump have left it in tatters.
Trump is a fitting avatar for the American state: morally corrupt, narcissistic, burning down all the temples to international law, and generally causing chaos as he flames his way into ignominy.
The past week — where “Bonkers is the New Normal” — reminded me of a famous Onion headline: “FBI Uncovers Al-Qaeda Plot To Just Sit Back And Enjoy Collapse Of United States”.
The Iranians made a brilliant counter-offer to the US plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza and create a US statelet next to Israel — send the Israelis to Greenland! Unlike the genocidal US and Israeli leadership, the Iranians were kidding.
Point taken, though.
King Lear: ‘Meantime we will express our darker purpose. Give me the map there.’
Lear makes the list because of Shakespeare’s understanding of tyrants and those who oppose them.
Trump, like Lear, surrounds himself with a college of schemers, deviants and psychopaths. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz Kent: My life I never held but as a pawn to wage against thy enemies.
Lear: Out of my sight!
Kent and all those who sought to steer the King towards a more prudent course were treated as enemies and traitors. I think of Ambassador Chas Freeman, John Mearsheimer, Colonel Larry Wilkerson, George Beebe and all the other wiser heads who have been pushed to the periphery in much the same way.
Trump, like Lear, surrounds himself with a college of schemers, deviants and psychopaths.
Napoleon Bonaparte
I was fortunate to study “France on the Eve of Revolution” with the great French historian Antoine Casanova. His fellow Corsican caused a fair bit of mayhem with his intention to redraw the map of Europe.British statesman William Pitt the Younger reeled in horror as Napoleon got to work, “Roll up that map; it will not be wanted these 10 years,” he presciently said.
Bonaparte was an important historical figure who left a mixed and contested legacy.
Before effective resistance could be organised, he abolished the Holy Roman Empire (good job), created the Confederation of the Rhine, invaded Russia and, albeit sometimes for the better, torched many of the traditional power structures.
Millions died in his wars.
We appear to be back to all that: a leader who tears up all rule books. Trump endorses the US-Israeli right of conquest, sanctions the International Criminal Court (ICC) for trying to hold Israel and the US to the same standard as others, and hands out the highest offices to his family and confidantes.
Hitler
“Lebensraum” (Living space) was the Nazi concept that propelled the German war machine to seize new territories, redraw maps. As they marched, the soldiers often sang “Deutschland über alles” (Germany above all), their ultra-nationalist anthem that expressed a desire to create a Greater Germany — to Make Germany Great Again.All sounds a bit similar to this discussion of Trump and Netanyahu, doesn’t it? Again: whose side should we be on?
Saddam Hussein and George W Bush
When it comes to doomed bids to remake the Middle East by launching illegal wars, these are two buttocks of the same bum. Now we have the Trump-Netanyahu pair.Will countries like Australia, New Zealand and the UK really sign up for the current US-Israeli land grab? Will they all continue to yawn and look away as massive crimes against humanity are committed? I fear so, and in so doing, they rob their side of all legitimacy.
Pope Alexander VI
There is a smack of the Borgias about the Trumps. They share values — libertinism and nepotism, to name two — and both, through cunning rather than aptitude, managed to achieve great power.Pope Alexander VI, born Rodrigo Borgia, father to Lucretia and Cesare, was Pope in 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
1494. The Treaty of Tordesillas hands the New World over to the Spanish and Portuguese. Image: www.solidarity.co.nz He was responsible for the greatest reworking of the map of the world: the Treaty of Tordesillas which divided the “New World” between the Spanish and Portuguese empires. Millions died; trillions were stolen.
We still live with the depravities the Europeans and their heritors unleashed upon the world.
I’m sure the Greenlanders, the Canadians, the Panamanians and whoever else the United States sets their sights on will resist the unwelcome attempt to colour the map of their country in stars & stripes.
History is littered with blind map re-makers, foolish old men who draw new maps on old lands.
Like Sykes, Picot, Balfour and others, Trump thinks with a flourish of his pen he can whisk away identity and deep roots. Love of country and long-suffering mean Palestinians will never accept a handful of coins and parcels of land spread across West Asia or Africa as compensation for a stolen homeland.
They have earned the right to Palestine not least because of the blood-spattered identity that they have carved out of every inch of land through their immense courage and steadfastness. We should stand with them.
Eugene Doyle is a community organiser and activist in Wellington, New Zealand. He received an Absolutely Positively Wellingtonian award in 2023 for community service. His first demonstration was at the age of 12 against the Vietnam War. This article was first published at his public policy website Solidarity and is republished here with permission.
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MIL-Evening Report: What do the changes to IUD access mean for Australian women?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Mazza, Director, SPHERE NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health in Primary Care and Professor and Head of the Department of General Practice, Monash University
PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock Ahead of the government’s response this week to a Senate inquiry into access to reproductive health care in Australia, the government has announced new measures to make it easier to get an intrauterine device, or IUD.
Payments to doctors and nurse practitioners to insert and remove these devices will increase. The government will also set up eight centres to train health-care professionals in IUD insertion, and ensure they are skilled and confident.
The Coalition has vowed to match this commitment if it wins the federal election.
So what are IUDs? And how might these changes impact Australian women?
‘Set and forget’ contraception
IUDs are small devices that are implanted in the uterus to prevent pregnancy. There are two types: “hormonal IUDs”, which contain the hormone levonorgestrel, and “copper IUDs”.
Another long-acting reversible contraceptive, the contraceptive implant, is about 4cm long, made of plastic and inserted just under the skin in the arm.
Hormonal IUDs (known by brand names Mirena and Kyleena in Australia) and the contraceptive implant are subsidised under the PBS, costing A$31.60 ($7.70 concession). However copper IUDs aren’t, and cost around $100.
However, women may face significant out-of-pocket costs to have IUDs and implants inserted.
IUDs are types of long-acting reversible contraception. They are often called “set and forget” because once inserted, nothing more needs to be done. Long-acting reversible contraceptives are the most effective way to prevent pregnancy (over 99%).
This compares with the commonly used contraceptive pills containing estrogen and progestogen, which need to be taken every day. These have a failure rate of 8-9% with typical use.
The hormonal IUDs’ contraceptive effect lasts for eight years, while a copper IUD can last up to ten years, depending on the type. The contraceptive implant protects against pregnancy for three years.
IUDs are a ‘set and forget’ form of contraception.
Yashkin Ilya/ShutterstockThe levonorgestrel in hormonal IUDs acts locally inside the uterus to thin the lining of the womb, so much so that after about six months of use, many women experience very little, if any, bleeding.
This reduction in menstruation can prevent or reduce conditions such as heavy menstrual bleeding, iron deficiency and period pain.
Like all contraceptives, there are potential side effects. IUD insertion is painful, there is a small risk of expulsion of IUDs and they may not be positioned correctly at the time of insertion.
Copper IUDs may cause heavier bleeding than usual.
And the contraceptive implant is associated with unpredictable (although mostly tolerable) bleeding patterns.
Australian women are less likely to use them
Just 6% of women use an IUD and another 5% use the contraceptive implant.
This compares with Sweden, where 30.9% use a long-acting reversible contraceptive, and in England, it’s over 30%.
Part of the reason is many women don’t know much about these contraceptive options, especially about IUDs.
But our research found that women were more likely to choose an IUD when their doctor incorporated information about how much more effective long-acting reversible contraceptives were during contraceptive consultations, and could refer women to get an insertion done quickly if they didn’t provide insertions themselves.
Some women rely on the pill because they don’t know they have other options.
Layue/ShutterstockWomen often struggle to find a GP who can insert an IUD and face long waiting times to get one inserted.
Despite a small increase to the Medicare rebate in 2022, the current rebate doesn’t reflect the costs or time needed by GPs to conduct the insertion. This has put a lot of GPs off from providing this service.
It can also be difficult for GPs to take time off from their clinical work to do the training, with courses costing around $1,500 and GPs not earning any income while attending.
What did the Senate inquiry recommend?
To overcome these issues, a Senate inquiry into barriers to reproductive health care recommended:
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appropriate remuneration and reimbursement for GPs providing IUD and implant insertion and removal services, including through increased Medicare rebates
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improved insertion and removal training to support the increased use of IUDs and implants in Australia.
How does this announcement stack up?
The new women’s health package directly addresses these issues by:
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increasing the clinician rebate for inserting and removing IUDs and implants
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providing Medicare rebates for nurse practitioner insertions
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providing GPs with an incentive to bulk bill insertions so women will not face any out-of-pocket costs
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funding eight centres across Australia to train clinicians to ensure they’re trained, skilled and confident in IUD insertion.
These measures complement announcements made last year to provide training scholarships for GPs and nurses to train in IUD insertion and to fund an online “community of practice” to support practitioners to provide these services.
With the increased rebates rolling out from November 1, and the training centres in the next year or two, we should see many more GPs skilled up and providing IUDs in the next few years.
This should make it more affordable and much easier for women to find a clinician to insert it.
Another reproductive health issue remains unaddressed
The government is expected to table its response in parliament this week to the reproductive health care access Senate inquiry.
While there have been many improvements in access to medical abortion, particularly the ability for women to receive a medical abortion via telehealth through Medicare, key challenges remain in ensuring all Australian women can access surgical abortion.
Policymakers will need to focus attention on training a new generation of clinicians to undertake surgical abortions, and developing transparent local pathways for women to access care.
Danielle Mazza has received funding for research and conference attendance and served on advisory boards for Bayer, Organon, MSD and Gedeon Rechter. SPHERE and the ACCORd trial mentioned in the article were funded by the NHMRC and the Extend Prefer study by the Australian Department of Health. The roundtable on barriers to LARC was funded by Bayer.
– ref. What do the changes to IUD access mean for Australian women? – https://theconversation.com/what-do-the-changes-to-iud-access-mean-for-australian-women-249473
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MIL-OSI Video: Deputy Minister Kenny Morolong back-to-school programme
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)
government’s back-to-school programme in Cape Town, Western Cape.
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MIL-OSI Video: DM Morolong delivers keynote address at the MDDA Community Media Consultative Forum #SONA2025
Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)
Deputy Minister Morolong delivers a keynote at the Community Media Consultative Forum
Earlier today, the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Kenny Morolong, delivered a keynote address at the Media Development & Diversity Agency (MDDA) Community Media Consultative Forum at the Khayelitsha Thusong Centre, highlighting the contributions of the sector in the past 30 years of democracy. An integral consideration for the sector includes looking into financial sustainability for community media as well as digitalization. The Forum aims to bring government, community media, industry partners, and regulatory bodies together to reflect on community media’s contributions in the past 30 years of democracy in South Africa while also tackling challenges facing the sector today, including sustainability and digitalization, to fortify the sector for the future.
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MIL-OSI China: China’s smart robot industry sees robust growth in 2024
Source: China State Council Information Office
By the end of 2024, the number of enterprises in the smart robot industry in China had reached 451,700, with a total registered capital of 6.44 trillion yuan (about 880 billion U.S. dollars), according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.
The number of such enterprises grew by 19.39 percent compared to the end of 2023, demonstrating a steady upward trend in the industry’s development in China.
Nearly 80 percent of these enterprises were concentrated in three sectors, namely scientific research and technical services; information transmission, software and information technology services; and wholesale and retail, the administration said.
The eastern region of the country, with its distinct geographical advantages, robust research and development strength, and well-established industrial ecosystem, has become a hub hosting about two-thirds of smart robot industry enterprises in China.
The number of such enterprises in China’s central and northwestern regions account for 15.33 percent and 14.97 percent of the total, respectively.
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MIL-OSI Australia: Youth charged in relation to evade and crash at Bridgewater
Source: Tasmania Police
Youth charged in relation to evade and crash at Bridgewater
Monday, 10 February 2025 – 4:23 pm.
A youth has been charged in relation to an evade incident and crash on the Bridgewater Bridge yesterday.
The 15-year-old has been charged with aggravated evade, motor vehicle stealing, unlicensed driving, and traffic offences.
They will appear before the Youth Justice Court tonight.