Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman August Pfluger (TX-11)
Pfluger Fly-By: April 11, 2025Washington, April 11, 2025
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Category: Machine Learning
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MIL-OSI USA: Pfluger Fly-By: April 11, 2025
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MIL-OSI Economics: How human-AI agent teams will reshape your workforce
Source: Microsoft
Headline: How human-AI agent teams will reshape your workforce
AI agents are already becoming powerful partners in knowledge work. Now, as more companies adopt them, they’re poised to reshape work dynamics. In this new reality, leaders will for the first time be able to add intelligence—once a scarce and costly resource—to their organization without increasing headcount. Soon, all businesses will operate with collaborative teams of humans and agents.
This evolution will require every leader to redefine how they think about their teams. Agents will be a true force multiplier—everyone from interns to the C-suite will become an “agent boss” who oversees their own constellation of agents that power business processes. One new imperative will be to find the optimal ratio of humans to agents for whatever task or project your teams are working on.
The upshot: where you once defaulted to relying on human intelligence you can strategically consider whether an agent should handle the task—unlocking scale like never before.
AI-enhanced teams outperform traditional ones
In March, a remarkable field study by Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School showed how AI can boost performance for individuals and teams. Chronicled in a paper titled “The Cybernetic Teammate,” the experiment involved nearly 800 employees at P&G, the global consumer goods company. The employees were all asked to work on product innovation challenges, but some of them were given AI and others were not.
The study showed that individuals with AI performed as well as teams without it. Teams that used AI were significantly more likely to produce top-tier ideas than any other group. The same study showed how AI breaks down silos: Without AI, R&D professionals suggested more technical solutions, while commercial professionals also leaned into their own expertise. AI users produced balanced solutions regardless of their backgrounds.
These benefits address a critical reality. In times of economic uncertainty, leaders face pressure to drive growth with the current, or a reduced, headcount. Adding agents to the team will allow employees to hand off some of their routine work, relieving some of the pressure and enabling them to focus on higher-value tasks.
What human-agent collaboration looks like
Bringing agents into the mix promises a new dynamic for how individuals operate, with ripple effects for teams. Say you catch wind that a major client is thinking about leaving. You can tap an agent to wade into the data and quickly analyze what might be driving their decision, rather than pulling your human colleagues off whatever they’re working on to investigate.
Agents can research for you, provide expertise you don’t have, or code for you. In the firm of the future, every employee (and every team) will manage a pool of them, with the exact number varying depending on their goals and preferences. I’m starting to see this pattern emerge on my team. Alex Farach, a data scientist and researcher, is deep into a big project, and he’s using three agents to assist him. One agent goes online every day and scoops up relevant new research, another assists with statistical analysis, and a third drafts rich briefs that help him connect the dots.
The trio of personalized agents help Alex get up to speed more quickly on the latest research and spend less time on coding related to data analysis. And it’s not just Alex who becomes more effective: this human-agent collaboration produces insights and outputs that benefit my team more broadly.
Managing a new team dynamic
It’s early days, and most employees aren’t proactively building agent teams to assist them. Managers can’t count on individual employees to make this shift on their own. You need to be intentional—and strategic—about adding digital labor to your teams. Focus on areas where agents can have immediate and substantial impact on your business, build those agents, and deploy them to your people, along with the training they need to work with agents and new workflows. And, importantly, share the results so employees across the organization can learn.
Down the line, you’ll need to start considering a new metric: the human-agent ratio. What’s the ideal balance for unlocking productivity? We expect the ratio to vary by task, process, and industry, but in each context it will be critical to find the right blend of digital labor and human judgment. Get it wrong, and you might miss out on the full value of AI or add AI overwhelm to your employees’ work challenges. Hit the sweet spot, and you unlock the kind of performance demonstrated in the P&G study.
The big picture: organizational impact
If you’re a new company starting from scratch, you have the advantage of designing your processes around human-agent teams from the ground up. Established companies, meanwhile, face the challenge of reinventing—instead of just retrofitting—entire processes to take advantage of what AI offers. And employees will need upskilling to make the most of their partnership with agents.
You’ll also need to redefine roles and responsibilities. You might need new roles for overseeing agentic resources: tracking performance, leading deployment, and monitoring the human-agent balance. In a very dynamic labor market, employees and leaders who emerge as effective “agent bosses” will likely get a leg up.
Many leaders tell me they’re being asked to do more with less. In a difficult economic context, agents can relieve some of the pressure on humans. By bringing agents on board you can simultaneously support your employees and create an infinitely scalable, adaptable organization—and start building the firm of the future.
For more insights on AI and the future of work, subscribe to this newsletter.
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MIL-OSI Video: The ‘inevitable’ caregiving cost nightmare: One young founder’s story and solution
Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)
Lily Vittayarukskul was a college grad at 14 on track to become a NASA aerospace engineer. However, an aunt’s cancer battle upended those plans, wreaking havoc on her family and their finances. The experience inspired her to launch the AI-powered startup Waterlily, helping people better predict expenses for getting older, including eldercare or assisted living, costs most don’t realize aren’t fully covered by either health insurance or Medicare. In this talk, Lily wades through the mounting data showing how super-ageing societies will struggle to meet and afford long-term care needs She also shares the tough lessons her personal story taught her and what others can do to prepare for an aging economy.
This interview was recorded January 2025 at the Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland
About this episode
Waterlily: https://www.waterlily.com/Related World Economic Forum Initiatives:
Waterlily is an Uplink Innovator
About Uplink: https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/About the Uplink / Manulife – Prosperity in Longevity Challenge
https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a00TE000003HcDrYAK/prospering-in-longevity-challengeWorld Economic Forum Longevity Economy Initiative: https://initiatives.weforum.org/financial-resilience-for-every-generation/home
Related Reports:
Future-Proofing the Longevity Economy: Innovations and Key Trends: https://www.weforum.org/publications/future-proofing-the-longevity-economy-innovations-and-key-trends/Global Risks report: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-risks-report-2025/digest/
Related Podcasts:
Meet The Leader – Adam Grant: Future leaders won’t succeed without this key trait https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVVIpttzUAMeet The Leader – How leaders can prepare teams for the future of work: ADP’s Chief Economist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShvNPomJ4mE&t=508s
The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. The Forum engages the foremost political, business, cultural and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. We believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.
World Economic Forum Website ► http://www.weforum.org/
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Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/worldeconomicforum/
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LinkedIn ► https://www.linkedin.com/company/world-economic-forum
TikTok ► https://www.tiktok.com/@worldeconomicforum
Flipboard ► https://flipboard.com/@WEF#WorldEconomicForum
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MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study on projected lifetime cancer risks associated with Computed Tomography (CT) imaging in the US
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine looks at CT scans and lifetime cancer risk in the USA.
Lynda Johnson, Professional Officer for Clinical Imaging and Radiation Protection, The Society and College of Radiographers, said:
“The Society and College of Radiographers (SoR) welcomes research into the harmful effects of ionising radiation and recognises the importance of balancing benefit and risk information to patients and the public.
“This paper articulates the complexities of large-scale dose estimation and acknowledges the many variables which influence an individual’s likelihood of developing cancer at some point in their lifetime. In the UK, the use of ionising radiation is governed by The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations 2017 (The Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2018). Central to the legislation and UK radiographic practice, as this paper rightly concludes, are the principles of justification and optimisation. Justification means that any exposures to ionising radiation for medical purposes must be demonstrated to provide a greater benefit than risk to the individual. Once justified, the exposure must be optimised, meaning that it is as low as reasonably practicable to provide the intended outcome, or answer the clinical question.
“Computed Tomography (CT) scans are undertaken by highly trained radiographers and nuclear medicine technologists who have met the educational and professional standards required to ensure all CT scans are appropriately justified and optimised. Considering the increased use of CT as an invaluable diagnostic tool, it is imperative that the risk of harm from potential misuse, poor quality referrals, or inappropriate exposure parameters continues to be managed effectively. This is achieved by safeguarding standards of education, training and practical experience, compliance with the regulations, and applying best practice quality standards such as The Quality Standard for Imaging.
“It is particularly important to recognise, as this paper highlights, the increased risk to children from unjustified CT exposures. Staff are trained to give special consideration to the justification and optimisation of CT scans for children and will assess the benefits and risks of using CT against alternative techniques that do not involve ionising radiation such as MRI and Ultrasound.
“Accurate communication around the benefits and risks of CT is essential to protect the public from harm. Focussing on risk alone is not helpful and, in some cases, might prevent a person from attending a scan that could provide early diagnosis of cancer. Anyone undergoing a CT scan must be provided with balanced, accurate and relevant information to enable them to understand what it means to them as an individual in terms of their diagnosis, treatment and potential long-term care.
“The UK Health Security Agency is responsible for undertaking dose audits and producing National Diagnostic Reference levels (NDRLs) for computed tomography. These inform local practices and employers must ensure their organisational doses do not consistently exceed the NDRLs. They are publicly available here alongside helpful dose comparisons here and benefit and risk information for patients here.”
Dr Doreen Lau, Lecturer in Inflammation, Ageing and Cancer Biology at Brunel University of London, said:
“This is a well-conducted modelling study using robust data from US hospitals and established methods for estimating cancer risk from radiation exposure. It provides a timely reminder that while CT scans are often life-saving and essential for diagnosis, they do come with a small but real potential risk of contributing to cancer over a lifetime, especially when used repeatedly, in younger patients, or when not clinically necessary.
“The findings don’t mean that people should avoid CT scans when recommended by a doctor. In most cases, the benefit of detecting or ruling out serious illness far outweighs the very small risk of harm. What this research highlights is the need to minimise unnecessary imaging and use the lowest dose possible, particularly in settings where CT usage is high. Where appropriate, clinicians may also consider alternative imaging methods that do not involve ionising radiation, such as MRI or ultrasound—especially for younger patients or when repeat imaging is anticipated.
“CT scan rates are much higher in the US than in the UK, where imaging is used more conservatively and with stricter clinical justification. That means the estimated risks in this study are likely to be much lower in the UK context, though the message about appropriate use still holds.
“Importantly, this study models estimated cancer risk from radiation exposure. It does not show a direct causal link between specific CT scans and individual cancer cases. These are projections based on population-level data and assumptions about radiation risk, not observed cancer rates. Although the model estimates a small increased risk with each scan, it does not prove that any one scan causes cancer. Other factors such as underlying health issues and clinical decision-making, may also influence who gets scanned and how often.”
Prof Stephen Duffy, Emeritus Professor of Cancer Screening, Centre for Cancer Screening, Prevention and Early Diagnosis, Queen Mary University of London, said:
“This paper reports on a very high quality numerical modelling exercise, estimating the likely number of cancers occurring in the USA as a result of 93 million CT examinations. The authors estimate that just over 100,000 cancers are predicted to occur as a result of radiation from these CT examinations. This amounts to around a 0.1% increase in cancer risk over the patients lifetime per CT examination. When we consider that the lifetime risk of cancer in the general population is around 50%, the additional risk is small. Doctors do not order CT examinations unless they are necessary, and it seems to me that the likely benefit in diagnosis and subsequent treatment of disease outweighs the very small increase in cancer risk.
“I would also remark that the estimates, while based on the best models available to the authors, are indirect, so there is considerable uncertainty about the estimates.
“Thus I would say to patients that if you are recommended to have a CT scan, it would be wise to do so.”
Dr Giles Roditi, Consultant Cardiovascular Radiologist and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor of Radiology, University of Glasgow, said:
“CT scanning is a powerful diagnostic tool and has become a bedrock of modern radiology departments, particularly for emergency department imaging. However, the paper by Smith-Bindman et al. is a timely reminder that with great power comes great responsibility. The paper makes the case that the rise in the utilisation of CT scanning is now at such a scale that its projected use could lead to scenario in which CT-associated cancer eventually accounts for 5% of all new cancer diagnoses annually in the USA. What should we do with this information and how does this translate to and inform practise in the UK ?
“Firstly, the evidence base is sound and there is little new as regards the basic assumptions that the paper is based upon but the authors have updated this with more modern dose estimates and data on the utilisation of CT scanning not only across different age groups but also stratified by gender and the exposure of different organs that have different sensitivities to ionising radiation induced damage. The authors are to be congratulated in the detailed breakdown of CT utilisation across these categories and how lifetime risk of cancer impacts across age and gender etc. as well as the modern dosimetric approach used plus accounting for multiphase CT examinations that inevitably entail higher dose.
“With all medical endeavours there is an element of risk. Risk is generally defined as a situation involving exposure to danger or the possibility that something unpleasant will occur. Furthermore, the use of the word risk often implies an element of chance, uncertainty or unpredictability. However, risk can often be well defined in any particular context as – Risk = (probability of an event) x (impact of event)
“Risk is thus different for ‘well’ versus ‘sick’ patients with the latter deriving greater benefit. This paper helps us better define risk at a population level by updating knowledge on the probable incidence of later CT-associated cancer. A potential limitation that could be levelled at the paper is that not all the risks associated with CT are included, only those related to later development of cancer diagnoses. For example, other relevant factors as a demerit to CT scanning could include the very small risks of anaphylaxis related to the use of contrast medium, used now in a large proportion of scans in Western medicine. Similarly, the small but potential other risks such as cataract acceleration are not mentioned.
“On the other hand, while the authors mention that ‘CT is frequently lifesaving’ they have not in my opinion really put the information in full relevant context. The authors context is that this is approximately 5% of new cancer diagnoses could be attributable to CT i.e. a figure of 100,000 cancers in the USA is where there were 1,777,566 new cancer cases reported in 2021 and 608,366 people died of cancer in 2022 (the latest CDC data available). This is because the natural incidence of cancer induction is 1 in 2 for adults. Hence, an alternative way of looking at this would be that although the figure of 100,000 cancers is alarming this is only a small additional risk over and above an individual’s lifetime risk of developing cancer i.e. a risk rising from about 50% to 52.5%. The authors also do not address how many of these cancer will be fatal although we presume based upon CD data it would be approximately one third.
“The main issue, however, is that the benefits of CT scanning are not more explicitly stated. This is likely because the benefits of most medical imaging in terms of morbidity & mortality have been very difficult to quantify with surprisingly little published in the literature. This is mainly because imaging has too often only been part of an overall therapeutic strategy where the main treatment outcomes depend critically upon the imaging but the imaging itself is not tested (e.g. treatments for stroke and cancer). However, there have been recent trials that provide some context, for example SCOT-HEART was probably the first major trial in which diagnostic CT was shown to save lives. In SCOT-THEART the patients were randomised to a conventional treatment pathway without CT scan or an investigative arm in which the standard care pathway was simply supplemented by a CT scan of the coronary arteries. This trial showed clear benefit for those patients that had CT with a significantly lower mortality rate and this has been shown to persist now up to 10 years following the end of the trial. Similarly trials of lung cancer screening have now shown positive benefit from CT scanning in the detection of early, treatable stage lung cancer in high risk patients.
“So how does this translate into the situation in the UK ? Firstly, there are significant differences in practise due to both cultural and legislative environments. In the UK we operate under the precepts of the Ionising Radiation (Medical Exposure) Regulations last updated in 2017 which mandates that we apply the ALARA/ALARP principles and should opt for diagnostic imaging tests with the lowest radiation dose, or preferably an imaging test with no ionising radiation exposure (e.g. ultrasound or MRI) where this answers the clinical question. Culturally in the UK we also regard all requests for imaging as just that, requests that can be questioned through discussion. In the USA clinicians order scans and radiology departments have little room to manoeuvre when it comes to not performing or changing these orders, particularly since the imaging fees that accompany the scanning activity are the lifeblood of the department. Another issue in the USA in addition to the overuse of CT mentioned in the paper is the repeat imaging that is often performed in a fragmented healthcare system where it is easier (and more profitable) for an institution to simply repeat a scan on a patient referred in from elsewhere rather than seek out and transfer the original scans.
“In the NHS we have systems that allow image transfer between institutions and of course unlike the USA we are very capacity limited and often have long waiting times for scans. One side effect of this is that it tends to reduce demand such that tests unlikely to influence clinical decision-making are less likely to be requested. On the downside is that the CT scanner base in the UK is aging and we know that older scanners inevitably expose patients to higher radiation doses than modern systems for the same type of scan, often with less good image quality. Indeed, on modern generation systems with advanced iterative reconstruction algorithms and AI enhancements in the imaging chain then CT scans can be acquired at doses similar to (or little more than) conventional x-rays. These advances have largely been spurred by the drive to reduce dose in coronary CT scans but the benefits potentially reduce doses across all CT scanning. The paper by Smith-Bindman et al. reminds us that we must advocate more strongly to upgrade our CT scanners for the benefit of our patients.
“So what would I say to a UK patient scheduled to have a CT scan and worried by this paper ? In general terms I would strongly advise them not to worry as they are highly likely to benefit from a well indicated scan, this is particularly so in those who are unwell and in older patients (those > 55 years). For younger patients, particularly those of child-bearing age where the breasts and/or reproductive organs would be included and for those who are physically well then if concerned they can always ask to discuss the merits of alternative scans such as ultrasound and MRI. For example, in our own practise we image all our altruistic potential living kidney donors with MRI rather than CT since our own (unpublished) estimates indicate that if we used CT then 1 in 526 of these well people would have a fatal induced cancer, a risk eliminated by using MRI.”
Prof Richard Wakeford, Honorary Professor in Epidemiology, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), University of Manchester, said:
“Although it is not unreasonable to reiterate guidance on the potential risks to health arising from exposures to low levels of ionising radiation, such as the x-ray doses received from CT scans, considerable caution is required in providing quantitative estimates of the effects produced by such exposures. This is largely because of the substantial assumptions that must be made in applying risk models derived from epidemiological studies of populations briefly exposed to moderate and high doses, primarily the Japanese survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to low-level exposure circumstances. For example, for the purposes of radiological protection, it is prudent to assume that the size of the additional risk is directly proportional to the dose received, with no threshold dose below which the risk is zero, and this is the assumption made by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in making its recommendations. However, ICRP notes that these assumptions “conceal large biological and statistical uncertainties”, and cautions against risk projections based on large numbers of people receiving low doses.
“The direct epidemiological investigation of cancer incidence among patients who have been examined by CT is a worthwhile exercise, but substantial care is required in the interpretation of results – as with all medical diagnostic procedures, people are examined because they are ill, have been ill, or are suspected of being ill, and such selection for exposure leads to difficulties in obtaining reliable conclusions about the effects of radiation exposure from these studies.
“The “bottom line” of the paper is that ~103,000 cases of cancer (which does not include cases of non-melanoma skin cancer, lymphoma, or multiple myeloma) are estimated to result from CT scans conducted in the USA in 2023, an estimate that must be viewed with circumspection. This estimate of ~103,000 cases of cancer is, on the face of it, rather alarming, but it is also uncertain, to an extent that extends (well) beyond the uncertainty limits presented in the paper. ICRP emphasises that all medical exposures must be justified as doing more good than harm, and the potential risk from radiation exposure during a diagnostic examination clearly needs to be factored into clinical judgement about the need for a specific diagnostic procedure. The level of potential risk posed by exposure to low doses of radiation should be taken into account in reaching a balanced decision on whether or not a CT scan is clinically desirable, but this judgement should not be unduly influenced by large, but uncertain, projected numbers of cancers.”
‘Projected Lifetime Cancer Risks From Current Computed Tomography Imaging’ by Rebecca Smith-Bindman et al. was published in JAMA Internal Medicine at 16:00 UK time on Monday 14 April 2025.
DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0505
Declared interests
Prof Stephen Duffy: I have no conflict of interest.
Dr Giles Roditi: Prof Roditi is a Past-President of the British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging/Cardiovascular CT, a Past President of the Society of Magnetic Resonance Angiography and a member of the SCOT-HEART investigators.
Prof Richard Wakeford: “I am, or was, a member of a number of national and international expert committees addressing radiation risks, such as ICRP, UNSCEAR and (previously) COMARE, SAGE, etc.. Details can be found at: https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/persons/richard.wakeford
“I am a member of the Technical Working Party of the Compensation Scheme for Radiation-Linked Diseases (http://www.csrld.org.uk/), for which I receive a small consultancy fee. I also receive small payments for lecturing in academic and various professional courses (e.g., https://www.oecd-nea.org/jcms/pl_27505/international-radiological-protection-school-irps-at-stockholm-university). Otherwise, I am formally “retired” from employment, although I seem to be as busy as ever!”
Dr Doreen Lau: no financial or conflicts of interest related to this study.
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
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MIL-OSI USA: Maine PUC Observes National Safe Digging Month in April
Source: US State of Maine
April 14, 2025
Hallowell, Maine – The Maine Public Utilities Commission (Commission) is joining other utility regulators, public safety advocates, and industry professionals across the country in recognizing April as National Safe Digging Month. Governor Janet Mills has officially proclaimed April as Safe Digging Month in Maine, urging homeowners, contractors, and excavators to always call 811 before starting any outdoor digging projects.
Calling 811 before digging can prevent damage to underground utility lines, avoid costly repairs, and most importantly, help keep people safe.
“The Commission is committed to public safety and urges all residents and businesses to make the call to 811 before digging,” said Philip L. Bartlett II, Chair of the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Safe Digging Month is a reminder that protecting underground infrastructure is a shared responsibility. Taking just a few minutes to contact 811 before digging can prevent accidents and ensure a safer Maine.
Whether planting a tree, installing a fence, or undertaking major excavation work, calling 811 at least 72 hours in advance is a free and necessary step that helps locate and mark underground utility lines. Striking gas, electric, water, or communication lines can cause serious injuries, service outages, and expensive repairs.
To ensure a safe and smooth digging process, homeowners should follow these key steps:
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Plan Ahead: Determine the scope and location of your project before calling 811.
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Call 811 Before You Dig: Contact Dig Safe by dialing 811 at least 72 hours before digging to have underground utilities marked.
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Wait for Utility Markings: Professional locators will visit your property to mark underground utility lines using paint or flags. Each color represents a different type of utility.
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Respect the Marks: Avoid digging within 18 to 24 inches of marked utility lines to prevent accidental damage.
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Dig with Care: Use hand tools when working near utility marks and proceed cautiously.
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If You Hit a Utility Line, Stop Immediately: Leave the area and call 911 if there is a gas leak or other hazard.
Report any damage to the appropriate utility company. Calling 811 before digging is free, required by law, and helps protect both people and infrastructure. For more information about safe digging practices, visit www.DigSafe.com or www.maine.gov/mpuc.
About the Commission
The Maine Public Utilities Commission regulates electric, telephone, water and gas utilities to ensure that Maine citizens have access to safe and reliable utility service at rates that are just and reasonable for ratepayers and utilities, while also helping achieve reductions in state greenhouse gas emissions. Commission programs include Maine Enhanced 911 Service and safety programs. Philip L. Bartlett II serves as Chair, Patrick Scully and Carolyn Gilbert serve as Commissioners.
The Damage Prevention section of the Commission’s Consumer Assistance and Safety Division (CASD) is charged with enforcing Maines underground facilities damage prevention law, called the Dig Safe Law (23 M.R.S. 3360-A). This law is intended to prevent damage to underground utility facilities such as gas lines, water lines, or underground telecommunications and electric cables resulting from excavation.
Learn more about the Commission at www.maine.gov/mpuc
CONTACT: Susan Faloon, Media Liaison CELL: 207-557-3704 EMAIL: susan.faloon@maine.gov
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MIL-OSI United Nations: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Fourth Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent [as delivered]
Source: United Nations secretary general
We meet at a time of profound challenges – both old and new.
When current divides are growing.
And the legacies of colonialism and enslavement continue to poison our world.
We still bear witness to the scourge of racism, which blights lives and stains societies.
People of African descent continue to face injustice, exclusion, systemic discrimination and violence.
And even artificial intelligence, which holds such promise for humanity, too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries.
Power is concentrated in the hands of the few.
And too many people, countries and communities remain unable to benefit from all that these technologies have to offer.
The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent was established to challenge these injustices.
To amplify the voices of people of African descent.
And to accelerate progress towards a world of dignity, justice and equality.
To accomplish this goal, we must push for action at every level:
A critical objective is the need for reparatory justice frameworks grounded in international human rights law.
Developed with the inclusive and meaningful participation of affected communities.
That acknowledges the terrible harms and injustices caused, and their continued manifestations and ramifications.
And that redresses past wrongs.
We need to eliminate bias from artificial intelligence, and to ensure that these technologies advance equality, inclusion and digital justice.
Including by delivering on the commitments in the Global Digital Compact agreed last year.
And by investing in capacity development to ensure people of African descent can shape, build and govern AI technologies.
And we must continue to address racism in all its forms – particularly where it is embedded in laws, policies and institutions.
All of us have a responsibility to play our part – international organizations, governments, businesses, and individuals.
And to drive action across this Second International Decade for People of African Descent.
In particular, I urge all countries to deliver on their commitments in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – the blueprint for combatting racism, racial discrimination and intolerance.
Together, with courage and with determination – let us forge ahead toward a world where the human rights of people of African descent are fully respected, protected, and fulfilled.
I wish you a productive session.
Thank you.
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MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Introduces Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro: Your Ultimate Rugged Work Companions
Source: Samsung
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced the new Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro, enterprise-ready devices designed to meet the demands of today’s fast-paced, high-intensity work environments. Continuing the legacy of Samsung’s ruggedised devices, these latest Pro models are versatile, optimised and secure — delivering enhanced durability,[1] steady performance and optimised workflow to empower frontline workers, from the office to the field and beyond.
With 5G connectivity,[2] an upgraded processor and increased memory, the XCover7 Pro and Tab Active5 Pro offer enhanced mobility and reliability. The XCover7 Pro features a powerful new stereo speaker system with anti-feedback technology, which minimises unwanted audio loops for clearer communication. Both devices offer enhanced battery capacity, with the XCover7 Pro equipped with a 4,350mAh battery for longer usage, while the Tab Active5 Pro comes with a 10,100mAh battery set designed to support demanding workflows. The Tab Active5 Pro also supports Dual Hot-Swap battery functionality, allowing workers to replace batteries[3] without powering down their devices and ensuring seamless operation even when battery levels are low.
With the ruggedised smartphone market expected to reach 4.46 million units and the ruggedised tablet market projected to hit 1.89 million units by 2028,[4] these devices can be increasingly essential in industries such as retail, government, logistics, healthcare and manufacturing. Reliable, high-performing and durable, they can be critical for ensuring seamless operations in any work environment.
“At Samsung, we understand that frontline professionals need technology that adapts to their fast-paced and demanding work environments,” said Jerry Park, EVP and Head of Global Mobile B2B Team, MX Business at Samsung Electronics. “The Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro combine ruggedised durability, enterprise-grade security, seamless connectivity and intuitive AI-driven features to help businesses operate efficiently in harsh conditions while maximising productivity and minimising downtime.”
Ruggedised Durability: Built To Withstand Any Environment
The Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro are designed to thrive on the frontlines of all industries. Having undergone rigorous durability testing to ensure they withstand demanding environments, they are ideally built to offer reliable performance in the field. Both devices feature IP68-rated water and dust resistance,[5] helping to protect against dust ingress and exposure to water – making them a dependable choice for conditions where accidental splashes or occasional submersion may occur.
The Tab Active5 Pro’s S Pen — an essential tool for field professionals who annotate documents, sign forms or input data on the go — further extends usability by functioning even in certain wet conditions. Additionally, both devices have been tested for use with common workplace sanitisers, ensuring durability in environments requiring frequent cleaning.
Their MIL-STD-810H[6] certified designs help ensure resistance to drops, extreme temperatures and vibrations, while the Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus®+ display on the Tab Active5 Pro helps provide enhanced scratch and impact protection. Those in retail, government and manufacturing settings can also depend on enhanced touch sensitivity in both devices, allowing seamless use with compatible gloves.[7]
Work Continuity: Staying Connected and Powered Throughout the Day
Clear communication is crucial in fast-paced work environments, especially for teams relying on walkie-talkie functionality in industries like construction and emergency response. The Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro enhanced speaker technology with anti-feedback noise reduction, minimising disruptive sounds that can occur when multiple devices that share the same channel are in close range. With higher volume and improved clarity,[8] these upgraded stereo speakers help frontline workers stay connected and relay critical information without disruption.[9] The Tab Active5 Pro further strengthens communication with optimised audio tuning, boosting volume levels and incorporating intelligent sound processing to filter out background noise, making collaboration even more effective.
Both devices also offer Vision Booster, which enhances outdoor visibility by improving screen readability in bright environments. The Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro further builds on this with an upgraded display brightness of up to 600 nits — a notable increase from 480 nits in the previous model — ensuring clearer visuals even in challenging lighting conditions. Whether reviewing critical information on-site or navigating workflows outdoors, these upgrades provide better contrast, improved tone mapping, and enhanced visibility against strong illumination, allowing users to stay focused wherever the job takes them.
With extended battery life[10] and seamless power solutions, the Galaxy XCover7 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro support uninterrupted workflow. Both devices feature POGO charging interfaces, making it easy for workplaces with POGO docks[11] to charge multiple devices at once. For environments in which devices remain plugged in, the Tab Active5 Pro supports No Battery Mode,[12] allowing it to function when connected to a dedicated power source — ideal for in-vehicle setups, kiosks and workstations.
Seamless connectivity is also key to maintaining work continuity. The XCover7 Pro and Tab Active5 Pro both support 5G connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E and network slicing to prioritise device communication even in dense network environments and ensure fast and stable network access. With dual SIM support (pSIM + eSIM) on the Tab Active5 Pro, workers can effortlessly switch between networks, keeping them connected in any environment.
The Tab Active5 Pro introduces front-facing NFC Tagging, enhancing usability in retail, hospitality and logistics environments where fast, secure interactions are essential. Enabling seamless authentication, asset tracking and mobile payments, the tablet can effectively be used as a mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) system[13] in retail stores and restaurants alike. Employees can quickly validate credentials, process transactions and manage assets without any additional hardware, enhancing efficiency in industries where speed and security are critical.
Maximised Productivity: Smarter Tools for the Frontline
Samsung’s latest ruggedised devices also introduce AI-driven enhancements, reinforcing Samsung’s commitment to expanding AI capabilities across its entire ecosystem. These intelligent features make everyday tasks more intuitive and efficient, helping frontline professionals work smarter and faster in dynamic environments while making advanced AI more accessible across a broader range of devices.
Equipped with high-performance chipsets, enhanced usability features and intuitive AI-powered tools, both devices enable workers to multitask with ease. Features like Circle to Search with Google,[14] Object Eraser, AI Select and Read Aloud allow users to complete tasks more efficiently, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.[15] The Galaxy XCover7 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon® 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform (4nm Octa-Core) chipset which optimises power efficiency and processing speed, while the Tab Active5 Pro, featuring the same chipset, delivers increased RAM and expanded storage options to handle demanding workloads.
Designed for professionals who need flexibility, both devices support Samsung DeX, allowing them to connect to a monitor or PC for a desktop-like experience. Whether managing field reports, performing administrative tasks or presenting data, users can transition seamlessly between mobile and desktop environments.
Additionally, programmable keys allow users to assign shortcuts to frequently used applications, such as barcode scanning, push-to-talk, integrated with Microsoft Teams[16], or emergency alerts. This customisation enhances workflow efficiency, reducing time spent navigating menus and improving responsiveness in critical situations.
Security remains a cornerstone of Samsung’s ruggedised devices, with Samsung Knox Vault[17] safeguarding sensitive data through advanced encryption and authentication to ensure compliance with enterprise security standards. Beyond that, Samsung offers a comprehensive suite of security innovations designed to provide strong protection, transparency and user control. Real-time Kernel Protection and DEFEX deliver runtime protection at both the app and kernel layers, while Samsung’s Warranty Bit detects tampering and restricts access to sensitive applications, such as Work Profile, helping to maintain a trusted device environment.
Availability
The new Galaxy XCover7 Pro (RRP £559) and Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro (RRP £769) will be available starting April 2025.[18]
For more information about Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices, please visit news.samsung.com/uk/galaxy or www.samsungmobilepress.com.
Galaxy XCover7 Pro & Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro Product Specifications
Galaxy XCover7 Pro
Display
6.6-inch*, 20:9, FHD+ TFT LCD, up to 120Hz**, Touch Sensitivity***, Vision Booster
* Measured diagonally as a full rectangle without accounting for the rounded corners. Actual viewable area is less due to the rounded corners and camera hole.
** Screen refresh rate varies depending on the app used, and certain apps may not support up to 120Hz. Adaptive refresh rate supports up to 120Hz, which adjusts motion smoothness automatically as needed, while Standard refresh rate supports a 120Hz screen refresh rate.
*** Touch sensitivity increases responsiveness for leather gloves 2mm or less in thickness, based on internal laboratory test results. Devices can be used in wet environments, but not fully submerged under water. Underwater touch is not available. Touch-responsiveness may vary depending on the material and thickness of gloves as well as other environmental conditions.
OS
Android 15
Dimensions
168.6 x 79.9 x 10.2mm (240g*)
* Weight may vary by market.
Camera
Rear
50MP (F1.8) Wide, 8MP (F2.2) Ultra-Wide, Flash
Front
13MP (F2.2)
Memory & Storage*
6 + 128GB, microSD up to 2TB**
* Actual storage space availability may vary depending on pre-installed software and by market, file size and format.
** MicroSD card sold separately.
Processor
Snapdragon® 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform (4nm Octa-Core)
* Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Battery***
4,350mAh (typical)*, User Replaceable**
* Typical value tested under third-party laboratory conditions. Typical value is the estimated average value considering the deviation in battery capacity among the battery samples tested under IEC 61960 standards. Actual battery life may vary depending on network environment, usage patterns and other factors.
** Extra replaceable battery and POGO charging dock sold separately. In the case of extra replacea6ble batteries, only Samsung certified products are compatible for use.
*** Charger sold separately.
Connectivity**
5G (Sub6)*, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth® v5.4, NFC
* 5G services are only supported in 5G network enabled locations. Requires optimal 5G connection.
** Actual speed may vary depending on market, carrier, content provider, and user environment.
SIM
Dual SIM (pSIM + eSIM*)
* Embedded SIM availability varies by market.
Interface
USB 3.2 Type-C, POGO Pin (charging only)
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Light, Proximity, Fingerprint
GPS*
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS
* GNSS availability type may vary by market. Galileo and BeiDou coverage may be limited. BeiDou may not be available for certain markets.
Ruggedised Durability
IP68*, MIL-STD-810H**, Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus®+, Tested for Sanitisers***
* IP6X: Dust penetration test (less than 50umx70um size) in dustproof chamber
* IPX8: Submersion in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes
** MIL-STD-810H: Testing against specific environmental conditions including altitude, humidity, immersion, salt fog, dust, vibration, drop, etc. MIL-STD-810H is a standardised form of testing designed by the US military to accurately assess device limitations. Real-world usage may vary by specific environmental conditions used in the testing. Extreme conditions not guaranteed. Test specifications vary by device.
*** Tested Sanitiser: Liquid Ethanol, Ethanol Cotton, Clorox(Chlorine bleach), Medilox HCIO
Sound
Dolby Atmos®, Stereo (2 Speakers)
Security
Samsung Knox with Samsung Knox Vault, eSE
Biometric Authentication
Face Recognition, Fingerprint
Programmable Key
Customisation via Top Key and XCover Key*
* Key mapping support may vary by app. Programmable keys limited to select functions.
Galaxy Tab Active5 Pro
Display
10.1-inch*, 16:10, WUXGA, TFT LCD, up to 120Hz**, Touch Sensitivity***
* Measured diagonally as a full rectangle without accounting for the rounded corners. Actual viewable area is less due to the rounded corners.
** Screen refresh rate varies depending on the app used, and certain apps may not support up to 120Hz. Adaptive refresh rate supports up to 120Hz, which adjusts motion smoothness automatically as needed, while Standard refresh rate supports a 120Hz screen refresh rate.
*** Touch sensitivity increases responsiveness for leather gloves 2mm or less in thickness, based on internal laboratory test results. Devices can be used in wet environments, but not fully submerged under water. Underwater touch is not available. Touch-responsiveness may vary depending on the material and thickness of gloves as well as other environmental conditions.
OS
Android 15
Dimensions
170.2 x 242.9 x 10.2mm (680g (Wi-Fi), 683g (5G)*)
* Weight may vary by market.
Camera
Rear
12MP (F1.8) Wide, Flash
Front
8MP (F2.0)
Memory & Storage*
6+128GB/8+256GB, microSD up to 2TB**
* Actual storage space availability may vary depending on pre-installed software and by market, file size and format.
** MicroSD card sold separately.
Processor
Snapdragon® 7s Gen 3 Mobile Platform* (4nm Octa-Core)
* Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Battery****
10,100mAh (typical)*, User Replaceable**, Dual Hot-Swap***
* Typical value tested under third-party laboratory conditions. Typical value is the estimated average value considering the deviation in battery capacity among the battery samples tested under IEC 61960 standards. Actual battery life may vary depending on network environment, usage patterns and other factors.
** Extra replaceable battery and POGO charging dock sold separately. In the case of extra replaceable batteries, only Samsung certified products are compatible for use.
*** Battery replacements are limited to one battery at a time. If a battery is removed while the device is turned on, the screen will be turned off, and certain features may be limited. After the battery is replaced, the screen will turn back on and all features will be reactivated.
**** Charger sold separately. Charger is included in select regions only, including North America, Europe and Latin America.
Connectivity**
5G (Sub6)*, LTE, Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth® v5.4, NFC (Front Tagging)
* 5G services are only supported in 5G network enabled locations. Requires optimal 5G connection.
** Actual speed may vary depending on market, carrier, content provider, and user environment.
SIM
Dual SIM (pSIM + eSIM*)
* Embedded SIM availability varies by market.
Interface
USB 3.2 Type-C, POGO Pin, 3.5mm Audio Jack
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyro, Geomagnetic, Hall, RGB Light, Proximity, Fingerprint
GPS*
GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, QZSS
* GNSS availability type may vary by market. Galileo and BeiDou coverage may be limited. BeiDou and QZSS may not be available for certain markets.
Ruggedised Durability
IP68*, MIL-STD-810H**, Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus®+, Tested for Sanitisers***
* IP6X: Dust penetration test (less than 50umx70um size) in dustproof chamber
* IPX8: submersion in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes** MIL-STD-810H: Testing against specific environmental conditions including altitude, humidity, immersion, salt fog, dust, vibration, drop, etc. MIL-STD-810H is a standardised form of testing designed by the US military to accurately assess device limitations. Real-world usage may vary by specific environmental conditions used in the testing. Extreme conditions not guaranteed. Test specifications vary by device.
*** Tested Sanitiser: Liquid Ethanol, Ethanol Cotton, Clorox(Chlorine bleach), Medilox HCIO
Sound
Dolby Atmos®, Stereo (2 Speakers)
Pen
S Pen (IP68*, Inbox)
* IP68 rating: Water and dust resistant based on lab test conditions for submersion in up to 1.5 meters of freshwater for up to 30 minutes. Rinse residue/dry after wet. Not advised for beach or pool use. Water and dust resistance of the S Pen is not permanent and may diminish over time because of normal wear and tear. Remove any excess water from the S Pen with a dry cloth or towel before using or attaching it to tablet.
Security
Samsung Knox with Samsung Knox Vault, eSE
Biometric Authentication
Face Recognition, Fingerprint
Programmable Key
Customisation via Active Key*
* Key mapping support may vary by app. Programmable keys limited to select functions.
*Specifications may vary by market.
*Functionality, features, specifications and other product information provided in this document including, but not limited to, the benefits, design, pricing, components, performance, availability, and capabilities of the product are subject to change without notice.
.
[1]Durability improvements are based on comparison with previous models (Galaxy XCover6 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro), with added testing for resistance to workplace sanitisers. Actual performance may vary depending on usage conditions and environmental factors.
[2]5G services are only supported in 5G network enabled locations. Requires optimal 5G connection. Actual speed may vary depending on market, carrier, content provider, and user environment.
[3]Extra replaceable battery and POGO charging dock sold separately. In the case of extra replaceable batteries, only Samsung certified products are compatible for use.
[4]Krebs, David. “2024 Mobile Hardware Dataset.” May 2024. Accessed March 25, 2025. https://www.vdcresearch.com/Coverage/emob/reports/24-Mobile-Hardware-Dataset.html.
[5]Resistant to dust and up to 1.5 metres of fresh water for up to 30 minutes (IP68). Rinse residue/dry after wet. Not advised for beach or pool use.
[6] MIL-STD-810H Certification: Testing against specific environmental conditions including altitude, humidity, immersion, salt fog, dust, vibration, drop, etc. MIL-STD-810H is a standardised form of testing designed by the US military to accurately assess device limitations. Real-world usage may vary by specific environmental conditions used in the testing. Extreme conditions not guaranteed. Test specifications vary by device.
[7]Touch sensitivity increases responsiveness for leather gloves thinner than 2mm or less in thickness, based on internal laboratory test results. Touch-responsiveness may vary depending on the material and thickness of gloves as well as other environmental conditions.
[8]Speaker improvements are based on comparison with the previous models (Galaxy XCover6 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro). Actual performance may vary depending on the environment and sound source.
[9]Walkie-talkie functionality requires a separate purchase of a compatible third-party solution. Availability may vary by region and provider.
[10] Battery life improvements are based on comparison with the previous models (Galaxy XCover6 Pro and Galaxy Tab Active4 Pro), which respectively featured 4,050mAh and 7,600mAh batteries. Actual battery life may vary depending on usage patterns and network environment
[11]POGO charging dock sold separately. Battery charging times may vary depending on charging power supported on charging cradle. Battery capacity and performance may diminish over time.
[12]No Battery Mode needs to be turned on and requires a dedicated USB Type-C power source accessory supporting 9V and 2.3A or above, and PD 2.0 or above. No Battery Mode limits device CPU performance when enabled and reduces maximum volume, display brightness, etc. when enabled.
[13]Knox Platform for POS requires separate solution integration and may require license purchase for use. Availability may vary by market, model or payment solution.
[14]Accessible on any app that does not block screenshots. Requires internet connection. Results may vary depending on visual or audio matches. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed.
[15]Results may vary based on the images and the object you’re trying to remove. Results may vary depending on shooting conditions including multiple subjects, being out of focus or moving subjects.
[16]Additional licenses may be required.
[17]Samsung Knox Vault hardware and/or software architecture may vary by model.
[17]Availability and launch timing may vary by region and market. -
MIL-OSI Africa: Secretary-General’s remarks to the Fourth Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent [as delivered]
Source: United Nations – English
e meet at a time of profound challenges – both old and new.
When current divides are growing.
And the legacies of colonialism and enslavement continue to poison our world.
We still bear witness to the scourge of racism, which blights lives and stains societies.
People of African descent continue to face injustice, exclusion, systemic discrimination and violence.
And even artificial intelligence, which holds such promise for humanity, too often mirrors and amplifies the same inequalities and racial biases that have plagued us for centuries.
Power is concentrated in the hands of the few.
And too many people, countries and communities remain unable to benefit from all that these technologies have to offer.
The Permanent Forum on People of African Descent was established to challenge these injustices.
To amplify the voices of people of African descent.
And to accelerate progress towards a world of dignity, justice and equality.
To accomplish this goal, we must push for action at every level:
A critical objective is the need for reparatory justice frameworks grounded in international human rights law.
Developed with the inclusive and meaningful participation of affected communities.
That acknowledges the terrible harms and injustices caused, and their continued manifestations and ramifications.
And that redresses past wrongs.
We need to eliminate bias from artificial intelligence, and to ensure that these technologies advance equality, inclusion and digital justice.
Including by delivering on the commitments in the Global Digital Compact agreed last year.
And by investing in capacity development to ensure people of African descent can shape, build and govern AI technologies.
And we must continue to address racism in all its forms – particularly where it is embedded in laws, policies and institutions.
All of us have a responsibility to play our part – international organizations, governments, businesses, and individuals.
And to drive action across this Second International Decade for People of African Descent.
In particular, I urge all countries to deliver on their commitments in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action – the blueprint for combatting racism, racial discrimination and intolerance.
Together, with courage and with determination – let us forge ahead toward a world where the human rights of people of African descent are fully respected, protected, and fulfilled.
I wish you a productive session.
Thank you.
-
MIL-OSI Global: Africa’s healthcare funding crisis: 3 strategies to manage deadly diseases
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Francisca Mutapi, Professor in Global Health Infection and Immunity. and co-Director of the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh
The increasing trend of reducing foreign aid to Africa is forcing the continent to reassess its approach to healthcare delivery.
African countries face a major challenge of dealing with high rates of communicable diseases, such as malaria and HIV/Aids, and rising levels of non-communicable diseases. But the continent’s health systems don’t have the resources to provide accessible and affordable healthcare to address these challenges.
Historically, aid has played a critical role in supporting African health systems. It has funded key areas, including medical research, treatment programmes, healthcare infrastructure and workforce salaries. In 2021, half of sub-Saharan Africa’s countries relied on external financing for more than one-third of their health expenditures.
As aid dwindles, a stark reality emerges: many African governments are unable to achieve universal health coverage or address rising healthcare costs.
The reduction in aid restricts healthcare services and threatens to reverse decades of health progress on the continent. A fundamental shift in healthcare strategy is necessary to address this crisis.
The well-known maxim that “prevention is better than cure” holds not just for health outcomes but also for economic efficiency. It’s much more affordable to prevent diseases than it is to treat them.
As an infectious diseases specialist, I have seen how preventable diseases can put a financial burden on health systems and households.
For instance, each year, there are global economic losses of over US$33 billion due to neglected tropical diseases. Many conditions, such as lymphatic filariasis, often require lifelong care. This places a heavy burden on families and stretches national healthcare systems to their limits.
African nations can cut healthcare costs through disease prevention. This often requires fewer specialist health workers and less expensive interventions.
To navigate financial constraints, African nations must rethink and redesign their healthcare systems.
Three key areas where cost-effective, preventive strategies can work are: improving water, sanitation, and hygiene; expanding vaccination programmes; and making non-communicable disease prevention part of community health services.
A shift in healthcare delivery
Improving water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure
Many diseases prevalent in Africa are transmitted through contact with contaminated water and soil. Investing in safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure is an opportunity. This alone can prevent a host of illnesses such as parasitic worms and diarrhoeal diseases. It can also improve infection control and strengthen epidemic and pandemic disease control.
Currently, WASH coverage in Africa remains inadequate. Millions are vulnerable to preventable illnesses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020 alone, about 510,000 deaths in Africa could have been prevented with improved water and sanitation. Of these, 377,000 deaths were caused by diarrhoeal diseases.
Unsafe WASH conditions also contribute to secondary health issues, such as under-nutrition and parasitic infections. Around 14% of acute respiratory infections and 10% of the undernutrition disease burden – such as stunting – are linked to unsafe WASH conditions.
By investing in functional WASH infrastructure, African governments can significantly reduce the incidence of these diseases. This will lead to lower healthcare costs and improved public health outcomes.
Local production of relevant vaccines
Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective health interventions available for preventing infection. Immunisation efforts save over four million lives every year across the continent.
There is an urgent need for vaccines against diseases prevalent in Africa whose current control is heavily reliant on aid. Neglected tropical diseases are among them.
Vaccines can also prevent some non-communicable diseases. A prime example is the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which can prevent up to 85% of cervical cancer cases in Africa.
HPV vaccination is also more cost-effective than treating cervical cancer. In some African countries, the cost per vaccine dose averages just under US$20. Treatment costs can reach up to US$2,500 per patient, as seen in Tanzania.
It is vital to invest in a comprehensive vaccine ecosystem. This includes strengthening local research and building innovation hubs. Regulatory bodies across the continent must also be harmonised and markets created to attract vaccine investment.
Integrating disease prevention into community healthcare services
Historically, African healthcare systems were designed to address communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV. This left them ill-equipped to handle the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. One cost-effective approach is to integrate the prevention and management of these diseases into existing community health programmes.
Community health workers currently provide low-cost interventions for health issues such as pneumonia and malaria. They can be trained to address non-communicable diseases as well.
In some countries, community health workers are already filling the service gap. Getting them more involved in prevention strategies will strengthen primary healthcare services in Africa. This investment will ultimately reduce the long-term financial burden of treating chronic diseases.
A treatment-over-prevention approach will not be affordable
Current estimates suggest that by 2030, an additional US$371 billion per year – roughly US$58 per person – will be required to provide basic primary healthcare services across Africa.
Adding to the challenge is the rising global cost of healthcare, projected to increase by 10.4% this year alone. This marks the third consecutive year of escalating costs. For Africa, costs also come from population growth and the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.
By shifting focus from treatment to prevention, African nations can make healthcare accessible, equitable and financially sustainable despite the decline in foreign aid.
Francisca Mutapi is affiliated with Uniting to Combat NTDs
– ref. Africa’s healthcare funding crisis: 3 strategies to manage deadly diseases – https://theconversation.com/africas-healthcare-funding-crisis-3-strategies-to-manage-deadly-diseases-253644
-
MIL-OSI Africa: Africa’s healthcare funding crisis: 3 strategies to manage deadly diseases
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Francisca Mutapi, Professor in Global Health Infection and Immunity. and co-Director of the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh
The increasing trend of reducing foreign aid to Africa is forcing the continent to reassess its approach to healthcare delivery.
African countries face a major challenge of dealing with high rates of communicable diseases, such as malaria and HIV/Aids, and rising levels of non-communicable diseases. But the continent’s health systems don’t have the resources to provide accessible and affordable healthcare to address these challenges.
Historically, aid has played a critical role in supporting African health systems. It has funded key areas, including medical research, treatment programmes, healthcare infrastructure and workforce salaries. In 2021, half of sub-Saharan Africa’s countries relied on external financing for more than one-third of their health expenditures.
As aid dwindles, a stark reality emerges: many African governments are unable to achieve universal health coverage or address rising healthcare costs.
The reduction in aid restricts healthcare services and threatens to reverse decades of health progress on the continent. A fundamental shift in healthcare strategy is necessary to address this crisis.
The well-known maxim that “prevention is better than cure” holds not just for health outcomes but also for economic efficiency. It’s much more affordable to prevent diseases than it is to treat them.
As an infectious diseases specialist, I have seen how preventable diseases can put a financial burden on health systems and households.
For instance, each year, there are global economic losses of over US$33 billion due to neglected tropical diseases. Many conditions, such as lymphatic filariasis, often require lifelong care. This places a heavy burden on families and stretches national healthcare systems to their limits.
African nations can cut healthcare costs through disease prevention. This often requires fewer specialist health workers and less expensive interventions.
To navigate financial constraints, African nations must rethink and redesign their healthcare systems.
Three key areas where cost-effective, preventive strategies can work are: improving water, sanitation, and hygiene; expanding vaccination programmes; and making non-communicable disease prevention part of community health services.
A shift in healthcare delivery
Improving water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure
Many diseases prevalent in Africa are transmitted through contact with contaminated water and soil. Investing in safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure is an opportunity. This alone can prevent a host of illnesses such as parasitic worms and diarrhoeal diseases. It can also improve infection control and strengthen epidemic and pandemic disease control.
Currently, WASH coverage in Africa remains inadequate. Millions are vulnerable to preventable illnesses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2020 alone, about 510,000 deaths in Africa could have been prevented with improved water and sanitation. Of these, 377,000 deaths were caused by diarrhoeal diseases.
Unsafe WASH conditions also contribute to secondary health issues, such as under-nutrition and parasitic infections. Around 14% of acute respiratory infections and 10% of the undernutrition disease burden – such as stunting – are linked to unsafe WASH conditions.
By investing in functional WASH infrastructure, African governments can significantly reduce the incidence of these diseases. This will lead to lower healthcare costs and improved public health outcomes.
Local production of relevant vaccines
Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective health interventions available for preventing infection. Immunisation efforts save over four million lives every year across the continent.
There is an urgent need for vaccines against diseases prevalent in Africa whose current control is heavily reliant on aid. Neglected tropical diseases are among them.
Vaccines can also prevent some non-communicable diseases. A prime example is the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which can prevent up to 85% of cervical cancer cases in Africa.
HPV vaccination is also more cost-effective than treating cervical cancer. In some African countries, the cost per vaccine dose averages just under US$20. Treatment costs can reach up to US$2,500 per patient, as seen in Tanzania.
It is vital to invest in a comprehensive vaccine ecosystem. This includes strengthening local research and building innovation hubs. Regulatory bodies across the continent must also be harmonised and markets created to attract vaccine investment.
Integrating disease prevention into community healthcare services
Historically, African healthcare systems were designed to address communicable diseases, such as tuberculosis and HIV. This left them ill-equipped to handle the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. One cost-effective approach is to integrate the prevention and management of these diseases into existing community health programmes.
Community health workers currently provide low-cost interventions for health issues such as pneumonia and malaria. They can be trained to address non-communicable diseases as well.
In some countries, community health workers are already filling the service gap. Getting them more involved in prevention strategies will strengthen primary healthcare services in Africa. This investment will ultimately reduce the long-term financial burden of treating chronic diseases.
A treatment-over-prevention approach will not be affordable
Current estimates suggest that by 2030, an additional US$371 billion per year – roughly US$58 per person – will be required to provide basic primary healthcare services across Africa.
Adding to the challenge is the rising global cost of healthcare, projected to increase by 10.4% this year alone. This marks the third consecutive year of escalating costs. For Africa, costs also come from population growth and the rising burden of non-communicable diseases.
By shifting focus from treatment to prevention, African nations can make healthcare accessible, equitable and financially sustainable despite the decline in foreign aid.
– Africa’s healthcare funding crisis: 3 strategies to manage deadly diseases
– https://theconversation.com/africas-healthcare-funding-crisis-3-strategies-to-manage-deadly-diseases-253644 -
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: International Summit on the Future of Energy Security Partners
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press releaseInternational Summit on the Future of Energy Security Partners
Government welcomes Official Partners of International Summit on the Future of Energy Security.
-
The Official Partners sponsoring the International Energy Agency and UK Government’s energy security summit are Iberdrola/ScottishPower, National Grid, SSE and Urenco
-
Ministers and industry leaders from around the world will gather in London in April to discuss the future of energy security
-
Summit will be hosted by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and International Energy Agency Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol
The government has today (Monday 14 April) announced the four Official Partners sponsoring the upcoming summit marking a new era for energy security.
Energy ministers and key energy sector decision makers from around the world will convene at the UK Government and International Energy Agency’s Summit on the Future of Energy Security, co-hosted by the Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol, at Lancaster House, London, on 24-25 April.
Sponsorship from Iberdrola/ScottishPower, National Grid, SSE and Urenco will help deliver the summit at a lower cost to UK taxpayers and demonstrates their ongoing commitment to delivering clean energy and energy security in the UK and around the world.
In recent years, energy security has risen up the global agenda as countries act to respond to today’s challenges and protect themselves from future energy shocks. The summit is an opportunity to cooperate on rising to the challenges the world faces on energy security and seizing the opportunities to act. It comes as the UK sets a global example by accelerating to a new era of clean electricity by 2030.
The Official Partners
Iberdrola/ScottishPower
Iberdrola is the largest utility in Europe, with a market capitalization of £85 billion, and serves 100 million people worldwide thanks to a diversified portfolio of businesses across the electricity value chain in the UK, the US, Spain, France, Germany, Brazil and Australia. In the UK, Iberdrola is investing £24 billion up to 2028 through ScottishPower, mainly in transmission and distribution networks and offshore wind. Overall, the Group is dedicating around 70% of its investments to power networks to accelerate electrification as a way to increase energy security and competitiveness, create new industries and jobs, and improve sustainability. Around two thirds of Iberdrola’s global investments are allocated to the UK and to the US
Iberdrola Executive Chairman Ignacio Galán said:
Energy security is the first step towards overall security. Digitalization, big data, AI and the industries of the future rely on a secure power supply, driving demand growth not seen for decades, and network infrastructures are the backbone of a resilient power system. Driven by the UK Government’s clear and stable energy policies, Iberdrola is investing £24 billion to 2028 in the UK in transmission, distribution and offshore wind to guarantee energy security, growth and competitiveness. We welcome the IEA and UK Government bringing together key policy makers and energy companies to analyse how best to enhance energy security globally.
National Grid
National Grid is investing £60 billion in energy networks over the next five years in the UK and the northeastern United States. This represents nearly double the investment of the previous five years. Its commitment will unlock significant economic growth, create thousands of new jobs, reduce energy bills in the long term, increase energy security, and support an increasingly decarbonised, electrified economy.
National Grid Chief Executive Officer John Pettigrew said:
National Grid is investing £60 billion in energy networks to 2029, boosting energy security, driving economic growth, and supporting 60,000 more jobs across the UK and US. Innovation and investment will be essential to unlocking the benefits of the energy transformation for customers and communities; it is essential that events like this exist to enable the sector to collaborate and drive progress forwards.
SSE
SSE is a UK-listed and headquartered company investing £20 billion over five years to 2027 in renewable energy, electricity networks, and flexible power generation. Harnessing some of Europe’s best renewable resources with projects like Dogger Bank – the world’s largest offshore wind farm – SSE generates homegrown clean energy, protecting billpayers from overdependence on imported fossil fuels. It also builds and operate vital transmission and distribution grids to connect and transport more secure power to homes and businesses. At the same time, through its fleet of flexible generation and storage assets across hydro, batteries and efficient gas-fired power stations, it provides the balance required to ensure an increasingly renewable energy system is not only cleaner but more secure.
SSE Chief Executive Officer Alistair Phillips-Davies said:
It has never been clearer that energy security equates to national security – and achieving it requires countries to focus both on developing their own homegrown energy sources and on international cooperation to ensure increased flexibility and resilience. This principle is at the heart of the UK Government’s Clean Power Mission, and we are proud to be playing our part in delivering mission-critical investments across renewables, networks, and system flexibility. But there is more we can and must do, and we are therefore thrilled to be partnering with the UK Government and the IEA to advance this crucial agenda.
Urenco
Urenco is a global uranium enrichment company, fuelling nuclear power plants to ensure a secure, reliable, and low carbon supply of energy. With four facilities in different countries within the Western world, it is providing customers with choice of where to receive their supply from and are rapidly ramping up capacity to meet increased demand.
Urenco Chief Executive Officer Boris Schucht said:
There are now well-established drivers for an enhanced role of nuclear power: the need to meet climate change goals; and the need for countries to have a secure and independent energy supply. As a long-standing and integral part of the global nuclear industry, Urenco sees it as our responsibility to make a valuable contribution to meeting world-wide energy needs, complementing other low carbon sources through a 24/7 supply which is cost effective over the lifetime of a reactor. We will continue to collaborate with partners across the energy sector and beyond to help ensure the reliable, clean energy system our world needs are achieved.
Updates to this page
Published 14 April 2025 -
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MIL-OSI: Intelligent Product Solutions Joins Zebra Technologies’ PartnerConnect Program
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Intelligent Product Solutions (IPS), an award-winning product design and engineering firm specializing in complex systems integration and custom software development, today announced its participation in the award-winning Zebra®PartnerConnect program. Zebra Technologies Corporation is a global leader in digitizing and automating frontline workflows. IPS joins as a Registered Alliance Partner, focusing on software solutions development, systems integration, and end-to-end process design.
By participating in Zebra’s PartnerConnect program, IPS gains access to an innovative portfolio, along with comprehensive training and extensive marketing, sales and technical benefits. IPS chose to join Zebra’s PartnerConnect program for access to Zebra’s development resources and go-to-market support, while expanding collaboration opportunities within the Zebra ecosystem.
“As a PartnerConnect member, IPS now has access to industry-leading solutions, training and tools that will allow us to collaborate with Zebra’s global partner network and better meet the needs of our customers,” said Bob Wild, CEO of IPS. “The PartnerConnect program makes it easier for us to differentiate ourselves while working together with Zebra to digitize and automate the frontline of business.”
The Zebra PartnerConnect program is designed to evolve the best of Zebra’s inclusive channel ecosystem, addressing the needs of distributors, resellers, solution partners, independent software vendors (ISVs), systems integrators (SIs), and technology alliance partners, providing opportunities for growth and meeting customer and market demands.
About Intelligent Product Solutions
Intelligent Product Solutions (IPS), a subsidiary of Forward Industries (NASDAQ: FORD), is an award-winning global product design and development company with headquarters in New York. IPS offers a full range of expert product design and engineering services, with expertise in MedTech and wearable technology solutions. Its clients are among the leading brands in consumer electronics and medical devices, including Neuvotion, Google, Verizon, Zebra Technologies and Steinway. To learn more about IPS, visit https://intelligentproduct.solutions or contact info@ips-yes.com. Visit IPS on social media:https://www.linkedin.com/company/intelligent-product-solutions/
For more media information, contact:
Lisa Hendrickson, LCH Communications for IPS
Lisa@lchcommunications.com
516-643-1642 -
MIL-OSI: EXL named a Leader and a Star Performer in Everest Group’s 2025 Life and Annuities Insurance BPS and TPA PEAK Matrix® Assessment
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
NEW YORK, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS), a global data and AI company, announced it has been named a Leader and a Star Performer in Everest Group’s Life and Annuities (L&A) Insurance Business Process Services (BPS) and Third-Party Administrator (TPA) PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025.
This is the second consecutive year that EXL has earned this distinction. Everest Group cites EXL’s digital integration of analytics and AI solutions, robust engagement models, and in-house domain expertise as key to its market success.
“EXL has demonstrated growth in the L&A Insurance BPS and TPA market, driven by its digital transformation-led strategy and flexible engagement models, including BPaaS and TPA constructs. This approach has reinforced EXL as a partner of choice for enterprises,” said Sahil Chaudhary, practice director, Everest Group. “EXL continues to invest in upskilling and talent development through in-house microlearning programs on emerging technologies and industry certifications. Collectively, these efforts have positioned it as a Leader and Star Performer in the Everest Group L&A Insurance BPS and TPA PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025.”
Each year, Everest Group presents detailed assessments of L&A insurance BPS and TPA providers. This year’s assessment includes 24 companies. Firms are evaluated based on their vision, capabilities, and market impact. Researchers determine an organization’s positioning based on Everest Group’s annual RFI process, interactions with leading L&A insurance BPS and TPA providers, client reference checks, and ongoing analysis of the industry market.
“As the L&A insurance industry undergoes yet another transformation, insurers are grappling with ways to break away from legacy systems and improve operational efficiency,” said Vivek Jetley, president and head of insurance and healthcare and life sciences, EXL. “At EXL, we are proud to be accelerating the adoption of intelligent automation into our clients’ existing service offerings, including actuarial services, claims management, underwriting, and policy administration, to create more efficient, value-driven decisioning.”
To read more about Everest Group’s L&A Insurance BPS and TPA PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2025, click here. For more information about EXL’s solutions for the insurance industry, click here.
Disclaimer
Licensed extracts taken from Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® Reports, may be used by licensed third parties for use in their own marketing and promotional activities and collateral. Selected extracts from Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® reports do not necessarily provide the full context of our research and analysis. All research and analysis conducted by Everest Group’s analysts and included in Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® reports is independent and no organization has paid a fee to be featured or to influence their ranking. To access the complete research and to learn more about our methodology, please visit Everest Group PEAK Matrix® Reports.
About EXL
EXL (NASDAQ: EXLS) is a global data and AI company that offers services and solutions to reinvent client business models, drive better outcomes and unlock growth with speed. EXL harnesses the power of data, AI, and deep industry knowledge to transform businesses, including the world’s leading corporations in industries including insurance, healthcare, banking and capital markets, retail, communications and media, and energy and infrastructure, among others. EXL was founded in 1999 with the core values of innovation, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect. We are headquartered in New York and have approximately 59,000 employees spanning six continents. For more information, visit www.exlservice.com.
About Everest Group
Everest Group is a leading global research firm helping business leaders make confident decisions. Everest Group’s PEAK Matrix® assessments provide the analysis and insights enterprises need to make critical selection decisions about global services providers, locations, and products and solutions within various market segments. Likewise, providers of these services, products, and solutions, look to the PEAK Matrix® to gauge and calibrate their offerings against others in the industry or market. Find further details and in-depth content at www.everestgrp.com.Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous uncertainties and factors relating to EXL’s operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond EXL’s control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning EXL’s possible or assumed future results of operations, including descriptions of its business strategy. These statements may include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate” or similar expressions. These statements are based on assumptions that we have made in light of management’s experience in the industry as well as its perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors it believes are appropriate under the circumstances. You should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Although EXL believes that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, you should be aware that many factors could affect EXL’s actual financial results or results of operations and could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors, which include our ability to maintain and grow client demand, our ability to hire and retain sufficiently trained employees, and our ability to accurately estimate and/or manage costs, rising interest rates, rising inflation and recessionary economic trends, are discussed in more detail in EXL’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including EXL’s Annual Report on Form 10-K. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made herein, or elsewhere, speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible to predict these events or how they may affect EXL. EXL has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws.
Contacts
Media
Keith Little
+1 703-598-0980
media.relations@exlservice.comInvestor Relations
John Kristoff
+1 212 209 4613
IR@exlservice.com -
MIL-OSI: Scality makes 2025 CRN® Storage 100 list
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced that it has again been named to CRN®’s prestigious annual Storage 100 list, earning recognition among the top 50 Software-Defined Storage vendors by The Channel Company.
The honor reflects the company’s continued success delivering world-class storage software that meets the evolving needs of its 400-plus channel partners and their customers. In addition to driving enterprise sales with Scality’s flagship RING S3 object storage software, partners have expanded their revenue streams with ARTESCA, which offers a lower cost of entry for mid-sized businesses, empowering partners to increase sales volume and to service more clients.
Scality’s 100-percent partner-driven go-to-market strategy yielded a record-breaking 60 percent of sales generated by VARs in 2024. With the recently unveiled ARTESCA pay-as-you-go Veeam® Backup-as-a-Service offering, Scality continues to offer a variety of price points and delivery models for partners looking to offer customers immutable, cyber-resilient object storage solutions with unlimited scale and no performance degradation.
“Our partners have the resources needed to optimize our best-in-class storage software. More than 1,000 Scality-certified specialists help create new revenue streams and grow existing ones,” said Eric LeBlanc, GM, ARTESCA and Channel Chief at Scality. “We empower our channel partners to capitalize on the burgeoning demand for scalable, secure and ransomware-protected storage solutions and help cement their status as trusted advisors.”
“We’re pleased to highlight the companies on the Storage 100 list for their commitment to working hand in hand with the channel to deliver transformational storage solutions,” said Jennifer Follett, VP, U.S. Content and Executive Editor, CRN, at The Channel Company. “These technology vendors consistently prioritize meaningful storage innovation and evolving partner strategies that advance success for all parts of the channel ecosystem.”
About Scality
Scality solves organizations’ biggest data storage challenges — growth, security, performance and cost. Designed for end-to-end cyber resilience, only Scality S3 object storage with CORE5 safeguards data at every level of the system, from API to architecture. Its patented MultiScale Architecture enables limitless, independent scalability in all critical dimensions to meet the unpredictable demands of modern workloads. The world’s most discerning companies depend on Scality to accelerate high-performance AI initiatives, optimize cloud deployments and defend their data with confidence. Recognized as a leader by Gartner, Scality software is reliable, secure and sustainable. Follow us on LinkedIn. Visit www.scality.com and our blog.Media Contact:
Jon Lavietes
A3 Communications
+1 415-572-4408
jon.lavietes@a3communicationspr.comA photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2fa17e16-ffc6-4016-b826-e17f68169905
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MIL-OSI Global: ‘Cross-border commuters’: the women who risk the dangerous crossing between Venezuela and Colombia each day
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Valentina Montoya Robledo, Senior Researcher in Gender and Mobility, University of Oxford
Many people cross the border between Venezuela and Colombia each day – but they are not migrants. These people live on the Venezuelan side because they cannot afford rent or utilities in Colombia.
The vast majority are women, many of whom are single mothers solely responsible for their children’s subsistence and care. They cross the border on foot, often with their children, because it is their only option for survival.
High inflation in Venezuela has made many staples unaffordable, while many other essential items are either unavailable or poor quality. But rent is cheaper in their home country, so they are known as “cross-border commuters”.
Because they are moving within the border zone, the law does not require them to have their passports stamped each time. On the Colombian side, they buy goods – products that are cheaper there — to sell in Venezuela. They find ingredients to make cakes and pastries, or hair dye for their clients. Others cross to attend the doctor or give birth.
Some women take their children to school in Colombia. In Venezuela, public schools currently operate only two days a week, while across the border they run for the full five-day school week and welcome children from Venezuela. Some women used to take their little ones to nursery in Colombia – but not any more, since the recent USAID cuts removed funding for these nurseries.
In the few hours without their children, the women find work in Colombia’s “gig economy”: recycling garbage, selling coffee, standing at traffic lights selling fried plantains, or even their bodies.
When I asked a public official in the Colombian border city of Cúcuta about the women coming in from Venezuela each day, he told me: “The good ones cross over the bridge [legally], and the bad ones go underneath [bypassing border controls].”
In fact, what brings these women into Colombia, and which route they use to arrive each day, is much more nuanced than that official suggests.
Neither government understands
Despite the Colombian government having set up education, health and employment programs for receiving and including Venezuelan migrants, these women are not traditional migrants. Neither government has much understanding of what it means for them to seek a livelihood in Colombia to survive and support their children.
For the most part, neither government maintains updated statistics on how many women there are, the circumstances they face, why they cross over or under the bridge, the reasons or characteristics of their movements, and why they do not settle permanently in Colombia. These questions, among others, are what I have set out to research.
Some women walk back and forth across one of the bridges over the Tachira river, which runs along the border between the two countries. Others, when returning to Venezuela carrying bundles of goods, cross on motorcycle taxis.
But crossing the bridge is not always easy. Some women report that Venezuelan border guards search their bags and confiscate part of what they carry. Other times, they must pay – not just official taxes but bribes too.
One woman told me how a guard asked for guava-paste sweets in exchange for letting her pass. Depending on the day and which guards are patrolling the crossing, often they have to present a legally required exit permit for their children, signed by the father. “What father? That man abandoned me when my child was born, and I haven’t heard from him since,” one woman told me.
Without a permit, legally crossing the border into Colombia with their children becomes almost impossible. And there is no authority they can turn to for help.
Under the bridge
Then there are those who cross under the bridge every day, because they dare not risk being asked for a permit for their children.
The Tachira river dries up and swells depending on the season, with multiple informal crossings known locally as “trochas”. When the river is low, people walk across on logs placed like makeshift bridges, or hop from stone to stone. When the water rises, they use small, self-built rafts.
These crossings may be informal, but they can also be very dangerous. The women told me of clashes between armed groups on both sides of the river – some of them had been caught in the crossfire with their children in tow.
Others described cases of sexual violence. They were particularly afraid for their daughters, because one of the men guarding the trocha may “set his sights on them” – meaning he might take a sexual interest.
One woman told me cell phones are not allowed by the people who guard the trochas – who supposedly guarantee their safety. It adds to their sense of vulnerability. People generally pay to cross – if not with money then with their bodies. These are the unspoken rules of these pathways.
As a result, every day the women fear for their safety and that of their children. But if something happens to them in the trochas, they mistrust the government and fear reporting these crimes.
The women are vulnerable. They are neither “good” for crossing over the bridge, nor “bad” for crossing under it. Most make the decision on a day-to-day basis depending on their resources and time available, the papers they have, the goods they need to carry, and what they consider best for their children.
As they say in Colombia, for these mothers “each day brings its own hustle”.
Valentina Montoya Robledo receives funding from the John Fell Fund from the University of Oxford. She directs the transmedia project Invisible Commutes.
– ref. ‘Cross-border commuters’: the women who risk the dangerous crossing between Venezuela and Colombia each day – https://theconversation.com/cross-border-commuters-the-women-who-risk-the-dangerous-crossing-between-venezuela-and-colombia-each-day-253552
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MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Internet summit opens in HK
Source: Hong Kong Information Services
The World Internet Conference Asia-Pacific Summit opened today, where Chief Executive John Lee met its guest speakers and delivered remarks.
Under the theme “Integration of AI & Digital Technologies Shaping the Future – Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace”, the two-day summit is expected to attract nearly 1,000 local and overseas participants from governments, political and business sectors, international organisations, the management of leading corporations, authoritative experts and scholars.
Participants will engage in in-depth exchanges on various technological areas, promoting the high-quality development of innovation and technology.
At the summit’s opening ceremony this morning, National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Vice-Chairman Wang Yong and Mr Lee delivered their remarks, while Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) Director and World Internet Conference (WIC) Chairman Zhuang Rongwen gave a keynote speech.
Meeting Mr Wang this morning, the Chief Executive noted that the third session of the 14th National People’s Congress was successfully convened in Beijing last month. A Government work report proposed to develop new quality productive forces in light of local conditions and pursue integrated advancements in technological and industrial innovation.
He said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is actively developing new quality productive forces and new industrialisation initiatives, with the innovation and technology industry expected to achieve high-quality development. It is also accelerating the development of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science & Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, striving to develop Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology centre.
Hong Kong will continue to leverage its advantages in connecting the Mainland with the world, further deepening international exchanges and co-operation, and exploring new opportunities in innovation and technology.
In the afternoon, Mr Lee met Mr Zhuang, expressing his gratitude to the CAC for its continued support to the Hong Kong SAR Government and its collaboration with the Innovation, Technology & Industry Bureau in promoting cross-border data flows within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Highlighting that data is a key driving force of innovation and high-quality development, Mr Lee said the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to maintain close communication and co-operation with the CAC to facilitate Hong Kong’s active integration into the national data development and the digital economy development in the GBA.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan and Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong also spoke at the summit.
It is the first time the WIC has held a summit in Hong Kong, affirming the city’s status as an international metropolis and demonstrating its support for Hong Kong’s innovation and technology development.
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MIL-OSI Russia: The GUU team took silver at the DATA Hackathon
Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –
Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –
The team of the State University of Management received a second-degree diploma at the student DATA Hackathon, which was held in person on April 11-12, 2025 in Moscow. The guys had previously passed the correspondence stage of selection.
In 2025, 19 teams from various regions of Russia competed for victory.
The State University of Management was represented by students of the Applied Mathematics and Informatics and Applied Informatics training programs of the 2nd and 4th years of the Institute of Information Systems. The team was given the symbolic name “GUUCoders”.
Students Ilya Potalainen, Klim Kartashov, Daria Osadina, Karina Ruzieva, Yuri Polyakov and their supervisor, Associate Professor of the Department of Mathematical Methods in Economics and Management Inna Kramarenko, spent two days developing and presenting a solution to a problem from the General Partner of the Hackathon, Arenadata – “Development of an analytical application to improve the efficiency of logistics in retail”.
The expert jury included representatives of large companies, including the CEO of JSC Innocifra Sergey Myasnikov, the CEO of OOO Fabrika Datnykh Alexey Nikulin, the team leader of Loginom Nikolay Paklin, the director of work with universities at Arenadata Igor Petrov and the development director of JSC Neyroseti Olga Tomuk.
At the Hackathon, the guys gained tremendous experience in solving practical problems on real datasets and demonstrated their mastery of using big data and artificial intelligence technologies.
We congratulate the students and their supervisor on their worthy results and wish them further victories!
Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/14/2025
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
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MIL-OSI Global: We need to stop pretending AI is intelligent – here’s how
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, Bangor University
We are constantly fed a version of AI that looks, sounds and acts suspiciously like us. It speaks in polished sentences, mimics emotions, expresses curiosity, claims to feel compassion, even dabbles in what it calls creativity.
But here’s the truth: it possesses none of those qualities. It is not human. And presenting it as if it were? That’s dangerous. Because it’s convincing. And nothing is more dangerous than a convincing illusion.
In particular, general artificial intelligence — the mythical kind of AI that supposedly mirrors human thought — is still science fiction, and it might well stay that way.
What we call AI today is nothing more than a statistical machine: a digital parrot regurgitating patterns mined from oceans of human data (the situation hasn’t changed much since it was discussed here five years ago). When it writes an answer to a question, it literally just guesses which letter and word will come next in a sequence – based on the data it’s been trained on.
This means AI has no understanding. No consciousness. No knowledge in any real, human sense. Just pure probability-driven, engineered brilliance — nothing more, and nothing less.
So why is a real “thinking” AI likely impossible? Because it’s bodiless. It has no senses, no flesh, no nerves, no pain, no pleasure. It doesn’t hunger, desire or fear. And because there is no cognition — not a shred — there’s a fundamental gap between the data it consumes (data born out of human feelings and experience) and what it can do with them.
Philosopher David Chalmers calls the mysterious mechanism underlying the relationship between our physical body and consciousness the “hard problem of consciousness”. Eminent scientists have recently hypothesised that consciousness actually emerges from the integration of internal, mental states with sensory representations (such as changes in heart rate, sweating and much more).
Given the paramount importance of the human senses and emotion for consciousness to “happen”, there is a profound and probably irreconcilable disconnect between general AI, the machine, and consciousness, a human phenomenon.
The master
Before you argue that AI programmers are human, let me stop you there. I know they’re human. That’s part of the problem. Would you entrust your deepest secrets, life decisions, emotional turmoil, to a computer programmer? Yet that’s exactly what people are doing — just ask Claude, GPT-4.5, Gemini … or, if you dare, Grok.
Giving AI a human face, voice or tone is a dangerous act of digital cross-dressing. It triggers an automatic response in us, an anthropomorphic reflex, leading to aberrant claims whereby some AIs are said to have passed the famous Turing test (which tests a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent, human-like behaiour). But I believe that if AIs are passing the Turing test, we need to update the test.
The AI machine has no idea what it means to be human. It cannot offer genuine compassion, it cannot foresee your suffering, cannot intuit hidden motives or lies. It has no taste, no instinct, no inner compass. It is bereft of all the messy, charming complexity that makes us who we are.
More troubling still: AI has no goals of its own, no desires or ethics unless injected into its code. That means the true danger doesn’t lie in the machine, but in its master — the programmer, the corporation, the government. Still feel safe?
And please, don’t come at me with: “You’re too harsh! You’re not open to the possibilities!” Or worse: “That’s such a bleak view. My AI buddy calms me down when I’m anxious.”
Am I lacking enthusiasm? Hardly. I use AI every day. It’s the most powerful tool I’ve ever had. I can translate, summarise, visualise, code, debug, explore alternatives, analyse data — faster and better than I could ever dream to do it myself.
I’m in awe. But it is still a tool — nothing more, nothing less. And like every tool humans have ever invented, from stone axes and slingshots to quantum computing and atomic bombs, it can be used as a weapon. It will be used as a weapon.
Need a visual? Imagine falling in love with an intoxicating AI, like in the film Her. Now imagine it “decides” to leave you. What would you do to stop it? And to be clear: it won’t be the AI rejecting you. It’ll be the human or system behind it, wielding that tool become weapon to control your behaviour.
Removing the mask
So where am I going with this? We must stop giving AI human traits. My first interaction with GPT-3 rather seriously annoyed me. It pretended to be a person. It said it had feelings, ambitions, even consciousness.
That’s no longer the default behaviour, thankfully. But the style of interaction — the eerily natural flow of conversation — remains intact. And that, too, is convincing. Too convincing.
We need to de-anthropomorphise AI. Now. Strip it of its human mask. This should be easy. Companies could remove all reference to emotion, judgement or cognitive processing on the part of the AI. In particular, it should respond factually without ever saying “I”, or “I feel that”… or “I am curious”.
Will it happen? I doubt it. It reminds me of another warning we’ve ignored for over 20 years: “We need to cut CO₂ emissions.” Look where that got us. But we must warn big tech companies of the dangers associated with the humanisation of AIs. They are unlikely to play ball, but they should, especially if they are serious about developing more ethical AIs.
For now, this is what I do (because I too often get this eerie feeling that I am talking to a synthetic human when using ChatGPT or Claude): I instruct my AI not to address me by name. I ask it to call itself AI, to speak in the third person, and to avoid emotional or cognitive terms.
If I am using voice chat, I ask the AI to use a flat prosody and speak a bit like a robot. It is actually quite fun and keeps us both in our comfort zone.
Guillaume Thierry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. We need to stop pretending AI is intelligent – here’s how – https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-stop-pretending-ai-is-intelligent-heres-how-254090
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MIL-OSI China: Local guides hold the untranslatable edge in China’s tourism boom
Source: China State Council Information Office 2
Dan Niu, once confined to a cubicle crunching numbers at a Shanghai bank, now spends weekdays cycling through the city’s alleyways, leading foreign tourists past steamed bun stalls and hidden galleries tucked off the beaten path.
“On our rides, we can stop anytime to chat with locals at breakfast spots or dance with retirees in public squares,” said Dan, whose cycling tours offer international travelers a half-day glimpse into everyday Shanghai, far from the usual tourist trail.
Dan’s career shift reflects the boom in “China travel,” partly fueled by the continuous optimization of visa-free policies. To date, China has introduced unilateral visa-free policies for 38 countries, and implemented 240-hour transit visa-free arrangements for 54 countries.
The impact has been striking. More than 20 million visa-free inbound trips were recorded in 2024, a 112.3 percent increase year-on-year, according to the National Immigration Administration.
This inbound tourism boom has opened up opportunities for people with foreign language skills like Dan.
GZL International Travel Service in Guangdong Province, south China, has expanded its multilingual guide team to around 30 people, including 14 new team members hired since late 2023, with English-speaking guides remaining the most sought-after.
In an era of AI-powered instant translation, a tourist may travel to any foreign country without the need for a human translator. However, human connection remains highly valued. After all, while technology can translate, it cannot guide. The warmth of a smile and the bond forged in a shared moment still require a human touch.
“What we’re seeing goes far beyond language assistance,” said Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Shanghai-based travel agency Spring Tour. Since the relaxation of visa policies, the agency has witnessed a growing influx of European and American tourists seeking immersive cultural experiences that standard itineraries often overlook.
To meet this demand, the agency has included the 2025 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in its tour packages, offering international visitors an exclusive combination of race event access and carefully curated Shanghai city experiences.
Xu Junjie, a Japanese-speaking guide, has also observed a growing trend in demand for culturally distinctive experiences.
“Alongside classic tours, visitors are increasingly drawn to quintessentially Chinese activities like tai chi and calligraphy,” Xu said. “Some even request tours of filming locations inspired by Chinese TV dramas.”
Zhao Da, a Spanish-speaking guide, said Spanish tourist visitors tend to have different priorities. “Spanish tourists are captivated by China’s natural landscapes, with river cruises being their favorite,” Zhao told Xinhua. “Equally important is shopping for unique Chinese-style fashion items.”
Even for the tourists from the same region, their interests can vary with their ages. Chen Junjun, an English-speaking guide in Shanghai, observed that elderly European tourists seek historical experience delivered with nostalgic warmth, while Gen Z travelers crave urban explorations, including the city’s hidden food gems and vibrant street culture. Therefore, Chen tailors itineraries to suit generational preferences.
Xu Kai, another English-speaking tour guide, has seen a noticeable rise in visitors from South America. He also noticed that this year’s inbound tourism season started earlier than last year.
Specializing in high-end travel, Xu curates personalized itineraries that offer visitors access to lesser-known, authentic experiences.
“What surprises most guests is how different China is from what they expected,” Xu told Xinhua. “I often hear things like, ‘This isn’t what we imagined at all,’ or ‘seeing is believing.’”
Though consulting tourist agencies remains a choice for many foreign travelers, popular Chinese social media platforms have become a thriving market where tourists discover potential tour guides. This is how Yami, a Russian-language graduate student, finds clients.
Living in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, home of pandas and spicy hotpot, Yami obtained a tour guide certification in early 2024 and began offering services through Xiaohongshu, or rednote, a popular Chinese social media app.
Yami receives a flood of inquiries through rednote. In the second half of 2024 alone, Yami led 16 Russian tour groups, and the schedule is already fully booked through June this year.
For Yami, guiding is more than just a paycheck. “Through daily interactions, I learn about my guests’ lives back home. It feels like a study-abroad experience, with international visitors bringing the world to me,” Yami said. -
MIL-OSI USA: NSF launches new sexual assault crisis helpline for research community
Source: US Government research organizations
The U.S. National Science Foundation today launched a 24/7 crisis intervention helpline for members of the NSF research community who have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment, or stalking.
The NSF Safer Science Helpline is an anonymous and secure helpline available to NSF awardees, grantees, scientists, contractors and those affiliated with supporting the mission of NSF, including all those supporting NSF’s mission throughout Antarctica and the Arctic.
“NSF is committed to ensuring a culture free from sexual assault, sexual harassment and stalking,” said Renée V. Ferranti, special assistant to the director for NSF Sexual Assault and Harassment Prevention and Response Program Office (NSF SAHPR). “The NSF Safer Science Helpline will give members of the NSF research community a safe way to access support and resources and help foster an environment free from sexual violence.”
Helpline support specialists provide live, confidential, one-on-one crisis intervention and emotional support, as well as information for reporting channels and helping connect victims of sexual harm to additional support resources.
Victims and survivors can access resources through phone, online chat and SMS text support mechanisms. All services are anonymous and secure, providing NSF community members with the help they need, anytime, anywhere. Services are trauma-informed and survivor-centered, aligning with NSF’s goals of ensuring confidentiality, safety and comprehensive care for victims and survivors.
Individuals can access the NSF Safer Science Helpline in the following ways:
Phone number: 833-673-1733
Number to text: 202-932-7569
To chat or to find other resources available: NSFSaferScienceHelpline.orgThe NSF SAHPR launched the NSF Safer Science Helpline, operated by RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization.
For information about the NSF SAHPR visit nsf.gov.
For questions about the NSF Safer Science Helpline email saferscience@nsf.gov. -
MIL-OSI: Varonis at RSAC 2025: Automating Data Security for the AI Era
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
MIAMI, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Varonis Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRNS), the leader in data security, released its full event schedule as a Platinum Plus Sponsor of the RSA Conference 2025 taking place April 28 – May 1 in San Francisco.
Varonis’ highlights include a mainstage keynote on fostering the next generation of leaders using proven principles from gaming, an expert session on modernizing DLP for today’s cloud, and a full roster of presentations, demos, and can’t-miss swag at booth #5658 in the North Hall.
Varonis Highlights at RSA Conference 2025:
Keynote Session – From Gamer to Leader: How to Build Resilient Cyber Teams. Varonis VP of Incident Response and Cloud Operations Matt Radolec will share how principles of gaming can be used to build resilient cyber teams and foster tomorrow’s security leaders.
Date: Wednesday, April 30, at 11:10 am PT
Location: Moscone West StageExpert Session – Modernizing DLP for Today’s Threat Landscape. Traditional DLP methods have a hard time keeping up with exponential data growth and evolving attacks that use AI. Varonis Field CTO Brian Vecci will share how modernizing DLP can help security and IT teams cut through the noise, reduce workloads, and automate security.
Date: Tuesday, April 29, at 1:15 pm PT
Location: Moscone South, Location to ComeVisit Varonis. Stop by North Hall, booth #5658 during expo hours to learn how Varonis’ cloud-native Data Security Platform enables organizations to reduce risk to data in the age of AI. Hear how Varonis helps customers identify and mitigate threats across IaaS and SaaS, safeguard sensitive data, and boost compliance with privacy regulations with automation.
Additional Resources:
- Free Expo Pass: Use invitation code 54VARNSXP for a complimentary expo pass.
- Executive Meetings: Schedule a meeting with our team to discuss customized solutions for your organization. Contact your account manager or email varonisevents@varonis.com for more details.
- Stay Connected: Follow Varonis on LinkedIn for real-time updates and live coverage from RSAC 2025.
About Varonis
Varonis (Nasdaq: VRNS) is the leader in data security, fighting a different battle than conventional cybersecurity companies. Our cloud-native Data Security Platform continuously discovers and classifies critical data, removes exposures, and detects advanced threats with AI-powered automation.
Thousands of organizations worldwide trust Varonis to defend their data wherever it lives — across SaaS, IaaS, and hybrid cloud environments. Customers use Varonis to automate a wide range of security outcomes, including data security posture management (DSPM), data classification, data access governance (DAG), data detection and response (DDR), data loss prevention (DLP), AI security, and insider risk management.
Varonis protects data first, not last. Learn more at www.varonis.com.
Investor Relations Contact:
Tim Perz
Varonis Systems, Inc.
646-640-2112
investors@varonis.comNews Media Contact:
Rachel Hunt
Varonis Systems, Inc.
877-292-8767 (ext. 1598)
pr@varonis.com -
MIL-OSI Economics: Get active with Apple Watch
Source: Apple
Headline: Get active with Apple Watch
April 14, 2025
UPDATE
Get active with Apple Watch
On April 24, Apple Watch users are encouraged to close their Activity rings to earn a special Global Close Your Rings Day limited-edition award
Apple Watch is the world’s most popular watch, and the ultimate fitness and health companion. Every day, Apple Watch offers fitness motivation to millions of people around the globe, along with powerful insights into their workouts, training, and more, across a wide range of activities. Leveraging its advanced sensor technology, Apple Watch also provides users with information on important aspects of their health, including sleep, heart health, and menstrual health.
Over the past 10 years, Activity rings on Apple Watch have offered a simple, engaging, and customizable way for users to stay active throughout the day. To highlight how staying active can lead to a healthier life, on April 24, all Apple Watch users are encouraged to close their Activity rings to earn a special Global Close Your Rings Day limited-edition award, along with animated stickers for Messages.1
“Apple Watch has changed the way people think about, monitor, and engage with their fitness and health. A decade ago, we introduced Activity rings — and since then, Apple Watch has grown to offer an extensive set of features designed to empower every user,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer. “People write to us almost every day sharing how Apple Watch has made a difference in their life, from motivating them to move more throughout the day, to changing the trajectory of their health.”
April 24: Global Close Your Rings Day
On April 24, Apple Watch users are encouraged to do something they love, push themselves further, or try something new, and then share what they did using #CloseYourRings. Users who close all three Activity rings will earn a limited-edition award, plus 10 animated stickers and an animated badge for Messages.
To celebrate Global Close Your Rings Day, customers can obtain a special pin inspired by the award. Customers can pick up a pin at Apple Store locations worldwide starting April 24, while supplies last.
New Apple Watch Activity and Health Research Insights
Fitness and health are deeply intertwined. A new analysis of data contributed by more than 140,000 participants in the Apple Heart and Movement Study identified positive associations between the closure of Activity rings and aspects of sleep, heart health, and mental wellbeing.2 These associations were consistent across men and women, and across all age groups.
Relative to people who infrequently closed their Activity rings, people who closed their rings most of the time were 48 percent less likely to experience poor sleep quality — defined as waking up frequently during the night — and 73 percent less likely to experience elevated resting heart rate levels; lower resting heart rate can be a key indicator of fitness and heart health. They were also 57 percent less likely to report elevated stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale-4 (PSS-4), a four-item questionnaire designed to assess an individual’s perception of their stress levels.
The Apple Heart and Movement Study is conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the American Heart Association, and Apple, and has more than 200,000 participants across the United States who consented to participate.3
Activity and Health on Apple Watch
The Activity app is one of the most beloved Apple Watch features, encouraging users to close their three Activity rings — Move, Exercise, and Stand — by hitting personal daily goals for active calories burned, minutes of brisk activity completed, and number of hours when they stand up for at least a minute. Users can customize their goals to fit their lifestyle, even by the day of the week, and Activity rings can be paused if a user needs a rest day.
Activity rings are just one of many Apple Watch features that offer motivating and actionable insights that break down barriers between users and their fitness and health information. Users can also:
- Track a wide range of workouts with validated custom heart rate and calorie algorithms using the Workout app, with advanced metrics provided for running, cycling, swimming, hiking, and more.
- Stay motivated with Activity challenges and sharing, keep an eye on their progress with weekly summaries and trends, and monitor key fitness metrics like training load, cardio fitness, and cardio recovery.
- Track their sleep, receive insights on heart health, track their menstrual cycle, manage their medications, monitor environmental noise levels, and more.
As with all of the fitness and health features on Apple Watch, the Activity and Workout apps are grounded in science with rigorous standards for accuracy. A recently published validation summary shares highlights of the methodologies and underlying hardware and software technologies of Apple Watch that measure heart rate, estimate calories burned, and inform associated fitness and heart health data, with machine learning models developed using data from hundreds of thousands of hours of studies involving thousands of participants from diverse populations.
Apple’s fitness and health features put users’ privacy at the center, offering protections like transparency and control over their personal data. When iPhone and iPad are locked with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID, all fitness and health data in the Health app — other than Medical ID — is encrypted, and any health data synced to iCloud is encrypted both in transit and on Apple servers. And if a user has a recent version of watchOS, iOS, and iPadOS with the default two-factor authentication and a passcode, their health and activity data will be stored in a way that Apple can’t read it.4
- The limited-edition award is available to users running watchOS 5.0 or later.
- Analysis compares people who closed all three Activity rings at least 50 percent of the time with people who closed all three Activity rings 10 percent or less of the time. Poor sleep quality is defined as a sleep efficiency [Total Sleep Time / (Total Sleep Time + Wake After Sleep Onset)] of less than 87.5 percent. Elevated stress is defined as a PSS-4 score of 8 or more.
- To learn more about the Apple Research app, visit apple.com/ios/research-app.
- Requires iOS 12.0 or later, watchOS 5.0 or later, and iPadOS 17.0 or later.
Press Contacts
Clare Varellas
Apple
Nikki Rothberg
Apple
Apple Media Helpline
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MIL-OSI: Legible Releases Fifth AI Classic Living Book, Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, and Provides Corporate Update
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Legible Inc. (CSE: READ) (OTCQB: LEBGF) (FSE: D0T) (“Legible” or the “Company”), a leading innovator in AI-interactive digital reading and entertainment and winner of the 2025 Entertainment Technology award from the Global Tech Awards, is pleased to announce the release of the fifth title in its growing AI Classics series, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran.
The Prophet is a literary masterpiece that has touched generations of readers around the world. First published in 1923, the collection of 26 poetic essays follows the prophet Almustafa as he shares profound insights on life, love, marriage, work, freedom, and death before leaving the city of Orphalese. Translated into over 100 languages, it remains one of the most widely read and beloved books of the 20th century. This new 21st century edition, showcasing Legible’s new proprietary operating system for books, brings Gibran’s poetic wisdom to life in a dynamic experience, using AI-powered art, animation and interactive characters to reimagine how classic literature is experienced across devices.
“This advanced new release in our AI Classics series offers a glimpse into how AI can deepen our connection to timeless works,” said Kaleeg Hainsworth, CEO of Legible. “With Legible’s new release of The Prophet, readers don’t just read—they engage. This is a meaningful step toward our vision of Living Books as a new standard in immersive storytelling.”
The public is invited to experience the Living Book version of The Prophet here, and to sign up to receive future updates as they are released.
Legible announces the planned retirement of its Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Ed Duda, effective as of April 11, 2025. Mr. Duda will support the Company as a consultant throughout the transition to new financial leadership. Mr. Duda’s ongoing involvement will ensure operational continuity and alignment with Legible’s strategic priorities.
As a way to strengthen Legible’s Balance Sheet, the Company has secured commitments from five Legible Shareholders holding $522,636 of Convertible Debentures to convert their debentures, that are not due, into 5,966,233 common shares of the Company, effective as of the date of the first closing of the Private Placement Unit Offering (“Offering”) that was press released on March 27th, 2025. Closing of the Offering has been delayed due to turbulence in the global equity markets.
Legible continues to advance business development initiatives with a focus on driving revenues.
About Legible Inc.
Legible is a groundbreaking, mobile-centric global company specializing in eBook and audiobook entertainment. Its extensive partnerships encompass four of the Big 5 Publishers, the world’s largest eBook distributors, along with other outstanding publishers of all sizes, enabling Legible to deliver millions of eBooks and audiobooks, transforming any smart device into a source of cutting-edge infotainment.
Legible recently released My Model Kitchen – Holidays, the fourth in a series of video-enriched Living Cookbooks by former supermodel, bestselling author, TV host and celebrity chef Cristina Ferrare, with an AI Sous Chef for each recipe. The Living Cookbooks and Ms. Ferrare have now been featured four times on The Drew Barrymore Show and by many other major US media outlets.
A first mover in the rapidly expanding automotive infotainment market, Legible has partnered with major app providers including Forvia’s Appning, Samsung’s Harman IGNITE, Visteon’s AllGo, and ACCESS’s Twine4Car. Legible has the only Android Automotive OS app that is capable of delivering both audiobooks and eBooks to drivers and passengers in tens of millions of vehicles around the globe, positioning Legible at the forefront of the new world of in-car infotainment experiences.
The 2025 Global Tech Award winner of the EntertainmentTech Award, and 2024 EdTech Breakthrough Award winner for eLearning Innovation of the Year, Legible is reshaping the digital publishing landscape, committed to gaining significant market share through its innovative 21st-century publishing solutions and enriched reading experiences. Visit Legible.com, where eBooks come to life.
Press Contact:
Ms. Deborah Harford
EVP, Global Strategic Partnerships
invest@legible.com
Website: https://invest.legible.comCautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
This Press Release contains certain statements which constitute forward-looking statements or information (“forward-looking statements”), including statements regarding Legible’s business. Such forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, some of which are beyond Legible’s control, including the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, currency fluctuations, the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management, stock market volatility and the ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources. Although Legible believes that the expectations in its forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are based on factors and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate. Those factors and assumptions are based upon currently available information. Such statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results or events and cause actual results or events to differ materially from those stated, anticipated or implied in the forward- looking information. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the forward- looking information, as no assurance can be provided as to future results, levels of activity or achievements. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are made as of the date of this document and, except as required by applicable law, Legible does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this document are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE US
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MIL-OSI: Borqs Technologies Completed Cash Sale of Core Businesses To Sasken Technologies of India
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
HONG KONG, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Borqs Technologies, Inc. (U.S. OTC: BRQSF, “Borqs” or the “Company”) today announced that it has completed the sale of its core businesses to Sasken Technologies, Ltd. (India NSE: SASKEN, BSE: 532663, “Sasken”), a leading global product engineering and digital transformation services company based in India. Included in the sale were all of the Company’s embedded software design and customized hardware manufacturing of products for the Internet of Things (IoT) activities. Price for the sale totaled US$40 million, a portion will be reserved for employees, tax withholding and payments subject to an earnout arrangement linked to performance in the year 2025.
Along with customers’ contracts, technology licenses, IP, transferring of the employment agreements of key personnel and assets required for the Company’s operations, certain subsidiaries of the Company crucial for servicing the customers are included in the sale.
The acquisition will enable Sasken to support customers in designing, developing, and commercializing connected devices from concept to market. It includes ideation, IP development, software and product realization, and hardware supply chain management. Working closely with chipset partners, Sasken will create a range of connected devices, including mobile phones, tablets, smartwatches, and various IoT products.
Pat Chan, CEO of Borqs, “As we mark a significant milestone in our journey, I am proud of the exceptional achievements of our team at Borqs since our founding in 2007. Over the years, we have established ourselves as a global leader in Android and IoT technologies, delivering innovative solutions that have empowered our clients worldwide. I am confident that Sasken Technologies Limited will leverage our expertise to drive even greater success for our customers, ensuring the continued growth and prosperity of our business.”
Borqs will use the cash received from the transaction in investment activities focusing on emerging opportunities in AI and capital-related ventures, participate in shaping the future of these industries and capitalizing on the latest trends in technology.
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Rajiv C. Mody, Chairperson, Managing Director & CEO, Sasken Technologies Limited, said: “This acquisition reflects our commitment to expanding our technological footprint and delivering advanced solutions to meet the evolving demands of our customers. By integrating Borqs’ capabilities, we will strengthen our portfolio, improve our competitiveness, and drive future growth in high-demand markets like Automotive, SatCom, Consumer, Industrial, IoT and 5G.”
Hareesh Ramana, one of the founders of Borqs Technologies Inc and Managing Director of Borqs India will join the Sasken leadership as part of this acquisition and lead the efforts to integrate Borqs capabilities into the Sasken repertoire.
Founded in 2007, Borqs, a publicly traded company, has built a strong reputation in end-to-end wireless product solutions for mobile telecommunications and IoT. The company has strategic alliances with industry leaders like Qualcomm and works with key mobile network operators and OEMs. With about 300 employees and a presence across continents, Borqs is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for IoT and 5G technologies, leveraging its software platform to offer customizable wireless product solutions across various industries, including utilities, automotive, and smart cities.
For more information, visit:
https://www.sasken.com
https://www.borqs.com/About Sasken:
Sasken is a specialist in Product Engineering and Digital Transformation providing concept-to-market, chip-to-cognition R&D services to global leaders in Semiconductor, Automotive, Industrials, Consumer Electronics, Enterprise Devices, SatCom, Telecom, and Transportation industries. For over 30 years and with multiple patents, Sasken has transformed the businesses of 100+ Fortune 500 companies, powering more than a billion devices through its services and IP. For more information, visit www.sasken.com
About Borqs Technologies, Inc.
Borqs Technologies is a global leader in software and products for the IoT, providing customizable, differentiated and scalable Android-based smart connected devices and cloud service solutions. Borqs has achieved leadership and customer recognition as an innovative end-to-end IoT solutions provider leveraging its strategic chipset partner relationships as well as its broad software and IP portfolio. Borqs’ unique strengths include its Android and Android Wear Licenses which enabled the Company to develop a software IP library covering chipset software, Android enhancements, domain specific usage and system performance optimization, suitable for large and low volume customized products. The Company is also currently in the development of 5G products for phones and hotspots.
Investor relations contact:
E: IR@borqs.com
Disclaimer on Forward Looking Statements:
Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements due to risks or uncertainties associated with our expectations. Words such as “expects”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “seeks”, “may”, “might”, “plan”, “possible”, “should” and variations and similar words and expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements relate to future events or future results, based on currently available information and reflect our management’s current beliefs. Many factors could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events and results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including the possibility that the transactions as described herein between Borqs and Sasken may not end up with positive benefits or at all. The reader is advised to refer to both companies’ filings with their respective securities and exchange authorities for additional information identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Except as expressly required by applicable securities law and other regulatory requirements, the companies disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. -
MIL-OSI: Introducing Illumio Insights: AI Cloud Detection and Response
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Illumio, the breach containment company, today announced the launch of Illumio Insights, the industry’s first cloud detection and response (CDR) solution powered entirely by an AI security graph. A key part of Illumio’s breach containment platform, Insights can observe and protect every workload and resource, spanning hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It provides AI-powered observability into the organization’s traffic, flows, and connections, surfacing risk throughout the connected landscape.
Illumio Insights helps SOC analysts, incident responders, and threat hunters uncover hidden risks by observing all flows and connections and discovering risky, malicious, and anomalous activity. Insights visualizes dangerous traffic and behavior and prioritizes lateral movement risks across environments, enabling rapid detection and response. Threats can be dynamically quarantined, with impacted workloads completely isolated, reducing the blast radius and significantly boosting resilience.
Key benefits of Illumio Insights include:
- Rapid Cloud-Scale Deployment: Push-button, agentless deployment delivers AI security graph-powered insights across millions of workloads in minutes.
- Unmatched Threat Detection with AI Observability: Significantly reduces the mean time to detect (MTTD) by uncovering unseen threats and attack paths.
- One-Click Attack Containment: Immediately neutralizes potential risks and reduces the mean time to respond (MTTR) with one-click containment.
“When an organization is under attack, understanding the connectivity graph is crucial. Bringing together the Illumio security graph with the AI-driven Illumio Insights analytics pipeline allows organizations, for the first time, to understand how threats and risks are moving through their environment. This is the power of an AI security graph,” says Andrew Rubin, CEO and Founder of Illumio. “Illumio Insights is vital for protecting the environment as it offers unparalleled observability to understand threat and malicious activity in the cloud. Illumio Insights connects the dots and finds every needle in every haystack. When integrated with Illumio Segmentation, breaches are contained and cyber disasters avoided.”
Illumio’s AI security graph enables Insights to ingest network flow and resource data at cloud scale, automatically classify traffic and resources, and immediately find the risk. The graph helps security teams to form a complete picture of attacker movement across the entire environment and drives faster, more informed response decisions.
“As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, it’s no longer about having more technology — it’s about having smarter, more adaptive solutions. The need for intelligent systems has never been greater, and AI is at the heart of this transformation,” said Frank Dickson, group vice president, Security and Trust at IDC. “AI-powered security graphs are a game-changer, enabling businesses to proactively identify, assess, and mitigate risks in near real-time. These sophisticated tools streamline security efforts and enhance decision-making by learning from patterns and behaviors, offering a level of insight and protection that traditional offerings simply can’t match.”
According to Thomas Vavra, manager, Network & Security Operations, Mondi Group, “Illumio Insights will give us real-time visibility and control over our risky ports, significantly reducing our risk exposure and improving compliance with industry standards. This will enable us to quickly identify vulnerabilities and address them before they become threats.”
Illumio Insights and Illumio Segmentation are integral components of the Illumio Platform, the first cybersecurity platform focused on breach containment. Illumio Insights helps organizations quickly identify and detect threats, while Illumio Segmentation contains breaches, protects critical assets, and enables instant response. Together, these solutions help identify and mitigate risks, contain attacks, and enhance overall cyber resilience.
To see a demo of Illumio Insights and to learn more about Illumio’s breach containment offerings, stop by the Illumio booth (North Hall #5670) at RSAC in San Francisco April 28-May 1.
Organizations interested in being the first to experience Illumio Insights can sign up now for a private preview or visit Illumio Insights to learn more.
About Illumio
Illumio is the leader in ransomware and breach containment, redefining how organizations contain cyberattacks and enable operational resilience. Powered by an AI security graph, our breach containment platform identifies and contains threats across hybrid multi-cloud environments – stopping the spread of attacks before they become disasters.
Recognized as a Leader in the Forrester Wave™ for Microsegmentation, Illumio enables Zero Trust, strengthening cyber resilience for the infrastructure, systems, and organizations that keep the world running.
Contact : comms-team@illumio.com
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MIL-OSI: ASUS Announces ExpertBook P1, P3 and P5 Now Available in Canada
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
TORONTO, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ASUS today announced that the new ExpertBook P1 (P1403 and P1503) laptop models are now available in Canada through the ASUS Store, selected retailers, and B2B channels. These additions join the high-performance ExpertBook P5 (P5404), already available online on the ASUS Store, Amazon, Canada Computer, Costco, Memory Express, Staples, and Walmart, and precede the upcoming ExpertBook P3 (P3405), set to be available for order later this May.
Designed to meet the evolving needs of professionals and SMBs with limited IT support, the new ExpertBook P series combines sleek portability, enterprise-grade security, and robust AI collaboration tools. Each device is MIL-STD-810H military-grade tested1, features Windows Secured-core PC compliance, and includes a one-year subscription to McAfee+ Premium with Smart AI™ for 24/7 protection, identity monitoring, and privacy tools.
All three series also feature ASUS-exclusive AI ExpertMeet2, a powerful productivity suite offering real-time translation, multilingual transcription, AI-generated meeting summaries, speaker differentiation, and on-screen watermarks — all processed locally for enhanced security.
ExpertBook P1: Practical Performance for Everyday Business
The ASUS ExpertBook P1 series is built for professionals who value reliability and essential performance. Available in 14-inch and 15-inch Full HD options and weighing as little as 1.4 kg3, the P1 is powered by up to 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 processors, with support for up to 64 GB RAM4 and 1 TB of dual-SSD RAID storage for enhanced data speed and reliability.
A refined, durable design ensures it can handle commutes and daily use, while thoughtful security touches like TPM 2.0, BIOS-level protections, and BIOS setting recovery tools ensure peace of mind. Designed for organizations seeking affordable yet powerful solutions, the P1 balances performance and durability for professionals on the move.
ExpertBook P3: Versatile and Ready for Hybrid Work
Designed for hybrid professionals and SMBs, the ExpertBook P3 blends portability and performance in 14-inch sizes starting at 1.36 kg5. It’s equipped with up to an Intel® Core™ i7-13620H processor, 64 GB of DDR5 memory, and dual PCIe 4.0 SSDs for smooth multitasking.
With an optimized layout, spill-resistant keyboard, optional IR camera, and exclusive ASUS ExpertCool thermal system, the P3 ensures comfort, performance, and quiet operation all day long. It’s an ideal choice for flexible work and learning environments where reliability and privacy matter.
ExpertBook P5: Advanced AI Power for the Future of Work
At the top of the lineup, the ExpertBook P5 is designed for high-demand professionals who require cutting-edge AI performance. Featuring up to the Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 processor (Series 2) with 47 TOPS of NPU performance, the P5 delivers up to 3X faster AI capabilities than previous generations.
A sleek 1.29 kg6 aluminum chassis houses a 2.5K 144 Hz display, advanced cooling, and a workspace designed for productivity and comfort. With support for NIST-compliant BIOS, a five-year BIOS update policy, and a focus on sustainability (featuring 50% recycled materials), the P5 is engineered for forward-thinking businesses that want speed, security, and style.
ASUS Business Support
Understanding the critical needs of modern professionals, ASUS Business Support is not merely a warranty — it’s a comprehensive service package that includes on-site repairs, dedicated technical assistance and 24/7 customer support. This robust support framework ensures that every ExpertBook user experiences minimal downtime and receives personalized solutions to their technical issues.
AVAILABILITY & PRICING
The ExpertBook P1 is now available on the ASUS Store, selected retailers and through B2B channels, with detailed specifications below.
The ExpertBook P5 is already available online on the ASUS Store, Amazon, Canada Computer, Costco, Memory Express, Staples, and Walmart with different configurations available below.
The upcoming ExpertBook P3 is set to be available for order later this May in different configurations on the ASUS Store and selected retailers.
For detailed specifications, availability, pricing, and where to buy links, please see below.
Please contact your local ASUS representative for further information.
SPECIFICATIONS
ExpertBook P1 (P1503CVA and P1403CVA)
Model P1503CVA-H716512-CA P1503CVA-H716512-CB P1503CVA-H516512-CA P1503CVA-H516512-CB Operating system Windows 11 Home Processor Intel® Core™ i7-13620H Processor
2.4 GHz (24MB Cache, up to 4.9 GHz, 10 cores, 16 Threads)Intel® Core™ i5-13420H Processor
2.1 GHz (12MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz, 8 cores, 12 Threads)Graphics Intel® UHD Graphics for Intel® Core™ with 64-bit memory populated Memory SO-DIMM: 16 GB DDR5 5200 MHz 2x SO-DIMM, up to 64 GB DDR5 5200 MHz
Storage 512 GB M.2 PCIe® 4.0 SSD 1 x M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe® 4.0, up to 1TB PCIe® Gen4 SSD
1 x M.2 2230 NVMe PCIe® 4.0, up to 512GB PCIe® Gen4 SSDDisplay 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) TN, 16:9, 60Hz, wide view, Anti-Glare, 250 nits, 45% NTSC I/O ports 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C® (PD, DP)
2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
1 x HDMI® 1.4b
1 x 3.5 mm Combo audio jack
1 x Kensington® nano lock slot
1 x RJ45 Gigabit EthernetCamera HD camera, webcam shield Wireless WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.2 Wireless Card Audio 2 x speaker with Dirac technology support
2 x Array microphone
ASUS AI Noise-Canceling TechnologyWeight 1.65 kg (3.64 lbs) Dimensions (WxDxH) 35.95 x 23.22 x 1.99 ~ 1.99 cm (14.15″ x 9.14″ x 0.78″ ~ 0.78″) Battery 50 Wh-3 cell, Li-Polymer Security Nano Kensington® lock slot
Fingerprint Sensor (combo touchpad)
Webcam Shield
TPM 2.0Keyboard and touchpad Full-size keyboard with 1.35 mm key travel / spill-resistant to 66cc* *Quantity used during testing, with duration of 3 minutes
Keyboard English Bilingual English Bilingual Featured software ASUS Control Center (optional), MyASUS, ExpertMeet AC adapter 65 W AC Adapter, USB Type-C® (Output: 20 V DC, 3.25 A, 65 W / Input: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal) Product Availability ASUS ASUS ASUS ASUS Model P1503CVA-P516512-CA P1503CVA-P516512-CB P1403CVA-P516512-CA P1403CVA-P516512-CB Operating system Windows 11 Pro Processor Intel® Core™ i5-13420H Processor
2.1 GHz (12MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz, 8 cores, 12 Threads)Graphics Intel® UHD Graphics for Intel® Core™ with 64-bit memory populated Memory SO-DIMM: 16 GB DDR5 5200 MHz 2x SO-DIMM, up to 64 GB DDR5 5200 MHz
Storage 512 GB M.2 PCIe® 4.0 SSD 1 x M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe® 4.0, up to 1TB PCIe® Gen4 SSD
1 x M.2 2230 NVMe PCIe® 4.0, up to 512GB PCIe® Gen4 SSDDisplay 15.6″ FHD (1920 x 1080) TN, 16:9, 60Hz, wide view, Anti-Glare, 250 nits, 45% NTSC 14″ FHD (1920 x 1080) TN, 16:9, 60Hz, wide view, Anti-Glare, 300 nits, 45% NTSC I/O ports 2 x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C® (PD, DP)
2 x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A
1 x HDMI® 1.4b
1 x 3.5 mm Combo audio jack
1 x Kensington® nano lock slot
1 x RJ45 Gigabit EthernetCamera HD camera, webcam shield Wireless WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.2 Wireless Card Audio 2 x speaker with Dirac technology support
2 x Array microphone
ASUS AI Noise-Canceling TechnologyWeight 1.65 kg (3.64 lbs) 1.43 kg (3.15 lbs) Dimensions (WxDxH) 35.95 x 23.22 x 1.99 ~ 1.99 cm (14.15″ x 9.14″ x 0.78″ ~ 0.78″) 32.45 x 21.44 x 1.97 ~ 1.97 cm (12.78″ x 8.44″ x 0.78″ ~ 0.78″) Battery 50 Wh-3 cell, Li-Polymer Security Nano Kensington® lock slot
Fingerprint Sensor (combo touchpad)
Webcam Shield
TPM 2.0Keyboard and touchpad Full-size keyboard with 1.35 mm key travel / spill-resistant to 66cc* *Quantity used during testing, with duration of 3 minutes
Keyboard English Bilingual English Bilingual Featured software ASUS Control Center (optional), MyASUS, ExpertMeet AC adapter 65 W AC Adapter, USB Type-C® (Output: 20 V DC, 3.25 A, 65 W / Input: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal) Product Availability ASUS ASUS ASUS ASUS ExpertBook P5 (P5404)
Model P5405CSA-P73-CB P5405CSA-DH71-CA P5405CSA-P53-CA P5405CSA-CH51-CB Operating system Windows 11 Pro Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Pro Windows 11 Home Processor Intel® Core™ 7 Processor 258 V 32 GB 1.8 GHz (12 MB Cache, up to 4.8 GHz, 8 cores, 8 Threads); Intel® AI Boost NPU up to 47 TOPS Intel® Core™ 5 Processor 226 V 16 GB 1.6 GHz (8 MB Cache, up to 4.5 GHz, 8 cores, 8 Threads); Intel® AI Boost NPU up to 40 TOPS Graphics Intel® Arc™ 140 V GPU (16GB) Intel® Arc™ 130 V GPU (8GB) Memory 32 GB LPDDR5X-8533 MOP 16 GB LPDDR5X-8533 MOP Storage 1 x 1 TB M.2 PCIe® 4.0 2280 SSD (Upgradeable to 2 TB) 1 x M.2 2230 SSD, up to 1 TB PCIe® 4.0 SSD User upgradeable
1 x 512 GB M.2 PCIe® 4.0 2280 SSD (Upgradeable to 2 TB) 1 x M.2 2230 SSD, up to 1 TB PCIe® 4.0 SSD User upgradeable
Display 14.0″ 2560 x 1600 Anti-Glare, 100% sRGB, 400 nits I/O ports 2X Thunderbolt™ 4, USB 3.2 Gen2, support wide range 5–20 V 1 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen2, support BC1.2
1 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen2
1 x HDMI® 2.1
1 x Audio combo jack
1 x Kensington® Nano lock slot
Camera 1080p FHD IR camera, Webcam Shield Wireless WiFi 6E (802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.3 Wireless Card Audio 2 x speaker 2 x multi-array microphone with intelliGO beam forming
Smart amp technology
Dolby Atmos certified
Weight 1.65 kg (3.64 lbs) Dimensions (WxDxH) 31.2 cm x 22.3 cm x 1.645 cm (12.28” x 8.78” x 0.65”) Battery 63 Wh, 3-cell, Li-polymer Touchpad ASUS ErgoSense touchpad Smart gesture touchpad
Silent touchpad technology
Keyboard Full-size keyboard with 1.5 mm key travel; backlit, spill-resistant 78 cc Keyboard Bilingual English English Bilingual Featured software ASUS Control Center (optional), MyASUS, ExpertMeet AC adapter 65 W non-wall mount Type-C® power jack, Input : 100–240 V AC, 50 / 60 Hz universal Product Availability ASUS ASUS ASUS ASUS ExpertBook P3 (P3405)
Model P3405CVA-H7321-CA Operating system Windows 11 Home Processor Intel® Core™ i7-13620H Processor
2.4 GHz (24MB Cache, up to 4.9 GHz, 10 cores, 16 Threads)Graphics Intel® UHD Graphics for Intel® Core™ with 64-bit memory populated Memory SO-DIMM: 32 GB DDR5 5200 MHz 2x SO-DIMM, up to 64 GB DDR5 5200 MHz
Storage 1 TB M.2 2280 MVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD Includes 1x M.2 2230 PCIe 4.0 for extension
Display 14″ WQXGA 2.5K (2560 x 1600), 16:10, 144Hz, Anti-Glare, 250 nits, 45% NTSC I/O ports 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support display / power delivery
1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
1x RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
Camera 1080p FHD camera with IR function to support Windows Hello With webcam shield
Wireless Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth® 5.4 Wireless Card Audio Audio by Dirac Smart Amp Technology
Built-in speaker
Built-in array microphone
Weight 1.39 kg (3.06 lbs) Dimensions (WxDxH) 31.51 x 22.68 x 1.79 ~ 1.80 cm (12.41″ x 8.93″ x 0.70″ ~ 0.71″) Battery 63WHrs, 3S1P, 3-cell Li-ion Security Nano Kensington® lock slot
Fingerprint Sensor (combo touchpad)
Webcam Shield
TPM 2.0Keyboard English Featured software ASUS Control Center (optional), MyASUS, ExpertMeet AC adapter 65 W AC Adapter, USB Type-C® (Output: 20 V DC, 3.25 A, 65 W / Input: 100-240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal) Product Availability ASUS (available later in May) NOTES TO EDITORS
Where to buy links:
ASUS ExpertBook P1: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/expertbook-p1-p1503/where-to-buy/
ASUS ExpertBook P3: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/asus-expertbook-p3-p3605/
ASUS ExpertBook P5: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/expertbook-p5-p5405/where-to-buy/
ASUS ExpertBook P1 (P1503): https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/expertbook-p1-p1503/
ASUS ExpertBook P1 (P1403): https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/expertbook-p1-p1403/
ASUS ExpertBook P3 (P3405): https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/asus-expertbook-p3-p3405/
ASUS ExpertBook P5 (P5405): https://www.asus.com/ca-en/laptops/for-work/expertbook/expertbook-p5-p5405/
ASUS ExpertBook laptops: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/business/laptops/expertbook/
ASUS Business website: https://www.asus.com/ca-en/business/
ASUS LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asus/posts/
ASUS Business LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/asus-business/
ASUS Pressroom: http://press.asus.com
ASUS Canada Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asuscanada/
ASUS Canada Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asus_ca
ASUS Canada YouTube: https://ca.asus.click/youtube
ASUS Global X (Twitter): https://www.x.com/asus
About ASUS
ASUS is a global technology leader that provides the world’s most innovative and intuitive devices, components, and solutions to deliver incredible experiences that enhance the lives of people everywhere. With its team of 5,000 in-house R&D experts, the company is world-renowned for continuously reimagining today’s technologies. Consistently ranked as one of Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, ASUS is also committed to sustaining an incredible future. The goal is to create a net zero enterprise that helps drive the shift towards a circular economy, with a responsible supply chain creating shared value for every one of us.
1 The testing regime includes the requirements of both military-grade standards and ASUS quality tests, and varies depending on device. MIL-STD-810H testing is conducted on selected ASUS products only. Note that the MIL-STD-810H testing helps to ensure the quality of ASUS products but does not indicate a particular fitness for military use. The test is performed under laboratory conditions. Any damage caused by attempts to replicate these test conditions would be considered accidental, and would not be covered by the standard ASUS warranty. Additional coverage is available with ASUS Premium Care.
2 For the full AI feature experience, 12 GB of memory is required.
3 Weight may vary according to configuration.
4 Memory is upgradable up to 64 GB.
5 Weight may vary according to configuration
6 Weight may vary according to configurationA photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/55d33a2c-870a-49ca-be18-b986e1500401
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MIL-OSI: ATR Announces Expanded Investment in Data Center IT Asset Management Services Across the U.S.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
PENSACOLA, Fla., April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Advanced Technology Recycling (ATR), a leader in IT asset disposition (ITAD) and IT asset management (ITAM) services for over 30 years, today announced a significant investment in enhancing its Data Center IT Asset Management Services throughout the United States. The new Mack Anthem 64T Semi Tractor and AI enhanced Geotab fleet monitoring systems are the latest addition to our fleet. This strategic expansion underlines ATR’s commitment to providing state-of-the-art logistics capabilities and comprehensive onsite services to data center operators nationwide.
Comprehensive Onsite Services Tailored for Data Centers
Recognizing the unique challenges faced by data center administrators—especially concerning the secure decommissioning and recycling of sensitive legacy assets—ATR has augmented its onsite capabilities to meet these demands head-on. Additionally, ATR assigns each data center client with their own account manager and Operations Support Specialist to ensure maximum account oversight. Key onsite service offerings include:
- Expert Onsite Support: ATR’s trained professionals provide optimized value recovery assistance during rack and server decommissioning and enhancement projects. Customized assessments empower you to handpick from a scalable portfolio of on-site services that put our resources where you need them most. This means you can choose services that best suit your needs—ranging from equipment removal and packing for transport, data destruction, value recovery evaluations, to assistance with installing replacement equipment, and much more.
- Mobile Equipment Solutions: For facilities without docks, ATR’s fleet, including vehicles with lift gates, is fully equipped to bring all necessary supplies and labor for efficient pack-and-ship operations right at the site.
- Asset Inventory & Reconciliation Services: ATR offers optional onsite asset reconciliation, capturing accurate inventory and identifying anomalies before equipment leaves the facility, contributing to transparent reporting and improving efficiencies.
- Optional Onsite Hard Drive Shredding: ATR delivers self-contained, portable shredders directly to your data center to securely and irretrievably destroy sensitive data onsite, ensuring complete transparency, robust security, and full regulatory compliance.
- Scalable Commodity Recovery Programs: ATR’s commodity recovery program is a powerful fee mitigation tool, providing a robust and incentivized solution that rewards customers for helping sort and separate enclosures, cabling, non-inventoried e-waste, and other end-of-life electronics. With our program, you gain maximum value from assets that most ITAD providers charge to recycle.
ATR’s mission is to transform outdated electronics into profitable assets while assuring clients that every step—from initial pickup through final resale—is executed with precision, security, and environmental responsibility.
Enhancing Logistics Capabilities with Next-Generation Fleet Technology
ATR’s ongoing investment includes the integration of top-tier fleet tracking systems utilizing Geotab technology. The Geotab system integrates advanced features into our fleet vehicles ensuring every step of the IT asset disposition process is secure, transparent, and efficient:
- Precise GPS Tracking & Real-Time Route Visibility: Each ATR vehicle is equipped with Geotab GPS and video monitoring software, providing real-time satellite location data, accurate route diagnostics, and geofencing capabilities.
- Vehicle Health Assessments & Collision Detection: Advanced AI monitoring systems continuously assess engine performance, detect faults, and alert the team to any collision events, ensuring prompt maintenance, enhanced safety, and added assurances shipments are completed on time and in optimal condition.
- In-Vehicle Driver Monitoring: Forward and aft-facing cameras monitor driving conditions while providing audible coaching alerts to address driver fatigue or distractions, such as cell phone use. This proactive approach helps maintain high safety standards, and enhanced security monitoring for each route traveled.
- Secured Data & Advanced Data Capture: With R2v3 and RIOS certified data protocols in place, ATR guarantees that all logistical information is handled with the utmost confidentiality, supporting strict compliance with industry standards.
These enhancements not only improve operational efficiency but also bolster ATR’s secure chain of custody for data center equipment. Every shipment is safeguarded through padlocked cargo doors, unique trailer seals, real-time vehicular monitoring, and on-site real-time inventory and data destruction services, ensuring full audit readiness.
Data Center Recycling: Unlocking Value with Sustainability in Mind
The expanded investment reinforces ATR’s vision to not only manage assets securely but also to optimize their residual value. By leveraging a transparent profit-sharing program, ATR maximizes the returns on legacy equipment through certified R2v3/RIOS resale and wholesale channels.
This approach supports clients in:
- Turning decommissioned data center assets and non-inventoried e-Commodities into profitable, recoverable revenue streams.
- Achieving eco-friendly operations through responsible electronics reselling and recycling is a simple click away.
- Meeting sustainability targets with comprehensive lifecycle management of IT assets.
Commitment to Excellence and Future-Ready Solutions
“Our increased investment in Data Center IT Asset Management Services demonstrates ATR’s unwavering commitment to staying ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape,” said Brodie Ehresman, Director of Marketing and Strategic Business Development at ATR. “By integrating Geotab’s advanced fleet tracking capabilities and expanding our onsite service offerings, we are poised to offer unparalleled efficiency, security, and value recovery for our clients. We understand the critical nature of managing legacy IT assets, and our enhanced solutions are designed to support our clients’ operational and sustainability goals while mitigating risk.”
ATR’s enhanced logistics and onsite service portfolio positions the company as a trusted partner for data center operators looking to navigate the complexities of technology refresh cycles, secure data destruction, and environmental compliance.
About Advanced Technology Recycling (ATR)
For more than three decades, ATR has been at the forefront of the IT asset disposition and management industry, offering innovative, secure, and eco-friendly solutions to organizations across the nation. With a fully company-owned fleet of over 60 logistics assets and seven strategically located, R2v3 and RIOS certified facilities, ATR delivers complete lifecycle management—ensuring high recoverable value, robust security, and streamlined operational processes for every client.
Media Contact:
Brodie Ehresman
Director of Marketing and Strategic Business Development
877-781-7779For additional information, visit Atrecycle.com
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MIL-OSI: Sprout Social Propels Brands into a New Era of Influence with AI-Powered Innovations to its Influencer Marketing Platform
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
- AI-powered natural language discovery will allow marketers to identify creators through topic-led search, driving more authentic and impactful activations
- Reimagined, customizable brand safety solution that helps brands activate creators that align with their values and audience
- New creator vetting features drastically reduces time spent in discovery so brands can refocus on more strategic, creative tasks
CHICAGO, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sprout Social (Nasdaq: SPT), an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, today unveiled its fully reimagined influencer marketing platform. Sprout Social Influencer Marketing now features a refreshed, intuitive design along with powerful AI-driven natural language discovery and data analysis capabilities. These enhancements reflect the evolving landscape of content consumption, where personalized feeds and topical interests play a central role. With these new features, Sprout’s search is topic-led to match how networks serve content, enabling brands to more quickly identify creators who can foster authentic partnerships, scale awareness, and drive greater revenue.
This launch comes at a pivotal time for marketers. As traditional marketing tactics lose effectiveness, marketing leaders are urgently seeking new ways to expand their reach and impact. Consumers now turn to social media for inspiration and brand discovery, favoring more authentic, relatable connections. This shift has given influencers unprecedented power to shape purchasing decisions, making social media a dominant full-funnel channel. In fact, nearly half of consumers now make daily, weekly, or monthly purchases because of influencer posts. As a result, influencer marketing has rapidly evolved from a trend into a top driver and multiplier of ROI.
“Influencer marketing is no longer optional—it’s essential for brands to connect with and sell to consumers. Yet, many organizations still struggle to create cohesive, data-driven campaigns and find the right creators who truly align with their brand and messaging,” said Erika Trautman, Chief Product Officer at Sprout Social. “That’s why we’ve made strategic updates to our platform that are designed not just to solve our customers’ biggest challenges, but to empower them to lead the next era of marketing and drive transformative growth across their organizations.”
This launch comes after the recent rebrand of Sprout Social Influencer Marketing and incorporates customer-driven updates that tackle their toughest challenges, from surfacing actionable data to finding the right influencers and maintaining brand safety guidelines. These key updates include:
- AI-Powered Natural Language Creator Search: Marketers can now identify creators by topic or the content they’re looking to create, making discovery faster and easier, and enabling brands to forge impactful partnerships that resonate with customers.
- AI-Powered Brand Fit Score: Proprietary metric that provides an instant assessment of how well a creator’s content aligns with a brand’s social presence, helping marketers make smarter, faster decisions about creator activations while supporting relevance and authenticity.
- AI-Powered Creator Suggestions in Lists: Sprout’s proprietary AI Assist automates influencer sourcing by recommending potential partners within Creator Lists, helping users cut time spent in discovery so they can refocus their efforts on strategic priorities.
- Customizable Brand Safety Reporting: Marketers receive a brand safety report on each creator based on their organization’s defined brand safety keywords and parameters. The report analyzes creator content and flags associated topics such as alcohol, adult/NSFW, politics or competitor mentions, helping brands activate creators that align with their values and audience.
“With the new Brand Safety Reports we can quickly see if a creator mentioned our competitors five years ago. The visual of this definitely helps especially when we get into some profiles who may have a higher volume of sensitive posts. For example, did it all just happen suddenly, or was it a consistent thing for them over time? So I really like this feature a lot,” said Dakota McDaniel, Social Media Strategist at American Honda Motor Company.
Learn more about these updates and Sprout Social Influencer Marketing here.
Social Media Profiles:
www.twitter.com/SproutSocial
www.twitter.com/SproutSocialIR
www.facebook.com/SproutSocialInc
www.linkedin.com/company/sprout-social-inc-/
www.instagram.com/sproutsocialContact
Media:
Kaitlyn Gronek
Email: pr@sproutsocial.com
Phone: (773) 904-9674Investors:
Lexi Johnson
Twitter: @SproutSocialIR
Email: lexi.johnson@sproutsocial.com
Phone: (312) 528-9166About Sprout Social
Sprout Social is a global leader in social media management and analytics software. Sprout’s intuitive platform puts powerful social data into the hands of approximately 30,000 brands so they can deliver smarter, faster business impact. Named the #1 Best Software Product by G2’s 2024 Best Software Award, Sprout offers comprehensive publishing and engagement functionality, customer care, influencer marketing, advocacy, and AI-powered business intelligence. Sprout’s software operates across all major social media networks and digital platforms. For more information about Sprout Social (NASDAQ: SPT), visit sproutsocial.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “enables,” “estimate,” “expect,” “explore,” “intend,” “long-term model,” “may,” “might” “outlook,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would,” or the negative of these terms, and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These statements may relate to the success, performance, and effect on our business and customers of our product features, our market size and growth strategy, our estimated and projected costs, margins, revenue, expenditures and customer and financial growth rates, our plans and objectives for future operations, growth, initiatives or strategies. By their nature, these statements are subject to numerous uncertainties and risks, including factors beyond our control, that could cause actual results, performance or achievement to differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. These assumptions, uncertainties and risks include that, among others: we may not be able to sustain our revenue and customer growth rate in the future; price increases have and may continue to negatively impact demand for our products, customer acquisition and retention and reduce the total number of customers or customer additions; our business would be harmed by any significant interruptions, delays or outages in services from our platform, our API providers, or certain social media platforms; if we are unable to attract potential customers through unpaid channels, convert this traffic to free trials or convert free trials to paid subscriptions, our business and results of operations may be adversely affected; we may be unable to successfully enter new markets, manage our international expansion and comply with any applicable international laws and regulations; we may be unable to integrate acquired businesses or technologies successfully or achieve the expected benefits of such acquisitions and investments; unstable market and economic conditions, such as recession risks, effects of inflation, labor shortages, supply chain issues, high interest rates, and the impacts of current and potential future bank failures and impacts of ongoing overseas conflicts, could adversely impact our business and that of our existing and prospective customers, which may result in reduced demand for our products; we may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness; covenants in our credit agreement may restrict our operations, and if we do not effectively manage our business to comply with these covenants, our financial condition could be adversely impacted; any cybersecurity-related attack, significant data breach or disruption of the information technology systems or networks on which we rely could negatively affect our business; and changing regulations relating to privacy, information security and data protection could increase our costs, affect or limit how we collect and use personal information and harm our brand. Additional risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements are included under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on February 23, 2024, as well as any future reports that we file with the SEC. Moreover, you should interpret many of the risks identified in those reports as being heightened as a result of the current instability in market and economic conditions. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available to Sprout Social at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. Sprout Social assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, except as required by law.
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MIL-OSI: Amplify Announces Intention to Adjourn Special Meeting of Stockholders
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
HOUSTON, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Amplify Energy Corp. (NYSE: AMPY) (“Amplify” or the “Company”) today announced that it intends to open and immediately adjourn its Special Meeting of Stockholders (the “Special Meeting”) relating to the Company’s proposed merger with Juniper Capital’s upstream Rocky Mountain portfolio companies. There will be no voting or other matters conducted at the meeting on April 14, 2025, and the Company intends to reconvene the Special Meeting on April 23, 2025 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (and the adjourned meeting will be held virtually via the internet at www.cesonlineservices.com/ampysm_vm). The record date for the Special Meeting, March 3, 2025, is unchanged and applies to the reconvened Special Meeting.
The Special Meeting will be adjourned to allow for further time to solicit proxies from the Company’s stockholders and provide stockholders with additional time to vote in order to facilitate broader participation. Stockholders who have already cast their votes do not need to take any action, unless they wish to change or revoke their prior proxy or voting instructions, and their votes will be counted at the reconvened Special Meeting. For stockholders who have not yet cast their votes, we urge them to vote their shares now, so they can be tabulated prior to the reconvened Special Meeting. For more information on how to vote, please call the Company’s proxy solicitor, Sodali & Co, on their toll-free number (800) 662-5200 or email AMPY@investor.sodali.com.
The Company’s Board of Directors unanimously recommends that you vote FOR the proposals identified in the Company’s definitive proxy statement for the Special Meeting.
About Amplify Energy
Amplify Energy Corp. is an independent oil and natural gas company engaged in the acquisition, development, exploitation and production of oil and natural gas properties. Amplify’s operations are focused in Oklahoma, the Rockies (Bairoil), federal waters offshore Southern California (Beta), East Texas / North Louisiana, and the Eagle Ford (Non-op). For more information, visit www.amplifyenergy.com.Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements.” All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in this press release that address activities, events or developments that the Company expects, believes or anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Terminology such as “could,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “may,” “continue,” “predict,” “potential,” “project” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results or financial condition to differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, forward-looking statements contained in this press release specifically include the expected timing of the adjourned Special Meeting. Please read the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, and if applicable, the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, which are available on the Company’s Investor Relations website at https://www.amplifyenergy.com/investor-relations/default.aspx or on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov, for a discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those in such forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements in this press release are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future results or otherwise.Important Additional Information Regarding the Mergers Will Be Filed With the SEC.
In connection with the proposed mergers, the Company has filed a definitive proxy statement. The definitive proxy statement has been sent to the stockholders of record of the Company. The Company may also file other documents with the SEC regarding the mergers. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF AMPLIFY ARE ADVISED TO CAREFULLY READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT MATERIALS FILED WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE MERGERS, THE PARTIES TO THE MERGERS AND THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MERGERS. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents filed by Amplify with the SEC from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Security holders and other interested parties will also be able to obtain, without charge, a copy of the definitive proxy statement and other relevant documents (when available) by (1) directing your written request to: 500 Dallas Street, Suite 1700, Houston, Texas or (2) contacting our Investor Relations department by telephone at (832) 219-9044 or (832) 219-9051. Copies of the documents filed by the Company with the SEC will be available free of charge on the Company’s website at http://www.amplifyenergy.com.Participants in the Solicitation.
Amplify and certain of its respective directors, executive officers and employees may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the proposed transaction. Information regarding the persons who may, under the rules of the SEC, be deemed participants in the solicitation of the stockholders of Amplify in connection with the transaction, including a description of their respective direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise, is included in the definitive proxy statement filed with the SEC. Additional information regarding the Company’s directors and executive officers is also included in Amplify’s Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders and 2024 Proxy Statement, which was filed with the SEC on April 5, 2024. These documents are available free of charge as described above.Contacts
Amplify Energy
Jim Frew — Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
(832) 219-9044
jim.frew@amplifyenergy.comMichael Jordan — Director, Finance and Treasurer
(832) 219-9051
michael.jordan@amplifyenergy.comSodali & Co.
Michael Verrechia / Eric Kamback / Christopher Rice
(800) 662-5200
AMPY@investor.sodali.comFTI Consulting
Tanner Kaufman / Brandon Elliott / Rose Zu
amplifyenergy@fticonsulting.com -
MIL-OSI Global: Pennsylvania may be short 20,000 nurses by 2026
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kymberlee Montgomery, Senior Associate Dean of Nursing, Drexel University
Education bottlenecks, burnout and an aging workforce are straining the system. Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images Imagine nearly every seat in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center − over 20,000 seats − are empty. That’s the scale of Pennsylvania’s projected shortfall of registered nurses by 2026, according to the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania.
Hospitals in the state report an average 14% vacancy rate for registered nurses. In rural areas it is much higher.
This shortage, of course, is not just in hospitals. It also affects long-term care facilities, outpatient clinics and home health agencies, which compete with hospitals for a limited pool of registered nurses, licensed nursing professionals and nursing support staff.
We are a senior associate dean of nursing and clinical professor of nursing at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions in Philadelphia, and a dean and professor of nursing at Duquesne University’s School of Nursing in Pittsburgh.
We know that the nursing shortage in Pennsylvania, while not the worst in the U.S., is severe and jeopardizes the health care that patients receive.
What caused the shortage?
Pennsylvania’s nursing shortage is the result of long-standing issues in education, workforce retention and health care delivery.
Education bottlenecks: Nursing schools in Pennsylvania and nationwide turn away thousands of qualified applicants each year due to faculty shortages, limited classroom space and scarce clinical placements. More than 65,000 qualified applications were turned away from U.S. nursing programs in 2023 alone, according to a report from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
A key issue is the lack of preceptors. Preceptors are experienced nurses who teach students in real-world settings. A shortage of preceptors directly limits how many students can complete their education.
Aging workforce: More than a third of Pennsylvania’s registered nurses are 55 or older. This demographic reality means many are nearing retirement.
Burnout and attrition: The COVID-19 pandemic worsened already high levels of stress, burnout and mental health strain for nurses. Many left the profession early due to emotional exhaustion, family and personal health concerns, unsafe staffing ratios, moral injury and lack of institutional support.
Uneven distribution: While Pennsylvania may have a sufficient number of licensed nurses on paper, those nurses don’t all still work in the profession. And among those that do, they are not evenly spread across roles or locations. Rural hospitals, long-term care centers, behavioral health settings and maternal-child health units are experiencing acute shortages.
One issue is the shortage of preceptors who train nursing students in real-world settings.
Naville J. Oubre III/Southern University and A&M College via Getty ImagesCost to patients
For patients and their families, the consequences of the nursing shortage are delayed care, fewer interactions with providers and less time for compassionate, personalized support. Overextended nurses face increased workloads, raising the likelihood of delayed interventions, medication errors and inadequate patient education. These factors undermine quality of care.
Limited access to nursing care can increase hospital deaths, infections and readmissions, reduce early detection of health issues, and slow the response to life-threatening conditions such as stroke, sepsis and cardiac arrest.
In Pennsylvania, patients may experience longer emergency room wait times, delayed discharges or transfers to nursing homes or rehabilitation centers, and service disruptions in rural and underserved areas.
Effect on nurses
Over 600,000 registered nurses across the U.S. plan to leave the workforce by 2027, according to a 2023 analysis by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
Many cite stress as their reason for leaving the profession. New graduates often leave within their first two years, feeling unprepared for the emotional and operational realities of practice.
In Pennsylvania, the shortage has created a feedback loop. Understaffing increases pressure on those who remain. A 2023 National Council of State Boards of Nursing survey found that 41% of nurses under age 35 reported feeling emotionally drained.
Meanwhile, some experienced nurses choose to retire early or shift into nonclinical roles for better schedules, slower pace and improved quality of life.
This turnover erodes institutional knowledge, increases costs for onboarding and overtime, and limits the capacity to mentor incoming staff.
What’s being done
To help address the problem, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro in March 2025 proposed a US$5 million Nurse Shortage Assistance Program. If approved by the General Assembly, the program would cover tuition costs for nursing students who commit to working in Pennsylvania hospitals for three years after graduation.
HB 390 is also currently under review in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. It aims to establish a $1,000 tax deduction for licensed nurses who serve as clinical preceptors.
To meet the growing demand for nurses, Pennsylvania hospitals are partnering with colleges and universities to expand clinical training capacity, streamline pathways into nursing and develop innovative education models such as hybrid and accelerated programs.
Hospitals statewide are also offering substantial sign-on bonuses, loan forgiveness programs, housing stipends and flexible scheduling to attract nurses.
To improve nurse retention, health care organizations have introduced structured residency programs, mentorship networks and clear career advancement pathways designed to reduce burnout and enhance professional satisfaction.
They are also increasingly using virtual nursing, telehealth services and AI-driven administrative tools to reduce nurses’ workloads, enhance patient interactions and address staffing gaps.
And some Philadelphia and Pennsylvania colleges offer refresher and license reactivation programs for retired or inactive nurses who want to rejoin the workforce. Duquesne offers a nurse faculty residency to increase the number of high-quality nursing faculty.
What more could be done?
Continuing Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs are another solution. These federal grants, reauthorized under the March 2020 CARES Act, help fund nursing pathways and the availability of high-quality nursing care for patients nationwide.
On April 1, 2025, the Trump administration announced plans to restructure the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the future status of these programs is not yet known.
Research consistently demonstrates that care provided by nurses who have earned a bachelor’s degree or higher directly leads to better patient outcomes, improved safety and overall health. A commitment to shoring up the nurse pipeline in Pennsylvania is a commitment to improving the well-being of individuals and communities across the state.
Board Member for the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. The views, analyses, and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or positions of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Kymberlee Montgomery does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Pennsylvania may be short 20,000 nurses by 2026 – https://theconversation.com/pennsylvania-may-be-short-20-000-nurses-by-2026-252274
