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Category: MIL-OSI

  • MIL-OSI: Bybit Launches Islamic Account, Expanding Access to Crypto Trading for Muslim Communities Worldwide

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, has announced the launch of its Islamic Account, making it the first global cryptocurrency exchange to offer such a service to Muslim traders worldwide. This initiative represents a major step towards providing crypto trading that is both accessible and compliant with Islamic law.

    Bybit’s Islamic Account offers a comprehensive suite of Shariah-compliant trading products, providing Muslim traders with an inclusive platform to engage in the digital asset market. Developed in consultation with ZICO Shariah Advisory Services Sdn. Bhd. (ZICO Shariah) and CryptoHalal to ensure compliance with the Shariah principles, the account ensures that all products strictly adhere to Islamic finance principles.

    Key Features of Bybit’s Islamic Account:

    • Global Accessibility: Available to all users, regardless of region, except in countries with legal restrictions.
    • Shariah-Compliant Product Offerings: Initial offerings include spot trading (limited to 75 Shariah-compliant tokens), DCA trading bot, and Spot Grid Bot.
    • Double Shariah Certification: Crypto Halal Certification, along with official Shariah certification from ZICO Holdings, guarantees that all products meet the highest standards of Islamic law.

    The Islamic economy serves approximately 1.9 billion people worldwide, with the Islamic finance sector currently estimated to be worth $2.3 trillion. The Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region is expected to contribute to the sector’s further expansion. By offering a Shariah-compliant trading platform, Bybit is entering the sector in hopes of providing Muslim traders with a trusted and reliable solution.

    “We are thrilled to introduce our Islamic Account, which represents a major milestone in our commitment to providing inclusive and accessible trading solutions,” said Joan Han, Sales & Marketing Director at Bybit. “By partnering with Crypto Halal and ZICO Holdings, we have ensured that our offerings align with the principles of Islamic finance, empowering Muslim traders to participate in the growing cryptocurrency market.”

    Bybit’s Islamic Account is a testament to the exchange’s dedication to diversity and inclusivity. By offering a Shariah-compliant trading environment, Bybit is breaking down barriers and aiming to create new opportunities for Muslim traders around the globe.

    #Bybit / #TheCryptoArk

    About Bybit

    Bybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving over 40 million users. Established in 2018, Bybit provides a professional platform where crypto investors and traders can find a fast matching engine, 24/7 customer service, and multilingual community support. Bybit is a proud partner of Formula One’s reigning Constructors’ and Drivers’ champions: the Oracle Red Bull Racing team.

    For more details about Bybit, readers can please visit Bybit Press. 

    For media inquiries, readers can please contact: media@bybit.com

    For more information, readers can please visit: https://www.bybit.com

    For updates, readers can please follow: Bybit’s Communities and Social Media

    Contact

    Head of PR
    Tony Au
    Bybit
    tony.au@bybit.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Translation: «The Nutrition Initiative» has succeeded

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –

    Source: Switzerland – Federal Chancellery

    Federal ChancelleryBern, 24.09.2024 – –The federal popular initiative “For a secure diet – by strengthening sustainable domestic production, more plant-based foods and clean drinking water (Nutrition Initiative)”, submitted on 16 August 2024, has been formally successful. Of the 113,060 signatures submitted, 112,736 are valid.Address for enquiriesBeat FurrerInformation Officer058 465 02 45beat.furrer@bk.admin.chPublished byFederal Chancelleryhttps://www.bk.admin.ch/bk/en/home.html

    Social shares

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL Translation OSI

  • MIL-OSI: As Fentanyl Crisis Escalates, Abuse-Deterrent Formulations to Zero in on the Rising Epidemic of Opiate Abuse

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – Abuse-deterrent transdermal technology can be used to prevent the misuse of drugs with abuse potential, such as fentanyl, by incorporating aversive agents into transdermal patches. Abuse-deterrent opioid formulations (ADFs) are designed to make it more difficult to abuse opioids by making them less attractive or rewarding, or by increasing the difficulty of manipulating them. ADFs can help reduce the risk of adverse effects associated with snorting or injecting opioids, and may also help prevent medication errors. Active companies in the industry include: Nutriband Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRB), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA), Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS), Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRX).

    Some benefits of ADFs include: 

    • Reduced risk of abuse: ADFs can help reduce the risk of abuse, addiction, and substance use disorder. 
    • Reduced risk of overdose: ADFs can help reduce the risk of opioid overdose and poisoning. 
    • Reduced risk of medication errors: ADFs can help prevent medication errors, such as when a caregiver crushes an extended-release opioid to mix into applesauce.

    According to OXFORD Academic: “The misuse and abuse of prescription opioids constitute a growing public health problem, which is described in detail in The Burden of the Nonmedical Use of Prescription Opioid Analgesics. Recent efforts to decrease abuse of opioids through formulation engineering have focused on creating broader impediments to abuse, such as incorporating physical barriers, combining agonists with antagonists, including components that cause aversion, and formulating opioid prodrugs, with the goal of reducing abuse by oral and intranasal, as well as, routes. Several of these newer formulations are in late-stage clinical testing and, if approved, may reach the US market later this year. The true “abuse-resistance” or “abuse-deterrence” of these products will be established only when epidemiologic data on their impact confirming such effects are available.” As reported by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration: “The FDA is encouraging the development of prescription opioids with abuse-deterrent formulations (ADFs) to help combat the opioid crisis. The agency recognizes that abuse-deterrent opioids are not abuse- or addiction-proof but are a step toward products that may help reduce abuse.”

    Nutriband Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRB) RECEIVES CHINA PATENT NOTICE OF ALLOWANCE FOR ITS AVERSA™ ABUSE DETERRENT TRANSDERMAL TECHNOLOGY

    • Notice of Allowance received from Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for a patent application covering its Nutriband AVERSA™ abuse deterrent transdermal technology
    • Nutriband abuse-deterrent transdermal technology consists of a proprietary aversive agent coating that employs taste aversion to deter the oral abuse of and accidental exposure to transdermal opioid and stimulant patch products

    Nutriband Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRB) (NASDAQ:NTRBW), a company engaged in the development of prescription transdermal pharmaceutical products, today announced that it has received a Notice of Allowance from the Chinese National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) for patent application entitled, “Abuse and Misuse Deterrent Transdermal Systems,” which protects its AVERSA™ abuse deterrent transdermal technology.

    The Aversa™ abuse deterrent technology is now covered by a broad international intellectual property portfolio with patents issued in 46 countries including the United States, Europe, Japan, Korea, Russia, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and China.

    Nutriband’s AVERSA™ abuse-deterrent technology incorporates aversive agents into transdermal patches to prevent the abuse, diversion, misuse, and accidental exposure of drugs with abuse potential including opioids and stimulants. The AVERSA™ abuse-deterrent technology has the potential to improve the safety profile of transdermal drugs susceptible to abuse while making sure that these drugs remain accessible to those patients who really need them.

    Nutriband abuse-deterrent transdermal technology consists of a proprietary aversive agent coating that employs taste aversion to deter the oral abuse of and accidental exposure to transdermal opioid and stimulant patch products. Preliminary studies have shown that the coating is very difficult to scrape off and the technology has a patented immediate and extended-release profile which presents an additional layer of deterrence to prevent the aversive layer from easily being washed off in an attempt to separate the drug from the aversive agents.

    Nutriband is currently working with its partner Kindeva Drug Delivery, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization focused on drug-device combination products, to develop its lead product, AVERSA™ Fentanyl, which incorporates Nutriband’s AVERSA™ abuse-deterrent transdermal technology into Kindeva’s FDA-approved transdermal fentanyl patch system.

    AVERSA Fentanyl has the potential to be the world’s first abuse-deterrent opioid patch designed to deter the abuse and misuse and reduce the risk of accidental exposure of transdermal fentanyl patches. AVERSA Fentanyl has the potential to reach peak annual US sales of $80 million to $200 million. (Health Advances Aversa Fentanyl market analysis report 2022). CONTINUED… Read this full press release and more news for NTRB at: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-ntrb

    Other recent developments in the industry of note include:

    Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE: TEVA) announced recently that a new analysis from the European cohort of the RIM-TD open-label extension (OLE) study revealed that deutetrabenazine treatment of patients with Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) was associated with long term improvement of TD symptoms. The improvement in symptoms was sustained throughout the three-year study, and deutetrabenazine was well tolerated. The data were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) annual congress in Milan.

    TD is a stigmatising and debilitating involuntary movement disorder characterised by repetitive movements of the tongue, lower face, jaw, and limbs, which develops in around 15%-25% of patients receiving antipsychotic medications for conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder. 

    As part of the Lilly 30×30 pipeline efforts, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is collaborating with NIDA through a Screening Agreement to explore the potential of some early-phase therapies that might be repurposed for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD).

    OUD is the chronic use of opioids that causes clinically significant distress or impairment. More than 9.5 million people over age 12 in the U.S. alone misused opioids in the past year. Opioid and other addictive disorders disproportionately affect people with limited resources. Nearly half of non-elderly adults with OUD in the United States have low incomes and almost a quarter live in poverty. Although there are three drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of opioid dependence, misuse of opioids remains a significant public health concern, and there is a high unmet need to develop new and effective treatments for opioid and other addictive disorders.

    Sandoz Inc., a Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) division, and Pear Therapeutics, Inc., in 2019 announced the US commercial launch of reSET-O(TM) for patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). reSET-O, cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December, is immediately available.

    The reSET-O prescription digital therapeutic (PDT) is a 12-week cognitive behavioral therapy intended to be used in addition to outpatient treatment. It includes transmucosal buprenorphine, a commonly used medication to treat opioid addiction, and contingency management designed to provide incentives to reinforce positive behaviors. reSET-O is available by prescription only for patients 18 years or older under the care of a clinician.

    “The launch of reSET-O provides an important technology-based treatment option for patients with Opioid Use Disorder and may fundamentally change how they interact with their therapies,” said Richard Francis, CEO, Sandoz. “At Sandoz, we are proud and excited to push the frontiers of medical innovation.”

    Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRX) earlier this year announced the availability of Over the Counter (“OTC”) Naloxone Hydrochloride (Naloxone HCI) Nasal Spray, USP, 4mg, following Abbreviated New Drug Application (“ANDA”) approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”). Amneal’s Naloxone HCI Nasal Spray, manufactured in the U.S., is a generic equivalent to OTC NARCAN® HCI Nasal Spray, a medication that is widely used to help treat drug overdose from opioids, including heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioid medications.

    “With today’s launch, Amneal is proud to help address this public health emergency by providing naloxone nasal spray at an affordable price and without a prescription. Our business is deeply rooted in a commitment to helping others. By enhancing access to naloxone nasal spray, we hope to get this affordable emergency treatment into the hands of even more people who could potentially save countless families and communities from further heartache and loss,” said Chirag and Chintu Patel, Co-Chief Executive Officers.

    About FN Media Group:

    At FN Media Group, via our top-rated online news portal at www.financialnewsmedia.com, we are one of the very few select firms providing top tier one syndicated news distribution, targeted ticker tag press releases and stock market news coverage for today’s emerging companies. #pressreleases #tickertagpressreleases

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    DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM’s market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM expects to be compensated forty two hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by Nutriband Inc. by the company. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

    This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

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    Media Contact email: editor@financialnewsmedia.com – +1(561)325-8757 

    SOURCE Financialnewsmedia.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Parents with disabilities have faced discrimination for years in the US, but new rules will help ensure that child welfare systems treat them more fairly

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Lightfoot, Distinguished Professor of Social Policy, School of Social Work, Arizona State University

    Parents with disabilities have new legal protections. Westend61/Getty Images

    Parents with any kind of disability are much more likely to have some type of interaction with the child welfare system than other parents. This means they are more likely than other parents to be reported for child abuse and neglect and more likely to have abuse or neglect substantiated by child welfare workers. They are also more likely to have their children placed in foster care and more likely to permanently lose their parental rights.

    More than one-third of mothers with intellectual and developmental disabilities have an interaction with the child welfare system within four years of their child’s birth, and about one-fifth of all children in foster care have a parent with some type of disability.

    However, there is little evidence that parents with disabilities abuse or neglect their children at higher rates than anyone else. Instead, there’s evidence that many young adults raised by a parent with a disability have very positive childhood experiences.

    New rules that went into effect in July 2024 provide the first federal protections specifically for parents with disabilities. These new rules ban discrimination against parents and caregivers with disabilities throughout the child welfare system.

    Government is changing these rules

    I’m a social work policy researcher who has studied policies affecting parents with disabilities since 2007.

    In 2010, I found that three-quarters of states had laws which said that a parent’s disability could be used as the grounds for terminating their parental rights. Most of these state laws focused on parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities or mental health disabilities, though some listed physical disabilities and other types as well.

    Many of these laws were vague and used outdated language such as “mental deficiency.”

    Parental disability is the only grounds for termination of parental rights that focuses on a condition of the parent. The rest focus on behaviors. For example, parental poverty is not listed as grounds for termination of parental rights in any state, but neglect – a behavior – is.

    State laws were only one of the issues parents with disabilities encountered related to child protection. For years, there had been confusion as to how the Americans with Disabilities Act, the federal law banning disability discrimination, applied to parents in the child welfare system. Until 2015, most state courts denied ADA claims by parents with disabilities who believed they were discriminated against.

    In addition, most child welfare workers do not receive formal training on working with parents with disabilities. They are not trained in how to assess parenting skills or how to make accommodations to services that they typically provide, such as providing in-home parent training or conveying information in plain language. They might not know about the overwhelming evidence that parents with intellectual disabilities can learn parenting skills.

    This has historically led many child welfare workers to make decisions based on stereotypes or speculation.

    One of the main biases that parents with disabilities face is the “presumption of unfitness bias.” This is a widespread bias that parents are unable to parent solely because of their disability.

    This bias can lead child welfare workers to not consider that parents with disabilities can rely on “parental supports” to assist them in parenting, ranging from adaptive cribs and baby monitors to in-home helpers. It also can result in parents with disabilities being held to a higher standard than others.

    State laws specifically naming parental disability as a for termination of parental rights, the lack of federal protection, and widespread biases left parents with disabilities vulnerable in encounters with the child welfare system.

    Gaining national attention

    Two federal actions in the early 2010s brought national attention to parents with disabilities.

    First, the National Council on Disability, the independent federal agency that advises the federal government on disability issues, released a report in 2012 called Rocking the Cradle. That report focused on the widespread discrimination faced by parents with disabilities; highlighted and called for changing the state child protection laws; and called for the application of ADA protections in child welfare cases involving parents with disabilities.

    This report received a lot of media attention and led to more awareness of the plight of these parents.

    Then, in 2015, Justice Department and the Department of Health and Human Services released guidance directing child welfare agencies to protect parents with disabilities from discrimination. This was the first federal action indicating that the ADA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act applied to child protection services.

    This guidance followed the departments’ investigation of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families’ removal of a newborn baby from Sara Gordon, a new mother with a developmental disability, in 2012. The Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services found that the state agency had made assumptions that Gordon was unable to take care of her child and unable to learn parenting skills. The state agency had also failed to take into account that Gordon had support systems in place. She lived with her parents, and her mother had quit her job to assist with parenting.

    Making progress for parents with disabilities

    The momentum for protecting parental rights has led to some positive changes.

    A few states changed their own child protection laws to address some of these problems before the federal government took action by providing new protections for parents with disabilities. In addition, the Department of Justice and Department of Health and Human Services have reached agreements with state agencies in Oregon, Georgia and Massachusetts related to discrimination against parents with disabilities.

    Despite this progress, parents with disabilities are still discriminated against by the child welfare system in many parts of the country.

    At the same time, I have no doubt that the federal government’s revision of the rules of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is a major step forward for parents with disabilities.

    In particular, it is promising that Section  84.60 of the rule clarifies that disability discrimination is not allowed in any part of the child welfare process. Child welfare agencies throughout the United States now must ensure that they are not making decisions based on speculation, stereotypes or generalizations.

    Thanks to changes in the federal rule, when a child welfare agency evaluates how a child is being parented, the tools it uses must be backed by research. The evaluations must be conducted by a qualified professional and tailored to the needs of the individual parent. Agencies must ensure that parents with disabilities can participate in any services they provide. These services include parent-child visitation, parenting skills programs, family reunification services and child placements in foster care settings or in the care of another relative.

    Disability advocacy groups applauded this new rule when it went into effect in the summer of 2024.

    I believe these new rules will protect parents with disabilities when interacting with child protection authorities. They will also make it easier for child welfare agencies and state courts to recognize disability discrimination when it appears in their caseloads or on their dockets.

    Elizabeth Lightfoot receives funding from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research and the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council.

    – ref. Parents with disabilities have faced discrimination for years in the US, but new rules will help ensure that child welfare systems treat them more fairly – https://theconversation.com/parents-with-disabilities-have-faced-discrimination-for-years-in-the-us-but-new-rules-will-help-ensure-that-child-welfare-systems-treat-them-more-fairly-238185

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How to archive your photos in the digital age

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Wasim Ahmad, Assistant Teaching Professor of Journalism, Quinnipiac University

    What’s the right choice for storing your photos? Wasim Ahmad, CC BY

    Taking photographs used to be a careful, conscious act. Photos were selective, frozen moments in time carefully archived in albums and frames. Now, taking a photograph is almost as effortless and common as breathing – it’s something that people do all the time in the age of smartphone cameras with seemingly endless digital film.

    But the downside to capturing every moment is that it creates a mountain of those moments to save for the future. Those photos can be easily lost if they’re not archived properly. All it can take is one accidental dip in the toilet for your phone, and all that data is lost forever.

    So what’s a practical backup strategy for the average person? Here are a few ways to make sure memories are never lost:

    Cloud storage

    The simplest way to archive your photos is cloud storage. For Apple users, there’s iCloud, which starts at US$0.99 per month for 50 gigabytes all the way to $59.99 per month for 12 terabytes with various tiers in between. With an average iPhone photo clocking in at 3 megabytes, that’s a little over 16,000 photos for the cheap plan and 4 million or so for the largest plan. Google’s Google One cloud storage is most cost effective for yearly plans, with 2TB going for $99.99 per year and 5TB going for $249.99 per year.

    The actual amount you can store in that space does vary greatly with how a file is shot. Video has larger file sizes than photos. HEIF files, a newer format on Apple phones, compresses files into smaller packages, but long-term compatibility is unknown since the format hasn’t been in use for as long as the standard JPG file, which has been around since 1992.

    Storing your photos in a cloud service like iCloud is probably the easiest method.
    Chris Messina/Flickr, CC BY-NC

    While cloud services from big providers generally provide the easiest way for most average folks to back up their photos, and operate with little to no intervention via apps that are already on the phone constantly uploading every photo taken, there are risks involved.

    Big companies often change their policies about how photos are saved. For instance, depending on what phone and when it was bought, Google’s cloud storage may have saved photos in a “storage saver” format that lowers the quality of images by sizing them down or compressing them differently. This affects your ability to make high-quality prints or view the photos on high-resolution screens down the road. Unless someone is astute enough to notice small text here and there that mentions it, most users won’t even realize it’s happening.

    And what happens to cloud services when things go badly wrong? Users of photo backup service Digital Railroad found out the hard way. In 2008, the company abruptly shut down and gave its users 24 hours to download everything before the servers were shut down. Photographers rushed for the exits, trying to grab their photos on the way out, only to strain the servers to the point where few were able to recover anything at all. If this was the only way photos were backed up, it’s a lost cause.

    So while the cloud is easy, costs can add up and terms of service can change at a moment’s notice. What are some ways for photographers to control their own fate?

    Hard drives and network-attached storage

    Manually taking photos off a phone may take some extra time, but the approach offers peace of mind that cloud services can’t necessarily match.

    Almost all phones can plug into a computer’s USB port and use the built-in photos app on both Windows or MacOS to download photos to a computer. Apple users can use a method called AirDrop to send photos wirelessly to other Apple devices as well, including laptop and desktop computers.

    Now loading photos onto a local hard drive built into the machine can fill it up quickly, but there is a cost-effective way to get around that – namely, external hard drives. Theses are storage devices that you can plug into your computer as needed. They can be of the older and less expensive type with spinning platters or more modern solid-state drives that can survive a drop and greater temperature changes than the older drives can.

    These are different than flash drives, more commonly known as thumb drives because of their small size, that are designed as temporary storage to shuffle photos from one place to another.

    It’s easy to buy more than one hard drive to have duplicate backups in case of failure or catastrophe, but the downside is that there’s no easy access from the internet to your photos, and backup is generally a process that users must remember to do.

    Network-attached storage is one way to solve the cloud storage problem while retaining the ability to access photos from the internet. These are essentially hard drives – sometimes multiple hard drives linked together for even greater or faster storage – that are connected to a router that allows for access to the internet through specialized software.

    While not as easy as most third-party cloud storage services, once it’s set up, a network-attached storage unit is a flexible way to store your photos safely and accessibly. There are even companies that specialize in fireproof and waterproof units for extra insurance in case of disaster.

    Printing photos

    If cloud storage and hard drives seem too complicated, there’s always the old-fashioned approach of printing. There’s still something magical about seeing a photo on a wall or in an album, and thankfully there are ways to print professional-quality archival prints without having to go to a drugstore.

    Desktop photo printers are a way to bring those digital photos into the physical world, ready for organizing in photo albums.
    Leksey/Wikimedia

    The easiest and most cost-efficient types of printers are dedicated 4×6 printers using a technology similar to professional labs called dye-sublimation. These yield high-quality, waterproof prints that cost about the same as what one would pay for drugstore developing. HP makes its popular Sprocket line of printers, though those require a phone and an app to print from, which makes plugging in a memory card from a professional camera out of the question. However, Canon’s Selphy lineup includes many models with screens and a card slot to make that possible.

    The rabbit hole goes very deep, and there are many professional printers that can print even larger sizes. Canon and Epson dominate this space, marketing a range of pigment- and dye-based printers that can emphasize archival needs or color saturation, respectively.

    Another option is ordering a photo book, which, as the name suggests, is a physical bound book of your photos. However, photo books are probably more appropriate for memorializing an event – trip, wedding, project – than general archiving, given the typical costs and number of photos involved.

    There’s little reason to not make some sort of backups of photos in 2024, whether that’s on printed media, hard drives or in the cloud. The important thing is not which method to use, but to do it at all.

    Wasim Ahmad 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. How to archive your photos in the digital age – https://theconversation.com/how-to-archive-your-photos-in-the-digital-age-239175

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Mike Muller, Visiting Adjunct Professor, School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand

    A new round of angry exchanges has broken out between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

    On September 1, Cairo wrote to the UN security council to protest against Ethiopia’s continued filling of Africa’s second largest reservoir and bringing two more power generating turbines into operation. Egypt sees any new infrastructure development on the Nile as a potential threat, since the river is the source of over 98% of the country’s water.

    Egypt calls this a violation of international law and Ethiopia’s obligations to “prevent significant harm”. Ethiopia’s policies, it says,

    could result in an existential threat to Egypt … and would consequently jeopardise regional and international peace and security.

    Ethiopia has told Egypt to “abandon its aggressive approach” towards the dam. Ethiopia says that it must allow the Blue Nile’s water to flow through the dam’s turbines and on to Egypt to generate the hydropower for which it has been built, thus guaranteeing the overall flow to Egypt.

    I have tracked the Nile disputes since the 1970s, first as a development journalist, then as a civil engineer and senior public servant. More recently, my research on water and regional integration for regional development agencies has provided further insights. My 2021 study considered the lessons to be learnt for today’s water challenges from centuries of the use and management of Nile waters.



    Read more:
    Innovations on the Nile over millennia offer lessons in engineering sustainable futures

    Ongoing tension between Egypt and Ethiopia over control of the Nile River has a long history. Therefore, in one sense, the row between Egypt and Ethiopia is nothing new.

    The countries went to war as far back as 1874, even as they both were also battling European colonialism. Ethiopia won the war of 1874 and, 20 years later, beat back Italy’s attempt to colonise it, at the battle of Adwa.

    However, Egypt gained long term advantage from treaties negotiated by the British, which gave Cairo almost total control over the Nile. Egypt is still asserting the rights and privileges conferred by those colonial era treaties even though they are being challenged by other Nile countries. In my view, this is because Egyptians are still trapped by their past fears. As Norwegian professor Torje Tvedt has explained, these fears were deliberately entrenched by past colonial authorities.

    With these perspectives, my view is that the current controversy over the Ethiopian dam still reflects historical conflicts rather than a careful analysis of present challenges.

    Now 90% complete, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has begun to generate electricity. A series of good rainy seasons have allowed the reservoir to start filling rapidly without affecting Egypt’s water availability.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam offers not just cheap green electricity for Ethiopia and the sub-region as well as reliable irrigation supplies and flood control for Sudan. Once filled, its storage could offer supply security and increase the amount of water available for Egypt as well.

    The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

    What, then, are the issues that have prompted Egypt’s recent protests and what are the possible solutions to the problems raised?

    The immediate technical challenge is to continue filling the dam without disrupting flows to Sudan and Egypt. The filling process might have to be interrupted if there is a regional drought. So recent developments, notably the greater focus on the rate at which the dam will be filled rather than the legality of its construction, suggest that there is a shift in positions which neither side is yet willing to acknowledge publicly.

    This shift will be supported when other future-focused issues are raised. For instance, there must be negotiations about the supply of electricity to support Sudan’s irrigation expansion, although this is on hold due to the war in Sudan. In the longer term, Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia could cooperate to use the GERD’s storage to help Egypt to manage its Aswan High Dam more efficiently. Aswan currently suffers very high evaporation losses, which could be reduced if its reservoir levels were better controlled. The GERD could help to do this.

    Unfortunately, the history of colonial Britain repeatedly threatening to cut Egypt’s Nile water supplies has been deeply imprinted in Egyptian public consciousness. It is understandable that Egyptians still fear a similar threat from Ethiopia. The responsibility now falls on Ethiopia to show good faith in its operation of the dam and to work with Egypt to change the combative discourse.

    Potential for cooperation

    Egypt’s repeated complaints have alerted Ethiopia and international organisations of the need to act carefully. If there is another regional drought, Ethiopia will need to slow the rate at which it completes filling its dam. Informal liaison structures are monitoring the situation and such a response would help to build a more constructive engagement with Egypt.

    Water is a patient teacher. Every season provides an opportunity for those who live with its natural cycles to understand it better. The hope is that, if the three countries experience the benefits of some seasons of the dam’s operation, the natural cycle will reveal the potential for cooperation and mitigate the conflict.



    Read more:
    Sudan’s catastrophe: farmers could offer quick post-war recovery, if peace is found

    When peace returns to Sudan, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will enable a vast expansion of irrigation to develop its role as a regional breadbasket. The dam will also help to manage Nile floods which regularly cause death and destruction, even to Sudan’s capital, Khartoum.

    Efforts to promote cooperation between the East African countries that share the White Nile have been relatively successful. However, such cooperation on the Blue Nile will need much greater trust between the parties. To achieve this trust, the countries and their people will have to overcome centuries of cultural and political preconceptions. This will require much patient work and interaction, which is not easy in the current climate.

    Mike Muller has received funding from the African Development Bank and South Africa’s Water Research Comission for work on regional cooperation in water resource management. He has been a member of the Global Water Partnership’s Technical Committee, chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Water and been funded by the World Bank’s Cooperation in International Waters (CIWA) programme for contributions to the Nile Basin Initiative. He was also funded by UNESCO to attend a conference in Khartoum, organised with Sudan’s Ministry of Water Resources Irrigation and Electricity, on integrated and sustainable water management.

    – ref. Egypt’s fears about Ethiopia’s mega-dam haven’t come to pass: moving on from historical concerns would benefit the whole region – https://theconversation.com/egypts-fears-about-ethiopias-mega-dam-havent-come-to-pass-moving-on-from-historical-concerns-would-benefit-the-whole-region-239418

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI China: Digitalization streamlines Chinese mainland’s exports to Macao

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    GUANGZHOU, Sept. 24 — The first batch of plant products exported from the Chinese mainland to Macao was declared with digital customs clearance on Monday by the Gongbei Customs in Zhuhai, a city in south China’s Guangdong Province, which borders Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

    From Monday, all exports of plant products via Gongbei Customs started to undergo paperless customs clearance of inspection and quarantine certificates after the customs inked a cooperation agreement with the Macao SAR government on animal and plant quarantine and food safety.

    “In the past, we had to spend hours in the customs office for the declaration of the paper certificates of the goods. With digital management, the time was greatly shortened,” said Lin Genrui, the exporter of the plant products.

    He said his company is a long-term supplier of flower and seedling products to Macao.

    In the first eight months of this year, customs handled 952 batches of flower and seedling exports to Macao worth 14.88 million yuan (about 2.1 million U.S. dollars).

    Chen Weiqi, an official of the Gongbei Customs, said that customs had strengthened communication and cooperation with the Macao SAR government for mutual authentication of customs declaration certificates to jointly ensure safety, promote cross-border trade facilitation, and enhance the market integration in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

    All plant products declared for export through customs are recognized through information sharing between the Chinese mainland and Macao, said Chen, adding that customs would continue to expand the types of export goods to be covered by the paperless customs clearance.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Xinjiang’s Khunjerab Pass offers full-year service

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Xinjiang’s Khunjerab Pass offers full-year service

    Updated: September 24, 2024 20:37 Xinhua
    A police officer of Khunjerab border inspection station is pictured on duty at the Khunjerab Pass in Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. Khunjerab Pass is a land port on the China-Pakistan border and an important gateway to South Asia and Europe. The pass used to offer seasonal access service that started on April 1 and ended on Nov. 30, but it has shifted to full-year service as of Sept. 20 this year. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Police officers of Khunjerab border inspection station check a vehicle at the Khunjerab Pass in Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A truck passes through the Khunjerab Pass in Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    This photo shows the Khunjerab Pass in Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    Customs staff check electronic products at the Khunjerab Pass in Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
    A police officer of Khunjerab border inspection station (R, front) helps a Swiss tourist at the Khunjerab Pass in Kashgar, northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Sept. 20, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: World Health Organization (WHO) in Africa, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) bolster partnership for enhanced public health emergency response

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    Download logo

    World Health Organization (WHO) in the African Region and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have endorsed a regional collaboration framework to strengthen public health emergency response, especially at the community level, and bolster health security.

    With the WHO in the African Region’s presence in 47 countries and the IFRC’s Africa Regional Office’s support of 49 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in sub-Saharan Africa as well as over 1.4 million volunteers and 12 000 branches, the two organizations are leveraging their vast networks and presence on the continent to support governments in scaling up response at the community level.

    To address the ongoing mpox outbreak, WHO in the African Region and IFRC are reinforcing their long-standing collaboration to support Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to ramp up measures for an effective response to halt the outbreak. The collaboration can be expanded to include other countries facing active mpox cases, as well as other public health emergencies.

    “As the continent and the world face new and emerging threats, our enduring partnership remains crucial in safeguarding health, enhancing emergency preparedness, and building a healthier, more resilient Africa,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

    WHO and IFRC have collaborated for decades on the continent, driven by a deep-rooted commitment to save lives. The new collaboration framework will facilitate closer coordination and alignment in the response to health emergencies in Africa. It aims to enhance capacity-building in national health workforces, strengthen disaster preparedness and risk reduction, increase vaccine access and expand evidence-based action. The partnership will also streamline and integrate preparedness approaches within ministries of health and address the health impacts of climate change, among other priority areas for collaborative action across the continent.

    Approximately 500 000 IFRC volunteers are in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country that accounts for 90% of all mpox cases in Africa. They have been trained in community-based surveillance, community engagement, risk communication and case management. 

    “Our volunteers are members of the community who have built social trust over many years. They generate large reservoirs of applied research and data on the health status of communities,” said Mohammed Omer Mukhier-Abuzein, IFRC Regional Director for Africa. 

    With an estimated ratio of one volunteer for every 200 people living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the IFRC workforce will play a crucial role in passing real-time information about suspected outbreaks to WHO’s national mpox response team. This team includes polio experts who have demonstrated considerable effectiveness in previous disease eradication initiatives. 

    “By combining WHO’s technical expertise and national coordination with IFRC’s grassroots community mobilization, we can create a powerful and complementary response mechanism. This partnership ensures interventions are scientifically sound and locally relevant, setting a new standard for integrated and effective outbreak responses,” said Dr Abdou Salam Gueye, WHO’s Regional Emergency Director for Africa. 

    Epidemiological surveillance conducted in collaboration with IFRC will support the mpox vaccine rollout in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is set to begin in the coming weeks. WHO will be able to use data to guide vaccines to where they are needed most. 

    WHO is supporting countries experiencing mpox outbreaks through multiple response strategies, including enhancing disease surveillance, vaccine introduction readiness, contact tracing, training and combating misinformation. 

    Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Eleven Firms to Pay More Than $88 Million Combined to Settle SEC’s Charges for Widespread Recordkeeping Failures

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    One additional firm will not pay a penalty because it self-reported, self-policed, and demonstrated substantial efforts at compliance

    The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against 12 firms, comprising broker-dealers, investment advisers, and one dually-registered broker-dealer and investment adviser, for widespread and longstanding failures by the firms and their personnel to maintain and preserve electronic communications in violation of recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws.

    The firms admitted the facts set forth in their respective SEC orders, acknowledged their conduct violated recordkeeping provisions of the federal securities laws, agreed to pay combined civil penalties of $88,225,000 as outlined below, and have begun implementing improvements to their compliance policies and procedures to address these violations. The firms are as follows:

    • Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Inc. agreed to pay a $35 million penalty;
    • Invesco Distributors, Inc., together with Invesco Advisers, Inc., agreed to pay a $35 million penalty;
    • CIBC World Markets Corp., together with CIBC Private Wealth Advisors, Inc., agreed to pay a $12 million penalty;
    • Glazer Capital, LLC agreed to pay a $2 million penalty;
    • Intesa Sanpaolo IMI Securities Corp., agreed to pay a $1.5 million penalty;
    • Canaccord Genuity LLC agreed to pay a $1.25 million penalty;
    • Regions Securities LLC agreed to pay a $750,000 penalty;
    • Alpaca Securities LLC agreed to pay a $400,000 penalty;
    • Focused Wealth Management, Inc. agreed to pay a $325,000 penalty; and
    • Qatalyst Partners LP will not pay a penalty.

    “Today’s enforcement actions reflect the range of remedies that parties may face for violating the recordkeeping requirements of the federal securities laws. Widespread and longstanding failures, including where those failures potentially hinder the Commission’s investor protection function by compromising a firm’s response to SEC subpoenas, may result in robust civil penalties,” said Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement. “On the other hand, firms that self-report and otherwise cooperate with the SEC’s investigations may receive significantly reduced penalties. Here, despite recordkeeping failures that involved communications by senior leadership and persisted after our first recordkeeping matters were announced in 2021, Qatalyst took substantial steps to comply, self-reported, and remediated and, therefore, received a no-penalty resolution.”

    The SEC’s investigations into all the firms except for Qatalyst uncovered pervasive and longstanding use of unapproved communication methods, known as off-channel communications, at these firms. As described in the SEC’s orders, the firms admitted that during the periods relevant to each order, their personnel sent and received off-channel communications that were records required to be maintained under securities laws. The failure to maintain and preserve required records deprives the SEC of these communications in our investigations. The failures involved personnel at multiple levels of authority, including supervisors and senior managers.

    In contrast, in response to the Commission’s recent off-channel enforcement actions, Qatalyst conducted an internal investigation and uncovered that Qatalyst personnel at various levels of authority sent and received off-channel communications, which Qatalyst did not maintain or preserve, that related to its broker-dealer business. Qatalyst will not pay a penalty because it self-reported its recordkeeping violations, cooperated with the staff’s investigation, and demonstrated substantial efforts at compliance with the recordkeeping requirements. Two additional firms, Canaccord and Regions, also self-reported their violations and, as a result, will pay significantly lower civil penalties than they would have otherwise.

    The firms were each charged with violating certain recordkeeping provisions of the Securities Exchange Act or the Investment Advisers Act or both. In addition, all but one of the firms failed to reasonably supervise their personnel with a view to preventing and detecting those violations. The SEC’s order against Focused Wealth also found that the firm failed to adopt and implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the firm and its supervised persons from violating recordkeeping requirements.

    Each of the firms was ordered to cease and desist from future violations of the relevant recordkeeping provisions and was censured. Ten of the firms also agreed to retain compliance consultants to, among other things, conduct comprehensive reviews of their policies and procedures relating to the retention of electronic communications found on personal devices and their respective frameworks for addressing non-compliance by their personnel with those policies and procedures.

    Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced a settlement with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for related conduct.

    The SEC’s investigations into Stifel, CIBC, Intesa, Canaccord, Alpaca, and Qatalyst were conducted by Laurel S. Fensterstock, Karolina Klyuchnikova, Austin Thompson, and Alison R. Levine. The SEC’s investigation into Focused Wealth was conducted by Bennett Ellenbogen and Michael Paley. Each of these matters was supervised by Thomas P. Smith, Jr. of the New York Regional Office. The SEC’s investigation into Invesco was conducted by Melanie Good, Craig Welter, and Nikolay Vydashenko, and supervised by Corey Schuster of the Enforcement Division’s Asset Management Unit.  The SEC’s investigation into Glazer was conducted by Anne Hancock, Samantha Martin, and Christopher Rogers, and supervised by B. David Fraser of the Fort Worth Regional Office. The investigation into Regions was conducted by Katie D. Krysan and Amy S. Cotter, and supervised by Paul A. Montoya of the Chicago Regional Office.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jefferson Parish Eligible for FEMA Assistance

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Jefferson Parish Eligible for FEMA Assistance

    Jefferson Parish Eligible for FEMA Assistance

    BATON ROUGE, La. – Homeowners and renters in Jefferson Parish are now eligible for FEMA assistance to help them recover from Hurricane Francine. 

    Jefferson Parish joins Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes, which were previously approved for Individual Assistance. 

    Assistance for eligible survivors can help with serious needs, displacement, temporary lodging, basic home repair costs, personal property loss or other disaster-caused needs. Also, low-interest disaster loans from the U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available for businesses of all sizes (including landlords), private nonprofits, homeowners and renters.

    How to Apply to FEMA

    Homeowners and renters in Jefferson Parish and other designated parishes can apply several ways:

    • Go online to disasterassistance.gov.
    • Download the FEMA App for mobile devices.
    • Call the FEMA helpline at 800-621-3362 between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. CT. Help is available in most languages. If you use a relay service, such as video relay (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service.
    • Visit any Disaster Recovery Center. For locations and hours, go online to fema.gov/drc.

    View an accessible video about how to apply at Three Ways to Register for FEMA Disaster Assistance – YouTube.

    Parishes Eligible for Public Assistance

    Ascension, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. Mary and Terrebonne parishes are now eligible for permanent work (Categories C-G); these parishes were previously designated for Individual Assistance and assistance for debris removal and emergency protective measures (Categories A and B), including direct federal assistance, under the Public Assistance program.

    East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Helena, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Washington and West Feliciana parishes are now eligible for Public Assistance Categories A-G.

    Visit fema.gov/assistance/public/process to learn more about FEMA’s Public Assistance program including eligibility and the categories of work. 

    For the latest information visit fema.gov/4817. Follow FEMA Region 6 on social media at  x.com/FEMARegion6 and at facebook.com/femaregion6/. 

    alexa.brown

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Traliant Launches Customizable Code of Conduct Training to Drive Ethical Workplace Culture

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Traliant, a leader in online compliance training, is proud to unveil its latest Code of Conduct training solutions, uniquely designed to bring a company’s ethical policies to life to build a culture of integrity where employees don’t just follow the rules — they live by them.

    Traliant’s Code of Conduct training is powerful in its flexibility to be tailored to the unique needs of any organization. With customizable content, businesses can incorporate their specific policies and real-world scenarios, making the training not only more relevant but also more engaging for employees. By understanding ethical challenges they might face, employees gain confidence and clarity to make informed decisions that align with their company’s values. This immersive approach helps reduce ethical risks and drives a stronger, more accountable workplace culture.

    “HR and compliance professionals know that fostering an ethical workplace isn’t just about checking a compliance box,” said Michael Johnson, Chief Strategy Officer at Traliant. “It’s about giving employees the tools to understand and internalize the company’s code, so they feel empowered to make the right decisions every day. Our new training fuels that mission, turning ethics into something actionable and meaningful.”

    For federal contractors, Traliant’s Code of Conduct FAR training covers essential Federal Acquisition Regulations principles that must be addressed within their code of business ethics and conduct. Again, Traliant’s flexible course design allows companies to quickly and easily customize content to make it more relatable for enhanced learning and retention.

    Supported by an in-house team of legal experts, Traliant training is accurate and up to date to ensure businesses meet today’s workplace challenges and compliance requirements. To learn more about Traliant, visit: https://www.traliant.com/.

    About Traliant
    Traliant combines in-house legal expertise with modern, emotionally engaging course design to redefine compliance, training experiences and services. It helps thousands of organizations create a culture of ethics, inclusion and safety by addressing dozens of critical topics including sexual harassment training, DEI training and code of conduct training. Traliant’s innovative and interactive approach to learning can be easily customized into affordable and cost-effective solutions for clients to address their industry, branding, policies, risks and job-specific needs. Backed by PSG, a leading growth equity firm, Traliant is ranked on Inc.’s 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 lists of 5000 fastest-growing private companies in America and named to Inc.’s 2023 list of Best Workplaces. For more information, visit http://www.traliant.com and follow us on LinkedIn. 

    Contact
    Reagan Bennet
    traliant@v2comms.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: LPL Financial Welcomes 57th Street Wealth Advisors to Linsco Channel

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN DIEGO, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LPL Financial LLC, announced today that financial advisors Ken Hutkin and Ron Winkler have joined LPL’s employee advisor channel, Linsco by LPL Financial, to launch 57th Street Wealth Advisors. They reported serving approximately $400 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets* and join LPL from Wedbush Securities. They will operate the first Linsco office in New York City.

    Hutkin brings more than 30 years of experience as a business owner and entrepreneur to the partnership. He prides himself on understanding the unique challenges faced by professionals and business owners, which gives him the ability to design custom-tailored strategies and financial plans. Winkler has spent nearly 40 years of his career as the founder and managing partner of Winkler & Co. CPAs, a tax and financial planning firm. Like Hutkin, Winkler’s passion for business and entrepreneurship drove his successful small business and ability to find approaches to even the toughest of clients’ financial challenges.

    Together, the advisors aim to guide their clients through every step of their financial lives through attentive, personalized service and clear actionable plans. The 57th team also includes licensed Client Services Associate Margarita “Margie” Santiago and wealth associates Nathan Wild and Noah Hutkin.

    “What makes our team distinctive and brings us the most pride is our commitment to both the execution of strategies and our service model,” Winkler said. “We are a process-driven, holistic multi-generational financial planning and asset management team, and we strive to offer exceptional service as we deliver tax-sensitive investment strategies and comprehensive wealth management.”

    Looking to operate with greater autonomy while also evolving their practice, 57th Street Wealth Advisors turned to Linsco by LPL Financial.

    The Linsco employee advisor model serves financial advisors seeking the core tenets of independence, including owning their client relationships and having the flexibility to run their practice on their own terms. With Linsco, advisors have access to LPL’s integrated wealth management platform and robust business resources, along with the additional benefits of having support from an experienced branch management team and other dedicated consultants.

    “We are truly setting up our practice for the future — both for our clients and legacy,” Hutkin said. “LPL is a recognized name in the industry with flexibility, scale and continued investment in resources, which can help us grow our team and ensure business continuity in the years to come. We are also excited for clients to have a successful and streamlined experience with LPL. We look forward to all the new opportunities ahead.”

    Scott Posner, LPL Executive Vice President, Business Development, said, “We welcome Ken, Ron and the entire 57th Street Wealth Advisors team to the LPL community. Through Linsco, advisors are empowered and have greater autonomy and flexibility to grow their practice on their terms. LPL’s integrated wealth management platform, robust business resources and support from our experienced branch management team and dedicated consultants can help them take their successful businesses to the next level. We look forward to supporting the 57th Street Wealth Advisors team as they continue to grow and serve their clients.”

    Related

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

    About LPL Financial

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

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

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

    LPL Financial does not offer tax advice or tax preparation services.

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

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

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

    Tracking #631234

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: A Catalyst: Statement on Qatalyst Partners LP

    Source: Securities and Exchange Commission

    Over the last several years, off-channel communications cases have become more prevalent on the Commission’s enforcement docket. We have struggled with these cases. While we supported many of them initially, it was not without deep reservations. Recently, we have objected to the penalties and undertakings in most of these cases. Today’s case against Qatalyst Partners LP[1] illustrates and confirms the reason for our reservations: it does not appear that firms have an achievable path to compliance. Accordingly, we voted no on Qatalyst Partners LP, and urge our colleagues to reconsider our current approach to the off-channel communications issue.

    Recordkeeping by regulated entities is important. The Commission needs to be able to enforce its rules. To do that, it needs access to records about firms’ activities. Firms that are serious about complying with our rules also need access to records about their business activities. If business is being conducted using communications means that are outside of the reach of firm compliance personnel and Commission staff, both will be hampered in their ability to foster compliance with the rules. The off-channel communications cases arise from a legitimate concern that the compliance efforts both of firm compliance personnel and of Commission staff are impeded by improper recordkeeping practices. As the Commission’s Order in the first of these cases stated:

    The federal securities laws impose recordkeeping requirements on broker-dealers to ensure that they responsibly discharge their crucial role in our markets. The Commission has long said that compliance with these requirements is essential to investor protection and the Commission’s efforts to further its mandate of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation.

    [2]

    That first case involved a “widespread failure to implement” recordkeeping policies that “was not hidden within the firm,” “was firm-wide, and involved employees at all levels of authority,” and “impacted the Commission’s ability to carry out its regulatory functions and investigate potential violations of the federal securities laws across these investigations.”

    Many other cases have followed. The use of off-channel communications—text messages, smartphone chat applications like WhatsApp, and personal email outside firm-approved systems—is prevalent across the securities industry. We have an industry-wide problem that we will not solve through enforcement.

    Today’s action against Qatalyst illustrates why we cannot enforce our way to compliance. Under the standard applied in this case, even well-intentioned firms could find themselves in the Commission’s enforcement queue time and again. Qatalyst has been working to address the off-channel issue for at least sixteen years. The Commission’s Order outlines some of the firm’s efforts:

    As early as 2008, Qatalyst personnel were advised that the use of unapproved electronic communications methods, including on their personal devices, was not permitted, and they should not use personal email, chats or text messaging applications for business purposes, or forward work-related communications to unapproved applications on their personal devices. Qatalyst reinforced its policies at least annually with regular, mandatory training and reinforcement from compliance and senior management. Qatalyst personnel were specifically advised not to list personal phone numbers in email signatures.

    Then, “beginning in March 2017, Qatalyst provided its personnel with a compliant text-messaging process that could retain business communications” and “instructed its personnel to use only this process to communicate about Qatalyst’s broker-dealer business by text message.” “Beginning in 2020, Qatalyst required all personnel to have a firm-issued device on which to conduct Qatalyst business, and encouraged personnel to use firm-issued devices when communicating with both business and personal contacts.” Further updates to capture Slack and LinkedIn messages came in 2020 and 2022. Qatalyst trained its employees, monitored communications sent through firm-approved communication methods, and disciplined employees who violated the firm’s policies. Even with all that, Qatalyst violated the recordkeeping requirements: “Qatalyst collected data from a sampling of broker-dealer personnel and found that . . . several broker-dealer personnel, including at senior levels, had engaged in off-channel communications that concerned the broker-dealer’s business as such.” At the end of the day, despite Qatalyst’s compliance efforts, the Commission’s order states that:

    Qatalyst . . . failed to implement a system reasonably expected to determine whether all personnel, including supervisors, were following Qatalyst’s policies and procedures. While permitting personnel to use approved communications methods, including on personal phones, for business communications, Qatalyst failed to implement sufficient monitoring to ensure that its recordkeeping and communications policies and procedures were always being followed.” (Emphasis added.)

    This statement sounds to us like one that equates reasonableness with perfection. If we assess reasonableness based on whether policies and procedures always are being followed, firms will never escape our enforcement net. People are not perfect and so compliance will not be perfect—even at a firm that tries as hard as Qatalyst. Firing up our enforcement machinery every couple years to haul the industry in for headline-making penalties will not make people perfect, so firms will continue to discover violations of firm policies. We cannot enforce to perfection, but there is a way to achieve better compliance.

    This case should serve as a catalyst for the Commission. We need to work with the industry and other interested members of the public to develop a pragmatic and privacy-respecting approach that enables firms and the Commission to have the records they need for compliance, examination, and enforcement at a reasonable cost in both financial and privacy terms. As we have this conversation, we ought to bear several points in mind:

    • The existing recordkeeping rules are a product of simpler times. The ways in which people communicate have multiplied, and the percentage of communications that are written has risen so firms have more avenues to monitor. Paper documents have given way to e-mail, which has given way to text messages, which have given way to app-based chats. This technological progression poses unique challenges and opportunities in terms of recordkeeping.
      • How can we modernize the recordkeeping rules to deal with the recordkeeping challenges of the new technology and accompanying shifts in the communication habits of people?  How do we identify and take advantage of aspects of these changes that facilitate recordkeeping?
    • Oral conversations that would not have been captured by recordkeeping rules in the past are now written conversations that are captured. One needs only observe a couple teenagers sitting in a room together who are texting one another rather than talking to each other to realize that texts have taken the place of what would have been oral communications in the past. This shift of communication from verbal to written intensified during the pandemic when colleagues that used to sit next to one another retreated to their own homes.
      • Should we revisit the recordkeeping rules so that they do not capture the modern-day equivalent of oral chatter?
    • Client service imperatives drive how firms communicate with their clients. A client of an investment adviser who is also her neighbor wants to be able to send her a WhatsApp message when she needs advice on her investment portfolio, just as she does when she wants advice on her garden. Firms have made a lot of progress on developing tools that allow their employees to capture the business-related messages for recordkeeping purposes.
      • How can we help firms as they think about seamless ways to accommodate client communication preferences and still meet recordkeeping obligations?
      • Issuing firm phones is an expensive option. What are best practices for firms that do not have the budget to issue phones or whose employees prefer not to have a work phone?
    • Firms and their employees have questions about what types of communications are covered by the rules. Certain messages are clearly covered by the rules, but others are not so clear. The lack of clarity stems in part—but not entirely—from the different scope of the recordkeeping rules for various types of firms.[3]
      • What can the Commission do to provide clarity on the requirements under the existing rules?
      • Is the scope of the current rules appropriate?
      • Once we settle on the scope, how can firms effectively train their employees about what needs to be preserved for recordkeeping purposes?
    • Ensuring that employees abide by firm policies implicates privacy concerns. A firm can write excellent policies and procedures that prohibit the use of off-channel communications but ensuring that everybody complies with them is difficult. We see this in enforcement cases like Qatalyst, where the firm had a great set of policies and procedures, but some employees did not comply. Any firm surveillance system has to achieve record retention without subjecting employees’ personal means of communication to constant surveillance. Doing so is offensive to employees’ privacy and may have legal implications in some jurisdictions. Firms have developed ways, such as monitoring on-channel communications for indications that other communications are happening off-channel and only then looking at employees’ personal phones and emails. Firms also have disciplined employees found to be in violation of the policies, which sends a message that such conduct is not tolerated.
      • What are best practices for training employees and ensuring compliance with off-channel communications policies and procedures?
      • What are best practices for monitoring compliance with off-channel communication prohibitions?
      • How do the securities recordkeeping rules interact with other laws, such as employment or privacy laws?
    • Input from compliance personnel is essential. To develop workable, effective policies, we need to hear from the people who write, implement, and oversee these policies. This issue would be a perfect one to put in front of a Chief Compliance Officer Advisory committee. Compliance personnel understand the importance of maintaining good records, the difficulty of doing so, and have real-world experience in weighing the sometimes-conflicting interests of firms, clients, and employees.
      • What would an effective Chief Compliance Officer Advisory Committee look like?

    The issues laid out above are only a few of the many that deserve discussion outside of the enforcement context. We look forward to working with our colleagues at the Commission and interested members of the public on a more productive path forward.

    [3] See, e.g., Exchange Act Rule 15Ba1-8, 17 C.F.R. § 240.15Ba1-8 (recordkeeping requirements for municipal advisers); Exchange Act Rule 17a-4, 17 C.F.R. § 240.17a-4 (recordkeeping requirements for exchanges, brokers, and dealers); Exchange Act Rule 17g-2, 17 C.F.R. § 240.17g-2 (recordkeeping requirements for nationally recognized statistical rating organizations); Investment Advisers Act Rule 204-2, 17 C.F.R. § 275.204-2 (recordkeeping requirements for investment advisers); Investment Company Act Rule 31a-1 through 4, 17 C.F.R. § 270.31a-1 through 4 (recordkeeping requirements for certain investment companies).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Vickery Energy Partners Announces Partnership with Quantum Capital Group

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    HOUSTON and FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Quantum Capital Group (“Quantum”) and Vickery Energy Partners, LLC (“Vickery” or the “Company”) today announced the formation of Vickery with equity capital commitments from Quantum and employees of the Company. Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Vickery will pursue the acquisition and development of oil and gas assets across North America, with an initial focus on the Appalachian Basin.

    Vickery is led by former executives of Tug Hill, including Sean Willis as President and Chief Executive Officer and Daniel Rowe as Chief Financial Officer. In August of 2023, Quantum sold Tug Hill and XcL Midstream’s portfolio of upstream and midstream assets located in the Appalachian Basin to EQT Corporation for a total consideration of approximately $5.0 billion.   

    Mr. Willis said, “We look forward to building another outstanding business with Quantum, and we are excited to have a partner that has demonstrated such a steadfast commitment to the responsible production of the energy resources required to power our world. We believe the strength of our Quantum partnership and Vickery’s proven operating capabilities will enable us to pursue opportunities of scale and execute a responsible development program to create significant value for our investors.”

    “We are pleased to partner with Sean, Daniel, and the broader Vickery team,” said Tom Field, Partner at Quantum. “We have worked with this management team for many years, and they have proven to be exceptional entrepreneurs, high-quality operators, responsible stewards of assets, and great partners.”

    Rob Meister, Managing Director at Quantum, added, “The Vickery team has an impressive track record of value creation across upstream, midstream, and mineral assets. We believe the current environment presents an attractive opportunity to acquire and develop assets in the resource-rich Appalachian Basin.”

    About Vickery Energy Partners
    Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Vickery is focused on the acquisition and development of oil and gas properties in the Appalachian Basin, with an emphasis on the southwestern tri-state region of the basin. Since 2014 the Vickery team successfully acquired, developed, and operated upstream, midstream, and mineral assets in the Appalachian Basin, during which time it has successfully formed and monetized multiple partnerships. For more information on Vickery, please visit www.VickeryEnergy.com.

    About Quantum Capital Group
    Founded in 1998, Quantum is a leading provider of private equity, credit, and venture capital to the global energy and energy transition industry, having managed together with its affiliates more than $27 billion in equity commitments since inception. For more information on Quantum, please visit www.quantumcap.com.

    Contacts
    Kate Thompson / Erik Carlson / Madeline Jones
    Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
    212-355-4449

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Michael Tiagwad Selected as Most Admired CEO

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CAMDEN, N.J., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Conner Strong & Buckelew, a leading insurance, risk management and employee benefits brokerage and consulting firm, is pleased to announce that President and Chief Executive Officer, Mike Tiagwad has been named one of Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2024 Most Admired CEOs. This honor is awarded to leaders in the region who have demonstrated exceptional business vision and organizational effectiveness while also making a positive impact in the community.

    Under Mike’s visionary leadership Conner Strong & Buckelew has grown from a successful regional firm to one of the largest, most admired brokerage and employee benefits consulting firms in the country serving clients nationwide and abroad.

    “The organization’s sustained success since Mike joined the firm in 2005 is a testament to the service-oriented structure and consultative approach he has created. He has elevated our ability to do more for our clients by spearheading investments in key areas like safety, risk management, data analytics, pharmacy services and claims advocacy,” said John Muscella, Executive Partner, Chief Financial Officer at Conner Strong & Buckelew. “By creating a client-centric business model focused on partnering with clients to ensure the best possible results, Mike has been instrumental in our ability to achieve a client retention rate near 99% and a Net Promoter Score among the highest in the industry.”

    Creating Careers and a Unique Culture

    Along with his team, Mike’s leadership has fostered a unique corporate culture of employee respect and empowerment that prioritizes professional development and mentoring and also promoting from within. A big believer in nurturing young talent, under Mike’s leadership, the organization has also built a nationally recognized internship program that has created a continual pipeline of talent to enter the insurance industry.

    “Mike’s passion for attracting young people to the business and setting the stage for all employees to build lifelong careers here is reflected in our numbers. Today, 36 Conner Strong & Buckelew employees who started as interns are full time employees, including five who are partners. We have an impressive 97% employee retention rate and 69 employees that have been with the company for over 20 years,” commented Alexis Wolfson, Senior Partner, Chief Human Resources Officer at Conner Strong & Buckelew. “With Mike’s support we have also been able to build a long-term Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) strategy that shatters DEIA program stereotypes and aligns with the company’s business objectives.”

    Philanthropic Work

    Beyond encouraging a company culture of giving that has translated to thousands of volunteer hours and donations to hundreds of worthy organizations, Mike has been a personal champion of helping individuals and families struggling with addiction. He created the annual Deb Tiagwad Memorial Golf Outing with all proceeds going to support Caron Treatment Centers, a nonprofit, comprehensive addiction treatment and behavioral health organization. To date, the event has raised over $1 million to provide scholarships for individuals to participate in a year-long, post-treatment recovery program.

    When asked about being named one of the most admired CEOs, Mike said, “It is quite an honor, but the recognition goes to my colleagues at Conner Strong & Buckelew. Together as a team, we have achieved great success and that is a credit to all our employees.”

    From his business acumen to his approach to corporate culture to his charitable endeavors, Mike Tiagwad is certainly a leader to be admired. We congratulate him along with all of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s 2024 Most Admired CEO Honorees.

    About Conner Strong & Buckelew

    Founded in 1959, Conner Strong & Buckelew is a privately held firm headquartered in Camden, NJ. An industry leader in providing complex businesses with comprehensive consulting and brokerage solutions for commercial insurance and employee benefits, we have unique resources and expertise in a variety of areas, including captive and alternative risk solutions, owner and contractor-controlled insurance programs, risk control services, claims advocacy and consulting, population health, data analytics, benefit consortiums and technology-driven solutions.

    Since 2021 we have been an autonomously operated member of BroadStreet Partners, an insurance brokerage holding company that invests in high-performing independent agencies using a unique co-ownership business model. Collectively with BroadStreet Partners, we are among the 15 largest insurance brokerage, risk management and employee benefits consulting firms in the United States, serving clients throughout North America and abroad.

    Conner Strong & Buckelew, National Headquarters, TRIAD1828 CENTRE, 2 Cooper Street, Camden, NJ 08102

    For more information, visit www.connerstrong.com or follow us on LinkedIn (@ConnerStrong&Buckelew), Facebook (@connerstrongbuckelew) and Instagram (@connerstrongbuckelew)

    Media Contact
    ALEX DALGLIESH
    adalgliesh@gobraithwaite.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Mashgin Welcomes Peter Atkin as CRO and Eric Meyerson as VP Marketing to Help Build the Future of Checkout

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Peter Atkin had just finished a phone call with a recruiter from Mashgin, creator and developer of transformative computer vision technologies, when he first encountered a Mashgin checkout kiosk himself at a concert in Las Vegas.

    “Using the Mashgin kiosk was amazing,” Atkin said. “I just put my snack and drink on the tray, and it instantly recognized everything and accepted my payment in seconds. I was quickly back in my seat, which is where I wanted to be.”

    The timing of the phone call was fortuitous for Atkin.

    “My wife says waiting in line is my least favorite thing in the world,” he said. “But working with technologies with a visible, real-world impact is one of my favorite things. I knew I had to talk with Mashgin again.”

    Mashgin today announced the arrival of two new executives to drive and support the company’s rapid growth. In addition to Atkin, who joined as Chief Revenue Officer, Eric Meyerson has signed on as Vice President of Marketing. Both bring extensive technology leadership experience to scale Mashgin’s business across key markets.

    Customers are using Mashgin’s computer-vision checkout kiosks in more than 4,000 locations where minimizing wait time is crucial, including airports, convenience stores, universities, and more than 110 major sports stadiums. Mashgin’s solution reduces transaction times by 55%-78%, eliminating lines even during rush periods.

    Atkin brings a track record of building high-performing teams and driving revenue growth from Samsara, the leader in physical operations technology, and Cisco Meraki, a top developer of enterprise networking technologies. Atkin helped extend their technologies to thousands of customers, and billions in sales. His expertise will help expand Mashgin’s reach and deepen relationships with key partners across the retail, hospitality, and entertainment industries.

    “The Mashgin team has built a product that feels like magic to customers,” Atkin said. “I’m excited to help shape the next phase of growth as we expand the benefits of our technology to more people.”

    For Meyerson, his interest in speeding up checkouts came at a 2021 playoff game between his hometown San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Although the teams were rivals for a century, they had never faced each other in the postseason.

    “I missed most of a pivotal inning just trying to buy burgers and drinks for my kid and me,” Meyerson said. “The stadium had hired more temporary workers for the sold-out game, but that meant nobody knew what they were doing. Each transaction took several minutes to complete, and the fans were all agitated and frustrated. One of them almost took a swing at another. Nobody had come to this playoff game just to stand around on the concourse.”

    He was at a different ballpark, T-Mobile Park in Seattle, this summer when he first experienced a Mashgin kiosk, purchasing a bag of peanuts and a beer in seconds. He was sold, too. Soon thereafter, he signed on to lead the marketing function for the company.

    Meyerson brings recent hardware marketing experience, leading the team at Turntide Technologies, a developer of climate tech technologies for vehicles and buildings. His previous wins include launching video advertising at YouTube and building out consumer experiential marketing at Eventbrite.

    “It’s really exciting to join Mashgin at this point in the company’s lifecycle,” Meyerson said. “Mashgin is already successful and profitable, but they’ve just scratched the surface of their growth potential and the many applications of their patented technologies. It has the ingredients to become one of the most powerful brands in the American technology space.”

    Mashgin CEO Abhinai Srivastava said, “Mashgin has come a long way in its nine years, from a lab prototype to a technology solution that’s accelerating millions of sales a day at thousands of locations. Attracting leaders of Pete’s and Eric’s caliber is a strong validation of the success we’ve already had in our markets and the massive potential we can unlock.”

    About Mashgin
    Mashgin is the world’s fastest checkout system, powered by AI and computer vision. By eliminating barcode scanning, Mashgin allows customers to simply place items on the tray, pay, and be on their way in under 10 seconds. With checkout speeds up to four times faster than traditional systems, Mashgin not only enhances customer satisfaction but also boosts revenue for retailers by reducing wait times and streamlining operations. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Mashgin is a privately held company backed by NEA, Matrix Partners, Susa Ventures, and Y Combinator. Follow Mashgin on LinkedIn or learn more about Mashgin at www.mashgin.com.

    press@mashgin.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: GCM Grosvenor’s Infrastructure Advantage Strategy Acquires Equity Interest in Brookfield’s Shepherds Flat

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GCM Grosvenor (NASDAQ: GCMG), a leading global alternative asset management firm, today announced that its Infrastructure Advantage Strategy has acquired a 25% equity interest in Shepherds Flat (the “Transaction”), the largest repowered wind farm in North America, from Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE: BAM, TSX: BAM) and its institutional partners, including its listed affiliate Brookfield Renewable (NYSE: BEP, BEPC; TSX: BEP.UN, BEPC) (“Brookfield”).

    Shepherds Flat, located in north central Oregon, is a fully contracted 338-turbine wind farm with a nameplate capacity of 845 MW. The wind farm produces in excess of 2,000 GWh of electricity annually, which is enough to power ~185,000 average U.S. households and is fully supported by a long-term contract with a large-scale utility.

    “We believe Shepherds Flat presents a rare opportunity to invest in a high-quality, hard-to-replicate, sustainable infrastructure asset alongside an experienced owner, operator, and developer of clean power,” said GCM Grosvenor Managing Director Matt Rinklin. “The Infrastructure Advantage Strategy is pleased to invest in contracted renewable power generation in the Pacific Northwest energy market. We are confident we can deliver long-term value to our investors through this strategic acquisition.”

    Brookfield Renewable, a global platform for renewable power and decarbonization solutions, acquired Shepherds Flat in 2021. A comprehensive repowering which materially increased the wind farm’s generation capacity was performed under Brookfield Renewable’s ownership, enhancing the plant’s operational efficiency and substantially extending its lifespan.

    “We are excited to partner with GCM Grosvenor while maintaining exposure to this high-quality asset that provides essential clean energy to customers throughout the Pacific Northwest. We continue to see opportunities to further enhance value at Shepherds Flat and are thrilled to be working with GCM,” said Jeh Vevaina, Managing Partner, Brookfield Asset Management.

    GCM Grosvenor’s investment in Shepherds Flat was completed through its Infrastructure Advantage Strategy, which seeks to generate high-quality risk adjusted returns through alignment with key stakeholders, including union labor. As part of the transaction, the Shepherds Flat partnership has adopted a Responsible Contractor Policy which will apply to any material construction work at the site.

    Thorndike Landing LLC acted as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal advisor on the transaction for GCM Grosvenor. BMO and Wells Fargo acted as financial advisor and King & Spalding LLP acted as legal advisor on the transaction for Brookfield.

    About GCM Grosvenor

    GCM Grosvenor (Nasdaq: GCMG) is a global alternative asset management solutions provider with approximately $79 billion in assets under management across private equity, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and absolute return investment strategies. The firm has specialized in alternatives for more than 50 years and is dedicated to delivering value for clients by leveraging its cross-asset class and flexible investment platform. GCM Grosvenor’s experienced team of approximately 540 professionals serves a global client base of institutional and individual investors. The firm is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney. For more information, visit: gcmgrosvenor.com.

    About Brookfield Asset Management

    Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (NYSE: BAM, TSX: BAM) is a leading global alternative asset manager with approximately $1 trillion of assets under management. We invest client capital for the long-term with a focus on real assets and essential service businesses that form the backbone of the global economy. We offer a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world — including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies and private wealth investors.

    Brookfield operates Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP, TSX: BEP), one of the world’s largest publicly traded platforms for renewable power and sustainable solutions. Our renewable power portfolio totals over 34,000 megawatts and our development pipeline stands at approximately 200,000 megawatts. Our portfolio of sustainable solutions assets includes our investments in Westinghouse (a leading global nuclear services business) and a utility and independent power producer with operations in the Caribbean and Latin America, as well as both operating assets and a development pipeline of carbon capture and storage capacity, agricultural renewable natural gas and materials recycling.

    Media Contacts:

    GCM Grosvenor
    Tom Johnson and Abigail Ruck
    H/Advisors Abernathy on behalf of GCM Grosvenor
    tom.johnson@h-advisors.global / abigail.ruck@h-advisors.global
    212-371-5999

    Brookfield

    Simon Maine
    Managing Director – Communications
    +44 (0)7398 909 278
    simon.maine@brookfield.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Cangrade Introduces AI Copilot Jules, Empowering HR Leaders to Make Stronger Talent Decisions with Generative AI

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WATERTOWN, Mass., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cangrade today introduced Jules—its transformative, new AI Copilot created to help HR professionals make more strategic, data-backed talent decisions. Jules leverages intelligence from Cangrade’s talent assessment to answer important questions and uncover insights about everything from hiring and employee growth and development, to personal motivators and strategies for improvement.

    Jules was born from Cangrade’s informative assessment in conjunction with its powerful, patented Generative AI capabilities. With the goal of both improving and streamlining talent decisions, HR professionals and hiring managers can now ask questions that range from simple to complex and receive insightful, contextually relevant guidance based on a person’s personality profiles. Whether it’s the best way to communicate with a peer, finding the right tone or approach to deal with a challenging situation, or writing the most competitive offer letter, Jules can help.

    Cangrade customers are already using Jules to:

    • Make talent intelligence actionable
    • Maximize data-driven decision-making across their organization
    • Upgrade predictions of candidate performance
    • Navigate work situations with thoughtful guidance
    • Improve employee engagement, retention, and mobility
    • Optimize performance and ROI with tailored talent management

    What sets Jules apart from other solutions is not simply its ability to maximize talent intelligence, but that the advice it generates is on par with a high-level I/O psychologist. While deep, personal familiarity with the employee or candidate in question is something critical to making better talent decisions, most organizations don’t have access or time to hire a fully dedicated staff member to oversee this. With Jules, you don’t need one—you can create individualized performance plans and communications with the data you already have.

    “For years, organizations have conducted workshops, trainings, and deployed different tools and technologies to profile team members in hopes of creating a better work environment. Very rarely do these approaches achieve the desired results—until now,” said Gershon Goren, founder and CEO, Cangrade. “Jules is like a world-class, AI-powered I/O psychologist ready to help HR professionals build a dynamic workforce equipped for the future.”

    To further Cangrade’s mission of leveling the playing field for job seekers, the company will be announcing new AI features in the coming months. Available to any user, Jules will offer helpful insights for those just entering the job market, to those looking to advance their careers.

    For more information about Cangrade’s AI-powered, bias-free hiring and talent management solutions, visit www.cangrade.com.

    About Cangrade
    For HR leaders, Cangrade is the bias-free, AI- powered talent intelligence platform. By integrating data into talent acquisition and management processes, Cangrade enables businesses to make strategic and efficient decisions from initial screening through the entire employee lifecycle. Delivering 10x more accurate predictions of talent success and retention than traditional methods, the company’s Pre-Hire Assessment has helped organizations like Wayfair, FDNY, Lamar Advertising, and Applied Industrial Technologies make the right hiring decisions for over 10 million candidates and counting. For more information, visit www.cangrade.com.

    Media Contact:
    Gina Devine
    Public Relations
    press@cangrade.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: 7-Eleven, Inc. Partners with Comdata to Enhance Fuel Savings and Services for Fleets

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BRENTWOOD, Tenn., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Comdata Inc., a Corpay brand and world leader in payment innovation, announced today 7-Eleven, Inc. and its brands 7-Eleven®, Speedway®, and Stripes®, have joined Comdata’s Fuel Consortium. This enhancement creates new capabilities for cardholders and offers products that better serve fleets of all sizes.

    With this expanded partnership, fleets have ability to access cost-plus savings on both gas and diesel at 7-Eleven’s nationwide network of over 7,500+ fuel locations. Comdata and 7-Eleven are the first to provide this functionality with a universal fuel card.

    “We are excited to have 7-Eleven on board and for what this relationship means for our customers,” said Randy Morgan, President, Comdata North America Trucking/Enterprise. “This partnership highlights our continued mission to provide our customers with products that intentionally improve their business’s bottom line—especially for fuel expenses.”

    Along with driving more savings at the pump, cardholders can receive additional benefits of a Comdata fuel card including:

    • Innovative fraud protection tools like OneClick™ which keeps the card locked until the driver is at the pump ready to fuel and is unlocked with “one click” of a button.
    • The industry’s only NO FUEL FRAUD GUARANTEE1 powered by Proximity, a collection of Enhanced Authorization Controls.
    • Comprehensive data collection, analytics, and reporting with a user-friendly dashboard via OneLook.

    For a comprehensive site locator map of 7-Eleven, Speedway, and Stripes stores, visit https://www.7-eleven.com/locator.

    Comdata is committed to consistently cultivating strong relationships with industry partners to meet the needs of its customers. To learn more about Comdata, visit www.comdata.com.

    1With active Proximity subscription, subject to mandatory system and operational requirements.

    About Comdata
    Comdata Inc., a Corpay brand, is a leader and innovator in commercial payment solutions, driving actionable insights from spending data, building enhanced controls to protect clients’ interests, and positively impacting day-to-day operations for fleet owners and managers and drivers in the trucking industry. Founded in 1969 in Brentwood, Tennessee, Comdata has proudly supported the life-impacting trucking industry for over 50 years. To learn more, visit www.comdata.com.

    About 7-Eleven, Inc.
    7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name in the U.S. convenience-retailing industry. Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 13,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. In addition to 7-Eleven® stores, 7-Eleven, Inc. operates and franchises Speedway®, Stripes®, Laredo Taco Company® and Raise the Roost® Chicken and Biscuits locations. Known for its iconic brands such as Slurpee®, Big Bite® and Big Gulp®, 7-Eleven has expanded into high-quality sandwiches, salads, side dishes, cut fruit and protein boxes, as well as pizza, chicken wings and mini beef tacos. 7-Eleven offers customers industry-leading private brand products at outstanding value. Customers can earn and redeem points on various items in stores nationwide through its 7Rewards® and Speedy Rewards® loyalty programs with more than 80 million members, place an order in the 7NOW® delivery app in over 95% of the convenience retailer’s footprint, or rely on 7-Eleven for other convenient services. Find out more online at www.7-eleven.com. 

    Media Contact:

    Kathy Hickerson

    Corpay, North America Fleet (Comdata)

    Kathryn.hickerson@corpay.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Devo Named a Leader in 2024 IDC MarketScape Worldwide SIEM for Enterprise

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BOSTON, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Devo Technology, the security data analytics company, today announced that it has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape Worldwide SIEM for Enterprise 2024 Vendor Assessment (IDC #US52525024, August 2024).

    The IDC MarketScape recognized Devo for the following strengths:

    • Customers like Devo’s three-tier product packaging, which is easy to comprehend.
    • Pricing is based on ingest and includes 400 days of hot storage.
    • Devo’s platform can ingest all data customers send instead of dropping logs when the platform does not recognize the log, which is helpful for organizations with custom applications.

    “Devo gives customers customizable options that can scale with their unique needs,” said Michelle Abraham, senior research director, security and trust, for IDC. “Their ability to ingest all data also offers flexibility to include data from custom applications, delivering a more comprehensive view of a customer’s security picture.”

    The AI embedded throughout the Devo Security Data Platform also contributed to its position as a Leader. Devo ThreatLink™, a centralized and automated case management solution, enriches alerts to offer more context, prioritizes cases, and includes quick actions without running a full playbook. Additionally, Devo DeepTrace automates threat hunting and investigation with attack-tracing AI to enable customers to scale investigations with limited resources.

    “The growing complexity of modern threat actors, massive data volumes, alert fatigue, and a shortage of skilled professionals make it increasingly difficult for security analysts to manage threats effectively,” said Rakesh Nair, SVP of product & engineering at Devo. “We believe Devo’s position in the 2024 IDC MarketScape Worldwide SIEM for Enterprise underscores the growing demand for supporting analyst work with AI-driven security operations tools to improve efficiency.”

    The IDC Worldwide SIEM Market Shares, 2023 (IDC #US52525024, August 2024) noted that Devo’s share of the $6.2 billion SIEM market grew by 21.7% between 2022 and 2023. The report also cited Devo’s July 2024 announcement of its Data Orchestration capability as a notable event that shaped the SIEM market. The new add-on feature enables customers to filter and route data from any source to Devo and third-party data stores, ensuring the most valuable data is available for real-time analysis.

    Read the excerpt here.

    About Devo

    Devo Technology replaces traditional SIEMs with a real-time security data platform. Devo’s integrated platform serves as the foundation of your security operations and includes data-powered SIEM, SOAR, and UEBA. AI and intelligent automation help your SOC work faster and smarter so you can make the right decisions in real time. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with operations in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, Devo is backed by Insight Partners, Georgian, TCV, General Atlantic, Bessemer Venture Partners, Kibo Ventures and Eurazeo.

    About IDC MarketScape

    IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of technology suppliers can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective suppliers.

    Jackie Blundell
    Marketing Communications Director
    jackie.blundell@devo.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: STMicroelectronics unveils new generation of silicon carbide power technology tailored for next-generation EV traction inverters

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    STMicroelectronics unveils new generation of silicon carbide power technology tailored for next-generation EV traction inverters

    • Smaller, more efficient products to ramp-up in volumes through 2025 across 750V and 1200V classes, will bring the advantages of silicon carbide beyond premium models to mid-size and compact electric vehicles.
    • ST plans to introduce multiple silicon carbide technology innovations through 2027, including a radical innovation.

    Geneva, Switzerland, September 24, 2024 – STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is introducing its fourth generation STPOWER silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET technology. The Generation 4 technology brings new benchmarks in power efficiency, power density and robustness. While serving the needs of both the automotive and industrial markets, the new technology is particularly optimized for traction inverters, the key component of electric vehicle (EV) powertrains. The company plans to introduce further advanced SiC technology innovations through 2027 as a commitment to innovation.

    “STMicroelectronics is committed to driving the future of electric mobility and industrial efficiency through our cutting-edge silicon carbide technology. We continue to advance SiC MOSFET technology with innovations in the device, advanced packages, and power modules,” said Marco Cassis, President, Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS and Sensors Group. “Together with our vertically integrated manufacturing strategy, we are delivering industry leading SiC technology performance and a resilient supply chain to meet the growing needs of our customers and contribute to a more sustainable future.“

    As the market leader in SiC power MOSFETs, ST is driving further innovation to exploit SiC’s higher efficiency and greater power density compared to silicon devices. This latest generation of SiC devices is conceived to benefit future EV traction inverter platforms, with further advances in size and energy-saving potential. While the EV market continues to grow, challenges remain to achieve widespread adoption and car makers are looking to deliver more affordable electric cars. 800V EV bus drive systems based on SiC have enabled faster charging and reduced EV weight, allowing car makers to produce vehicles with longer driving ranges for premium models. ST’s new SiC MOSFET devices, which will be made available in 750V and 1200V classes, will improve energy efficiency and performance of both 400V and 800V EV bus traction inverters, bringing the advantages of SiC to mid-size and compact EVs — key segments to help achieve mass market adoption. The new generation SiC technology is also suitable for a variety of high-power industrial applications, including solar inverters, energy storage solutions and datacenters, significantly improving energy efficiency for these growing applications.

    Availability
    ST has completed qualification of the 750V class of the fourth generation SiC technology platform and expects to complete qualification of the 1200V class in the first quarter of 2025. Commercial availability of devices with nominal voltage ratings of 750V and 1200V will follow, allowing designers to address applications operating from standard AC-line voltages up to high-voltage EV batteries and chargers. 

    Use cases
    ST’s Generation 4 SiC MOSFETs provide higher efficiency, smaller components, reduced weight, and extended driving range compared to silicon-based solutions. These benefits are critical for achieving widespread adoption of EVs and leading EV manufacturers are engaged with ST to introduce the Generation 4 SiC technology into their vehicles, enhancing performance and energy efficiency. While the primary application is EV traction inverters, ST’s Generation 4 SiC MOSFETs are also suitable for use in high-power industrial motor drives, benefiting from the devices’ improved switching performance and robustness. This results in more efficient and reliable motor control, reducing energy consumption and operational costs in industrial settings. In renewable energy applications, the Generation 4 SiC MOSFETs enhance the efficiency of solar inverters and energy storage systems, contributing to more sustainable and cost-effective energy solutions. Additionally, these SiC MOSFETs can be utilized in power supply units for server datacenters for AI, where their high efficiency and compact size are crucial for the significant power demands and thermal management challenges.

    Roadmap
    To accelerate the development of SiC power devices through its vertically integrated manufacturing strategy, ST is developing multiple SiC technology innovations in parallel to advance power device technologies over the next three years. The fifth generation of ST SiC power devices will feature an innovative high-power density technology based on planar structure. ST is at the same time developing a radical innovation that promises outstanding on-resistance RDS(on) value at high temperatures and further RDS(on) reduction, compared to existing SiC technologies.

    ST will attend ICSCRM 2024, the annual scientific and industry conference exploring the newest achievements in SiC and other wide bandgap semiconductors. The event, from September 29 to October 04, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina will include ST technical presentations and an industrial keynote on ‘High volume industrial environment for leading edge technologies in SiC’. Find out more here: ICSCRM 2024 – STMicroelectronics.

    Technical Note to Editors
    The fourth generation SiC MOSFETs from STMicroelectronics represent a significant leap forward in power conversion technology compared to previous generations. These devices are engineered to deliver superior performance and robustness, addressing the stringent demands of future EV traction inverters. The Generation 4 SiC MOSFETs feature a significantly lower on-resistance (RDS(on)) measured against prior generations, minimizing conduction losses, and enhancing overall system efficiency. They offer faster switching speeds, which translate to lower switching losses, crucial for high-frequency applications and enabling more compact and efficient power converters. The Generation 4 technology provides extra robustness in Dynamic Reverse Bias (DRB) conditions, exceeding the AQG324 automotive standard, ensuring reliable operation under harsh conditions.

    With Generation 4 ST continues to deliver outstanding RDS(on) x die-area figure of merit to ensure high current-handling capability with minimal losses. The average die size of Generation 4 devices is 12-15% smaller than that of Generation 3, considering an RDS(on) at 25 degrees Celsius, allowing for more compact power converter designs, saving valuable space, and reducing system costs. The improved power density of these devices supports the development of more compact and efficient power converters and inverters, essential for both automotive and industrial applications. In addition, this is particularly beneficial for power supply units in server datacenters for AI, where space and efficiency are critical factors. 

    As an industry leader in this technology, ST has already supplied STPOWER SiC devices for more than five million passenger cars worldwide in a range of EV applications including traction inverter, OBC (onboard charger), DC-DC converter, EV charging station, and e-compressor application, significantly enhancing the performance, efficiency, and range of NEVs. ST’s SiC strategy, as an integrated device manufacturer (IDM), ensures quality and security of supply to serve carmakers’ strategies for electrification. With the recently announced fully vertically integrated SiC substrate manufacturing facility in Catania, expected to start production in 2026, ST is moving quickly to support the rapid market transition towards e-mobility and higher efficiency in industrial applications.

    For further information about ST’s SiC portfolio, please visit www.st.com/sic-mosfets

    About STMicroelectronics
    At ST, we are over 50,000 creators and makers of semiconductor technologies mastering the semiconductor supply chain with state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. An integrated device manufacturer, we work with more than 200,000 customers and thousands of partners to design and build products, solutions, and ecosystems that address their challenges and opportunities, and the need to support a more sustainable world. Our technologies enable smarter mobility, more efficient power and energy management, and the wide-scale deployment of cloud-connected autonomous things. We are committed to achieving our goal to become carbon neutral on scope 1 and 2 and partially scope 3 by 2027. Further information can be found at www.st.com.

    For further information, please contact:

    INVESTOR RELATIONS:
    Céline Berthier
    Group VP, Investor Relations
    Tel: +41.22.929.58.12
    celine.berthier@st.com

    MEDIA RELATIONS:
    Alexis Breton        
    Corporate External Communications
    Tel: +33.6.59.16.79.08
    alexis.breton@st.com

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Sprout Social Named #1 in 94 Reports in G2’s 2024 Fall Reports, Expanding its Leadership Across Global Markets and Business Segments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sprout Social (Nasdaq: SPT), an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software, has been recognized by G2’s 2024 Fall Reports with 173 leader badges spanning all business segments, from small business to mid-market and enterprise, and across every region including EMEA, APAC, and the Middle East. The company earns these additional recognitions after being named G2’s #1 Best Software Product for 2024.

    Sprout Social has maintained their #1 position in the Grid® Report for Social Customer Service, Social Media Analytics, Social Media Suites and Social Media Listening Tools. The company has been recognized in an increasing number of G2 reports across Asia-Pacific and other regions, including the Enterprise Asia Regional Grid® Report for Social Media Suites, further solidifying their position as a global leader in social media management.

    “Our continued recognition in G2’s Fall Reports is a testament to the trust and loyalty of our customers,” said Mike Wolff, Chief Revenue Officer, Sprout Social. “These rankings are more than just a reflection of our platform’s capabilities—they highlight the meaningful ways we help businesses solve complex challenges. From leveraging AI to expanding our integrations, we’re committed to delivering innovative solutions that meet the diverse needs of businesses worldwide.”

    This recognition follows several exciting developments at Sprout Social, including their integration with Salesforce’s Agentforce to assist service reps, new advancements from their latest quarterly product showcase, and a partnership with Carahsoft as a NASPO-approved vendor, strengthening their presence in the public sector and making their solutions more accessible to government agencies. Sprout Social earned its place on these lists because of customer feedback, including:

    “I love that Sprout Social was easy to set up and allows for easy posting/scheduling. It was very quick to integrate with our other tools such as Salesforce.”

    “I love the AI assistant that provides caption options for posts and the suggested posting times are very accurate. Additionally, Sprout offers very useful analytics to help us determine if our content is on the right track or if adjustments are needed.”

    “What I love most about Sprout Social is its seamless integration of social media management tools that make my agency’s workflow incredibly efficient. The platform’s user-friendly interface allows us to easily schedule, monitor, and engage across multiple social channels, all in one place. The detailed analytics provided by Sprout give us actionable insights, helping us refine our strategies and demonstrate clear ROI to our clients. It’s not just about managing posts; it’s about having a comprehensive understanding of our social media impact, which Sprout makes possible with minimal hassle.”

    “Sprout Social has been a game-changer for our team. Plus, the team-friendly design has enhanced our collaboration, making it easier to hit our social media goals together.”

    Learn about G2’s methodology or read more reviews directly from Sprout users here.

    About 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 more than 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.

    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/sproutsocial

    Contact
    Media:
    Layla Revis
    Email: pr@sproutsocial.com
    Phone: (866) 878-3231

    Investors:
    Lexi Johnson
    Twitter: @SproutSocialIR
    Email: investors@sproutsocial.com
    Phone: (312) 528-9166

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Maris-Tech Announces that its Amethyst Edge Computing Video Solution Now Supports 5G, Enabling Ultra-Speed and High Data Transfer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    5G integrations for homeland security, safe cities, civil security and defense markets empowers next-generation video streaming technology

    Rehovot, Israel, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Maris-Tech Ltd. (Nasdaq: MTEK, MTEKW) (“Maris-Tech” or the “Company”), a global leader in video and artificial intelligence (“AI”)-based edge computing technology, today announced that its Amethyst edge computing video solution product line (“Amethyst”), now supports 5G capability, enabling ultra-speed and high data transfer. This enhancement to the Amethyst product line highlights Maris-Tech’s commitment to staying at the forefront of technology.

    The new 5G capability allows Amethyst to significantly improve operational efficiency in real-time, mission-critical environments.

    The integration of 5G into Amethyst delivers high-quality, narrow-band, ultra-low-latency video streaming over cellular networks. This upgrade is aimed to benefit the homeland security and civil security markets, where missions require real-time, reliable communications.

    Amethyst is an advanced, low-power H.264/5 multiple-stream recorder and streamer that supports both cellular and Ethernet networks. The device accepts video from IP and USB cameras, generates multiple H.264/5 streams IP camera inputs, and records the streams onto local EMMC or Micro-SD storage. Amethyst also enables real-time and pre-recorded video streaming over cellular or Ethernet networks and is fully controlled through Android, iOS, and Windows applications.

    Israel Bar, Chief Executive Officer of Maris-Tech, said, “The introduction of 5G capability in Amethyst reflects Maris-Tech’s commitment to innovation. By integrating the latest technology in our product line, we are providing our customers with higher levels of performance and flexibility. This leap to 5G is expected to allow our clients to execute complex missions with greater efficiency, precision and confidence.”

    In addition to speed and latency, 5G technology delivers superior network capacity by supporting a higher density of connected devices – crucial for modern security operations in urban environments. Its adaptable network architecture also allows for more customized, efficient communication systems.

    According to Markets and Markets, “The 5G Defense market is estimated to be USD 0.9 Billion in 2023 to USD 2.4 by 2028”. Maris-Tech’s Amethyst 5G is well-positioned to meet this rising demand. The airborne segment, a key area for 5G deployment, is projected to reach $0.786 billion by 2028, further highlighting the importance of 5G-enabled technologies in modern security operations, according to Markets and Markets.

    About Maris-Tech Ltd.

    Maris-Tech is a global leader in video and AI-based edge computing technology, pioneering intelligent video transmission solutions that conquer complex encoding-decoding challenges. Our miniature, lightweight, and low-power products deliver high-performance capabilities including raw data processing, seamless transfer, advanced image processing, and AI-driven analytics. Founded by Israel technology sector veterans, Maris-Tech serves leading manufacturers worldwide in defense, aerospace, Intelligence gathering, homeland security (HLS) and communication industries worldwide. We’re pushing the boundaries of video transmission and edge computing, driving innovation in mission-critical applications across commercial and defense sectors.

    For more information, visit https://www.maris-tech.com/

    Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer

    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, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor” created by those sections. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe our future plans, strategies and expectations, can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terms such as “believe,” “expect”,” “may”, “should,” “could,” “seek,” “intend,” “plan,” “goal,” “estimate,” “anticipate” or other comparable terms. For example, we are using forward-looking statements when we are discussing our commitment to staying at the forefront of technology, our position to meet the rising demand of the global defense market and the expected advantages and benefits to our customers from the integration of 5G capability into Amethyst, including the improvement in operational efficiency in real-time mission-critical environments, the delivery of high-quality, narrow-band, ultra-low-latency video streaming over cellular networks, the high level of performance and the ability to execute complex missions with greater efficiency, precision and confidence, the delivery of superior network capacity and adaptability of the network architecture to allow more customized and efficient communication systems. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following: our ability to successfully market our products and services, including in the United States; the acceptance of our products and services by customers; our continued ability to pay operating costs and ability to meet demand for our products and services; the amount and nature of competition from other security and telecom products and services; the effects of changes in the cybersecurity and telecom markets; our ability to successfully develop new products and services; our success establishing and maintaining collaborative, strategic alliance agreements, licensing and supplier arrangements; our ability to comply with applicable regulations; and the other risks and uncertainties described in the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the SEC on March 21, 2024, and our other filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

    Investor Relations:

    Nir Bussy, Chief Financial Officer
    Tel: +972-72-2424022
    Nir@maris-tech.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Suzy’s Chief Customer Officer Katie Gross Promoted to President

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Suzy, a leading market research and consumer insights platform today announced the promotion of Katie Gross, Chief Customer Officer, to President. Gross has played a pivotal role in driving Suzy’s mission to revolutionize consumer insights for the world’s leading brands. Her new leadership position reflects the company’s commitment to continuing its rapid growth and innovative approach to market research.

    Katie brings to the role over 20 years of global leadership experience, including leadership roles at Cint, Toluna, and Mintel. Her journey at Suzy began with a focus on customer experience and business development, where she has built a world class team enabling Suzy’s promise to bring high-quality, agile research to the world’s leading brands. In her expanded role, she will continue to oversee all of Suzy’s commercial functions and take on expanded roles in strategy and corporate development, ensuring the company continues to lead in product innovation, customer satisfaction, and growth.

    “I am thrilled to step into the role of President at such an exciting time for Suzy,” said Katie Gross. “I look forward to working alongside our talented team to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the world of consumer insights. Together, we will continue to evolve our platform and ensure that brands across industries can access the real-time, actionable data they need to drive their businesses forward.”

    Matt Britton, Founder and CEO of Suzy, praised Katie’s promotion, stating, “Katie has been an extraordinary leader at Suzy, consistently elevating our culture, product, team, and customer relationships. I am confident that as President, she will continue to drive our mission forward and help Suzy reach new heights.”

    In addition to her role at Suzy, Katie Gross serves on the board of the Insights Association and Market Research Institute International further exemplifying her commitment to mentorship and advancement in the market research industry.

    About Suzy

    Founded in 2018, Suzy is changing the way research gets done by integrating quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, and high quality audiences into a single connected research cloud. Suzy enables teams to conduct iterative, efficient research with agency-quality rigor at a fraction of the cost of traditional market research. Suzy has been recognized on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Startup Employers in 2022, Inc. Magazine’s list of Best Workplaces of 2022 & 2023, Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 list in 2024, GRIT’s Top 50 Most Innovative Supplier in Market Research and a Top 25 Innovator in 2024 by the Insights Association. Suzy has raised over $100 million in venture capital funding from investors that include Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, Foundry Group, H.I.G. Capital, Rho Ventures, North Atlantic Capital, Tribeca Venture Partners, Triangle Peak Partners, and Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures. Learn more at www.suzy.com.

    Contact Info:
    Melissa Dunn
    EVP, Marketing & Communications
    Suzy, Inc.
    917-969-8200
    melissa.dunn@suzy.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/91581a1b-c038-455d-9d58-4fa06c307148

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: CrashPlan Introduces New Commission-Based Affiliate Program

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Backup and recovery leader CrashPlan today introduced a new commission-based affiliate program aimed at making it simple to offer unlimited personal computer backup as a benefit. Through the program, individuals and organizations of all types can earn commissions from customer referrals and offer discounted, unlimited endpoint backup.

    CrashPlan makes it easy for more than 900,000 users to protect the data stored on more than 1.4 million devices by automatically backing them up every fifteen minutes. Whether a CrashPlan user accidentally deletes files, their computer malfunctions, or their laptop gets stolen, they can quickly recover their data. CrashPlan users recover over 100 billion files annually, a big reason the average user has been a customer for more than seven years.

    CrashPlan provides each affiliate partner with dedicated marketing materials to make it easy to extend benefits to their communities, including a logo and a unique promo code to add to their benefits page, an optional landing page, and a series of emails to send through their own channels that speak to the benefits of endpoint backup with CrashPlan. Affiliates can sign up for the program for free and receive a 7% commission for every sale brought in through their unique discount code. Subscribers will have the option to choose between a 1-year or 2-year CrashPlan Professional subscription.

    “Our users understand the value of automatic endpoint data backup because they have seen it save the day again and again,” said Christine Schaefer, Chief Marketing Officer for CrashPlan. “This program gives our most passionate customers a way to share CrashPlan with their fans and followers, along with a special 10% discount to reward them for their loyalty.”

    To learn more or sign up for CrashPlan’s Affiliate Program, visit: https://www.crashplan.com/partners/affiliate-program/

    About CrashPlan
    CrashPlan® enables organizational resilience through secure, scalable, and straightforward endpoint data backup. With automatic backup and customizable file version retention, you can bounce back from any data calamity. What starts as computer backup and recovery becomes a solution for ransomware recovery, breaches, migrations, and legal holds. So, you can work fearlessly and grow confidently.

    Media Contact:
    Maura Lafferty
    Firebrand Communications
    crashplan@firebrand.marketing

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Axus Technology Delivers Industry’s Lowest Cost of Ownership for CMP Processes on 200mm SiC Wafers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHANDLER, Ariz., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Axus Technology, a leading global provider of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) equipment, critical for semiconductor and compound semiconductor fabrication, today announced its flagship Capstone CS200 platform tools offer the industry’s lowest cost of ownership (CoO) for CMP processes on 200mm silicon carbide (SiC) wafers. Compared to its closest competitor, Axus’s small-footprint Capstone delivers twice the throughput at less than half the total cost per wafer.

    Yole Group forecasts the overall SiC manufacturing tool market to top US$4.4 billion by 2029. “The unique properties of SiC require specialized manufacturing tools and lines for processing power SiC devices,” the market analyst firm noted earlier this year. Axus anticipated this need, designing the state-of-the-art Capstone from the ground up to deliver advanced processing capabilities for SiC in power electronics and other applications.

    “Many 200mm fabs are looking to upgrade their installed base of CMP tools to products with leading-edge capability and functionality. Our ability to deliver industry-low CoO further underscores our strong market position and capacity to support this shift,” said Axus Technology CEO Dan Trojan. “Capstone features a streamlined workflow and integrated cleaning capability, so it requires half the process steps of older CMP tools. This allows customers to greatly lower their capex investment.”

    Key Capstone CoO advantages vs. competitor

    • Throughput: 2.5x wafers per hour
    • Power consumption: 60% lower
    • DI water consumption: 80% lower
    • Footprint: 45% smaller
    • Capex cost per wafer: 65% lower
    • Total cost per wafer: 50% lower

    Another factor contributing to Capstone’s lower CoO is its built-in Process Temperature Control (PTC) technology, which enables processing at higher pressures and speeds without exceeding temperature limits of polishing pads and other sensitive components. This feature is vital for SiC and other materials with high hardness and planarization challenges that necessitate more aggressive process conditions.

    Axus built its proprietary CoO model using its own system specifications, publicly available specs for competitive tools, actual consumables costs, and real-world performance data supplied by customers. The comprehensive model factors in all CoO contributors: process variables (polish time and removal rates), polishing and cleaning consumables, power and deionized (DI) water usage, system footprint, and equipment capex including cost, utilization and wafer capacity.

    Company executives will be on hand to discuss further details regarding Axus Technology’s performance and CoO benefits in Meeting Room 204 at the upcoming International Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials (ICSCRM), Sept. 29-Oct. 4, at the Raleigh (N.C.) Convention Center. To schedule a meeting with Axus at the event, please click here.

    About Axus Technology
    Led by its state-of-the-art Capstone® CMP and Aquarius™ wafer-cleaning platforms, Axus Technology is a recognized industry leader in designing and building modern, flexible next-generation equipment and providing custom process-development services. Axus enables companies of all sizes, from startups to high-volume manufacturers, to test, develop, and implement leading-edge solutions—particularly for novel and emerging materials—process integration schemes, products and applications. Axus’s equipment solutions range from low cost-of-ownership entry-level tools to state-of-the-art high-volume manufacturing systems. Process testing, development, optimization, and scaling are supported by our process applications lab and foundry, which includes a full array of process equipment and supporting metrology, and is staffed by the industry’s most experienced CMP team. For more information, please visit www.axustech.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/702aeae3-4721-4615-b7b7-727cc00d3ddd

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: David Henshall Joins BlackLine Board of Directors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Henshall brings significant experience in enterprise software and
    possesses unmatched expertise in finance, strategy, and technology development

    LOS ANGELES, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BlackLine (NASDAQ BL), the future-ready platform for the Office of the CFO, today announced the appointment of David Henshall to its Board of Directors.

    Henshall brings a wealth of business experience and deep financial expertise, with a proven track record advising companies on strategies to enhance operations and financial performance. He spent nearly 20 years in various executive roles at Citrix, most recently as President and Chief Executive Officer. During his tenure, he played a critical role in accelerating Citrix’s cloud transition and enhancing the company’s operational performance. Prior to his role as CEO, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

    “We are thrilled to welcome David, a proven software leader, to our Board of Directors,” said Owen Ryan, Co-CEO and Chairman of BlackLine. “David possesses one-of-a-kind executive experience leading a reputable business in the enterprise software space. His experience advancing technology companies aligns perfectly with our vision and operating model, and his skill set will further support our continued development of financial and operational strategies, helping BlackLine achieve its long-term potential. This appointment reflects our commitment to strong corporate governance and delivering value to our shareholders.”

    Co-CEO and Founder Therese Tucker added, “I look forward to collaborating with David as we continue to execute our strategic initiatives. At BlackLine, we are constantly innovating to harness the full power of our platform, delivering future-ready financial operations that are accurate, efficient, and intelligent. David’s leadership qualities and valuable insights gained from his proven track record and other board experiences will add to the strength of our Board of Directors and aid us in continuing to create measurable value for our customers, investors, and other stakeholders.”

    Henshall commented, “I am honored to join BlackLine’s Board of Directors. BlackLine is uniquely positioned in the market with unmatched domain expertise and a comprehensive platform that empowers the office of the CFO. I look forward to working with this innovative and visionary team to drive continued growth and success.”

    About David Henshall

    David Henshall most recently served as President & CEO of Citrix Systems, a leading multinational provider of cloud computing and virtualization technology, where he held executive roles for the past nearly twenty years. Prior to his role as President, CEO, and Director of Citrix, Henshall served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the company’s worldwide finance, operations, and administration organizations. Before joining Citrix, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Rational Software Corporation, a software company acquired by IBM Corporation.

    An experienced public company board director, Henshall also actively serves as a member of the boards of directors of HashiCorp, Inc., Aspen Technology, Inc., and Feedzai, Inc., and was formerly the Chairman of the board of directors of Everbridge, Inc., and a director of New Relic, Inc. and LogMeIn, Inc. 

    About BlackLine

    BlackLine (Nasdaq: BL), the future-ready platform for the Office of the CFO, drives digital finance transformation by empowering organizations with accurate, efficient, and intelligent financial operations.

    BlackLine’s comprehensive platform addresses mission-critical processes, including record-to-report and invoice-to-cash, enabling unified and accurate data, streamlined and optimized processes, and real-time insight through visibility, automation, and AI. BlackLine’s proven, collaborative approach ensures continuous transformation, delivering immediate impact and sustained value. With a proven track record of innovation, industry-leading R&D investment, and world-class security practices, more than 4,400 customers across multiple industries partner with BlackLine to lead their organizations into the future.

    For more information, please visit blackline.com.

    Media Contact:

    Samantha Darilek
    VP, Communications
    BlackLine
    samantha.darilek@blackline.com

    BlackLine Forward-looking Statements

    This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “expect,” “plan,” anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “intend,” “potential,” “would,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding our growth plans, strategies and opportunities.

    Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon BlackLine’s current plans, estimates and expectations, and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith beliefs and assumptions as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if any assumptions prove incorrect, actual performance or results may differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to the Company’s ability to execute on its strategies, attract new customers, enter new geographies and develop, release and sell new features and solutions; and other risks and uncertainties described in the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time, including the risks described under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Additional information will also be set forth in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

    Forward-looking statements should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results, and you should not place undue reliance on such statements. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0d33f625-3545-4e45-ba35-fd1b97885c56

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Zoom introduces new advanced enterprise offerings to boost efficiency, reliability, security, and compliance for enterprise organizations

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Zoom announced several new add-on products and functionalities to further strengthen its advanced enterprise offerings portfolio for the Zoom platform. Zoom advanced enterprise offerings consist of a comprehensive portfolio of Zoom products and features that help organizations meet their compliance, security, privacy, survivability, and manageability requirements.

    “Zoom’s advanced enterprise offerings reflect our commitment to empowering businesses and providing them with offerings that enable them to be more efficient, secure, compliant, and reliable,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer, Zoom. “Our advanced enterprise products and features are essential tools built for Zoom Workplace and Zoom Business Services like Zoom Events and Zoom Contact Center that work behind the scenes as part of the Zoom network infrastructure to provide exceptional experiences to our customers. Our goal is to make communication and collaboration on Zoom foolproof, future-proof, and fail-proof.”

    New offerings for enterprise customers

    In 2023 alone, over $549 million in non-compliance penalties were issued globally, more than 353 million individuals were impacted by security breaches, and 31 percent of enterprises experienced unstable network or bandwidth constraints. Companies face urgent pressures to manage often complex compliance obligations, avoid hefty fines, safeguard their reputations against security threats, and prevent user dissatisfaction stemming from unreliable connectivity. Zoom’s newest additions to its advanced enterprise offerings are poised to help companies overcome these challenges.

    • Zoom Compliance Manager Plus: Launched in March and powered by Theta Lake, Zoom Compliance Manager (ZCM) is an all-in-one offering that provides archiving, eDiscovery, legal hold, and information protection offerings for enterprises. Zoom Compliance Manager Plus enhances ZCM with advanced features such as risk detection, data loss protection, and advanced trends analysis. These enhanced capabilities will further help organizations fulfill regulatory obligations and mitigate organizational communications compliance risks.
    • Zoom Meeting Survivability: Introduces a new level of network redundancy and enables business continuity, helping to ensure uninterrupted Zoom meeting service even during internet disruption due to outages from a storm, natural disaster, or carrier failure. Utilizing Zoom Node, a central hub for hosting Zoom workloads on premises, this functionality keeps meetings running smoothly via a failover to data centers where meetings are hosted on your local servers with minimal disruption to the end users.
    • Zoom Mesh for Meetings: With Zoom Mesh, companies can optimize bandwidth usage and save up to 60 percent on internet bandwidth and associated costs. Already available for Zoom Webinars and Zoom Events, this capability now extends to Zoom Meetings for an exceptional user experience regardless of bandwidth constraints.
    • Zoom Customer Managed Key (CMK) Hybrid: CMK Hybrid enhances Zoom’s current CMK data privacy offering by providing customers with more options to manage the encryption keys used to protect data maintained by Zoom. CMK Hybrid allows customers to control the entire encryption/decryption process on premises. Zoom Team Chat messages, for example, can be encrypted locally by the Zoom Workplace app (some Zoom cloud-based Team Chat functionalities will not be available as a result). Zoom CMK Hybrid will be available for Zoom Workplace starting with the support of Zoom Team Chat in Q4 2024.

    An enterprise-grade offerings portfolio designed to meet organizations’ needs

    The new advanced enterprise products and features introduced today bolster the existing robust portfolio of Zoom’s enterprise offerings, which are specifically designed to address the complex needs of large organizations and those in regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, and government agencies. These offerings are included with Zoom Workplace Enterprise licenses, help improve business continuity, optimize bandwidth, enhance security, simplify manageability, and support communications compliance. The advanced enterprise offerings are organized across six key categories:

    • Communications compliance: Archiving, Data Loss Prevention, Information Barrier, and Chat Etiquette solutions help address communications compliance requirements for regulated industries worldwide.
    • Data residency & privacy compliance: Tools to help meet local and regional customer data residency and privacy compliance requirements such as Customer Managed Key.
    • Policy & deployment management: Zoom Device Management, policy provisioning, and deployment tools to help ease implementation and support.
    • Security & access control: Encryption and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) offerings to provide enhanced security protection for data at rest and in transit.
    • Analytics & insights: A robust set of dashboards, monitoring, reporting, and alerting tools to improve overall operational visibility.
    • Network optimization & survivability: Zoom Mesh, Zoom Node, and Zoom survivability solutions help reduce bandwidth, optimize performance, and improve business continuity.

    Several Zoom advanced enterprise offerings including end-to-end encryption, GDPR and privacy controls, management dashboards, and other capabilities are already available with Zoom Workplace Enterprise licenses while other features, including these new products, are available as paid add-ons. For more information on Zoom’s advanced enterprise offerings, please visit the Zoom advanced enterprise website. Zoom will also host technical sessions on its enterprise offerings at Zoomtopia 2024 for those interested in learning more.

    About Zoom
    Zoom’s mission is to provide one platform that delivers limitless human connection. Reimagine teamwork with Zoom Workplace — Zoom’s open collaboration platform with AI Companion that empowers teams to be more productive. Together with Zoom Workplace, Zoom’s Business Services for sales, marketing, and customer care teams, including Zoom Contact Center, strengthen customer relationships throughout the customer lifecycle. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Get more information at zoom.com.

    Zoom Public Relations
    Travis Isaman
    press@zoom.us

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Tabnine Introduces First AI Agents to Autonomously Generate and Validate Code for Atlassian Jira

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tabnine, the originators of the AI code assistant category, today announced the general availability of two new AI agents seamlessly integrated into Atlassian Jira to transform the way software teams approach software development and maintenance tasks: the Jira Implementation Agent and the Jira Validation Agent. ​​

    First previewed in May, Tabnine is the first AI code assistant to offer a full integration with Jira and the first to offer publicly available “issue to code” AI agents. Now with just a single click, Tabnine customers can implement a Jira issue (whether a story, bug, task, or subtask), autonomously generating code from the requirements outlined in that issue. Further on, developers can then use Tabnine’s Jira Validation Agent to ensure that selected code — whether human- or AI-generated — meets the specifications of an issue in Jira, with Tabnine offering instant feedback and code suggestions if adjustments are needed.

    “We’re proud to lead a new evolution of AI in software development, with human engineers and highly capable AI agents collaborating to streamline the entire software development lifecycle,” said Brandon Jung, VP Ecosystem at Tabnine. “By offering developers not just best-in-class AI software development tools, but a platform that is CIO and CISO-approved for its privacy and company-specific personalization, Tabnine is helping mature engineering teams build better apps faster and with more confidence.”

    These latest agents further support Tabnine’s proven ability to automate upwards of 50% of the code and artifacts for developers. Offering unparalleled privacy and comprehensive protection from legal risk, Tabnine’s AI Agents respect the company’s zero data retention policy for any and all information they are exposed to through Jira.

    The capabilities of the new Tabnine Jira Agents include:

    • One-Click Code Generation: Automatically generate code for Jira issue requirements with a single click using the Jira Implementation Agent.
    • AI-Driven Code Validation: Validate and review code against Jira issue requirements with the Jira Validation Agent, offering suggestions and feedback.
    • First-to-Market “Issue-to-Code” AI Agent: Tabnine is the first AI code assistant to fully integrate with Jira for an end-to-end “issue-to-code” workflow.
    • Parent Issue Implementation: Implement parent issues like entire Jira stories, bugs, and tasks directly through Tabnine, with more detailed support for child issues coming soon.
    • Contextual AI Code Suggestions: Tabnine leverages Jira issue details (text in title and description) and local project context to deliver more accurate and relevant code recommendations.
    • Seamless Jira Integration: Simple setup with Jira, respecting all user permissions and ensuring only assigned issues are accessible.
    • Enterprise-Ready Configuration: Available at no additional cost for Tabnine Pro and Enterprise customers, with admin-controlled deployment for Enterprise users.

    The automated agents build on Tabnine’s recent AI advancements, including the AI Test agent and onboarding agent, automating some of the most important yet time-intensive tasks.

    For more detailed information as well as to view demonstrations that show how to connect Tabnine to Jira, how to implement a Jira issue, and more, read Tabnine’s blog here.

    About Tabnine
    Tabnine helps development teams of every size use AI to accelerate and improve the software development life cycle. As the original AI coding assistant, Tabnine has been used by millions of developers around the world to boost code quality and developer happiness using generative AI. Unlike other coding assistants, Tabnine is the AI that you control; it is extensively personalized to your engineering team, private and secure (easily running in your controlled environments), never stores or trains on your company’s code or user data, and offers models trained exclusively on open-source code with permissive licenses to eliminate IP risks. Learn more at tabnine.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

    Contact
    press@tabnine.com

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