GAITHERSBURG, Md., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Patton—world leader and US manufacturer of secure telephony, UC, and networking gear—announces today the new Tone Commander TC7110 ultra-secure SIP phone is now available for pre-order.
Tone Commander products are designed and manufactured in the USA, ensuring source-of-origin and supply-chain security.
“The TC7110 combines security, flexibility, and ease-of-use in a modern SIP phone platform,” said Robert R. Patton, CEO of Patton. “This launch reinforces our commitment to delivering trusted, U.S.-manufactured communications solutions to public and private sectors.”
Innovation. Patton has incrementally innovated the original Tone Commander military-grade SIP-Phone. Enhancements to the commercial grade version include Gigabit, PoE, and fiber connectivity, modern E911 features sets, and updated security modules.
Secure FIPS-140-2/3 Encryption. The TC7110 offers robust SIP support with TLS and SRTP encryption using FIPS-140-2/3 validated crypto modules. FIPS 140 is the U.S. standard that defines security requirements for hardware, software, and firmware that perform cryptographic functions. The standard is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), overseen and validated by the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP).
Enhanced NG911. NG911 system enhancements include Specific Location Information Server (LIS) interactions via RFC 5985 (HTTP Enable Location Delivery HELD protocol), storing and relaying location by reference and location by value. The system includes geodetic coordinates (latitude, longitude, and ellipsoidal height) and E911 Gateway functions within the NG911 environment.
E911 Compliance. The TC7110 supports legislated E911 standards including Kari’s Law for direct 911 calling and Ray Baum’s Act for specific location information. Additional E911 protocols supported include:
Automatic Location Information (ALI)
Automatic Number Identification (ANI)
Compliance with the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) regulations
RFC 5962 – Location Object represented in a SIP Header (PIDF-LO)
Key Features of the TC7110 SIP Phone:
Security – TLS and SRTP encryption with FIPS-140-2/3 validated crypto and IPv4/IPv6 support.
Customizable Interface – Ten programmable, desi-less multifunction keys and 320×240 color display.
Cloud Orchestration – Automatically provision, manage, monitor, secure, alert, troubleshoot, analyze and optimize services using the Patton Cloud. Remotely and securely access and control phones, LANs, and over-the-top (OTT) services.
Flexible Power Options – Supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) and includes external power supply.
Patton is a world-renowned manufacturer of networking and communications technology, offering a wide range of solutions including VoIP, Ethernet extension, wireless, and fiber optic products. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, Patton has a strong global presence and a reputation for delivering reliable and innovative solutions to a diverse customer base.
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
Health Care and Food Justice Cuts|Climate and Education Cuts
Washington (June 12, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee, yesterday hosted virtual teach-ins on Republicans’ proposed cuts to health care, food security, education, and climate initiatives as part of their Big Billionaire Bill (also called budget reconciliation). Senator Markey, Representative Summer Lee (PA-12), and advocates discussed how these cuts would mean people lose their jobs, their health care, their ability to feed their families, and put the future of our country at risk—all to guarantee tax breaks for billionaires. The budget bill is currently being debated by Senate Republicans after House Republicans passed the Big Billionaire Bill in May.
“It’s simple: Republicans want to rip health care from 16 million people, tear food away from hungry families, cut off access to education for working class Americans, kill jobs, raise energy bills, and slash efforts to make our air and water cleaner– all to pay for tax cuts for billionaires. They want to do this through hard-to-understand processes, back-room negotiations, and by lying to the American public about what these cuts will do,” said Senator Markey. “I am using every opportunity I can to guarantee people know Republicans are voting against their livelihoods, their lives, and their future if they support this bill. We have the power to stop these cuts. We cannot agonize – we must organize to end this big billionaire boondoggle once and for all. Our future depends on it.”
“There’s nothing beautiful about forcing families to choose between taking their kids to the doctor or feeding them—but that’s exactly what this budget bill would do if it lands on Trump’s desk. Drastic cuts to healthcare like Medicaid and food assistance like SNAP will hurt millions of people in Western Pennsylvania and across the country,” said Representative Lee. “The power of the people is always greater than the people in power, and in this moment, we must all use our power to pressure Republicans to vote no and put the people first—not the billionaires, not the corporate profiteers, and not the oligarchs in the White House. Lives literally depend on it.”
“The Republican agenda is clear: raise costs on hardworking families and rip coverage away from millions. If they are successful in making the largest cuts to health care in history, 16 million Americans will lose coverage, all to fund tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. These Republican attacks on Americans’ health care are as extreme as they are unpopular, and we must do everything we can to stop them from wreaking havoc on this country’s health care system. No one should lose access to life-saving care and coverage just so the ultra-rich can pay less in taxes,” said Anne Shoup, Senior Advisor, Protect Our Care.
“The Senate must vote ‘NO’ on any budget bill that cuts or weakens SNAP and takes food away from millions of children, older adults, and people with disabilities. Period,” said Salaam Bhatti, SNAP director at the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). “SNAP is one of the most effective programs out there, fueling the health and well-being of families, as well as our economy. Simply put, a strong and productive country is only possible when everyone has access to food. We urge Senators to oppose any cut to SNAP and instead work towards building a nation free from hunger.”
“I’ve seen the faces of the people this bill will hurt. I think about the mothers trying to stretch every dollar to keep the lights on, the laid-off workers who need help to get back on their feet, the kids who will go without health care, and the retirees who will go to bed hungry because they can’t afford groceries,” said Zab Martinez, an AFSCME member and Medicaid and SNAP eligibility specialist from Dane County, Wisconsin. “We cannot let this bill pass. I urge you to speak up, write your senators, and demand that they stand with working families, not for billionaire tax giveaways.”
“Republicans’ Billionaire Tax Scam will take health care away from millions, food out of the mouths of children, and raise costs for everyday families all to give trillions in tax breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. This is a dangerous and irresponsible piece of legislation designed to benefit the richest Americans, while everyday families suffer – and we are going to continue to uplift the voices of the bipartisan majority of Americans who overwhelmingly oppose this harmful bill,” said Michael Linden, Director of Families Over Billionaires.
“Why would Republicans in Washington gut the basic needs kids and disabled Americans rely on to get by when the cost of groceries and housing are going up? To give the wealthy a tax break. It’s an outrage, which is why over 60% of Americans who hear anything about congressional Republican’s Big Beautiful Betrayal hate it. Now is the time for citizens to learn the consequences of the congressional Republican plan and spread the word so we can stop this Medicaid massacre dead in its tracks,” said Joe Radosevich, Counselor at the Center for American Progress (CAP).
“Rather than protect Medicare and Medicaid, this bill cuts them, denying healthcare to 14 million people. Rather than strengthen public education, it weakens it. Rather than feeding poor families, it rips food out of their mouths. Education is an opportunity agent, and federal supports should not be used as a piggy bank to defund our already underfunded public schools. The bill includes $20 billion for a reckless school voucher program in the guise of a tax shelter for the well-off. Vouchers syphon crucial funds away from public schools into private hands. They are directly responsible for some of the largest student achievement drops ever recorded and mostly go to parents with kids already in private school,” said Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
“We have 1,600 workers at Ultium and their jobs are going to be at risk. These are good UAW jobs making $30 an hour, and this bill is going to threaten that. It could have a dramatic impact on the auto industry, on dozens of investments across the entire country,” said David Green, Director of United Auto Workers (UAW) Region 2B. “If we don’t use our voices, they’re going to continue to take them away from us. And we have to fight for what’s right. And I am always going to be on the front line fighting for good union jobs with benefits because that’s how we move this country forward and that’s how we build the middle class.”
“The energy tax credits on the chopping block during this budget reconciliation process have been utilized by school districts all over the country to install renewable energy projects from roof-top solar arrays to ground-source heat pumps, saving millions of tax-payer dollars on utility bills. These savings can be used to increase teacher salaries and build resilience in communities as schools produce their own power and lighten the load on the energy grid, all while moving us toward a more equitable future powered by clean, renewable energy. In Nevada alone, Washoe County School District is set to receive a $1.7 million check for just one school and Clark County School District, the nation’s 5th largest, has at least five solar eligible projects, including an array on Northeast Career and Technical Academy that is also training future solar installers. Please urge your Senators to save energy tax credits in their version of the budget reconciliation bill,” said Liz Becker, IRA Campaign Coordinator of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN).
“The big bad boondoggle bill puts West Virginian communities, especially those most vulnerable to pollution, at risk. With cuts to programs that would facilitate a fair economic transition in Appalachia, such as a grant program to replace gas vehicles with electric vehicles and clean energy tax credits, West Virginians are losing out on the chance for safe and good-paying jobs. Furthermore, cuts to air monitoring, greenhouse gas emission data collection, and environmental review resources make our communities less safe and informed about the air we breathe and the water we drink. West Virginians have suffered with generations of corporate pollution and economic exploitation, and this bill would roll back a critical chance to escape the cycle of environmental injustice on which this country was built,” said Dani Parent, Co-executive Director of West Virginia Citizen Action.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
***VIDEO AVAILABLE***
Senator Cortez Masto Spoke at a Press Conference Today About Her Proposal, which Comes as Senate Republicans Unveil Plan to Cut Americans’ Health Care
FTPs for TV stations is available here.
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) unveiled draft legislation to invest in and improve the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC). HCFAC was created to combat fraud across federal health programs, primarily Medicare and Medicaid. Cortez Masto’s legislation would strengthen the program and provide the government with a real, effective way to root out fraud and abuse in the health care system without kicking millions of Americans off of their health care. Footage of her speaking about this legislation today can be found here.
In 2022, HCFAC related activities recovered $11 for every $1 the program spent to support health care audits and investigations. Following its investigations, HHS-OIG estimates that 2,332 individuals and entities were banned from doing business with Medicare and Medicaid as a result of alleged fraud and abuse. Infractions include egregious neglect of beneficiaries (like residents at nursing homes), inappropriate billing practices, and supporting fraudulent providers and suppliers.
“As the former Attorney General of Nevada, I know first-hand the importance of investing in oversight for our government programs,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This draft legislation increasing HCFAC funding is exactly what our agencies need to root out real fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid while protecting Americans’ access to care. I hope to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to make sure this commonsense, cost-effective bill becomes law.”
HCFAC is a joint initiative by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (HHS-OIG), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to combat fraud across federal health programs, primarily Medicare and Medicaid. The program needs additional support and funding in order to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated health care fraud schemes.
This draft legislation would increase mandatory HCFAC funding for HHS, CMS, and DOJ. This legislation would also allow HCFAC funding to be used to conduct oversight of all CMS programs, including the Affordable Care Act Insurance Marketplace and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
The bill text can be found here and a summary can be found here.
Senator Cortez Masto has worked to strengthen the Medicare and Medicaid programs. She passed legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and cap the cost of insulin at $35-a-month for Medicare recipients through the Inflation Reduction Act. She has also pushed pharmacy benefit managers to help continue to lower prescription drug costs. As Nevada Attorney General, Cortez Masto worked with the Nevada Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to go after bad actors, rooting out fraud and abuse within the system.
Four men, including a government contracting officer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and three owners and presidents of companies, have pleaded guilty for their roles in a decade-long bribery scheme involving at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Roderick Watson, 57, of Woodstock, Maryland, who worked as a USAID contracting officer, pleaded guilty to bribery of a public official;
Walter Barnes, 46, of Potomac, Maryland, the owner and president of PM Consulting Group LLC doing business as Vistant (Vistant), a certified small business under the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 8(a) contracting program, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud;
Darryl Britt, 64, of Myakka City, Florida, the owner and president of Apprio, Inc. (Apprio), a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official; and
Paul Young, 62, of Columbia, Maryland, the president of a subcontractor to Vistant and Apprio, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official.
In addition, Apprio and Vistant, both of which contracted with USAID, have agreed to admit criminal liability and enter into three-year deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) in connection with criminal informations filed today in the District of Maryland. As part of these resolutions, both Apprio and Vistant admitted to engaging in a conspiracy to commit bribery of a public official and securities fraud. The DPAs entered into with Apprio and Vistant require each company to, among other obligations, provide ongoing cooperation with and disclosures to the Justice Department, implement a compliance and ethics program, and report to Justice Department regarding remediation and implementation of these compliance measures.
“The defendants sought to enrich themselves at the expense of American taxpayers through bribery and fraud,” said Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Their scheme violated the public trust by corrupting the federal government’s procurement process. Anybody who cares about good and effective government should be concerned about the waste, fraud, and abuse in government agencies, including USAID. Those who engage in bribery schemes to exploit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s vital economic programs for small businesses — whether individuals or corporations acting through them — will be held to account.”
“Watson was entrusted to serve the interests of the American people — not his own — and his criminal actions for his own personal gain undermine the integrity of our public institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland. “Public trust is a hallmark of our nation’s values, so corruption within a federal government agency is intolerable. This office, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue and prosecute corruption at every level to ensure accountability and protect public trust.”
“The guilty pleas reflect the FBI’s unwavering commitment to holding accountable all those who abuse the authority and responsibility of public service,” said FBI Criminal Investigative Division Acting Assistant Director Darren Cox. “The actions of the defendants in this scheme serve to erode public trust. The FBI is focused on rebuilding this trust and protecting American taxpayers from corruption through investigations such as these.”
“Corruption in government programs will not be tolerated. Watson abused his position of trust for personal gain while federal contractors engaged in a pay-to-play scheme,” said Acting Assistant Inspector General for Investigations Sean Bottary of the USAID Office of Inspector General (USAID-OIG). “USAID-OIG is firmly committed to rooting out fraud and corruption within U.S. foreign assistance programs. Today’s announcement underscores our unwavering focus on exposing criminal activity, including bribery schemes by those entrusted to faithfully award government contracts. We appreciate our longstanding partnership with the Department of Justice in holding accountable those who defraud American taxpayers.”
“Watson exploited his position at USAID to line his pockets with bribes in exchange for more than $550 million in contracts. While he helped three company owners and presidents bypass the fair bidding process, he was showered with cash and lavish gifts,” said Chief Guy Ficco of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). “Through its financial crime investigations, IRS-CI works to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure government funds are awarded based on merit — not corruption. In close coordination with our law enforcement partners, IRS-CI helped put an end to their greed and criminal conduct. Now, Watson and his co-conspirators will face justice.”
Overview of Bribery Scheme
According to court documents, beginning in 2013, Watson, while a USAID contracting officer, agreed with Britt to receive bribes in exchange for using Watson’s influence to award contracts to Apprio. As a certified small business under the SBA 8(a) contracting program, which helps socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, Apprio could access lucrative federal contracting opportunities through set-asides and sole-source contracts exclusively available to eligible contractors without a competitive bid process.
Vistant was a subcontractor to Apprio on one of the contracts awarded through Watson’s influence. After Apprio graduated from the SBA 8(a) program and it was no longer eligible to be a prime contractor for new contracts with USAID under this program, the scheme shifted so that Vistant became the prime contractor and Apprio became the subcontractor on USAID contracts awarded through Watson’s influence between 2018 and 2022.
During the scheme, Britt and Barnes paid bribes to Watson that were often concealed by passing them through Young, who was the president of another subcontractor to Apprio and Vistant. Britt and Barnes also regularly funneled bribes to Watson, including cash, laptops, thousands of dollars in tickets to a suite at an NBA game, a country club wedding, downpayments on two residential mortgages, cellular phones, and jobs for relatives. The bribes were also often concealed through electronic bank transfers falsely listing Watson on payroll, incorporated shell companies, and false invoices. Watson is alleged to have received bribes valued at more than approximately $1 million as part of the scheme.
In exchange for the bribe payments, Watson influenced the award of contracts to Apprio and Vistant by manipulating the procurement process at USAID through various means, including recommending their companies to other USAID decisionmakers for non-competitive contract awards, disclosing sensitive procurement information during the competitive bidding process, providing positive performance evaluations to a government agency, and approving decisions on the contracts, such as increased funding and a security clearance.
Apprio and Vistant also agreed to resolve concurrently with the Justice Department in its separate Civil False Claims Act investigations relating to the bribery scheme.
Overview of Vistant Securities Fraud Scheme
According to court documents, in 2022, Barnes and Watson defrauded a licensed small business investment company (SBIC), in furtherance of the bribery scheme, by inducing it into executing a credit agreement with Vistant. Through the credit agreement, Barnes caused Vistant to issue stock warrants that, if exercised, would result in the SBIC having a 40% equity stake in Vistant. The credit agreement also provided for a $14 million loan to Vistant from which Barnes could pay himself a $10 million dividend. Prior to executing the credit agreement, Watson agreed at Barnes’s request to speak with the SBIC about Vistant’s performance as a government contractor on USAID contracts. When speaking with the SBIC, Watson omitted that Barnes had bribed Watson to obtain USAID contracts for years. Watson’s endorsement of Vistant thereafter induced the SBIC to enter into the credit agreement with Barnes.
Overview of Apprio Securities Fraud Scheme
According to court documents, in 2023, Apprio, acting through Britt, engaged in a scheme in which Apprio fraudulently induced a private equity firm, which had an investment pool that was licensed as a SBIC, to purchase from Apprio’s parent company a 20% equity stake in the company for $4 million and simultaneously extend it a $4 million loan secured by shares of Apprio stock. In addition to making false material representations in the stock purchase and loan agreements, Britt intentionally omitted during his negotiations the material fact that he had bribed Watson for years, which was intended to deceive and induce the private equity company into executing the agreements.
Deferred Prosecution Agreements with Apprio and Vistant
The Justice Department reached its resolution with Apprio based on several factors, including Apprio’s credit for clearly accepting responsibility for its criminal conduct, fully cooperating in the investigation and engaging in timely remedial measures. Based on these factors, the criminal penalty calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines reflects a 10% reduction off the bottom of the applicable Guidelines fine range pursuant to the Criminal Division Corporate Enforcement and Voluntary Self-Disclosure Policy (CEP). According to court documents, Apprio agreed that the appropriate criminal penalty based on the law and facts in its case is $51,673,185; however, Apprio also met its burden of establishing an inability to pay the criminal penalty sought. Based on the Justice Department’s independent analysis, it determined that paying a criminal penalty and civil settlement greater than $500,000 would substantially threaten the continued viability of Apprio. Accordingly, the Justice Department determined that the appropriate resolution of this case is a DPA and a payment of $500,000 in a civil settlement.
Similarly, the Justice Department reached its resolution with Vistant based on a number of factors, including Vistant’s credit for clearly accepting responsibility for its criminal conduct and cooperating with the investigation. Although Vistant’s cooperation was initially delayed and limited, Vistant began to fully cooperate thereafter. Vistant also received credit for engaging in timely remedial measures. Based on these factors, the penalty calculated under the Guidelines reflects a 5% reduction off the bottom of the applicable Guidelines fine range pursuant to the CEP. Vistant agreed that the appropriate criminal penalty based on the law and facts in its case is $86,407,740; however, Vistant also met its burden of establishing an inability to pay the criminal penalty sought. Based on the Justice Department’s independent analysis, it determined that paying a criminal penalty and civil settlement greater than $100,000 would substantially threaten the continued viability of Vistant. Accordingly, the Justice Department determined that the appropriate resolution of this case is a DPA and a payment of $100,000 in a civil settlement.
Watson is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 6, and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Young is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Britt is scheduled to be sentenced on July 28 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Barnes is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 14 and faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
The FBI, USAID-OIG, and IRS-CI are investigating the cases.
Trial Attorneys Matt Kahn and Brandon Burkart of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Kibbe for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the cases.
Headline: Powering the future of telecom: Microsoft brings agentic AI to life at TM Forum DTW
Telecommunications has always advanced in waves—analog to digital, 3G to 5G, copper to cloud. Today, a new swell is forming at the intersection of TM Forum’s Open Digital Architecture (ODA) and agentic AI. TM Forum’s ODA gives operators a modular, standards-based foundation; agentic AI layers on the autonomous decision support that transform those modules into living, self-optimizing systems. Together, they move the industry from reactive operations to proactive, closed-loop experiences.
Over the past year, Microsoft engineers have road-tested that combination with executives, technicians, customer support representatives, and developers. Regardless of geography or market, operators voiced three universal priorities: break down operational silos, unlock data’s latent value, increase efficiency, and accelerate innovation without eroding trust. At TM Forum DTW Ignite 2025 in Copenhagen, Microsoft is demonstrating how the complementary relationship between ODA and agentic AI converts those ambitions into measurable business outcomes.
Explore solutions with Microsoft for telecommunications
Microsoft’s next chapter with the Open Digital Architecture
Microsoft has been a hands-on contributor to TM Forum initiatives for well over two decades, coauthoring Open APIs, chairing working groups, and donating production hardened code that turns standards into deployable solutions. The ODA has become a focal point of that collaboration. By aligning Microsoft Azure cloud-native foundations with ODA’s composable blueprint, Microsoft helps operators assemble best-of-breed solutions without the drag of proprietary silos.
Engineering teams from Microsoft work with communications service providers (CSPs) and industry suppliers to validate specifications, publish reference implementations, and channel field experience back into the standard. The result for operators is faster interoperability, reduced integration cost, and quicker time-to-value for new digital services.
Yet a common obstacle remains: fragmented observability. Every vendor captures telemetry differently, leaving operations teams to deploy ad hoc log aggregators and parsers that inflate costs and slow incident response. Microsoft’s latest ODA contribution addresses this head-on.
ODA Observability Operator (open source on GitHub) The operator prescribes a common logging contract, integrates with Azure Monitor, and exposes health data through TM Forum nonfunctional APIs. In early trials, carriers shrank the meantime to detect billing anomalies significantly, freeing teams to focus on proactive optimization rather than forensic log diving.
ODA Landing Zone for Azure Guidance and a best practice guide on infrastructure-as-code templates that hydrate into an ODA compliant environment—policy, security, and monitoring.
The “Growing B2B with autonomous agents” catalyst project, involving players like Microsoft, Vodafone, and various industry partners, leverages the ODA Accelerator to transform B2B sales for mid-tier enterprise customers by enabling flexible quoting and commerce through generative AI. It enables flexible quoting and commerce, allowing customers to find relevant products using semantic search and create customized solutions that meet their specific business requirements, budgets, and timelines.
These assets illustrate a simple truth: standards only matter when they migrate from documentation into running code. By operationalizing TM Forum guidance, Microsoft accelerates engineering productivity, slashes integration costs, and strengthens the capabilities of telecoms, as well as providing a feedback loop for continual improvement.
Empowering network monetization through network APIs
Through our engagement with CAMARA and GSMA Open Gateway, Microsoft has played a pivotal role in helping operators monetize their networks via a robust partner ecosystem. This ecosystem supports the provisioning, aggregation, and routing of network API requests, enabling seamless integration and enhanced functionality. Our collaboration with industry leaders such as Aduna, Infobip, and Vonage brings aggregated network APIs directly to the Azure Marketplace. This integration grants Microsoft’s global community of developers and enterprises effortless access to essential network functions, including SIM swap detection, phone number verification, real-time device location, and on-demand quality-of-service controls. Standardized through the CAMARA open-source project—co-led by GSMA and the Linux Foundation—these APIs are designed for seamless integration, ensuring that operators can efficiently use network capabilities to drive innovation and growth.
Giving the network a trusted Copilot
Anyone who has joined a major incident conference bridge understands the sense of urgency—and the expense. Multiple teams chase clues, minutes feel like hours, and every second of downtime erodes customer experience and brand equity. Network Operations Agents built with Azure AI Foundry offer another path to successful resolutions. As Cristina Moura Rebelo, Head of AI Community and Ecosystem Engagement at MEO, describes it:
“MEO is transforming into an AI-powered techco, infusing AI into key domain areas and leveraging innovation and technology to create a competitive advantage, business growth, and operational excellency. The first steps made with Azure AI Foundry were key in unlocking the potential of use cases to streamline operations with ChatGOC and the HekaBot, in a scalable, iterative, and agile way, within a very short period of time, delivering outcomes and scaled efficiency to the teams. This is our path to becoming an AI-powered techco.”
—Cristina Moura Rebelo, Head of AI Community and Ecosystem Engagement, MEO
These AI companions ingest real-time telemetry, topology graphs, historical tickets, and vendor manuals; reason over anomalies; then recommend—or even execute—remediation steps under strict guardrails. Every action is logged, policy checked, and auditable so that safety and compliance are part of the operational flow.
Network Operations Agent Framework: Blueprint for building and deploying NetOps AI agents.
At TM Forum DTW Ignite 2025, Microsoft will be presenting on how we are transforming telecom operations with agentic AI, and unveiling the Network Operations Agent Framework, a reference architecture and working pilot environment that operators can explore hands-on. The package includes infrastructure-as-code templates, sample knowledgebase content, and step-by-step guidance for integrating Azure AI Foundry with existing telemetry pipelines. With these assets, communications service providers can progress from proof of concept to production in a matter of weeks—and do so with the assurance that every remediation action remains within corporate risk tolerance.
Unifying data with the Telco Analytics POC Accelerator
Data is the fuel for agentic AI, yet it often sits stranded across disparate clusters, data marts, and line-of-business applications. The Telco Analytics POC Accelerator removes that friction, deploying a domain specific data estate on Microsoft Fabric complete with service assurance, revenue management, and subscriber 360 schemas; lineage policies aligned to data mesh principles; and guidance to connect your backend data sources.
Beyond core ingestion pipelines, the accelerator provides predefined tables for service assurance, revenue management, and subscriber 360, alongside sample queries and dashboards that surface quick wins. Built-in sample data allows developers to prototype AI workloads safely—accelerating experimentation while protecting customer privacy.
Reference architecture for the Telco Analytics POC Accelerator.
When operators gain control of their data estate, they monetize faster, govern better, and feed AI models richer context. Microsoft provides the launch pad.
“Fabric let us build on the familiarity, security, and scalability of Azure. It unites data flows, storage, analytics, and machine learning in a single experience.”
—Jerod Ridge, Director of Data Engineering, Lumen
This unified approach empowers operators to achieve real-time insights and smarter decisions, driving business growth and innovation.
Reimagining business support systems for an agentic world
Business support systems (BSS) are the commercial nerve center of a telco, yet many still feel like 1990s ERP software: dense menus, arcane codes, and labor-intensive workflows. Microsoft’s agentic BSS proof of concept charts a different course.
At its heart is Microsoft Copilot Studio, which leverages TM Forum Open APIs, the Model Context Protocol, and secure tool registration to let AI agents act on behalf of customer care reps. Consider an agent who says, “Upgrade Alessia’s plan to unlimited data and add a family hotspot.” The AI agent validates entitlements, calculates prorated charges, and triggers fulfilment—no swivel chair required. Subscribers upgrade in the time it takes to sip coffee.
Microsoft is equally optimistic about the potential of an Order Fallout Agent. Up to 3% of orders stall in fragmented fulfilment chains. The agent monitors the queue, diagnoses failure patterns, and either self heals or curates a guided fix. In short, the Order Fallout Agent turns a perennial pain point into an autonomous, closed loop process—freeing care agents to focus on higher value conversations and giving customers the seamless experience they expect.
KPN has extended the use of AI companions to their sales operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot. KPN used Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance their sales operations, streamlining processes, improving customer engagement, and driving business outcomes.
“From the moment a customer contact becomes an opportunity, we link to that information in Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales, so we can see all relevant data to prepare for a conversation with the customer,”
—Pierrette de Leeuw-Koumans, Lead Generation Team, KPN
Copilot provides real-time data analysis, predictive insights, and automated workflows, enabling the sales team to focus on strategic activities and deliver personalized experiences.
These demonstrations illustrate how BSS complexity can melt away, replaced by conversational experiences powered by open APIs and trustworthy automation. The journey is incremental—operators can start with a single fallout queue or upgrade flow and expand outward.
Momentum stretching from lab to live network
Innovation without adoption is theatre. Microsoft’s ecosystem partners are translating blueprints into operational gains:
Microsoft and leading BSS suppliers are exploring joint proof of concepts that integrate the Telco Analytics POC Accelerator and Observability Operator into next generation revenue assurance workflows.
PLDT has implemented the Amdocs Customer Engagement Platform, a robust, telco-grade solution jointly engineered by Amdocs and Microsoft elevate customer experience management. “By combining the AI, generative AI, cloud, and deep telecom expertise of Amdocs and Microsoft, PLDT an end-to-end solution that will drive higher agent productivity, operational efficiency, and significantly improve customer loyalty,” said Anthony Goonetilleke, Group President of Technology and Head of Strategy at Amdocs.
Nokia’s NetGuard Cybersecurity Dome is providing comprehensive security for 5G networks, leveraging AI and automation to detect, manage, and respond to threats in real-time.
Accenture, Tech Mahindra, and other global SIs are collaborating with Microsoft on service offerings that accelerate deployment of AI-ready data estates—combining migration expertise, reference architectures, and operator specific best practices.
The breadth of deployments demonstrates that Microsoft’s approach scales across geographies, regulatory regimes, and network generations.
Charting the first step
Building toward autonomous operations seldom begins with a blank slate. The most effective starting point is a business moment that already matters—whether it’s easing congestion at a busy urban cell site or clearing a stubborn order backlog. Instrument that scenario end to end, unify the supporting data, introduce a focused agent, and track the results with discipline. Momentum builds quickly when measurable wins are visible to both engineers and executives.
Microsoft and its partners stand ready to help, whether through co-innovation blueprints, rapid pilots leveraging the ODA Accelerator for Azure, or structured engagements that blend domain expertise with change management.
Telecommunications remains, at its core, a human endeavor: engineers who safeguard critical infrastructure, customer care teams who build loyalty, strategists who spot the next market opportunity. Agentic AI amplifies that expertise—it automates repetitive analysis, highlights hidden insights, and executes well understood actions—while judgment, creativity, and empathy stay firmly in human hands. By pairing people with autonomous assistance, operators can scale excellence without sacrificing the personalized touch that defines great service. Microsoft invites the industry to explore that partnership at TM Forum DTW Ignite 2025 and beyond.
Join the journey
Learn more by visiting the Microsoft Telecommunications Industry hub, where solution briefs, customer stories, and partner offers provide actionable next steps. Together, the industry can turn aspiration into action and chart the next great wave of telecom innovation.
Microsoft for telecommunications
Accelerate telecom transformation in the era of AI
Rick Lievano
CTO Telecom, WW Media & Communications
Rick Lievano, Microsoft’s WW CTO for Telecommunications, develops solutions and architectures for service providers. An active industry speaker and advocate for open standards, he is a member of the TM Forum Collaboration Sub-Committee and leads AI initiatives to help operators achieve more.
STRENGTHENING WILDFIRE PREVENTION AND RESPONSE: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order returning common sense to wildfire prevention and response.
The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Agriculture to consolidate their wildland fire programs.
The Order supports local wildfire preparedness and response by improving Federal partnerships, as well as driving responsible land management and prevention at the State and local level.
The Order directs the use of available technology, including AI, data sharing, innovative mapping, and weather forecasting, to enhance State and local wildfire identification and response capabilities.
The Order directs Federal agencies to modify rules to facilitate preventive prescribed fires and appropriate fire-retardant use, promote innovative use of woody biomass and other forest products to reduce fuel loads that strengthen fires, and minimize wildfire ignition risks from the bulk-power system.
The Order modernizes wildfire prevention and response by instructing Federal agencies to declassify historical satellite data to improve wildfire prediction and revise or eliminate rules that impede wildfire detection, prevention, and response.
The Order directs the Secretary of Defense to prioritize the sale of excess aircraft and aircraft parts to support wildfire mitigation and response.
EMPOWERING STATE AND LOCAL LEADERS: President Trump is empowering State and local leaders to combat wildfires effectively.
For too long, State and local wildfire responses have been slow and inadequate due to reckless mismanagement and lack of preparedness.
Wildfires threaten every region, yet many local government entities continue to disregard commonsense preventative measures.
Firefighters are forced to rely on outdated technology and face challenges in quickly responding to wildfires because of unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy.
Immediate action is essential to ensure the devastation of the Los Angeles wildfires never occurs again.
By streamlining Federal wildfire capabilities, States can leverage an efficient and straightforward approach concerning wildfire response and mitigation.
RESTORING COMMON SENSE TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: President Trump has consistently demonstrated a commonsense approach to safeguard and protect the environment and American communities.
On Day One, President Trump signed a Memorandum to prioritize routing water to Southern California in the wake of the destructive wildfires.
In President Trump’s first week back in office, he and First Lady Melania Trump visited Los Angeles to inspect wildfire damage, promising immediate Federal support and relief.
Upon visiting Los Angeles, President Trump immediately issued measures to provide increased water resources in California and promote expedited recovery procedures for Californians after their State government’s disastrous mishandling and misuse of resources and lack of preparation for the January 2025 wildfires.
In March 2025, President Trump issued an Executive Order to enhance forest management, promoting responsible use of American timber to reduce wildfire risks.
class=”has-text-align-left”>By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section1. Purpose. The devastation of the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires shocked the American people and highlighted the catastrophic consequences when State and local governments are unable to quickly respond to such disasters. In too many cases, including in California, a slow and inadequate response to wildfires is a direct result of reckless mismanagement and lack of preparedness. Wildfires threaten every region, yet many local government entities continue to disregard commonsense preventative measures. Firefighters across the country are forced to rely on outdated technology and face challenges in quickly responding to wildfires because of unnecessary regulation and bureaucracy. The Federal Government can empower State and local leaders by streamlining Federal wildfire capabilities to improve their effectiveness and promoting commonsense, technology-enabled local strategies for land management and wildfire response and mitigation.
Sec. 2. Streamlining Federal Wildland Fire Governance. Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture shall, to the maximum degree practicable and consistent with applicable law, consolidate their wildland fire programs to achieve the most efficient and effective use of wildland fire offices, coordinating bodies, programs, budgets, procurement processes, and research and, as necessary, recommend additional measures to advance this objective.
Sec. 3. Encouraging Local Wildfire Preparedness and Response. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall: (i) expand and strengthen the use of partnerships, agreements, compacts, and mutual aid capabilities that empower Federal, State, local, tribal, and community-driven land management that reduces wildfire risk and improves wildfire response, including on public lands; and (ii) develop and expand the use of other measures to incentivize responsible land management and wildfire prevention, mitigation, and response measures at the State and local levels. (b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the heads of executive departments and agencies (agencies) represented at the National Interagency Fire Center, shall: (i) develop a comprehensive technology roadmap, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), to increase wildfire firefighting capabilities at the State and local levels, including through artificial intelligence, data sharing, innovative modeling and mapping capabilities, and technology to identify wildland fire ignitions and weather forecasts to inform response and evacuation; and (ii) promote the use of a risk-informed approach, as consistent with Executive Order 14239 of March 18, 2025 (Achieving Efficiency Through State and Local Preparedness), to develop new policies that remove barriers to preventing and responding to wildfires, including through year-round response readiness, better forest health, and activities outlined in Executive Order 14225 of March 1, 2025 (Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production).
Sec. 4. Strengthening Wildfire Mitigation. Within 90 days of the date of this order: (a) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall consider modifying or rescinding, as consistent with applicable law, Federal rules or policies that impede the use of appropriate, preventative prescribed fires. (b) The Secretary of Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall consider modifying or rescinding, as consistent with applicable law, Federal rules or policies hindering the appropriate use of fire retardant to fight wildfires. (c) The Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, shall consider promoting, assisting, and facilitating, as consistent with applicable law, innovative uses of woody biomass and forest products to reduce fuel loads in areas at risk of wildfires. (d) The Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall consider initiating rulemaking proceedings to establish, as consistent with applicable law, best practices to reduce the risk of wildfire ignition from the bulk-power system without increasing costs for electric-power end users, including through methods such as vegetation management, the removal of forest-hazardous fuels along transmission lines, improved engineering approaches, and safer operational practices. (e) The Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior, shall review pending and proposed wildfire-related litigation involving electrical utility companies to ensure the Department’s positions and proposed resolutions in such matters advance the wildfire prevention and mitigation efforts identified in this order.
Sec. 5. Modernizing Wildfire Prevention and Response. (a) Within 120 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of OSTP, the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and the heads of relevant agencies, shall, as appropriate, identify, declassify, and make publicly available historical satellite datasets that will advance wildfire prevention and response and improve wildfire prediction and evaluation models. (b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce and the heads of agencies represented at the National Interagency Fire Center, shall: (i) Identify rules that impede wildfire prevention, detection, or response and consider eliminating or revising those rules, as consistent with applicable law. This consideration and any resulting rulemaking proceedings shall be reflected in the Fall 2025 Unified Regulatory Agenda. (ii) Develop performance metrics for wildfire response, including metrics related to average response times, annual fuels treatments, safety and cost effectiveness, and other subjects, as appropriate for inclusion in strategic and annual performance plans. (c) Within 210 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense shall evaluate and, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, prioritize the sale of excess aircraft and aircraft parts to support wildfire mitigation and response.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals. (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. (d) The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior in equal shares.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (7th District of Washington)
WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07) released the following statement regarding the Republican rescissions package, which passed the House of Representatives 214-212.
“A rescission package means going back on your word. Let me be clear: Congress and Congress alone has the power to appropriate funding. What is happening here is that Donald Trump and Elon Musk took illegal actions to cut Congressionally appropriated funding, so now Trump’s minions in Congress are going back and cleaning up for him. This is a thinly veiled attempt to sidestep court orders that have demanded the Trump Administration reinstate illegally gutted funding.
“The cuts to USAID have already killed an estimated 300,000 people around the world and are undermining the United States’ global leadership. This is funding for food and medicine for children, maternal health care programs, and for clinics that treat survivors of gender-based violence. It accounts for less than one percent of our federal spending and stops diseases before they reach our border, and helps to stabilize countries, preventing conflict before it starts.
“And the cuts to public broadcasting are a direct attack on free press in this country. In many rural communities, these stations are the only reliable sources of local news, critical weather alerts, and educational programming for kids. These stations not only keep people informed but also employ thousands of people in communities across the country.
“These cuts are not only bad for the American people but further erode our checks and balances in this country and the powers of Congress defined in the Constitution. Trump’s yes-men are rubber stamping his agenda and cutting away at the fabric of our democracy in doing so.”
Issues: Arts & Education, Foreign Affairs & National Security
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Paul Tonko (Capital Region New York)
Tonko Condemns Trump Recissions Package Gutting Funding for NPR, PBS, and USAID
Calls out President’s cruel, petty attempts to eliminate public broadcasting & life-saving international aid
Washington, June 12, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressman Paul D. Tonko released a statement following the House vote on President Trump’s recissions package, which seeks to claw back $9.4 billion in funding for public broadcasting and foreign aid, including AIDS prevention efforts such as PEPFAR.
Instead of addressing the rising cost of living or making life better for working Americans, Trump is using his power to go after Elmo and Big Bird.
Public, independent broadcasting is essential to any democracy, providing educational programming as well as news updates and emergency alerts. International aid has saved tens of millions of lives by driving AIDS prevention efforts and addressing global health crises. Yet, the President wants to claw back billions in funding for NPR, PBS, and USAID.
I’ve heard from thousands of constituents — hardworking American taxpayers — calling to demand these essential programs keep their funding.
While House Republicans once again kowtowed to the President’s demands, I won’t stop working to defend and uphold these programs that serve my constituents, our nation, and our planet.
Headline: USAID Official and Three Corporate Executives Plead Guilty to Decade-Long Bribery Scheme Involving Over $550 Million in Contracts; Two Companies Admit Criminal Liability for Bribery Scheme and Securities Fraud
Four men, including a government contracting officer for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and three owners and presidents of companies, have pleaded guilty for their roles in a decade-long bribery scheme involving at least 14 prime contracts worth over $550 million in U.S. taxpayer dollars.
Saskatoon, SK., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO) (CSE: DPRO) (FSE: 3U8A) (“Draganfly” or the “Company”), a drone solutions, and systems developer, today announced the closing of its previously announced public offering (the “Offering”) of 5,500,000 units, with each unit consisting of one common share and one warrant to purchase one common share. Each unit was sold at a public offering price of US$2.50, for gross proceeds of approximately US$13.75 million, before deducting placement agent discounts and offering expenses. The warrants have an exercise price of CA$5.0768 (or US$3.71) per share, are exercisable immediately and will expire five years following the date of issuance.
Maxim Group LLC acted as sole placement agent for the Offering.
Draganfly currently intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering for general corporate purposes, including to fund its capabilities to meet demand for its new products including growth initiatives and/or for working capital requirements including the continuing development and marketing of the Company’s core products, potential acquisitions and research and development.
The Offering was made pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement on Form F-10, as amended, (File No. 333-271498) previously filed with and subsequently declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on July 5, 2023 and the Company’s Canadian short form base shelf prospectus dated June 30, 2023 (the “Base Shelf Prospectus”). Draganfly offered and sold the securities in the United States only. No securities were offered or sold to Canadian purchasers.
A final prospectus supplement and accompanying Base Shelf Prospectus relating to the Offering and describing the terms thereof has been filed with the applicable securities commissions in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario, and with the SEC in the United States and is available for free by visiting the Company’s profiles on the SEDAR+ website maintained by the Canadian Securities Administrators at www.sedarplus.ca or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, as applicable. Copies of the final prospectus supplements and accompanying Base Shelf Prospectus relating to the Offering may be obtained by contacting Maxim Group LLC, at 300 Park Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10022, Attention: Syndicate Department, or by telephone at (212) 895-3745 or by email at syndicate@maximgrp.com.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.
About Draganfly
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ: DPRO; CSE: DPRO; FSE: 3U8A) is a pioneer in drone solutions, AI-driven software, and robotics. With over 25 years of innovation, Draganfly has been at the forefront of drone technology, providing solutions for public safety, agriculture, industrial inspections, security, mapping, and surveying. The Company is committed to delivering efficient, reliable, and industry-leading technology that helps organizations save time, money, and lives.
Certain statements contained in this news release may constitute “forward-looking statements” or “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements, based as they are on the current expectations of management, inherently involve numerous important risks, uncertainties and assumptions, known and unknown. In this news release, such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the intended use of proceeds of the Offering. Actual future events may differ from the anticipated events expressed in such forward-looking statements. Draganfly believes that expectations represented by forward-looking statements are reasonable, yet there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. The reader should not place undue reliance, if any, on any forward-looking statements included in this news release. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and Draganfly is under no obligation and disavows any intention to update publicly or revise such statements as a result of any new information, future event, circumstances or otherwise, unless required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned not to unduly rely on these forward-looking statements and are encouraged to read the Offering documents, as well as Draganfly’s continuous disclosure documents, including its current annual information form, as well as its audited annual consolidated financial statements which are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.
WATERLOO, Ontario, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Descartes Systems Group Inc. (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), announced the voting results from its annual meeting of shareholders held on Thursday, June 12, 2025 (the “Meeting”).
Meeting Results
The following matters, as set out in more detail in its Management Information Circular dated April 30, 2025, were considered and voted on by shareholders at the Meeting:
General The total number of common shares of the Corporation represented in person or by proxy at the Meeting was 77,507,142 which represented 90.35% of the 85,782,830 common shares of the Corporation that were outstanding as of the record date for the Meeting, being April 25, 2025.
Election of Directors On a vote by ballot, each of the following 10 nominees proposed by management of the Corporation was elected as a director of the Corporation:
Director Nominee
Number of Votes FOR
Percentage of Votes FOR
Number of Votes AGAINST
Percentage of Votes AGAINST
Deepak Chopra
75,876,565
98.81%
912,202
1.19%
Eric Demirian
72,960,218
95.01%
3,828,551
4.99%
Dennis Maple
73,891,505
96.23%
2,897,262
3.77%
Jane Mowat
76,767,145
99.97%
21,625
0.03%
Chris Muntwyler
75,883,997
98.82%
904,773
1.18%
Jane O’Hagan
75,033,103
97.71%
1,755,666
2.29%
Edward Ryan
76,223,399
99.26%
565,370
0.74%
John Walker
73,935,135
96.28%
2,853,635
3.72%
Laura Wilkin
76,767,158
96.28%
21,612
0.03%
Appointment of Auditors
On a vote by ballot, KPMG LLP, Chartered Professional Accountants and Licensed Public Accountants, were appointed as the auditors of the Corporation until the close of the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are appointed.
Number of Votes FOR
Percentage of Votes FOR
Number of Votes WITHHELD
Percentage of Votes WITHHELD
77,241,699
99.66%
265,443
0.34%
Say-On-Pay
On a vote by ballot, the “Say-On-Pay” resolution proposed by management of the Corporation was approved.
Number of Votes FOR
Percentage of Votes FOR
Number of Votes AGAINST
Percentage of Total Votes AGAINST
74,071,830
96.46%
2,716,938
3.54%
About Descartes Descartes (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG) is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, security and sustainability of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, track and help improve the safety, performance and compliance of delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world’s largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Our headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and we have offices and partners around the world. Learn more at www.descartes.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
DOC, working alongside Te Whānau o Rangiwhakaahu, the University of Auckland, and Northland Regional Council, undertook the trial over 2 weeks in May 2025. Dive teams spent nearly 290 hours underwater during 440 dives, covering five sites across six hectares, to halt the spread of urchin barrens – barren reefs stripped of life by increasing populations of the native long-spined sea urchin.
Despite being native, the long-spined sea urchin has seen a dramatic population boom – increasing more than elevenfold in the past 25 years. Warmer waters and fewer predators are thought to be key factors, and even in the fully protected marine reserve, where their numbers are now estimated to exceed 1.5 million.
Unlike kina, which have shown signs of natural decline under marine protection, long-spined sea urchins have continued to expand. They graze not just on kelp but on a wide range of marine life, threatening the rich biodiversity and the colourful communities of fixed marine animals – like sponges, corals, and anemones – that cover the vertical reef walls and make the Poor Knights internationally renowned.
“This is the first coordinated removal effort specifically targeting long-spined sea urchins in a New Zealand marine reserve,” says DOC Marine Technical Advisor Dr Monique Ladds.
“The goal is to slow the spread of urchin barrens in the Poor Knights while we continue to investigate long-term solutions. Follow-up surveys in July will help assess the effectiveness of the removal and guide future management decisions.”
The removal work follows successful but smaller trials in 2023 which showed rapid recovery of the kelp and wall communities.
“This is not a long-term fix,” says Monique. “Although removals may help buy time in some areas, we know they are not a sustainable strategy for managing the scale of the problem. We’re continuing to work with iwi, scientists, and partners to explore future options for protecting these ecosystems at the Poor Knights and elsewhere. This trial is one way we’re testing what’s possible. When we take action, nature can bounce back.”
Marine reserves managed by DOC are protected areas, and removing or harming marine life without a permit is illegal.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Trump budget proposes halving HUD’s budget as key staff are let go in droves & funds signed into law are illegally frozen
ICYMI: In Everett, Murray Holds Roundtable on Trump Putting $16.7 Million for Snohomish County Homelessness Prevention at Risk, Hears from Affected Organizations—Vows to Fight Housing Budget Cuts
***WATCH: Senator Murray’s exchange with Secretary Turner***
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner at a Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the president’s fiscal year 2026 budget request for HUD and its sweeping staff losses and funding freezes that are already hurting communities across the country. Senator Murray pressed Secretary Turner on the Trump administration’s unprecedented and illegal freezing of funding for critical HUD programs and attacks on the Continuum of Care program that is vital to homelessness prevention in Snohomish County, King County, Pierce County, and other areas across Washington state. Murray also questioned Secretary Turner about the Trump administration blocking funding provided for HUD’s Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, and his refusal to answer basic Congressional oversight questions on this program.
In her opening comments, Vice Chair Murray said:
“The entire point of your Department is to help Americans keep a roof over their head. I am really afraid pretty much everything that you and President Trump have done to date appears kind of in direct opposition to that goal.
“First off, the President’s illegal funding freezes are causing chaos across the country. I was in Everett, in my home state of Washington, a few weeks ago, I was talking to organizations that help people find housing. And if they can’t get their already-awarded funding, they will be forced to start evicting people this summer and may even have to shut down their services altogether.
“And on top of that, you’re pushing out 2,300 staff—who are dedicated public servants with decades of experience. I just don’t see how you can tell us with a straight face that forcing out over a quarter of your workforce is going to have no effect on your Department’s ability to meet its statutory responsibilities under law.
“And now, after all the damage that’s been done, you are here today requesting that Congress slash funding for your Department nearly in half! Nearly in half! That would force millions of Americans out of their homes.
“Your request would force states to make up for your draconian cuts and abdication of responsibility. I don’t know what state can afford to do that, especially when this administration is simultaneously working to shift even more costs to states for things like SNAP and health care.
“It is kind of absurd to claim that we cannot afford basic programs that keep people off the streets, but we can hand trillions of dollars in new tax cuts to billionaires and big corporations.
“Housing affordability and homelessness is a crisis in Washington state and in many places across the country, you know that—but this administration just appears to me to be trying to make it all worse.
“And I’ll tell you right now: looking at your budget request, as far as I’m concerned as Vice Chair of this committee, it’s not going anywhere.”
[ILLEGAL FUNDING FREEZES]
Senator Murray began her questioning by asking about the administration’s illegal funding freezes and attacks on critical housing and homeless prevention programs, including the Continuum of Care program: “I want to start with the funding that you are illegally freezing. The Continuum of Care program is essential to addressing homelessness in my home state of Washington. In March, HUD began issuing grant agreements with a host of new conditions that are deeply concerning and completely unrelated to HUD’s mission. HUD did that without notice, and without any explanation of what the vaguely worded conditions mean or what a grantee would be required to do. As I said earlier, organizations I have talked to in my state say that without these funds, they are going to evict people this summer. The courts, as you know, are sorting this out, I’m glad to see they’ve extended the preliminary injunction to stop HUD from enforcing these new and extreme requirements. Mr. Secretary, I want to ask you, are you going to, and I quote from the court order, ‘take every step necessary to effectuate this order, including clearing any administrative, operational, or technical hurdles to implementation’?”
Secretary Turner replied, “As you have said this is under active litigation. And so we will leave it there. Once this is through litigation, I look forward to having a conversation, but right now I won’t comment on it.”
“Not even to tell us if you’re following the court order?” pressed Senator Murray.
Secretary Turner said, “I will follow the law—”
Senator Murray reiterated her question, “Are you following the court order?”
“Our team follows the law and the court order,” answered Secretary Turner.
“Are you in full compliance with the court order?” followed up Senator Murray.
“I’m not going to speak any more on it because it’s under active litigation,” said Secretary Turner, avoiding the question.
Senator Murray continued to try and get clarification on where the funds stood with HUD, “Let me just follow up on this. When will you be in full compliance with the court order? Are funds being withheld today?”
“We will be with you as soon as we can, once it’s done with active litigation,” Secretary Turner yet again dodged.
“Are funds being withheld right now even though the court order is in place?” Senator Murray asked again.
Secretary Turner tried to change the topic, “You know you talked about the 2,300 people—”
“I just want you to know that I am talking about this Continuum of Care because I am hearing from providers in my state that funds are being withheld, meaning you are not in compliance. Are you aware of that?” Senator Murray further specified.
Secretary Turner repeated his same talking point, “I am aware of the litigation. It’s in active litigation.”
Senator Murray further explained to Secretary Turner that he was in violation of the court order and that is why she was asking, “I am hearing funds are still being withheld despite the court order. I need to know if you know that and if you’re going to make sure the funds are released.”
“I’m the Secretary, so things that go on at HUD I’m well aware of. But I also know with this active litigation, that I am not going to say very much in our hearing today but happy to talk to you as time goes on as I’m able to. I’ll commit to that,” said Secretary Turner.
Senator Murray made it clear, “Well, we are running out of time. They are going to start evicting people and they need those funds.”
Secretary Turner again tried to change the subject, “Just to clarify, the 2,300 people that left HUD, it was voluntary, they were not forced out.”
Senator Murray said, “I know, I have been hearing that from every secretary that comes before us.”
Secretary Turner interjected, “This is just me from HUD, and I’m just telling you it was 2,300 that took the DRP—”
“2,300 that were told if you don’t get out now you will be sorry in the future, so it is people that we need there,” Senator Murray pushed back.
Senator Murray then pressed Secretary Turner on the funding held up for the Green and Resilient Retrofit program: “Let me move on to another example. Your Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, that was created to help make properties more resilient to disasters and less expensive to heat and cool. On day one, you and the President deemed this commonsense program ‘woke’ somehow and have illegally attempted to terminate it. The courts have now directed HUD to process and disburse those funds, but I want you know that we are hearing from owners that HUD is doing nothing to restore the administrative contract that DOGE cancelled—which is holding up this deal from moving forward. This Committee has now asked five times for HUD to brief my staff on this, yet they’ve refused to speak to us about basic legal requirements. So let me just ask you here today, why are you preventing HUD-assisted property owners from making often overdue upgrades to low-income and senior housing?”
Secretary Turner again avoided the question he was capable of answering, “This also is under active litigation, as you know. And so, my comments on this will be zero to limited. It’s under active litigation, as soon as we get done with that I’m happy to speak with you.”
“Well, there are people waiting. And this fund [is] critical and there are court orders, and I expect them to be followed.And I am just going to say for the record, there’s nothing objectionable about this funding. It is stunning to me that we are under a court order, and you’re not giving the money out. It’s for things like replacing windows and outdated HVAC systems, and installing fire-resistant roofs. These are things badly needed for people in this country,” concluded Senator Murray.
___________________________________
President Trump’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2026 would slash funding for HUD by almost 50 percent—a staggering cut that would decimate the HUD housing assistance programs, kicking families out of their homes and making millions of Americans vulnerable to homelessness. Trump’s budget proposes to convert all rental assistance programs into a formula-based “State Rental Assistance Block Grant” and reduce total funding by $26.7 billion, or a 42 percent cut. His budget also proposes to consolidate the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program with the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program within the formula-based Emergency Solutions Grant and to time-limit assistance to two years, all while reducing overall funding by $532 million, or 12 percent. In addition, President Trump’s budget proposes to eliminate or reduce nearly all HUD programs, including eliminating major formula programs communities rely upon to develop new affordable housing and for community development activities. On May 29th, Senator Murray held a roundtable in Everett to hear from local housing and homelessness prevention organizations affected by the Trump administration’s senseless decision to jeopardize CoC grant funding by placing new, potentially unlawful conditions on the grant funding.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Diana DeGette (First District of Colorado)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO–01) released the following statement after the House passed H.R. 4, Donald Trump’s $9.4 billion rescissions package to codify cuts made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“House Republicans handed Donald Trump and Elon Musk everything they wanted. They’re gutting foreign aid, zeroing out public broadcasting, and cutting off lifelines for the world’s most vulnerable —all programs that have been historically bipartisan.
“USAID’s life-saving humanitarian programs help mothers survive childbirth, prevent infectious disease outbreaks, and deliver critical HIV/AIDS treatment. Because of the $8.3 billion in cuts, millions of people across the world will die. It is estimated that cuts from DOGE have already led to the deaths of 300,000 people—most of them children.
“Here at home, the Republican majority is zeroing out federal support for PBS and NPR. Why? Because Trump doesn’t like their factual reporting. These cuts will cause millions of Americans to lose access to local news, essential emergency alerts, and educational programming.
“As the Senate considers deep cuts to other essential programs, like Medicaid, it is particularly outrageous that the House is voting to weaken American institutions here and abroad.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs South and Central Asia Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga delivered opening remarks at a subcommittee hearing titled, “Bureau of Industry and Security FY26 Budget: Export Controls and the AI Arms Race.”
Watch Here -Remarks-
Today’s hearing will examine the fiscal year 2026 budget request for the Bureau of Industry and Security, an agency whose mission is critical to ensuring America wins the AI arms race against the Communist Party of China.
We are at a historic inflection point. Technologies that will define the 21st century, such as AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing are achieving breakthroughs that increasingly sound more like science fiction, than the reality that we’re used to. These technologies have a potential to unlock tremendous economic prosperity, medical innovations, and human flourishing.
However, they are not just drivers of economic growth. They are instruments of military power and security as well. Advanced AI models could coordinate fleets of self-driving cars in Michigan. They could also direct autonomous drone swarms over the Taiwan Strait. The nation that leads in developing and deploying these technologies has an opportunity to gain geopolitical advantages for decades to come.
The CCP understands this. That’s why it’s trying to dominate these critical technologies by any means necessary through state subsidies, forced tech transfers, economic espionage, chip smuggling, and exploiting access to the West’s most innovative AI labs and universities.
AI dominance is central to the CCP’s goals. Its military modernization efforts, surveillance state, and human rights abuses are amplified by AI. Export controls play a crucial role in ensuring that US and allied technologies are not used to fuel the CCP’s pursuit of global dominance. Amongst its many important roles, BIS serves as a guardian of one of the world’s most valuable and powerful supply chains. The ecosystem of advanced chips, tools, components, and design software that underpins the development of cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
China’s leading AI companies have made it clear just how dependent their future is on US technology. In response to a question on what their biggest obstacle to AI development is Deepeek’s CEO put it bluntly, “bans on shipments of advanced chips are the problem.”
The CCP understands the importance of these AI choke points. That’s why it’s working around the clock to steal chips and exploit export control loopholes to internalize its production. That’s why this hearing today is so important.
BIS’ fiscal 26 budget request includes a 133% increase in enforcement funding. A bold and necessary step. As the deep CEO made evident, it’s not a lack of talent holding back China’s AI development. It’s the lack of access to US technology. That’s what this budget supports. It allows BIS to better disrupt covert efforts to funnel US innovation to the CCP’s military and surveillance state.
So, let’s be very clear, enforcement is not about punishing innovation. It’s about protecting it. It’s about making sure that the technologies that define the future are not weaponized against our values, our alliances or our own people.
We also recognize that BIS operates in a dynamic and challenging environment. The technologies we’re discussing are evolving rapid rapidly. BIS must become faster, more adaptive and uh and more technologically capable than ever before.
This subcommittee is committed to giving the bureau the tools and resources it needs to meet that challenge head on. The geopolitical struggle between America and China defines the technologies of our time. Global AI development shaped by democratic values or authoritarian control will depend on the decisions we make right now about licensing, enforcement, and strategic technology protection.
I’m pleased that we are joined by Undersecretary Jeffrey Kessler, who leads BIS during this decisive period in history. Mr. Kessler, thank you for your service and your appearance here at the subcommittee. The window for preserving America’s technology edge is narrow, but it does remain open. BIS with the support of Congress, must ensure America wins the AI arms race.
Donald Trump signs a proclamation expanding fishing rights in the Pacific Islands, April 17.Getty Images
Since 2018, the United States has worked, albeit often haltingly, to regain its footing with Pacific Island countries. It’s done this largely by reflecting a sentiment familiar in Pacific capitals: the region is not a geopolitical backwater, but a crucial strategic zone in the 21st century.
Spurred by China’s strategic expansion – security deals, port access, political influence – the first Trump presidency and then the Biden administration renewed the US focus on the Pacific.
Washington was also prodded by regional allies, including New Zealand. In 2018, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said: “We unashamedly ask for the United States to engage more and we think it is in your vital interests to do so. And time is of the essence.”
Building on the tentative steps of its predecessor, the Biden administration acted. It opened new embassies, invited Pacific leaders to the White House, unveiled a dedicated strategy for the Pacific Islands, and committed to recognising the Cook Islands and Niue.
It also negotiated more funding for the Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau. Along with the 2022 Pacific Islands Summit, it all signalled Washington’s desire to be a better partner.
Crucially, the Biden administration recognised climate change and the economy, not great-power rivalry, as the region’s defining security concerns. Now, much of that progress is being eroded.
The second Trump administration has gutted key international development agencies, with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Millennium Challenge Corporation shuttered.
More than mere symbols, these agencies were tools of statecraft, facilitating Washington’s capacity to compete with China’s “no questions asked” development model. Their removal leaves a vacuum, which Beijing will happily fill.
China pressing the advantage
Other signs of retreat are equally troubling. Congressional funding for the South Pacific Tuna Treaty – which pays for access for US fishing fleets and is the primary multiparty agreement the US has with the Pacific Islands – was tripled by Biden, but remains incomplete.
Trump recently signed an executive order opening the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, a 1,282,534 square kilometre protected marine zone, to commercial fishing. This might be welcomed by the US tuna fleet, but it raises questions about Washington’s commitment to the tuna treaty.
Hoped-for expansion of US consular access, especially vital for Pacific Islanders who must travel long distances for basic services such as visa applications, is in limbo. The US embassy in Vanuatu, damaged by the earthquake in 2024, remains closed, leaving diplomats to work out of their hotel rooms.
China, by contrast, has not slowed down. Its security pact with Solomon Islands, its police training efforts in Samoa and Kiribati, and its growing intelligence presence across the region show a clear pattern of assertiveness.
Beijing has proven adept at offering timely, visible assistance. Its diplomats show up. Its companies build. Its promises, however opaque, are matched with resources.
The result has not necessarily meant Pacific nations have “chosen” China. Rather, most revert to the longstanding posture of “friend to all, enemy to none”.
In a region where non-alignment is both a survival strategy and a principle of sovereignty, the perception of US unreliability makes China’s attentions all the more welcome, or at least tolerable.
Not a binary contest
The US now appears to be abandoning efforts to break this cycle, and the Trump administration risks a genuine strategic error rather than a mere diplomatic misstep.
More than distant dots on a map, the Pacific Islands control vast stretches of ocean, including key shipping lanes and undersea cables. Their diplomatic weight matters in the United Nations.
And the region matters to Taiwan, which is recognised by 12 countries globally, three of which are in the Pacific.
Some argue the US should press Pacific nations to “choose” between Washington and Beijing. But that approach is shortsighted and counterproductive.
Most have no interest in being drawn into a binary contest. They seek concrete benefits – resilience funding, fair trade, visa access – not ideological alignment. Framing relationships as zero-sum contests misunderstands the region’s diplomatic logic.
Listening to Pacific leaders
To revive the relationship, the US will need to show up, follow through and demonstrate its partnership offers more than rhetoric.
This would involve restoring some elements of foreign assistance, fully funding the South Pacific Tuna Treaty obligations, opening and staffing embassies, and supporting Pacific regional organisations such as the Pacific Islands Forum with meaningful recognition and resources.
But the US review of Pacific foreign assistance (a small portion of US development aid formerly administered by USAID) has been delayed once again, and likely won’t emerge until mid-July.
More importantly, the US will have to listen to Pacific leaders, who have articulated their priorities clearly. They do not want to be sites of contest; they want to be agents of their own futures.
In short, the US will have to treat the Pacific Islands as sovereign equals.
When Trump returned to the White House, he found a workable policy architecture for the Pacific. Its core elements could still be rescued.
But continued neglect, mixed signals and cost-cutting risk hastening the outcome China seeks – a region that finds Washington unreliable. Winston Peters, now foreign minister in a new government, might want to update his 2018 call for US engagement in the Pacific – with the emphasis on reliability.
Alan Tidwell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04)
WASHINGTON — Speaker Johnson released the following statement after House Republicans approved the Trump Administration’s rescissions request to cut $9.4 billion in wasteful spending identified by DOGE.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, your taxpayer dollars are no longer being wasted. Instead, they are being directed toward priorities that truly benefit the American people.
“Today’s House passage of this initial rescissions package marks a critical step toward a more responsible and transparent government that puts the interests of the American taxpayers first.
“Thanks to DOGE’s work, this package eliminates $9.4 billion in unnecessary and wasteful spending at the State Department, USAID, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds politically biased media outlets like NPR and PBS. It is just one of the ways Republicans are codifying DOGE’s findings and putting taxpayer dollars to better use.
“We had hoped our Democrat colleagues would join us in this effort to ensure every dollar spent by the federal government is used efficiently and effectively. Rather than expressing concern over the misuse and misspending of funds, Democrats have instead chosen to oppose these reforms simply because Republicans are leading the charge. While they defend the failed, toxic status quo, Republicans will continue to deliver real accountability and restore fiscal discipline.”
Background:
The Trump Administration’s initial rescissions package totals $9.4 billion in wasteful and unnecessary spending identified by DOGE.
This package will codify DOGE cuts which include $8.3 billion in wasteful foreign aid spending and a $1.1 billion recission of federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provides funds to NPR and PBS.
Process:
Under the Impoundment Control Act (ICA), the Administration may transmit a request to Congress to rescind previously appropriated funds through a rescissions package. Such a package only requires a simple majority vote in the Senate to be enacted.
Transmittal of a package triggers a 45-day clock, during which funds in accounts included in the rescissions package are withheld from obligation pending congressional action.
House Republicans voted to advance the rescissions package today and it has been sent to the Senate for consideration.
ABSECON, N.J., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Absecon Bancorp (the “Company”) (OTC, trading as ASCN), the bank holding company of First National Bank of Absecon, an Atlantic County New Jersey based community bank, announced today that its Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend in the amount of $0.90 per share, payable on June 30, 2025 to shareholders of record as of June 20, 2025.
The First National Bank of Absecon, a nationally chartered bank headquartered in Absecon, New Jersey, has a long history of serving the community since its establishment in 1916. The company is a community bank focused on providing deposit and loan products to retail customers and to small and mid-sized businesses from its primary market area in Atlantic County, New Jersey, and secondary markets consisting of portions of Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Ocean Counties. Deposits at The First National Bank of Absecon are insured up to the legal maximum amount by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Dividend distributions are processed by Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (“Agent”).
Contact:
C. Eric Gaupp, Vice Chairman President, and Chief Executive Officer 106 New Jersey Avenue PO Box 324 Absecon, NJ 08201 Office: 609-641-6300 email: egaupp@FNBAbsecon.com
THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.
TORONTO, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Atrium Mortgage Investment Corporation (TSX:AI, AI.DB.D, AI.DB.F and AI.DB.G) (“Atrium”) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a syndicate of underwriters bookrun by TD Securities Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, pursuant to which the underwriters will purchase $30 million aggregate principal amount of 6.00% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures of Atrium due September 30, 2032 at a price of $1,000 per debenture. Atrium has also granted to the underwriters an over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional $4,500,000 aggregate principal amount of debentures at the same price, exercisable in whole or in part at any time for a period of up to 30 days following closing of the offering, to cover over-allotments. If the over-allotment option is exercised in full, the gross proceeds of the offering will total $34,500,000.
Atrium will use the net proceeds of the offering to repay existing indebtedness under its revolving operating credit facility, which will then be available to be drawn, as required, for general corporate purposes, particularly funding future mortgage loan opportunities.
The offering of debentures is expected to close on or about June 30, 2025 and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The debentures will mature on September 30, 2032 and will accrue interest at the rate of 6.00% per annum payable semi-annually in arrears on March 31 and September 30 in each year, commencing March 31, 2026. At the holder’s option, the debentures may be converted into common shares of Atrium at any time prior to the close of business on the earlier of the business day immediately preceding the maturity date and the business day immediately preceding the date fixed for redemption of the debentures. The conversion price will be $13.65 for each common share, subject to adjustment in certain circumstances.
The debentures will be direct, unsecured obligations of Atrium, subordinated to other senior indebtedness of Atrium, ranking pari-passu to Atrium’s existing 5.50% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures due December 31, 2025, 5.00% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures due December 31, 2028, and 5.10% convertible unsecured subordinated debentures due March 31, 2029.
The debentures will not be redeemable before September 30, 2028. On and after September 30, 2028 and prior to September 30, 2030, the debentures may be redeemed, in whole or in part, from time to time at Atrium’s option at par plus accrued and unpaid interest, provided that the weighted average trading price of the common shares of Atrium on the Toronto Stock Exchange during the 20 consecutive trading days ending on the fifth trading day preceding the date on which notice of the redemption is given is not less than 125% of the conversion price. On and after September 30, 2030, Atrium may, at its option, redeem the debentures, in whole or in part, from time to time at par plus accrued and unpaid interest.
Subject to specified conditions, Atrium will have the right to repay the outstanding principal amount of the debentures, on maturity or redemption, through the issuance of its common shares. Atrium will also have the option to satisfy its obligation to pay interest through the issuance and sale of its common shares.
On or before June 18, 2025, the Company will file with the securities commissions or other similar regulatory authorities in each of the provinces of Canada (excluding Quebec), a preliminary short form prospectus relating to the issuance of the debentures. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. The securities being offered have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless an exemption from registration is available. This news release is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Atrium in any jurisdiction.
About Atrium
Canada’s Premier Non-Bank Lender™
Atrium is a non-bank provider of residential and commercial mortgages that lends in major urban centres in Canada where the stability and liquidity of real estate are high. Atrium’s objectives are to provide its shareholders with stable and secure dividends and preserve shareholders’ equity by lending within conservative risk parameters.
Atrium is a Mortgage Investment Corporation (MIC) as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), so is not taxed on income provided that its taxable income is paid to its shareholders in the form of dividends within 90 days after December 31 each year. Such dividends are generally treated by shareholders as interest income, so that each shareholder is in the same position as if the mortgage investments made by the company had been made directly by the shareholder. For further information, please refer to regulatory filings available at www.sedarplus.ca or Atrium’s website at www.atriummic.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Much of this information can be identified by words such as “expect to,” “expected,” “will,” “estimated” or similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or events and includes the expected use of proceeds and the expected closing date of the offering. Atrium believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon.
Forward-looking statements are based on current information and expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the ability to satisfy regulatory, stock exchange and commercial closing conditions of the offering, the uncertainty associated with accessing capital markets and the risks related to Atrium’s business, including those identified in Atrium’s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2024 under the heading “Risk Factors” (a copy of which may be obtained at www.sedarplus.ca). Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and are subject to change. All forward-looking statements in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Except as required by applicable law, Atrium undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
People turn to the internet to run billions of search queries each year. These range from keeping tabs on world events and celebrities to learning new words and getting DIY help.
One of the most popular questions Australians recently asked was: “How to inspect a used car?”.
If you asked Google this at the beginning of 2024, you would have been served a list of individual search results and the order would have depended on several factors. If you asked the same question at the end of the year, the experience would be completely different.
That’s because Google, which controls about 94% of the Australian search engine market, introduced “AI Overviews” to Australia in October 2024. These AI-generated search result summaries have revolutionised how people search for and find information. They also have significant impacts on the quality of the results.
How do these AI search summaries work, though? Are they reliable? And is there a way to opt out?
Synthesising the internet
Legacy search engines work by evaluating dozens of different criteria and trying to show you the results that they think best match your search terms.
They take into account the content itself, including how unique, current and comprehensive it is, as well as how it’s structured and organised.
They also consider relationships between the content and other parts of the web. If trusted sources link to content, that can positively affect its placement in search results.
They try to infer the searcher’s intent – whether they’re trying to buy something, learn something new, or solve a practical problem. They also consider technical aspects such as how fast the content loads and whether the page is secure.
All of this adds up to an invisible score each webpage gets that affects its visibility in search results. But AI is changing all this.
Google is the only search engine that prominently displays AI summaries on its main results page. Bing and DuckDuckGo still use traditional search result layouts, offering AI summaries only through companion apps such as Copilot and Duck.ai.
Instead of directing users to one specific webpage, generative AI-powered search looks across webpages and sources to try to synthesise what they say. It then tries to summarise the results in a short, conversational and easy-to-understand way.
In theory, this can result in richer, more comprehensive, and potentially more unique answers. But AI doesn’t always get it right.
Google is the only search engine that prominently displays AI summaries on its main results page. DIA TV/Shutterstock
How reliable are AI searches?
Early examples of Google’s AI-powered search from 2024 suggested users eat “at least one small rock per day” – and that they could use non-toxic glue to help cheese stick to pizza.
One issue is that machines are poorly equipped to detect satire or parody and can use these materials to respond in place of fact-based evidence.
Research suggests the rate of so-called “hallucinations” – instances of machines making up answers – is getting worse even as the models driving them are getting more sophisticated.
Machines can’t actually determine what’s true and false. They cannot grasp the nuances of idioms and colloquial language and can only make predictions based on fancy maths. But these predictions don’t always end up being correct, which is an issue – especially for sensitive medical or health questions or when seeking financial advice.
Rather than just present a summary, Google’s more recent AI overviews have also started including links to sources for key aspects of the answer. This can help users gauge the quality of the overall answer and see where AI might be getting its information from. But evidence suggests sometimes AI search engines cite sources that don’t include the information they claim they do.
What are the other impacts of AI search?
AI search summaries are transforming the way information is produced and discovered, reshaping the search engine ecosystem we’ve grown accustomed to over two decades.
They are changing how information-seekers formulate search queries – moving from keywords or phrases to simple questions, such as those we use in everyday conversation.
For content providers, AI summaries introduce significant shifts – undermining traditional search engine optimisation techniques, reducing direct traffic to websites, and impacting brand visibility.
Notably, 43% of AI Overviews link back to Google itself. This reinforces Google’s dominance as a search engine and as a website.
The forthcoming integration of ads into AI summaries raises concerns about the trustworthiness and independence of the information presented.
Some internet users are switching search engines entirely and turning to providers that don’t provide AI summaries, such as Bing and DuckDuckGo. Casimiro PT/Shutterstock
Where to from here?
People should always be mindful of the key limitations of AI summaries.
Asking for simple facts such as, “What is the height of Uluru?” may yield accurate answers.
But posing more complex or divisive questions, such as, “Will the 2032 Olympics bankrupt Queensland?”, may require users to open links and delve deeper for a more comprehensive understanding.
Google doesn’t offer a clear option to turn this feature off entirely. Perhaps the simplest way is to click on the “Web” tab under the search bar on the search results, or to add “-ai” to the search query. But this can get repetitive.
Some more technical solutions are manually creating a site search filter through Chrome settings. But these require an active act by the user.
As a result, some developers are offering browser extensions that claim to remove this aspect. Other users are switching search engines entirely and turning to providers that don’t provide AI summaries, such as Bing and DuckDuckGo.
T.J. Thomson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is an affiliate with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society.
Ashwin Nagappa receives funding fromthe Australian Research Council. He is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the QUT node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society.
Shir Weinbrand receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a PhD candidate in the QUT node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society.
Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) welcomed growing support for his AI Whistleblower Protection Act from leading whistleblower and AI groups. This week, 22 groups, including the National Whistleblower Center, sent a letter backing Grassley’s legislation to Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), whose committee has jurisdiction over the legislation.
Grassley’s bill provides explicit whistleblower protections to those developing and deploying AI. Currently, AI companies’ alleged use of restrictive severance and nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) create a chilling effect on current and former employees looking to make whistleblower disclosures to the federal government, including Congress.
“Transparency brings accountability. Today, too many people working in AI feel they’re unable to speak up when they see something wrong. Whistleblowers are one of the best ways to ensure Congress keeps pace as the AI industry rapidly develops. We need to act to make these protections crystal clear, and I’m proud to see so many groups supporting my legislation to increase accountability and protect AI whistleblowers,” Grassley said.
The groups highlight the importance of whistleblowers as increased use of AI brings potential misuse, ethical lapses and unintended consequences.
“Employees and industry insiders—rather than regulators—have consistently been among the first to warn about risks of the technologies they’re building. In Silicon Valley, engineers have exposed powerful AI models released without proper safeguards, former staff have surfaced data on youth digital harms, and researchers have stepped forward when serious risks were ignored. Their disclosures—often about conduct that was dangerous but not yet illegal—gave the public and policymakers the evidence needed to act,” the groups wrote.
In their letter, the groups state some employees may be deterred from reporting issues due to fear of retaliation or professional repercussions. In June 2024, over a dozen current and former employees from leading AI companies publicly stated that confidentiality agreements and fear of retaliation prevented them from raising legitimate safety concerns.
“Congress has the opportunity to protect individuals who come forward in good faith and to reinforce the principle that safety, ethics, and accountability must accompany innovation … [t]he AI Whistleblower Protection Act helps ensure that those working to develop and deploy AI systems are not punished for acting in the best interest of the public. Strong whistleblower protections are a cornerstone of responsible governance and essential to guiding AI development in a way that upholds our shared democratic values,” the groups continued.
In addition to the National Whistleblower Center, the letter was signed by the Americans for Responsible Innovation, Center for Democracy & Technology, Center for Humane Technology, Center for Youth and AI, CoFund, Demand Progress, Design It For Us Coalition, Encode AI, Government Accountability Project, National Consumers League, National Decency Coalition, National Employment Law Project, NoSo November, Psst.org, Public Knowledge, Secure AI Project, The Anti-Fraud Coalition, The Tech Oversight Project, The Signals Network, Working Partnerships USA and Young People’s Alliance.
Download the groups’ letter HERE. Download text of the bill HERE.
Background:
Last year, Grassley sent a letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman raising concerns about the alleged use of illegally restrictive NDAs, as well as the company’s employment, severance and non-disparagement agreements.
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Becomes First UK Supplier to Offer Live Demos of the Yealink MeetingBar A50 – In-Showroom & Virtual
VideoCentric Becomes First UK Supplier to Offer Live Demos of the Yealink MeetingBar A50 – In-Showroom & Virtual
London & Edinburgh, UK, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VideoCentric, the UK’s premier integrator of video conferencing and collaboration technologies, proudly announces it is the first UK supplier to offer live demonstrations of the new Yealink MeetingBar A50, both virtually via video call and in-person at its London and Edinburgh showrooms.
Yealink MeetingBar A50
The Yealink MeetingBar A50 is a next-generation all-in-one video collaboration bar purpose-built for medium-sized meeting spaces. Featuring dual cameras, AI-powered auto-framing and speaker tracking, and native integration with Microsoft Teams and Zoom, the A50 delivers seamless, intelligent meeting experiences in a compact, enterprise-ready form factor.
“As hybrid work strategies mature, organisations need solutions that are not just powerful but intuitive and future-proof,” said David Shimell, Sales Director at VideoCentric. “With the A50, Yealink delivers exactly that. We’re excited to be the first in the UK to offer hands-on, interactive demos – both online and in our demo rooms – so teams can see its capabilities in real time.”
By offering live demonstrations, VideoCentric enables IT managers, AV professionals, and workplace experience leaders to experience the A50’s real-world performance, test its capabilities with their preferred UC platforms, and gain expert guidance on deployment, integration, and optimisation.
VideoCentric’s unique demo experience provides:
Interactive testing in real-world meeting scenarios
Expert insights and configuration guidance
Immediate answers to technical and compatibility questions
Schedule Your Personalised Demo Today Discover how the Yealink MeetingBar A50 can transform your meeting spaces.
Founded in 2001, VideoCentric is the UK’s leading integrator of video conferencing, cloud collaboration, and AV solutions for businesses, public sector organisations, and education providers. With unmatched expertise across Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Webex, and Google Meet, VideoCentric delivers tailored, fully integrated systems—from consultation and design to installation and ongoing support. Backed by accreditations such as ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials, and partnerships with top-tier manufacturers like Cisco, Logitech, Yealink, and HP/Poly, VideoCentric offers trusted, secure, and future-proof solutions that empower hybrid workforces and transform communication.
HENDERSON, Nev., June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nika Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB:NIKA), based in Colorado, focused on cures for life-threatening diseases, today announced that Dimitar Savov, CEO, will present live at the Life Sciences Virtual Investor Frum hosted by VirtualInvestorConferences.com, on June 11th, 2025
DATE: June 11th TIME: 1:00 PM ET LINK:REGISTER HERE Available for 1×1 meetings: June 12th-17th between 09:00am ET and 11:30am ET
This will be a live, interactive online event where investors are invited to ask the company questions in real-time. If attendees are not able to join the event live on the day of the conference, an archived webcast will also be made available after the event.
It is recommended that online investors pre-register and run the online system check to expedite participation and receive event updates.
On May 19, 2025, NIKA published a market analysis for the countries of Ukraine, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, UAE, where NIKA has exclusive distribution agreements and has estimated a total of around €656 million in potential revenue.
NIKA’s partner company, Nika Europe, has made the second $195,554 payment for the vial production line and is currently finalizing the details of the clean rooms design in order to start construction. The production facility is expected to be completed in H2, 2025.
On April 11, 2025, Nika Pharmaceuticals, Inc. published a report on the therapeutic effect and potential economic impact of ITV-1, which can be found here.
On July 11, 2024 Nika Pharmaceuticals, Inc. signed an exclusive distribution agreement for the Republic of Nigeria. Under the terms, NIKA will receive €1,980 per each set of ITV-1 with two sets necessary for each treatment, which could result in €7.9 billion revenue.
About Nika Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Nika Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NIKA) is a pharmaceutical company, specializing in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Cancer, Diabetes, and all diseases, for which strengthened cell immunity is of vital importance. NIKA’s intellectual property includes six drugs in injection form – two of which have successfully undergone clinical trials with good treatment results – four drugs in tablet form, and eleven dietary supplements. NIKA’s goal is to not only achieve corporate profits, but to provide better and easier access to life-saving medicinal drugs and useful dietary supplements. Find more on www.nikapharmaceuticals.com.
Forward-looking Statement:
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Certain statements, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to our business plans, objectives, and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, are “forward- looking statements.” These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,”” estimates,” “intends,” “strategy,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will likely result,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Our ability to predict results or the actual effect of future plans or strategies is inherently uncertain.
About Virtual Investor Conferences® Virtual Investor Conferences (VIC) is the leading proprietary investor conference series that provides an interactive forum for publicly traded companies to seamlessly present directly to investors.
Providing a real-time investor engagement solution, VIC is specifically designed to offer companies more efficient investor access. Replicating the components of an on-site investor conference, VIC offers companies enhanced capabilities to connect with investors, schedule targeted one-on-one meetings and enhance their presentations with dynamic video content. Accelerating the next level of investor engagement, Virtual Investor Conferences delivers leading investor communications to a global network of retail and institutional investors.
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In her closing remarks, DDG Hill noted that digital technologies were powering the global economy, including international trade. Citing WTO data, she highlighted the dynamic growth of digitally delivered services exports, which in 2024 accounted for 14.5% of global exports in goods and services. She also underscored the transformative impact of digital technologies – not only speeding up trade, but also leading to the creation of entirely new categories of data-driven goods and services.
DDG Hill said digital trade has been not only a growth engine, but also a tool of inclusion, in particular for small and women-led businesses. She pointed out in this regard that while middle-income countries increased their share of global digital services exports by 24% between 2015 and 2022, low-income economies continue to face hurdles.
DDG Hill emphasized that in times of economic uncertainty, stability and predictability in international trade are more important than ever. She pointed to the role of longstanding WTO agreements – such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) but also the Trade Facilitation Agreement or the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights – in supporting digital trade. These rules remain the cornerstone of the international trading system not only by providing basic disciplines, but also by cutting “red tape”, increasing access to digital goods and fostering innovation and technology diffusion.
DDG Hill acknowledged that current WTO rules do not capture certain nuances of digital technologies, from cybersecurity to consumer protection and e-payments. She noted, however, that WTO members are trying to grasp these and other aspects of the digital economy through insightful discussions within the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce. DDG Hill highlighted in this regard the deep level of engagement by many members, including developing economies, in recent discussions on the opportunities and challenges posed by digital trade.
“Finding a balance between openness and protection, innovation and integrity is the defining digital governance challenge of our time,” said DDG Hill. She cited a joint WTO–OECD study, which found that convergence towards balanced data flows with appropriate safeguards is the optimal solution that could boost global exports by 3.6% and global GDP by 1.77%. She mentioned in this context the plurilateral agreement on e-commerce is one of the tools that seek to strike such a balance. The agreement – supported by 71 WTO members – lays down rules aiming at facilitating and building trust in e-commerce, while ensuring an open digital trade environment.
DDG Hill further noted the potential of artificial intelligence to help level the playing field for small businesses by lowering market entry barriers, simplifying compliance, and boosting efficiency. She cited the WTO Secretariat report on AI – “Trading with intelligence” – which finds that AI has the potential to benefit low- and lower middle-income countries as much as high-income counterparts in terms of export growth potential. In her view, building digital skills, infrastructure, and supportive regulatory frameworks will be key to harnessing this potential.
Looking ahead to the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), which will take place in March 2026 in Yaoundé, DDG Hill acknowledged the complexity of the international trading landscape and emphasized the value of discussions on e-commerce. “A meaningful reform of the system seems to be a top priority for many members, and failing to agree on a roadmap towards such a reform would be a missed opportunity,” DDG Hill said. “It would also be a missed opportunity to neglect the most dynamic component of international trade over the past few decades”.
DDG Hill concluded that trade and digital technologies – when aligned thoughtfully – can be a force for good. “This is why it is particularly important that the WTO remains a vital platform for dialogue, for monitoring developments, and for shaping the rules of tomorrow,” DDG Hill said.
C++ is at the heart of Bloomberg’s infrastructure, powering everything from low-level libraries to highly performant financial applications, analytics, and trading systems. Maintaining a best-in-class C++ environment requires a collaborative approach to knowledge sharing and continuous education, and that’s where Bloomberg’s C++ Guild comes in.
The C++ Guild is one of 12 guilds Bloomberg has created to provide structured forums for people to share technical knowledge, tools, code, and best practices. The C++ Guild, in particular, is dedicated to strengthening Bloomberg’s use of the language and related areas such as training, ISO standardization, and application design. Guild members’ influence also extends across the industry through tech talks at key conferences and meetups, open source contributions, and through the standardization process. Through these efforts, the Guild ensures that Bloomberg remains a C++ innovator, while empowering the broader tech community to drive the language forward.
However, the Guild isn’t just a technical forum. It’s also a catalyst for professional growth. Members gain opportunities to sharpen their expertise, learn from industry leaders, and become recognized technical experts themselves. We asked individuals from this community to share more about the C++ Guild and discuss how it has shaped each of their careers.
First, let’s meet Aurelien Cassagnes, a Tokyo-based Team Lead in Bloomberg’s Feeds Engineering group. He started in 2015 as an intern and then served as an individual contributor (IC) for eight years before becoming a team lead in 2024.
How did you get involved with the C++ Guild? And what is your role in the Guild? I knew someone else from the APAC region was involved in the C++ Guild’s API Reviews Working Group, so I decided to join that same group to keep our efforts focused.
The API Reviews Working Group is tasked with defining best practices for the most fundamental APIs used at Bloomberg and ensuring compliance. It also brings together engineers with different skills and backgrounds to review far-reaching internal libraries or code that is used in open source projects that Bloomberg publishes. For example, before the release of BlazingMQ, a modern high-performance open source message queuing system, the C++ Guild’s API Reviews group was extensively involved in reviewing its code.
How did you become a co-lead of a Working Group? My group lead and I discussed my available bandwidth to focus on this guild, while still being able to deliver for my team. I later decided to also join the Conferences Working Group in order to bring back some of the expertise in the region, as it’s quite challenging to source events locally.
The two prior co-leads of the API Reviews Working Group were happy with the work I was doing there and they trusted me to lead the local chapter. I started some other local initiatives to grow the guild, such as making sure that our teams know what services we provide and finding opportunities for our engineers to participate in Standards Committee meetings or write C++ standards proposals. Those efforts were ultimately rewarded with being picked as a Guild Leader, which is a title I wear as proudly as Team Lead.
We recently launched another working group locally to handle the writing of a standards proposal. All in all, having participated in multiple groups has shown me the power of building a strong network in the guild.
What do you tell engineers about why they should get involved in the C++ Guild? Guilds are the perfect place to stretch your engineering muscle beyond your day-to-day tasks. You’ll work alongside world-class experts who are excited to share their skills. So if you are looking for a venue to grow as an engineer, this is a great place. The guild is not only for you to receive; we are also interested and open to see what you want to contribute. The guild is an investment, and you get tenfold the time and effort you put in.
How has the C++ Guild community supported your career development? As the guild looked to expand its presence in APAC, they trusted me to lead the local chapter, and thus was positively noticed and supported by my manager. Because I was invested in finding opportunities for our engineers, I took even more initiative and nominated and sent my people to events, and this was also noticed. I have no doubt that these were some of the milestones that were considered when my managers decided to make me a team lead. It’s safe to say that I feel a whole lot more complete as an engineer thanks to being in the guild.
Last year, you attended CppCon. Why is it important for Bloomberg engineers to attend, participate, and speak at technical conferences? While we are immersed in our day-to-day work, it’s easy to forget that best practices and the bar for excellence in C++ is a moving target. But the language keeps evolving. Bloomberg aims to lead this movement, and is committed to being a strong voice in the C++ Standards conversation. So we want our engineers to be engaged in the community, to learn from it, and to give back.
This starts by fostering a culture of curiosity and openness. Question the status quo, understand where we are, and improve on it. We invest in our engineers so they have the opportunity to share what they know with the community at a conference or a local meetup, get feedback, and take their ideas to the next level. Ultimately, when an engineer presents a proposal on stage at CppCon, they will reach and influence the community at scale, so we make sure we utilize that opportunity for both our business’ and the individual’s growth.
“Guilds are the perfect place to stretch your engineering muscle beyond your day-to-day tasks. You’ll work alongside world-class experts who are excited to share their skills. So if you are looking for a venue to grow as an engineer, this is a great place.”
– Aurelien Cassagnes
Elena Vorobyeva is Team Lead on the Sessions Infrastructure team, part of Platform Security. She first joined Bloomberg as a contractor on the Real-time Data team. She eventually accepted a permanent position working on application middleware, and then market data.
Tell us about how you got involved with the C++ Guild? I am the Lead of the C++ Guild’s Conference Working Group. When I first joined the guild in 2019, there were several groups within the Guild that were in need of leadership. I chose to lead the Conference Working Group because national and international conferences create possibilities for community-wide professional development and education. I also enjoy sharing my own fascination with and knowledge of C++.
What is your Working Group charged with? The Conference Working Group is responsible for managing conference-related activities. Each year, we recommend which conferences related to C++ that the Engineering department should sponsor. We decide which sponsorship level best aligns with Bloomberg’s objectives. We also provide support and assistance to individuals participating in these conferences, whether as first-time attendees or seasoned presenters. This ensures that our team members are well-prepared and can make the most of their conference experience.
Why is it important for Bloomberg engineers to attend, participate in, and speak at technical conferences? Each year, Bloomberg participates in more than a dozen C++ conferences around the globe. We also have many engineers involved in WG21, the ISO C++ Committee that helps shape the international standard for the C++ language. Bloomberg has one of the world’s largest C++ codebases, and as that investment grows, it is important to show our commitment to this language, which leads in both performance and safety.
Bloomberg’s engineers are widely recognized as thought leaders and experts in the field. At conferences and on committees, we also have a chance to discover insights, share perspectives and get inspiration from experts outside the company.
Conferences are also an excellent way to show potential talent that Bloomberg is not only a financial services company, but also a leading software company. In addition to presenting our work, we get to share our unique company culture, where people can stretch professionally and contribute to the evolution of technology. People from other companies tell us that they are fascinated that every Bloomberg employee they talk to tells the same story: we love where we are, and we trust that we are appreciated.
Our own employees come home from these conferences with a renewed appreciation for what Bloomberg offers, both professionally and as a place to work and grow. The chance to present their work to outside audiences offers people a moment to step back and understand what they have accomplished and how much that matters to the greater C++ community.
How has the C++ Guild community supported your career development? The Guild community continues to introduce me to a network of talented and driven people outside of my own department. The meetups and events organized and supported by the Guild have given me the opportunity to deepen my technical knowledge in C++ and other related areas. Being involved in the Conference Working Group has allowed me to mentor colleagues across the company. I feel like I am helping to create – while also being given – a comprehensive platform for both personal and professional growth.
What makes guilds a great way for engineers to learn new skills and develop their interests in emerging technologies? Guilds provide a dynamic environment to share information both throughout our company and externally as well. Interaction with a diverse array of Working Groups allows contributors to focus on many aspects of professional development. In the C++ Guild, deeply technical Working Groups collaborate to conduct in-depth exploration of current topics such as Reflection, Inter-Thread Communication, and API review, while others focus on community and organization, event planning, presentation, and project management. This variety ensures that every engineer can find a group that aligns with their own interests and career goals, and can also learn from the research and work of others. In addition, people can flexibly commit to join the Guild and participate when they have time or an interest in doing so. Everybody is welcome!
“The meetups and events organized and supported by the Guild have given me the opportunity to deepen my technical knowledge in C++ and other related areas. Being involved in the Conference Working Group has allowed me to mentor colleagues across the company. I feel like I am helping to create – while also being given – a comprehensive platform for both personal and professional growth.”
– Elena Vorobyeva
Jessica Winer is a Junior Software Engineer working on Bloomberg’s Asset and Investment Management (AIM) Enterprise product. She is responsible for creating a highly configurable automated user experience for Post Trade. She joined Bloomberg three years ago.
Tell us about how you got involved with the C++ Guild? How long were you at Bloomberg before you got involved with the community? When joining Bloomberg, I was particularly drawn to the company’s “Choose your own adventure” style of career development. I’ve tried to take full advantage of a wealth of opportunities offered to me to have impact across the firm. I have been able to dive into the deep end of technical projects, have gotten lost in the weeds, and climbed my way out. And I’ve been able to take projects from ideas to reality even at this early stage of my career. My Team Lead pointed me towards guilds as an avenue for exposure and technical exploration. As a new member of the C++ Guild, I have gotten to work with engineers across the company.
What initiatives have you been actively involved in? I have gotten involved in a few different working groups, such as the Recommended Libraries Working Group, where I learned about weighing the qualities of different tools to solve a specific technical problem.
As part of the Testing Working Group, I’ve learned about testing best practices across Bloomberg, and have contributed to tools to increase testing coverage. This group is particularly interesting to me, as I have been co-leading a local department working group for testing for over a year, where we have been creating a cross-department solution for Gherkin-style system tests which can be run automatically on a daily interval. Through the Guild, I realized that a lot of the questions we were deliberating in our department were already being discussed Bloomberg-wide.
Most recently I have been working in the Conferences Working Group, learning more about the organization of conferences and Bloomberg’s involvement externally.
Are there any conferences you have attended as a speaker or presented your work? My first conference through Bloomberg was CppCon 2023, which is the world’s largest C++ conference. While I enjoyed learning from brilliant minds and expanding my knowledge in formal sessions, it was truly incredible to meet members of the C++ Standards Committee, who are helping to evolve the language, as well as Bjarne Stroustrup, who created the language. These people all went out of their way to welcome us into the community. After attending CppCon, I co-created a presentation on system design with a colleague, which we presented at ACCU 2024 in Bristol, UK.
What’s one thing you wish people knew about the Guilds? Guilds are meant to be a learning opportunity for those at the company. You don’t already have to be a domain expert to join. You will become part of a network of brilliant engineers and domain expertise will follow.
In 2024, you attended CppCon. Why is it important for Bloomberg engineers to attend, participate in, and speak at technical conferences? Conferences are a great opportunity to meet brilliant engineers both in and outside of Bloomberg. Attending conferences gives you dedicated time to learn from others and to improve your technical skills.
“When joining Bloomberg, I was particularly drawn to the company’s “Choose your own adventure” style of career development. I’ve tried to take full advantage of a wealth of opportunities offered to me to have impact across the firm. I have been able to dive into the deep end of technical projects, have gotten lost in the weeds, and climbed my way out. And I’ve been able to take projects from ideas to reality even at this early stage of my career.”
– Jessica Winer
Conor Spilsbury is a Senior Software Engineer within the Trade Automation and Execution organization, where he works on Bloomberg’s Listed Securities Execution Management System, EMSX, a real-time, high throughput, multi-asset transactional trading platform used by financial institutions around the world to manage their daily trading activity. He has worked at Bloomberg for five years, having joined as an entry-level engineer in the infrastructure team after finishing his master’s degree in mathematics. He is now working on deepening the integration between EMSX and AIM, our buy-side OMS, as part of Bloomberg’s enterprise offerings.
How did you get involved with the C++ Guild? I am always looking for what more I can be doing – both in my own team and beyond. Six months after I joined Bloomberg, I read a post in one of the internal newsletters looking for help in organizing Guild activities. My managers at Bloomberg have always encouraged and supported me to participate.
The Guild is responsible for a C++ newsletter that is regularly sent to engineers at Bloomberg. We use this to share recent updates in the C++ community, including changes to our build tools, tooling or library updates, advertising upcoming conferences that engineers can attend, internal transfer opportunities, internal talks from Bloomberg employees or special guests (e.g., the C++ Guild recently hosted Sean Baxter to talk about the Circle Compiler), and ultimately highlighting opportunities for engineers to get involved in the C++ community itself.
The newsletter has been running for five years now and we still experiment with what we can include in it. For example, we’re also trying to do more to promote ways to contribute to “inner source” projects and have been running a “Feature of the Month” column which shares a tip about a C++ feature. The most recent newsletter included tips on C++23’s ‘std::expected’.
How did you become co-chair? As the Guild has grown, we have expanded the domains that we work on, which means there are all kinds of new opportunities for engineers to get involved in. The Guild is organized into dedicated Working Groups, each of which is focused on a particular domain.
I found myself making contributions to multiple different WGs and have led two of them; I’ve contributed to API Reviews, Communications, Membership, Recommended Libraries, Testing, and organized our presence at an internal conference called “Guild Week” over multiple years, and even delivered talks at this conference.
One of the primary forms of responsibility for me in recent years has come from being involved in Membership and supporting new members to get involved. This has also led me to presenting talks about Guild to other internal communities at Bloomberg.
After a few years of making increasingly larger contributions across multiple working groups, I put myself forward to be the next chair of the Guild and I was fortunate to receive a lot of support.
What are some of the ways the C++ Guild’s members influence C++ utilization both within and outside the company ? One of our goals is to bring engineers across the company together to work on influencing the direction of C++ at Bloomberg and improving the development experience internally. We do this by establishing best practices and guiding principles based on community feedback and contributions.
For example, our Tooling Working Group maintains and improves our tools for C++ development along with standardizing this tooling. They are currently working on implementing the Common Package Specification as described by our very own Bret Brown at CppCon 2023 in collaboration with KitWare.
In addition, Bloomberg has many active contributors to new features in the C++ programming language, and we have a Working Group that coordinates our efforts with the wider international standardization working group for C++, WG21. For example, Dan Katz, our previous Guild co-chair, is a co-author on the paper that proposes to add Reflection into C++26, which will be a major milestone for the language.
How has the C++ Guild community supported your career development? I’ve been able to gain a lot more technical knowledge, including expert insights, best practices, and industry trends that have helped me deepen my understanding of the language and stay up-to-date with the latest developments both internally at Bloomberg and externally in the wider community.
Being involved in the Guild is also a unique opportunity to have company-wide impact and to gain leadership experience whilst remaining an individual contributor as opposed to going down a Team Lead or Management track. I’ve taken the lead in organizing Guild initiatives, setting direction, and mentoring others to achieve our goals. This experience has not only helped me become a more effective team player but also given me the confidence to take on new challenges in my own role. I’ve been able to bring this experience back to my team and make more meaningful contributions as a result.
The community has also provided me with opportunities to meet and connect with engineers in other departments, which has been a great way to expand my network and learn about new areas of the company. It’s amazing how often I’ve been able to find the exact person I need to answer a question or provide guidance.
I found this particularly useful when I was looking for a new challenge and decided to move teams internally to an entirely new domain. Thanks to the Guild, I had already established relationships with engineers who could offer valuable advice and introductions. As it turns out, the first time I met two of my current teammates in EMSX was when the three of us were attending CppCon, a C++ industry conference!
At CppCon 2024, I gave my first talk at a conference which was a really rewarding experience. In particular, collaborating with colleagues as we went back and forth improving the talk together.
How do you encourage employees to get involved? Some engineers will join the Guild with a clear idea of what they want to work on, but others may not know where to start. In either case, the most important thing is to bring enthusiasm and a curiosity to learn more. To help with this, we have a Membership Working Group that pairs each new member with an experienced Guild member to support them. It all comes down to trying out new things, volunteering to get involved in an initiative, or pitching something new and sharing ideas.
Ultimately, the more perspectives represented by engineers in the Guild, the better. Our goal is to reach engineers across the entire company in all of our departments and at every experience level to improve their experience.
“Being involved in the Guild is also a unique opportunity to have company-wide impact and to gain leadership experience whilst remaining an individual contributor as opposed to going down a Team Lead or Management track.”
– Conor Spilsbury
Check out some open roles with our engineering teams that utilize C++.
Headline: Celebrating the Q1 2025 recipients of Bloomberg’s FOSS Fund
Open source software is foundational to Bloomberg’s engineering culture. As an open source-first company with a deep commitment to philanthropy, Bloomberg believes it is imperative to strengthen the broader technology ecosystem by sustaining the projects that power its products and services.
These principles led the firm to launch the Bloomberg Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Contributor Fund in January 2023. The initiative is designed to empower the company’s technologists to vote on directed grants to open source projects that they use, admire, and believe in, in order to support the communities and people behind them that keep the web running.
The FOSS Contributor Fund, led jointly by Bloomberg’s Open Source Program Office (OSPO) and Corporate Philanthropy teams, actively engages technologists across the firm in the allocation of funding to open source projects. It also provides financial support to maintain or expand projects, gives recognition to well-deserving technologies, and fosters a greater sense of ownership, responsibility, and pride within Bloomberg’s internal open source community.
Let’s meet the Q1 2025 recipients who have been awarded Bloomberg FOSS Contributor Fund grants of $10,000 each: OpenMetadata and Wikimedia Foundation.
OpenMetadata: OpenMetadata is an open and unified metadata platform for data discovery, observability, and governance. Since managing data across modern systems can be messy, OpenMetadata helps clean that up by providing a standard for metadata management, getting the right data to the right people, informing data lineage, and collectively managing risk and compliance. It’s helping organizations understand and trust their data, enabling teams to make better decisions, faster.
“We are deeply honored to receive the Bloomberg FOSS Fund grant as recognition of the OpenMetadata community and validation of the amazing work our contributors are doing,” said OpenMetadata committer Sriharsha Chintalapani. “At OpenMetadata, our mission is to democratize data discovery, observability, and governance for every data team. It’s the reason why thousands of companies — from startups to Fortune 500s — rely on OpenMetadata everyday to unlock the value of their data. This grant will be put back into our community to ensure our ecosystem evolves at the pace of modern data and AI.”
Wikimedia Foundation: Wikimedia is the nonprofit behind Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that anyone can edit, and a constellation of other free knowledge projects. Wikipedia is one of the world’s most visited websites and a cornerstone of open knowledge on the internet. It’s maintained by volunteers who can edit text, data, references, and images. It’s also a reminder that not all open source impact is technical – some of it is cultural and educational.
“The Wikimedia Foundation is grateful to receive this grant from Bloomberg’s FOSS Fund. As the host of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia free knowledge projects, this funding will support the technology that makes Wikipedia possible and improvements to how people read and share knowledge on the site,” said Lisa Seitz Gruwell, Wikimedia Foundation’s Chief Advancement Officer. “This recognition from Bloomberg’s staff is testament to Wikipedia’s value as the world’s largest open source free knowledge project, made possible by a global community of nearly 260,000 volunteers committed to making trustworthy knowledge accessible to all.”
Alyssa Wright of Bloomberg’s OSPO shares, “OpenMetadata and Wikimedia Foundation join 24 other impactful open source projects that have been recognized by the Bloomberg FOSS Contributor Fund over the past two years. This program plays a pivotal role in how Bloomberg supports open source, and my team is proud to give back to the communities that make modern software possible.”
The FOSS Contributor Fund represents one key facet of Bloomberg’s broader, sustained commitment to supporting the open source ecosystem. Wright explains, “We do a great deal to support the open source ecosystem, empowering our engineers to be active and leading contributors, and providing support to the foundations and communities vital to open source. Corporate Philanthropy is an incredible partner in this work.”
Francesca Romano of Bloomberg’s Corporate Philanthropy team comments, “What sets Bloomberg’s open source strategy apart is how deeply it’s shaped by our long-standing commitment to philanthropy. Charitable giving and service are central to our culture, and we apply that same spirit to open source and the critical digital infrastructure that drives innovation. Through initiatives like our FOSS Contributor Fund, we’re proud to invest in a stronger, more sustainable and impactful open source ecosystem.”
Additional FOSS Contributor Fund recipients will be announced throughout the year, each one a reflection of the vital role open source plays in powering innovation both within Bloomberg and in the shared digital world around us.
Headline: Bloomberg Engineers Help Brooklyn Robotics Reach FIRST Worlds
Giving back and supporting others is a cornerstone of Bloomberg’s culture — deeply embedded in how the firm works, collaborates, and shows up for communities. Whether through mentoring students, volunteering time, or rallying around causes that matter, Bloomberg employees are encouraged to use their skills and resources to uplift others.
Read on to learn how a group of engineers came together to reinforce that spirit of generosity and turn individual contributions into collective impact.
Engineering the Future: Bloomberg Powers the 2025 NYC FIRST Robotics Regional
Bloomberg recently served as the lead sponsor of the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition’s New York City Regional, hosted by NYC FIRST, where more than 50 high school teams from across the tri-state area showcased their engineering skills to help protect one of the ocean’s most diverse habitats.
Among the competitors were 21 Bloomberg-sponsored teams, including Team 333 – The Megalodons from John Dewey High School in Brooklyn.
The Megalodons earned a prestigious Regional Engineering Inspiration Award, securing them a coveted spot at the FIRST Championship in Houston, Texas, where they competed on the global stage. But for this school team, winning was just the beginning — the real challenge was securing the funds to make the journey to Houston a reality.
When Competition Ends, Community Begins
In a powerful show of solidarity, a group of Bloomberg software engineers — who spent the season mentoring teams that didn’t make it to the finals — came together to help. Engineers, including Josh Greenman, Brian Maher, Joe Pokorny, Bharath Sreenivas, and ZQ Yeo, donated their Dollars For Your Hours (DFYH) contributions to support the Megalodons’ journey to Houston. It’s a testament to the deep sense of community and compassion that defines Bloomberg’s Engineering culture.
“Brian and I have mentored the Megalodons for six and 10 years respectively, and we’re always eager to support our team’s journey,” said Josh Greenman, FIRST Engineering Mentor. “At Bloomberg, FIRST mentors are a family — we rally behind the teams that make it to Champs, whether our own or not, to ensure every student gets to experience that inspiration. The growth we see in these students, sparked by curiosity and nurtured through mentorship, is what truly inspires us in return.”
These efforts reflect a core value at Bloomberg: using technical skills and professional support to empower the next generation. More than 1,800 Bloomberg employees have volunteered nearly 30,000 hours with FIRST programs in New York City, New Jersey, San Francisco, and London since 2004, mentoring students, designing workshops, and supporting competitions across the U.S. and beyond.
“Supporting programs like FIRST Robotics is how we bring Bloomberg’s values to life — combining skills, mentorship, and community to empower future leaders,” said Vanessa Luna of Bloomberg’s Corporate Philanthropy team. “Watching our engineers rally around the Megalodons is a powerful reminder of the impact we can make when we collectively invest in people and purpose.”
At this year’s NYC Regional event, 13 Bloomberg engineers served as mentors, and 50 employees volunteered on site. Adam Wolf, Bloomberg’s Global Head of Engineering, attended with his family, witnessing firsthand the power of STEM mentorship and the community that forms around it.
“Giving students the confidence to solve real-world problems, work as a team, and see themselves as future engineers and leaders is incredibly rewarding,” said Wolf. “I am always inspired watching our engineers mentor and support these teams, using our skills to give back and help shape what’s next.”
From Brooklyn to Houston: A Team Effort
For the Megalodons, reaching Houston meant more than just competing — it was a moment to represent their school, their city, and their journey. They were joined at the FIRST Championship by six other Bloomberg-sponsored teams, including:
Team 1796 – RoboTigers, Queens Technical High School (Long Island City, NY)
Team 694 – StuyPulse, Stuyvesant High School (New York City, NY)
Team 1880 – Warriors of East Harlem, East Harlem Tutorial Program (East Harlem, NY)
Team 2601 – Steel Hawks, Townsend Harris High School (Flushing, NY)
Team 5298 – E-Tech Chargers, Energy Tech High School (Long Island City, NY)
Team 8739 – Redhawk Robotics, High School for Construction Trades, Engineering & Architecture (Queens, NY)
These students joined thousands of peers from around the world in Houston from April 17–20, 2025, where they competed in high-stakes matches, learned from others, and inspired one another through their shared passion for science, technology, engineering, and math.
Engineering Culture in Action
FIRST Robotics is more than a competition — it’s a launching pad for future engineers, technologists, and leaders. Bloomberg’s support spans sponsorship, mentorship, and education initiatives that open doors for students who may not otherwise have access to advanced STEM experiences.
“Those who support FIRST Robotics do so because we share a passion to excite and grow future engineers,” said Engineering Manager Joe Pokorny. “When we have a chance to support others, like this year’s Megalodons – whether it be through time, services, or donations – we band together as one tight-knit team. Seeing these kids realize what they can achieve is such a great experience.”
Headline: Transforming fixed income data management with AI and human expertise
With the increasing complexity of global finance, speed must be matched with accuracy and context.
Recognizing this, for some use cases, Bloomberg has adopted a “human-in-the-loop” workflow in which human intelligence augments automated systems. This approach allows subject matter experts with deep domain knowledge to supervise AI-driven data extraction, ensuring that the outputs meet the high-quality standards expected by professionals working in the financial sector.
For Bloomberg’s fixed income data, this combination has proven particularly effective in addressing the complexities of term sheets, creating innovative solutions to ingest this data that better serve both internal teams and customers.
The challenging role of term sheets in fixed income
The corporate bond market encompasses a multitude of structures tailored to the needs of various investors, financing companies across the economy. Bloomberg plays a crucial role throughout the issuance process, providing yield calculators, risk metrics, trade ticketing, and reference data. Corporate bond data is vital for investors to make informed decisions on whether to purchase debt instruments from corporate entities. Given that there is no official centralized data source, Bloomberg serves as a key provider of this information to clients.
Clients are increasingly looking to electronify and automate the new issuance process to improve efficiency and reduce operational risk. As automation advances, the timeliness of data becomes even more critical, allowing investors to make faster, more informed decisions.
As oneindustry reporthighlights: “The top operational priority for buy-side, and many sell-side, traders in a year of record bond issuance is to streamline and electronify the primary market bond investment process.”
Processing the term sheets that outline the basic terms and conditions of each bond has historically been a labor-intensive task, requiring analysts to manually extract key data points. However, as the volume and complexity of financial instruments have grown, this manual approach has become unsustainable.
To address this challenge, Bloomberg’s Data team has developed AI-driven systems to automate the extraction of term sheet data. Machine learning models were created to recognize and extract crucial data fields, such as the bond’s term, interest rate, and yield—significantly improving the speed and efficiency of this process.
Historically, training these models required a substantial number of annotated term sheets due to variations in reporting formats. Experts reviewed the model outputs, ensuring annotations were precise to prevent incorrect training data from compromising the system’s effectiveness.
“This was a complex project,” recalls Esmie Papadimitriou, Team Leader, Fixed Income Data. “We quickly realized that we needed our best people for the annotation work. The deeper their subject matter expertise, the more efficient and effective they are. If annotations were not done well, we could have ended up with incorrect model training and months of wasted work.”
Addressing global market variability
One of the biggest challenges in automating term sheet processing is accounting for differences across global markets. Term sheets vary significantly in:
Structure– The length, delivery method, and order of information differ by region.
Language– In EMEA and APAC, term sheets are often written in local languages, requiring specialized models to interpret them accurately.
Content Interpretation– Local market conventions impact how certain terms are expressed or omitted, necessitating domain expertise to ensure accurate data extraction.
Bloomberg’s approach to automation factors in these variations by combining machine learning outputs with business logic and market expertise. The system is designed to identify crucial details that are missing—such as the bond issuer, currency, or denominations—and apply appropriate derivations based on the specific market context.
“This knowledge has been gathered over decades of working with market participants and has been coded into our automation pipelines,” explains Papadimitriou. “Our pipelines make use of AI-driven content extraction while incorporating domain-specific rules to ensure accuracy.”
Combining AI and human expertise to drive innovation
While AI enables the rapid processing of large volumes of term sheets, human expertise ensures that the extracted data is accurate, complete, and contextually appropriate. Bloomberg’s domain experts collaborate closely with the firm’s AI engineers to refine models and evaluate their outputs, ensuring the solutions they are used in meet the high standards expected by clients.”
“Stronger foundation models have been a game-changer: instead of spending months building and training bespoke systems, we can now deliver high-quality results in weeks — as long as we invest in clear task definitions, robust evaluation datasets, and tight feedback loops,” shared Shefaet Rahman, Global Head of AI Services in Bloomberg’s AI Engineering group. “Our collaboration with the Data department has been critical in turning these into durable assets that scale across workflows, enabling faster innovation without sacrificing precision.”
The partnership between Bloomberg’s Fixed Income Data team and Engineering has been instrumental in driving this innovation. “We have people who understand the technology stack and how to work with Engineering,” Papadimitriou emphasizes.
Freeing up time while safeguarding data quality
This approach has transformed Bloomberg’s fixed income data management. By combining the speed of AI with human oversight, the team has improved the accuracy of its data extraction pipeline while freeing up time to expand coverage into new and emerging markets, such as the Baltics and other Eastern European regions. This allows Bloomberg to anticipate customer needs and provide traders with critical data when they need it, helping them derive insights faster.
Linn O’Connor, Global Head of Data Securities, highlights how analysts are now able to focus on higher-value tasks: “It just makes the job more interesting. The tasks are different, and it becomes much more project-based. People are able to do much more to an even higher standard of quality.”
Looking ahead
As Bloomberg continues refining its AI systems and enhancing its data management processes, subject matter experts remain essential in ensuring that the data provided is accurate, relevant, and aligned with clients’ needs.
“AI and automation are powerful tools, but it’s the people behind the technology who make the difference. By working together, we can create innovative solutions that not only meet the demands of today’s market but also prepare us for the challenges of tomorrow,” Papadimitriou notes.
By blending cutting-edge technology with human expertise, Bloomberg isn’t just keeping up with the data-driven financial world—it is shaping its future.
Interested in learning more about open roles within Bloomberg Data?Explore the opportunities.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is releasing this advisory in response to ransomware actors leveraging unpatched instances of a vulnerability in SimpleHelp Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) to compromise customers of a utility billing software provider. This incident reflects a broader pattern of ransomware actors targeting organizations through unpatched versions of SimpleHelp RMM since January 2025.
SimpleHelp versions 5.5.7 and earlier contain several vulnerabilities, including CVE-2024-57727—a path traversal vulnerability.1 Ransomware actors likely leveraged CVE-2024-57727 to access downstream customers’ unpatched SimpleHelp RMM for disruption of services in double extortion compromises.1
CISA urges software vendors, downstream customers, and end users to immediately implement the Mitigations listed in this advisory based on confirmed compromise or risk of compromise.
Download the PDF version of this report:
Mitigations
CISA recommends organizations implement the mitigations below to respond to emerging ransomware activity exploiting SimpleHelp software. These mitigations align with the Cross-Sector Cybersecurity Performance Goals (CPGs) developed by CISA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The CPGs provide a minimum set of practices and protections that CISA and NIST recommend all organizations implement. CISA and NIST based the CPGs on existing cybersecurity frameworks and guidance to protect against the most common and impactful threats, tactics, techniques, and procedures. Visit CISA’s CPGs webpage for more information on the CPGs, including additional recommended baseline protections. These mitigations apply to all critical infrastructure organizations.
Vulnerable Third-Party Vendors
If SimpleHelp is embedded or bundled in vendor-owned software or if a third-party service provider leverages SimpleHelp on a downstream customer’s network, then identify the SimpleHelp server version at the top of the file /SimpleHelp/configuration/serverconfig.xml. If version 5.5.7 or prior is found or has been used since January 2025, third-party vendors should:
Isolate the SimpleHelp server instance from the internet or stop the server process.
Upgrade immediately to the latest SimpleHelp version in accordance with SimpleHelp’s security vulnerability advisory.2
Contact your downstream customers to direct them to take actions to secure their endpoints and undertake threat hunting actions on their network.
Vulnerable Downstream Customers and End Users
Determine if the system is running an unpatched version of SimpleHelp RMM either directly or embedded in third-party software.
SimpleHelp Endpoints
Determine if an endpoint is running the remote access (RAS) service by checking the following paths depending on the specific environment:
If RAS installation is present and running, open the serviceconfig.xml file in /JWrapper-Remote Access/JWAppsSharedConfig/ to determine if the registered service is vulnerable. The lines starting with indicate the server addresses where the service is registered.
SimpleHelp Server
Determine the version of any SimpleHelp server by performing an HTTP query against it. Add /allversions (e.g., https://simple-help.com/allversions) to query the URL for the version page. This page will list the running version.
If an unpatched SimpleHelp version 5.5.7 or earlier is confirmed on a system, organizations should conduct threat hunting actions for evidence of compromise and continuously monitor for unusual inbound and outbound traffic from the SimpleHelp server. Note: This is not an exhaustive list of indicators of compromise.
Refer to SimpleHelp’s guidance to determine compromise and next steps.3
Isolate the SimpleHelp server instance from the internet or stop the server process.
Search for any suspicious or anomalous executables with three alphabetic letter filenames (e.g., aaa.exe, bbb.exe, etc.) with a creation time after January 2025. Additionally, perform host and network vulnerability security scans via reputable scanning services to verify malware is not on the system.
Even if there is no evidence of compromise, users should immediately upgrade to the latest SimpleHelp version in accordance with SimpleHelp’s security vulnerabilities advisory.4
If your organization is unable to immediately identify and patch vulnerable versions of SimpleHelp, apply appropriate workarounds. In this circumstance, CISA recommends using other vendor-provided mitigations when available. These non-patching workarounds should not be considered permanent fixes and organizations should apply the appropriate patch as soon as it is made available.
Encrypted Downstream Customers and End Users
If a system has been encrypted by ransomware:
Disconnect the affected system from the internet.
Use clean installation media (e.g., a bootable USD drive or DVD) to reinstall the operating system. Ensure the installation media is free from malware.
Wipe the system and only restore data from a clean backup. Ensure data files are obtained from a protected environment to avoid reintroducing ransomware to the system.
To reduce opportunities for intrusion and to strengthen response to ransomware activity, CISA recommends customers of vendors and managed service providers (MSPs) implement the following best practices:
Maintain a robust asset inventory and hardware list [CPG 1.A].
Maintain a clean, offline backup of the system to ensure encryption will not occur once reverted. Conduct a daily system backup on a separate, offline device, such as a flash drive or external hard drive. Remove the device from the computer after backup is complete [CPG 2.R].
Do not expose remote services such as Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) on the web. If these services must be exposed, apply appropriate compensating controls to prevent common forms of abuse and exploitation. Disable unnecessary OS applications and network protocols on internet-facing assets [CPG 2.W].
Conduct a risk analysis for RMM software on the network. If RMM is required, ask third-party vendors what security controls are in place.
Establish and maintain open communication channels with third-party vendors to stay informed about their patch management process.
For software vendors, consider integrating a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) into products to reduce the amount of time for vulnerability remediation.
An SBOM is a formal record of components used to build software. SBOMs enhance supply chain risk management by quickly identifying and avoiding known vulnerabilities, identifying security requirements, and managing mitigations for vulnerabilities. For more information, see CISA’s SBOM page.
Resources
Reporting
Your organization has no obligation to respond or provide information back to FBI in response to this advisory. If, after reviewing the information provided, your organization decides to provide information to FBI, reporting must be consistent with applicable state and federal laws.
FBI is interested in any information that can be shared, to include boundary logs showing communication to and from foreign IP addresses, a sample ransom note, communications with threat actors, Bitcoin wallet information, decryptor files, and/or a benign sample of an encrypted file.
Additional details of interest include a targeted company point of contact, status and scope of infection, estimated loss, operational impact, transaction IDs, date of infection, date detected, initial attack vector, and host- and network-based indicators.
CISA and FBI do not encourage paying ransom as payment does not guarantee victim files will be recovered. Furthermore, payment may also embolden adversaries to target additional organizations, encourage other criminal actors to engage in the distribution of ransomware, and/or fund illicit activities. Regardless of whether you or your organization have decided to pay the ransom, FBI and CISA urge you to promptly report ransomware incidents to FBI’s Internet Crime Complain Center (IC3), a local FBI Field Office, or CISA via the agency’s Incident Reporting System or its 24/7 Operations Center (report@cisa.gov) or by calling 1-844-Say-CISA (1-844-729-2472).
SimpleHelp users or vendors can contact support@simple-help.com for assistance with queries or concerns.
Disclaimer
The information in this report is being provided “as is” for informational purposes only. CISA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, company, or service, including any entities, products, or services linked within this document. Any reference to specific commercial entities, products, processes, or services by service mark, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply endorsement, recommendation, or favor by CISA.
