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Category: Universities

  • MIL-Evening Report: ‘We will not allow others to determine our fate’: Pacific nations dial up pressure on Australia’s fossil fuel exports

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Moore, Lecturer in International Politics and Policy, James Cook University

    Tuvalu’s Prime Minister Feleti Teo took to a stage in Apia, Samoa, on Thursday morning to say something pointed. Planned fossil fuel expansions in nations such as Australia represented, for his nation, a “death sentence”. The phrase “death sentence”, Teo said, had not been chosen lightly. He followed up with this: “We will not sit quietly and allow others to determine our fate.”

    Teo chose the moment for this broadside well – on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), attended by both King Charles and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The speech came at the launch of a new report on moves by the “big three” Commonwealth states – the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia – to expand fossil fuel exports.

    These three states make up just 6% of the population of the Commonwealth’s 56 nations, but account for over 60% of the carbon emissions generated through extraction since 1990, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative report shows.

    Canada and the UK are no climate angels, given their respective exports of highly polluting oil from oil sands and North Sea oil and gas. But Teo and others in the movement to stop proliferation of fossil fuels have reserved special criticism for Australia. That’s because Australia is now second only to Russia based on emissions from its fossil fuel exports and has the largest pipeline of coal export projects in the world – 61% of the world’s total.

    The elephant in the room

    Tuvalu, like many other small Pacific nations, is laser-focused on the threat of climate change. Across the Pacific, rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion are already pushing people to consider migration or retreat.

    Australia has long been influential in the Pacific, even more so as Western states try to outcompete Chinese funds and influence in the region. But fossil fuel exports are a very large elephant in the room.

    As Tuvalu’s leader points out, Australia is:

    morally obliged to ensure that whatever action it does [take] will not compromise the commitment it has provided in terms of climate impact.

    Teo pointed out the “obvious” inconsistency between Australia’s commitment to net zero by 2050 and ramping up fossil fuel exports.

    This year, Australia and Tuvalu’s groundbreaking Falepili Union treaty came into force. The treaty includes some migration rights for Tuvaluans as well as a controversial security agreement. But Teo has now flagged using this as leverage to “put pressure on Australia to align its activities in terms of fossil fuels”.

    Tuvalu’s diplomatic pressure is a small part of broader efforts by island states facing escalating climate damage to be seen not as passive victims but to emphasise, as Teo said, they are also “at the forefront of climate action”.

    Echoing these sentiments was Vanuatu’s climate envoy, Ralph Regenvanu. He called on Commonwealth nations to “not sacrifice the future of vulnerable nations for short-term gains”, and “to stop the expansion of fossil fuels in order to protect what we love and hold dear here in the Pacific”.

    Vanuatu and Tuvalu have led the campaign for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, committing signatories to ending expansion of fossil fuels. So far, 12 other nations have joined, including Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Republic of Marshall Islands, Colombia and the CHOGM host, Samoa.

    Australia all alone?

    It’s not surprising to see Australia facing these calls for action. The meeting is being held in Samoa, the first time a Pacific Island state has hosted Commonwealth leaders.

    Leaders of other large Commonwealth states have skipped the meeting. Notable by their absence were Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

    Climate action is one of several background issues in Apia. One of the more significant is the call for reparations for slavery from former British colonies – calls UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is keen to put to the side. But reports on the ground suggest the issues of reparations, monarchy and the future relevance of the Commonwealth are all in the shadow of the main concern – climate change.

    The meeting also serves as a precursor to November’s United Nations climate talks, the COP29 conference in Baku, Azerbaijan. Pacific nations are focused on building consensus on climate finance.

    Australia has its own concerns. The host of the 2026 COP31 conference will be announced in Baku, with a joint Australia-Pacific bid in competition with Türkiye. Observers suggest Australia is in the box seat, but it has faced consistent pressure from Pacific states to reconcile its actions with its climate rhetoric.

    There are domestic implications too. As the next federal election looms, the lure of a potential A$200 million windfall for the COP host city would be more than welcome.

    Securing an Australia-Pacific COP could also boost the government’s environmental credentials as it comes under sustained attack from the Greens over fossil fuels and the Coalition over energy security and nuclear power.

    In Apia, Pacific efforts to convince leaders of the need for greater climate action are reported to include a walk through a mangrove reserve for King Charles, guided by Samoan chief and parliamentarian Lenatai Vicor Tamapua. Tamapua told the ABC he showed leaders how king tides today were “about twice what it was 20, 30 years ago”, which he says is forcing people to “move inwards, inland now”.

    For Australia, difficult questions remain. How will it balance regional demands to phase out coal and gas exports with domestic pressures to maintain jobs, public funds and economic growth? Can it walk the tightrope and be the partner of choice in the Pacific while continuing to explore for, extract and export coal and gas?

    These questions will not be resolved in Apia. They might not even be resolved by the next federal government, or by the time COP31 arrives. But they will not go away.

    The way Australia and other exporters resolve these tensions will, as Teo says, decide whether Tuvalu stays liveable – or goes under.

    Liam Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. ‘We will not allow others to determine our fate’: Pacific nations dial up pressure on Australia’s fossil fuel exports – https://theconversation.com/we-will-not-allow-others-to-determine-our-fate-pacific-nations-dial-up-pressure-on-australias-fossil-fuel-exports-242103

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: More than 1250 students, professionals and schoolchildren from 47 countries took part in NSUCRYPTO-2024

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    The 11th International Cryptography Olympiad was held from October 13 to 21. The largest event in the field of information security took place with the active participation of Cryptographic Center of NSU.

    — Interest in cryptography is constantly growing. On our part, as the main organizers of the Olympiad, this is facilitated by holding summer schools on cryptography and information security in different cities of Russia, actively involving new co-organizers and partners. This year we are noting a record number of participants, which is very pleasing, — comments the chairperson of the Olympiad Program Committee, Associate Professor of NSU Natalia Tokareva.

    During the week, the participants worked on solving fourteen diverse problems. Their topics included cryptographic protocols and algorithms, post-quantum cryptography, steganography, historical ciphers, and pseudo-random sequence generators.

    Non-Stop University CRYPTO — the only international cryptography Olympiad that contains both academic tasks and unsolved scientific problems. Anyone from anywhere in the world can try their hand. The official language of the Olympiad is English.

    Traditionally, after the results of the Olympiad are summed up, scientific articles are published with an analysis of the problems. Including unsolved ones that require further detailed research.

    The organizers and partners of the Olympiad are the Cryptographic Center (Novosibirsk), the National Technological Center for Digital Cryptography, Novosibirsk State University, the North-West Center for Mathematical Research named after Sofia Kovalevskaya, the University of Leuven (Belgium), the companies Kryptonit and Aktiv, the Southern Federal University, the Belarusian State University, and Tomsk State University.

    The official results of the Olympiad will be announced in November 2024.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Stalking rates in Australia are still shockingly high – one simple strategy might help

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Troy McEwan, Professor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology, Swinburne University of Technology

    UfaBizPhoto/Shutterstock

    New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals one in seven adult Australians have been stalked in their lifetime: one in five women and one in 15 men.

    While shocking to many, for those of us who work in the field, there is nothing surprising about these figures.

    The ABS has conducted similar surveys roughly every five years since 2005, which reveal basically the same results each time.

    About 3-4% of women and 1-2% of men are victims of stalking every year.

    These rates are consistent with those reported in research from the United Kingdom and United States, with small variations depending on definition.

    Stalking rates have remained stubbornly consistent despite the same ABS survey showing reductions in the rates of intimate partner violence and general violence over the past decade.

    The reasons for this are unclear, though there are obvious differences in the level of government and community investment in countering intimate partner violence versus awareness of and attention to stalking.

    What exactly is stalking?

    Stalking is a pattern of repeated and unwanted behaviour in which one person pushes their way into the life of another where they have no legitimate right to be, causing the target distress and fear.

    The most common methods are unwanted communication (by phone or digital media) and unwanted contacts (such as following someone or loitering nearby).

    Threats of violence and assault occur in at least a quarter of cases.

    Stalking that persists for more than two weeks is more likely to continue and cause significant harm.

    The impact of stalking

    Victims of persistent stalking have described it as “psychological rape”, with the stalker invading every part of their life.

    The cumulative impact of seemingly never-ending intrusions, and their social and financial toll, is probably why stalking victims report high rates of depression, anxiety and traumatic stress disorders.

    Researchers have estimated being stalked for 14 months costs victims approximately $A140,000, including direct costs from lost work and legal expenses and indirect costs of physical and mental harm.

    Who stalks?

    Most stalking is perpetrated by people who are known to the victim, either as an acquaintance or an ex-partner, with strangers responsible for about 20-25% of stalking.

    Stalking usually starts either because the person feels mistreated and stalks to take revenge or right the wrong, or they stalk to start or enact a relationship with the victim that does not exist. In a small number of cases, stalking has a sexual motivation and can sometimes be part of planning or preparation for a sexual assault.

    Regardless of motivation, most stalking is communicative – the stalker wants the victim to know they exist and to feel like they must respond.

    However, responding to a stalker is not advisable as it usually just adds fuel to the emotional fire that drives them.

    Ex-partners account for just under half of all stalking cases and many more women than men are stalked by an ex.

    Stalking in this context is a type of intimate partner violence and it receives by far the most attention and response.

    Research suggests that intimate partner stalking is more often identified as being perpetrated by former rather than current partners.

    Psychological abuse or coercive control during a relationship might be linked to increased potential for stalking after a break-up.

    Physical violence is much more common in cases of ex-partner stalking, with the ABS survey and earlier research finding half of intimate partner stalkers used physical violence.

    Thankfully, most stalking-related violence does not cause severe physical harm and homicide is extremely rare.

    Although prior stalking is common in ex-partner homicides, recent Victorian research showed that of 5,026 intimate partner violence reports to police involving stalking, only nine involved fatal or near fatal violence in the following 12 months.

    This means the presence of stalking is not a useful risk factor for trying to predict intimate partner homicide.

    Strategies against stalking

    Numerous strategies have been identified to prevent and reduce stalking-related harms. Among those tried largely outside Australia:

    The Victorian Law Reform Commission’s 2022 review of stalking laws recommended adoption of several of these strategies, though to date the state government has committed only to revising the stalking law.

    A simple but powerful strategy

    Stalking is a complicated problem and a comprehensive response needs multi-faceted systemic change that will be costly and take much effort and time.

    Currently, there doesn’t seem to be an appetite in Australia for the work required.

    However, there is one relatively straightforward thing the federal, state and territory governments could do right now to help: establish a national stalking helpline that can provide specialist information, advice and advocacy for all victims.

    Such a helpline was established in the UK in 2010 and has supported more than 65,000 people.

    The helpline provides online and telephone advice to potential stalking victims, including basic risk assessment, advocacy and links to local support services. It also provides advice to mental health professionals and others who are supporting stalking victims.

    The helpline serves all people, regardless of their gender or relationship with the stalker. Nearly half (45%) of its clients are stalked by a stranger or acquaintance, not an ex-partner. This highlights the importance of a specialised stalking response separate to existing services for family and intimate partner violence.

    An Australian equivalent would provide immediate support for victims and a focal point for necessary research and evaluation into what works to stop stalking.

    An Australian national stalking helpline would be a practical, relatively inexpensive and immediately helpful strategy that governments could implement to support the hundreds of thousands of Australians who are stalked every year.

    Troy McEwan has received funding from the Australian Research Council and Victoria Police for stalking-related research.

    – ref. Stalking rates in Australia are still shockingly high – one simple strategy might help – https://theconversation.com/stalking-rates-in-australia-are-still-shockingly-high-one-simple-strategy-might-help-241891

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Why Woolworths workers can’t sleep at night: inside the supermarket giant’s controversial ‘Framework’

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Kate Kelly, PhD Candidate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, RMIT University

    In early 2024, Woolworths introduced a new worker performance management program across warehouses run by the company’s distribution arm, Primary Connect.

    Under the program, known as the Coaching and Productivity Framework or simply “the Framework”, workers say they face potential disciplinary action if they fail to achieve 100% adherence to a speed-related metric known as pick rates. This represents a sharp break from previous approaches in which a pick rate of 100% was a non-enforceable goal, rather than a basic requirement.

    A Primary Connect spokesperson told The Conversation the Framework is more flexible, ensuring “a fair approach to the standards is applied to any personal circumstances or abilities”, with exemptions “for when a team member is unable to perform to standards, including pregnancy, disability or injury”.

    Workers say the new system creates huge stress and leads to unsafe work practices.

    An outline of the Woolworths Coaching and Productivity Framework.
    Woolworths

    ‘Scientific management’

    Although pick rates are common across warehousing, enforcing 100% compliance is highly unusual. In a memo to warehouse staff, Woolworths justified the strict enforcement of pick rates by claiming they are based on “engineered standards”, which are “the times that a trained and competent person should take to complete a set task safely using the ‘agreed method’ for that task”.

    Engineered standards (or engineered labour standards) are also widespread in the warehousing industry. Developed in the early 20th century by US management consultants, engineered standards follow the stopwatch studies and time-and-motion methodologies of Frederick Winslow Taylor, the pioneer of “scientific management”.

    To this day, engineered standards may be developed by “putting the stopwatch” on workers to record and standardise the time taken to perform a particular task. These data sets may be used to develop and justify pick rates.

    Turning workers into data points

    The use of engineered standards integrates workers into Woolworths’ ongoing program of increased automation and surveillance across its business.

    Much like inventory, workers’ bodies also become a data point to be monitored in terms of speed and movement. Engineered standards encode the assumption that human labour can be rationalised in the same way as the activity of a machine.

    Engineered standards promise the ability to control the output of workers at every moment. In practice, the application of engineered standards is often flawed and inaccurate.

    Regardless of accuracy, engineered standards and other algorithmic systems may have other benefits for management, providing a veneer of technological objectivity for decision-making.

    Confusing and inconsistent

    Through research for my PhD and my work with the United Workers Union, I have heard many concerns from workers subjected to the Framework.

    One common concern is that, due to the algorithmic nature of the Framework, the pick rate is opaque. In practice, workers do not know what 100% compliance means, so they do not even know what is expected of them.

    Workers report that rates seem to change and are applied inconsistently across different departments.

    The psychological impact has been significant. Workers have reported lying awake at night and experiencing heightened anxiety of job loss following the introduction of the Framework.

    One worker told me:

    I can’t sleep thinking about what would happen if I lost my job because I didn’t meet the standards a few times and my average wasn’t high enough.

    Another said:

    I frequently go to sleep and dream of picking at work. I find myself thinking of work at home and dreaming of work when I’m sleeping. I’m constantly on edge whenever I see a team leader, thinking I’ve done something wrong.

    And a third:

    I have some personal issues at home with my marriage and I’m laying awake thinking about my pick rate and if I will have a job tomorrow.

    Speed and safety

    Workers have also reported they feel compelled to prioritise speed over safety to meet the pick rate, or risk losing their job. At the same time, failure to work safely can also result in disciplinary action, injury or worse.

    Failure to meet the pick rate may result in a “tap on the shoulder” from management. This may be followed by notification that “coaching” will commence as part of a 12-week performance management program.

    Coaching consists of working under the close supervision of a manager who is tasked with observing the worker’s movements and appraising their speed against a company checklist.

    In the words of another worker:

    They are watching you, following you around with a clipboard, piece of paper and a pen. Writing stuff down behind you. It feels degrading.

    Monitoring ‘gap times’ such as toilet breaks

    Distribution centres are complex and dynamic environments. Congestion builds in aisles, equipment glitches and breaks, pallets spill, and batteries go flat.

    Woolworths claims the Framework takes into account “gap times”, which include reasonable periods of unavoidable delay, worker fatigue, rest breaks and so on.

    Gap times refer to any time during a shift when a worker is not actively on task. Workers report that time pressures have resulted in breaks being skipped, and safety measures disregarded, to meet pick rate targets and avoid disciplinary action.

    A question of control

    Following widespread worker disputes, including one filed with the Fair Work Commission in April, the Framework has been temporarily placed on pause. If reinstated, it would take effect at 15 distribution centres across the country, impacting about 8,000 permanent workers and, indirectly or directly, several thousand casual labour-hire workers.

    Woolworths team members represented by the United Workers Union are currently bargaining for a new enterprise agreement. Abolition of the Framework and related disciplinary action is a key demand of the union.

    In a statement to The Conversation, a Primary Connect spokesperson said:

    We have listened to the feedback from the union on the Framework, and will engage our teams in the distribution centres and the union in due course. As the country’s largest private sector employer, we are committed to ensuring that our workplaces are safe and productive for our teams and customers.

    Beyond Woolworths, the contest over pick rates raises a broader question: to what extent should an employer be able to dictate the speed of work?

    Clearly, an employer can assign the duration of a shift and ask workers to perform their role to the best of their abilities, but should workers retain the right to control the speed at which they move their own body?

    The future of the Woolworths Framework may have widespread implications for working life in Australia.

    Lauren Kate Kelly receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. She is affiliated with the United Workers Union, which represents workers across the supermarket supply chain.

    – ref. Why Woolworths workers can’t sleep at night: inside the supermarket giant’s controversial ‘Framework’ – https://theconversation.com/why-woolworths-workers-cant-sleep-at-night-inside-the-supermarket-giants-controversial-framework-242015

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Investigations into lung cancer and into epigenetics recognised with 2 x $1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowships

    Source: CLS Limited

    Investigations into lung cancer and into epigenetics recognised with 2 x $1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowships

    Why lung cancer is on the increase: Dr Clare Weeden, WEHI, Melbourne How understanding gene switching could lead to new drug classes: Dr Qi Zhang, South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI), University of Adelaide

    MELBOURNE – 24 October 2024 – Two Australian scientists have each been awarded CSL Centenary Fellowships, valued at $1.25 million over five years.

    The Fellowships were presented at the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Annual Meeting on Thursday 24 October 2024 in Adelaide.

    Lung cancer is now our deadliest cancer, despite the reduction of smoking in recent decades. Twenty-five per cent of people with lung cancer have never smoked.

    Over the past 12 years, Dr Clare Weeden has investigated why lung cancer is on the rise in cities around the world. She has shown that we all have potentially cancerous cells in our lungs which can be activated by repeated exposure to cigarette smoke or urban pollution.

    The $1.25 million CSL Centenary Fellowship has enabled Dr Weeden to return from the Crick Institute in London to establish her own research laboratory at WEHI in Melbourne. She plans to identify how the chromatin that packages up our DNA is changed by inflammation in lung cells. Then she will investigate how these cellular changes initiate cancers and how cells then become resistant to targeted therapies.

    Dr Weeden’s ultimate career aim is to determine if abnormal lung cell states are reversible.

    Dr Qi Zhang is investigating the fundamental processes by which our cells turn genes on and off as they change identities, for example as stem cells develop into mature cell types. She hopes to learn how these processes can break down and lead to cancer and other diseases.

    Dr Zhang is a team leader at the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI), University of Adelaide.

    “We want to know what’s happening with the packaging of our DNA in a healthy cell,” she says. “Then we want to know what is going wrong in a cancer cell – when it loses its identity.”

    Using the CSL Centenary Fellowship, Dr Zhang hopes to generate fundamental knowledge that researchers around the world can use to develop new drugs to tackle epigenetic misregulation in cancers.

    CSL Head of Research and Chief Scientific Officer Dr Andrew Nash said, “Dr Zhang and Dr Weeden are both making fundamental discoveries about how normal cells develop and how that development can go wrong leading to cancer and other diseases.”

    “With the support of their CSL Centenary Fellowships, their research will open up paths to new kinds of treatment for cancer and developmental diseases,” he said.

    “The CSL Centenary Fellowships aim to support leading mid-career Australian researchers like Qi and Clare by providing funding stability to enable the delivery of innovations that could transform medicine for patients living with rare and serious diseases and protect public health.”

    About the CSL Centenary Fellowships

    The Fellowships are competitively selected, high-value grants available to mid-career Australians who wish to continue a career in medical research in Australia.

    They are open to medical researchers working on discovery or translational research with a focus on rare or serious diseases and are overseen by a selection committee comprising three independent members and two CSL representatives. The 2025 committee was chaired by Dr Andrew Nash.

    The Fellowships were established to mark 100 years since the establishment of CSL in 1916. Two individual, five-year A$1.25 million fellowships are awarded each calendar year.

    For further information, visit www.cslfellowships.com.au

    About CSL

    CSL (ASX:CSL; USOTC:CSLLY) is a leading global biotechnology company with a dynamic portfolio of lifesaving medicines, including those that treat haemophilia and immune deficiencies, vaccines to prevent influenza, and therapies in iron deficiency, dialysis and nephrology. Since our start in 1916, we have been driven by our promise to save lives using the latest technologies. Today, CSL – including our three businesses, CSL Behring, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor – provides lifesaving products to patients in more than 100 countries and employs 30,000 people. Our unique combination of commercial strength, R&D focus and operational excellence enables us to identify, develop and deliver innovations so our patients can live life to the fullest. For inspiring stories about the promise of biotechnology, visit CSLBehring.com/Vita and follow us on Twitter.com/CSL.

    For more information about CSL, visit www.CSL.com.

    # # #

    Media Contact

    Name: Kim O’Donohue

    Mobile: +61 449 884 603

    Email: Kim.O’Donohue@csl.com.au

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Rosneft Competence Centre Opens at Far Eastern Federal University

    Source: Rosneft

    Headline: Rosneft Competence Centre Opens at Far Eastern Federal University

    As part of the IX Eastern Economic Forum, Rosneft’s Competence Centre was inaugurated at the Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU).

    Rosneft is an important partner of the FEFU. In September 2022, the Company and the University signed an agreement to establish a Competence Centre. Its main tasks include training of highly qualified engineering personnel for Rosneft enterprises, including design engineers and shipbuilding technologists, as well as advanced training of employees of shipbuilding enterprises, primarily Zvezda Shipyard.

    Boris Korobets, Rector of the Far Eastern Federal University, Sergey Dubovitsky, Minister of Vocational Education and Employment of the Primorsky Territory, Irina Bushmanova, First Deputy Minister of Education of the Primorsky Territory, representatives of PJSC Rosneft Oil Company, and Zvezda Shipyard, as well as teachers and students attended the opening ceremony of the Centre.

    The structure of the Competence Centre envisages four thematic modules: Engineering Development (commissioned in 2023), Engineering Rosneft-Classes, Hull Structures and Materials, Ship Engineering Systems. Each module includes subject-specific laboratories, classrooms and departments equipped with the necessary teaching equipment and demonstration models.

    The opening of the centre was marked by the presentation of a module for Rosneft’s shipbuilding engineering classes. Participants in the ceremony were shown the laser optics, marine robotics and ship modelling laboratories, as well as computer modelling and design. Classes for students of the Rosneft classes of the FEFU University School and other Rosneft classes in the Primorsky Territory are already being held here. In the future, career guidance groups will also be organised for grades 5-9.

    In 2025, the Centre plans to open the Hull Structures and Materials and Ship Engineering Systems modules. The Centre’s infrastructure will include 18 classrooms, 3 co-working areas, 12 laboratories and 2 specail departments.

    In 2025, when the Centre reaches full capacity, the number of Rosneft students will be 3,500 a year. This year, about 1,700 people are studying in various training programmes.

    The Centre’s educational environment uses various modern learning formats, including networking between FEFU and other partner universities, including St Petersburg State Marine Technical University and Admiral G.I. Nevelsky Maritime State University, among others.

    Reference:

    The Zvezda Shipyard specialises in building large civilian vessels – the backbone of Russia’s Arctic fleet. The shipyard is being created on the instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin, with Rosneft acting as the project operator. The shipyard now employs more than 7,500 highly skilled workers. A new Parkoviy district is being built for them in the city of Bolshoy Kamen.

    Rosneft
    Information Division
    September 5, 2024

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnic University and UEC: Prospects for Additive Manufacturing in Engine Manufacturing

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    The Polytechnic University was visited on a working visit by Vadim Badekha, General Director of the United Engine Corporation (UEC, part of the Rostec State Corporation), Mikhail Bakradze, Deputy General Director, and Alexey Mazalov, General Director of the Center for Additive Technologies (CAT, part of Rostec).

    At a meeting with the rector of SPbPU, chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Andrey Rudskoy and the director of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport Anatoly Popovich, representatives of UEC and CAT discussed issues of strategic partnership in the educational and scientific spheres and discussed in detail the signing of a cooperation agreement.

    The guests stated that they were interested in expanding cooperation with the Polytechnic University, primarily in the field of additive technologies. Mikhail Bakradze said that the corporation’s specialists had already become familiar with the work of the IMMiT laboratories and had chosen promising areas for themselves.

    Vadim Badekha suggested that the Polytechnic University become a participant in a comprehensive program for the development of aircraft engine building and reported that the Ministry of Industry and Trade has created a separate area – additive manufacturing in engine building.

    The agreement is necessary, it will be a mandate for us to work directly with all your structures. Of course, for us the issue of creating technological cycles for design, development, bringing to industrial samples and transferring documentation to you is very important. But there is a serious nuance – certification, – noted Andrey Rudskoy.

    During the discussion of this and other problems, the meeting participants came to the conclusion that it would be advisable to create a center for certification of additive technologies in aviation and a joint council for the development of additive technologies in engine building.

    Another area of cooperation in which UEC is interested is the development of repair technologies, including the creation of mobile units. And here the Polytechnic already has something to offer. Just at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, specialists from the research laboratory “Laser and Additive Technologies” (NIL “LiAT”) of IMMiT demonstrated at the Polytechnic stand Mobile laser cladding complex “Nomad”, designed for the restoration of large-sized products on the customer’s premises.

    The participants in the negotiations discussed the prospect of creating a joint structure with UEC on the basis of the Polytechnic University, similar to a scientific and educational center, for the targeted training of students, the organization of internships and practical training, and the advanced training of the corporation’s employees.

    For us, UEC is a very important strategic partner, we have been working together for a long time, and I would like us to reach such a high level of communication: science, education, advanced training and technology. And we, of course, will enter into those structures that are necessary to ensure our cooperation, – Andrey Rudskoy summed up.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Top of the tech: the 10 innovations set to change your life

    Source: World Economic Forum (video statements)

    What are ‘elastocalorics’ or ‘reconfigurable intelligent surfaces’? In a few years’ time these emerging technologies may have transformed the way we heat and cool our homes, and how we transmit ever greater amounts of data.

    They are among the technological innovations identified in the World Economic Forum’s annual Top 10 Emerging Technologies report, which picks the tech that could transform the world in the coming years.

    In this video-podcast, the two lead authors of the report take us through each of the 10 on this year’s list.

    The report is produced in collaboration with Frontiers.
    Guests:

    Mariette DiChristina, Dean and Professor of the Practice in Journalism, Boston University College of Communication

    Bernie Meyerson, Chief Innovation Officer Emeritus, IBM
    Links:

    Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2024: https://www.weforum.org/publications/top-10-emerging-technologies-2024/

    Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: https://centres.weforum.org/centre-for-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/
    Previous editions of the Top 10 Tech report: 2023

    Beyond AI: the top-10 tech of 2023 set to change our lives (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos/episodes/top-10-emerging-technologies-2023/)
    2021

    Top-10 Emerging Technologies 2021 (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos/episodes/top-10-emerging-technologies-2021/)
    2020

    The Top 10 Tech of 2020 – our podcast with Scientific American (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/top-10-tech-2020-podcast-scientific-american/)
    Related podcasts:

    2023 was the year we all got to know AI – so where will it take us in 2024? (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos/episodes/artificial-intelligence-ai-aiga/)

    Advanced Energy Solutions: scaling up the tech that can help us get to net zero (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos/episodes/advanced-energy-solutions-2024/)

    Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts (http://wef.ch/podcasts) :

    YouTube: (https://www.youtube.com/@wef/podcasts) – https://www.youtube.com/@wef/podcasts

    Radio Davos (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/radio-davos) – subscribe (https://pod.link/1504682164) : https://pod.link/1504682164

    Meet the Leader (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/meet-the-leader) – subscribe (https://pod.link/1534915560) : https://pod.link/1534915560

    Agenda Dialogues (https://www.weforum.org/podcasts/agenda-dialogues) – subscribe (https://pod.link/1574956552) : https://pod.link/1574956552

    Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/wefpodcastclub) : https://www.facebook.com/groups/wefpodcastclub

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWdNe_YudPQ

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnicians took silver at the Robofinist festival

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    In October, as part of the international festival Robofinist, the hackathon “StarLine Unmanned” was held, bringing together teams from all over Russia. Polytechnic was represented by two teams from the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport of SPbPU – “Turtleboys” and “Just robotics”.

    The hackathon’s objective was to develop a system for autonomously rescuing a robot from a labyrinth. Participants were provided with two robots: a “rescuer” equipped with a lidar and a depth camera, and a “rescued” robot equipped only with encoder odometry.

    The Turtleboys team consists of first-year Master’s students of the Higher School of Automation and Robotics Egor Pykhalov, Ivan Shevtsov, Georgy Kazantsev and IMMIT 2024 graduate Sergey Zemsky. The team demonstrated impressive results and took second place, just short of the championship.

    There wasn’t enough time to fully debug the solution on real robots, but victory was so close, the guys shared.

    The team would like to thank the Polytech Tower for providing equipment that helped prepare for the hackathon.

    “Just robotics” are first-year master’s students of the Higher School of Architecture and Rural Affairs (HSAR) Vladislav Malykhin, Anton Tyurin and this year’s graduate of the Institute of Metallurgy and Metallurgy (IMMT) Artem Kondratyev. They also demonstrated a high level of preparation and creativity.

    The StarLine Unmanned Hackathon has become an excellent platform for showcasing talent and sharing experiences among young specialists in the field of robotics.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Students of the State University of Management learned about the work of the Management Center of the Urban Economy Complex

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    On October 22, 2024, 1st and 3rd year students of the educational programs “Urban Studies and City Management”, “State and Municipal Administration”, accompanied by associate professors of the Department of State and Municipal Administration Irina Milkina and Bayrta Ubushaeva visited the Management Center of the City Economy Complex (MCC UHS).

    The center was created to promptly respond to problems related to monitoring the operation of housing and communal services facilities in Moscow. Analysts monitor various deviations around the clock, as well as analyze the causes of incidents and make forecast estimates. Today, a single technological platform combines all key sources of information. This facilitates the process of making strategic management decisions online.

    As part of the excursion, the students visited the 112 Service call center, the data processing center, and the situation room of the Central Control Center of the State Emergency Service.

    The students were shown the importance of coordinating the work of all services using specific examples, as well as the use of modern technologies to prevent problems. Often we do not notice the colossal work that is being done to improve the comfort of life of city residents. The participants of the excursion also learned that all the work of the Control Center is strictly regulated in order to promptly and effectively make decisions on the work of city services.

    The employees spoke about the importance of the work of not only the Central Office of the KGH, but also the “112 Service”. The work schedule of this capital service is 24 hours a day, since it is designed to provide emergency assistance and respond to calls at any time, so operators must always be at the workplace. And in order for operators to work effectively and not be overloaded after processing a dozen emotional calls, it is important that the work schedule and rest schedule are strictly observed, so when one employee is resting, another one comes to replace him.

    Students noted that despite the complexity and specificity of the work, the creation of this Center helps to improve the efficiency of urban management thanks to a modern information system.

    Malika Yarmukhamedova, 3rd year student: “I was pleased with the tour! I think that visiting this complex is very useful for development in urban studies. We were clearly shown all the components of the urban economy of the city of Moscow and the efficiency of their use. A puzzle of how city services function and coordinate came together in my head.”

    Ulyana Laryushina, 3rd year student: “Many thanks to the Center’s staff for clearly demonstrating how city services management functions. It was interesting to learn about modern technologies used in this area and to understand how decisions are made in emergency situations.”

    Ilya Dubodelov, 3rd year student: “I was pleased to talk to real specialists in the field of municipal services. I learned a lot of new things in this area, and was also amazed by the technologies used by the Center for Management of the Municipal Services Complex, and the overall coherence of all departments.”

    The State University of Management thanks the Department of Housing and Public Utilities of the City of Moscow, the State Budgetary Institution “MAC” and the State Budgetary Institution “System 112” for the opportunity to visit an important facility for managing the capital’s municipal economy.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/24/2024

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: A large-scale national (all-Russian) conference with international participation dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Department of Geotechnics is being held at SPbGASU

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Leading Engineer, Assistant Professor of the Department of Geotechnics, Scientific Secretary of the Conference Philipp Kalach, Anatoly Osokin, Rashid Mangushev, Evgeny Rybnov, Askar Zhusupbekov, Alexander Vikhrov

    On October 23, the National (All-Russian) Scientific and Technical Conference with international participation “Modern Methods of Design, Underground Construction and Reconstruction of Foundations and Bases” opened at SPbGASU.

    Welcoming the participants, Rector of SPbGASU Evgeny Rybnov emphasized that since 2003, holding conferences on geotechnics at our university has become a tradition. During this period, 17 all-Russian and international conferences have been held, which invariably arouse the interest of specialists in the field of mechanics and soils, foundations, foundations and engineering geology.

    “The large number of participants confirms the importance of geotechnics as the most important area of ​​construction science and serves as a tribute to the scientific traditions and achievements of the Department of Geotechnics of St. Petersburg State University of Civil Engineering, founded in 1934. Over the years, famous scientists in our country and abroad, honored scientists of the RSFSR, professors Tsytovich, Vasiliev, Maslov, Dalmatov, Sotnikov, Mangushev, worked on it. In the last two years, the department has been headed by Honored Builder of Russia, laureate of awards from the Government of Russia and St. Petersburg, Candidate of Technical Sciences Anatoly Ivanovich Osokin. Since its formation, the department has been one of the leading departments of our university, which has trained many engineers, candidates and doctors of technical sciences. The department has created and is successfully developing a scientific school for the development of current issues in construction geotechnics. First of all, this is research on improving foundation construction on weak and highly compressible soils, including pile foundations and foundations for high-rise buildings, research on the development of deformations of structures and their prediction, research on frozen and thawing soils and their use as foundations for structures. The department is also conducting research on improving methods for constructing underground structures, consolidating foundation soils and strengthening the foundations of buildings during their reconstruction, and developing numerical methods for calculating the foundations of underground structures. Over the past 15 years, employees of the department have published numerous textbooks and teaching aids, monographs, reference books on geotechnics, which have become reference books for engineers and teachers of universities in Russia, the CIS countries and the Far Abroad,” said Evgeniy Rybnov.

    He specified that the conference will provide an opportunity for geotechnical specialists to exchange the latest scientific achievements, establish new useful contacts, and also get acquainted with historical and recently built unique objects of St. Petersburg.

    As reported by the corresponding member of RAASN, the head of the scientific school, the director of the Scientific and Production-Consulting Center of Geotechnology of SPbGASU, professor Rashid Mangushev, over the past 20 years the university and the department of geotechnics have regularly held such conferences. This year the conference is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the department. It is attended by specialists from 23 cities and 13 countries, including the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia. More than 110 reports will be heard.

    The President of the Russian Society for Soil Mechanics, Geotechnics and Foundation Engineering, Vyacheslav Ilyichev, called St. Petersburg a monument to geotechnics.

    “To build such a city now, we would need surveys, soil research methods, and computer programs. That didn’t exist back then, but the city was built: for centuries and beautifully. Geotechnics has been developing for many years, and the leading universities of St. Petersburg, where outstanding scientific schools have been created and highly qualified specialists are trained, play a major role in this. Domestic science has always been the basis of our country’s technological independence. And we continue to serve as this basis,” noted Vyacheslav Ilyichev.

    A member of the Council of the National Association of Surveyors and Designers (NOPRIZ), President of the Association of SRO “Baltic Association of Designers”, a graduate of LISI (now SPbGASU), who previously held the positions of dean, vice-rector of our university, Alexander Vikhrov confirmed that decades ago, young specialists really did not have any tools except a slide rule. But science developed, and before his eyes such tools appeared and improved

    “90 years – is it a lot or a little? For history – a particle. Despite the solid anniversary, the department is only at the beginning of its development, it keeps up with the times and continues to make a great contribution to solving modern problems of the industry, city, country, world,” says Alexander Vikhrov.

    SPbGASU and, in particular, the Department of Geotechnics have been interacting with the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (KGIOP) of St. Petersburg for many years, the acting chairman of the committee, Alexey Mikhailov, emphasized in his welcoming address. He noted the high level of involvement of students and postgraduates in current urban issues in the field of urban development and adaptation of cultural heritage sites to modern use.

    “Our city is quite young, but it contains almost 10% of all historical and cultural monuments of the country. Along with preserving the cultural heritage and historical environment, we must develop the infrastructure of the metropolis for the comfortable life of citizens and tourists. To successfully solve this problem, we need to be guided by modern scientific research in the field of soil mechanics and geotechnics, exchange experience in the design, construction and reconstruction of complex geotechnical objects in various engineering and geological conditions,” said Alexey Mikhailov.

    The President of the Kazakhstan Geotechnical Association, Honorary Doctor of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, and graduate of the department, Askar Zhusupbekov, confirmed that the Department of Geotechnics has always been famous for its outstanding world-class scientists and talented students.

    “Continuing the traditions, the department is developing. Last year, the Kazakhstan Geotechnical Association held a large-scale international scientific and technical conference, which was attended by 982 people from 88 countries. And I would like to proudly note that the most representative and largest delegation was from your university. SPbGASU demonstrates high scientific achievements and knows how to organize effective scientific and practical platforms within its walls, which include the current conference,” concluded Askar Zhusupbekov.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The results of the internship of Russian specialists in Belarus have been summed up

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    The final part of the internship of Russian specialists in the Republic of Belarus took place in Minsk and facilities close to the country’s capital.

    On October 21, members of the Russian delegation took part in a contact exchange with companies representing businesses and potential B2B partners from Belarus. The event was opened by the Director of the Federal Resource Center, Alexey Bunkin. The head of the Rossotrudnichestvo representative office in the Republic of Belarus, Yury Makushin, also addressed the Russian and Belarusian participants with an opening speech.

    During the event, the current state of foreign trade relations between Russia and Belarus, promising export and import directions, the peculiarities of local buyers’ perception of Russian products, issues of certification, logistics and mutual settlements were discussed, and numerous personal meetings, conversations and exchange of contacts took place.

    Then a visit to the office of the Free Economic Zone “Minsk” took place. The deputy head of the FEZ administration spoke in detail about its functioning, features in comparison with other zones, answered questions from members of the Russian delegation.

    Next, the internship participants visited the production facilities of ZAPAGROMASH LLC, the CIS leader in the production of agricultural machinery, including for feeding and keeping cattle, and Minsk Tractor Plant OJSC, the oldest enterprise in the republic and the largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery.

    During the visits, the delegation members learned about the history of the companies, examined samples of manufactured equipment and a number of production shops, including assembly shops, and discussed issues of interest to them with the management of the enterprises, with special attention paid to the topic of ensuring social security for workers.

    In the evening of the same day, Alexey Bunkin held a briefing with the internship participants, during which the results of the work were summed up, the achieved results were presented, and the prospects for the development of subsequent similar projects were discussed.

    On the final day of the internship, October 22, the delegation visited the Great Stone Industrial Park. They were given a thorough introduction to the history of the park’s creation and its present day, had a dialogue with the deputy head of the administration with answers to numerous questions, and toured the territory.

    The Russian delegation then moved to the building of the Belarusian State University of Economics and took part in a session on business education as part of the Second Forum of the Scientific and Educational Consortium “Eurasian Network University”, held by the State University of Management. Leading specialists from a number of consulting companies in the Republic of Belarus spoke to the internship participants.

    Also in the BGEU building, the vice-rector of the State University of Management Dmitry Bryukhanov and Alexey Bunkin presented certificates of advanced training in the program “Economic cooperation in the agro-industrial complex” to the participants of the Presidential program for training management personnel.

    The business program of the internship of Russian specialists in Minsk ended in the same place where it began – in the building of the Trade Mission of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus. The meeting was attended by the representative of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Belarus Ilya Fedorov, the head of the department for promoting direct foreign investment and import substitution of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus Anastasia Dedyulya, the head of the production and marketing department of the KUP “Myasomolprom” of the Minsk Regional Executive Committee Tatyana Volozgina, a number of heads of commercial and manufacturing enterprises from the agro-industrial complex.

    The Russian and Belarusian participants once again considered possible areas and prospects for cooperation, and exchanged contacts for further interaction. Moreover, the discussion was based on information and experience gained during their stay in Belarus.

    The results of the intensive practice-oriented internship of Russian specialists in Belarus were familiarization with successful examples of entrepreneurship, establishment of contacts with both representatives of local businesses and Russian representative bodies that ensure the state interests of Russia in the sphere of foreign economic activity in Belarus.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 10/24/2024

    Internships for Russian specialists in the Republic of Belarus took place in Minsk and facilities close to the country’s capital.

    On October 21, members of the Russian delegation took part in a contact exchange with companies representing businesses and potential B2B partners from Belarus….

    ” data-yashareImage=”https://guu.ru/wp-content/uploads/Беларусь-2024-1.jpg” data-yashareLink=”https://guu.ru/%d0%bf%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%b2%d0%b5%d0%b4%d0%b5%d0%bd%d1%8b-%d0%b8%d1%82%d0%be%d0%b3%d0%b8-%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b0%d0%b6%d0%b8%d1%80%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%ba%d0%b8-%d1%80%d0%be%d1%81%d1%81%d0%b8%d0%b9%d1%81%d0%ba/”>

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: World Polio Day: MHRA trains worldwide laboratories in early detection of polio using breakthrough advanced technology

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is highlighting our work training multiple World Health Organisation (WHO) polio laboratories around the world.

    Today, World Polio Day, 24 October 2024, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is highlighting our work training multiple World Health Organisation (WHO) polio laboratories around the world using an advanced molecular direct detection method that can halve detection times – supporting the global effort to eradicate polio and helping save lives.

    In collaboration with Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh, Biosurv International and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, we have trained 25 countries in just over one year on the use of a technique called Direct Detection by Nanopore Sequencing (DDNS). This method can speed up the detection of polio outbreaks, saving public health authorities crucial time and money. This includes training laboratories in Pakistan, one of the last two countries where polio remains endemic, with the number of cases increasing this year.

    It is vitally important to detect polio early, as the infection moves rapidly within a population. By the time the first signs of polio appear in a country, many hundreds of people are typically already infected and can unknowingly pass on the virus to others who may not be fully vaccinated and protected. The virus – most commonly transmitted through contact with infected faeces via contaminated food and water – multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis.

    Training worldwide in-country laboratories in rapid detection – using the DDNS method –enables samples to be tested in the country where the outbreak originated, rather than being sent to specialist laboratories abroad. This means the costs and delays of transport and testing can be reduced from an average of 42 days to an average of 19 days – a time saving that saves lives.

    A study published in Nature Microbiology last year, showed that our research, jointly conducted with partners, using the DDNS method to detect polio outbreaks can halve the detection time. This research indicated that DDNS tests done locally, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, over a six-month period were an average of 23 days faster than the standard method, with over 99% accuracy.

    Training laboratories in the DDNS method takes one to two weeks and is carried out by scientists from the MHRA, as well as colleagues from Imperial College London. It involves a combination of theoretical and practical sessions covering all aspects of the DDNS method from sample processing, nucleic acid extraction, PCR amplification, sequencing, analysis and interpretation of results.

    The training also encompasses methodological troubleshooting and utility of the detailed quality assurance programme associated with the method. The University of Edinburgh provides the bioinformatics expertise and have created purpose-designed analytical software to process the sequencing data produced by the method. Biosurv International support supply chains and participate in training and quality control review of data. 

    Javier Martin, Principal Scientist in Virology at the MHRA said:

    This worldwide training in the DDNS method for rapid detection of polio is a key strand in the global fight to eradicate polio, alongside vaccination programmes.

    Carrying out this work with our partners, which is the result of years of research, plays an essential part in managing outbreaks that threaten the global eradication effort and will help make polio a disease of the past.

    We are already initiating collaboration with laboratories in Africa training them to monitor different virus threats, such as Hepatitis E. The potential use of this faster detection technique has almost limitless possibilities for the protection of global health.

    Dr Alex Shaw, Research Fellow in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London talked about the potential that this DDNS method has for use with other diseases:

    The WHO has identified delays in detection as one of the major challenges facing their Polio eradication strategy 2022–2026. Training 25 countries in the past year to detect polio faster allows us to identify where outbreaks are and which polio strain is present much more quickly, allowing us to act at the earliest opportunity.

    This advanced sequencing technology is not only being used to strengthen poliovirus surveillance but is also easily adapted for the detection of other organisms. The worldwide training programme will, therefore, provide a foundation of skills and experience that can be redirected to the genomic surveillance of other pathogens, as needed.

    The most recent laboratory training programme was conducted in Angola and Tanzania and included scientists from Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Eritrea, Malawi and Rwanda. We conducted training at the MHRA South Mimms site for European laboratories in June 2024 (Germany, France, Finland, Netherlands, Italy and Ukraine).

    Scientists at the MHRA and their partners will continue to support the testing and validation of DDNS as a polio detection technique and to train WHO laboratories around the world in how to use it. We will travel to Thailand in mid-November 2024 to train scientists from Thailand, India and Indonesia. Additional training activities and implementation visits are planned for 2025 onwards.

    Notes to editors 

    1. The ‘Sensitive poliovirus detection using nested PCR and nanopore sequencing: a prospective validation study’ was published in August 2023 in Nature Microbiology. The research was jointly conducted by researchers at the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in Kinshasa who implemented DDNS in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for the detection of polio outbreaks in collaboration with the MHRA, Imperial College London, the University of Edinburgh and various laboratories of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Polio Laboratory Network (GPLN), with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
    2. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe.  All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks. 
    3. The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care. 

    For media enquiries, please contact the newscentre@mhra.gov.uk, or call on 020 3080 7651.

    Updates to this page

    Published 24 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Rosneft Supports Project to Create Genomic Database of Arctic Organisms

    Source: Rosneft

    Headline: Rosneft Supports Project to Create Genomic Database of Arctic Organisms

    Rosneft, together with Innopraktika, a non-governmental development institute, and the Centre for Whole-Genome Sequencing, has launched a unique project to create a genomic database of living organisms in the Russian Arctic. This information is essential for long-term planning for the sustainable development of the region and the conservation of its fragile ecosystems.

    In the first phase, specialists in different taxonomic groups will analyse the biodiversity of the Arctic and select the most valuable species for study.

    Priority work includes the assembly of the complete polar bear genome, which will be carried out by staff from the Centre for Whole-Genome Sequencing. The high-performance computing cluster, one of the top 20 supercomputers in Russia, enables fast and high-quality processing of huge amounts of information and obtaining the most accurate data for subsequent interpretation.

    Specialists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and other leading research institutes in the country were also involved to create a roadmap for the new project and identify priority research areas. Using cutting-edge genetic technologies, scientists will study the mechanisms of speciation and the ability of Arctic animals to adapt to harsh environmental conditions, clarify the taxonomic status of individual species, and develop recommendations for monitoring the health of Arctic ecosystems.

    The new environmental initiative is part of Rosneft’s comprehensive research programme in the Russian Arctic. The Company’s Arctic Research Centre is carrying out the most ambitious programme of research in the region since Soviet times, with more than 50 major expeditions over the past 10 years and unprecedented geographical coverage of hydrometeorological, geological and biological research.

    Reference:

    The creation of genetic databases and whole-genome sequencing are designed to preserve genetic information to protect endangered species. Scientists are studying their evolution and characteristics, investigating the extent of anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems, and calculating ways to mitigate potential threats.

    In recent years, many projects have been launched to analyse genomic data (Bird 10,000 Genomes Project (B10K) in China, international mammalian genome analysis project Zoonomia Project, etc.), but this is the first initiative to study the genomes of organisms from the Russian Arctic.

    Rosneft
    Information Division
    September 11, 2024

    Keywords: Environmental news 2024

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Hochul Participates in Axios Fireside Chat

    Source: US State of New York

    Earlier today, Governor Kathy Hochul participated in Axios’ Fireside Chat with Dan Primack. Axios is an American news website based in Arlington, VA. It was founded in 2014 and launched the following year by former Politico journalists Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz. Axios’ BFD is a half-day event where reporters will convene industry leaders to unpack their hyper-relevant news and trends. This event offers attendees an inside track into some of the biggest topics on investors’ minds.

    VIDEO of the event is available on YouTube here and available in TV quality (h.264. mp4) format here.

    AUDIO of the Governor’s remarks is available here.

    PHOTOS of the event are available on the Governor’s Flickr page.

    A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:

    Dan Primack, Axios: As I’ve said a couple of times from this stage, we are a couple of weeks away from an election, so it felt apropos that we should have an actual politician on stage — not just somebody talking about politics. So please welcome the Governor of New York, Governor Kathy Hochul.

    Governor Hochul: An actual politician?

    Dan Primack, Axios: An actual politician. Sorry, is that offensive?

    Governor Hochul: I prefer an elected official. It sounds a little nicer, but if you have to call me a politician, I’ve been called worse.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Alright. So, governor, you’ve said — Governor’s Office says — but you’ve said you want to make New York the most business friendly state in the country. How do you gauge that? What’s your metric for that?

    Governor Hochul: Well, sometimes it’s not what you do, it’s what you stop from happening. Like a major tax increase on high net worth people that I was able to, you know, stop in its tracks last year. Because I’m not in the business of driving successful people out of our state, I want to bring them back to the State. And so, it’s also, it’s economic policies, it’s also saying that, you know, “We’re going to break down some barriers for you and we’ll be there with financial incentives.” And we’ll talk about Micron, I presume, but there’s no way Micron was going to build the nation’s largest semiconductor facility — $100 billion of investment, the largest in our history, with 50,000 jobs — if there weren’t incentives from the Biden-Harris Administration. But that just meant that all 50 states could compete. I had to win that war and put $10 billion on the table for that entire industry. So you have to have incentives in place, you have to go after the businesses you want, and now I’m going after the whole supply chain to support Micron and others who are coming. So, it’s very intentional. You don’t say, “We’re in New York. Everybody’s going to come,” because we’re in a competitive race and I’m a very competitive person. So I don’t want to lose that and I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure people know that we are the place, and I’ll be judged by how many jobs we create. I’m starting off with 50,000 right there, so I’m already ahead of the game.

    We’ve also created more manufacturing jobs, stopping a 30 year decline in manufacturing. Now we’re talking about advanced manufacturing. So, we have the evidence to show that in the three years I’ve been governor, really putting the focus on this, we’re seeing results already.

    Dan Primack, Axios: How do you, you know — a big part of what you’re working on, and we’ve heard a bunch today about this Empire AI Initiative. And as part of this, you got about $275 million from the State and there’s another $150 million from the private sector. It’s an enormous amount of money. However, it’s also less than 10 percent, say of what OpenAI, a California company, raised in the private sector on its own just two weeks ago. Can companies in New York compete with what’s happening in Silicon Valley when you see — in AI — when you see the enormous amounts of money going into these companies?

    Governor Hochul: I’m not competing with the private sector to own AI. My view is — as I announced in my State of the State last January — that whoever owns this next chapter of AI for public good will own everything. So what we have —

    Dan Primack, Axios: What does that mean for public good?

    Governor Hochul: I will be very happy to tell you. I was just at the University of Buffalo two weeks ago with Marilyn Simons and Tom Secunda — the individuals who helped us innovate this, which no other state in the nation has entertained. I can tell you that Microsoft and OpenAI — they have amazing supercomputers dedicated to AI for their own profit; for the private sector. But we said, “We want to democratize AI, make it available to solve society’s problems, innovate new cancer therapies, help us predict weather better than we have been, so I know when that storm is coming and what I can do to prepare for it,” and all kinds of social problems that we can solve by being creative. So what I decided to do is put $275 million with the Legislature’s support — and that’s not always the easiest thing to do — then convince them to let go of that money and really take a leap of faith with me. But then the private sector raised $150 million — but we have university partners. This is what sets us apart. I have Cornell and NYU and RPI and Flight Iron Institute, Columbia, CUNY and SUNY schools all have bought into this, so they get a piece of the action. Their researchers, their students can use the power that I’ve created at a place called Buffalo, New York — where I’m from — and that is going to power the whole state’s research. And so nobody else touched this.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Are you — and you mentioned Buffalo, New York, and we were talking backstage — are you concerned about the power needs for this supercomputer and other AI projects in the State?

    Governor Hochul: Well, I picked Buffalo for a variety of reasons — and we just announced another supercomputer at the University of Albany — but because power is less expensive Upstate, It’s more plentiful; space is less expensive. So it’s all being used across the State. But as far as its home — I have Niagara Falls, which has been powering our state since since the original Tesla. So, we’ve been doing this since the turn of the last century.

    So, I’m always concerned about capacity though as we’re attracting more and more, you know, large data centers and the supply chain companies that are now rushing to New York. I mean, I’ve been bringing companies from all over the world to Upstate New York now because of this whole innovation ecosystem we’re creating. But I have to focus on — not just our wind and solar and hydro and geothermal — but we’re going to have to look at other sources as well and be real aggressive about it because the states that are leaning into the energy sources are the ones that’ll win the race and we cannot lose that.

    Dan Primack, Axios: From your perspective, what is the biggest mistake businesses make when dealing with New York State government?

    Governor Hochul: When they’re dealing with our state government they have to have more skin in the game, and I want them to be fostering our social goals. And let me explain why Micron was so attractive to us: I’m a mom. I used to work on Capitol Hill for Senator Moynihan a long time ago. When my kids were born, I had no child care, had to leave the workforce for a while. We talk to companies like Micron and we say, “We want a number of things from you. We’ll help you. We want you to provide child care on site.” A lot of companies would say, “I’m not sure.” I said, “Do you want to diversify your workforce? Would you like to get more women? Would you like to get young women? Would you like to have it be a family friendly place?” Guess what they’re building right now? A child care center on site. We want them to draw from the neighbors, the neighboring communities that are underserved — the City of Syracuse. We want you to put in workforce development programs. We’re literally changing the curriculum in nine counties around where Micron will go, working with our teachers union, to say, “We’re going to teach young people coding and other computer science skills while they’re still in grade school and high school.”

    So when Micron says, “Why would we come to Upstate New York?” You’re asking me to do all these things to further your social goal. But this is for your workforce. You’ll have a workforce that is not transitional. You’re not always going to have to be hiring someone. They’re not going to leave you after 18 months. They will stay. And that is part of the culture of Upstate New York, where I’m from, with the legacy industries, like the Bethlehem Steels — where my dad and grandpa worked — and Kodak and Bausch and Lomb. I say to them, “One of the drivers of why people should be coming to New York State is that we have a workforce that is brilliant. But also, they’ll stay with the company unlike what happens in other parts of the United States.”

    Dan Primack, Axios: Let me tie two things together. You talked about skin in the game and you’ve talked about Buffalo and Upstate New York. One of the biggest deals I guess you’ve done as Governor is getting the stadium financing deal done for your Buffalo Bills. I will say your Buffalo Bills.

    Governor Hochul: No, no. The only team that plays in New York.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Fair enough. The only team that plays in New York.

    Governor Hochul: Okay, and I love my other teams too, but just —

    Dan Primack, Axios: Fair. Look, I’m from Boston, I — good, yeah, slam the Jets and the Giants, I’m good with this.

    Governor Hochul: You want to go there? Okay. How are the Red Sox doing? How are the Red Sox doing?

    Dan Primack, Axios: We don’t waste our money. Okay, so we — let me just ask though — when you talked about skin in the game, the package for the new Bills stadium is the most public financing ever for a football stadium in the U.S. Why don’t the taxpayers of New York get some skin in the game themselves? Why was there talk about negotiating some actual equity for the State of New York in this team?

    Governor Hochul: Here’s what I’m going to explain to you: Look at the more recent data. This is not the largest subsidy for a team.

    Dan Primack, Axios: But it’s huge. Let’s just stipulate very big.

    Governor Hochul: Well, in proportion to the cost. And I was very smart when I negotiated this because I said, “There’s no cost escalation for the State.” So we’re in for $650 million of what’ll be well over a $2 billion stadium. The State of Tennessee kicked in a billion for their stadium. So we’re not in that league. But also, what happened was it wasn’t just waking up one day and — oh, let’s do a new stadium. They had a lease that expired. Other states were looking to recruit them. I know this for a fact. It’s a small market, the Buffalo Bills, there’s companies, states and cities that were luring them. I had to close the deal, because this is part of the identity of most of Upstate New York. Most of Upstate New York affiliates with this team, and this is important — an economic driver as well. We get a return on investment. After 17 years, I will have paid back that $650 million just in the income tax on salaries from the players.

    Dan Primack, Axios: In that amount of time, the value of the team could be five times what it is now, and it’s the owner of the team who’s going to get to benefit the most.

    Governor Hochul: Well, I’ve made sure that they are a Buffalo Bills team, not one of the other five cities that I was in competition with. Remember, I don’t lose anything — we don’t lose. This is an economic decision and the money will be paid back in 17 years, or perhaps sooner the way the salaries are going.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Let me ask something else about balancing because you’ve talked about balancing, which is obviously the New York City congestion tax, or the congestion fee, rather, which you decided to kill shortly before it went into impact. How do you balance economic needs of the City and of the State with your climate goal?

    Governor Hochul: Again, I’m going to correct a word here — kill versus pause.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Okay, indefinitely pause. Is that indefinite going to come off?

    Governor Hochul: I never used the word indefinitely. Those are people who are criticizing my decision to say that at this point — when we are dealing with escalating inflation, which was not even a factor — this is the first time in four years that inflation has really been a real burden for New Yorkers.

    Fifteen dollars to start out of the blue. All of a sudden, turn it on — it didn’t take into consideration how New Yorkers are struggling right now. So, I said we’re going to put this on a pause for now, because I also have many other energy goals and climate goals that I’m focused on, but that does not mean it is dead. I know how to kill something. I did not kill it.

    Dan Primack, Axios: You’ve said there’d be — I think you said, and correct me if I’m wrong — there’d be a replacement plan by year-end. Is that still on target?

    Governor Hochul: Yes. We have until the year-end.

    Dan Primack, Axios: You have until year-end. Do you expect that by year-end, there will be a replacement plan?

    Governor Hochul: I will have revealed, to the world, the strategy that we’ve been working on for a long time with the Legislature, which is also involved. I want to be clear on that. The Legislature is not in session right now, but that was a decision that was based on the fact that $15 is too much for New Yorkers right now. And, even London — that people tout and look at what they did in London — they started at €8 at the time and gradually, over time, went up to that, so there’s not a shock to the system.

    And, also, I’m focused on bringing the City back. People can work remotely, right? This wasn’t even an option when this congestion pricing was put in place in 2019. It wasn’t even an option. Of course you’re going to come to work. And it’s $3,800 more a year at $15.

    That’s a lot for a teacher, or a health care worker, or a delivery person coming in from Queens or a plumber coming into town. So, I’m just the kind of Governor that’s going to look at the impacts of decisions — who’s being hurt by this? Can they defend themselves? Do they have lobbyists? Do they have access to the editorial boards? No, these folks don’t. I was their voice, but I’m also saying, I am so vested in making sure that we achieve our climate goals because I believe in them.

    I grew up in a toxic environmental dump. The air was orange when I was growing up because of the smoke billowing out of the steel plant, which created 20,000 jobs, but nobody cared about the environmental impact. So, I’m going to make sure that New York continues to be nation leading and achieving our energy goals, our climate goals.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Do you feel the remote work or the hybrid work revolution — call it post-COVID — do you feel that’s changed Manhattan permanently?

    Governor Hochul: Yes. Yes, it has. But we can always reimagine Manhattan just like we did after 9/11 — and, I give Mayor Bloomberg a lot of credit for what he did during that era. When you look at this place, people did not live in lower Manhattan, they worked there but they never lived there. Now, it is a thriving 24/7 community.

    We can do that in Midtown as well, and I’m convinced of this — that we can take with the laws I had to change because you couldn’t convert commercial into residential without a change in the law that I was able to secure just a few months ago. Now developers can look at a commercial building in Midtown and say, “You know what? It’s only 30 percent full. I’m not sure people are coming back. Let’s convert it into housing.”

    Now I’ve got more affordability because I’ve created supply, which is everything.

    Dan Primack, Axios: You mentioned Mayor Bloomberg. Let me ask about a more recent, current mayor. Business people talk all the time about wanting certainty. They often do it for their own purposes. How is it problematic for New York City’s business particularly, to have a mayor who is under indictment?

    Governor Hochul: I speak to business leaders all day long, including this morning over a breakfast meeting. Some significant leaders. And I asked them that question: How are you feeling? And the answer was, “Well, three weeks ago, it was a hair on fire moment.” And I’ve stepped in to offer the stability to say, we’ll work with the Mayor to get through this because I come from a business family. I know uncertainty is paralyzing, but they are expressing to me that they now have confidence, there’s been changes in the administration.

    They know that I’m keeping an eye on this situation because I want the City — and I represent 8.3 million New York City residents as well. These are my constituents. We will make sure that their services are provided. They will not see a disruption in what they’re accustomed to getting because they deserve to have the best. And I’m watching all this.

    Dan Primack, Axios: You obviously originally were running mates, or you served under former Governor Cuomo. There’s lots of talk about him possibly running for mayor here. I’m not asking, obviously, who you would endorse. I’m asking, should voters consider him as a viable candidate if he chooses to run, given what happened in the past and some of the things you’ve said about what he did in the past?

    Governor Hochul: I’m not here to pass judgment on people right now. But I will say this: New Yorkers deserve people with integrity and accomplishments and who do things for the right reasons. Who will do it for the benefit of the people and not their own self-serving reasons. So I will be looking for people like that.

    Right now we have a mayor — we have an elected mayor of the City of New York. Everything could change or everything may not change. But we do know we have an election two weeks from now. Two weeks from now. And that is the one that we’re focused on, as well as my intensive, intensive work — not just for Kamala Harris.

    I just got back from seeing her in Michigan and we were in Pennsylvania, but here in New York, we have the opportunity to give President Kamala Harris a Democratic House Representatives. And I am laser focused on making sure Hakeem Jeffries, our very own New Yorker who knows our community and its needs and knows I’m going to need money for the MTA for example. Give me more money for public transit. That’s my number one ask. I have to make sure we pick up some seats in the Hudson Valley. And in Long Island, I just came in from Long Island just a little short time ago. And, you know, the polls are showing that areas that were written off, are now in place. So the world is going to change in two weeks.

    Dan Primack, Axios: Let me ask one quick final question because we are out of time. You have said you are, I think the term was “Not going anywhere.” Plan to run for reelection here. If Kamala Harris wins the White House and she calls you up, says, “Governor Hochul, we would like you to come down to D.C. and serve as secretary of X.” Are you going?

    Governor Hochul: I’m going to say this and you can quote me 1,000 times: “President Harris, I’m honored that you’d consider me to join your brand new administration — historic. I’m so excited about you, but I’m going to do better for you continuing as the Governor of New York because you’re going to need allies in our state houses to make sure that we continue the great partnership that I’ve had with the Biden Administration. And I’m not going anywhere.”

    Dan Primack, Axios: Governor. Thank you. Appreciate it

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosaccreditation has once again confirmed the competence of the SPbGASU Testing Center

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering –

    The Federal Accreditation Service (Rosaccreditation) confirmed the competence and expanded the scope of accreditation of the SPbGASU Testing Center. The corresponding order was received on October 17.

    As reported by the employee of the Testing Center, Associate Professor of the Department of Construction Materials Technology and Metrology Irina Aubakirova, the Testing Center of SPbGASU has been accredited in the national accreditation system since May 2015. This year, it once again confirmed its competence, which was the merit of all three divisions: the sector of testing construction materials and products, the sector of mechanical testing of building structures, the sector of physical and technical testing of building structures.

    “The competence confirmation procedure proves that the accredited person consistently complies with the requirements of GOST ISO/IEC 17025-2019 and the accreditation criteria. However, by the time of the inspection, it is necessary to analyze the technical equipment of all departments (the availability of verification, calibration and certification of all measuring instruments and testing equipment) in accordance with the scope of accreditation, update the regulatory framework and verify test methods according to newly introduced standards. An important task for the entire Testing Center was to demonstrate the implemented management system. In 2024, the management system documents were updated: Quality Manual, Testing Center Regulation, internal audits were conducted, risks and opportunities were analyzed, information on customer satisfaction was collected, and the competence of the personnel was assessed,” said Irina Aubakirova.

    “This is a guarantee that we conduct experiments in full compliance with all standards. We have not had a single complaint, a 100% hit,” noted the director of the Test Center, Sergey Bezpalchuk.

    The Testing Center is a structural subdivision of SPbGASU. It conducts independent tests of construction products: materials, products, structures, independent of manufacturers and consumers.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: MHCLG appoints Mo Baines as MHCLG Lead Non-Executive Director 

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Mo Baines confirmed as new Lead Non-Executive Director of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. 

    The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, has today confirmed that Mo Baines will join the Board of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as Lead Non-Executive Director (NED) for a one-year term, taking effect from 21st October. 

    Mo Baines is an expert in public policy and local government, with a particular interest in service delivery models, local government finance and research.  She is currently Chief Executive at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), and visiting professor at the University of Staffordshire’s Centre for Business, Innovation and the Regions. 

    The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner said: 

    “I’m delighted that Mo will be joining the MHCLG Board. Her knowledge and experience of how local government and public services operate will inform the work and direction of the department, and I look forward to working with her to drive forward our ambitious agenda over the next year.” 

    MHCLG Lead Non-Executive Director, Mo Baines said: 

    “I’m honoured to be joining the Department at this time to deliver such an important, challenging and exciting agenda. I look forward to working with the skilled and dedicated team of colleagues from across MHCLG, and wider partners within and across the local government, housing and communities sector.” 

    For more information:

    About Mo Baines

    Mo Baines joined the Board of the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government in October 2024. 

    Mo has extensive experience of working in public policy and local government, with a particular background in service delivery models, local government finance and research.  She is the Chief Executive at the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) and visiting professor at the University of Staffordshire’s Centre for Business, Innovation and the Regions. 

    Mo has served in a number of other public sector roles over the course of her career, including as Head of Communications and Deputy Chief Executive of APSE, prior to her appointment as Chief Executive. Mo has authored and contributed to a number of public policy research papers and publications on service delivery and insourcing, housing and planning, workforce matters and local government finance. Mo has throughout her career worked closely with public sector trade unions, local councils and councillors across the UK and is passionate about the value of local government services to communities. 

    About the MHCLG Board 

    The Departmental Board is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, and comprises all junior ministers, senior officials, the Lead Non-Executive and non-executive board members (appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines).  The board meets quarterly, with overarching responsibility for departmental performance and delivery. 

    The Board provides overall leadership for the department’s business, as well as advice, support and challenge on the delivery and performance of key policy areas and programmes against priority outcomes.   

    About the appointment process  

    The Deputy Prime Minister has undertaken this appointment on an interim basis without competition in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments and following consultation with the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The appointment will now ensure that there is NED representation at the first Ministerial Board in November. A competitive recruitment for all other permanent NEDs will take place within the next year and a competitive recruitment for the Lead NED will run once these are in place.

    Updates to this page

    Published 23 October 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kevin P. Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director, Global Development Policy Center, Boston University

    At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset.

    The special drawing right is an international reserve asset created by the IMF. It is not a currency – its value is based on a basket of five currencies, the biggest chunk of which is the US dollar, followed by the euro. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. Special drawing rights can provide a country with liquidity.

    Countries can use their special drawing rights to pay back IMF loans, or they can exchange them for foreign currencies.

    As Mottley is the newest president of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and Vulnerable Group of 20 (V20) finance ministers, which represents 68 climate-vulnerable countries that are among those with the most dire liquidity needs, including 32 African countries, her call would be directly beneficial to African countries.

    In August 2021, as the shock from the COVID-19 pandemic battered their economies, African countries received a lifeline of US$33 billion from special drawing rights. This amounts to more than all the climate finance Africa receives each year, and more than half of all annual official development assistance to Africa.

    This US$33 billion did not add to African countries’ debt burden, it did not come with any conditions, and it did not cost donors a single cent to provide.

    IMF members can vote to create new issuances of special drawing rights. They are then distributed to countries in proportion to their quotas in the IMF. Quotas are denominated in special drawing rights, the IMF’s unit of account.

    Quotas are the building blocks of the IMF’s financial and governance structure. An individual member country’s quota broadly reflects its relative position in the world economy. Thus, by design, the poorest and most vulnerable countries receive the least when it comes to quotas and voting shares.

    Special drawing rights cannot solve all of Africa’s economic challenges. And their highly technical nature means they are not always well understood. But at a time when African countries are facing chronic liquidity challenges – most countries in the region are spending more on debt service payments than they are on health, education, or climate change – our new research shows that special drawing rights can play an important role in establishing financial stability and enabling investments for development.

    Financial stability includes macroeconomic stability (such as low inflation, healthy balance of payments, sufficient foreign reserves), a strong financial system and resilience to shocks.

    African leaders are approaching a critical year-long opportunity: in November, the first Group of 20 (G20) summit will convene (with the African Union in attendance as a member for the first time). Then in December South Africa assumes the G20 presidency.

    Read more: South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

    As African leaders advocate for reforms to the international financial architecture, maximising the potential of special drawing rights should be a central component of their agenda.

    The problem

    African countries’ finances are facing tough times. External debt in sub-Saharan Africa has tripled since 2008. The average government is now spending 12% of its revenue on external debt service. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and rises in interest rates and the prices of commodities, like food and fertiliser, have all contributed to this trend.

    Debt restructuring mechanisms have also proved inadequate. Countries like Zambia and Ghana got stuck in lengthy restructurings. Weak institutional capacity and poor governance also impede efficient use of public resources.

    At the same time, African economies need to increase investment to advance development, support a young and growing population, develop climate resilience and take advantage of the opportunity presented by the energy transition.

    To meet the resources for a just energy transition and the attainment of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, investment in climate and development will have to increase from around 24% of GDP (the average for Africa in 2022) to 37%.

    Special drawing rights have proved to be an important tool in addressing these challenges. Research by the IMF and others shows that African countries significantly benefited from the special drawing rights they received in 2021 to stabilise their economies. And this happened without worsening debt burdens or costing advanced economies any money, particularly as they cut development aid.

    However, advanced economies exercise significant control over the availability of special drawing rights. The IMF’s quota system determines both voting power and their distribution. Advanced economies control most of the IMF’s quotas.

    The advanced economies made the right decision in 2021 and in 2009 to issue new special drawing rights and the time has come again.

    The solution

    African and other global south leaders need to make a strong case for another issuance of special drawing rights at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington.

    In addition to a new issuance of special drawing rights, advanced economies still need to be pressured to re-channel the hundreds of billions of special drawing rights sitting idle on their balance sheets into productive purposes.

    The 2021 allocation of special drawing rights amounted to US$650 billion in total. But only US$33 billion went to African countries due to the IMF’s unequal quota distribution. Meanwhile advanced economies with powerful currencies and no need for special drawing rights received the lion’s share.

    The African Development Bank has spearheaded one such proposal alongside the Inter-American Development Bank. Under this plan, countries with unused special drawing rights could re-channel them to the African Development Bank as hybrid capital, allowing the bank to lend around $4 for each $1 of special drawing rights it receives.

    The IMF approved the use of special drawing rights as hybrid capital for multilateral development banks in May. But it set an excessively low limit of 15 billion special drawing rights across all multilateral development banks.

    Even so, advanced economies have been slow to re-channel special drawing rights. The close to $100 billion that have been re-channelled – mostly to IMF trust funds – is meaningful.

    But it still falls short of what should have been re-channelled.

    In the long term, IMF governance reforms are needed to avoid a repeat of the inefficient distribution of special drawing rights.

    Read more: The World Bank and the IMF need to keep reforming to become fit for purpose

    As African countries rightly push to change shortcomings of the international financial architecture, new special drawing rights issuances should be at the centre of such a strategy. The IMF’s 2021 special drawing rights issuance showed the tool’s scale and importance. And special drawing rights re-channelling has had positive effects in easing debt burdens and freeing up financing to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    With 2030 approaching and the window shrinking for climate action, global leaders should be using all the tools at their disposal, including special drawing rights, to build a more resilient future.

    – IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights
    – https://theconversation.com/imf-isnt-doing-enough-to-support-africa-billions-could-be-made-available-through-special-drawing-rights-241428

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: California’s governor blocked landmark AI safety laws. Here’s why it’s such a key ruling for the future of AI worldwide

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Irfan Mehmood, Associate Professor in Business Analytics and AI, University of Bradford

    Anggalih Prasetya / Shutterstock

    In a world where artificial intelligence is rapidly shaping the future, California has found itself at a critical juncture. The US state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, recently blocked a key AI safety bill aimed at tightening regulations on generative AI development.

    The Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act (SB 1047) was seen by many as a necessary safeguard on the technology’s development. Generative AI covers systems that produce new content in text, video, images and music – often in response to questions, or “prompts”, by a user.

    But Newsom said the bill risked “curtailing the very innovation
    that fuels advancement in favour of the public good”. While agreeing the public needs to be protected from threats posed by the technology, he argued that SB 1047 was not “the best approach”.

    What happens in California is so important because it is the home of Silicon Valley. Of the world’s top 50 AI companies, 32 are currently headquartered within the state. California’s legislature therefore has a unique role in efforts to ensure the safety of AI-based technology.

    But Newsom’s decision also reflects a deeper question: can innovation and safety truly coexist, or do we have to sacrifice one to advance the other?

    California’s tech industry contributes billions of dollars to the state’s economy and generates thousands of jobs. Newsom, along with prominent tech investors such as Marc Andreessen, believes too many regulations could slow down AI’s growth. Andreessen praised the veto, saying it supports “economic growth and freedom” over excessive caution.

    However, rapidly advancing AI technologies could bring serious risks, from spreading disinformation to enabling sophisticated cyberattacks that could harm society.
    One of the significant challenges is understanding just how powerful today’s AI systems have become.

    Generative AI models, like OpenAI’s GPT-4, are capable of complex reasoning and can produce human-like text. AI can also create incredibly realistic fake images and videos, known as deepfakes, which have the potential to undermine trust in the media and disrupt elections. For example, deepfake videos of public figures could be used to spread disinformation, leading to confusion and mistrust.

    AI-generated misinformation could also be used to manipulate financial markets or incite social unrest. The unsettling part is that no one knows exactly what’s coming next. These technologies open doors for innovation – but without proper regulation, AI tools could be misused in ways that are difficult to predict or control.

    Gavin Newsom said the bill could stifle innovation.
    Sheila Fitzgerald / Shutterstock

    Traditional methods of testing and regulating software fall short when it comes to generative AI tools that can create artificial images or video. These systems evolve in ways that even their creators can’t fully anticipate, especially after being trained on vast amounts of data from interactions with millions of people, such as ChatGPT.

    SB 1047 sought to address this concern by requiring companies to implement “kill switches” in their AI software that can deactivate the technology in the even of a problem. The law would also have required them to create detailed safety plans for any AI project with a budget over US$100 million (£77.2m).

    Critics said the bill was too broad, meaning it could affect even lower-risk projects. But its main goal was to set up basic protections in an industry that’s arguably moving faster than lawmakers can keep up with.

    California as a global leader

    What California decides could affect the world. As a global tech leader, the state’s approach to regulating AI could set a standard for other countries, as it has done in the past. For example, California’s leadership in setting stringent vehicle emissions standards through the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and its early regulation of self-driving cars, have influenced other states and countries to adopt similar measures.

    But by vetoing SB 1047, California may have sent a message that it’s not ready to lead the way in AI regulation. This could leave room for other countries to step in – countries that may not care as much as the US about ethics and public safety.

    Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, had cautiously supported the bill, acknowledging that while it was a “tough call”, it was probably a good idea. His stance shows that even tech insiders recognise the risks AI poses. This might be a sign the industry is ready to work with policymakers on how best to regulate this new breed of technology.

    The notion that regulation automatically stifles innovation is misleading. Effective laws can create a framework that not only protects people, but allows AI to grow sustainably. For example, regulations can help ensure that AI systems are developed responsibly, with considerations for privacy, fairness and transparency. This can build public trust, which is essential for the widespread adoption of AI technologies.

    The future of AI doesn’t have to be a choice between innovation and safety. By implementing reasonable safeguards, we can unlock the full potential of AI while keeping society safe. Public engagement is crucial in this process. People need to be informed about AI’s capabilities and risks to participate in shaping policies that reflect society’s values.

    The stakes are high and AI is advancing rapidly. It’s time for proactive action to ensure we reap the benefits of AI without compromising our safety. But California’s killing of the AI bill also raises a wider question on the increasing power and influence of tech companies, given they raised objections that subsequently led to its veto.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. California’s governor blocked landmark AI safety laws. Here’s why it’s such a key ruling for the future of AI worldwide – https://theconversation.com/californias-governor-blocked-landmark-ai-safety-laws-heres-why-its-such-a-key-ruling-for-the-future-of-ai-worldwide-240182

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: From a salty breeze to the stench of sewage, here’s how smell affects our ocean experience and reflects changing seas

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jieling Xiao, Reader in Architecture and Sensory Environments, School of Architecture and Design, Birmingham City University

    Happy Together/Shutterstock

    Apart from the breathtaking sight of vast blue waters or the rhythmic sound of crashing waves, the vivid smell of the sea ties us to the rhythms of nature and the ebb and flow of the tides. The salty freshness of a coastal breeze or the distinctive scent of seaweed can transport us back to memories of seaside holidays, fishing trips, or childhood adventures.

    A “smellscape” is the perceived smell environment which can be fleeting or may build over time, depending on our past experiences and backgrounds.

    My research investigates how smells trigger feelings, imaginations and memories in places. As geographer Paul W. Rodaway noted 30 years ago, “olfaction gives us not just a sensuous geography of places and spatial relationships, but also an emotional one of love and hate, pain and joy, attachment and alienation”.

    There’s no single ocean smell. Smellscapes of the sea are multi-layered; they are shaped by interactions between water, marine life and environmental conditions. Every time we breathe in sea air, we receive information from the marine environment – the chemicals generated from the ecological processes or contaminants produced by human activities.

    Swimming, sailing, even just building a sandcastle – the ocean benefits our physical and mental wellbeing. Curious about how a strong coastal connection helps drive marine conservation, scientists are diving in to investigate the power of blue health.

    This article is part of a series, Vitamin Sea, exploring how the ocean can be enhanced by our interaction with it.

    The main chemical that contributes to that distinctive sea smell is dimethyl sulphide. This volatile organic compound containing sulphur that’s present in air and water in all marine areas.

    Dimethyl sulphide, along with the evaporation of salty sea spray, creates that sharp, tangy smell that’s synonymous with the coastal experience. The concentration of dimethyl sulphide depends on many biological processes in the ocean. Marine algae produce a chemical called dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) which helps regulate their internal conditions during times of environmental stress. When algae die, that DMSP is released into the surrounding water where bacteria and enzymes convert it into dimethyl sulphide.

    The Moon also affects the smell of the sea because the growth of algae changes with the tides. American marine biologist Rachel Carson described the impact of moon cycle on the ocean smell in her book The Sea Around Us (1951):

    …for a time each spring, the waters may become blotched with brown, jellylike masses, and the fishermen’s nets come up dripping a brown slime and containing no fish, for the herring have turned away from these waters as though in loathing of the viscid, foul-smelling algae. But in less time than passes between the full moon and the new, the spring flowering of Phaeocystis is past and the waters have cleared again.

    Changing smells reflect the changes in dynamics between marine life, water, the atmosphere and human activities. The foul smell from algae indicates decomposition and anaerobic activity in the water. The smell of decay often accompanies oxygen-deprived environments where organic matter breaks down. Monitoring the olfactory signals of ecosystems, such as the concentration of dimethyl sulphide or the smell of decaying algae, can provide insights into the health of marine environments and signal potential problems like low oxygen levels or contamination.

    Scientists have started to explore the impact of climate change on the sea smells. Recent research by Matthew Salter, a marine biogeochemist at Stockholm University, investigates the volatile organic compounds (gaseous chemicals) emitted by cyanobacteria and other plankton that inhabit coastlines of the Baltic Sea. His team studies how these chemicals contribute to the formation of aerosols leading to climate change.

    Researchers at Stockholm University explain how the smell of the sea is linked to the climate.

    Saving healthy smellscapes

    Preserving the natural scents of the sea requires concerted efforts to reduce sewage pollution and plastic waste reaching the sea. That involves promoting sustainable fishing practices and urban development, and mitigating climate change that causes extreme weather and rising sea levels that threaten marine habitats and coastal landscapes. Oceans are becoming more acidic as more carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere.

    New findings suggest that ocean acidification may affect how sea creatures detect smells, which, in turn, affects their ability to detect predators, find food and track mates.



    Read more:
    Oceans may become too acidic for animals to smell their way around

    Melting ice caps and thawing permafrost are also releasing bacteria and other microbes that have been dormant for thousands or even millions of years. So how the sea smellscapes might change over the coming decades and centuries is unpredictable.

    Meanwhile, creatives are pioneering ways to document ocean smellscapes. In the tidalectics project, Norwegian chemist Sissel Tolaas collected oceanic smells from the Caribbean and the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica, analysed the key chemicals and reproduced them. At her exhibition, she presented smells from waves to pollution to alert people about ecological change through their noses.

    Researcher and artist Kate Mclean creates maps to illustrate smellscapes. In Newport, a seaside city on Rhode Island in the US, she documented the ocean-based smells to build a visual-olfactory catalogue. Different colour codes represent different collective responses to smells from people who joined Mclean on a smell walk. Blue lines show ocean smells spreading across the island as they are encountered frequently by residents and visitors.

    As the environment changes, documenting smellscapes of the ocean could provide insight into the state of our seas and our relationship with coastal waters. So next time you take a breath of fresh air, by the sea or otherwise, take a moment to think about scent ecology. Our relationships with smells play a crucial role in connecting us to nature and telling us more about the health of our oceans.

    Jieling Xiao does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. From a salty breeze to the stench of sewage, here’s how smell affects our ocean experience and reflects changing seas – https://theconversation.com/from-a-salty-breeze-to-the-stench-of-sewage-heres-how-smell-affects-our-ocean-experience-and-reflects-changing-seas-239022

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Research shows our understanding of ‘posh’ words is all wrong

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Natalie Braber, Professor, Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, Nottingham Trent University

    Language use complicates the already-complex nature of class identity. Diane Bondareff/Shutterstock

    If you live in the UK or are familiar with its wide range of accents and dialects, you can probably tell the difference between a posh or upper-class accent, (think the “King’s English”) and one more associated with the working class (such as Cockney).

    Besides accents, it is a popular view, reinforced in media and pop culture, that certain words are used specifically by people of certain classes. For example, in the book Watching the English, social anthropologist Kate Fox comments that the word “sofa” is used by upper-middle-class speakers or above.

    In the 1950s, Alan Ross, a professor of linguistics at the University of Birmingham, claimed to identify behaviour that distinguished England’s upper classes from the rest of society. These included, among other things, not playing tennis in braces and an aversion to high tea.

    He also identified features of pronunciation, grammar and use of specific words which he thought differed. This was not based on empirical research, but solely on his own perceptions (“armchair linguistics”). While Ross’s claims are often referenced in the media, there has not been much research to see if these views hold up today.

    Through two studies carried out with our colleagues George Bailey and Eddie O’Hara Brown, we tried to find out. We investigated the use of words that Ross and others have identified as indicators of class: the supposedly upper-class words loo, napkin and sofa, with their supposedly non-upper-class counterparts, toilet, serviette and settee.

    In the first study, we used spot-the-difference tasks to prompt 80 participants of different ages, genders and social classes to say these words. For example, “the sofa is a different colour in that picture” or “the toilet is green in the left picture and white in the right one”. This meant that participants were focused more on the task than the actual words, so we were able to examine their natural usage.



    Read more:
    When did class stop predicting who people vote for in Britain? Know Your Place podcast

    While the supposedly upper-class napkin and sofa were more common than serviette or settee, the supposedly non-upper-class toilet was more common than loo. For example, where napkin was used by 72 participants, only 18 used serviette (some speakers used multiple words). This challenges Ross’s claims that words distinguish the upper class from the rest of society. If most people use a word, that word cannot be a reliable indicator of upper classness.

    In terms of social variation, we found that the usage of these words varied, but not in a way associated with social class. For example, there were some interesting results relating to age. While, on the one hand, the reportedly upper-class loo is used more by older speakers, the supposedly non-upper-class serviette and settee are also more commonly used by older speakers.

    Perception of words and class

    We also wanted to examine the perception of these words, as in whether people think certain words are associated with social characteristics, such as education level, professionalism, formality and poshness, which are traits associated with class.

    So, in a second experiment, we asked 100 participants to evaluate several social media posts, asking them to judge the writers. Half of the participants read the “upper-class word” and half read the “non-upper-class” word within an otherwise identical phrase, adapted from genuine posts on social media.

    For example, one message was: “My flatmate went to a wedding and I brought takeaway, was almost done eating before I saw something that looks like a fried egg, put it in my mouth and it was a napkin/serviette. God why me!?”

    From this experiment, we found that the perception of these words is not uniform across social groups. For example, the higher socioeconomic group thought sofa to be more posh, while the lower socioeconomic group perceived settee as more posh.

    There were no perceptual differences between toilet/loo. And serviette was perceived as more posh than napkin, despite being identified by Ross and others as the non-upper-class form.

    Napkin or serviette?
    Shutterstock

    Both of our studies, as well as complementary analysis of the spoken British National Corpus (a 10 million word database of spoken English), show that there is little consistency in the way that each of the investigated variables are used and perceived.

    Of course, this is not to say that there are no class-based vocabulary markers in contemporary British English, or that the effects of such perceptions do not have an effect. As much other linguistic research shows, class-based accent and dialect discrimination are unfortunately still alive and well.

    While the view that some words are posher than others has endured, our findings show that the claims popularised by Ross in the 1950s are not reflected in the reality of England today.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Research shows our understanding of ‘posh’ words is all wrong – https://theconversation.com/research-shows-our-understanding-of-posh-words-is-all-wrong-240362

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: BFI London Film Festival 2024 – a cinema academic’s look at the year ahead on the big screen

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Louis Bayman, Associate Professor in Department of Film Studies, University of Southampton

    This year’s London Film Festival boasted 254 feature and short films, with an all-time high of 44% of the films screened by female and non-binary directors. But the festival’s most newsworthy event concerned a film that wasn’t screened at all.

    To the dismay of its director, Havana Marking, the documentary Undercover: Exposing the Far Right was cancelled at the last minute with festival staff citing safety concerns in the wake of the summer riots. The documentary seeks to expose the political influence of a shadowy US-UK network that promotes racist scientific views. Although it missed out on its opportunity for a theatrical showing, the film is now airing on Channel 4 and is receiving good reviews.

    Like all festivals, there were prizes to be won and the festival jury awarded best feature film to Memoir of a Snail. This is the first time that a stop-motion animation has won the award. Directed by Adam Elliot and featuring the voice of Succession star Sarah Snook, the jury praised it as “emotionally resonant and constantly surprising”, adding that it “tackles pertinent issues such as bullying, loneliness and grief head-on.”



    Read more:
    Overtly handmade and so very moving: Adam Elliot’s Memoir of A Snail is a stop motion triumph

    This may turn out to be an unpopular decision with critics, given how many of them complained about the emotional nature of the festival’s opening night gala film, Steve McQueen’s wartime drama Blitz. McQueen’s genius for realising the restrictive nature of particular historical moments is always achieved with a special intensity, whether with Irish political prisoners in Hunger or the pre-emancipation US of 12 Years a Slave.

    Blitz takes as its setting three days in London in 1940, featuring a child who manages to flee evacuation and has to find his way through a bombed-out London back home to his mother. The film even alludes to Charles Dickens as the boy tries to dodge the ne’er-do-wells of the city streets.

    The boy is bi-racial and the film’s representation of the Black life of the city is a corrective to more commonplace images of a monocultural wartime Britain. But its family drama conjures more pathos than is usual for McQueen. The film thus revises, if not destroys, the myth of national unity that has grown up around the blitz. It incorporates racial and class divisions but the critical consensus seemed to be that its sentimentality let the film down.

    Alternatively, The Apprentice, the true story of the rise of Donald Trump under the tutelage of cutthroat lawyer Roy Cohn, showed considerable restraint depicting its uniquely polarising protagonist. The film finds Trump dodging lawsuits in the crisis-ridden New York of the 1970s, only to prosper in the greed-is-good real estate boom of the 1980s.

    Sebastian Stan’s Trump avoids caricature, almost garnering affection before eventually becoming the babbling fountain of profound vacuity that we recognise today. With excellent performances from Jeremy Strong as Cohn and Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump the film succeeds most as a revisitation of the iconic images of New York’s modern history through the prism of Trump. This revisitation occurs first in its retro imitation of early Martin Scorsese films and then with the grain of a boardroom melodrama shot on VHS.

    The festival also included some righteously powerful political denunciations.

    The Seed of the Sacred Fig deserves special mention as an acutely powerful portrait of a family undergoing the increasingly suspenseful stirrings of rebellion amid the “women, life, freedom” protests in Iran.

    I’m Still Here, a return to directing from City of God’s Walter Salles, presents the intersection of the personal and the political in a very different way. The film tells the true story of the leftwing congressman Rubens Paiva’s disappearance by the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1971 and the heartbreaking tension of his family’s life-long search for answers.

    Other notable returns from veteran directors included Mike Leigh’s depiction of the struggles of mental illness in Hard Truths, a blend of social realism and fairytale set in Gravesend, and Pedro Almodóvar’s first English-language film The Room Next Door. Two films that achieved a particular buzz among festival attendees and that are set to achieve a wide general release are Anora, Sean Baker’s comedy drama about a mismatched marriage between a lapdancer and a Russian oligarch’s son, and Conclave, set around the choosing of a new Pope starring Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci.

    I had some personal favourites of the films that garnered fewer headlines. The first is All We Imagine As Light, an allusive portrait of the dislocating effects of modern city life among three female friends in Mumbai. Another is Four Mothers, a remake of the Italian comedy Mid-August Lunch transposed to Ireland. Featuring an aspiring writer whose friends go on holiday and leave their elderly mothers for him to look after, its blend of humour and sensitivity achieves exquisite delicacy.

    And finally, The Surfer wins my award for the cinema’s potential for delirious incoherence. Set entirely in a car park overlooking a beach, this comedy-thriller-folk horror explores suburban aspirational masculinity through a characteristically demented star turn by Nicolas Cage.


    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    Louis Bayman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. BFI London Film Festival 2024 – a cinema academic’s look at the year ahead on the big screen – https://theconversation.com/bfi-london-film-festival-2024-a-cinema-academics-look-at-the-year-ahead-on-the-big-screen-242049

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights

    Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Kevin P. Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director, Global Development Policy Center, Boston University

    At the 2021 UN Climate Summit, Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley called for more and better use of special drawing rights (SDRs), the International Monetary Fund’s reserve asset.

    The special drawing right is an international reserve asset created by the IMF. It is not a currency – its value is based on a basket of five currencies, the biggest chunk of which is the US dollar, followed by the euro. It is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. Special drawing rights can provide a country with liquidity.

    Countries can use their special drawing rights to pay back IMF loans, or they can exchange them for foreign currencies.

    As Mottley is the newest president of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and Vulnerable Group of 20 (V20) finance ministers, which represents 68 climate-vulnerable countries that are among those with the most dire liquidity needs, including 32 African countries, her call would be directly beneficial to African countries.

    In August 2021, as the shock from the COVID-19 pandemic battered their economies, African countries received a lifeline of US$33 billion from special drawing rights. This amounts to more than all the climate finance Africa receives each year, and more than half of all annual official development assistance to Africa.

    This US$33 billion did not add to African countries’ debt burden, it did not come with any conditions, and it did not cost donors a single cent to provide.

    IMF members can vote to create new issuances of special drawing rights. They are then distributed to countries in proportion to their quotas in the IMF. Quotas are denominated in special drawing rights, the IMF’s unit of account.

    Quotas are the building blocks of the IMF’s financial and governance structure. An individual member country’s quota broadly reflects its relative position in the world economy. Thus, by design, the poorest and most vulnerable countries receive the least when it comes to quotas and voting shares.

    Special drawing rights cannot solve all of Africa’s economic challenges. And their highly technical nature means they are not always well understood. But at a time when African countries are facing chronic liquidity challenges – most countries in the region are spending more on debt service payments than they are on health, education, or climate change – our new research shows that special drawing rights can play an important role in establishing financial stability and enabling investments for development.

    Financial stability includes macroeconomic stability (such as low inflation, healthy balance of payments, sufficient foreign reserves), a strong financial system and resilience to shocks.

    African leaders are approaching a critical year-long opportunity: in November, the first Group of 20 (G20) summit will convene (with the African Union in attendance as a member for the first time). Then in December South Africa assumes the G20 presidency.



    Read more:
    South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

    As African leaders advocate for reforms to the international financial architecture, maximising the potential of special drawing rights should be a central component of their agenda.

    The problem

    African countries’ finances are facing tough times. External debt in sub-Saharan Africa has tripled since 2008. The average government is now spending 12% of its revenue on external debt service. The COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and rises in interest rates and the prices of commodities, like food and fertiliser, have all contributed to this trend.

    Debt restructuring mechanisms have also proved inadequate. Countries like Zambia and Ghana got stuck in lengthy restructurings. Weak institutional capacity and poor governance also impede efficient use of public resources.

    At the same time, African economies need to increase investment to advance development, support a young and growing population, develop climate resilience and take advantage of the opportunity presented by the energy transition.

    To meet the resources for a just energy transition and the attainment of the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, investment in climate and development will have to increase from around 24% of GDP (the average for Africa in 2022) to 37%.

    Special drawing rights have proved to be an important tool in addressing these challenges. Research by the IMF and others shows that African countries significantly benefited from the special drawing rights they received in 2021 to stabilise their economies. And this happened without worsening debt burdens or costing advanced economies any money, particularly as they cut development aid.

    However, advanced economies exercise significant control over the availability of special drawing rights. The IMF’s quota system determines both voting power and their distribution. Advanced economies control most of the IMF’s quotas.

    The advanced economies made the right decision in 2021 and in 2009 to issue new special drawing rights and the time has come again.

    The solution

    African and other global south leaders need to make a strong case for another issuance of special drawing rights at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington.

    In addition to a new issuance of special drawing rights, advanced economies still need to be pressured to re-channel the hundreds of billions of special drawing rights sitting idle on their balance sheets into productive purposes.

    The 2021 allocation of special drawing rights amounted to US$650 billion in total. But only US$33 billion went to African countries due to the IMF’s unequal quota distribution. Meanwhile advanced economies with powerful currencies and no need for special drawing rights received the lion’s share.

    The African Development Bank has spearheaded one such proposal alongside the Inter-American Development Bank. Under this plan, countries with unused special drawing rights could re-channel them to the African Development Bank as hybrid capital, allowing the bank to lend around $4 for each $1 of special drawing rights it receives.

    The IMF approved the use of special drawing rights as hybrid capital for multilateral development banks in May. But it set an excessively low limit of 15 billion special drawing rights across all multilateral development banks.

    Even so, advanced economies have been slow to re-channel special drawing rights. The close to $100 billion that have been re-channelled – mostly to IMF trust funds – is meaningful.

    But it still falls short of what should have been re-channelled.

    In the long term, IMF governance reforms are needed to avoid a repeat of the inefficient distribution of special drawing rights.



    Read more:
    The World Bank and the IMF need to keep reforming to become fit for purpose

    As African countries rightly push to change shortcomings of the international financial architecture, new special drawing rights issuances should be at the centre of such a strategy. The IMF’s 2021 special drawing rights issuance showed the tool’s scale and importance. And special drawing rights re-channelling has had positive effects in easing debt burdens and freeing up financing to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

    With 2030 approaching and the window shrinking for climate action, global leaders should be using all the tools at their disposal, including special drawing rights, to build a more resilient future.

    Abebe Shimeles received funding from African Economic Research Consortium. He is affiliated with Institute of Labor Studies, IZA

    Kevin P. Gallagher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. IMF isn’t doing enough to support Africa: billions could be made available through special drawing rights – https://theconversation.com/imf-isnt-doing-enough-to-support-africa-billions-could-be-made-available-through-special-drawing-rights-241428

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Hickenlooper Applauds $162 Million in Inflation Reduction Act Funding for Colorado’s LongPath to Help Stop Methane Leaks

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Colorado John Hickenlooper

    Today’s news finalizes the initial agreement announced in January

    Funding comes thanks the Inflation Reduction Act Hickenlooper helped pass into law

    WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper celebrated the news that Colorado-based LongPath Technologies received a $162.3 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy (DOE) to finance the construction and installation of more than 1,000 remote real-time methane monitoring towers in oil and gas production basins across the West. In January, DOE had announced the initial agreement with LongPath Technologies. The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act, which Hickenlooper helped pass into law.

    As governor, Hickenlooper brought together environmentalists and the oil industry to create the world’s first methane regulations. Those regulations were used by President Obama as a model for national standards which in turn were used as a basis for the international methane pledge in 2021.

    “As governor, we made sure Colorado led the country with the first methane regulations of their kind,” said Hickenlooper. “We’re building on that leadership to create real-time methane emissions monitoring for the rest of the country thanks to these Inflation Reduction Act investments and our homegrown innovators like LongPath.”

    “Preventing harmful greenhouse emissions from entering our atmosphere is a key pillar of President Biden and Vice President’s Harris’ Investing in America agenda to improve public health while combatting climate change,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Today’s announcement underscores the Biden-Harris Administration continued efforts to create environmentally resilient communities and ensure the United States leads the world in deploying next-generation clean energy solutions.”

    The financing from DOE’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) will support LongPath in the installation and deployment of up to 24,000 square miles of monitoring coverage. If finalized, the network is expected to prevent methane emissions equivalent to at least six million tons of carbon dioxide annually – equivalent to 1.3 million gasoline powered vehicles – by enabling subscribers to identify and respond to methane leaks quickly. At its peak, the project is anticipated to create an estimated 35 construction jobs and 266 operations jobs for regional workers, including trained experts to install and maintain the equipment, and provide competitive benefits. LongPath also provides internship opportunities with the University of Colorado to engage the future generation in technology-based climate solutions.

    Emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas up to 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide, occur across the oil and gas sector. Leaks during oil and gas production and compression, which are difficult to identify across vast production areas, are a major source of U.S. methane emissions. The longer leaks go undetected, the more planet-warming greenhouse gas enters the atmosphere.

    Today, methane leak monitoring is typically conducted via flyovers or using methods such as optical gas imaging cameras, which can leave major gaps in emissions monitoring over time and space. LongPath’s technology continuously identifies, localizes, and quantifies methane emissions more rapidly and at lower detection levels than conventional methods, allowing operators to mitigate leaks earlier and more often. This is particularly true because emissions are intermittent – only continuous monitoring can reliably detect these kinds of emission sources.

    LongPath technology was developed at the University of Colorado and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Visitors advised to plan ahead for Derry Halloween

    Source: Northern Ireland – City of Derry

    Visitors advised to plan ahead for Derry Halloween

    23 October 2024

    With just a week to go until Europe’s biggest Halloween Festival, Derry City and Strabane District Council has released the latest traffic and travel information to ensure visitors avoid any unnecessary delays or diversions.

    Over 100,000 visitors attend the annual festival, which runs from Monday October 28th – Thursday 31st, and a range of measures will be introduced to keep traffic flowing and disruption to a minimum for everyone. These include road closures, parking restrictions and some diversions, so it’s best to plan ahead to ensure easy access to all the events.

    These arrangements will also assist with the safe delivery of the event, and everyone is asked to follow the directions of stewards and police.

    People are advised to use public transport where possible, with additional services being operated by Translink on Halloween night, both to and from the city and local services.

    Motorists are advised to expect some delays and diversions in the City Centre during the four nights of the event. From Monday October 28th – Wednesday October 30th Road Closures will operate from 2pm until 10pm in the following areas to accommodate the Awakening the Walled City Trail. All times are approximate, but road closures and diversions will be kept to the minimum length necessary to ensure safety.

    Road Closures:

    Bank Place, Union Hall Street, Magazine Street, Magazine Street Upper, Butcher Street, Shipquay Street, Ferryquay Street, Bishop Street within, Palace Street, Pump Street, The Diamond, London Street, Artillery Street, Fountain Street. No City Centre on-Street parking with exception of Shipquay Street until 11am.

    Please note that public realm works are currently underway around the front of the Guildhall, pedestrians are asked to please follow the signage in this area.

    Car Park Closures 28th October – 1st November:

    • Bishop Street Car Park will close to general parking to accommodate motorhome parking 
    • Ebrington Car Park

    Monday October 28th, Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th

    • Society Street Car Park
    • Victoria Market Car Park (limited accessible only Car parking)

    Thursday October 31st

    • Queens Quay and Strand Road Car Park will be closed on the 31st October.
    • Strand Road Car Park will offer accessible parking only
    • Victoria Market Car Park – limited accessible parking only

    Car Parking availability

    Drivers are reminded that normal on street parking restrictions will be in place and people should avoid parking anywhere they may be blocking entrances to residences or businesses or where they may be obstructing emergency access.

    Parking is available at a number of locations throughout the City:

    Cityside carparks – Foyleside Shopping Centre Car Park East, Foyleside West and Quayside Shopping Centre, Foyle Road, Magee Campus (Lawrence Hill), Carlisle Road and William Street.

    Waterside carparks – Foyle Arena, Spencer Road, Oakgrove School, Duke Street and Former Waterside Health Centre Car Parks.

    From October 28-30 the Council Car Park on Strand Road will be open to the public.

    Fort George Car Park will be open to the public on October 31st only for event car parking.

    Victoria Market will be an accessible car park only from 28th – 31st October and will operate on a first come, first served basis. 

    Strand Road car park will be an accessible car park only on the 31st October also operating on a first come, first served basis.

    On Halloween night itself the annual Carnival Parade will leave the Council carpark at 7pm. The parade is followed by the Halloween Fireworks Finale over the River Foyle at 8.15pm. 

    Please note that in the interests of health and safety, the Peace Bridge will be closed from 7pm in advance of the display, reopening at 8.45pm.

    A quiet space will be available in the Guildhall each day from 12noon – 9pm (10pm 31st), and parents and carers can also pick up ID Me safety wrist bands at the Guildhall information point.

    For anyone with accessibility requirements, a full guide to available support is available here – https://derryhalloween.com/about/accessibility/

    Translink will run additional services to the city centre throughout the event. For information on Translink bus and rail services to and from the city go to https://www.translink.co.uk/

    Festival and Events Manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council, Jacqueline Whoriskey, said regular updates will be provided on social media. “With the numbers expected this year I would advise that visitors check out all the traffic and travel information so they can prepare ahead. Regular updates will be posted on the Derry Halloween and Council social media platforms throughout the festival.

    “I would recommend downloading our Whats On Derry Strabane app – this will give you the lowdown on all that’s going on and all the information you need to plan your journey.

    “I would also appeal to everyone to follow the guidance of our stewards and the PSNI – they are there to keep the event running smoothly and everyone safe. We are so looking forward to the event this year but we need everyone to play their part and help us deliver a safe and enjoyable celebration.”

    Derry Halloween is delivered by Derry City and Strabane District Council and funded by Tourism Northern Ireland and The Executive Office, with support from Ulster University and Air Coach.

    You can find all the details about traffic and travel and the full programme on derryhalloween.com

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Commerce Awards Nearly $3 Million to Tackle Workforce and Childcare Challenges

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    The North Dakota Department of Commerce announced today that 10organizations were recently approved for $2,942,890 through the Regional Workforce Impact Program (RWIP) in round 3. The RWIP provides grants to regional workforce entities in North Dakota to design and implement innovative plans to address their region’s most demanding workforce challenges.  

    “We’re proud to support these innovative projects that are addressing core issues impacting our workforce today,” said Katie Ralston Howe, Director of Workforce at Commerce. “By focusing on solutions that enhance childcare availability and promote workforce recruitment, we’re empowering communities to overcome these challenges and build a more resilient and thriving future for North Dakota.” 

     

    The RWIP recipients include:   

     

    • Learning Adventures Childcare was funded $147,000.00 to purchase the Stony Creek location and expand childcare capacity by 50 slots. 

    • Watford City EDC was funded $50,745.00 to expand the FIND YOUR FUTURE marketing plan, focusing on careers and value propositions in the Watford City region. 

    • Heart of America Medical Center was funded $250,000.00 to expand and renovate the Kids Next Door Daycare Center, adding 30 additional childcare slots. 

    • Ragamuffins Ranch was funded $500,000.00 to build a new childcare center, creating the potential for 90 additional childcare slots. 

    • Devils Lake Area Chamber was funded $250,000.00 for a retention project to address workforce issues by retaining students through various programs, including job fairs and business videos. 

    • Buffalo Daycare Inc was funded $221,274.00 to build a new daycare facility and add 38 additional childcare slots, supporting rural community recruitment. 

    • Charge on Together was funded $180,330.00 to renovate a building and increase childcare availability by 84 children. 

    • S&A Erickson LLC was funded $464,727.50 to build a new childcare center, expanding capacity by 15 slots. 

    • University of Mary was funded $464,727.50 to renovate the University of Mary Butler Center, creating 72 additional childcare slots. 

    • Richardton Development Company was funded $414,086.00 to create a turnkey building for affordable, high-quality childcare, adding 38 additional childcare slots. 

     

    Round 3 of the RWIP is currently open until 5:00 PM CST on October 29, 2024 and eligible applicants can visit ndgov/RWIP to apply. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Burgum thanks Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force for recommendations in final report

    Source: US State of North Dakota

    Gov. Doug Burgum today expressed his gratitude for the members of the North Dakota Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force for their efforts to provide recommendations that support the education workforce. The task force’s final report is available here.

    Burgum established the Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force through Executive Order 2023-08 after a request for emergency rules from the Education Standards and Practices Board was approved on Aug. 8, 2023. The 15-member panel was tasked with developing policy recommendations and identifying best practices to retain and recruit teachers. The task force met four times over the course of the year and received stakeholder input from groups of teachers, administrators and school board members. 

    “The task force’s final report reflects a dedication to the teaching profession by acknowledging the expertise, passion and commitment of our educators in addition to the experiences shared from additional members on the task force,” Burgum said. 

    The task force supported seven recommendations, which will be forwarded to Burgum and state lawmakers for consideration during the budgeting process and the next legislative session beginning in January, including:

     

    • Provide a safe and supportive environment for educators and learners in every building.
    • Reduce barriers for schools that wish to provide child care.
    • Understand supportive school culture.
    • Fund mentorship for educators and administrators.
    • Fund educator pathways.
    • Maximize benefits for educators.
    • Optimize educator earnings.

    The Teacher Retention and Recruitment Task Force consists of Burgum and State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, or their designees, and 13 members appointed by the governor and representing stakeholders across the education community:

    • State Rep. Steve Swiontek, Fargo
    • State Sen. Dean Rummel, Dickinson
    • Patti Stedman, West Fargo, a West Fargo School Board member and member of the Education Standards and Practices Board
    • Bret Dockter, Harvey, a Harvey Public Schools teacher
    • Ashley Seykora, Rugby, Rugby Public Schools instructional coach
    • Abby DuBord, Bismarck, a Bismarck Public Schools teacher
    • Luke Schaefer, Minot, CEO of the Central Regional Education Association
    • Robert Lech, Jamestown, Jamestown Public Schools superintendent
    • John Porter, Fargo, executive director of South East Education Cooperative and co-director of the South Valley/Rural Cass Special Education Units
    • James Green, Watford City, high school principal at McKenzie County Public Schools
    • Sherry Tandeski, St. John, elementary school principal at St. John Public Schools
    • Jenny Bladow, Northwood, director of teacher education, College of Education & Human Development, University of North Dakota, and member of the Education Standards and Practices Board
    • Erin Jacobson, Bismarck, coordinator of the Teacher Support System.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: ASIA/MYANMAR – National Human Rights Commission wants to mediate in the civil war

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Yangon (Agenzia Fides) – “The process of dialogue and mediation in the civil conflict in Myanmar is important and urgent for many reasons: to stop the army’s cruelty against the civilian population, which is before everyone’s eyes; to enable the nation to resume a social life with education, health and development, otherwise it is heading towards the abyss,” says Joseph Kung Za Hmung, a Catholic from Yangon, educator and founder of the country’s first private Catholic university, “St. Joseph University” in Yangon, to Fides. Joseph Kung Za Hmung has been involved for years in public relations (with the Catholic news portal ‘Gloria news Journal’) and in rural development programs, and has headed the NGO “Community Agency for Rural Development” since 2004. Joseph Kung has now been appointed as a Christian representative to the Burmese government’s Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (members are appointed by the current government according to the Constitution), which is to play the role of an “independent observer” who monitors the human rights situation in the country and makes recommendations to the executive.In September, the military junta reappointed the eleven members of the commission (with a five-year term), choosing academics and people who belong to civil society and not the military or government apparatus. “The members of the commission come from society, they know the fighting people’s defense forces and have contacts with them, so that the commission can now take on a bridging function and be a body that can help to initiate a dialogue and mediation process.Opening a channel is crucial for the entire nation today. Dialogue must also be held with the junta. There are also attempts at mediation from outside the country, for example within ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) with the participation of countries such as Indonesia and Thailand,” said the Catholic.Looking realistically at the situation on the ground, Kung notes that “everyone must agree to a ceasefire because the whole country would benefit from it, primarily the suffering civilian population and the internally displaced persons, whose numbers continue to grow. The nation is in a state of exhaustion. If the popular forces come to the negotiating table, they can reiterate their demand for civilian rule. The popular forces and ethnic militias now control an estimated 75% of the country, while the central areas and major cities are defended by the army, which remains very strong and has heavy weapons. Dialogue and the search for common ground is in everyone’s interest,” he notes.The call for dialogue between the warring parties also came from the last ASEAN meeting, where the organization of a peace conference was proposed. The President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences and Archbishop of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, who is currently in the Vatican for the World Synod of Bishops, recalled the dramatic conflict in his country and expressed his heartfelt hope that “a path of reconciliation will be found”, calling for “a dialogue table for peace”. Meanwhile, the head of Myanmar’s military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, called on ethnic rebel militias to participate in peace talks and reiterated this call on the ninth anniversary of the signing of the 2015 national ceasefire agreement.The newly appointed Myanmar National Human Rights Commission had the opportunity in recent days to visit the prison in Yangon, which houses 12,000 prisoners. The commission examined the conditions and needs of the prisoners and made recommendations to the government. The situation of Rohingya prisoners is noteworthy, many of whom have already served their sentences but are still imprisoned because they cannot return to their homeland in the war-torn Burmese state of Arakan. In addition to prisoners imprisoned for ordinary crimes, the prison also houses political prisoners who are opponents of the regime. The commission recommended that political prisoners be treated in the same way as other prisoners and called for them to be included in the amnesty or sentence reduction measures that are often issued on national holidays. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 23/10/2024)

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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI: 45.5 million in financing to accelerate Laserax’s international growth

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    QUEBEC CITY, Oct. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Laserax announces the raising of $45.5 million in its Series C financing led by the Business Development Bank of Canada, BDC, through its Industrial Innovation Venture Fund, with significant participation from existing investors Investissement Québec (IQ), Desjardins Capital. The package also includes a new credit facility from Desjardins Technologie & Innovation and support from the National Research Council of Canada (NRC-IRAP). This achievement testifies to the investors’ confidence in the Québec-based company’s ability to materialize its ambitious growth plan aimed at making it a world leader in the industrial laser technology sector.

    “In an ecosystem where successful start-ups are too often bought by foreign multinationals, this round of financing sends a strong message to our industry that Laserax is fully committed to its ambition to conquer and dominate the market. Beyond this investment, which will substantially accelerate our organic growth, we intend to rapidly add other financial tools to make strategic acquisitions in order to strengthen our geographic positioning and diversify our technological portfolio”, says Xavier Godmaire, President of Laserax.

    A PLAYER IN THE ENERGY TRANSITION

    Through its many innovations, Laserax is actively participating in the transition to a greener, more efficient economy by developing laser technologies that have a major impact on the productivity and carbon footprint reduction of its manufacturing customers.

    The company is particularly active in the transportation electrification and renewable energy production markets. Laserax has a strong intellectual property position, guaranteeing protection and differentiation of its technologies. The new investments will be used in particular to accelerate Laserax’s innovation velocity through the hiring of new talent and the acquisition of specialized equipment.

    “Over the past 14 years, Laserax has built strong relationships with leaders in the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) and battery manufacturers. We have a team of brilliant professionals, and I’m very proud to be pushing the boundaries of laser with them to propel Laserax to new heights,” insists Alex Fraser, CTO and co-founder of Laserax.

    QUOTES

    “Laserax continues to assert its leadership in industrial laser solutions. With an experienced management team and exceptional technological know-how, the company is well-positioned to seize significant market share in a rapidly transforming sector. BDC is proud to lead this round of financing and contribute to the energy transition by supporting the development of more sustainable industrial innovations.”
    Geneviève Bouthillier, Executive Vice President, BDC Capital

    “With its innovative technologies, Laserax plays an important role in the manufacture of electric vehicles and batteries that are at the heart of Quebec’s energy transition. We’re proud to support this dynamic company in its initiatives to enhance its performance and make its ingenuity more widely known in industries committed to decarbonizing our economy.”
    Christine Fréchette, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister responsible for Regional Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Greater Montreal Area

    “Laserax continues to grow in the Capitale-Nationale region with this major investment project. Already recognized for its expertise in technological innovation, the company is taking another step forward to strengthen its competitiveness and accelerate the production of its laser solutions, which are assets for the electrification of transportation and energy storage in all our regions.”
    Jonathan Julien, Minister responsible for Infrastructure and Minister responsible for the National Capital Region

    “As a financial partner of Laserax since 2013, Desjardins Capital is proud to once again support Laserax in its growth. From its modest beginnings as a startup with a few employees in the basement of Laval University, Laserax has become a young multinational. It is now a major player in the automotive industry. Laserax embodies our ability to support Quebec entrepreneurs at every stage of their growth.
    Nathalie Bernard, Chief Operating Officer, Desjardins Capital

    ABOUT LASERAX

    Founded in 2010, Laserax is an innovative company specializing in industrial laser solutions. With over 115 employees, the company has recorded an average annual growth rate of 60% in recent years, and is forecasting revenues of $100 million in 2026-2027. Headquartered in Quebec City, the company also operates facilities in Michigan, Germany and Japan.

    SOURCE

    info@laserax.com

    Laserax | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

    MEDIA CONTACT :

    Anne-Marie-A. Savoie | annemarie@fernandezcom.ca | C 418 934-7448

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Rosneft Opens Master’s Programme for Foreign Students in Ufa

    Source: Rosneft

    Headline: Rosneft Opens Master’s Programme for Foreign Students in Ufa

    The Rosneft Scientific Institute in Ufa has opened a master’s programme in Petroleum Engineering for international students at the Ufa State Petroleum Technological University (USPTU). Ten applicants from Egypt, Nigeria and Cameroon were the first students on the programme.

    As part of the programme, Company specialists will work with university lecturers to teach students how to design, develop and produce onshore and offshore oil and gas fields, work with Rosneft’s digital software products, learn about innovative well drilling technologies and much more.

    Classes will be held in English. In this way, the specialised educational programme will be available to the majority of foreign students who do not speak Russian.

    To date, Rosneft Ufa Institute has opened 11 special and multi-disciplinary departments in the leading universities of the Republic of Bashkortostan: Ufa University of Science and Technology and Ufa State Petroleum Technological University. The departments reach more than 750 students. The most proactive will be invited for internships and paid apprenticeships. This year, more than 40 top graduates joined the Institute. Their theses proposed innovative solutions to the Company’s production challenges.

    Rosneft
    Information Division
    September 3, 2024

    Keywords: Social News 2024

    MIL OSI Economics –