Category: Vehicles

  • MIL-OSI Security: Member of deadly human smuggling ring sent to prison

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A 28-year-old Roma man has been sentenced for conspiring to smuggle illegal aliens resulting in multiple deaths, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

    Jose Refugio Torres pleaded guilty Sept. 27, 2023, admitting he conspired to transport illegal aliens from the Rio Grande Valley to destinations within the United States.

    U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera has now imposed a 36-month-term of imprisonment to be immediately followed by one year of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the severity of human smuggling involving death and admonished Torres that should he ever return to the smuggling business, he could be facing potential life in federal prison.

    “As this case sadly demonstrates, human smuggling is a crime that takes lives and puts the public at risk,” said Ganjei. “Securing the border is the Southern District of Texas’ number one priority, and breaking up these smuggling rings is a key component of that. We will continue to use all available resources to aggressively pursue those that flout our immigration laws and put profit ahead of human lives.”

    “Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is dedicated to collaborating with our law enforcement partners to ensure the safety and security of citizens across all communities in the United States,” said HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge, Craig Larrabee. “We will remain focused on investigating and dismantling transnational criminal organizations that jeopardize the well-being of individuals.”

    Jose Refugio Torres was involved in the attempted smuggling of illegal aliens in March 2019 by motor vehicle from the Rio Grande Valley to destinations within the United States. During this failed attempt in Duval County, a vehicle rolled over and caused the deaths of four people with serious injuries to six others.

    The victims included citizens of Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Ecuador as well as a 17-year-old boy from Ecuador.

    Torres was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

    Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol; Coast Guard; Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations; police departments in Port Mansfield and South Padre Island; Texas Rangers; Texas Game Wardens; sheriff’s offices in Kenedy, Duval and Willacy Counties; and the Willacy County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jose E. Arreola Jr. and Jose Esquivel Jr. prosecuted the case. 

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Jury convicts a man of possessing 80 grams of meth for distribution

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    MIAMI – On Jan. 28, a federal jury found a Jensen Beach man guilty of possession with intent to distribute meth.

    On June 14, 2023, law enforcement officers stopped Otis Furman Crabbe, III, 54, of Jensen Beach, Fla., because of the dark window tinting of his white Mercedes Benz sedan, while he was driving in downtown Stuart, Fla. Crabbe told the officers that he was partially blind and that he needed the dark tinting due to light sensitivity. The law enforcement officers conducted a canine inspection of Crabbe’s vehicle and discovered a suitcase in his trunk containing approximately 80 grams of methamphetamine.

    A sentencing hearing is scheduled on April 17 at 11:30 a.m. Crabbe faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years up to life in prison.

    U.S. Attorney Hayden P. O’Byrne for the Southern District of Florida, Acting Special Agent in Charge Jose R. Figueroa of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Miami Field Division and Sheriff John Budensiek, of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO), made the announcement.

    The HSI Fort Pierce Field Office and MCSO investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Breezye Telfair prosecuted the case.

    Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 24-cr-14037.

    ###

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Announces Guilty Plea in Domestic Assault Case

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Dulce man pleaded guilty to assault after admitting to attacking the victim during a domestic dispute.

    According to court documents, Orlyn Vigil, 48, an enrolled member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, admitted that on November 16, 2021, he assaulted Jane Doe during an argument. Vigil stated that he became upset and struck Jane Doe, placed his hands around her neck, and threw her into trash cans, causing her to strike her head on the bar of the trash can holder. When Jane Doe attempted to go outside to call the police, Vigil pushed her to the ground from behind. As Jane Doe walked toward her vehicle, Vigil knocked her to the ground at a slow speed using his vehicle.

    Vigil will remain on condition of release pending sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled. At sentencing, Vigil faces up to 10 years in prison.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez made the announcement today.

    The Jicarilla Apache Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Mia Ulibarri-Rubin and Nicholas J. Marshall are prosecuting the case.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: Luján, Cohen Reintroduce Bicameral Legislation to Improve Roadway Safety and Uplift Victim Voices at DOT

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-New Mexico)

    Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, reintroduced the DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act to create a new role designated as the “National Roadway Safety Advocate” at the Department of Transportation (DOT) who will be responsible for working directly with roadway safety crash victims, survivors, and their families. Specifically, this new role will be responsible for building relationships with victims and survivors, providing education on DOT activities, and providing the victim perspective to the Secretary of Transportation and other DOT officials throughout the process of Department decision-making. U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    After suffering from a traffic crash, victim-advocates often don’t know where to go to make their voice heard and prevent crashes like theirs from happening to others. In addition, latest projections from the National Highway and Traffic Administration (NHTSA) estimate that 40,990 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2023 and millions more each year are involved in non-fatal crashes. Many of these crashes are preventable with the right policies in place to save lives.

    “In New Mexico and across the country, far too many families know the pain of losing a loved one to a traffic crash. More must be done to address traffic safety issues, and that includes having an advocate for victims at the Department of Transportation,” said Senator Luján. “I’m proud to partner Representative Cohen to reintroduce the DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act to make this position a reality and ensure victims have a permanent seat at the table. As a victim and survivor of a drunk driving crash myself, I understand the necessity and importance of improving roadway safety and providing victims of roadway safety crashes with the support they deserve. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this bill signed into law.”

    “Traffic accident victims and their families deserve an advocate in the Department of Transportation to listen to their ideas for improving roadway safety, especially after the experience of suffering from a traffic accident. The DOT Victim and Survivor Advocate Act will help ensure that victim-advocates have a point of contact to work with at DOT and give them a permanent and respected voice in DOT decision-making.  I’m pleased to partner with Senator Luján on this important legislation,” said Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9).

    This legislation is supported by a number of New Mexican advocates, including Eric Hein, IST Board Member; Barbara Toth, Vulnerable Road Users NM; and Linda Unruh, Bobby’s Law, NM. National supporters of this legislation include Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, National Safety Council, Truck Safety Coalition, League of American Bicyclists, Institute for Safer Trucking, Families for Safe Streets, AnnaLeah & Mary For Truck Safety, Stop Underrides – In Loving Memory of Roya, StopDistractions.org, The Kiefer Foundation, Safe Kids Worldwide. Quotes from supporters are available here.

    Senator Luján is a longtime advocate of comprehensive safety measures to save lives and keep our roadways safe. In 2021, Luján championed the HALT/RIDE Act, which was included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and implements drunk and impaired driving measures to prevent drunk driving and help save thousands of lives each year. In March 2024, Luján called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to swiftly move forward with its rulemaking process to implement the HALT/RIDE Act, and to do so in a way that protects’ drivers privacy. Since the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Luján has supported a number of efforts encouraging the Department of Transportation to make positive progress to make our roadways safer, including putting an end to underride crashes and distracted driving, and completing vital rulemakings.

    Full text of the legislation is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office and U.S. Border Patrol Announce Arrest in Smuggling Case Involving Unaccompanied Juveniles

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Mexican national faces federal charges after U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested him for allegedly attempting to smuggle two undocumented juveniles through New Mexico.

    According to the complaint, on January 23, 2025, Border Patrol agents encountered Jesus Antonio Rodriguez-Bermudez, a Mexican national who had entered the United States illegally in December 2024, driving on New Mexico State Road 26, a highway that has been exploited by smugglers. After observing suspicious driving behavior, agents conducted a traffic stop. During the stop, agents discovered two unaccompanied juvenile males concealed under a blanket in the back of the vehicle. It was later determined that the two juveniles are brothers, ages 7 and 9.

    When questioned by the agents, Rodriguez-Bermudez allegedly admitted to transporting the juveniles, who were not U.S. citizens, from El Paso, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico as part of a smuggling scheme.

    Rodriguez-Bermudez will remain in custody pending trial, which has not been set. If convicted, Rodriguez-Bermudez faces up to 10 years in prison.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Scott Good of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector made the announcement today.

    The U.S. Border Patrol investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Ry Ellison is prosecuting the case.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI: Great Elm Group Reports Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla., Feb. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Great Elm Group, Inc. (“we,” “our,” “GEG,” “Great Elm,” or “the Company”), (NASDAQ: GEG), an alternative asset manager, today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2024. 

    Fiscal Second Quarter 2025 and Recent Highlights

    • Great Elm Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: GECC) raised an additional $13.2 million of equity at NAV in December 2024, through the issuance of approximately 1.1 million shares of GECC common stock to Summit Grove Partners (“SGP”). 
    • On February 4, 2025, the Company acquired the assets of Greenfield CRE, a leading construction management company and longstanding partner of Monomoy.
      • In connection with the acquisition, Great Elm formed Monomoy Construction Services, LLC (“MCS”) and combined Greenfield with Monomoy BTS Construction Management to launch an integrated, full-service construction business.
      • MCS will be dedicated to serving Great Elm’s various real estate verticals, as well as expanding its existing third-party consulting business.
    • GEG’s fee-paying assets under management (“FPAUM”) and assets under management (“AUM”) totaled approximately $538 million and $751 million, respectively.
      • FPAUM and AUM growth of 17% and 14%, respectively, compared to the prior-year period.
    • Total revenue for the second quarter grew 24% to $3.5 million, compared to $2.8 million for the prior-year period.
      • Growth in revenue was primarily driven by increased revenue from Monomoy BTS, Corporation and increased GECC management fees, due to growth in FPAUM.
      • Great Elm collected incentive fees from GECC totaling $0.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2024.
    • Net income from continuing operations for the second quarter was $1.4 million, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of ($0.2) million in the prior-year period.
    • Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter was $1.0 million, compared to $0.6 million in the prior-year period.
    • Through February 4, 2025, Great Elm has repurchased approximately 4.1 million shares for $7.4 million, at an average price of $1.83 per share, through its share repurchase program.
      • Book value per share was $2.30 as of December 31, 2024, excluding Consolidated Funds.
    • As of December 31, 2024, GEG had approximately $44 million of cash on its balance sheet to support growth initiatives across its alternative asset management platform.

    Management Commentary

    Jason Reese, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, stated, “We delivered a solid fiscal second quarter 2025, continuing our positive momentum by expanding our assets under management, growing revenue across our credit and real estate businesses and generating strong returns on our investments. Our BDC closed another successful capital raise at NAV, increased its first quarter dividend to 37 cents per share and announced a special dividend in December of 5 cents per share. Additionally, the Great Elm Credit Income Fund (“GECIF”) continued to perform very well, closing December with net inception-to-date returns of approximately 13.9%.¹ GECIF’s established track record leaves us well-positioned to attract further capital to scale our investment management platform.”  

    “In Real Estate, we were thrilled to announce the acquisition of Greenfield CRE into our newly formed Monomoy Construction Services business. We expect this transaction to enhance our construction management expertise, expand our scope of services, and fortify our overall real estate value proposition to our investors and tenants. Our long-standing relationship with Greenfield will allow us to quickly benefit from the launch of our fully integrated, full-service real estate platform. Importantly, we maintained our commitment to the GEG share repurchase program, continuing to buy back shares at an attractive discount to book value. Looking ahead, we remain focused on executing on our strategic priorities: growing our core credit and real estate businesses, pursuing compelling investment opportunities across our platform and leveraging our strong balance sheet to maximize shareholder value.”

    GEG Managed Vehicle Highlights

    • GECC demonstrated continued strong performance, raised meaningful capital and increased its quarterly base distribution.
      • GECC raised $13.2 million of equity at Net Asset Value (“NAV”) through the issuance of approximately 1.1 million shares of GECC common stock to SGP.
      • GEG demonstrated its commitment to growing its credit platform through a $3.3 million investment in SGP.  
      • GECC announced a 5.7% increase on its quarterly base distribution to $0.37 per share for the first quarter of 2025 (compared to the prior $0.35 per share) and paid a special cash distribution of $0.05 per share in January 2025.
    • Monomoy BTS and Monomoy REIT continued to execute on their strategic priorities.
      • Monomoy BTS completed construction of its second build-to-suit property in Mississippi and made meaningful progress on its third project in Florida.
      • Monomoy REIT closed on three property purchases for approximately $3.8 million and maintains a strong pipeline of transaction opportunities and open requirements from our tenants.
    • GECIF delivered a strong return on invested capital of approximately 13.9%, net of fees, for the period from its inception through December 31, 2024.¹

    Discussion of Financial Results for the Fiscal Second Quarter Ended December 31, 2024

    GEG reported total revenue of $3.5 million, up 24% from $2.8 million in the prior-year period.

    GEG recorded net income from continuing operations of $1.4 million, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of ($0.2) million in the prior-year period.

    GEG recorded Adjusted EBITDA of $1.0 million, compared to $0.6 million in the prior-year period.

    Monomoy CRE, LLC Acquisition

    On February 4, 2025, Great Elm acquired the assets of Greenfield, a leading construction management company and longstanding partner of MCRE, our real estate investment manager. In connection with the acquisition, Great Elm formed Monomoy Construction Services, LLC and combined the assets of Greenfield with the assets of Monomoy BTS Construction Management to launch an integrated, full-service construction business. With MCS, Monomoy will offer a full-service, in-house suite of project management, procurement, construction management, asset management, market analysis and feasibility services for its industrial real estate tenants.

    Stock Repurchase Program

    In the fiscal first quarter 2025, GEG’s Board of Directors approved an incremental stock repurchase program under which GEG is authorized to repurchase up to $20 million in the aggregate of its outstanding common stock in the open market. As of February 4, 2025, the Company has repurchased approximately 4.1 million shares for $7.4 million under this program.

    Fiscal 2025 Second Quarter Conference Call & Webcast Information
         
    When:   Thursday, February 6, 2025, 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET)
         
    Call:   All interested parties are invited to participate in the conference call by dialing +1 (877) 407-0752; international callers should dial +1 (201) 389-0912. Participants should enter the Conference ID 13746970 if asked.
         
    Webcast:   The conference call will be webcast simultaneously and can be accessed here. A copy of the slide presentation accompanying the conference call, can be found here.
         

    About Great Elm Group, Inc.

    Great Elm Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEG) is a publicly-traded, alternative asset manager focused on growing a scalable and diversified portfolio of long-duration and permanent capital vehicles across credit, real estate, specialty finance, and other alternative strategies. Great Elm Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries currently manage Great Elm Capital Corp., a publicly-traded business development company, and Monomoy Properties REIT, LLC, an industrial-focused real estate investment trust, in addition to other investments. Great Elm Group, Inc.’s website can be found at www.greatelmgroup.com.

    Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

    Statements in this press release that are “forward-looking” statements, including statements regarding expected growth, profitability, acquisition opportunities and outlook involve risks and uncertainties that may individually or collectively impact the matters described herein. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made and represent Great Elm’s assumptions and expectations in light of currently available information.  These statements involve risks, variables and uncertainties, and Great Elm’s actual performance results may differ from those projected, and any such differences may be material. For information on certain factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from Great Elm’s expectations, please see Great Elm’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Additional information relating to Great Elm’s financial position and results of operations is also contained in Great Elm’s annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC and available for download at its website www.greatelmgroup.com or at the SEC website www.sec.gov.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    The SEC has adopted rules to regulate the use in filings with the SEC, and in public disclosures, of financial measures that are not in accordance with US GAAP, such as adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA”). Adjusted EBITDA is derived from methodologies other than in accordance with US GAAP. Great Elm believes that Adjusted EBITDA is an important measure for investors to use in evaluating Great Elm’s businesses. In addition, Great Elm’s management reviews Adjusted EBITDA as they evaluate acquisition opportunities.

    Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and you should not consider it either in isolation from, or as a substitute for, analyzing Great Elm’s results as reported under US GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures reported by Great Elm may not be comparable to similarly titled amounts reported by other companies.

    Included in the financial tables below is a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable US GAAP financial measure, net income from continuing operations.

    Endnotes
    ¹Assumes invested at inception on November 1, 2023, and remained invested throughout the succeeding fourteen months ended December 31, 2024, with distributions reinvested, net of founder’s class fees and expenses. Performance results should not be regarded as final until audited financial statements are issued covering the period shown. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy interests in any investment vehicle managed by Great Elm or its affiliates. Any such offer or solicitation will only be made pursuant to the applicable offering documents for such investment vehicle.

    Media & Investor Contact:
    Investor Relations
    geginvestorrelations@greatelmcap.com

    Great Elm Group, Inc.
    Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (unaudited)
    Dollar amounts in thousands (except per share data)

    ASSETS   December 31, 2024     June 30, 2024  
    Current assets            
    Cash and cash equivalents   $ 44,288     $ 48,147  
    Restricted cash           1,571  
    Receivables from managed funds     3,725       2,259  
    Investments in marketable securities           9,929  
    Investments, at fair value     49,918       44,585  
    Prepaid and other current assets     5,275       1,215  
    Real estate assets, net     6,524       5,769  
    Assets of Consolidated Funds:            
    Cash and cash equivalents     2,568       2,371  
    Investments, at fair value     11,902       11,471  
    Other assets     223       253  
    Total current assets     124,423       127,570  
    Identifiable intangible assets, net     10,510       11,037  
    Right-of-use assets     1,784       225  
    Other assets     1,770       1,614  
    Total assets   $ 138,487     $ 140,446  
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY            
    Current liabilities            
    Accounts payable   $ 185     $ 317  
    Payable for securities purchased     19        
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities     2,817       7,009  
    Current portion of related party payables     254       634  
    Current portion of lease liabilities     335       137  
    Liabilities of Consolidated Funds:            
    Payable for securities purchased     340       100  
    Accrued expenses and other liabilities     151       162  
    Total current liabilities     4,101       8,359  
    Lease liabilities, net of current portion     1,442       57  
    Long-term debt (face value $26,945)     26,231       26,090  
    Related party payables, net of current portion            
    Convertible notes (face value $36,380 and $35,494, including $16,578 and $16,174 held by related parties, respectively)     35,838       34,900  
    Other liabilities     817       845  
    Total liabilities     68,429       70,251  
    Commitments and contingencies            
    Stockholders’ equity            
    Preferred stock, $0.001 par value; 5,000,000 authorized and zero outstanding            
    Common stock, $0.001 par value; 350,000,000 shares authorized and 29,519,825 shares issued and 27,150,036 outstanding at December 31, 2024; and 31,875,285 shares issued and 30,494,448 outstanding at June 30, 2024     26       30  
    Additional paid-in-capital     3,311,447       3,315,638  
    Accumulated deficit     (3,249,139 )     (3,252,954 )
    Total Great Elm Group, Inc. stockholders’ equity     62,334       62,714  
    Non-controlling interests     7,724       7,481  
    Total stockholders’ equity     70,058       70,195  
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity   $ 138,487     $ 140,446  
     


    Great Elm Group, Inc.

    Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (unaudited)
    Amounts in thousands (except per share data)

        For the three months ended
    December 31,
        For the six months ended
    December 31,
     
        2024     2023     2024     2023  
    Revenues   $ 3,507     $ 2,819     $ 7,499     $ 6,129  
    Cost of revenues     458             1,093        
    Operating costs and expenses:                        
    Investment management expenses     3,431       2,839       6,489       5,601  
    Depreciation and amortization     284       283       557       566  
    Selling, general and administrative     1,306       2,393       3,312       4,108  
    Expenses of Consolidated Funds     5             21        
    Total operating costs and expenses     5,026       5,515       10,379       10,275  
    Operating loss     (1,977 )     (2,696 )     (3,973 )     (4,146 )
    Dividends and interest income     1,567       2,072       3,125       4,058  
    Net realized and unrealized gain     2,428       1,204       6,206       4,488  
    Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments of Consolidated Funds     (29 )     114       249       114  
    Interest and other income of Consolidated Funds     395       128       779       128  
    Interest expense     (1,030 )     (1,061 )     (2,058 )     (2,123 )
    (Loss) income before income taxes from continuing operations     1,354       (239 )     4,328       2,519  
    Income tax benefit (expense)                        
    Net (loss) income from continuing operations     1,354       (239 )     4,328       2,519  
    Discontinued operations:                        
    Net income from discontinued operations                       16  
    Net (loss) income   $ 1,354     $ (239 )   $ 4,328     $ 2,535  
    Less: net income attributable to non-controlling interest, continuing operations     178       111       513       111  
    Net (loss) income attributable to Great Elm Group, Inc.   $ 1,176     $ (350 )   $ 3,815     $ 2,424  
    Net (loss) income attributable to shareholders per share                        
    Basic   $ 0.04     $ (0.01 )   $ 0.13     $ 0.08  
    Diluted   $ 0.04     $ (0.01 )     0.12       0.08  
    Weighted average shares outstanding                        
    Basic     27,983       29,889       28,531       29,734  
    Diluted     28,767       29,889       39,793       30,916  
                                     


    Great Elm Group, Inc.

    Reconciliation from Net Income (loss) from Continuing Operations to Adjusted EBITDA
    Dollar amounts in thousands

        Three months ended
    December 31,
      Six months ended
    December 31,
    (in thousands)   2024     2023     2024     2023  
    Net income (loss) from continuing operations – GAAP   $ 1,354     $ (239 )   $ 4,328     $ 2,519  
    Interest expense     1,030       1,061       2,058       2,123  
    Income tax expense (benefit)                        
    Depreciation and amortization     284       283       557       566  
    Non-cash compensation     755       839       1,872       1,726  
    (Gain) loss on investments     (2,399 )     (1,318 )     (6,455 )     (4,602 )
    Change in contingent consideration           18       (6 )     36  
    Adjusted EBITDA   $ 1,024     $ 644     $ 2,354     $ 2,368  

    The MIL Network

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Serious crash, Chivalry Rd, Glenfield

    Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

    Emergency services are currently at the scene of a serious crash on Chivalry Rd, Glenfield, where a cyclist has struck a stationary vehicle.

    Police were called about 9.30am.

    The cyclist is reported to be in critical condition.

    The road is closed, with diversions in place.

    Motorists should avoid the area if possible.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office Secures 51-Month Sentence in Vehicular Homicide Case

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – A Sanostee man was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $8,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to two counts of involuntary manslaughter for a fatal drunk-driving crash that occurred on the Navajo Nation.

    According to court documents, at approximately 6:30 a.m. on August 12, 2023, Leonardo Robbie Duncan, 33, an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, was driving while intoxicated on Navajo Route 36 near Upper Fruitland, New Mexico, when he crossed into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a vehicle occupied by Jane and John Doe.

    Duncan fled the scene on foot without checking on or assisting the victims. An off-duty Southern Ute Tribal police officer attempted to stop Duncan from leaving but was unsuccessful. John Doe died at the scene; Jane Doe passed away en route to the hospital. Both victims were enrolled members of the Navajo Nation.

    Duncan turned himself in to Navajo Nation Police six hours after the crash. At the time of surrender, his blood-alcohol content was 0.08. At the time of the incident, Duncan was on state probation for Battery on a Household Member and had recently violated this probation with an open-container offense. He also had a prior State conviction for Driving While Intoxicated from 2018.

    Upon his release from prison, Duncan will be subject to three years of supervised release.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

    The Farmington Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Navajo Department of Criminal Investigations.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Lawton Man Sentenced to Serve Life in Federal Prison for Murder After Woman’s Body is Found in Wildlife Refuge in Indian Country

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Co-Defendant Previously Sentenced to Serve 96 Months for Accessory After the Fact to Murder

    OKLAHOMA CITY – TEVIN TERRELL SEMIEN, 30, of Lawton, has been sentenced to serve life in federal prison for second-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm after a previous felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester.

    According to public record, on May 17, 2023, Karon “Dinkers” Conneywerdy Smith, 68, was found dead in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Investigators searched Smith’s home, which was within Indian Country, and observed blood consistent with a violent struggle. Smith’s vehicle was missing as well. On May 21, 2023, Texas law enforcement observed Smith’s vehicle driving south of Dallas, Texas. Officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the vehicle fled at a high speed and eventually crashed into a lake. The two occupants of the vehicle, later identified as Semien and Nicole Leigh Logsdon, attempted to flee on foot but were apprehended.

    On October 17, 2023, a federal grand jury returned a four-count Indictment against Semien and co-defendant Nicole Leigh Logsdon, 25, also of Lawton. The Indictment charged Semien with one count of first-degree premeditated murder, one alternative count of second-degree murder, and one count of illegally possessing a firearm after a previous felony conviction. Logsdon was separately charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

    On April 22, 2024, Semien pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. As part of his plea, Semien admitted to deliberately and intentionally killing Smith.

    On January 10, 2024, Logsdon pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder and admitted to helping Semien in his attempt to avoid arrest and prosecution. On July 15, 2024, Logsdon was sentenced to serve 96 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

    At the sentencing hearing on February 3, 2025, U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot sentenced Semien to serve life in federal prison. In announcing his sentence, Judge Friot noted the nature and circumstances of the offense, pointing out that Semien’s choices and conduct amounted to an “unfathomably cruel and depraved murder.” Judge Friot also noted Semien’s criminal history.  Public record further reflects that Semien has previous felony convictions which include burglary in Jefferson County, Texas, and conspiracy to commit second degree burglary in Comanche County District Court case number CF-2022-292.

    This case is in federal court because Smith and Logsdon are enrolled members of the Comanche Nation and the murder occurred within Indian Country.

    This case is a result of an investigation by the FBI Oklahoma City, Dallas, and New Orleans field offices; the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Comanche Nation Police Department; the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office; the Lawton Police Department; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Rice, Texas Police Department; and the Navarro County, Texas Sheriff’s Office. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kaleigh Blackwell and Trial Attorney Mark Stoneman with DOJ’s Criminal Division (former AUSA with the Western District of Oklahoma) prosecuted the case.

    The case furthers the Department of Justice’s Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons efforts to address violence against Native American individuals. More information about this initiative is at https://www.justice.gov/tribal/mmip.

    Reference is made to public filings for more information. 

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: Michigan man sentenced to 20 years in prison for traveling to sexually abuse a minor who he removed from home in Washington and took back to Michigan

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    Seattle – A 31-year-old South Haven, Michigan, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 20-years in prison for traveling with intent to engage in a sexual act with a minor and enticement of a minor, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Keith Daniel Freerksen was arrested in South Haven Township on January 31, 2024, following an investigation that stretched from western Washington to Michigan.

    At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin noted the trauma inflicted on the victim and the victim’s family. For 30 days they searched for the victim, even calling every morgue in Washington State with fear their child was dead. Judge Lin said the victim, “Will continue to suffer trauma and pain.”

    “What happened in this case is every parent’s nightmare – a predator comes into the home via social media and computer screens and manipulates your child to run away,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. “This defendant secreted a child away, leaving a distraught family searching desperately for their loved one. When the victim should have been involved in normal teenage activities, the teen was instead manipulated and ensnared by the defendant.”

    According to records filed in the case, the 14-year-old went missing on January 5, 2024. A local police detective requested help from the FBI. An agent who specializes in Violent Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking investigations occurring in Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island, and San Juan counties quickly assisted.

    By analyzing information on Uber rides that had been purchased for the victim by an unknown person, law enforcement was able to identify Freerksen, a registered sex offender in Michigan, as a potential suspect. Using information on Freerksen’s registered vehicle, they were able to trace his movement across the northern tier of states using license plate readers. The readers also captured Freerksen’s return trip through Idaho and Illinois in the days after the teen went missing.

    When the police in South Haven Township served a search warrant at the request of the FBI, they recovered the victim and arrested Freerksen. He was ultimately transported to Western Washington and has been detained at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac.

    In asking for the 20-year sentence Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court, “It is very alarming that neither of Freerksen’s family members intervened when he returned home with the then fourteen-year-old victim in tow. Freerksen was undeterred by his previous sex offense conviction, corresponding imprisonment, and registration obligation. The rapid recidivism between Freerksen’s release from prison following child pornography offenses and the dedicated months he spent manipulating and enticing (the victim) is evidence he is either unwilling or unable to refrain from sexually abusing minors.”

    The victim’s parents thanked law enforcement for finding and rescuing their child. The victim’s mother said, “I never imagined a predator would travel across the country to steal (my child).”

    The twenty-year sentence will run concurrent with a fifteen-to-seventy-year indeterminate state sentence in Michigan. Freerksen will serve his time in the federal prison system. Judge Lin ordered twenty years of supervised release to follow prison. Freerksen will once again have to register as a sex offender.

    The case was investigated by the Mount Vernon Police Department, FBI Seattle, and the Van Buren County, Michigan Sheriff’s Office and Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

    The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Security: 3 men believed to be part of South American Theft Group indicted for federal crimes related to burglary of NFL player’s Cincinnati home

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    CINCINNATI – A federal grand jury in Cincinnati has charged defendants believed to be operating as part of a South American Theft Group with transporting stolen goods interstate and falsifying records in a federal investigation. The three men allegedly committed the Dec. 9, 2024, burglary at the home of a local NFL player.

    A federal complaint was filed on Feb. 3 and the indictment was returned today, charging Jordan Francisco Quiroga Sanchez, 22, Bastian Alejandro Orellana Morales, 23, and Sergio Andres Ortega Cabello, 38, all of Chile.

    “Our investigation remains ongoing as these individuals seem to be the alleged tip of the iceberg of South American Theft Groups committing crimes throughout our district and elsewhere,” said U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Parker. “We owe it to the victims, whether they are or are not professional athletes, to follow the evidence into these alleged criminal networks and hold the law-breakers accountable. I cannot thank our law enforcement partners enough for their commitment to working together to track down these perpetrators. Today is a day that law enforcement scored and spiked the ball.”

    “South American Theft Groups have been a major concern in the Cincinnati area,” said FBI Cincinnati Special Agent in Charge Elena Iatarola. “We appreciate the partnerships of all the agencies involved in the Southwest Ohio South American Theft Group Task Force for their hard work on this investigation.”

    “The Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission was created for – and excels at – these types of complex, multi-jurisdictional cases,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “I’m proud of the work done so far, and look forward to more results as our task force continues its work.” 

    According to charging documents, law enforcement responded to the NFL player’s home around 8:14pm on Dec. 9, 2024, in reference to a reported burglary. An associate of the homeowner had been dropped off at the residence shortly after 8pm and discovered rooms were unusually messy and a primary bedroom window on the back side of the home had been broken.

    It is believed the burglary likely occurred between 6pm and 8pm. The homeowner was away from his residence playing in an NFL game in Dallas. During a security detail shift change at the home at approximately 6pm, security personnel walked the perimeter of the house and no windows appeared to be broken at that time.

    Continued investigation at the Cincinnati home led investigators to discover a trail camera image of a man carrying luggage and walking through the wooded area behind the home.

    Law enforcement tracked the subjects in various states following the burglary, and subsequently located the vehicle at the La Quinta hotel on University Boulevard in Fairborn. The Ohio State Highway Patrol later stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation.

    Phone analysis shows Cabello allegedly deleted photographs of the stolen goods and the back of the victim’s home during the traffic stop with the Ohio State Highway Patrol, thus falsifying records in a federal investigation. Additional cell phone analysis revealed other photos of the defendants in southeast Florida days after the burglary with luxury luggage and wearing the stolen jewelry.

    Also in the car with the defendants were punch tools to break glass, as well as an old Louisiana State University shirt and a Cincinnati Bengals hat believed to be taken from the victim’s home.

    The men were taken into local custody at the time of the traffic stop.

    Interstate transportation of stolen property is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Falsification of records in a federal investigation carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. The three men were previously charged locally and those state charges remain pending.

    Kenneth L. Parker, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio; Elena Iatarola, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division; Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission’s Southwest Ohio Burglary Task Force; Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey; Ohio State Highway Patrol Superintendent Col. Charles A. Jones; Clark County Sheriff Christopher D. Clark; and Angie M. Salazar, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Detroit; announced the charges.

    Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Springer is representing the United States in this case.

    Charging documents merely contain allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Coons, Representative Chu reintroduce bill to prevent Muslim bans

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Delaware Christopher Coons

    WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) reintroduced the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants (NO BAN) Act, which would prevent future bans by the Trump administration on Muslims or any other religious group by strengthening the Immigration and Nationality Act to prohibit discrimination based on religion. The bill would also require that any suspension of entry into the United States be narrowly tailored, backed by credible evidence, and subject to appropriate consultation with Congress.

    “President Trump’s Muslim ban during his first term was un-American, unjust, and weakened our standing in the world,” said Senator Coons. “Now, as the country enters President Trump’s second term, fear and prejudice are once again guiding immigration policy, and his flurry of executive orders have laid the groundwork for another attempt at a Muslim ban. The NO BAN Act is needed now more than ever to ensure that the Trump administration cannot implement discriminatory measures and to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to religious freedom and equality under the law.”

    “A hateful stain on our nation’s history, the Muslim Ban that President Trump instituted in his first term was fueled by bigotry and Islamophobia and did lasting damage to the families it separated,” said Representative Chu. “Distressingly, President Trump has already started the process to fulfill his campaign promise to reinstate a ban, signing an Executive Order on his first day back in office that lays the groundwork for a future, and potentially expanded, Muslim Ban. That’s why I am joining Senator Coons and my Democratic colleagues to once again introduce the NO BAN Act to make certain that no president can ever ban people from entering the country solely because of their religion.”

    Additionally, Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Access to Counsel Act, which Senator Coons cosponsored. This bill ensures that U.S. citizens, green card holders, and other individuals with legal status are able to consult with an attorney, relative, or other interested parties to seek assistance if they are detained by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for more than an hour at ports of entry, including airports. As a result of President Trump’s Muslim Ban in 2017, individuals were held for long periods of time, often without access to legal counsel.

    The NO BAN Act was initially introduced in the 116th Congress in response to President Trump’s attempts in 2017 to introduce a Muslim ban. Courts initially struck down the bans, but a conservative Supreme Court upheld a version of the ban in a 5-4 decision. As a result, families were separated, couples were forced to live apart, and communities were unable to reunite for milestones of joy and grief. While former President Biden rescinded the bans, President Trump has signaled intent to issue a new travel ban in the coming months.

    The NO BAN Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives in both 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the Biden administration issued a statement in support of the legislation, noting that the prior “bans were a stain on our national conscience and are inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths.”   

    An executive order issued by President Trump on his first day of his second term requires government departments to identify over the course of 60 days nations whose migration and screening processes are “so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” The order lays the groundwork for another ban on migration from predominantly Muslim countries.

    The NO BAN Act would push back on Trump’s Muslim ban or any other travel ban by:

    • Providing that the Immigration and Nationality Act nondiscrimination provisions apply to religion, as well as to the issuance of non-immigrant visas and benefits;
    • Requiring that any travel restriction imposed under Immigration and Nationality Act be based on specific and credible facts, and in a way narrowly tailored to address a compelling government interest; and
    • Establishing procedural requirements, including notice to Congress within 48 hours, and periodic reporting.

    The NO BAN Act has received endorsements from numerous immigrants’ rights organizations, faith-based organizations, and civil rights organizations, including Care in Action, 18 Million Rising, Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, African Public Affairs Committee, America Indivisible, American Humanist Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Americans for Immigrant Justice, Amica Center for Immigrant Rights, ANAR, Asian Law Caucus, Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP), Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Church World Service, Communities United for Status & Protection (CUSP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Emgage Action, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Global Refuge, Hindus for Human Rights, Human Rights First, Immigrant Legal Resource Center, Immigrants Act Now, Interfaith Alliance, International Refugee Assistance Project, League of Conservation Voters, Muslims for Just Futures, National Council of Jewish Women, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Immigrant Justice Center, National Immigration Law Center, National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC), National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund, National Partnership for New Americans, National Religious Campaign Against Torture, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Poligon Education Fund, Queer Crescent, Quixote Center, Refugee Council USA (RCUSA), Refugees International, Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), Social Workers for Immigration Justice, South Asian Legal Defense Fund, South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA), The Advocates for Human Rights, The Sikh Coalition, Union for Reform Judaism, Win Without War, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Arab American Civic Council, ASATA Power, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL), CAIR Washington, California Immigrant Policy Center, Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University, Civic Ark, Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, Education Law Center-PA, Estrella del Paso, Family Action Network Movement, Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef), Indo-American Center, Islamic Society of Central Jersey, Malikah, Muslim Justice League, Wind of the Spirit Immigrant Resource Center, Womankind, and Concerned Christian Citizen.

    “As President Trump fulfills his racist campaign promises by indefinitely blocking all vulnerable refugees and by preparing a potential resurrection of categorical bans on people who come to the U.S. from African, Muslim-majority, or other countries, we welcome the timely reintroduction of an essential policy rooted in the highest American aspirations of equality, religious freedom, and refuge from tyrannical leaders,” said Sumayyah Waheed, Senior Policy Counsel, Muslim Advocates. “With the reintroduction of the NO BAN Act, we hope to check discriminatory and cruel abuses of presidential power at our borders. We remember clearly the hate, chaos, and family separation resulting from President Trump’s first-term Muslim and African bans – effects that remain unresolved to this day. Meanwhile, people seeking safety at our borders are forced to face unlawful, dehumanizing, debilitating, and even lethal barriers to doing so. We thank Rep. Chu and Sen. Coons for their leadership and urge Members in both houses to swiftly pass this bill.”

    “The first time President Trump was in the White House, as we all watched his xenophobic Muslim ban wreak havoc on families in airports and communities across the country, the ACLU took to the courts for relief. This time around, the landscape includes the Supreme Court’s decision to allow Trump’s previous ban to go into effect. We can’t sit back as Trump again seeks to inflict cruelty. The NO BAN Act is an important effort to uphold our fundamental values and ensure our laws prevent discriminatory bans from being enacted in the future,” said Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs with the ACLU Equality Division. 

    “Donald Trump’s Muslim Ban was a stain on America’s conscience and President Biden’s Executive Order rescinding the various versions of the ban was an important first step,” said Yasmine Taeb, Legislative and Political Director at MPower Change Action Fund. “During the campaign trail, Trump vowed not only to reinstate the Muslim Ban but to expand it, and has made good on that promise by previewing a travel ban on his first day back in office. To ensure our communities do not face the threat of family separation, xenophobia, and Islamophobia through the implementation of another unconstitutional and unconscionable ban by Trump, Congress needs to take action and pass the NO BAN Act. We’re grateful for the leadership of Representative Chu and Senator Coons in reintroducing the NO BAN Act and urge Congress to pass the bill swiftly.”

    “Trump’s discriminatory Muslim and African bans inflicted unthinkable cruelty and separated families. The policy was met with widespread resistance, with thousands of people making their voices heard in protests at airports across the country. With Trump’s return to office, and his day-one executive order signaling another forthcoming ban, we must all do everything in our power to ensure these harmful bans do not return. We commend Senator Coons’ and Representative Chu’s leadership on this issue and call on Congress to pass the NO BAN Act today to protect communities from lasting harm,” said Raha Wala, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy at the National Immigration Law Center.

    “Thousands of American families will soon be separated and America’s economic competitiveness will be damaged if President Trump reimposes the so-called travel ban. The scars of the first ban have not yet fully healed, and some who were denied entry under the first ban are staring down more than four years of separation from their families. As members of Trump’s own coalition have noted, U.S. innovation and economic strength are fueled by immigrants from Iran and other countries that will potentially be banned. It is not stable or secure or fair to American families for the U.S. to impose and repeal such policies every four years by executive fiat — Congress must act as a co-equal branch and establish guardrails that protect the rights, security, and economy for all Americans by passing the NO BAN Act,” said Jamal Abdi, President of National Iranian American Council Action.

    “The reintroduction of the NO BAN Act in the 119th Congress is a crucial step in reaffirming America’s historic role as a beacon of hope and opportunity for immigrants. For generations, the United States has stood as a nation that values diversity, equity, and justice. This legislation ensures that the executive power cannot be misused to undermine these principles or to close our doors to those seeking opportunity and refuge. We extend our gratitude to Representative Judy Chu, Senator Chris Coons, and the original co-sponsors of this critical bill and urge Congress to act swiftly to pass it, preserving the ideals that have long defined and strengthened our nation,” said Wa’el Alzayat, CEO of Emgage Action. 

    The text of the bill is available here. 

    A section-by-section summary of the bill is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Economics: How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: How real-world businesses are transforming with AI – with 50 new stories

    Updated February 5, 2025: The post contains 50 new customer stories, which appear at the beginning of each section of customer lists. The post will be updated regularly with new stories.

    One of the highlights of my career has always been connecting with customers and partners across industries to learn how they are using technology to drive their businesses forward. In the past 30 years, we’ve seen four major platform shifts, from client server to internet and the web to mobile and cloud to now — the next major platform shift to AI.  

    As today’s platform shift to AI continues to gain momentum, Microsoft is working to understand just how organizations can drive lasting business value. We recently commissioned a study with IDC, The Business Opportunity of AI, to uncover new insights around business value and help guide organizations on their journey of AI transformation. The study found that for every $1 organizations invest in generative AI, they’re realizing an average of $3.70 in return — and uncovered insights about the future potential of AI to reshape business processes and drive change across industries.

    Check out the top 5 AI trends to watch from IDC and Microsoft

    Today, more than 85% of the Fortune 500 are using Microsoft AI solutions to shape their future. In working with organizations large and small, across every industry and geography, we’ve seen that most transformation initiatives are designed to achieve one of four business outcomes:  

    1. Enriching employee experiences: Using AI to streamline or automate repetitive, mundane tasks can allow your employees to dive into more complex, creative and ultimately more valuable work.
    2. Reinventing customer engagement: AI can create more personalized, tailored customer experiences, delighting your target audiences while lightening the load for employees.
    3. Reshaping business processes: Virtually any business process can be reimagined with AI, from marketing to supply chain operations to finance, and AI is even allowing organizations to go beyond process optimization and discover exciting new growth opportunities.
    4. Bending the curve on innovation: AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development, reducing the time to market and allowing companies to differentiate in an often crowded field.

    In this blog, we’ve collected more than 300 of our favorite real-life examples of how organizations are embracing Microsoft’s proven AI capabilities to drive impact and shape today’s platform shift to AI. Today, we’ve added new stories of customers using our AI capabilities at the beginning of each section. We’ll regularly update this story with more. We hope you find an example or two that can inspire your own transformation journey.

    Enriching employee experiences

    Generative AI is truly transforming employee productivity and wellbeing. Our customers tell us that by automating repetitive, mundane tasks, employees are freed up to dive into more complex and creative work. This shift not only makes the work environment more stimulating but also boosts job satisfaction. It sparks innovation, provides actionable insights for better decision-making and supports personalized training and development opportunities, all contributing to a better work-life balance. Customers around the world have reported significant improvements in employee productivity with these AI solutions:

    New Stories:

    1. Acentra Health created MedScribe using Azure OpenAI Service. The solution has saved 11,000 nursing hours and nearly $800,000. It also helped each nurse process 20 to 30 letters daily, while achieving a 99% approval rate for MedScribe-generated letters.
    2. Brisbane Catholic Education provides Microsoft 365 Copilot to 12,500 educators, and uses Microsoft Copilot Studio to create a generative AI tool to help educators integrate Catholic traditions and values into the classroom.
    3. Crediclub saves 96% per month in auditing expenses and analyzes 150 meetings per hour with Azure AI, freeing up time for 800 sales advisors and 150 branch managers to interact directly with customers.
    4. eClinicalWorks developed a tool using Azure AI services and Azure AI Document Intelligence to help healthcare workers scan, sort and match thousands of faxes each year to match the faxed data with current patient files.
    5. Education Authority of Northern Ireland (EANI) introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce admin work, allowing teachers to focus on students. The Microsoft partnership ensures secure and ethical AI use, while teacher training focuses on prompt writing and effective tool adoption.
    6. Ma’aden uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, saving up to 2,200 hours monthly. Tasks like drafting emails, creating documents and data analysis have become more efficient, helping Ma’aden achieve its growth goals.
    7. Marketing org mci group uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance the use of AI and other technological advances to boost employee efficiency.
    8. Michelin deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot and a generative AI in-house chatbot based on Azure OpenAI Service called “Aurora” designed to help employees optimize work and team performance, boosting productivity tenfold.
    9. Raiffeisen Bank International built its own ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to automate repetitive tasks like documenting intelligence and more rapidly summarize legal, regulation and banking documents.
    10. Sanabil Investments deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees reduce the time spent on manual everyday tasks that diverted focus from more strategic and valuable work. Within two months, approximately 70% of employees regularly used Copilot.
    11. Sensei rolled out Microsoft 365 to reduce the number of internal apps and better connect systems for easier collaboration, and is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to increase efficiency.
    12. Sikshana Foundation is working with Microsoft Research India to introduce an AI copilot for teachers that shortens preparation time for lessons from an hour or more to just minutes.
    13. The University of Hong Kong adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity by automating administrative tasks and providing intelligent assistance, allowing faculty to focus more on teaching.

    1. Accenture and Avanade launched a Copilot business transformation practice, supported by Microsoft, and co-invested in new capabilities, solutions and training to help organizations securely and responsibly reinvent their business functions with generative and agentic AI and Copilot technologies.
    2. Access Holdings Plc adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrating generative AI into daily tools and, as a result, writing code now takes two hours instead of eight, chatbots launch in 10 days instead of three months and presentations are prepared in 45 minutes instead of six hours.
    3. Adobe is connecting Adobe Experience Cloud workflows and insights with Microsoft 365 Copilot to deliver generative-AI powered capabilities that enable marketers to increase collaboration, efficiency and creativity.
    4. Amadeus empowers its teams to focus their time and skills on value-added tasks with Microsoft 365 Copilot, by summarizing email threads, chat or transcripts and summing up information from diverse sources.
    5. ANZ has invested in Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot and Copilot in Microsoft Edge to boost productivity and innovation across its workforce.
    6. Asahi Europe & International (AEI) has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot, saving employees potentially 15% of time previously spent on administrative tasks.
    7. AXA developed AXA Secure GPT, a platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service that empowers employees to leverage the power of generative AI while targeting the highest level of data safety and responsible use of the tool.
    8. Axon Enterprise developed a new AI tool with Azure OpenAI Service called Draft One, resulting in an 82% decrease in time spent on reports, which freed up officers to engage more with their community.
    9. Aztec Group enhanced productivity and client experience by trialing Microsoft 365 Copilot with 300 staff, uncovering “unlimited” use cases and plans for a wider rollout.
    10. Bader Sultan & Bros. Co. W.L.L. implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance employee productivity and speed up customer response times.
    11. Bancolombia is using GitHub Copilot to empower its technical team, achieving a 30% increase in code generation, boosting automated application changes to an average of 18,000 per year, with a rate of 42 productive daily deployments.
    12. Bank of Queensland Group is using Microsoft 365 Copilot, with 70% of users saving two-and-a-half to five hours per week.
    13. BaptistCare Community Services is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to save employees time as they navigate workforce shortage challenges allowing them to focus more on the people they care for.
    14. Barnsley Council was recognized as “Double Council of the Year in 2023” for its implementation of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which modernized operations and reduced administrative tasks, leading to improved job satisfaction and increased creativity.
    15. BlackRock purchased more than 24,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses spanning all employees, functions and locations, helping improve the Copilot experience, including codeveloping new features and functions.
    16. British Heart Foundation is testing Microsoft 365 Copilot and in its initial test, users estimate that Microsoft 365 Copilot could save them up to 30 minutes per day.
    17. Buckinghamshire Council deployed Microsoft 365 Copilot with staff reporting productivity improvements, quality enhancements and time savings which are enabling the different teams to do more with less.
    18. Campari Group adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to help employees integrate it into their workflow, resulting in time savings of about two hours a week from the support of routine activities such as email management, meeting preparation, content creation and skill acquisition.
    19. Canadian Tire Corporation moved its data from on-premises systems to Microsoft Azure and built digital assistants using Azure OpenAI Service, and now more than 3,000 corporate employees save 30 to 60 minutes a day using its ChatCTC digital assistant.
    20. Capita is using GitHub Copilot for productivity improvements as well as improvements in developer satisfaction, recruitment and retention.
    21. Cathay leverages Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings and manage information more effectively, reducing time-consuming tasks and fostering creativity.
    22. CDW used Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve work quality for 88% of users, enabling 77% to complete tasks faster, and increasing productivity for 85% of users.
    23. Chi Mei Medical Center is lightening workloads for doctors, nurses and pharmacists with a generative AI assistant built on Azure OpenAI Service.
    24. Clifford Chance adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline tasks, automate processes and enhance collaboration. Lawyers use it to draft and manage emails and ensure compliance, allowing them to focus on complex legal work and improve productivity.
    25. DLA Piper chose Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity for operational and administrative teams, saving up to 36 hours weekly on content generation and data analysis.
    26. Eaton adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate the creation of 1,000 standard operating procedures to streamline customer service operations and improve data access across teams, cutting creation time from one hour to 10 minutes.
    27. E.ON is focused on Germany’s energy transition, leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to manage the complex grid in real-time, increasing productivity and efficiency for its workforce.
    28. Enerijisa Uretim has adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meeting summaries, reformat documents and compile reports, enabling employees to concentrate on more strategic and fulfilling activities instead of spending six hours in meetings.
    29. EPAM is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to consolidate information and generate content and documents.
    30. Farm Credit Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot which resulted in time savings on routine tasks for 78% of users, with 30% saving 30 to 60 minutes per week and 35% saving over an hour per week, allowing employees to focus on more value-added tasks.
    31. Finastra used Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate tasks, enhance content creation, improve analytics and personalize customer interactions, with employees citing a 20%-50% time savings.
    32. Four Agency Worldwide increased employee productivity using Microsoft 365 Copilot to generate ideas for creative work and support administrative-heavy processes, data analysis and report generation, allowing staff to focus on outreach and less time doing paperwork.
    33. Goodwill of Orange County developed an AI-powered app using Azure AI capabilities to help more people, including those with developmental, intellectual and physical disabilities, work in unfilled e-commerce positions.
    34. Harvey uses Azure OpenAI to simplify routine tasks across hundreds of law firms and legal teams, with one corporate lawyer saying he saved 10 hours of work per week.
    35. Honeywell employees are saving 92 minutes per week — that’s 74 hours a year! Disclaimer: Statistics are from an internal Honeywell survey of 5,000 employees where 611 employees responded.
    36. Insight employees using Copilot are seeing four hours of productivity gained per week from data summarization and content creation.
    37. Joos uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to grow its brand with worldwide collaboration by streamlining meetings, optimizing presentations and improving communications.
    38. Kantar is harnessing the power of Microsoft 365 Copilot by reducing costly, time-consuming IT processes and boosting productivity for employees.
    39. KMS Lighthouse enhanced its knowledge management platform with Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365 integration, enabling users to leverage KMS Lighthouse without having to switch applications. And with Azure OpenAI Service, companies can create relevant content more quickly within the KMS Lighthouse application.
    40. KPMG Australia is using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Microsoft Copilot 365 to perform advanced text analysis of dozens of client source documents to identify full or partial compliance, or noncompliance, in a fraction of the time required for manual assessments.
    41. LGT is launching Microsoft Copilot LGT to improve efficiency, showing users save an average of an hour a week even in the pilot phase.
    42. Localiza&Co, a leader in the mobility industry in Latin America, implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate processes and improve efficiency, and reduced 8.3 working hours per employee per month.
    43. Lotte Hotels & Resorts has been creating a new work culture that allows employees to work more efficiently and focus on the nature of the work by adopting Microsoft Power Platform for automation.
    44. MAIRE is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot to automate routine tasks, saving over 800 working hours per month, freeing up engineers and professionals for strategic activities while supporting MAIRE’s green energy transition by reducing their carbon footprint.
    45. McDonald’s China chose Microsoft Azure AI, GitHub Copilot and Azure AI Search to transform its operations, resulting in a significant increase in AI adoption, consumption and retention from 2,000 to 30,000 employee transactions monthly.
    46. McKnight Foundation adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot for all staff, saving time, increasing productivity and freeing space to focus on strategic priorities.
    47. Medigold Health uses Azure OpenAI Service to significantly reduce the time that clinicians spend writing reports during their consultation and administrative time.
    48. Morula Health is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to enhance productivity, streamline medical writing tasks and ensure data security, ultimately improving efficiency and client satisfaction.
    49. Motor Oil Group is achieving remarkable efficiency gains by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot into its workflows, with staff spending minutes on tasks that used to take weeks.
    50. Nagel-Group uses Azure OpenAI Service to help employees quickly access information which saves time, creates efficiency and transparency and leads to higher-quality answers overall.
    51. National Australia Bank is leveraging Microsoft 365 Copilot for daily productivity and data analysis and insights and Microsoft Copilot for Security to quickly analyze millions of security event logs and allow engineers to focus on more important areas.
    52. NFL Players Association integrated Azure AI Services and Azure App Service into their video review process, reducing review time by up to 73%, significantly increasing efficiency and enhancing player safety through consistent rule enforcement.
    53. O2 Czech Republic boosts productivity and streamlines meetings with Microsoft 365 Copilot, revolutionizing how information is shared and making automation a part of daily work.
    54. Onepoint developed a secure conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI which delivers productivity gains of between 10% and 15% across all business lines.
    55. Orange Group has over 40 use cases with Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot across business functions to support employees in their day-to-day tasks, enabling them to concentrate on higher value-added activities.
    56. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve staff report productivity by saving one to two hours a week, or simple formatting tasks down to a matter of seconds, enabling more resources to deliver frontline services.
    57. PA Consulting transformed its sales operations with Microsoft 365 Copilot, so its people can invest more time on the activities that have the biggest impact for clients and maximize the strategic value they provide.
    58. Petrobras used Azure OpenAI Service to create ChatPetrobras, which is streamlining workflows, reducing manual tasks and summarizing reports for its 110,000 employees.
    59. Petrochemical Industries Company automates work processes to save time with Microsoft 365 Copilot from weeks to days, hours to seconds.
    60. PIMCO built ChatGWM with Azure AI Studio, a comprehensive platform that provides the ability to ask questions, receive responses and verify answers all in one place, so teams can spend more time engaging clients and having deeper conversations.
    61. PKSHA Technology is optimizing their time on critical work by increasing efficiency in meeting preparations, data analytics and ideation with the help of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
    62. Providence has collaborated with Nuance and Microsoft to accelerate development and adoption of generative AI-powered applications, helping improve care quality and access, and reduce physician’s administrative workloads.
    63. RTI International adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot to gain productivity wherever possible, allowing staff to focus on their areas of expertise, delivering even better science-backed solutions for clients.
    64. SACE, an Italian finance and insurance firm, is using Microsoft 365 Copilot and Viva to boost productivity and unlock employee potential while enhancing overall well-being — and productivity improvement data from the first nine months of implementation shows a 23% increase.
    65. Sandvik Coromant is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to drive efficiency and accuracy, shaving at least one minute off each transaction, allowing sellers and account managers to focus their expertise on responding to customers’ needs with analysis, creativity and adaptability.
    66. Sasfin Bank built a solution on Microsoft Azure that centralized 20,000 documents to analyze contract clauses and provide real-time snapshots, moving guesswork into data-driven decision-making.
    67. Scottish Water implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot reducing mundane tasks to a minimum, and thus freeing up time for employees to work on the more meaningful tasks.
    68. Shriners Children’s developed an AI platform allowing clinicians to easily and securely navigate patient data in a singular location, enhancing patient care, and improving the efficiency of their healthcare services.
    69. Siemens is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to improve efficiency, cut downtime and address labor shortages.
    70. Softchoice employees are experiencing firsthand how Microsoft 365 Copilot can transform daily workflows, realizing productivity gains of 97% reduction in time spent summarizing technical meetings and up to 70% less time spent on content creation.
    71. Syensqo utilized Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to develop a custom AI chatbot in three months, which improved their internal data management, decision-making and overall efficiency.
    72. Teladoc Health uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to revolutionize its telehealth operations, automating routine tasks, boosting efficiency and increasing productivity.
    73. Telstra developed two cutting-edge generative AI tools based on Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service: 90% of employees are using the One Sentence Summary tool which resulted in 20% less follow-up customer contact and 84% of customer service agents using the Ask Telstra solution.
    74. Topsoe achieved 85% AI adoption among office employees in seven months, significantly enhancing productivity and business processes.
    75. Torfaen County Borough Council utilized Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline back-office processes, resulting in significant time savings and enhanced productivity for both business and children’s services teams, with further rollouts planned.
    76. Trace3 leveraged Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline and enhance processes across the business and with clients, such as reducing the time it takes HR recruiting managers to respond to applicants within a couple of days instead of several weeks.
    77. Unilever is reinventing their marketing process with Copilot, saving time on briefing tasks, automatically pulling in relevant market data, content and insights to accelerate campaign launches.
    78. Uniper SE implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce time spent on manual and repetitive tasks, and help workers focus on more pressing work, such as developing enhanced solutions to speed up the energy transition.
    79. Unum Group built a custom AI application to search 1.3 terabytes of data with 95% accuracy using Azure OpenAI Service.
    80. Virgin Atlantic adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot and is seeing real business benefits, including productivity improvements, enabling new ways of working.
    81. Visier built a generative AI assistant that leverages Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Services to deliver workforce analytics and actionable insights for more than 50,000 customers.
    82. Virtual Dental Care developed an AI application Smart Scan that leverages Microsoft Azure to reduce paperwork for mobile dental clinics in schools by 75% and frees dentists to devote more time to patient care.
    83. Zakladni Skola As Hlavkova adopted Microsoft 365 Copilot and saw a 60% improvement in handling administrative documents, decreased lesson preparation from hours to few minutes, increased inclusivity and enhanced communication with students and parents.

    Reinventing customer engagement

    We’ve seen great examples of how generative AI can automate content creation, ensuring there’s fresh and engaging materials ready to go. It personalizes customer experiences by crunching the numbers, boosting conversion rates. It makes operations smoother, helping teams launch campaigns faster. Plus, it drives innovation, crafting experiences that delight customers while lightening the load for staff. Embracing generative AI is key for organizations wanting to reinvent customer engagements, stay ahead of the game and drive both innovation and efficiency.

    New Stories:

    1. Aditya Birla Capital built the SimpliFi chatbot on Microsoft Azure to simplify financial services information and offers through intelligent search and proactive nudging with minimum latency and high scalability.
    2. AIA is using Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to allow customer service representatives to handle more cases in less time by automating time-consuming tasks like drafting customer emails and summarizing lengthy chats and case histories.
    3. Aydem Energy and Microsoft partner Softtech used Azure OpenAI Service to create an AI assistant for WhatsApp, providing customers with real-time updates and handling meter readings, bill checks and claims.
    4. The City of Buenos Aires developed Boti with ChatGPT using Azure OpenAI Service to manage multiple service channels and personalize key services for residents and tourists. The chatbot centralizes data, enables natural language interactions and scales to handle high demands, managing 2 million queries per month without human intervention, alleviating the operational burden by 50%, improving the citizen experience and increasing efficiency.
    5. de Alliantie built a generative AI chatbot using Azure OpenAI to digest information in their online knowledge base so staff can get accurate answers in seconds. Another Azure AI-based solution transcribes and summarizes calls, then categorizes them by theme.
    6. Haceb created a virtual technical support assistant with generative AI, helping on-the-ground technicians troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve product issues faster and more efficiently.
    7. Lloyds Banking Group developed the Branch Translation App using Microsoft Power Apps and Azure AI services with a goal to improve communication with non-English speaking customers and the innovation enhanced service delivery, receiving positive feedback from employees and customers alike.
    8. Staffbase provides its clients with Staffbase Companion, which helps it enhance internal communication with quick content generation, summarization, translation and future capabilities — and remain confident in data protection.
    9. Tekion built Automative Retail Cloud, a unified, cloud-native platform that uses generative AI to analyze communications, extract insights and provide customer-specific recommendations for sales agents.
    10. Welcome Account created a banking application with a conversational agent based on Azure OpenAI Service, in order to help people manage their finances and administrative procedures. This multilingual agent already assists no less than a thousand refugees on a daily basis.
    11. UBS is using Azure AI solutions, including Azure AI Search and Azure OpenAI Service, to power “Smart Assistants” that streamline content access and provide real-time information to Client Advisors, boosting efficiency and client engagement.
    12. Virbe enables businesses to interact with customers through AI-powered avatars, and with Azure AI services like Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search, Virbe enhanced its AI avatars and simplified engagement with enterprise customers — and customers are seeing up to a 10x increase in leads.

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    1. Absa has adopted Microsoft Copilot to streamline various business processes, saving several hours on administrative tasks each day.
    2. Adobe leverages Microsoft Azure to streamline the customer experience, harnessing the power of the connected cloud services and creating a synergy that drives AI transformation across industries.
    3. Acentra Health developed Medscribe, a web application that uses Azure OpenAI Service to generate draft letters in a secure, HIPPA-compliant enclave that responds to customer appeals for healthcare services within 24 hours, reducing the time spent on each appeal letter by 50%.
    4. Air India leveraged Azure OpenAI Service to develop a virtual assistant that has handled nearly 4 million customer queries with full automation, significantly enhancing customer experience and avoiding millions of dollars in customer support costs.
    5. Alaska Airlines is using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Defender, and GitHub to ensure its passengers have a seamless journey from ticket purchase to baggage pickup and started leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to unlock more business value for its customer care and contact centers.
    6. Ally Financial is using Azure OpenAI Service to reduce manual tasks for its customer service associates, freeing up time for them to engage with customers.
    7. BMW Group optimizes the customer experience connecting 13 million active users to their vehicles with the MyBMW app on Azure, which supports 450 million daily requests and 3.2TB data processing.
    8. Boyner has tripled its e-commerce performance using Microsoft Azure, seeing a rise in customer satisfaction, engagement, conversion rate and revenue.
    9. Bradesco Bank integrated Microsoft Azure to its virtual assistant, BIA, resulting in reduced response time from days to hours, improving operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
    10. Capgemini Mexico integrated GitHub Copilot to support scalable AI implementations which has led to improved customer experiences and increased efficiency.
    11. Capitec Bank uses Azure OpenAI Service and Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling their AI-powered chatbot to assist customer service consultants in accessing product information more efficiently, saving significant time for employees each week.
    12. Cdiscount is leveraging GitHub Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service to enhance developer efficiency, optimize product sheet categorization and improve customer satisfaction.
    13. Cemex used Azure OpenAI Service to launch Technical Xpert, an AI tool used by sales agents to provide instant access to comprehensive product and customer solution information, significantly reducing search time by 80%.
    14. Chanel elevated their client experience and improved employee efficiency by leveraging Microsoft Fabric and Azure OpenAI Service for real-time translations and quality monitoring.
    15. City of Burlington created two AI-powered solutions: MyFiles system using Microsoft Power Platform for building permits, and CoBy, a 24/7 customer support assistant using Microsoft Copilot Studio.
    16. City of Madrid created an AI virtual assistant with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service offering tourists accurate, real-time information and personalized responses in 95-plus languages.
    17. Cognizant is making performance management more effective and meaningful with Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to help clients across industries envision, build, and run innovative digital enterprises.
    18. Coles Group has leveraged Microsoft Azure to enhance its digital presence and improve customer engagement, rolling out new applications to its stores six times faster without disrupting workloads.
    19. Commercial Bank of Dubai used Microsoft Azure to upgrade its application infrastructure, improving transaction security and speed so individual customers can now open an account and start banking in about two minutes.
    20. Cradle Fund, dedicated to nurturing startups in Malaysia, introduced an AI-driven chatbot to boost user interaction and increase public engagement. User engagement quadrupled while resolution time was reduced from two days to a few clicks. Cradle also decreased customer service costs by 35%, increased international interactions by 40% and increased daily average visits 10-fold.
    21. Doctolib, a leading eHealth company in France, leverages Microsoft technology to develop an AI-powered medical assistant, integrating both Azure OpenAI Service and Mistral Large on Azure.
    22. Docusign used Azure AI to develop its Intelligent Agreement Management (IAM) platform, which supports millions of workflows, reducing contract processing times and enhancing customer satisfaction with advanced AI-powered analytics.
    23. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority has significantly improved productivity and customer satisfaction by integrating multiple Microsoft AI solutions, reducing task completion time from days to hours and achieving a 98% customer happiness rate.
    24. Elcome uses Microsoft 365 Copilot to improve the customer experience, reducing response times from 24 hours to eight hours.
    25. elunic developed shopfloor.GPT based on Azure OpenAI leading to increased productivity for customers saving 15 minutes per request.
    26. Estée Lauder Companies is leveraging Azure OpenAI Service to create closer consumer connections and increase speed to market with local relevancy.
    27. First National Bank (FNB) is using Microsoft Copilot for Sales to help bankers create professional, thoughtful emails in 13 native South African languages, to enhance customer interactions, streamline communications and reinforce its commitment to innovation and customer service.
    28. Flora Food Group migrated to Microsoft Fabric to offer more detailed and timely insights to its customers, enhancing service delivery and customer satisfaction.
    29. Groupama deployed a virtual assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that delivers reliable, verified and verifiable information, and boasts an 80% success rate.
    30. Holland America Line developed a virtual agent using Microsoft Copilot Studio that acts as a digital concierge on their website to support new and existing customers and travel advisors, which has achieved a strong resolution rate and is currently handling thousands of conversations per week.
    31. International University of Applied Sciences (IU) adopted Azure OpenAI Service to revolutionize learning with a personalized study assistant that can interact with each student just like a human would.
    32. Investec is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for Sales to enhance the bank’s client relationships, estimating saving approximately 200 hours annually ultimately boosting sales productivity and delivering personalized, seamless customer experience.
    33. Jato Dynamics used Azure OpenAI Service to automate content generation, helping dealerships save approximately 32 hours each month.
    34. Kenya Red Cross worked with Pathways Technologies to develop a mental health chatbot in Azure AI.
    35. LALIGA is delivering a seamless fan experience and AI insights with Azure Arc, using AI in Azure for optimizing match scheduling and other key operations.
    36. Legrand used Azure OpenAI Service to reduce the time to generate product data by 60% and improve customer support interactions with fast, accurate information.
    37. Linum is using Microsoft Azure to train their text-to-video models faster and more efficiently without losing performance or wasting resources.
    38. Lumen Technologies is redefining customer success and sales processes through the strategic use of Microsoft 365 Copilot, enhancing productivity, sales and customer service in the global communications sector.
    39. Mars Science & Diagnostics used the Azure AI catalog to build generative AI apps to enhance accuracy and extract data insights quickly, helping pets with critical, undiagnosed conditions receive the care they require faster.
    40. McKinsey & Company is creating an agent to reduce client onboarding process by reducing lead time by 90% and administrative work by 30%.
    41. Meesho leveraged Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and GitHub Copilot to enhance customer service and software development, resulting in a 25% increase in customer satisfaction scores and 40% more traffic on customer service queries.
    42. Milpark Education integrated Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Studio and in just four months, improved efficiency and accuracy of student support, decreasing the average resolution time by 50% and escalation time by more than 30%.
    43. National Basketball Association is using Azure OpenAI Service to speed up the time to market, helping fans connect with the league with personalized, localized insights to enhance the fan experience.
    44. NC Fusion chose a comprehensive Microsoft solution to make marketing engagement activities easier and accurately target the best audience segments.
    45. Medgate, a telehealth subsidiary of Otto Group developed a medical Copilot powered by Azure OpenAI which summarizes consultations, supports triage and provides real-time translations.
    46. Orbital Witness embraced the use of large language models (LLMs) in Azure OpenAI to build its innovative AI Agent application, Orbital Copilot, which can save legal teams 70 percent of the time it takes to conduct property diligence work.
    47. Pacific Gas & Electric built a chatbot using Microsoft Copilot Studio that saves $1.1 million annually on helpdesk support.
    48. Parloa took a “voice-first” approach and created an enterprise-grade AI Agent Management platform to automate customer interactions across phone, chat and messaging apps.
    49. Pockyt is using GitHub Copilot and anticipates a 500% increase in productivity in the medium to long term as they continue adapting AI and fine-tuning their software development life cycle.
    50. South Australia Department for Education launched an AI-powered educational chatbot to help safeguard students from harmful content while introducing responsible AI to the classrooms.
    51. Sync Labs is using Microsoft Azure to create AI-driven solutions that have led to a remarkable 30x increase in revenue and a 100x expansion of their customer base.
    52. Syndigo is using Azure to accelerate digital commerce for its customers by more than 40% and expand its customer base.
    53. Telkomsel created a virtual assistant with Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in a leap in customer self-service interactions from 19% to 45%, and call volume dropped from 8,000 calls to 1,000 calls a day.
    54. Torrens University chose to use Azure OpenAI to uplift its online learning experience, saving 20,000 hours and $2.4 million in time and resources.
    55. Trusting Social integrated Microsoft Azure services to launch AI-driven agents that are changing how banks function and transforming their customer’s banking experience.
    56. University of California, Berkeley used Azure OpenAI Service to deploy a custom AI chatbot that supports student learning and helps students with complex coursework.
    57. University of Sydney created a self-serve AI platform powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to enable faculty to build custom chatbots for enhancing student onboarding, feedback, career simulation and more.
    58. Van Lanschot Kempen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce the time needed for daily tasks, freeing up time to invest in that crucial personal connection.
    59. Virgin Money built an award-winning virtual assistant using Copilot Studio to help build customers’ confidence in their digital products and services.
    60. VOCALLS automates over 50 million interactions per year, resulting in a 78% reduction in average handling time aside from a 120% increase in answered calls.
    61. Vodafone Group is leveraging Microsoft’s AI solutions, including Azure AI Studio, OpenAI Service, Copilot and AI Search, to achieve a 70% resolution rate for customer inquiries through digital channels and reduce call times by at least one minute.
    62. Walmart is using Azure OpenAI Service to deliver a helpful and intuitive browsing experience for customers designed to serve up a curated list of the personalized items a shopper is looking for.
    63. Weights & Biases created a platform which runs on Microsoft Azure that allows developers to keep records, log successes and failures and automate manual tasks.
    64. World2Meet is providing better customer service and operations with a new virtual assistant powered by Microsoft Azure.
    65. Xavier College is modernizing its student information systems on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Azure to unlock powerful insights, fostering innovation and data-driven decision making.
    66. Zavarovalnica Triglav implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure OpenAI Service to streamline its operations with automated responses and smart rerouting of customer enquiries.
    67. Zurich Insurance Group used Azure OpenAI Service to develop advanced AI applications that led to more accurate and efficient risk assessment evaluations, accelerating the underwriting process, reducing turnaround times and increasing customer satisfaction.

    Reshaping business process

    Transforming operations is another way generative AI is encouraging innovation and improving efficiency across various business functions. In marketing, it can create personalized content to truly engage different audiences. For supply chain management, it can predict market trends so companies can optimize their inventory levels. Human resources departments can speed up the hiring process, while financial services can use it for fraud detection and risk assessments. With generative AI, companies are not just refining their current processes, they’re also discovering exciting new growth opportunities.

    New Stories:

    1. Bank of Queensland is modernizing its operations with Azure, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot, using AI to optimize business processes such as creating marketing content, building reports and plans and drafting HR content.
    2. Document360 created an AI-powered knowledge base and service platform for companies to create, manage and publish online documentation, including product manuals, SOPs and wikis.
    3. Eduvos is simplifying the student enrollment experience with Microsoft Azure and Dynamics 365, reducing the time from 90 days to nearly instantaneous and associated costs by 90%.
    4. Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) uses Azure Local to support its digital manufacturing platform, including support for safety-critical applications that use AI. Through its hybrid Azure environment, EGA has achieved 10 to 13 times faster AI response time and 86% cost savings for AI image and video use cases.
    5. Hellenic Cadastre built a system that reads and categorizes property contracts, applies legal rules and provides assessments for approval using Azure OpenAI Service. Today, property transaction assessments take less than 10 minutes instead of hours, reducing costs from 15 euros to 0.11 euros per assessment. The system also enhanced property owners’ legal security and boosted the Greek economy by enabling transactions to be completed sooner.
    6. Startup legal-i is using AI to analyze unstructured data and help expensive insurance specialists make better decisions faster — speeding up healthcare and insurance processes and improving the accuracy of outcomes.
    7. Publishing company SHUEISHA Inc. is using Microsoft Security Copilot to enable faster incident response, boosting the confidence and effectiveness of cybersecurity personnel.
    8. thyssencrupp is using the Siemens Industrial Copilot, built on Azure OpenAI Service, to address a skilled labor gap while revolutionizing how it programs and operates machinery.
    9. U.S. AutoForce implemented Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management to centralize warehouse data, connect processes and improve operational efficiency while using Microsoft Copilot for Finance to automate monthly reconciliations.

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    1. ABB Group integrated Azure OpenAI Service into their Genix Copilot platform enabling customers to achieve up to 30% savings in operations and maintenance, 20% improvement in energy and emission optimization and an 80% reduction in service calls.
    2. Accelleron used Microsoft Power Platform to support numerous business applications and simplify processes for service agents and employees, resulting in the onboard of new agents in 30 minutes, compared to two days for other solutions.
    3. Accenture developed an AI-powered financial advisor that leverages RISE with SAP on Microsoft Azure to enhance their infrastructure and integrate financial data.
    4. Atomicwork leverages Azure OpenAI to bring together three power capabilities: a conversational assistant, a modern service management system and a workflow automation platform.
    5. Blink Ops fully embraced generative AI to build the world’s first Security Automation Copilot with more than 8,000 automated workflows to help any Security/IT task through prompts.
    6. Chalhoub Group is using Microsoft Fabric to modernize its data analytics and streamline its data sources into one platform, increasing agility, enhancing analytics and accelerating processes.
    7. Cineplex is developing innovative automation solutions for finance, guest services and other departments, saving the company over 30,000 hours a year in manual processing time.
    8. ClearBank moved its services to Microsoft Azure to gain scalability and efficiency, pushing out 183% more monthly system releases, gaining both scalability and efficiency.
    9. Danske Statsbaner increases productivity up to 30% with help from Microsoft AI solutions.
    10. Dentsu implemented Microsoft Azure AI Foundry and Azure OpenAI Service to build a predictive analytics copilot that supports media insights, cutting analysis time by 80% and overall time to insight by 90%, reducing analysis costs.
    11. Dow implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to empower teams with AI-driven insights and streamline essential workflows by automating tasks across departments, saving millions of dollars on shipping operations in the first year.
    12. Eastman implemented Microsoft Copilot for Security realizing the benefits of accelerated upskilling, step-by-step guidance for response and faster threat remediation.
    13. Fast Shop migrated to Microsoft Azure creating a self-service culture of access to data, eliminating delays, reducing costs and increasing leadership satisfaction with data while providing more agility in reporting.
    14. Florida Crystals adopted a value-added solution across Microsoft products including Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce telecom expenses and automate industrial process controls.
    15. GHD is reinventing the RFP process in construction and engineering with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
    16. GovDash is a SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the entire business development life cycle for government contracting companies using Azure OpenAI.
    17. Grupo Bimbo is deploying Microsoft’s industrial AI technologies to modernize its manufacturing processes, optimizing production and reducing downtime, driving significant cost savings, and empowering global innovation.
    18. Insight Canada implemented Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline business operations, with 93% of users realizing productivity gains in functions including sales, finance and human resources.
    19. Intesa Sanpaolo Group enhanced its cybersecurity with AI-enabled Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Copilot for Security, resulting in faster threat detection, increased productivity and reduced storage costs.
    20. Kaya deployed a custom implementation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Power BI to modernize its supply chain, leading to enhanced visibility, improved planning and streamlined inter-department operations.
    21. Lenovo leveraged Dynamics 365 Customer Service to rapidly manage customer inquiries by streamlining repetitive tasks, boosted agent productivity by 15%, reduced handling time by 20% and reached record-high customer satisfaction.
    22. Lionbridge Technologies, LLC is using Microsoft Azure and Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate its delivery times and improve quality, reducing project turnaround times by up to 30%.
    23. LTIMindtree integrated Microsoft Copilot for Security, offering automated incident response, integrated threat intelligence and advanced threat analysis.
    24. Mania de Churrasco used Microsoft Azure, Power Platform and Microsoft 365 to achieve high efficiency, security and scalability in its operations, in addition to improving its data intelligence, which indirectly participated in a 20% increase in sales year on year.
    25. National Bank of Greece built an Azure-powered Document AI solution to transform its document processing, improving the bank’s accuracy to 90%.
    26. Nest Bank has revolutionized its operations by integrating Microsoft 365 Copilot and Azure OpenAI Service, resulting in doubled sales and increased daily transactions from 60,000 to 80,000, showcasing the transformative impact of generative AI in the financial sector.
    27. Network Rail modernized their data analytics solution with Microsoft Azure, helping engineers understand data 50% faster than before and improve efficiency, passenger experiences and safety — all while saving costs.
    28. Nsure developed an AI-powered agent that uses Copilot Studio and Power Automate to reduce manual processing time by 60% while also reducing associated costs by 50%.
    29. Oncoclínicas implemented Microsoft Azure to transform its entire data ecosystem with a web portal and mobile application that performs all image processing and storage.
    30. Operation Smile used Azure OpenAI Service, Fabric and Power Apps to eliminate manual data entry, resulting in reduced translation errors by about 90% and the time required for completing reports from four to five hours to just 15 to 20 minutes.
    31. Pacifico Seguros has adopted Microsoft Copilot for Security to optimize its security operations and anticipate and neutralize threats more efficiently and effectively.
    32. Parexel adopted Azure Databricks and Microsoft Power BI, achieving an 85% reduction in data engineering tooling costs, a 30% increase in staff efficiency and a 70% reduction in time to market for data product delivery.
    33. Paysafe used Microsoft 365 Copilot to streamline meetings, information management and document creation, addressing language barriers, eliminating time-consuming tasks and boosting creativity along the way.
    34. Planted is integrating Azure OpenAI to manage everyday tasks more efficiently and facilitate the search for information for innovative process development.
    35. Presidio realized dramatic productivity gains saving 1,200 hours per month on average for the employees using Microsoft 365 Copilot and created 70 new business opportunities.
    36. Qatar Charity used Copilot Studio to increase its call center efficiency, reducing average handle time by 30%, increased customer satisfaction by 25%, and achieved a 40% reduction in IT maintenance costs.
    37. Saphyre uses Microsoft Azure and AI to provide an intelligent cloud-based solution that automates and streamlines financial trading workflows around client and counterparty life cycle management, reducing manual efforts by 75%.
    38. StarKist Foods used Azure to effectively unite production and demand processes with finance, reducing the planning cycle from 16 hours to less than one.
    39. Swiss International Air Lines migrated and modernized with Microsoft Azure, achieving up to 30% cost savings, a remarkable boost in platform stability along with enhanced security visibility.
    40. ZEISS Group uses Microsoft Fabric to create a secure and trusted data supply chain that can be shared effortlessly across a range of business units.
    41. ZF Group builds manufacturing efficiency with over 25,000 apps and 37,000 unique active users on Power Platform.

    Bending the curve on innovation

    Generative AI is revolutionizing innovation by speeding up creative processes and product development. It’s helping companies come up with new ideas, design prototypes, and iterate quickly, cutting down the time it takes to get to market. In the automotive industry, it’s designing more efficient vehicles, while in pharmaceuticals, it’s crafting new drug molecules, slashing years off R&D times. In education, it transforms how students learn and achieve their goals. Here are more examples of how companies are embracing generative AI to shape the future of innovation.

    New Stories:

    1. Agricultural Development Trust (ADT) of Baramati is analyzing water, weather, nutrient, pH data and more with AI to increase crop yields in India.
    2. DrumBeat.AI is using Microsoft AI services to predict, identify and treat ear diseases in communities that are both rural and remote, helping to prevent hearing loss among Indigenous communities in Australia.
    3. Dynamic Health Systems created its VitruCare365® platform on the Microsoft Cloud for healthcare technologies to enable motivational care planning. Built on Microsoft Azure, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and Dynamics 365, it provides personalized apps powered by Azure OpenAI Service to each patient and is deployed as an extension to the Microsoft 365 tools clinicians use every day.
    4. Cities can use Esri’s ArcGIS geospatial platform to create environmental digital twins that simulate heavy rainfall and apply hot spot analysis to highlight flooding. Adding Azure AI to the geospatial digital twin will reveal insights in impossible amounts of data.
    5. Digital employment agency Gojob developed Aglae, a virtual assistant based on Azure OpenAI Service, to pre-qualify candidates within 15 minutes, enabling recruiters to achieve record employment placement rates.
    6. Institut Curie and Microsoft partner Witivio developed Copilot for Researcher, an agent that can help researchers with some of the administrative tasks in their jobs so they have more time to spend on actual new ideas in the fight against cancer.
    7. NASA created Earth Copilot to transform how people interact with Earth’s data.
    8. Parity is helping women athletes use data and AI to help improve their well-being, performance and careers.
    9. Petbarn created “PetAI” using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Search and Azure App Service to provide Australian pet owners highly personalized advice and product recommendations.
    10. Project Guacamaya is using daily satellite images and various AI models tailored to the Amazon ecosystem to help prevent its deforestation, allowing for quicker action to be taken in at-risk areas.
    11. Properstar developed a solution to simplify the analysis of unstructured real estate data and create a dynamic, AI-powered filtering system that provides more nuanced search results.
    12. RadarFit is using generative AI and a unique gamification strategy to encourage healthy habits in Brazil, with a comprehensive health and wellness program aimed at helping companies reduce chronic disease rates.
    13. SEDUC is using Microsoft 365 Copilot for administrative tasks — such as generating legal documents and handling administrative inquiries — and has expanded to include AI usage with students and teachers, including personalized learning to cater to individual student needs and help them recover from learning losses during the pandemic.
    14. Indonesia’s Universitas Terbuka used Microsoft Azure OpenAI services and Azure AI Foundry to build an AI tutor that delivers accurate, curriculum-aligned responses and streamlines student assessment. The tutor currently supports 500 classes and some 100,000 students.
    15. World Traveler is using AI including Microsoft Reading Progress and Microsoft Immersive Reader to help teachers reach its globally and educationally diverse students with personalized learning experiences.
    16. South Korean startup Wrtn Technologies brings ATI close to people, with a “superapp” that compiles an array of AI use cases and services, but localized for Korean users to integrate AI into their everyday lives.

    ————————————————————————————————————————–

    1. Air India has incorporated Microsoft 365 Copilot into multiple departments, unlocking a new realm of operational insights that not only provides critical data on flight punctuality and operational hurdles, but also empowers proactive, collaborative decision making.
    2. Agnostic Intelligencedeployed Azure OpenAI Service to eliminate time-consuming tasks, saving users up to 80% of their time, and enabling IT managers to focus on innovation and quality assurance.
    3. Albert Heijn is using Azure OpenAI for everything from customer personalization to demand forecast and food waste projects, making it easier for its customers to change their lifestyle.
    4. Amgen is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to boost productivity and has the potential to speed up drug development and support advancements in their business processes.
    5. APEC leverages Microsoft Azure and deep neural network algorithms to develop an app that enables healthcare providers to capture retinal images, increasing the accuracy to identify Retinopathy of Prematurity (RoP) to 90%.
    6. ASOS is using Azure AI Studio to help customers discover new looks with genuine shopping insights, personalized conversations, naturalism and even humor to enliven the shopping journey.
    7. Auburn University is incorporating Microsoft Copilot to promote AI literacy, accessibility and collaboration, with the aim to expand educational and economic opportunities for its entire academic community with AI-centric tools.
    8. B3 launched an AI assistant using Azure OpenAI Service that aids 10,000 users a day to answer Brazilians’ questions about how to start investing.
    9. Basecamp Research aims to build the world’s largest database of national biodiversity and apply AI and machine learning to advance bioscience.
    10. Bayer is using Microsoft Copilot to contribute to feeding a growing global population and helping people lead healthier, disease-free lives.
    11. BMW AG implemented Azure AI to develop a mobile data recorder copilot for faster data management helping engineers reduce the lead time for insights from days to hours or sometimes minutes.
    12. Brembo leveraged Azure OpenAI to develop ALCHEMIX, a solution to generate innovative compounds for its brake pads, drastically reducing the development time of new compounds from days to mere minutes.
    13. Canary Speech can now train new vocal models in as little as two months and handle millions of transactions per month with Microsoft Azure.
    14. CapitaLand simplified internal processes increasing efficiency to more than 10,000 man-days saved per year and deployed Azure OpenAI Service to build the first AI hospitality chatbot for its lodging business.
    15. Cassidy is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance efficiency across various industries, supporting over 10,000 companies.
    16. Coca-Cola is implementing Azure OpenAI Service to develop innovative generative AI use cases across various business functions, including testing how Microsoft 365 Copilot could help improve workplace productivity.
    17. Denso is developing “human-like” robots using Azure OpenAI Service as the brain to help robots and humans work together through dialogue.
    18. eFishery is using Azure OpenAI for farmers to get the data and insights on fish and shrimp farming, including more precise feeding and water quality monitoring.
    19. EY developed an application that automatically matches and clears incoming payments in SAP, resulting in an increase from 30% to 80% in automatically cleared payments and 95% matched payments, with estimated annual time savings of 230,000 hours globally.
    20. EY worked with Microsoft to make Azure AI Foundry more inclusive for all, serving the 20% of the global workforce identifying as neurodivergent.
    21. FIDO is using Azure OpenAI Service to develop an AI tool that uses sound to pinpoint leaky pipes, saving precious drinking water.
    22. Georgia Tech is using Azure OpenAI Service to enhance the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, achieving rapid data classification and predictive modeling, highlighting the reliability of networked chargers over non-networked ones.
    23. GigXR developed a solution to create the intelligence for specific AI patients using Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service and other Azure services.
    24. GoTo Group is significantly enhancing productivity and code quality across its engineering teams by adopting GitHub Copilot, saving over seven hours per week and achieved a 30% code acceptance rate.
    25. GovTech used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to create LaunchPad, sparking more than 400 ideas and 20 prototypes, laying the foundation for the government to harness the power of generative AI.
    26. H&R Block is using Azure AI Studio and Azure OpenAI Service to build a new solution that provides real-time, reliable tax filing assistance.
    27. Haut.AI provides skin care companies and retailers with customizable, AI-based skin diagnostic tools developed with the help of Microsoft AI.
    28. Helfie is building a solution that caters to healthcare providers who can arm their patients with an application to more quickly and accurately access the care they need.
    29. Hitachi will implement Azure Open AI Service, Microsoft 365 Copilot and GitHub Copilot to create innovative solutions for the energy, mobility and other industries.
    30. Icertis is providing AI-based tools that will recognize contract language and then build algorithms to automatically choose the right approach based on the content of the contract.
    31. Iconem leveraged AI-generated imagery to process and analyze a vast amount of photogrammetry data used to create the 3D digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica, allowing visitors to explore every intricate detail from anywhere in the world.
    32. ITOCHU is using Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Studio to evolve its data analytics dashboard into a service that provides immediate recommendations by automatically creating evidence-based product proposals.
    33. IU International University of Applied Sciences (IU) is using the power of Azure OpenAI Service to develop Syntea, an AI avatar integrated into Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 Copilot, making learning more personalized, autonomous and flexible.
    34. Khan Academy has partnered with Microsoft to bring time-saving and lesson-enhancing AI tools to millions of educators.
    35. Lufthansa Group developed an animated 3D avatar called Digital Hangar to help guide passengers from initial travel inspiration to flight booking through an exchange with an Avatar in natural language.
    36. Mia Labs implemented Azure OpenAI to produce and protect its conversational AI virtual assistant Mia that provides fast support from investors, along with the sophisticated security posture and threat protection capabilities for AI workloads.
    37. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is using Azure OpenAI Service to help accelerate digital innovation in power plants.
    38. Molslinjen has created an AI analytics toolbox that has reduced fuel emissions, improved customer satisfaction and brought in millions of additional revenue.
    39. New Sun Road implemented AI into a local controller for energy systems to balance the supply, storage and use requirements. This optimized loads to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy for local clean power for communities.
    40. Novo Nordisk recently published initial results with predictive AI models for advanced risk detection in cardiovascular diseases, including an algorithm that can predict patients’ cardiovascular risk better than the best clinical standards.
    41. Ontada implemented Azure AI and Azure OpenAI Service to target nearly 100 critical oncology data elements across 39 cancer types and now accesses an estimated 70% of previously unanalyzed or unused information, accelerating its life science product development, speeding up time to market from months to just one week.
    42. Paige.AI is using AI and Microsoft Azure to accelerate cancer diagnoses with data from millions of images.
    43. Pets at Home created an agent to help its retail fraud detection team investigate suspicious transactions.
    44. Plan Heal is using Microsoft AI to create solutions that enable patients to monitor and report health metrics so care providers can better serve them.
    45. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is testing a new battery material that was found in a matter of weeks, not years, as part of a collaboration with Microsoft.
    46. Rijksmuseum is harnessing the power of Copilot to make art accessible at scale by joining forces with Microsoft to improve and expand the art experience for blind and low-vision community members.
    47. Royal National Institute of Blind People is using Azure AI services to develop an AI-based solution that quickly and accurately converts letters to braille, audio, and large print formats.
    48. Schneider Electric provides productivity-enhancing and energy efficiency solutions and is using a whole suite of AI tools to hasten its own innovation and that of its customers.
    49. SPAR ICS created an award-winning, AI-enabled demand forecasting system achieving 90% inventory prediction accuracy.
    50. SustainCERT deployed GenAI and machine learning for automated data verification, extraction from documents and to accelerate auditing processes to enable verifying the impacts and credibility of carbon credits.
    51. Suzuki Motor Corporation is adopting Azure OpenAI Service for data security, driving company-wide use with five multipurpose apps.
    52. Tecnológico de Monterrey created a generative AI-powered ecosystem built on Azure OpenAI Service with the goal to personalize education based on the students’ needs, improve the learning process, boost teachers’ creativity and save time on tedious tasks.
    53. TomTom is using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Kubernetes Service to revolutionize the driver experience.
    54. Toyota is deploying AI agents to harness the collective wisdom of engineers and innovate faster in a system named “O-Beya,” or “big room” in Japanese. The “O-Beya” system currently has nine AI agents — from a Vibration Agent to a Fuel Consumption Agent.
    55. Unilever is partnering with Microsoft to identify new digital capabilities to drive product innovation forward, from unlocking the secrets of our skin’s microbiome to reducing the carbon footprint of a multibillion-dollar business.
    56. Unity used Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to build Muse Chat, an AI assistant that can guide creators through common questions and help troubleshoot issues to make game development easier.
    57. University of South Florida is using Microsoft 365 Copilot to alleviate the burden of repetitive, time-consuming tasks so faculty and staff can spend this time creatively solving problems, conducting critical research, establishing stronger relationships with peers and students and using their expertise to forge new, innovative paths.
    58. Utilidata built the first distributive AI and accelerated computing platform for the electric grid allowing flexible transformation and dynamic infrastructure to increase electrification and decarbonization.
    59. Visma has developed new code with GitHub Copilot, Microsoft Azure DevOps and Microsoft Visual Studio as much as 50 percent faster, contributing to increased customer retention, faster time to market and increased revenue.
    60. Wallenius Wilhelmsen is implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot and using Microsoft Viva to drive sustainable adoption, streamlining processes, empowering better decision making and cultivating a culture of innovation and inclusion.
    61. Wipro is committed to delivering value to customers faster and improving the outcomes across the business by investing $1 billion in AI and training 200,000 employees on generative AI principles with Microsoft Copilot.

    Read more:

    IDC InfoBrief: sponsored by Microsoft, 2024 Business Opportunity of AI, IDC# US52699124, November 2024

    Tags: AI, AI Azure, Azure OpenAI Service, Copilot, Copilot Studio, Microsoft 365 Copilot

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-OSI USA: Returning Home after the LA County Wildfires

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Returning Home after the LA County Wildfires

    Returning Home after the LA County Wildfires

    LOS ANGELES – As more Eaton Canyon and Pacific Palisades neighborhoods impacted by Los Angeles County wildfires open to residents, city and county officials caution that these areas are still dangerous, due to considerable risks remaining from waste, unstable burned buildings, and utility crews using heavy equipment.Everyone is eager to go home, clean up the burn site and start rebuilding. You may be worried about what you will find when you get back — but don’t rush in. If you find your home has damage, be careful. Improper handling and disposal of ash and materials may impact your health, as well as your neighbors. Recovery calls for caution. Areas Damaged by Wildfires are Reopening, but Risk Remains Almost all areas are now open, but some limited access may persist due to downed power lines, landslides, debris, unstable roads, or other utility work. Los Angeles County officials will communicate when re-entry conditions are permissible through public media. To check on your area, visit the county’s disaster website at Eaton Fire – LA County Recovers / Palisades Fire – LA County Recovers.The more a neighborhood is damaged by wildfire, the more complex and lengthier it will be to make the area safe. Below are some factors that help determine when a disaster area can be considered safe:Fire debris and ash in roadways. Crews have been working to clear roadways to ensure survivors can safely travel back to their homes or businesses. Debris removal has begun in Phase 1 of two phases. For more information on the process, visit Debris Removal – LA County Recovers Household materials removal. Exposure to certain common household materials impacted by fire may be a risk to human health, animals, and the environment. During Phase 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been surveying, removing, and disposing of household materials that may require special handling from properties affected by the wildfires. Items being removed include materials such as paints, solvents, oils, vehicle, and household batteries, and pesticides. For more information visit: 2025 California Wildfires | US EPA.In Phase 2, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was tasked to support FEMA and the Consolidated Debris Removal Program. Corps of Engineers contractors will remove fire-damaged debris from private property. Residents must opt-in to the Debris Removal Program and obtain a Right-of-Entry (ROE) form for the Corps of Engineers to access charred properties.  Property owners are not required to use these services. Residents who do not “opt-in” to the Debris Removal Program are responsible for all associated debris removal costs. In addition, for the safety of the community, property owners who choose to do their own cleanup must still follow local, state, and federal requirements.Use Caution When Returning HomeBring personal protective equipment for working in and around your home: gloves, eye protection, face masks or respirators, and boots with a steel toe and insole.Look for damaged power lines, foundation cracks and other exterior damage. Your home may be too dangerous to enter before an inspector checks it out.Don’t turn on your electrical breaker if it looks damaged. Keep the main electrical power and water systems off until you or a professional can ensure they are safe.Check your gas meter and gas lines for damage. If you smell natural gas or propane, hear a hissing noise, or notice visible damage, leave immediately and contact the fire department.If your home and electrical system appear undamaged, but the power is off, turn off all your appliances before you turn the power back on at the main breaker.Take it one step at a time. Focus on the most important clean-up tasks first. Don’t try to move large or unstable material by yourself. Ask for help and help others.Rebuild with the Future in MindYou can rebuild or repair your home in ways that reduce your risk from wildfires. Email FEMA Mitigation to request a free individualized plan: FEMA-R9-MIT@fema.dhs.gov. When choosing a contractor, please note: Contractors should be licensed and bonded and have disability and workers’ compensation insurance. If they don’t, you may be liable for accidents on your property.Make sure contractors obtain the necessary permits to do the job. Consult your local government and/or LA County to verify that they do.
    barbara.murien…
    Wed, 02/05/2025 – 17:44

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Police officer injured, Huntly

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    A Police officer has been injured in an incident at 8pm last night in Huntly.

    The officer, who was conducting enquiries at an address in Huntly on an unrelated matter, had stepped out of their patrol car when another vehicle drove toward them, colliding with the patrol vehicle and the officer.

    The offending driver fled but was located and arrested.

    The officer was transported to Waikato Hospital, assessed and treated for a moderate injury and discharged. They are expected to make a full recovery and are being provided with support through the process.

    The offender, a 47-year-old man, was taken into custody and is due to appear to Hamilton District Court today facing charges in relation to this incident.

    ENDS

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News

  • MIL-OSI Europe: EIB Board approves €2.4 billion of financing for business innovation, energy grids, flood resilience and transport

    Source: European Investment Bank

    • Discussion of EIB Global strategic reorientation and support for European electricity grids
    • Energy-saving for businesses across Europe
    • Financing to expand hydrogen refuelling in Europe and rebuild damaged heating infrastructure in Ukraine

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) today approved €2.4 billion of new financing for business investment, clean energy, transport, telecommunications and flood protection in Europe.

    The EIB Board of Directors also discussed the strategic orientation of EIB Global. Reflecting the changing geopolitical context and even better aligning with EU external policy priorities, the Bank’s investments outside of the EU will continue contribute to a stronger Europe in a more stable, more prosperous and sustainable world.

    The Board examined ways to further increase support for electricity networks in Europe. In 2024, the Bank mobilised over €100 billion of additional investment for energy and financed a record high of €8.5 billion for electricity grids, which mobilised 40% of total EU investment in electricity grids.

    “We are ahead of the investment targets of the RePowerEU programme to bring cheaper and clean energy to European households and businesses. Last year the EIB marked a record in investment in energy grids and inter connectors, to bolster Europe’s competitiveness and security”, said EIB Group President Nadia Calviño.

    Energy networks, flood defences

    The first EIB Board of Directors of the year approved financing totalling €791 million to expand hydrogen production for transport, strengthen electricity distribution, and improve flood protection in Poland.

    This includes funding to boost research into and development of hydrogen and to increase the number of hydrogen refueling stations for cars and trucks.

    In support of Ukraine, the Board paved the way for financing of €100 million to repair damaged municipal heating infrastructure in the country.

    Outside the EU, the EIB agreed to provide financing to upgrade and extend electricity distribution in Panama. The goal is to increase renewable/energy use, bolster grids and expand power distribution to unserved communities in the country.

    Green innovation

    The Board also approved financing totalling €879 million for innovation and investment by businesses to improve energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.

    This includes backing automotive-component research and development at 15 manufacturing sites across Europe and low-carbon glass production in France and Spain.

    The EIB endorsed a new securitisation scheme to support Dutch business investment in climate action and environmental sustainability.

    Better connections

    The Board agreed €768 million in financing for transport and telecom networks in the EU and beyond.

    In Colombia, the Board approved EUR 418 million for construction of and the acquisition of trains for Metro Line 1 in the capital Bogota – a service expected to carry more than 1 million passengers a day when operational.

    The Board also gave the green light for financing of €350 million to expand mobile-phone networks across Italy.

    Background information  

    EIB 

    The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, high-impact investments outside the European Union, and the capital markets union.  

    The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.  

    All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.  

    Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers

    Approximately half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

    MIL OSI Europe News

  • MIL-OSI Video: Palestinians, Occupied Palestinian Territory, Gaza & other topics – Daily Press Briefing

    Source: United Nations (Video News)

    Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

    – Palestinians
    – Occupied Palestinian Territory
    – Gaza
    – Democratic Republic of the Congo
    – Sudan
    – South Sudan
    – Sweden
    – Aga Khan
    – Iraq
    – Senior Appointment
    – Financial Contribution
    – Guest

    PALESTINIANS
    This afternoon, the Secretary-General has a scheduled appearance at the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. In his remarks, he will tell the committee, following the agreement that has been in effect, that we must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay. We cannot go back to more death and destruction.
    In speaking to the broader situation, the Secretary-General will say that in the search for solutions we must not make the problems worse. It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing and, of course, he will reaffirm the two-state solution. And you can follow those remarks on UN WebTV starting at 3 p.m.

    OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY
    Our Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, is continuing his visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. On the political level, Mr. Fletcher held discussions over the past two days with Israeli authorities, including President Isaac Herzog, as well as officials from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
    Mr. Fletcher described these engagements as practical, emphasizing the need to build on the progress since the ceasefire and sustain the large-scale delivery of UN aid into Gaza. On the ground, Mr. Fletcher visited today different areas of the West Bank.
    In East Jerusalem, he visited Silwan neighbourhood where he met with residents facing home demolitions and the threat of forcible eviction by Israeli authorities.
    Mr. Fletcher also toured what is known as Area C of the Ramallah governorate, where he heard and saw the humanitarian impact of access restrictions on the livelihoods of Palestinian and their daily lives. These restrictions include Israeli checkpoints and of course the 712-kilometre-long barrier.
    And just a short while ago in Ramallah, Mr. Fletcher held discussions with national Palestinian NGOs, who are at the heart of humanitarian response efforts across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

    GAZA
    In Gaza, our humanitarian colleagues report that our aid operations – together with our partners – continue to scale up across the Gaza Strip. We are also carrying out assessments to determine the needs of impacted and displaced families, particularly the most vulnerable.
    Across Gaza, 22 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme are now operational. And our health partners continue to provide health services as well. We and our partners estimate that more than half a million displaced Palestinians have now returned to the governorates of both Gaza and North Gaza, where there is an urgent need for tents and shelter materials. Our partners say they’ve transported 22 truckloads of tents from southern to northern Gaza yesterday to address these needs but we need to get more tents in.
    For its part, UNICEF continues to distribute nutrition support for infants. Across Gaza, the World Food Programme has provided lipid-based nutrient supplements to more than 80,000 children and pregnant or breastfeeding women since the ceasefire took effect. Humanitarian partners have screened more than 30,000 children under the age of five for malnutrition since the ceasefire took effect. Of those children under five screened, over 1,000 cases of acute malnutrition have been identified, including 230 cases of severe acute malnutrition.
    And to sustain learning activities across the Gaza Strip, education partners established three new temporary learning spaces yesterday in Gaza, Rafah, and Khan Younis governorates, benefiting some 200 children.

    Full Highlights: https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/noon-briefing-highlight?date%5Bvalue%5D%5Bdate%5D=05%20February%202025

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

    MIL OSI Video

  • MIL-OSI Security: February Federal Grand Jury 2024-A Indictments Announced

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    United States Attorney Clint Johnson today announced the results of the February Federal Grand Jury 2024-A Indictments.

    The following individuals have been charged with violations of United States law in indictments returned by the Grand Jury. The return of an indictment is a method of informing a defendant of alleged violations of federal law, which must be proven in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt to overcome a defendant’s presumption of innocence.

    Derrick Adams. Felon in Possession of a Firearm; Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute; Maintaining a Drug-Involved Premises. Adams, 45, of Tulsa, is charged with possessing a firearm, knowing he was previously convicted of a felony.  He is further charged with knowingly possessing marijuana with intent to distribute and maintaining a residence for the purpose of drug distribution. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Attila Bogdan is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-036

    Odon Ambros-Cagan. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Ambros-Cagan, 24, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed in Mar. 2020. U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Augustus Forster is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-023

    Christopher Ray Barrett. Carjacking; Carrying, Using, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition. Barrett, 40, of Tulsa, is charged with taking a vehicle by force and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. Further, Barrett is charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition, knowing he was previously convicted of felonies The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mike Flesher and Jessica Wright are prosecuting the case. 25-CR-024

    Brandon Allen Boone. First Degree Burglary in Indian Country; Assault of an Intimate/Dating Partner by Strangling and Attempting to Strangle in Indian Country; Attempted Witness Tampering by Corrupt Persuasion. Boone, 25, of Bristow and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is charged with breaking into an occupied home and strangling an intimate dating partner. Further, Boone attempted to prevent the victim from speaking with law enforcement officials. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bristow Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mallory Richard and Emily Dewhurst are prosecuting the case. 25-CR-025

    Dylan Lee Boyd. Aggravated Sexual Abuse by Force and Threat in Indian Country; Sexual Abuse of a Minor in Indian Country; Abusive Sexual Contact with a Minor in Indian Country; Commission of Felony Sex Offense Involving a Minor by a Registered Sex Offender (superseding). Boyd, 27, of Quapaw and a member of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, is charged with knowingly engaging in a sexual act by force and threat with a minor victim under 16 years old in Nov. 2020.  He allegedly knowingly engaged in sexual abuse and abusive sexual contact with the minor victim. Boyd is further charged with committing a felony offense with a minor while being required to register as a sex offender. The Quapaw Nation Marshals Service is the investigative agency. Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacey P. Todd is prosecuting the case. 24-CR-114

    Luis Fernando Contreras-Luviano. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Contreras-Luviano, 39, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed in May 2022. U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Augustus Forster is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-026

    Jose Guadalupe Franco-Colchado. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Franco-Colchado, 27, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed in Mar. 2019. U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tyson McCoy is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-027

    Steven Leon Gibbs, Jr. First Degree Burglary in Indian Country; Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country. Gibbs, 34, of Glenpool and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is charged with breaking into a home, and assaulting the victim with a dangerous weapon. The FBI and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Melissa Weems and Stephen Flynn are prosecuting the case. 25-CR-035

    Santiago Lopez Gonzalez. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Gonzalez, 43, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed in Jan. 2023. U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mandy Mackenzie is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-028

    Jason Lynn. Second Degree Murder in Indian Country. Lynn, 31, transient and a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is charged with unlawfully killing Alan Underwood in Jan. 2025. The FBI and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Elmore and Stephen Flynn are prosecuting the case. 25-CR-038

    Simon Martinez-Gonzales. Kidnapping of a Child. Martinez-Gonzales, 44, a Mexican National, is charged with kidnapping a minor child in Dec. 2024. The Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Border Patrol, Webb County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bartlesville Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mallory Richard and Ashley Robert are prosecuting the case. 25-CR-029

    Terry Lee Roland, Jr. Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country; Carrying, Using, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence; Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition; Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition After a Misdemeanor Conviction of Domestic Violence. Roland, 33, of Tulsa and a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, is charged with assaulting a victim with a firearm and brandishing that firearm during a crime of violence. He is further charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition after being convicted of felonies and a domestic violence misdemeanor. The FBI and Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen N. Scaife and Valeria Luster are prosecuting the case. 25-CR-037

    Zakkary Shawn Wayne Romannose. Assault with Intent to Commit Murder in Indian Country; Maiming in Indian Country; Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury in Indian Country. Romannose, 32, of Vinita and a member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe, is charged with attempting to commit murder. He is further charged with torturing the victim by maiming him, which resulted in serious bodily injury. The FBI, Mayes County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Brandon is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-034

    Luis Ubense Ulloa. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Ulloa, 33, a Honduras national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed in May 2023. U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Buscemi is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-030

    Benigno Villezcas-Alcantar. Unlawful Reentry of a Removed Alien. Villezcas-Alcantar, 41, a Mexican national, is charged with unlawfully reentering the United States after having been previously removed in Aug. 2015. U.S. Immigration and Custom’s Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney Niko Boulieris is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-031

    Price Grayson Wasson. Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Ammunition. Wasson, 22, of Tulsa, is charged with possessing a firearm and ammunition, knowing he was previously convicted of felonies. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Tulsa Police Department are the investigative agencies. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Brasher is prosecuting the case. 25-CR-022

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump’s reversal of climate policies risks undermining U.S. manufacturing — and could cost people jobs

    Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Thomas Stuart, Lecturer in Communications, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria

    United States President Donald Trump’s early executive actions have set American manufacturing on a collision course with his administration’s fossil-fuel-driven agenda. It’s clear that climate change policies run counter to his vision of American primacy.

    Trump wasted no time reversing the green initiatives of his predecessor, former president Joe Biden. He withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement for a second time, rolled back environmental regulations and froze green energy funding.




    Read more:
    The impact of Donald Trump’s anti-climate measures on our heating planet


    However, these reversals have exposed complications in Trump’s economic platform. For all his promises to revive American industry and reduce reliance on foreign production, Trump’s opposition to clean energy threatens green technology investments and other incentives that drive U.S. manufacturing development.

    Trump’s Strategic National Manufacturing Initiative promised to “stop outsourcing” and turn the U.S. into a “manufacturing superpower.” Yet his plans to cancel the electric vehicle mandate and reduce regulations promoting clean energy undermine the manufacturing sector’s shift toward green technology.

    In the long run, Trump’s own actions may undermine his vision of an American manufacturing renaissance by cutting crucial investments, putting the U.S. at odds with a global economy increasingly focused on clean technologies.

    The green manufacturing boom

    Republican congressman John James recently applauded Trump’s reversal of green policies during a congressional hearing. Yet, in the same breath, James called for the administration to continue “onshoring the future of automotive jobs and manufacturing,” a policy he linked to Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

    Other Republican representatives from Michigan, Georgia and North Carolina increasingly find themselves walking along the same rhetorical tight-rope.

    While Biden’s IRA has been widely criticized by the Trump administration, the act has brought Republican districts significant green investments and manufacturing jobs.

    As James acknowledged:

    “While the bulk of the IRA is damaging policy, we must not neglect the sector-wide energy tax provisions that manufacturers and job creators rely on in my district and around the country.”

    The green manufacturing boom is not an abstract concept, but a tangible economic engine, particularly in districts with established fossil fuel industries like Chatham County, N.C. Here, manufacturer Wolfspeed’s new US$5 billion dollar semiconductor plant sits in the heart of traditional coal country.

    Since 2022, the private sector has invested US$133 billion in clean energy and electric vehicle (EV) technology. Manufacturing investments alone have jumped by three times over the previous two years, totalling US$89 billion.

    The impact of the IRA on ‘red states’

    Biden-era policy has largely driven the America’s green energy economic development. The IRA provided a staggering US$312 billion in planned investments in EV and battery manufacturing.

    Eighty-five per cent of this funding flows into Republican-voting districts — areas that have historically voted against climate-focused legislation like the IRA. Yet the rewards of these green tech policies have been a boon for local economies.

    Georgia, for instance, has become a model for the American green energy transformation. In the first two years of the IRA, about US$15 billion dollars flowed into the state. Since then, Georgia has added a projected 43,000 new green jobs.

    Meanwhile, North Carolina’s Randolph County has seen the largest investment in green technology in U.S. history. Under the previous administration, it received about US$14 billion in funding, allowing Toyota to build a manufacturing megasite.

    By 2030, the site is expected to create 5,000 jobs in the area, with wages averaging 80 per cent more than the county median salary. Once fully operational, the site will manufacture enough batteries annually to power and maintain up to 500,000 EVs.

    What comes next?

    As Trump continues to roll back environmental protections and withdraw from climate agreements, whether he can still deliver the manufacturing revival he promised remains to be seen.

    In one respect, his policies may lead to a consolidation in the green technology sector. Despite his administration’s retreat from broader green energy policies, Trump says he will continue securing the U.S. supply of critical minerals for EV batteries.

    This could reflect the influence of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who is serving under Trump as a “special government employee.” Tesla, which relies on these critical minerals for its EV production, would benefit from a stable supply.

    Musk resents regulatory interventions, particularly those that encourage competition. On a call with investors, Musk said Tesla might feel a slight impact from lost subsidies. However, he suggested the real damage would be to competitors who are scrambling to catch up in an industry where raw materials are king. Musk predicted that “long term, it probably actually helps Tesla.”

    In another respect, Trump’s policy reversal could also weaken Republican unity. Republican politicians like Georgia’s Buddy Carter, Tennessee’s Chuck Fleischmann and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp have highlighted the short-sighted nature of Trump’s economic plan.

    Trump’s decision to turn his back on climate change policy is more than a blow to environmentalists; it’s a direct challenge to his own economic agenda. He risks not just the environment, but also the green investments essential to American industry’s competitive revival.

    Thomas Stuart 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. Trump’s reversal of climate policies risks undermining U.S. manufacturing — and could cost people jobs – https://theconversation.com/trumps-reversal-of-climate-policies-risks-undermining-u-s-manufacturing-and-could-cost-people-jobs-248399

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sens. Markey, Cruz Statement on Commerce Committee Vote to Advance AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey

    Washington (February 5, 2025) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) member of the Science, Commerce, and Transportation Committee, and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Chairman of the Science, Commerce, and Transportation Committee today released the following statement on the committee’s vote to advance the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act, bipartisan and bicameral legislation that would direct federal regulators to require automakers to include AM broadcast radio in their new vehicles at no additional charge.

    “Today’s vote to advance the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act broadcasts a clear message to car manufacturers that AM radio is an essential communication tool for millions of Americans across the country. From emergency response to sports, entertainment, and news, AM radio is a lifeline that must be protected. Our bill ensures that no one is cut off from their communities and that AM radio stays a part of our constituents’ daily lives.”

    In May 2023, Senators Markey and Cruz led their colleagues in introducing the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act.  The AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act passed through the Senate Commerce Committee in July 2023 and passed through the House Energy and Commerce Committee in September 2024.

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Investigation launched after serious assault, Wainuiomata

    Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

    Police investigating an assault in Wainuiomata last night are asking for the public’s help, after a man was left seriously injured.

    About 10pm, Police were called to a car park on The Strand after a report of people fighting.

    Those involved have left the scene in two vehicles before Police arrived.

    A short time later, emergency services have received another call for service to Riverside Drive, stating a man had been injured and required medical assistance.

    He was located in his vehicle with serious injuries, which are believed to have been sustained in the altercation at The Strand.

    He was transported to hospital, where he remains in a serious condition.

    Police are now working to establish the full circumstances of what has occurred and to locate those responsible for the man’s injuries.

    We are asking anyone who may have witnessed this incident, or who has information about those involved, to please get in touch and share what you know.

    You can do so by calling 105 and quoting reference number 250205/0193.

    You can also share information anonymously through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

    ENDS 

    Issued by Police Media Centre

    MIL OSI New Zealand News

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Shots fired at Glen Osmond

    Source: South Australia Police

    Police are investigating after shot were fired at Glen Osmond earlier this morning.

    Just after midnight on Thursday 6 February, police were called to Elinor Terrace at Glen Osmond after reports of shots being fired.

    On arrive police located damage to a glass balustrade from the first-floor balcony and visible holes in the façade of the building.

    No one was physically injured as a result of the shots being fired.

    Anyone with information about the shooting or any suspicious vehicles or activity in the area can report it anonymously to police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

    MIL OSI News

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Highway closed at Brimbago

    Source: South Australia Police

    Police are currently at the scene of a crash at Brimbago.

    Just after 11pm last night (Wednesday 5 February), police and emergency services were called to the Dukes Highway after reports of a truck having crashed into a tree.

    The Dukes Highway at Brimbago is currently closed in both directions.

    All traffic is being directed along Emu Flat Road and Ngarkat Highway to travel between Keith and Bordertown.

    Please avoid the area if possible.

    MIL OSI News

  • MIL-OSI USA: Senator Murray, Ecology Director Sixkiller, Councilmember Zahilay, WA Head Start Association Director Call Out How Trump’s Ongoing Illegal Funding Freeze is Hurting WA State, Putting Critical Projects and Jobs at Risk

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray

    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, led a virtual press conference highlighting how President Trump’s ongoing, illegal funding freeze is hurting people and organizations across Washington state—forcing them to make impossible choices, costing jobs, and putting critical projects and hundreds of millions of dollars for everything from infrastructure improvements to culvert removal at risk. Joining Senator Murray for the press call were King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, Washington State Department of Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller, and Joel Ryan, Executive Director of the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP.

    “People need to understand the Trump administration is still holding up billions of dollars, under Trump’s illegal Day One Executive Orders. We’re talking about funding Congress passed into law—funding that is owed to communities in Washington state and across the country,” Senator Murray said on this morning’s press call, outlining some of the ways President Trump’s ongoing illegal funding freeze from his Day One Executive Orders is putting critical projects and jobs in Washington state at risk:

    • “The Washington State Department of Transportation has told me Trump is blocking money to repair electric chargers, to install heavy duty chargers for trucks, to make critical repairs to bridges in order to protect the safety of millions of drivers, and to install new chargers along major roads like I-90, US-97, US-2, US-195, and US-395.
    • “Trump is holding up road projects to make streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers—a safe streets project in Richland, critical safety barriers in Spokane are just a few of the examples.
    • “Trump’s illegal freeze is, as we speak, blocking wildlife preservation work all over our state, and critical culvert replacement projects to help save our salmon.
    • “There are port projects right now on hold across Washington state, including for electrical infrastructure, and shore power for vessels. Absolutely essential electric transmission and distribution projects are on hold and in jeopardy.
    • “World class organizations in Washington state have told me they may have to lay people off this week—hundreds of people—because of Trump’s illegal funding freezes.

    “Make no mistake: the chaos is not over. There are still billions of dollars being illegally held up—and so many jobs in Washington state that are on the line I am going to continue fighting this and pressing the administration every way I can to get them to end these illegal funding freezes,” Murray concluded. “I’m going to continue doing everything I can as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee to stand up and hold this administration to account, so we can get the money Congress passed into law flowing again to folks back home in Washington state.”

    “This is money that should be flowing into our communities, creating jobs, protecting public health, and improving the environment. Instead, it is being delayed at the expense of the people who need it most,” said Casey Sixkiller, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology.

    “King County is already grappling with a $150 million budget shortfall, putting essential services at risk. A freeze in federal funding would make this crisis even worse, threatening vital programs like healthcare, housing support, transportation, and services for veterans and seniors. For the people who depend on these services every day, these cuts aren’t just numbers—they’re lifelines that keep our community safe, healthy, and connected. Without immediate action and support, many of our most vulnerable neighbors will face even greater hardship,” said King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay.

    “This past week and half have been chaotic and disruptive roller coaster ride for Head Start programs here in Washington State. The half day shutdown caused by the Trump Administration caused confusion and nearly led to thousands of children and families losing access to childcare. Yesterday we continued to receive reports that Head Start programs were struggling to access their federal grant dollars with one program as of today still unable to gain access. Across the country there remains over 40+ Head Start programs impacting more than 20,000 children dealing with this ‘rolling blackout’ putting very low income children and families at risk of losing services,” said Joel Ryan, Executive Director of the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP.

    TIMELINE OF EVENTS

    January 20th: Within his first hours in office, President Trump signed a number of executive orders that illegally block funding that was signed into law to rebuild America’s infrastructure, lower families’ energy costs, create new, good-paying jobs, strengthen our national security, and more.

    January 27th: Trump expanded his funding freeze dramatically when the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a sweeping, illegal memo directing a near-blanket freeze on virtually all federal funding, with carveouts for Social Security, Medicare, and “assistance provided directly to individuals.” Senator Murray immediately wrote a letter to OMB alongside House Appropriations Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) raising alarms about the sweeping directive and calling the acting director to restore funding, as the law requires.

    January 28th: Senator Murray joined millions of Americans in decrying the chaos and pain President Trump’s freeze caused—as reports poured in from across the country about how it risked shuttering Head Start programs, cutting off disaster relief, jeopardizing cancer research, and much more. The White House, in trying to clarify the scope of the memo, instead created more chaos, confusion, and headaches for the American people.

    January 29th: Senator Murray again slammed Trump’s devastating freeze cutting off funding families count on—noting that even programs the administration said were back online were, in fact, still shuttered, and she called on Trump to stop withholding funding. Then, facing nationwide backlash, President Trump had his OMB revoke its memo. But President Trump vowed to keep his freeze of hundreds of billions of dollars in funding tied up by his executive orders in place—and his aides continued their vows to block more funding signed into law.

    RIGHT NOW: President Trump continues to hold up vast swaths of funding implicated by his illegal executive orders—and chaos and confusion pervade over whether funding implicated by his now-rescinded OMB memo has been fully restored.

    His executive orders direct agencies to, among other things, halt disbursement of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, foreign development assistance, and virtually any funding his administration deems “woke.”

    President Trump’s ongoing freeze is holding up funding Congress delivered—often on a bipartisan basis—to:

    • Rebuild America’s roads and bridges.
    • Connect families to high-speed internet access.
    • Upgrade transit and transportation infrastructure.
    • Lower Americans’ energy costs.
    • Create new, good-paying clean energy jobs.
    • Strengthen America’s national security.
    • Much more.

    President Trump must rescind his executive orders—and stop blocking funding the American people are counting on. His failure to do so will:

    • Kill good-paying American jobs.
    • Delay—or altogether scrap—infrastructure projects all across the county.
    • Raise American families’ energy costs.
    • Create more chaos, confusion, and uncertainty that hurt families, businesses, small businesses, and local organizations and governments.
    • Gut efforts to tackle the climate crisis and ensure every American has clean air and water.
    • Halt work cleaning up Superfund sites contaminated with hazardous waste and substances.
    • Undermine our national security and credibility on the world stage.
    • Much more.

    A fact sheet on the issue of impoundment—Trump’s unconstitutional scheme to withhold federal funding headed to communities across America—is HERE.

    Senator Murray’s full remarks, as delivered on today’s press call, are below and video is HERE:

    “Thank you everyone for joining us today. Last week, we saw a level of chaos and recklessness from the Trump administration that’s truly unlike anything I have seen in my lifetime, when the administration moved to brazenly and illegally freeze federal grants across government and across the country. 

    “The panic and the confusion were widespread. Because there was a long, long, list of programs President Trump tried to put on the chopping block.

    “Then, less than 48 hours later, in the face of intense public backlash and outrage from people all over the country—they admitted they were disastrously wrong and revoked the OMB memo.

    “But it’s really important that this fight is far from over. Not only is there still significant confusion—funding that was supposed to be turned back ‘on’ that is still not, it’s still locked up—but, just as importantly, people need to understand the Trump administration is still holding up billions of dollars, under Trump’s illegal Day One Executive Orders.

    “We’re talking about funding that Congress passed into law—funding that is owed to communities in Washington state and across the country.

    “Now, the harm they are causing with these funding freezes is hard to overstate, because this has never been done before. 

    “And we’ve been working around the clock to figure out exactly what all of this means, and who is affected—because they have been far from clear.

    “But today I want to give you all a sense of what folks across our state have told me about what Trump’s ongoing, illegal funding freezes have meant for them.

    “The Washington State Department of Transportation has told me that Trump is blocking money to repair electric chargers, to install heavy duty chargers for trucks, to make critical repairs to bridges in order to protect the safety of millions of drivers, and to install new chargers along major roads like I-90, US-97, US-2, US-195, and US-395.

    “Trump is still holding up road projects that make streets safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers—a safe streets project in Richland, critical safety barriers in Spokane are just a few of the examples.

    “Trump’s illegal freeze is, as we speak, blocking wildlife preservation work all over our state, and critical culvert replacement projects to help save our salmon. 

    “There are port projects right now on hold across Washington state, including for electrical infrastructure, and shore power for vessels. Absolutely essential electric transmission and distribution projects are on hold and in jeopardy.

    “And there are many other projects, organizations, and people—who are being harmed right now by the President’s reckless funding freeze.

    “Medical researchers in Washington state who are worried that their work will somehow be considered ‘woke,’ when in reality, it’s actually pretty darn important we understand the roots of health disparities—things like why the maternal death rate is so much higher for Black and Native American women.

    “Trump’s executive orders also froze lifesaving foreign assistance for people all around the globe.

    “And world class organizations in our state, in Washington state, have told me they may have to lay people off this week—hundreds of people—because of Trump’s illegal funding freezes.

    “It is just completely unclear when, or if these projects are going to get the funds they are counting on, and owed, from the bills Congress passed into law long before Trump came into office. 

    “So, make no mistake: the chaos is not over. There are still billions of dollars being illegally held up—and many jobs in Washington state are now on the line.

    “I am going to continue fighting this and pressing the administration every way I can to make them end these illegal funding freezes.

    “Democrats will speak out, we will challenge Trump’s illegal actions in the courts, we will demand accountability, and we will put the pressure on the administration and on our Republican colleagues. 

    “But we also need our Republican colleagues to say ‘enough.’ We need them to join us. 

    “Now, we learned something extremely important last week: that when the American people–all across our state, all across the country–speak out with one voice, and when regular people stand up, it makes a difference. 

    “So this fight is far from over—and I’m going to continue doing everything I can as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee to stand up and hold this administration to account, so we can get the money Congress—by both parties, Republicans and Democrats–passed into law flowing again to folks back home in Washington state.”

    MIL OSI USA News

  • MIL-OSI Security: Holyrood — RCMP East District GIS continues to investigate break, enter, and theft at RBC in Holyrood, three more individuals charged

    Source: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

    In continuing its investigation into a recent break, enter, and theft at the RBC bank branch in Holyrood, RCMP East District General Investigation Section (GIS) arrested and charged three more suspects, 33 -year-old Ryan Tobin, 38-year-old Matthew Scott, and 49-year-old Jodi Lewis.

    At approximately 3:45 a.m. on December 16, 2024, suspects used a stolen back hoe to break into the bank, causing extensive damage. An ATM was stolen from inside and loaded into a dump truck which was stopped by police a short time later on the Trans-Canada Highway heading east and the ATM was recovered. A second vehicle, a pickup truck, was also pulled over. This vehicle was believed to be involved in the breaking and entering and all three occupants were arrested but later released.

    As a result of further investigation, on January 29, 2025, Matthew Scott, Jodi Lewis, and Ryan Tobin, the occupants of the pickup truck, were charged and are set to appear in court on March 4, 2025, for the following offences:

    • Break and enter
    • Theft over $5000
    • Mischief over $5000

    Two other individuals, Jason Weir and Jamie Kennedy, were previously arrested and charged as part of this investigation.

    The investigation is continuing. Anyone having information about this crime is asked to contact Holyrood RCMP at 709-229-3892 or, to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers: #SayItHere 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), visit www.nlcrimestoppers.com or use the P3Tips app.

    MIL Security OSI

  • MIL-OSI Economics: [Galaxy Unpacked 2025] Galaxy Tech Forum: Galaxy AI: Redefining the Mobile Experience Paradigm

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy S25 series at Galaxy Unpacked 2025, marking the beginning of the next era of mobile AI to explore the latest flagship smartphones and the transformative potential of AI agents, Samsung Newsroom joined the third Galaxy Tech Forum session, titled “True AI Companion: Impact on Life and What’s Next.” 
     
    (From left to right) Bob O’Donnell, Sameer Samat, Jay Kim, Christopher Patrick and Dr. Chris Brauer
     
    More Natural, Intuitive and User-Friendly Mobile AI 
    The session kicked off with welcome remarks from Jay Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of Customer Experience Office, Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics.  “Yesterday was a very exciting day for us as we launched the Galaxy S25. It’s another big step forward in the AI era,” Kim said. “We’re very excited to be here with our partners today, especially (excited) to talk about everything we did together to launch the Galaxy S25 series.” 
     
    Jay Kim from Samsung Electronics
     
    Moderator Bob O’Donnell, President and Founder of TECHnalysis Research, posed questions to the panelists about the benefits the Galaxy S25 series will bring to users, as well as the barriers blocking certain consumers from using mobile AI.  “AI should make users’ lives better. We study consumer habits, constantly trying to gain a better understanding of our customers,” Kim said. “Ultimately, what we’re trying to do is minimise how much effort it takes to input while maximising the output. To do that, we look at what consumers do on their phones, define the potential use cases alongside our partners, and put it all together in our devices for the best possible consumer experience.” 
     
    The Galaxy Tech Forum discussion on Galaxy AI
     
    “Multimodality can help people become more efficient while AI agents can help people become more productive,” Kim continued. He also highlighted Samsung’s commitment to openly collaborating with its partners to drive progress forward and expressed his excitement for the possibilities AI innovations will bring as part of a new chapter in mobile technology.  
     
    Expanding the Galaxy AI Ecosystem Through Open Collaboration 
    During the session, Samsung offered an inside look at the work done in partnership with Google and Qualcomm to perfect the Galaxy S25 series’ AI innovations.  “Even though the benefit value of mobile AI is really high, it’s of no use if you can’t access it. We had to look at what was already part of the consumer experience and contemplate how we could enhance those experiences in a way that would bring real benefits, but still be easy enough to access,” Kim explained. He noted that close collaboration was essential, particularly in integrating Google’s Gemini intelligence and Qualcomm’s on-device processing capabilities. 
     
    Sameer Samat from Google
     
    “Truly helpful AI must fit naturally into our daily lives. AI is a tool and not an end in itself, and what matters to consumers the most is how helpful AI can be for them,” said Sameer Samat, President of Android Ecosystem at Google. “LLMs represent a massive leap in how computers understand human language. Now, you can speak in completely natural language, removing any friction from the overall experience.” “With Galaxy S25, I’m optimistic that people will quickly adapt to using an AI agent to help them get things done in very natural ways.” 
     
    Christopher Patrick from Qualcomm
     
    Key drivers of multimodal AI capabilities, like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, were also highlighted, showcasing technology that simultaneously processes multiple forms of information, including voice, images and text.  “The Galaxy S25 series is going to be a completely new experience. You’ll be able to engage with your personalised AI assistant like never before; it doesn’t just feel like interacting with a real person, it perceives your environment and can interact with content shown on your camera,” said Christopher Patrick, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Mobile Handsets at Qualcomm. “Our collaboration with Samsung to customise the chipset to make these new capabilities feel seamless is something I’m really proud of.” 
     
    Breaking Barriers: Mobile AI’s Role in Enhancing Quality of Life 
    During the session, Samsung also presented the findings of a global study conducted in partnership with London-based research firm, Symmetry, that examined the link between mobile AI use and quality of life. The speakers delved into the study’s key implications and offered valuable insights. 
     
    Dr. Chris Brauer from Goldsmiths, University of London, and Symmetry
     
    “The rate of AI innovation is astounding, but what struck me about the research we did with Samsung was that the rate of mobile AI adoption is also rising at a rapid rate,” said Dr. Chris Brauer, Director of Innovation in the Institute of Management Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Chief Innovation Officer at Symmetry. “Frequent consumer use of mobile AI globally has nearly doubled in just six months, jumping from 16% in July to 27% in January.” Dr. Brauer also outlined key findings concerning certain barriers to entry the research found around mobile AI. “We found a really interesting theme among those less willing to adopt the technology: doubt,” Dr. Brauer said.
    “Doubt in AI’s ability to bring meaningful benefits to everyday life (56%), doubt and a lack of high confidence to use AI to its full potential (85%) and doubt around privacy and whether AI can be trusted (90%). There’s immense potential with this technology, but what’s also clear are the very real barriers that must be addressed responsibly for wider adoption to take place.” 
     
    The Galaxy AI discussion session at the Galaxy Tech Forums
     
    The Galaxy AI session concluded with the panelists agreeing that mobile AI innovation is set to revolutionise every aspect of modern life. As representatives of the fast-moving industry, they also vowed to develop related technologies in a responsible manner beneficial to all of humanity.  
     
    
     
     
     

    MIL OSI Economics

  • MIL-OSI Global: Millions of animals die on roads – does this make driving morally wrong?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Diego Exposito, PhD researcher in Politics, University of Sheffield

    A dead European hare. MMCez/Shutterstock

    Imagine one morning, you are deciding whether to drive to work or catch the train. Eventually, you decide to drive. On your way to the office, a squirrel crosses the road leaving you no time to react, and you run it over. Did you do anything wrong by deciding to drive instead of taking the train?

    Ethical debates about the morality of driving tend to stop at the possible harm to humans. This is surprising, considering the decades of work in animal ethics and the fact that around 223 million birds and mammals are killed on Europe’s roads each year.

    Researchers in moral philosophy like myself analyse the extent to which our actions are right or wrong. One way to evaluate actions like driving is to ask whether it is morally justified to subject others to a certain risk. Driving fits this kind of reasoning because when we decide to drive, we are not certain that we will kill someone (human or non-human), but we know our action will put others at some risk of harm.

    So, how much risk is permissible? There are two factors moral philosophers often use to assess this. The first is the extent to which the action that puts others at risk is part of a fair social system of risk-taking – in other words, a social arrangement in which people exchange risks but also benefits that everyone can access. The second concerns whether such a system works to the advantage of all those who participate in it.

    Driving can be considered a social system of risk-taking, and it would be considered morally acceptable if everyone can drive or be driven by other people, and if the system of driving ultimately benefits those who are put at risk by it.

    Some philosophers believe that in the case of humans, this line of reasoning makes driving morally acceptable. But what if we extend it to include animals?

    A car through a deer’s eyes

    Cats, dogs and other domestic animals may ride in cars but most wild animals will not, so they do not meet the first factor. The sheer number of animals that end their lives as roadkill indicates that driving does not work to their advantage. For most animals, cars are a threat rather than a benefit.

    Driving, in this case, would not be morally acceptable according to the ethical test we set for our fellow humans.

    Car travel has contributed to the decline of some species.
    Natalya Ugryumova/Shutterstock

    This may lead us to consider our risk of killing animals before we drive – including the road we will use, the season, or the speed we will drive at. It may even tell us that driving is morally impermissible.

    One way to deny this would be to say that to forgo driving is too costly. For many people, driving is not an activity they can choose to do or not, but a basic need on which people depend for going to (or finding) a job, buying groceries, or visiting friends and family.

    But even if we think these costs are important, what about the serious costs to animals? When we consider both of these factors, some tentative conclusions emerge.

    Situations in which driving imposes a high risk of harm to animals, while not driving causes little cost to humans, probably make driving unacceptable. Take this scenario: your route to work during summer crosses congregations of house sparrows during the season in which they breed. Luckily, there is a convenient alternative.

    Then there are situations in which driving imposes almost no risk to animals, but not being able to drive deeply affects people – such as a drive to the other side of a city to buy food, during which few wild animals are likely to cross your path. In such cases, driving is probably permissible.

    But what about the various situations that sit between these two scenarios? In a lot of cases, driving is not necessary but may be more convenient than using public transport. Also, much of our driving is not done for essential activities but for things we generally enjoy.

    Finding clear criteria that determine when it is morally acceptable to drive is the matter that ethicists should try to elucidate. All I can say is that all sets of costs and risks need assessing, and driving must be viewed as an activity subject to ethical reflection.

    Drivers will need to decide, balancing the risk of harm they might impose on others by driving with the disadvantages of choosing not to drive. It should not come as a surprise, however, if we find that much of our driving is morally unjustified.


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    Diego Exposito receives funding from the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities. He is affiliated with Screwworm Free Future.

    ref. Millions of animals die on roads – does this make driving morally wrong? – https://theconversation.com/millions-of-animals-die-on-roads-does-this-make-driving-morally-wrong-248178

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI Global: Three pop beefs that were more cutting than Matty Healy and Taylor Swift’s

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Glenn Fosbraey, Associate Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester

    There has been a sharp intake of breath among Taylor Swift fans following reports that 1975 frontman and songwriter Matty Healy is soon to release a song addressing their public romance from 2023.

    The song in question, God Has Entered My Body, is reportedly the title track of an upcoming 1975 album. According to a report in the Sun, the song includes the lyric “Keep your head up princess, your tiara is falling”. It is reported to be Healy’s response to Swift’s 2024 song The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived, which many fans believe was about their relationship.

    The 1975 frontman has responded to the rumours in typical Healy style, commenting “huge if true” under a post about the story on social media site Reddit.

    This lyrical back and forth is just the latest entry in a rich history of public beefs between pop stars that have been committed to record. Here are some of the most notable examples.


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    1. Lennon v McCartney (1971)

    The first mainstream pop “diss track” exchange took place long before the term was even coined. It occurred in 1971 through Paul and Linda McCartney’s Too Many People and John Lennon’s How Do You Sleep?

    Lennon was incensed by the McCartney lyrics “too many people going underground” and “too many people preaching practices”, which he took as attacks on his and Yoko Ono’s avant garde albums and bed-in escapades. In response, he launched a stinging tirade that accused (Paul) McCartney of creating “Muzak”, being only a “pretty face”, and hanging around with sycophants who fed his ego.

    How Do You Sleep? by John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band.

    The on-record beef ended there, perhaps because McCartney was too busy to focus on his new band Wings, or simply because he didn’t want to risk another lashing from Lennon’s famously sharp tongue.

    Either way, to the relief of Beatles fans everywhere, the two made amends before Lennon’s death in 1980, and Paul finally concluded their lyrical back and forth two years later with the touching Here Today.

    2. Buckingham v Nicks (1977)

    Recorded amid a backdrop of romantic tension and heavy drug use, it’s a wonder that Fleetwood Mac were even able to complete their 12th studio album Rumours, let alone create something that would go on to sell 40 million copies and spend more than a 1,000 weeks in the UK album charts.

    It’d be unfair to say the massive success of the album is due to the lyrical exchanges between the by then estranged couple Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, but it certainly didn’t hurt.

    Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.

    Buckingham lit the fuse with Go Your Own Way, which accused Nicks of “packing up and shacking up” with different men. It caused Nicks to write Dreams, where she encouraged him to “listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness, like a heartbeat, drives you mad, in the stillness of remembering what you had”.

    Decades later, one of the bitterest feuds in pop music continues to rumble on, with Buckingham currently sidelined from the group after being fired in 2018. It won’t come as a surprise that their version of events differs, with Buckingham claiming Nicks was behind his sacking, and Nicks accusing him of revisionism. No Lennon and McCartney thawing of the ice here, then. Yet.

    3. Perry v Swift (2014-18)

    Swift was involved in another public spat back in the 2010s. If reports are to be believed, the two pop icons Katy Perry and Swift became close friends in 2009, but by 2013, things seemed to have soured.

    A rift over some backup dancers, some thinly veiled interview comments and a mutual ex-boyfriend have all been the subject of fan theories about the shift in mood.

    Bad Blood by Taylor Swift ft. Kendrick Lamar.

    In terms of diss tracks, Swift struck first, and relatively mildly, with Bad Blood in 2014, stating in an interview shortly after its release that it was about “a female musical artist”. Although she refused to name names, internet sleuths soon believed they’d figured out it was Perry.

    A Twitter spat between Swift and rapper Nicki Minaj then broke out. Minaj complained that her song Anaconda wasn’t nominated for the video-of-the-year award when Swift’s Bad Blood was (stay with me – this will become relevant soon).

    If the near-journalistic speed of those Lennon and McCartney tracks were indicative of the music industry in the early 1970s, Perry’s delayed response to Swift’s (perceived) barb is indicative of modern times, where her releases were kept to a strict three- or four-year cycle.

    Three years on, then, comes Swish Swish, which included lyrics like “you’re a joke / And I’m a court-side killer queen” and “Your game is tired / You should retire”. It featured Nicki Minaj in the music video to further fan the flames (told you it’d become relevant).

    Swish Swish by Katy Perry ft. Nicki Minaj.

    The only problem was that, in the years between their falling out, Swift had transitioned from mere pop musician to word-dominating superstar, so Perry’s insults carried little weight.

    When it comes to diss tracks, then, the old adage of striking while the iron is hot is definitely applicable. The pair have since made up, with Perry sending Swift an actual olive branch in 2018.

    The pair are pictured embracing during the closing scene of Swift’s 2019 music video for You Need To Calm down. Even the Bad Blood controversy seems to be water under the proverbial bridge now, with Perry videoed singing along to the track by fans earlier this year during one of Swift’s Eras tour concerts.

    Glenn Fosbraey 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. Three pop beefs that were more cutting than Matty Healy and Taylor Swift’s – https://theconversation.com/three-pop-beefs-that-were-more-cutting-than-matty-healy-and-taylor-swifts-248076

    MIL OSI – Global Reports

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Assembly Member Bassam Mahfouz welcomes completion of West Drayton station forecourt works

    Source: Mayor of London

    Bassam Mahfouz, Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon, is celebrating a win for local residents as the long-anticipated works to the forecourt at West Drayton station officially concluded on Friday.

    The works were addressing the collapsed sewer and bus access issues on Station Approach, and their completion marks a significant milestone in improving access and connectivity for local residents, businesses, and commuters.

    The project, which Assembly Member Mahfouz has closely monitored and championed since his election in May, included extensive road resurfacing, drainage repairs, and safety upgrades to enhance pedestrian access. Mahfouz has raised the importance of this project with the Mayor of London, TfL, and Network Rail, asking questions about its timeline and funding to ensure accountability.

    The completed works include:

    • Full resurfacing of Station Approach with improved drainage systems.
    • Enhanced access for pedestrians and vehicles, ensuring the station is more  welcoming and functional.

    The forecourt improvements address long-standing concerns raised by residents and local businesses.

    Assembly Member Mahfouz has consistently pushed for the project to remain on schedule and ensure minimal disruption.

    Bassam Mahfouz, London Assembly Member for Ealing and Hillingdon said:

    “After months of disruption and hard work, residents can now benefit from a safer, more accessible station forecourt. I have been pressing Network Rail to ensure these improvements were delivered, and I’m thrilled to see this project finally completed, having seen the TfL works completed months ago.”

    “These latest improvements from Network Rail will have a lasting impact on how people travel to and from West Drayton Station, and I will now continue to push TfL for the reinstatement of bus services to the station forecourt, which will significantly improve accessibility and connectivity for commuters,” Mahfouz added.

    ENDS

    MIL OSI United Kingdom

  • MIL-OSI USA: Seasonal Respiratory Illnesses Surge In North Carolina

    Source: US State of North Carolina

    Headline: Seasonal Respiratory Illnesses Surge In North Carolina

    Seasonal Respiratory Illnesses Surge In North Carolina
    hejones1

    The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today updated its weekly Respiratory Virus Summary Dashboard, which shows an increase in flu activity and flu-related deaths, bringing the total number of deaths this season to 117.

    “While fewer flu-related deaths have been reported so far this season compared to last season, we are at the height of seasonal respiratory illnesses and this is a reminder that influenza can be very serious,” said State Epidemiologist Zack Moore, M.D., MPH. “Taking preventative measures against flu and other respiratory illnesses like getting vaccinated, regularly washing hands, covering your cough and staying home when sick are important to help protect you and your family.”

    Influenza is spreading widely throughout the state and is likely to peak in the coming weeks. Fifty-one new flu deaths were added to the statewide dashboard on Wednesday, but the newly added deaths occurred over the last few weeks as there are often delays in reporting. COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are also continuing to spread, although RSV levels have been decreasing in recent weeks.

    Early testing and treatment with an antiviral drug can help prevent respiratory infections from becoming more serious. Treatments work best if started soon after symptoms begin. If you begin to feel sick, contact your doctor right away to see if you need treatment with a prescription antiviral drug. Treatment for flu and COVID-19 is especially important for people with severe illness and those who are at high risk of serious complications based on their age or medical conditions.

    It is not too late to get your flu and COVID-19 vaccinations as vaccinations are the best way to prevent serious illness, hospitalization and death from these infections. Vaccinations are especially important for those at higher risk of severe viral respiratory disease, including people 65 years and older, children younger than 5, pregnant women, those with a weakened immune system and those with certain medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Vaccines and treatments to protect against RSV are also available for older adults, pregnant women, and infants.

    In addition to vaccination, the following precautions should be taken to protect against the spread of respiratory viruses:

    • Regularly wash your hands with soap and water. Alcohol-based cleaner or sanitizer can help prevent the spread of respiratory viruses to others but does not work for some other common viruses like norovirus.
    • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth
    • Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects that may be contaminated
    • Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue and then discard the tissue promptly
    • Stay home when sick, except to seek medical care or testing, and take steps to avoid spreading infection to others in your home, including:
      • Staying in a separate room from other household members, if possible
      • Using a separate bathroom, if possible
      • Avoiding contact with other members of the household and pets
      • Not sharing personal household items, like cups, towels and utensils
      • Wearing a mask when around other people

    For more information on respiratory viruses, including how to access vaccines, testing and treatment in your community, visit www.vaccines.gov/en, flu.ncdhhs.gov or covid19.ncdhhs.gov.

    A respiratory virus surveillance summary that includes information on flu, COVID-19 and RSV-related activity across North Carolina is updated weekly at covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.

    El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte actualizó hoy su  tablero de resumen del virus respiratorio semanal, que muestra un aumento en la actividad de la influenza (gripe) y las muertes relacionadas con la misma, lo que eleva el número total de muertes esta temporada a 117.

    “Aunque se han reportado menos muertes relacionadas con la influeza (gripe) en lo que va esta temporada en comparación con la temporada pasada, nos encontramos en el punto más alto de las enfermedades respiratorias estacionales y esto es un recordatorio de que la gripe puede ser muy grave”, dijo el epidemiólogo estatal Zack Moore, MD, MPH. “Tomar medidas preventivas contra la gripe y otras enfermedades respiratorias, como vacunarse, lavarse las manos con regularidad, cubrirse la tos y quedarse en casa cuando está enfermo, es importante para ayudar a protegerlo a usted y a su familia”.

    La influenza se está extendiendo por todo el estado y es probable que alcance su punto máximo en las próximas semanas. El miércoles se añadieron al tablero de control de todo el estado cincuenta y uno nuevas muertes debido a la influenza, pero las muertes recién añadidas ocurrieron en las últimas semanas, ya que a menudo hay retrasos en la presentación de informes. El COVID-19 y el virus respiratorio sincitial (VSR) también continúan propagándose, aunque los niveles de VSR han ido disminuyendo en las últimas semanas.

    Las pruebas y el tratamiento temprano con un medicamento antiviral pueden ayudar a prevenir que las infecciones respiratorias se vuelvan más graves. Los tratamientos funcionan mejor si se inician poco después de que comiencen los síntomas. Si comienza a sentirse enfermo, comuníquese con su médico de inmediato para ver si necesita tratamiento con un medicamento antiviral recetado. El tratamiento para la influenza y el COVID-19 es especialmente importante para las personas con enfermedades graves y aquellas que tienen un alto riesgo de complicaciones graves en función de su edad o afecciones médicas.

    No es demasiado tarde para vacunarse contra la influenza y el COVID-19, ya que las vacunas son la mejor manera de prevenir enfermedades graves, hospitalizaciones y muertes por estas infecciones. Las vacunas son especialmente importantes para las personas con mayor riesgo de enfermedad respiratoria viral grave, incluidas las personas de 65 años o más, los niños menores de 5 años, las mujeres embarazadas, las personas con un sistema inmunitario debilitado y las personas con ciertas afecciones médicas como el asma, la diabetes, las enfermedades cardíacas y la obesidad. Las vacunas y los tratamientos para protegerse contra el VSR también están disponibles para adultos mayores, mujeres embarazadas y bebés.

    Además de la vacunación, se deben tomar las siguientes precauciones para protegerse contra la propagación de virus respiratorios:

    • Lávese las manos con agua y jabón; el limpiador o desinfectante a base de alcohol puede ayudar a prevenir la propagación de virus respiratorios a otros, pero no funciona para algunos otros virus comunes como el norovirus.
    • Evite tocarse los ojos, la nariz y la boca
    • Limpie y desinfecte las superficies y los objetos que podrían estar contaminados
    • Cubra la tos y los estornudos con un pañuelo de papel y luego deseche el pañuelo de papel rápidamente
    • Quédese en casa cuando esté enfermo, excepto para buscar atención médica o pruebas, y tome medidas para evitar transmitir la infección a otras personas en su hogar, como:
      • Alojarse en una habitación separada de otros miembros del hogar, si es posible
      • Usar un baño separado, si es posible
      • Evitar el contacto con otros miembros del hogar y mascotas
      • No compartir artículos personales de uso doméstico, como tazas, toallas y utensilios
      • Usar una mascarilla cuando esté cerca de otras personas

    Para obtener más información sobre los virus respiratorios, incluido cómo acceder a las vacunas, las pruebas y el tratamiento en su comunidad, visite  www.vaccines.gov/en, flu.ncdhhs.gov o covid19.ncdhhs.gov.

    Un resumen de la vigilancia del virus respiratorio que incluye información sobre la gripe, el COVID-19 y la actividad relacionada con el VSR en Carolina del Norte se actualiza semanalmente en  covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard.

    Feb 5, 2025

    MIL OSI USA News