Mary Kay participates in International Women's Forum TIME'S UP Virtual Conference

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 -- Mary Kay Inc continues its support of female entrepreneurship, empowerment and thought leadership as a premier sponsor for the 2020 International Women's Forum (IWF) Virtual Cornerstone Conference.

Originally scheduled for three days beginning May 13, in London, the conference has shifted to a digital format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
​
Mary Kay has participated in a virtual session entitled ‘A Conversation with TIME’S UP UK’, discussing important issues such as #MeToo and how the ensuing TIME’S UP movement has led to re-thinking women’s safety on film and television sets, as well as other industries worldwide.

Mary Kay UK and Ireland general manager, Carolyn Passey will open the session focusing on changes TIME’S UP UK is seeking to implement, navigating the line between personal and professional, and aiding those who frequently find themselves vulnerable and exploited while filming.

“Today, as the COVID-19 crisis is exacerbating women's vulnerabilities and gender inequality, we know trust and safety are more critical than ever for women to thrive,” said Passey in a statement.

“The workplace should be a safe and dignified place for all of us. How can we ensure and demand this happens? I look forward to the discussion on the topic with thought leaders from around the world.”

The content and speakers will be broadcast globally in a series of virtual sessions shared weekly at https://www.iwforum.org/.

​-- BERNAMA

Firetinas: Is Your Telethermographic Scanner Accurate To Screen COVID-19?

SHANGHAI, May 27 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Firetinas thermal scanner breaks the track record of infrared temperature measurement by 0.1 degree precision in third party laboratory report.


This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200524005031/en/


Infrared temperature measurement is so far the best COVID-19 screening method. After-covid reopen, Firetinas thermal scanner is widely used in schools, hospitals and transportation terminals. However, 50% of the user is complaining about the accuracy of thermal scanner to be inaccurate. Some thermal scanner display body temperature to be 1 degree temperature shift. FDA suggest selecting thermal scanner with precision higher than 0.5 degree precision.


Most thermal scanner cannot reach 0.5 degrees precision in 2 meters range because thermal scanner is severely influenced by background temperature. Only a few professional thermal scanner incorporates a blackbody to reflects the environment temperature fluctuation. Firetinas thermal scanner develops the first build-in dual blackbody to reach high temperature precision. This dynamic dual blackbody measures and adjusts temperature 100 times every seconds at 0.01 degrees . The latest third party Lab report from GRG Metrology & Test shows Firetinas is the first thermal scanner reaches 0.1 degrees precision.


Also, Firetinas build in a 6 core CPU and 4 core GPU plus a NPU with 3 trillion calculation capacity every second. that's why Firetinas measures more than 30 people's temperature at the same time. Its unique distance compensation algorithm extends the measurement distance up to 10 meters.


Firetinas thermal scanner is developed by a group of scientist from UK and it is now widely used in schools, hospitals and terminals in USA, Australia, Italy and China. Firetinas is looking for local distributors oversea. Clients who is interested may contact Allen.


View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200524005031/en/



Contact

Mr.Chen Shuo

JIANGSU ZERO CARBON ECO SYSTEM LTD.

allen.chen@0co2.cn

0086 15800470435


for further information

Related Links:

http://www.firetinas.com


Source : Firetinas


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ACAMS LAUNCHES GLOBAL 24+ HOUR VIRTUAL SUMMIT

Speakers include officials from IRS-CI, FINTRAC, Moneyval, AUSTRAC, MAS, HKMA, De Nederlandsche Bank, Bank of Lithuania, DEA, DHS and the Malta Gaming Authority

MIAMI, May 29 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- In response to the unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) will host its first-ever, 24-hour online summit offering training to financial crime compliance professionals from more than 70 subject-matter experts across the globe. Beginning June 2, 2020, attendees of the ACAMS24+ summit will be able to livestream panels on the most urgent challenges facing financial crime compliance practitioners today, including emerging threats linked to COVID-19 fraud, the rise of professional money launderers and the evolving political landscape underpinning sanctions compliance.

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt our personal lives, banks and other firms are faced with the daunting task of fighting financial crime while serving clients whose lives—financial and otherwise—have been starkly altered by the virus,” said Rohit Sharma, president and managing director of ACAMS. “Never ones to miss an opportunity, criminals have also moved quickly to exploit shifting transactional patterns, emergency assistance programs and the vulnerabilities that arise from compliance teams working from home.”

ACAMS LAUNCHES GLOBAL 24+ HOUR VIRTUAL SUMMIT

SITEL GROUP, UNIPHORE PARTNER TO TRANSFORM THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE INDUSTRY THROUGH AI AND AUTOMATION

Advanced technology from Uniphore combined with decades of exceptional customer service know-how from Sitel Group will deliver new CX capabilities for global brands

PALO ALTO, Calif. & MIAMI, May 29 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Uniphore, an early market leader in the Conversational Service Automation (CSA) space, and Sitel Group, a leading global customer experience (CX) management provider that delivers more than 3.5 million customer experiences every day, today announced they have partnered to combine Sitel Group’s breadth of industry experience and customer-centric approach with Uniphore’s world-class Automation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) CSA platform to transform the customer experience and enable tailored and powerful solutions for Sitel Group’s customers around the globe.

SITEL GROUP, UNIPHORE PARTNER TO TRANSFORM THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE INDUSTRY THROUGH AI AND AUTOMATION

SINGAPORE CHOOSES VANTIQ TO SUPPORT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS

VANTIQ joins select group of technology companies to help local government agencies and enterprises build leading-edge tools to accelerate digitization

SAN FRANCISCO and SINGAPORE, May 28 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VANTIQ announced today that it was enrolled by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to join a select group of innovative technology companies helping local government agencies and enterprises develop transformative digital tools.

SINGAPORE CHOOSES VANTIQ TO SUPPORT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS

Biotalys receives €1.6 million VLAIO research grant

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 -- Biotalys NV, a transformative food and crop protection company has been awarded a €1.6 million research grant from Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO). (€1 = RM4.777)

According to a statement, the grant will run over three years and support the accelerated development of cost-efficient microbial cell factories for the industrial production of Biotalys’ unique new generation protein-based biocontrol solutions.

Biotalys chief executive officer, Patrice Sellès said: “We are pleased that VLAIO recognises our breakthrough science to discover and develop safe and sustainable protein-based biocontrols with consistent high efficacy, aimed at helping farmers to protect yields and reduce food waste.

“This grant will allow us to further develop a powerful and cost effective production platform, a critical step for Biotalys towards shaping the future of sustainable and safe food supply.”

Biotalys develops a new generation of protein-based biocontrol solutions, shaping the future of sustainable and safe food supply. More details at www.biotalys.com

-- BERNAMA

COVID-19: Majority organisations changed technology priorities - AppDynamics study

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 -- AppDynamics, the world’s largest and fastest growing APM vendor has released its global research study, The Agents of Transformation Report with new findings related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a statement, the report reveals the pressures technologists are experiencing as they lead their organisations’ responses to the pandemic and how their priorities are changing as the rate of digital transformation accelerates.

The research highlights the majority of organisations (95 per cent) changed their technology priorities during the pandemic, and 88 per cent of technologists state the digital customer experience is now the priority.

Based on the study, 81 per cent of technologists state that COVID-19 has created the biggest technology pressure for their organisation they have ever experienced.

Almost two thirds (64 per cent) of technologists are now being asked to perform tasks and activities they have never done before.

Of those surveyed, 66 per cent of technologists confirm the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in their digital strategies, creating an urgent need to accelerate initiatives that were once part of multi-year digital transformation programmes.

Meanwhile, 74 per cent of technologists report that digital transformation projects which would typically take more than a year to be approved, have been signed off in a matter of weeks.

This research involved interviews with 1,000 IT professionals in 10 markets - the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Japan and Singapore between April 22 and May 6.

-- BERNAMA

SmartStream extends Public API to promote access to collateral management technologies

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 -- SmartStream Technologies has extended its Public Application Programming Interface (API) for collateral management, enabling clients with faster access technology to better service their individual business needs.

According to a statement, the approach has been taken to deliver a Public API which allows clients to have direct programmatic access to SmartStream’s TLM Collateral Management solution.

This helps to lower the total cost of ownership, provides backward compatibility and future-proofs the solution for new operational requirements, with minimal disruption to the clients’ business.

TLM Collateral Management has extended the rich functionality of its Public API to include collateral movement notifications.

The technology has been designed to provide collateral movement and settlement views for early indication of collateral fails.

Other functionality includes, but are not limited to workflow automation and agreement uploads.

SmartStream’s Public API provides a flexible approach to enhance the deployment and integration of the TLM Collateral Management platform to rapidly build nuanced functional extensions and integration with other applications as well as its clients’ own internal systems.

More details at www.smartstream-stp.com

-- BERNAMA

Net One Systems adopts Juniper Networks' Contrail Enterprise Multicloud as common services management platform

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 -- Juniper Networks’ Contrail Enterprise Multicloud has been selected as the common services management platform by Net One Systems, one of Japan’s largest network integrators.

With the adoption of Contrail Enterprise Multicloud across its multicloud-ready data centres, Net One Systems can now offer its customers seamless, stable and automated network configuration and multi tenant environments, all while allowing for easy scalability of their platforms.

According to a statement, customers can also enjoy enhanced external connectivity with the ability to offer unified management policies.

Contrail Enterprise Multicloud was selected for its ability to meet the following requirements and address previous operational limitations.

It is now deployed for the OpenStack platform, providing disaggregation with an overlay model alongside centralised information management through a controller.

The openness of Contrail Enterprise Multicloud is also strongly valued by Net One Systems, allowing the company to apply it to not just OpenStack, but potentially to other platforms as well, such as VMware and the public cloud, to fulfill a wider range of customer requests.

With the deployment of Contrail Enterprise Multicloud, Net One Systems has further strengthened and enhanced its support for customers looking to make the transition toward multicloud environments.

-- BERNAMA

SNOMED INTERNATIONAL JOINS COVID-19 INTEROPERABILITY ALLIANCE TO SUPPORT ACCESS TO TERMINOLOGY AND HEALTH DATA RESOURCES

London, United Kingdom, May 27 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SNOMED International, the leader in global clinical terminology, announces today the organization’s participation in the COVID-19 Interoperability Alliance. The Alliance is an informatics focused environment supporting collaborative authoring of COVID-19 related interoperability data resources.

Alongside Alliance partners Clinical Architecture, logica, MITRE, Regenstrief Institute, Apelon, and Care Evolution, SNOMED International joins an open collective where parties can create, evolve and share meaningful data supporting the current COVID-19 global pandemic.

Each participating organization has contributed their respective clinical COVID-19 content, quality assured by a variety of skilled resources and subject matter experts globally. SNOMED International, specifically, has contributed COVID-19 - SNOMED CT Signs and Symptoms, COVID-19 - SNOMED CT Edition - Prerelease Terms from the Global Patient Set and the COVID-19 - SNOMED CT to ICD-10 Map, resources which can also be accessed at https://www.snomed.org/snomed-ct/covid-19.

The Alliance provides a hub for healthcare information to enable public and private organizations to quickly and easily identify, monitor, and measure data relevant to COVID-19 and has made these resources available through the following:

- Open access to downloadable data resources created by the Alliance
- Open access to an interactive content browser
- FHIR API access to published data assets (for development purposes only)
- A collaborative information management workshop for registered contributors
- Useful links relating to COVID-19 interoperability and analytics


The type of data resources being created include clinical, demographic, and administrative value sets; Focused terminology subsets; FHIR profiles and attributes; and useful meta-data.

Data produced by the Alliance will be made available to the public under a Creative Commons license which provides the right to share, use, and build upon the data provided.

Visit the COVID-19 Interoperability Alliance or SNOMED International to learn more.


Kelly Kuru
SNOMED International
1 416 566 8725
kku@snomed.org

Source: SNOMED International

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Frost & Sullivan recognises Blue Ocean Robotics' virus-killing UVD Robots

KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 -- Blue Ocean Robotics has been selected by Frost & Sullivan for its Best Practice ‘2020 European Professional Service Robots Product Leadership’ Award.

According to a statement, the recognition was earned primarily based on the company’s work with subsidiary UVD Robots, which combines autonomous robot technology with ultraviolet light to disinfect against viruses like COVID-19.

A subsidiary of Blue Ocean Robotics, Denmark-based UVD Robots’ innovative solution has been proven to eliminate pathogens within 10 to 15 minutes in a patient room.

“Blue Ocean Robotics’ flagship product, UVD Robots, especially enables hospitals to reduce disease transmission by killing 99.99 per cent of bacteria and microorganisms,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Manager, Rohit Karthikeyan.

“It is the first and only autonomous mobile robot that disinfects a variety of surfaces using UV-C light, giving it superior utility over competing solutions. Uniquely, the UVD robot can be easily controlled with a tablet.”

To date, the company’s self-driving, disinfecting robots have been rolled out to more than 50 countries worldwide.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards are presented to companies that encourage significant growth in their industries, have identified emerging trends before they became the standard in the marketplace, and have created advanced technologies to catalyse and transform industries.

-- BERNAMA

Nippon Express (UK) receives WDA, GDP certifications for warehouse near London Heathrow Airport

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 -- Nippon Express (UK) Co Ltd (NEUK), a local subsidiary of Nippon Express Co Ltd based in Tokyo, has been officially granted Wholesale Distribution Authorisation (WDA) and Good Distribution Practice (GDP) certifications for its warehouse near London Heathrow Airport.

Effective April 15, the certifications are in recognition of the facility's compliance with the standards for proper distribution of pharmaceuticals established by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

According to a statement, an air-conditioned facility was recently installed in the NEUK warehouse, offering temperature-controlled storage in three ranges, namely frozen (-18C), refrigerated (2C-8C) and room-temperature (15C-25C).

NEUK will combine temporary storage operations using this facility with Nippon Express' temperature-controlled international transport services to meet the logistics needs of customers in the pharmaceutical industry

Nippon Express will continue enhancing services to satisfy increasingly sophisticated and diverse needs pertinent to pharmaceuticals, and stepping up its efforts on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry, positioned as a priority industry in its Management Plan.

More details at http://www.nipponexpress.com/

-- BERNAMA

HYTERA MULTI-MODE ADVANCED RADIOS WITH ROIP SOLUTION ENHANCE PUBLIC SAFETY RESPONSE

^{Hytera Multi-mode Advanced Radios with RoIP Solution Enhance Public Safety Response (Graphic: Business Wire)}


SHENZHEN, China, May 22  (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Hytera multi-mode advanced radios with RoIP solution provide public safety personnel with a vital tool to help them carry out their jobs more efficiently. Hytera RoIP solution based on the convergent broadband and narrowband platform delivers both multi-network roaming and fast broadband services, such as video calling.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200521005340/en/ 

First responders are facing growing challenges worldwide from public safety crises such as terrorist attacks and pandemics, as well as environmental disasters like wildfires and floods. Public safety personnel must be able to respond quickly and effectively to these challenges. Hytera multi-mode advanced RoIP-enabled radios fulfill this need. These smart, easy-to-use radios reduce workloads and allow public safety personnel to concentrate on the tasks that matter most.

For more information about Hytera's latest multi-mode advanced radio solutions, please visit: https://pardot.hytera.com/MAR-form-en/PR 

What is RoIP

Traditional narrowband professional mobile radio (PMR) networks often have limited coverage and are unable to support rich multimedia broadband communications, which are increasingly in demand by emergency services and mission-critical communications users. However, mission-critical instant push-to-talk (PTT) voice services still play an essential role in the daily work of public safety personnel. The solution is to deploy Hytera multi-mode advanced radios that retain mission-critical voice communication, but also support the new broadband applications public safety organizations want to access.

Hytera RoIP solution, a form of Voice over IP (VoIP) with a mission-critical PTT feature, combined with Hytera HyTalk Pro and narrowband trunking system provides an intelligent platform to deliver integrated narrowband mission-critical one-to-one and one-to-multiple voice services, and a wide range of multimedia broadband services such as video calls, video pulling, multimedia message and mobile internet access over 3G, 4G, WLAN and private LTE networks. This deep integration delivers a unified communication experience and a more luxurious convergent experience to users.

One of the essential keys to this convergent experience is the intelligent network selection mechanism whereby the radios automatically switch between narrowband and broadband networks based on the signal strength and preference. The multi-mode advanced radios preferentially access the narrowband network for voice services, but if there is a weak or no signal, the radio will automatically switch seamlessly over to the broadband network. The radio ID remains the same whichever network is being used.

Three typical user scenarios

1.Emergency response

The RoIP solution in the radios ensures the police officers responding to an incident have access to reliable, always-available, and instant voice communications. When they are outside the narrowband network, they can talk to each other using a public broadband network. Officers can stream live video to control room dispatchers, which improves situational awareness, enabling police to make better-informed decisions and to deliver a more effective response.

2.Firefighting

Firefighters entering buildings, basements, or tunnels may lose their narrowband network signal, but the RoIP in their multi-mode advanced radios enables them to continue communicating with each other using public broadband networks. Firefighters can use the broadband capability on their radios to connect to hands-free Bluetooth accessories, which can monitor their vital signs and report relevant information to the command center in real-time.

3.Wide range patrol

Police on wide range patrols can rely on intelligent network selection and intuitive radio operation to keep voice channels on the radio available. If they patrol out of the narrowband network coverage area, the radio will switch automatically to the public broadband network without the user's awareness of the change.

Hytera also provides a range of smart accessories, including Carkit and convert camera. The radios can be mounted in the patrol car using a Carkit and connected to a larger display like a tablet. The VM220 convert camera with headset allows police officers to talk, record video, and transmit it to the control center in real-time - all without holding the radio.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200521005340/en/

Contact

Lingran Tao
Lingran.Tao@hytera.com

Source : Hytera

Best's Market Segment Report: AM Best Maintains India Non-life Insurance Market Outlook At Negative

SINGAPORE, May 21 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best is maintaining a negative market segment outlook on India’s non-life insurance sector. Key factors underpinning the outlook include the sector’s strong competition, poor pricing discipline in core business lines, reliance on investment activities for profitability and the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new Best’s Market Segment Report, titled, “Market Segment Outlook: India Non-Life,” states that aside from investment market pressures expected to result from the COVID-19-driven economic turbulence, non-life insurers also face uncertainty and challenges in other areas of their businesses. Although AM Best expects insurance premiums in India to continue to grow in the medium term, recent and further periods of mandatory lockdowns to curb the spread of COVID-19 are likely to drive a slowing and uneven pattern for premium growth in the short term.

Existing pressures on the underwriting performance of non-life insurers–particularly for the health line of business–are likely to be exacerbated by COVID-19-related claims, although the extent of the impact will remain closely tied to the scale and longevity of the pandemic. Nonetheless, AM Best expects that non-life insurers will gain some respite in motor claims experience with reduced road activity during the lockdown period.

The restructuring of several large state-owned non-life insurers has been a plan in the works for many years. Whilst the eventual timing and format of the planned changes remains to be finalised, the resulting insurance operation would be mammoth in terms of size and scale. Consequently, AM Best expects this transaction to create disruption in the non-life market, as the state-owned companies involved in the transaction are likely to face significant integration and business interruption challenges that could persist for a prolonged period.

Overall, AM Best expects the India non-life market to face several headwinds over the medium term. Some of these factors, including an unhealthy reliance on unrealised and realised gains from high-risk investment classes to offset underwriting losses, have been prevalent for a number of years. However, more recent market dynamics, including heightened economic uncertainty and COVID-19 implications, are expected to weigh further on India’s non-life insurance market. Although the segment consists of a diverse range of insurance companies, the general operating environment in India in the short term is likely to present clear challenges for non-life insurers’ earnings and capital positions.


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​SOCIAL COMMERCE SALES EXPECTED TO DOUBLE BY 2024 IN ASIA PACIFIC

SINGAPORE, May 21 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Last mile delivery and social commerce are expected to revolutionise consumers’ interactions with brands in Asia Pacific (APAC) in 2020, according to global market research company Euromonitor International.

In its new whitepaper “Top 100 Retailers in Asia 2020” Euromonitor looks at how the APAC region continues to accelerate as an innovation hub for retailing. With 2 billion internet users solely in APAC in 2019, social commerce sales reached USD2 trillion and is expected to double by 2024.

While Millennials and Generation Z mostly contributed to the rise of social commerce, digital marketplaces in APAC enabled companies to rapidly pivot onto omnichannel strategies. This acceleration amplified with the COVID-19 outbreak, allowed retailers to rapidly adapt in multiple innovative ways, such as contactless delivery.

“With the heavy shift to e-commerce in the height of COVID-19, retailers with a stronger digital presence prior to the outbreak are likely to fare better as consumers lean more into that channel,” says Deepika Chandrasekar, senior research analyst at Euromonitor International. “Concepts like last mile delivery, omnichannel and click-and-collect were accelerated by the pandemic, and are likely to stay afterwards,” added Clare Lee, research analyst at Euromonitor International.

Euromonitor downgraded the baseline for the global real GDP growth to a range of - 4% to -1.5% in 2020 due to COVID-19, where emerging economies such as China, India and Indonesia are predicted to be badly hit. This crisis underscores the importance technology and social commerce play in how consumers live, work, shop and play.

To download the free report, visit: https://bit.ly/3dOdSYE.

About Euromonitor International

Euromonitor International is the world’s leading provider for global business intelligence, market analysis and consumer insights. From local to global and tactical to strategic, our research solutions support decisions on how, where and when to grow your business. Find the right report, database or custom solution to validate priorities, redirect assumptions and uncover new opportunities. With offices around the world, analysts in over 100 countries, the latest data science techniques and market research on every key trend and driver, we help you make sense of global markets.

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MHPS CAPTURES GLOBAL GAS TURBINE MARKET SHARE LEADERSHIP AGAIN

_{MHPS M501JAC gas turbine being manufactured at Takasago Works in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. (Photo: Business Wire)}

-- Demand Surges for Advance Class Gas Turbines --

YOKOHAMA, Japan, May 20 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) ranks first in market share by megawatts for gas turbine orders in 2020 according to data obtained from McCoy Power Reports. First quarter global orders of 2,638 MW brought MHPS’ market share to 28.5 percent globally. This increase in gas turbine market share was largely responsible for worldwide order booking increasing 19.7 percent during MHPS’ fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.

MHPS CAPTURES GLOBAL GAS TURBINE MARKET SHARE LEADERSHIP AGAIN

Fusionex brings next level of customer experience for nationwide group of companies

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 -- Fusionex has clinched a contract to provide consolidated insight-driven digital platform for a national group of companies that can be leveraged across all its disparate businesses.

Renowned for its chain of 24-hour mini supermarkets, the client is a nationwide group of companies that encompasses an extensive network of industries and sectors.

According to a statement, leveraging Fusionex's AI-powered customer engagement platform, the technology helps generate more leads with the goal of increasing new and repeat sales.

This platform will also advance the efficiency and quality of customer experience, which is now delivered digitally in a seamless manner.

In addition, the client can analyse crucial information amid the vast volumes of data to help guide their decision-making and strategic planning efforts.

The client will also be able to leverage on the platform’s AI capabilities to perform predictive and prescriptive analytics to uncover new discoveries and recognise the value of various consumer trends.

With this information, they would be able to predict and mould customer behaviour, measure marketing campaign success, recognise and rectify underperforming processes and scale operations nationwide.

This cutting-edge platform makes it easier for the client to seize sales opportunities, realign digital strategies in response to changes in the market, and capture better upselling and cross-selling prospects to a more accurately targeted and receptive consumer base.

-- BERNAMA

Optics Balzers AG develops optical dielectric filters in UV spectrum

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 -- Optics Balzers AG has further developed optical dielectric filters in the UV spectrum as short-wave light, ranging from 100 to 400nm in the UV spectrum, with the ability to fight pathogens.

In medical fields, this property is commonly used to combat germs, bacteria and viruses. In fact, studies have shown that when irradiated with short-wave UV-C light, more than 95 per cent of viruses become ineffective.

Short-wave light is also used in virological diagnostics. Antibodies are marked with a fluorochrome, and when stimulated by a defined UV radiation, can then be visualised. Specially matched optical filters are used to separate excitation and emission wavelengths.

The SP270 short pass filter from Optics Balzers shows the characteristic spectral course of a corresponding filter for the excitation of fluorophoric substances. The highest possible transmission rate is guaranteed, with a pass range of around 270nm.

The company’s optical filters, which enable the excitation and detection of signals in the UV range, can be adapted to specific substances. Based on the appropriate filters, a wide range of relevant information from the UV spectrum can be obtained for further medical diagnosis.

More details at www.opticsbalzers.com.

-- BERNAMA

NTHU adopts big data to study potential spread of coronavirus in Taiwan

KUALA LUMPUR, May 20  -- National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) has recently begun to collaborate with Facebook and Harvard University in using big data to study the potential spread of coronavirus in Taiwan.

This international collaboration is led by Assistant Professor Hsiao-Han Chang of the Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology at NTHU, according to a statement.

The preliminary results indicate that the risk of local transmission is higher than long-distance transmission between counties and cities. Chang’s advice for the upcoming holiday is to stay at home and avoid crowds.

Based on the results of another study she recently conducted using mathematical modelling to assess the impact of wearing face masks, Chang strongly supports the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) decision to set up a system for distributing masks as it prevents the hoarding of an item important for limiting the spread of the epidemic.

At January-end, Facebook began providing movement data for a joint study by NTHU and Harvard University's School of Public Health on the spread of the coronavirus. The data includes estimates of the number of people moving among cities.

Chang's research team also found that local movement plays a more important role in the potential spread of the coronavirus than long-distance movement. This runs counter to the widespread perception that distance travelled is the most important risk factor.

In addition, a study by Chang and Colin Worby, a computational biologist at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, shows that the proper use of masks by the majority of people reduces both the numbers of infections and deaths significantly.

-- BERNAMA

COUNTRY GARDEN RAISES MYR495 MILLION SUKUK TO CONFIRM POSITIVE OUTLOOKS

JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, May 20 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In March 2020, Country Garden Real Estate (CGRE) successfully issued three tranches of Islamic Sukuk for a total of MYR495 million, with the longest tenure among them being seven years. Following the recent crisis of global financial markets due to the COVID-19 outbreak. These issuances are the reflection of the positive reception of the Company's most significant project, “Forest City”, as well as the demonstration of confidence that Malaysian capital markets have in both Country Garden Group and CGRE’s long term growth in Malaysia.

This is also shown by RAM Ratings that in Sep 2019 reaffirmed the AA3/Stable rating of CGRE’s Islamic Medium-Term Note (IMTN) Program.

Malaysia is currently one of the biggest markets for Islamic finance in the world. Sukuks are Islamic financial certificates (similar to a bond), that complies with Islamic religious law commonly known as Syariah. Sukuks had become extremely popular since 2000 when the first Sukuk was issued by Malaysia.

CGRE’s IMTN Programme was set up in 2015, which was first ever Ringgit Sukuk issued by a China-related corporate entity. It was bestowed with the Triple-A Islamic Finance Awards 2016 by The Asset and the League Awards 2016 by RAM.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/56c601e4-cb10-49d1-b88c-82d956544843

Forest City Johor, which is located adjacent to Singapore and situated in the Iskandar Special Zone of Johor, is currently the Group’s largest overseas project. To this date, the basic infrastructure of the Forest City has already been developed in scales.

At present, Forest City Johor has completed and has been starting to operate two hotels, a Commercial Street, a Water Theme Park, the American Shattuck St Mary International School, an Industrial Building System (IBS) factory, and two 18-hole international golf courses.

Moving forward, Forest City will continue its focus on sustainability, creating greater economic vitality for the region, enhancing regional value, and introducing industries stable and healthy development for the city. The introduction of large scale high-tech and scientific research institutions will improve the potential of the city's sustainable development.

Forest City Johor has won many awards and recognitions for promoting Malaysia's economic growth. In 2019, Forest City was granted with the CSR award by former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and with the National Community Contribution to Strategic Friendship and Collaboration for its PPR projects and past CSR contributions to the community.

Country Garden Malaysia has considerable liquidity and a healthy balance. Sales have remained resilient across all projects, and they are in line with the Group’s encouraging recent announcement of its financial performance report. In 2019, the Group (including joint ventures and associates) achieved contracted sales attributable to shareholders of CNY552.2 billion, which represents a year-on-year increase of 10.03%. The Group's total revenue rose by 28.2% YoY to CNY485.91 billion. Moving forward, the Group confirms its positive long-term outlook, planning to explore more investment opportunities in Malaysia.

About Country Garden Forest City

Forest City was developed in collaboration with Country Garden. Located in the rapidly expanding Iskandar Malaysia Development Region, it adds another important source of economic growth in ASEAN. Forest City Johor focuses on the sustainable development of 8 industries: Tourism & MICE, Healthcare, Education & Training, Regional Headquarters, Coastal Finance, E-commerce, New Technology Development, and Green and Smart Technology. Designed to be a technology-driven living and working place, Forest City is the smart city model for the future.

Media Contact
Company Name: Forest City
Telephone: +607 505 8888
Address: Jalan Forest City 1, Forest City, Pulau Satu, 81500 Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia
Website: https://forestcitycgpv.com/ 

SOURCE : COUNTRY GARDEN PACIFICVIEW SDN. BHD.