JUNIPER RESEARCH: AUTOMOTIVE SENSOR MARKET REVENUE TO GROW TO $92 BILLION GLOBALLY BY 2026, WITH LIDAR THE FASTEST-GROWING SECTOR

BASINGSTOKE, England, Nov 29 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- A new report from Juniper Research has found that the automotive sensors market will grow to over $92 billion by 2026; a 30% increase over 2021. This growth will be driven by sensors that enable automated vehicles and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems). Sensors monitoring various vehicle safety parameters in internal combustion engines will experience substantial decline from increased electrification of vehicles, following the COP26 climate conference’s initiatives to move countries to 100% electric vehicle sales by 2030.

JUNIPER RESEARCH: AUTOMOTIVE SENSOR MARKET REVENUE TO GROW TO $92 BILLION GLOBALLY BY 2026, WITH LIDAR THE FASTEST-GROWING SECTOR

​AM BEST AFFIRMS CREDIT RATINGS OF FIRST NET INSURANCE COMPANY

HONG KONG, Nov 22 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” (Good) of First Net Insurance Company (First Net) (Guam). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect First Net’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

First Net’s risk-adjusted capitalisation is assessed at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), and supported by its relatively low net underwriting leverage, and conservative and liquid investment portfolio, both of which partially offset its small absolute capital base. The company has a relatively high reliance on reinsurance for its business growth and catastrophe protection, albeit credit risk is limited due to a stable and high-quality reinsurer panel.

FirstNet’s adequate operating performance is underpinned by positive underwriting results and stable investment returns from its fixed-income portfolio. Its combined ratios mostly outperformed its composite’s average over the past 10 years, but the company’s small net premium base left its underwriting performance more susceptible to potential volatility arising from claims and expenses. The company has faced an additional expense burden since April 2019 when its tax-exempt qualifying certificate expired; however, this was partially offset by decreased net commission expenses due to large fronting business accounts in recent years. First Net reported favourable underwriting performance in 2020 and the first half of 2021 primarily due to reduced auto claims amid the COVID-19 pandemic. AM Best expects auto claims to rebound as traffic levels gradually return to normal over the coming years.

First Net is a domestic property and casualty insurer in the small and competitive Guam market, with a market share of approximately 4%, based on 2019 direct written premium (excluding group accident and health). Given its location and geographic concentration, AM Best views the company’s business expansion opportunities as limited and highly dependent on local economic development. Nonetheless, the company has a stable business stream sourced through Moylan's Insurance Underwriters, Inc., its affiliated company and a major multi-line insurance agency with a strong distribution network in Guam and nearby jurisdictions.

Negative rating actions could occur if First Net’s risk-adjusted capitalisation or absolute capital and surplus declines substantially. Negative rating actions could also occur if there is sustained and significant deterioration in its operating performance, for example, due to a series of large losses or an increased expense ratio.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2021 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211119005531/en/ 

Contact

Chanyoung Lee
Associate Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3404
chanyoung.lee@ambest.com

Jason Shum
Associate Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3424
jason.shum@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Communications
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source : AM Best

--BERNAMA

BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment ‘Super Robot Wars’ series marks 30th anniversary

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 -- Tokyo-based BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc has announced the ‘Super Robot Wars’ series has reached its 30th anniversary. 

According to a statement, the series was first released in 1991 as a simulation RPG where robots from various licences came together in battle.

The series appeared on various gaming platforms, such as the GAME BOY (R), offering entertainment to customers worldwide, with more than 90 titles appearing under the series brand (including rerelease variations), and the series has now surpassed 19 million in sales.

In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the series, ‘Super Robot Wars 30’ was released on the home console systems (Nintendo Switch (TM) /PlayStation (R) 4 /STEAM (R)) on Oct 28.

In response to comments and requests from fans of the series, the game features a new game system, ‘Tactical Area Selection’ where players can choose the order of the story, robots, and characters that can be obtained.

In order to have many customers enjoy the game worldwide, the game is available on STEAM (R) for the U.S. and European regions for the first time ever. 

In addition, the game is available in five languages, including simplified Chinese, the first ever to the series, to have as many customers as possible enjoy it.

By utilising BANDAI NAMCO Group's business knowledge and experience, 274 different licences have appeared across the brand's legacy, thus making it a series with the most IP licences ever to appear in any role-playing video game series.

-- BERNAMA

ADAGENE UNVEILS POSTER PRESENTATIONS OF CLINICAL DATA FOR TWO NOVEL ANTIBODY PROGRAMS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- Adagene Inc (Adagene), a platform-driven, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has announced two poster presentations featuring clinical data for its anti-CD137 agonist, ADG106, and anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody, ADG116, at the European Society for Medical Oncology Immuno-Oncology Congress (ESMO-IO) 2021.

“These clinical data from two of our ongoing NEObody™ clinical programs showcase the importance of our pioneering approach to target a unique epitope and reflect the dynamic interactivity between an antibody and antigen,” said Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Adagene, Peter Luo, Ph.D.

“The pharmacodynamic biomarker findings from our ongoing ADG106 trial with the anti-PD-1 toripalimab reinforce the potential synergistic combination for strong T-cell activation. 

“For our novel anti-CTLA-4 program, data from the ongoing dose escalation of ADG116 monotherapy support the robust safety profile and dose dependent T-cell activation in both hot and cold tumors, suggesting potential clinical benefit following our translational studies.”

The conference abstracts are expected to be published on the ESMO-IO website on Dec 2, and posters available on Dec 6 in advance of the hybrid meeting being held virtually and in Geneva, Switzerland from Dec 8 to 11, according to a statement.

Both the ADG106 and ADG116 programs use Adagene’s innovative NEObody technology, which enables targeting of unique and highly conserved epitopes against a broad range of antigens.

These species cross-reactive antibodies not only have the potential to reveal new biological functions of the targets, but also facilitate preclinical studies using various immune intact animal models, resulting in high fidelity translation from preclinical to clinical studies.

 The company is also developing an anti-CTLA-4 antibody, ADG126, using its SAFEbody® precision masking technology.

More details at https://investor.adagene.com.

-- BERNAMA

INNIO SHAPES ENERGY TRANSITION WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- While efforts to transform the energy system are being ramped up, the demands placed on energy generation are increasing as well. 

On one hand, there are fluctuations in power generation due to the volatility of renewable energy. On the other hand, the demand for energy is continually increasing due to growing levels of electrification.

At the same time, coal and nuclear power plants are more often being replaced by smaller on-site power plants, according to a statement.

As a company that is helping to shape the energy transition, INNIO is offering innovative solutions to meet these complex challenges.

Thanks to their excellent controllability, short start-up times, and high efficiency, INNIO Jenbacher’s flexible combined heat and power (CHP) systems support a secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy supply.

In order to best utilise their potential and optimise systems as a whole, INNIO has developed the innovative energy management solution called myPlant Optimization.

“With our innovative ‘myPlant Optimization’, we offer a comprehensive software-based solution that understands the real challenges of plant operators while also helping to shape the energy transition,” said President & Chief Executive Officer of INNIO, Olaf Berlien.

“We use artificial intelligence to help our customers in key regions, such as Germany, to adjust their power and heat generation according to the current availability of renewables so production can be aligned with demand.”

The energy management solution was developed in close collaboration with customers.

Managing Partner of Blumendorf Bio-Energie, Martin Buchholz, explained: “The Jenbacher energy management schedules are individually tailored to our plant. They show us clearly and simply when and how much output we will be trading on the electricity market.”

With its Jenbacher and Waukesha products, INNIO helps to provide communities, industry, and the public access to sustainable, reliable and economical power ranging from 200 kW to 10 MW.

More details at www.innio.com.

-- BERNAMA

ICEF ROADMAP PRESENTED FOR LEVERAGING UNTAPPED POTENTIAL OF CARBON MINERALIZATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- The Innovation for Cool Earth Forum (ICEF) roadmap was presented at an official side event of the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC).

It discussed ‘Pathways to Carbon Neutrality by 2050’ with cohosted organisations: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).

At the Japan Pavilion of the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), the roadmap launching event was held, where ‘Industrial, governmental and academic initiatives to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050’ were discussed with speakers from CEM CCUS Initiatives, Columbia University and Hitachi.

According to a statement, this year, ICEF roadmap is ‘Carbon Mineralization’. Each year, ICEF focuses on a technology that is expected to contribute significantly to long-term net-zero emissions and creates a roadmap.

ICEF is an international platform led by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) since 2014.

The mission is to solve the problem of climate change through innovative measures. This year's ICEF session was held as part of ‘Tokyo 'Beyond-Zero' Week’.

The latest roadmap features carbon mineralization, a natural process in which carbon dioxide (CO2) becomes bound in rocks as a solid mineral, permanently removing CO2 from the atmosphere.

In this natural process, certain types of rocks react with CO2 and water, fixing CO2 as a harmless mineral without using energy.

Carbon mineralization could be implemented in dozens of countries worldwide because cement and industrial waste such as steel slag can also be used in addition to natural ores found in various countries.

More details at https://www.icef.go.jp/

-- BERNAMA

NIKKISO CRYOGENIC INDUSTRIES IS TATSUNO NORTH AMERICAN AUTHORIZED AFTERMARKET PARTNER

 

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Nikkiso’s Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group (Nikkiso) has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tatsuno North America Inc (Tatsuno).

This is to initiate cooperation as the Authorized Aftermarket Partner for their Hydrogen Dispensers in North America to establish a framework for cooperation, according to a statement.

“The newly formed partnership with Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries and Tatsuno strengthens our Hydrogen presence and allows us to better serve the North American markets,” said General Manager, Cryogenic Business Department, Nikkiso Co Ltd, Teru Murakami.

Under the terms of the MOU, Nikkiso will provide spare parts, maintenance and repair services of Tatsuno’s Hydrogen Dispensers from Nikkiso’s network of North America facilities that are near the end user’s hydrogen refilling stations.

In addition, Nikkiso will install and commission new dispensers, including the provision of engineering and pre-setup support for Tatsuno's charging and fleet management systems.

Hydrogen dispensing is a new and developing market and an important component of the Hydrogen fuelling station solution. These dispensers provide safe and fast fuelling for both light duty and heavy-duty vehicles at 350 barg and 700 barg.

Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries was chosen for this new, long-term partnership because of their relationships and hydrogen experience. They are also able to provide expanded services including complete Hydrogen fuelling system solutions.

Cryogenic Industries Inc (now a member of Nikkiso Co Ltd) member companies manufacture engineered cryogenic gas processing equipment and small-scale process plants for the liquefied natural gas (LNG), well services and industrial gas industries.

-- BERNAMA

AM BEST MAINTAINS STABLE OUTLOOK ON TAIWAN'S NON-LIFE INSURANCE MARKET

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Global credit rating agency, AM Best is maintaining a stable market segment outlook on Taiwan’s non-life insurance segment, citing robust underwriting and investment performance in 2020 and carriers’ healthy risk-adjusted capitalisation levels.

The Best’s Market Segment Report titled, ‘Market Segment Outlook: Taiwan Non-Life Insurance’, notes Taiwan has managed for the most part to keep the COVID-19 pandemic under control, relative to its peers, and registered real GDP growth of 3.1 per cent in 2020.

The pandemic had limited impact to Taiwan’s non-life insurance market, which experienced direct premium written (DPW) growth of 6.2 per cent in 2020, driven by growth in the motor and fire insurance business lines.

According to a statement, the report notes that pandemic-related insurance products, including pandemic protection and vaccination protection products, gained significant traction in 2021, with DPW from these products contributing materially to non-life insurance growth in the first half of the year.

Although non-life companies have benefited from relatively benign natural catastrophe experiences in recent years, Taiwan remains geographically prone to typhoons and earthquakes, which could subject insurers’ technical results to volatility.

However, the overall underwriting performance of the market has been stable, with a five-year average net combined ratio of 95.6 per cent.

AM Best also notes that the risk-adjusted capitalisation of most players in Taiwan’s non-life insurance market is sufficient, and is viewed as resilient and able to withstand extreme scenarios.

For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

ALSP ORCHID ACQUISITION CORPORATION I CLOSES US$172.5 MILLION IPO

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- ALSP Orchid Acquisition Corporation I (the Company or ALSP Orchid) announced closing its initial public offering of 17,250,000 units, including 2,250,000 units issued pursuant to the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option, at a price of US$10.00 per unit. (US$1 = RM4.199)

The units are listed on the Nasdaq Global Market (Nasdaq) and began trading under the ticker symbol ALORU on Nov 19, according to a statement.

Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-half of one redeemable warrant, with each whole warrant exercisable to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of US$11.50 per share.

After the securities comprising the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the symbols ALOR and ALORW, respectively.

ALSP Orchid is a newly organised blank check company formed by Accelerator Life Science Partners for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganisation or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

While the Company may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business, industry, sector or geographical location, it intends to pursue investments in North America and Singapore with an emphasis on life science companies developing assets and next-generation platform technologies with broad applicability.

ALSP Orchid is led by CEO Thong Q. Le, CFO Ian A.W. Howes, COO Andras T. Forgacs, CBO Kevin T. Chow, Ph.D., and CDO Kendall M. Mohler, PhD.

The Company's independent board of directors is led by Board Chairman Bruce L.A. Carter, Ph.D. and includes Mark W. Hahn, Sundar R. Kodiyalam, Stephanie Read, and Eugene W. Yeo, Ph.D. The Company’s advisory board includes Philip Yeo Liat Kok, Ph.D. and Randall C. Schatzman, Ph.D.

Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and Nomura Securities International, Inc. acted as joint book-running managers of the offering.

A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov 18. The offering is made only by means of a prospectus.

-- BERNAMA

SFIO acquires LNS+ to establish global, cross-industry innovation ecosystem

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 -- Earlier this week, Starfleet Innotech Inc (Smokefree Innotec Inc) announced its acquisition of Philippine-based software development company LEENTech Network Solutions (LNS+), marking the asset management company’s new direction towards technology development.

With LNS+ and its subsidiaries now onboard, SFIO is formalising the team into their new Technology and Software Development Division.

According to SFIO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman Jeths Lacson, this new expansion kicks off a five-year innovation roadmap of transformative collaborations across each of the company’s five divisions.

Based on a statement, the divisions are Franchising, Food Manufacturing and Distribution, Coffee, Property Development, and the recently-formed Technology and Software Development.

With 11 years of operation, LNS+ has established itself as a leading hub for technological excellence in the Philippines. 

With this latest acquisition, SFIO now fully owns and operates six ecosystem players: LEENTech Network Solutions; Webworx Design Studio; Qalidad Solutions; Voltz Security; Livewire365; and, DHQ Digital Marketing.

LNS+ Founder Richard F. Prodigalidad, who now serves as the CEO of SFIO’s Technology and Software Development Division, sees this as both a fulfillment of his ambitions for LNS+, as well as an evolution of its mission.

Prodigalidad’s current mandate is to survey the asset management company’s portfolio for opportunities to both streamline existing operations with technology, and build entirely new systems to disrupt the industries they operate across.

As SFIO begins to establish its global presence through strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, and the establishment of its tech hubs, a number of promising projects have already cropped up at their new tech division.

-- BERNAMA

FINTECH STARTUP GIMO SECURES US$1.9 MILLION IN SEED+ ROUND LED BY INTEGRA PARTNERS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- GIMO, Vietnam’s fintech startup offering on-demand pay for blue-collar workers, announced that it had successfully raised US$1.9 million in a Seed+ round led by Singapore’s Integra Partners. (US$1 = RM4.186)

The round also saw participation from Resolution Ventures, Blauwpark Partners, and TNB Aura VN Scout.

According to GIMO’s Co-founder and CEO Nguyen Anh Quan, the new investment will help the company improve the financial stability and resilience of blue-collar workers, as well as fast-track financial inclusion in Southeast Asia.

“Blue-collar workers are among the most vulnerable to financial distress. When unexpected bills arise, they don’t have a lot of safe and affordable options. GIMO looks to change that. By helping workers get paid as they earn it, we hope to give them the peace of mind to focus on what matters,” he said in a statement.

About 290 million people in Southeast Asia have no or limited access to formal financial services, according to the World Bank.

Chris Kaptein, Partner at Integra Partners, said: “We are proud to partner with Quan, Ngoc, and the entire team at GIMO. We have been impressed with GIMO's vision to bring Earned Wage Access, and broader financial services and benefits to Vietnam’s blue-collar workers.”

Officially rolled out in early 2021, GIMO allows employees to access their earned salary almost instantly via a mobile app integrated with the company's payroll system. Users could also keep track of their workdays and daily earnings in real-time, as well as receive personal finance tips.

With the fresh funding, the company plans to allocate more resources for hiring senior engineers, strengthening risk management competencies, and integrating advanced technologies such as data analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance customer experiences.

To date, GIMO has provided on-demand pay for more than 25,000 workers, mainly in manufacturing and retail sectors, growing monthly at 130 per cent. In the long run, it is set to build a digital financial platform that empowers blue-collar workers to better organise their money, from paychecks to spending, savings, and investments.

To learn more, visit: https://gimo.vn/

-- BERNAMA

SMARTTRADE-TICKTRADE JOINT EFFORT FOR GLOBAL LEADERSHIP IN SAAS FX TRADING PLATFORMS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- smartTrade Group (smartTrade), a leader in multi-asset electronic trading solutions, has announced the acquisition of TickTrade Systems Inc (TickTrade), a Toronto-based technology firm providing next-generation FX trading and payments SaaS solutions for financial institutions.

Both companies provide liquidity management solutions and FX trading systems that enable financial institutions to develop and run high-performance trading platforms worldwide. Together the business will serve a truly global client base across North America, Europe and Asia.

The combination of smartTrade and TickTrade represents a compelling strategic fit providing customers with highly complementary SaaS, electronic FX trading products.

The combined company will deliver the best of both industry-leading FX trading technologies; smartTrade’s connectivity, aggregation, and risk management technology with TickTrade’s analytics, payments, and rich advanced distribution technology.

According to a statement, the company will operate under the smartTrade name and David Vincent, smartTrade’s CEO, will lead the combined organisation as its CEO.

TickTrade co-founders, Baha Ohcebol and Alexander Culiniac, maintaining senior management roles within the combined business, while also remaining significant investors in the group.

Hg, a leading software and services investor which has backed smartTrade since 2020, will remain majority investor in the combined group, along with longstanding investors Keensight and Pléiade Venture. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For more information, visit www.smart-trade.net.

-- BERNAMA

EDGE GROUP REINFORCES COMMITMENT TO UAE'S GLOBAL ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITIES AT DUBAI AIRSHOW

^{EDGE stand at Dubai Airshow 2021 - Group Reinforces Commitment to UAE’s Global Advanced Technology Capabilities (Photo: AETOSWire)}


13 New Products launched and 16 strategic agreements signed

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Nov 23 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- EDGE, which in just two years has risen to become one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defence groups, has concluded its participation at Dubai Airshow on a high with the launch of a range of new cutting-edge products to market, and the signing of several international agreements and partnerships with leading OEMs, defence and technology companies, and suppliers.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211121005122/en/
 

16 joint developments with several major industry players were signed including Boeing, Embraer, Raytheon Emirates, CATIC, Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, GIFAS, STRATA, SANAD, LEIDOS, and ANSYS, among others, and the Middle East and Africa Distribution Centre in Abu Dhabi with China’s CATIC was opened.

His Excellency Faisal Al Bannai, CEO and Managing Director, EDGE Group, said: “This success is testament to the resilience of the industry and the incredible strides EDGE is making in transforming the technology landscape in the UAE, to introduce advanced products and services for export globally. We are the sum of many innovative parts with a start-up mentality, backed by economies of scale. The 13 products launched this week join over 20 cutting-edge indigenous products and services introduced over the past two years, with a further 40 under development, and we are forging stronger partnerships with established OEMs to continue this trajectory.

“EDGE continues to be a disruptor in the creation of superior solutions, establishing the UAE as a world-leading centre for future industries, with a focus on superior Autonomous Systems, Electronic Warfare and Intelligence, and Smart Weapons.”

Major EDGE developments at Dubai Airshow included:

• EDGE Awarded AED11 Billion Exclusive Contract to Service UAE Air Force and Air Defence Aircraft
• EDGE Unveils New Additions to its Portfolio of Reconnaissance and Combat UAVs
• EDGE’s Pioneering SkyKnight Air Defence Missile System Details Major Program Milestones
• The First UAE-Made GPS Anti-Jam System for Resilient Navigation
• EDGE and CATIC opened the First Regional Distribution Hub for Aircraft Logistics
• EDGE to Extend Machining Contract with Boeing
• AED3.2 Billion Contract signed for Supply of Precision Guided Munitions to the UAE Armed Forces
• EDGE collaborates with EMBRAER to introduce HALCON Advanced Weapon System on A-29 Super Tucano
• EDGE Partners with SANAD to Provide MRO Services for Rolls Royce TRENT 700 Engines
• EDGE Enters Five-year agreement to Utilise ANSYS Engineering Simulation Solutions
• EDGE Completes Successful Integration Programs, Adding Enhanced Modularity and Mission flexibility to Munitions Range
• EDGE and STRATA join forces to boost UAE aerostructures manufacturing capabilities
• EDGE to renew AED310 million contract with STELIA aerospace
• Two EDGE Mission Support Entities Signed Depot Level Maintenance Agreement
• EDGE signed C-130 Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) and Upgrades Contract with Tunisian Air Force

About EDGE

EDGE is an advanced technology group established to develop agile, bold and disruptive solutions for defence and beyond. Enabling a secure future, it is dedicated to bringing innovative technologies and services to market with greater speed and efficiency. Consolidating over 25 entities and employing more than 13,000 brilliant minds, it offers expertise across five core clusters: Platforms & Systems, Missiles & Weapons, Cyber Defence, Electronic Warfare & Intelligence and Mission Support. Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, EDGE is a catalyst for change – set to revolutionise the industry and change its fundamentals.

For more information, visit edgegroup.ae

*Source: AETOSWire

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211121005122/en/

Contact

EDGE Group Press Office
Priya Roy
media@edgegroup.ae
+971 55 127 2341; +971 55 358 4520

Source : EDGE

NETSFERE AND DEUTSCHE TELEKOM PARTNER TO DELIVER A COMPLIANT MOBILE MESSAGING PLATFORM ENABLING INSTANTANEOUS, SECURE STAFF COMMUNICATION FOR GERMANY'S ST. AUGUSTINUS GROUP

The companies deployed the HIPAA/GDPR compliant encrypted messaging platform to stop the use of consumer-grade messaging apps and streamline internal and patient communications

CHICAGO, Nov 18 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NetSfere, a global provider of next-generation secure and compliant messaging and mobility solutions, today announces its partnership with Deutsche Telekom, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, to deploy NetSfere’s secure mobile messaging platform in all St. Augustinus hospitals, a leading German healthcare group.

Quick, instantaneous communication tools offer undisputed benefits to streamline staff communication, however, St. Augustinus noticed an alarming increase in the use of personal devices and popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, which pose critical privacy and compliance risks. In response, NetSfere and Deutsche Telekom partnered to implement NetSfere’s HIPAA and GDPR compliant messaging platform that offers similar functionality to apps like WhatsApp but provides the highest level of end-to-end encryption through Deutsche Telekom’s highly secure data center.

"NetSfere is designed to meet security and compliance requirements in regulated verticals including healthcare," says Franz Obermayer, NetSfere's Vice President Europe. "Medical professionals do high-pressure, life-changing work, which demands a communication platform that enables them to do so more effectively. Our partnership with the St. Augustinus Group provides secure, compliant, and flexible messaging options that eliminate the need for staff members to turn to risky messaging apps. With NetSfere, the exchange of patient data is protected to the maximum."

Unlike consumer-grade messaging apps, NetSfere provides enterprise-grade functionalities that boost collaboration and streamline communications including individual and group messaging, HD audio calling, screen sharing, and group video calling. New to the platform, the NetSfere Lifeline emergency broadcast feature allows HR and crisis teams to quickly disseminate high priority, critical alerts and emergency information to targeted teams or an entire organization in an attention-grabbing manner. St. Augustinus is leveraging NetSfere broadcasting within its hospital to keep employees up-to-date on information related to the pandemic through its “Corona Ticker” NetSfere Lifeline channel.

"In the sensitive medical environment, it must be possible to communicate quickly and securely. NetSfere is the specialist for instant messages in companies. Telekom brings its expertise in security, consulting, and service. Together, we can meet the special industry requirements, and that is quite crucial right now," says Hagen Rickmann, Managing Director Business Customers, Telekom Deutschland GmbH. "In this way, we can directly contribute to relieving the burden on staff and support optimal patient care."

“It is our responsibility to equip our employees with suitable tools. They must be able to do their work effectively. At the same time, the privacy of our patients must be protected," says Rainer Pappert, Managing Director of the St. Augustinus Group. "With the introduction of NetSfere, we followed the wishes of our employees: They want to use their personal devices. And they want to do so with an easy-to-use messaging app. So, we quickly introduced NetSfere for internal communication. With it, we quickly achieved better productivity and collaboration. Between teams, but also within our entire group. And that's about 5,600 colleagues."

St. Augustinus was drawn to using NetSfere as a solution for its staff not only because of its robust functionality, but also its industry recognition. In 2018 and 2019, NetSfere was selected by Entscheiderfabrik, a platform for IT decision makers of over 800 German hospitals, as the winner of the “Digitization Topic of the German Healthcare Industry.”

“Key highlights from our recently published VoTE: Digital Pulse, Business Reinvention & Transformation 2021 show that information security, employee productivity and business continuity remain top of mind for IT decision-makers,” said Raúl Castañón-Martinez, Senior Analyst for Workforce Collaboration at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence division. These factors will drive market requirements for business communications and collaboration, particularly for mobile, remote/hybrid and frontline workers across verticals and use cases such as field workers and healthcare providers.”(1)

For more information, visit www.netsfere.com.

^1. 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence division, “The hybrid workplace, Part 3: Emerging requirements and use cases for real-time communications and collaboration” (August 2021) 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=41627

NODLE ENTERS INTO POLKADOT INAUGURAL PARACHAIN SLOT AUCTION, CROWDLOAN

​​
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Bernama) -- Nodle, one of the world’s largest ecosystems of connected devices, has announced its entrance into Polkadot’s inaugural parachain slot auction and crowdloan.

Nodle provides infrastructure, software, and data access to the Internet of Things (IoTs) using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) on existing smartphones.

Polkadot is a blockchain ecosystem that recently opened for developers to register their projects on their parachains, enabling access to its strong native userbase and interoperability with other blockchains—like Ethereum.

Nodle expects that achieving a parachain will dramatically empower its next-generation IoT capabilities around connectivity, machine-to-machine payments, air-quality monitoring, asset tracking, a way to authenticate and secure devices, and more.

This also should enable all other chain ecosystems which are interoperable with Polkadot to benefit from Nodle’s vast network—including the millions of nodes connecting to up to 30 million IoT devices and sensors every day.

“Nodle is making its Decentralized Wireless (DeWi) network and apps composable with many services from other chains, and having a parachain will provide us with a way to make this interoperability a reality,” said Nodle CEO and Founder, Micha Benoliel in a statement.

“Nodle conducted interoperability tests with other parachains, like the Acala Network, earlier this year so we understand the power of this opportunity.

“Achieving a Polkadot parachain represents the expansion of our Web 3.0 ambitions and will accelerate how the Nodle network interacts with the entire Polkadot blockchain ecosystem.”

For more information, visit Nodle’s Parachain webpage: https://parachain.nodle.com.

-- BERNAMA

New Elliptic research indicates US$10.5 billion in 2021 DeFi fraud, theft

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 -- Billions of US dollars have been stolen from decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols, a flourishing alternative financial system that replaces traditional intermediaries with software running on blockchains, according to new research by Elliptic, the global leader in cryptoasset risk management.

Elliptic’s report DeFi: Regulation, Compliance and the Growth of DeCrime reveals that as of November this year, just over US$12 billion in losses were incurred by DeFi users and investors, due to the malicious exploitation of flaws in decentralised applications (DApps) such as decentralised exchanges (DEXs), lending protocols and asset management offerings. (US$1 = RM4.179)

These losses include direct loss of funds stolen from DApps, as well as losses suffered by holders of tokens associated with these protocols.

DeFi platforms have become increasingly popular in recent years, fuelling a boom in cryptoasset use. The ‘total value locked’ (TVL), a measure of the liquidity of DeFi services, increased by a factor of nearly 500, from US$500 million in November 2019 to just over US$247 billion today. 

This rise in popularity of DeFi has attracted a significant increase in associated DeCrime, a term coined by Elliptic to denote financial crime that involves decentralised financial tools such as DApps.

Losses due to theft and crime across DeFi platforms have increased by 600 per cent from 2020, with US$10.5 billion being stolen since the beginning of 2021 compared with US$1.5 billion last year. More than US$12 billion in total has been lost due to malicious exploitation of DeFi.

In a statement, Elliptic Chief Scientist Tom Robinson said: “The DeFi ecosystem is an incredibly exciting and fast-moving space, with financial services innovation happening at light speed. This is attracting large amounts of capital to projects that are not always robust or well-tested. Criminal actors have seen the opportunity to exploit this.”

According to the report, the prevalence of DeFi theft and crime is largely due to the untested and immature nature of the technology available. Mistakes in the design and development of decentralised apps are the most common cause, giving rise to bugs which hackers can exploit, accounting for US$10.8 billion of all losses.

Elliptic is headquartered in London with offices in New York, Singapore, and Tokyo.

To learn more, visit www.elliptic.co.

-- BERNAMA

Cyber Intelligence House-Hoxhunt partner to thwart email attacks

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 -- Hoxhunt, a premium enterprise cybersecurity awareness training platform, and Cyber Intelligence House, a leading provider of cyber intelligence, have announced a first-of-its-kind partnership designed to equip organisations with unprecedented protection from email attacks leveraging advanced insight across their dark-web-to employee-inbox lifecycle.

In a statement, Cyber Intelligence House CEO, Mikko Niemela said: “We are very excited to be partnering with Hoxhunt. Their best-in-class Cyber Awareness and Training platform allows organisations to adapt and defend against the ever rising volume of cyber threats that our platform identifies”.

Meanwhile, Hoxhunt’s CEO, Mika Aalto noted the partnership with Cyber Intelligence House would open a whole new category of proactive cybersecurity awareness.

“Their industry-leading Cyber Exposure Platform adds a superior breadth and depth of intelligence from the Darkweb, Deep web and cyberspace forums and marketplaces to our dynamic awareness platform, typically 16 times more data than other solutions.”

Cyber Intelligence House is a leading cyber intelligence company specialised in helping cyber security professionals and law enforcement to assess and monitor cyber exposure from the dark web, deep web, data breaches and online-assets.

It is the trusted provider to government and law enforcement agencies globally, including Interpol and UNODC.

Hoxhunt, a People-First Cybersecurity Platform that protects organisations and their employees from the risk of cyber attacks, enables security teams with real-time visibility into threats so they can react fast and limit their spread.

For more information on Cyber Intelligence House, visit https://www.cyberintelligencehouse.com

-- BERNAMA

Wholesum injects fresh capital for micro-retail brand acquisition in South Korea

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 -- Wholesum Co Ltd is the first Korea-based e-commerce brand accelerator to discover, acquire, and scale promising online-native brands.

Over US$10 billion has been raised globally since 2018 by over 60 start-ups who focus on aggregating Amazon FBA brands.

Unlike global players, Wholesum’s differentiated strategy focuses on brands that thrive on Korean e-commerce marketplaces, led by Naver Smartstore and Coupang, which boast the third largest annual GMV in the world, estimated at US$180 billion this year, and collectively host over 470,000 independent micro-brands. (US$1 = RM4.175)

Co-Founders Kyungbeom Ham, e-commerce, product, and supply-chain expert, and AJ Vincent, a global private equity and operations executive, founded Wholesum to address problems faced by a growing number of entrepreneurs who have achieved US$1 million in annual e-commerce sales.

“Wholesum prepares to speak with or meet dozens of entrepreneurs every week by researching their product, analysing their competition, and understanding their journey,” said Vincent in a statement.

With SEMAS reporting that 70 per cent of businesses close down in Korea due to a number of challenges related to financing and scalability, Vincent added: “Our value proposition is to offer a ‘sale vs scale’ alternative solution to support promising brands where short-term capital, marketing knowledge, and tech constraints may have limited the brand’s long-term potential under the original entrepreneur.”

With Seed Round capital led by Nordstar (UK), Korean VCs Bass Investment and The Ventures, and strategic Angel investors in August, Wholesum acquired two brands in the Health & Living category and plans to deploy over US$23 million of equity and new venture financing to execute on a deep pipeline.

“Korea’s clustered geography means Wholesum can meet any entrepreneur face-to-face, pull historical financial data, or conduct in-person diligence of manufacturing, fulfillment, and delivery facilities within three hours of first contact,” noted Ham.

-- BERNAMA

​WOLTERS KLUWER AND IDC TO SHARE GRANULAR DATA REPORTING EXPERTISE

Wolters Kluwer FRR product management expert Subbaiyan Vaithinathan to be joined by IDC Financial Insights research expert Michael Araneta in GDR webinar

SINGAPORE, Nov 18 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Wolters Kluwer Finance, Risk & Regulatory Reporting (FRR) is set to host a webinar devoted to discussing the Granular Data Reporting (GDR) mandates issued by regulators in the Asia Pacific region. The webinar, “GDR 101: Most frequently asked questions now answered,” will take place at 2 pm SGT Tuesday, November 23, 2021.

With the introduction of GDR, regulators across Asia Pacific continue to elevate their expectations from financial institutions to achieve more transparent and seamlessly integrated data. As transformation sweeps the region, most banks are using this regulatory overhaul as an opportunity to step back and re-evaluate their strategies to be better prepared for a smooth transition to GDR.

Representing Wolters Kluwer FRR on the webinar is Subbaiyan Vaithinathan, Director for Regulatory Reporting & Anti-money Laundering (AML), Asia Pacific. He will be joined by Michael Araneta, Vice President, IDC Financial Insights. Their discussion will explore the key market trends, burning issues and challenges for banks along their journey towards GDR compliance in Asia Pacific. Other key topics that will be covered during the webinar include frequently asked questions about GDR, predictions for 2022, lessons learned from Europe, and GDR compliance progression across different countries in Asia Pacific.

“Compliance with GDR standards is a fine balancing act for financial institutions. Besides staying compliant, organizations need to build a long-standing infrastructure that is forward-looking and resilient to new regulatory changes. To start the ball rolling, a big shift in cultural approach is required,” Araneta noted in a recently published IDC InfoBriefs article. The InfoBrief, sponsored by Wolters Kluwer and titled “RegTech in Asia Pacific: Supporting the trend towards Granular Data Reporting”, features further insights on the subject.

Subbaiyan is a strong advocate for incubating disruptive and innovative technologies in the Regulatory Reporting space. He is a hands-on technology leader with more than 15 years’ experience, with ten of these at Wolters Kluwer FRR across Asia Pacific (Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia & India) in a variety of leadership roles.

Wolters Kluwer FRR, which is part of Wolters Kluwer’s Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) division, is a global market leader in the provision of integrated regulatory compliance and reporting solutions. It supports regulated financial institutions in meeting their obligations to external regulators and their own board of directors. Wolters Kluwer GRC’s other banking and regulatory compliance business is Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions. Its legal services businesses are Wolters Kluwer CT Corporation and Wolters Kluwer ELM Solutions. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=41637

USCELLULAR OFFERS SYNCHRONOSS CONTENT TRANSFER ACCELERATES IN-STORE DEVICE ACTIVATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 (Bernama) -- Anticipating a busy holiday season for new mobile phone sales, UScellular, the fourth-largest full-service wireless carrier in the United States, is now offering Synchronoss Content Transfer, a solution that gives UScellular store associates the ability to easily and quickly move content from a customer’s old mobile device to a new one at no cost to the customer.

Content Transfer from Synchronoss Technologies Inc, a global leader and innovator of cloud, messaging and digital solutions, is designed to streamline the onboarding of new devices by providing a means for digital content – including photos, videos, contacts, call logs, music, documents, messages and settings – to be effortlessly transferred between mobile phones and tablets.

Synchronoss Chief Commercial Officer, Chris Hill said that always-on access to digital content was no longer a “nice to have” but a “must have” as consumers increasingly integrate mobile devices into their day-to-day lives.

“Consumers have two expectations when purchasing a new device: One is that they will not lose any of their important digital data when switching hardware. The second is that they will have access to their data as soon as the new mobile device is connected to the network.

“Our cross-platform application satisfies both of those needs by making new device activation practically seamless for subscribers,” he said in a statement.

The Content Transfer solution is an easy-to-use application spanning devices and operating systems and replaces the need for in-store equipment. It can also significantly reduce the amount of time a customer spends in a store when activating a new device.

“As we continually seek new ways to enhance our customer experience, we see the Synchronoss solution as an important addition to our customer service toolbox,” said Eric Jagher, Senior Vice President of Consumer Sales and Operations at UScellular. 

The Synchronoss website provides additional information about Content Transfer and other Synchronoss onboardX tools that allow mobile operators to drive service adoption and deliver the customer experience that subscribers want.

For more information, visit www.synchronoss.com.

-- BERNAMA

BANDAI SPIRITS CO LTD OF TOKYO HOLDS 'TAMASHII NATION ONLINE 2021', NOV 19-21

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- Under the flagship brand of adult target audience collectibles, ‘TAMASHII NATIONS’, BANDAI SPIRITS CO LTD of Tokyo will be holding the online event ‘TAMASHII NATION ONLINE 2021’ from Nov 19 to 21.

‘TAMASHII NATION’ is an event held once a year since 2008, featuring the latest in figures targeting the adult audience, according to a statement.

This year, the event will be powered by MIRAIKEN studio led by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

MIRAIKEN studio was established in 2021 as a standalone base of operations powered with the latest in equipment available in Japan to create and transmit the next generation in entertainment using technologies such as xR and real-time motion capture.

The event will be featuring approximately 550 hero and robot figures from the ‘MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM’ series, ‘MACROSS’ series, ‘KAMEN RIDER’ series, the ‘TIGER & BUNNY 2’ television anime that will be aired in 2022, and more, with approximately 180 figures new to the line-up.

Online initiatives such as multi-channel streaming programmes, access to a PIP function that enables viewing of videos while looking at the displays, use of a live commerce function to seamlessly purchase featured products, a 360-degree-view figure display function, comment posting function, and more can be enjoyed right at the viewer's fingertips.

The online event will be held in the virtual city, ‘TAMASHII NATION VIRTUAL WORLD’. Within this world are three display areas -- ‘Robot City’, ‘Live Action City’, and ‘Anime & Game City’. These cities will feature a ‘station’ for every featured product and brand where event participants can view a variety of themed products.

The visual concept for ‘TAMASHII NATION VIRTUAL WORLD’ was designed by Yohei Takamatsu who worked as art director for a number of Studio Ghibli titles and also cooperatively handled the art direction for ‘The Boy and the Beast’.

-- BERNAMA

2021 JEONJU KIMCHI CULTURE FESTIVAL SIZZLES IN CITY OF TASTE

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 (Bernama) -- A festival where participants can learn to make Kimchi is cooking up a storm in Jeonju, the ‘city of taste’.

Jeonju City announced the 2021 Jeonju Kimchi Culture Festival, an event organised by Jeonju Food Integrated Support Center, is held online and across the city area including Jeonju Stadium from Nov 2 to 30.

Held for the third time this year, Jeonju Kimchi Culture Festival is staged in different locations at different times considering the COVID-19 situation. While last year’s festival provided the Kimchi making (Kimjang) experience programme only as a Drive-Thru event, it is held as both a Drive-Thru and an onsite event this year.

According to a statement, the festival offers 12 programmes including Kimchi making, Kimchi sharing, Kimchi culture tour, and other specialised programmes.

The Kimjang experience, the main programme, is held as a Drive-Thru event on Nov 19 with 450 family-unit participants. On Nov 20 and 21, 150 families, in groups of 25 families per session, will experience Kimchi making at Jeonju Stadium. In addition, Kimjang experience for multicultural families and overseas students is provided at Jeonju Kimchi Cultural Center and each university.

On Nov 19 and 20, the Kimchi sharing event is held. Organisations and groups in Jeonju donate Kimchi to the neglected class. The programme also includes a 'Kimchi Sharing with Story' event where participants can send Kimchi to the people who they want to express gratitude to or the neighbours in need.

A Jeonju Agricultural Technology Center official said: “Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the excellence of Kimchi on human health has been verified across the world.

“As much as so, we prepared this festival to help participants experience and learn about Korea’s traditional culture of Kimchi making, which has been registered as the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.”

-- BERNAMA

KDDI & SUPERSHIP TO LAUNCH NEXT-GENERATION DIGITAL ADVERTISING PLATFORM THAT PRIORITIZES CUSTOMER PRIVACY

 TOKYO, Nov. 18, 2021 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/--

- "Reaching Lifestyle-relevant Audiences at Scale without Cookies" -   KDDI CORPORATION (referred to as "KDDI" below), Supership Holdings Inc. (referred to as "Supership Holdings" below) and Supership Inc. (referred to as "Supership" below), all based in Tokyo, are jointly developing a next-generation digital advertising platform (referred to as "the platform" below) for scheduled launch in January 2022. The platform will prioritize data privacy while serving highly relevant advertising based on customer lifestyles.   At the core, patented technology provided by Novatiq Ltd. (referred to as "Novatiq" below), headquartered in Wales, the UK, enables advertisers to activate audiences using only permission-based data.   KDDI, Supership Holdings and Supership will integrate the platform with Supership's advertising platform to provide optimized digital marketing for advertisers.   Overview of new digital advertising platform: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M106894/202111123299/_prw_PI1fl_kSUCjIK7.jpg     To date, using third-party data (*1) to reach audiences based on customer interests and needs across websites and apps has been a mainstream practice in digital marketing. However, from a data privacy protection viewpoint, this is globally becoming more problematic, as much of this third-party data originates from tracking customer behavior with cookies or advertising IDs (referred to as "ADID" below) without consent. This situation demands new marketing methods that don't rely on the utilization of such third-party data.   The platform protects the customer's data privacy by generating a transient one-time token (referred to as "ad delivery ID" below) (*2) for each website or mobile app interaction combined with KDDI's permission-based attribution (e.g. gender, age group, etc.). It enables advertisers to serve highly relevant ads using only permission-based data, ensures that customer privacy is protected, and supports effective marketing.   KDDI, Supership Holdings and Supership will utilize this new technology in their aim to spread the use of digital ad delivery that prioritizes privacy.   For more information, please refer to the following:   About the platform   1. Features (1) Privacy-first platform: - The platform serves highly effective digital advertising through the utilization of original ad delivery IDs that aren't dependent on cookies or ADIDs.   - Ad delivery IDs are randomly generated when websites and apps are accessed to ensure ad delivery IDs aren't saved on customer devices such as smartphones and computers. In addition, customer action histories aren't tracked or collected across websites and apps.   (2) Realization of digital ad delivery relevant to customer's lifestyle: - The platform connects permission-based first-party data (*3) from the KDDI Group to the ad delivery ID using IP addresses in an intermediate step. This cohort information (gender, age group, etc.) is used to determine which ad is delivered.   - While taking data privacy into consideration, advertisers can reach audiences with highly relevant digital advertisements based on customer lifestyle.    (3) Service provided via Supership's ad platform which sees 35bn monthly impressions: - The platform built on Novatiq's patented technology will be provided via Supership's DSP (ScaleOut) and SSP (Ad Generation).   - SSP (Ad Generation) is a multifaceted platform centering around mobile apps. It boasts a wealth of inventory, and delivers ads to customers through premium media.   - Supership Holdings entered into a capital and business alliance (*4) with Novatiq in June 2021. This agreement gives the Supership Group the exclusive rights to use Novatiq's patented technology in Asia.   *Only permission-based data is utilized. Data handling complies with all relevant laws and regulations to ensure appropriate information security. In addition, any personally identifiable data such as the names of individuals, addresses including street numbers, telephone numbers, and email addresses are not utilized.   For details regarding data usage or the ad delivery system, please refer to the privacy portal: https://www.kddi.com/corporate/kddi/public/privacy-portal/   2. Launch date: January 2022   3. Fees: For inquiries regarding fees, please contact Supership Inc.   4. Contact information: Supership Inc. Web inquires: https://supership.jp/business/cookieless-ads_en     (Reference)   About Novatiq Novatiq is a leading identity and audience activation platform empowering publishers, brands and telcos to reach their audiences at scale and provide better customer experiences -- all while prioritizing privacy. Using patented, privacy-first technology, Novatiq enables the creation of IDs based on pseudonymised first-party data, including fully consented customer intelligence from telco operators. This new approach to consented IDs puts privacy first, improves user-experience, drives better campaign performance, and enables a new generation of personalized digital services. The company has multiple patents, and is ISO 27001-certified and rigorously compliant with global privacy standards.   https://novatiq.com/   Notes:   (*1) Data provided by third parties that don't have a direct relationship with the customer.   (*2) Ad delivery identifiers are randomly generated when ad spots with modules are displayed on the platform. The module generates or transmits ad identifiers by utilizing a program equipped with part of an ad spot provided by Supership. Apps and web services other than those provided by KDDI are also embedded.   (*3) Data that businesses collect/store after receiving customer permission.   (*4) Supership Holdings' news release (June 1, 2021): Supership Group and Novatiq Ltd. form Capital and Business Alliance to Develop Next-Generation Digital Advertising Platform for Cookie-less World   https://supership-hd.jp/news/20210601/     Source: Supership Holdings Inc.   http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=41632

Ensign-Bickford Industries closes acquisition of Cawood Scientific Limited

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 -- Ensign-Bickford Industries Inc (EBI) has announced successfully closing on its acquisition of Cawood Scientific Limited (Cawood), headquartered in Bracknell, UK.

Headquartered in Denver, CO, EBI is a 185-year-old privately-held corporation with diversified businesses in aerospace and defence, molecular diagnostics, and pet food palatability markets.

Cawood Scientific is the UK’s leading independent scientific group, with laboratories throughout the UK, EU, and the US serving the agriculture, food, and environmental sectors.

Cawood will become a member of EBI’s Agriculture and Environmental Diagnostics Group.

Commenting on the acquisition, EBI President and CEO Tom Perlitz said in a statement: “Cawood has more than just exceptional growth potential, it comes to us as a thriving business with a solid market position and great talent – built on a set of strong principles that very closely mirror the core values of EBI.

“This partnership will support both goals to expand our diagnostic offerings and extend our reach in global markets, and we could not be more pleased to welcome Cawood into the EBI family,” he said, noting that Cawood would represent a unique partnership with EBI’s EnviroLogix business that will strengthen and grow EBI’s foothold in the agricultural supply chain. 

“Over the last 18 months, Cawood has doubled in size, following significant investment in acquisitions, equipment, and technology, and EBI is committed to supporting and guiding that strategic growth long-term,” said Cawood’s Simon Parrington, who will continue as the Cawood Group CEO.

For more information, visit http://www.ensign-bickfordind.com/

-- BERNAMA

Polyplastics introduces new RENATUS (R) PET grades for auto exterior components

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 -- Polyplastics Group has announced the introduction of two new RENATUS (R) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) grades which deliver superior mechanical properties, appearance, and weather resistance for automotive exterior components.

This reaffirms Polyplastics' strong commitment to PET as a key pillar of its extensive resin business portfolio, according to a statement.

The two new glass-reinforced grades, RH030 (30 per cent glass-filled) and RH045 (45 per cent glass-filled), maintain their jet blackness and reduce whitening on the surface of molded articles in outdoor environments, making them ideally suited for applications such as automotive side mirrors and rear wiper arms/blades.

Since PET parts are not painted, weathering degradation can occur over time. The glass filler can start to float and the jet blackness can decrease.

Accelerated weather-resistance testing demonstrates that Polyplastics' new PET materials maintain lower index values than their competing products, thus indicating whitening is being reduced.

RENATUS (R) RH030 and RH045 PET are glass fibre-reinforced grades, but they can still produce molded articles with good surface appearance because of their superior mold transferability during molding.

Recent company testing shows that when compared to standard grade PBT-GF30, RH045 (PET-GF45) exhibits higher surface gloss even though it has a large amount of glass fibre added to the formulation.

Meanwhile, in terms of mechanical performance, PET typically has superior properties compared to PBT. At similar glass loadings, RH030 and RH045 PET grades have higher mechanical properties including greater tensile strength, flexural modulus, and deflection temperature under load compared to PBT grades.

Polyplastics Co Ltd is a global leader in the development and production of engineering thermoplastics, with product portfolio including POM, PBT, PPS, LCP, GF-PET, and COC.

-- BERNAMA

34th Tokyo International Film Festival winners named

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 -- The 34th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) concluded with the announcement of winners at the Closing Ceremony recently.

The Tokyo Grand Prix was awarded to ‘Vera Dreams of the Sea’, directed by Kaltrina Krasniqi, the first TIFF selection from Kosovo; while ‘World, Northern Hemisphere’ by Hossein Tehrani won the Asian Future Best Film Award.

Other winning films included ‘La Civil’, ‘Poet’, ‘The Other Tom’, ‘The Four Walls’, ‘Crane Lantern’ and ‘Just Remembering’, as well as Amazon Prime Video Take One Awardees ‘Sunday and Calm Sea’ and ‘Under the Bridge’.

The 34th TIFF showcased 126 films selected from 1,533 submissions from 113 countries and regions between Oct 30 and Nov 8, according to a statement.

The Japan Foundation Asia Center (JF) and TIFF have co-presented Conversation Series at Asia Lounge.

With an advisory panel headed by Palme d'Or winner Kore-eda Hirokazu, the series brought together acclaimed filmmakers and actors from Asia and beyond to engage in friendly dialogue for eight days.

Despite the ongoing pandemic, the Asia Lounge featured both in-person and online guests, with audiences able to participate in person and to livestream Q and As for each of the talks, as well as it could also set up the physical lounge where filmmakers would enjoy free-form conversation and exchange.

International guests included TIFF Jury President Isabelle Huppert, Chang Chen, Kamila Andini, Bahman Ghobadi, Brillante Ma Mendoza, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Bong Joon Ho.

The JF and TIFF also jointly showcased the rich and diverse cultures of Asian cinema in the Competition, Asian Future, Gala Selection, World Focus and newly launched TIFF Series sections.

More details at https://2021.tiff-jp.net/en/

-- BERNAMA

JUNIPER RESEARCH STUDY REVEALS THREAT TO NETWORK OPERATOR REVENUE VIA FLASH CALLING

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- A new study from Juniper Research has revealed a new threat to network operator revenue through flash calling.

Flash calling authentication leverages mobile voice networks to authenticate a user or transaction via an originating phone number, according to a statement.

The last few digits of this phone number are then automatically used for authentication, rather than a user inputting a code manually that was delivered by SMS.

The new study, Flash Calling Authentication: Impact Analysis & Market Forecasts 2021-2026, predicts flash calling has potential to threaten a significant part of operators’ SMS business messaging revenue. 

The report found that the number of calls used for flash authentication will near 130 billion globally by 2026; rising from less than 60 million in 2021. This represents an astonishing growth of over 185,000 per cent  in the next five years.

Juniper Research recommends that operators quickly implement solutions that can identify this traffic. The move to flash calling is being driven by the low cost of termination, a convenient user experience, and a diminished threat of fraud.

In addition, the report predicts that authentication-based SMS revenue will reach US$39 billion globally in 2022; representing five per cent of total operator-billed revenue. (US$1 = RM4.163)

As enterprises migrate their authentication traffic to voice, operators must protect SMS revenue by adopting voice firewalls that can detect unmonetised flash calling and attain flash calling revenue.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

-- BERNAMA

Having raised US$1.2 Million, Real Realm closes private sale round

 KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 -- Real Realm's (Rise Studio) has announced that after two weeks of raising funds for the private round, they have successfully closed the private sale round with US$1.2 Million. (US$1 = RM4.163)

During the private sale, it has closed deals with some of the biggest VCs in the industry. Also, it’s not only getting funds from them but also being able to get benefits from their expertise to provide an amazing gaming experience for players.

Some of the important backers include BSC Station, AU21, and Kardia Ventures, according to a statement.

The company IDO process is getting closer and with all these partnership deals, updates, events it has done, it’s most likely to see Real Token blow up once IDO sales start on Nov 23.

Right after the IDO process, it will release the beta version of the game in December for players to try out. So, in that way, it can analyse the pros, cons better and provide a preferable game environment for players.

More details at https://realrealm.io/

-- BERNAMA

Cloudflare new tools, integrations make developing applications easy-to-use

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 -- Cloudflare Inc, the security, performance and reliability company helping to build a better Internet, has announced new tools and integrations to make developing applications simple, flexible, and fast.

“We are constantly investing in making the platform the fastest, most flexible, and easy to use serverless platform on the market,” said co-founder and chief executive officer of Cloudflare, Matthew Prince.

“That's why these new tools and partnerships are grounded in our belief that any developer in the world should be able to connect their data to build any type of application on Cloudflare, period.”

Now developers will be able to connect to their existing databases such as MySQL, MongoDB, Prisma, or Postgres alongside Cloudflare's own tools like Durable Objects to easily and intelligently store and access data at the edge.

This solves a major problem for developers–managing data–and makes it easier than ever to build any type of application, no matter the complexity, compliance requirements, or performance needs, according to a statement.

The promise of serverless computing is to allow developers to focus on writing code and solving challenges for their customers, without having to worry about configuring and managing infrastructure.

Cloudflare is making it easy for developers to connect their existing databases to Cloudflare Workers® and also allowing developers to use new and innovative data technologies to utilise data.

As developers continue to build increasingly complex applications, they require more ways to store and access their data from Cloudflare’s edge. Cloudflare is announcing three new ways for developers to utilise data in Cloudflare Workers.

First, Cloudflare is making Durable Objects generally available to all; second, Cloudflare announced new partnerships with MongoDB and Prisma to help developers expand their access to data from Cloudflare’s edge; and, finally, Cloudflare announced Database Connectors allowing developers to connect directly to classic relational databases, including MySQL and PostgreSQL.

More details at www.cloudflare.com.

-- BERNAMA

ADAGIO THERAPEUTICS UNVEILS ADG20 COVID-19 ANTIBODY PROGRAM UPDATE, THIRD QUARTER 2021 FINANCIAL RESULTS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Adagio Therapeutics Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, has provided an update on its lead COVID-19 antibody program, ADG20, and reported third quarter 2021 financial results.

ADG20 is an investigational monoclonal antibody product candidate designed to provide broad and potent neutralising activity against SARS-CoV-2, including variants of concern, for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, according to a statement.

“We’ve made significant progress over the course of 2021, and 2022 is set to be a landmark year for Adagio as we prepare for potential EUA submissions for ADG20 for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19,” said co-founder and chief executive officer of Adagio, Tillman Gerngross, Ph.D.

For ADG20 COVID-19 Program Updates, Adagio continues to enroll adult and adolescent participants in its ongoing, global Phase 3 EVADE clinical trial evaluating ADG20 as a prevention for COVID-19 in both the pre-exposure and recent exposure settings.

In addition, Adagio continues to enroll patients in its ongoing, global Phase 2/3 STAMP clinical trial evaluating ADG20 as a treatment for COVID-19.

New in vitro data demonstrated retained neutralising activity of ADG20 against a diverse panel of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the newly emerged Lambda, Mu and Delta plus variants.

Data from a six-month evaluation in Adagio’s Phase 1 healthy volunteer trial of ADG20 confirmed the extended half-life of ADG20, which approached 100 days based on data from the 300 mg intramuscular dose that was given as a single injection.

On Oct 29, the United States Patent and Trademark Office mailed a notice of allowance to the company for a patent application that will provide patent protection for ADG20 in the US.

Meanwhile, for third quarter 2021 financial results, as of Sept 30, Adagio had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of US$666.3 million, which are expected to support the company’s current operating plans into 2023. (US$1 = RM4.163)

Research & development expenses including in-process research and development for the third quarter of 2021 were US$49.4 million, while selling, general & administrative expenses for the third quarter of 2021 were US$11.1 million.

More details at www.adagiotx.com.

-- BERNAMA