Monthly Archives: July 2020

PR Newswire

Tata Communications wins eight awards at Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 India ICT Awards

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The recognitions highlight Tata Communications’ unmatched service delivery in India

MUMBAI, India, July 7, 2020 — Tata Communications, a digital ecosystem enabler, received top honors at Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 India ICT Awards, with eight wins in the ‘Company of the Year‘ category. All the awards were for excellence in service provision, underlining the company’s dominance in the Indian service provider market.

Applauding Tata Communications’ feat, Benoy CS, Vice President, Digital Transformation Practice, Frost & Sullivan, said, “Tata Communications’ services are aligned with industry best practices and address vertical-specific needs. It is an ideal example of a service provider that has the best-in-class people, processes and technologies to offer customer-focused solutions and services.”

In its 19th edition, the 2020 India ICT Awards celebrated the achievements of the IT industry’s best innovators, disruptors and leaders. The event honored industry professionals and corporates that created breakthrough business models and strategies through the innovative use of transformative technologies.

“We are thrilled that our continued focus on delivering superior customer experiences has resulted in another year of wins at the prestigious Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 India ICT Awards,” said Sumeet Walia, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer at Tata Communications. “To have won eight awards, especially the ‘Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year’ for the eleventh time, is a strong validation of our efforts and expertise. The economic disruption triggered by the pandemic has resulted in an accelerated shift towards a digital-first world, creating an essential need for every industry to align to the new models of working. Our large suite of solutions, services and partnerships have helped unlock infinite possibilities to enable a seamless digital transition for our customers. These awards are a testament to the customers’ confidence in us as their trusted advisor. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our customers and enabling secure connected digital experiences for them.”

Accolades Won by Tata Communications at Frost & Sullivan’s 2020 India ICT Awards:

Enterprise Data Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has demonstrated tremendous innovation in product launches and strategies along with strong service delivery and support. It has enhanced the IZO cloud enablement platform, which integrates IZO Internet WAN with Global MPLS VPN, to form IZO Hybrid WAN. This is fully linked to its security services, such as DDoS mitigation, virtual proxy secure web gateway and Unified Threat Management. The company’s unique IZO SD-WAN service is available in 150+ countries globally and is continuously gaining traction among Indian enterprises.

Tata Communications follows a multi-pronged strategy and has the vision to enable faster service delivery through automation and self-servicing/provisioning capabilities implemented through APIs and virtual platforms. Furthermore, it aims to enable automation and virtualisation to expedite customers’ business transformation journeys.

Enterprise Telecom Service Provider of the Year – Large Enterprise Segment

Bolstered by its global network infrastructure and leadership in emerging markets, Tata Communications is continuously developing its service portfolio to include new technologies and innovations that simplify their enterprise customers’ operations and help promote a competitive enterprise telecoms services business.

The company has a vast portfolio of solutions and services aligned to the needs of large enterprise customers. Its focus on staying agile and delivering superior customer experiences has helped it position itself as a digital ecosystem enabler. Its international network coverage and partnerships  help it serve Indian companies with a global footprint and global companies with India presence.

Managed Multi Cloud Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has developed an integrated value proposition by combining its managed service prowess with multi-cloud capabilities. This is helping it tap newer opportunities in the emerging multi-cloud space.

Its broad multi cloud portfolio enables digital transformation for enterprises by bringing together all enterprise workloads on a single pane, yet giving each workload a choice of platforms to run on multiple models such as public clouds, managed hosting, private cloud and cloud container services. It helps the organisations balance investments in on-premise private cloud technologies with effective utilisation of off-premise public cloud services to achieve an optimised total cost of ownership (TCO).

SDWAN Service Provider of the Year

Tata Communications has been the frontrunner for efficiently leveraging and building innovative solutions using cutting-edge technologies such as Software Defined Networking/ Network-Function Virtualization and IoT. It has exhibited exceptional go-to-market strategies and service innovations by providing two different deployment models so customers can pick the one that best aligns with their SD-WAN deployment strategy.

Tata Communications has maintained its SD-WAN leadership in India on the back of its customised SD-WAN solution suite, continuous addition of innovative features in SD-WAN service, strong R&D capabilities and collaborative business with customers.

Unified Communications Service Provider of the Year

India’s Unified Communications & Collaboration (UCC) market is becoming increasingly cloud-oriented as more businesses are willing to shift to the hosted/cloud model as long as they have a strong service provider that can manage their UCC requirements end-to-end. Tata Communications has been a clear leader in identifying these changing preferences of Indian businesses and continues to build technology partnerships to provide best-in-class UCC experiences to its business customers.

Managed Security Service Provider of the Year – Telecom

As enterprises aim to build a 360-degree cyber security posture, the number of security tools within the IT ecosystem has increased at a rapid pace. Organisations are not only focused on perimeter security, but are extending the security elements beyond the enterprise network; notably to the cloud and mobile devices. They need service providers that have a broad range of capabilities to manage and monitor security concerns around these areas. Tata Communications has expanded its cyber security offerings in response to this and significantly improved its threat detection and response capabilities. It leverages next-generation technologies and security frameworks that are industry-compliant and dependable.

Cloud Interconnect Service Provider of the Year

A trendsetter in the cloud interconnect space in India, the company has a robust roadmap to further enhance its cloud interconnect offerings and improve customer experiences. It plans to develop expansive multi-cloud connectivity capabilities involving customer use cases such as distributed applications in multiple clouds. Additionally, Tata Communications is developing cost-effective approaches wherein a customer can connect to multiple cloud service providers through a single physical connection. This would be significantly more efficient than building multiple dedicated physical connections to different cloud service providers.

Tata Communications intends to integrate its managed security services capabilities with cloud interconnect services. Moreover, it hopes to increase its existing interconnect capacity with cloud providers to address the rising demand for bandwidth.

Video Managed Services Provider of the Year

As the video managed services segment continues evolving due to the rapid advancement of technologies, service providers are being challenged to address customer demand on-the-go to remain relevant. The video managed services segment has, as a result, undergone a significant transformation in terms of the introduction of customised solutions by various players. The declining infrastructure cost of cloud-solutions and the rising demand for a wider range of video solutions at low costs are key issues that need to be addressed.

Tata Communications provides managed video services to enterprises leveraging its flagship product, Video Connect, as a core service for live and file-based contribution and global distribution to broadcasters and aggregators. It has the largest dedicated fiber-based Video Connect managed service, which offers unprecedented reach, flexibility and reliability. With a focus on constant innovation, the company has become the managed service provider of choice for broadcasting solutions such as Live 4K, 8K, and 360-degree video.

About the Awards

Frost & Sullivan’s India ICT Awards contenders were judged on a variety of parameters including revenue, market share, product diversity, vertical and horizontal diversity, major customer acquisitions, the efficacy of the innovation process, product service, and positioning. The judging process involved in-depth primary interviews with various industry participants and secondary research conducted by Frost & Sullivan analysts. An elite panel of jury members comprising some of the most prominent CIOs/CTOs from the industry evaluated the compiled data and incorporated the end-user perspective. Frost & Sullivan then presented the awards to the companies that received the number one industry rank in each category.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Tarini Singh
P: +91-20 6718 9725
E: Tarini.Singh@frost.com

Smriti Arora
P: +91 98192 76755
E: Smriti.Arora@tatacommunications.com

About Tata Communications

Tata Communications is a digital ecosystem enabler that powers today’s fast-growing digital economy.

The company enables the digital transformation of enterprises globally, including 300 of the Fortune 500 – unlocking opportunities for businesses by enabling borderless growth, boosting product innovation and customer experience, improving productivity and efficiency, building agility and managing risk.

With its solutions orientated approach and proven managed service capabilities and cutting-edge infrastructure, Tata Communications drives the next level of intelligence powered by cloud, mobility, Internet of Things (IoT), collaboration, security, and network services.

Tata Communications carries around 30% of the world’s internet routes and connects businesses to 60% of the world’s cloud giants and 4 out of 5 mobile subscribers.

The company’s capabilities are underpinned by its global network, the world’s largest wholly owned subsea fibre backbone and a Tier-1 IP network with connectivity to more than 200 countries and territories.

Tata Communications Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India.

www.tatacommunications.com

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PR Newswire

Olymp Trade Clients Now Have a New Loyalty System

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KINGSTOWN, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, July 7, 2020 — Olymp Trade has announced an introduction of a service levels system. It is a kind of ecosystem of trader development. In the first iteration, the company traders will receive Starter, Advanced, or Expert statuses.

Olymp Trade Clients Now Have a New Loyalty System
Olymp Trade Clients Now Have a New Loyalty System

Background
Olymp Trade held a big tournament last December. Traders completed tasks and received new indicators and strategies as prizes. The competition was over but the demand for these tools was still very high.

As a result, the Olymp Trade team decided to create a complete system of statuses. It will help traders of any experience go through the process of studying analysis on the platform smoothly and consistently.

The main advantage of the update is flexible conditions. A trader can upgrade the status by making a certain trading turnover or investing a fixed amount into their account.

More about Statuses
Each status offers a certain service pack. For example, after making the first deposit, a trader receives a Starter status, which guarantees basic trading conditions: a yield of up to 82% and free training on the platform.

To get the Advanced status, one should either make a deposit at least $500 or gain 25,300 experience points (XP) for one’s trading turnover. This status provides an increased yield of up to 84%, access to 7 customized strategies, and analyst consultations.

To get the highest Expert status, a customer has to gain 120,000 XP or invest at least $2000. With the Expert status, traders receive risk-free trades, exclusive trading signals, and personal training. The yield on trades increases to 92%.

The new level system is positioned as an effective guide to the world of professional trading for the Olymp Trade customers. The company plans to gamify points accumulation and service activation. This will make the process of studying the analysis and mastering strategies really exciting.

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PR Newswire

OCP Announces today that SpaceDC is the first OCP Ready™ facility in Asia-Pacific

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AUSTIN, Texas, July 7, 2020 — The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) announced today that Singapore-based data center provider SpaceDC Pte Ltd has achieved OCP Ready™ certification for their new data center in Jakarta, Indonesia. This is the first data center in Asia to receive this OCP certification and demonstrates the growing awareness of creating highly efficient facilities designed for the new wave of open infrastructure deployments.

SpaceDC‘s Jakarta facility has met guidelines created by the OCP Data Center Facility Project Team, and serves as a reference for data center operators and tenants who want to understand the fundamental facility requirements to deploy OCP hardware into their IT space. Facilities that meet the OCP Ready™ requirements and approved by the OCP Data Center Facilities Project receive the certification as an OCP Ready™ facility.

Along with the facility, SpaceDC Pte Ltd has achieved ColoSolution Provider status, which is a specific designation for members who are part of the OCP reseller ecosystem. OCP ColoSolution Providers must exhibit strong technical, service and support capabilities to enable scalable deployments of OCP infrastructure.

SpaceDC is committed to lowering the environmental impact of their data centers and they have taken great care in all areas of the data center design. From site selection to modular construction, the energy source that they’ll be using to power the facility and the recycling of waste heat, these are all aspects that will help SpaceDC achieve their mission.

https://www.spacedc.com/green-data-centers/

“We’re thrilled to be a part of the OCP community – the same community shared by tech giants such as Google and Facebook. As the first OCP Colo Solution Provider in Asia, this certification certainly affirms SpaceDC‘s mission of being an efficient, reliable and scalable data center platform for businesses looking to expand in the region. By being OCP certified, we’ve distinguished ourselves as a brand whom our customers can depend on for world-class data center solutions,” said Darren Hawkins, CEO of SpaceDC.

“SpaceDC  recognizes the capacity for OCP solutions to continue  growing and evolving across Asia, resulting in a need for more facilities and operators who understand the needs of enterprise companies looking to adopt more open hardware designs. I would like to congratulate SpaceDC for becoming the first OCP ReadyTM facility in Asia, which is an incredible achievement, ” stated Steve Helvie, Vice President of Channel Development for the Open Compute Project Foundation.

“Throughout the process for JAK2 to be certified as OCP Ready™, their team has demonstrated a deep technical knowledge and understanding of what it means to create an optimised data center facility for hosting OCP IT gear. This new colo facility is a fantastic addition to the growing portfolio of OCP Ready™ data centers and will enable SpaceDC’s OCP customers to take full advantage of the TCO benefits of deploying OCP technology” stated Mark Dansie, a key member of the OCP DC Facilities Project Team and leader of the OCP Ready™ program

SpaceDC’s OCP Ready™ facility is now listed on the OCP Marketplace.

About the Open Compute Project Foundation
The Open Compute Project Foundation (OCP) was initiated in 2011 with a mission to apply the benefits of open source and open collaboration to hardware and rapidly increase the pace of innovation in, near and around the data center’s networking equipment, general purpose and GPU servers, storage devices and appliances, and scalable rack designs. OCP’s collaboration model is being applied beyond the data center, helping to advance the telecom industry & EDGE infrastructure. 

About SpaceDC
SpaceDC is creating state-of-the-art data
enters to help businesses grow in Southeast Asia’s fast-moving digital markets. Headquartered in Singapore and backed by the GIC, SpaceDC is applying over 60 years of combined experience to create a network of state-of-the-art data center campuses in Southeast Asia’s key regional cities.

Our campuses are strategically located to tap the cities’ natural resources and maximize accessibility. They feature multiple layers of security, dark fiber connectivity and very low PUEs to ensure your business-critical data is always secure and accessible. We offer a collaborative partnership that enables you to hyperscale on a long-term lease.

Visit www.spacedc.com.

Contact: Dirk Van Slyke, dirkv@opencompute.org

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PR Newswire

maaiiconnect: How to transform customer experience with technology

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HONG KONG, July 7, 2020 — Happy customers drive sales. Recent research finds that customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience (CX). As customers are no longer only comparing products and prices, CX is the key differentiator that businesses are competing on. But investing in the right software to improve CX isn’t easy when people take into account customer interactions across various channels and touchpoints. 96% of people think businesses need to improve communication.[1] Many brands are failing or falling behind due to poor touch point experiences, and it’s clear that a lot of desperate situations could have been avoided with better CX and communication tools.

 

maaiiconnect provides businesses with an all-in-one solution for customer engagement and internal collaboration. By choosing the right solutions and investing in the right tool, a business can strive for digital maturity and thrive for decades to come.

What should businesses consider?
Start asking some hard questions to get to the bottom of the current situation.

1.  What do customers need? What channels are they using, now and in the future?
2.  Is there a need for external or internal communication tools? Or both?
3.  Is there old/ current data and conversations to migrate?
4.  What data and analytics are needed? How can these reports support the business decision?
5.  What tangible impact will it have on sales and customer experience?
6.  Is it secure? Where is the data stored, and is there end-to-end encryption?
7.  What is the timeline for implementation? When is it needed?

Identify and prioritise the must haves, and need nots. Make use of free plans and trials to experience the tools first-hand before committing. maaiiconnect Essentials Plan is a free package with all the web-based communication features needed to create powerful customer experiences.

Use live chat to curate intelligent customer experiences, globally
Customer satisfaction rates for live chat interactions are 98%, higher than all other channels.[2] As a touchpoint for online customer service, shoppers value the instant connection and users can leverage the additional data to design stronger experiences.

But not all live chats are created equal! maaiiconnect is a customer engagement software that combines telecom and digital channels. With a unique dashboard and insights, businesses can easily access data to transform customer experiences through a live chat widget that includes live chat, web call, video call, SMS, virtual numbers, and international toll free numbers.

Combine traditional telecom channels with the latest digital features
Check whether the solutions can be integrated with other software/ systems that the business uses, and which communication channels are available; such as web communication, traditional telecom, and social media. If the staff may work from home, cloud-based solutions typically can be used anywhere and on multiple devices for team collaboration and customer engagement.

65% of employees are not engaged at work due to confusing communication systems and processes.[3] Don’t create new bottlenecks by adding more layers, as consumers pay the price with slow response times and shift business to competitors.

Companies that communicate effectively can see sales increase by 20% with a 4.5x increase in staff retention,[4] proving a clear link between strong team collaboration channels and better customer experience. maaiiconnect enables stronger team collaboration via rich feature-set such as voice call, file sharing, group chat, screen sharing, video conferencing.

Look for a secure business communications tool with one dashboard
Using a single dashboard that converges all the telecom and digital channels the customers use, along with team collaboration tools, is an effective foundation to begin improving customer experience.

With many businesses using multiple international toll free numbers, virtual numbers, social media accounts, video conference services, chat widgets, SMS solutions, etc., costs pile up and staff get stretched juggling everything. A unified omnichannel communication solution such as maaiiconnect is the future of business communications, keeping costs down with customisable packages, and an easy to use all-in-one dashboard. The platform is backed by a proprietary infrastructure that is 100% compliant with telco and international security standards in data encryption, compliance, backup, and authentication.

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Register now and try the maaiiconnect Essentials Plan free of charge to transform your customer experience.

[1] Project.co: Communications Statistics 2020 Report
[2] Customer Think: How Live Chat Can Impact Your Customer Satisfaction
[3] Gallup: 4 Factors Driving Record-High Employee Engagement in the US
[4] Gallup: The Right Culture: Not Just About Employee Satisfaction

About maaiiconnect
maaiiconnect provides businesses with an all-in-one solution for customer engagement and internal collaboration. Leveraging an innovative multi-dimensional convergence model, maaiiconnect seamlessly unifies telecom and digital communication channels, such as PSTN, VoIP, chat & instant messaging, video conference, and social networks. It is device-agnostic, empowering employees to be more productive, as well as providing companies a platform to deliver a suite of multimedia experience to their customers anytime, anywhere, on any device. Learn more at www.maaiiconnect.com.

 

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PR Newswire

XAG Drones Tested, Add Sweet Spot for South Africa’s Sugar Crisis

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PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa, July 6, 2020 — Drones, with specialty spraying technology, was deployed for a recent sugarcane ripening trail in South Africa, showing an evident increase in the amount of sugar extracted from these canes. This might signal a potential improvement in profit margin for the cane growers, who have been incurring loss from the country’s ailing sugar industry. 

XAG P Series drone on the work of sugarcane ripening in South Africa
XAG P Series drone on the work of sugarcane ripening in South Africa

 

Primarily grown in tropical and subtropical regions, sugarcane is the type of perennial, high-value cash crop that serve as juicy fruit as well as the major feedstock for sugar production. South Africa ranks the world’s top 15 sugar producing countries that provide cost-effective, high-quality sugar products. However, due to a series of interweaving threats, mainly the influx of cheap imports and the imposition of sugar tax, South Africa’s $833 million sugar industry has been struggling to stay competitive in the global market. Crop-spraying drones, meanwhile, gently tap in and get prepared to give a new lease of life to this industry.

Drones outperform to reap recoverable value

This June, in Seafield Farm, located at the Midlands South region of KwaZulu-Natal, a new round of sugarcane harvest arrived. What made this harvest season special was that a commercial ripening trial was conducted for the first time to compare the efficacy of drone and helicopter. Ripening refers to the process of applying chemical ripener to enhance the content of sucrose in the sugarcane plants usually six to nine weeks before harvest. The ripening application has been widely adopted as a routine management that proves to effectively improve cane quality and sugar yield.

In this trial, different fields of the Seafield Farm were selected, each of which divided into two areas between 1 to 5 hectares assigned to different ripener applications. The drone used was XAG P20, which carried a custom spraying attachment and 12-litre smart liquid tank designed in a modular fashion. It followed the pre-set flight route, operated at a fixed height 2 to 3 metres above the crops, and sprayed accurately into the target fields. Results show that the traditional manned helicopter was considerably outperformed by XAG drone in both cane yield and quality of the harvested crops.

The areas ripened with drones had a small, yet significant 1% increase in recoverable value (RV), compared to those ripened with helicopter. In South Africa, RV is the accepted measure of the amount of sugar recovered from every ton of cane crushed in the mills.

“This means a lot to us. With higher sugar extracted from every tons of sugarcane, we get paid higher and my farms become more profitable,” said Kim Hein, the licensed operator of XAG drone as well as cane grower who has been testing the feasibility of drone spraying solution in sugarcane cultivation.

Under the RV Cane Payment System since 2000, the South African farmers are remunerated for their harvested sugarcane based on recoverable value. As RV% generally falls within 9% to 14%, the more than 1% increase is a relatively satisfactory progress for sugarcane growers to obtain a greater return on investment. This smallest breakthrough could mean a great deal to individual farmers facing an ailing sugar industry.

The recent two years have seen a considerable drop in the market price of RV, which means that farmers are payed less for the sugarcane of the same recoverable value. This is largely attributed to the flood of low-priced sugar import and the introduction of tax on sugar-sweetened drinks (or health promotion levy) that brings down the demand for local sugar.

Small-scale growers being the early adopters

Despite the market chaos of the sugar industry, South Africa has granted the legal take-off of agricultural drones last year which could innovatively transform the labour-intensive farming ecosystem. Kim Hein, the man behind the Seafield Farm ripening trial, has purchased agricultural drones from XAG to tend its self-owned 200ha sugarcane field as well as those of his farmer counterparts.

“Drone, imagery, and smart agriculture system can help us solve many environmental and labour problems,” Hein said. Drones with precision spraying ability can address the increasing pressure to use less chemical, while reducing labour usage to tackle the rising labour cost that is disproportionate to the quality of work done. As the advantages of drone technology start to shine through, there has been a growing acceptance of drone-based treatment by cane farmers, who has been dealing with difficulties to manage this specialty crop.

Sugarcane plants can reach 3 to 7 metres high, that ground equipment such as tractors are inapplicable. Manual option with knapsack sprayer can expose field workers directly to the chemicals. This leaves manned aerial approaches, such as helicopter and airplane, to be used for sugarcane ripening over the past 20 years.

According to Heim, helicopter spraying can treat large areas very quickly, but the downside of it was that most sugarcane fields are quite small in size. According to South Africa Sugar Association (SASA), small-scale farmers constitute 90% of the nation’s 22,949 registered sugarcane growers, predominantly located in two provinces namely Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal. They form the backbone of the sugar industry value chain.

“We usually end up with problem with the helicopter company which offer a minimum spray of 50 hectares a day, but we only want to do 2 to 3 hectares a week. This does not allow any flexibility in the ripening process which means the outcome might fail,” explained by Hein. Large airplane and helicopter can only be subject to blanket spray, which means they work on huge areas at a time that does not match well with farmers’ harvesting schedule.

Instead, the drones that Hein uses are designed by XAG to facilitate precision application in agriculture. They can smoothly operate on various terrains, no matter steep slopes or irregular-shaped plots, which are common places where most South African sugarcane plants are grown. Owing to real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning and the special atomised nozzles, XAG drones can spray more precisely and evenly on target areas without affecting the neighbouring fields not yet ready for ripening. This help cut down the use of chemicals by 30% and converse agricultural water by 90%.

Get ready for the Sugar Master Plan

The introduction of precision drones into farming complements government’s determination to rejuvenate the sugar industry. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has announced the Sugar Masterplan this June that marks a major milestone in efforts to ensure the health and longevity of the industry.

The sugar industry makes important contributions to South Africa’s economic activities and rural employment. Its direct and indirect employment is estimated at 435,000 jobs, as well as representing over 11% of the total agricultural workforce. However, based on the SASA statistics, the annual sugar production has declined by 25% over the past 20 years, while the number of sugarcane farmers experienced a decline by 60% along with a reduction by 45% in sugar industry-related jobs.

The Sugar Masterplan aims to reverse this industry downtrend and protect tens of thousands of livelihoods in rural areas. As SA Cane Growers’ Association chairperson Rex Talmage introduced, the warmly welcomed plan includes the actions to enhance import protection, diversify sugar by-product production (i.e. biofuel) and support small-scale cane farmers, which would increase demand in the local market.

Amid the industry reconstruction, smart agriculture technology such as drones could play a new role in the upstream part of the sugar value chain. Through generating higher recoverable value, reducing labour costs, and minimising the use of chemicals, drones could help to guarantee sustainable supply of sugarcane and improve the profitability of small-scale growers.

When talking about his future plan, Kim Hein expressed positive attitudes towards the scale-up of smart agtech. “The number of tasks that can be done with drones have growing. We are now testing new applications to treat sugarcane crops at different stages in ways we could never image in the past.” In South Africa, sugarcane is harvested in an 18 to-24-month rotation, when agricultural drones can apply throughout the period from field mapping, fertilisation, controlling diseases, weeds, and pests, to ripening.

About XAG

Founded in 2007, XAG is a world-leading agriculture technology company with 13 years of technical experience in unmanned aerial system (UAS) and seven years of practical experience in innovative field applications. Up to 30 April 2020, XAG has over 51,000 agricultural drones in operation, having empowered 8 million farmers with precision crop protection services on 28 million hectares of farmland. With a global mission to advancing agriculture, XAG is devoted to building digital farming infrastructure, developing precision farming equipment, such as robots, drones, AI and IoT, and creating smart agriculture ecosystem.

 

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http://www.xa.com

PR Newswire

The Central Axis of Beijing: The cultural charm of balance and harmony

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BEIJING, July 6, 2020 — A news report by China.org.cn on the charm of Beijing’s Central Axis:

 

 

On Jun. 13, the city of Beijing held a livestream event to celebrate the Cultural and Natural Heritage Day, introducing the city’s Central Axis. Millions of netizens from around the world watched the livestream online to learn about the architecture and culture of Beijing.

The Central Axis is a north-south line that runs through the center of Beijing. This 7.8-kilometer axis was formed 800 years ago during the Yuan Dynasty. Along the line, the old city of Beijing was divided in two, with buildings on both sides arranged symmetrically.

The Central Axis is not an actual road, but a harmonious cluster of distinct buildings and sites. The best-known attractions along the axis include the Palace Museum, the Temple of Heaven, and the Drum and Bell Tower to name a few. Quadrangular courtyards, or Siheyuan, and the narrow streets lined with those courtyards, or hutong, are both icons of Beijing that are mostly scattered around the axis. It is more than fair to say the Central Axis is the epitome of quintessential old Beijing.

Moreover, building complexes along the central axis showcase ancient Chinese architecture and embody Chinese philosophy on the relationship between heaven and mankind. The main structures of the Temple of Heaven are circular, symbolizing the relationship of heaven and earth at the heart of ancient Chinese cosmology. The reciprocal concepts of Yin and Yang, right and left, civil and military, as well as the dichotomy of simple dialectics, can be found everywhere in the design of the Forbidden City. The symmetrical layout of the Central Axis, which echoes the golden mean in Chinese ideology, is still widely applied in urban planning and architectural design to this day.

The Central Axis’ beauty lies in its balance and harmony. In the past 800 years, the city of Beijing has gone through lots of changes, yet the Central Axis has been kept in good repair.

Some spots have been repurposed as times have changed. The once important ritual sites for the imperial family have become parks. Shichahai, once a stretch of the Grand Canal, has now emerged as a chic hangout for young people. As the city grows, the Central Axis continues to extend. The Olympic Park was added in the north and Daxing International Airport was built in the south. The Central Axis has been a cultural symbol for generations and will continue to be one long into the future.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

The Central Axis of Beijing: The cultural charm of balance and harmony
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2020-07/03/content_76233121.htm

 

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PR Newswire

Yintech Special Committee Retains Financial Advisor and Legal Counsel

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SHANGHAI, July 6, 2020 — Yintech Investment Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: YIN) (“Yintech” or the “Company”), a leading provider of investment and trading services for individual investors in China, today announced that the special committee (the “Special Committee”) of the Company’s board of directors has retained Duff & Phelps, LLC as its financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis as its U.S. legal counsel in connection with its review and evaluation of the previously announced non-binding “going private” proposal from Mr. Wenbin Chen, co-founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Yintech, Mr. Ming Yan, co-founder and director of Yintech, and Ms. Ningfeng Chen, co-founder and director of Yintech (collectively, the “Buyer Group”) that the Board received on June 22, 2020 (the “Transaction”).

The Board cautions the Company’s shareholders and others considering trading the Company’s securities that the Special Committee is continuing its evaluation of the Transaction and other strategic alternatives of the Company and that, at this time, no decisions have been made by the Special Committee with respect to the Company’s response to the Transaction. There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made by the Buyer Group, that any agreement will be executed with the Buyer Group or that the Transaction or any comparable transaction will be approved or consummated. The Company does not undertake any obligation to provide any updates with respect to the Transaction or any other transaction, except as required under applicable law.

Safe Harbor Statement

All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this release, including statements regarding future results of the operations of the Company are forward-looking statements, which are made under the “safe harbor” provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the Company’s ability to effectively acquire and retain its customers; the Company’s diversification of its business among different commodity exchanges; the adjustments in commissions and other fees set by relevant commodity exchanges; the Company’s ability to constantly upgrade its technology platform and software; general market conditions of online spot commodity trading industry and stock market; intense competition among service providers in this industry; the Company’s relatively short operating history; the price of the Company’s ADSs and changing market conditions for its ADSs; acquisition-related risks, including unknown liabilities and integration risks; as well as those risks detailed from time to time under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019. In addition, the Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for the management to predict all risks, nor can the Company assess the impact of all factors on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements that the Company may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this release are inherently uncertain and may not occur, and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this release, nor to conform these statements to actual results, future events, or to changes in the Company’s expectations.

About Yintech

Yintech (NASDAQ: YIN) is a leading provider of investment and trading services for individual investors in China. Yintech strives to provide best-in-class financial information, investment tools and services to its customers by leveraging financial technology and mobile platforms. Currently, Yintech is focused on the provision of gold and other commodities trading services, securities advisory services, securities information platform services, overseas securities trading services and asset management services.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Yvonne Young
Phone: +86 21 2028 9009 ext 8270
E-mail: ir@yintech.cn

Related Links :

http://www.yintech.cn

PR Newswire

JinkoSolar to Supply 126 MW of Modules for a Utility PV Project in Chile

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SHANGRAO, China, July 6, 2020 — JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. (“JinkoSolar” or the “Company”) (NYSE:JKS), one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world, today announced that it will supply 126 MW of solar modules for the expansion of an existing 160 MW solar PV park in Chile.

The local contractor recently announced the 126 MW expansion of an existing 160 MW PV park located in the Antofagasta Region. The existing PV plant has been in operation since 2016 and already has 668,160 JinkoSolar panels installed which generate 400 GWh per year. The expansion will add an additional 315,900 JinkoSolar bifacial modules.

Once the expansion is complete and begins operations, the PV plant will have a total of 984,060 JinkoSolar photovoltaic panels consisting of both monofacial and bifacial modules that are able to generate 789 GWh per year.

“This is the second project in Latin America to be equipped with our bifacial modules with transparent backsheets,” commented Mr. Alberto Cuter, General Manager LATAM of JinkoSolar. “Chile is the largest market for utility scale projects in the region and we are continuously working to promote our high-quality modules there in order to support the development of renewable energy. The expansion of the PV plant equipped with our bifacial modules has already generated lower LCOE and is able to compete with traditional sources of energy. We are expecting to sell more bifacial modules in the coming few months across the region.”

About JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.

JinkoSolar (NYSE: JKS) is one of the largest and most innovative solar module manufacturers in the world. JinkoSolar distributes its solar products and sells its solutions and services to a diversified international utility, commercial and residential customer base in China, the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, Chile, South Africa, India, Mexico, Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, and other countries and regions. JinkoSolar has built a vertically integrated solar product value chain, with an integrated annual capacity of 17.5 GW for mono wafers, 10.6 GW for solar cells, and 16 GW for solar modules, as of March 31, 2020.

JinkoSolar has over 15,000 employees across its 7 productions facilities globally, 14 overseas subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, India, Turkey, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Australia, and global sales teams in China, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Ukraine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, Poland and Argentina.

To find out more, please see: www.jinkosolar.com

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements constitute “forward-looking” statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “will,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends, “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” and similar statements. Among other things, the quotations from management in this press release and the Company’s operations and business outlook, contain forward-looking statements. Such statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in JinkoSolar’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its annual report on Form 20-F. Except as required by law, the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Ms. Ripple Zhang
JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86 21-5183-3105
Email: pr@jinkosolar.com

Related Links :

http://www.jinkosolar.com

PR Newswire

Riiid Labs launches AI education solutions in America

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SEOUL, South Korea, July 6, 2020 — Riiid, a member company of the Born2Global Centre, could not be coming to America at a better time, as artificial intelligence transforms the global education landscape in 2020.

Riiid Labs CI
Riiid Labs CI

 

Riiid Labs is the global arm of parent company Riiid and has been established in Silicon Valley to build upon Riiid’s success in Asia and to expand its business across the U.S., South America, Middle East and beyond. Riiid is a leading AI edtech start-up based in Korea, which successfully launched Santa for Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) test prep engine in Korea and Japan and reached No. 1 in sales among education apps in the Android market after only five months. Riiid has been an active member company of the Born2Global Centre since 2016.

Riiid’s proprietary AI technology analyzes student data and content, predicts scores and user behavior, and recommends personalized study plans in real-time to help students optimize their learning potential. Santa for TOEIC users have improved their score by an average of 124 points after just 20 hours of study. Leveraging the success and proven efficacy of Riiid’s AI technology, Riiid Labs will continue to innovate and expand globally across new education verticals and domains.

“Reinforced education using AI is more emphasized now than ever, as the current global pandemic situation dictates we face a new normal,” said Riiid CEO YJ Jang. “I’m thrilled to launch Riiid Labs in the U.S. at this appropriate time and confident to see the strength and capability of our U.S. leadership team. We look forward to establishing a significant global footprint and bringing disruptive changes to the global education market.”

“Riiid has successfully verified the advancement of our proprietary AI-ed technology and proved its marketability,” Jang said. “I’m confident we can continue, and surpass, our own success story while bringing highly efficient learning solutions to everyone and lead in making fundamental changes to the education market.”

“We’re a leader in AI test prep throughout Asia, giving us a massive advantage in localizing to the cultural needs for the U.S. market,” says Rob Barrett, Riiid Labs Chief Innovation Officer. “We’re not starting from scratch; we’re using our deep AI understanding to address and solve problems to best serve the market with maximum positive impact on students.”

Riiid Labs partners with leaders in education to re-imagine the old ways of approaching learners. The company’s speciality is preparing students for tests like SAT and ACT with its own proprietary tech. Riiid Labs has hired top-tier talent in the U.S. for both its education and tech sectors.

“AI will make the biggest impact in education,” says David Yi, who comes to Riiid Labs as CEO after heading business development in Asia for U.S. standard test provider ACT. “We’re talking not just financial impact, but more importantly, life impact for the well-being and future of humanity.”

Riiid Labs extends the mission of Riiid, which launched Santa for TOEIC in 2017. It’s the world’s first commercialized AI tutor solution, based on a deep-learning algorithm garnering more than a million users in Korea alone. It aims to replace textbooks and augment traditional lectures with personalized help from its AI engine.

For more information, visit www.riiidlabs.ai and www.riiid.co/en/main.

About Riiid Labs

Riiid Labs (www.riiidlabs.ai), based out of Silicon Valley, is the global arm of parent company Riiid, a leading AI solutions provider delivering creative disruption to the education market through its cutting-edge technology. The company aims to empower global education players to rethink the traditional ways of learning via extending Riiid’s AI competency.

With a strong belief in equal opportunity in education, Riiid (www.riiid.co/en/main) launched Santa for TOEIC in 2017, the firm’s first commercialized AI tutor solution based on deep-learning algorithm, attracting more than a million users in South Korea. Riiid’s AI tutor solution replaces textbooks and traditional lectures with a personalized AI tutor outpacing human tutors at a fraction of the cost. Based on highly scalable and proven AI technology, Riiid is aggressively expanding its business to new test areas and geographical markets. It currently operates Santa for TOEIC in Korea and Japan and has launched Santa SAT in Vietnam.

About Born2Global Centre

Born2Global Centre (www.born2global.com) is a full-cycle service platform for global expansion. Since inception in 2013, Born2Global has been setting the standard for successful startup ecosystem as the main Korean government agency under the Ministry of Science and ICT. Born2Global has expanded and transformed startups to be engaged, equipped and be connected with the global market.

Media contact
Riiid: tony.hicks@riiid.co, kiyoon.kay@riiid.co
Born2Global Centre: jlee@born2global.com

 

Related Links :

http://www.born2global.com/

PR Newswire

Infoblox Appoints George Chang as Vice President of Sales to Accelerate Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region

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The company doubles down on senior hires in the region to drive customer growth

SINGAPORE, July 6, 2020 — Infoblox Inc., the leader in Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services, today announced the appointment of George Chang as Vice President of Sales for its Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region, which follows the appointment of Matthew Hanmer as country manager and regional director for Australia and New Zealand. Based in Singapore, Chang will lead go-to-market strategies that bolster Infoblox’s continued growth in APJ. 

George Chang, Vice President of APJ Sales, Infoblox
George Chang, Vice President of APJ Sales, Infoblox

Chang’s hiring demonstrates Infoblox’s commitment to expanding its regional footprint. He brings over 30 years of experience in international executive management across the technology and cybersecurity industries. He joins Infoblox after serving as an advisor to the board and senior partner at Axcelerate Consulting Group and as Vice President of Sales at Forcepoint in the Asia-Pacific region. 

“Financial services, government, telecommunications, and education have fueled our growth in APJ as they embraced digital transformation, which continues to drive demand for our cloud-managed networking and security solutions,” said Cherif Sleiman, Senior Vice President of International Business at Infoblox. “George brings decades of experience helping customers in these sectors navigate the challenges of an increasingly complex technology landscape.”

“Enterprise infrastructure is going hybrid and multi-cloud with more remote devices connecting to the corporate network than ever before,” said Chang. “Businesses that seek to take advantage of the benefits of digital transformation will need solutions that work for them now and in the future. I am excited to be joining Infoblox, the leader in next-level networking, to help customers build borderless organizations with enhanced security, reliability, and automation.” 

About Infoblox
Infoblox delivers the next level network experience with its Secure Cloud-Managed Network Services. As the pioneer in providing the world’s most reliable, secure and automated networks, we are relentless in our pursuit of next level network simplicity. A recognized industry leader, Infoblox has more than 50 percent market share in the DDI networking market and more than 8,000 customers, including 350 of the Fortune 500. Learn more at https://www.infoblox.com.

Media Contact:
Lise Feng
lise@infoblox.com

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Related Links :

http://www.infoblox.com

https://www.infoblox.com