Tag Archives: FVT

PR Newswire

Databricks Releases Final Keynote Lineup and Industry Programming for 2022 Data + AI Summit

Leave a comment

Databricks co-founders Ali Ghodsi, Matei Zaharia and Reynold Xin will deliver can’t-miss keynotes highlighting advancements to Databricks’ Lakehouse Platform and new contributions to the open source community

SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Databricks, the Data and AI company and pioneer of the data lakehouse paradigm, revealed the full agenda and final lineup of featured speakers for the upcoming Data + AI Summit, a global event for the data community. Tens of thousands of data leaders, open source enthusiasts, and Databricks customers and partners will come together both in-person in San Francisco, and virtually from around the world to connect, share best practices, and get a first look at the latest product innovations and contributions to the open source community.

This year’s ‘Destination Lakehouse’ theme highlights the building blocks of the modern data stack and focuses on product innovations that enable data stewards to mobilize data assets quickly for better, more informed decisions. The highly-anticipated in-person event returns to San Francisco for the first time in three years, with a sold-out program at the Moscone Center. Data enthusiasts can still tune in virtually by registering here for the free, immersive online experience.

Data + AI Summit will feature keynotes from Databricks co-founders – and original creators of Apache Spark™ and Delta Lake – Ali Ghodsi, Matei Zaharia, and Reynold Xin. Attendees will also hear from a broad lineup of data and AI luminaries, open source pioneers and global thought leaders, including:

  • Andrew Ng, Co-founder, Google Brain and Coursera
  • Christopher Manning, Pioneer in NLP and Director, Stanford AI Lab
  • Daphne Koller, AI Pioneer, Founder and CEO, Insitro
  • Hilary Mason, Co-founder and CEO, Hidden Door
  • Peter Norvig, AI Pioneer, Stanford, Google and NASA
  • Tarika Barrett, CEO, Girls Who Code
  • Zhamak Dehghani, Creator of Data Mesh; Director, Thoughtworks

The annual event will feature thought-provoking technical sessions and trainings, open source community meetups and networking opportunities, as well as a lineup of industry-specific breakout events. Attendees can expect to hear actionable best practices and compelling insights from data leaders at pioneering companies like Adobe, Amgen, Intuit, John Deere, S&P Global, Walgreens, Warner Bros. Discovery and more.

Data + AI Summit attendees can also expect the following highlights:

  • 200+ Technical Sessions, across industries and skill levels, covering open-source technologies such as Apache Spark™, Delta Lake, MLflow, Apache Flink, PrestoDB, dbt, and more.
  • Industry-specific content tracks that dive into the power of data and AI within Financial Services, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Media & Entertainment, Public Sector and Retail sectors. These breakout forums will highlight industry-specific data and AI use cases, customer panels, interactive demos and opportunities to connect with peers and partners in the Industry Lounge.
  • Women in Data + AI luncheon and panel discussion moderated by the dynamic Sol Rashidi, Chief Analytics Officer at Estee Lauder. This year’s event will highlight the education of women in tech, with actionable ways to get involved with supporting organizations and mentorship opportunities in local communities.
  • An expanded curriculum of in-person and virtual training workshops and new certification bundles. Attendees can choose from half and full-day classes tailored to specific professions or focus areas. Courses encompass everything from the Databricks Lakehouse to Apache Spark™ programming to managing ML models.
  • Networking events for attendees to interact and collaborate with peers. Events will include a Developer Lounge, Contributor Meetups, University Alliance Meetup, as well as partner networking events and evening receptions.

Data + AI Summit is sponsored by over 80 leading companies from across the data and AI industry including Accenture, Avanade, AWS, Census, dbt Labs, Deloitte, Fivetran, Google Cloud, Immuta, LeapLogic, Matillion, Microsoft Azure, Prophecy, Slalom, Sisu, ThoughtSpot and more.

Check out the Databricks blog and the event’s full agenda to learn more; register to attend for free here.

About Databricks
Databricks is the data and AI company. More than 7,000 organizations worldwide — including Comcast, Condé Nast, H&M, and over 40% of the Fortune 500 — rely on the Databricks Lakehouse Platform to unify their data, analytics and AI. Databricks is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices around the globe. Founded by the original creators of Delta Lake, Apache Spark™, and MLflow, Databricks is on a mission to help data teams solve the world’s toughest problems. To learn more, follow Databricks on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact: Press@databricks.com

PR Newswire

Trajan to acquire leading chromatography consumables and tools business building critical mass in the gas chromatography portfolio

Leave a comment

Highlights

  • Trajan to acquire Chromatography Research Supplies, Inc. (CRS), a leading global manufacturer of high-quality analytical consumables
  • Provides Trajan with enhanced and extended production capabilities to service its growing gas chromatography business. Strengthens Trajan’s product portfolio particularly in the critical area of the gas chromatography inlet and sample introduction
  • Expands global infrastructure footprint with the acquisition of manufacturing real estate assets in the US
  • Follows three successful acquisitions and one strategic investment since listing on the ASX in June 2021
  • Acquisition delivers FY22 forecast revenues of US$14.1 million (A$20.1 million[1]) and EBITDA of US$4.2 million (A$6.0 million[1])[2], and estimated annual synergies of ~A$1.3 million[7]
  • Acquisition price of US$43.3 million (A$61.9 million[1]) implies ~9.5x FY22F EBITDA (pre synergies)[3]
  • Expected to deliver FY23F earnings per share accretion of >31%[1],[4],[5],[6] (excluding the impact of synergies) or >42% (including 100% of the pro forma impact of identified corporate savings and product line synergies[7])
  • Acquisition to be funded via a fully underwritten A$29.7 million institutional placement (Placement), A$20.0 million in acquisition debt financing through a facility with HSBC and $13.4 million from existing cash
  • Investor webinar to be held at 10:30am (AEST) Friday 17th June 2022. Register via this link.

MELBOURNE, Australia, June 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Global analytical science and device company Trajan Group Holdings Limited (ASX: TRJ) (Trajan or the Company) has today announced the signing of a binding share purchase agreement and a real estate purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Chromatography Research Supplies, Inc. (CRS), a leading global manufacturer of high-quality analytical consumables based in Kentucky, USA.

Having operated for over 25 years, CRS is a leading manufacturer of electronic and manual crimping tools, gas filters, ferrules, and injection port septa. Its products are used in analytical laboratories and various other industries worldwide and are known for their quality, ease of use and high levels of support.

The acquisition is highly complementary to Trajan’s existing product portfolio in the analytical workflow and consolidates Trajan’s current market leading position in gas chromatography sample introduction, supporting the quality of flow path connection and sealing functions with two leading product lines – septa and ferrules. CRS has been a long-term supplier of consumables to Trajan since Trajan’s acquisition of SGE Analytical in 2013.

In addition, the acquisition extends Trajan’s portfolio via CRS’ other product lines. Such product lines include tools that relate to sealing sample vials which are highly complementary to the Trajan Soltec business acquired in late 2018, and coating technologies that align strongly with Trajan’s automation businesses Axel Semrau and LEAP Pal Parts which were both acquired in late 2021.

CRS has a track record of strong financial performance, with accelerated growth expected in FY22F, adding FY22 forecasted revenue of US$14.1 million (A$20.1 million[8]) and forecast EBITDA of US$4.2 million (A$6.0 million[8])[9]. The acquisition price of US$43.3 million (A$61.9 million[8]) implies a ~9.5x EV/FY22F EBITDA[10] on a pre synergies basis.  

Trajan has identified significant revenue and cost synergies as well as corporate savings realised from the date of acquisition and product line alignment, for total estimated annual synergy benefits of ~A$1.3 million[11], expected to ramp up within the first 2–3 years of ownership. Through the consolidation of current manufacturing facilities, Trajan can realise additional synergies over the medium to long term.

Stephen Tomisich, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Trajan said: “The acquisition of CRS enhances multiple areas of our business and builds on our previous successful acquisitions to deliver comprehensive and best in class products in the analytical workflow.”

“Our market leadership in gas chromatography is enhanced with the addition of septa and ferrules components, as well as introducing a broader portfolio of products in other areas of the analytical workflow that build on our automation business.

As with our previous acquisitions, we have partnered with CRS for many years, understand their business, and know precisely where they fit within Trajan. The acquisition is earnings accretive and able to be rapidly integrated. Importantly, our acquisitions are building on capabilities to achieve our vision of personalised, preventative, data-based healthcare.”

Trajan has a proven framework to identify, acquire and integrate complementary businesses into its infrastructure. This framework involves a ‘founder friendly’ approach which is driven by deep industry relationships, targets solutions within the analytical workflow that have the potential to become industry best standard, is complementary to one or multiple business segments, and provides accretive and strategic opportunity to enhance shareholder value. 

Utilising this framework Trajan has, over the past 11 years, built a strong track record of delivering acquisitive and organic growth. That process has accelerated since the Company’s IPO in June 2021, having acquired laboratory automation business Axel Semrau GmbH in November 2021, microsampling business Neoteryx LLC in December 2021, and LEAP PAL Parts and Consumables in December 2021, as well as entered a strategic investment in consumer health monitoring with Humankind Ventures Ltd (trading as Forth) in November 2021.

Acquisition consideration

Trajan is acquiring CRS for US$43.3 million (A$61.9 million[12]) through a share purchase agreement and a real estate purchase agreement, the latter being for the purchase of the land and building from which CRS operates in Kentucky, USA.   

The Company will fund the acquisition of CRS via a fully underwritten A$29.7 million Placement to eligible institutional, sophisticated, and professional investors, an acquisition debt facility from HSBC of A$20.0 million and A$13.4 million from existing cash. Completion of Trajan’s acquisition of CRS is conditional on completion of the Placement and on Trajan satisfying customary conditions to drawdown under the HSBC acquisition financing facility.

The Placement is being issued at an offer price of $2.00 per new share (Offer Price), which represents a 11.1% discount to the last closing price of $2.25 on 16 June 2022.

The Placement will result in the issue of approximately 14.8 million new shares (New Shares), representing approximately 11.0% of Trajan’s existing shares on issue. The New Shares issued under the Placement will rank equally with existing Trajan shares at their date of issue.

Share Purchase Plan

Trajan will also offer eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand the opportunity to participate in a non-underwritten Share Purchase Plan (SPP). The SPP has a limit of $30,000 per eligible shareholder.

  • New Shares under the SPP will be issued at $2.00 per share, being the same price as the Offer Price under the Placement.
  • The SPP is being undertaken to raise up to $5.0 million[13].
  • Trajan intends to use the proceeds of the SPP to support the Company’s growth objectives through further strategic acquisitions and organic growth opportunities.
  • The SPP will open on Friday, 24 June 2022 and is expected to close at 5.00pm (AEST), Tuesday 12 July 2022.
  • Further details relating to the SPP will be provided to eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand in due course.

Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited and Ord Minnett Limited are joint lead managers and underwriters to the Placement and DLA Piper is acting as legal advisor to Trajan.

Indicative timetable

The timetable below is indicative only and subject to change. The Company reserves the right to alter the dates at its discretion and without prior notice, subject to the ASX Listing Rules and Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).

Event

Date[14]

SPP Record Date

7:00pm, Thursday, 16 June 2022

Offer announcement

Friday, 17 June 2022

Placement bookbuild opens

Friday, 17 June 2022

Placement bookbuild closes (all jurisdictions)

2:00pm, Friday, 17 June 2022

Announce completion of Placement and trading halt lifted

Monday, 20 June 2022

Settlement of New Securities under the Placement (DvP)

Wednesday, 22 June 2022

Allotment and normal trading of New Securities issued under the Placement

Thursday, 23 June 2022

SPP opens

Friday, 24 June 2022

SPP closes

5:00pm, Tuesday, 12 July 2022

SPP results announced to the ASX

Friday, 15 July 2022

SPP Securities issued

Tuesday, 19 July 2022

Authorised for ASX release by the Board of Trajan Group Holdings Limited.

[1] AUD/USD 0.70 based on assumed AUD/USD exchange rate

[2] CRS FY22F EBITDA includes a rent expense of US$228K

[3] EV / FY22F EBITDA multiple of 9.5x is based on an enterprise value of US$40.2 million (excluding the acquisition of freehold title to real estate owned by CSR for US$3.1 million) and an FY22F EBITDA of US$4.2 million converted to AUD at AUD/USD0.70

[4] Before one-off transaction and implementation costs

[5] Accretion assumes a pre-tax interest rate of 4%

[6] FY23F accretion assumes analyst consensus NPAT estimate of A$8.8m and CSR NPAT of A$4.7m (excluding corporate savings and product line synergies) and an effective tax rate of 20% for CSR based on Trajan management’s due diligence

[7] Refer to page 17 of the ASX Investor Presentation dated 17 June 2022

[8] AUD/USD 0.70 based on assumed AUD/USD exchange rate

[9] CRS FY22F EBITDA includes a rent expense of US$228K

[10] EV / FY22F EBITDA multiple of 9.5x is based on an enterprise value of US$40.2 million (excluding the acquisition of freehold title to real estate owned by CSR for US$3.1 million) and an FY22F EBITDA of US$4.2 million converted to AUD at AUD/USD0.70

[11] Refer to page 17 of the ASX Investor Presentation dated 17 June 2022

[12] AUD/USD 0.70 based on assumed AUD/USD exchange rate at time of completion

[13] The Company reserves its discretion regarding the final amount to be raised under the SPP

[14] The above timetable is indicative only and is subject to change without notice. All dates and times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).

About Trajan

Trajan is a global developer and manufacturer of analytical and life sciences products and devices founded to have a positive impact on human wellbeing through scientific measurement. These products and solutions are used in the analysis of biological, food, and environmental samples. Trajan has a portfolio and pipeline of new technologies which support the move towards decentralised, personalised data-based healthcare.

Trajan is a global organisation of 600 people with seven manufacturing sites across the US, Australia, Europe, and Malaysia, and operations in Australia, the US, Asia, and Europe.

Cision View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trajan-to-acquire-leading-chromatography-consumables-and-tools-business-building-critical-mass-in-the-gas-chromatography-portfolio-301570332.html

PR Newswire

Thailand moving ahead to develop ‘Innovation City’ and reconnect the world

Leave a comment
  • Strong spatial potential of Bangkok explored and analyzed to attract innovation-driven enterprises from around the world
  • The country remains in the Top 50 in Global Startup Ecosystem Index   
  • Startup x Innovation Thailand Expo 2022 (SITE 2022) to be held hybridly in June this year  

BANGKOK, May 30, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Thailand is forging forward with the development of its first smart innovation hub, led by the National Innovation Agency (Public Organization), better known as NIA. This is accomplished by exploring and analyzing the spatial potential of Bangkok and other significant cities for a specific purpose. After the country’s reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangkok is intended to be a regional innovation hub for innovation-friendly investment, regional air travel hub, and the creation of innovation districts, with the goal of attracting innovation-based entrepreneurs and stimulating strategic partnerships from around the world.

Dr Pun-Arj Chairatana, Executive Director of the National Innovation Agency (NIA), Thailand
Dr Pun-Arj Chairatana, Executive Director of the National Innovation Agency (NIA), Thailand

Thailand also maintains its position in the Top 50 of the Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021, with four of its cities ranking among the first 1,000 cities with the finest infrastructure and resources for fostering the startup ecosystem.

Commenting on the ambitious move, Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana, Executive Director of NIA, said: “Many cities throughout the world have policies in place to improve the quality of life and the economy, as well as to make their communities more livable. To make the city a sustainable city, innovation is employed to promote problem-solving and handle difficulties in a fast and effective manner. Bangkok is a city that is constantly expanding. Urbanization is critical, and it invariably requires policies that encourage or provide space for innovation. Such challenges are crucial in supporting the capital’s and the country’s lifestyles and economic prosperity.”

He also said, “To build a brand-related to innovation for Bangkok, it should create an impression that is more than just a city welcoming tourist. What must be pushed intensely is to develop a truly international innovation collaboration space for the community of digital startups, corporates, entrepreneurs, world changers, and innovators. It is a world-class network that wants to help accelerate innovation through fostering co-creation, friendly regulations, and welcoming urban development plans that attract innovative business entrepreneurs. It should also enable connectivity to other cities in order to lessen the concentration of growth and allow for new ways to utilize the resources available in each place. When these cities are discussed, they will have a distinct image, such as being a green city, a clean technology city, or a retail center, which will become a city brand.”

“Many cities designated as Smart Cities or Innovation Cities, such as Barcelona, London, Shenzhen, New York, and other Asian and European cities, must have critical features that are friendly to innovation. They all have the capacity to govern the city’s infrastructure and have regulations that encourage the development of new ideas. It also has the image of a city government that promotes growth through innovation,” said Dr. Pun-Arj.

According to NIA, Thailand has the potential to become an Innovative City in three areas: financial innovation, aviation hub growth, and the creation of innovation districts that invite international investment.

Bangkok as a regional hub for investment in innovation ventures

Bangkok has the potential to become an ASEAN powerhouse for investment in innovation ventures. Previously, investors had the option of choosing between Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta. More global venture capital firms, on the other hand, have chosen to invest in Bangkok because of the city’s reputation as a hotbed of financial innovation, owing to the city’s well-built infrastructure. Furthermore, the city is working to expand opportunities for persons who are skilled or have experience. Efforts have been made to promote the body of knowledge, commercial collaborations, and new business connections. 

The city has a variety of educational institutions that may provide upskilling and reskilling as well as information regarding financial services developments. The country receives advantages in terms of pulling money from both within and beyond the country by building a framework to promote the use of technology to assist the financial innovation industry. As a result, many people think of Bangkok as a nice city willing to welcome the financial innovation community, and these good aspects shine out so that more people notice them.

Bangkok as a regional ‘aviation hub’ when the world is reconnected

Bangkok’s strength is that it is the world’s air transportation hub. Because there are just two countries in ASEAN, with Singapore and Bangkok competing for the position, visitors to the region can easily travel to diverse destinations both domestically and internationally. Tourism is expected to return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. The most important things to plan in Bangkok are solutions for travelers and convenience for entrepreneurs. This invites inventive people from all over the world to engage and collaborate with other sectors by proving that it is an open city for Global Citizens.

‘Innovation districts’ defined as areas rich in opportunities that must be expanded

One of the most important things that visitors to Bangkok look for is the uniqueness of each region and the benefits that can be derived from them. Bangkok has several potentials for innovation. A certain area of the city can be designated as a medical district, a digital development district, a tourism zone, or a logistics district, among other things. These can serve as incubators for entrepreneurs and catalysts for economic value creation. Many stakeholders will benefit from the commitment to establish innovation districts, and it will be a driving factor for economic growth today and in the future.

Bangkok as the startup capital

Thailand remains in the Top 50 of StartupBlink’s Global Startup Ecosystem Index 2021, a global resource for knowledge on innovation ecosystems that ranks 100 nations and 1,000 cities with the finest startup ecosystems. Thailand also has four cities among the top 1,000 in the world with the best startup ecosystems. Bangkok is ranked 71st in the world for startups based on the level of innovative prowess of 1,000 cities. This shows the availability of infrastructure, urban setting, and other factors that are comparable to their Southeast Asian or Asian counterparts.

Bangkok is also distinctive in terms of e-commerce and retail technology, ranking 33rd in the globe. Quantitative criteria such as co-working spaces, business facilities, the number of companies/branches functioning in research and technology, Internet convenience, and speed are all included. Unlike Jakarta, which has produced numerous unicorns, and Singapore, which is recognized for its financial startups, Bangkok stands out for its diversity, which it can use to connect with urban lifestyles. This stimulates investors’ interest in many types of businesses, particularly DeepTech, which the government and the NIA are actively supporting.

“To become an innovative city that can attract foreign investors and innovators, a number of factors must be in place, including collaboration among local administrative organizations, innovation investors, the new generation of leaders, educational institutions, research and development communities, and, most importantly, urban residents’ willingness to focus on innovation. We believe that by working together, they can make Bangkok more inventive.”

Dr. Pun-Arj concluded, “The transformation into a knowledge-based economy and leading investment destination will attract innovation-driven enterprises and stimulate strategic partnerships, further developing our growing tech sector by nurturing inclusive growth and impacting the lives of thousands of people in Thailand and beyond.”

Thailand, headed by NIA, will host Startup x Innovation Thailand Expo 2022 (SITE 2022), to showcase outstanding innovative products and services and connect leading startups, innovators, experts, business executives and investors. The event will be held hybridly on June 23-25, 2022, with the theme “Reconnecting the World.”

PR Newswire

Singapore to host largest tech event since reopening of its borders

Leave a comment

Asia Tech x Singapore is set to attract more than 12,000 global leaders and industry players as they gather to discuss emerging tech issues and opportunities in Singapore

SINGAPORE, May 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — From 31 May to 3 June, Singapore is hosting Asia Tech x Singapore (ATxSG), Asia’s flagship technology event that convenes global leaders and decision-makers across the technological ecosystem to debate and address opportunities and challenges as the world taps into the potential of digital to power the next bound of global economic growth while building an inclusive digital future.

ATxSG is headlined by the exclusive invitation-only ATxSummit to be held at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore on 31 May, where Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies will be the Guest of Honour. With a powerhouse line up of more than 50 speakers and some 2,000 guests from government, business and industry, the event will see robust discussion on a wide gamut of topics such as quantum computing, metaverse, and sustainability for a green digital future. On the same evening, Mr. Teo Chee Hean, Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security, will be the Guest of Honour for the inaugural ATxSummit Social – an exclusive, by-invitation-only dinner for the Summit’s speakers and guests.

The line-up of speakers includes Mrs. Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information, Guest of Honour for the ATxAI Conference (1 Jun), as well as a panellist at ‘Trust in the Digital Economy’ (31 May) and ‘Changing Roles of Women in Tech (1 Jun) and Mr. Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Minister for Health, who will be speaking at a panel session on ‘Rethinking Healthcare Within a Digital Landscape’. They will be joined by Ministers from Brazil, Estonia, European Commission, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia and the United States. ATxSG will also host senior executives from the world’s biggest and fastest-growing technology companies such as Amazon Web Services, Epic Games, Google, IBM, Microsoft and Ping An Group.

“Digital and tech brings many opportunities but also challenges. That impact is felt at the intersection of Tech and Governance, Tech and Businesses, and Tech and Society. This involves building a trusted digital environment, creating economic growth, seeding innovations, and tackling society’s pressing problems. It is therefore key to bring together thought leaders across these domains, to shape that shared digital future,” said Mr. Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority.

ATxAI and ATxInspire: Women in Tech

On 1 June, ATxSG will feature ATxAI conference that will look at the future of AI technologies, trust in AI, and how AI can be leveraged for social good. On the same day, participants at ATxInspire will hear from distinguished female leaders in the technology space. They will share their views on how to bolster the progress of women professionals in the industry while promoting greater diversity across the tech workforce. The panellists include Mrs. Josephine Teo, H.E. Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Mongolia’s Secretary of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Communications, H.E. Makishima Karen, Japan’s Minister for Digital, Ms. Jessica Tan, Co-CEO of Ping An Group and Ms. Kathy Baxter, Principal Architect, Ethical AI practice at Salesforce.

At the side-lines of ATxSG, Mr. Tan Kiat How, Singapore’s Minister of State for Communications and Information, will be giving the keynote address as Guest of Honour at the Founders Forum (31 May), and Ms. Rahayu Mahzam, Singapore’s Parliamentary Secretary will be giving the keynote address at the InnovFest x Elevating Founders (ATxImpact) (1 Jun) as Guest of Honour.

ATxEnterprise and ATxImpact

ATxSG will showcase two popular segments: ATxEnterprise and ATxImpact, organised by Informa Tech, scheduled from 1 to 3 June, at the Singapore EXPO. Spanning 3 halls of more than 500 exhibitors from 32 countries/regions and 200 conference sessions featuring more than 350 speakers.

The three-day event will see more than 10,000 attendees and business leaders from across Asia’s Tech, Media, Telecoms and Start-up ecosystem convene in Singapore for a long-awaited return to in-person events.

The ATxEnterprise Headliners will kick-off the event with Dr Janil Puthucheary, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information & Ministry of Health, Singapore, delivering the opening address on 1 June, at 9.30am.

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Executive Chairman of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, will also join virtually to deliver a keynote on Supporting Global Change through Technology.

ATxEnterprise, the flagship collection of industry events at ATxSG, features BroadcastAsia, CommunicAsia, SatelliteAsia, and TechXLR8Asia, led by top sponsors Huawei, NCS and Singtel. ATxImpact featuring InnovFest x Elevating Founders, organised in partnership with NUS Enterprise, the official start-up event of ATxSG, and largest gathering of its kind in the region, brings together more than 100 promising regional start-ups, and top names in venture capital.

“Boasting a strong line-up of renowned speakers and over 500 exhibitors from various industries including business, technology, and telecommunications, we are excited to partner with IMDA for this year’s ATxSG, the first to be conducted physically. We look forward to insights and conversations across business, tech and government leaders that will shape our shared digital future,” said Mr. Tom Cuthell, Vice President of Festivals, Informa Tech.

For more information on ATxSG, please visit: asiatechxsg.com.

Members of the media are encouraged to register for their press badge here.

About the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) leads Singapore’s digital transformation by developing a vibrant digital economy and an inclusive digital society. As Architects of Singapore’s Digital Future, we foster growth in Infocomm Technology and Media sectors in concert with progressive regulations, harness frontier technologies, and develop local talent and digital infrastructure ecosystems to establish Singapore as a digital metropolis.

About Informa Tech

Informa Tech is a market leading provider of integrated research, media, training and events to the global Technology community. We’re an international business of more than 1,000 colleagues, operating in more than 20 markets. Our aim is to inspire the Technology community to design, build and run a better digital world through research, media, training and event brands that inform, educate and connect. Over 14,000 professionals subscribe to our research, with 225,000 delegates attending our events and over 18,000 students participating in our training programmes each year, and nearly 4 million people visiting our digital communities each month.

This flagship event joins Informa Tech’s portfolio of global tech festivals including London Tech Week and Africa Tech Fest. Hosted in thriving innovation hubs, these global events aim to unite the tech ecosystem to inspire impactful innovation, building a better digital world for both business and society. 

About the Singapore Tourism Board

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is the lead development agency for tourism, one of Singapore’s key economic sectors. Together with industry partners and the community, we shape a dynamic Singapore tourism landscape. We bring the Passion Made Possible brand to life by differentiating Singapore as a vibrant destination that inspires people to share and deepen their passions.

For media queries, please reach out to:
Sangeetha Kannan, OPRG for IMDA
Tel: +65 8769 5324 | Email: sangeetha.kannan@omnicomprgroup.com

Myra Kheng, TEAM LEWIS for Informa
Tel: +65 9228 6066 | Email: myra.kheng@teamlewis.com

APPENDIX: ATxSG – Line-up of Key Events

ATxSummit, 31 May

By invitation only. Policy makers, regulators, and industry leaders will debate and share insights on the opportunities and challenges as the world seeks to redefine technology for a shared digital future. Discussions will span across four overarching pillars – Tech x Trust, Tech x Good, Tech x Builders, and Tech x Creative. 

Key Panels and Speakers

Trust and the Digital Economy

Mrs Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information and Mrs Gina M Raimondo, USA’s Secretary of Commerce, Dept of Commerce will discuss the exponential growth and potential in the digital economy, how governments can work together, instil the right foundation and frameworks for a safe and inclusive growth. 

Digital Innovation Across Borders

As the digital domain is borderless and the world is more interlinked than ever before, learn how conglomerates and SMEs can collaborate across geographical boundaries amidst increasing tech contestation. 

  • H.E. Airlangga Hartarto, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Indonesia
  • H.E. Bolor-Erdene Battsengel, Mongolia’s Secretary of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Communications
  • Mr Jean-Philippe Courtois, Exec VP & Pres. National Transformation Partnerships, Microsoft
  • H.E. Margrethe Vestager, Executive VP & Commissioner for Competition; Chair, Commissioners’ Group on a Europe Fit for the Digital Age (European Commission)

Rethinking Healthcare Within a Digital Landscape

How digital healthcare has taken a new life with new healthcare trends such as telemedicine, contact tracing and health applications.

  • Mr. Ong Ye Kung, Singapore’s Minister for Health
  • H.E. Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister for Health, Federal Gov’t of Malaysia
  • Mr. Edwin Basuki, Chief Financial Officer, Doctor Anywhere
  • Ms Jessica Tan, Co-CEO, Ping An Group

Unpacking the Metaverse

A convergence between the physical and the virtual, learn how real use-case applications that will generate new market opportunities in the Metaverse.

  • H.E. Sandiaga Uno, Indonesia’s Minister for Tourism and Creative Economy
  • Ms Christel Quek, Co-Founder and CTO, BOLT
  • KC Choi, EVP and GM, Global Mobile B2B/G, Mobile Experience, Samsung Electronics
  • Mr Quentin Staes-Polet, Managing Director, EMEA, ASEAN & India, Epic Games

For more information on the exciting line-up of speakers, please visit asiatechxsg.com/agenda/ 

ATxAI, 1 June

Guest of Honour, Mrs. Josephine Teo, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information will explore with government, business, and industry leaders on the future of AI, how to demonstrate trust in AI, how to leverage AI for social goods, as well as exploring the practical applications of AI. 

Speakers include: 

  • Blaise Aguera y Arcas, Engineering Fellow at Google
    • An authority in computer vision, machine intelligence, and computational photography.
    • Blaise is a regular presenter at TED with presentations that have been rated some of TED’s “most jaw-dropping”.
  • Hiroaki Kitano, CEO of Sony AI
    • Japanese Scientist and Professor
    • He is active in many international organisations (e.g., Founding President of the RoboCup Federation, Member of the AI & Robotics Council (2016-2018), and Quantum Computing Council (2019-2020) of The World Economic Forum
    • Renowned speaker in global AI and AI governance conferences 
  • Kathy Baxter, Principal Architect, Ethical AI Practice
    • Renowned in the AI governance sector and develops research-informed best practice to educate Salesforce employees, customers, and the industry on the development of responsible AI

ATxImpact, 1 to 3 June

ATxImpact will feature InnovFest x Elevating Founders Asia, showcasing more than 100 start-ups from around the region.

InnovFest x Elevating Founders Asia is the official start-up event of Asia Tech x Singapore and is organised by NUS Enterprise in partnership with Informa Tech’s dedicated programme for start-ups and scale-ups. With the aim to nurture start-ups and promote entrepreneurship in the region, it brings together the start-up ecosystem from across Asia and the globe, as well as exciting new technologies and ideas. The event will give tech start-ups exclusive access to curated investors and the enterprise marketplace and provide attendees with the latest insights and trends in the innovation space. 

Participants can look forward to panels on ‘Cooling Singapore 2.0: Building a Digital Urban Climate Twin’ and ‘Beyond the Hype – Securing the Metaverse’ where speakers from start-ups convene to discuss newest developments and emerging trends within the tech ecosystem.

Some speakers include: 

  • Assoc Prof Keith Carter, Associate Professor School of Computing & Director, NUS FinTech Lab [Topic: Beyond the Hype – Securing the Metaverse]
  • Lily Wu, Startup Partner Lead, SEA – Stripe [Topic: Entering a new age: the Web3 revolution]
  • Professor Lawrence Loh, Director, Centre for Governance and Sustainability, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore [Topic: Sustainability and ESG: Beyond the Hypes and Hopes for Innovation]
  • Jaclyn Seow, Head of ESG and Impact, Openspace Ventures [Topic: Beyond the romanticism of Impact Investing] 

Ms Melin Lim, Senior Director, Urban Food Solution Division, Singapore Food Agency [Topic: A Sustainable Approach to Secure Singapore’s 30 by 30 vision through Agritech] 

ATxEnterprise, 1 to 2 June

ATxEnterprise will feature BroadcastAsia, CommunicAsia, SatelliteAsia, and TechXLR8Asia. It will include exhibition marketplaces and conferences focusing on telecommunications, broadcast and media, satellite and enterprise solutions.

The ATxEnterprise conferences will feature new dedicated tracks on Cyber Security, IoT, Cloud & Cloud, as well as the inaugural Asia Satellite Business Week in partnership with Euroconsult. The event will explore the landscape for Singapore’s quantum initiatives; whether Singapore is truly on the right part to become a smart city; and what the future holds when investing in tech within Asia’s finance sector. 

Some of the headliner speakers include:

  • Anna Gong, Founder and CEO, Perx Technologies [Topic: Is Technology the Cause of Workforce Problems or the Solution?]
  • Aliza Knox, Senior Advisor, Boston Consulting Group [Topic: Is Technology the Cause of Workforce Problems or the Solution?]
  • Dr Cathy Foley, Chief Scientist of Australia [Topic: Tech Tools for Biodiversity]
  • Pierre Gaudreault, President, Asia Region, Emerging Markets, Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals Group [Topic: Transforming Health Tech in Asia]
  • Loh Boon Chye, CEO, Singapore Exchange [Topic: Investing in Tech — What Does the Future Hold?]
PR Newswire

Help Complete #TheMissingHalf with up to 50% Off from Reckitt and Shopee

Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines, May 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Reckitt, the global leader in health, hygiene and nutrition, partners with Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan to launch its “Complete the #MissingHalf” Regional Super Brand Day. Families can rely on trusted brands from Reckitt including Enfagrow A+ Four, Lactum 3+6+, Lysol, Durex and more to help support the protection of the health, hygiene and nutrition of their loved ones, ensuring that they are not missing out.

Shoppers can look forward to health, hygiene, and nutrition tips and exclusive deals with Reckitt’s most- anticipated Super Brand Day on Shopee
Shoppers can look forward to health, hygiene, and nutrition tips and exclusive deals with Reckitt’s most- anticipated Super Brand Day on Shopee

Happening on May 19, Reckitt’s Super Brand Day campaign gives shoppers the best value deals on Reckitt’s wide portfolio of family care essentials on Shopee Mall.

For decades, parents have been taught that academic intelligence would guarantee their child’s best start to life, focusing less on confidence, creativity and independence. Reckitt puts parents’ worries to rest with Enfagrow A+ Four Nurapro by helping nourish both IQ and EQ to complete the #MissingHalf together with proper nutrition and stimulation.  Enfagrow A+ Four Nurapro is the only one with breakthrough MFGM and 35 mg/serving of DHA that help nourish not just IQ but also EQ development.

Reckitt’s range of products goes one step further to complete the #MissingHalf for the entire family with their Health and Hygiene portfolio that consists of Lysol and Durex. As countries start to ease restrictions, hygiene moves from a defensive chore to a habitual act of protection. While families seek to bond with their communities, parents still want complete protection for their kids so that they maximize their potential.  For example, not only does Lysol Disinfectant Spray kill over 100 illness-causing germs including the cold and flu virus, it also refreshes your home with 6 refreshing scents to choose from. Parents also want to instill the value of self-confidence in their children. With Veet, you can reveal the beauty of your skin with a long-lasting and user-friendly formula that can give you silky smooth skin for up to 2 weeks.

Muksitul Islam, ASEAN eCommerce Director at Reckitt, said, “Reckitt is proud to partner with Shopee in the regional Super Brand Day to connect ASEAN consumers to our beloved & trusted brands like Enfagrow A+ Four Nurapro, Lactum 3+6+, Lysol, & Durex. Through Shopee’s impressive engagement tools, our consumers can not only look forward to choices tailored to their needs but also an enjoyable shopping experience from our diverse Nutrition, Health & Hygiene portfolio. We wish our consumers a wonderful Super Brand Day experience.”

Annie Lin, Head of Shopee Mall at Shopee Philippines, added, “Consumers are shopping more frequently online for household and healthcare needs. We are glad to partner with Reckitt to provide parents and families with a wide variety of trusted brands that gives them the assurance they need when it comes to enhancing family health and nutrition. We will continue partnering with brands to offer shoppers access to greater convenience, variety and value all-year-round through Shopee Mall.”

Through the campaign, Reckitt will educate users about what it means to complete the #MissingHalf for their children together with celebrity mom Kristine Hermosa-Sotto on Shopee Live. Users can also tune in to learn how they can have a healthy home with Lysol.

On May 19-20, Reckitt will complete the #MissingHalf with exclusive deals from Enfagrow Four, Lactum 3+6+, Lysol, Durex, and Veet on Shopee Mall, providing shoppers with the best deals including:

  • Free Gift with no minimum spend: Get FREE Lysol On-the-Go wipes for every checkout on all Reckitt brands until supplies last
  • Online Exclusive Bundles: specially curated bundles including:
    • 50% off bundles on Enfagrow AII Nurapro Four, Lactum 3+ & Provital
    • Buy 2 Get 1 on selected Lysol and Mortein products
    • 15% off on Lysol x Mortein Safer Home bundles
    • Up to 27% off on Veet bundles
    • Up to 35% off on Durex bundles
  • Shipping discounts and 20% Cashback vouchers

Find out more about Reckitt’s Complete #TheMissingHalf campaign on May 19-20 at https://shopee.ph/collections/1129804.

Download it now for free on the App Store or Google Play Store.

PR Newswire

POINT ZERO FORUM UNVEILS AGENDA

Leave a comment

ZURICH and SINGAPORE, April 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Swiss Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and Elevandi announced the programme and speaker line-up for the inaugural Point Zero Forum, taking place on June 21-23 in Zurich, Switzerland. Point Zero Forum will serve as the starting point for engaging investors and policymakers with innovators to advance the future of financial services (FOFS).

The Forum is an exclusive invite-only, in-person gathering of select global leaders, founders and investors with the purpose of:

  • Developing new ideas to advance the FOFS – decentralised finance and Web 3.0, embedded finance, and sustainable finance.
  • Driving investment activity by bringing together leading founders with VCs, private banking clients, family offices, and PE houses.
  • Dissecting regulatory considerations related to each FOFS development by bringing together public and private sector leaders.

The Forum will be two days of in-depth plenary sessions, deep-dive private roundtables and workshops, and exclusive sessions between founders and investors focusing on two significant new market opportunities built on Web 3.0 architecture. The Forum will be graced by Heng Swee Keat (Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies) and Ueli Maurer (Switzerland’s Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Finance).

  1. The Crypto Market Opportunity: US$2.5 trillion market cap[1]: Sessions will explore the progress made by firms in building digital asset infrastructure, operating trusted digital exchanges, and unlocking the internet of value ; embedding financial services in customer interactions across sectors such as gaming and social networks.
    1. There will be spotlight discussions on:
      1. Cyber risk
      2. Financial crime,
      3. Regulatory compliance
  2. The Sustainable Finance Opportunity: $35 trillion invested[2]: Sessions will explore the challenges and the progress of market solutions to address the infrastructure and service needs of enabling ESG compliance and boosting green financing.
    1. There will be spotlight discussions on:
      1. Accessing credible and verified data from the real economy
      2. Building trusted infrastructure and regulatory compliance for data disclosure
      3. Impact

ESG and Crypto Sector Influencers Include : Urban Angehrn, CEO of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA; Sam Bankman-Fried (CEO, FTX); Stephen Bird (CEO, abrdn); Agustín Carstens (General Manager, Bank for international Settlements BIS); Umar Farooq (CEO, Onyx by JP Morgan); Doug Feagin (Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Partnerships and Investments, Ant Group); Ralph Hamers (CEO, UBS); Thomas Jordan (Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank SNB); Eric Lim, (Chief Sustainability Officer, UOB); Kris Marszalek (CEO, Crypto.com); David Marcus (Former Head of Novi and Messenger at Meta, Co-creator of Diem); Ravi Menon (MD, Monetary Authority of Singapore  (MAS)); Hiromichi Mizuno (Special Envoy of U.N. Secretary-General on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments); Roman Regelman (CEO, Asset Servicing and Head of Digital, BNY Mellon); Philipp Rickenbacher (Chief Executive Officer, Julius Baer); Julian Sawyer (CEO, Bitstamp); Julian Teicke (Founder and CEO, wefox); Jason Thompson (CEO, Partior); Dmitry Tokarev (Founder, Copper); Robby Yeung (CEO, Animoca Brands); Changpeng Zhao (CEO, Binance); Ben Zhou (CEO, Bybit).

Deep-dive private roundtables include:

  1. ‘Shared Responsibility: The Future of Green Financing’
    Hosted by: Milken Institute
    Facilitated by: Hiromichi Mizuno, Special Envoy of U.N. Secretary-General on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments and Laura Deal Lacey, Milken Institute.
  2. ‘Multilateral CBDCs’
    Hosted by: BIS Innovation Hub (BIS)
    Facilitated by: Andrew McCormack, Centre Head, BIS Innovation Hub Singapore, Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
  3. ‘Open Finance’
    Hosted by: State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF)
    Facilitated by: Nicolas Bruegger, Senior Policy Advisor at State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF)
  4. ‘Swiss Climate Scores – Introducing Best Practice Transparency on the Paris-alignment of Investments’
    Hosted by: State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF)
    Facilitated by: Christoph Baumann, Head of Taskforce on Sustainable Finance at State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF)
  5. ‘Growth stage FinTechs’
    Hosted by: Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies
    Facilitated by: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Economic Development Board (EDB)
  6. ‘Stablecoins’
    Hosted by: Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
    Facilitated by: Jo Yeo, Head, Payments Development and Data Connectivity Office, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Speakers include:

Agustín Carstens, General Manager, Bank for international Settlements (BIS);
Ben Zhou, CEO, Bybit;
Chen Leiming, Senior Vice President, Ant Group
Changpeng Zhao, CEO, Binance
David Marcus, Former Head of Novi and Messenger at Meta, Co-creator of Diem
David Rutter, Founder and CEO, R3
Marc Bukki (CEO of Swissquote, Founder of Swissquote group)
Dmitry Tokarev, Founder, Copper;
Doug Feagin, Senior Vice President, Global Strategic Partnerships and Investments, Ant Group;
Dr. Gabriela Maria Payer, Vice-Chairwoman, Sygnum;
Dr. Iwa Salami, Reader (Associate Professor), Centre of FinTech, Department of Law & Criminology, Royal Docks School of Business and Law;
Eric Lim, Chief Sustainability Officer, UOB;
Ericson Chan, Chief Information and Digital Officer, Zurich Insurance;
Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies;
Hiromichi Mizuno, Special Envoy of U.N. Secretary-General on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments;
James Smith, Founder, Elliptic;
Jason Thompson, CEO, Partior;
Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO & Co-Founder, Barefoot Innovation;
Joanne Hannaford, Chief Technology & Operations Officer and Executive Board Member, Credit Suisse;
Jos Dijsselhof, CEO, SIX Group;
Julian Sawyer, CEO, Bitstamp;
Julian Teicke, Founder and CEO, wefox;
Kris Marszalek, CEO, Crypto.com;
Manisha Tank, TV Anchor & Correspondent, CNN International;
Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO, Women’s World Banking;
Nicolas Bruegger, Senior Policy Advisor at State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF);
Oliver Bussmann, CEO & Founder of Bussmann Advisory;
Philipp Rickenbacher, Chief Executive Officer, Julius Baer;
Pinar Özcan, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Oxford University
Rahul Banerjee, Founder & CEO, Bondevalue;
Ralph Hamers, CEO, UBS;
Raphael Bianchi, President and Board Member, OpenWealth Association;
Ravi Menon, MD, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS);
Robby Yeung, CEO, Animoca Brands;
Roman Regelman, CEO of Asset Servicing and Head of Digital, BNY Mellon;
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO, FTX;
Stefan Klestil, General Partner & Head of FinTech, SpeedInvest;
Stephen Bird, CEO, abrdn;
Teana Baker-Taylor, Chief Policy Officer for the Digital Chamber of Commerce;
Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB);
Ueli Maurer, Switzerland’s Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Finance;
Umar Farooq, CEO, Onyx by JP Morgan

4. The full agenda can be found here.

Fringe Activities: Brand-New Investor Day and Innovation Open Houses

On the first day of the Forum (June 21st), investors are invited to a closed-door session hosted by SIF and MAS. The session will serve as a precedent to the Forum, where investors will be able to gain a perspective on the global market trends and business opportunities that are shaping the FinTech scene, and how these topics will be addressed on the agenda during the main stage.

Also happening on the June 21st are open houses hosted by BIS Innovation Hub, Crypto Valley Labs, ETH Zurich, F10, University of Zurich and ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences. Registrations for these events are now open on the website.

Point Zero Forum is an invitation-only forum for investors, influencers, thinkers and decision-makers from government and regulators, financial institutions, technology companies, crypto and blockchain networks, and academia. The Forum is organised in cooperation with the BIS Innovation Hub, MAS, and SNB, and supported by Knowledge Partners including Bussmann Advisory, Ecosystm, Finance.Swiss, Milken Institute, Open Wealth Association and Switzerland Global Enterprise. To request an invite, visit www.pointzeroforum.com. 

State Secretariat for International Finance

The State Secretariat for International Finance represents Switzerland’s interests in financial, monetary and tax matters not only vis-à-vis partner countries but also in the competent international bodies. It is committed to good framework conditions to ensure that Switzerland can have an innovative, interconnected and sustainable financial centre and business location that is among the world leaders. The State Secretariat is responsible for implementing the financial market policy of the Swiss Government.

Elevandi

Elevandi is set up by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to foster an open dialogue between the public and private sectors to advance FinTech in the digital economy. We work closely with governments, founders, investors, and corporate leaders to drive collaboration, education, and new sources of value at the industry and national levels. Our initiatives have convened over 300,000 people since 2016 to drive the growth of FinTech through events, closed-door roundtables, investor programmes, educational initiatives, and research. Our flagship product is the Singapore FinTech Festival alongside fast-rising platforms, including the World FinTech Festival and Point Zero Forum.

PR Newswire

World Trade Centers Association Focuses on Business Opportunities in Africa at its 2022 General Assembly “Exploring New Horizons”

Leave a comment

Artificial Intelligence-powered matchmaking platform to once again foster global B2B networking during 100% virtual business conference

NEW YORK, April 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The World Trade Centers Association® (WTCA®) — an international trade organization connecting more than 300 World Trade Center® (WTC®) locations in nearly 100 countries — will host its annual 2022 WTCA General Assembly (GA) with a focus on business opportunities in Africa. This year’s event will once again be complimentary and held virtually with an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered B2B matchmaking platform to maximize time spent establishing business connections between attendees around the world. Hosted by the WTCA team in New York, the business conference will be held from Monday, April 18 to Friday, April 22.

The GA will bring together WTCA Members and their global business networks consisting of leaders from business, government, academia, media and international organizations, reflecting the WTCA’s diverse global footprint. With the theme of “Exploring New Horizons,” the 2022 GA promises to be a unique and engaging week-long event, demonstrating the strength of the WTCA network and offering attendees the opportunity to learn from leading experts and connect with each other virtually through the matchmaking platform.

“For the second year in a row, we are pleased to host the GA virtually and offer AI-powered B2B matchmaking to all attendees free of charge. This platform is an efficient and effective way to find business prospects around the world, and has become a huge benefit to enhance our network’s ability to connect and facilitate trade for our Members and their business networks,” said John E. Drew, Chair, Board of Directors of the WTCA. “Also, with a renewed focus on business in Africa, we hope this GA provides a glimpse into the opportunities available at next year’s GA – which will be hosted in Accra, Ghana by World Trade Center Accra.”

This year’s GA will feature two half-days of livestream programming, kicking off on April 19 with WTCA Members-only programming to provide updates from the WTCA Board of Directors and senior leadership, as well as from the nine Member Advisory Councils (MACs) covering Agriculture, Business Clubs, Conferences & Exhibitions, Real Estate and Trade Services. On April 20, the last day of the GA’s mainstage programming – which is open to all attendees – will include a keynote address with Atsuko Toda, Acting Vice President for Agriculture, Human and Social Development of the African Development Bank; a fireside chat with Soji Awogbade, Partner and Lead of the International Trade, Energy & Natural Resources and Agriculture Practice Groups at ǼLEX, on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA); as well as a panel discussion on doing business in Africa with WTCA Members from Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritius and Nigeria. The day will conclude with the kick-off to the 2023 General Assembly. Livestream programming is open to all attendees unless otherwise noted for “WTCA Members only” and will be hosted in English with simultaneous translations in French and Spanish.

Available to GA attendees 24/7 for the whole week from April 18 to April 22 across all time zones, the AI-powered matchmaking platform uses an algorithm to collect and process individual interests of every event attendee, providing them with the means to discover the right content, foster meaningful connections with relevant matches and achieve individual goals. The tool also has the ability to learn from attendee interactions, further improving match relevance in real time and scheduling virtual one-on-one meetings instantaneously. Business sectors represented by attendees at the 2022 GA include: Agriculture; Automation & Automotive; Construction & Engineering; Energy, Power, Gas, Petroleum, Renewables; Fintech, Enterprise Software, Data, IT; Food & Beverage; Metals & Mining; Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Medical Devices; Real Estate Development, Rental, Leasing, Sales; Tourism & Hospitality; and Transportation, Logistics, Telecommunications.

“With the addition of the AI-powered matchmaking tool to our annual offerings, the association now provides 24/7 matchmaking on a global level, across all industries and sectors,” said Robin van Puyenbroeck, Executive Director-Business Development of the WTCA. “The platform is seamless and easy-to-use, allowing attendees to participate in relevant B2B meetings while its algorithm does the work for them. We strongly encourage all businesses looking for new connections to participate in this year’s GA. It is an opportunity you do not want to miss.”

For more information about the 2022 WTCA General Assembly, please visit https://wtca.swoogo.com/2022wtcageneralassembly. Also, follow along on social media #WTCAGeneralAssembly.

MEDIA CONTACT:

World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
Chanelle Kasik
Phone: +1 212 432 2644
Email: ckasik@wtca.org

About World Trade Centers Association (WTCA)
The World Trade Centers Association (WTCA) is a network of more than 300 highly connected, mutually supporting businesses and organizations in 92 countries. As the owner of the “World Trade Center” and “WTC” trademarks, the WTCA licenses exclusive rights to these brands for Members to use in conjunction with their independently-owned, iconic properties, facilities and trade services offerings. Through a robust portfolio of events, programming and resources that it offers its Members, the goal of the WTCA is to help local economies thrive by encouraging and facilitating trade and investment across the globe through Member engagement. To learn more, visit www.wtca.org.

PR Newswire

ViewSonic’s myViewBoard Sens Brings UK’s First AI-powered Classroom to Smestow Academy

Leave a comment

Creating An Optimal Learning Environment with Better Wellness and Safety

BREA, Calif., March 22, 2022 — ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, has partnered with the Smestow Academy in Wolverhampton, England, as the first school in the UK to deploy the AI-powered myViewBoard Sens analysis tool in the classroom. Through the real-time insights generated by the intelligent sensor, the school can ensure the classroom follows the wellness compliance, increase students’ engagement, and facilitate a safe and active learning environment for the best possible learning outcome.

ViewSonic's myViewBoard Sens brings UK's first AI-powered classroom to Smestow Academy, facilitating a safe and active learning environment for the best possible learning outcome.
ViewSonic’s myViewBoard Sens brings UK’s first AI-powered classroom to Smestow Academy, facilitating a safe and active learning environment for the best possible learning outcome.

"In the last few years, we had looked for a total Edtech solution to improve the overall learning experience of our students. In 2021, we started working with ViewSonic to implement over 100 ViewBoard interactive displays in our classrooms. Harnessing the power of myViewBoard Sens is our latest step in this journey," said Jonathan Stokes, Assistant Headteacher, Smestow Academy. "myViewBoard Sens offers students and teachers reassurance of a safe and engaging learning environment so we can deliver the best education possible. It is an exciting piece of EdTech innovation that we are proud to be trialing and rolling out in our classrooms."

"ViewSonic is passionate about providing comprehensive educational technology solutions for schools to drive better learning outcomes and attainments," said Peter Claxton, Senior Director of EdTech Solutions, ViewSonic. "We are incredibly pleased to be working with Smestow Academy to implement myViewBoard Sens in a real-world setting, helping the schools to adapt to the new era, and creating a highly engaged and safe learning environment. Through this pioneering project, we plan to introduce this next-gen technology to more schools around the world, opening up new learning opportunities for students, teachers, and schools."

In this project, myViewBoard Sens was installed on the ViewBoard, which sits at the front of a classroom, to analyze the wellness compliance of the indoor space. The school and teachers can get an instant view of the status through a dashboard app. The embedded sensor detects and evaluates the airborne transmission risk according to five indicators – temperature, humidity, occupancy rate, audience masked, and close contacts between students. If the rating of wellness compliance decreases, it means the wellness level is at risk and the myViewBoard Sens would suggest actionable insights on the dashboard in real-time for the school and teachers to take action. This makes sure the social distancing in the classroom follows the government’s protocol, reducing the risk of virus growth.

From the dashboard, the teachers can also get insights into student engagement at a group level to foster an active learning environment. From sensing the room’s temperature, color temperature, ambient lighting, to analyzing students’ attentiveness through articulated human pose estimation, the insights indicate the factors that may affect students’ focus. Teachers can look back and see how students responded to the class and make changes to their lesson plans or teaching approaches if necessary. Moreover, all data are generated and processed within the sensor locally without using individual profiles and without relying on the cloud, ensuring the highest levels of security and anonymity.

As a future-proof education solution, myViewBoard Sens helps the school evolve with the changing world and helps educators achieve the best educational outcomes in an optimal learning space. Moving forward, ViewSonic will continue to work with Smestow Academy to gather more feedback on the use of technology and explore more possibilities to provide greater benefits in education.

On March 23, day 1 of BETT Show 2022, Peter Claxton, Senior Director of EdTech Solutions, ViewSonic will deliver a keynote speech – The Art of the Possible (Innovation and AI) at 4pm, and on March 24, day 2 of BETT Show, Peter will host the EdTech Talk with the Smestow Academy at 3pm.

ViewSonic at BETT 2022
When
Wednesday 23rd March: 10:00am-6:00pm
Thursday 24th March: 10:00am-8:00pm
Friday 25th March: 10:00am-5:00pm

Where
ExCeL London, South Hall, Booth SF40

To find more information, please visit https://www.viewsonic.com/uk/bett2022. 

About Smestow Academy  
Located in Wolverhampton, the Smestow Academy is part of the University of Wolverhampton Multi-Academy Trust. Through the school’s curriculum, they aim to build people through the development of key skills, knowledge and understanding. This intent to provide an excellent education for all students is rooted in a desire to bring out the best in every student and prepare them for success in life.

About ViewSonic
Founded in California, ViewSonic is a leading global provider of visual solutions and conducts business in over 100 countries worldwide. As an innovator and visionary, ViewSonic is committed to providing comprehensive hardware and software solutions that include monitors, projectors, pen displays, commercial displays, All-in-One LED displays, ViewBoard interactive displays, and myViewBoard software ecosystem. With over 35 years of expertise in visual displays, ViewSonic has established a strong position for delivering innovative and reliable solutions for education, enterprise, consumer, and professional markets and helping customers "See the Difference." To find out more about ViewSonic, please visit www.viewsonic.com.  

PR Newswire

TDK Ventures presents DX Week 2022, a thought leadership forum on digital transformation

Leave a comment
  • DX Week 2022: Where the Analog World Meets the Digital World 
  • An online gathering of entrepreneurs, academia, government, scientists, venture capitalists, and visionaries at the forefront of digital transformation (DX) 
  • Five two-hour sessions with diverse expert panelists providing definitive insights into how digital technologies change the world 

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 17, 2022 — TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) announced today that subsidiary TDK Ventures, Inc. will host DX Week from April 18 through 22, 2022. Following a similar format to TDK Ventures’ Energy Week 2021 in October which featured top leaders in the energy and battery fields, this global online gathering will bring together over 30 speakers made up of entrepreneurs, scientists, venture capitalists, and visionaries from around the world and who are at the forefront of digital transformation (DX). Interested participants can register for the event at this link: https://www.tdk-ventures.com/dx-week.

Each speaker will share her or his dreams, expectations, and challenges concerning the future of digitization and how it will influence science and technology, mobility, manufacturing, finance, computing, society, entertainment, and life as we know it.

"Our Energy Week 2021 delivered on its promise to show everyone the innovations that could power tomorrow’s world and cleanly produce and store its energy," said Nicolas Sauvage, President, TDK Ventures. "We hold even higher expectations for DX Week 2022 and its potential to offer a series of inspirational, provocative, interactive discussions that will inspire tomorrow’s inventors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and investors to follow their dreams and capitalize on their knowledge, skill, and insight."

DX Week 2022 days, times, and topics are below. All times are PDT (GMT -08:00).

  • Monday April 18, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM – Metaverse

Like many of today’s technologies, "the metaverse" remains somewhat anchored in the realm of science fiction. This discussion takes the viewpoint that its applications are not limited to gaming and entertainment, but include virtual workspaces, remote collaboration, the gamification of education, and other applications which are particularly relevant.

  • Tuesday April 19, 4:00 PM-6:00 PM – Connectivity

Connectivity has become an essential part of our everyday lives. This session will explore the development path of the tools that will usher in the next generation of communication and information dissemination, including cellular 5G/6G, Wi-Fi, fiber optics, satellites, wearables, and more, as well as the broad spectrum of applications these technologies may enable.

  • Wednesday April 20, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM – Edge Computing

The increase of IoT devices and AI/ML applications is producing a massive amount of data and requires high computing capacity at the edge. This session covers both edge devices and network edge. High-power efficiency and low latency are some of the key considerations.

  • Thursday April 21, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM – Industry 5.0

The data revolution and acceleration of DX has poised robots, intelligent machines, and the industrial internet of things to take over much of the boring, repetitive work required for much of the world’s production. The paradigm shift from a data driven world to the need for sustainability-enabled technology is already proving that innovative cleantech solutions enable cost efficient and effective operations. This panel discusses revolutions such as renewable energy generation, clean tech, data transmission, data acceleration, realistic simulations, biometrics, and much more, and highlights how and why sustainability is a core tenet of Industry 5.0.

  • Friday April 22, 8:00 AM-10:00 AM – Future of Mobility

There are two givens in life: the more people know, the more they need to explore, and humans will forever need face-to-face contact. Myriad challenges, however, remain before many of the world’s citizens will be ready to accept EVs, autonomously driven vehicles, and other transportation innovations. Car sharing, battery swapping, vehicle-to-grid integration, behind-the-grid storage, clean hydrogen, second-life, and alternative chemistries are on the table for discussion as well as the potential for personal flying cars, high-speed rail, and other futuristic transport.

Notable speakers include:

  • Metaverse: Rio Kurokawa, Director, IBM; Pearly Chen, VP, HTC VIVE
  • Connectivity: Nada Gozlmie, Ph.D., NIST Fellow & Chief of Wireless Networks Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology; Matt Grob, CTO, XCOM; Maryam Rofougaran, Founder and CEO, Movandi
  • Edge Computing: Chris Bergey, SVP/GM of Infrastructure, Arm; Pete Warden, Founding member, TensorFlow
  • Industry 5.0: Xiaolin Lu, Fellow and Director of IoT, Texas Instruments; Yasser Alsaied, VP of IoT, Amazon Web Services

Digital transformation has integrated mobile technologies, miniaturized embedded sensors and devices, integrated networking, enabled cloud computing, and delivered sophisticated data analytics. Together, through DX, we can and are bringing a better, even more sustainable, tomorrow. For information regarding online attendance to TDK Ventures’ DX Week 2022, visit https://www.tdk-ventures.com/dx-week.

About TDK Corporation

TDK Corporation is a world leader in electronic solutions for the smart society based in Tokyo, Japan. Built on a foundation of material sciences mastery, TDK welcomes societal transformation by resolutely remaining at the forefront of technological evolution and deliberately "Attracting Tomorrow." It was established in 1935 to commercialize ferrite, a key material in electronic and magnetic products. TDK’s comprehensive, innovation-driven portfolio features passive components such as ceramic, aluminum electrolytic and film capacitors, as well as magnetics, high-frequency, and piezo and protection devices. The product spectrum also includes sensors and sensor systems such as temperature and pressure, magnetic, and MEMS sensors. In addition, TDK provides power supplies and energy devices, magnetic heads and more. These products are marketed under the product brands TDK, EPCOS, InvenSense, Micronas, Tronics and TDK-Lambda. TDK focuses on demanding markets in automotive, industrial and consumer electronics, and information and communication technology. The company has a network of design and manufacturing locations and sales offices in Asia, Europe, and in North and South America. In fiscal 2021, TDK posted total sales of USD 13.3 billion and employed about 129,000 people worldwide.

About TDK Ventures

TDK Ventures Inc. invests in startups to bolster innovation in materials science, energy/power and related areas typically underrepresented in venture capital portfolios. Established in 2019 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDK Corporation, the corporate venture company’s vision is to propel the digital and energy transformations of segments such as health and wellness, next-generation transportation, robotics and industrial, mixed reality and the wider IoT/IIoT markets. TDK Ventures will co-invest and support promising portfolio companies by providing technical expertise and access to global markets where TDK operates. Interested startups or investment partners may contact TDK Ventures: www.tdk-ventures.com or contact@tdk-ventures.com.

You can download this text from https://www.tdk-ventures.com/tdk-ventures-presents-dx-week-2022 

Contacts for regional media

TDK Brand

Contact

Phone

Mail

TDK

Ms. Sarah MACKENZIE

Publitek

Portland, OR

+1 503.720.3743

TDK-US@publitek.com

TDK Ventures

Mr. Raphel FINELLI

TDK Ventures

San Jose, CA

+1 408.667.5970

raphel.finelli@tdk-ventures.com

 

 

PR Newswire

Huawei will Unveil Brand-new Networking Solutions for Home & SME at MWC 2022

Leave a comment

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 28, 2022 — Huawei will attend the 2022 MWC held in Spain from February 28 to March 3 and release the fiber-based Wi-Fi networking solution – FTTR (Fiber To The Room) gigabit all-optical room solution, and discuss with industry partners on how to resolve the current network bottlenecks of home and enterprises and how to provide better connection experience for users.

Since the breakout of COVID-19, digitalization and intelligence have developed rapidly. People require smoother communication, more convenient life, and more efficient work. On the one hand, homes have gradually transformed from entertainment centers to diversified production centers. New services such as online education, live broadcast, 8K HD movies, immersive entertainment (VR/cloud games), and smart-home are rapidly emerging. On the other hand, digital transformation and cloudification of small and micro enterprises have become a trend. High-bandwidth and low-latency applications, such as video conferencing and cloud desktop, are becoming popular. These new services pose higher requirements on network latency, bandwidth, and jitter, bringing greater challenges to home and enterprise networks.

However, home users and SMEs are still facing problems caused by poor network experience. According to statistics, 60% of broadband faults are caused by poor Wi-Fi experience. The Wi-Fi coverage ratio of more than half of home users reaches only 55%. Some users say that the Wi-Fi rate near an access point is 500Mbps, but gradually decreases to less than 20 Mbps from the living room to other rooms. According to a survey, the current network problems are mainly caused by the following four aspects:

  1. The rate cannot reach gigabit. Due to the outdated networking cable, the bandwidth can reach only 100Mbps.
  2. Seamless roaming cannot be implemented. There are multiple indoor Wi-Fi points. Traditional networking does not support intelligent switching between devices or the switching time is longer than 200ms. As a result, services are frequently interrupted when users move around.
  3. Multi-user concurrency is not supported. If more than 100 network devices access the Internet at the same time, they will go offline frequently.
  4. Whole-home coverage is not supported. Because fibers are usually routed to ELV boxes or living rooms, Wi-Fi performance deteriorates greatly after wall penetration. As a result, some rooms have no network coverage.

Huawei’s FTTR gigabit all-optical room solution is an innovative solution for home and enterprise networking. Different from traditional networking solutions, this solution extends fibers to every room, leading the newest optical network revolution. Fibers are recognized as the fastest transmission media in the industry. With four advantages, fiber has become a "dark horse" in the communications industry. Fast speed: Fibers are recognized as the fastest transmission media in the industry and can achieve 10Gbps or even 100Gbps transmission capability. Fibers deployed in the entire home can be upgraded to 10Gbps in the future, without the need of re-cabling. Low cost: The fiber industry is mature and the market is stable. The average price of fibers is 50% lower than that of network cables, reducing the reconstruction cost. Easy reconstruction: The size of fibers is about 15% of that of normal network cables. Fibers are thin and easy to be routed through pipes. Environment-friendly: Sand (silicon dioxide) is used as raw material, which is more environment-friendly and sustainable.

In addition to the main exhibition area, Huawei will also build a gigabit Wi-Fi experience center consisting of two exhibition points: FTTR-Home for home scenarios and FTTR-SME for enterprise scenarios. Online service scenarios, such as cloud VR, remote conferencing, IPTV, and 8K HD videos, will be set up to enable users to experience smooth gigabit Wi-Fi networks onsite.

Huawei’s FTTR gigabit all-optical room solution has set off a boom in China. Chinese operators released FTTR services and launched packages in 65 provinces and cities in China last year. Up to now, the number of FTTR users in China has exceeded 150,000. In addition, 20 operators outside China have started pilot projects. About the unique features of Huawei’s FTTR gigabit all-optical room solution and the extraordinary Internet surfing experience to bring to people, February 28, 2022 MWC will give the answer.