LONDON, July 10, 2020 — Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) is pleased to announce that it now processes more than 1 billion phone calls annually for subscribers in previously unconnected rural areas in Sub-Saharan Africa.
AMN 20m tower in DRC
In June 2020, AMN processed 91,623,222 voice calls, representing an annualised rate of 1.1 billion calls per annum, plus also nearly 6 terabytes (6,000 GB) of data. These services are provided to rural users in Sub-Saharan Africa who previously were mostly unconnected before AMN’s investment in the mobile network infrastructure. AMN now owns and operates approximately 1,200 base stations serving a population of 4 million people in 8 countries: Nigeria, DRC, Cameroon, Guinea, Zambia, Bissau, Liberia and Congo. The 2G/3G/4G mobile network services are provided by AMN on behalf of tier-1 licensed mobile network operators in each country.
AMN is installing new base stations at a rate of about 200 per month and by the end of 2020 will have nearly 2,000 base stations. AMN ultimately aims to deliver mobile network services to over 60 million people in up to 30 countries with more than 20,000 base stations. AMN’s solutions are 100% ubiquitous, without restrictions due to power or backhaul connectivity, and can be deployed at any location throughout the continent with no exceptions.
AMN’s success has been built on ultra-low capex and opex solutions, and an innovative, fully-turnkey Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) commercial model, which enables AMN to deliver mobile network services economically to smaller communities than has ever been possible before. AMN is now able to serve communities as small as 500 people with long-term economic sustainability. All of the major pan-African tier-1 operators partner with AMN to extend their network coverage deep into rural Africa. AMN offers the turnkey NaaS model with both revenue-share and opex commercial models for the operator, where revenue-share means no opex risk as well as no capex investment for the operator and the opex model enables sites to be built at any location specified by the operator.
About AMN
Africa Mobile Networks, established in 2013, is headquartered in the UK with subsidiary operating companies in 10 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. AMN’s vision is for no community of any size in Africa to be without affordable access to essential voice and data telecommunication services. AMN’s mission is to build more than 20,000 mobile network base stations, delivering 2G, 3G and 4G (and later 5G) telecom services to previously-unconnected communities. AMN is backed by Intelsat, operator of the world’s largest integrated satellite and terrestrial network, as an investor, shareholder and provider of access to high-quality and high-throughput satellite capacity across Africa. AMN enjoys a strong partnership with a global internet giant to accelerate the inclusion of 3G/4G services to provide rural users with access to the same information and social media applications enjoyed by the rest of the world.
‘PestKillerBot’ uses drones to manage pest control in floricultural fields
PARIS, July 10, 2020 — Atos, a global leader in digital transformation, today announces the winners of its international student competition, the Atos IT Challenge. The winners were presented with their awards yesterday during the Ceremony which took place during the digital Atos Technology Days. Now in its ninth year, the competition saw teams from 27 countries around the world compete on the theme of ‘Cooperative Artificial Intelligence‘.
Winning team of Atos IT Challenge 2020.
After an initial first round in which 16 teams were selected, the Atos ITChallenge Jury, made up of experts and Atos executives, chose three finalists. These are:
1st prize and competition winner:Asia Pacific University, Malaysia
"PestKillerBot" is an innovative and easy-to-use application which eliminates the pest in floricultural fields using drones which perform pest control and data collection. The Drone simulator autonomously flies over a field to detect diseases or harmful bugs and kills them. The solution architecture is divided into four parts: the Area Allocation, Path Finding with Path Planning, Pest Detection, and Drone Activation Simulation allowing users to see how the divided field is covered by each drone. The students have developed a drone prototype with a 3D printer and several components.
The team won EUR10,000 and each student was offered the opportunity to do either an internship at Atos or to work together with the company to develop their project.
2nd prize: Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores Monterrey, Mexico
This innovative solution called "Digital Water" aims to deliver water consumption solutions to households and the water supply company. It is a web application that predicts water consumption and the water level across 3 dams. The aim of the project is to provide details so that users can track consumption levels, waste, and issues to improve water resource management. The team has five years’ worth of data. They have trained their modes for four years and have tested it for one year.
The team won EUR5,000 and each student was offered the opportunity to do either an internship at Atos or to work together with the company to develop their project.
3rd prize: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia
With an innovative solution to improve traffic, the "CTC – Cooperative Traffic Control" app simulates traffic light controls using Deep Reinforcement Learning. Each junction acts as an agent that takes an action (extends or reduces the green/red time) depending on the cars and waiting time in the lane. The application also gets information from the nearest junctions. The team has trained and tuned the model to get the best model configuration for the traffic light control.
The team won EUR3,000 and each student was offered the opportunity to do either an internship at Atos or to work together with the company to develop their project.
This year, the jury also awarded a special prize to an entry that particularly stood out, for both the significance of the topic tackled and the dedication of the team.
Special Jury prize: Loughborough University, United Kingdom
"Initial Survey Swarm" is a solution for a maze simulator where drone agents collect knowledge about a maze over a set period. The drones can share the information they find to search destroyed buildings by generating a 3D map or representation of it after an earthquake or where there is a lack of internet coverage.
At the end of the ceremony, Sophie Proust, Group Chief Technical Officer, Atos said: "AI technology is revolutionizing all sectors of the economy and society, and today the brilliant students in the Atos IT Challenge demonstrated real entrepreneurial skills by offering innovative and concrete solutions that meet the new needs of cooperative AI expressed by businesses and individuals. I am impressed by the outstanding creativity and the quality of the contributions of the award-winning finalists. Congratulations to our winners and to all of our contestants!"
The Atos IT Challenge 2021 was also announced. Next year, students will have the opportunity to develop innovative concepts around the theme of "How digital can help decarbonize non-digital".
Since its creation in 2012, the Atos IT Challenge has empowered students from around the world to develop applications connected to major trends in the digital revolution, such as smart mobility, connected cars, interactive media, connected life, the "right to be forgotten", blockchain and artificial intelligence. Students are mentored by members of Atos Scientific Community who provide technical and practical support, advice and encouragement.
Follow us on Twitter: @AtosITChallenge and hashtag #AtosITChallenge
About Atos
Atos is a global leader in digital transformation with over 110,000 employees in 73 countries and annual revenue of over EUR 11 billion. European number one in Cloud, Cybersecurity and High-Performance Computing, the Group provides end-to-end Orchestrated Hybrid Cloud, Big Data, Business Applications and Digital Workplace solutions. The group is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic & Paralympic Games and operates under the brands Atos, Atos Syntel, and Unify. Atos is a SE (Societas Europaea), listed on the CAC40 Paris stock index.
The purpose of Atos is to help design the future of the information technology space. Its expertise and services support the development of knowledge, education as well as multicultural and pluralistic approaches to research that contribute to scientific and technological excellence. Across the world, the group enables its customers, employees and collaborators, and members of societies at large to live, work and develop sustainably and confidently in the information technology space.
Unlocking Post Covid Tourism Potential Through Digital Transformation
BALI, Indonesia, July 10, 2020 — SpaceTravel, UnionPay International, and the Bali Tourism Promotion Board, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore, yesterday officially kicked off their partnership to offer BUBU, a lifestyle app for tourists in Bali. Singapore-based startup, SpaceTravel, will develop this app as this partnership hopes to embrace digitisation to bolster the Bali tourism industry through its recovery.
This partnership was announced at a webinar yesterday "Digitisation to Unlock Tourism Potential Post-Covid". The event was attended by His Excellency Ngurah Swajaya, the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to Singapore, Mr. Muhammad Neil El Himam, Director for Application & Governance of Digital Economy – Ministry of Tourism and Economy Creative of the Republic of Indonesia, Dr. Putu Saroyini, Vice-Chair Bali Tourism Promotion Board, Mr. Wenhui Yang, General Manager, UnionPay International (UPI) Southeast Asia, Mr .Ping Teck Huat, CEO of SpaceTravel Pte Ltd, and other distinguished guests.
BUBU is an all in one application that allows tourists to Bali to navigate, book accommodation, transport and look for merchant offers, whilst giving merchants the ability to gain insights about and reward consumers when they spend.
In his opening address, Ambassador Ngurah said that since the pandemic Covid-19, the government has developed and rolled out a comprehensive strategy for the development of the Indonesian Tourism in line with the Cleanliness, Health, and Safety (CHS) protocol.
"The plan to reopen is gradual and emphasizes the importance of developing confident, safety, and quality tourism. Reopening borders has been discussed in the ASEAN context," he said.
Following him, Mr. Neil El Himam shared with attendees several marketing strategies which tapped on digitisation to increase quality tourist visits to Indonesia in the future. This included Indonesia Care, which taps on VR, Big Data, and blockchain to promote virtual, seamless tourism to future tourists to Bali.
"While we don’t hope to replace the in person experience, tourists can now preview what they will be seeing on the trip before they embark on it," he remarked.
Similarly, Dr. Putu Saroyini stressed the use of mobile applications to engage the Chinese tourist market, which accounted for close to 20 percent of the country’s 18,000 daily visitors pre-Covid. Dr. Putu highlighted that the BUBU App taps on the human desire to gain rewards for their actions, which will encourage them to spend while travelling.
"This gamification feature will promote a higher user engagement, which I believe will make it the ideal choice for travellers when they come to Bali," she said.
This was a sentiment echoed by Mr. Ping, who urged offline businesses to be quick in adopting digitisation to reach out to potential tourists while observing safety.
"With the help of local tourism boards and UnionPay, we are able to engage these merchants directly and connect them with potential customers in a contactless and hygienic way," he said.
Mr. Wenhui Yang, General Manager of UPI Southeast Asia further added, "We are pleased to be part of this partnership, to bring more value to our Cardholders, merchant acquirers, and Bali merchants alike.
"This app makes it easier for tourists to not only find their way around Bali, but to easily find and pay for exciting merchant offers when visiting the famed island of the Gods," he said.
In Bali, the province’s success in fighting COVID-19 has resulted in the Indonesian government expressing interest in reopening its door on 11 September 2020. This has caused much excitement for industry players, who see this as an opportunity for business recovery and even growth.
UnionPay is accepted at almost all merchants in Bali now, and in many parts of Indonesia. UnionPay serves the world’s largest Card base of over 8 billion and is one of the fastest growing international payment networks, now accepted in 179 countries and regions.
SpaceTravel also plans to conduct other webinars like best practices for businesses to stay connected to consumers during this challenging time, dialogues with local businesses on how they pivoted to ensure the proper roll-out of the COVID-19 safe distancing measures, and training on tools across the Facebook platform.
Technical support for BUBU is provided by Huawei Cloud.
TOKYO, July 3, 2020 — Railgun: Spectrum Story was released by D-techno Co., Ltd on the App Store and Google Play on July 2, 2020.
Smartphone Application Railgun: Spectrum Story Now Available!
Railgun: Spectrum Story is an application in which you can enjoy video chatting with Mikoto Misaka, main character of the wildly popular anime A Certain Scientific Railgun.
The application has been released on the App Store and Google Play in 17 counties, including the United States and Canada.
The Video Chat system makes use of your phone’s camera to make it seem like you’re really chatting with Mikoto Misaka. Raising your Bond Rank with Mikoto by talking with her will unlock new conversations. Those conversations can even change depending on your choices and the time of day.
Enjoy all-new voice lines from Mikoto Misaka (CV: Rina Sato) recorded specially for the app. We hope you enjoy the fully voiced introduction.
-More than just a school uniform… Discover the rest of Mikoto’s wardrobe
Railgun: Spectrum Story App Description
While the app allows you to enjoy conversing with Mikoto in her school uniform, additional content* will let you dress her up in different outfits seen in the anime. Each outfit comes with its own special events and cutscenes, allowing for a wide variety of different video chats with Mikoto.
*Includes paid content.
-Messages and wake-up calls too
Look forward to messages sent by familiar characters from the anime. You may even receive a message from a certain someone.
And you can even set a time and receive a wake-up call from Mikoto herself.
-Introduction: A Certain Scientific Railgun T
A Certain Scientific Railgun T is the third season of the anime adaptation of A Certain Scientific Railgun, a manga spinoff of the popular A Certain Magical Index light novel series.
The story is beloved for the view it offers into the peaceful, occasionally hectic lives of Mikoto Misaka—a Level 5 esper also known as “Railgun”—and her esper friends.
Genre: Video Chat Adventure Compatible Operating Systems: iOS11 or newer, Android 6.0 or newer required. Official Website: https://railgun-spectrum.com/en/
ZUG, Switzerland, July 2, 2020 — Following the implementation of Apple recommendations, the Swiss company 4ARTechnologies launches the next version of the 4ARTapp, the art innovation that already has customers in over 60 countries, and has now successfully placed its cryptocurrency 4ARTcoin on the renowned BITTREX Global exchange in Liechtenstein.
Niko Kipouros, Founder and CEO, Photo: Michael Weber
4ARTechnologies is the first Startup to fulfill its ICO promises
With the placement on the exchange, 4ARTechnologies is the first company in the world to have successfully completed an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) with an existing product and whose cryptocurrency is listed on a trading exchange with a stable value.
The 4ARTcoin is the world’s first cryptocurrency for the art world. It will enable transactions between all art market participants, maximizing security and eliminating transaction or exchange losses. The digital currency further supports the digitization of the global art market, which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the shift of trade to borderless online platforms. In addition, customers of 4ARTechnologies can pay for services within the 4ARTapp using the 4ARTcoin and receive a 20 percent discount.
Since the demand for the 4ARTcoin will increase with the expanding use of the 4ARTapp in the art market, financial experts expect the value of the cryptocurrency will only become higher in the long-term. Currently, the 4ARTcoin can only be purchased and traded by investors on the BITTREX Global exchange.
About 4ARTechnologies
With the goal of protecting the cultural heritage of art for future generations and bringing the global art market into the digital age, 4ARTechnologies is setting a new digital standard for the art world. The company combines the blockchain with its patented technology and offers all art world participants more transparency, security and efficiency.
TIANJIN, China, June 26, 2020 — On the afternoon of June 23, the Fourth World Intelligence Congress kicked off in Media Theater, Tianjin. Wan Gang, Vice Chairman of CPPCC and Chairman of China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), attended the online opening ceremony. CPC Tianjin Committee Secretary Li Hongzhong addressed the congress. Li Xiaohong, President of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), congratulated the congress through video. Huai Jinpeng, Executive Vice Chairman of CAST, Zhang Guoqing, Mayor of Tianjin attended the meeting. Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul, Republic of Korea, delivered a speech via video. The congress was presided over by Gong Ke, Chairman of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations. 58.6 million people watched the cloud opening ceremony and theme summit at the same time on 40 live streaming websites and platforms, and the total number of views reached 392 million.
Venue of the Fourth World Intelligence Congress
Wan Gang pointed out that the congress is a high-end platform for artificial intelligence communication jointly created by Tianjin and CAST. We will open up big data, apply blockchain and innovate in cloud services during the pandemic prevention and control; promote the development of new industries, further drive the intelligent process and digitization of the entire industry chain, and continuously boost the close combination of artificial intelligence with real economy; create a new platform for employment, build an open source sharing platform, and forge the "Sci-Tech Innovation China" brand; continuously deepen basic research, build a world-class artificial intelligence development platform and industrial ecosystem; and promote international cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence.
Li Hongzhong said that Tianjin comprehensively promotes the strategic layout of the new generation artificial intelligence industry, and intelligent technology is becoming the core driving force for high-quality development in the city. Tianjin will take the initiative to embrace the new era of intelligence, push forward the construction of a pioneer city in the fourth industrial revolution, build itself into an innovative city in intelligent technology, an energization city of the intelligent industry, and an ecological city of intelligent development, continuously optimize its business environment, and strengthen cooperation in intelligence fields with various parties from home and abroad.
According to Li Xiaohong, Tianjin has embarked on a new way of innovation-driven development with the intelligence technology industry as the lead, and Tianjin Intelligent Port shows a promising future.
Park Won Soon said that this year is a crucial year for the construction of 5G networks in Tianjin. He hoped Seoul and Tianjin will strengthen communications and share experience on the construction of intelligence industrial infrastructures.
At the theme summit, representatives from the global intelligence technology industry and academia delivered speeches on site or via video accesses. Among them include Gao Wenjiu, academician of CAE, Ma Huateng, Chairman of the Board of Tencent, Max Tegmark, tenured professor at the MIT Department of Physics, Yang Yuanqing, Chairman of Lenovo Group, Yang Xu, Global Vice President of Intel Corporation, Edmund Phelps, laureate of Nobel Economics Award, Wang Jian, Chairman of the Technical Committee of Alibaba Group, and Raj Reddy, foreign academician at CAE and winner of Turing Award.
Themed on Intelligence New Era: Innovation, Energization and Ecology, the Fourth World Intelligence Congress applied the modes of "meetings, exhibitions, contests and intelligence experience" to hold six cloud events namely, cloud promotion, cloud release, cloud bilateral talk, cloud intelligence experience, cloud intelligence technology exhibition, world intelligent driving challenge contest, "Fifth Space" intelligent safety competition, Tianjin "Haihe Talents" Entrepreneurial Competition, as well as 13 cloud parallel forums, cloud and on-site contract signing activities.
– IFS recognized for completeness of vision and ability to execute
LONDON, June 25, 2020 — IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announces that IFS has been named a Visionary in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises* for its extended ERP platform IFS Applications™.
To be included in this report, vendors like IFS had to meet requirements on product or service, customer experience, operations, and geographic strategy. IFS was proud to be evaluated.
IFS is the cloud ERP vendor of choice for some of the world’s leading businesses across industry verticals such as manufacturing, service management, aerospace and defense, energy, utilities and resources, and engineering, construction and infrastructure. Some of the most recent customers include leading French waste management group Séché Environnement, world-leading supplier of advanced spring wire Suzuki Garphyttan, liquefied natural gas industry leader Höegh LNG, and leading producer of batteries for the aerospace and defense sector EaglePicher. IFS cloud and SaaS revenue for FY 2019 increased 56% versus the same period of 2018 (excluding Astea and WorkWave revenue).
"Our singular focus is to deliver products that create value for our customers throughout their entire lifecycle, whether in manufacturing, asset management, supply chain management, after-sales service management or any combination of these functions," IFS Chief Product Officer Christian Pedersen said. "We are concentrating and accelerating our investments to power intelligent and autonomous enterprises on a scale we haven’t seen before. We are proud to offer proven industry solutions in whatever way makes sense for our customers: natively in the cloud or on-premises. We are very pleased to be acknowledged by Gartner in this report, which we see as a testament to our unwavering commitment to customer value and choice."
IFS’s business platform extends across full-scale ERP capabilities including financials, HR, supply chain and project management, all fully integrated with best-in-class support for enterprise asset management (EAM), and service management and realized through a beautiful user experience. Global leaders in industries such as manufacturing, aerospace & defense, energy & utilities, engineering & construction, and service provision trust IFS’s cloud solutions to deliver better business outcomes.
*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Product-Centric Enterprises, Tim Faith, Duy Nguyen, Dennis Torii, Paul Schenck, Christian Hestermann, 22 June 2020
** Gartner "Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management," Jim Robinson, April 16, 2019.
*** Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Gartner or its affiliates.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
For more information, please contact: Lyndsey Rojas IFS Director of Communications Phone: +1-888-437-4968 press@ifs.com
XIAMEN, China, June 25, 2020 — Blue Hat Interactive Entertainment Technology (“Blue Hat” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: BHAT), a producer, developer and operator of augmented reality (“AR”) interactive entertainment games, toys and educational materials in China, today announced that it has partnered with Xiamen Xing Meng Wei Lai Culture Media Co. LTD (“Xing Meng Wei Lai“) , a leading Chinese multi-channel network (“MCN”) and internet content development agency, to build Direct-to-Consumer (“DTC”) social content marketing channels via short videos and live streaming. Through the partnership, Blue Hat expects to gradually release its product line on various popular short video and live streaming platforms, including Douyin (TikTok).
In recent years, content-driven e-commerce has been surging in China. Taobao Live, Alibaba Group’s dedicated livestreaming channel, thrived in 2019 with livestreaming-led transactions growing over 150% for three consecutive years. Live streaming has become one of the fastest growing forms of e-commerce in China with over 500 million Chinese users. A study by iiMedia Research shows that the market size of Chinese live streaming e-commerce reached RMB 433.8 billion ($61.5 billion) in 2019, and is projected to double to RMB867,6 billion ($123 billion) in 2020. In the past, the majority of toy product sales came from the offline market. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the amount of time parents and children interact at home on a daily basis. Accordingly, Blue Hat has been taking initiatives to shift its marketing focus to produce more social media and live stream content.
Based on Blue Hat’s product line, application scenarios and interactive features, Xing Meng Wei Lai intends to provide services from conception to execution, including customized planning for live streaming events, design and launch of online stores, and additional content-driven e-commerce promotions.
“Establishing a short video live streaming DTC sales model is a milestone for Blue Hat because it not only serves to increase our brand awareness, but also to broaden our market reach,” commented Mr. Xiaodong Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Blue Hat. “We believe that combining the power of short video live streaming with the reach of standard e-commerce platforms will be an important driver of Blue Hat’s online sales looking forward. With our comprehensive online and offline sales network, we believe we are building future revenue growth for our products.”
About Blue Hat
Blue Hat Interactive Entertainment Technology is a producer, developer and operator of AR interactive entertainment games and toys in China, including interactive educational materials, mobile games, and toys with mobile game features. The Company’s interactive entertainment platform creates unique user experiences by connecting physical items to mobile devices, which creates a rich visual and interactive environment for users through the integration of real objects and virtual scenery. Distinguished by its own proprietary technology, Blue Hat aims to create an engaging, interactive and immersive community for its users. For more information, please visit the Company’s investor relations website at http://ir.bluehatgroup.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains 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. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain as they are based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the Company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in this release and matters set in the Company’s SEC filings. These risks and uncertainties could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.
Contacts:
Lexie Zhang Blue Hat Interactive Entertainment Technology Phone: +86 (592) 228-0010 Email: ir@bluehatgroup.net
Nationwide deployed QR code tracing system would be effective in case of second surge of COVID-19
SEOUL, South Korea, June 25, 2020 — A cybersecurity startup and a member company of the Born2Global Centre, swlDch suggests dynamic, unidirectional QR code technology that can encourage wider user adoption as well as protect user privacy.
Strict measures are eased as the number of COVID-19 cases is falling. However, concerns remain that further surges of cases may be on the horizon. Even countries with effective strategies have seen second wave spikes and clusters of cases. So when the World Health Organization says the virus may be here to stay, nations need to understand that they will experience new cases. The challenge is how to predict, track and handle them. It is crucial to keep test and trace momentum to manage the epidemic in a timely manner. Under this circumstance, many governments try to adopt contact-tracing app on a national scale. In the UK, a new NHS contact-tracing app will be in place. The app allows smartphones to track every other device they have come into contact with, exchanging anonymous IDs using Bluetooth signal. Once the case is confirmed, it then informs other users in close contact through the app.
South Koreais taking a slightly different approach. They focus on tracking visitors at high-risk facilities by adopting a QR Code based electronic registration system. This became compulsory because South Korean authorities have experienced considerable difficulties in their epidemiological investigation of the night club outbreak in May. Much of the information on handwritten visitor logs was found to be false or incomplete. From 10 June, visitors to those indoor venues such as nightclubs, Karaoke clubs, and gyms will be required to use an app that generates a one-time personalized QR code that can be scanned at the door. Utilizing QR code technology is basically a tokenization that helps to collect visitors’ information and recall the information in case of an emergency.
However, this tokenization technology is likely to encounter a problem of limited coverage that is disrupting the national roll-out. Since it requires an active network connection for generating tokens, visitors who use entertainment venues located in the basement often experience serious latency during the code generation process. In addition, the more device connected to a network, the larger its attack surface grows, making easier for hackers to infiltrate the network. This can bring serious consequences like a breach of personal data. Some may question why individuals should bear the cost of mobile data for a service they are reluctant to use. On the other hand, the current system also causes technical challenges to QR code providers. They are required to be equipped with a great level of server capacity and computing resources in order to handle massive overhead from storing to encrypting/decrypting the tokens and information.
How current QR code tracing works? How OTAC QR code tracing works?
swIDch‘s OTAC (One Time Authentication Code) technology can be an alternative solution, tackling the network connection issue of the QR code tracking system. This patented algorithm of OTAC enables to generate dynamic QR code on visitors’ smartphone even in off-the-network environment. Since OTAC does not require an active network connection, it can secure visitors information from hacking. In addition, it removes friction from user journeys by reducing heavy network traffic for generating tokens and server loads for persisting token details. In other words, system operators can save significant resources for processing tokens. As a result, the government can operate the system with larger coverage with less technical challenges.
The nationwide rollout is the key to efficiently operate the tracking system. Even though it is compulsory by the government, frictionless use of the system should be supported to encourage citizen’s participation. swIDch believes that OTAC can increase adoption and use of the QR code tracking system by providing uninterrupted, safe, and easy use of the system. The company actively proposes the solution to other states typically in developing countries where a network connection is unstable. Inspired by UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the company is willing to distribute its technology for free to any other country upon its requirement to tackle the global COVID-19 crisis together.
swIDch Ltd. (www.swidch.com) is a cybersecurity start-up based in London with R&D center in South Korea. The company helps businesses to identify and authenticate its users through our patented algorithm, one-time authentication code that generates in a networkless environment, to tackle problems of identity theft and CNP frauds. It is a security feature for uninterrupted use of devices by combining user identification and authentication steps into one only with the dynamic authentication code. Since its foundation in 2018, the company has chosen for the leading accelerator programmes in Europe and Asia – LORCA, Global Entrepreneur Programme, and Accenture FinTech Innovation Lab. Furthermore, swIDch gained global recognition for its innovative authentication technology, selected for XTC (Extreme Tech Challenge) finalist, winner of the hottest Cybertech Company from Europas 2020, and the annual list of the world’s most innovative Cybertech Company ‘Cybertech100’.
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.
StaffAny joins the fight against COVID-19 by waiving CICO Global’s download fees till end-2020
SINGAPORE, June 23, 2020 — Singapore start-up StaffAny, which offers workforce management tech solutions, has developed and launched a new mobile app, called CICO Global (Clock-in, Clock-out). As many regional economies are slowly emerging from lockdowns, businesses are carefully reopening. The app helps regional businesses and their employees reopen in an efficient and safe manner by leveraging digital solutions to encourage businesses to easily employ safety measures, such as contact tracing, safe distancing and staggered employee hours. CICO Global is ideal for businesses that require the recording of staff attendance (in particular, part-timers or hourly workers), such as F&B outlets, convenience shops, and retailers like supermarkets.
StaffAny CICO clock in and temperature logs mobile app flow
To help the Asia Pacific business community fight against COVID-19, StaffAny is waiving CICO’s download fees for regional businesses until the end of 2020[1]. CICO is also in line with Singapore’s recently announced Fortitude Budget as it helps businesses use digital solutions to reopen in a safe manner and encourages workers to comply with post-Circuit Breaker measures.
“We first developed CICO as the ‘lite’ version of our original StaffAny solution and launched it in Singapore to help businesses here reopen, providing employers with a peace of mind that their staff was complying with our local Circuit Breaker measures. We were greatly heartened by the number of sign-ups – hundreds in just a short period of time. We wanted to find a way to extend CICO and help the regional community to continue operations smoothly and safely, as we know many companies – especially SMEs – have been badly hit by COVID-19,” said Janson Seah, co-founder, StaffAny.
CICO Global is a workforce management mobile application that employees and their managers can use in the following ways:
Automated timesheets – Employees use CICO Global to verify when they enter and leave the business. After downloading CICO Global on their mobile phones, employees use the app to scan a QR code based at the work premise. CICO Global verifies the individual, time of arrival and departure, as well as the geo-location of their mobile. CICO Global then automatically tabulates the number of hours registered at work, including overtime. This removes the need for manual clock-ins (which can be easily mis-recorded) or outdated punch-cards. The contactless system also reduces the chances of any virus transmission. When employees clock in, they can also make a health declaration to confirm they have not travelled abroad recently or been in contact with a COVID-19 patient[2].
Dashboard for visibility – Managers no longer need to visit each outlet to verify staff have clocked in for work. Using the CICO Global dashboard, they can easily verify attendance and clock-in/out times. By tracking staff properly, managers can ensure staggered hours and that employees are not being cross-deployed to different outlets.
Notifications – When assigned staff does not clock-in, CICO Global notifies the manager so that necessary action can be taken. Notifications are also provided to employees to remind them of an upcoming shift. This helps prevent lateness and no-shows.
Record keeping – All records are within the app and can be easily exported. This eliminates time-consuming paperwork for multiple records, such as health declaration, temperature taking, or clock-in/out times.
“Clocking in for work was previously quite tedious – multiple clock-ins, signing many health declaration forms, and all the messy paperwork that comes with it. A couple of times, an employee would accidentally miss out on something and my team would need to constantly check. Now with CICO, things are simpler, faster, and neater. I have more time to focus on managing operations, in particular, sorting out deliveries and our new take-away initiative,” said Walden Ting, Operations Manager Brotzeit, a German bar and restaurant in Singapore.
See Annex A for details on some of CICO’s pioneering users.
Setting up CICO Global is simple, instant, and does not require any hardware. Businesses simply log on to CICO Global (https://www.staffany.com/cicoglobal) and sign up. Regional businesses that sign up by 31 July can access CICO for free till the end of this year (with StaffAny waiving the regular fee of S$39 per month). After signing up, businesses can start instantly by adding/importing their employees’ details in bulk. Employees will then receive an invitation from their employer via SMS to download the StaffAny CICO app and they would be able to clock in immediately. Businesses that continue using the app will pay the regular fee after the end of this year.
“As economies ease their lockdowns and businesses resume, we want to minimise chances of a surge in the number of cases of COVID-19. Because of this, it makes sense that some measures stay in place, including safe distancing, staggered working hours, no cross-deployment of staff, and contact tracing. This is why StaffAny will keep providing CICO Global for free to regional businesses until the end of the year. Hopefully, this will help everyone to stay safe and efficient at the workplace, as regional economies start to open up for business again,” explained Janson Seah.
Set up in 2018, StaffAny is a Singapore start-up company that aims to connect human resources and operations within organisations, for greater efficiency, productivity, and better communications among staff. The company is supported by NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore, incubated at BLOCK71 Singapore, and founded by a team of alumni from the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.
[1] Waiver of CICO Global fees until end-2020 is done as long as businesses sign up before 31 July 2020.
[2] The health declaration is optional. Should employees wish, the health declaration form can be removed.
About StaffAny
StaffAny is a workforce management solution for companies who engage hourly workers. The most common way to manage hourly workers today is to do it via clunky spreadsheets. The process is time-consuming and tedious and we believe more needs to be done.
At StaffAny, we make time for businesses to do what matters. We empower today’s connected workforce with a data-driven approach to managing hourly workers. We have brought smiles to hundreds of paying locations via our integrated scheduling and time tracking Software as a Service (SaaS).
Our job today is to connect HR and ops internally within organisations, and our vision is to enable businesses to be connected to the leaner workforce of tomorrow. For more information, please visit https://www.staffany.com/.
Annex A: Pioneering businesses using CICO
Juan Valdez Cafe
Juan Valdez Cafe, a global coffeehouse chain originally from Colombia, South America, has seven outlets with 30 employees in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. Since Malaysia’s Movement Control Order (MCO) was imposed on 18 March 2020 to curb the country’s COVID-19 transmission, it has been tough on F&B businesses as they could only do takeaways and deliveries. Although Juan Valdez Cafe’s revenue took a hit, the restaurant adapted its business and took the opportunity to give back to the community. It swiftly got on food delivery mobile apps like Beepit, foodpanda, and GrabFood, expanded its menu offerings, and started its own initiative called “Support Our Local Heroes” to distribute free drinks to frontliners such as healthcare workers, delivery riders, and news reporters. It also launched local favourites at affordable prices to let Malaysians continue enjoying these dishes while supporting local businesses and micro-entrepreneurs during this period of social distancing.
“It is crucial to make sure that our employees comply with all safety measures and come to work healthily, as this in turn helps us fulfill our responsibility towards our customers whose safety is our top concern. Originally, we were using a manual clock-in system where employees had to record attendance, take and log their temperature on a separate form and declare health status manually on paper upon arriving at work. This was time-consuming, inefficient and not hygienic with unavoidable surface contact made. Keeping these paper records was bulky and in order to have full sight of employees’ attendance, we needed to visit each outlet. CICO Global has helped in consolidating real-time data logged from all seven outlets onto a single platform, and gives me full visibility over employees’ attendance and overtime. Furthermore, it digitalises temperature and attendance logs in a contactless manner. CICO Global has saved us time, allowed us to become more efficient and have better control over operations and staff allocation. Although COVID-19 has affected our business, being adaptable and open to innovation has allowed us to improve and keep operations smooth, even with the additional measures that we have to comply with, due to the lifting of the conditional MCO,” said Mr Khalip Latif, Director, Juan Valdez Cafe, Klang Valley, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Starting in 2017 as a cafe based at the National University of Singapore (NUS), Foreword Coffee Roasters had grown to three outlets staffed by a team of 20. The company is a social enterprise, hiring individuals with disabilities and special needs, as the company recognises their potential and provides inclusive employment and training opportunities within the F&B industry. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Singapore, Foreword Coffee Roasters was forced to close two of its outlets. The remaining cafe only handles take-away orders and is located at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation in Tan Tock Seng Hospital. To boost its business, Foreword Coffee Roasters has expanded its online shop which offers handcrafted bottled coffee and other products.
“Healthcare safety has always been paramount for the F&B sector. Previously, employees had to perform SafeEntry whenever they passed any of the entry points at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, log in again later when they reached work, and then log into SafeEntry which was a hassle. Because of this, using CICO was convenient in helping to save time and reduce stress. We have seen a significant increase in our online sales since Circuit Breaker measures came into effect. Due to the popular demand of our bottled coffees, we have just launched a new subscription model, which offers customers discounts when they purchase in bulk. So, using CICO has been a great help for me, as it allows me to monitor who is on-site preparing the drinks, even when I’m not at the cafe,” said Lim Wei Jie, Founder and Director, Foreword Coffee Roasters.
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the F&B sector, and many companies have had to adapt quickly to the digital era to engage with their customers. Good Luck Beerhouse developed an online website, to allow customers to order take-aways from them, in particular their craft beers, which they sell in a 640ml take-away container. Owner Kevin Ngan realised that many of his F&B neighbours along Haji Lane would be in a similar predicament. He invited them onboard his online platform, and together they provide joint deliveries under the ‘Solidarity on Haji Lane’ campaign, so customers can enjoy a range of food items – from gourmet burgers to oysters, dim sum, and prawn mee – paired with their favourite craft beer.
“We’ve had to completely change our understanding of how the F&B environment operates. We kept our team lean, refined operations and spent hours designing new campaigns and fine-tuning our propositions, so the company could survive. And while the additional revenue generated from our ‘Solidarity on Haji Lane’ campaign has been marginal, the solidarity and support for one another is absolutely priceless! Because of this extra work required to keep the business running, we’re definitely grateful for the time saved with the integration of CICO and SafeEntry. Not only is this time saved, but there is greater peace of mind that we are complying with the various measures to stay safe, as we stay open,” said Kevin Ngan, Owner, Good Luck Beerhouse.
Like most businesses, Phoon Huat – a company that provides baking ingredients and supplies – has been impacted by COVID-19. However, in an unusual turn of events, it has actually led to an increase in B2C sales, as more people are choosing to bake as they stay at home. This has resulted in long queues for certain outlets, and Phoon Huat has had to deploy manpower to help out with queue management. The company currently has 380 employees and began using StaffAny’s enterprise solution mid- 2019 at one of their new outlets, to better manage staff rostering.
“Our employees – in particular their health and safety – are our utmost priority. When Singapore raised our risk assessment to DORSCON Orange, we rolled out StaffAny’s contactless time and attendance taking functions to our headquarters, which also includes our production and logistics operations, to reduce the need for staff to make physical contact when clocking in or out. StaffAny’s solution has been great – we can access all reports, and plan shifts more efficiently. Our original plan was to use StaffAny to get accurate timesheet data, but we are now using StaffAny for data analytics. This is especially useful, as we’ve had to adapt to a change in our business model, after seeing a significant increase in retail sales, and at the same time a drop in B2B sales. In addition, we’ve also had to put in place two teams working at different times in our production and logistics operations, as one of the safe distancing measures in the workplace. And because StaffAny integrates with SafeEntry, it has definitely made checking-in and out much more convenient for our staff. Together with StaffAny, we are doing our best to coordinate efforts, together with the whole nation, to combat COVID-19 together,” said Mr Lee Tjen Chew, CFO, Phoon Huat.
