2023 CTBC FINTECH SUMMIT PRESENTS PROMISING PERSPECTIVES FOR TAIWAN’S FINTECH INDUSTRY

Business Weekly and CTBC Holding extended a special invitation to Global fintech trend development specialist Chris Skinner and other industry, government, and academic specialists to share their views on fintech trends in Taiwan. (Photo: Business Wire)

KUALA LUMPUR, July 28 (Bernama) -- The 2023 CTBC Fintech Summit, being the first of its kind, showcased the vibrant innovation scenes in the local fintech ecosystem and was a great success with over 2,500 in-person and online participants attending the event.

Co-organised by Business Weekly Taiwan and CTBC Financial Holding Co Ltd (CTBC Holding), the summit focused on topics of financial innovation and sustainable development with “Fintech for Good” as the theme.

According to a statement, Business Weekly Taiwan and CTBC Holding extended a special invitation to global fintech trend development specialist, Chris Skinner to share his views on the future trends in fintech with participation from other industry, government and academic specialists, during the event.

In his opening remarks, CTBC Holding President, James Chen said CTBC strives hard from multiple angles to comply with the government’s policy to promote the digital transformation of Taiwan’s financial sector, bringing the country in line with international banking standards.

Meanwhile, Skinner had insightful discussions on how financial organisations can consolidate technology and sustainability, and believes that “banks aren’t going to disappear.”

During the panel discussion, CTBC Holding Chief Technology Officer, Titan Chia explored various topics with National Chengchi University Fintech Research Center Director, Jennifer L. Wang; Microsoft Taiwan General Manager, Sean Pien; and McKinsey & Company Partner, Charles Tan.

The second half of the summit was dedicated to remarking on innovative results. CTBC has come out with six scenarios for use in tandem with the exclusive Apple Messages for Business app.

The company also extended an invitation to Carl Wegner, Chief Executive Officer of Contour, the digital trade finance platform to give a talk explaining CTBC Holding’s experience in pairing with 20 international banks to create the world’s largest blockchain trade and finance platform.

In addition, Carl-Johan von Uexkul, Chief Commercial Officer of Doconomy, the green tech startup, was also invited to discuss the carbon footprint-reducing services performance of CTBC’s personalised services and Renewables Trading Blockchain Platform.

As the partner of CTBC Holding, Business Weekly Taiwan is happy to see the advancement of its future-facing fintech technology as it strides towards sustainable development, receiving international recognition and accolades.

-- BERNAMA

NARDELLO & CO ESTABLISHES SINGAPORE OFFICE WITH VETERAN ADVISOR STEVEN WESTERVELT AS HEAD

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) -- Global investigations firm, Nardello & Co has launched an office in Singapore, the firm’s eighth worldwide, to be led by Managing Director, Steven Westervelt.

According to a statement, with the establishment of its location in Singapore, the firm continues to build upon its reputation as the premier investigations firm in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

Westervelt is the latest high-profile hire for the firm, which last month added Chief Security Officer Timothy Gallagher, a 20-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Joining Westervelt in Nardello & Co’s Singapore office is Max Abbott, who leads the firm’s Political Risk & Strategic Intelligence practice for the APAC region.

“With corporations, organisations and high-net worth individuals increasingly shifting their Asian operations to Singapore, Steven will play a vital role in advising our clients in this region.

“He joins the formidable team we have established in Asia, including Max Abbott, and will help expand our footprint in this important market,” said Nardello & Co Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Dan Nardello.

Meanwhile, Westervelt said: “Nardello & Co’s global reputation, capabilities and calibre of talent are unrivalled. Having spent nearly my entire career in Asia, I look forward to leveraging my expertise to help clients navigate the business opportunities and risks in Singapore.”

As office head, Westervelt brings extensive investigations and advisory expertise, including managing significant multi-jurisdictional due diligence investigations and other complex matters.

Prior to joining Nardello & Co, Westervelt was a Director and head of the Singapore office for a boutique investigations firm.

-- BERNAMA

I SQUARED CAPITAL DEVELOPS SOLAR PLANTS UP TO 1 GIGAWATT IN MALAYSIA

KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 (Bernama) -- I Squared Capital, a global infrastructure investment manager, announced its portfolio company, HEXA Renewables, has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop up to one gigawatt of hybrid solar photovoltaic projects in the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia.

In a statement, I Squared Capital said the project is the first to be announced under Malaysia’s National Energy Transition Roadmap, which targets that 70 per cent of the country’s energy capacity be sourced from renewables by 2050.

The memorandum is signed with UEM Group Berhad (UEM), a wholly owned subsidiary and the green investment platform of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia; and ITRAMAS Corporation (ITRAMAS), the largest vertically integrated solar power plant developer, EPCC and service provider in Malaysia.

“As a pioneer in investing in the renewable and Energy Transition sector with nearly 5.8 gigawatts of renewable assets around the world, we are excited to bring our expertise in green power generation to help catalyse the energy transition in Malaysia, an IPEF founding member,” said I Squared Capital Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, Gautam Bhandari.

Meanwhile, I Squared Capital Senior Partner, Harsh Agrawal said: “We will continue to seek out similar climate focused infrastructure projects to support the global energy transition, including in emerging markets and countries party to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, pursuant to our partnership with the DFC.”

HEXA Renewables’ commitment to this project follows I Squared Capital’s agreement with the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to partner in financing sustainable infrastructure projects in emerging markets, including those party to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), such as Malaysia.

The project will advance I Squared Capital and the DFC’s shared ambition to support inclusive economic development through climate change mitigation.

HEXA and UEM-ITRAMAS will collaborate on the planning, structuring, off-take arrangements, construction and operation of the project.

HEXA is also leveraging its established track record in the energy transition space to support the development of Malaysia’s energy transition related sectors including renewable energy, grid stability, battery energy storage system, clean fuels and energy efficiency.

-- BERNAMA

CHINA TRADING DESK LAUNCHES COMPREHENSIVE CHINA TRAVEL DASHBOARD AMID RISING OUTBOUND TRAVEL

SINGAPORE, July 25 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- China Trading Desk, a premier provider of marketing and advertising solutions for the Chinese market, is proud to announce the release of our game-changing tool - the China Travel Dashboard. Built to provide unparalleled insights into the evolving attitudes, expectations, and behaviours of outbound travellers from China, this dashboard is born out of our deep understanding of the Chinese market, a sector that has witnessed a remarkable upward trajectory in recent years.

Our newly launched China Travel Dashboard is designed to act as a compass, helping our clients navigate the complexity of this dynamic market. The dashboard brings a treasure trove of critical information to your fingertips, transforming it into a must-have tool for formulating and executing digital marketing campaigns aimed at Chinese tourists.

Here's a quick overview of the unique modules the China Travel Dashboard encompasses:

1. Travel Sentiment: This module features an exhaustive quarterly survey helmed by China Trading Desk, assessing the travel inclinations of potential Chinese outbound travellers, thereby providing a snapshot of emerging trends.
2. Pre-Trip: Developed in partnership with VariFlight, this module delivers real-time travel data including daily airport traffic flow from all airports in China to a selected group of 25 countries around the world, providing a glimpse into preferred destinations.
3. In-Trip: Partnering with UnionPay, this module offers an exclusive window into Chinese tourists' spending patterns and preferences while they're immersed in their travel experiences.

Subramania Bhatt, Founder & CEO of China Trading Desk, stated, "We are thrilled to bring this comprehensive tool to our esteemed clients. The China Travel Dashboard is a solid reflection of our relentless commitment to staying on the cutting edge of providing data that's most relevant for our advertisers and agencies. As the outbound travel market in China continues to expand, we are confident this tool will prove to be indispensable in aiding businesses and advertisers to effectively understand, reach, and engage with Chinese tourists."

The dashboard’s data allows businesses to formulate personalized marketing strategies, optimize ad scheduling, undertake destination marketing, predict upcoming trends, and facilitate product development. Notably, several renowned brands including a global luxury conglomerate and the world's largest hospitality chain, have beta-tested the Dashboard and acclaimed it as the most comprehensive tool to understand Chinese travel insights and behaviour.

For more information visit the China Travel Dashboard.

About China Trading Desk:

China Trading Desk is a marketing technology company enabling brands & agencies to help advertise in China & across the world. Our suite of products focuses on China advertising and Chinese travellers and enables advertisers to effectively reach out to their target audience. CTD works with some of the world’s most pioneering brands including Singapore Airlines, HSBC, LVMH Group, Qatar Airways, etc. We are headquartered in Singapore with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and affiliates in Dubai, London and New York. 

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EMPLOYERS REMAIN CONFIDENT HIRING BUSINESS SCHOOLS GRADUATE - GMAC SURVEY

KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- Employers remain confident in hiring graduates from business schools, despite unfavourable macroeconomic conditions and looming uncertainties, according to a survey of corporate recruiters released by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

A global association representing leading business schools, GMAC published findings from the 2023 survey exploring which skills employers think will characterise the future workplace, and how prepared they view candidates of Master of Business Administration (MBA) and business master’s degrees to be.

“The outlook among most employers indicates that business schools are on the right track preparing their graduates with the skills of current and growing importance to successfully navigate an information loaded and AI-affected world,” said GMAC Chief Executive Officer, Joy Jones in a statement.

Employers say communication, data analysis and strategy are currently among the most important skills for business school graduates, and most say their importance will continue to grow.

Notably, the United States (US) employers interested in tech skills highly value their future importance but think business school graduates could be better prepared on specific technological capabilities.

The survey also revealed that US recruiters, along with their colleagues in the finance and accounting sectors, are also more critical of candidates’ preparedness to leverage some important communication skills compared to other regions and think business schools could better build their graduates’ intercultural skills.

Overall, employers tend to believe business school can offer an advantage over talent without a graduate management education. Employers from Asia and Fortune 500 companies have a more optimistic view of the abilities and advancement potential of business school graduates, but also are more likely to recruit more heavily from “leading” business schools.

The survey also examines how macroeconomic conditions are influencing hiring and salary decisions across industries and around the globe.

Encouragingly, even after accounting for inflation, MBA salaries in 2023 in the US are expected to be higher than 2022 projections, while industry and business master’s salaries may drop.

-- BERNAMA

TAYLOR'S FASHION DESIGN TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS REDEFINE FASHION NORMS AT 'THE SHOW' - A FASHION FUSION SHOWCASE

 

SUBANG JAYA, July 20 (Bernama) -- Taylor’s University in academic partnership with Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week (KLFW) recently hosted 'THE SHOW' - A Fashion Fusion Showcase, an experimentation and intersection of art, fashion, sustainability, and technology. The showcase by the talented Bachelor of Fashion Design Technology (Honours) programme students presented a total of 39 innovative creations that challenged traditional fashion norms, leaving the audience made up of fashion enthusiasts, industry professionals, members of the media, and the public in awe.

“Through vivid styling that transcends cultures and geographical boundaries, 'THE SHOW' proved to be a transformative experience for all who attended. The Fashion Design Technology students harnessed their unique ability to integrate cutting-edge technology into their designs with an artistic vision. These ingenious designs emphasised the fusion of fashion and technology, pushing the envelope of creativity and craftsmanship to redefine the future of the industry,” said Maria Sandra Wijaya, Programme Director of Taylor’s Bachelor of Fashion Design Technology.

The event unveiled four fashion collection concepts – Organic Geometry that fuses materials and colours to form shapes and structures of garments, Layered Fashion that layers every part of the textile, Unconventional Fashion using mixed media art to create texture and depth, and lastly, Genderless Morphe which transforms into conversible designs.

Professor Dr Pradeep Nair, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer of Taylor’s University said the Fashion Design Technology degree offered by Taylor's Design School is designed differently from other fashion programmes. “'THE SHOW' is a prime example of how we incorporate high-end technologies like body scanners and an impact-based approach into our fashion technology degree to graduate world-class designers aligned to the triple bottom line concept of sustaining people, planet, and prosperity.”

A Show and Tell Press Segment was held at Mayamode, Malaysia’s first co-working fashion studio prior to the showcase to present the nation’s first 3D Fashion Pod. The 3D body scanning technology aids precision body scanning and digital measurements, increases production speed, eliminates physical samples, lowers sample making cost, and reduces material waste – powering a more sustainable fashion production process.

This was made possible through the partnership with Puspamara Sdn Bhd, a leading garment manufacturing company since the 1970s that aims to meet evolving fashion processes following extensive product development research. “We are now moving forward as the leader in digitised garment development using the 3D body scanning and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) technologies,” said Ibrahim Aiman bin Tan Sri Mohd Nadzmi, Director of Puspamara Sdn Bhd.

The integration of the 3D Fashion Pod and the CLO 3D technology, a CAD tool will further complement the top-notch facilities at Mayamode, empowering virtual fashion and made-to-measure clothing.
 
Apart from empowering education institutions to infuse technology in the education sphere, the 3D Fashion Pod will also complement the National Size Malaysia Campaign. Led by Ts Dr Norsaadah Binti Zakaria, Research Fellow at The Design School, and with the interest of the Department of Standards Malaysia under the purview of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the campaign aims to analyse and collect Malaysians body data measurements to develop the first national standard sizing system that will benefit Malaysian consumers and the garment industry.

Leading up to 'THE SHOW', students from the Bachelor of Interactive Spatial Design (Honours) were given the opportunity to collaborate with the Fashion Design Technology students and industry partner Mitoworld by Virtualtech Frontier to create Malaysia’s first Metaverse Fashion Show called MAYAmode – taking inspiration from the official language of Malaysia “Maya” that denotes virtual and in the same capacity of the programme’s identity, Mayamode Fashion Studio.

"We are ecstatic to join forces with these talented students to bring MAYAmode into existence. This extraordinary metaverse showcases top notch facilities and technology together with an exclusive retail pop-up for Taylor's fashion label, MAYAMODE, one which also includes an impressive display of past projects crafted by Taylor’s Bachelor of Fashion Design Technology students. Collaborating with these visionary individuals, we are charting the course for the future of fashion, embracing innovation, and pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in the digital realm," said Jason Low, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Virtualtech Frontier, creators of Mitoworld.

Taking steps to future-proof graduates in a demanding labour landscape, Taylor's University continues to be a trailblazer in fashion education, empowering students to embrace technological advancements and explore uncharted territories. 'THE SHOW' served as a true testament to the university's commitment in nurturing the next generation of fashion leaders through education excellence and in shaping the future of the fashion industry, equipping students with the right skills and experience to develop the agility and creativity to tackle complex problems.

'THE SHOW' - A Fashion Fusion Showcase saw collaborations with SUB International Beauty School to provide hair and makeup services, ZALORA sponsoring footwear, OXWHITE for guest gift vouchers, Art of Botanicals Cocktail set up by Bombay Sapphire, and a long-term partnership with Komuniti Tukang Jahit to award a student with the Innovative Sustainable Design Award across the four fashion concepts.

'THE SHOW' also witnessed interdisciplinary collaborations across schools under the Faculty of Social Sciences and Leisure Management through captivating performances, canape style dishes served, and the edible art sculpture exhibition made entirely from chocolate, icings, and food materials.

For more information on Taylor’s University’s Fashion Design Technology programme, please visit the link here.

Source: Taylor’s University Sdn Bhd 

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ALPINE INVESTORS COMPLETES OVERSUBSCRIBED 9TH FUND AT US$4.5 BLN

KUALA LUMPUR, July 13 (Bernama) -- Alpine Investors (Alpine), a Certified B Corp people-driven private equity firm announced the completion of fundraising for Alpine Investors IX (Fund IX), reaching the fund’s hard cap of US$4.5 billion in limited partner capital commitments. (US$1=RM4.61)

The fundraising for Fund IX launched with a target of US$3.75 billion and was oversubscribed, having received limited partner commitments from a diversified investor base of returning and new investors from the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

According to Alpine in a statement, Fund IX is double the size of Alpine’s previous fund, Alpine Investors VIII, which was similarly oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap of US$2.25 billion of limited partner commitments in August 2021.

Alpine plans to invest the capital for Fund IX in control buyouts of software and services businesses with total enterprise values of up to US$1 billion and focus on add-on acquisitions for high-performing platform investments.

Alpine Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Graham Weaver said the company is thrilled with this outcome, particularly in a very challenging fundraising environment.

“We started Alpine 22 years ago with the thesis that the secret to building companies was hiring and training world-class leaders. It is incredibly satisfying to think that treating people well and giving them opportunities to be their best selves at work has been the formula for our investing success.

“We are extremely grateful to have a wonderful group of like-minded investors and partners who have supported us along the way, and we are excited to continue this amazing journey together with them,” he said.

Alpine has been active in recent years across its software and services specialties through buyouts as well as the launch of several prominent platforms.

Notable investments include the successful expansion of ASG, Alpine’s software business; announcement of AlpineX’s professional education vertical and water services vertical; and formation of predictis, a data-enabled software platform launched in conjunction with the acquisition of AirDNA.

-- BERNAMA

FOSTERING A DIVERSE COMMUNITY: EMBRACING MULTICULTURALISM IN FOREST CITY

JOHOR, Malaysia, July 10 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forest City, a real estate project developed by Country Garden, is dedicated to promoting a vibrant and inclusive community. Two recent events, namely the Shoreline Morning Run and the Forest City Cup Junior Golf Tournament, exemplify Forest City's commitment to celebrating diversity.

The Shoreline Morning Run brings residents together from diverse cultural backgrounds with a shared passion for fitness and well-being. The event garnered a strong turnout, attracting participants from various countries along the scenic coastline. In addition, the Forest City Cup Junior Golf Tournament serves as proof of Forest City's commitment to multiculturalism. The tournament offers a platform for young athletes to learn from one another, showcase their skills, and experience fun while promoting cultural exchanges and mutual understanding.

Forest City boasts two world-class golf courses and has consistently been ranked among the "Top 100 Golf Courses in Asia" for four consecutive years. Among them, the Classic Golf Course was expertly designed by Mr. Liang Guokun, a Chinese golf course design master with more than 30 years of experience in golf course and garden design management. On the other hand, the Legacy Golf Course is an 18-hole international championship-level course jointly designed by golf champions Jack Nicklaus and his son Jack Nicklaus II. These meticulously planned courses offer golf enthusiasts strategically placed fairways and breathtaking views.

Furthermore, visitors can enjoy the luxurious accommodations the two five-star hotels provide, namely the Marina Hotel and the Golf Hotel. These two five-star hotels feature luxurious rooms and amenities, surrounded by lush greenery that seamlessly blends with the natural environment. Visitors can indulge in leisure facilities within the hotels while also experiencing a range of captivating outdoor activities. These hotels serve as a haven for both residents and visitors, further enhancing the overall living experience in Forest City.

Forest City proactively cultivates a thriving community, hosting a variety of engaging activities and offering residents and visitors a vibrant and immersive lifestyle experience. With the enrichment of life service stores, Forest City has further enhanced convenience for shopping and entertainment, providing people with an enriched and enjoyable environment. 

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BRITISH AI FIRM, QUANTEXA, COMMITS TO OVER £200M IN AI RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INVESTMENT BY 2027

Quantexa CEO outlines vision for investment in support of UK Government’s plan to make UK an AI Hub, which includes:

• £125M in new global investments aimed at accelerating enterprise and government agency’s ability to use trusted AI-enabled Decision Intelligence solutions
• £85M in dedicated UK investment will create over 170 new jobs in London AI Innovation Centre team
• Preview of Generative AI assistant shows how world-leading institutions will unlock the full potential of data to investigate risk and identify opportunity

LONDON and NEW YORK, July 10 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quantexa, a global leader in Decision Intelligence (DI) solutions for the public and private sectors, announced today that it will invest an additional £125M in the global artificial intelligence (AI) industry over the next three years to help clients advance the use of AI to protect, optimise, and grow their organisations. By 2027, Quantexa’s total global investment in AI will reach more than £200M.

The investment marks Quantexa’s continued advancements in AI with the preview of its Generative AI technology, Q Assist. Quantexa also furthered its commitment to advancing the company’s existing AI Stack to enable its growing global ecosystem of clients and partners to unlock new industry-specific use cases for financial services, insurance, telecommunications, healthcare, and in the public sector. Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform and suite of solutions for data management, customer intelligence, KYC, risk, fraud, and financial crime have been deployed in over 70 countries.

Analysis from University of Washington suggests this investment will boost the global AI industry by £600M as the multiplier effect is realised.

AI in Context: How Quantexa Augments and Automates Decision Intelligence with AI 

Preview of Generative AI Assistant Breaks New Ground
Built on Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform, the technology preview of Q Assist, a generative AI assistant, demonstrates the potential of using LLM’s to create an intuitive and conversational interface bringing new efficiencies for analysts working with data to identify risks as part of investigations. For organisations, the potential benefit is significant – as the AI assistant allows all analyst staff to become as effective as the most experienced investigators.

Q Assist is LLM agnostic and will allow clients to use their own proprietary, open source, or commercially available models including ChatGPT^TM, a leading LLM from OpenAI. Quantexa’s market-leading entity resolution, graph analytics, and scoring capabilities become turbo-charged when they can be queried with natural language questions and prompts in Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform.

Today, in a video showcase, Quantexa demonstrated one of what could become many potential use cases for Q Assist. The financial crime investigation scenario was chosen to show the potential in using natural language to query vast amounts of structured and unstructured data at scale, allowing even junior analysts to understand the complex data behind graph analytics and alerts. The preview also showed the ability to automate the generation of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and investigative summaries - possible in close to 100 languages – driving further efficiency in what is typically a manually intensive process and allowing more time to be redirected to strategic activities.

AI Throughout Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence Platform Delivers Business Value
Enterprises and government agencies are using Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence to become more effective and efficient at organising siloed, messy data to obtain 360-degree views of customers and suppliers to identify fraud, qualify eligibility for services, stop dangerous goods at borders, or optimise supply chains.

Quantexa is using three core principles to responsibly build out its AI Stack:

• Context-Based Learning: Just as humans require full context to make informed decisions, so does AI. Without context, even the smartest machine learning or deep learning algorithms lack accuracy to be deployed reliably. For example, it’s impossible for a person or AI model to know if a single bank transaction in isolation is money laundering. Quantexa builds true context by using data to create single views of people, organisations, places, and other entities and assembles them visually to show complex interactions between entities. This context is what enables a person or AI to make an accurate decision.
• Composite AI: Quantexa’s Composite AI Stack aggregates the outputs of many different techniques, including machine learning, natural language processing and deep learning. Combining these with input from subject matter experts, organisations can continually use analytics to improve decisioning to protect, optimise, and grow. Quantexa uses exclusive access to huge volumes of structured and unstructured industry data to train its AI and provides out-of-the-box open models, giving clients the ability to modify or create their own.
• Explainability and Trust: In the highly regulated environments that organisations work in, it is crucial that decisions are transparent and explainable with no suggestion of bias. Quantexa’s technology and governance uses context-based techniques and composite AI to drive adoption of explainable outcomes without privacy concerns. Quantexa publicly maintains its AI ethics and safety guidelines here.

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said:
“We want to ensure the UK remains the best place in the world to build, test, and use safe AI technology. Quantexa’s new £85M London AI Innovation Centre will help cement this reality. It will create over 170 jobs, harness the extraordinary potential of AI as we grow our economy, and lead the way on responsible AI development around the world.”

Chloe Smith, Technology Secretary, said:
“The Government is serious about AI, which is why we've invested £2.5B in AI infrastructure and skills since 2014 and this year set out our plan for AI regulation to drive innovation and build trust. Quantexa’s investment is a huge vote of confidence in those plans and will unlock new opportunities for growth and job creation, enabling us to continue to pave the way as a global leader in the development of AI.”

Vishal Marria, CEO and Founder, Quantexa, said:
“While many companies are talking about AI and machine learning, we have been investing in it since our inception. We are investing our time, money, and resources into the biggest technological breakthrough for generations as it will transform how organizations make decisions. We’re proud to invest in London-based innovation but the impact will be felt by the global economy and will start a ripple effect that will unlock decision intelligence capabilities for our clients and their respective industries.” 

Dr Oren Etzioni, Professor at the University of Washington's Computer Science and founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, said: “An investment of 100 AI jobs will drive economic growth not just in London but around the world. The places most likely to benefit are AI innovation hubs like New York City, Seattle, and San Francisco. Based on my research into the impact of AI on employment and economic growth, the long-term monetary benefits of this announcement will increase significantly because of the multiplier effect from job creation and innovation. An initial investment of £200M is likely to benefit the wider AI industry by £600M globally within three years.” 

To learn more about how your organisation can benefit from Quantexa’s AI investment, innovation, and ethical practices, please visit here.

About Quantexa 
Quantexa is a global data and analytics software company pioneering Decision Intelligence that empowers organisations to make trusted operational decisions by making data meaningful. Using the latest advancements in big data and AI, Quantexa’s Decision Intelligence platform uncovers hidden risk and new opportunities by providing a contextual, connected view of internal and external data in a single place. It solves major challenges across data management, KYC, customer intelligence, financial crime, risk, fraud, and security, throughout the customer lifecycle.

The Quantexa Decision Intelligence Platform enhances operational performance with over 90% more accuracy and 60 times faster analytical model resolution than traditional approaches. Founded in 2016, Quantexa now has more than 650 employees and thousands of users working with billions of transactions and data points across the world. The company has offices in London, New York, Boston, Toronto, Malaga, Brussels, Amsterdam, Ireland, Luxemburg, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney, and the UAE. For more information, please visit www.quantexa.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Enquiries 
C: Stephanie Crisp, Associate Director and Media Strategist, Fight or Flight 
E: Quantexa@fightflight.co.uk   

C: Adam Jaffe, SVP of Corporate Marketing   
T: +1 609 502 6889   
E: adamjaffe@quantexa.com   
- or -   
RapidResponse@quantexa.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/afbbd220-e3ee-4c36-b53e-3f10d3634414 

SOURCE : Quantexa Limited

PROVENIR SHORTLISTED AS FINALIST FOR ASIA FINTECH AWARDS' LENDTECH OF THE YEAR

SINGAPORE, July 6 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Provenir, a global leader in data and AI-powered risk decisioning software, today announced that its Data and Decisioning Platform has been shortlisted as a finalist in the “LendTech of the Year” category for this year’s Asia Fintech Awards, an industry award that celebrates Asia’s fintech community.

Provenir’s Data and AI-Powered and Risk Decisioning Platform was evaluated based on its ability to meet customers’ needs and requirements, how it can achieve critical mass, and the innovative aspects developed to bring the product to market.

"We are thrilled to be recognised as a finalist for this awards program that celebrates the best and brightest of APAC’s fintech community," said Bharath Vellore, General Manager of Provenir for APAC. "This reflects our growing commitment in Asia to empower lenders in each market with world-class decisioning, comprehensive data and advanced analytics to improve credit assessment on consumers, supporting the underserved population with more equitable lending decisions and providing SMEs access to finance their working capital.”

Winners of this year’s awards will be announced at Asia Fintech Awards’ ceremony on August 24 at the Hilton Singapore Orchard.

About Provenir

Provenir helps fintechs and financial services providers unlock the secret to smarter credit risk decisioning.

The company brings together the power of decisioning, data and AI to drive instant decisions. This unique offering gives organizations the ability to power decisioning innovation across the full customer lifecycle, driving improvements in the customer experience, access to financial services, business agility, and more.

Provenir works with disruptive financial services organizations in more than 50 countries and processes more than 4 billion transactions annually. 

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TRUE NAMES SAM MCGRATH GENERAL MANAGER, EMEA & APAC

Transformational leader will drive global growth across True’s talent technologies & services

LONDON, July 5 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- True, the premier global platform of innovative talent management products and services, announced today the appointment of Sam McGrath as general manager, EMEA & APAC.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230704157149/en/

 

In his new role, Sam will work closely with True’s global leadership to maximize True’s potential around the world. He’ll expand the firm’s international executive search business and broader platform of talent management products and services, including True Search, Thrive, AboveBoard, Jopwell, and TrueBridge. He will oversee business across EMEA and APAC–which today includes True's offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Dubai, London, Melbourne, Singapore, Stockholm and Sydney–whilst ensuring global connectivity with the wider company.

“Throughout his career, Sam has shown a commitment to fostering a high-performance culture focused on people and has demonstrated an ability to translate strategic vision into action,” said Kate Vanek, global COO and CFO for True. “Sam will ensure that True continues to grow, while keeping our phenomenal, people-focused culture at the core of our operations.”

Sam brings two decades of investment banking sales, operations, and risk management to the role. Sam joins True from Standard Chartered where he held a number of sales leadership roles, and was most recently Head of Non-Financial Risk for the Wholesale Bank globally, and the Europe & Americas Regions.

“The only thing that impressed me more than the transformation that True is driving within the global talent agenda has been the shared values and ambitious vision among those leading True’s growth,” McGrath said. “I could not be more proud to lead the EMEA and APAC regions, nor more excited to help scale the innovation and transparency True brings to the spectrum of talent products and services.”

Prior to his moves into banking, Sam was a distinguished Paratroop officer, leading elite military teams across multiple tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, and more latterly as the head of all training and selection for The Parachute Regiment and British Airborne Forces. He is a best-selling fitness author, and holds an MBA and an MA in Coaching. With a demonstrable commitment to fostering a high-performance culture focused on people and an ability to translate highly-developed strategic vision into action, Sam will ensure a growth trajectory whilst keeping True’s culture at the core of firm operations.

ABOUT TRUE:

The True Platform consists of a collection of brands including True Search (retained executive search), TrueBridge (advisory, interim and fractional executive placement), Thrive (Talent CRM software), and Synthesis (leadership assessment and development tools). Additionally, True helps companies fulfill their diversity and inclusion goals with business units AboveBoard (an inclusive executive platform and community), and Jopwell (the first and leading diversity tech platform for early-mid career professionals). True also backs promising companies through its investment firms True Equity and Vera Equity. 

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=46544

Aztiq, Innobic Announce Secondary Sale Pricing Of lotus Common Stock

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- Aztiq Pharma Partners (Aztiq) and Innobic (Asia) Company Limited (Innobic), the life science arm of Thai oil and gas conglomerate PTT Public Company Limited (PTT), announced the pricing of a sale of 25,095,850 shares of Lotus Pharmaceuticals (Lotus), a multinational pharmaceutical company, at a price of NT$297 per share. (NT$100 = RM14.99)

The trade will be settled on July 5, subject to satisfaction of customary settlement procedures.

The sale is being executed by Alvogen Emerging Market Holdings Limited (AEMH), which will continue to own 41 per cent of Lotus common stock after the close of the transaction. Inclusive of Innobic’s direct holdings of Lotus, the shareholders will continue to own approximately 47.7 per cent of the company.

In a statement, Aztiq Founder, Robert Wessman said: “Today’s announcement is a big step in the evolution of Lotus that started as a company whose business was nearly entirely domestic.

“As Chairman, I look forward to continuing to work with Lotus’ proven management team that has led this transformation to collaborate on strategy and grow the business going forward.”

Meanwhile, Innobic Chairman, and PTT Chief New Business and Infrastructure Officer,  Dr Buranin Rattanasombat said this transaction was a significant step for Lotus as it concurrently increases free-float of the stock and diversifies the shareholder base with strong institutional investors.

“As a leading shareholder of Lotus, our interests remain truly aligned with those of the company and its valued shareholders,” he said.

J.P. Morgan and Credit Suisse are acting as placing agents for the trade.

A private equity company focused on the life sciences sector, Aztiq is dedicated to fostering innovation and driving positive change within the industry.

-- BERNAMA

SINGAPORE TRAVELERS - TOP 10 MOST VISITED COUNTRIES ACCORDING TO VISITED APP

Visited Travel Map App Offers Inspiration and Bucket List Destinations for International Travelers

TORONTO, July 4 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The travel app Visited allows users to map their travels, browse bucket list destinations, and get personalized travel stats. Visited has ranked the most popular destinations for Singaporean travelers. Based on the app’s data, Singapore is the 29th most popular country to visit.

The Visited app has over 1.75 million users around the world. The popular travel planner app allows users to discover dream destinations, mark off where they’ve been, and get personalized maps. The app provides travel stats on the top 10 destinations visited, the percentage of the world users have been to, and how close travelers are to meeting their travel goals. Users can download the Android app to get started.

Here are the top countries visited by Singapore travelers:

1. Malaysia
2. Thailand
3. Indonesia
4. Australia
5. Hong Kong
6. China
7. France
8. U.K.
9. Japan
10. U.S.

Although France is the most visited country in the world, it ranks number 7 for Singaporeans. Singapore travelers most commonly visit the nearby Asian countries of Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia. Australia, the most desired destination to visit by all international travelers, ranks as the fourth most popular destination for travelers from Singapore. With their close proximity and excellent airport, Singapore travelers can visit Australia more easily than many other people.

About Visited App:

Visited is a travel map and trip planner app that allows users to create their own travel map with past and future trips by country, region/state, and city. Users can map their journeys, create personalized travel goals, and get travel stats. Users can download the app from the Google Play store to get started.

The Visited app has a travel list feature that allows travelers to check off famous places they have been to or want to visit based on their interests. Examples of lists include art museums, ancient sites, famous beaches, snorkeling spots, castles, and culinary delicacies worldwide.

To learn more about the Visited app and its latest feature update, please visit https://visitedapp.com.

To download the app for free, you can find Visited on Android or iOS.

About Arriving In High Heels Corporation

Arriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company; Visited is its most popular app. For inspiration on travel destinations, travel stats, and the latest travel news, follow Visited’s Travel Blog.

Contact:
Anna Kayfitz
anna@arrivinginhighheels.com


Source: Arriving In High Heels Corporation  

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Mattermost Unveils "OpenOps" To Speed Responsible Evaluation Of AI-enhanced Workflows

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- Mattermost Inc has launched “OpenOps”, an open-source approach to accelerating the responsible evaluation of artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced workflows and usage policies while maintaining data control and avoiding vendor lock-in.

Launched at the 2023 Collision Conference, OpenOps emerges at the intersection of the race to leverage AI for competitive advantage and the urgent need to run trustworthy operations, including the development of usage and oversight policies and ensuring regulatory and contractually-obligated data controls.

It aims to help clear key bottlenecks between these critical concerns by enabling developers and organisations to self-host a “sandbox” environment with full data control to responsibly evaluate the benefits and risks of different AI models and usage policies on real-world, multi-user chat collaboration workflows.

In a statement, Mattermost Chief Executive Officer, Ian Tien said the company created OpenOps to help organisations responsibly unlock their potential with the ability to evaluate a broad range of usage policies and AI models in their ability to accelerate in-house workflows in concert.

The system can be used to evaluate self-hosted large language models (LLMs) listed on Hugging Face, including Falcon LLM and GPT4All, when usage is optimised for data control, as well as hyperscaled, vendor-hosted models from the Azure AI platform, OpenAI ChatGPT and Anthropic Claude when usage is optimised for performance.

The first release of the OpenOps platform enables evaluation of a range of AI-augmented use cases including Automated Question and Answer; Discussion Summarisation; Contextual Interrogation; Sentiment Analysis; and Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) Collection.

The OpenOps framework recommends a four phase approach to developing AI-augmentations namely Self-Hosted Sandbox; Data Control Framework; Trust, Safety and Compliance Framework; and Pilot and Production.

Furthermore, the OpenOps framework includes capabilities such as Self-Hosted Operational Hub; AI Bots with Interchangeable AI Backends; Full Data Control; Free and Open Source; as well as Scalability.

-- BERNAMA