KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28 -- Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina was re-elected to serve a second five-year term as president of the African Development Bank Group by the board of governors of the bank.
According to a statement, he was first elected as president of the bank on May 28, 2015.
As newly re-elected president, Dr Adesina, a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, will begin his new term on this Sept 1.
The election result, which gave him 100 per cent of votes of all regional and non-regional members of the Bank, was announced by the chairperson of the board of governors of the bank, Niale Kaba, Minister of National Planning of Côte d’Ivoire.
Adesina's first term focused on the bold new agenda for the bank group based on five development priorities known as the High 5s -- Light up and Power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa.
The bank has maintained its AAA-ratings by all major global credit rating agencies for five years in a row.
The board of governors of the bank group approved a 125 per cent increase in the general capital of the bank, raising its capital from US$93 billion to US$208 billion, the largest in the history of the bank (US$1 = RM4.171).
Under his leadership, the African Development Bank’s board of directors approved a US$10 billion facility to support African countries to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bank also launched a US$3 billion COVID-19 social bond on the global capital markets, the highest US dollar-denominated social bond ever in world history, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, Luxembourg Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
-- BERNAMA
Saturday, August 29, 2020
Dr Akinwumi Adesina re-elected as African Development Bank Group president
Wednesday, August 26, 2020
Pulse Secure announces Network Access Control solution new features
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 -- Pulse Secure has announced new features to its Network Access Control (NAC) solution, Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) to enhance endpoint and IoT device visibility, compliance, remediation and threat response.
This is in line with organisations embracing expanded remote work flexibility with employees and their devices returning to a hybrid workplace, according to a statement.
Available separately or as part of Pulse Access Suite Plus, PPS is an enterprise-class NAC solution that is easy to deploy, manage and scale.
The update release includes over 30 new features and enhancements such as support for additional endpoint detection and response (EDR) and IoT / OT vendors including McAfee and Nozomi.
According to a recent market report by IDC, NAC is a mainstream market forecasted to grow 10.7 per cent reaching US$1.9 billion by 2024. (US$1 = RM4.168)
In this report, Pulse Secure ranked among the top three hybrid NAC vendors by global market share. The report’s ‘Who Shaped the Year’ section highlights Pulse Secure’s capabilities.
“The latest release of Pulse Secure NAC continues to advance our deployment, usability and threat response capabilities while delivering enterprise-class functionality,” said Pulse Secure director of portfolio solutions, Ganesh Nakhawa.
Pulse Secure offers a portfolio of Secure Access solutions that provide exceptional usability, visibility and Zero Trust policy orchestration to enable seamless, compliant user and device access to applications and resources across distributed network and cloud environments.
-- BERNAMA
Stonepeak, Digital Edge partner on diversified Asia Pacific data centre platform formation
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 -- Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners (Stonepeak) and a group of seasoned senior executives have formed a diversified, independent data centre platform, Digital Edge, with a focus on acquiring and developing carrier-neutral data centres and related digital infrastructure assets across the Asia Pacific region.
According to a statement, Stonepeak, its investors and the Digital Edge management team have made a US$1 billion equity capital commitment to the platform. (US$1 = RM4.168)
The platform is led by Digital Edge's Chief Executive Officer, Samuel Lee – who previously served as President of Equinix’s Asia Pacific business – and several individuals from his prior senior team at Equinix.
They are joined by senior executives Jay Park, formerly with Facebook; John Freeman, formerly with Tata Communications; and Jonathan Walbridge, formerly with Macquarie.
Based in Singapore, Digital Edge aims to deliver innovative data centre and interconnect solutions in order to make customer deployments easy in complex, evolving environments.
Stonepeak has been an active investor in digital infrastructure, with multiple investments across the data centre, fibre and wireless space.
Earlier this year, Stonepeak announced the acquisition of Xplornet Communications, the leading provider of broadband connectivity in rural Canada. Over the past three years, the firm has established a presence in Asia Pacific and has been active in infrastructure investments across multiple sectors.
-- BERNAMA
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
REVEZ PARTNERSHIP EXPANDS STELLAR CYBER WORLD'S FIRST AI/ML CYBERSECURITY PLATFORM IN ASIA-PACIFIC
“The breadth of Stellar Cyber’s offering, including UEBA, NTA, NG-SIEM and automated response, and their ability to integrate with any endpoint detection and response (EDR) platform makes it the first Open XDR system I am aware of,” said Zeus Kerravala, Principal Analyst for ZK Research.
REVEZ operates REVEZ Hub, which provides a one-stop source of business services involving all aspects of information technology with proven track records across the Asia-Pacific region.
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=37995
EMAS Fintech opens first Regional Support Centre in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 -- EMAS Fintech Inc (EFI), a Philippines-registered investment fund operator, recently announced the opening of its first Regional Support Centre in Malaysia to support its expansion and capitalise on the full potential of investment trading in the region.
The EFI South East Asia Regional Support Centre will support and offer the benefits of EFI’s cross-industry digital investment trading platform to regional investors.
The centre will assist to integrate and aggregate investments, right size portfolios, provide access to wider industry data, and apply predictive analytics to generate insights that can improve investment performance and productivity.
EFI is confident in Malaysia’s favourable economic conditions, infrastructure, and abundance of multilingual and diverse talent.
According to EFI chief executive officer Jason Kellady in a statement, the regional support centre is the first of six planned regional support centres. It represents the first phase of its business plan.
“We have evaluated different countries and decided to house our first regional support centre in Malaysia. We have started our talent acquisition programme.
“In the next 24 months, we will gradually expand and increase our presence from South East Asia to East Asia, South Asia, Europe, Oceania and North America with an aim of 20 countries.”
He added EFI has started implementing plans to apply for regulatory approval at every market that it intends to pursue.
With regulatory approval in hand, EFI intends to aggregate like-minded investors to benefit from its unique trading methodology, optimised to generate small but consistent interests.
-- BERNAMA
Sunday, August 23, 2020
DATAIKU RAISES $100 MILLION TO EXTEND LEADERSHIP IN ENTERPRISE AI MARKET
NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Today, Dataiku, a leading global Enterprise AI and machine learning platform, announced a $100 million Series D investment round led by Stripes, with major investment by Tiger Global Management and participation from existing investors Battery Ventures, CapitalG, Dawn Capital, FirstMark Capital and ICONIQ. The funding comes as Dataiku continues to drive AI within the enterprise, serving over 300 customers who understand that a collaborative and end-to-end AI strategy is critical to their success.
“Our leadership in enterprise AI continues to attract world-class investors who understand that Dataiku’s solution and customer base are truly global and that we’re uniquely positioned to help businesses realize the untapped potential for AI to transform the enterprise,” said Florian Douetteau, co-founder and CEO of Dataiku. “In a global business market rocked by the changes 2020 has brought, AI has proven to be a critical element of organizational success driving business growth in every major vertical market.”
Dataiku was founded in 2013 with the mission to take machine learning and AI projects out of experimental labs and put them into everyday operations that are truly woven into the fabric of a company. Dataiku serves hundreds of customers worldwide, including Schlumberger, GE Aviation, Sephora, Unilever, BNP Paribas, Premera Blue Cross, Kuka, and Santander. Its team has grown to more than 450 people worldwide in New York, Paris, London, Frankfürt, Dubai, Amsterdam, Sydney, and Singapore.
Saturday, August 22, 2020
ADM announces proposed secondary block trade of Wilmar ordinary shares
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 -- ADM has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiaries ADM Ag Holding Limited (ADM Ag) and Archer Daniels Midland Asia-Pacific Limited propose to sell ordinary shares of Wilmar (the Shares) for an aggregate purchase price of approximately US$500 million. (US$1 = RM4.175)
According to a statement, this is pursuant to a secondary block trade agreement with a syndicate of managers (the Block Trade Agreement, and such sale, the Block Trade).
The Shares to be sold pursuant to the Block Trade Agreement are being offered and sold in offshore transactions, in reliance on Regulation S (Regulation S) under the Securities Act of 1933.
ADM expects to use the net proceeds from the Block Trade for general corporate purposes, which may include, without limitation, meeting working capital requirements, funding capital expenditures and possible acquisitions of, or investments in, businesses and assets, and acquiring outstanding shares of ADM common stock.
In the same statement, ADM also announced that ADM Ag proposes to conduct an offering (the Offering) of about US$300 million aggregate principal amount of Zero Coupon Exchangeable Bonds (the Bonds) outside of the United States to non-US persons, in reliance on Regulation S.
The net proceeds from the Offering will be used for general corporate purposes - same as the Block Trade net proceeds - as well as repaying indebtedness originally incurred for the general corporate purposes.
ADM expects that it will retain at least 20 per cent of the equity interest in Wilmar after giving effect to the Offering, including any subsequent exchange of Bonds and the Block Trade.
ADM can offer no assurance that the Offering or the Block Trade will be consummated. The completion of the Block Trade is not conditioned upon the closing of the Offering.
-- BERNAMA
Christoph Knaack is Preqin Chief Strategy Officer
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 -- Preqin, the alternative assets industry’s foremost provider of data, tools, and analytics, has announced the appointment of Christoph Knaack as Chief Strategy Officer.
As the organisation’s first to fulfil this role, Knaack will oversee Preqin’s corporate strategy and business development, as well as sit on its Executive Committee.
Before joining Preqin, he held several investment roles, most recently as a hedge fund investor at Davidson Kempner in London.
According to a statement, prior to moving to hedge funds, Knaack worked in the private equity team at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, beginning his career in investment banking at Morgan Stanley.
Preqin’s newly-minted Chief Strategy Officer holds an MSc in Finance from HEC Paris, and a BSc in International Business Administration from the Rotterdam School of Management.
“We are thrilled to have Christoph join the team. As we look to develop our products and services in the coming years, his analytical mindset and industry experience will be invaluable,” said Preqin Chief Executive Officer, Mark O’Hare.
Knaack joined Preqin’s London office in late July, managing a global team of analysts and strategists.
-- BERNAMA
MASTERCONTROL LAUNCHES MANUFACTURING EXCELLENCE™ GLOBALLY TO ADVANCE MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS BY DRIVING EFFICIENCY AND QUALITY
MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug 21 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MasterControl, a provider of software solutions that enable life sciences and other regulated companies to deliver life-changing products to more people sooner, today announced the global release of its newest solution, MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence™. Additionally, the full MasterControl Platform is now available in 10 different languages.
With Manufacturing Excellence, manufacturers can create dynamic connections between enterprise systems, data sources, processes and people for a holistic view of production and quality data. This integration extends a manufacturer’s digital edge to the shop floor and eliminates issues relating to data entry, data integrity and data visibility. By eliminating paper and siloed systems, companies can also utilise data, digitisation and automation to scale quickly, improve product quality and drive operational performance.
“Over the past decade, the manufacturing industry has adopted software systems to better manage complex equipment, processes, data and planning. Unfortunately, these systems are often disconnected and still rely on paper in some form,” said MasterControl EVP of Marketing and Global Partnerships, Sara Bresee. “To remain competitive in an age of data-driven intelligence and smart manufacturing, manufacturers must successfully digitally transform, integrate siloed systems and eliminate inefficient and insecure paper-based and hybrid processes. We believe Manufacturing Excellence is the tool to help them do just that.”
Since the U.S. launch of Manufacturing Excellence a year ago, 50 companies have implemented the software and are experiencing improved data integrity, fewer deviations and faster review times.
“Like many manufacturers, we’ve struggled to overcome persistent production documentation errors and rising manufacturing costs,” said Robin Joyner, system administrator at Wellington Foods. “However after implementing the MasterControl Manufacturing Excellence solution, we experienced a 90% decrease in data input errors, which allowed us to accelerate production record execution and product releases to grow our business more efficiently.”
http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=37965
Thursday, August 20, 2020
ARCHDIOCESE OF BRISBANE SELECTS JUNIPER NETWORKS TO PROVIDE AI-DRIVEN WI-FI SOLUTIONS ACROSS ITS OPERATIONS
Juniper lowers IT troubleshooting costs and maximizes end-user experience across mass centres, schools, family services sites and offices
BRISBANE, Australia, Aug 19 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), a leader in secure, AI-driven networks, today announced that the Archdiocese of Brisbane and Centacare, has selected Juniper Access Points driven by Mist AI and Juniper Mist Cloud Services to upgrade the Wi-Fi experience across all of its operations, which includes Outside School Hours Care within schools, kindergarten, long day care, worship centers and community services. The new AI-driven network will enable the Archdiocese of Brisbane and Centacare to create better mobile experiences for staff and guests, all while lowering the cost of wireless network deployment and operations through proactive actions, predictive recommendations and self-driving networks™.
Home to a congregation of over 700,000 across 77,000 plus square kilometers in South-East Queensland, the Archdiocese of Brisbane and Centacare operates mass centres, schools, family services sites and offices. Besides worship services, the church also provides community services through several support organizations, as well as education across a variety of levels.
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
ASIAN STARTUPS CHANGE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE GAME WITH 8X8 COMMUNICATIONS APIS
8x8 SMS API Helps Logistics Services and Multi-Channel Payment Gateway Startups leverage SMS Messages to Re-imagine Customer Experiences
SINGAPORE, Aug 18 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- 8x8, Inc. (NYSE: EGHT), a leading integrated cloud communications platform, today announced Asian startups Janio Asia and Coda Payments are using 8x8 Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) to more effectively reach customers anywhere. 8x8, through its Wavecell acquisition, recently launched CPaaS programmable applications, APIs and delivery capabilities beyond the Asia Pacific region to organizations in the US and the UK.
Founded in 2018, Janio is an integrated logistics solutions provider based in Singapore, providing solutions across 15 markets in Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mainland China and Thailand. The company provides an end-to-end, cross-border eCommerce logistics platform serving some of the largest marketplaces, business owners and logistics partners, and connecting these key players across Southeast Asia’s eCommerce ecosystem.
STREAMED VIDEO CONTENT DOMINATES MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT CONSUMPTION IN ASIA-PACIFIC ACCORDING TO THE BRIGHTCOVE Q2 2020 GLOBAL VIDEO INDEX
SINGAPORE, Aug 19 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Brightcove Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOV), the world’s leading video technology platform, today published the Brightcove Q2 2020 Global Video Index Entertainment and Media Edition, which found that OTT streaming of entertainment content continued to dominate, even as governments began loosening stay-at-home restrictions. The data suggests that consumers’ media consumption habits may be permanently shifting away from linear TV, cementing streaming as the go-to choice for entertainment viewing.
Brightcove’s Q2 2020 Global Video Index analyzes hundreds of billions of recent data points from Brightcove’s customers globally to provide insights into how viewers are watching video content. The Q2 data shows that consumption of news and entertainment content nearly doubled (40%) from Q1 (23%) – a significant finding considering Q2 typically sees slower growth in video viewing compared to Q1. Looking at the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, the number of views overall is up more than 30%.
“Asia-Pacific’s video streaming market is expected to top $31 billion by 2025, and with 5G technology on the doorstep, we’ll continue to see consumers turning to their mobile devices to stream video content,” said Jim O’Neill, Principal Analyst and Author of Brightcove’s Global Video Index. “What’s more, GSMA reports there will be 663 million new mobile internet users in Asia-Pacific by 2025 – adding to the two billion the region has today. This statistic, paired with faster networks and more bandwidth, will continue to drive mobile consumption rates even higher than they are today.”
GALVANIZE NAMED A LEADER IN GARTNER MAGIC QUADRANT FOR IT RISK MANAGEMENT FOR SECOND CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Galvanize’s HighBond platform offers end-to-end GRC solutions across IT security, risk management, compliance, and assurance. The platform streamlines collaboration across organizations, automates repetitive tasks and delivers best practices—providing leadership with visibility into the organization’s risk posture while reducing the cost and effort required to demonstrate compliance. HighBond combines easy deployment, fast adoption, unique robotic process automation and advanced data analytics capabilities for a scalable baseline solution.
“Galvanize is proud to be recognized by Gartner as a Leader in IT Risk Management for the second year running, which we believe validates the value we continue to deliver for customers,” said Dan Zitting, chief product and strategy officer, Galvanize. “2020 has been a challenging year for all and the risks threatening organizations continue to grow and evolve. Our HighBond platform is flexible and nimble enough to anticipate risk and respond in real time, while comprehensive enough to serve both growing organizations and larger enterprises. We’re committed to supporting our customers through these uncertain and challenging times.”
The Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Risk Management is an annual evaluation of the competitive landscape for the IT risk management technology market.
A full, complimentary version of the August 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for IT Risk Management is available for download here.
To learn more about Galvanize and its IT risk management product, visit: wegalvanize.com
Gartner Disclaimer:
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.
About Galvanize:
Galvanize builds award-winning, cloud-based security, risk management, compliance, and audit software to drive change in some of the world’s largest organizations. We believe GRC professionals should be the most sought after people in an organization and we’re on a mission to unite and strengthen individuals and entire organizations through the integrated HighBond software platform. With more than 6,300 customer organizations in 130 countries, Galvanize is connecting teams in many of the Fortune 1,000 and S&P 500 companies, and hundreds of government organizations, banks, manufacturers, and healthcare organizations. Whether these professionals are managing threats, assessing risk, measuring controls, monitoring compliance, or expanding assurance coverage, HighBond automates manual tasks, blends organization-wide data, and broadcasts it in easy-to-share dashboards and reports. But we don’t just make technology—we provide tools that inspire individuals to achieve great things and do heroic work in the process. Learn more at wegalvanize.com.
Media contact:
Peter McCormack
galvanize@highwirepr.com
SOURCE: Galvanize
--BERNAMA