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WASHINGTON — The Oversight Board upheld Facebook’s decision on January 7 to suspend then-President Trump from Facebook and Instagram.

The Board found that Mr. Trump’s posts severely violated Facebook’s rules, and his words of support for those involved in the attack on the U.S. Capitol building legitimized violence in a situation where there was an immediate risk to people’s lives.

“President Trump’s actions on social media encouraged and legitimized violence and were a severe violation of Facebook’s rules,” said Thomas Hughes, Director of the Oversight Board Administration. “By maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action, Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible. Facebook’s decision to suspend the President on January 7 was the right one.”

While the Board concluded that Mr. Trump should have been suspended from Facebook and Instagram, it also found that Facebook failed to impose a proper penalty. Instead of applying one of its established account-level penalties for severe violations, Facebook devised an ‘indefinite’ suspension which is not included in their content policies. This arbitrary penalty gave Facebook total discretion over whether to lift or maintain the suspension, with no criteria that can be scrutinized by users or external observers.

“The Board rejects Facebook’s request for it to endorse indefinite suspension, which gives the company total discretion over when to lift or impose and isn’t supported by their content policies,” said Thomas Hughes. “Anyone concerned about the power of Facebook should be concerned with the company making decisions outside of its own rules.”

Within six months of the Board’s decision, Facebook must reexamine this arbitrary penalty and impose one consistent with its own rules. This penalty must be based on the gravity of Mr. Trump’s violation and the prospect of future harm. This time period allows Facebook to implement the Board’s extensive policy recommendations.

These recommendations include:

In the future, if a head of state or high government official repeatedly posts messages that pose a risk of harm Facebook should either suspend the account for a definitive period or delete the account.
Facebook’s rules should ensure that when it imposes a time-bound suspension on an influential user, the company should assess the risk of inciting harm before the suspension ends. Influential users who pose a risk of harm should not be reinstated.
Facebook should publish a full report on its potential contribution to the narrative of electoral fraud and political tensions that led to the events of January 6. This should be an open reflection on Facebook’s design and policy choices that may allow its platform to be abused.
Facebook should publish a new policy which would govern its response to crisis situations. This should set boundaries on Facebook’s discretion, including a requirement to review its decision within a fixed time.
Facebook should explain its strikes and penalties process, giving users more information, including how many ‘strikes’ have been assessed against them.
For more details on this decision and to learn more about the Board, visit https://oversightboard.com.

About the Oversight Board
The Oversight Board, comprising independent Members from around the world, makes binding decisions on what content Facebook and Instagram should allow or remove, based on respect for freedom of expression and human rights. The Oversight Board is focused on addressing some of the most significant content moderation decisions on Facebook and Instagram that are referred by both users and Facebook.

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CONTACT: press@osbadmin.com

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SOURCE Oversight Board

CALGARY, AB, April 29, 2021 — Today, digital transformation is a hot topic. With the goal of increasing efficiency within organizations, statistics show that a high percentage of these initiatives fail, 84% of them according to McKinsey. While businesses continue to face strong headwinds, digital transformation offers a path forward, but the question remains: How can an organization confidently undertake its transformational journey and be successful? Streamline Control is a Calgary-based company targeting challenges, addressing common errors made during transformation processes and guiding companies to success.

As the world changes, so do the needs of consumers. Industrial technology is evolving faster than ever before and, to keep pace with this evolution, outdated systems must be renovated. Budgets are concentrated on maintaining old systems with aged technology when there are alternatives to reduce costs, stay current, and find efficiencies.

The craze around digital transformation becomes obvious when taking a closer look at the benefits: increased revenue (Deloitte), improved operational efficiency (Forbes), improved product quality (Deloitte), and reduced costs (McKinsey). However, to succeed, organizations must understand and prepare for potential challenges and avoid pitfalls.

“Digital transformations are like every other complex IT project, but with even more challenges because they shape the way a business operates,” says Matt Devine, CEO of Streamline Control, an Alberta-based company recognized for its notable expertise in digital transformation processes.

Among the challenges of digital transformation are resistance to change, compliance concerns, and not having the right technology to implement proper procedures. Succeeding in digital transformation means establishing the right game plan and executing that plan based on the best practices – an organization must be willing to go all-in to reinvent. Innovative technologies have proven to be key factors in reaching digital transformation goals; organizations engaged in collaborative, guided experiences have 1.6 times higher customer satisfaction rates (O8).

With over a decade of experience in implementing industrial technologies along with its digital transformation framework, Streamline’s clients are making significant strides in their digital transformation journeys. Using a strong framework as a roadmap, successful transformations help organizations compete more effectively, become more efficient, and provide a path towards meaningful growth.

To learn more about Streamline Control, visit the company’s website at streamlinecontrol.com.

About Streamline Control
Streamline Control was founded in May of 2011, headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Streamline team is a diverse mix of accomplished and skillful management consultants, solution architects and engineers with a combined 75+ years of Industrial Control System experience. The team creates, develops, migrates, supports, and trains in areas such as communications, networking, operational data and SCADA integration.

Contact:
Catherine Lee-Hannley
Streamline Control
Media Relations
catherine.lee.hannley@streamlinecontrol.com

SAN FRANCISCO, April 28, 2021 /CNW/ — Runway Innovation Hub, a Silicon Valley innovation consulting company, is pleased to announce its partnership with Suntory America, one of the world’s leading consumer products companies.

Leveraging Runway’s expertise in disruptive technology and startup scouting, the two companies are focused on building innovative solutions to:

Suntory America partners with Runway Innovation Hub to scout, engage, and invest in startups at a global level.

Gather industry trends for Suntory America’s global strategic planning and decision making
Identify advanced technologies and startups in areas such as supply chain optimization, nutrition, and innovative functional food ingredients
Engage startups in meaningful partnerships
Support Suntory America’s commitment to improve sustainability and personalized experiences
Strengthen Suntory America’s presence in Silicon Valley
“Our goal is to implement the technology solutions sourced by Runway, create successful proofs of concepts, and integrate validated solutions in our business units so we can accelerate them at a global level,” said Yoshio Kinoshita, General Manager, Strategy Business Planning at Suntory America.

About Suntory

Suntory Group is among the world’s leading consumer products companies, with annual revenue of $19.5 billion. Suntory offers a uniquely diverse portfolio of beverage products enjoyed by millions around the world: from award-winning Japanese whiskies Yamazaki and Hibiki, iconic American spirits Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark, and The Premium Malt’s beer to non-alcoholic favorites Orangina, Lucozade, Ribena, TEA plus, BOSS coffee, Iyemon tea, and Suntory Tennensui water. Suntory also produces wellness products and operates a flower business.

Founded as a family-owned business in 1899 in Osaka, Japan, Suntory Group has grown into a multinational corporation, with operations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The company is driven by Yatte Minahare – the spirit of bold ambition – and 37,745 employees worldwide draw upon a unique blend of Japanese artisanship and global tastes to explore new product categories and markets.

About Runway Innovation Hub

Runway is a Silicon Valley-based innovation company accelerating the success of global innovators and entrepreneurs. We provide result-focused innovation consulting services for corporations and coworking, mentorship and acceleration programs for startups.

Since 2013, Runway has accelerated the innovation efforts of 40+ global companies through customized startup scouting, engagement and investment recommendations, and innovation strategy services. Clients span 25+ industries and include some of the world’s largest organizations like Fujitsu, Lenovo, IBM, Silicon Valley Bank, and Emirates Airlines.

SOURCE Runway Innovation Hub

CONTACT: Clemence Lepers, clemence@runway.is

ARMONK, N.Y., April 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced a definitive agreement to acquire myInvenio, a process mining software company based in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The acquisition will provide organizations with data-driven software that should help them identify the most impactful business processes to automate using AI – including sales, procurement, production and accounting. It also further advances IBM’s hybrid cloud and AI strategy, providing customers with a comprehensive suite of AI-powered automation capabilities for business automation. Financial details were not disclosed.

With the acquisition of myInvenio, IBM will help companies overcome the challenge of streamlining business processes that are cumbersome or create bottlenecks, slowing down innovation and increasing costs.

Today’s news underscores IBM’s continued investment in providing organizations with a one-stop shop of AI-powered automation capabilities for business automation, including process mining, robotic process automation (RPA) through the recent acquisition of WDG Automation, document processing, workflow, and decisions. All of these capabilities are tightly integrated with IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation and powered by Red Hat OpenShift to run anywhere and help customers automate their entire enterprise.

“Digital transformation is accelerating across industries as companies face increasing challenges with managing critical IT systems and complex business applications that span the hybrid cloud landscape,” said Dinesh Nirmal, General Manager, IBM Automation. “With IBM’s planned acquisition of myInvenio, we are continuing to invest in building the industry’s most comprehensive suite of AI-powered automation capabilities for business automation so that our customers can help employees re-claim their time to focus on more strategic work.”

“Through IBM’s planned acquisition of myInvenio, we are revolutionizing the way companies manage their process operations,” said Massimiliano Delsante, CEO, myInvenio. “myInvenio’s unique capability to automatically analyze processes and create simulations — what we call a ‘Digital Twin of an Organization’ — is joining with IBM’s AI-powered automation capabilities to better manage process execution. Together we will offer a comprehensive solution for digital process transformation and automation to help enterprises continuously transform insights into action.”

IBM’s acquisition of myInvenio builds on its OEM agreement with the company. Upon close of the acquisition, IBM has plans to integrate myInvenio’s capabilities into its Automation portfolio, including IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation, IBM’s hybrid cloud software for using AI to transform business processes and help enable people to be more productive.

myInvenio capabilities reveal inefficiencies, bottlenecks and tasks that can benefit from automation, to help organizations significantly reduce their operating costs and improve customer service. Simulations can be run to assess automation opportunities to measure the benefits of applying automation at the outset of the automation journey. By analyzing historical process execution data and desktop behavior, myInvenio technology can help determine where to apply RPA bots, automated decisions, AI models, and other automations to have the most impact on a business.

myInvenio’s capabilities could also be available to IBM business partners and IBM Global Business Services Automation practice to assist customers to generate insights about their business processes that could help lead to a clear data-driven roadmap for applying automation effectively.

Using myInvenio’s process mining capabilities together with IBM AI-powered automation, an organization can streamline their accounts receivable process by looking at interactions with ERP and invoicing systems. The process mining software enables them to understand if employees spend a lot of time manually examining invoices and auditing purchase requests to find anomalies – two processes where AI-powered automation can help to boost efficiency and cut costs, while freeing employees to do more strategic work. Another example involves IT ticketing systems. Companies can use process mining to examine the most common IT requests and automate resolution.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. It is expected to close at the end of this quarter.

For more information on today’s announcement, please visit: www.ibm.com/cloud/blog/ibm-to-acquire-myinvenio

To learn more about IBM AI-powered automation and how leading brands like PNC Financial Services and Banco Popular are transforming business processes to enable people to focus on higher value work, please visit: https://www.ibm.com/automation

Media Contact:
Hanna Smigala
IBM Media Relations
smigala@us.ibm.com
+1-203-512-5497

WATERLOO, ON, April 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Announced today, BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) have established a new partnership to bring BlackBerry’s industry leading BlackBerry Spark® platform to organizations across Canada. IBM will resell BlackBerry’s endpoint management, endpoint security and critical event management software, to enterprises and governments nationwide.

BlackBerry is trusted by millions of people around the world for its best-in-class security, productivity and safety software. The company’s outstanding technologies give businesses the tools, protections and comfort they need to operate in today’s digital economy.

“BlackBerry and IBM share a strong track-record of technology innovation and deep expertise in industry verticals,” said Neelam Sandhu, Senior Vice President and Chief Elite Customer Success Officer, BlackBerry. “Together we will bring best-in-class solutions to people across Canada, at a time when security, productivity and safety are needed most and without compromise. We are delighted to establish this partnership.”

“We are proud to partner with BlackBerry to enable the digital transformation of organizations across Canada,” said Xerxes Cooper, IBM Canada’s General Manager for Global Technology Services. “As the world’s leading open hybrid cloud platform and artificial intelligence company, our strength in delivering excellence to clients across industries is well recognized. Together with BlackBerry, the solutions we provide will help address critical business issues for Canadian organizations.”

For more information on BlackBerry software, including BlackBerry Spark® unified endpoint management, BlackBerry Spark® unified endpoint security, and BlackBerry® AtHoc® and BlackBerry Alert®, visit BlackBerry.com.

About BlackBerry
BlackBerry (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) provides intelligent security software and services to enterprises and governments around the world. The company secures more than 500M endpoints including 175M cars on the road today. Based in Waterloo, Ontario, the company leverages AI and machine learning to deliver innovative solutions in the areas of cybersecurity, safety and data privacy solutions, and is a leader in the areas of endpoint security, endpoint management, encryption, and embedded systems. BlackBerry’s vision is clear – to secure a connected future you can trust.

BlackBerry. Intelligent Security. Everywhere.

For more information, visit BlackBerry.com and follow @BlackBerry.

Trademarks, including but not limited to BLACKBERRY and EMBLEM Design are the trademarks or registered trademarks of BlackBerry Limited, and the exclusive rights to such trademarks are expressly reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. BlackBerry is not responsible for any third-party products or services.

Media Contact:
BlackBerry Media Relations
+1 (519) 597-7273
mediarelations@BlackBerry.com

About IBM Canada
For more information about IBM Canada, visit: www.ibm.com/ca-en

SOURCE BlackBerry Limited

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LONDON, April 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — GroVentive, a London-based private investor platform that invests into UK startups has recorded a record year of investment from their investor network which now has over 11,000 members.

Launched in 2019 by ex-Macquarie investment banker Bruno Pannetier and startup management consultant Jonathan Wicks who backed businesses such as LoveHolidays and Spark Energy that both went on to achieve 16x and 4.5x exits respectively, GroVentive focusses on investing under the Enterprise Investment Scheme in to new technologies within Gaming, Health, Medicine, Automobile, and Instant Delivery amongst other sectors which has seen them raise circa £11m in under two years.

In spite of the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis the 20/21 tax year saw GroVentive nearly treble their fundraising capability to £8m across 4 high-growth startups that include LiveSmart, PatientSource, Coastr, and Peyk.

Bruno Pannetier, Chief Investment Officer at GroVentive, said: “This record level of investment shows the vibrancy and strength of the UK startup ecosystem which is home to world-class disruptive technologies, and this fantastic investment picture means that GroVentive will continue to grow and bring innovative startups to UK investors.”

Breakdown of companies funded:

LiveSmart – LiveSmart’s technology provides doctor-led health analytics which help companies achieve great things. LiveSmart uses blood analysis and lifestyle data to help teams understand – and address – what’s really going on in mind and body.

PatientSource – PatientSource Is the only modern electronic patient record system used across the world. Available as cloud based, on-premises and via satellite phone enabling healthcare without boundaries

Coastr – Coastr’s Digital Vehicle Rental Management Software provides independent car and van rental businesses through a connected platform to become fully digitised and benefit from immediate cost savings, higher fleet utilisation and revenue maximisation

Peyk – Peyk is a 24/7 on-demand courier service platform allowing anyone to send anything in London within minutes

About GroVentive

GroVentive is a private investor platform and FCA appointed representative that provides funding for high-growth U.K. startups whilst giving investors the opportunity to access thoroughly researched tax-efficient (SEIS/EIS) investment opportunities. The GroVentive team has an enviable track-record in delivering exceptional returns for investors by working with some of the fastest growing businesses in the U.K. and institutional investment-backed property developments. (www.groventive.com)

About the Enterprise Investment Scheme

The Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is a government tax-relief scheme that incentivises private individuals to invest in early-stage businesses. EIS allows an individual to invest up to £1m per tax year and get a 30% tax break. Any single business can raise up to £12m in EIS funding in its lifetime.

Contacts:

GroVentive,
6th Floor 52 Grosvenor Gardens,
Belgravia, London SW1W 0AU,
+44 (0)20 8870 3987,
team@groventive.com

TEL AVIV, Israel, April 5, 2021 — AU10TIX, a global leader in automated identity verification, today announced that it is partnering with Microsoft for the rollout of Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) verifiable credentials, now in public preview, to help improve verifiability and secure information exchange. The integration brings AU10TIX’s four decades of identity verification automation to Azure Active Directory, for managing identities, based on wide variety of attributes, such as documents, biometrics and electronic data without collecting and storing personal data.

AU10TIX’s proprietary technology, originally built for airport security and border control, is based on sophisticated neural networks and delivers identity verification results in less than 8 seconds. It offers speed and accuracy to Microsoft-run organizations wanting to issue digital claims about identity attributes based on Verifiable Credentials and Decentralized Identifiers open standards. Once verified, these credentials can be used to prove an identity across different organizations to accelerate onboarding of users, secure access to apps or enable a more trustworthy credential recovery experience. Individuals will have more control of their shared personal information and be able to manage credentials in the Microsoft Authenticator app; developers will be able to request and verify credentials via an application SDK.

“Over the past year, digital identity has emerged at the center of a safer more trustworthy digital ecosystem. In a world without borders, businesses must enable more flexibility as we work, learn, and collaborate remotely. At the same time, bad actors have taken advantage of rapid digitization to grow in sophistication and agility,” says AU10TIX CEO Carey O’Connor Kolaja. “Unification is the only intelligent defense. That’s why we launched INSTINCT last year, a first-of-its-kind platform to unite the global business community in fighting synthetic fraud. Now, as a Microsoft partner, we’re furthering our collaborative mission to create safer services, promote trust, and seamlessly secure our everyday access to life.”

“Our vision is to provide the platform for a digital identity in which individuals have more control over what information they share and can restrict access if needed,” said Sue Bohn, Partner Director Program Management, Identity Division at Microsoft Corp. “Collaborating with AU10TIX empowers businesses to verify information at scale while ensuring users have greater control over their personal information.”

To learn more about this program, please visit the AU10TIX website.

About AU10TIX
AU10TIX, an identity management company headquartered in Israel, is on a mission to obliterate fraud and further a more secure and inclusive world. The company provides critical, modular solutions to verify and link physical and digital identities so businesses and their customers can confidently connect. Over the past decade, AU10TIX has become the preferred partner of major global brands for customer onboarding and customer verification automation—and continues to work on the edge of what’s next for identity’s role in society. AU10TIX’s proprietary technology provides results in less than 8 seconds, enabling businesses to onboard customers faster while preventing fraud, meeting compliance mandates and, importantly, promoting trust and safety. AU10TIX is a subsidiary of ICTS International N.V. (OTCQB: ICTSF). For more information, visit AU10TIX.com.

Media Contact
Joseph Giumarra
Press@AU10TIX.com
201-741-8293

SAN FRANCISCO, March 30, 2021 – Revelation Capital Management, LLC (“Revelation Partners”), a San Francisco-based investment firm focused on the healthcare sector, backed Rosetta Capital VI, LP (“Rosetta”) in the acquisition of seven biotech assets from Schroder UK Public Private Trust plc (“SUPP”) in an £85.0 million transaction. The closing of the acquisition occurred on March 15, 2021.

Dr Jonathan Hepple, Managing Partner, Rosetta, said, “We believe this is an attractive portfolio of biotech assets, representing a mix of companies in late-stage clinical trials, with multiple drugs under development, as well as one company in the liquid biopsy space with early revenue.”

Revelation Partners provides liquidity to investors in private healthcare companies giving counterparties the flexibility to manage their illiquid, private investments. These counterparties typically include corporations, venture capital firms, individuals and limited partners in investment funds. As part of that offering, Revelation Partners frequently partners with healthcare focused fund managers such as Rosetta in order to craft the best solution for its counterparties.

Scott Halsted, Managing Partner, Revelation Partners, said, “We are pleased to work closely with Rosetta to complete this transaction. It offers SUPP the opportunity to achieve its strategic objectives relative to these seven investments, while Rosetta’s experience in the biotechnology space, combined with Revelation’s backing, will allow strong support for these companies moving forward.”

As reported by SUPP, the initial purchase price was £52.9 million with the opportunity for SUPP to receive up to an additional £5.0 million in milestone payments. Revelation Partners and other investors capitalized Rosetta Capital VI with over £85.0 million, providing sufficient capital to support the portfolio moving forward.

Legal advice for Revelation Partners was provided by leading UK law firm Macfarlanes.

Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal counsel to Rosetta in the formation of Rosetta Capital VI and acquisition of the portfolio.

Revelation Partners
Revelation Partners is a San Francisco-based investment firm that invests in healthcare companies acquired in negotiated transactions from existing shareholders. It invests broadly across healthcare sectors with a focus on commercial companies with proven business models or companies with novel technologies that have clear clinical and regulatory pathways. It actively invests in the following healthcare verticals – medical devices, biopharmaceuticals, healthcare IT and healthcare services. For more information, please visit: www.revelation-partners.com.

Rosetta Capital Ltd
Rosetta Capital is a UK-based investment firm that invests in portfolios of direct venture capital investments in the life science sector. Rosetta’s funds encompass life science companies across North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit: www.rosettacapital.com.

Macfarlanes
Macfarlanes is a leading law firm based in London. We work with corporate and private clients around the world on advisory and transactional matters as well as on disputes and investigations.

For more information, please visit: www.macfarlanes.com.

Kirkland & Ellis
Kirkland & Ellis is an international law firm with approximately 2,900 attorneys representing clients in private equity, M&A and other complex corporate transactions, litigation and dispute resolution/arbitration, restructuring, and intellectual property matters. The Firm’s Investment Funds Practice represents buyers, sellers, management teams and fund sponsors in secondaries transactions, regularly surpassing other firms in secondaries market volume across the United States, Europe and Asia. Kirkland advised on approximately $57 billion of secondaries transactions in 2020. For more information, please visit www.kirkland.com.

Newbury Park, CA — Designworks, a BMW Group company, announced today a collaboration with leading pleasure boat manufacturer, Sea Ray, to develop a new sleek, sophisticated design language for the brand.  The first new, redesigned model – the all-new Sundancer 370 Outboard – will be uveiled during a live Facebook event today at 12:00 p.m. EST.  The official release of this new product is in conjunction with the 45^th anniversary of the Sundancer series.

“Sea Ray has a rich history as a leading boat manufacturer for more than 60 years,” said Johannes Lampela, Director of Industrial Design at Designworks. “The Sea Ray look is very recognizable, and our goal working together was to further strengthen that design DNA by bringing forward the most iconic features through a modern design execution. What emerged is a modern yet classic aesthetic that is being used to inspire the next generation of Sea Ray boats.”

“Our goal was to define the foundation for bold and pure design expression,” said Charlie Foss, Sea Ray Design Director. “Working together with Designworks, we were able to produce a fresh set of design principles that pay homage to our brand’s past while indicating the future, resulting in a look that is undeniably Sea Ray. An output of the collaboration was the definition of four key design characteristics to inform Sea Ray models moving forward: sleek, confident, athletic, and distinctive.”

Sleekness is recognized through a long, lean, and naturally flowing s-sheer line integrated into the side of the boat. Confidence is evident through a strong character jaw line, and athleticism is conveyed with purposeful yet beautiful angles and surfaces illustrating power and movement. Finally, distinctiveness is imparted through the characteristic Sea Ray hull-side emblem and center line that draws the eye in and creates a feeling of speed.

Next to consulting clients in many mobility related industries, Designworks works across the portfolio of the BMW Group from luxury and premium cars to motorcycles and digital experiences. The Designworks and Sea Ray team worked through a rigorous process of multiple workshops and collaboration sessions, diving deep into consumer insights, design trends and brand heritage.

“Automotive-inspired design is part of the Sea Ray history, dating back to collaboration with Harley Earl Associates in the early 1960s. It was important that we partnered with a group that has a comprehensive understanding of future mobility and the ability to develop concepts with a view to future contexts,” said Foss.

Sea Ray’s new design language will be unveiled during a virtual reveal of the Sundancer 370 on Facebook, today at 12:00 p.m. EST. Initially, the new model is available for order in North America, with international availability timing to follow.

Click here to RSVP for the live virtual reveal of the Sundancer 370 Outboard. For an early glimpse of the new Sundancer 370 design, click here .  

For more information about Designworks, visit BMWGroupDesignworks.com . For more information about Sea Ray, and to view the complete lineup, visit SeaRay.com .

  # # #

About Designworks

Designworks, a BMW Group Company is both, the innovation studio for the BMW Group and a global creative consultancy. The teams in the studios in Los Angeles, Munich and Shanghai work at the intersection of design, technology and innovation to unlock brand potentials and foster business growth for companies worldwide. Designworks leverages the power of BMW Group’s culture of innovation and cutting edge design to advance the goals of its external clients, including John Deere, Brunswick, Siemens, Corsair, HP, and Microsoft, whilst bringing outside perspectives and impulses to the BMW Group. www.bmwgroupdesignworks.com

About Sea Ray

Headquartered in Knoxville, Tenn., Sea Ray is the world’s leading creator of superior quality pleasure boats. For more than 60 years, Sea Ray has pushed the limits of performance and craftsmanship to elevate the boating experience. Each Sea Ray is designed to make every moment exceptional, supporting boaters’ unique lifestyles with a customized balance of unparalleled comfort and performance and world-class technology throughout. Learn more about the Sea Ray Experience at SeaRay.com .

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SAN FRANCISCO – Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the global leader in CRM, and Slack Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: WORK), the most innovative enterprise communications platform, have entered into a definitive agreement under which Salesforce will acquire Slack. Under the terms of the agreement, Slack shareholders will receive $26.79 in cash and 0.0776 shares of Salesforce common stock for each Slack share, representing an enterprise value of approximately $27.7 billion based on the closing price of Salesforce’s common stock on November 30, 2020.

Combining Slack with Salesforce Customer 360 will be transformative for customers and the industry. The combination will create the operating system for the new way to work, uniquely enabling companies to grow and succeed in the all-digital world.

“Stewart and his team have built one of the most beloved platforms in enterprise software history, with an incredible ecosystem around it,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce. “This is a match made in heaven. Together, Salesforce and Slack will shape the future of enterprise software and transform the way everyone works in the all-digital, work-from-anywhere world. I’m thrilled to welcome Slack to the Salesforce Ohana once the transaction closes.”

“Salesforce started the cloud revolution, and two decades later, we are still tapping into all the possibilities it offers to transform the way we work. The opportunity we see together is massive,” said Stewart Butterfield, Slack CEO and Co-Founder. “As software plays a more and more critical role in the performance of every organization, we share a vision of reduced complexity, increased power and flexibility, and ultimately a greater degree of alignment and organizational agility. Personally, I believe this is the most strategic combination in the history of software, and I can’t wait to get going.”
Slack to Become the New Interface for Salesforce Customer 360

Salesforce is the #1 CRM that enables companies to sell, service, market and conduct commerce, from anywhere. Slack brings people, data and tools together so teams can collaborate and get work done, from anywhere. Slack Connect extends the benefits of Slack to enable communication and collaboration between a company’s employees and all its external partners, from vendors to customers.

Slack will be deeply integrated into every Salesforce Cloud. As the new interface for Salesforce Customer 360, Slack will transform how people communicate, collaborate and take action on customer information across Salesforce as well as information from all of their other business apps and systems to be more productive, make smarter, faster decisions and create connected customer experiences.
Slack To Expand Enterprise Footprint as Part of the World’s #1 CRM

Slack serves leading organizations in every industry around the world, from the fastest growing startups to Fortune 500 companies, such as Starbucks, Target and TD Ameritrade, along with leading academic institutions, non-profits, and governments in more than 150 countries.

As part of the world’s #1 CRM, Slack will be able to expand its presence in the enterprise, not just among Salesforce customers, but for any company undergoing digital transformation. Upon the close of the transaction, Slack will become an operating unit of Salesforce and will continue to be led by CEO Stewart Butterfield.
Combination to Form the Largest Open Ecosystem of Apps and Workflows for Business

Connecting people and data across systems, apps and devices is one of the biggest challenges companies face in today’s all-digital world.

Slack’s open platform seamlessly integrates with more than 2,400 apps that people use to collaborate, communicate and get work done. With the largest enterprise app ecosystem, the Salesforce platform is the easiest way to build and deliver apps to connect with customers in a whole new way.

Together, Salesforce and Slack will create the most extensive open ecosystem of apps and workflows for business and empower millions of developers to build the next generation of apps, with clicks not code.
Details on the Proposed Transaction

The board of directors of each of Salesforce and Slack have approved the transaction and the Slack board recommends that Slack stockholders approve the transaction and adopt the merger agreement. The transaction is anticipated to close in the second quarter of Salesforce’s fiscal year 2022, subject to approval by the Slack stockholders, the receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Salesforce has also entered into a voting agreement with certain stockholders of Slack common stock, under which each such stockholder has agreed to vote all of their Slack shares in favor of the transaction at the special meeting of Slack stockholders to be held in connection with the transaction, subject to certain terms and conditions. The Slack shares subject to the agreement represent approximately 55% of the current outstanding voting power of the Slack common stock.

Salesforce expects to fund the cash portion of the transaction consideration with a combination of new debt and cash on Salesforce’s balance sheet. Salesforce has obtained a commitment from Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Bank of America, N.A. and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. for a $10.0 billion senior unsecured 364-day bridge loan facility, subject to customary conditions.
About Slack

Slack has transformed business communication. It’s the leading channel-based messaging platform, used by millions to align their teams, unify their systems, and drive their businesses forward. Only Slack offers a secure, enterprise-grade environment that can scale with the largest companies in the world. It is a new layer of the business technology stack where people can work together more effectively, connect all their other software tools and services, and find the information they need to do their best work. Slack is where work happens.

Greg Joswiak joins Apple executive team as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing

Phil Schiller on stage.
Phil Schiller becomes an Apple Fellow after a storied career that began in 1987.
Cupertino, California — Apple today announced that Phil Schiller will become an Apple Fellow, continuing a storied career that began at Apple in 1987. In this role, which reports to Apple CEO Tim Cook, Schiller will continue to lead the App Store and Apple Events. Greg (Joz) Joswiak, a longtime leader within the Product Marketing organization, will join the executive team as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
“Phil has helped make Apple the company it is today and his contributions are broad, vast, and run deep. In this new role he will continue to provide the incredible thought partnership, and guidance that have defined his decades at Apple,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Joz’s many years of leadership in the Product Marketing organization make him perfectly suited to this new role and will ensure a seamless transition at a moment when the team is engaged in such important and exciting work. I’m thrilled that the whole executive team will benefit from his collaboration, ideas, and energy.”
Schiller has helped guide Apple’s products as well as its marketing for 30 years. He most recently led the effort to plan and execute Apple’s first-ever virtual Worldwide Developers Conference. The event, notable both for its innovative software and hardware announcements as well as its creative and much-praised execution, set a new standard for what virtual events can achieve in the era of COVID-19.
“It has been a dream come true for me to work at Apple, on so many products I love, with all of these great friends — Steve, Tim, and so many more,” said Schiller. “I first started at Apple when I was 27, this year I turned 60 and it is time for some planned changes in my life. I’ll keep working here as long as they will have me, I bleed six colors, but I also want to make some time in the years ahead for my family, friends, and a few personal projects I care deeply about.”
Greg Joswiak on stage.
Greg (Joz) Joswiak will join the Apple executive team as senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
Joswiak takes on the role of senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. This organization is responsible for Apple’s product management and product marketing, developer relations, market research, business management, as well as education, enterprise, and international marketing.
Joswiak brings more than 20 years in leadership roles across Apple product marketing and has served as the vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing for the past four years. Joswiak has overseen the product management and product marketing for numerous breakthrough products including the original iPod and iPhone. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.

https://nr.apple.com/dE5w0U8A5i

Apple revolutionized personal technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. Apple’s five software platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, and iCloud. Apple’s more than 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.

SAN RAMON, Calif. – GE Digital today unveiled the latest updates to its industry-leading digital plant software portfolio: Proficy Plant Applications, Proficy Operations Hub, Proficy Historian, and Proficy CSense. This mission-critical software accelerates digitization for industrial organizations by supporting the digital worker as part of infrastructure modernization, enterprise visibility and scalability, and continuous improvement of operations.

“Building from our rich heritage of technology, experience and deep, long-term customer partnerships, GE Digital has invested heavily to deliver new innovations such as a modern and mobile user experience; our single, seamless MES for process, discrete and mixed manufacturing environments; and instant upgrades across an enterprise,” said Richard Kenedi, General Manager Manufacturing and Digital Plant for GE Digital. “As one of the world’s largest manufacturers, GE understands the importance of a digital foundation for continuous improvement and Lean to bring truly transformative results to our business and our global manufacturing and digital plant customers.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the need for solutions that support the new normal, as social distancing, remote operations, and supply chain issues have completely upended plants and factories,” according to Craig Resnick, Vice President at ARC Advisory Group. “This requires deploying MES, HMI/SCADA, historian, and analytics solutions capable of visualizing operations, analyzing data, and optimizing production, then providing that smart information in real time to the appropriate personnel regardless of their location so they can respond quickly and correctly without any detriment to performance.

GE Digital’s software upgrades address these new normal requirements directly and will help to further enable organizations to deploy their new digital workforce.”

Key developments

Proficy Plant Applications is the industry’s first Manufacturing Execution System (MES) that seamlessly spans process, discrete and mixed manufacturing environments, allowing manufacturers to efficiently deploy one MES across their enterprise rather than multiple, disparate solutions – reducing costs and time while increasing consistency and collaboration. Based on 25+ years of development, this proven MES maximizes overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), improves production scheduling, and ensures product quality by leveraging real-time production data.

New features in Version 8.1 include:

• Core process, discrete, and mixed manufacturing enhancements such as loT-based discrete work order execution, non-conformance tracking, and in-process work order editor
• Instantaneous upgrades with Docker containerization technology
• Expanded native HTML5 content to include Production Schedule for executing process orders and Waste Management

“Proficy Plant Applications 8.1 is taking us to the next phase of our migration to a single shop floor MES,” said Robert Amos, Senior Director, Technical Product Management for GE Aviation. “We are currently setting up the integration to our Oracle ERP which will make this a truly enterprise application. Key features like the expanded Non-Conformance capabilities will allow us to further consolidate our quality applications, which in turn allows us to achieve our goal of minimizing the number of applications on the shop floor. In addition, the continued evolution and new web displays will allow our shop floor employees to work more efficiently and with better quality in their jobs. We are in the middle of a complete redesign of our Supply Chain to modernize our platforms and consolidate those applications, and Proficy Plant Applications will be a pillar in that system.”

Proficy Operations Hub, a modern centralized environment for rapidly building industrial applications for mobile and Web-based intelligence, allows organizations to gain a foundation for insights into operations and productivity, supporting Lean and other continuous improvement initiatives. New features include:

• Real-time workflow task lists on assets with context and scalability, performance and security enhancements
• Faster, low code / no code implementation and quick time to value
• Advanced Historian Trend Analysis app for data analysis in asset model context
• Seamless integration of Proficy Plant Applications content
• Support for English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, Russian and Czech

Proficy Historian provides best-in-class industrial time-series and Alarm & Events data collection for onpremise and cloud-based storage and analysis. Updates in the new version 8.1 include Remote Collector Management for large, enterprise-distributed system management and reduced costs with Historian ETL (Extract, Transfer, Load) for sophisticated file-oriented data transmission for Enterprise Historian. Additionally, GE Digital released Proficy Historian for Linux Version 2.3 for improved data collection at edge devices, delivering distributed data management to support IoT.

Proficy CSense improves asset and process performance by uniquely providing five analytics capabilities in one closed-loop software solution: analysis, monitoring, prediction, simulation, and optimization and control of setpoints. Used around the world, this industrial analytics software turns raw data into realtime value with a Process Digital Twin. Proficy CSense provides AI and machine learning to enable process engineers to combine data across industrial data sources and rapidly identify problems, discover root causes, predict future performance, and automate actions to continuously improve quality, utilization, productivity, and delivery. The new version 7.0 allows engineers to analyze larger datasets with increased memory limitations, and features improved connectivity, model predictive control, interoperability, and security

GE Digital’s industrial plant software solutions are generally available. More information can be found here.

ATLANTA  — On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. announced “Accelerate,” a new program designed to address economic recovery through both skilling underserved communities and re-skilling the many Americans impacted by COVID-19. Accelerate: Atlanta is the first of many city-focused digital skills and employment partnerships designed to upskill and increase employability.

Accelerate: Atlanta is the first U.S. implementation of Microsoft’s global skills initiative, an ambitious plan to help 25 million people worldwide acquire new digital skills by the end of the year. The announcement supports the needs of Atlantans impacted by the global pandemic and racial inequities in access to education. With support of the mayor’s office and additional public and private partnerships, the initiative aims to accelerate economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19, address the needs of people of underserved communities who require digital skills to stay competitive, and empower them to seize the employment opportunities of the future. Expanding access to digital skills is a critical first step in improving employability to help build local economic recovery, especially for the people hardest hit by job losses.

Accelerate: Atlanta brings together civic, learning and corporate partners to provide skills across the spectrum of digital proficiency to build a more inclusive workforce for all.

• Empower underserved communities to close the digital divide in the growing workforce.
• Provide digital skills to promote economic uplift for Atlanta’s populations with the highest susceptibility to automation and COVID-19 impact.
• Target the market with existing digital fluency to ensure that they can keep up with the advances in AI and machine learning.

Partners in the coalition include:

• Civic partners: The Office of the Mayor of Atlanta and Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce
• Learning partners: General Assembly, OpenClassrooms and TechBridge
• Corporate partners: Accenture and others to be announced soon

Microsoft is backing the effort with over $1 million in investments to assist those who need it most, including people with lower income, people with lower educational attainment and racial/ethnic minorities. Atlanta-based nonprofit organizations led by and serving Black/African American communities will be among the 50 such organizations across the United States receiving cash grants to aid in this skills initiative.

“Through Accelerate: Atlanta, Microsoft and its partners will help close the digital divide and ensure there is a place for everyone in our shared future,” said Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “The road to economic recovery must begin with pathways to opportunity that are inclusionary and accessible to all. This is more than an initiative — this is an investment in underserved and underrepresented communities that will equip our residents with skills to compete in a modern workforce, while at the same time grow our middle class.”

“Atlanta is the first U.S. city in our ambitious national investment plan to support our country’s economic recovery,” said Kate Johnson, president of Microsoft U.S. “We’re delighted that we can bring the breadth of the Microsoft technology ecosystem in partnership with the mayor to provide communities in Atlanta with the digital skills needed for a more equitable, prosperous future.”

“We’re committed to equipping more communities with the digital skills needed to come back from this crisis even stronger through our work with Microsoft,” said Jake Schwartz, CEO and co-founder at General Assembly. “We’ve been proud to be a part of Atlanta’s thriving tech, startup and innovation ecosystem for years, and are thrilled to continue our investment in the community while advancing this important national partnership with the launch of Accelerate: Atlanta.”

“Microsoft shares our commitment to serving underrepresented communities with equity, access and opportunity. We are thrilled to align our mission of ‘breaking the cycle of generational poverty through the innovative use of technology’ with Microsoft and the Atlanta community to close the digital divide, creating real opportunities for those who need it most,” said Nicole Armstrong, CEO of TechBridge.

“I applaud Microsoft and the many partners working to make Accelerate: Atlanta a success. Our region is uniquely situated to benefit from this initiative through our dense innovation community coupled with the presence of noted higher education institutions training our brightest minds,” said Metro Atlanta Chamber President and CEO Katie Kirkpatrick. “I am excited to see the progress as Accelerate: Atlanta closes the digital divide and equips the next generation with the in-demand skills needed to succeed.”

“Accenture is committed to advancing equality for all people all the time, and to doing more to drive sustained change in our communities,” said Jimmy Etheredge, Accenture’s CEO for North America. “We are pleased to join Microsoft and our coalition partners in Atlanta to equip more of our citizens with the digital skills they need to be prepared for the jobs of the future — and we look forward to extending the impact of this initiative across the United States.”

More information can be found at https://aka.ms/AccelerateAtlanta.

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) today announced Kroger Technology & Digital has been named to Computerworld magazine’s Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT for 2020. This marks the third consecutive year that Kroger’s technology and digital team has been recognized by the annual list for having an innovative, industry-leading workplace culture. This year, Kroger ranks 51^st among large companies.

“Our technology and digital team continues to create innovative experiences that are fundamentally changing the way we serve customers across America,” said Yael Cosset, chief technology and digital officer. “Kroger’s relentless focus on delivering solutions focused on both customers and associates is what drives our ability to transform the shopping experience and is what makes Kroger a special place for our team.”

The 100 Best Places to Work in IT list is an annual ranking of the top work environments for technology professionals by Computerworld. The list is developed based on categories like benefits, career development, and training and retention. Computerworld also conducts surveys of IT associates, and their responses are a factor in determining the rankings.

This summer, as part of its emphasis on workplace culture and developing talent, Kroger’s technology and digital team is offering its first virtual summer internship program where more than 30 interns will work on real projects impactful to the business as well as participate in a series of virtual networking, mentorship and community service opportunities. The virtual internship format will expand in the fall semester, and  interested students can apply by contacting DigiTechCampus@kroger.com.

“A big part of our organization’s culture is providing opportunities to grow, learn and develop the talented and passionate team behind the company’s seamless ecosystem,” continued Cosset. “Our internship program offers real-life opportunities to future industry talent, which has never been more important to those entering the workforce, and I’m proud of our ability to continue to provide these experiences in the current environment.”

For a complete Computerworld Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT list, download here.

About The Kroger Co.
At The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are, across our family of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

For the first time in history, NASA astronauts have launched from American soil in a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft on its way to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley lifted off at 3:22 p.m. EDT Saturday on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“Today a new era in human spaceflight begins as we once again launched American astronauts on American rockets from American soil on their way to the International Space Station, our national lab orbiting Earth,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “I thank and congratulate Bob Behnken, Doug Hurley, and the SpaceX and NASA teams for this significant achievement for the United States. The launch of this commercial space system designed for humans is a phenomenal demonstration of American excellence and is an important step on our path to expand human exploration to the Moon and Mars.”

Known as NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2, the mission is an end-to-end test flight to validate the SpaceX crew transportation system, including launch, in-orbit, docking and landing operations. This is SpaceX’s second spaceflight test of its Crew Dragon and its first test with astronauts aboard, which will pave the way for its certification for regular crew flights to the station as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.

“This is a dream come true for me and everyone at SpaceX,” said Elon Musk, chief engineer at SpaceX. “It is the culmination of an incredible amount of work by the SpaceX team, by NASA and by a number of other partners in the process of making this happen. You can look at this as the results of a hundred thousand people roughly when you add up all the suppliers and everyone working incredibly hard to make this day happen.”

The program demonstrates NASA’s commitment to investing in commercial companies through public-private partnerships and builds on the success of American companies, including SpaceX, already delivering cargo to the space station.

“It’s difficult to put into words how proud I am of the people who got us here today,” said Kathy Lueders, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. “When I think about all of the challenges overcome – from design and testing, to paper reviews, to working from home during a pandemic and balancing family demands with this critical mission – I am simply amazed at what the NASA and SpaceX teams have accomplished together. This is just the beginning; I will be watching with great anticipation as Bob and Doug get ready to dock to the space station tomorrow, and through every phase of this historic mission.”

SpaceX controlled the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy’s Launch Control Center Firing Room 4, the former space shuttle control room, which SpaceX has leased as its primary launch control center. As Crew Dragon ascended into space, SpaceX commanded the spacecraft from its mission control center in Hawthorne, California. NASA teams are monitoring space station operations throughout the flight from Mission Control Center at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to dock to the space station at 10:29 a.m. Sunday, May 31. NASA Television and the agency’s website are providing ongoing live coverage of the Crew Dragon’s trip to the orbiting laboratory. Behnken and Hurley will work with SpaceX mission control to verify the spacecraft is performing as intended by testing the environmental control system, the displays and control system, and by maneuvering the thrusters, among other things. The first docking maneuver began Saturday, May 30, at 4:09 p.m., and the spacecraft will begin its close approach to the station at about 8:27 a.m. Sunday, May 31. Crew Dragon is designed to dock autonomously, but the crews onboard the spacecraft and the space station will diligently monitor the performance of the spacecraft as it approaches and docks to the forward port of the station’s Harmony module.

After successfully docking, the crew will be welcomed aboard the International Space Station, where they will become members of the Expedition 63 crew, which currently includes NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy. NASA will continue live coverage through hatch opening and the crew welcoming ceremony. The crew will perform tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew.

Three astronauts aboard the International Space Station will participate in a live NASA Television crew news conference from orbit on Monday, June 1, beginning at 11:15 a.m. on NASA TV and the agency’s website.

Behnken is the joint operations commander for the mission, responsible for activities such as rendezvous, docking and undocking, as well as Demo-2 activities while the spacecraft is docked to the space station. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2000 and has completed two space shuttle flights. Behnken flew STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, performing three spacewalks during each mission. Born in St. Anne, Missouri, he has bachelor’s degrees in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis and earned a master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Before joining NASA, he was a flight test engineer with the U.S. Air Force.

Hurley is the spacecraft commander for Demo-2, responsible for activities such as launch, landing and recovery. He was selected as an astronaut in 2000 and has completed two spaceflights. Hurley served as pilot and lead robotics operator for both STS‐127 in July 2009 and STS‐135, the final space shuttle mission, in July 2011. The New York native was born in Endicott but considers Apalachin his hometown. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans and graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland. Before joining NASA, he was a fighter pilot and test pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Mission Objectives

The Demo-2 mission is the final major test before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for operational, long-duration missions to the space station. As SpaceX’s final flight test, it will validate all aspects of its crew transportation system, including the Crew Dragon spacecraft, spacesuits, Falcon 9 launch vehicle, launch pad 39A and operations capabilities.

While en route to the station, Behnken and Hurley will take control of Crew Dragon for two manual flight tests, demonstrating their ability to control the spacecraft should an issue with the spacecraft’s automated flight arise. On Saturday, May 30, while the spacecraft is coasting, the crew will test its roll, pitch and yaw. When Crew Dragon is about 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) below the station and moving around to the docking axis, the crew will conduct manual in-orbit demonstrations of the control system in the event it were needed. After pausing, rendezvous will resume and mission managers will make a final decision about whether to proceed to docking as Crew Dragon approaches 20 meters (66 feet).

For operational missions, Crew Dragon will be able to launch as many as four crew members at a time and carry more than 220 pounds of cargo, allowing for an increased number crew members aboard the space station and increasing the time dedicated to research in the unique microgravity environment, as well as returning more science back to Earth.

The Crew Dragon being used for this flight test can stay in orbit about 110 days, and the specific mission duration will be determined once on station based on the readiness of the next commercial crew launch. The operational Crew Dragon spacecraft will be capable of staying in orbit for at least 210 days as a NASA requirement.

At the conclusion of the mission, Behnken and Hurley will board Crew Dragon, which will then autonomously undock, depart the space station, and re-enter Earth’s atmosphere. Upon splashdown off Florida’s Atlantic coast, the crew will be picked up by the SpaceX recovery ship and returned to the dock at Cape Canaveral.

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is working with SpaceX and Boeing to design, build, test and operate safe, reliable and cost-effective human transportation systems to low-Earth orbit. Both companies are focused on test missions, including abort system demonstrations and crew flight tests, ahead of regularly flying crew missions to the space station. Both companies’ crewed flights will be the first times in history NASA has sent astronauts to space on systems owned, built, tested and operated by private companies.

MINNETONKA, Minn., and REDMOND, Wash – UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) have joined forces to launch ProtectWell™, an innovative return-to-workplace protocol that enables employers to bring employees back to work in a safer environment. ProtectWell™ helps employees determine they are safe to go to work, co-workers know their colleagues have been screened, and employers feel confident that their workplace is ready to do business. ProtectWell™ incorporates Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines and the latest clinical research to limit the spread of COVID-19 by screening employees for symptoms and establishing guidelines to support the health and safety of the workforce and workplace.

ProtectWell™ combines UnitedHealth Group’s clinical and data analytics capabilities with Microsoft’s technology leadership to help in the next phases of COVID-19 recovery efforts. The ProtectWell™ app is powered by Microsoft Azure, AI and analytics solutions, and also takes advantage of the Microsoft Healthcare Bot service, which is being used around the world for AI-assisted COVID-19 symptom triaging.

UnitedHealth Group logoThe ProtectWell™ protocol is supported by a smartphone app that allows employers to offer workers a simple screening tool designed for everyday use. The ProtectWell™ app includes an AI-powered health care bot that asks users a series of questions to screen for COVID-19 symptoms or exposure. If risk of infection is indicated, employers can direct their employees to a streamlined COVID-19 testing process that enables closed-loop ordering and reporting of test results directly back to employers. Health care information is managed by UnitedHealth Group and employers in accordance with occupational health laws.

In addition, ProtectWell™ includes guidelines and resources to support a safe work environment, including physical distancing, personal hygiene, sanitation and more. Employers can also choose additional custom content specific to their workforce for a personalized experience.

Microsoft logo“As we plan for a safe and careful return to the workplace, employers need clear guidelines to ensure a safe environment and a robust process for employees to screen themselves for COVID-19 symptoms,” said Ken Ehlert, chief scientific officer, UnitedHealth Group. “We are pleased to collaborate with Microsoft to launch ProtectWell™, a simple and effective tool to ensure employers and employees have the information and resources they need to keep themselves, their colleagues and the public safe and healthy.”

Microsoft Executive Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Business, Judson Althoff said: “As businesses begin to reopen, employers will need to monitor and manage their workforce for COVID-19 symptoms to help ensure those at risk of spreading the virus stay home until cleared by medical providers. Microsoft is pleased to join with UnitedHealth Group to launch ProtectWell™, which helps organizations manage the complexity of this undertaking.”

UnitedHealth Group has implemented ProtectWell™ with its own frontline health care workers, is in process of implementing the tool across its business to enable safe return of team members to the workplace, and is making the platform available to all employers in the United States at no charge. Microsoft intends to deploy ProtectWell™ for its U.S.-based employees.

The ProtectWell™ smartphone app is powered by Microsoft Azure, together with its industry-leading security and compliance offerings, and allows employers to better plan, manage resources, care for their employees, and reallocate resources to help safeguard their workforce, workplace and business continuity. UnitedHealth Group will maintain control over protected health care data and will manage opt-in and consent requirements needed from app users. Microsoft will not have access to identifiable information shared via the ProtectWell™ app. De-identified workforce health trends and analytics information will help employers and policymakers make informed occupational and public health decisions.

ProtectWell™ is the latest of many initiatives announced by UnitedHealth Group to combat COVID-19. Other initiatives to date include:

Providing $1.5 billion in direct customer and consumer support through premium credits, cost-sharing waivers and other efforts.
Accelerating payments to providers throughout the crisis, with an initial tranche of nearly $2 billion.
Waiving cost-sharing for COVID-19 testing and treatment for U.S. members of UnitedHealthcare plans and simplifying access to care by reducing prior-authorization requirements.
Pioneering self-administered swab procedures to expand COVID-19 testing, reduce needed personal protective equipment and protect health care workers from unnecessary exposure to COVID-19.
Supporting the Mayo Clinic’s groundbreaking research into the therapeutic potential of using plasma from COVID-19 survivors.
Deploying 3,000 “light ventilators” to address critical shortages in the nation’s supply of ventilators.
Significantly expanding access to telehealth and virtual visits and redeploying 10,000 Optum clinicians to expand telehealth capabilities.
Providing a special enrollment period for fully insured customers to allow employees who did not opt in for coverage during the regular enrollment period to secure coverage.
Conducting proactive personal outreach to support seniors and the most vulnerable populations among our members.
Launching a free nationwide emotional support line to manage the stress and anxiety caused by COVID-19.
Investing nearly $75 million to help at-risk populations, support communities and protect the health care workforce.
Converting company cafeterias to provide more than 75,000 meals a week for people in need and keep our cafe team at work.
About UnitedHealth Group
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) is a diversified health care company dedicated to helping people live healthier lives and helping to make the health system work better for everyone. UnitedHealth Group offers a broad spectrum of products and services through two distinct platforms: UnitedHealthcare, which provides health care coverage and benefits services; and Optum, which provides information and technology-enabled health services. For more information, visit UnitedHealth Group at www.unitedhealthgroup.com or follow @UnitedHealthGrp on Twitter.

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

edwood City, CA; Redmond, WA; Urbana-Champaign, IL; Berkeley, CA – C3.ai, Microsoft Corp., the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the University of California, Berkeley, Princeton University, the University of Chicago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at UIUC announced two major initiatives:

C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (C3.ai DTI), a research consortium dedicated to accelerating the application of artificial intelligence to speed the pace of digital transformation in business, government, and society. Jointly managed by UC Berkeley and UIUC, C3.ai DTI will sponsor and fund world-leading scientists in a coordinated effort to advance the digital transformation of business, government, and society.
C3.ai DTI First Call for Research Proposals: C3.ai DTI invites scholars, developers, and researchers, to embrace the challenge of abating COVID-19 and advance the knowledge, science, and technologies for mitigating future pandemics using AI. This is the first in what will be a series of bi-annual calls for Digital Transformation research proposals.
“The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a consortium of leading scientists, researchers, innovators, and executives from academia and industry, joining forces to accelerate the social and economic benefits of digital transformation,” said Thomas M. Siebel, CEO of C3.ai. “We have the opportunity through public-private partnership to change the course of a global pandemic,” Siebel continued. “I cannot imagine a more important use of AI.”

Immediate Call for Proposals: AI Techniques to Mitigate Pandemic
Topics for Research Awards may include but are not limited to the following:

Applying machine learning and other AI methods to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
Genome-specific COVID-19 medical protocols, including precision medicine of host responses
Biomedical informatics methods for drug design and repurposing
Design and sharing of clinical trials for collecting data on medications, therapies, and interventions
Modeling, simulation, and prediction for understanding COVID-19 propagation and efficacy of interventions
Logistics and optimization analysis for design of public health strategies and interventions
Rigorous approaches to designing sampling and testing strategies
Data analytics for COVID-19 research harnessing private and sensitive data
Improving societal resilience in response to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic
Broader efforts in biomedicine, infectious disease modeling, response logistics and optimization, public health efforts, tools, and methodologies around the containment of rising infectious diseases and response to pandemics, so as to be better prepared for future infectious diseases
The first call for proposals is open now, with a deadline of May 1, 2020. Researchers are invited to learn more about C3.ai DTI and how to submit their proposals for consideration at C3DTI.ai. Selected proposals will be announced by June 1, 2020.

Up to $5.8 million in awards will be funded from this first call, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 each. In addition to cash awards, C3.aiDTI recipients will be provided with significant cloud computing, supercomputing, data access, and AI software resources and technical support provided by Microsoft and C3.ai. This will include unlimited use of the C3 AI Suite and access to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, and access to the Blue Waters supercomputer at the National Center for Super Computing Applications (NCSA) at UIUC.

“We are collecting a massive amount of data about MERS, SARS, and now COVID-19,” said Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary of State. “We have a unique opportunity before us to apply the new sciences of AI and digital transformation to learn from these data how we can better manage these phenomena and avert the worst outcomes for humanity,” Rice continued. “I can think of no work more important and no response more cogent and timely than this important public-private partnership.”

“We’re excited about the C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute and are happy to join on a shared mission to accelerate research at these eminent research institutions,” said Eric Horvitz, Chief Scientist at Microsoft and C3.ai DTI Advisory Board Member. “As we launch this exciting private-public partnership, we’re enthusiastic about aiming the broader goals of the Institute at urgent challenges with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as on longer-term research that could help minimize future pandemics.”

“At UC Berkeley, we are thrilled to help co-lead this important endeavor to establish and advance the science of digital transformation at the nexus of machine learning, IoT, and cloud computing,” said Carol Christ, Chancellor, UC Berkeley. “We believe this Institute has the potential to make tremendous contributions by including ethics, new business models, and public policy to the technologies for transforming societal scale systems globally.”

“The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute, with its vision of cross-institutional and multi-disciplinary collaboration, represents an exciting model to help accelerate innovation in this important new field of study,” said Robert J. Jones, Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “At this time of a global health crisis, the Institute’s initial research focus will be on applying AI to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and to learn from it how to protect the world from future pandemics. C3.ai DTI is an important addition to the world’s fight against this disease and a powerful new resource in developing solutions to all societal challenges.”

“Together with the other C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute partners, we look forward to creating a powerful ecosystem of scholars and educators committed to applying 21st century technologies to the benefit of all,” said Chris Eisgruber, President of Princeton University. “This public-private partnership with innovators like C3.ai and Microsoft, providing support to world-class researchers across a range of disciplines, promises to bring rapid innovation to an exciting new frontier.”

“By strongly supporting multidisciplinary research and multi-institution projects, the C3.ai DTI represents a new avenue to develop breakthrough scientific results with a positive impact on society at a time of great need,” said Robert Zimmer, President of the University of Chicago: “I’m very pleased that the University of Chicago is part of this formidable collaboration between academia and industry to lead crucial innovation with great purpose and urgency.”

“The vision of C3.ai DTI is driven by the recognition of digital transformation as both a science as well as a scientific imperative for this pivotal time, applicable to every sector of our economy across the public and private sectors, including in healthcare, education, and public health,” said Farnam Jahanian, President of Carnegie Mellon University. “We are excited to participate in building out the Institute’s structure, program and further alliances. This is just the beginning of an ambitious journey that can have enormous positive impact on the world.”

“At MIT, we share the commitment of C3.ai DTI to advancing the frontiers of AI, cybersecurity and related fields while building into every inquiry a deep concern for ethics, privacy, equity and the public interest,” said Rafael Reif, President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “At this moment of national emergency, we are proud to be part of this intensive effort to apply these sophisticated tools to better analyze the COVID-19 epidemic and devise effective ways to stop it. We look forward to accelerating this work both by collaborating with the companies and institutions in the initiative, and by drawing on the frontline experience and clinical data of our colleagues in Boston’s world-class hospitals.”

Building Community

At the heart of C3.ai DTI will be the constant flow of new ideas and expertise provided by ongoing research, visiting professors and research scholars, and faculty and scholars in residence, many of whom will come from beyond the member institutions. This rich ecosystem will form the foundational structure of a new Science of Digital Transformation.

“This is about global innovation based on multinational collaboration to accelerate the positive impact of AI by providing researchers access to real world data and to massive resources,” said Jim Snabe, Chairman, Siemens. “This is exactly the kind of multinational public-private partnership that is required to address this critical issue.”

“I could not be more proud of our association with C3.ai and Microsoft,” said Lorenzo Simonelli, CEO of Baker Hughes. “This is exactly the kind of leadership that is required to bring together the best of us to address this critical need.”

“We are at war and we must win it! Using all means,” said Jacques Attali, French statesman. “This great project will organize global scientific collaboration for accelerating the social impact of AI, and help to win this war, using new weapons, for the best of mankind.”

“In these difficult times, we need – now more than ever – to join our forces with scholars, innovators, and industry experts to propose solutions to complex problems. I am convinced that digital, data science and AI are a key answer,” said Gwenaëlle Avice-Huet, Executive Vice President of ENGIE. “The C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a perfect example of what we can do together to make the world better.”

Establishing the New Science of Digital Transformation

C3.ai DTI will focus its research on AI, Machine Learning, IoT, Big Data Analytics, human factors, organizational behavior, ethics, and public policy. The Institute will support the development of ML algorithms, data security, and cybersecurity techniques. C3.ai DTI research will analyze new business operation models, develop methods of implementing organizational change management and protecting privacy, and amplify the dialogue around the ethics and public policy of AI.

C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute is a Research Initiative that Includes:

Research Awards: Up to 26 cash awards annually, ranging from $100,000 to $500,000 each
Computing Resources: Access to free Azure Cloud and C3 AI Suite resources
Visiting Professors & Research Scientists: $750,000 per year to support C3.ai DTI Visiting Scholars
Curriculum Development: Annual awards to faculty at member institutions to develop curricula that teach the emerging field of Digital Transformation Science
Data Analytics Platform: ai DTI will host an elastic cloud, big data, development, and operating platform, including the C3 AI Suite hosted on Microsoft Azure for the purpose of supporting C3.ai DTI research, curriculum development, and teaching
Educational Program: $750,000 a year to support an annual conference, annual report, newsletters, published research, and website
Industry Alignment: C3DTI Industry Partners will be established to assure the institute’s operations are aligned to the needs of the private sector.
Open Source: ai DTI will strongly favor proposals that promise to publish their research in the public domain.
To support the Institute, C3.ai will provide C3.ai DTI $57,250,000 in cash contributions over the first five years of operation. C3.ai and Microsoft will contribute an additional $310 million in-kind, including use of the C3 AI Suite and Microsoft Azure computing, storage, and technical resources to support C3.ai DTI research.

To learn more about C3.ai DTI’s program, award opportunities, and call for proposals, please visit C3DTI.ai.

About C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute

C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute represents an innovative vision to take AI, ML, IoT, and big data research in a consortium model to a level that cannot be achieved at any one institution alone. Jointly managed and hosted by the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, C3.ai DTI will attract the world’s leading scientists to join in a coordinated and innovative effort to advance the digital transformation of business, government, and society, and establish the new Science of the Digital Transformation of Societal Systems.

About C3.ai

C3.ai is a leading AI software provider for accelerating digital transformation. C3.ai delivers the C3 AI Suite for developing, deploying, and operating large-scale AI, predictive analytics, and IoT applications in addition to an increasingly broad portfolio of turn-key AI applications. The core of the C3.ai offering is a revolutionary, model-driven AI architecture that dramatically enhances data science and application development. Learn more at: www.c3.ai.

C3.ai Contact:

April Marks

Director of Public Relations

917-574-5512

pr@c3.ai

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Microsoft Contact

Microsoft Media Relations:

WE Communications for Microsoft

425-638-7777

rrt@we-worldwide.com

About University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public land-grant research university founded in 1867 and dedicated to building upon a tradition of excellence in education, research, public engagement and economic development. The university pioneers innovative research that tackles global problems and expands the human experience. Illinois faculty, staff and alumni have been leading the way in digital transformation from the invention of the transistor to the birth of the graphical internet browser to high performance computing to the new revolution in data sciences and analytics.

UIUC Contact:

Robin Kaler

Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs

rkaler@illinois.edu

217-333-5050

About University of California, Berkeley

UC Berkeley is the world’s premier public university with a mission to excel in teaching, research and public service. This longstanding mission has led to the university’s distinguished record of Nobel-level scholarship, constant innovation, a concern for the betterment of our world, and consistently high rankings of its schools and departments. The campus offers superior, high-value education for extraordinarily talented students from all walks of life, operational excellence, and a commitment to the competitiveness and prosperity of California and the nation.

University of California, Berkeley Contact:

Sarah Yang

Assistant Dean, Marketing & Communications

Berkeley Engineering

scyang@berkeley.edu

About Princeton University

Princeton University is a vibrant community of teaching and research that stands in the nation’s service and the service of humanity. Chartered in 1746, Princeton is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. Princeton is an independent, coeducational, nondenominational institution that provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the arts and humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering.

Princeton University Contact:

Ben Chang, Deputy Vice President, Communications

mediarelations@princeton.edu

About University of Chicago

The University of Chicago is a leading academic and research institution that has driven new ways of thinking since its founding in 1890. As an intellectual destination, the University draws scholars and students from around the world to its campuses and centers around the globe. The University provides a distinctive educational experience and research environment, empowering individuals to challenge conventional thinking and pursue field-defining research that produces new understanding and breakthroughs with global impact.

University of Chicago Contact:

Rob Mitchum

Associate Director of Communications for Data Science and Computing

University of Chicago

rmitchum@uchicago.edu

773-484-9890

About Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is dedicated to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. The Institute has more than 1,000 faculty members and over 11,500 undergraduate and graduate students. MIT’s commitment to innovation has led to a host of scientific breakthroughs and technological advances, in fields ranging from aeronautics to computing to cancer research.

MIT Contact:

Anne Stuart

Communications Officer in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

astuart@mit.edu

About Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mellon (cmu.edu) is a private, internationally ranked research university with programs in areas ranging from science, technology and business, to public policy, the humanities and the arts. More than 14,000 students in the university’s seven schools and colleges benefit from a small student-to-faculty ratio and an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

Carnegie Mellon University Contact:

Jason Maderer

Sr. Director, Media Relations

412.268.1151

maderer@cmu.edu

REDMOND, Wash., and SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft Corp. and Genesys have expanded their partnership to provide enterprises with a new cloud service for contact centers that enables them to deliver superior interactions for customers. With the omnichannel customer experience solution Genesys Engage™ running on Microsoft Azure, enterprises have the security and scalability they need to manage the complexities involved with connecting every touchpoint throughout the customer journey.
Genesys Engage on Microsoft Azure will be available in late 2020. To accelerate adoption, the companies are providing Genesys Engage on Microsoft Azure through a joint co-selling and go-to-market strategy. Customers will benefit from a streamlined buying process that puts them on a clear path to the cloud.
The power of Genesys Engage on Microsoft Azure
With its multitenant architecture, Genesys Engage on Microsoft Azure gives customers the ability to innovate faster and improve their business agility. In addition, by running the Genesys customer experience solution on this dependable cloud environment, enterprises will be able to maximize their investment in Microsoft Azure through simplified management and maintenance requirements, centralized IT expertise, reduced costs, and more. These solutions make it easier for enterprises to leverage cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies so they can gain deeper insights and provide tailor-made experiences for their customers.
Nemo Verbist, senior vice president of Intelligent Business and Intelligent Workplace at NTT Ltd., one of the top five global technology and services providers for the world’s largest enterprises and a partner of both Microsoft and Genesys, sees great value in the partnership. Verbist said, “Many of our customers have standardized on Microsoft solutions, and Genesys Engage on Microsoft Azure gives them an additional opportunity to take advantage of their investment. Together, these solutions provide enterprises a secure and powerful foundation to communicate with their customers in creative and meaningful ways.”
“Large contact centers receive an exceptionally high volume of inquiries across a growing list of channels and platforms. One of the biggest challenges is connecting the details of every interaction across all channels to ensure each customer has a seamless experience,” said Kate Johnson, president, Microsoft U.S. “By leveraging Microsoft’s Azure cloud and AI technologies, Genesys is helping enterprises create a seamless customer journey with Microsoft’s trusted, secure and scalable platform.”
“We are thrilled to give large enterprises the opportunity to run their mission-critical customer experience platform in the cloud environment they already know and trust — Microsoft Azure,” said Peter Graf, chief strategy officer of Genesys. “Together, we’re making it simpler for even the most complex organizations to transition to the cloud, enabling them to unlock efficiencies and accelerate innovation so they can build deeper connections with customers.”
The companies are also exploring and developing new integrations for Genesys and Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure Cognitive Services to streamline collaboration and communications for employees and customers. More information will be released about these upcoming integrations later this year.
Register for the upcoming webinar, Genesys Engage + Microsoft Azure: Transform Your Customer Experience in the Cloud, to learn more on March 4.
To learn more about how Genesys and Microsoft are partnering, please visit the Microsoft Transform blog.
About Genesys
Every year, Genesys® delivers more than 70 billion remarkable customer experiences for organizations in over 100 countries. Through the power of the cloud and AI, our technology connects every customer moment across marketing, sales and service on any channel, while also improving employee experiences. Genesys pioneered Experience as a ServiceSM so organizations of any size can provide true personalization at scale, interact with empathy, and foster customer trust and loyalty. This is enabled by Genesys CloudTM, an all-in-one solution and the world’s leading public cloud contact center platform, designed for rapid innovation, scalability and flexibility. Visit www.genesys.com.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
©2020 Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Genesys and the Genesys logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Genesys. All other company names and logos may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies.

1. GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is the UK’s technical authority on cyber security. We support the most critical organisations in the UK, the wider public sector, industry and SMEs as well as the general public. It is part of NCSC’s role to highlight potential cyber security risks to the UK’s national security and provide advice based on our technical expertise.

2. In that role, NCSC provided detailed security analysis to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to underpin its Telecoms Supply Chain Review (SCR), the findings of which were published in July 2019. NCSC analysed the potential risk to the telecoms sector arising out of changes within the telecoms supply chain, the existing security practices employed by UK operators, and the residual risks to the UK. The Review established that effective management of the supply chain is fundamental to achieving a secure telecommunications sector.

3. One of the questions raised by the SCR was how to address the security challenges posed by vendors that pose a higher security risk to UK telecoms networks (“high risk vendors” or “HRVs”). Historically, the involvement of HRVs has been managed on an advisory basis by NCSC, through advice provided to operators. In particular, when operators have approached us about the use of HRVs, NCSC has advised them how best to mitigate the particular risks that they might present. We understand that it is the intention of the Government to seek further statutory powers, as soon as parliamentary time allows, on the basis of which it might require telecoms operators to take certain steps to manage the security of their current and future networks.

4. However, the Government and NCSC recognise that the market is now at a crucial stage in new 5G and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) rollout programmes and that industry urgently requires security advice now to support these programmes. The Government has therefore asked NCSC to consider publishing non-binding technical advice to operators in respect of their use of equipment from HRVs. If operators choose to implement this advice, it will enable them to make security choices that will help to protect the security of their own, and the UK’s, telecoms networks. For completeness, this advice also covers networks other than 5G and FTTP.

Background
5. As the SCR recognised, the telecoms supply chain does not currently work in a way that incentivises good security. That has, to date, driven some poor industry practices. With 5G and FTTP rollouts now underway, network security is currently of paramount importance. Operators have the opportunity now to design and build their next-generation networks to contain attacks and prevent them from corrupting the network’s most important functions.

6. We are looking to operators to adopt network security architecture and operational practices that reduce the levels of successful network penetrations and allow intrusions to be identified and managed quickly. This is a fundamental principle of good cyber security practice. It is a certainty that there will be cyber attacks on our telecommunications networks. It is also, in NCSC’s view, a certainty that some of these attacks will be successful in compromising those networks.

7. As announced as part of the Telecoms Supply Chain Review, NCSC is preparing guidance on network security for telecoms networks, in the form of the Telecoms Security Requirements (TSRs). They will provide a framework for security in modern telecommunications networks. Proper application of the TSRs by operators will significantly reduce the likelihood of a successful attack and the harm caused when one happens. They will be designed to mitigate a range of national risks to a telecommunications network.

High risk vendors
8. The TSRs do not aim to fully mitigate the risks specific to nation state threat actors or high risk vendors. NCSC considers that the particular characteristics of some vendors can cause increased national risk. NCSC considers, therefore, that the market would be assisted by a clear statement of advice setting out how the presence of a particular vendor may increase security risks, what a high risk vendor is and how to manage the particular security risks presented by those vendors.

9. For many years, NCSC has helped operators to manage the use of vendors that pose a greater national security risk. As part of the SCR, NCSC has fed in a non-exhaustive list of criteria which NCSC applies when identifying vendors as HRVs. These non-exhaustive criteria are:

a. The vendor’s strategic position/scale in the UK network;

b. The vendor’s strategic position/scale in other telecoms networks, in particular if the vendor is new to the UK market;

c. The quality and transparency of the vendor’s engineering practices and cyber security controls;

d. The past behaviour and practices of the vendor;

e. The vendor’s resilience both in technical terms and in relation to the continuity of supply to UK operators;

f. A number of considerations relating to the ownership and operating location of the vendor, including:

i. The influence which the domestic state apparatus can exert on the vendor (both formal and informal);

ii. Whether the relevant domestic state and associated actors possess an offensive cyber capability that might be used to target UK interests;

iii. Whether a significant component of its business operation is subject to domestic security laws which allow for external direction in a manner that conflicts with UK law.1

10. There is no exhaustive list of which vendors NCSC would consider HRVs under these criteria; we would encourage operators who are considering introducing new vendors into their networks to discuss that with us as soon as possible.

Use of HRVs in UK telecoms networks
11. In order to minimise the additional cyber security risk caused by HRVs, NCSC believe it is necessary and proportionate to limit their presence in networks. This has been NCSC’s consistent advice to operators (when they have sought our guidance) and is most operators’ existing common practice; that advice is now being formalised and published, as requested by Government. NCSC’s advice is that use of HRVs without these restrictions would cause a cyber security risk that cannot be effectively mitigated. We therefore set out our advice as follows:

a. The cyber security risk of using HRVs in the network functions set out below cannot be managed. Therefore, if effective risk management of HRVs is to be undertaken, their products and services should not be used in the following network functions.

i. For all networks: IP Core, Security Functions, Operational Support Systems (OSS)2 , Management and Authentication, Authorisation and Audit (AAA) functions, Virtualisation infrastructure (including Network Function Virtualisation Infrastructure (NFVI)), Orchestrator and controller functions (including Management and Network Orchestration (MANO) and Software Defined Networks (SDN) orchestrators/controllers), Network monitoring and optimization, Interconnection equipment, Internet gateway functions, Lawful Intercept related functions.

ii. For 5G networks: 5G Core database functions, 5G core-related services including but not limited to Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Unstructured Data Storage Function (UDSF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), Intermediate NEF (I-NEF), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Session Management Function (SMF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Unified Data Repository (UDR), User Plane Function (UPF), UE radio Capability Management Function (UCMF), Application Function (AF), 5G-Equipment Identity Register (5G-EIR), Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF), Charging Function (CHF), Service Communication Proxy (SCP), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Non-3GPP InterWorking Function (N3IWF), Trusted Non-3GPP Gateway Function (TNGF), Wireline Access Gateway Function (W-AGF), and future 5G core functions as specified by 3GPP TS 23.501.

iii. For 4G networks: mobile core functions, including Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Packet Gateway (PGW), Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) and, in some cases, the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and Serving Gateway (SGW).

b. Any use of an HRV in other 5G or FTTP network functions should be limited and we consider that a hard cap of 35% of a network equipment type allows for effective cyber security risk management. This cap properly balances two different security and resilience risks; the first being the risk associated with HRVs, the second being the need for a diversity of supply in the market. Specifically:

i. For FTTP and other gigabit and higher capable access networks3 , at most 35% of premises passed by a network should be served by equipment from an HRV;

ii. For 5G access networks, at most 35% of expected network traffic volume on any particular network passes through HRV equipment and at most 35% of base station sites nationally on any particular network should be served by equipment from an HRV;4

iii. For any other functions in 5G, FTTP and other gigabit or higher capable fixed access networks, at most 35% of the network elements from a particular equipment class in any particular network should be provided by an HRV.

c. For 4G and legacy fixed access networks, NCSC’s advice to operators remains unchanged. Two vendors should always be used in the access network. While no specific volume cap has been recommended, NCSC has always expected approximately 50/50 split between vendors in a given network.

d. Operators should never use more than one HRV in any given network; NCSC believes it is not possible to perform effective cybersecurity risk management where two HRVs are present in a network.

e. For access networks, operators should not use equipment from HRVs near certain sites that are significant to national security. In these areas, equipment from HRVs would cause an unmitigable security issue. NCSC has already provided advice to many affected operators, and any others who think their networks may be affected should consult NCSC for guidance via our enquiries team.

f. Equipment from HRVs should not be used in any manner in sensitive networks, for example those directly relating to the operation of government or any safety-related systems in wider critical national infrastructure.5

g. Operators should only use an HRV if that HRV has in place a specific risk mitigation strategy, designed and overseen by NCSC. We do not believe that operators are able to manage the national risk the use of HRVs attracts without support from the national cybersecurity authority. It may not be possible to provide such a mitigation strategy in all cases.

12. There are a number of other network functions whose sensitivity is dependent on specific operator architecture and operation models. This sensitivity, and the required controls on HRVs, will need to be determined on a case by case basis. These functions include:

a. those that aggregate significant amounts of personal data such as Business Support Systems (BSS), location-based services, online charging solutions and managed services.

b. Voice systems

c. Logging and backup systems

d. Border network gateways (BNG/BRAS).

NCSC expects to issue further advice on these areas in due course, any operator concerned they may be using a HRV to perform one of these functions should contact the NCSC.

Huawei
13. Huawei has always been considered higher risk by the UK government and a risk mitigation strategy has been in place since they first began to supply into the UK. In terms of the HRV criteria set out above, the reasons NCSC continues to consider Huawei a HRV include at least that:

a. Huawei has a significant market share in the UK already, which gives it a strategic significance;

b. it is a Chinese company that could, under China’s National Intelligence Law of 2017, be ordered to act in a way that is harmful to the UK;

c. we assess that the Chinese State (and associated actors) have carried out and will continue to carry out cyber attacks against the UK and our interests;

d. our experience has shown that Huawei’s cybersecurity and engineering quality is low and its processes opaque. For example, the HCSEC Oversight Board raised significant concerns in 2018 about Huawei’s engineering processes. Its 2019 report confirmed that “no material progress” had been made by Huawei in the remediation of technical issues reported in the 2018 report and highlighted “further significant technical issues” that had not previously been identified; and

e. A large number of Huawei entities are currently included on the US Entity List. Although we do not have knowledge as to whether these entities will remain on the US Entity List, this listing may have a potential impact on the future availability and reliability of Huawei’s products.

14. The Government has agreed that Huawei should continue to be treated as a HRV and asked us to consider issuing this advice, in particular to help operators mitigate the risk of their use of Huawei in UK telecoms networks. For the avoidance of doubt, this advice does not replace or supplant the role of the Huawei Cyber Security Evaluation Centre, which will continue to be an essential part of the future strategy by which the risks presented by Huawei will be mitigated.

15. From a cyber security perspective, the NCSC advises operators whose Huawei estates currently exceed the recommended level for an HRV, to reduce to the recommended level as soon as practical. We understand that this takes time, but consider that it should be possible for all operators to reduce their use of HRVs to the recommended levels within 3 years.

Other High Risk Vendors
16. Huawei is the only HRV which currently has in place a bespoke risk mitigation strategy. An operator which is considering using any other vendor that appears likely, using the criteria outlined above, to fall within the definition of an HRV should contact NCSC for advice at an early stage in its discussions with such a vendor, and have regard to this and previous advice in relation to HRVs. Operators should certainly not assume that all HRVs are Chinese companies and should consider all the criteria above.

Conclusion
17. The DCMS SCR has demonstrated the need to change the way we manage security in the UK’s telecommunications infrastructure. The TSRs will provide the framework for security in the next generation of the UK’s telecommunications networks. The SCR also showed that we need to manage the presence of HRVs in the UK’s telecommunications infrastructure more formally and actively. NCSC will continue to feed into any future legislative process and advise government on these matters.

18. This advice, issued by NCSC and supported by DCMS and wider government, formalises NCSC’s existing advice and updates this in light of the fact that industry requires urgent security advice to support the rollout of 5G and FTTP. It recommends to operators the most effective means by which they can reduce the risk to their networks and the UK’s national security arising from the presence of HRVs within those networks. NCSC will periodically review and update this advice as necessary.

Davos, Switzerland, 23 January 2020 – While certain cyberattacks focus on specific organizations, the majority target the largest number of internet users possible. Such attacks are often relatively easy for cybercriminals to undertake and can cause serious harm. The impact of indiscriminate malicious activity online can be significant and carries an estimated global price tag of $6 trillion in 2021.

The World Economic Forum Centre for Cybersecurity brought together a group of leading ISPs and multilateral organizations to develop new ways to protect and prevent these attacks from reaching consumers. Following a year of development and testing, four actionable principles were identified as successful in preventing malicious activities from getting “down the pipes” to consumers, set out in the report: Cybercrime Prevention: Principles for Internet Service Providers.

BT, Deutsche Telekom, Du Telecom, Europol, Global Cyber Alliance, Internet Society, Korea Telecom, Proximus, Saudi Telcom, Singtel, Telstra, ITU endorsed these principles, protecting up to 1 billion consumers in 180 countries in the process.

“Cybersecurity is becoming a public safety issue,” said Amy Jordan, Delivery Lead, Platform for Shaping the Future of Cybersecurity and Digital Trust, World Economic Forum. As more and more devices are connected and physical infrastructure becomes increasingly connected, no one company can do it alone. The community needs to come together, and these principles can accelerate and scale impact.”

In the report, each principle is considered from the perspective of the challenges it is seeking to address, as well as providing demonstrable evidence from service providers of the benefits of implementation. Further, more technical detail on how each principle could be implemented is also provided in related recommendations.

“This initiative represents a fantastic example of the World Economic Forum’s ability to convene public and private sector stakeholders to share and implement industry best practice that helps not only the organizations involved, but the users of the internet at large,” said Kevin Brown, Managing Director, BT Security.

“EUROPOL wholeheartedly supports the adoption of these principles by Internet Service Providers worldwide because they have the potential to significantly limit the harm caused by malicious cybercrime actors,” said Catherine de Bolle, Executive Director of EUROPOL.

“The World Economic Forum’s ISP Principles are a superb collection of actionable measures that providers can use to reduce malicious activity online,” said Joseph Lorenzo Hall, Senior Vice President, Strong Internet, Internet Society.

“By adopting these best practice principles and working with governments in a public-private partnership to create a supportive policy framework, we will collectively boost trust in the digital economy and significantly reduce cybercrime,” said Stefaan De Clerck, Chairman, Proximus Board.

“As a nation, and as the digital enabling company, we are exposed to all sorts of attacks, which forced us early on to heavily invest and build world class cyber capabilities to become fully resilient. Guided by these four principles we encourage other ISPs to leverage them in defining their strategies and gain confidence by joining other global partners.” said Nasser Suliaman AlNasser, Saudi Telecom Group (stc) CEO.

It is recommended that ISPs adopt the following key principles:

1. Protect consumers by default from widespread cyberattacks and act collectively with peers to identify and respond to known threats.

2. Take action to raise awareness and understanding of threats and support consumers in protecting themselves and their networks.

3. Work more closely with manufacturers and vendors of hardware, software and infrastructure to increase minimum levels of security.

4. Take action to shore up the security of routing and signalling to reinforce effective defence against attacks.

The World Economic Forum, will now use its Platform for Shaping the Future of Cybersecurity and Digital Trust to drive adoption of the Principles and seek to initiate a dialogue between public- and private-sector stakeholders on how governments can incentivize uptake and establish clearer policy frameworks and expectations. By working collaboratively, ISPs will be better placed to protect their customers and defend their own networks than if they work alone.

About the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2020

This year’s meeting brings together nearly 3,000 global leaders from politics, government, civil society, academia, the arts and culture as well as the media. Convening under the theme, Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World, participants will focus on defining new models for building sustainable and inclusive societies in a plurilateral world.