agosto 2020 – Página 130

Report Finds $500M in Cost Savings and Reduced Environmental Impacts and Risk with Planned Offshore Wind Transmission for New York

WAKEFIELD, Mass., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — A new report on offshore wind transmission by economic consulting firm The Brattle Group finds electric grid cost savings of over $500 million and significantly reduced environmental impacts and project risks in developing a multi-user, planned transmission system for offshore wind in New York. The report, Offshore Wind Transmission: An Analysis of Options for New York, evaluates the challenges of connecting each wind farm to shore individually in comparison to a planned approach—a high-capacity offshore wind transmission system serving multiple wind farms, reducing marine cabling, and optimizing onshore landing points and electric substations.

The report will be presented in a webinar co-hosted by Anbaric and the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund on Thursday, August 6^th at 10 a.m. The event is co-sponsored by Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and registration is free and open to the public.

Brattle’s research, supported by engineering firms PTerra and Intertek, underscores the pivotal role of transmission planning in the development of New York’s offshore wind industry. The approach of relying on individual generator lead lines would require extensive onshore grid upgrades costing four times as much as a planned approach. By using fewer cable routes and more robust grid connections, a planned transmission system reduces grid congestion and the need for expensive, disruptive onshore transmission upgrades, thereby also reducing the impacts on the marine environment and coastal communities.

«Substantial additional offshore wind development will be necessary to achieve New York’s clean energy goals,» said Johannes Pfeifenberger, a Brattle principal and a study coauthor. «At the scale considered by New York, a planned approach to offshore transmission will significantly reduce the environmental footprint and the overall costs and feasibility risks of offshore wind generation.»

Among the report’s other findings:

Planned offshore transmission significantly reduces seabed marine cabling. A planned transmission approach would reduce cabling by almost 60%, preventing 660 miles of seabed disturbance and significantly reducing impact on fisheries and marine ecosystems.
Planning and procuring transmission separately from generation increases competition and can reduce transmission costs 20–30%, according to studies of UK offshore transmission and US onshore transmission trends. It also increases competition for offshore wind generation.
Planned transmission would more fully utilize offshore wind lease areas and more easily reduce offshore wind curtailment. A planned transmission approach utilizing more efficient direct current technology would deliver more power to shore than alternating current technology. In an unplanned system, after each developer interconnects the bulk of their lease site, it may be cost-prohibitive to interconnect the residual areas in the lease, underutilizing potential wind power.

«Developing a shared ocean grid is critical to achieving New York’s ambitious offshore wind goals,» said Kevin Knobloch, President of Anbaric’s New York OceanGrid. «The next phase in achieving New York’s goals depends on building transmission infrastructure in a way that reduces overall costs and feasibility risks, protects fisheries, coastal communities and the environment, and enables developing the offshore wind industry to scale.»

About Anbaric:
Anbaric is a majority employee-owned, US-based company focused on planning and scaling offshore transmission. The company is a partnership between the Anbaric partners and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which as of December 31, 2019, had net assets under management of $207.4 billion. Anbaric helped spearhead the development of two similar subsea projects between PJM and the NYISO which were delivered on schedule and on budget. Anbaric is committed to developing transmission systems for offshore wind in the US with a focus on Southern New England, New Jersey and New York as well as in Canada. For more information visit www.anbaric.com.

About The Brattle Group:
The Brattle Group answers complex economic, finance, and regulatory questions for corporations, law firms, and governments around the world. We are distinguished by the clarity of our insights and the credibility of our experts, which include leading international academics and industry specialists. Brattle has over 350 talented professionals across three continents. For more information, please visit www.brattle.com.

Contact: Erin Clarke, Anbaric
eclarke@anbaric.com
781-708-0444

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SOURCE Anbaric

Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America Honors Third Anniversary Of RADICAVA® (edaravone) In The U.S. & Company’s Support Of ALS Community

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. (MTPA) today announced updates related to the company’s commitment to the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) community, in celebration of the third anniversary of the U.S. availability of RADICAVA^® (edaravone).

«Throughout the last three years, we have been motivated by the strength and determination of the ALS community,» said Atsushi Fujimoto, President, MTPA. «This anniversary comes at a time when COVID-19 has impacted so many, and now more than ever we remain focused on our mission of helping as many patients as possible. We are committed to doing what we can to support the evolving needs of ALS patients, caregivers and healthcare providers during the pandemic.»

As part of MTPA’s ongoing work to support the ALS advocacy community, the company has sponsored a Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) educational webinar series covering multiple pandemic-related topics, such as what ALS patients can expect from virtual medical visits.

«We’re delighted to collaborate with MTPA, a great supporter of educational programming in ALS. MTPA has sponsored a wide range of high-impact educational programs for patients, families, caregivers and professional audiences this year,» said Lynn O’Connor Vos, President and CEO of MDA. «We look forward to continuing this partnership for many years to come.»

Additional MTPA recent efforts to help the community include:

To address healthcare provider (HCP) office needs driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and remote work situations, MTPA established new processes to enable HCPs to use electronic fax systems and DocuSign^® to send the completed Benefits Investigation and Enrollment Forms for their patients, in addition to the standard submission options.
A COVID-19 resource page has been added to the MTPA corporate website to help answer questions that patients may have about accessing treatment during the pandemic.
MTPA recently launched the RADICAVA JourneyMate™ program offering live nurse educational phone support for ALS patients and caregivers to help answer questions about the disease and treatment. For more information, call 1-855-4-JRNY-M8, or 1-855-457-6968, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET Monday – Friday. The JourneyMate program does not give medical advice.
To help raise awareness about the impact of ALS on the veterans community, MTPA shared this patient story.
The ALS Care Locator online tool continues to be expanded, and now has more than 270 HCPs and 1,019 infusion centers listed.
Over the last year, MTPA launched the REFINE-ALS study which aims to identify biomarkers that might serve as quantifiable biological nonclinical measures of edaravone effects in ALS.

More than 5,000 U.S. patients have received RADICAVA since it became available on August 8, 2017. In addition, more than 1,300 HCPs have prescribed the treatment in that time.¹

«We are privileged to have the opportunity to help the ALS community and look forward to continuing our efforts to fight this this terrible, debilitating disease,» Fujimoto added.

About Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc.
Based in Jersey City, N.J., Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. (MTPA) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation’s (MTPC) 100 percent owned U.S. holding company, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Holdings America, Inc. MTPA is dedicated to delivering innovative products that address the unmet medical needs of patients in North America. It was established by MTPC to commercialize approved pharmaceutical products in North America with plans to expand its product line through collaborations with partners. For more information, please visit www.mt-pharma-america.com or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Overview of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation
Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, which was founded in 1678, has its headquarters in Doshomachi, Osaka, which is the birthplace of Japan’s pharmaceutical industry. With business centered on ethical pharmaceuticals, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma is a well-established company with one of the longest histories of pharmaceutical companies in Japan.² In accordance with the corporate philosophy of «contributing to the healthier lives of people around the world through the creation of pharmaceuticals,» the Company formulated the key concept of Open Up the Future under the Medium-Term Management Plan 2016-2020. Through the discovery of drugs that address unmet medical needs, centered on its priority disease areas — immune-inflammation diseases, diabetes and kidney, central nervous system, and vaccines — Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma will strive to contribute to the health of patients around the world. MTPC is the parent company of MTPA and MTDA. For more information, go to http://www.mt-pharma.co.jp/.

About RADICAVA^® (edaravone)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved RADICAVA^® (edaravone) on May 5, 2017, as a treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).³ In a pivotal trial, people given RADICAVA experienced a 33 percent slower rate of decline in the loss of physical function, compared to placebo as measured by the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R), a validated rating instrument for monitoring the progression of disability in people with ALS.^4,5 Edaravone was discovered and developed for ALS by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (MTPC) and commercialized in the U.S. by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. MTPC group companies began researching ALS in 2001 through an iterative clinical platform over a 13-year period. In 2015, edaravone was approved for use as a treatment for ALS in Japan and South Korea. Marketing authorization was granted in Canada in October 2018 and Switzerland in January 2019.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Before you receive RADICAVA, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:

have asthma.
are allergic to other medicines.
are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if RADICAVA will harm your unborn baby.
are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if RADICAVA passes into your breast milk. You and your healthcare provider should decide if you will receive RADICAVA or breastfeed.

Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.

What are the possible side effects of RADICAVA?

RADICAVA may cause serious side effects including hypersensitivity (allergic) reactions and sulfite allergic reactions.
Hypersensitivity reactions have happened in people receiving RADICAVA and can happen after your infusion is finished.
RADICAVA contains sodium bisulfite, a sulfite that may cause a type of allergic reaction that can be serious and life-threatening. Sodium bisulfite can also cause less severe asthma episodes in certain people. Sulfite sensitivity can happen more often in people who have asthma than in people who do not have asthma.
Tell your healthcare provider right away or go to the nearest emergency room if you have any of the following symptoms: hives; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; fainting; breathing problems; wheezing; trouble swallowing; dizziness; itching; or an asthma attack (in people with asthma).
Your healthcare provider will monitor you during treatment to watch for signs and symptoms of all the serious side effects.

The most common side effects of RADICAVA include bruising (contusion), problems walking (gait disturbance), and headache.

These are not all the possible side effects of RADICAVA. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. at 1-888-292-0058 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.

For more information, including full Prescribing Information and Patient Information, please visit www.RADICAVA.com.

All company, product and trade names or other trade or service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Media inquiries:
Debbie Etchison
908-340-8578
Media_MTPA@mt-pharma-us.com

¹ Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America Inc., Data on File as of August 2020. Based on internal data not independently verified.
^² Research by TOKYO SHOKO RESEARCH, LTD.
³ Research by TOKYO SHOKO RESEARCH, LTD.
⁴ RADICAVA^® U.S. Prescribing Information. August 2018.
⁵ Simon, N. G., Turner, M. R., Vucic, S., Al-Chalabi, A., Shefner, J., Lomen-Hoerth, C., & Kiernan, M. C. (2014). Quantifying Disease Progression in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Annals of Neurology, 76(5), 643–657.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ana.24273

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SOURCE Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma America, Inc.

Orchestry Launches Comprehensive Governance, Adoption & Enablement Platform for Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams & SharePoint

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The «largest work-from-home experiment» has morphed into the reality of managing a completely remote digital workforce with more than 75 million daily active Microsoft Teams users. As a result, Microsoft 365 Administrators assume the insurmountable role of providing each employee with access to the right tools, at the right time and for the right purpose, entirely remotely.

Orchestry takes the guesswork out of «what to use when» in…

Orchestry takes the guesswork out of «what to use when» in Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) with pre-built Workspace Templates, intelligent Workspace Provisioning, an informative Workspace Directory and powerful governance features to enable both IT Administrators and end-users throughout the organization.

«Orchestry was born out of the challenges digital workers are facing today in having to become technology experts to know which tool to use when for what job,» shares Michal Pisarek, CEO of Orchestry. He continues, «Orchestry removes the technology conversation to enable a business-first conversation around Microsoft 365, empowering immediate adoption and productivity.»

The true value behind Orchestry is the quick wins it delivers for Microsoft 365 governance and adoption. Derived from hundreds of successful implementations by Microsoft 365 architects and SharePoint MVPs, Orchestry is delivered cost-effectively, rapidly and iteratively for organizations.

Orchestry is more than a standard templating and governance tool for Microsoft Teams. The comprehensive platform is not only for Microsoft Teams but also for SharePoint Online, Microsoft Planner and OneNote as well as other Microsoft 365 business applications through a single, unified interface.

«I was blown away the first time I experienced Orchestry. Orchestry has truly pioneered the first comprehensive governance, adoption and enablement tool for Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams, that actually delivers control while empowering accessibility to all users,» elates W. Perry Underdown, Managing Partner, WUNDERHUB, and Orchestry MVP user.

Orchestry provides a single point of access for both end-users and Microsoft 365 Administrators to facilitate provisioning in Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online, without the complexity of having to manage various workloads simultaneously.

Orchestry is just at its tipping point, as the platform is rapidly expanding to deliver a personalized, single-pane view to every end-user. The Digital Dashboard will become the entry point to all the critical Microsoft 365 business applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Outlook Calendar, Workspace Requests, SharePoint Sites, Office 365 Documents and more.

About Orchestry

Orchestry makes work simple in Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online with its comprehensive enablement, adoption and standardization platform. Orchestry enables organizations to define a winning Microsoft 365 adoption and change management strategy. Built by SharePoint MVPs and Microsoft 365 experts, Orchestry helps organizations formulate a roadmap of «what to use when» in Microsoft 365 through increasing technology adoption, empowering governance and simplifying provisioning organization-wide. Learn more: https://www.orchestry.com.

Media Contact:
Erica Hakonson
Orchestry CMO
erica@orchestry.com
www.orchestry.com

Related Images

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Orchestry – Work Made Simple in Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams and SharePoint Online
Orchestry makes work simple in Office 365, Microsoft Teams and SharePoint

Related Links

Orchestry

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SOURCE Orchestry Software Inc.

Legion M Announces Seventh Fundraising Round As It Passes $10M With More Than 25,000 Fan-based Investors

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Legion M, the world’s first fan-owned entertainment company, has announced its seventh round of fundraising today. In a little over four years, the company has raised over $10,000,000 from more than 25,000 investors as it becomes one of the most successful JOBS Act companies in history. Legion M’s unique fan-driven investor model revolutionizes the way entertainment is made and supported in

As their innovative equity-crowdfunding model continues to prove successful, Legion M is pushing the boundaries of Hollywood even further announcing a disruptive marketing model for this new round. For the next 6 weeks, Legion M is re-allocating funds that they would typically spend on digital advertising and directing those funds toward COVID-19 affected businesses as part of their rewards program for seventh round fan-investors. Partner companies that will benefit include Alamo Drafthouse, Los Angeles Comic-Con, Entertainment Earth and International Screenwriters’ Association among others.

The company’s upcoming projects include Archenemy starring Joe Manganiello and written/directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, alien sci-fi comedy Save Yourselves! And the female-led feature film (in development) Girl With No Name, among others to be announced in the coming months.

«As the nation begins to emerge from months of quarantine, it is so important for us to give back to our friends and allies in the entertainment community who need it most during these challenging times,» said Paul Scanlan, Legion M’s co-founder and CEO. «We are thrilled to be implementing this new marketing model that shifts funds away from advertising and into the community, benefiting both our fans who receive the rewards and the industry at large.»

«We love the Legion M community and are proud to be both early supporters and members,» said Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League. «We greatly appreciate their support during these weird times.»

Entertainment Earth President Jason Labowitz added, «It’s an honor to be part of Legion M’s next round of funding. When pop culture and collecting collide, anything is possible! Showing off your love of pop culture is even easier now that you score Entertainment Earth perks when you invest with Legion M. We look forward to our future working together.»

«At its heart, Legion M is about uniting fans to shape an industry we so deeply care about,» said Jeff Annison, Legion M’s co-founder and president. «With over 100,000 fans and over 25,000 fan-investors, Legion M continues to showcase the success of equity crowdfunding and we are so proud of all that we have accomplished in just four years.»

Legion M has invested in or helped produce some of the most beloved genre hits in the industry including the Anne Hathaway fronted Colossal, Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, 2019 Sundance documentary Memory: The Origins of Alien, and the 2018 critically-acclaimed revenge thriller Mandy, starring Nicolas Cage.

In addition to helping select, fund, and support Legion-M projects, investors are given exclusive behind the scenes access as Legion M develops and distributes film, TV, and virtual reality projects. In this seventh round, shareholders will get access to set visits, premieres, special events, and a shopping spree to the Legion M store along with COVID affected businesses. The International Screenwriters’ Association is also offering six month and twelve month ISAConnect memberships that will be available at the 200 and 500 investment levels.

Interested investors can get involved today for as little as $100 and the investment profile for Legion M can be found HERE. Partner companies and communities looking to participate in the program can find more information at www.legionM.com or email the Legion M team directly at team@legionm.com.

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SOURCE Legion M

ORock System Integration Expertise Boosts Agility and DevSecOps of Army Cyber Forces

RESTON, Va., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — ORock® Technologies, Inc., a hybrid cloud service provider, today announced it has engineered a software factory aimed at solving existing deployment problems for U.S. Army cyber warriors.

Last week, Applied Cyber Technologies (ACT) – a component of the Army’s PEO EIS’s Defense Cyber Operations (DCO) program – announced key milestones in its DRUID prototype, aka Defense Cyber Operations Resource for Updates, on Innovation and Development.

The U.S. Army project allows vendors and the government to collaborate in code and tighten the feedback loop between industry and the U.S. Army. DRUID applies a modern workflow to legacy virtual machines allowing the ACT office to adopt the latest methods of application delivery.

In the past, defense and business alike mobilized ‘feet on ground’ and suffered delays in order to reconfigure equipment. The DRUID prototype allows vendors to collaborate from anywhere that has internet access. The ORock engineered system wove software vendors onto a common pre-hardened baseline cloud image.

«DRUID solves this legacy problem in the Army’s IT infrastructure by applying modern continuous integration processes and workflows to legacy systems and deployment models,» said Lt. Col. Pete Amara, identified in the press release as ACT’s product lead.

Read the ACT and PEO Press Release.

ORock, acting as the center of innovation, provided the following:

Developmental acceleration and automation of the PEO’s software funnel.
A common toolchain for government and industry to work on the same set of problems.
Secure hosting of the publicly accessible infrastructure.
A DevSecOps workflow that brings security to the forefront of the development process instead of being an afterthought.

«The PEO needed a solution that would automate and harden its software supply chain in a short amount of time,» said Donny Davis, VP of Solutions Architecture at ORock. «Before the PEO buys a software solution, it needs to be certain it complies with government security requirements. ORock system integration tools and skills enabled these vendors to build secure images in hours instead of weeks or months.»

About ORock Technologies
ORock Technologies delivers hybrid cloud and IaaS solutions designed for secure, compliant data operations. ORock helps commercial organizations and government agencies to protect their most sensitive data, control costs, and minimize vendor lock-in while enabling a range of IT modernization, application hosting, migration, and edge computing initiatives. ORock’s private fiber optic backbone network and enterprise-grade open source cloud feature the latest HPE Gen10 secure hardware and a flat-rate OPEX billing model with no data egress fees. They support hybrid, private, and multicloud capabilities while providing superior security, performance, predictability, and control.

Learn more about ORock.

Contact:
Dean Lombardo
Content Manager
ORock Technologies, Inc.
571-386-0201
dlombardo@orocktech.com

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SOURCE ORock Technologies, Inc.

«Global Impact Year» Offers College Freshmen an Affordable Alternative to Taking a Year Off

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Verto Education, which allows students to take a «gap year without the gap,» today announced the launch of Global Impact Year, a year-long program designed to provide college freshmen with a safe and affordable alternative to the traditional first-year experience. The program, which blends immersive online and in-person learning experiences, was developed in partnership with

«This is about transforming what might otherwise be a ‘college crisis’ into a unique freshman year, and Minerva is pleased to be collaborating on this exciting initiative,» said Ben Nelson, the founder and CEO of Minerva. «Together, we have developed an affordable program that enables students around the world to launch their college careers with a powerful, global lens.»

According to a recent survey, nearly three-quarters of students do not think they will be back on campus next term and over 90 percent do not want to pay full tuition for an online semester. In response to student input, Verto Education has built one of the country’s most affordable freshman year programs that blends a dynamic online experience with small-group instruction abroad as each class has no more than 25 students. Students with family incomes under $100,000 can pay as little as $10,000 for their first year of college, compared to $36,880, the 2019-20 national average college tuition for a private four-year institution.

«Our goal is to create an affordable, year-long experience that doesn’t force students into difficult tradeoffs. By partnering with Minerva, we’re pairing a robust academic experience with a global worldview during an incredibly important moment in society,» said Mitch Gordon, co-founder and president of Verto Education. «We believe strongly that we need a fresh approach to college and that the current model prioritizes wealthy students and has artificial barriers. Through our innovative approach to a freshman year of college, we help our students mature, build emotional awareness and empathy, learn, and gain admission to a great four-year college. This is transformative not only for their college experience, but also for the rest of their lives.»

The first semester will take place virtually in the Forum™ learning environment, incorporating rich coursework co-designed with Minerva’s pedagogical and curricular expertise. Students will learn through dynamic and highly engaging seminars in which they collaborate with their peers to learn new concepts and frameworks that allow them to solve real-world challenges. Students can earn up to 16 credit hours per semester, followed by guaranteed admission to a network of more than 45 U.S. colleges. Designed to build self-awareness and develop critical skills like problem solving, logical reasoning, and collaboration, students will take a wide array of classes on timely subjects such as global health, American politics, and critical thinking. Students participating in the Global Impact Year are placed in a year-long cohort that extends into spring 2021, where students will study in locations like New Zealand, Spain, London, Costa Rica, and Hawaii. All credits earned will seamlessly transfer to one of Verto’s 45 public and private partner universities including William & Mary, the University of Oregon, and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

About Verto Education

Verto Education allows students to take a «gap year without the gap» by earning their first semester of college credit while exploring the world in places like New Zealand, Spain, and Costa Rica. When they return recharged and ready, students can transfer their new knowledge, skills, and credits to more than 45 public and private universities. Verto helps students start college confident and prepared through life-changing experiences that don’t come at the expense of graduating in four years.

About Minerva Project

Minerva Project is a leading educational innovator, providing top-tier educational programs through its flagship Minerva Schools at KGI as well as other educational and corporate partners. Founded by Ben Nelson in 2011, Minerva’s mission is to nurture critical wisdom for the sake of the world. Building upon the best traditions of liberal arts and sciences education, Minerva is committed to preparing global leaders and innovators for the complexities of the twenty-first century. Its groundbreaking creation of a new university program is detailed in the book Building the Intentional University: Minerva and the Future of Higher Education (MIT Press).

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SOURCE Verto Education

Research Triangle Employers Partner with Nonprofit to Prepare Local Jobseekers for High-Wage Careers

RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Merit America, a nonprofit that partners with major employers to prepare workers to thrive in higher-wage jobs, today announced the expansion of its program to North Carolina. The Raleigh-Durham program, which joins Merit America’s existing sites in the greater Washington, DC region and Dallas-Fort Worth, was developed in partnership with major tech employers including Amazon, Google and Infosys.

«The Raleigh-Durham area’s fast-growing technology community has a critical role to play in ensuring an equitable economic recovery after COVID-19,» said Mary-Ann Baldwin, mayor of Raleigh. «Forward-thinking partnerships between local employers like Infosys, and training providers focused on the region’s most in-demand skills, can help create new pathways to opportunity for displaced workers across the region.»

«The turmoil of the past few months has exacerbated both the persistent talent shortages faced by Research Triangle tech employers, and the endemic equity gaps that are pervasive throughout the U.S. workforce,» said Steve Schewel, mayor of Durham. «Partnerships like this one are helping to not only address urgent economic needs in the region — but also begin the process of building a more just, resilient economy in the months and years to come.»

The Research Triangle has quickly become one of the nation’s hubs of tech talent: over the past five years, the number of tech jobs in the region has grown at double the rate of the country as a whole. Demand for tech jobs has continued even in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 20,000 positions still open across the state as of last month. In response, employers across the region are in search of new strategies that can both close talent gaps and build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

«For so many workers across North Carolina, the tech industry can provide a pathway to stable and fulfilling careers at a time of unprecedented economic uncertainty,» said Ravi Kumar, President and Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Infosys. «Merit America’s dynamic approach to skills-based training is enabling us to diversify our workforce and identify exceptionally qualified individuals in the region.»

Founded in 2018, Merit America works with leading employers to build new pathways to upwardly mobile careers for Americans without college degrees. Its unique model, which brings together career-aligned online learning programs with hands-on mentorship, has led to an average salary increase of more than $18,000 for hundreds of graduates in Washington, DC, and Dallas. In the months since social distancing measures have taken effect, Merit America has adapted all of its programs to continue serving working learners through an all-online model that incorporates both academic support and personalized coaching.

«Workers without college degrees have borne the brunt of the economic downturn from the pandemic — and often have limited access to the training and support that can help them shift into new careers,» said Connor Diemand-Yauman, co-CEO of Merit America. «As a hotspot of one of the country’s fastest-growing industries, North Carolina is uniquely positioned to provide those resources — in ways that can accelerate economic mobility for the workers who need it most.»

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SOURCE Merit America

Howard University Selects Echo360 Video Platform to Deliver Seamless, High-Quality Classroom, Hybrid and Online Learning During and After COVID-19 Pandemic

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Howard University, a leading private, research university, today announced a new initiative to provide faculty and students with the best possible video learning experience, extending active learning, discussion, and collaboration opportunities beyond the classroom. As Howard University returns this coming semester in a hybrid format, the adoption of Echo360 — an award-winning cloud-based platform designed specifically for higher…

«In a few short weeks, we will begin a fall semester unlike any in our history, which will challenge our faculty and students in ways both expected and unexpected. Despite these challenges, we remain committed to providing our students with the best possible learning experience regardless of whether it takes place in the classroom or in front of a computer screen,» said Provost Anthony Wutoh, Ph.D., R.Ph. «With Echo360, our community will have access to a video platform built especially for their needs, ensuring that they have tools they need to teach and learn safely and effectively.»

With the adoption of Echo360, Howard students will have access to a digital learning environment demonstrated to foster a more active learning experience. As students participate in class–virtually or physically–or replay recorded course content, they can notify the instructor when they are confused, share questions with their peers and instructor, take notes time-synched to the lecture, and respond to interactive polls to assess their understanding of key concepts.

The Echo360 platform will also provide faculty with empirical insight into the student experience, making it easier to understand how students are interacting with course content or when they may be struggling and at risk of falling behind. The learning analytics provide the university with a more robust understanding of student success and can make data-informed decisions to improve student outcomes. Echo360 also integrates tightly with Zoom and leading Learning Management Systems (LMS) to enhance the value of these existing toolsets.

«Whether a student is learning in the classroom or virtually, their success is dependent on access to active learning opportunities that allow them to engage deeper with course material and collaborate with their peers and instructor. As institutions shift to hybrid or fully online models in response to COVID-19, these active learning opportunities will become even more essential,» said Fred Singer, Founder and CEO of Echo360. «We’re proud to partner with Howard University to provide their students and faculty with tools that will enable high-quality learning experiences, wherever learning takes place.»

About Howard University: Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced one Schwarzman Scholar, three Marshall Scholars, four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 25 Pickering Fellows and more than 165 Fulbright recipients. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

About Echo360: Echo360 believes that improved outcomes start with great moments in the classroom. Developed by educators, Echo360 helps instructors record and extend those moments to improve learner engagement through accessible, engaging video-based learning. Through our smarter video platform, learners and instructors have 24/7 access to discussion of course material, presentation materials, and the lecture itself. We generate data that helps instructors, higher education institutions, and continuing education organizations proactively identify and pursue opportunities to improve learning outcomes. Today, Echo360 technologies reach more than two million learners at approximately 1,200 schools and organizations across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

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SOURCE Echo360

PK Expands BotScope Capabilities to Accelerate Enterprise Scalability and Multi-platform Operationalization

PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — PK, the global services firm that helps the world’s most customer-obsessed brands design, build and run the future, today announced a new patent and expanded functionalities for its unified intelligent operations platform for Bots – BotScope®. These enhancements make it easier than ever to…

While enterprise adoption of RPA has increased exponentially over the last year, few tools have emerged to help companies manage and unify intelligence from numerous bots and platforms at scale. PK’s BotScope enables companies to reliably deploy, observe, trace and monitor bots from a variety of platforms in one unified dashboard. This empowers IT leaders with the enhanced visibility needed to predict failures, intervene quickly when errors occur, troubleshoot implementation challenges and optimize workflows with ease. With BotScope, organizations in any industry can increase the flexibility and continuity of digital operations.

«BotScope’s newly patented technology provides peace of mind that organizational processes are being executed flawlessly,» Ram Sathia, vice president of automation at PK, said. «It does the heavy lifting by automating bot management, ensuring compliance with industry regulations, and providing a comprehensive picture of bot performance. BotScope also reduces mean time to resolve bot failures, ensuring total resilient automated operations. This allows organizations to refocus their energies on more strategic business imperatives that positively impact the bottom line.»

Since the platform’s inception last fall, PK has introduced a number of new capabilities to provide resilient operations with automation, including:

Compliance and Governance: Ensures compliance with federal and corporate regulatory standards, including HIPAA, PHI, FHIR, 21^st Century Cures Act and PCI. Provides governance around bot execution and lifecycle and enables bots to be used for compliance purposes.
Unified Dashboard and Multi-RPA Tool Integration: Offers a highly accessible, 360 degree overview of bot performance from any device, which is customizable for business leaders and individual business units. Provides insight into how bots interact and impact each other.
Full-spectrum Bot and Robotics Management: Pandemic volatility and uncertainty is pushing industries towards contactless customer support using chatbots, automated IT operations and causing the evolution of physical robots in factories and warehouse operations. The BotScope platform is built to scale not just for RPA bots but also for chatbots, AIOps and robotics.

«The power of our platform lies in the insights it brings into governing bots,» Vijay Ijju, co-president, PK, said. «In the new normal, where enterprises are looking to fully automate business processes, the regulatory compliance and governance of these automated processes is a key strategic priority.»

Forrester Research predicts that the market for RPA products and services is evolving furiously and on track to cross $16.2 billion by 2023 in The Forrester Wave™: Robotic Process Automation Services, Q4 2019 report. The analyst firm cites automation process identification and assessment, governance, control and management of bots as keys to attaining value and scale.

Visit us to learn more about BotScope and how PK helps companies drive competitive advantage with RPA.

About PK
PK is the experience engineering firm. Together with the world’s most customer-obsessed companies, we combine great design and strong tech to build pioneering experiences that accelerate outcomes for customers, partners and employees. Through cutting-edge technology and a commitment to deep craftsmanship, we help our clients run the future. PK is over 3,500 people strong in 22 cities across four countries. Learn more at www.pkglobal.com.

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SOURCE PK

Area 1 Security Launches New North American Partner Program

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Area 1 Security today announced its new partner

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Area 1 Security today announced its new partner program to allow partners to easily sell and deliver the industry’s only preemptive, cloud-native email security solution directly to North American clients. The two-tiered program supports MSPs, VARs, Solution Providers, cloud distributors, and technology alliance partners.

Email security today is fundamentally broken, and the current email security market is in transition. Secure Email Gateways (SEGs) were architected for the perimeter and are being replaced with Cloud Email Security (CES) solutions. Given the amount of legacy SEGs in service over the past 15 years, Area 1 estimates that the total addressable market for partners to help migrate those customers onto newer cloud-native email security solutions is upwards of $10B. Partners have the opportunity to help customers improve security and lower TCO by helping them with this transition. Area 1 is the leading Cloud Email Security provider and offers the only solution that preemptively stops Business Email Compromise (BEC), malware, ransomware and other sophisticated phish, which legacy email gateways and cloud email suites miss.

«Traditional email gateways — once the de facto standard for email security — have failed time and again to stop advanced phishing threats. There is also now an 80 percent overlap in baseline functionality between email gateways and Microsoft Office 365’s and Gmail’s native capabilities,» said Patrick Sweeney, president and CEO of Area 1 Security. «As a result, more enterprise CISOs are reevaluating — and ultimately replacing — their SEGs in favor of cloud-native email security. Partners and resellers must adapt to this shift now, or risk getting excluded from these purchasing decisions.»

Additionally, the business and economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic means that partners must provide portfolio options that help improve customers’ overall TCO. For example, Gartner’s 2020 How to Reduce the Cost of Email Security Solutions report (ID G00726615) recommends that security professionals evaluate alternatives to a traditional email gateway. Area 1’s industry-first, utility-based pricing model aligns better email security performance with budget — while still guaranteeing partners recurring, SaaS-based revenue.

Area 1, which is committed to being a strategic, channel-first partner, offers the following benefits:

Best-of-Breed Cloud Email attack prevention: Area 1, a Certified Microsoft Partner and a Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year, protects against BEC, credential harvesting, ransomware and other threats that SEGs miss.
Technology innovation: Area 1’s broad and deep IP within predictive, preemptive threat defense allows unique opportunities to go broader over time, and help address customer pain points across a much wider surface area (email, web, social and network attack vectors).
Profitability: Partners who leverage Area 1’s first-of-its-kind pay-for-performance (Pay-per-Phish) pricing model will gain easier access to organizations that are increasingly focused on vendor accountability and value-based solutions.
Recurring revenue stream: As a SaaS solution, Area 1 Security creates a recurring revenue opportunity for its Channel Partners. The tiered program’s aggressive compensation model ensures Partners’ high profitability.

«Adding Area 1 is another key way for Sayers to help customers proactively identify threats and mitigate cloud security risks,» said Chris Willis, VP of Cybersecurity Engineering at Sayers. «We are pleased to deliver a leader in the email security and anti-phishing solution market, and support Area 1’s ecosystem growth.»

MSPs, VARs, Solution Providers and distributors who are interested in learning more can register for Area 1’s Channel Program webinar on August 13, here. The event will include an overview of Area 1’s preemptive and comprehensive email security solution, specific details on tiered benefits, and a demo of Area 1’s newly-launched Partner Community.

«SADA is pleased to see the launch of Area 1’s new Partner Program, providing Google Cloud Partners the opportunity to sell and deliver their cloud-native email security solution directly to our customers,» said Edrick Pirveysian, Director of Account Management, SADA. «This synergy furthers our commitment to providing best-in-class security to our G Suite customers.»

Partners are the new focus of Area 1’s go-to-market strategy, led by Sweeney, who has successfully transitioned multiple companies from direct selling to channel-first sales. Sweeney brings over two decades of channel partnership expertise, including transitioning SonicWall from direct sales to being a channel-first business.

«We are looking forward to Area 1’s new partner program offering the robust infrastructure needed to accelerate our joint sales efforts in 2020 and beyond,» said David Sinnott, president and founder of ProActive Networks & Security.

The new Area 1 Security Partner Program is open for enrollment now. For more information or to join its ecosystem, which includes partners such as Optiv, Guidepoint and Synnex, contact channel.sales@area1security.com or visit https://www.area1security.com/become-a-partner/.

Additional resources:

Area 1 blog: A New Era in Channel Revenue: Cloud Email Security
Area 1 eBook: Why Secure Email Gateways Fail to Catch Phish
Gartner Report: Protecting Against Business Email Compromise Phishing

About Area 1 Security
Area 1 Security is the only company that preemptively stops Business Email Compromise, malware, ransomware and targeted phishing attacks. By focusing on the earliest stages of an attack, Area 1 stops phish — the root cause of 95 percent of breaches — 24 days (on average) before they launch. Area 1 also offers the cybersecurity industry’s first and only performance-based pricing model, Pay-per-Phish.

Area 1 is trusted by Fortune 500 enterprises across financial services, healthcare, critical infrastructure and other industries, to preempt targeted phishing attacks, improve their cybersecurity posture, and change outcomes.

Area 1 is cloud-native, a Certified Microsoft Partner, and Google Cloud Technology Partner of the Year for Security. To learn more, visit www.area1security.com, follow us on LinkedIn, or subscribe to the Phish of the Week newsletter.

Media Contact:
Elaine Dzuba
pr@area1security.com

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SOURCE Area 1 Security