Category Archives: Automation

In a day and age when the prime directive for many organizations is to seek digital agility above all else, cool new apps get conceived, assembled and deployed at breakneck speed.

Related: DHS instigates 60-day cybersecurity sprints

Software developers are king of the hill; they are the deeply-committed disciples pursuing wide open, highly dynamic creative processes set forth in the gospels of DevOps and CI/CD.

In this heady environment, the idea of attempting to infuse a dollop of security into new software products from inception seems almost quaint. I recently sat down with Rohit Sethi, CEO of Security Compass, to discuss why this so-called product security gap inevitably must be narrowed, and why there are encouraging signs that should be what happens, going forward, albeit incrementally.

For a full drill down on our wide-ranging conversation, please give the accompanying podcast a listen. Here are key takeaways.

History of product security

It has become all too common today for an organization to commit to what Sethi calls a fast-and-risky approach to building new software products. In a race gain a competitive edge, companies do whatever it takes to deploy new software products as quickly as possible. As a nod to security, nominal static analysis and maybe a bit of penetration testing gets done just prior to meeting a tight deployment deadline.

This, in fact, was the same general approach to developing and deploying new software that existed in early 2002 when Bill Gates slammed the brakes on all Windows development to focus on implementing Trustworthy Computing. Microsoft, at the time, was on the brink of getting swallowed up by potent self-spreading Windows worms like SirCam, Code Red, ILoveYou and Nimbda. So Gates directed billions of dollars towards the adoption of Security Development Lifecyle, or SDL, a systematic approach to infusing product security at the start of the Windows development process.

Gates deserves credit for raising the bar of product security. Since he coined Trustworthy Computing and Microsoft strategically embraced SDL, it has become a common practice to integrate security requirements, design reviews and threat modeling into the software development cycle. But now, of course, digital transformation has changed everything.

Those methods are becoming outdated, Sethi told me. They just cant keep up with the way that people build software today. People build very quickly, and then they ship it out. And right before shipping, theyll do a bunch of security checks . . . They may or may not fix anything they find, because their deadlines are tight. This works well until theres a breach, and then you have to go back and explain why you never integrated security from the onset of development.

11th hour inspections

Digital transformation has turned back the clock on product security. And this time around, the coding flaws of concern arent limited to one operating system; the risks present themselves all throughout the digital landscape, wherever software connections get made between humans and machines, as well as from machine-to-machine.

Product security has become a numbers game. A typical situation is for an enterprise to have a small team of product security professionals working on several hundred software products in different stages of development, Sethi says. Ideally, a certain level of threat modeling and security requirements would get done on every project. But in practice, the developers are doing well if they get to the most critical ones, Sethi says. After that, it comes down to slipping in a round of eleventh-hour inspections: static analyses, and perhaps a bit of penetration testing just prior to meeting a deployment deadline.

Observes Sethi: Threat modeling is quite time-consuming and requires a lot of expertise, so not everybody even does this. It requires, for example, drawing out the trust boundaries within the architecture of the application to gain an understanding of where trusted and untrusted data is coming in, and then determining if there are any ways to attack the system, such as spoofing or tampering data.

Its not uncommon to have a team of six or eight people assigned to a thousand applications, so theres no way they can do threat modeling on all of them. So they prioritize and work on the crown jewels, and rely on tools to find any security vulnerabilities after the fact.

In todays environment, implementing Microsoft-style SDL best coding practices, done manually by a small team, could add weeks to the deployment schedule. SDL practices may run counter to frameworks like CI/CD, which stands for Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment. Software developers today work as swiftly as they can on small chunks of coding, or microservices, cobbled together inside of software containers, which they place into a code repository, such as GitHub.

This gives other developers easy access to many chunks of coding. Developers are free to modify, add to or utilize endless small chunks, and out of the other end comes a new app that gets deployed into service, with no human intervention.

Returning to security-by-design

The cybersecurity community isnt blind to how DevOps the melding of development and operations teams to speed delivery of new apps and its core CI/CD component have vastly expanded the attack surface of business networks. Modern-day software development produces vast swaths of new microservices, and the software containers the sit in, that do not adhere to very basic secure-coding practices.

Can anything reverse this trend, going forward? The steady advance of the SecOps and DevSecOps movements which push security to the left of software development timelines hold promise narrowing the product security gap over time. Security Compass is among a group of vendors innovating new tools and services to bring machine learning and advanced automation increasingly into this mix.

Sethi

Security Compass, for instance, supplies a platform that allows development teams to manually or automatically describe the system they are building; this specifies what the application is and what functionalities it includes. This information gets automatically correlated to a comprehensive knowledge base of potential security and compliance issues, which triggers creation of corresponding countermeasures and controls that are added automatically to product backlogs. Thus, automation helps to weave security-by-design best practices into daily workflows. The company coined the market term Balanced Development Automation for this approach to DevSecOps.

Again its a numbers game. No one is claiming you can write 100 percent secure code, Sethi told me. But if 80 to 90 percent of the security vulnerabilities we see getting exploited are preventable, which I believe they are, and if you could get to even half of that, then youd have almost half as many breaches, and that represents billions of dollars of economic value.

Clearly, striving for software thats secure by design, as well as highly agile, is doable and something that needs to get done, the sooner the better. Ill keep watch and keep reporting.

Acohido

Pulitzer Prize-winning business journalist Byron V. Acohido is dedicated to fostering public awareness about how to make the Internet as private and secure as it ought to be.

(LW provides consulting services to the vendors we cover.)

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from The Last Watchdog authored by bacohido. Read the original post at: https://www.lastwatchdog.com/rsac-insights-security-compass-leverages-automation-to-weave-security-deeper-into-secops/

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RSAC insights: Security Compass leverages automation to weave security deeper into SecOps - Security Boulevard

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Gridspace announced a new partnership with Google Cloud to deliver Gridspace Sift via the Google Cloud Marketplace. The partnership helps financial services and healthcare companies accelerate their contact center transformations by simplifying cloud deployments and procurement processes. With Gridspace Sift on Google Cloud, contact centers can observe 100% of their real-time communications, uncover population-level customer issues, drive back-office efficiencies with automated quality scoring, as well as compliance and brand reputation checks. Additionally, organizations can elevate agent performance with live guidance and transactional assistance, and deploy natural-sounding, virtual agents, enabling integrated and intelligent capacity management.

Gridspace Sift on Google Cloud is a no-code solution that is capable of handling more than 50,000 concurrent voice calls out-of-the-box for large contact centers. Customers of Gridspace Sift on Google Cloud can take advantage of Google Cloud's leading networking, security and artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) infrastructure and Gridspace's purpose-built contact center application workflows, pre-trained models and comprehensive deployment expertise.

Gridspace Sift was built from the ground up with Kubernetes for robustness, security and performance. Gridspace Sift on Google Cloud makes extensive use of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), enabling organizations to seamlessly scale up call analysis and automation at multiple contact center sites. In addition, the partnership makes it easier than ever for business analysts and data scientists to pull streaming contact center data from Gridspace Sift into Google Cloud's BigQuery, train multi-modal models with Google Cloud's AI/ML platform and pinpoint new opportunities for automation, which drive cost savings and revenue generation.

"Call centers are increasingly the first line of contact between organizations and consumers, and it's critical to provide fast, helpful experiences," said Amy Bray, Global Head, Google Cloud Marketplace. "Bringing Gridspace to Google Cloud Marketplace will enable customers to quickly deploy its capabilities in observability and automation, and ultimately to build a better experience for consumers."

"Our launch on Google Cloud is an important step in our growth plan," said Evan Macmillan, CEO and co-founder of Gridspace. "We are thrilled to partner with Google Cloud to give more contact centers a quick, product-based AI upgrade that historically would take 12-18 months to implement. This partnership lets Google Cloud and Gridspace customers adopt cutting-edge automation without the traditional AI implementation friction." Customers are already using the Gridspace solution on Google Cloud.

In recent months, leading contact centers have used Gridspace Sift to navigate and resolve new and complex customer issues arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. New unsupervised learning capabilities in Gridspace Sift allow operators to see trends on a "mission control" event board to monitor live events, analyze root causes and quickly address service gaps and operational anomalies. Customers can signed up to try and buy Gridspace Sift on Google Cloud at: https://cloud.google.com/marketplace

About Gridspace

Gridspace was formed in 2012 as a collaboration between SRI Speech Lab, the lab behind Siri and Nuance. The company's bank-grade product scans and automates calls for customers in regulated industries. Square, Bloomberg and USAA, among others, use Gridspace for their voice workloads. The company is already one of the largest Kubernetes cluster operators for streaming speech and has analyzed billions of call minutes with our cloud agnostic speech technology. For more:www.gridspace.com

Contact: [emailprotected]

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Gridspace Partners with Google Cloud to Deliver its Voice Observability and Automation Platform to Contact Centers - PRNewswire

STRATACONNECT NETWORK SOLUTIONS AND GAS DETECTION

Anyone operating a mine understands the vast amount of energy consumption and associated cost that are involved with adequate and safe ventilation. This standard line-item in the operations budget can now be significantly reduced thanks to Strata Worldwide's automation technology.

The Problem - High energy consumption and costs to the mine

A partner mine, Guanaco Compaia Minera (Mina Amancaya), operated by Austral Gold in Chile, was operating a large-scale underground mine with industry standard ventilation equipment.

Even though harmful gas levels would fluctuate and the number of diesel vehicles in the working section would vary, the ventilation circuit was operating at a constant steady-state to always ensure a healthy supply of air was available.

Due to this high-level of fan activity, the mine's daily output of energy was consistently measuring around 1,380 kilowatt-hours. Management was looking for an economical solution to reduce the power consumption and resulting energy costs.

The Solution - StrataConnect Ventilation Automation and Control (VAC)

Teamed with its qualified Chilean distributor, Catanoor, Strata delivered a network solution to fully automate the operation of the mine's ventilation circuit. The automation and control system is configured to automatically adjust the speeds of the primary fans and activate the secondary fans based on specific factors: these include, gas levels in the environment; the number of people in the working area, and the number of vehicles in the working area; particularly diesel-powered machines.

"The configuration of the ventilation based on these factors is fully automated, adjusting automatically as factors change," according to safety electronics VP Rob Albinger. "As harmful gas levels rise, or the number of people and/or machinery in the working section increases, the automation system increases the speed of the primary fans. As levels and numbers decrease, the system decreases the fans' outputs. Secondary fans are only initiated when factors exceed pre-set levels and power down as soon as levels drop."

The automation of the underground system is operated via the StrataConnect server located at the surface control room. Data readings from underground stream over the network and are displayed on a graphical user interface, enabling mine operators to actively monitor the underground environment as well as pull data reports with daily histories. A built-in fail-safe feature allows operators to override the automation and stop and start the fans remotely as needed.

Results

Following the installation of the StrataConnect VAC, Guanaco Compaia Minera reported a 21% savings in costs and energy in the first month of operation.

Expanding on Safety

Guanaco Compaia Minera elected to install StrataConnect Wireless throughout the mine, establishing complete network coverage for daily communication and location tracking.

Crews at the mine are outfitted with tracking tags that provide real-time status and location data, as well as critical alert and response functions. Foremen carry the MC2, or Miner Communicator Gen2, which functions as both a communication and location tracking device. Peer-to-peer and group text messaging, as well as communication to and from the surface, are standard functions. Underground miner location lookup is a safety feature unique to the system.

Asset trackers have been installed on mine equipment and these provide status and location tracking for the machinery. Data from these devices provide valuable statistics for productivity analyses and fleet management. A supplemental benefit is the elimination of time and money spent locating lost equipment. All system tracking is accurate to within 60 meters (200 feet).

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StrataConnect Ventilation Automation and Control - Mining Magazine - Mining Magazine

5/13/2021

DNV has launched a new collaborative research project to develop an automated data processing procedure for verification of detected wind turbine blade defects, with the aim of building trust and generating broader acceptance of automated data processing techniques across the industry and to inform future regulation.

The research project, which is being conducted in partnership with the University of Bristol and Perceptual Robotics, will investigate the automated verification, validation and processing of inspection data, collected by autonomous drones, to improve inspection quality and performance. The project aims to contribute to the development of the UK automated inspection industry.

Unmanned autonomous and remote-controlled vehicles and drones are routinely used to conduct asset inspections in the hard to reach, extreme environments of offshore wind farms. These vehicles can collect rich and extensive data sets including high-definition video, images, geo-positioning and sensor data, to provide integrity information about the installed structures without personnel having to access these dangerous locations.

The research project, which will run for 12 months from April 2021, will address the need for fully automated processing of the data collected, where currently this remains a semi-automated process with reliance on visual inspections of image data by trained experts.

With many inspections still being carried out manually, visual inspection of offshore wind turbines, is expensive, labour intensive, and hazardous, Dr. Elizabeth Traiger, a DNV Senior Researcher in digital assurance said. Automatic visual inspections can address these issues.

This collaboration will develop and demonstrate an automated processing pipeline alongside a general framework with the aim of generating broader acceptance across the industry and informing future regulation. This project should provide a stepping-stone to the growth of the automated inspection industry.

With the number of installed wind turbines worldwide increasing, including those in remote and harsh environments, the volume of inspection data collected is quickly outpacing the capacity of skilled inspectors who can competently review it, said Pierre C Sames, Group Research and Development Director at DNV. This research project will develop means to tackle this challenge through machine learning algorithms and process automation.

As part of the project, the Visual Information Lab at the University of Bristol, experts in 3D computer vision and image processing, will create algorithms for automated localization of inspection images and defects using SLAM and 3-D tracking technology.

Perceptual Robotics, an SME specializing in visual inspection of wind turbines using drones, will perform drone inspections and create AI based models for defect detection to trial automation of process in a commercial production environment.

DNV will provide inspection expertise, verify data collected, validate the methodology and performance of the AI algorithms and provide guidance as to existing DNV and IEC recommend practices, regulations and industry networks.

The research is supported by an Innovate UK grant gained as a result of winning the Robotics for a safer world: extension competition.

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DNV, partners launch researching automated verification of offshore wind turbine inspection results - WorldOil

Heliospectra AB announced a new reseller partnership with Harahara Inc., a long-term supplier of cultivation solutions. Harahara will represent Heliospectra's LED lighting and light control solutions for the CEA and PFALs (Plant Factory with Artificial Lighting) market in Japan.

"Automatic management systems with smart functions are gaining momentum and value in daily cultivation practices", says Rentaro Fujiwara, CEO Harahara Inc. "The ability to create a "virtual cultivation space" where you can freely change the output and spectrum composition from your device, and mimic morning or the late afternoon light, provides growers with endless possibilities and high-quality plants regardless of the season. We're excited to include Heliospectra's high-quality products as we expand our automation offers."

"The high standards of innovation and quality set by Japanese producers and PFALs are a perfect match for Heliospectra's light automation portfolio. Since ELIXIA is now fully PSE certified, together with Harahara Inc., we look forward to offering our solutions and plant science experience to the Japanese growers", says Yasuhiro Suzuki, General Manager Heliospectra Japan.

Due to the lack of arable land and an increasingly urban and aging population, Japan's agriculture industry is increasingly moving indoors and is looking to solve issues such as: How to produce more crops more effectively? How to manage to existing space more effectively? And how to better control outside influences affecting crop growth and health? The answer to those questions has become CEA production, leading to more high-tech greenhouses and PFALs.

Heliospectra's adjustableELIXIALED, fully PSE solution certified for the Japanese market, isdesigned and built on a foundation of over a decade of research and experience.Featuring up to fourtunablewavelengths,ELIXIA is an essential tool for any greenhouse or indoor operation seeking optimal control and desire to deliver superior crop quality and yield performance.

Harahara Inc. is located in Higashinihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, and provides a wide range of cultivation solutions. Amongst other products are LED Lights, nutrients, soil, pots and more for the Japanese market. The company will roll out Heliospectra's solutions, including the fully controllable ELIXA with the helioCORETM light automation software.

Heliospectra has a long history of producing LED-lighting solutions and light automation software, enabling year-round production of high-quality vegetables. The helioCORE light control system provide growers with full control over their growing space, allowing growers to plan production and depend on their crop and production goals. Customized light strategies can be set up using either an advanced scheduling option or sensors to automatically adjust, making sure crops received the light quality and quantity they need for a healthy, nutritious result.

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Bringing light automation to the Japanese market - hortidaily.com

GOTHENBURG, Sweden, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Heliospectra AB, a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments,announces a new reseller partnership with Harahara Inc.,a long-term supplier of cultivation solutions, to represent Heliospectra's market leading LED lighting and light control solutions for controlled environments agriculture and PFALs market in Japan.

Harahara Inc. located in Higashinihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, provides a wide range of cultivation solutions including LED Lights, nutrients, soil, pots and more for the Japanese market. The company will roll out Heliospectra's solutions, including the fully controllable ELIXA with the helioCORETM light automation software.

"Automatic management systems with smart functions are gaining momentum and value in daily cultivation practices. The ability to create a "virtual cultivation space" where you can freely change the output and spectrum composition from your device, and mimic morning or the late afternoon light, provides growers with endless possibilities and high-quality plants regardless of the season. We're excited to include Heliospectra's high-quality products as we expand our automation offers", says Rentaro Fujiwara, CEO Harahara Inc.

Due to the lack of arable land and an increasingly urban and aging population, Japan's agriculture industry is increasingly moving indoors and are looking to solve issues such as: How to produce more crops more effectively? How to manage to existing space more effectively? And how to better control outside influences affecting crop growth and health?The answer to those questions has become Controlled Environments Agriculture (CEA), leading to more high-tech greenhouses and Plant Factories with Artificial Light (PFALs). Today, Japan is the leading market when it comes to the number of PFALs.

"The high standards of innovation and quality set by Japanese producers and PFALs are a perfect match for Heliospectra's light automation portfolio. Since ELIXIA is now fully PSE certified, together with Harahara Inc., we look forward to offering our solutions and plant science experience to the Japanese growers", says Yasuhiro Suzuki, General Manager Heliospectra Japan.

Heliospectra has a long history of producing high-quality LED-lighting solutions and light automation software, enabling a steady, year-round production of high-quality vegetables. The helioCORE light control system provide growers with full control over their growing space, allowing growers to plan production and depend on their crop and production goals. Customized light strategies can be set up using either an advanced scheduling option or sensors to automatically adjust, making sure crops received the light quality and quantity they need for a healthy, nutritious result.

Heliospectra's adjustableELIXIALED, fully PSE solution certified for the Japanese market, isdesigned and built on a foundation of over a decade of research and experience.Featuring up to fourtunablewavelengths,ELIXIA is an essential tool for any greenhouse or indoor operation seeking optimal control and desire to deliver superior crop quality and yield performance.

Visit http://www.heliospectra.com(https://www.heliospectra.com/japanese) for more information about Heliospectra's lighting solutions.

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Heliospectra AB, Fiskhamnsgatan 2, 414 58 Gothenburg, SwedenPhone +46 3140 67 10

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Heliospectra | Industry-Leading LED Lighting For Greenhouses

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Heliospectra Partners with Harahara Inc. - Brings Light Automation to The Japanese Market - PRNewswire

Automation is helping businesses get through the ongoing challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. 2 out of 3 workers say automation has helped them be more productive. 65% of knowledge workers say they are less stressed at work because they automate manual tasks. Two-thirds of employees would recommend automation to other businesses.

These statistics involving business and automation in the current climate were flagged up in the 2021 Zapier State of Business Automation Report. The research focused specifically on small and medium-size businesses. Zapier surveyed 2,000 US knowledge workers on their thoughts on workflow automation tools.

Nine out of ten respondents say that automation has improved peoples lives in the workplace. 88% of small businesses say automation enables their company to compete with larger businesses, the survey found.

From transitioning their goods and services online, to changing their business model, 63% of SMBs say automation allowed their company to quickly pivot from the harm of the pandemic.

The business community has a bit of a love-hate relationship with automation. Some worry that automation could wipe out human jobs. However, as Zapiers study testifies, automation is proving to be an invaluable support to humans in their work and a tool for business success.

As the Zapier editorial team note in their conclusion about the report: For many small and medium-sized businesses, the future of automation is already here. Many SMBs are using automation to increase worker productivity and happiness, create efficient and scalable systems, and compete with larger businesses. A robot revolution isnt coming anytime soon, but automationiscreating a more productive workforce.

Zapiers report also looked at the most common software and business apps small businesses are using to automate workflows. The leading app is Google Workspace, followed by Slack and then Mailchimp. Trello, Twitter and HubSpot are also commonly used to help small businesses automate tasks. ActiveCampaign, Facebook Lead Ads, Airtable and Calendly were also hailed as the software and apps businesses are using for automation.

The research also looked at what businesses are using automation for. 38% say they utilise such technology to reduce manual data entry tasks, including copy/pasting data from one platform, document, database, or system to another.

30% use automation for lead management, and 32% say their business is using the technology for document creation and organization. 27% of small businesses use automation software for managing inventory and distribution.

In terms of worker wellbeing and productivity, automation is also found to be having a positive effect. 44% of small business employees say they are not highly efficient or productive in their daily work. 94% say they perform repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

By adopting automation to take care of mundane duties such as data entry, employees time is freed up to concentrate on other areas of the business. Furthermore, being free of repetitive and boring tasks, employees are likelier to be happier in their place of work. A more satisfied and challenged workforce can boost loyalty and increase staff retention, ultimately benefiting a business.

Image: Depositphotos

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63% of Small Businesses Say Automation Helped Them Endure COVID Pandemic - Small Business Trends

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (PRWEB) May 13, 2021

Labroots, the leading scientific social networking website, offering premier, interactive virtual events and webinars, is pleased to host its 5th annual Laboratory Automation virtual event on May 19th for biotech executives, laboratory managers, scientists, innovative researchers, life science professionals, and leading academia and industry experts on a global basis.

Laboratory Automation 2021 provides a premier interdisciplinary forum for prominent speakers to present the most recent innovations, advancements, and challenges faced today on various aspects of laboratory automation and new technologies in the field. Its a crucial moment for the development of laboratory automation, and the informative agenda will explore sessions on microfluidic technologies enabling automation, high throughput biology for antibody discovery and single cell analysis, and LIMS and regulatory compliance.

"As the Chair of the planning committee for Labroots 5th annual Laboratory Automation Virtual Event, I am excited to share the advances in our industry utilizing key technologies leveraging microscale phenomena to enable and scale high-throughput experimentation, and screening towards precision medicine and diagnostics, said Dr. Sammy Datwani, Chairman. During the Labroots conference you will learn about key advances in microfluidics enabling automation as well as high throughput biology for antibody discovery and single cell analysis. Importantly, you will learn how systems are validated today, how to utilize the cloud and what we can do to continue to validate during a crisis such as a pandemic?"

The go-to virtual event for the industry of lab automation promises to bring over 15 discussions you wont want to miss, plus two keynote deliveries by Dr. Aaron Wheeler, Professor, University of Toronto explaining microfluidic methods for single-cell manipulation and analysis, followed by Dr. Christoph Merten Professor, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, School of Engineering, Laboratory of Biomedical Microfluidics, sharing droplet microfluidics in antibody discovery, immune repertoire sequencing and personalized cancer therapy. More topics include advances in single cell analysis for antibody discovery: computer vision single cell sorting, droplet microfluidic tools for high throughput biotechnology, efficient method validation workflow with full device integration, LIMS and data integrity in the age of COVID, and the journey of the sample through an automated LC/MS workflow, and much more.

Life has changed dramatically in the Age of COVID, said Christine Paszko, MT (ASCP0, Ph.D, Accelerated Technology Laboratories, Inc.). The ability to share scientific data, discoveries, and meet colleagues at conferences is no longer an option, but having an established platform such as Labroots that provides virtual conferences ensuring that the communication continues and improvements to the human condition are pushed forward.

Shonali Paul, Chief Operating Officer, CloudLIMS.com added, More and more laboratories across the globe look at building efficiencies in their systems. The key drivers for them would be to effectively utilize manpower and reap the benefits of automation through standardization and integration. I am happy to be a part of this Labroots event that focuses on the laboratories to automate and scale.

Produced on Labroots robust platform while connecting across all desktop and mobile devices, the virtual environment encompasses a lobby, auditorium, interactive poster hall, exhibit hall (highlighting the latest array of products and technologies), and networking lounge providing a complete learning experience. Labroots, an approved provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E Program offering attendees the opportunity to earn 1 Continuing Education Credit per presentation for a maximum of 30 credits.

To register for the event, click here. Participants can use the official hashtag #LRlabauto to join the conversation and stay up to date on the latest event information.

About Labroots Labroots is the leading scientific social networking website, and primary source for scientific trending news and premier educational virtual events and webinars and more. Contributing to the advancement of science through content sharing capabilities, Labroots is a powerful advocate in amplifying global networks and communities. Founded in 2008, Labroots emphasizes digital innovation in scientific collaboration and learning. Offering more than articles and webcasts that go beyond the mundane and explore the latest discoveries in the world of science, Labroots users can stay atop their field by gaining continuing education credits from a wide range of topics through their participation in the webinars and virtual events.

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Labroots Announces its 5th Annual Laboratory Automation Virtual Event, scheduled on May 19, 2021, Sharing Unique Insights to Improve Automation and...

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SAN ANTONIO, May 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rackspace Technology (NASDAQ: RXT), an end-to-end, multicloud technology solutions company, announced today its collaboration with FINCAD, a global provider of multi-asset valuation and risk analytics for derivatives and fixed income, to migrate its legacy application to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for better performance, more automation, and streamlined management.

FINCAD, a Canadian financial services company, builds software designed to value financial derivatives serving both retail and institutional investors, including banks, insurance companies and hedge funds. The software helps investors make informed investment and risk decisions with on-demand calculation and analysis of derivatives, alternative reference rates and pricing verifications.

FINCAD partnered with Onica, a Rackspace Technology company and an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, to provide support and guidance through the migration of FINCADs web application allowing it to run on more performant hardware, modernize the application, and integrate automation to streamline management.

Taking an outcome-based, customer-focused approach, Rackspace Technology delivered FINCAD the technical assistance it needed to lift and shift its application to AWS, along with the tools and training required to manage and grow our environment into the future, said Timothy Lee, Head of Support and Hosted Applications Operations at FINCAD. The new environment, infused with automation and built on a modernized infrastructure, reduces errors, increases productivity and cuts costs for the FINCAD Hosted Operations team.

In addition to the application migration, FINCAD is using the technology and knowledge gained from their Rackspace Technology engagement to move more elements to the cloud.

Providing a Fanatical Experience is more than just technical execution; its setting customers up for success. Though FINCAD engaged for migration assistance, the Rackspace Technology team dug deeper to help the team simplify workflows and apply security, compliance and disaster recovery best practices, said Jeff Deverter, CTO, Solutions at Rackspace Technology. Beyond the technical aspects of moving the application to the cloud, Rackspace Technology also provided in-depth training with customized training modules to ensure that FINCAD could manage and optimize its AWS environment after the project handoff.

About Rackspace TechnologyRackspace Technology is a leading end-to-end multicloud technology services company. We can design, build and operate our customers cloud environments across all major technology platforms, irrespective of technology stack or deployment model. We partner with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey, enabling them to modernize applications, build new products and adopt innovative technologies.

Media ContactNatalie SilvaRackspace Technology Corporate Communicationspublicrelations@rackspace.com

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Rackspace Technology Migrates FINCAD Application Resulting in Better Performance, More Automation and Streamlined Management for the Financial...

Experienced Executive Leadership Joins Boast.ai to Help Scale and Support the Company's Technology and Growth.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2021 /CNW/ -- Boast.ai, a FinTech platform that helps companies automate the cumbersome process of preparing and financing Research and Development (R&D) tax credit claims in the United States and Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credits in Canada, announced today the addition of a new board member and three new executives to its leadership team, including Chief Technology Officer, Chief Marketing Officer, and Chief Financial Officer.

Laurie Schultz joins Boast.ai's board of directors. She was most recently the CEO of Galvanize, a SaaS Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) software company that was acquired for $1 billion by Diligent Corporation. She led the transformation of their global business by mobilizing talent toward category disruption, successfully repositioning the company to one of Canada's Top 100 and Best Managed employers. With over 30 years of experience, Schultz has also held leadership positions at several multi-billion dollar businesses including Sage and Intuit, where she doubled both revenues and profits.

"R&D is the engine of the modern economy, and innovative companies should be able to access the tax credits they're entitled to without the red tape and delay," said Schultz. "I love what the founders Alex Popa and Lloyed Lobo have done to streamline and productize the process, combined with a unique recurring business model, exceptional team and enviable culture all while keeping community give-back at the heart of the company. I'm thrilled to join their mission and help Boast.ai become a global leader in R&D tax credits."

As part of the company's continued investment in product development, Boast.ai has named Tara Janke as Chief Technology Officer to lead all aspects of product development, technology, data, security, and user experience. Janke comes with more than 25 years of product management and engineering experience in leading high-performing teams and growing global software companies in multiple sectors, including seven years at sales tax software company Avalara (NYSE: AVLR) where she incubated the EMEA engineering team, from seven to 100+ engineers, and from three to nine product lines, resulting in doubling revenues year over year.

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"Alex and Lloyed have created an extraordinary opportunity to revolutionize an industry to become the defacto standard for tax credit submission," said Janke. "Boast's technology makes the process simple and efficient, allowing its customers to focus on supercharging their growth. I'm thrilled to help them take the existing technology further as well as build the next generation of Boast products."

Chris Cottle joins as Chief Marketing Officer with more than 25 years experience in brand category design, digital marketing and brand acceleration for technology companies spanning both B2B and B2C sectors. His experience spans four acquisitions including Exabyte and MaritzCX, as well as playing a pivotal role leading marketing at Caldera through its successful IPO. Cottle was most recently EVP Marketing at SaaS experience improvement leader InMoment.

"CEOs care about products, customers, capital and growth," said Cottle. "Boast impacts all of these key areas and is pioneering an exciting new category with a massive market opportunityone that helps companies fuel their growth in a new way. R&D tax credits are a valuable form of capital to accelerate innovation, but most businesses either do not claim it or leave money on the table due to the associated red tape. Boast reclaims it quickly and easily for them, enabling CEOs to reinvest that capital to accelerate product innovation and growth."

Tim Fisher joins as Chief Financial Officer, having successfully grown and managed finance and analytics functions for multiple venture-backed startups. Fisher was most recently at Lumere, which was acquired by GHX in January 2020.

"As someone who's managed R&D Tax Credit filings for several companies, I felt the customer pain point acutely," said Fisher. "I knew that Boast.ai was ready for exponential growth and I couldn't stay away."

These new leadership hires come as Boast.ai continues to build out its team in order to scale to meet increased customer demand. Following its recent $23 million in Series A funding from Radian Capital, a growth-stage fund specializing in enterprise software, combined with a $100 million credit facility from Brevet Capital, a leading alternative credit investment and specialty finance firm, Boast.ai has expanded its team by fifty new people in the last four months with plans to continue aggressive growth before the end of the year.

"It gives me great pride and honor to welcome Laurie Schutlz, Tara Janke, Chris Cottle, and Tim Fisher to the Boast.ai family to help with our next chapter of growth," said Popa, CEO and Co-founder, Boast.ai. "I'm excited to work with them as we execute on our mission to create a world where every innovator has access to the capital and resources they need to become successful."

Each year the U.S. and Canadian governments combined, provide more than $20 billion in R&D credits to fund businesses. Boast.ai has helped more than 1,000 companies recover their R&D costs from the U.S. and Canadian governments, streamlining the process, reducing the risk of costly audits, and giving companies access to their future refunds as early as 16 months in advance. Boast.ai's R&D tax credit software gathers data from a company's existing technical and financial systems to identify, categorize, and time-track eligible projects, ensuring nothing is missed and all the supporting documentation is in place, leading to larger refunds with less investment of time and resources.

About Boast.ai

Boast.ai is a fintech platform that is democratizing access to billions in R&D tax credits, innovation incentives, and non-dilutive capital so companies can fuel their growth while preserving equity and avoiding red tape. With operations across the US and Canada, more than 1,000 innovative companies have leveraged Boast.ai to get more money faster for less time and risk. For more information, please visit http://www.boast.ai.

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SOURCE Boast.ai

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R&D Tax Automation Pioneer Boast.ai Expands Leadership Team with Industry Heavyweights - Yahoo Finance