Category Archives: Progress

10:06 PM | Thursday, May 12, 2022

Construction continues on the new Crystal Police Station, as Chief Stephanie Revering says, Things are going on every single day here. The framing has started inside of the upper level of the police department with offices and conference rooms, and theyre starting to sheet rock as well. The work is on schedule and the Crystal police hope to move into the new facility and host an open house in the fall. The department outgrew its original building, and this updated police station provides that much needed space for department operations, including a larger evidence room, as Revering stresses its importance, We had five different spaces in the city, not in just the old police department, but throughout the city, where we were storing evidence which is not a good thing for case preparation or for efficiencies and effectiveness for our organization, so that alone is huge. There will also be an underground garage to house police vehicles and just more space in general, as Chief Revering adds, We actually grew out of the locker room in the mens area because we didnt have enough space, and so now we finally each individual officer will have their own locker, their own individual space, along with the female locker room will be more expansive as well. We now will have training spaces for other police departments to come train at. We will have spaces for our community to be able to have meetings if they would like to host meetings here themselves so thats exciting. As construction progresses, one thing Chief Revering wants the community to know is how thankful the Crystal Police are, saying We are very grateful to the community and to our city council. The building is going to be definitely something that we will be to have for the next 60 to 100 years. For more information, go to police.crystalmn.gov.

Crystal

The Connection

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Construction Progress on the New Crystal Police Station - CCX Media - ccxmedia.org

New release includes a MOVEit Add-in for Microsoft Outlook that makes securing files with MOVEit simple, intuitive and easy to deploy across the entire organization

BURLINGTON, Mass., May 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS), the trusted provider ofinfrastructure software,today announced the release of Progress MOVEit2022, the secure, automated Managed File Transfer (MFT) software that can be deployed both on premise and in the cloud. Witha new add-in for Microsoft Outlook and advanced security and usability features, MOVEit 2022 makes it easier than ever for organizations to securely and intuitively share sensitive files.

Those who routinely transfer financial, personal and other sensitive data who are concerned about data security, accessibility and compliancewhile also maintaining controlneed a strong MFT solution, said Stewart Bond, Director, Data Integration and Intelligence Software Research at IDC. Only then can they address these needs in a reliable and automated way while also eliminating data errors, reducing costs, and making transfers easy for both IT and end users.

Progress MOVEit 2022 makes it easy for users to safely transfer data and collaborate with each otherall while improving business scalability and minimizing IT burden. Enhancements in the MOVEit portfolio include:

Additional improvements in MOVEit 2022 include Windows Server 2022 support in Progress MOVEit Transfer and Progress MOVEit Automation and expanded ICAP Anti-Virus/Data Loss Prevention compatibility in MOVEit Transfer.

As more enterprise employees create and share increasing amounts of sensitive content, the risk of a data leak, whether accidental or intentional, grows, said John Ainsworth, EVP Enterprise Application Experience Products, Progress. With MOVEit 2022, users can manage all of their sensitive data transfers between partners, customers, users and systems from a single pane of glass, giving them complete visibility and control over where data goes and ensuring the highest levels of security.

Used by thousands of organizations worldwide to provide complete visibility and control over file transfer activities, Progress MOVEit is an automated file transfer system that allows users to manage, view, secure and control all file transfer activity. With predictable, secure delivery and extensive reporting and monitoring, organizations can easily see where their files are at any given moment. That is why Progress was recognized as the Leader in G2s Spring 2022 Grid Report for Managed File Transfer, placing first overall. G2s quarterly Grid Reports highlight the top-rated solutions in the tech industry, chosen by the source that matters mosttech customers.

ProgressMOVEit2022.0is available today.It is a free upgrade from the Progress Community for all customers with a current service agreement.For more information about MOVEit 2022.0 and how to obtain a free trial of MOVEit,click here.

About Progress Dedicated to propelling business forward in a technology-driven world, Progress (Nasdaq: PRGS) helps businesses drive faster cycles of innovation, fuel momentum and accelerate their path to success. As the trusted provider of the best products to develop, deploy and manage high-impact applications, Progress enables customers to develop the applications and experiences they need, deploy where and how they want and manage it all safely and securely. Hundreds of thousands of enterprises, including 1,700 software companies and 3.5 million developers, depend on Progress to achieve their goalswith confidence. Learn more at http://www.progress.com, and follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Progress and MOVEit are trademarks or registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation and/or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates in the US and other countries. Any other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Press Contacts: Kim Baker Progress +1 781-280-4000 pr@progress.com

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Progress Releases MOVEit 2022 with Advanced Capabilities to Secure and Simplify File Transfer Across Systems - GlobeNewswire

In a combined in-person and virtual event on Monday, members of the three working groups established last year under MITs Fast Forward climate action plan reported on the work theyve been doing to meet the plans goals, including reaching zero direct carbon emissions by 2026.

Introducing the session, Vice President for Research Maria Zuber said that many universities have climate plans that are inward facing, mostly focused on the direct impacts of their operations on greenhouse gas emissions. And that is really important, but Fast Forward is different in that it's also outward facing it recognizes climate change as a global crisis.

That, she said, commits us to an all-of-MIT effort to help the world solve the super wicked problem in practice. That means helping the world to go as far as it can, as fast as it can, to deploy currently available technologies and policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while also quickly developing new tools and approaches to deal with the most difficult areas of decarbonization, she said.

Significant strides have been made in this first year, according to Zuber. The Climate Grand Challenges competition, announced last year as part of the plan, has just announced five flagship projects. Each of these projects is potentially important in its own right, and is also exemplary of the kinds of bold thinking about climate solutions that the world needs, she said.

We've also created new climate-focused institutions within MIT to improve accountability and transparency and to drive action, Zuber said, including the Climate Nucleus, which comprises heads of labs and departments involved in climate-change work and is led by professors Noelle Selin and Anne White. The Fast Forward plan also established three working groups that report to the Climate Nucleus on climate education, climate policy, and MITs carbon footprint whose members spoke at Mondays event.

David McGee, a professor of earth, atmospheric and planetary science, co-director of MITs Terrascope program for first-year students, and co-chair of the education working group, said that over the last few years of Terrascope, weve begun focusing much more explicitly on the experiences of, and the knowledge contained within, impacted communities both for mitigation efforts and how they play out, and also adaptation. Figuring out how to access the expertise of local communities in a way thats not extractive is a challenge that we face, he added.

Eduardo Rivera, managing director for MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives (MISTI) programs in several countries and a member of the education team, noted that about 1,000 undergraduates travel each year to work on climate and sustainability challenges. These include, for example, working with a lab in Peru assessing pollution in the Amazon, developing new insulation materials in Germany, developing affordable solar panels in China, working on carbon-capture technology in France or Israel, and many others, Rivera said. These are unique opportunities to learn about the discipline, where the students can do hands-on work along with the professionals and the scientists in the front lines. He added that MISTI has just launched a pilot project to help these students to calculate their carbon footprint, to give them resources, and to understand individual responsibilities and collective responsibilities in this area.

Yujie Wang, a graduate student in architecture and an education working group member, said that during his studies he worked on a project focused on protecting biodiversity in Colombia, and also worked with a startup to reduce pesticide use in farming through digital monitoring. In Colombia, he said, he came to appreciate the value of interactions among researchers using satellite data, with local organizations, institutions and officials, to foster collaboration on solving common problems.

The second panel addressed policy issues, as reflected by the climate policy working group. David Goldston, director of MITs Washington office, said I think policy is totally central, in that for each part of the climate problem, you really can't make progress without policy. Part of that, he said, involves government activities to help communities, and to make sure the transition [involving the adoption of new technologies] is as equitable as possible.

Goldston said a lot of the progress that's been made already, whether it's movement toward solar and wind energy and many other things, has been really prompted by government policy. I think sometimes people see it as a contest, should we be focusing on technology or policy, but I see them as two sides of the same coin. ... You can't get the technology you need into operation without policy tools, and the policy tools won't have anything to work with unless technology is developed.

As for MIT, he said, I think everybody at MIT who works on any aspect of climate change should be thinking about what's the policy aspect of it, how could policy help them? How could they help policymakers? I think we need to coordinate better. The Institute needs to be more strategic, he said, but that doesn't mean MIT advocating for specific policies. It means advocating for climate action and injecting a wide range of ideas into the policy arena.

Anushree Chaudhari, a student in economics and in urban studies and planning, said she has been learning about the power of negotiations in her work with Professor Larry Susskind. What we're currently working on is understanding why there are so many sources of local opposition to scaling renewable energy projects in the U.S., she explained. Even though over 77 percent of the U.S. population actually is in support of renewables, and renewables are actually economically pretty feasible as their costs have come down in the last two decades, there's still a huge social barrier to having them become the new norm, she said. She emphasized that a fair and just energy transition will require listening to community stakeholders, including indigenous groups and low-income communities, and understanding why they may oppose utility-scale solar farms and wind farms.

Joy Jackson, a graduate student in the Technology and Policy Program, said that the implementation of research findings into policy at state, local, and national levels is a very messy, nonlinear, sort of chaotic process. One avenue for research to make its way into policy, she said, is through formal processes, such as congressional testimony. But a lot is also informal, as she learned while working as an intern in government offices, where she and her colleagues reached out to professors, researchers, and technical experts of various kinds while in the very early stages of policy development.

The good news, she said, is there's a lot of touch points.

The third panel featured members of the working group studying ways to reduce MITs own carbon footprint. Julie Newman, head of MITs Office of Sustainability and co-chair of that group, summed up MITs progress toward its stated goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2026. I can cautiously say were on track for that one, she said. Despite headwinds in the solar industry due to supply chain issues, she said, were well positioned to meet that near-term target.

As for working toward the 2050 target of eliminating all direct emissions, she said, it is quite a challenge. But under the leadership of Joe Higgins, the vice president for campus services and stewardship, MIT is implementing a number of measures, including deep energy retrofits, investments in high-performance buildings, an extremely efficient central utilities plant, and more.

She added that MIT is particularly well-positioned in its thinking about scaling its solutions up. A couple of years ago we approached a handful of local organizations, and over a couple of years have built a consortium to look at large-scale carbon reduction in the world. And it's a brilliant partnership, she said, noting that details are still being worked out and will be reported later.

The work is challenging, because MIT was built on coal, this campus was not built to get to zero carbon emissions. Nevertheless, we think were on track to meet the ambitious goals of the Fast Forward plan, she said. We're going to have to have multiple pathways, because we may come to a pathway that may turn out not to be feasible.

Jay Dolan, head of facilities development at MITs Lincoln Laboratory, said that campus faces extra hurdles compared to the main MIT campus, as it occupies buildings that are owned and maintained by the U.S. Air Force, not MIT. They are still at the data-gathering stage to see what they can do to improve their emissions, he said, and a website they set up to solicit suggestions for reducing their emissions had received 70 suggestions within a few days, which are still being evaluated. All that enthusiasm, along with the intelligence at the laboratory, is very promising, he said.

Peter Jacobson, a graduate student in Leaders for Global Operations, said that in his experience, projects that are most successful start not from a focus on the technology, but from collaborative efforts working with multiple stakeholders. I think this is exactly why the Climate Nucleus and our working groups are so important here at MIT, he said. We need people tasked with thinking at this campus scale, figuring out what the needs and priorities of all the departments are and looking for those synergies, and aligning those needs across both internal and external stakeholders.

But, he added, MIT's complexity and scale of operations definitely poses unique challenges. Advanced research is energy hungry, and in many cases we don't have the technology to decarbonize those research processes yet. And we have buildings of varying ages with varying stages of investment. In addition, MIT has a lot of people that it needs to feed, and that need to travel and commute, so that poses additional and different challenges.

Asked what individuals can do to help MIT in this process, Newman said, Begin to leverage and figure out how you connect your research to informing our thinking on campus. We have channels for that.

Noelle Selin, co-chair of MITs climate nucleus and moderator of the third panel, said in conclusion we're really looking for your input into all of these working groups and all of these efforts. This is a whole of campus effort. It's a whole of world effort to address the climate challenge. So, please get in touch and use this as a call to action.

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MIT Climate Plug-In highlights first year of progress on MIT's climate plan - MIT News

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) All eyes were on Mayor Jerry Dyer Thursday night at Chukchansi Park for the State of the City address where the mayor gave out awards, acknowledged the progress the city has made, as well as preview some upcoming projects.

The mayor started by pointing to the progress many of the city initiatives have made, such as Beautify Fresno and Operation No Fly Zone.

Since Beautify Fresnos launch, I have been overwhelmed by the turnout more than 12,500 volunteers have picked up trash this last year. That demonstrates we are a city on the move. More than 600,000 pounds of trash has already been removed from the city of Fresno, Dyer said while discussing Beautify Fresno.

Dyer then pivoted to discussing what has been done with the police department. Dyer said the department is projected to be at full strength in about a year.

42 new firefighters have been added as well, and plans are in place to add 24 more according to Dyer.

Plans for a new 911 center are also being developed according to the mayor.

Mayor Dyer also said his priorities going forward are going to remain addressing housing, public safety, and homelessness.

The Los Angeles Times described Fresno as having the nations hottest housing market, that is good news for some, which shows that people want to live in Fresno. The bad news is housing costs are pricing Fresno residents out of the market. Dyer said. Rent increases are putting families on the edge in our city.

Dyer pointed to the One Fresno Housing Strategy that he says will provide a road map to expedite housing availability for all income groups in the city.

We are a city on the move. We are going in the right direction, but there is still much work left to do. Mayor Dyer said.

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Mayor Dyer discusses progress and upcoming projects at State of the City - YourCentralValley.com

From the Bottle Bill to the Trash-O-Meter to expanded curbside recycling, the Michigan Recycling Coalition (MRC) is celebrating its 40th year of milestones this year. The anniversary will be marked today during the MRCs 40th Annual Conference at Kellogg Center in East Lansing. MRC is committed to fostering sustainability by leading, educating, and mobilizing businesses, government, nonprofits, and individuals alike in advancing resource reuse and recovery.

In MRCs40-year history, its built networks and partnership, collected and shared recycling data, convened stakeholders to evaluate and advocate recycling policy, conducted research, promoted recycling and reuse solutions, and tackled problems in the recycling supply chain. MRC facilitates learning opportunities, shares information, tools, resources, and guidance to help local governments and businesses expand their resource recovery and meet sustainability goals through managing our natural resources to the benefit of the environmental, the economy, and our communities.

Matt Flechter, recycling market development specialist at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, will speak at the conference on recycling funding priorities.

Although many challenges remain to realize the states full recycling potential, Michigan has come a long way since 1976, when the era of recycling started. Here are the highlights:

Take a short survey and let us know what you think about MI Environment.

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Michigan Recycling Coalition EGLE celebrate progress state has made over 40 years - Michigan (.gov)

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Intel released its 2021 diversity and inclusion report as well as 2020 pay data, and it shows it was challenging to keep diversity progress going in the midst of the pandemic.

Overall, the numbers were flat or slightly down. In 2021, Intel said that 27.7% of its global employees were women, compared to 27.8% in 2020 and 27.5% in 2019 on a global basis. For the U.S., 25.8% of the workforce was women in 2021, compared to 26.3% in 2020 and 26.4% in 2019.

Also in the U.S., 16.1% of the workforce was underrepresented minorities, compared with 16.3% in 2020 and 15.8% in 2019. In 2015, Intels previous CEO Brian Krzanich pledged to spend $300 million on diversity and make Intel into a more diversity company.

But the company with 120,000 employees showed some progress in some areas. The board of directors had 30% women in 2021, compared with 30% in 2020 and 20% in 2019. And underrepresented minorities in the U.S. hit 7.8% in 2021, compared to 7.6% in 2020 and 7.3% in 2021.

Dawn Jones, Intels chief diversity and inclusion officer, said in an interview with VentureBeat that she looked on the numbers optimistically, given how vulnerable diverse populations of women and underrepresented minorities (Black, indigenous, and LatinX) were during the pandemic.

Im an optimist. I like to look at whats possible instead of whats not. If we can take anything positive out of the last couple of years, the ability to have people work from anywhere opens up companys ability to obtain talent from anywhere. And I think thats a differentiator for companies. I think you have to really lean into it. You cant take old traditional solutions to hiring and try to apply it to the workforce of the future because its not going to work.

She said that Intel is leaning into a hybrid work environment, with offices for people who want them and work-from-home for those who prefer that.

Over the last year, we made progress across all of our 2030 goals, said Jones. Of course, 2020 and 2021 have been challenging years. We just wanted to make sure that we stayed focused on the goals that we have, and there is incremental progress. When you have 10 year goals, you set yearly goals, and you just want to make sure that youre staying healthy and tracking to the 10 year overall goal.

She noted that millions of people left their jobs in recent months during the Great Resignation, and women and underrepresented populations have considered leaving the workplace or changed jobs at a record rate. She said that underscores the deep value of fostering a culture on flexibility, inclusion and respect for employees.

Its always difficult when you dont see the big jump that that you would anticipate, Jones said. We also are hopeful that we didnt have a big dip. This is the time of the Great Resignation. We know that theres a little bit over 4 million people who have left their jobs over the last few years that we also have an unemployment rate that is at pre-pandemic levels. So people are leaving companies and leaving work, theyre going to work somewhere else.

Regarding the board changes, Jones said, We always have to be looking at ourselves and pushing to change and hold the mirror up for ourselves. Of course, board representation is critically important. And even when you look at the ability or the desire to have diverse representation and the higher levels of the company, the only way you can get someone onto a board position is you have to be a senior executive at a different company. And so thats also a way that you diversify the boards at different companies. Weve been very intentional.

Intel included the diversity numbers within its 2022 Corporate Responsibility Report, rather than breaking them out as a separate report in the past. That report covers the broader topics of Intels focus on environmental, social, and governance work. In the report, Intel added multiethnic categories of two or more ethnicities or other to help capture the details better. That, along with increased global hiring for manufacturing, resulted in a slight decline in representation percentage, even if absolute numbers increased.

Intel also released its 2020 U.S. pay data in the EEO-1 format, doing so for the third time even though it is not required by law. While the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) does not require employers to file EEO-1 paydata for this timeframe, in the spirit of transparency Intel felt it was important to not only continue to collect the data, but to disclose it publicly, Jones said.

Even though it is not a requirement, we think that it is very important that we continue to be transparent, Jones said. We do it as a way to hold ourselves and our industry accountable.

Jones said that Intel is making efforts in areas where it is doing a lot of hiring. In Ohio, Intel plans to build two leading edge factories at a cost of $20 billion. To staff those factories, the company is investing $50 million directly in Ohio higher education institutions and another $50 million (with $50 million in matching funds from the federal National Science Foundation) to make sure Intel has access to a skilled workforce.

We think that there is a lot of talent within the region that we will have access to, Jones said.

The 2021 U.S. workforce and 2020 pay data key findings show that, for U.S. pay data, salaries for women trended at or slightly higher than men within the higher pay bands showing improvement from the previous year.

I think when you look at the pay data, compared to the demographic data, it follows that there is a gap in senior leadership. And when you have less women and less people of color in senior leadership, your pay is going to be less, said Jones. When we look at it, we ask if we made any significant progress on the last three or five years.

Intel also said that the percentage of underrepresented populations in senior leadership positions increased from 7.6% to 7.8%. This is an increase of 384 to 444 in absolute numbers.

If we make an intentional effort and we can get movement of women and people in color in those senior leadership roles, we will start to see the closing of some of those pay gaps, Jones said.

Intel also said that its veteran representation has remained relatively flat year over year, moving from 7.3% to 7.2%, while the count of employees who identify as veterans increased by roughly 150. This difference is explained by Intels unprecedented growth.

Intel surpassed its milestone goal of reaching 1,375 women in leadership roles, ending the year with 1,449 women in senior leadership roles across the globe. Although the absolute number of women leaders increased, the relative representation of women leaders decreased 0.1 percentage point due to the overall growth of the company.

And global representation of technical women declined from 25.2% to 24.3%. However, it is important to note Intel fine-tuned how it measures technical workers to align with the industry. Additionally, this decline is partly attributed to robust hiring and growth.

Intel now has approximately 26,000 technical women working at Intel, which is the highest number since Intel started reporting diversity data.

In 2021, 90% of employees reported, I am treated with dignity and respect at work, a 2% increase year over year and Intel makes it easy for people from diverse backgrounds to fit in and be accepted, a 3% increase in favorable responses year over year.

While the total number of women in Intels workforce has increased this year as the employee population grew, Intel said it must address the .9 percentage point decline in relative representation of women in technical roles. To help meet the 2030 goal of increasing representation of women in technical roles to 40%, Intel plans, in part, to implement targeted programs to increase the number of women hired for technician, engineering hardware and software roles through sourcing, pipelining and workforce development initiatives.

Further, Intel has set a goal to ensure hiring for technical entry-level roles is at least 30% women in 2022. Intel believes its critical to bring employees along in this effort, so it has also set this as one of our companywide annual performance bonus goals.

Its also been a year since Intel launched the Alliance for Global Inclusion. This coalition aims to improve diversity and inclusion practices and promote transparent reporting in four critical areas: leadership representation, inclusive language, inclusive product development and STEM readiness in underserved communities.

D+I cannot be solved by one company alone, Jones said. New members include Applied Materials, Lam Research, Micron, Equinix and TEL US. This group joins founding members Intel, Snap Inc., Nasdaq, Dell Technologies and NTT DATA. The group will release its global inclusion index report this summer.

We doubled the number of companies that have participated and continue to participate in the alliance, Jones said.

Jones said Intel remains committed to its 2030 goals of getting the number of women in technical roles to 40%, doubling the number of women and underrepresented minorities in senior leadership roles, advancing accessibility and increasing the percentage of employees who self-identify as having a disability to 10% of the workforce,and ensuring inclusive leadership practices are embedded in our global culture.

Additionally, the Alliance for Global Inclusion plans to create suggested guidance to increase diverse representation in the C-suite at all companies, identify the next set of terminology in its inclusive language work, develop a way to implement processes that enable AI collaboration to address bias in HR systems and deploy an integrated effort to positively impact the computer science teachers pipeline while increasing access to STEM job opportunities forunderrepresented groups with non-traditional pathways.

In a letter in the CSR report, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said, I am extremely proud of Intels long-standing leadership in corporate responsibility and sustainability, including initiatives in diversity and inclusion, education, and philanthropy. Our focus helps us contribute responsible, inclusive, and sustainable practices across our operations, products, and supply chain. He also said Intel spent $1.4 billion with diverse-owned suppliers in 2021.

I asked if it is difficult for Intel to get to 30% women if the pool of engineers, which make up a big chunk of Intels employees, is low on women to start with. Jose said that is why it remains important to get more people interested in technical careers early on.

GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Learn more about membership.

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Intel 2021 diversity and inclusion report shows small progress amid pandemic - VentureBeat

Today, Vice President Kamala Harris joined a meeting with National Security Advisor to the Vice President Dr. Phil Gordon, Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President Michael Pyle, and business leaders who have invested in northern Central America under the Vice Presidents Call to Action. Launched in May 2021, the Vice Presidents initiative has mobilized over $1.2 billion in private sector investment for northern Central America and is a key pillar of the U.S. governments comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of migration from the region. Vice President Harris expressed her gratitude to the group for their leadership and for the success of the public-private partnership. She highlighted U.S. government efforts to support their investments in the region and address the drivers of migration, including by combatting corruption and improving governance and security. The Vice President and other attendees agreed to continue to work to deepen investments in the region.

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Readout of Meeting with Partnership for Central America to Drive Progress on Vice President Harris's Call to Action - The White House

The U.S. healthcare industry has marked several milestones as it pushes towards industry-wide interoperability. But the journey has not been without setbacks. Despite the progress made towards making it easier to share medical records between clinicians at hospitals and health systems, there are still significant gaps that inhibit how to measure and quantify how successful interoperability is around the country.

A webinar, sponsored by Surescripts, sought to highlight the findings of a report commissioned by the Healthcare Leadership Council Opportunities for Private Sector Measures to Inform and Advance Interoperability Policy. The conversation fleshed out progress made on interoperability, recommendations on how best to measure and quantify interoperability, and a near term outlook on next steps. It also addressed the legacy of the HITECH Act provisions and the impact of the 21st Century Cures Act.

Among the panelists are:

Stephanie Baum, Director of Special Projects at MedCity News, is the moderator.

Faulkner recommended a change in how we measure and quantify interoperability from the number of patient records shared to the number of patients for which information is successfully shared. That shift would not only offer a more practical approach to assessing how widespread and effective interoperability is, but could also offer insight into communities and patient populations where interoperability needs improvement.

One talking point sought to contextualize the impact of the HITECH Act and the Meaningful Use requirements contained within it. Although it led to a rapid transformation of paper-based patient medical records to digital, the consensus among panelists is that it also slowed interoperability. Holmgren highlighted some pros and cons of the Meaningful Use provisions of the Act, observing that it led to slower interoperability growth than had been hoped for.

I think if you had looked at the 2008 plan, do you expect in 2022 to be publishing papers that about 50% of hospitals report they regularly exchange data electronically? Im pretty sure that they would say no. Im pretty sure theyd hope to get a lot more broad interoperability and data exchange before that. So in one way, it was wildly successful. Just looking at the state of the U.S. healthcare system compared to other countries, we have digitized our system, which is necessary, but not sufficient. Where weve moved slower is moving that data across different silos.

Grealy, Healthcare Leadership Council President, highlighted the importance of the work of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT in advancing interoperability.

I think the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) certainly has really moved us in the right direction. I think we were finding that there were some good regional health information exchanges, but we really needed to ramp that up and expand it. Some of the Carequality and Commonwell initiatives are really important examples of private sector collaboration. I know both Tom and Judy are pretty active with those organizations. I think it really highlights the importance of the private sector stepping in, taking responsibility, trying to drive this change, but we really cant do it without a partner like the office of the Office of the National Coordinator.

Skelton, while highlighting some of the progress Surescripts has made with e-prescribing, also addressed the inherent challenges that interoperability has created. Making sensitive patient data more easily accessible has also increased the need to develop ways to better safeguard the data as well as easily correct that data when there are errors.

The most accurate data in any setting is data that is being used regularly and as a vital part of a workflow. As long as thats happening, then the data tends to get corrected quickly or noticed quickly. If a lot of data is moving around, then its being swept into a closet somewhere online. It could actually end up in a situation where the quality of that data doesnt really get the view it should get, and we could end up in a situation where [it is] proliferated across health systems. And so we do have to be careful about this. They are legitimate risks. Being an optimist, I believe that industry is being exceptionally diligent here and will continue to be, but I do think the risk is real and I think its something we need to recognize and accept.

Faulkner highlighted some of the interoperability efforts undertaken by Epic, including Care Everywhere and, more recently, Share Everywhere for patients who have access to its patient portal MyChart. She also offered a few takeaways from the discussion.

I think we need to celebrate our success, that has really changed the whole country and even the world because of interoperability, theres been a lot thats been accomplished. Secondly, I think we really have to focus on those left behind who cant afford it, and dont have the human power to do it. We have to figure out what we do with those institutions. My daughter was recently injured and had to go to two different hospitals. One had no interoperability and it felt like the light switch was turned off. The other had, and then the light switch got turned on and it was a striking comparison. Third, and this is just for those who use My Chart: learn about Share Everywhere you might have to use it sometime.

To view the webinar, please fill out the form below:

Photo: LeoWolfert, Getty Images

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Surescripts webinar highlights: Interoperability progress depends on how you look at it - MedCity News

DEERFIELD, Ill., May 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) has released its 2021 Diversity & Inclusion Report and a new diversity and inclusion website that reflect the company's strong focus on continuing to build a rich culture of inclusion.

"The competitive advantage of a diverse team and inclusive culture has never been more important," said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim Umpleby. "We strive for every team member to feel included, valued and appreciated. More diverse and inclusive teams enhance our opportunity for higher team performance and increase our ability to innovate and meet the evolving needs of our customers."

The company's 2021 Diversity & Inclusion Report provides comprehensive information on the company's workforce composition and highlights the important progress made in 2021.

"We've made great strides in the past year, increasing our diverse representation and putting in place talent strategies for more sustainable progress," said Cheryl Johnson, Caterpillar Chief Human Resources Officer. "We are proud of this work, and we are committed to continuing our journey to foster a culture where employees can do their best work."

More on Caterpillar's D&I journey can be found at http://caterpillar.com/diversity. All Caterpillar company reports can be found at http://caterpillar.com/reports.

About Caterpillar

With 2021 sales and revenues of $51.0 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. For nearly 100 years, we've been helping customers build a better, more sustainable world and are committed and contributing to a reduced-carbon future. Our innovative products and services, backed by our global dealer network, provide exceptional value that helps customers succeed. Caterpillar does business on every continent, principally operating through three primary segments Construction Industries, Resource Industries and Energy & Transportation and providing financing and related services through our Financial Products segment. Visit us at caterpillar.com or join the conversation on our social media channels at caterpillar.com/social-media.

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Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this press release relate to future events and expectations and are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "estimate," "will be," "will," "would," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "forecast," "target," "guide," "project," "intend," "could," "should" or other similar words or expressions often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our outlook, projections, forecasts or trend descriptions. These statements do not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.

Caterpillar's actual results may differ materially from those described or implied in our forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to: (i) global and regional economic conditions and economic conditions in the industries we serve; (ii) commodity price changes, material price increases, fluctuations in demand for our products or significant shortages of material; (iii) government monetary or fiscal policies; (iv) political and economic risks, commercial instability and events beyond our control in the countries in which we operate; (v) international trade policies and their impact on demand for our products and our competitive position, including the imposition of new tariffs or changes in existing tariff rates; (vi) our ability to develop, produce and market quality products that meet our customers' needs; (vii) the impact of the highly competitive environment in which we operate on our sales and pricing; (viii) information technology security threats and computer crime; (ix) inventory management decisions and sourcing practices of our dealers and our OEM customers; (x) a failure to realize, or a delay in realizing, all of the anticipated benefits of our acquisitions, joint ventures or divestitures; (xi) union disputes or other employee relations issues; (xii) adverse effects of unexpected events; (xiii) disruptions or volatility in global financial markets limiting our sources of liquidity or the liquidity of our customers, dealers and suppliers; (xiv) failure to maintain our credit ratings and potential resulting increases to our cost of borrowing and adverse effects on our cost of funds, liquidity, competitive position and access to capital markets; (xv) our Financial Products segment's risks associated with the financial services industry; (xvi) changes in interest rates or market liquidity conditions; (xvii) an increase in delinquencies, repossessions or net losses of Cat Financial's customers; (xviii) currency fluctuations; (xix) our or Cat Financial's compliance with financial and other restrictive covenants in debt agreements; (xx) increased pension plan funding obligations; (xxi) alleged or actual violations of trade or anti-corruption laws and regulations; (xxii) additional tax expense or exposure, including the impact of U.S. tax reform; (xxiii) significant legal proceedings, claims, lawsuits or government investigations; (xxiv) new regulations or changes in financial services regulations; (xxv) compliance with environmental laws and regulations; (xxvi) the duration and geographic spread of, business disruptions caused by, and the overall global economic impact of, the COVID-19 pandemic; and (xxvii) other factors described in more detail in Caterpillar's Forms 10-Q, 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/caterpillar-2021-diversity--inclusion-report-highlights-progress-with-growth-in-diverse-populations-301546962.html

SOURCE Caterpillar Inc.

Originally posted here:

Caterpillar 2021 Diversity & Inclusion Report Highlights Progress with Growth in Diverse Populations - Yahoo Finance

Rewind to April 2021: Wed just committed to spending $2 billion with Black-owned businesses by 2025. The goal: create more equitable and welcoming experiences for our Black guests, and use the full impact of our companys size, scale and resources to create economic opportunity for Black-owned businesses here at Target and beyond. We pledged to not only grow the number of Black-owned brands available in our stores and online, but also to spend more with Black-owned suppliers and build new resources for Black entrepreneurs. And we said wed do it while staying transparent about our progress along the way.

Fast forward to today and were on track to meet our goals. Plus, were launching a new media fund initiative through our in-house media company, Roundel. (More on that below.) Compared to 2020, weve increased the amount of money weve spent with Black-owned companies and suppliers by more than 50%, and weve doubled the number of Black-owned brands across our assortment to more than 100. And our support extends beyond getting more Black brands on our shelves: We also launched Forward Founders, Targets new accelerator program designed to help early-stage Black-owned and diverse businesses increase their potential to be the next wave of wealth-building companies.

Heres a closer look at what weve accomplished, plus a peek at whats next:

As we look to the work ahead, were proud to introduce a new initiative to take our efforts even further: the Roundel Media Fund. Designed to offset the cost of marketing programs at Target, the new fund will award more than $25 million in media to Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) brands by 2025. The Fund will allow businesses to tap into paid media through Roundel at a fraction of the cost while receiving the same benefits and reach as a typical marketing program. Its yet another way were amplifying the reach of Black founders and creators in the media industry, as we work toward our commitment to invest 5% of Targets annual media budget with Black-owned media by the end of 2022.

While were proud of our impact so far, were not done yet. Check out Targets Racial Equity Action and Change page for more on our journey and to track our progress.

Dont miss out on the latest Target news and behind-the-scenes happenings!Subscribeto our bi weekly newsletter and get the top stories from A Bullseye View delivered straight to your inbox!

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Target's Progress on Investing $2 Billion in Black-owned Businesses - Target Corporate