Category Archives: Technology

What do we do first thing in the morning, right after we wake up? Well, many of us pick up our phones and scroll through WhatsApp messages, read news, check Instagram updates, and emails.

And in case there is an important email that needs to be addressed on priority, we instantly switch from our smartphones to either the laptop or tab to initiate the work. We also keep checking our phones every 10 minutes or less, even if we have no alerts or notifications.

In fact, the outbreak of the pandemic simply accelerated our use of technology. With social distancing, norms imposed that restricted gathering or face-to-face meetings, technology has been the only safe medium to connect with the outside world.

A report by Cisco further highlights that mobile connectivity is expected to grow in the years to come - as over 70 percent of the global population will have mobile connectivity by 2023, and at the same time, the total number of global mobile subscribers will also reach 5.7 billion from 5.1 billion in 2018.

Besides mobile phones, we have laptops, tabs, smart TV, Wi-Fi routers, etc., that play an equally important role in our daily routine - helping us execute our work, play games, binge-watch series or movies as well as help students to study. In addition, the Wi-Fi router is always on as a day without the internet is hard to survive.

Simultaneously, rapidly growing new-age technologies such as industrial robots, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are gradually disrupting age-old business practices. Therefore, organisations today are heavily investing in leveraging the capabilities of these technologies to make business advancements. Hence, its no secret that we are already co-existing with technology and it will be the only way to exist even in the future.

However, there is a hard truth attached to it!

While technology is playing a miraculous role in our lives as well as in redefining or revolutionising businesses by helping them bring new innovations, it is also creating a danger zone for mankind.

These gadgets are emanating harmful emissions, also known as ElectroSmog or e-smog that are affecting our overall immunity and well-being, bit by bit. It is because we are constantly surrounded by these unseen and unfelt threats. And these immunity thieves are leaving an impact on each one of us.

Overuse of gadgets is directly exposing us to negative emissions, which is resulting in several physical as well as mental problems that may also cause permanent damage to our health and well-being in the long run. The river of negative impact includes fueling anxiety, stress, suffering from sleep disorders, headaches as well as behavioural changes among us.

By taking small but iconic steps, we can reduce gadget addiction in our daily lives, which will eventually minimise our exposure to the existing threats in the long run.

On a personal level, precautionary steps like maintaining an appropriate distance from these gadgets when using them can be helpful.

We tend to charge our battery even when our phone is almost fully charged. We take our smartphones with us everywhere we go, even into the washroom. Yes, we are in this habit of constantly checking our phones even when we have not received any notification.

And so its important to get rid of these habits. Having our phone with us all the time means we are perpetually exposed to negative emissions.

Either we are sitting idle or we take a break for five minutes, we randomly browse/scroll through social media apps on our mobile phones, tablets, and so on, which sometimes turns into 15 minutes or more.

But what we need to do is limit this usage time.

Self-awareness is the key to reducing slow damage done silently by ElectroSmog. This is necessary to know so that we can consciously implement precautionary measures, find credible solutions, and keep these negative energies at bay.

With the advancement of technology, there are already scientifically validated solutions available in the market. These non-intrusive, fix-and-forget solutions not just provide personal protection to us and our families but also create a 'zone of immunity' around our working or living spaces.

Technology and gadgets are undoubtedly making our lives easier than before. However, overuse of anything makes it worse. The best way is to use technology amicably to eliminate the silent threats brought by these man-made gadgets. So go ahead and take the step towards your well-being right now.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

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Co-existing with technology is the only way to exist in future - YourStory.com

The creation and development of cyberspace has profoundly changed peoples thinking and behavioural habits. Current academic discussions on a range of issues such as web policy, web ethics, web culture and ideology have also become borderline academic topics.

Accurately grasping the connotation, characteristics and essence of cyberspace and scientifically defining its attributes in everyday life are the foundations and prerequisites for exploring this kind of problem. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to understand and accurately grasp the origin and roots of these issues, which will influence the scientific nature of research.

For discussing the Internet-related issues, social science research mainly uses the web society and cyberspace as conceptual tools to impact on the topic.

With the fast development of web technology and peoples proactive participation in communication practices, cyberspace has been widely recognised and has affected people as a new form of environment. Nevertheless, there are still many differences in the understanding and definition of the cyberspace concept. Further work on theoretical identification is therefore needed. Many scholars have made a structural analysis of cyberspace and some consider it to be a three-tier structure, including:

A. the lowest physical layer, which forms the material basis of the web information system. The term cyberspace, for example, leads some people to think that information travels over the air: this is not the case at all! The Internet spreads via underground terrestrial and marine fibre-optic cables, and radio base stations are connected to this cable network. The antennas we see towering on the hills receive the signal from the network of underground cables and transform it into electromagnetic waves so that they can be transmitted and then picked up by our smartphones: in other words, the illusion that cyberspace is wireless in the air, while it is, in fact, ground-to-ground.

B. The intermediate grammar layer, i.e. the instructions, programs and protocols with which the machine interacts between the system designer and the machine user.

C. The highest semantic layer, which mainly refers to the information contained in the machine and to some services that are needed to make the system information work.

Other scholars classify it into five layers:

A. the physical layer refers to the hardware devices that make up the computer.

B. The protocol layer emphasises that the different versions of communication protocols are, to a large extent, the source of power and authority in cyberspace and provide users with key identifying marks in cyberspace.

C. The logic layer/code is the software operated by the computer, which defines and limits the ways in which users can use the web.

D. The content layer mainly expresses the various objects and/or narratives created by the Internet users.

E. The relations layer emphasises the transmission of cyberspace, i.e. the social relationship between the users who make, exchange, disseminate and share web content embedded in objects and narratives.

As a result, scholars not only see the material and technical foundations that constitute cyberspace, but also reveal the human relation aspects contained in it, thus considering cyberspace as a kind of virtual reality. Some scholars have interpreted this relational aspect from a more specific viewpoint, and have considered cyberspace to be a stand-alone electronic field separate from political professionals a field containing many topics such as politics, economy, society, culture and religion.

Hence what is the essence of this virtual reality? Traditionally, with a view to meeting their basic survival needs, real people first engage in the production of material goods. In production activities, the division of labour, the practice of communication and the methods of production will inevitably arise, which characterized by different behaviours will give rise to different social forms.

It can be said that perceptual and concrete practical activities are the driving force behind the establishment of human social relations. In fact, the emergence of the Internet is exactly the product of human practical activities and an important result of the transformation of the objective world into human production practices. In other words, as a technical tool, the web represents advanced productivity and embodies the legacy of human knowledge, abilities and skills.

Based on the Internet technological platform, the social participation of real people enables the creation and development of cyberspace. The information flow is the basic form of existence in cyberspace. Information, as a symbol, brings the peoples actual social relations, which have consequential values and meaning.

Based on these attributes, cyberspace as a product of human social practice activities has further expanded and enriched the field and methods of human practice. It has changed peoples thinking and behavioural habits: new forms of real life.

In short, whether in terms of production, content or actual impact, cyberspace displays clear social characteristics and sociability is its fundamental attribute. It can be said that cyberspace is a new form of social space created with the development of web technology, and it is the further extension and expansion of social space in the context of information technology.

This process of extension and expansion produces and reproduces the social space itself, i.e. the space in which we actually live. For cyberspace, as in everyday life, peoples interaction and practice activities based on different interests and purposes which cause the continuous differentiation of cyberspace are marked by the generation of secondary spaces such as the Web, the forum, the post to be posted, and the circle of friends that begins to create widespread consensus.

On the other hand, once the secondary web space is generated, it will produce a certain value and meaning of aggregation (pro) or exclusion (anti), and will thus divide people into different web groups. Consequently, two relations are established between man and cyberspace: one is that people use the web as a means and instrument to be applied; the other is that the web constitutes the actual conditions of human existence: people are in the web, they exist only there, as the real is only necessary as a search for food and physical subsistence, and not even so much for sex.

In further analysis, man and cyberspace manifest themselves as a spatial relationship of symbiosis and coexistence. In this relationship, cyberspace has not only changed the way people receive, process, and send information (as in the past), but it has also changed the way information itself is generated, in a different and/or opposite way than before.

People have created and developed web technology through practice, but at the same time they have reshaped and improved themselves with web technology, as well as expanded the boundaries of life and achieved the spatialisation of life itself. It can be said that cyberspace is not only a space for the digital information flow, but also a space for social interaction, a new space in which the essential power of the human being can be shown in a new guise that is no longer casual or accidental, such as physiological birth.

People are used to summarising the basic features of cyberspace with words such as virtuality, anonymity (albeit illusory as noted in an article published a few weeks ago), freedom and openness, as well as trans-temporal and spatial features, and then making common sense of them. Usual and ordinary things, however, are more likely to be marked by omissions or illusions, not being able to grasp a fact or a truth in depth.

Cyberspace is often said to be virtual reality. When we call it virtual space, what does the word virtual mean? In a general sense, the word virtual has the following meanings: one refers to a kind of empty space, or something that does not exist in reality, while the other is to represent a potential possibility. For example, a piece of wood can become a table or a cupboard, and a stone has the possibility of being the statue of a leader or the sculpture of a lion. These can all be transformed into a certain reality by relying on intermediary human practical activities: the carpenter, the artist. Virtual can also be understood as a type of real existence, but this type of existence does not play a practical role, although it plays a certain role. The virtual nature of cyberspace can also be understood and defined from several angles. From a technical viewpoint, cyberspace is a spatial form based on digital and computer technology. It is not a world composed of atoms, but a virtual world composed of bits that simulate real things. From the identity viewpoint, the apparent anonymity (i.e. the illusion of it that the provider offers the user) brought about by virtuality deconstructs the subjects professional role, social status, and even the gender of men and women, transforming X into what he/she would like to be, but is not.

As a result, real people become ghosts wandering in cyberspace. Past social interaction between people is turned into technical and symbolic interaction. When several computers are connected to form a huge network linking people through different interfaces, communication practices take place in which there is no longer any need for movement, travel, encounter. It is here that the virtual world takes shape.

The virtual nature of cyberspace does not certainly focus on the so-called emptiness=real existence, but its essence comes in the form of simulation and digitalisation. This virtualised way of constructing the world does not only contain the potential for the development of things, but also possesses the actual path of transformation from possibility to reality.

The US computer scientist, Nicholas Negroponte, pointed out: If the words virtual reality are seen not as noun and adjective, but as equal halves, the logic of calling virtual reality a pleonasm is more palatable. The implication is that virtual can also be understood as part of reality. Virtual things will be as real as reality, and even more real than reality. Because, as a form of technology, the virtual cannot only unfold around real problems, but also reveal the real parts of things and bring people a realistic experience, making it easier to achieve peoples expected goals.

In short, we cannot regard cyberspace as an unrealistic space because of its virtual nature. Cyberspace is not an abstract space that depends on the human imagination to perceive and grasp. Its spatial form is embodied in what is by no means a figment of imagination.

Freedom is the universal value concept of modern political civilisation and it is the fundamental human right, second only to the right to life. The creation and development of cyberspace has given this right a new expression, i.e. the Internet freedom. Some scholars have specifically structured the Internet freedom into (a) freedom of expression on the Internet; (b) freedom of access to the Internet and (c) freedom of communication on the Internet.

Freedom of expression on the Internet means that the so-called netizens can use the Internet to post and convey their thoughts, opinions and even personal feelings. They are not passive receivers of information, but proactive publishers and disseminators of this information.

Freedom of access to the Internet refers to the netizens rights to obtain and use the network infrastructure and to choose and obtain web information.

Freedom of communication on the Internet refers to the freedom of Internet users to use media.

In general terms, we can further understand and define web freedom by the following aspects. Cyberspace is an equal and open form of disseminating thought. Based on access conditions and technical thresholds for the release of basic information, everyone can participate freely, thus having the opportunity to freely release, access, choose and consume information online. At the same time, cyberspace overcomes to some extent the shortcomings of the information asymmetry of traditional media and breaks down the natural barriers of physical time and space.

Netizens can share information resources online and develop free exchanges and interactions. The virtual nature of cyberspace has actually hidden the different representations of identity, status, wealth, job, etc. in real social relations. Based on the fundamental characteristics of cyberspace, individualisation in it has been strengthened, thus generating a bottom-up inner power. With this kind of power, netizens generally have an autonomous experience of freedom. It can be said that for real people, the development of technology and the creation of the web space also have an important liberating significance from a psychic viewpoint.

Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web (WWW), wrote: My ideal for the World Wide Web is that everything can potentially be connected. It is this ideal that gives us new freedom and enables us to develop faster than our own hierarchical classification system. Nowadays, faced with the fast development of the Internet and the profound social changes it entails, some scholars have directly pointed out that the value and significance of the Internet lies in its internal values of civilisation. It is the spirit of the Internet that advocates and supports freedom, equality, openness, innovation and sharing. The freedom of the Internet, however, is not absolute. Cyberspace itself has not only the function of individual empowerment, but also the function of control, which is mainly achieved through the creation of technical barriers. These types of operations can effectively set the authority to post information, as well as netizens access authority, and can selectively display or mask relevant information, thus intentionally guiding or even controlling the public opinion trends on the web, ranging from the illusion of being free and independent to that of being controlled and hetero-directed.

This kind of operations, however, can also be used for special purposes, and the advantages gained by hidden third parties achieve a comprehensive monitoring of netizens and web information.

Quoting Michel Foucault, referring to Jeremy Bentham, cyberspace can become a panoptic ring-shaped prison, i.e. a super panoramic prison for the observer. Milton Mueller had to say: Although the Internet has greatly expanded the scope and interaction between public and individual discourse, it has also fostered the development of technology and organisational means to monitor and control online discourse.

In the governance process, with a view to effectively regulate netizens sloppy and superficial use of freedom, and overcome misguided trends of thought such as cyber violence and rumours, cybercrime, fake news, cyber anarchism, unbridled liberalism and nihilism, States and governments have also actively intervened, striving to base netizens thoughts and actions on legal regulations and moral constraints. Only in this way can the Internet freedom truly embody the subjects consciousness and awareness, the value of rights and obligations, and netizens public spirit.

Therefore, we cannot only understand the web from the perspective of individual freedom. It also aims directly at the creation and maintenance of a holistic public order. In short, cyberspace is not a non-proprietary technology-centred space system, but a human-centred system with unification of rights and obligations. The Internet freedom is not abstract freedom, nor freedom of individualism, but includes the protection of other peoples rights and the overall construction of public order. Therefore, the Internet freedom is ultimately a kind of limited freedom and the freedom to break this limit will turn into a destructive and consequently illegal force.

As mentioned above, cyberspace is essentially a social space. The production of cyberspace is fundamentally the production of human social relations, and this production process is completed through interactions between people. The characteristics of virtuality, anonymity and intertemporal nature inherent in cyberspace provide new spatial conditions for human interaction, which is prominently manifested in the non-centrality or decentralisation characteristics of the web interaction.

Manuel Castells pointed out: The net has not a centre; it only contains nodes. Each node has a different relevance to the net. Hence we ask ourselves: what kind of person crosses the node? What is the relevance of the mode of communication? First of all, the web communication is made in the electronic square and the whole process is completed in the links of production, exchange, consumption and processing of web information. It can be noted that web interactions are based on the Internet technical platform, using symbols such as texts, videos, voice and even emoticons, in various online communities, forums and other secondary spaces.

It is a typical technicality of activity. The virtual nature and anonymity of cyberspace, as well as the interaction between people, break down the restrictions of face-to-face communication and make them obsolete. The presence of the mind and the absence of the body become the technical behaviour of interaction.

Web interaction has also become a new form of spiritual communication for real people. Value and meaning are constantly being created in the process. Secondly, this production of value and meaning is more procedural, i.e. the production of value and meaning is created in the process of interaction between the subjects of the communication. It is no longer prefixed, given, instilled by a third party, but consciously forms the power and influence of the discourse in the interaction, thus constructing different worlds and modes of meaning.

Taking some question-and-answer web platforms as an example, netizens can edit together, share knowledge and experiences through the aforementioned interactive mode, with a simple registration. Between question and answer, netizens establish a social relationship by adding followers (actual followers), sending private messages and posting comments. In question-and-answer style interaction, these professional and rational answers can acquire the power of discourse more and faster, and are universally recognised by netizens.

In this world and in this way, on the Internet, the social network of the others, of the unknown selves, is constantly being constructed, and this is where the value and meaning of the new social relationship arise. Finally, the non-centrality of web interaction does not mean non-subjectivity: the web subjects are always the main vectors of communication activities, and they are fully reciprocal.

Communication activities will establish new relations and will form a new social structure, but at the same time they will take place within the social relations and structures established with non-visible knowledge.

In real society, peoples communication activities are inevitably influenced by the subjects pre-existing identity, manifested in specific social roles: status, wealth, physical beauty and other pre-existing elements even to their contrary which makes interaction appear not so natural, but influenced precisely by wealth, position, and physical appearance factors.

Conversely, web interaction has largely changed the hierarchy of power and formal degrees of value in real society. When everyone becomes the centre, people enter the web space and enjoy the same opportunities and rights for communication. The structure of democracy is thus formed, which is not based on visible values in the known exterior (society), but on invisible values in the unknown interior (the web).

Obviously this kind of reciprocity is also discussed in a general sense, and it is not absolute either. For instance, some Internet influencers and opinion leaders publicly disclose their identities. The reason why they have a strong ability to acquire unknown fans does not exclude the aggregation of their social status (the aforementioned status, physical appearance and other pre-existing factors), so as to use it in real society. In other words, the known figure exploits the cyberspace to impose himself/herself within society; in other words, the shepherd leads nameless sheep where he/she wishes. There is therefore a certain degree of unequal power structure in cyberspace.

The activity of the cyberspace figure known from the outside, as he/she is present and active in real society, is represented by various information, involving all aspects of production and peoples lives, such as education, medical care, insurance, real estate, advertising, legal services, etc. The data flow is ultimately the information flow. The information flow in cyberspace, with its wide source, high speed, large capacity, rich content and form, completely surpasses the traditional information flow. As a result, the well-known figure who uses the net does so to overtake real opponents in his or her respective field, while the followers think he or she is a disembodied guru or anything else.

Through nodes, netizens can spread and receive information without being limited by time and space. On the one hand, the virtualised and anonymous characteristics of cyberspace deconstruct or weaken the subjects fixed identity, which in cyberspace is strongly contextualized, thus showing ambiguity in the practice of fluid communication, as the nature of cyberspace has changed the traditional meaning of space-time coordinates.

The Internet physical equipment is the new field of the subjects activities, but the meaning of the subjects geographical position disappears, and the IP address determines his/her existence. Mobile identity can enable web subjects to become ubiquitous and to exist and be mobile across different web interfaces.

The fluidity of cyberspace reflects the following aspects: firstly, the dynamic nature of cyberspace. The characteristic definition of flow has the dual meaning of time and space. Due to the flattening and levelling of cyberspace, this type of flow is not a change in the position of individuals in the social class in a sociological sense, but is a flow without hierarchical meaning. Due to the borderless and trans-temporal nature of cyberspace, this type of flow has no physical boundaries in the topological sense, but takes on the undefined meaning of place.

Secondly, it reflects the interaction between web entities in the process of web information flow. Human needs are the source of information production, and the web information flow has become the bearer of value and meaning from the very beginning. It is also in the flow and collision of information that new values and meanings are created, thus showing the complex social relations between people. Therefore, in a fundamental sense, the information flow is a social movement related to the generation of meanings and signifiers. In Italy we had a great example, which later ended up in the disappointment of the vast majority of voters, to the benefit of a few who knew how to study (sometimes fraudulently) the bureaucratic apparatus.

Thirdly, it reflects the dynamic development of the social structure based on technological progress, which fundamentally reflects the procedural nature of the practice of real people. Castells pointed out: Space is not a reflection of society, but an expression of society. In other words, space is not a copy of society: space is society. This emphasises that the generation of cyberspace is fundamental to its self-generation.

On the one hand, the fluidity of cyberspace has become an endogenous force for the differentiation and integration of cyberspace itself and its dynamics influence and change the structure of value and meaning in cyberspace. On the other hand, through online and offline interactions, it ultimately transforms through concrete actions real society itself that, in turn, promotes changes in the overall social structure. Hence, as a quality of flow, cyberspace is basically embodied as a process of social practice.

The creation and development of cyberspace is the result of the continuous differentiation and integration of social space in its own changes. Hence, is cyberspace a so-called public domain? According to our understanding, we can see the basic elements that constitute the public domain: firstly, individuals with a rational and critical spirit; secondly, independent media and thirdly, public opinion forming a rational consensus.

As to cyberspace, the public is active: when faced with general events, the public does not stand on the sidelines, but actively participates in the discussion of important issues to safeguard public interests and control power. This kind of fair and dialogic communication and interaction not only reflects the independent thinking, judgment, choice and even critical capacity of netizens as rational subjects, but also reflects their good moral and legal literacy, thus playing a key role in maintaining public order.

In the media sense, the basic characteristics of cyberspace make it relatively independent. There are no hierarchical and strict public power organisations, institutions or systems in cyberspace: it is open to everybody and people communicate and interact in a relatively free environment. The development of web technology at least the one presented as such also provides sufficient guarantee for this equality, freedom and independence.

When people online express opinions on various events, a large number of opinions and discussions are quickly gathered in the online public opinion with the help of the relevant platform. Through massive pressure, related issues are resolved in a fair or at least not covert way, and promote the reform and improvement of the relevant systems, and of the rules, too, where necessary.

It can be said that the critical and controlling functions of people online through public opinion have become a positive and constructive force. From this viewpoint, cyberspace has actually fulfilled its function of public domain. But can we infer from this that cyberspace is really in the public domain?

As the main entity of the web, not all netizens can be called public in a rational spirit. On the contrary, with the exception of the netizens who are addicted to online consumption and entertainment all day long, some netizens arbitrarily vent their emotions by attacking and verbally abusing their opponents. Aggressive cybernetic pursuits, rampant defamations that ignore facts, and unprincipled cyber parodies make them outright saboteurs.

Public spirit and rationality are completely unfamiliar terms to such netizens. There are unidentified cyber forces that become the packagers and manipulators of information for further aims. Fake information with extremely unreliable sources and content, cybercrimes that trample on the bottom line of laws and morality, etc.

They have also turned cyberspace into a foggy environment. Hence, based on its complexity and in view of creating good web ecology, countries around the world are strengthening the management and control of cyberspace, thus achieving the penetration of public power into it. Therefore, we see that cyberspace is not completely independent in a theoretical sense.

In short, in the process of information flow and collision, there is the creation of value and meaning, but also its destruction. Web communication and interaction do not always contribute to resolving incidents of any kind, but in many cases simply act as a destabilising force. Indeed, we cannot simply decide that cyberspace is a public or a quasi-public sphere.

When discussing the spatial attribution of cyberspace, the yes/no-1/0 method of judging is the result of mechanistic understanding and application of commonly accepted public domain theories. It is very easy to hide the complexity of the structure and the inherent contradictions of cyberspace, and this prevents us from accurately understanding and judging the essential characteristics and functions of cyberspace and by essential I mean and refer to utility as a shared value, and not to the individuals personal benefits.

In my opinion, the greatest significance of the public domain for cyberspace is that it must exist functionally. Cyberspace cannot simply be judged at the aforementioned 1/0 digital level, but can actually perform service operations for everyone. When attempting to orient and guide web subjects from individualised to public netizens, they can express not only their own needs for interest under the form of help with knowledge and exchange of purely personal experiences, etc., but also uphold the spirit of public rationality by actively paying attention to public events, supervising public power, and safeguarding everybodys interests.

As a result, it is hoped that cyberspace will rise to the status of a rational information agent, and hence a proactive constructive force. When cyberspace plays the role and function of the public domain, it can effectively communicate the relationship between the private sphere and the power sphere, between the online and the offline space, and effectively rebuild the relationship between government, society and citizens, thus contributing to the adjustment and optimisation of the general order of social space.

Conversely, as far as the ownership of cyberspace is concerned, we cannot simply identify cyberspace as being or not being in the public domain, but we must seek to orient its role in the public interest. In a fundamental sense, cyberspace is a social space, a new environmental form that extends and differs from the social space of everyday life with the development of the Internet technology.

Nevertheless, based on the technical dimension, cyberspace as a virtual reality is different from the social environment in a general sense, displaying its own characteristics and operating rules that all too often defy moral, civil and criminal behaviours.

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How digital technology and innovation can help protect the planet - Modern Diplomacy

LEXINGTON, Mass., Nov. 27, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mimecast Limited (NASDAQ: MIME), a leading email and data security company, today announced Rafe Brown, Mimecast Chief Financial Officer, will present at the Credit Suisse 25th Annual Technology Conference. Mimecasts presentation will begin at 12:45 PM MST on November 30,2021.

Investors may listen to a live webcast of the presentation here.

The presentation will be available for 90 days following the live event in the Investor Relations section of the Companys website.

About MimecastMimecast was born in 2003 with a focus on delivering relentless protection. Each day, we take on cyber disruption for our tens of thousands of customers around the globe; always putting them first, and never giving up on tackling their biggest security challenges together. We are the company that built an intentional and scalable design ideology that solves the number one cyberattack vector email. We continuously invest to thoughtfully integrate brand protection, security awareness training, web security, compliance and other essential capabilities. Mimecast is here to help protect large and small organizations from malicious activity, human error and technology failure; and to lead the movement toward building a more resilient world. http://www.mimecast.com

Mimecast Social Media ResourcesLinkedIn:MimecastFacebook:MimecastTwitter:@MimecastBlog:Cyber Resilience Insights

Press ContactTim Hamilton Press@Mimecast.com617-393-7122

Investor Contact Robert Sanders Investors@Mimecast.com617-393-7074

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Mimecast to Present at Credit Suisse 25th Annual Technology - GlobeNewswire

CHICAGO, November 28, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At the Radiological Society of North Americas (RSNA) 2021 Annual Meeting, GE Healthcare unveiled around 60 innovative technology solutions spanning the healthcare spectrum including patient screening, diagnostics, therapy planning, guidance, and monitoring. Amidst a global pandemic and mounting pressure on the industry, the company accelerated innovations underpinned by artificial intelligence (AI) and digital solutions to help transform healthcare delivery, making it easier and more efficient for clinicians and health systems, and more personalized and precise for patients.

The pandemic exposed the fragility of the global healthcare system, creating an urgent need for technology and solutions that help clinicians manage seriously ill COVID-19 patients, advanced diseases such as cancer and heart disease a backlog in non-urgent care, and an ageing population, while battling burnout and workforce shortages.

With these circumstances in mind, GE Healthcare is proud to introduce technologies and solutions at #RSNA21 that help healthcare systems:

Increase efficiency and productivity;

Reduce clinician burnout;

Empower clinicians with AI and analytics when, where and how they need it;

Create a more resilient and sustainable healthcare industry; and

Increase access to care.

"Our goal is to make healthcare more human by breaking down barriers so clinicians can work at the top of their game, healthcare systems can operate more efficiently, and patients can get the best and most personalized care possible," said Kieran Murphy, president & CEO, GE Healthcare. "Healthcare is at a turning point and at GE Healthcare we are using our clinical expertise and know-how to deliver innovative technologies and solutions that help solve healthcares most pressing problems, advance precision health and improve patient lives."

Transforming healthcare through imaging technologies and digital offerings

Story continues

Over the last year and a half, the industry has embraced technological innovation. What was once considered "futuristic" is now fundamental. In an environment where clinical expertise, regulatory know-how and speed matter, GE Healthcare rose to the challenge. Working alongside clinicians and care teams to understand the most pressing needs of radiologists and hospital administrators, the company innovated new solutions, leveraging its healthcare-specific intelligence platform, Edison, to help providers achieve greater efficiency, reduce errors, increase speed to appropriate treatments, and increase access to care.

To this end, GE Healthcare developed the following new AI-powered, automated and data-driven solutions to help encourage greater diagnostic confidence, ease the burden of care and improve workflow for healthcare systems around the world:

SIGNA Heroi is named for our heroes on the frontlines, who continue to care for seriously ill patients as well as a backlog in non-urgent care all the while battling burnout and workforce shortages. The new 3.0T MRI system offers new workflows and AIR Recon DL enhancements designed to help our heroes on the frontlines address some of todays most pressing healthcare needs: enhanced productivity, patient comfort, and sustainabilityii.

SIGNA Artist Evoiii enables healthcare systems to modernize their legacy 1.5T narrow 60 cm bore MR systems to 1.5T, 70 cm bore systems, accommodating more patients of different shapes and sizes. Furthermore, the companys patented flexible AIR Coils design and AIR Recon DL image reconstruction help provide clearer, sharper and more detailed images faster enabling shorter patient setup times and reducing table time.

Revolution Apex platformiv provides exceptional image quality and low dose scanning for routine and challenging cases in many care areas with optimized clinical capabilities, built-in scalability and upgradability options.

Allia Platform is designed to enhance user experience, improve workflow efficiency and increase the adoption of advanced image guidance in daily practice all important factors in todays constrained healthcare environment. In addition to personalizing the Interventional or hybrid operating room with just one click of the user interface, leveraging the Edison platform, the system also harnesses the power of AI with AutoRightv an advanced AI-based interventional image chain and Liver ASSIST Virtual Parenchymavi,vii a 3D visualization software solution designed to provide AI-based virtual parenchymography to help clinicians simulate injections dynamically and perform liver embolization procedures with confidence.

AMX Navigate represents GE Healthcares latest in portable x-ray technology with a new Zero Click Exam workflow solution and power-assisted Free Motion telescoping column to reduce lift force by an estimated 70 percentviii, helping to decrease X-ray technologist strain . The rugged reliability of the AMX Navigate helps ensure it is ready to perform at the bedside of the patient.

Critical Care Suite 2.0 offers a collection of AI algorithms embedded on a mobile x-ray device for case prioritization, automated measurements, and quality control. For the past year, the suites AI algorithm to help clinicians assess Endotracheal Tube (ETT) placements has helped clinicians care for an influx of critically ill COVID-19 patients who required ventilation under the FDA COVID-19 imaging guidance. Now, Critical Care Suite 2.0 has received full Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance.

Vscan Air provides clinicians with quick insights at the point of care at a time when they need it most. This wireless and pocket-sized ultrasound device provides exceptionally clear image quality, whole-body scanning capabilities, and intuitive software - all in the palm of the clinicians hand. A dual-probe enables whole-body scanning with the flip of the wireless dual probe (for deep and shallow scanning) and a push of a button to capture images. Vscan Air offers a high-performance ultrasound machine in a lightweight, portable device designed to improve patient experience and access to ultrasound technology involving patients by sharing real-time image sharing as simple as see, snap, send.

Enterprise Imaging in the Cloud delivers the power of technology in a smart, digital ecosystem giving radiologists easy and seamless access to GE Healthcares latest AI-based tools, data and intelligent technology for visualization, diagnostics and workflow as well as third party algorithms from anywhere, anytimeix,x. The solution is cloud-based, enabling healthcare systems to manage upgrades instantly and digitally, with little to no new hardware or on-site IT team required.

Digital Expert Access is a real-time virtual collaboration solution that is integrated into imaging devices. With imaging experts in short supply and high demand and imaging moving beyond hospital campuses, Digital Expert Access allows sharing of expertise, best practices, and in-the-moment advice, as well as remote console control all from a distance.

ulrichINJECT CT Motion uses automated syringeless technology to support workflow efficiencies. The injector, now approved with RIS/PACS integration, removes the need for manual syringe filling which may minimize examination preparation time and minimize contrast media waste.

A partner of choice creating and investing in new possibilities for the healthcare industry

As innovators, integrators and clinical experts, GE Healthcare is aligning its products and solutions across care pathways, such as oncology, to create end-to-end solutions.

The company is working with industry leaders, such as SOPHiA GENETICS, to deliver on the promise of integrated cancer care by bringing insights across multiple diagnostic modalities with the goal of better targeting and matching treatments to each patients cancer type, helping to ensure more effective and personalized treatment. Through the acquisition of Zionexa, the company is advancing precision diagnostics and impacting clinical care by commercializing innovative molecular imaging agents.

Furthermore, GE Healthcare offers deep industry expertise, an ability to merge clinical and data science and a breadth of solutions across pharmaceutical diagnostics, cyclotrons, chemistry synthesis, PET/CT, PET/MR, nuclear medicine, advanced digital solutions, and pharmaceutical partnerships all to help clinicians enhance patient care from discovery to diagnosis to treatment.

Using input from clinical partners, GE Healthcare has designed technologies and digital solutions to keep up with the ever-changing challenges that exist in the imaging world. The Revolution Apex platform, for example, is designed with advanced technologies intended to:

Support one-beat cardiac imaging with motion management;

Update their service line from a 40 mm detector and 0.28 second rotation speed up to a 160 mm detector and 0.23 second per rotation speed (FDA 510(k) pending) xi,xii ; and

Reduce contrast dose up to 33% potentially.

"I'm a fan of the new Apex [platform] system and all the possibilities around it. For us, it's a big win," said Johan de Mey, MD, PhD, Chair of Radiology at the Universitair Ziekenhuis, Brussels, Belgium. "In the past, we kept machines as long as possible, and we upgraded them with software. But if the hardware was obsolete, we removed it from the hospital. With the Apex, we have a platform with the latest technology and can easily upgrade as our clinical practice evolves."

Altogether, GE Healthcare is a partner of choice to thousands of healthcare providers, medical technology innovators, and digital start-ups around the world.

About GE Healthcare:

GE Healthcare is the $17 billion* healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE). As a leading global medical technology, pharmaceutical diagnostics and digital solutions innovator, GE Healthcare enables clinicians to make faster, more informed decisions through intelligent devices, data analytics, applications and services, supported by its Edison intelligence platform. With over 100 years of healthcare industry experience and around 47,000 employees globally, the company operates at the center of an ecosystem working toward precision health, digitizing healthcare, helping drive productivity and improve outcomes for patients, providers, health systems and researchers around the world. On November 9, 2021, GE announced plans to spin-off GE Healthcare to create a pure-play company at the center of precision health in early 2023.

Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Insights for the latest news, or visit our website http://www.gehealthcare.com for more information.

*Excluding BioPharma

i SIGNA Hero is 510(k) pending at FDA. Not yet CE marked. Not available for sale in the United States or the EU. Not commercially available in all markets.ii AIR Recon DL 3D and PROPELLER is 510(k) pending at the FDA. Not CE marked. Not available for sale in the United States or EU. Not commercially available in all markets.iii SIGNA Artist Evo is 510(k) pending with the US FDA. Not yet CE Marketed. Not available for sale in the United States or EU. Not commercially available in all markets.iv GE Healthcares Revolution Apex platform is FDA 510(k) cleared and not available for sale in all countries.v AutoRight refers to intelligent image chain features of GEHCs Interventional x-ray systems, from image acquisition to image processing and display.vi Liver ASSIST Virtual Parenchyma is 510(k) cleared at FDA and CE Marked. Not available for sale in all countries.vii Liver ASSIST Virtual Parenchyma solution includes Hepatic VCAR and FlightPlan for Liver with Parenchyma Analysis option and requires AW workstation with Volume Viewer, Volume Viewer Innova, Vision 2, VesselIQ Xpress, Autobone Xpress. These applications are sold separately. FlightPlan for Liver with Parenchyma Analysis option may not be available for sale in all countries.viii GE Data on File. The lift force reduction is based upon the average lift force for the AMX Navigate of 11.0 N as compared to the Optima XR240amx average lift force of 58.3 N.ix Anywhere the Internet is available.x Cloud deployment currently only available in USA.xi Scalability and upgradability are subject to the availability and compatibility of new capabilities and products.xii 0.23sec and 19.5msec are 510k pending and not available for sales in all countries. 19.5msec effective temporal resolution is achieved by a 6x improvement of motion-blur reduction while maintaining high spatial resolution as demonstrated in cardiac phantom testing. The reduction in motion artifacts is comparable to a 0.039 equivalent gantry rotation speed with effective temporal resolution of 19.5 msec, as demonstrated in mechanical and mathematical phantom testing.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211128005218/en/

Contacts

Jennifer Foxjennifer.r.fox@ge.com 414-530-3027

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GE Healthcare Unveils New AI and Digital Technologies and Solutions to Help Solve Healthcares Most Pressing Problems - Yahoo Finance

Kingspin Technology Services, the UAE-based blockchain start-up, is expanding its development team by opening an offshore delivery centre in SmartCity, Kochi.

The company, which also focuses on other digital transformation technologies such as Data Science and IoT, is recognised by Startup India and the Kerala Startup Mission. Azif Ali, CEO, Kingspin Technology Services, said 80 per cent of the development work will be done from the Kochi centre.

Initially, the company will employ 70 people, and the number may reach 100 within six months. More freshers are likely to be hired as there are not many people with experience in blockchain technology in the country, he added.

The company focuses on blockchain and its real-world implications, including Asset Tokenization aspects in Environment Sustainability Quotient, Estate and Customer Loyalty. With the planned launch of a branch in Wyoming, US, the angel-funded start-up is also planning to experience Silicon Valley Technology upgrades and correspondingly streamline the journey forward in the current digital decade, embracing the latest technology advancements.

"We plan to expand our services around India in the next one year. Our plan is to optimise blockchain technology applications towards societal benefits. However, the use of blockchain technology in business cases such as to save real estate documents digitally, will only take off once our appeal to the government to legalise it gets the green flag, he added.

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UAE-based Kingspin Technology Services starts operations in Kochi - The Hindu BusinessLine

Investment in UK impact technology firms jumped to 2 billion in the past year as the sector passed a total valuation of 50 billion, according to new data.

Impact tech firms which use technology to address issues such as climate change and global health saw funding rise 300 million from 2020, according to data from Dealroom compiled for the UKs Digital Economy Council.

Investment in the sector was found to have increased 127% since 2018, taking the total value of the sector beyond 50 billion for the first time.

Climate tech firms led the hike in investment, with green energy provider Octopus Energy raising the biggest round of the past year of 438 million, followed by electric car subscription platform Onto, which attracted 130 million in July.

Impact investing has come a long way since its start in the late 90s when it was considered more of a philanthropic endeavour

Luisa Alemany, London Business School

Firms in the climate tech sector were found to have attracted 65% of impact deals over the past year, according to the figures.

The data comes as Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries hosts the Future Tech Forum this week in London to discuss future public policy issues relating to the development and use of digital technologies.

Ms Dorries said: We want to harness the power of technology to make greener, healthier and safer choices and Im hosting the first Future Tech Forum in London to discuss how we can make that happen through future governance, policy and co-operation.

In particular, they will discuss how technology can deliver positive global change and deliver some of the ambitious targets agreed by nations at Cop26.

Luisa Alemany, a professor at London Business School said investors now realised these investments could deliver not only a social benefit but also a financial return.

She said: Impact investing has come a long way since its start in the late 90s when it was considered more of a philanthropic endeavour.

Twelve impact firms have now achieved one billion dollar valuation unicorn status, including Bristol-based flying-taxi firm Vertical Aerospace and ITM Power in Sheffield which designs and manufactures hydrogen energy systems.

Impact tech firms were found to have created 35,000 jobs across the UK.

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Impact technology firms see investment surge as values hit 50bn - The Independent

The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) is the senior executive who concentrates on the technological regulations, opportunities, and challenges within a company. The CTO role has arisen as a key player in the enterprise C-suite, particularly with digital transformation being such a high strategic priority for numerous companies. A CTO is responsible for the management of an organizations research and development (R&D) as well as it is technological needs.

While it is easy to associate the increasing significance of the CTO to the advent of the Digital Age wherein people cannot live without technology, it must also be noted that technology has become a source of competitive advantage for corporates and businesses.

Certainly, from being a position that governs the rollout of hardware and phases of software deployments, the Chief Technology Officer is presently a key strategic thinker and an advisor to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on matters concerning the across-the-board strategic direction that the corporate and the industries must take.

At every stage of the companys life-cycle, the roles and responsibilities of the CTO change. Here is how the CTO defines the success of corporates at every stage:

When an idea for a business has flowered, the Chief Technology Officer acts as a practical engineer, validating the technical feasibility of the business plan. At this stage, the CTO also acts as a co-founder who has to be fully prepared to build the digital product architecture often without third-party help. Apart from this, Data security, QA management, and deployment issues also fall into the responsibility of the CTO.

At a corporations beginning, the CTO is heavily active with talent acquisition and its onboarding, training, and management. Their expertise in the area is significant to specify talent at this moment without a skilled HR department.

Responsibilities of the CTO, here include coming up with a tech stack, submitting budget suggestions, and altogether trying to enhance their digital product. The role here evolves into more of a tech-visionary, HR specialist, and team leader as opposed to a fully-fledged developer. This is how CTO defines the success of a start-up.

At the point when the life pattern of a business is merging, CTOs obligations can include administering a few improvement groups while assessing interaction and progress. The administration of the overall vision of the product item is the CTOs center driver and assignments like coding or QA are currently taken care of by different individuals from the group.

The CTO is continually remaining alarmed by recent trends in innovation and stays the lead product engineer and framework executive.

At this crossroads, the CTO is a senior chief which is a few levels from the involved undertaking execution. They are the substance of the tech office in the open arena and address the organization at gatherings and other expert occasions.

They ought to be knowledgeable about taking care of huge or various offices and exploring and carrying out state-of-the-art innovation.

As you know, after the pandemic technology has become the lifeline of businesses and in order to ensure the success of the corporation, CTO has become significant. Surely, it would not be an understatement to say that technology came to the rescue of businesses and corporates during the lockdowns of the arising Work from Home arrangements. No doubt that many corporations in recent years have started to hire technologists for the crucial roles encompassing the CEO roles.

In conclusion, there is an additional risk in overhyping the job of the CTO as innovation can be a two-sided deal, and overreliance on innovation without support for the human component can be hazardous.

This is the motivation behind why a few firms are searching for technologists with delicate abilities and esteem and regulating ascribes so that in the chase after the holy grail of tech, the attention on relationship-building abilities isnt lost.

All things considered, the future would have a place with those technologists who can wed their tech information with vision and empathetic mission and can bring commendable relationship-building abilities and qualities.

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Analytics Insight is an influential platform dedicated to insights, trends, and opinions from the world of data-driven technologies. It monitors developments, recognition, and achievements made by Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Analytics companies across the globe.

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Role of Chief Technology Officer in the Success of Corporates - Analytics Insight

The UAEs Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) has announced a partnership with Siemens to accelerate the digital transformation of the countrys manufacturing sector.

The partnership will also develop a strategic roadmap to implement Industry 4.0 frameworks.

By the end of 2022, the ministry and Siemens will evaluate 200 industrial companies in the UAE for their digital maturity, while more than 70 industrial companies across the country have already been assessed. This initiative, which will be overseen by MoIAT and Siemens, will support the objectives of the UAE Industry 4.0 programme to raise its industrial productivity by 30 per cent and add Dhs25bn to the national economy over the next decade.

Driven by MoIAT, UAE Industry 4.0 has been designed to help increase the use of deep learning, machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), additive manufacturing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), into the value and supply chains that support the industrial sector.

The digital maturity assessment programme will allow the UAE to determine its current baseline level for the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies across the countrys industrial sector. It will also identify areas within the sector that are ready for digital transformation to enhance productivity and underpin the countrys economic competitiveness.

Sarah Al Amiri, the UAEs Minister of State for Advanced Technology, said: We are delighted to announce our partnership with Siemens, an important milestone in our efforts to embrace the tools and applications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The programme will equip our industrial companies with essential insights on their digital maturity and offer practical frameworks and tools to accelerate their transformation journeys.

By joining forces with Siemens, we are gearing up to elevate our local industrial capabilities and shape a future industrial landscape that is as sustainable as it is productive and profitable. At a time when industry is transforming faster than at any period in history, partnerships such as this hold the key to unlocking a new era of smart industrial growth.

Roland Busch, president and chief executive officer of Siemens, said: Siemens is proud to contribute to the UAEs efforts to transform its manufacturing sector and pursue a long-term strategy for sustainable development. Our partnership will identify challenges and solutions in the UAEs manufacturing sector, help ignite a broader adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, and make industries more agile, productive and competitive.

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UAE's Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology, Siemens partner to underpin digital transformation - Gulf Business

In recent years, the field of DNA-modified cell therapies has experienced clinical advancements in patient outcomes specifically in late-stage cancer patients. Permanent changes to the genetic compositions in patients cells may lead to toxicities such as cytokine release syndrome, or the uncontrollable proliferation of DNA-modified cells. To address the irreversibility and lack of predictability of DNA-modified cell therapies, Cartesian Therapeutics is developing a range of RNA-modified allogeneic and autologous cell therapies in autoimmune, oncologic and respiratory disorders.

In this interview, Murat Kalayoglu, MD, PhD, president and CEO of Cartesian Therapeutics discusses the companys efforts to develop RNA-modified cell therapies that expand past oncology. Dr. Kalayoglu also provides his predictions for the nascent field of cell therapy, and clinical milestones we can expect to see in the coming years.

Q: Can you tell us about the history and origins of Cartesian Therapeutics and its technology?A: Cartesian was founded in 2016 with a mission to develop potent, yet safer, cell therapies initially for the treatment of multiple myeloma. The motivation to innovate novel cell therapies for this rare form of blood cancer was born out of shared experiences between myself and the other founders, chief scientific officer Dr. Mike Singer and chief operating officer Dr. Metin Kurtoglu. Several of our friends and family members have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and we recognized first-hand the need for treatment for this incurable disease.

We originally licensed chimeric antigen receptor technology (CAR) T-cell therapy from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a unique way of targeting B-cell maturation antigens (BCMA), a critical part of the disease pathway of multiple myeloma. CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy in which a patients own T cells, a type of immune cell, are modified in a laboratory to bind to cancerous cells. We investigated the potential to engineer these cells with RNA instead of DNA to overcome the limitations of conventional DNA-engineered CAR T-cell therapies.

What began as a focused effort exclusively on multiple myeloma has morphed into a technology platform that we recognize has broad applications beyond oncology. Currently, Cartesian is a fully integrated RNA cell therapy company with multiple cell therapy candidates in clinical trials. Our cell therapies target not just cancer, but also autoimmune disease and respiratory disease. We plan to move forward into additional disease categories in 2022.

Q: How is RNA cell therapy different from DNA cell therapy? What benefits does this bring?A: In conventional cell therapy, scientists modify the DNA in cells with irreversible, permanent changes at the level of the gene. Each daughter cell produced from a DNA-modified cell is identical to the parent cell, and genetic coding errors may result in the replication of cancerous cells.

DNA-modified cell therapies raise other safety concerns when introduced into the patient. They begin to proliferate when encountering a target antigen and can often proliferate out of control if any semblance of the target antigen is detected. They may cause toxicity and an unwanted inflammatory immune response known as cytokine release syndrome. These adverse effects of DNA cell therapy are harmful for patients already suffering from the debilitating effects of their disease. And while it often makes sense for a patient with an advanced, late-stage cancer to take the risk of encountering these toxicities, it often doesnt make sense to do so with earlier-stage cancers or conditions outside of oncology.

Our philosophy is to expand cell therapy beyond the most advanced cancers, and we believe using RNA instead of DNA will allow us to make reversible, controllable changes inside cells. Because RNA has a defined half-life, RNA-modified cells are more predictable in the bodies of patients. The changes reflected in RNA-modified cells do not integrate irreversibly into the genome but may last long enough to produce therapeutic proteins without the toxicities common to conventional cell therapy.

In addition, conventional cell therapies require difficult-to-source laboratory equipment or biologically active products such as GMP-grade viral vectors to produce the DNA-modified cells. RNA cell therapy does not require as complex of equipment and allows us to enter the clinic more quickly at a lower cost.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about Cartesians RNA Armory technology and the work being done at the companys GMP manufacturing facility?A: At Cartesian, we are developing an entirely new manufacturing platform that weve now coined the RNA Armory. The RNA Armory is a cell-based combination therapy platform that allows us to use a cell as both a vehicle for delivering as well as a factory for producing a combination of RNA therapeutics. Through the RNA Armory, we can simultaneously engineer multiple RNAs directly into the cell, enabling us to accurately target the site of disease. These cells are then able to secrete not just one, but multiple RNA therapeutics in the form of secreted proteins right at the site of disease. Because RNA-modified cells lose functionality over time, we can control their effectiveness against the target antigen more precisely than DNA-modified cells that can proliferate unpredictably.

We integrated our manufacturing in-house at our headquarters in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to optimize research, development and supply chain and manufacturing. We believe the platform itself can work with various types of cells, but there are two main areas of focus right now in the clinic: T cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

Q: Cartesian is taking cell therapy beyond oncology. Tell me more about the programs in myasthenia gravis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disorder in which autoantibodies destroy the communication between nerves and muscles, resulting in neuromuscular weakness. We are developing Descartes-08, a T-cell therapy that targets BCMA. Our rationale for targeting BCMA stems from the fact that long-lived, diseased plasma cells, along with the autoantibodies they produce, typically express BCMA in myasthenia gravis patients.

Descartes-08 is our first-generation autologous cell therapy to combat myasthenia gravis. Our scientists collect and modify a patients own T cells using the RNA Armory to produce redirected (CAR-T) cells. Clinicians then reinfuse the T cells back into the patients body over the course of several treatments. Our hope is that Descartes-08 may destroy the very cells that produce the autoantibodies. We recently reported positive results in the first cohort of myasthenia gravis patients dosed with Descartes-08 and have escalated the treatment to an expansion cohort.

We are also developing Descartes-30, our targeted second-generation MSC therapy for patients with moderate-to-severe ARDS. Descartes-30 is an allogeneic (i.e., off-the-shelf) cell therapy currently in Phase 1/2a clinical trials. Our team of scientists harvests stem cells from healthy donors and engineers two different enzymes into them that work synergistically to degrade neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), a key driver of inflammation and clotting in patients with ARDS. RNA-modified cells are then infused into patients. Our belief is that the degradation of NETs using Descartes-30 may alleviate the burden of ARDS by clearing alveoli and vessels in the lungs.

Q: The company also has a clinical program in multiple myeloma can you tell me more about this drug candidate and the ongoing clinical study? How does this compare to conventional treatments for multiple myeloma?

A:We are currently testing two different CAR T-cell therapies, Descartes-08 and Descartes-11, to target BCMA-expressing cancer cells in patients with multiple myeloma. Descartes-08 and Descartes-11 vary in their activations and the way in which they bind to BCMAs. We plan to test both Descartes-08 and Descartes-11 in the clinic to determine which one produces more efficacious results in patients with multiple myeloma, advancing the better performing therapy into late-stage clinical trials.

While other cell therapies investigate the potency of treatments in later stage multiple myeloma patients, Descartes-08 and -11 are focused on patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. Multiple myeloma is an incurable disease characterized by relapses that are treated with effective drugs until the patient is in remission. As the disease progresses, the remission period becomes shorter and shorter after each relapse.

Our hypothesis is to develop potent yet safer RNA-modified CAR T-cell therapy for use in the early stages of multiple myeloma. We hope our RNA cell therapy candidates may be combined with other effective drugs at the beginning of a patients treatment regimen to eliminate any remnant of the disease during the first line of therapy. Both Descartes-08 and Descartes-11 have been well-tolerated from a safety perspective in Phase 1 clinical trials and are both being tested in Phase 2a studies in patients with high-risk, newly-diagnosed multiple myeloma.

Q: What can we expect for the future of RNA cell therapy in the industry and for Cartesian?A: We are hopeful for the future of RNA cell therapy. We do not foresee extensive limitations in the kinds of combinations of therapeutics that RNA cell therapy can provide to patients, a challenge that plagues conventional DNA-modified cells. RNA-modified cells have the potential to integrate complex therapeutic combinations. The potential synergistic efficacy and sheer number of combinations may allow clinicians to target the disease precisely and through multiple mechanisms simultaneously.Q: Why do you think there has not been greater interest in the development of RNA therapy so far? Is this set to change?A: The main limitation for investigating RNA cell therapies occurs when institutions do not have the capacity to manufacture high quality products at large quantities. Since cells lose function over multiple rounds of proliferation, patients must be dosed with a larger number of cells, and often with repeat-dosing. Institutions and companies must have the capability to scale up high-quality cells, and efforts have failed in the past due to limited manufacturing capabilities that inhibit the quantity of cells produced. We hope more laboratories streamline their manufacturing processes to investigate RNA cell therapies and their potential to help patients across a variety of disease states.

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Innovating Reversible Cell Therapies With RNA - Technology Networks

One of the biggest Greek research institutions, FORTH (Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas), has developed patents and technologies that found their way to global business giants such as Apple, while success stories, such as the listing of Advent Technologies -a FORTH spinoff- on Nasdaq with a stock market value of over 700 million dollars, push Greeks who now excel at prestigious Universities abroad to compete for a position as a researcher in Greece.

FORTH President and Professor of Medicine at the University of Crete, Nektarios Tavernarakis refers to the global success of research produced at FORTH, as well as how this high quality research and the important steps have been taken in order to simplify the procedures have created a trend of brain gain as Greek researchers working abroad are returning to Greece.

FORTH Spinoff Technologies Go Global

At the moment, the staff of FORTH in its eight Institutes in Heraklion, Rethymno, Chania, Patras, Ioannina, Volos, Thessaloniki exceeds 1500 members (107 Researchers, 156 Associate Faculty Members, 607 scholarships per year, 648 specialized scientific, & support staff) and 330 regular staff. The funding of the Foundation comes at a rate of 80% from external sources and reaches 42 million euros from competitive, European and national programs. In terms of the European program Horizon 2020 in the ranking of top European institutions, based on competitive research and technology programs funded, FORTH ranks 10th, while the total funding of FORTH researchers by the European Research Council exceeds 36 million Euros.

Nektarios Tavernarakis notes that FORTH has achieved significant successes; it is at the top of the list in Greece in terms of funding from EU Competitive Programmes. In fact, today hundreds of research programs are being implemented in the Foundation, something that has led to an increase in staff in order to meet the needs, adding that the Foundation has more than 100 active patents in various fields from biology, biotechnology, clinics to lasers, and that more than 45 spin-off companies that were created at FORTH have succeeded.

A prime example of that success is FORTHNET, the very first internet provider in Greece, which was a FORTH spinoff: later on the company was listed on the stock exchange, the shares were sold, and it became an independent company, observes Tavernarakis.

Another successful FORTH spin-off isthe aforementioned Advent Technologies, a company active in the field of fuel cells and hydrogen technology that was recently listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Advent was founded in 2005 on the initiative of researchers working at FORTHs Institute of Chemical Engineering (ICE-HT) and collaborating professors from the University of Patras. The company specializes in the production of next generation fuel cells, which convert hydrogen and other renewable fuels into green electricity.

Advent was a spin-off of FORTH and the CEO of the company was our researcher at the Institute of Chemical Engineering in Patras, where this technology was developed. Today ICE-HT continues to develop innovative cutting-edge technologies. We are very active in the field of hydrogen, that is to say in the utilization of this technology, for example in the creation of hydrogen batteries that can be used in cars, ships and airplanes. We are very active in the energy sector overall because we are particularly interested in the green transition to renewable energy sources such as hydrogen; also for example in the development of photovoltaics from advanced materials that are much more efficient than those already available on the market, as well as in the alternative exploitation of the countrys the mineral wealth, the president of FORTH points out.

Another promising spin-off founded at FORTH is Biomimetic, which utilizes a patented innovative technology developed by researchers working at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL). Biomimetic is inspired by nature, by how biology creates structures in order to create materials with specific properties, such as materials that are cannot be engraved, materials that cannot get wet. There is a lot of interest in such materials from mobile phone companies, such as waterproof and unbreakable screens. At the moment, we an in discussion withs Apple to apply this specific technology to the companys mobile phones, Tavernarakis announces.

Combining principles of medicine, neuroscience, pedagogy, mathematics and computer science, OramaVR is spin-off coming out of the Institute of Informatics that has developed MAGES, a software that is the worlds first, hyper-real virtual reality platform used for medical education and teacher performance evaluation. The project has won the trust of institutions such as the University of New York, the University of Geneva, the University of Sydney, the University of Southern California, the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, and the Swiss medical group Inselspital of the University of Bern.

The company PCN Materials, a spin-off from the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser produces photocatalytic materials that decompose pollutants and eliminate bacteria and viruses, significantly improving the quality of inhaled air of indoors spaces such as hospitals, schools, hotels, biological centers, nursing homes, etc. Their technology has been shown to be extremely effective in combating diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms and related to the upper respiratory tract, such as asthma and bronchitis.

Other technologies developed by researchers at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laserthat have gained international acclaim are the laser systems used to clean the Caryatids, and such systems have been adopted by China in the Forbidden City of Beijing to preserve its own antiquities. In other words, these are technologies that have been very much tested. Technologies for the protection of works of art have also been developed, using graphene, a material with important properties, which creates an insulating layer over works of art and protects them from the effects of the environment, oxidation, and wear and tear.

Finally, FORTH has developed and made available to the Greek state a series of technologies and applications for dealing with the pandemic. Among other things, we developed PCR diagnostic tests, which are used in the field as easily as rapid tests but with molecular accuracy; an application for monitoring the health status of patients with COVID- 19 for the duration of their stay at home; a platform for COVID-19 contact tracking, as well as the development and implementation of 3D printers that create protective gear for hospital.

We wanted to contribute in tackling the pandemic, so FORTH has mobilized to turn its research toward biotechnology and biomedicine, and everything that has to do with the early detection and treatment of coronavirus, said Mr. Tavernarakis.

From Brain Drain to Brain GainFORTH is recording a very strong tendency for the return of Greek scientists who left the country during the years of economic crisis. In the heavily globalized environment of scientific research, this brain gain is fuelled by the quality and international reach of the research produced at FORTH.

FORTH President Nektarios Tavernarakis confirms this growing trend: Recently we advertised some research positions in various Institutes of the Foundation, and the interest in these positions exceeded all expectations. For each researcher position we announced, we received more than 70-80 top-level applications from people who are pursuing postdoctoral research at renowned universities abroad, such as Harvard, MIT, and Cambridge, and who are interested in returning to Greece.

Us Greeks who have lived abroad, love Greece and returning home is always on our minds, he observes, adding that what made people hesitate in previous years was the uncertainty of what they would find upon their return, but if given the right conditions and a favorable environment so that they can do their job smoothly, without lacking anything in comparison to what they could do abroad, then they have no reason not to return.

When it comes to facilitating the recovery of Greeces scientific human capital, Tavernarakis estimates that in recent years very important steps have been taken in order to simplify the procedures, to reduce the bureaucracy, as research is a process that it is globalized perhaps the most globalized human activity, because the competition arena is the whole world, not a specific country, Institute, or University. A researcher that aspires to publish their research in Nature or wants to get funding from the European Research Council, does not compete just with their colleague at the laboratory next door, or at the next city.

Scientific researchers compete with the global research community, so they must operate in terms of international competition. They are evaluated only as researchers and on the merits of their research proposals, it does not matter if they are Greek or German. That is why Greek researchers must work in an environment that provides them with conditions of competitiveness, this is very important, concludes the president of FORTH.

Interview by Smaro Avramidou Interview by Ioulia Leivaditi

This article was originally published by the Athens News Agency.

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