Category Archives: Technology

Continuous glucose monitors (CGM) used by people with diabetes have been a focus of recent conversations both inside and outside the healthcare space. Superstar Nick Jonas has been raising awareness of this technology through his platforms and in new TV commercials, and companies like Apple are exploring glucose monitoring as an indicator for general health and wellness. All this attention has led to more people with diabetes becoming aware of this life-changing technology, and in turn, heading to their primary care provider to ask for a CGM.

With 34.2 million Americans living with diabetes, nearly every primary care provider is guiding treatment plans for people with type 1, type 2 and even pre-diabetes, but many healthcare providers are still not aware of CGM technology and how it can benefit patients.As healthcare providers, we work to keep pace with the latest treatments, technologies and tools available to be prepared to address patient questions and ultimately improve health outcomes. This is more important now than ever, aswere starting to see a gap in healthcare provider knowledge and consumer awareness in an era whereendless healthcare resources and information is at our patients fingertips.

While patients are doing their own research, they still expect us, as their healthcare provider, to be the experts on what tools and treatments we believe will best help them. A recent survey1of people with insulin-treated diabetes found that patients believe it is the responsibility of their healthcare provider to bring new standards of care to their attention, like CGM systems.

CGM technology is widely considered the standard of care and clinically proven to improve outcomes for people with diabetes taking insulin. For those of us who may not be as familiar with the technology but want to inform future conversations with patients, here are 3 things you need to know about CGM systems:

A CGM uses a small, wearable sensor and transmitter to measure and send real-time glucose values wirelessly to a smart device or receiver every five minutes. It eliminates the need for multiple daily fingersticks used in blood glucose monitoring (BGM).

A BGM shows glucose values at a single moment in time and patients may often miss or forget to take a reading, leaving many unknowns. A CGM connects the dots and provides a complete picture of glucose management, filling in the gaps for both patients and healthcare providers. The data gleaned from CGM technology show trends in glucose levels, the rate of change in readings and even alerts users of dangerously low or high glycemic levels.

These data arm patients with real-time insights to inform short-term actions like taking medication or insulin, and long-term lifestyle adjustments as they can see how their body reacts to certain foods, physical activities or behaviors.

The benefits of CGM systems for people of all ages have been clinically proven, from two years old to Medicare patients. The recentSENSEstudy has shown the benefits of CGM technology for children ages 2-7 with type 1 diabetes in reducing hypoglycemia and parental burden and fear. TheWISDMstudy of adults ages 60 and older with type 1 diabetes found that CGM systems help to significantly lower A1C, reduce hypoglycemia and increase the amount of time a user spends in target glucose ranges. The technology is truly easy to use for all demographics.

We are also now seeing more evidence of the benefits of CGM for broader populations, including people with type 2 diabetes. Earlier this year theMOBILEstudy was the first of its kind toaffirm that people with type 2 diabetes on basal insulin benefit from the use of CGM technology, with study participants showing significant increases in time in range and decreases in A1C. These outcomes occurred independent of direct provider interventions, so even getting a patient on the device to learn for themselves can be a win.

Not only does CGM technology give the power back to patients by arming them with information to make treatment decisions in real-time, it also provides healthcare providers with the insights and data needed to develop tailored medication and treatment regimens. The reports available to providers help make appointments with patients more efficient as you can quickly see potential issues, leaving more time to get to know the patient and discuss together ways to improve diabetes management and outcomes.

Diabetes patients are making healthcare treatment decisions nearly every minute of every day and are looking for new and better ways to ease the burden of managing their condition. Patients are asking, and its up to us as healthcare providers to educate and provide them with the best tools available to manage their diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association,SIGMA(Study of Improved Glucose Monitoring and Assessment) andThe Global Movement for Time in Rangehave great resources available to help you learn more about CGM technology and better understand how it can support your patients.

The demand for CGM technology will only continue to grow, and now is the time for healthcare providers to educate themselves on the proven benefits of the technology.

Aaron King, MD, is a family practitioner and diabetes specialist with Baptist Health System.

Authors and clinicians interested in being published on HCPLive can contact the editorial team here.

References

1. Dexcom, U.S. data on file, November 2020

Go here to see the original:

3 Things Primary Care Providers Need to Know About Continuous Glucose Monitoring Technology - MD Magazine

When the Taliban captured the city of Herat on August 12, Yasin and his colleagues speculated that it wouldnt be long before the Talibans invading forces took over their own city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Things were more tense in Mazar, too, so me and other computer kars of Mazar who work together held a secret meeting to decide what to do to protect all our content, he says. Among them, the informal union of computer kars had several hundred terabytes of data collected over several years, and much of it would be considered controversialeven criminalby the Taliban.

We all agreed to not delete, but rather hide the more nefarious content, he says. We reasoned that in Afghanistan, these regimes come and go frequently, but our business should not be disrupted.

He isnt too worried about being discovered.

People are hiding guns, money, jewelry, and whatnot, so I am not scared of hiding my hard drives. They will never be able to find [them], he says. I am a 21st-century boy, and most Taliban are living in the past.

Less than 20 years after former president Hamid Karzai made Afghanistans first mobile phone call, there are nearly 23 million mobile phone users in a country of fewer than 39 million people. But internet access is a different matter: by early 2021, there were fewer than 9 million internet users, a lag that has been largely attributed to widespread physical security problems, high costs, and a lack of infrastructural development across the countrys mountainous terrain.

Thats why computer kars like Yasin can now be found all across Afghanistan. Although they sometimes download their information from the internet when theyre able to get a connection, they physically transport much of it on hard drives from neighboring countrieswhat is known as the sneakernet.

I use the Wi-Fi at home to download some of the music and applications; I also have five SIM cards for internet, says Mohibullah, another kar who asked not to be identified by his real name. But the connection here is not reliable, so every month I send a 4 terabyte hard drive to Jalalabad, and they fill it with content and return it in a weeks time with the latest Indian movies or Turkish TV dramas, music, and applications, for which he says he pays between 800 and 1,000 afghanis ($8.75 to $11).

"People are hiding guns, money, jewelry, and whatnot, so I am not scared of hiding my hard drives. I am a 21st-century boy, and most Taliban are living in the past."

Mohibullah says he can install more than 5 gigabytes of data on a phoneincluding movies, songs, music videos, and even course lessonsfor just 100 afghanis, or $1.09. I have the latest Hollywood and Bollywood movies dubbed in Dari and Pashto [Afghan national languages], music from across the globe, games, applications, he told me in early August, days before the Taliban took over.

For just a little more, Mohibullah helps customers create social media accounts, sets up their phones and laptops, and even writes emails for them. I sell everythingA to Z of contents. Everything except 100% films, he said, referring to pornography. (Later he admitted that he did have some free videos, another nickname for porn, but that he only sells them to trusted customers.)

More:

Can Afghanistans underground sneakernet survive the Taliban? - MIT Technology Review

Lotus Technology, a new unit of China's Geely, set up to develop the technology to power Lotus sports cars, is planning to raise $400 million to $500m before the end of this year, its chief financial officer told Reuters.

Lotus Technology, part of Group Lotus which is in turn owned jointly by the Chinese automaker and Malaysia's Etika Automotive, intends to kick off the funding round before Christmas, Alexious Lee said.

That will give Lotus Technology a post-money valuation value of a company after a round of financing from external investors of $5 billion to $6bn, Mr Lee added.

Mr Lee said the firm will launch its first product an electric sports utility vehicle in the first quarter of next year and aims to have three models within the next five years.

"We have gotten a lot of traction especially from international investors, because wow, this is Lotus," said Mr Lee, adding that the company was looking to sell a 10 per cent to 15 per cent stake.

The company will spend more than half the new funds on research, and 30 per cent to 40 per cent on marketing with the remainder going to working capital.

Mr Lee said Lotus Technology remained on track for a potential initial public offering as soon as 2023, likely in New York or Hong Kong.

We have gotten a lot of traction especially from international investors, because wow, this is Lotus

Alexious Lee, chief financial officer of Lotus Technology

Lotus Cars, the maker of the Lotus Esprit, famously driven by James Bond in 1977's The Spy Who Loved Me, positions its vehicles in a segment similar to rival Porsche. It is set to open a new factory in Wuhan, China, next year.

"We are an asset-light business because we don't own our own manufacturing. It's owned by our parent," said Mr Lee.

Premium and luxury car sales are growing in China as coronavirus pandemic travel restrictions leave consumers in the world's biggest car market with more money to spend.

Lotus Tech's investors include Nio Capital, an investment firm founded by the CEO of Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio, which valued the unit at 15bn yuan ($2.35bn) in September.

Updated: November 26th 2021, 1:07 PM

Read more:

Geely unit Lotus Technology to raise up to $500m in funds before the end of 2021 - The National

This whale alert can help traders discover the next big trading opportunities.

Whales are entities with large sums of money and we track their transactions here at Benzinga on our options activity scanner.

Traders often look for circumstances when the market estimation of an option diverges away from its normal worth. Abnormal amounts of trading activity could push option prices to hyperbolic or underperforming levels.

Here's the list of options activity happening in today's session:

These bullet-by-bullet explanations have been constructed using the accompanying table.

For AMD (NASDAQ:AMD), we notice a call option trade that happens to be bearish, is expiring today. Parties traded 367 contract(s) at a $152.50 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $132.1K, with a price of $360.0 per contract. There were 3865 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 4336 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For MSFT (NASDAQ:MSFT), we notice a call option sweep that happens to be bullish, expiring in 7 day(s) on December 3, 2021. This event was a transfer of 250 contract(s) at a $342.50 strike. This particular call needed to be split into 4 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $32.5K, with a price of $130.0 per contract. There were 1860 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 3728 contract(s) were bought and sold.

Regarding ZM (NASDAQ:ZM), we observe a call option trade with bullish sentiment. It expires in 21 day(s) on December 17, 2021. Parties traded 95 contract(s) at a $240.00 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $65.5K, with a price of $690.0 per contract. There were 1696 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 2003 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For AAPL (NASDAQ:AAPL), we notice a put option sweep that happens to be bearish, expiring in 14 day(s) on December 10, 2021. This event was a transfer of 78 contract(s) at a $160.00 strike. This particular put needed to be split into 6 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $38.2K, with a price of $490.0 per contract. There were 7618 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 1761 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For QCOM (NASDAQ:QCOM), we notice a call option sweep that happens to be bullish, expiring in 7 day(s) on December 3, 2021. This event was a transfer of 522 contract(s) at a $180.00 strike. This particular call needed to be split into 3 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $125.8K, with a price of $241.0 per contract. There were 2966 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 1437 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For ADBE (NASDAQ:ADBE), we notice a put option sweep that happens to be bearish, is expiring today. Parties traded 197 contract(s) at a $670.00 strike. This particular put needed to be split into 47 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $41.4K, with a price of $210.0 per contract. There were 283 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 1358 contract(s) were bought and sold.

Regarding PYPL (NASDAQ:PYPL), we observe a call option trade with bearish sentiment. It expires in 56 day(s) on January 21, 2022. Parties traded 100 contract(s) at a $185.00 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $146.1K, with a price of $1461.0 per contract. There were 1056 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 1254 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For INTC (NASDAQ:INTC), we notice a put option sweep that happens to be bearish, expiring in 21 day(s) on December 17, 2021. This event was a transfer of 500 contract(s) at a $47.50 strike. This particular put needed to be split into 19 different trades to become filled. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $40.5K, with a price of $81.0 per contract. There were 17635 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 797 contract(s) were bought and sold.

Regarding V (NYSE:V), we observe a call option trade with bearish sentiment. It expires in 7 day(s) on December 3, 2021. Parties traded 52 contract(s) at a $195.00 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $31.2K, with a price of $600.0 per contract. There were 235 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 474 contract(s) were bought and sold.

For CLSK (NASDAQ:CLSK), we notice a call option trade that happens to be bearish, expiring in 112 day(s) on March 18, 2022. This event was a transfer of 100 contract(s) at a $25.00 strike. The total cost received by the writing party (or parties) was $27.0K, with a price of $270.0 per contract. There were 539 open contracts at this strike prior to today, and today 316 contract(s) were bought and sold.

Options Alert Terminology- Call Contracts: The right to buy shares as indicated in the contract.- Put Contracts: The right to sell shares as indicated in the contract.- Expiration Date: When the contract expires. One must act on the contract by this date if one wants to use it.- Premium/Option Price: The price of the contract.

For more information, visit our Guide to Understanding Options Alerts or read more news on unusual options activity.

This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

Originally posted here:

10 Information Technology Stocks Whale Activity In Today's Session - Benzinga

DUBLIN, Nov. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Process Spectroscopy Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global process spectroscopy market exhibited moderate growth during 2015-2020. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to grow at a CAGR of around 7% during 2021-2026. Keeping in mind the uncertainties of COVID-19, we are continuously tracking and evaluating the direct as well as the indirect influence of the pandemic on different end use industries. These insights are included in the report as a major market contributor.

Process spectroscopy is a specialized technique used for analyzing the interaction between light, electromagnetic radiation and matter. Process spectroscopy uses various devices, such as benchtop, micro, portable and hyphenated spectroscopes, amplifiers, signal processors, display units and microscopes. They are commonly used for Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Near-Infrared (NIR). Process spectroscopy involves splitting the radiation into a spectrum of its wavelengths to study electrons, protons and ions, and the generated collision energy. As a result, it finds extensive applications across various industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biological research and electronics.

Significant growth in the pharmaceutical industry is one of the key factors creating a positive outlook for the market. Drug manufacturers use process spectroscopes to evaluate the material porosity of a substance for quality control and to examine the state of the formulations. Moreover, the increasing demand for process analyzers across industries is providing a thrust to the market growth. Process spectroscopes are widely used in bioreactors, slipstreams, reaction vessels and large volumetric probes for drug manufacturing and water and wastewater treatment.

In line with this, the technique is also gaining immense preference among the masses for analyzing, monitoring and controlling various manufacturing processes and identifying defects in product materials. Other factors, including the widespread adoption of spectroscopic techniques in the forensic sector for the identification of organic compounds and substances at crime scenes, along with extensive research and development (R&D) activities, are anticipated to drive the market toward growth.

Competitive Landscape:

The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being ABB Ltd, Agilent Technologies Inc., Bruker Corporation, Buchi Labortechnik AG, Danaher Corporation, Foss A/S, Horiba Ltd., Kett Electric Laboratory, Sartorius AG, Shimadzu Corporation, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and Yokogawa Electric Corporation.

Key Questions Answered in This Report:

Key Topics Covered:

1 Preface

2 Scope and Methodology

3 Executive Summary

4 Introduction

4.1 Overview

4.2 Key Industry Trends

5 Global Process Spectroscopy Market

5.1 Market Overview

5.2 Market Performance

5.3 Impact of COVID-19

5.4 Market Forecast

6 Market Breakup by Technology

6.1 Molecular Spectroscopy

6.1.1 Market Trends

6.1.2 Market Forecast

6.2 Mass Spectroscopy

6.2.1 Market Trends

6.2.2 Market Forecast

6.3 Atomic Spectroscopy

6.3.1 Market Trends

6.3.2 Market Forecast

7 Market Breakup by Component

7.1 Hardware

7.1.1 Market Trends

7.1.2 Market Forecast

7.2 Software

7.2.1 Market Trends

7.2.2 Market Forecast

8 Market Breakup by Application

8.1 Polymer

8.1.1 Market Trends

8.1.2 Market Forecast

8.2 Oil and Gas

8.2.1 Market Trends

8.2.2 Market Forecast

8.3 Pharmaceuticals

8.3.1 Market Trends

8.3.2 Market Forecast

8.4 Food and Agriculture

8.4.1 Market Trends

8.4.2 Market Forecast

8.5 Chemicals

8.5.1 Market Trends

8.5.2 Market Forecast

8.6 Water and Wastewater

8.6.1 Market Trends

8.6.2 Market Forecast

8.7 Others

8.7.1 Market Trends

8.7.2 Market Forecast

9 Market Breakup by Region

10 SWOT Analysis

11 Value Chain Analysis

12 Porters Five Forces Analysis

13 Price Analysis

14 Competitive Landscape

14.1 Market Structure

14.2 Key Players

14.3 Profiles of Key Players

14.3.1 ABB Ltd

14.3.1.1 Company Overview

14.3.1.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.1.3 Financials

14.3.1.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.2 Agilent Technologies Inc.

14.3.2.1 Company Overview

14.3.2.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.2.3 Financials

14.3.2.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.3 Bruker Corporation

14.3.3.1 Company Overview

14.3.3.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.3.3 Financials

14.3.4 Buchi Labortechnik AG

14.3.4.1 Company Overview

14.3.4.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5 Danaher Corporation

14.3.5.1 Company Overview

14.3.5.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.5.3 Financials

14.3.5.4 SWOT Analysis

14.3.6 Foss A/S

14.3.6.1 Company Overview

14.3.6.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7 Horiba Ltd.

14.3.7.1 Company Overview

14.3.7.2 Product Portfolio

14.3.7.3 Financials

14.3.8 Kett Electric Laboratory

14.3.8.1 Company Overview

14.3.8.2 Product Portfolio

Original post:

Insights on the Process Spectroscopy Global Market to 2026 - by Technology, Component, Application and Region - WFMZ Allentown

DUBLIN, November 26, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Check Valve Market - Market Size & Forecasting (2017-2028)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global check valve market size has been estimated to be USD 3,356.41 million in 2020 and is projected to register a CAGR of 6.5% to reach USD 5,570.10 million by 2028.

But due to the covid-19 impact, the market size estimation has come down to USD 3,093.49 million in 2020 and is projected to register a CAGR of 5.7% to hit USD 4,824.29 million by 2028. The check valve market is being driven by the increasing demand from end-use industries such as water & wastewater treatment, oil & gas, and energy & power. In addition to this, the increasing adoption of industrial automation is boosting the use of smart check valves, which is expected to further boost market growth over the forecast period.

Increasing number of power generation plants across the world and growing energy and power needs of developing economies are driving the demand for check valves. These valves are also used in nuclear power plants, particularly in processes such as chemical treatment, feed water, cooling water, and steam turbine control systems. The high-pressure, high-temperature, and adverse corrosion conditions experienced by the production and refinery platforms have led to an increase in demand for check valves. These platforms are mainly used in onshore and offshore oil & gas activities. These valves are used in most of the essential mechanisms of the oil & gas industry. They control not only the flow, but also the volume, direction, rate, and pressure of the fluids.

In process industries such as oil & gas, water & wastewater, food & beverages, energy & electricity, petrochemicals, and pharmaceuticals, check valves are commonly used to meet increasing automation needs. They play a significant role in improving the safety, profitability, and efficiency of the end-use industry for various production processes. Further, due to the advantages they offer in terms of pressure as well as temperature control all across upstream, midstream, and downstream activities, the adoption of check valves in industrial sectors has been constantly increasing.

Story continues

This research report categorizes the market for check valve based on various segments and region and forecasts revenue growth and analysis of trends in each of the submarkets. The report analyses the key growth drivers, opportunities and challenges which influence the check valve market. Recent market developments and competitive strategies such as expansion, product launch and development, partnership, merger and acquisition have been included in order to draw the competitive landscape in the check valve market. The report strategically identifies and profiles the key market players and analyses their core competencies in each segment such as type, route of administration and disease type of the check valve market.

Key Questions Answered

How the check valve market is evolving?

What is driving and restraining factors for global check valve market?

How will each check valve submarket segment grow over the forecast period and how much sales will these submarkets account for in 2028?

How will market shares of each check valve submarket develop from 2020-2028?

Which check valve submarket will be the main driver of the overall market from 2020-2028?

How will political and regulatory factors influence regional check valve markets and submarkets?

Will leading national check valve broadly follow macroeconomic dynamics, or will individual country sectors outperform the rest of the economy?

How will market shares of the national markets change by 2028 and which nation will lead the market in 2028?

Who are the leading players and what are their prospects over the forecast period?

How will the sector evolve as alliances form during the period between 2017 and 2028?

Key Topics Covered:

1 Market Abstract

2 Market Introduction

3 Research Practice

4 Key Related Data

5 Impact Factor Analysis

5.1 Drivers/Restraints/Opportunities/Challenges

5.1.1 Drivers

5.1.1.1 Growing Focus on the Development of Smart Cities, Globally

5.1.1.2 Surging Requirement for Establishing New Nuclear Power Plants and Revamping the Existing Ones

5.1.2 Restraints

5.1.2.1 Lack of Standardized Norms and Governing Policies

5.1.3 Opportunities

5.1.3.1 Applications of 3D Printing Technology for the Manufacturing of Valves

5.1.4 Challenges

5.1.4.1 Unplanned Downtime Due to Malfunctioning or Failure of Valves

5.2 Porter's Five Forces Model

5.3 Check Valve Market Barriers Outlook

6 Market Development Analysis

6.1 Overview

6.2 New Product Development / Product Launch (2015-2020)

6.3 Mergers and Acquistions (2015-2020)

6.4 Agreements, Partnership & Collaborations (2015-2020)

7 Check Valve Market, by Material Type

8 Check Valve Market, by Valve Type

9 Check Valve Market, by Application

10 Check Valve Market, by End Use Industry

11 Check Valve Market, Regional Analysis

12 Company Profile

13 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/4nubo7

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211126005557/en/

Contacts

ResearchAndMarkets.comLaura Wood, Senior Press Managerpress@researchandmarkets.com

For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

Visit link:

Global Check Valve Market to 2028 - Applications of 3D Printing Technology for the Manufacturing of Valves Presents Opportunities -...

Altada Technology Solutions opens its sixth global hub this year in London By Joy Dumasia

November 26, 2021

Altada Technology Solutions, a global provider of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that supercharges data-driven decision making in financial services, travel and security and healthcare, opened its London office, marking the sixth expansion of the companys footprint this year alone. In 2021, Altada launched offices in New York, San Francisco, Malta, Dublin and Barcelona.

The UK presents a wide array of opportunities in advancing the use of AI across sectors. London has been called the AI growth capital of Europe. Just a few weeks ago, the UK government unveiled a national AI strategy to boost the countrys capabilities in AI and machine learning.

The opening of Altadas new office was unveiled at an event dedicated to meeting Irish companies delivering innovation. Enterprise Ireland hosted the event in the presence of Irelands Prime Minister, An Taoiseach Michel Martin, and other senior government officials at Cardiff City Hall in Wales.

Following a successful USD, 11.5 million funding round led by Rocktop Partners alongside Elkstone Partners and Enterprise Ireland, Altada launched a robust global recruiting campaign in quantum computing, engineering, data science, product development, blockchain engineering, and cloud platform management, among others. The company plans to add at least another 100 jobs next year across offices and has plans to further expand in the US and the APAC region in the near future.

Allan Beechinor, Altada Co-Founder and CEO, said: The decision to open our first office in the UK as part of our continued expansion is a crucial step in our business growth strategy driven by the demand we are seeing in the market. The UK has a robust technology ecosystem, strong drive for innovation and a diverse talent pool in addition to being home to financial services firms that are actively looking to deploy AI solutions that can drive business results.

Denis Canty, Altada Chief Technology Officer, added: The impact of AI is becoming mainstream and Altada is empowering companies across different sectors supercharge their business outcomes with AI-driven decisions. We are at a transformational point as a technology company, and our presence in the UK is a testament to both the increasing demand for our solutions and the rising number of opportunities we see globally.

See more here:

Altada Technology Solutions opens its sixth global hub this year in London - IBS Intelligence

The CEO of multinational Italian energy firm Enel has expressed doubt on the usefulness of carbon captureand storage, suggestingthe technologyis not a climate solution.

"We have tried and tried and when I say 'we', I mean the electricity industry," Francesco Starace told CNBC's Karen Tso on Wednesday.

"You can imagine, we tried hard in the past 10 years maybe more, 15 years because if we had a reliable and economically interesting solution, why would we go and shut down all these coal plants [when] we could decarbonize the system?"

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has described carbon capture and storage as a suite of technologies focused on "capturing, transporting, and storing CO2 emitted from power plants and industrial facilities."

The idea is to stop CO2 "reaching the atmosphere, by storing it in suitable underground geological formations."

The Commission has said the utilization of carbon capture and storage is "important" when it comes to helping lower greenhouse gas emissions. This view is based on the contention that a substantial proportion of both industry and power generation will still be reliant on fossil fuels in the years ahead.

Enel's Starace, however, seemed skeptical about carbon capture's potential.

"The fact is, it doesn't work, it hasn't worked for us so far," he said. "And there is a rule of thumb here: If a technology doesn't really pick up in five years and here we're talking about more than five, we're talking about 15, at least you better drop it."

There are other climate solutions, Starace said. "Basically, stop emitting carbon," he said.

"I'm not saying it's not worth trying again but we're not going to do it. Maybe other industries can try harder and succeed. For us, it is not a solution."

Carbon capture technology is often held up as a source of hope in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, featuring prominently in countries' climate plans as well as the net-zero strategies of some of the world's largest oil and gas companies.

Proponents of these technologies believe they can play an important and diverse role in meeting global energy and climate goals.

Climate researchers, campaigners and environmental advocacy groups, however, have long argued that carbon capture and storage technologies prolong the world's fossil fuel dependency and distract from a much-needed pivot to renewable alternatives.

Starace was speaking after Enel published a strategic plan for 2022-24 and laid out its aims for the years ahead. Among other things, Enel will make direct investments of 170 billion euros ($190.7 billion) by 2030.

Direct investments in renewable energy assets that Enel will own are set to hit 70 billion euros. Consolidated installed renewable capacity, or capacity that is directly owned by Enel, is expected to reach 129 gigawatts by 2030.

In addition, Enel, which is headquartered in Rome, said it had brought forward its net-zero commitment a goal which relates to both direct and indirect emissions to 2040, having previously been 2050.

On the fossil fuel front, the group wants to exit coal generation by the year 2027, with its exit from gas generation taking place by 2040.

Enel also said that, between 2021 and 2024, shareholders were "expected to receive a fixed Dividend Per Share that is planned to increase by 13%, up to 0.43 euros/share."

During his interview with CNBC, Starace was asked about Enel's higher dividend forecast and the wider debate about how one could be invested in so-called "sin stocks" in this instance, big polluters within the energy space and still get good returns, particularly on the dividend side of things.

"It's all about risk rewards," he said. "And at the end of the day, I don't see anything wrong with an increasingly risky business [being] forced to increase dividends if you want to attract investors."

"What we're trying to say is there is a breaking point, there is a point in which the risk becomes unbearable no matter what dividends you want to distribute, and that is approaching," he said.

"So in our case, what you need to do is get out of this risk, get out of the carbon footprint and also make sure that when you put the word 'net' in front of zero, this 'net' doesn't become some kind of a trick around which you don't decarbonize, really, your operations."

"We're saying we're going to be zero carbon, which means we're not going to emit carbon and we will, therefore [not] need to plant trees to offset that carbon."

Starace acknowledged, however, that trees would be required over the next centuries to remove carbon left in the atmosphere due to historic emissions.

CNBC's Sam Meredith contributed to this article.

Read more from the original source:

'For us, it is not a solution': Enel CEO skeptical over the use of carbon capture - CNBC

VAIL Ken Hoeve has been riding the wave of drop stitch technology for years, literally, as a stand-up paddle boarder who became one of the first locals to regularly run rivers on a SUP starting in the late 2000s.

Hoeve gained recognition for pushing product adjustments and innovations based on his use of those products in the field.

Hes also known to be a talker at the bar, and a poster on social media.

In other words, if Hoeve has an idea to make your product better, hes probably not going to keep it a secret.

Hes such a good guy at creating content and being excited, but hes not really good at keeping his mouth shut, said Ryan Guay, a longtime friend of Hoeves.

At one point recently, Hoeves gift of gab became such a concern of Guays that it nearly ruined his off-the-grid adventure.

I got invited to go on a 6-day trip on the Green River, and the last conversation I had was with Ken he said Are we ever going to do anything with these ideas, because otherwise Im going to go to so and so, and Im going to tell them about it, and right then I dropped cell phone signal for seven days, Guay said.

On that trip, he decided if Hoeve had managed to keep his mouth shut about their business idea that week, Guay was going to tackle the business full-on when he returned.

The weaving process of drop-stitch mends polyester material in a way that allows inflatable objects to take on the properties of a hard yet-flexible material like fiberglass or plywood.

Drop-stitch technologys history goes back to 1950s in the U.S., when NASA and the Air Force researched the technology. Today NASA, on its YouTube page, displays a video of a 1960 test film from the Langley Full Scale Tunnel of an inflatable airplane developed by Goodyear. Drop-stitch technology was used to create the inflatable craft.

In the world of stand-up paddle boarding, drop-stitch technology means you can create a vessel which is 10-feet long and floats on water, yet can be deflated and rolled up like a sleeping bag for storage. The concept has brought great organization to Hoeves life, as his many toys arent always so easily stored.

So when, a few years ago, Hoeve found himself staring at a broken fiberglass box on Red Sandstone Road a box that had been, five minutes earlier, unbroken and attached to his truck he asked himself, was this a situation that could have been prevented by drop-stitch?

Hoeve began pitching his idea to create drop-stitch car carriers to Guay, a longtime friend of Hoeves who grew up in Colorado. The idea began to grow based on the outdoor experiences of Hoeve, Guay and a close and tight-lipped group of their friends, which led them to the ultimate in pain-in-the-neck piece of equipment when it comes to storage the truck topper.

With a storage friendly-truck topper as a hallmark product, an idea for a complete business and brand called Flated emerged, prompting Hoeve to keep a lid on things. But the progression of the potential business wasnt happening as fast as Hoeve would have liked.

Finally I called Ryan and I said if we dont stop dragging our feet on this Im going to start telling other people about the idea, Hoeve said.

But he didnt receive a response, as the call had been dropped.

Hoeve decided to give Guay some time to ponder the suggestion, and was pleased that he did. A year and a half later, they have two other business partners and full line of products for sale on their website, as well as the necessary legal muscle to guard the investment.

Weve spent a lot of money on protecting our intellectual property, so we have three patents pending, Guay said.

Products include an inflatable truck topper, an inflatable car carrier, and an inflatable pet carrier.

Colorado resident Alex Hotze recently acquired a truck topper and used it on a trip to Oregon.

I was expecting the wind to push it around when youre going 85, he said. But the contact with the bed rails has a gripper on it that grips to the bed rails really well. We were able to fit so much more stuff in our truck for our trip.

Hotze said he had the truck topper out of the packaging, on his truck and ready to use in about 15 minutes.

I didnt need any help at all, he said. The way it fits is super secure and you can walk right on top of it.

Hoeve said in addition to the organization and satisfaction hes found in being able to use the product himself, he also received a valuable business lesson in the process.

It was probably good for me to practice some discipline and keep my mouth shut, he said.

For more information, visit getflated.com.

More:

SUP with that topper? Vail local uses paddle board technology to create new truck accessory - Sky Hi News

In this guest post by the Coalition Against Stalkerware marking its second anniversary, the international alliance takes a look back on its achievements while seeing a lot of challenges ahead.

Two years ago, in November 2019, the Coalition Against Stalkerware was founded by 10 organizations. Today, there are more than 40 members with experts working in different relevant areas including victim support and perpetrator work, digital rights advocacy, IT security, academia, security research and law enforcement.

Stalkerware makes it possible to intrude into a persons private life and is a tool for abuse in cases of domestic violence and stalking. By installing these applications on a persons device, abusers can get access to someones messages, photos, social media, geolocation, audio or camera recordings (in some cases, this can be done in real-time). Such programs run hidden in the background, without a victims knowledge or consent.

This year, the Coalition welcomed new supporters like INTERPOL and members, among them CyberPeace Institute; Gendarmerie Nationale; the Gradus Project; Kandoo; Luchadoras; the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research; National Center for Victims of Crime (US); North Carolina A&T State Universitys Center of Excellence for Cybersecurity Research, Education, and Outreach; Refuge UK; Sexual Violence Law Center (US), and The Tor Project.

Fulfilling one of the founding missions, the Coalitions partners in July launched a new technical training on stalkerware aimed at helping increase capacity-building among nonprofit organizations that work with survivors and victims, as well as law enforcement agencies and other relevant parties. In addition, the Coalition has put together a revised page with advice for survivors who suspect they may have stalkerware on their device.

Other key activities during the year include:

Beyond that, members conducted a series of new research:

Data from member organizations show the following picture on the issue of cyberviolence and stalkerware:

Quotes from the Coalitions members:

About Coalition Against Stalkerware

The Coalition Against Stalkerware (CAS or Coalition) is a group dedicated to addressing abuse, stalking, and harassment via the creation and use of stalkerware. Launched in November 2019 by ten founding partnersAvira, Electronic Frontier Foundation, the European Network for the Work with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence, G DATA Cyber Defense, Kaspersky, Malwarebytes, The National Network to End Domestic Violence, NortonLifeLock, Operation Safe Escape, and WEISSER RINGthe Coalition has grown into a global network of more than forty partners. It looks to bring together a diverse array of organizations working in domestic violence survivor support and perpetrator intervention, digital rights advocacy, IT security and academic research to actively address the criminal behavior perpetrated through stalkerware and raise public awareness about this important issue. Due to the high societal relevance for users all over the globe, with new variants of stalkerware emerging periodically, the Coalition Against Stalkerware is open to new partners and calls for cooperation. To find out more about the Coalition Against Stalkerware please visit the official website http://www.stopstalkerware.org

Continued here:

Coalition Against Stalkerware Celebrates Two Years of Work to Keep Technology Safe for All - EFF