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Warmer Weather Forecast Across Central And Southern Laos This Week

Warmer weather forecast for Laos this week
Sunset in Vientiane Capital (Photo: Dr. Logan)

Laos is to see significantly warmer weather this week as the cool season makes way for the tropical heat.

MDRT Family of Brands Expands Definition of Success in the Profession with New Awards and Rankings

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 March 2022 – The MDRT Family of Brands, which includes MDRT for high-performing financial services professionals, the MDRT Academy for aspiring MDRT members and MDRT Global Services for leaders in financial services, has added to the portfolio of honours available for exceptional members and their companies. MDRT has redefined and added new categories within its annual Company Rankings to recognize companies that successfully invest in membership growth, retention and longevity.

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In addition to this, MDRT Global Services is introducing the MDRT Culture of Excellence Awards, which recognizes agency leaders who cultivate excellence in productivity, retention, recruitment and more. With these new initiatives, the MDRT Family of Brands recognizes and elevates the exceptional performance of companies and financial services professionals.

MDRT Expanded Company Rankings

Using a more holistic approach to measuring achievement, MDRT will restructure and add new categories to its Company Rankings beginning in 2022. These new categories will recognize companies that achieve excellence in the areas of MDRT membership growth, retention and longevity, demonstrating a commitment to investing in their advisors’ personal and professional development. The eight new rankings include:

  • Top 25 Companies – Total Membership Growth
  • Top 25 Companies – Percentage of Membership Growth
  • Top 25 Companies – Total Members who Rejoined
  • Top 25 Companies – Percentage of Members who Rejoined
  • Top 25 Companies – Total Number of 5-9 Year Members
  • Top 25 Companies – Percentage of 5-9 Year Members
  • Top 25 Companies – Total Number of Qualifying and Life Members
  • Top 25 Companies – Percentage of Qualifying and Life Members

“MDRT membership growth, retention and longevity are critical to companies that want to generate success within their ranks and demonstrate a commitment to excellence,” said Randy Scritchfield, CFP, LUTCF, MDRT President. “These new categories provide an opportunity to celebrate the financial service professionals who achieve and maintain career long success with their MDRT membership and acknowledge the important role their companies play in supporting that success.”

The 2022 Company Rankings will be announced in early July.

MDRT Global Services Culture of Excellence Award

With the MDRT Global Services pilot programme underway as the newest addition to the MDRT Family of Brands, members of this unique association are actively honing their leadership skills and establishing an MDRT culture of excellence within their agencies. The Culture of Excellence Awards provide a framework for measuring success within MDRT Global Services, evaluating applicants according to an agency scorecard, which was developed following extensive research into key benchmarks for agency success.

The benchmarks identify six key aspects of successful agencies, including promotion, retention, recruitment, persistency, Whole Person, and membership in MDRT’s Family of Brands – aspects which set the requirements for award qualification. To qualify for the Gold, Platinum and Diamond awards, agency leaders must meet three, four or five of the following criteria, respectively:

  • Production: 25% increase in production year-over-year
  • Retention: 75% annual retention
  • Recruitment: 20% annual agency recruitment rate
  • Persistency: 13-month persistency rate of 90%
  • Whole Person: Agency community involvement, MDRT Global Services Learning Engagement score (measured by attendance at webcasts, Annual Meeting/Global Conference, and completion of assigned modules in Harvard ManageMentor)
  • Membership in MDRT Family of Brands: 100% of agents must be members of MDRT or the MDRT Academy.

“These awards establish a new standard of excellence for global financial services leaders,” said Ian Green, Dip PFS, MDRT Immediate Past President. “Successful leadership is so much more than just great numbers, which is why these rigorous awards also focus on MDRT’s Whole Person concept and commitment to growth as evident by engagement within the MDRT Family of Brands.”

MDRT Global Services Culture of Excellence Awards applications will be accepted between January and March of 2023, with winners announced in May 2023 and honoured at a special awards ceremony at the MDRT Annual Meeting and MDRT Global Conference. Click here for more information about the Culture of Excellence Awards.

About MDRT

MDRT, The Premier Association of Financial Professionals®, is a global, independent association of the world’s leading life insurance and financial services professionals from more than 500 companies in 70 markets. MDRT members demonstrate exceptional professional knowledge, strict ethical conduct and outstanding client service. MDRT membership is recognized internationally as the standard of excellence in the life insurance and financial services business. For more information, please visit https://www.mdrt.org/ and follow them on Twitter @MDRtweet.

#MDRT

About MDRT Global Services

As the newest offering under the global MDRT Family of Brands, MDRT Global Services was created exclusively for the financial services field and home office leaders. As a separate, individual membership association with innovative program offerings, MDRT Global Services provides its members with exceptional value and leadership growth opportunities. MDRT Global Services membership allows increased engagement within the MDRT community while allowing leaders to develop a culture of excellence within their respective organizations. To learn more visit mdrtgs.org.

About MDRT Academy

The MDRT Academy is an association for financial professionals striving to reach MDRT-level production. Those who join receive exclusive access to MDRT-member insights, gold-standard content and performance-driving features tailored to their specific needs – and it’s all available through an intuitive website and mobile app. The MDRT Academy also offers goal setting and performance-tracking tools, monthly webcasts featuring MDRT members, Performance Guides, as well as hundreds of MDRT-approved articles, videos and podcast episodes. Learn more at mdrtacademy.org.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Apex Gifts & Prints Increases Staff To Serve Growing Needs

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 March 2022 – A leading supplier in Singapore for unique and affordable corporate gifts and printing services, Apex Gifts and Prints has announced its intentional step to serve and meet the ever-growing need for customisable corporate gifts through the hiring of more designers.

With the addition of more designers to their current team, Apex Gifts and Prints aims to achieve better time allocation to serve the needs of their growing client profiles. With the team’s current strength, it is increasingly challenging to meet the ever-growing demand for customised corporate gifts. They also hope that through these new additions, they are able to have a clearer outlook on the products they deliver, ensuring that every product is uniquely and specially curated to the best that their clients expect. Lastly, Apex Gifts and Prints also hope to improve on the customisation process, offering their clients more value-added services at an affordable rate. On top of hiring more designers, Apex Gifts and Prints has also purchased printing facilities in Shenzhen, China, to accommodate more packing and printing needs.

Currently, at Apex Gifts and Prints, the customised gifts and printing services the team is bringing to clients include corporate gifts printing services, gift box customisation services, and artwork design and sharpening services. They hope to bring extra services such as complete production of specific corporate gifts from scratch, more designing and fabrication options of products and packaging, and post customisation after-sales services.

Corporate gifts are increasingly popular in helping businesses build relationships with their employees, clients, partners, and customers. By doing so, brands can build better engagement, loyalty, and recognition. Apex Gifts and Prints is one of Singapore’s leading wholesale corporate gifts and bulk printing suppliers. With two offices in Singapore and China, they offer a wide range of unique and practical corporate gifts that are suitable for any gender and industry. Their high-quality products range from Bluetooth speakers and corporate gift bags with logo to cutlery sets and corporate gift notebooks.

For more information on Apex Gifts and Prints and their range of customised products, do visit https://apexgiftsandprints.com/.

#ApexGiftsandPrints

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Ideas on bacteria-driven biofilter for vehicles and solar energy management system emerge as winners at Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2021 competition

Samsung Gen Z poll found that health and mental well-being issues and environmental sustainability challenges are top concerns for youths in Singapore

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 March 2022 – Samsung Electronics Singapore today announced the winners of the Solve for Tomorrow 2021 competition, with teams MNKS X CO2 from Singapore Polytechnic and Team Adustio from the National University of Singapore (NUS) taking home top honours for the Post-secondary and University categories respectively. The final round of this competition saw 10 finalist teams five from each category – showcasing their ideas to a judging panel of industry leaders.

Supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) under its Digital for Life initiative, the fifth edition of Solve for Tomorrow was launched on 7 October 2021. The 10 finalist teams were shortlisted from over 170 teams comprising more than 510 students in Singapore. The top team from each category walked away with $10,000 worth of Samsung products, $5,000 cash prize and an insider tour of Samsung Singapore office, and a study trip to Seoul, South Korea [1].

“We believe that our youths hold the keys to address our most pressing issues and shape the nation’s advancement, tapping on their passion and knowledge while harnessing the power of technology and innovation,” said Mark Kim, President, Samsung Electronics Singapore. “Science and technology play a pivotal role in the fight against climate change and creating a sustainable, circular economy. Digital solutions’ immense potential to overcome real-world issues has been highlighted tremendously during the pandemic. Through this competition, we hope to spark the light of innovation amongst our next generation of leaders and innovators, thereby enabling them to pioneer positive social and environmental change through technology.”

In a Samsung online poll [2] participated by 107 Gen Zs (aged 16 – 25), half of the respondents (50 percent) ranked diseases, chronic illnesses and mental health issues as Singapore’s most critical challenges. This is followed by climate change and environment sustainability challenges.

Health and mental well-being and environmental sustainability are top concerns for Gen Zs

The poll was conducted on the sidelines of the Solve for Tomorrow competition to highlight youth perspectives on the different societal and environmental challenges that the nation faces, as well as understand how they are playing their part to address these issues.

More than four in five GenZs (82 percent) indicated that the rapidly changing economy and widespread changes in jobs have become even more concerning due to Covid-19. However, despite these heightened concerns, most respondents (75 percent) are still optimistic that Singapore can solve the societal and environmental challenges it faces.

Covid-19 has also made 57 percent of Gen Zs realise that everybody has a role to play in addressing Singapore’s pressing issues. Additionally, 58 percent of respondents also highlighted that the pandemic has made them realise the critical role digital technology plays in addressing Singapore’s societal and environmental challenges.

Furthermore, more than four in five GenZs (81 percent) stated that social entrepreneurship is important or highly important in addressing societal and environmental challenges. Nearly two-thirds of them (64 percent) also aspire to be social entrepreneurs if given the opportunity.

Solve for Tomorrow encourages youths to take a more proactive approach in addressing Singapore’s key challenges by providing them with a platform to ideate and apply their knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), to make a meaningful impact in our community. It also allows them to ignite their entrepreneurial spirit by empowering them to develop tangible innovations that can potentially be implemented at scale. Solve for Tomorrow reflects Samsung’s investment in youths and its commitment to inspiring and developing the capabilities of the next generation of leaders to fulfil their potential.

Entries showcase innovation and aspirations of Singaporean youths for the nation

The judges for Solve for Tomorrow 2021 consisted of an esteemed panel of industry leaders. They included:

  • Mark Kim, President of Samsung Electronics Singapore
  • Foo Hui Hui, Deputy Director, Digital Literacy and Participation, Infocomm Media Development Authority
  • Aziza Sheerin, Vice President, APAC, General Assembly

The finalist teams were assessed based on the relevance, creativity and feasibility of their ideas, as well as how they were applying technology to the challenges identified in one of these themes – (1) environmental sustainability, (2) digital inclusion for seniors, (3) health & wellness and (4) preparing for the future of work. The public also got to vote for their favourite finalist team’s idea during the final round, and the competition received nearly 3,000 votes between 21 Dec 2021 to 31 Dec 2021. The voting results were included in the teams’ final scores.

“The growing challenges of tomorrow across areas such as healthcare, climate change, and transportation will require fresh thinking and novel solutions. Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow competition is a great catalyst to inspire the next generation of young leaders as they build core skills that will serve them well in their future careers. By providing a platform for students to utilize their skills to solve a real-world problem, competitions such as Solve for Tomorrow help young people adopt a growth mindset towards upskilling and applied learning that ensures that Singapore continues to build its status as a global leader in technology development and innovation,” said Aziza Sheerin, Vice President, APAC, General Assembly.

Winners of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2021 competition

Post-secondary category

  • 1st prize: MNKS X CO2
  • 2nd prize: Team Mech Care
  • 3rd prize: PowerWHATt
  • People’s Choice award [3]: MNKS X CO2

University category

  • 1st prize: Team Adustio
  • 2nd prize: JBSamsung
  • 3rd prize: Team S^2 Brace
  • People’s Choice award [3] : JBSamsung

Post-secondary category winner: MNKS X CO2 from Singapore Polytechnic

The Post-secondary category winning team, with members Mohammed Khambhati​, Ti Kyi Kyaw, Keeret Singh, and Toh Siew Hean, conceptualised a biofilter for vehicles with a biofilm made of genetically engineered Escherichia coli (E. Coli) bacteria that can consume carbon dioxide while emitting oxygen gas. The filter chamber design is similar to the villi of the small intestine, which will help maximise the bacteria’s contact surface with exhaust fumes, thereby increasing its overall filtration efficiency.

“Vehicle carbon emissions is a key culprit for climate change, and our team believes that addressing this issue will require us to rethink current solutions. The idea of a biofilter was inspired by the amazing ability of genetically modified E.coli to absorb carbon dioxide. With the assistance of my teammates Nick, Keeret, and Siew Hean, we were able to integrate different STEM disciplines and develop our idea into a feasible solution. Taking part in the Solve for Tomorrow competition allowed us to crystallise our idea as well as gain valuable knowledge and experience. We hope that our E.Coli-driven biofilter can make a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change.” said Mohammed, team leader of MNKS X CO2.

University category winner: Team Adustio from NUS

Team Adustio, the University category winning team comprising Alyssa Cheok​ and Yuan Hai Shu, ​ developed an integrated two-part solar energy system that combines an organic solar battery with a mobile app-assisted asset management system. The organic solar battery cell is made from seaweed carrageenan, which is a binder for high energy and low-cost lithium-sulfur batteries. Its ability to stabilise the battery will help maximise battery efficiency. The battery is also biodegradable, which addresses the issue of toxic waste. Additionally, an integrated mobile application with sensor devices and an asset management system enables the solar panels to be tilted according to the sun’s position throughout the day, maximising its ability to harness solar energy.

“The global appetite for energy continues to grow as countries continue to develop, and there is an urgent need for renewable energy to catch up with the rising demand. Our integrated two-part solar solution will not only increase solar energy output, but it is also biodegradable and has a low production cost. We hope this will incentivise more companies to implement it at scale. Solve for Tomorrow is an ideal testbed for refining our solution and conceptualising a potential business model. The journey has been rewarding as it broadened our horizon and encouraged us to push the boundaries to create something impactful,” said Alyssa, team leader of Team Adustio.

For more information on Solve for Tomorrow, visit https://www.samsung.com/sg/solvefortomorrow/.

More information on the competition can be found in Appendix A.

Profiles of the judges can be found on the Solve for Tomorrow website here.

[1] Subject to global travel restrictions and developments of Covid-19.
[2] Samsung conducted an online poll among 107 respondents in Singapore, aged 16 to 25 years old, between October 2021 and January 2022. The poll aims to understand the views of Gen Zs on Singapore’s societal and environmental challenges.
[3] People’s Choice award – Finalist team that received the most votes from the public in the category.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions. For the latest news, please visit the Samsung Newsroom at http://news.samsung.com

Appendix A

About Samsung Solve for Tomorrow

The Solve for Tomorrow 2021 competition, which launched on 7 October, encourages students in Singapore to take a closer look at the social issues around them and think about how they can make a meaningful impact on the community.

The platform also allows youth to express their creativity and passion while encouraging them to apply their knowledge and skills across multiple disciplines – including critical and design thinking, marketing and communications skills, technological expertise and STEM knowledge – when developing their ideas and solutions.

Competition overview

There are two categories for Solve for Tomorrow 2021.

  • Category 1 – Post-secondary: Full-time students aged 16 years old and above, enrolled in any junior college, polytechnic, Institute of Technical Education or the Millennia Institute in Singapore
  • Category 2 – University: Full-time undergraduate students aged 18 years old and above, enrolled in any of the six publicly-funded autonomous universities in Singapore, namely

oNanyang Technological University (NTU);

oNational University of Singapore (NUS);

oSingapore Institute of Technology (SIT);

oSingapore Management University (SMU);

oSingapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS); and

oSingapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

The competition launched on 7 October 2021 where more than 510 students, forming more than 170 groups of two to four, submitted a write-up of their ideas or solutions.

A total of 20 teams (10 from each category) were shortlisted in November 2021. Each of these teams received a $800 cash prize to help them develop and refine their ideas and/or develop their prototype.

Virtual workshops were organised for all the shortlisted teams where all teams completed two online courses – (1) social entrepreneurship and (2) social media for good.

Out of the 20 teams, 10 teams (five from each category) were selected as the finalists. These teams were encouraged to exercise their creative and find a novel approach to showcase their solutions in a video format. The top three teams from each category with the highest scores were crowned the winners.

The public also got to vote for their favourite idea from each category on the Solve for Tomorrow website. The finalist team from each category with the greatest number of votes won the People’s Choice awards.

Judging criteria for the grand finale

  • 30%: Feasibility – Elaboration on how the solution can be created and implemented
  • 20%: Creativity – Innovativeness, uniqueness and originality of proposed idea
  • 25%: STEM – Elaboration on the use of STEM and how it can solve the problem
  • 20%: Video – Flow and effectiveness of the presentation
  • 5%: Public voting Based on the number of votes the team receive from the public

Prizes

  • First Prize for Category 1 and Category 2:

o $10,000 worth of Samsung products

o $5,000 cash prize

o A 4D3N trip to Seoul, South Korea

o Solve for Tomorrow – Insider Tour @ Samsung

  • Second Prize for Category 1 and Category 2:

o $8,000 worth of Samsung products

o $3,000 cash prize

  • Third Prize for Category 1 and Category 2:

o $6,000 worth of Samsung products

o $1,000 cash prize

  • People’s Choice awards for Category 1 and Category 2:

o 4 sets of Samsung Galaxy Buds2

#Samsung

Kyberlife, An E-Commerce Marketplace Start-up For Medical Supplies Raises Approximately One Million Singapore Dollars To Date

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 March 2022 – Kyberlife, a Singapore-based e-commerce marketplace start-up for the Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare industries, has closed an oversubscribed Pre-Series A funding round. Together with its seed funds garnered in August last year, the company raised around one million Singapore dollars.

Management Team, Kyberlife Pte. Ltd. Front row, seated on sofa, from left: Dr. Sven Henrichwark (PHD), CBDO / Advisor, Global Seller Lead; Mr. Ryan James Lim, Co-Founder & CEO; Mr. Michael Tillmann, Co-Founder & ChairmanSecond row, second from left: Assistant Professor, Dr. Ching Jianhong (PHD), Chief Science Officer(Not present in photo) Mr. Wesley Lim, Co-Founder, China Channel Lead

Management Team, Kyberlife Pte. Ltd.
Front row, from left: Ms. Felicia Lee, Finance Lead; Dr. Sven Henrichwark (PHD), CBDO / Advisor, Global Seller Lead; Mr. Ryan James Lim, Co-Founder & CEO; Mr. Michael Tillmann, Co-Founder & Chairman; Mr. Leonard Yeo, Operations
Second row, from left: Ms. Gladys Aw, Marketplace & Product Lead; Assistant Professor, Dr. Ching Jianhong (PHD), Chief Science Officer; Ms. Olivia Choo, Marketing Lead; Ms. Aletheia Ng, Commercial Lead
(Not present in photo) Mr. Wesley Lim, Co-Founder, China Channel Lead

Kyberlife is funded and backed by industry leaders and seasoned executive management investors of multi-national companies. The Pre-Series A round was led by PE Global, the venture arm of PANSAR Group, and industry leaders such as James Simkins who is CEO of GETZ Healthcare, Dr. Michael Gorriz who served as Global Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered Bank and Dr. Soenke Weissenborn, Group Operations Director for IDS Immunodiagnostics Systems. Several existing investors including Rapzo Capital and Amatar Investment also pumped in fresh funds again.

About Kyberlife

Kyberlife facilitates the buying and selling between principals in the Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare industries with their B2B consumers of scientists/researchers, institutions, academia, businesses, laboratories and hospitals. “With Kyberlife we are solving an imminent and overlooked problem within these traditional industries where consumers experience a labourious process of searching for products while principals have little control of their products on third-party platforms. It is our mission to achieve an efficient and active network for the community by being the one-stop shop for both parties to communicate and transact with each other. Consumers will experience a higher transparency across products for easy sourcing while the principals will retain full control over their products,” says its Co-Founder and CEO, Mr. Ryan James Lim.

Kyberlife has secured partnerships with reputable multi-national companies such as Eppendorf, Merck, Roche and Tipbio Systems. “We are thankful for the support of our investors who share our vision for a connected global medical supply industry. We will be investing the fresh funds to develop user traction and growth in Singapore, and for regional marketing,” he says.

To explain the relevance of the e-commerce platform for the industry, Mr. Lim shared that there are many Life Sciences principals in Europe and the United States of America who do not intend to enter Asia and South-East Asia due to high set-up cost (which are exacerbated by Covid-19 travel related restrictions). With Kyberlife, they now have the option to reach out to their consumers conveniently and without any risk – to new market segments, via its open marketplace.

About The Founders

Kyberlife is led by a young and tech-savvy management team, and backed by senior and veteran entrepreneurs with vast experience and international connections.

Kyberlife was founded and incorporated in Singapore by three founding partners: Mr. Ryan James Lim (CEO), Mr. Michael Tillmann (Chairman) and Mr. Wesley Lim (China Channel Lead), bringing with them diverse expertise in business and tech, and across several industries. Prior to Kyberlife, Ryan Lim and Wesley Lim started an e-commerce marketplace for B2C users in the cosmetics industry. Its technology was then absorbed into Kyberlife for the Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical and Healthcare industries.

Its Chairman, Mr. Michael Tillmann, has over 25 years of experience in senior executive and supervisory board positions for multinational companies in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry. He held the position of President and CEO for Roche Diagnostics in North America and before that, in Asia Pacific and Europe. Michael also founded a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) company, Vela Diagnostics. It was there where he met and formed a mentor-mentee relationship with Ryan Lim, who had worked as an intern at his company. Their mentor-mentee relationship has come full circle as co-founders of Kyberlife.

Kyberlife Pte. Ltd.

Kyberlife Pte. Ltd. is headquarted in Singapore, at 48 Mactaggart Road, #04-02, Mae Building, Singapore 368088.

For more information on Kyberlife, please visit: https://www.kyberlife.com/sg
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kyberlife/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyberlife/

#Kyberlife

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Cloud Comrade Partners with Lacework to Bolster Cloud Security for Customers in South East Asia

Cloud Comrade is the first member in South East Asia in the recently-enhanced Lacework Partner Program and marks Lacework’s entry into this vibrant market. With this partnership, Cloud Comrade will integrate Lacework’s proven cloud security platform with its solutions to effectively address a key concern of clients.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 2 March 2022 – Cloud Comrade, the fast growing cloud computing consultancy and Managed Services Provider, has announced a strategic partnership with Lacework, the data driven security platform for the cloud and its inclusion in the Lacework Partner Program. As Lacework’s first partner in the region, this strategic collaboration heralds the entry of Lacework into the key SE Asian market.

The partnership serves to strengthen Cloud Comrade’s value proposition to customers with a broader portfolio of solutions and significantly enhanced cloud security, a critical consideration for businesses moving to the cloud. It will give a fillip to the company’s customer acquisition and rapid expansion across the region.

Lacework makes it easier for customers to securely migrate and manage their digital business. Lacework enables its partners to drive down costs and risk, while removing the burden of unnecessary toil, rule writing, and inaccurate alerts.

“We are proud to be the first company in South East Asia to be a Lacework Partner. Security is a key area of concern for companies evaluating migration of their IT systems to the cloud. Partnering with Lacework enables us to offer best-in-class solutions, such as the Lacework Polygraph® Data Platform, to address this concern. In this context, Lacework’s distinct approach to automating cloud security at scale that enables customers to innovate faster and more securely was a big draw for us. It will inspire customers to switch to the cloud with great confidence and assurance,” said Andy Waroma, Co-Founder of Cloud Comrade.

“We consistently partner with only the top solution providers across many categories – such as AWS, Microsoft, Google, to name a few- to provide our customers with ‘turnkey’ cloud services. The partnership with Lacework aligns perfectly with this strategy and becomes a critical component of our roadmap for the future. It reinforces the richness of our palette and ability to offer bespoke solutions to our customers, which is indeed exciting and valuable,” he adds.

“We’re excited to launch Lacework’s SE Asia expansion alongside Cloud Comrade, their wide-ranging cloud expertise combined with Lacework’s cloud compliance, workload and container security is going to add significant value to cloud consumers across Asia. We always seek out partnerships that compound to deliver greater value, this partnership is a testament to that approach,” said Graham Pearson, Vice President of Lacework.

About Cloud Comrade

Cloud Comrade (https://cloudcomrade.com) is a Singapore-based cloud computing consultancy company with a regional footprint in Indonesia and Malaysia. The company offers a comprehensive range of services from strategy and design to deployment, migration, and management of customers’ IT infrastructure. Cloud Comrade partners with the best solution providers in the field of cloud computing and is a preferred Amazon Web Services (AWS) consulting partner in ASEAN, as well as a managed service provider for AWS, Google, and Alibaba Cloud. In January 2019, ST Telemedia (sttelemedia.com), an active strategic investor specializing in communications & media, data centers, and infrastructure technology businesses, acquired a majority stake in the company. For more information on Cloud Comrade, visit cloudcomrade.com

#CloudComrade

About Lacework

Lacework is the data-driven security platform for the cloud. The Lacework Cloud Security Platform, powered by Polygraph, automates cloud security at scale so our customers can innovate with speed and safety. Polygraph is the only security solution that can collect, analyze, and accurately correlate data across an organization’s AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes environments, and narrow it down to the handful of security events that matter. Customers all over the globe depend on Lacework to drive revenue, bring products to market faster and safer and consolidate point security solutions into a single platform. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with offices all over the world, Lacework is backed by leading investors like Sutter Hill Ventures, Altimeter Capital, Liberty Global Ventures, and Snowflake Ventures, among others. Get started at www.lacework.com.

#Lacework

CSG Celebrates Milestone Implementation of Its Award-Winning Revenue Management SaaS Solution on AWS

Industry leadership and domain expertise showcased at Mobile World Congress 2022

BARCELONA, SPAIN – News Direct – 2 March 2022 – CSG® (NASDAQ: CSGS) helps the world’s most innovative companies ease the complexity of business transformation through innovative customer engagement, revenue management and payments solutions. Today at Mobile World Congress, the company celebrated its 25th successful cloud revenue management solution implementation with CBTS, a division of Cincinnati Bell. This latest implementation hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) further solidifies CSG’s experience in delivering secure, scalable and agile software as a service (SaaS) business support systems (BSS) technologies that support the delivery of next-gen digital services.

“Over the past decade, CSG has built the cloud revenue management market through collaborative innovation and flawless execution on AWS,” said Chad Dunavant, Chief Strategy and Product Officer at CSG. “Our work with forward-thinking brands, like CBTS, highlights our technical expertise and strategic vision to create extraordinary experiences not only for our customers, but for our customers’ customers. In this highly competitive age of converged connectivity, we have set the standard for how communications service providers can seamlessly build and offer dynamic, compelling digital services, while opening the doors to future-ready opportunities.”

Recognized as an advanced tier AWS ISV Accelerate Partner, CSG delivers high-level customer experiences for global brands, revenue growth at scale, and infrastructure cost savings. The use of CSG’s award-winning, cloud-based solution on AWS helps companies launch and scale new digital services quickly to meet the ever-rising demands of today’s connected consumer economy and stay a step ahead for future growth.

“CBTS continuously evolves to better serve the changing needs and demands of our customers in the digital age,” said Shannon Mullen, Senior Vice President of Administrative Services at CBTS. “To meet and exceed these expectations, we are investing in tools, processes and technology to deliver exceptional experiences to our customers. Choosing CSG provides the foundation for achieving this goal. Not only does the solution give us the flexibility, convenience and efficiencies we need to scale our operations and meet our growth goals, but CSG’s customer-centric culture and strong reputation made it the clear choice for our business.”

“Working together, CSG and AWS make it easier for telecommunications companies to transform and modernize their BSS stacks” said Antonello Arpino, Principal BSS Business Development Manager at AWS. “Using SaaS solutions developed on AWS, telecommunications companies can accelerate their transformation journeys. CSG’s expertise in implementing 25 BSS SaaS implementations on AWS will help telcos of any size address the complexity of BSS transformation and turn it into a competitive advantage.”

CSG’s portfolio of digital monetization solutions deliver best-in-breed SaaS technology that drive digital commerce innovation and create extraordinary customer experiences. To learn more about CSG on AWS, visit: www.csgi.com/portfolio/csg-and-amazon-web-services/

About CSG

CSG is a leader in innovative customer engagement, revenue management and payments solutions that make ordinary customer experiences extraordinary. Our cloud-first architecture and customer-obsessed mindset help companies around the world launch new digital services, expand into new markets, and create dynamic experiences that capture new customers and build brand loyalty. For 40 years, CSG’s technologies and people have helped some of the world’s most recognizable brands solve their toughest business challenges and evolve to meet the demands of today’s digital economy with future-ready solutions that drive exceptional customer experiences. With 5,000 employees in over 20 countries, CSG is the trusted technology provider for leading global brands in telecommunications, retail, financial services, and healthcare. Our solutions deliver real world outcomes to more than 900 customers in over 120 countries.

To learn more, visit us at csgi.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Copyright © 2022 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. CSG® is a registered trademark of CSG Systems International, Inc. All third-party trademarks, service marks, and/or product names which are referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners, and all rights therein are reserved.


#CSG

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Justin Sun, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO, Leads Crypto Community’s Humanitarian Efforts by Leveraging Blockchain Technology

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 1 March 2022 – With the Russia-Ukraine war escalating into a global crisis, blockchain and cryptocurrency communities were among the first to announce support and lead humanitarian efforts with full decentralization, openness, and transparency, providing as much help as they can for those suffering from the war.

On February 26, Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov announced the acceptance of cryptocurrency donations and revealed USDT donation addresses of Ethereum, Bitcoin, and TRC20-USDT. Shortly after, founder of TRON Justin Sun (now appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Grenada to the WTO) called on the crypto community to join in the humanitarian aid initiative, following which he made a donation of $200,000 in TRC20-USDT.

Cryptocurrency makes a perfect match for charity causes in several aspects: blockchain guarantees efficient, open, transparent, and cost-effective transfers as well as tamper-proof on-chain records; meanwhile, inheriting the gene of decentralization, crypto communities focus only on universal values such as the common interests of mankind and the greater good of society regardless of nationalities, statuses, etc. Justin Sun’s donation soon spread across the crypto space. As of yesterday, a string of big shots including Ethereum founder Vitalik and Binance founder CZ have joined in fighting the humanitarian crisis for the people of Ukraine. Gavin Wood, the founder of Polkadot, also offered $5 million to Ukraine under the condition they post a DOT address.

According to the latest statistics and reports, there is a donation of 35.6 BTC to Ukraine, which is by far the largest (anonymous) donation. As of the early hours of this morning, Ukraine has received upwards of $20 million in donations (from individual communities rather than centralized institutions). And as the first in the crypto world to step forward and champion this humanitarian cause while fervently calling for support across Chinese and overseas social media accounts, Justin Sun and his TRON played a significant part in this achievement. According to on-chain stats, Ukraine’s TRON account has received a total of 2122 donations with a combined value of $1.04 million.

In addition to his leading efforts in humanitarian donations, Justin Sun has been navigating TRON to be proactively involved in charity and philanthropy over the years. In 2020 and 2021, he donated ¥7 million to Uganda’s underprivileged and impoverished communities, Initiating a lunch program and providing solar lighting kits, sanitary pads, educational materials, and other essential supplies; he also joined Polygon co-founder Sandeep in India Covid-19 Crypto Relief Fund, where he donated 2 million TRX to the initiative and enabled a designated TRON address to target direct donations at the vulnerable groups.

Justin Sun also attended the ApeAvatar NFT charity event, which was designed to leverage blockchain technology and NFT to fight against global climate change and organize tree-planting programs in over 15 countries worldwide. Around the end of 2021, Justin Sun announced his successful bid for Blue Origin’s flight to space at $28 million and his plan to invite five other crewmates to join him on the trip. This move attests to his aspiration of transcending borders and pushing forward the boundaries of humankind.

Justin Sun stands out again as the vanguard in humanitarian aid, as this acclaimed crypto influencer has been advocating philanthropic causes and advancing the blockchain technology that promises decentralization and financial inclusiveness since day one. It is also natural that TRC20-USDT, thanks to its broad user base, high transparency, security, near-zero handling fee, and instant transfer, is now accepted for humanitarian donations.

With endorsement from more crypto veterans, support from the TRON and Ethereum communities as well as leading organizations like Binance, the humanitarian aid initiative in the crypto space has gained wider attention and is gathering momentum rapidly. As the cruelty of wars and people’s vulnerability were brought to every corner of the world through social media and news platforms, more people have started to resonate with those suffering from the Russia-Ukraine crisis and have joined the rest of the world to offer care and support.

It’s not that blockchain makes the world a better place, but that due to its unique edge and the cross-border communication enabled by DAO, blockchain happens to become the central ground that pools the sympathy that people naturally have for the sufferers, rejection of wars, and the unwavering pursuit of peace and love.

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