IT Block’s latest service helps enterprises design, install, provision, and maintain their server rooms, thereby allowing them to save on resources that can be invested in other areas of business development.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 23 August 2021 – IT Block, a specialist in outsourced IT support for enterprises, has introduced Data Centre Colocation Services. This new service takes on the complex responsibility of configuration, installation, and maintenance of server rooms in a single package, thus enabling companies to channel their resources into other areas and focus on expanding their business.

“We know companies are facing enormous depletion of resources when attempting to build and manage their own data centres.  Their exorbitant upfront expenses include acquiring bandwidth, power, cooling, staff salaries, and machinery, among other things,” said Reza Nilofer, Vice President of Sales and Technology at IT Block. “That’s why IT Block wants to provide companies with a secure and cost-effective alternative to house, manage, and maintain enterprise servers.”

With the ability to be structured  to meet specific business needs, IT Block Data Centre Colocation Services offer:

• Procurement of equipment
• Design and installation
• Power and cooling
• Security, management, and maintenance

For more information about Data Centre Colocation Services, visit: https://www.itblock.sg/data-centre/.

About IT Block

IT Block, formed in 2018, is an MSP that specialises in outsourced IT support for business enterprises. Customer service lies at the very heart of our company, and we pride ourselves on being able to provide 24/7 customer support to all our clients. Our range of services includes server hardware maintenance, hardware procurement, cybersecurity services, and office IT setup service. Learn more about our services at https://www.itblock.sg.

#ITBlock

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 23 August 2021 – Kestrel Investigation and Services Pte Ltd (“Kestrel”), a premier security company in Singapore, promises to help companies, organisations and asset owners get more efficient at detecting and managing security threats on their premises with outcome-based solutions that cuts resource utilisation and costs at the same time.

A traditionally manpower-intensive sector, the security service industry has gone through much change in recent years, especially on the technological front with the government’s drive and support towards digitalisation as part of the Security Industry Transformation Map, going beyond security guard services to deliver holistic and comprehensive security solutions.

Even so, these digital applications for the most part, provide peripheral functionality and support to the security manpower detail rather than as an operational replacement, which actually in many situations increase operational costs in the form of additional equipment and system purchase as well as training on how to use them.

Kestrel believes that all these will change with the adoption of outcome-based solutions, and is committed to making security protection and management a much more effective and efficient affair by aligning their service offering to the outcome-based approach.

AI and Automation at the Heart of Outcome-based Security Solutioning

A central component of outcome-based security solutioning is the integral use of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, as well as digital messaging communication, throughout the entire security workflow. 

Instead of a resource allocation mindset by which most conventional security solutions are structured, an outcome-based approach first identifies the required outcomes in a security environment setup, and then puts in place the processes and systems to automate the monitoring and protection necessary to achieve those outcomes.

By doing so, the objectives are achieved with an efficient utilisation of resources that does not undermine effectiveness, saving time and money for both the service provider and the client.

An example of this is Kestrel’s Automatic License Plate Recognition System. Sensors and cameras at the gantry intelligently detect the presence of vehicles and automatically process their imagery to identify and record license plate numbers together with relevant datetimes of entry and exit. These records are also automatically matched against a database to alert any presence of unauthorised vehicles. 

Organisations can reduce their total security expenses by 30% upon adopting such an implementation.

Increased Responsiveness with Integrated Communications

Another key aspect of an outcome-based approach to security services is the ability to be alerted and notified of any incident or occurrence with immediacy and clarity, such that a prompt response can be provided.

Kestrel’s Security Management and Alert System (“SMAS”) addresses this by weaving communication on multiple gadgets such as GPS, walkie-talkie, island-wide communication, SOS, body-worn camera, and clocking device – into a single centralised platform, eliminating the chance of information missed out or not passed on as intended, particularly in the event of emergencies.

This significantly improves communication efficiency while reducing the possibility of disputes or ignorance, not to mention the savings that can be achieved from a reduction in manpower allocation by as much as 25%. 

The system has also been instrumental in helping Kestrel achieve and maintain its top grading score awarded by the relevant authorities year after year that distinguishes the best performance security agencies in the market.

Driving Innovation for the Security of the Future

“We strongly believe that by marrying the principles of risk assessment with an outcome-based approach to setting up and implementing security operations, threats can be detected more efficiently and mitigated with swifter and better responses, which is especially crucial in the fast-paced environment that we reside in today”, said Mr. Al Chiang, Managing Director of Kestrel.

The push on outcome-based security solutions represents but just the initial step of Kestrel’s long term commitment towards continuous innovation in the field of operational security and threat detection, constantly redefining the parameters of what an intelligent security ecosystem of the future will look like. 

To find out more about Kestrel’s security solutions and security guard services, visit https://www.kestrelis.com/.

About Kestrel

Founded in 2005, Kestrel is a security agency headquartered in Singapore that specialises in providing total security solutions – including security guard services, security management equipment and software, as well as security audit, assessment and consultation – to corporations, business owners, industrial facilities, government agencies and property owners, as well as non-profit organisations and institutions.

Kestrel brings decades of experience from involvement in a myriad of security operations in the Singapore armed and police forces as well as the security industry at large, and offers a perfect balance of national security insights and real-world operational pragmatism to its clients, serving some of the biggest and most well-known organisations in Singapore, protecting their assets and interests against both internal and external threats.

For more information on Kestrel, visit https://www.kestrelis.com/.

#Kestrel

• About 30,000 shops have newly embarked on a digitalisation journey from June 2020 to June 2021 by onboarding onto the foodpanda shops platform
• The number of SMEs on foodpanda grew by more than 430% within June 2020 to June 2021, making up almost half of the shops listed on the platform
• Groceries, health and wellness, beauty and electronics SMEs are four core segments that have shown the most growth in the number of shops onboarded in the past year
• With the new SMEs on the platform, orders from small businesses grew 950% Y-o-Y over the past year, resulting in over 330% growth of foodpanda shops as a vertical

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 23 August 2021 – As businesses prepare for a rebound in the post pandemic world, Asia’s quick-commerce (q-commerce) pioneer, foodpanda, has remained committed to supporting SMEs across the region to embrace digitalisation. Almost 30,000 retail shops were onboarded on foodpanda shops in the past year, with SMEs making up almost half of shops that had gone digital. This marks the first step in helping SME businesses build a strong digital core, to become more risk-resilient and cater to their customers’ new purchase habits.

Growing small businesses via foodpanda shops in Thailand

Online and on-demand delivery platforms have helped retail stores and SMEs stay afloat during the pandemic, during a time where organic in-store traffic was affected due to lockdowns, foodpanda has provided shops a new channel to reach new, digital customers and still generate new revenues.

Unlike traditional e-commerce, q-commerce allows SMEs to have their goods delivered to customers on-demand in 15 to 30 minutes. With a digital platform to grow their business, SMEs can also tap into services like ads, listing boosting and run promotions to increase revenues. In the past year alone, the number of new SMEs embracing q-commerce increased by more than 430 per cent. This spike in SME growth contributed an overall growth of more than 330 per cent for the overall foodpanda shops business vertical, which includes other retail and supermarket chains such as Tesco, 7-Eleven, Family Mart, Watsons and Guardian.

Globally, Delivery Hero, of which foodpanda is a subsidiary, reported on 12 August 2021 in its Q2 Trading Update a 249% growth in orders for its Integrated Verticals comprising the q-commerce business, illustrating an increase in demand for grocery deliveries across the globe. GMV for the segment also more than tripled from just the year before.

Partnering local governments to digitalise traditional markets in Taiwan;
Taipei mayor seen here in support of  fresh markets’ digitalisation efforts

Commerce 3.0: A launchpad for business scalability on a level digital playing field

Ushering in a new decade of digital innovation, speed and convenience will continue to transform to meet customer needs, giving rise to Commerce 3.0 — where tech meets commerce. A global trend driven by developers who create APIs and plug-ins to integrate online activity directly with merchants, Commerce 3.0 is a powerful strategy for SMEs to level the digital playing field and fend off larger competitors that may have an advantage in a traditional physical retail environment.

As the gap between physical stores and online environments shrink, foodpanda is playing a key role in enabling SME brands to create a frictionless, technology-enabled, and interconnected customer experience, by connecting shops with customers’ demands, without the hassle and heavy costs of building and running their own delivery platform.

Abhishek Sahay, Senior Director of New Verticals at foodpanda shares: “Digitalisation is more than just going online. foodpanda shops helps SMEs take charge of their growth with digital solutions, so they can fully adopt Commerce 3.0 to increase sales, especially when traditional retail models have been disrupted in the pandemic. In this unprecedented time, it’s especially critical to empower SMEs to adopt a new hybrid online-offline business model with quick-commerce, to scale their business urgently.”

Pioneering the next generation of on-demand deliveries

Beyond the traditional e-commerce that revolutionized the delivery landscape through online ordering, q-commerce will be the next inflection point where delivery time shortens from three days to just 30 minutes. Being the pioneer in q-commerce built on years of logistics and technology expertise spanning 12 markets, foodpanda is driving the growth of the q-commerce category in Asia.

About foodpanda

foodpanda is a leading delivery platform in Asia dedicated to bringing consumers a wide range of food, groceries and more, quickly and conveniently. Powered by technology and operational excellence, foodpanda is spearheading the growth of quick-commerce (q-commerce) across the region with its network of retail partners, as well as pandamart cloud stores to provide more on-demand options beyond the millions of food delivery options. foodpanda operates in more than 400 cities across 12 markets in Asia – Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, Philippines, Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Japan. foodpanda is a subsidiary of Delivery Hero, a global leader of the food delivery industry. For more information, visit www.foodpanda.com.

#foodpanda

• Singapore and Tokyo remain in the top five – third and fifth respectively – with Sydney coming in fourth.
• The remaining top 10 cities are: Amsterdam (6th), Wellington (7th), Hong Kong and Melbourne (tied 8th) and Stockholm (10th)
• The 2021 edition of the index includes a new pillar for environmental security

TOKYO, JAPAN – Media OutReach – 23 August 2021 – The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU) today releases the fourth edition of the Safe Cities Index (SCI). The index, which is the centre piece of a research project sponsored by NEC Corporation, ranks 60 cities worldwide across five continents. It measures the multifaceted nature of urban safety, with 76 indicators organised along five pillars: personal, health, infrastructure, digital, and – new this year – environmental security.

In each of the last three iterations, Tokyo, Singapore and Osaka – always in that order – have been our index leaders. This year Copenhagen comes first, with 82.4 points out of 100, and Toronto follows close behind with 82.2. This change reflects not a tectonic shift but more a reordering among cities that have always come close to the top. In all four editions of our index, six cities – Amsterdam, Melbourne, Tokyo, Toronto, Singapore and Sydney – have all figured among the leading ten, with only a few points separating them.

Naka Kondo, senior editor of The EIU and editor of the SCI2021 report says:

“Covid-19 is the first global pandemic to strike humanity since we became a predominantly urban species. Experts have told us covid-19 has changed the whole concept of urban safety. Digital security is now an even higher priority as more work and commerce have moved online; those responsible for infrastructure safety have to adjust to dramatic changes in travel patterns and where residents consume utilities; agencies responsible for personal security need to address a large, lockdown-driven shift in crime patterns; and the priority that urban residents and officials assign to environmental security has risen markedly as covid-19 serves as a stark warning of unexpected crises.”  

The index framework has been subjected to an extensive reevaluation and has undergone significant changes, including updates to existing indicators, updates to scoring methodology, addition of new indicators under existing domains and the addition of a new domain to the framework.

The introduction of the new pillar for environmental security in this year’s index reflects the increased importance of sustainability issues and climate adaptation measures amid the pandemic. Toronto and Copenhagen performed noticeably better in the new environmental security pillar than do any of the top-three cities from earlier years. Interestingly, the index also shows that leading middle-income cities do far better in this area than in any other categories. In particular, three at this income level finish in the pillar’s top ten: Bogota (4th); Rio de Janeiro (8th); and Kuala Lumpur (10th).

Overall ranking SCI 2021

Research shows that the performance of different safety pillars correlates very closely with each other, signifying that different kinds of safety are thoroughly intertwined. The top performers in each pillar are as follows:

Digital security: Sydney (1), Singapore (2), Copenhagen (3), Los Angeles / San Francisco (4),

Health security: Tokyo (1), Singapore (2), Hong Kong (3), Melbourne (4), Osaka (5)

Infrastructure security: Hong Kong (1), Singapore (2), Copenhagen (3), Toronto (4), Tokyo (5)

Personal security: Copenhagen (1), Amsterdam (2), Frankfurt (3), Stockholm (4), Brussels (5)

Environmental Security: Wellington (1), Toronto (2), Washington DC (3), Bogota (4), Milan (5)

The Safe Cities Index reveals that different global region have distinct strengths. In particular, well-off Asia-Pacific cities tend to perform better on average when it comes to health security and infrastructure security, while European cities on personal security and North American cities on digital security.

Visit safecities.economist.com for the full report, index and workbook

How safe is your city? Benchmark your city to any of the 60 indexed cities with the “Urban safety benchmarking tool”

In conjunction with the release of the Safe Cities index, The Economist Events will programme a 45 minute session as part of NEC Visionary Week 2021. This session will include a presentation of the highlights of the Safe Cities Summit Index results as well as a discussion with a high ranking official from a municipal government and CTO of KMD to explore how city leaders can develop a holistic approach to the development of safe cities for all.  The presentation and panel discussion will be available free to view here. 

About the Safe Cities Index 2021

The SCI 2021, similarly to the previous three editions, is centred around digital security, health security, infrastructure security, personal security and – new this year – environmental security. The 2021 index ranks 60 cities across 76 indicators. The 2021 framework has been refined to better capture a city’s environmental security. For more on the index methodology, please see the methodology appendix at the end of the report. Please access this link (http://safecities.economist.com) for the white paper, interactive tool to explore the rankings, and the index data workbook.

Due to the change in city coverage and additional indicators, direct year-on-year comparisons between cities are not possible. Scores and rankings reflect the relative performance of a city and should be considered for the year in scope, especially due to changes in methodology/indicators and cities in scope in the 2021 edition.

The 60 cities covered in the index are (in order of the overall ranking):

North America: Toronto, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Dallas.

Latin America: Santiago, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Bogota, Mexico City, Quito and Caracas.

Europe: Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Barcelona, Frankfurt, London, Zurich, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Milan, Lisbon, Rome, Istanbul and Moscow.

Middle East and Africa: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Johannesburg, Riyadh, Baku, Kuwait City, Casablanca, Lagos and Cairo.

Asia-Pacific: Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Wellington, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Osaka, Taipei, Seoul, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Jakarta, New Delhi, Mumbai, Manila, Dhaka, Karachi and Yangon.

About The Economist Intelligence Unit

The EIU is the thought leadership, research and analysis division of The Economist Group and the world leader in global business intelligence for executives. We uncover novel and forward-looking perspectives with access to over 650 expert analysts and editors across 200 countries worldwide. More information can be found on　www.eiuperspectives.economist.com. Follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook

#EconomistIntelligenceUnit

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential. For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.

VinFast LLC and Gotion High-Tech Co., Ltd (China) – a reputable name in the global clean energy sector – signed an MoU, focusing on the procurement of Gotion LFP batteries and discussion of the possibility to establish a Giga Factory – the first-ever LFP battery cell production facility in Vietnam.

HANOI, VIETNAM – Media OutReach – 23 August 2021 – According to their agreement, VinFast and Gotion High-Tech will jointly carry out the R&D and production of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

LFP battery is currently the most mainstream battery technology in the global new energy vehicle market, with unique advantages of high safety and long life. It is worth noting that LFP batteries can be produced without using expensive and rare materials such as cobalt and manganese that are harmful to workers and the environment. In addition, the price of LFP batteries is competitive, which reduces the production cost of electric vehicles, especially small and medium-sized vehicles.

Gotion High-Tech is a leading manufacturer of LFP batteries for electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and other applications in China and across the world. The company has also had many years of experience in battery research & development and boasts thousands of patents and licensed technological applications. So far, Gotion High-Tech has founded 8 R&D centers in China, the US, Japan, Singapore, Germany and India.

Chairman of Gotion High-Tech Mr. Zhen Li shared: “Gotion High-Tech will definitely use its cutting-edge technology and rich experience in battery manufacturing to fully support VinFast’s electrification strategy. VinFast electric models equipped with Gotion batteries must also be popular among consumers. Let us work together to advance the development of the new energy industry and accelerate the realization of the goal of “carbon neutrality” between China and Vietnam and the world.”

For VinFast, exploring the local production of LFP batteries in Vietnam is part of the car maker’s efforts to establish a clean energy ecosystem and localize parts supply.

“The collaboration with such a prestigious battery manufacturer in the world as Gotion is among VinFast’s essential action plans for developing its smart electric cars and complete supply chains. Our ultimate objective is to establish a clean energy ecosystem, contributing to cutting carbon emissions in Vietnam as well as in VinFast’s global markets.” – said Thai Thanh Hai, Vice Chairwoman of Vingroup.

To reinforce its electrification strategy, VinFast has been fostering collaborations with a number of prestigious partners around the world, including those from Israel, Taiwan, the US, etc., These ties are aimed at boosting R&D and application of the most advanced battery technologies, such as solid-state battery, extreme fast charging, new materials, new battery designs, etc. These technologies are expected to allow new batteries with high energy density, longer ranges for EVs, superior safety, longer lifespan, cost optimization and eco-friendliness.

In addition, Vingroup has recently established VinES Energy Solutions JSC focusing on research and manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles. VinFast also has plans to build production facilities for battery and charging equipment in the US and Europe, as part of its global expansion strategy.

By taking drastic actions, VinFast is gradually realizing the goal of becoming a leading global electric vehicle company and affirms its strong commitments to speeding up the trend of green transportation around the world.

About Vingroup and VinFast

As the largest private conglomerate in Vietnam and one of the largest in Asia, Vingroup is currently doing business in three core sectors namely technology, industry and services. In all sectors it has participated in, Vingroup is always a pioneer that leads market trends and creates world-class products and services of Vietnam. Find out more at: https://www.vingroup.net/en.

VinFast – a member of Vingroup – is Vietnam’s leading manufacturer of premium automobiles and the first Vietnamese automotive brand to launch in global markets. Established in 2017, VinFast’s state-of-the-art, 90% automated manufacturing complex in northern Vietnam is one of the largest in Southeast Asia. Designed to be one of the world’s leading smart electric mobility companies, VinFast currently produces several models of electric scooters and buses in Vietnam, and will launch three new electric SUVs – VF e34, VF e35 and VF e36 respectively of C, D and E classes – in Vietnam, North America and Europe in 2021 and 2022.

#Vingroup

#VinFast

About Gotion High-Tech

Gotion is a technology-driven international company which focuses on power battery development and production. Gotion was founded in 2006 and went public in May 2015 as China’s first power battery company to enter the capital market. Gotion specializes in batteries for new energy vehicles, energy storage application, power transmission and distribution equipment, and other new energy business, and now has 10 production bases in China. In addition, Gotion has built 8 R&D centers in Hefei / China, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Cleveland, Tsukuba / Japan, Singapore, Germany, and India. Gotion has more than 2,000 professional R&D engineers and scientists and has been granted 2,797 patents in different fields.

#Gotion