Teslas next Texas move: A lithium refinery on the Gulf Coast? – The Dallas Morning News

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Tesla Inc. is plotting a potential lithium refinery on the gulf coast of Texas, a move that would bolster the companys battery-production efforts and further expand its footprint in the state.

The electric-car maker has told officials that its considering constructing a battery-grade lithium hydroxide refining facility in Nueces County, according to a newly public application for tax breaks filed with the Texas Comptrollers Office. Tesla pitched it as the first of its kind in North America.

If built, Tesla told the state that the facility would process the raw ore material into a state suitable for battery production. The resulting lithium hydroxide it creates would be packaged and shipped by truck and rail to various Tesla battery manufacturing sites supporting the necessary supply chain for large-scale and electric vehicle batteries.

Tesla also said the process it will use is innovative and designed to consume less hazardous reagents and create usable by-products compared to the conventional process.

Construction could begin as soon as the fourth quarter of 2022 but wouldnt reach commercial production until the fourth quarter of 2024. Tesla has told the state that the facility could be located anywhere with access to the Gulf Coast shipping channel, but that the company is evaluating a competing site in Louisiana.

Tesla didnt respond to a request for comment.

Chief executive officer Elon Musk has spent much of the last year agitating for rapid development of lithium mining in North America, comparing the opportunity to the fat margins typically made in the software industry.

Id like to once again urge entrepreneurs to enter the lithium refining business. The mining is relatively easy; the refining is much harder, Musk said on Teslas second-quarter earnings call in July. You cant lose, its a license to print money.

While merchant refiners profitability spiked earlier this year in part because of EV demand, margins declined considerably from a March peak as the companies were squeezed by rising raw-material prices.

Dozens of projects are underway to add similar plants in other nations, including developments in Germany and Australia, which began production at a first refinery earlier this year. Albemarle Corp., the worlds top lithium producer, is planning to build a new processing site in the southeastern US.

China currently dominates lithium refining and has more than half of global capacity to process raw materials harvested at mines or from salt-rich underground brines into the specialist chemicals used in EV batteries.

A lithium mining facility would be just the latest addition to Musks growing Texas empire. Beyond the new automotive factory in Austin that started production this year, Musk has built out a massive rocket prototyping and launch facility in Boca Chica. His tunneling outfit, The Boring Co., is also pursuing numerous projects across the state.

Tesla has previously applied for permits to make similar battery materials adjacent to its Austin factory, though the current status of the project is unclear.

Sean OKane and Shelly Hagan, Bloomberg

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Teslas next Texas move: A lithium refinery on the Gulf Coast? - The Dallas Morning News

The Space X Starbase Is Shaping the Community Around it – Jalopnik

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The Verge uncovered the ways Starbasse is shaping one rural Texas community. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

Since 2019, Elon Musk has been launching his Space X rockets from a remote point near the border between Texas and Mexico. As with many of Musks endeavors, the launches have attracted many of his diehard followers to the state, but the companys expansion has also driven away locals.

Now, a new report from The Verge uncovers the fascinating reasons hardened Musk fans have for upending their lives and moving south. But, it also uncovers the environmental and human cost of the ever-expanding space company.

According to the report, theres a spot called Rocket Ranch in Boca Chica, close to Texas border with Mexico. There, fans of Musks rocket company can gather together to watch test flights from Space Xs nearby Starbase site. From this vantage point, they can see the company grow before their very eyes.

One enthusiast The Verge spoke with, called Anthony Gomez, visited the site for one launch and quickly wanted to make the move permanent. The site reports:

Anthonys brief visit to Rocket Ranch turned into an overnight stay, then a couple of days, then a full week. It was long enough to convince him that he wanted to make the situation permanent. I had fallen in love with the place, Anthony said. So I just kind of asked if there was a way that I could absorb myself into it somehow.

He was committed to packing up his life and moving to Boca Chica full time.

What do you want me to do? Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

This fierce following of Musks space exploration adventure sets the company apart from other more traditional engineering firms. But its more than just some harmless space tourism at work here. The Verge reports:

Any perceived doubt or criticism of either SpaceX or Musk is met with extreme vitriol, and Ive actually become frightened seeing some of the replies to my tweets or even an article thats seen as too pessimistic.

Being a woman adds another layer to the whole thing. Oftentimes, its a lot of men yelling at me online, calling me a bitch. Ive mostly brushed it off as online behavior. But its enough to make me hesitate when I meet a SpaceX believer in real life.

Despite the worries surrounding an encounter with die-hard Space X fans, writer Loren Grush spent time at Rocket Ranch with Gomez and other enthusiasts. There, she uncovered the reasoning behind their unfaltering support for the company, and found out why they were prepared to upend their lives for it. She writes:

I was fully prepared for an otherworldly experience here at Rocket Ranch when I met Anthony Gomez, who was co-managing the property at that point.

The vibe was communal. Guests who were staying in the nearby airstreams would come in and out of the main building if they needed something from the kitchen. Some were in town, as I was, for Elon Musks latest Starship event; others were living full time at Rocket Ranch for the foreseeable future. People were buzzing in anticipation of Musks update.

Space X gradually ramped up the number of launches from Starbase. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

At the ranch, fans describe themselves as outcasts from other circles. In this little corner of Texas, the nerds and dorks and people that were made fun of have found a place where they can come together and share their excitement for Space X.

Grush speaks with accountants who have abandoned their nine to fives to monitor Space X, as well as a tech expert who now makes their living by livestreaming the Starbase facility. Its fascinating to hear about the types of people who have dedicated their lives to following the companys progress.

But as well as bringing Musks followers to the area, Space Xs expansion has had a deeper impact on the surrounding area.

An explosion in the number of launches planned from the site could be impacting protected environments. And, the locals that spent their whole life in the region are struggling to deal with the changes afoot.

Locals have been driven out of Boca Chica Village. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

Grush explains that the nearby Boca Chica Village felt like this dark cloud and something that shouldnt be discussed when talking to Space X fans. There, locals spoke of the nightmare of selling their properties to Musks company.

Residents said that the company seemed to get away with everything as it began testing rockets at Starbase. Locals would get little to no warning ahead of some launches, before the company finally began trying to buy people out.

Despite a unified front against the sale, residents soon began flowing out of the village to be replaced by workers. The Verge reports:

Boca Chica Village now looks very different than it once did. The mostly brown and beige brick homes have been given makeovers, painted white and black in the signature SpaceX style. Employees and executives have moved in. Even Elon Musk lives in one of the houses when hes at Starbase to oversee operations.

Starbase is having an impact on the people and wildlife around it. Photo: Jim Watson / AFP (Getty Images)

The whole piece shows the fascinating juxtaposition with people searching for meaning through Musks endeavors, and the individuals loosing their sense of place as Space X expands.

I highly recommend heading across to The Verge to read the piece in its entirety, you can do that right here.

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The Space X Starbase Is Shaping the Community Around it - Jalopnik

LILLEY: There is a Liberal media bias on the Hill but David Akin isn’t the problem – Toronto Sun

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The dust up on Parliament Hill between Pierre Poilievre and a member of the press gallery sure doesnt look good.

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It is an incident that plays right into Poilievres narrative that the media are biased and out to get him, which, to be fair, many of them are but not all and not the reporter in question.

From our newsroom to your inbox at noon, the latest headlines, stories, opinion and photos from the Toronto Sun.

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Let me be up front, the incident looked horrible on the reporter in question, David Akin of Global, but this isnt a case of media bias it was really bad judgment by Akin.

Ive known Akin for more than 15 years as a fellow journalist and worked with him in launching Sun News Network where he hosted a show and was the Parliamentary Bureau Chief for the network and Sun papers. Hes one of a handful of reporters on the Hill, along with people like Bob Fife at the Globe or Stephanie Levitz at the Star, who I think of as a straight shooter.

He famously broke the story on Trudeau taking the vacation to the Aga Khans island.

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With his outburst on Tuesday though, Akin was over the top. He wouldnt even let Poilievre deliver his statement before he started yelling at him. Outside of partisans, who already dont like Poilievre, most people watching the exchange would think Akin didnt look good.

And that includes Akin himself, who apologized later that day saying many viewers and readers said he was rude.

I agree. Im sorry for that. We all want politicians to answer questions but there are better ways of making that point, Akin posted to Twitter.

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Another angle of Global News reporter David Akin heckling Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, which Poilievre responded calling Akin a "Liberal Heckler". Akin has since posted an apology for his behavior. pic.twitter.com/r5jwp1hAmk

Battles between the Parliamentary Press Gallery over access to politicians and the ability to ask questions have been going on for years. I was there for the boycott and walkout on one of Stephen Harpers news conference way back in 2006 or so.

The problem is that as a group, the issue of access really only becomes an issue when it is Conservatives in power. I cant tell you how many useless process stories Ive seen about how Harper would only take five questions or would limit the amount of time he would spend.

You know who else does that without all the stories painting him out to be a bad man afraid of the media and democracy? Justin Trudeau.

Yet it is only an issue, only becomes a major story, if the Conservatives have limits.

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Thats one of the many ways the gallery shows their bias, that and believing their job is to hold the opposition rather than the government to account. My caution to those complaining about media bias though is that its not everyone and it doesnt happen for the reasons you think.

There are many good reporters in every newsroom in Ottawa, yes, even CBC. People also need to know that any bias, real or perceived, isnt due to the media bailout fund, which newspapers get but TV networks dont, its simply because most journalists consciously or unconsciously agree with Liberal policies and are skeptical of Conservatives.

There is no grand scheme or plot, its just the way they are, and until that changes it will give Poilievre plenty of ammunition to claim hes being picked on.

My advice to the journalists on the Hill is to be fair to the new Conservative leader, treat him the same as youd treat Trudeau. My advice to Poilievre is to realize he shouldnt campaign against the entire gallery, he or his team will need them at some point.

My prediction is both sides will ignore me and were going to see a very hostile relationship due to the actions of both sides in the coming years.

blilley@postmedia.com

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LILLEY: There is a Liberal media bias on the Hill but David Akin isn't the problem - Toronto Sun

Liberal Government harbouring a culture of fear and corruption in the public service – Conservative Party of Canada

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Ottawa, ON Kelly McCauley, Conservative Shadow Minister for the Treasury Board Secretariat, and Pierre Paul-Hus, Qubec Political Lieutenant, responded to the report entitled Exploring The Culture Of Whistleblowing And The Fear Of Reprisal In The Federal Public Sector released by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner:

These findings show a disturbing trend in the public service that has only been made worse by Liberal inaction. Canadians rely on whistleblowers to expose corruption, mismanagement, and waste in government. Yet Justin Trudeau has consistently ignored the advice of experts to improve Canadas whistleblower laws.

The Public Sector Integrity Commissioner has found that public servants are more pessimistic, cynical, and jaded than ever when it comes to reporting wrongdoing. This should not come as a surprise given the Prime Ministers history of condemning and prosecuting anyone who stands in his way. Just ask Jody Wilson-Raybould or Vice Admiral Mark Norman. As the Commissioner noted, nearly all participants in his study said that fear of reprisals for anyone reporting wrongdoing is a real concern.

This new Liberal culture of corruption, much like the old Liberal culture of corruption from the Chretien-Martin era, is evidenced by the CRA giving backroom deals to major corporations, the withholding of evidence to the Nova Scotia Mass Casualty Commission, and of course, the SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Five years ago Conservatives laid out a simple, zero cost plan to improve Canadas whistle blowing laws through the Government Operations committee. And for five years, the Liberals completely ignored our sensible recommendations. Canadians are starting to learn why: one thing Liberal politicians fear the most is a public servant with integrity who is willing to expose their corruption.

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Liberal Government harbouring a culture of fear and corruption in the public service - Conservative Party of Canada

Review of Francis Fukuyamas Liberalism and its Discontents: Crisis of liberal democracy – The Hindu

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Francis Fukuyama tries to understand the criticism liberalism faces, and identifies solutions

Francis Fukuyama tries to understand the criticism liberalism faces, and identifies solutions

There is no such thing as society, Margaret Thatcher, the late British Prime Minister once said, highlighting what she thought of the responsibility of the individual. Thatchers idea of maximum individual and minimum state was the centrepiece of her economic philosophy. Her administration privatised public industries, deregulated the financial sector and dismantled the welfare state, unleashing a new era of free market policies. Across the Atlantic, President Ronald Reagan of the U.S. did the same. What was then called Reaganomics and Thatcherism, which came to be known as neoliberalism, spread across the world as a leading economic philosophy of the ruling classes in both liberal and authoritarian states. But neoliberal economic policies also heightened inequality, which created social tensions that eventually led to the rise of far-right leaders and parties on one side and radical identitarian groups on the other, which is now threatening liberalism itself. This is the context of Francis Fukuyamas latest book, Liberalism and its Discontents.

Fukuyama is a western political philosopher who doesnt need an introduction to a global audience. He shot to fame with his 1989 essay, The End of History, written a few months before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, in which he argued that humankinds end (objective or target) is liberalism. But his recent books, Identity(2008) and Liberalism, are an acknowledgement that the political situation today is demonstrably different from 1992 when he updated the essay into the book, The End of History and the Last Man. While he still believes that liberalism is the end of history, the liberal theory he embraces is no longer triumphant and the road is long and bumpy. Hence the title: Liberalism and its Discontents.

It is an earnest attempt by a die-hard liberal to understand the criticism the theory faces and identify solutions. For Fukuyama, the fundamental tenets of liberalism personal autonomy, individual rights, equality and property ownership are sacrosanct. The problem contemporary liberalism faces is that it was taken to the extremes by both the right and the left in the context of grotesque inequalities triggered by neoliberal experiments. In the book, Fukuyama emerges as a liberal democrat who believes in the role of state (without the state, liberal principles cannot be implemented), regulated markets and limited welfarism (individuals need to be protected from adverse circumstances beyond their control).

He also challenges some of the historical criticism of liberal theory. Fukuyama argues that Abraham Lincoln based his fight for the abolition of slavery on the Declaration of Independence which says All men are created equal. He calls into question the argument that it was colonialism that made the West rich, citing the examples of the modernisation of East and Southeast Asian economies in the last quarter of the 20th century. For him, communist China saw its best economic performance when it flirted with liberalism.

But the problem with Fukuyamas narrative is that it treats classical liberalism as a pristine theory thats dissociated from the violence committed by its practitioners. That allows Fukuyama, who argues theres no alternative, to continue to believe in the moral superiority of liberalism without any qualms, like the bland fanatics of western civilisation, as Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in 1957. When the Declaration of Independence, one of the foundational documents of liberalism, was announced, the U.S. was a slaveholding country and it continued to be so for decades. Even after the Declaration of the Rights of the Man and of the Citizen of 1789, France continued its racist policies at home and abroad for decades. European colonialism is today largely seen as a racist, violent project, unleashed by the same liberals who believed in individual autonomy, equality and consumer rights.

Colonialism didnt come to an end because the colonial masters one day decided to respect liberal principles it was brought to an end by decades-long anti-colonial, nationalist movements which often met with violent reaction from their overlords. This violent project didnt come to an end with the collapse of colonialism. Liberal internationalists in the West, commanding over the worlds most dangerous militaries, started invading countries in the East to export democracy and liberal values, and thereby shattering societies and dismantling states, spawning anarchy and violence. The list is endless, from the Irish famine of 1845 to the Iraq war of 2003.

For Fukuyama, neoliberalism is an aberration that could be fixed with state intervention. But minimum state and the autonomy of big industries were part of classical liberalism as well. Before the birth of the regulatory state, as Fukuyama writes, financial and industrial giants had enormous influence over state policies. Neoliberalism is actually a return to this original principle thats based on maximum individual. Fukuyama gives the example of post-war European welfarism to argue that liberal democracies could build an equity-based development model. But he has overlooked two underlying factors the tragedy of the Great Depression that strengthened the call for a stronger state and the threat of communism and working class revolutions. When he writes about the economic development of Southeast Asian nations, Fukuyama conveniently sidesteps the fact that these countries have historically had stronger state control over societies and economies, which manifested in their response to the COVID-19 crisis, in contrast to that of the Wests. Even in the case of China, the real question is whether China flirted with liberalism or liberalism flirted with China?

Liberalism as a political theory, a governance model (liberal democracy) and an economic philosophy (private property ownership) have played a critical role in human progress. But its not an ideological hegemon and like other theories, it also has a very violent history. Many liberal theorists, driven by what Pankaj Mishra calls a fanatical conviction of moral superiority, do not see this historical context and the problematic praxis of liberalism. Fukuyama is not an exception.

Liberalism and its Discontents; Francis Fukuyama, Profile Books, 499.

stanly.johny@thehindu.co.in

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Review of Francis Fukuyamas Liberalism and its Discontents: Crisis of liberal democracy - The Hindu

GOP governors bused migrants to liberal cities. Texas sent them to the vice president’s home – Los Angeles Times

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WASHINGTON

Politicians have been using migrants as props for decades. Republicans visit the Southwest border and declare that immigration is out of control. During the Trump administration, Democrats made their way to detention centers to decry the treatment of children locked in cages.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas took the tactic to a new level Thursday, busing about 100 people including many who said they were fleeing violence or poverty to Vice President Kamala Harris doorstep. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis sent a separate group of migrants to Marthas Vineyard, a playground for wealthy liberals, on Wednesday evening.

The two buses Abbott sent to Washington arrived outside the Naval Observatory just after sunrise. Reporters were on the scene before the humanitarian group that has been leading resettling efforts here since April, when Abbott and Arizonas Republican governor, Doug Ducey, started sending thousands of migrants to Washington and other liberal cities.

Amy Fischer, an organizer with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, said she and other volunteers found out about the newest arrivals on Twitter. Her group is most often mobilized to help buses that arrive early in the morning or late at night at Union Station, the train and bus hub thats just a few blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

The migrants were welcomed and soon taken by Uber, Lyft and private volunteer cars to a church that the group has been using to help people bathe, eat and figure out where they plan to settle, whether in Washington or elsewhere. Fischer said her group has helped about 6,200 people so far.

This whole project is a racist publicity stunt that doesnt uphold the agency and human rights of those who are arriving to seek safety, Fischer said.

But it is forcing some Democratic leaders to adjust policy in order to process the unexpected arrivals. Washingtons Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, declared an emergency last week to free up $10 million in funds after the Pentagon rejected her requests for help from the National Guard.

We have a system that is failing those that are arriving to seek safety, Fischer added. And instead of states and localities and the federal government and Congress addressing the real needs, its turned into a game of political football.

President Biden asked Harris last year to address the root causes of migration from Central America. Republicans have referred to her as the Biden administrations border czar a title she has resisted and conservatives have pilloried her all week for declaring in an NBC News interview over the weekend that the border is secure.

Those remarks triggered Abbott to send the buses to Harriss home, he tweeted Thursday.

VP Harris claims our border is secure & denies the crisis, Abbott wrote. Were sending migrants to her backyard to call on the Biden Administration to do its job & secure the border.

Border agents recorded 1.9 million encounters with migrants between October 2021 and the end of July, an all-time high. This number doesnt represent individual migrants because many migrants try to cross the border and are apprehended multiple times.

The issue did not come up during a speech Harris delivered later in the morning at the White House event aimed at combating hate-filled violence and her office did not respond to emailed questions.

Gov. Gavin Newsom called for the Justice Department to investigate DeSantis actions, citing reports that migrants said they were recruited based on false representations that they would be taken to Boston and given expedited access to work authorization.

The fact that Fox News and not the Department of Homeland Security, the city or local NGOs were alerted about a plan to leave migrants, including children, on the side of a busy D.C. street makes clear that this is just a cruel, premeditated political stunt, said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

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GOP governors bused migrants to liberal cities. Texas sent them to the vice president's home - Los Angeles Times

Will Cain: It’s time for liberal sanctuary cities to live under the policies they support – Fox News

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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

"Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Will Cain explained on "The Faulkner Focus" Thursday that Democrats need to live with the policies they advocate for, especially when it comes to illegal immigration.

VP HARRIS BORDER COMMENTS REVEAL MASS AMNESTY REMAINS TOP ADMINISTRATION PRIORITY

WILL CAIN: It's necessary, and I think it's genius. I think everybody should have to live under the policies they advocate. And in this case, what we should do and what governors across the nation, including Governor Greg Abbott of Texas and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, are doing is making sanctuary cities live under the policies they advocate. Actually, it's more benign than that, they're actually just accepting an invitation. These cities have invited illegal immigrants to come and take advantage of their sanctuary. Why are they then upset that somebody has accepted their invitation?

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Will Cain: It's time for liberal sanctuary cities to live under the policies they support - Fox News

CAQ looks to flip script on Quebec Liberals, boot them out of Laval – CBC.ca

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As Franois Legault made his way around the room at a pizza restaurant in Laval, smiling and shaking hands, he stopped and delivered a message to four men eating lunch at a table.

"It's about time for a change in Laval," said the leader of the Coalition Avenir Qubec during thecampaign event in the city's Mille-les riding on Monday. "We have to change the colours."

On its way to what it hopes will be a resounding majority victory for a second mandate, the CAQ is looking to flip the province's third largest city from Liberal red to CAQ blue.

In 2018, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) won five out of six seats in Laval, with only one seat going to the CAQ.

This year, however, nearly all of the candidates who wonunder the Liberal banner four years ago are gone. That includes Francine Charbonneau, who has represented the Mille-les riding since 2008.

The CAQ hopes Julie Side, a longtime party member, can break through in that riding.

"This year, I am convinced that it's the right one. It's the right year for Julie, and she's coming to Quebec City," Legault told the small crowd at the restaurant while standing next to Side, who finished a distant second to a Liberal in the Bourassa-Sauvriding in the northern part of Montreal in 2018.

In addition toCharbonneau, outgoing Liberal MNAsJean Rousselle andMonique Sauvhave alsoquit politics. Thesame goes for Guy Ouellette, who representedthe Chomedey ridingand was booted out of caucus shortly after the 2018 election.

In mostof the five Laval ridings the Liberals won in the last election, the CAQ finished second and not by much.

"Those ridings in 2018 were won by very close margins," said Philippe J. Fournier, a pundit and poll analyst behind the 338Canada poll aggregator.

"If you apply the current polling, especially among francophones, unless there's a micro-local target thing that we missed in the polling, the Liberals will be swept out of Laval except Chomedey."

Saul Polo, who was twice elected in the Laval-des-Rapides riding, isn't fazed by what the punditssay.

"In the past two general elections, all the odds were always against myself and this time it's no different," Polo said during a campaign event in Laval last Sunday.

"We feel comfortable in this situation."

Earlier in the campaign, Quebec Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade said the party was playing offence, not defence, when it came to the ridings in Laval.

"It's about more than preserving seats in Laval, it's about getting Sainte-Rose," Anglade said referring to the lone riding the CAQmanaged to win last time.

The mayor of Laval, Stphane Boyer, has noticed the increased focus on his city from party leaders, and he's all for it, believing it could lead to more commitments from future governments.

"I'm happy there's a tough battle in Laval," he said. "Historically, in Laval, there's been a lot of under-investment in different fields, whether it's culture, transit or others."

Despite the CAQ's dominant election victory in 2018, it has yet to make a major dent in Montreal.

Going into this election campaign, the party only held two ridingsin the city: Camille-Laurin (formerly known as Bourget) and Pointe-aux-Trembles both on the east end of the island.

That could change come Oct. 3, according to Fournier. He says the east end ridingof AnjouLouis-Riel and the Maurice-Richard riding, whichincludes part of the city's Ahuntsic neighbourhood are in play.

In 2018, as in Laval, both those ridings elected Liberal MNAs who are not running this time around.

"Basically, you look at the data of francophones per riding and everywhereyou have over 60 per cent francophones, the Liberals are in trouble," said Fournier.

Jonathan Marleau, the Liberal candidate for Maurice-Richard, saidhe believes the party's door-to-door efforts are paying off and he brushedoff talk of a CAQ takeover.

He also saidLegault's controversial comments on immigration aren'tgoing over well withvoters in and around Montreal.

"In Ahuntsic, people of course come from all, very diverse backgrounds," Marleau said. "When they talk to me they say that's something they're not very comfortable with. Because they want a leader to say that all Quebecers matter."

CAQ progress in and around Montreal, however, including in Laval, would deal a crushing blow to the Liberals who suffered historic lossesduring the last provincial election, dropping from 68 seats to just 31.

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CAQ looks to flip script on Quebec Liberals, boot them out of Laval - CBC.ca

Good days for Sweden begin, and the liberal establishment bites the dust – TFI Global News

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The Swedish people have declared their mandate. According to News Click, the right-wing Sweden Democrats are now prepared to join the ruling coalition after a surprising election victory.

According to a count by the countrys elections authority, which covers 99.9% of voting offices, the four-party alliance would have taken a lead over the left with 176 seats 73 of them going to Sweden Democrats (SD).

With more than 21% of the vote, the Sweden Democrats (SD) are now the nations second-largest party. The vote share has pushed the party in a strong position to demand concessions in exchange for its support in the legislature.

This election result represents a turning point in Swedens history, which will now begin its transition from being a bastion of tolerance to one that is more conservative. Additionally, Stockholms perspective on the EU, NATO, and so-called liberal ideals may shift radically.

Make no mistake, the election results in Sweden are definitely going to give the West sleepless nights.

For years, Sweden has remained the most ethnically mixed nation since large-scale asylum-based immigration first began in the 1990s and accelerated sharply following the fall of the Arab spring.

But, the upcoming right-wing wave looks to break this jinx on Stockholm. First off, Sweden Democrats describe itself as a nationalist party with an anti-immigration policy.

The SD has been one of the major voices opposing immigration for a long time. The party labels migration as the primary cause behind the recent rise in gang and gun crime among second-generation immigrant youth in Swedish cities.

The party aims for zero asylum-seekers, along with longer prison sentences and wider use of deportation.

Their notion is a clarion call, SD would support open Swedishness, which means that anybody can become Swedish if they learn the language and adopt the culture, but the notion of a Swedish Muslim is not accepted.

In addition, the Social Democrats also have a very stormy relationship with Brussels. The SD leader once made headlines for calling out Swexit.

The matter was a hot potato between Sweden and the EU until the Sweden Democrats reversed their policy of calling for the country to follow Britain out of the EU. SD also aspires to transform the EU from the inside.

This means that by supporting the RW faction that is emerging within the Bloc, the Swedish RW is about to spur more tensions for Liberal Brussels.

Furthermore, Kurdish people are likewise extremely beloved by Sweden Democrats. The party is in favour of the establishment of an independent Kurdish state and the formal international recognition of the Armenian genocide. Thus, Turkeys desire to exterminate Kurds may also encounter a new roadblock.

Also Read:Sweden has decided to elect a right-wing prime minister

Sweden Democrats have also been charged with being affectionate to Russia. Swedens Democrats have long been friendly toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A week before the Ukraine invasion, when the party leader, Jim Akkeison, gave an interview with public broadcaster SVT about which leader he preferred U.S. President Joe Biden or Putin, Akesson gave a kind of shaky answer. He replied, It depends on the context.

So, what exactly could happen to NATOs application once SD storms into power? That remains under suspicion.

Sweden has given Akesson a chance to make Sweden great again. A new age has begun, and this history is in the making. Sweden has consistently maintained its positive reputation in the west. But Stockholm is about to turn into an apple of discord right now. Now, just wait before Stockholm turns into a threat to democracy for the west!

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Good days for Sweden begin, and the liberal establishment bites the dust - TFI Global News

Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Condemns the New Azerbaijani Attack on Armenia – The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

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We join our voice to that of all peace-loving people to condemn the September 13 Azerbaijani attack targeting the regions of Sotk, Jermuk, Kapan and Vardenis, all within the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, which resulted in at least 49 deaths and many wounded.

It is the duty of every Armenian in the world to reflect on this alarming situation and to raise his voice of protest.

It is also the duty of the Armenian authorities to powerfully protest in the appropriate quarters, and even more so to counter the press and media campaign unleashed by Azerbaijan and Turkey and disseminate the voice of justice.

Azerbaijan is negotiating with Armenia under the pretense of signing a peace treaty. With these attacks, it is trying to impose its own conditions, which compromise Armenias sovereignty and territorial integrity.

When the sovereignty of any country is in question, first of all, the UN and relevant bodies should counter the existing danger not only by supporting the victim in question, but also by maintaining their principles of the maintenance of harmony and peace between nations.

In this connection, we welcome the initiative of the French authorities to place this alarming incident on the agenda of the UN Security Council, and we also welcome the decision of the Security Council of Armenia to apply to the UN, the Russian Federation and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to halt this aggression.

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Armenian Democratic Liberal Party Condemns the New Azerbaijani Attack on Armenia - The Armenian Mirror-Spectator

Ford Tramples on Patients’ Rights with Bill 7 Ontario Liberal Party – Ontario Liberal Party

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QUEENS PARK Today, the Ontario government released its regulations for Bill 7, signalling just how far they are willing to go to send hospital patients to a long-term care home, that may be far away from the people most important to them in their lives.

The regulations state that hospital patients can be sent to a long-term care home as far as 70 kilometres away from their home, family and support networks. In Northern Ontario, Doug Ford is willing to send patients even further, up to and beyond 150 kilometres.

These regulations show what we already knew that Bill 7 will hurt more than it helps, said MPP Fraser, Interim Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. The greater the distance you separate families, the greater the hardship.

But Doug Ford hasnt stopped there. The government is also authorizing hospitals to charge patients $400 per day if they refuse to leave their families behind, at the time when they need their support the most.

Today is a sad day for patients, said Dr. Adil Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East. Because of this governments failure to manage the pandemic, patients will be sent to far away long-term care homes under the threat of a $400 per day fine.

Ontario Liberals have put forward a motion to limit the amount patients can be charged to be equal to the co-pay in long-term care.

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Ford Tramples on Patients' Rights with Bill 7 Ontario Liberal Party - Ontario Liberal Party

Why this teal candidate left the Liberal Party after 17 years – The Australian Financial Review

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Im not raising money to register every combination or permutation of my name. I want my funding to go into communicating my key messages because I think theres a sense of entitlement with lots of blue-ribbon seats.

Felicity Frederico is running against James Newbury (pictured), who has held the seat of Brighton since 2018. Joe Armao

The mother-of-two announced her run on August 31, with a platform of climate action, integrity and gender equality. Earlier that day, Mr Newbury told parliament the Coalition would commit $9 million to revamping Brighton Primary School if it won the November 26 election.

Ms Frederico says the Liberals are sandbagging previously safe Brighton, which the party has held since the early 1950s.

She had been a lifetime Liberal voter before her husbands uncle, Ramon, encouraged her to become a member of the party.

Her daughter Emmie, while at kindergarten, would adorn the windows of then Goldstein MP Andrew Robbs campaign office at the end of their street with her finger paintings. Ms Frederico joked that her daughter viewed Mr Robbs office as her private gallery.

But the consultant, who twice ran for Liberal Party preselection, argues it has failed to keep up to date with a modern Australia.

She points to there being no women representing metropolitan seats in Victorias lower house. Just four of the Liberals 21 members of the Legislative Assembly Roma Britnell, Cindy McLeish, Bridget Vallence and Louise Staley are women, but all represent rural or outer-suburban electorates.

The party I joined is not the party I left, Ms Frederico said.

I joined because I believed and supported free enterprise and small government. It was a party that I respected because it nurtured and encouraged business and individuals.

Since then, the political landscape and the critical issues have changed. While these are still important, climate and equality have come to the forefront, along with integrity.

Ms Frederico formally renounced her party membership in May.

She had previously served on Bayside City Council from 2008 to 2016, including a one-year term as mayor in 2015. That year, she said, 97 per cent of sport pavilions in the council area had no female change rooms, something she made sure to rectify.

Bookies have Labor as the raging favourite to win a third straight election at $1.20, with the Coalition at $4.50, which has blown out from $3 in July.

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Why this teal candidate left the Liberal Party after 17 years - The Australian Financial Review

Pike Liberal Arts returns to action this Friday on the road – The Troy Messenger – Troy Messenger

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Published 2:50 pm Wednesday, September 14, 2022

The Pike Liberal Arts Patriots (0-3) are back on the road this week heading to Florida for a game with the Port St. Joe Tiger Sharks (1-1).

Pike is coming off a bye week in which the banged up Patriots got some much needed rest heading into another long road trip.

Practice has been great, PLAS coach Travis Baxley said. We had a chance to heal up and rest the guys that bumped up a little bit. We also got to sort of refine and add to our offensive, defensive and special teams schemes. We feel healthy and better prepared than we have all season going into this week against Port St. Joe.

The Patriots lost to Chipley (Fla.) in their last game by a score of 46-9, while the Tiger Sharks are coming off a 35-6 loss to Bay High School. Port St. Joe opened the season with a 41-8 win over Jefferson County in week one, however.

Port St. Joes balanced spread offense comes into this week after throwing for 219 yards last week and rushing for 280 yards in week one. Tiger Shark running back DJ Oliver is currently committed to play college football at the University of South Florida.

Theyre athletic and theyll go four and five wide (receivers) and an empty backfield and they want to get their athletes out in space, Baxley said of the Tiger Sharks.

Going into his third game at the helm, Baxley knows what hell get from his team in terms of effort but he wants to see that hard work turn into execution now.

I want to see execution, he emphasized. The players are playing hard and giving effort, thats what we do. We say that all the time but I want to see us execute and finish now.

Pike Liberal Arts and Port St. Joe will kickoff at 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Shark Stadium at Port St. Joe High School.

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Pike Liberal Arts returns to action this Friday on the road - The Troy Messenger - Troy Messenger

What is Cloud Computing? | Oracle

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There are several trends pushing businessacross all industriestoward the cloud. For most organizations, the current way of doing business might not deliver the agility to grow, or may not provide the platform or flexibility to compete. The explosion of data created by an increasing number of digital businesses is pushing the cost and complexity of data center storage to new levelsdemanding new skills and analytics tools from IT.

Modern cloud solutions help companies meet the challenges of the digital age. Instead of managing their IT, organizations have the ability to respond quickly to a more fast-paced and complex business landscape. With modern cloud economics, the cloud delivers business value and reduces cost, helping enterprises achieve their full business potential with their cloud spend.

Cloud computing provides a superior alternative to traditional information technology, including these areas:

Cloud customers benefit from automatically having the latest innovations and emerging technologies built into their IT systems, because the cloud provider takes on the work of developing new capabilities and features.

Its about the speed of innovation. With the right cloud provider, customers can leverage a modern cloud computing architecture to innovate faster, increase productivity, and lower costs. Better yet, choosing a cloud provider that offers an integrated cloud (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS) architecture gives businesses the ability to move from operations to innovation and deliver new apps and services, including the use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Companies can harness the abundance of data to gain predictive insights into their businesses and ultimately drive better outcomes for their customers.

Moving to the cloud removes the headaches and costs of maintaining IT security. An experienced cloud provider continually invests in the latest security technologynot only to respond to potential threats, but also to enable customers to better meet their regulatory requirements.

The best cloud providers invest in every layer of cloud security as part of their overall design across global data center regions. Such a multilayer secure cloud approach offers security at the level the customers business requires.

Business processes describe how work is done from beginning to end. They are a good way to describe how people are working together today, how they would like to work together ideally, and how their work will be shaped with the introduction of new cloud technology. With an integrated cloud solution, organizations are better equipped to manage and assess the costs and benefits of technology projects.

For organizations that struggle with disconnected business processes and data silos, the cloud offers a way to transform their business operations. With the cloud, theres no need reinvent the process wheel. Complete cloud application suites are not modular but instead are connected, eliminating data silos and enabling integration and intelligent business decisions.

Finding a cloud provider that provides all three layers of the cloudin connected and unprecedented waysis essential. Moreover, businesses need a complete, integrated platform with intelligent solutions at every layer.

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What is Cloud Computing? | Oracle

What Is Cloud Computing? | PCMag

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What is the cloud? Where is the cloud? Are we in the cloud right now? These are all questions you've probably heard or even asked yourself. The term "cloud computing" is everywhere.

In the simplest terms, cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the internet instead of your computer's hard drive. (The PCMag Encyclopedia defines it succinctly as "hardware and software services from a provider on the internet.")

Ultimately, the "cloud" is just a metaphor for the internet. It goes back to the days of flowcharts and presentations that would represent the gigantic server-farm infrastructure of the internet as nothing but apuffy cloud(Opens in a new window), accepting connections and doling out information as it floats. (And no, it doesn't have anything to do with clouds in the sky.)

(Image: Wikimedia Commons)

What cloud computing is not about is your local storage. That's when you store data on or run programs from the hard drive or your solid-state drive. Everything you need is physically close to you, which means accessing your data is fast and easy, for that one computer, or others on the local network. Working off your local drive is how the computer industry functioned for decades; some would argue it's still superior to cloud computing, for reasons I'll explain shortly.

The cloud is also not about having a dedicatednetwork attached storage (NAS) device in your house. Storing data on a home or office network does not count as utilizing the cloud. (However, some NAS devices will let you remotely access things over the internet, and there'sat least one brand from Western Digital named "My Cloud,"(Opens in a new window)just to keep things confusing.)

For it to be considered "cloud computing," you need to access your data or your programs over the internet, or at the very least, have that data synced with other information over the web. In a big business, you may know all there is to know about what's on the other side of the connection; as an individual user, you may never have any idea what kind of massive data processing is happening on the other end in a data center that uses more power in a day than your whole town does in a year. The end result is the same: With an internet connection, cloud computing can be done anywhere, anytime.

Let's be clear here. I'm talking about cloud computing as it impacts individual consumersthose of us who sit back at home or in small-to-medium offices and use the internet on a regular basis.

There is an entirely different "cloud" when it comes to business. Some businesses choose to implementSoftware-as-a-Service(SaaS), where the business subscribes to an application it accesses over the internet. It's essentially a rental. (ThinkSalesforce.com.) There's also Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), where a business can create its own custom applications for use by all in the company. And don't forget the mightyInfrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS), where players like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Rackspace provide a backbone that can be rented out by other companies. (For example, Netflix is a customer of the cloud services atAmazon AWS(Opens in a new window).)

Cloud computing is big business. Statista created this chart(Opens in a new window) in July 2021 showing Amazon's dominance in the $150 billion a year business worldwide. Just a year earlier, as the COVID-19 coronavirus shut down a lot of offices, the cloud computing market was at $100 billion. Obviously, a lot of businesses transferred things to the cloud to help keep their now-at-home staff working seamlessly. And it worked.

When it comes to home use, the lines between local computing and cloud computing sometimes blur. That's because the cloud is part of almost everything on our computers these days. You can easily have a local piece of software (for instance,Microsoft Office) that utilizes a form of cloud computing for storage (Microsoft OneDrive). Microsoft also offers a set of web-based apps,Office (aka Office for the Web), that are web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote accessed via your web browser without installing anything. That makes them a type of cloud computing (web-based=cloud).

Some other major examples of cloud computing you're probably using:

Google Drive: This is a pure cloud computing service, with all the storage found online so it can work with the cloud productivity apps: Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Google Drive is also available on more than just desktop computers; you can use it on tablets like the iPador on smartphones, which have separate apps for Docs and Sheets, as well. In fact, most Google services could be considered cloud computing: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, and so on.

Apple iCloud: Apple's cloud service is primarily used for online storage, backup, and synchronization of your mail, contacts, calendar, and more, as well as file synchronization between your Macs and iOS devices. All the data you need is available to you on your iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Windows devices (Windows users have toinstall(Opens in a new window)the iCloud control panel). Naturally, Apple won't be outdone by rivals: It offers cloud-based versions of its iWork apps such as the word processor (Pages), spreadsheet (Numbers), and presentations (Keynote) for use by any iCloud subscriber. iCloud is also part of how iPhone and AirTab users utilize the Find My iPhone feature when the handset goes missing.

Dropbox: This service has been a simple, reliable file-sync and storage service for years. It is now enhanced with lots of collaboration features (which will cost you and your business, as the free version has grown a bit skimpy).

Slack: Yes, it's considered cloud computing if you have a community of people with separate devices that need instant messaging/communication. The poster child for that is Slack, but you get the same from Microsoft Teams, Workplace by Facebook, and more. Read about them in 17 Alternatives to Slack.

The aforementioned file-synchronization/backup service, and others like Box, IDrive, and SugarSyncall work in the cloud because they store a synced version of your files online, but they also sync those files with local storage. Synchronization is a cornerstone of the cloud computing experience, even if you do access the file locally. For more, check out our roundup of theThe Best Cloud Storage and File-Syncing Services for 2020.

The prime modern example of a device that is completely cloud-centric is theChromebook. These laptops have just enough local storage and power to run Chrome OS, which essentially turns theGoogle Chrome web browser into an operating system. With a Chromebook, almost everything you do is online. Apps, media, and storage are all online. Because of that, they tend to be inexpensive and that's made them incredibly popular for education. The latest models will even run Android apps. There are also a few desktop-style ChromeOS devices, sometimes called a Chromebox.

What happens if you're somewhere without an internet connection and you need to access your data? This is one of the biggest complaints about Chrome OS, although its offline functionality has improved.

The Chromebook isn't the first product to try this approach. So-called "dumb terminals" that lack local storage and connect to a local server or mainframe go back decades. The first internet-only product attempts included the oldNIC (New Internet Computer), theNetpliance iOpener, and the disastrous3Com Ergo Audrey. You could argue they all debuted well before their timedial-up speeds of the 1990s had training wheels compared with the accelerated broadband internet connections of today.

That's why many would argue that cloud computing works at all. The connection to the internet is as fast as the connection to the hard drive. At least for some of us.

In a 2013 edition of his feature What if?, xkcd-cartoonist (and former NASA roboticist) Randall Monroe tried to answer the question of "Whenif everwill the bandwidth of the internet surpass that of FedEx?"(Opens in a new window) The question was posed because no matter how great your broadband connection, it's still cheaper to send a package of hundreds of gigabytes of data via FedEx's "sneakernet" of planes and trucks than it is to try and send it over the internet. (The answer, Monroe concluded, is the year 2040.)

Some pundits took that as an implicit critique of cloud computing. Because the speed and cost of local storage outstrip using a wide-area network connection controlled by a telecom company (your ISP).

That's the rub. The ISPs, telcos, and media companies control your access. Putting all your faith in the cloud means you're also putting all your faith in continued, unfettered access. You might get it, but it'll cost you. The more bandwidth you use, the more it costs.

Maybe you trust those corporations. That's fine, but there are plenty of other arguments against going into the cloud whole hog. Consider the potential for crashes. When there are problems at a company like Amazon, which provides cloud infrastructure to big-name companies like Netflix and Pinterest, it can take out all those services. And more: When Amazon's S3 storage service got misconfigured in 2017, it took out a hefty chunk of the entire internet across the board. It happened again in select regions in December 2021. The problems typically last for only hours, but that's not much consolation at the time.

To be honest, it doesn't matter. Cloud computing may be a bit like the Wild West, where the rules are made up as you go, and you hope for the best, but it's here to stay.

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What Is Cloud Computing? | PCMag

Cloud Computing: Global Overview – Lexology

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This article is an extract from GTDT Cloud Computing 2023. Click here for the full guide.

So where does the cloud market find itself in mid 2022? It is always illuminating to look back over the past year and pull out some trends and what these may mean for the cloud computing sector in 2023.

The market overall

Gartner again predicts yet more growth in spending on public cloud services, with its April 2022 figures forecasting 20.4 per cent growth in 2022, taking spending to US$494.7 billion and estimating that end-user spending will reach nearly US$600 billion in 2023. Software as a service (SaaS) remains the largest public cloud services market segment, forecasted to reach US$176.6 billion in end-user spending in 2022. Cloud providers are also driving revenue from emerging technologies in cloud computing such as hyperscale edge computing and secure access service edge. A 2021 Markets and Markets report estimates that the global computing market size could reach US$947 billion by 2026, with the hybrid cloud segment to be the larger contributor to the overall size of the cloud computing market. A Flexera user survey indicates that 8 per cent of all respondents spend more than US$60 million, and more than half spend over US$2.4 million on public cloud each year (with public cloud spend even more significant among larger organisations).

Interestingly, some investors are querying whether cloud company revenue growth will continue on the trajectory predicted by market analysts. Data from Bessemer Venture Partners Cloud 100 index does show revenue multiples for cloud companies dropping significantly as between June 2021 and June 2022 but whether this marks a long-term downward trend or just reflects a return to historical norms after covid remains to be seen.

And zooming out further, it is uncertain whether the current geopolitical climate will affect investor sentiment in new tech and if this will have consequences for the cloud computing model. Given it is cheaper, and allows for scaleability, will this shield the sector from the effects of a prolonged economic downturn? Or does it mean there is no room for further efficiency savings to be made? This could also have a knock-on impact on investment in other new tech (such as blockchain, AI) and potentially increase appetite for business process outsourcing or offshoring or increased regional spread of data processing or hosting activity across a country.

Key markets

Its also worth looking at the key global markets for cloud to see changes in adoption patterns and emerging trends. MIT Technology Reviews Global Cloud Ecosystem Index 2022 assesses four themes (infrastructure, ecosystem adoption, security and assurance and talent) and their role in promoting the availability of cloud services worldwide. It ranks 76 nations and territories on the technology, regulations and talent they use to promote cloud computing services. Singapore leads the Index overall, given its cloud-first strategy (begun in 2018) that has benefited from a central government commitment and an ability to cultivate collaboration and cooperation across a nationwide digital transformation project. After Singapore, the rest of the Indexs top 10 places are taken by European countries that seek to balance the rights of digital consumers (by means of the EU General Data Protection Regulation) and also make determined efforts to tackle monopolistic practices in the tech sector. Singapores digital transformation means it now has an estimated 600 government systems in the cloud, and Microsoft has recently been engaged by its safety and defence departments to develop a sovereign cloud.

What about those countries ranked lower in the Index? African nations form 7 of the 10 lowest ranked countries, predominantly due to the continents sparse broadband and data centre resources. It is estimated that to serve its increasing computing needs, the continent must develop 700 data centres, yet there are currently only 80 in service, and 70 per cent of that capacity sits in a single country (South Africa). We are seeing public commitments of US$2 billion to build more data centres (with African technology firms such as Africa Data Centres committing funds to expand the data centre network). Google Cloud also announced a dedicated US$1 billion five-year investment across Africa to support digital transformation efforts.

It is worth considering whether the distribution of data centres (and the attendant growth of cloud computing) will be affected by the new geographical markets for operators. We are seeing existing operators increasingly encouraged to relocate or move their operations to developing countries to take advantage of lower wage costs and renting costs. At the same time, the EU is concerned to promote data localisation to maintain EU data sovereignty in respect of EU citizens personal data, which is driving partitioning of cloud service provider markets. Amid this, are there opportunities for smaller operators to exploit niche opportunities?

Trends in cloud use

Increased demand for cloud services reflects too a diversification in the use of cloud infrastructure services (particularly in healthcare and the public sector). The impact of the pandemic is still being felt, with cloud used to support permanent patterns of remote working, learning, gaming and streaming, as well as now entrenched patterns of consumer online purchasing. We also anticipate that early adopter interest in the metaverse will continue to drive demand for scaleable cloud services, as will more cloud-native application development. This growing use case will need to be supported by continued investment in cloud resource, and while the lifting of pandemic restrictions in most parts of the world has led to increased market confidence, the sharp economic shock that has followed Russias invasion of Ukraine and the dramatic spike in oil and commodities prices may temper the rampant rate of growth in IT investment in 2022 and 2023.

Recent Cloud Industry Forum research also underlines the integral role that the cloud continues to play in the ongoing transformation of businesses. Almost all respondents (96 per cent) said cloud has saved their organisation money. Despite this, 37per cent said that it is easier to source CAPEX budget than OPEX, suggesting that more needs to be done help businesses move away from older, less flexible CAPEX models. It is also clear that businesses consider cloud very important or critical for digital transformation (given its reliability in supporting technological development in the face of the pandemic and the recent economic downturn) global health. It also appears that hybrid IT is the direction of travel for most organisations. The average proportion of IT infrastructure located in cloud is now 48 per cent, which is actually a decline from 50 per cent in 2020. While only a small reduction, it suggests that barriers to further adoption remain, possibly exacerbated by the pandemic.

Market dominance

Long-term dominance of the cloud market by the top 5 IaaS providers is now being scrutinised by the regulators, given that the market is deep, but not at all broad. June 2022 Gartner figures suggest Amazon retained the No. 1 position in the IaaS market in 2021, followed by Microsoft, Alibaba, Google and Huawei, with the top 5 providers accounting for over 80 per cent of the market in 2021. Amazon continued to lead the worldwide IaaS market with revenue of $35.4 billion in 2021 and 38.9 per cent market share. Alibaba (the third-largest provider) leads the Chinese cloud market, it is also poised to be the leading regional provider in Indonesia, Malaysia, and other emerging cloud markets. Commentators are expressing disquiet about the consolidation of the worlds digital ecosystem in the hands of an incredibly small cohort of companies. Analysts at Canalys estimate that nearly two-thirds of cloud infrastructure spend was captured by the worlds top three hyperscale providers (such that US$6 in every US$10 spent on cloud infrastructure is spent on AWS, Microsoft or Google). Synergy Research Group research estimates that Amazons worldwide cloud infrastructure market amounted to 33 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, still exceeding the combined market share of its two largest competitors, Microsoft and Google. Amazon and Microsoft accounted for more than half of cloud infrastructure revenues in the final three months of 2021, with the eight largest providers controlling roughly 80 per cent of the market.

Regulatory authorities worldwide are using policy tools to temper dominance in the cloud market. From the proposal for the EUs new Data Act, which mandates greater interoperability and data portability (and may limit or prohibit fees being charged when consumers switch service provider) to Gaia-X, a European initiative for a common software and governance framework for cloud and edge services, and the EU antitrust investigation into Broadcoms US$69 billion acquisition of VMware, EU regulators are squaring up to cloud providers to limit harms to consumers arising from a heavily concentrated cloud service provider marketplace. The US regulators (working under a more pro-antitrust administration in the White House) are looking at legislation which could limit the market power of the largest tech companies (by restricting established players from providing preferential treatment to their own products and services over their competitors, targeting their ownership of online platforms in combination with other lines of business, generally preventing large cloud computing players (eg, Amazon, Google, etc) from acquiring current and/or future competitor). These reforms appear a step closer, following publication of the US House Judiciary Committees final report on theInvestigation of Competition in Digital Markets. This includes proposals to restore competition in the digital economy (introducing structural separation and prohibition of certain dominant platforms from operating in adjacent lines of business, non-discrimination requirements, interoperability and data portability requirements, prohibitions on abuses of superior bargaining power) and plans to strengthen antitrust laws, as well as ensuring robust enforcement of US antitrust laws. In addition, in April 2022, the Department of Justice initiated an in-depth investigation into Googles $5.4 billion proposed acquisition of security advisory and incident response firm Mandiant Inc. The US could therefore see more Department of Justice involvement and some form of federal legislation impacting Big Tech and the principal cloud services providers in the near future. The UK is also looking at the lack of competition between iOS and Android app stores (which means that app developers must write for both app stores), as well as the impact on the development of cloud-based apps, especially cloud gaming apps.

Increased regulatory scrutiny

We saw last year signs the wind was changing. Developments this year include a June 2022 UK Treasury policy paper, which examines the role that critical third parties play in the financial services infrastructure, and a July 2022 discussion paper DP3/22 seeking feedback. Highlighting the potential for significant disruption (and increased financial stability risks) in circumstances where many firms rely on the same third party, the Financial Conduct Authority is likely to be granted direct oversight over certain key services provided to the finance sector. Service providers may also be required to meet minimum resiliency standards and make increased information disclosure to the regulator. It is widely anticipated that the power to designate businesses as critical third parties will target in large part the major cloud service providers, and the paper itself highlights the risk posed by the sectors dependency on a small number of providers, noting that, as of 2020, Bank of England research indicated that over 65% of UK firms used the same four cloud providers for cloud infrastructure services. How far this will require the largest cloud service providers to open their doors to regulators remains unknown, although the FCA is likely to be granted powers to enter premises (with a warrant).

A mid-2021 UK consultation on supply chain cybersecurity has also led to the launch of a new government strategy. Both the EU and the UK are separately considering revising the Network and Information Systems Regulations, again to tighten up perceived gaps in cybersecurity defences. The UK consultation focuses on supply chain cybersecurity risks, in particular, those posed by the mass adoption of managed services. These service providers have the ability to access the networks of thousands of other companies. A vulnerability in one such service provider then risks exposing the networks of all its customers and potentially jeopardises the running of critical infrastructure a classic weakest link effect. The EUs approach is sector-based, expanding the remit of NIS to cover all medium and large organisations across a number of sectors, as well as addressing cybersecurity of the ICT supply chain, covering business-to-business ICT service management. The EUs proposals need to be viewed in the context of its other sectoral developments, such as the proposed Directive on the resilience of critical entities (CER Directive) and the proposed Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The interplay between the UK and EU reforms looks set to lead to divergent scopes and reporting obligations, as well as the need to designate NIS representatives in both the UK and EU.

The UKs NIS reform proposals should also be seen in the context of the UKs ambitious cybersecurity strategy for 20222030 launched in January 2022. Separately, it has developed proposals on enhancing the security of connected smart devices (the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill currently before Parliament) and a drive to train more cyber professionals. The UK is also taking a look at data centre security, in May 2022 launching a consultation on the UKs data storage and processing infrastructure, such as data centre infrastructure, cloud platform infrastructure and managed service provider infrastructure, (given the strategic importance of data and the UKs reliance on large-scale data storage and processing services to deliver essential services).

But the dependence on cloud (and the need to rely on it to deliver innovation and savings) cuts both ways the UK chancellor in his 2022 Spring Statement confirmed that from April 2023, all cloud computing costs associated with R&D, including storage, will qualify for R&D tax relief.

From a data protection angle, there are also signs of increased regulator interest, with the Danish data protection authority investigating two Danish public authorities over their cloud use and personal data transfers to third countries, and is also to examine private company use of cloud in the coming months. The French authority (the CNIL) has also indicated that investigating cloud computing technologies will be a priority in 2022, alongside the February 2022 launch of the European Data Protection Boards first coordinated enforcement, which will look at the use of cloud-based services by the public sector, and report by the end of 2022. This investigation will survey 80 public bodies across the EEA (and across a range of sectors) to identify challenges with GDPR compliance when using cloud-based services (such as international transfers of personal data).

Broader issues

The dominance of cloud as a technology means cloud providers also have to grapple with larger societal and political challenges, the most pressing of which are environmental sustainability in the cloud context and data sovereignty and related privacy concerns.

Whilst a UK Cloud Industry Forum report found 84 per cent of respondents stating that ESG credentials are important factors in cloud procurement, when ranked alongside other factors, ESG and sustainability rank much lower, cited by just 25 per cent of respondents. Unsurprisingly, cost is the most widely mentioned consideration, then range of services, trust, ability to scale and the speed of response of a chosen cloud managed service provider. A recent blog by Google Clouds director for global sustainability highlights the risks of greenwashing, a practice also under scrutiny from regulators globally, such as the UKs Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority. The UK governments Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is advising firms to use cloud to reduce their carbon emissions. We are also seeing more customers set ESG ratings that their suppliers must meet (such as Deutsche Banks new mandatory ESG ratings for suppliers, for high-value contracts). Data centres are also looking at sustainability issues, given that it is estimated they use about 1 per cent of the global electricity demand and contribute to 0.3 per cent of all CO2 emissions. Reducing energy consumption used to cool data centres (or using renewable energy sources) is an objective but a consortium of software developers (Green Software Foundation) is looking at developing greener code to design more energy-efficient software.

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Cloud Computing: Global Overview - Lexology

Ampere Computing Leads In Cloud Deployments As The Only Arm-Based Merchant Cloud Computing Platform – Forbes

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Cloud computing and network security concept, 3d rendering,conceptual image.

Wednesday, September 14th Arm held a press conference to announce the latest updates to the roadmap for its server CPUs, which the company calls Neoverse cores. The key revelation at the press conference was the V2 core (code-named Demeter), which will power Nvidias Grace CPU for high-performance computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads.

The Arm Neoverse V, N, and E-series cores target three different performance and power tradeoffs. V-cores deliver higher performance per core at higher power and larger die area. E-cores are designed to be significantly more power and die space efficient. The N-cores fall between the other two types of cores with a balance of performance, scale and power. Arm updated the roadmaps for the three types of Neoverse CPU cores with support for the latest platform technologies: PCIe (gen 5 and 6), CXL (2.0 and 3.0), and DDR5 memory.

Arm discussed several new key customer design wins including Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud but, these companies all use Ampere Altra products. Ampere Computing is the only CPU company presently shipping merchant (independent) Arm server chips for cloud service providers.

For those not familiar with the company, its a privately held start up led by Founder, Chairman, and CEO Rene J. James. She founded the company in 2017 after serving as President of Intel. She was also the first female General Manager of an Intel business unit and the companys first woman Executive Vice President. She founded the company with the mission to fill the gap in cloud computing and built a team that included veterans from Intel, Sun Micro, and other leading companies.

Rene J. James, Founder/Chairman & CEO of Ampere Computing

Ampere Computing has launched two products over the last two years: the 80-core Ampere Altra in 2020 and the 128-core Ampere Altra Max in 2021. The company has already sampled its newest product, the AmpereOne, to customers earlier this year. While Ampere Computing used Arms Neoverse N1 cores for its Altra line to get to market faster, the companys real goal was to develop its own CPU cores using only an Arm ISA license.

The Ampere Altra family has proven that it is possible to instantiate more CPU cores per socket and still achieve lower power consumption using leading-edge 7nm process technology compared with competing server processor cores. This is a very appealing value proposition for cloud service providers as they can run more instances per rack and per Watt. The Ampere Altra Max packs 128 physical cores on one die and the performance of those cores scale linearly because Amperes server chip design is optimized for cloud scaling using an intelligent mesh network-on-chip (NOC) and plenty of I/O and memory bandwidth. Each CPU core is designed with a sizeable cache and consistently fast clock speed. The chips power efficiency allows it to maintain consistent performance under heavy workloads.

Modern cloud infrastructure needs to be scalable and must extend seamlessly beyond the main data center. Hybrid multi-cloud architectures require resources that are distributed from hyperscale data centers, on-prem private clouds, edge resources, and all points in between. The Ampere Cloud Native processing is optimized for such a distributed environment with consistent performance and low power.

Arm-based cloud instances are making significant market share gains based largely on Ampere CPU chips. While the interest in Arm-based cloud instances was first felt with the early AWS Graviton instances released in 2018, the real growth has recently been driven by companies using Ampere Altra processors. Oracle Cloud was one of the first to embrace Ampere chips, but more recently, in September, Microsoft released new Ampere-based Azure virtual machines and Google Cloud released a T2A preview instance in August, also based on Ampere CPUs. HPE announced an Ampere-based ProLiant system at HPE Discover in July and European web hosting company Hetzner announced Ampere-based instances in August.

The application for low-power compute based on Ampere server chips extends to autonomous driving the Cruise autonomous car development platform uses an Altra processor to reduce power consumption while still achieving the required compute performance. Arm-based servers are also perfect for supporting Android cloud gaming. For example, Nvidia and Ampere are working together on a project called AICAN (Android-in-Cloud-with-Ampere-and-NVIDIA). The AICAN server platform uses Ampere Altra Processors and NVIDIA GPUs that run Arm-compatible Android mobile games natively, without modification or emulation. One more example: the ability to lower operating costs and yet provide more cores allows Red Bull Racing to use Oracle Cloud and Ampere Altra for better and faster race simulations.

Arm-based server market share is growing, especially in cloud instances. While AWS has designed its own Arm-based Graviton processor, many other cloud service providers have leaned on Ampere Altra products to pack more CPU cores per rack and to lower operating costs, without investing in a server CPU design team. Amperes server chips give them all the benefits without the risk.

Arms new Neoverse roadmap, Alibaba Yitian 710, AWS Graviton 3, Nvidias Grace, and Amperes AmpereOne are leading to a robust Arm server ecosystem. While the Alibaba and AWS chips are designed strictly for internal use, and the Nvidia Grace chip is targeting HPC and AI workloads, the Ampere Computing chips are focused on bringing predictable high performance and efficiency to the cloud and the network edge.

The Ampere Computing solution should be getting even more attractive with the AmpereOne, which uses a new, custom CPU core, based on the Arm instruction set but wholly designed by the companys experienced design team and manufactured with an advanced, 5nm process technology. Details of AmpereOne are still forthcoming. Meanwhile, Ampere Computing is only getting started in its plans to lead cloud server development and deployment.

Update: New picture of Rene J. James

Tirias Research tracks and consults for companies throughout the electronics ecosystem from semiconductors to systems and sensors to the cloud. Members of the Tirias Research team have consulted for AMD, Ampere, Arm, Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Synopsys, and other companies throughout the cloud and IP ecosystems.

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Ampere Computing Leads In Cloud Deployments As The Only Arm-Based Merchant Cloud Computing Platform - Forbes

Paper-Less, LLC Hires Experienced SaaS Executive to Advance Into Cloud Computing and Industry 4.0 – PR Newswire

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HARTLAND, Wis., Sept. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Paper-Less, LLC, a software development company that brings real time visibility into smart factory technology sectors, has announced Vern Hanzlik as President of Paper-Less, LLC.

Paper-Less, LLC is expanding its cloud-based MV2 Manufacturing Execution System (MES) platform that supports Industry 4.0, AI and IIoT technologies. Mr. Hanzlik was the perfect candidate for his deep industry knowledge of SaaS and other cutting-edge technologies to support the company's expansion.

Hanzlik's career spans 30 years of experience in developing and bringing to market industry-leading software solutions. He's held numerous leadership roles and his most recent tenure was the last eight years as CEO, President and Board Member of Qumu, an enterprise SaaS video software platform company. Also, Hanzlik was an investor, Board Member and President of Sajan Software a SaaS based TMS (Translation Management System) Platform.

Prior to that, he co-founded Stellent, an enterprise content management software company that was acquired by Oracle in 2006 for $440 million and became the basis of Oracle's E2.0 Fusion Middleware offering. His last 25 years have been specifically in software development.

"The Paperless organization has the right formula for great success and growth starting with the great customer base with our MES platform, which has the ability to transition to cloud computing plus expand our reach into the digital transformation for the manufacturing market space. Additionally, the experience and culture of the company which is a testimony to their success and all the deep industry experience of our people in the business. I'm excited to be here and help the organization progress to the next level."

Paper-Less' manufacturing execution system roadmap is aimed at providing the keystone for small and medium-sized manufacturing businesses to utilize the advanced data and control technologies available today and in the future. With these technologies and Hanzlik at the helm, Paper-Less' new and existing customers will be able to increase their efficiency and competitiveness on a global stage.

"Our most important resource is our long-trusted relationships with our customers," mentions Erin Bonde, Corporate Director, Operations & Communications, "Selecting a new president to support, expand and evolve our MES software solutions is key to both the company and our customers' success."

Paper-Less, LLC has been developing and implementing MES solutions for over 35 years and has a long-standing commitment to over 250+ customers worldwide. As the technology industry transforms, Paper-Less continues to embrace innovation, provide smart solutions, and retain a long-standing commitment to customers.

If you'd like more information or would like to set up a time to interview Mr. Hanzlik, please contact the information below.

Contact:Eric FescenmeyerPhone:262.567.9240Email: [emailprotected]

SOURCE Paper-Less, LLC

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Paper-Less, LLC Hires Experienced SaaS Executive to Advance Into Cloud Computing and Industry 4.0 - PR Newswire

3 cost trends in cloud computing today – VentureBeat

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Application modernization efforts that support the aggressive rollout of digital strategies have paved the way for accelerated cloud adoption. This has resulted in enterprises spending a higher percentage of their IT budgets in the cloud. To scale the cost of doing business in the cloud effectively, enterprises need to understand the underlying reasons their costs are increasing.

A study by Andreessen Horowitz found enterprises are typically spending 20% more on public-cloud infrastructure than expected. The unpredictability of enterprise cloud spend is driven by three key factors: more applications being delivered with multi-cloud, increased charges from cloud service providers (CSP) for pay-as-you-consume services, and cloud waste.

The last three years have seen a tremendous rise in the use of cloud computing as companies have more fully embraced this technology to address the challenges of the global pandemic, including distributed workforces and the ever-expanding digital footprints needed to deliver better employee and customer experiences. The State of Multi-Cloud Infrastructure Report and Application eXperience Infrastructure Study (AXIS) found that spending on cloud accounted for 31% of overall IT budgets in the US last year. Similarly, International Data Corporation (IDC) showed that spending on cloud infrastructure increased 13.5% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2021 to $21.1 billion, marking the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

IDC further predicted that by the end of 2022, cloud spending will outpace non-cloud IT infrastructure spending for the first time. As enterprises have shifted from short-term requirements focused on connectivity to digital strategies for long-term growth, there is an increasing focus on application modernization and increasing lift and shift strategies backended by the cloud. In fact, the AXIS study revealed that nearly half of enterprises anticipate more than 75% of their applications will be in the cloud within 12 months.

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In March, Google Cloud announced significant price increases across a number of core services under the guise of wanting to provide more flexible pricing models and options. However, all cloud service providers (CSPs) have increased prices to varying degrees. This can be attributed to the chip shortages that gained national headlines last year as well as the rising cost of goods due to supply chain issues and inflation that were all experiencing now. The war in Ukraine has only exacerbated the problem as Ukraine produces 70% of the worlds supply of neon gas used in semiconductor lithography.

Another key challenge of managing cloud costs for enterprises are hidden egress costs. While most cloud providers dont typically charge to transfer data into the cloud (ingress), they do charge for data egress in most situations. Data egress occurs whenever your applications write data out to your network or whenever you repatriate data back to your on-premises environment. In a recent conversation I had with a prominent industry analyst, he noted that he is receiving more and more calls from clients about cloud egress. Just how high are these costs?

Lets look at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which generates an incredible amount of data every year. An internal audit expects data collection to increase eight-fold by 2026 and expand to 247 petabytes. The audit concludes that fees from moving data from the cloud present potential risks that scientific data may be less available and warns that NASA may need to impose limits on the amount of data egress to control costs. Surprise data egress fees from multiple cloud providers can prevent enterprises from using the best cloud provider or, like NASA, from imposing data limits in an effort to reduce billing complexity. However, a single-cloud strategy can entail other risks, like vendor lock-in and missed innovation opportunities.

Another area that often creates challenges for enterprises comes from cloud shadows the adoption of SaaS, IaaS and PaaS without ITs knowledge. Similar to subscriptions in our personal life streaming services, budgeting tools, gym memberships etc. only when you see the bill do you realize you are paying for services you no longer use. The same holds true in business. Large enterprises have different teams using the cloud to build and test applications and put them into production. But who is watching to ensure these cloud environments get turned off when they are no longer in use after a test, or when an application becomes dormant because it is no longer needed or gets replaced?

While some enterprises have standardized on one cloud service provider, its increasingly common that enterprises are embracing multi-cloud. In fact, a study by Flexera found that 92% of enterprises have done so to boost innovation and improve customer experience. However, different teams choose different CSPs based on personal preference or familiarity, and because they offer different features and are available in different cloud regions. This adds another layer of difficulty for enterprises as they work to track costs and budget accordingly.

While managing cloud costs may seem daunting, the solution is actually well within the reach of all organizations. The key is to develop a strategy and deploy tools that offer real-time, end-to-end visibility across your entire cloud environment with ML-delivered insights, recommendations and automation.

Tools that provide end-to-end visibility enable enterprises to identify cloud egress costs, see which applications are underutilized or dormant and turn off cloud region instances that arent in use. Greater visibility is key to successfully migrating to the cloud and managing the enterprise cloud footprint. It allows enterprises to easily identify where it makes sense to spend more if performance improves and can provide greater ROI. For example: lets say you open a new office in Australia. Turning on a cloud region close to the new office could deliver 50% better performance at a cost of $1,000 per month. This approach leads to better understanding of cloud usage and pattern matching, giving enterprises the ability to better manage cloud costs and predict future cloud spend.

As more C-suites are asking how each departments spend contributes to the success of the business, enterprises should seek cloud-agnostic vendors with tools that give them complete visibility into cloud cost and spend. Having a better understanding of the cloud environment only helps lines of business and IT leaders show how the cloud contributes to growth.

Mehul Patel is Head of Marketing and Customer Insights and Intelligence at Prosimo.

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3 cost trends in cloud computing today - VentureBeat

The Importance of Cloud Services in Education – Baseline

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In its early days, cloud computing was used primarily by tech-friendly and technology-related businesses. It is now making its presence felt in non-technology-related fields as well.Cloud services in the education field have been expanding rapidly. Educational institutions are making the transformation from traditional classroom-based learning systems to cloud-based systems quickly. Cloud solutions help create a flexible learning environment supported by strong and authentic security standards. This allows educational institutions to offer a broader and more scalable curriculum.

With online schooling gaining popularity, educational institutions are leveraging the power of cloud computing on a larger scale. It makes collaboration more accessible and allows students and teachers to access updated learning tools from anywhere. Most importantly, it is a time-saver.

Cloud computing is gaining importance in the education sector for the following reasons:

A cloud platform makes accessing educational resources easier for students and teachers. The same books, modules, and learning materials are available, regardless of the device used. This eliminates the need for physical textbooks. For students, only one device is needed for all subjects, making learning more convenient.

Teachers and educators also enjoy this benefit. They can upload coursework from anywhere, and it can be updated too effortlessly. Teachers can work from school or home as per need and convenience.

Another advantage is that changes in course material can be reverted and accessed for reference. Most cloud platforms keep multiple versions of a document in the database. This can come in handy when a user accidentally deletes some portion of a file or the entire document.

Users can collaborate in real time in the cloud. So, all students can work on the same assignment from the comfort of their homes. Also, indisposed students can catch up on lessons and homework. This enhanced collaboration certainly is beneficial for teachers too. They can share lesson plans with other faculty members or get instant feedback on projects. Additionally, working with different departments and schools is more convenient and less time-consuming.

Cloud computing in education is a proven time-saver for all concerned. As every activity is performed simultaneously and instantly, teachers and students can help save time. Many tasks that do not require students and teachers to travel to the schools can be done remotely. Lessons can be drawn up and completed quickly. Teachers can work at their convenience commuting, late at night, or even during holidays.

Cloud-based apps and platforms are simple and user-friendly, allowing schools to lessen other IT tasks.

Cloud computing is the perfect platform for students unable to attend traditional learning institutions. For example, working professionals may not get time during the week to participate in classes. They can access the study materials uploaded in the cloud at their convenience, after office hours or on weekends.

Some students who live in villages with few schooling options can study through online schooling. They can choose the school and the courses they want and use cloud computing resources to gain an education.

Cloud computing education can be a more cost-efficient option for traditional learning from famous institutions. Users can lower the hardware costs. As cloud apps are compatible with most devices, students and teachers dont need to invest in hi-tech devices. Cloud platforms also help reduce the use of paper. Institutions can also save heavily on photocopiers, printers, file cabinets, etc.

Many vendors offer their cloud services on a subscription basis or in a pay-as-you-go format. Educational institutions can begin with small investments initially and add more premium features or data storage on a need basis.

One of the most significant advantages of cloud computing is the availability of increased storage for less cost. You wont need any physical storage peripherals. You can also enjoy the option of automatically saving changes in the files and backing up several versions of your files. This is a huge boon for students and teachers. They know they will not lose any study material. It also guarantees uninterrupted coaching.

Cloud computing in the educational sector is not only about moving to the cloud or data storage and management. These aspects are a boon. However, there are other benefits that educational institutions can enjoy.

In the past, cloud service users had to invest heavily in software licenses and upgrades. Yet, with the availability of Software-as-a-Service technology, it is easy to access software solutions at a low and fixed monthly cost.

Educational institutions need not rely on expensive servers and end-user devices as in the past. Students and teachers rely less on agnostic and affordable cloud solutions. So, they access it from anywhere.

Cloud-based educational solutions can be accessed remotely. Likewise, students no longer have to go to school in fixed time slots. Indeed, they can access the educational material and teachers remotely by switching to the cloud system.

Cloud computing allows study materials and immediate updates placed within students reach. Teachers can establish that students are learning with their best study materials.

Cloud computing is making learning more accessible across the world. Likewise, more institutions are embracing cloud services in education. It makes learning more straightforward, affordable, and easily adaptable for students and teachers. So, if you, too, are contemplating a transition from traditional learning to cloud-based learning, make sure you research the available options. Also, look at the technology they use in detail. Certainly choosing the right cloud services in education benefits the needs of your teachers and students.

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The Importance of Cloud Services in Education - Baseline