Monthly Archives: April 2021

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "Leadership Quadrant of Millimeter Wave Technology Suppliers - 2021" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The millimeter wave technology manufacture landscape is diverse and continually evolving. Major players in millimeter wave technology market have diversified product portfolios, strong geographical reach, and have made several strategic initiatives. The dynamics of the millimeter wave technology market extends beyond routine macro-economic elements of supply and demand. It is the relationship between buyer's needs and seller's capabilities as well as the macroeconomic forces at work that affect the market. It is how well and how efficiently the sellers meet the needs of the buyers that determine long-term success.

Over the years, the level of demand for millimeter wave technology has increased due to growing mobile data traffic and demand for bandwidth-intensive applications. Millimeter wave technology is used for a variety of end-use industries, such as mobile and telecommunication, consumer and commercial, healthcare, industrial, automotive and transportation, military, defense and aerospace, and imaging and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 35%. The major growth drivers for this market are growing mobile data traffic and demand for bandwidth-intensive applications, increasing use of millimeter wave in small-cell backhaul networks, and increasing demand for innovative applications in radar and security applications.

Firms that produce millimeter wave technology are approaching market opportunities with starkly different strategies. The analyst, a leading global management consulting and market research firm, has analyzed the global millimeter wave technology suppliers and has come up with a comprehensive research report, "Leadership Quadrant and Strategic Positioning of Millimeter Wave Technology Suppliers". Using its proprietary research methodology, the analyst has developed a comparative analysis tool, the 'Leadership Quadrant,' which identifies leaders, contenders, visionaries, and specialists in the millimeter wave technology market and rates each millimeter wave technology producer.

This report also offers a full competitive analysis from target markets to product mapping, from selling strategies to production capabilities. In this research study, eight companies such as Ridgewave, E-Band, Lightpointe, Siklu, Vubiq Networks, Loea, Renaissance, and Millivision. The eight profiled manufacturers are grouped in the quadrant. The leadership quadrant analyzes the relative strength among these players. The leadership quadrant addresses the need in the market for manufacturer evaluation based on objective data and metrics.

A total of 60 figures/charts and 6 tables are provided in this 140-pages report to help in your business decisions.

This report answers the following key questions:

Key Topics Covered:

1. Leadership Analysis

1.1: Market Description

1.2: Scoring Criteria

1.3: Leadership Quadrant Analysis

1.3.1: Leaders (Top Right)

1.3.2: Contenders (Bottom Right)

1.3.3: Visionaries (Top Left)

1.3.4: Specialists (Lower Left)

2. Competitive Benchmarking

2.1: Product Portfolio Analysis

2.2: Financial Strength

2.3: Market Share Analysis

2.3.1: Market Share in Various Segments

2.3.2: Market Share in Various Regions

3. Ridgewave Profile

3.1: Company Overview

3.1.1: Ridgewave Company Description and Business Segments

3.1.2: Ridgewave Company Statistics

3.2: Millimeter Wave Technology Business Overview

3.2.1: Millimeter Wave Technology Business Segment

3.2.2: Global Millimeter Wave Technology Operations

3.2.3: Key Differentiators and Strengths

3.3: Products and Product Positioning

3.3.1: Product Line Overview

3.3.2: Millimeter Wave Technology Product Mapping

3.3.3: Product Positioning in Market Segments

3.4: Markets and Market Positioning

3.4.1: Market Position in Global Millimeter Wave Technology Business

3.5: Revenue Breakdown by Market Segments

3.6: Revenue Breakdown by Regions

3.7: Production

3.7.1: Global Manufacturing Operations

3.8: Innovation and Market Leadership

3.9: Marketing, Sales, and Organizational Capabilities

3.9.1: Marketing and Sales

3.9.2: Management Commitment and Track Record

3.10: Financial Strength

4. E-Band Profile

5. Lightpointe Profile

6. Siklu Profile

7. Vubiq Networks Profile

8. Loea Profile

9. Renaissance Profile

10. Millivision Profile

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y5wm06

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2021 Leadership Quadrant of Millimeter Wave Technology Suppliers - 8 Companies Included Such as Ridgewave, E-Band and Lightpointe -...

The technology used in two of the coronavirus vaccines authorized by the Food and Drug Administration might enable scientists to develop flu shots in record time as well as make vaccines that could be more effective and protect against numerous flu strains for years at a time.

The messenger-RNA technology used in the Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines would be a leap forward for flu shots, some of which still rely on a process developed in the 1950s involving chickens, petri dishes and dead viruses.

Researchers are hopeful that the success of those coronavirus vaccines will grease the wheels for mRNA flu shots and help expedite what is typically a lengthy process involving years of research, clinical trials and regulatory review and approval.

Its a very obvious progression given the success of the COVID-19 vaccine to move right to flu, said Andrew Pekosz, a professor of microbiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

But researchers say the development and approval of an mRNA flu shot could take some time.

The idea that scientists can use messenger RNA for medical therapeutics is not new. Flu shots using mRNA technology have been in development for years.

In 2018, for example, Pfizer and BioNTech announced a partnership to start developing an mRNA vaccine that would prevent influenza. Moderna is working on a number of different mRNA vaccines, including one for the flu.

But using mRNA for vaccines shifted from experimental to critical last year. With a pressing need spurred by a global pandemic and billions of dollars in funding for vaccine development, scientists were able to repurpose their knowledge of mRNA to develop coronavirus vaccines.

People who were slogging away for many years had money thrown at them to get it done. And they became laser-focused to bring something to market that would have ordinarily taken years, said Paul Duprex, director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh.

Currently, the most common influenza vaccine that is available in the U.S. is manufactured using an inactivated, or killed, virus and administered via a shot in the arm. But there is also a vaccine that uses a live, but weakened, virus and is given in the form of a nasal mist.

The flu viruses for these vaccines are grown in chicken eggs or cells inside a petri dish. The viruses are then killed or weakened, and the resulting proteins the important ingredient in the vaccine are purified. When the shot is administered, the immune system starts making antibodies against those proteins.

But the mRNA vaccine is very, very different, Pekosz said, explaining that mRNA vaccines can teach the immune system to fight a virus without ever coming into contact with it. They can also generate a much stronger immune response than responses that are generated to the protein in a normal flu vaccine, he added.

One limitation of the current flu vaccines is that they take about six months to develop, meaning scientists must choose which strains they think will be prevalent in the next flu season even before the current one is over.

So, by the time the vaccines are ready for distribution, a different strain may have emerged as the better target.

An mRNA flu vaccine, on the other hand, can be developed in about a month or so, giving researchers plenty more time to determine which strains to protect against in the future.

All of this means you can much more accurately match an mRNA flu vaccine to the strains of virus that are circulating, Pekosz said.

Messenger RNA vaccines still present challenges. The Pfizer and Moderna coronavirus vaccines, for example, must be kept at extremely cold temperatures, making transport and storage a challenge. Its also not clear how long this vaccine-induced immunity will last.

And although most side effects to the vaccine are not serious, some people have reported several days of things such as fatigue, body aches and nausea as their immune systems gear up to attack the coronavirus.

Still, researchers say mRNA vaccines are a success. And because the mRNA vaccine platform that was used for the coronavirus vaccines is almost exactly the same platform needed for the flu, everything that has worked so beautifully for COVID-19 could theoretically work in exactly the same way for influenza, Pekosz said.

Researchers say mRNA flu shots are not likely going to be developed and approved in time for the upcoming flu season, and some researchers estimate that it could take several more years to get one on the market.

Even then, it will likely be a phased rollout with both traditional flu shots and mRNA flu shots available, Duprex said.

It will be gradual, he said. You just dont change technology overnight.

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Coronavirus vaccine technology is paving the way for a whole new approach to flu shots - The Spokesman-Review

Some of the biggest industrial companies in Japan are working on a project that could trigger a wave of investment into one of the most controversial forms of carbon capture: methanation.

Shipping giant Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. (MOL) is leading a working group of nine Japanese companies including steelmakers Nippon Steel Corp. and JFE Steel Corp. to assess the viability of producing and using methane to power zero-emission ships instead of liquefied natural gas or other fossil fuels, including a fleet of new vessels that would transport carbon dioxide for processing.

Methanation is the most realistic solution for MOL to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Takeshi Hashimoto, chief executive officer said in an interview. The challenge for the next one to two decades is whether the company could turn the technology into a sustainable and practical solution by reducing the cost, he said.

Discovered over a century ago by French chemists, methanation is a two-part process to convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into methane. The hydrogen can be produced by splitting water using renewable energy such as wind or solar power. The hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide and the resulting methane can be used as a fuel in ships or power plants.

Yet the costs of producing and transporting the gases and the technical hurdles have so far kept the process largely at an experimental level. That may change as demand for carbon-neutral energy increases.

One of methanes advantages over alternative fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen is that it can more easily use existing natural gas infrastructure, said Hashimoto. Another is that it can effectively store excess energy created by solar and wind power as methane. When the gas is burned to produce power, the carbon dioxide captured earlier is released back into the atmosphere, making it carbon neutral.

For shipping, the task of finding an emission-neutral fuel is critical because onboard solar and wind systems dont generate enough energy to propel large vessels. In 2018, the International Maritime Organization set a target to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in shipping 50% by 2050 and eliminate them completely as soon as possible this century. Japans land ministry wants zero-emission ships to be operating by 2028.

The working group aims to get the project in shape in seven to eight years to meet the land ministrys goal, said Hirohiko Oyabu, an assistant to the director of the technical division at MOL.

The MOL-led group is conducting a life-cycle assessment of methanation and is working to remove difficulties step by step to make the technology feasible, Oyabu said. It expects to produce a report on initial progress this summer.

Because renewable energy is expensive in Japan, the methane may need to be made overseas. That would mean developing special vessels to transport the carbon dioxide. Key to commercialization would be the viability of shipping carbon dioxide long distances as well as the price of the hydrogen.

Balanced against those expenses is the rising cost of failing to curb emissions as regulations tighten. That may propel the technology to the next stage, including commercialization, Oyabu said. Fuels with less carbon dioxide emission will be valued more in the future.

A competitor to methane is LNG, which emits 20-30% less carbon dioxide than vessels using oil allowing shipowners to cut emissions with proven technology. Of the 804 vessels MOL operated as of December, 96 were fueled by LNG.

The number of LNG-fueled ships, including those on order, is expected to double worldwide by 2027 from 2019, the company said. That could make LNG an interim choice until a true emission-neutral solution emerges.

A zero-emission fleet is only commercially viable if zero-emission energy sources are competitive with traditional fuels, said Johannah Christensen, managing director of the Global Maritime Forum.

There were around 38 active methanation projects around the world as of 2019, mostly in Europe and the U.S., according to research at the Technical University of Applied Science in Regensburg, Germany. Three pilot plants were set up in Germany, Italy and Switzerland after four-years of research into the technology under the EUs Horizon 2020 research effort.

Automaker Audi AG has been experimenting with methane-powered vehicles for almost a decade and sells versions of its A4 Avant and A5 Sportback that run on the fuel, made using wind power at a plant in Werlte in North Germany.

In Japan, interest in methanation increased after the government established a $19.2 billion green innovation fund last year, looking at technologies spanning everything from carbon recycling to ship propulsion as part of its 2050 zero-emissions goal.

Oil and gas company Inpex Corp. and industrial conglomerate Hitachi Zosen Corp. have built a pilot facility at Inpexs Koshijihara gas production plant in Niigata Prefecture. Commissioned by state-run New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, the four-year-old project makes about 47 tons of methane a year, and Inpex plans to ramp it up to commercial operation of about 350,000 tons after 2030.

Compared to ammonia or liquid hydrogen, methanation could be implemented with considerably lower capital investment, as we can use many existing facilities, said Tatsuki Wakayama, a principal project engineer at Inpexs renewable energy and new business division.

Utility Osaka Gas Co. is working on a way to produce methane by electrolyzing water vapor and carbon dioxide simultaneously using a Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell. The company claims the system is more efficient and announced a successful prototype in January.

Critics argue that even with advances in technology, methanation will struggle to compete with LNG. Imported LNG costs around $8 per MMBtu in Japan, a price methane would struggle to beat even if solar costs were free, said Syed Naqvi, executive director at IHS Markit. Methanation could be economical if hydrogen is obtained as a byproduct from somewhere, he said.

Inpex says renewable energy would ideally be around 2-3/kWh (2-3 cents) or less for commercialization, compared with a current price of about 13.6/kWh in Japan. In Saudi Arabia and Chile, solar power costs as little as 2-2.5/kWh.

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Japan's ticket to zero carbon could be century-old technology - The Japan Times

TORONTO, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aberdeen International Inc. (Aberdeen or the Company) (TSX: AAB F:A8H, OTC:AABVF) is pleased to share an update regarding its recent acquisition, AES-100 Inc., from T2M Global (see press releases dated February 1, 2021, February 11, 2021, March 3, 2021 and March 10, 2021, April 8, 2021).

AES-100 has been selected by US Department of Energy (DOE) to be deployed at Hawaii Gas in order to improve overall efficiency of Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) production and the extraction of pure hydrogen (fuel-cell-ready) from a low-purity waste syngas stream.The expected benefits are (a) an improved cost of production of natural gas for Hawaii Gas; (b) a reduced carbon footprint; and (c) a new revenue stream from the sale of hydrogen into rapidly growing markets for low-carbon fuel and industrial uses.

President of T2M Global, Pinakin Patel, said Hawaii has the highest electricity prices in the USA (30 to 40 cents/kWh). Recovering hydrogen from stranded dilute syngas can add millions of dollars in new revenue for Hawaii Gas and make it electricity-independent. It will also provide much needed hydrogen for a growing fleet of fuel-cell vehicles in Hawaii, as well as forklifts provided by Plug Power Inc.

The project is expected to open a pathway for AES-100 to address worldwide dilute syngas-to-hydrogen market of over $50 billion: Hawaii Gas currently produces natural gas from the cracking of naphtha (an oil derivative); the natural gas is then consumed by over 1 million customers in heating, cooking, and energy applications. In the production of natural gas, there is a resulting low-purity hydrogen waste stream (syngas). Using the modular AES technology, which selectively separates high-purity hydrogen from this waste stream using an electrochemical process, Hawaii Gas will be able to create a new revenue stream, while concurrently improving the quality, energy, and emissions intensity of existing natural gas production.

The DOE-sponsored project is intended to prove AES-100s capabilities as a scalable solution to not only improving plant efficiencies and carbon footprint - at a time when the energy sector is under growing pressure to decarbonize - but also pivoting product offerings towards the forecast $2.5 trillion hydrogen market.

ABOUT ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL INC.

Aberdeen International is a global resource investment company and merchant bank focused on small capitalization companies in the rare metals and renewable energy sectors. AES-100 Inc., an Aberdeen portfolio investment, owns the exclusive rights and all intellectual property pertaining to T2M Globals Advanced Electrolyzer System (AES-100) for the production of hydrogen from dilute syngas.

For additional information, please visit our website at http://www.aberdeen.green

For further information, please contact:

Ryan Ptolemy Chief Financial Officer Aberdeen International Inc. ryanp@fmfinancialgroup.com +1 416-861-5882

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding: the potential uses of the AES technology by the US Department of Energy; the merits and applications of the AES technology; the potential cost savings and cost advantages of the AES technology; the renewable energy sectors, including hydrogen; and the Companys future plans. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks inherent in the mining industry and risks described in the public disclosure of the Company which is available under the profile of the Company on SEDAR at http://www.sedar.com and on the Company's website at http://www.aberdeen.green/. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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ABERDEEN INTERNATIONAL (TSX:AAB, FR:A8H, OTC:AABVF) Technology Partner T2M Global Selected by the US Department Of Energy to Use AES-100 Technology to...

Dublin, April 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Advanced Manufacturing Technology TechVision Opportunity Engine" newsletter has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) TechVision Opportunity Engine (TOE) covers global innovations and developments related to manufacturing and industrial automation on a monthly basis.

The innovations profiled are focused on improving product traceability, energy efficiency and reducing environmental footprints, and integrating product design and manufacturing aspects for reducing time-to-market.

Research focus areas include rapid prototyping (additive manufacturing), lightweighting (multimaterial joining technologies, plastics and metals manufacturing, carbon fibre-based composite manufacturing), smart robotics (agile robots, consumer robots, swarm robotics, cobots), monitoring and control (wireless control networks, human machine interface), and simulation and modeling (design and simulation software).

This is a monthly alert that profiles 12 innovations every month, and provides strategic insights on the innovations, along with key patent holders in the profiled space.

Some technology areas covered in this TOE include lasers, 3D printing, 4D printing, robotics, multimaterial joining, composites manufacturing, machine vision, lean manufacturing, additive manufacturing, micro- and nano- manufacturing, deposition techniques, roll to roll manufacturing, automation and process related innovations, Industry 4.0, SCADA, PLC, DCS, Hydraulics, fluid control.

This TOE highlights innovation features, value propositions, industry impact of 12 monthly innovations along a particular theme, and includes strategic insights on the technology from a global perspective. Strategic insights include insights on IP, competitive landscape, key research focus areas, key success factors for technology adoption, and noteworthy funding details.

For more information about this newsletter visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/tz2z17

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Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) TechVision Opportunity, Annual Subscription - Latest Global Innovations and Developments - Yahoo Finance UK

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Gervais School District using technology to keep kids in the classroom - KPTV.com

As technology makes massive shift to voice-enabled products, NVIDIA invests $1.5 million in Mozilla Common Voice to transform the voice recognition landscape

Over the next decade, speech is expected to become the primary way people interact with devices from laptops and phones to digital assistants and retail kiosks. Todays voice-enabled devices, however, are inaccessible to much of humanity because they cannot understand vast swaths of the worlds languages, accents, and speech patterns.

To help ensure that people everywhere benefit from this massive technological shift, Mozilla is partnering with NVIDIA, which is investing $1.5 million in Mozilla Common Voice, an ambitious, open-source initiative aimed at democratizing and diversifying voice technology development.

Most of the voice data currently used to train machine learning algorithms is held by a handful of major companies. This poses challenges for others seeking to develop high-quality speech recognition technologies, while also exacerbating the voice recognition divide between English speakers and the rest of the world.

Launched in 2017, Common Voice aims to level the playing field while mitigating AI bias. It enables anyone to donate their voices to a free, publicly available database that startups, researchers, and developers can use to train voice-enabled apps, products, and services. Today, it represents the worlds largest multi-language public domain voice data set, with more than 9,000 hours of voice data in 60 different languages, including widely spoken languages and less used ones like Welsh and Kinyarwanda, which is spoken in Rwanda. More than 164,000 people worldwide have contributed to the project thus far.

This investment will accelerate the growth of Common Voices data set, engage more communities and volunteers in the project, and support the hiring of new staff.

To support the expansion, Common Voice will now operate under the umbrella of the Mozilla Foundation as part of its initiatives focused on making artificial intelligence more trustworthy. According to the Foundations Executive Director, Mark Surman, Common Voice is poised to pioneer data donation as an effective tool the public can use to shape the future of technology for the better.

Language is a powerful part of who we are, and people, not profit-making companies, are the right guardians of how language appears in our digital lives, said Surman. By making it easy to donate voice data, Common Voice empowers people to play a direct role in creating technology that helps rather than harms humanity. Mozilla and NVIDIA both see voice as a prime opportunity where people can take back control of technology and unlock its full potential.

The demand for conversational AI is growing, with chatbots and virtual assistants impacting nearly every industry, said Kari Briski, senior director of accelerated computing product management at NVIDIA. With Common Voices large and open datasets, were able to develop pre-trained models and offer them back to the community for free. Together, were working toward a shared goal of supporting and building communities particularly for under-resourced and under-served languages.

Originally posted here:

Mozilla partners with NVIDIA to democratize and diversify voice technology - Mozilla & Firefox

AI researchers often say good machine learning is really more art than science. The same could be said for effective public relations. Selecting the right words to strike a positive tone or reframe the conversation about AI is a delicate task: done well, it can strengthen ones brand image, but done poorly, it can trigger an even greater backlash.

The tech giants would know. Over the last few years, theyve had to learn this art quickly as theyve faced increasing public distrust of their actions and intensifying criticism about their AI research and technologies.

Now theyve developed a new vocabulary to use when they want to assure the public that they care deeply about developing AI responsiblybut want to make sure they dont invite too much scrutiny. Heres an insiders guide to decoding their language and challenging the assumptions and values baked in.

accountability (n) - The act of holding someone else responsible for the consequences when your AI system fails.

accuracy (n) - Technical correctness. The most important measure of success in evaluating an AI models performance. See validation.

adversary (n) - A lone engineer capable of disrupting your powerful revenue-generating AI system. See robustness, security.

alignment (n) - The challenge of designing AI systems that do what we tell them to and value what we value. Purposely abstract. Avoid using real examples of harmful unintended consequences. See safety.

artificial general intelligence (phrase) - A hypothetical AI god thats probably far off in the future but also maybe imminent. Can be really good or really bad whichever is more rhetorically useful. Obviously youre building the good one. Which is expensive. Therefore, you need more money. See long-term risks.

audit (n) - A review that you pay someone else to do of your company or AI system so that you appear more transparent without needing to change anything. See impact assessment.

augment (v) - To increase the productivity of white-collar workers. Side effect: automating away blue-collar jobs. Sad but inevitable.

beneficial (adj) - A blanket descriptor for what you are trying to build. Conveniently ill-defined. See value.

by design (ph) - As in fairness by design or accountability by design. A phrase to signal that you are thinking hard about important things from the beginning.

compliance (n) - The act of following the law. Anything that isnt illegal goes.

data labelers (ph) - The people who allegedly exist behind Amazons Mechanical Turk interface to do data cleaning work for cheap. Unsure who they are. Never met them.

democratize (v) - To scale a technology at all costs. A justification for concentrating resources. See scale.

diversity, equity, and inclusion (ph) - The act of hiring engineers and researchers from marginalized groups so you can parade them around to the public. If they challenge the status quo, fire them.

efficiency (n) - The use of less data, memory, staff, or energy to build an AI system.

ethics board (ph) - A group of advisors without real power, convened to create the appearance that your company is actively listening. Examples: Googles AI ethics board (canceled), Facebooks Oversight Board (still standing).

ethics principles (ph) - A set of truisms used to signal your good intentions. Keep it high-level. The vaguer the language, the better. See responsible AI.

explainable (adj) - For describing an AI system that you, the developer, and the user can understand. Much harder to achieve for the people its used on. Probably not worth the effort. See interpretable.

fairness (n) - A complicated notion of impartiality used to describe unbiased algorithms. Can be defined in dozens of ways based on your preference.

for good (ph) - As in AI for good or data for good. An initiative completely tangential to your core business that helps you generate good publicity.

foresight (n) - The ability to peer into the future. Basically impossible: thus, a perfectly reasonable explanation for why you cant rid your AI system of unintended consequences.

framework (n) - A set of guidelines for making decisions. A good way to appear thoughtful and measured while delaying actual decision-making.

generalizable (adj) - The sign of a good AI model. One that continues to work under changing conditions. See real world.

governance (n) - Bureaucracy.

human-centered design (ph) - A process that involves using personas to imagine what an average user might want from your AI system. May involve soliciting feedback from actual users. Only if theres time. See stakeholders.

human in the loop (ph) - Any person that is part of an AI system. Responsibilities range from faking the systems capabilities to warding off accusations of automation.

impact assessment (ph) - A review that you do yourself of your company or AI system to show your willingness to consider its downsides without changing anything. See audit.

interpretable (adj) Description of an AI system whose computation you, the developer, can follow step by step to understand how it arrived at its answer. Actually probably just linear regression. AI sounds better.

integrity (n) - Issues that undermine the technical performance of your model or your companys ability to scale. Not to be confused with issues that are bad for society. Not to be confused with honesty.

interdisciplinary (adj) Term used of any team or project involving people who do not code: user researchers, product managers, moral philosophers. Especially moral philosophers.

long-term risks (n) - Bad things that could have catastrophic effects in the far-off future. Probably will never happen, but more important to study and avoid than the immediate harms of existing AI systems.

partners (n) - Other elite groups who share your worldview and can work with you to maintain the status quo. See stakeholders.

privacy trade-off (ph) - The noble sacrifice of individual control over personal information for group benefits like AI-driven health-care advancements, which also happen to be highly profitable.

progress (n) - Scientific and technological advancement. An inherent good.

real world (ph) - The opposite of the simulated world. A dynamic physical environment filled with unexpected surprises that AI models are trained to survive. Not to be confused with humans and society.

regulation (n) - What you call for to shift the responsibility for mitigating harmful AI onto policymakers. Not to be confused with policies that would hinder your growth.

responsible AI (n)- A moniker for any work at your company that could be construed by the public as a sincere effort to mitigate the harms of your AI systems.

robustness (n) - The ability of an AI model to function consistently and accurately under nefarious attempts to feed it corrupted data.

safety (n)- The challenge of building AI systems that dont go rogue from the designers intentions. Not to be confused with building AI systems that dont fail. See alignment.

scale (n)- The de facto end state that any good AI system should strive to achieve.

security (n) - The act of protecting valuable or sensitive data and AI models from being breached by bad actors. See adversary.

stakeholders (n) - Shareholders, regulators, users. The people in power you want to keep happy.

transparency (n) - Revealing your data and code. Bad for proprietary and sensitive information. Thus really hard; quite frankly, even impossible. Not to be confused with clear communication about how your system actually works.

trustworthy (adj) - An assessment of an AI system that can be manufactured with enough coordinated publicity.

universal basic income (ph) - The idea that paying everyone a fixed salary will solve the massive economic upheaval caused when automation leads to widespread job loss. Popularized by 2020 presidential candidate Andrew Yang. See wealth redistribution.

validation (n) - The process of testing an AI model on data other than the data it was trained on, to check that it is still accurate.

value (n) - An intangible benefit rendered to your users that makes you a lot of money.

values (n) - You have them. Remind people.

wealth redistribution (ph) - A useful idea to dangle around when people scrutinize you for using way too many resources and making way too much money. How would wealth redistribution work? Universal basic income, of course. Also not something you could figure out yourself. Would require regulation. See regulation.

withhold publication (ph) - The benevolent act of choosing not to open-source your code because it could fall into the hands of a bad actor. Better to limit access to partners who can afford it.

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Big Techs guide to talking about AI ethics - MIT Technology Review

SALT LAKE CITY, April 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Scorpion, a leading provider of technology and services helping local businesses thrive, announced a $100 million investment from Bregal Sagemount to expand its technology and customer offerings. This funding is a reflection of the exceptional growth in Scorpion's business and investor belief in its vision to empower local businesses and the communities they serve.

Through Scorpion's blend of AI technology and teams of experts, local businesses can improve business performance and marketing capabilities by better understanding their unique market dynamics, competitors, and customers. Scorpion brings everything together making it easy to gain insights at-a-glance and in-depth, and to take action through an all-in-one dashboard. Bringing significant local data and vertical market expertise to customers, Scorpion delivers the tools and services needed to set, measure and exceed goals.

This funding comes at a time of tremendous growth for Scorpion, as the company makes plans to open a new headquarters in the Salt Lake City area. Scorpion will be bringing a team of executives, award-winning designers, developers and service professionals to the city to allow for continued expansion of talent and innovation. The company continues to add to its nearly 1,000 employees, bringing increased expertise across a variety of verticals including legal, home service providers, healthcare and franchises.

Scorpion also expanded its impressive management team, appointing Daniel Street as CEO, Mikel Chertudi as Chief Revenue Officer, Raj Ramanan as Chief Operating Officer, and Azim Nagree as EVP Operations and M&A. Street, a former SVP of Digital for Nexstar, CEO of Loku, Executive at KKR and Management Consultant at Bain and Company, brings decades of extensive experience as a highly regarded technology executive with strategic insights in Local Media, Digital Marketing, and SaaS. Chertudi, former Head of Digital Marketing, Growth & Inside Sales at Adobe, is a digital SaaS expert with more than fifteen years of experience in marketing, product, and sales in B2B and B2C revenue models. Ramanan brings leadership and operational experience from his time spent at McKinsey, Disney, and KKR, and will help Scorpion grow revenue, onboard new customers, and continue to provide world-class service. Nagree, previously Principal of Nagree Consulting and VP of account management at Cision, brings 15 years of experience in growing, scaling and exiting innovative startups. Scorpion Founder Rustin Kretz remains the product visionary and will transition to its Chief Product Officer and Chairman of the Board.

Additionally, Scorpion recently acquired CanIRank, an SEO software company that pioneered AI for customers to quickly secure locally-relevant, actionable, SEO insights and recommendations. This acquisition showcases Scorpion's commitment to accelerating the development of its technology, and providing customers with innovative tools.

"The pandemic has cemented the need for businesses of all sizes to undergo a digital transformation in order to effectively reach and communicate with their customers. Many local providers recognize the need to adopt digital tools and services for local market insights, but simply don't know where to begin," said Scorpion CEO Daniel Street. "I am thrilled to lead Scorpion, as we continue to bring local businesses enterprise-grade technology to drive informed market decisions and enable them to focus on what they do best."

Blair Greenberg, Partner at Bregal Sagemount stated, "Scorpion experienced remarkable growth thanks to its dedication to building a better way to help local businesses thrive." Kirk Smith, Principal added, "Its tireless determination, genuine care, cutting-edge tools and award-winning services are unmatched, and at the core of every customer experience. Bregal Sagemount is excited to be part of Scorpion's prosperous journey as we invest in its growth and technology expansion." Both Greenberg and Smith will be joining Scorpion's Board of Directors.

About ScorpionScorpion is the leading provider of technology and services helping local businesses thrive. It helps local service providers understand their unique market dynamics, maximize their marketing efforts, and delight their customers. Scorpion offers SEO, Reviews, Advertising, Email Marketing, Chat and Messaging, Social Media, Websites, Lead Management, Appointment Scheduling, and more. The company brings everything together in a way that's easy to understand and manage, blending AI and teams of real people with vertical expertise to support customers in setting, measuring, and reaching their goals.

Scorpion is Headquartered in the Salt Lake City area, with offices in California, Texas, and New York. For more information, please visithttps://www.scorpion.co/about-us/.

About Bregal SagemountBregal Sagemount is a growth-focused private capital firm with $4.0 billion of committed capital. The firm provides flexible capital and strategic assistance to market-leading companies in high-growth sectors across a wide variety of transaction situations. Bregal Sagemount invests $40 million to $200 million per transaction into targeted sectors including software, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT / services, business and consumer services, and financial technology / specialty finance. For more information, please visit http://www.sagemount.com.

SOURCE Scorpion

https://www.scorpion.co

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Scorpion Raises $100 Million From Bregal Sagemount To Expand Its Technology And Services; Bring Enterprise-Grade Technology and Opportunities To Local...

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rocket Software:

News summary

Full storyRocket Software (Rocket), a global technology leader that develops enterprise modernization and optimization solutions for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ASG Technologies (ASG), a leading provider of solutions for the information-powered enterprise.

This acquisition furthers Rockets commitment to its customers and partners to continue to grow its portfolio of enterprise software solutions that increase the value of legacy platforms across the technology domains of core infrastructure, security, data & AI, application development, open source, and hybrid cloud.

We know ASG well and are pleased to add their competencies and expertise in and around structured and unstructured data, content management, and systems management to our combined company, said Andy Youniss, CEO, Rocket Software. This is an important milestone in our journey of investing in global enterprise IT solutions and in our ongoing commitment to our customers. We will continue to enable our customers to evolve their core applications, take advantage of the power of their data, and operate their IT environments.

The combination of these portfolios will drive a more holistic approach to generating value from the vast data capabilities of extensive applications at the core of their business. Decades of innovation in the content management space from ASG will continue under Rocket leadership to address the shifting challenges of integration and transparency across legacy, cloud, and SaaS environments. The systems management solutions will continue to support the efficient operation of these critical environments.

Digital transformation has taken on a new level of priority for organizations across industries and geographies in the past year, and the urgency with which it has been embraced in the enterprise has further solidified ASGs mission to improve the way people, information processes and systems work together to deliver business outcomes, said Charles Sansbury, President and CEO, ASG. "With our combined expertise and shared vision, together Rocket and ASG will bring industry-leading innovation to our customer base worldwide."

The deal is expected to close later this calendar quarter, subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed at this time.

Bank of America Securities and Barclays are acting as joint financial advisors to ASG. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is acting as legal counsel to ASG.

About Rocket SoftwareRocket Software empowers organizations to create legendary impact in the world through innovation in legacy technologies. With deep expertise in IBM Z, IBM Power, and database and connectivity solutions, Rocket provides solutions that power tens of thousands of global businesses, solving real problems and making real-world impact. Rocket is a privately held U.S. corporation headquartered in the Boston area with centers of excellence strategically located throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Rocket is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity.

Legacy Powers Legendary

About ASG TechnologiesASG Technologies is an award-winning, industry-recognized, and analyst-verified global software company providing the only integrated platform and flexible end-to-end solution for the information-powered enterprise. ASGs Information Management solutions capture, manage, govern, and enable companies to understand and support all types of information assets (structured and unstructured) and stay compliant. ASGs IT Systems Management solutions ensure that the systems and infrastructure supporting that information lifecycle are always available and performing as expected. ASG has over 3,500 customers worldwide in top vertical markets including Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance and Government. Visit ASG on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. ASG is a portfolio company of Evergreen Coast Capital, Elliott Investment Managements technology-focused Menlo Park affiliate.

Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent managements current expectations and are based upon information available to the Company at the time of this release. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the Companys control, that may cause the actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

2021 Rocket Software, Inc. Rocket is a registered trademark of Rocket Software, Inc. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners.

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Rocket Software Extends Its Technology and Global Reach with Agreement to Acquire ASG Technologies - Business Wire