Thursday, April 2, 2020

HCL Technologies COVID-19 Status Update

NOIDA, India-Wednesday 1 April 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- HCL Technologies Ltd (HCL) has been monitoring the Covid-19 outbreak since late January and had invoked its Business Continuity Plan and Risk Management Framework quite early to minimize the impact on its employees and clients. The situation arising out of this outbreak and its rapid spread across the world is unprecedented and is extremely dynamic. The economic impact is visible with varying degrees of intensity across multiple countries where we operate.

HCL has had a well-defined and structured pandemic policy in place which is resilient, pragmatic and accords paramount importance to employee safety & health and client commitments. We are actively engaged with our clients and have executed the client-specific and HCL internal operations-centric Business Continuity Plan that ensures continuity in delivering to our client and employee commitments. HCL is constantly reviewing the situation at hand with utmost priority and fully complying with all government advisories and recommendations. Given the extended nature of this situation, we have looked at ensuring that we put in medium-term sustainable measures in place to ensure continuity of all our operations and client deliverables. We have been successful in achieving this as of today. A large number of our clients have expressed their deep appreciation of our efforts and speed at which we have been able to achieve the current state.

As of today, 76% of our India-based employees and 92% of our employees in other geographies are enabled to work from home. In certain geographies, a limited set of our employees are working from our offices, wherever it is permissible by the government and local authorities. It is noteworthy that we have not witnessed any outages or major disruption in operations with this newer format of work from home delivery. We would like to use this opportunity to thank our clients, industry bodies and government officials who have been very supportive in our efforts so far.

Likely Impact on business

While the impact on this quarter’s numbers is yet to be quantified, we don’t expect it to be significant. Our exposure to the more impacted verticals are not significant. Booking during this quarter has largely been on track as significant part of closures happened in January.

Our business model is a healthy mix of recurring product revenues, managed services and discretionary spend led professional services. From a vertical perspective, our exposure to verticals like Oil & Gas, Travel & Hospitality, High-End Retail is in single digits.

We recognize our investments in risk management systems and processes over the last several years are helping us to minimize the short-term impact and to be adequately prepared for the medium term, if it gets worse. We are also confident our business model will help us to emerge stronger in the longer term as it has been built for resilience during tough times.

Our wishes of safety and best of health to everyone out there and we hope and pray for the earliest end to the crisis. Keep a safe distance.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200330005242/en/

Contacts

Contacts

For further details, please contact:
HCL Technologies

Ravi Kathuria
Ravi.Kathuria@hcl.com

Anne Coyle, US
Anne.coyle@hcl.com

Elka Ghudial, Europe
Elka.ghudial@hcl.com

Devneeta Pahuja, India and APAC
Devneeta.p@hcl.com

Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/hcl-technologies-covid-19-status-update/en

GSMA Report Highlights That Mobile Money Accounts Now Exceed One Billion Worldwide

Mobile Money Industry Processed US$2 Billion in Transactions Per Day in 2019

LONDON-Wednesday 1 April 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The GSMA today unveiled the annual ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’, offering a view of the mobile money landscape and highlighting the impact that greater financial inclusion has on lives, economies and innovation, especially in emerging markets. This year’s report looks at what one billion registered accounts means for the mobile money industry, mobile money users and the future of the mobile money ecosystem. It provides a comprehensive picture of adoption and usage around the globe.

Significantly, the report highlights that 2019 marked a major milestone for the mobile money industry, with over one billion registered accounts and close to two billion dollars in daily transactions. For the first time, digital transactions represented the majority, 57 per cent, of mobile money interactions. The industry is witnessing increasing user trust and relevance. With 290 live services in 95 countries and 372 million active accounts, mobile money is entering the mainstream and becoming the path to financial inclusion in most low-income countries. For consumers, this marks a shift away from cash towards digital payments — for school fees, e-commerce, international remittances, savings, credit, pay-as-you-go utilities and more.

“Increased mobile connectivity and innovative services such as mobile money are building stronger and more inclusive communities,” said John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. “Surpassing one billion mobile money accounts represents a major milestone for an industry that did not exist just over a decade ago. The reach of mobile money agents is now 20 times that of bricks-and-mortar banks. Almost 1.7 billion people remain financially excluded, but the collective strength of the industry holds the potential to ensure that everyone can be part of the new digital economy.”

Biggest Trends in 2019:

A growing number of providers are becoming commercially sustainable;
Direct revenue from mobile money is supporting investment in innovative products and services, network expansion, and healthy and sustainable agent commissions;
The industry continues to invest in distribution networks, with the number of agent outlets almost tripling over the past five years, and the reach of a mobile money agent is now seven times that of ATMs and 20 times that of bank branches;
The digitisation of payments has reached new heights with digital transactions representing the majority of mobile money flows (57 per cent) for the first time in 2019 (historically, majority of transactions were cash-in and cash-out); and
More value is circulating in the mobile money system than exiting – another industry first.
The report explores the empowerment that comes with owning a mobile money account, for example, more women are using financial services, low-income households are accessing essential utility services, and smallholder farmers are getting paid more quickly and conveniently. Meanwhile, millions of migrants and their families are experiencing the life-changing benefits of faster, safer and cheaper international remittances, and humanitarian cash assistance is being delivered more thoughtfully to those in crises.

Giusti added, “Regulation that enables low-cost services for the financially excluded has been crucial to the success of mobile money, and there is a clear correlation between an enabling regulatory environment and a high mobile money adoption rate. However, certain policy decisions, such as sector-specific taxation and data localisation requirements, are putting pressure on the industry and create a real risk of long-term negative impacts on financial inclusion gains, access to innovative services, and delivery of the SDGs. We are moving in the right direction, and with the right tools, we are a step closer to achieving an inclusive digital future for all.”

The 2019 State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money can be see here: www.gsma.com/sotir. Further information on the GSMA’s Mobile Money programme, is available at www.gsma.com/mobilemoney.

Note to editors:

The State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money draws on the results of the annual GSMA Global Adoption Survey of Mobile Financial Services and data from the GSMA Mobile Money Deployment Tracker. It provides insights on mobile money performance from the GSMA’s engagement with the industry.

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting more than 750 operators and nearly 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and internet companies, as well as organisations in adjacent industry sectors. The GSMA also produces the industry-leading MWC events held annually in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai, as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200330005029/en/

Contacts
Media Contacts:
Caitlin Gosai
GSMA Press Office
pressoffice@gsma.com

Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/gsma-report-highlights-that-mobile-money-accounts-now-exceed-one-billion-worldwide/en

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Esri Offers Students Free Access to Software for Continued Education Through Coronavirus Closures

Complimentary Technology and Lessons Support Remote Learning during COVID-19 Outbreak

REDLANDS, Calif.-Wednesday 1 April 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Esri, the global leader in location intelligence, today announced that it will provide free access to its ArcGIS platform and learning resources through the Learn.ArcGIS.com website to support college and university students who no longer have access to campus computer labs during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Students will receive access to ArcGIS Online and over 20 apps including ArcGIS Pro, along with a library of lessons to continue their learning and complete courses. Access is available globally to students ages 18 and over.

Learn ArcGIS promotes learning by doing through guided lessons based on real-world problems in industries such as urban planning and disaster response, and new lessons on public health have just been added. Learn ArcGIS lessons cover both beginner and advanced topics and are available in seven languages.

“We believe education creates opportunities for people of all ages, while building communities and advancing our knowledge for a better world,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. “This is especially important now during this global crisis. We consider it part of our mission to provide technology free of cost during these difficult times and ensure that students and educators are supported as they transition to remote learning.”

Students who sign up between March 1 and June 30 will have access until August 31, 2020. To sign up for a membership in Learn ArcGIS, visit learn.arcgis.com/en/become-a-member/.

About Esri

Esri, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping, offers the most powerful geospatial cloud available, to help customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Founded in 1969, Esri software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including 90 of the Fortune 100 companies, all 50 state governments, more than half of all counties (large and small), and 87 of the Forbes Top 100 Colleges in the U.S., as well as all 15 Executive Departments of the U.S. Government and dozens of independent agencies. With its pioneering commitment to geospatial information technology, Esri engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics. Visit us at esri.com.

Copyright © 2020 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, The Science of Where, esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products or services mentioned herein may be trademarks, service marks, or registered marks of their respective mark owners.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200330005420/en/

Contacts
Jo Ann Pruchniewski
Public Relations, Esri
Mobile: 301-693-2643
Email: jpruchniewski@esri.com

Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/esri-offers-students-free-access-to-software-for-continued-education-through-coronavirus-closures/en

i2c Appoints Banking Executive Tracy Seng to Lead Client Success

Award Winning Financial Services Veteran to Support Expansion of i2c in the U.S. and Around the World

REDWOOD CITY, Calif-Tuesday 31 March 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- i2c Inc., a leading provider of payment and open banking technology, today announced the appointment of banking veteran Tracy Seng as EVP, Head of Global Client Success at i2c, responsible for leading account management, program management and advisory services to help clients grow their business and deliver bottom-line revenue and profitability. Seng joins i2c from Wells Fargo, where she and her account management team won Stevie awards in 2018 and 2019, as well as the 2020 People’s Choice Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year. Seng reports to i2c President Jim McCarthy and is based at i2c headquarters in Silicon Valley.

A 20+ year payments and client services veteran with senior leadership roles in account management, industry relations and merchant acquiring, Seng served 15 years at Wells Fargo as SVP, Segment Business Leader Account Management and Industry Relations. Seng helped grow ecommerce payments volume, created differentiated customer solutions and consistently received best in class customer satisfaction scores.

“i2c identifies our success with that of our clients,” said Jim McCarthy, President, i2c Inc. “We are delighted to welcome such a recognized client advocate to i2c as we continue our global expansion. Tracy is that rare individual who becomes a trusted advisor to her clients by delivering value to help them grow their business while she drives revenue through top- performing account management strategies.”

Seng and her team will partner with clients to optimize portfolios, identify new revenue opportunities and, working with i2c management and operations, spearhead the development of creative solutions that meet and exceed expectations. The client success team will also ensure speed to market for their client’s innovative programs and services.

“i2c is focused on partnering with clients to deliver innovative credit, debit, prepaid, lending and multicurrency programs that provide an individualized and superior customer experience,” said Tracy Seng, EVP, Head of Global Client Success at i2c Inc. “I’m thrilled to be joining i2c and to be working in concert with all groups across the company to continue delivering innovation that aligns with and advances our clients’ goals.”

About i2c Inc.

i2c is a global provider of highly-configurable payment and open banking solutions. Using i2c’s proprietary “building block” technology, clients can easily create and manage a comprehensive set of solutions for credit, debit, prepaid, lending and more, quickly and cost-effectively. i2c delivers unparalleled flexibility, agility, security and reliability from a single global SaaS platform. Founded in 2001, and headquartered in Silicon Valley, i2c’s next-generation technology supports millions of users in more than 200 countries/territories and across all time zones. For more information, visit www.i2cinc.com and follow us at @i2cinc.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/52195405/en

Contacts

Jessica Kersey
Vice President, Marketing Communications
i2c Inc.
+1 650.480.5714
jkersey@i2cinc.com


Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/i2c-appoints-banking-executive-tracy-seng-to-lead-client-success/en

Masimo and University Hospitals Jointly Announce Masimo SafetyNet™, a New Remote Patient Management Solution Designed to Aid COVID-19 Response Efforts

Telehealth System Combines Radius PPG™ Tetherless Pulse Oximetry and the Doctella™ Platform

IRVINE, Calif. & CLEVELAND-Friday 27 March 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) and University Hospitals (UH), one of the largest health systems in Northeast Ohio, today jointly announced Masimo SafetyNet™, an innovative, economically scalable patient management system designed to help clinicians care for patients remotely.

The telehealth solution combines tetherless Radius PPG™ pulse oximetry, driven by breakthough Masimo SET® Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion™ technology, with Doctella™, a secure, home-based, remote patient surveillance platform accessible from a patient’s iOS or Android smartphone or smart device.

The COVID-19 health emergency has significantly increased the demand for remote monitoring and patient engagement solutions in multiple settings. To proactively prepare for a surge in COVID-19 patients while maintaining the safety of other patients and providers, this new solution allows UH and other hospitals to expand patient monitoring to the home or to other facility locations set up temporarily to care for the increased demand. Current WHO guidelines recommend the monitoring of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients’ oxygen saturation (SpO2), respiration rate (RR), and temperature, and Masimo and UH are meeting this increased demand by adapting existing technology to deliver a secure remote solution.

Masimo SafetyNet offers care teams a single-platform solution that couples a secure, cloud-based surveillance platform with clinically proven SET® pulse oximetry, estimated to be used on more than 200 million patients each year.1 In addition to SpO2, Radius PPG is capable of continuously monitoring pulse rate (PR), perfusion index, PVi®, and RRp®, respiration rate from the photoplethysmograph.

Patients can be sent home with a multi-day supply of single-patient-use Radius PPG sensors and access to the Doctella mobile app, designed for easy, intuitive patient use via a digital home-care plan, or CareProgram, that aligns with expert guidance on COVID-19. Radius PPG shares its SpO2, PR, and RRp data with Doctella using secure Bluetooth® wireless technology. In addition, Doctella can manually collect other physiological data, such as temperature. Twice daily, or as directed, the Doctella CareProgram actively notifies patients to answer questions such as, “are you having trouble breathing?” and “what is your temperature?”, and securely pushes these responses along with physiological monitoring data to hospital-based clinicians for evaluation. The Doctella clinician portal allows providers to easily track patient compliance, helping them identify when intervention may be needed, as well as providing insight to help providers prioritize patients. CarePrograms are fully customizable to accommodate each institution’s protocols, each patient’s needs, and any changes in COVID-19 guidance—and can be updated through the cloud by providers even after being deployed, for maximum flexibility as situations evolve.

“We appreciate Masimo’s immediate collaboration to stand up this innovative platform that will significantly aid in our ability to scale up remote monitoring and meet the demand for patient care while addressing capacity and safety issues,” explained Peter Pronovost, MD, UH Chief Clinical Transformation Officer. “For our patients with congestive heart failure or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), we can provide them with this remote monitoring capability so they do not risk a COVID-19 infection by being near potentially infected patients. Similarly, for patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, we can appropriately isolate them from other patients while ensuring they have the access to state-of-the-art care for managing their health through the recovery process.”

Joe Kiani, Founder and CEO of Masimo, said, “We thank the nurses and doctors who are bravely toiling in hospitals taking care of us all during this pandemic. We are delighted that we can help them triage and effectively take care of COVID-19 patients the best they can with Masimo SafetyNet. It has been a delight to work with UH to bring this technology to the health care industry to help them address the challenges they face during this unprecedented time.”

“This alliance demonstrates UH’s strategy to drive improvements in population health,” said Daniel I. Simon, MD, UH Chief Clinical & Scientific Officer and President, UH Cleveland Medical Center. “By deploying ‘outside-in’ tactics and forming this partnership with Masimo, our patients receive cutting edge treatment approaches while we help enhance the product for future users and industry transformation.”

UH plans to begin piloting this system next week.

About Masimo

Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI) is a global medical technology company that develops and produces a wide array of industry-leading monitoring technologies, including innovative measurements, sensors, patient monitors, and automation and connectivity solutions. Our mission is to improve patient outcomes and reduce the cost of care. Masimo SET® Measure-through Motion and Low Perfusion™ pulse oximetry, introduced in 1995, has been shown in over 100 independent and objective studies to outperform other pulse oximetry technologies.2 Masimo SET® has also been shown to help clinicians reduce severe retinopathy of prematurity in neonates,3 improve CCHD screening in newborns,4 and, when used for continuous monitoring with Masimo Patient SafetyNet™ in post-surgical wards, reduce rapid response team activations, ICU transfers, and costs.5-7 Masimo SET® is estimated to be used on more than 200 million patients in leading hospitals and other healthcare settings around the world,1 and is the primary pulse oximetry at 9 of the top 10 hospitals according to the 2019-20 U.S. News and World Report Best Hospitals Honor Roll.8 Masimo continues to refine SET® and in 2018, announced that SpO2 accuracy on RD SET® sensors during conditions of motion has been significantly improved, providing clinicians with even greater confidence that the SpO2 values they rely on accurately reflect a patient’s physiological status. In 2005, Masimo introduced rainbow® Pulse CO-Oximetry technology, allowing noninvasive and continuous monitoring of blood constituents that previously could only be measured invasively, including total hemoglobin (SpHb®), oxygen content (SpOC™), carboxyhemoglobin (SpCO®), methemoglobin (SpMet®), Pleth Variability Index (PVi®), RPVi™ (rainbow® PVi), and Oxygen Reserve Index (ORi™). In 2013, Masimo introduced the Root® Patient Monitoring and Connectivity Platform, built from the ground up to be as flexible and expandable as possible to facilitate the addition of other Masimo and third-party monitoring technologies; key Masimo additions include Next Generation SedLine® Brain Function Monitoring, O3® Regional Oximetry, and ISA™ Capnography with NomoLine® sampling lines. Masimo’s family of continuous and spot-check monitoring Pulse CO-Oximeters® includes devices designed for use in a variety of clinical and non-clinical scenarios, including tetherless, wearable technology, such as Radius-7® and Radius PPG™, portable devices like Rad-67™, fingertip pulse oximeters like MightySat® Rx, and devices available for use both in the hospital and at home, such as Rad-97®. Masimo hospital automation and connectivity solutions are centered around the Iris® platform, and include Iris Gateway®, Patient SafetyNet, Replica™, Halo ION™, UniView™, and Doctella™. Additional information about Masimo and its products may be found at www.masimo.com. Published clinical studies on Masimo products can be found at www.masimo.com/evidence/featured-studies/feature/.

ORi and RPVi have not received FDA 510(k) clearance and are not available for sale in the United States. The use of the trademark Patient SafetyNet is under license from University HealthSystem Consortium.

References

Estimate: Masimo data on file.
Published clinical studies on pulse oximetry and the benefits of Masimo SET® can be found on our website at http://www.masimo.com. Comparative studies include independent and objective studies which are comprised of abstracts presented at scientific meetings and peer-reviewed journal articles.
Taenzer AH et al. Impact of pulse oximetry surveillance on rescue events and intensive care unit transfers: a before-and-after concurrence study. Anesthesiology. 2010:112(2):282-287.
Taenzer A et al. Postoperative Monitoring – The Dartmouth Experience. Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter. Spring-Summer 2012.
McGrath SP et al. Surveillance Monitoring Management for General Care Units: Strategy, Design, and Implementation. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety. 2016 Jul;42(7):293-302.
Castillo A et al. Prevention of Retinopathy of Prematurity in Preterm Infants through Changes in Clinical Practice and SpO2 Technology. Acta Paediatr. 2011 Feb;100(2):188-92.
de-Wahl Granelli A et al. Impact of pulse oximetry screening on the detection of duct dependent congenital heart disease: a Swedish prospective screening study in 39,821 newborns. BMJ. 2009;Jan 8;338.
http://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview.
About University Hospitals

Founded in 1866, University Hospitals serves the needs of patients through an integrated network of 18 hospitals, more than 50 health centers and outpatient facilities, and 200 physician offices in 16 counties throughout northern Ohio. The system’s flagship academic medical center, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, located in Cleveland’s University Circle, is affiliated with Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The main campus also includes University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, ranked among the top children’s hospitals in the nation; University Hospitals MacDonald Women's Hospital, Ohio's only hospital for women; University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, a high-volume national referral center for complex cardiovascular procedures; and University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, part of the NCI-designated Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. UH is home to some of the most prestigious clinical and research programs in the nation, including cancer, pediatrics, women's health, orthopedics, radiology, neuroscience, cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, digestive health, transplantation and urology. UH Cleveland Medical Center is perennially among the highest performers in national ranking surveys, including “America’s Best Hospitals” from U.S. News & World Report. UH is also home to Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals – part of The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development. UH is one of the largest employers in Northeast Ohio with 28,000 physicians and employees. Advancing the Science of Health and the Art of Compassion is UH’s vision for benefitting its patients into the future, and the organization’s unwavering mission is To Heal. To Teach. To Discover. Follow UH on LinkedIn, Facebook @UniversityHospitals and Twitter @UHhospitals. For more information, visit UHhospitals.org.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, in connection with the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the potential effectiveness of Masimo SafetyNet™, Radius PPG™, Doctella™, SET®, and RRp®. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations about future events affecting us and are subject to risks and uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control and could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements as a result of various risk factors, including, but not limited to: risks related to our assumptions regarding the repeatability of clinical results; risks related to our belief that Masimo's unique noninvasive measurement technologies, including Masimo SafetyNet, Radius PPG, Doctella, SET®, and RRp, contribute to positive clinical outcomes and patient safety; risks related to our belief that Masimo noninvasive medical breakthroughs provide cost-effective solutions and unique advantages; risks related to COVID-19; as well as other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which may be obtained for free at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are reasonable, we do not know whether our expectations will prove correct. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. We do not undertake any obligation to update, amend or clarify these statements or the "Risk Factors" contained in our most recent reports filed with the SEC, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under the applicable securities laws.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200323005759/en/

Contacts
Media Contacts:
Masimo
Evan Lamb
949-396-3376
elamb@masimo.com

University Hospitals
George Stamatis
216-844-3667
George.Stamatis@UHhospitals.org

Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/masimo-and-university-hospitals-jointly-announce-masimo-safetynettrade-a-new-remote-patient-management-solution-designed-to-aid-covid-19-response-efforts/en

The Impact of Covid-19 on TV Content Consumption in KSA

Update brought to you by AMSI – A Choueiri Group Brand

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, -Wednesday 1 April 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

In this second installment of our series on the unprecedented Covid-19 situation and its impact on TV Advertising, we take a closer look at data findings focused on VOD and TV Content Consumption behaviors in KSA.



Arabian Media Services International (AMSI) is a part of Choueiri Group and operates as the Exclusive Media Representative for MBC Group.

Contacts
Choueiri Group

Assad Jamil, +97144545454

ajamil.mr@choueirigroup.com


Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-tv-content-consumption-in-ksa/en

Northern Data: Corona / COVID-19 Pandemic Leading to Massive Uptick in Demand for Computing Capacity

- Use of High-Performance Computing accelerates identifying new therapeutic substances

- Transformation in global work habits are pushing existing data infrastructure to its limits

- Northern Data Preparing to expand the Texas site from 1 to 3.6 gigawatts

- Development of new locations in Canada and Scandinavia

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany-Tuesday 31 March 2020 [ AETOS Wire ]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Northern Data AG (XETRA: NB2, ISIN: DE000A0SMU87), one of the world's largest providers of high-performance computing (HPC) solutions, today reports that the Corona Virus / COVID-19 -Pandemic is resulting in a massive increase in computing capacity demand. In order to meet the increased demand, the company has instigated an acceleration of the expansion of capacities at its locations and in addition is looking to develop further locations.

Immediate demand for computing power in the wake of the pandemic is being driven by two immediate and game changing developments: Firstly, pharmaceutical companies and research institutions worldwide are using HPC systems on a large scale for the first time in order to carry out calculations and simulations in the field of bioinformatics and epidemiology in the shortest possible time, which with conventional computer systems can take several months or even years. This gives research teams the opportunity to accelerate the development of novel drugs that can be used against the coronavirus in the short term. Northern Data management expects this trend to continue after the end of the COVID 19 pandemic.

Secondly working conditions worldwide have shifted drastically online in a matter of weeks through the course of the COVID 19 pandemic, this has led to a massive increase in demand for computing capacity. Due to the current restrictions, many companies in parts of the United States, Europe and Asia are forced to operate with an almost 100% home office ratio. The associated use of digital applications such as video conferencing tools is causing an explosion in demand for data capacities. Also, this trend will continue beyond the corona crisis.

Northern Data will start operating its newest HPC facility in the United States in the coming days. The world's largest HPC data center is being built in Texas on an area of ​​more than 100 acres, which corresponds to the size of around 57 soccer fields. The company originally intended to achieve a total capacity of one gigawatt at the US location by the end of the year. Due to the changed and overwhelming demand situation, plans are now beginning to seamlessly expand the location to up to 3.6 gigawatts.

The company is also accelerating the development of additional locations for additional large-scale HPC facilities in Canada and Scandinavia.

"We are facing overwhelming demand," said Aroosh Thillainathan, CEO of Northern Data AG. "In some areas we see a thirty times higher market demand than we can build up capacities by the end of the year. We now benefit from our many years of experience in large-scale high-performance computing in order to further accelerate ongoing scaling."

Northern Data published its forecast for 2020 on March 16. Based on current expectations and in line with contracts already signed, the Management Board expects revenues of EUR 120 million to EUR 140 million in the course of 2020. Accordingly, the Management Board expects EBITDA of between EUR 45 million and EUR 60 million. This guidance is based only on a partial utilization of initially 30% of the 1GW expansion stage, based on already concluded contracts for the provision of HPC solutions with global customers. The forecast will be adjusted in due course as new customer acquisition progresses.

About Northern Data:

Northern Data AG develops and builds global infrastructure solutions in the area of ​​high-performance computing (HPC). The company offers solutions in areas such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, big data analytics, blockchain, game streaming and others. The international company emerged from the merger of the German Northern Bitcoin AG and the American Whinstone US, Inc. and is today a recognized market leader in the field of HPC solutions worldwide. Northern Data offers its HPC solutions both stationary in large, state-of-the-art data centers and in mobile, high-tech data centers based on containers, which can be set up at any location worldwide. It combines self-developed software and hardware with intelligent concepts for a sustainable energy supply. In Texas, Whinstone is currently building the largest HPC data center in the United States and the largest facility in the world specifically for HPC applications.

Language:
   

English

Company:
   

Northern Data AG
     

Thurn-und-Taxis-Platz 6
     

60313 Frankfurt/Main
     

Germany

Phone:
   

+49 69 34 87 52 25

E-mail:
   

info@northerndata.de

Internet:
   

www.northerndata.de

ISIN:
   

DE000A0SMU87

WKN:
   

A0SMU8

Listed:
   

Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich (m:access), Tradegate
     

Exchange



View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200329005043/en/

Contacts

Press Contact:
Northern Data AG
Dr. Hans Joachim Dürr
Head of Corporate Communications
E-Mail: h.duerr@northerndata.de
Telefon: +49 69 348 752 89

Investor Relations:
Sven Pauly
E-Mail: ir@northerndata.de
Telefon: +49 89 125 09 03 31


Permalink : https://www.aetoswire.com/news/northern-data-corona-covid-19-pandemic-leading-to-massive-uptick-in-demand-for-computing-capacity/en