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Payment incentives, outdated patent regulations, and other factors have allowed drugmakers to increase the price of insulin by nearly 300% from 2002 to 2013, according to a bipartisan congressional report released Thursday.
For the report, Reps. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) and Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), co-chairs of the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, launched a nearly year-long bipartisan investigation on the rising cost of insulin. The investigation involved consultations with health care providers, health insurers, insulin makers, patients, pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and wholesalers. The report focuses on the factors driving the increase in insulin prices and offers policy proposals to reduce insulin costs.
Reed and DeGette found the average price of insulin nearly doubled in 2012, even after insulin prices had increased significantly over the prior decade.
Reed and DeGette in the report wrote, "[M]arket failures have allowed a handful of players along the insulin distribution pipeline from manufacturers to health insurers to capitalize on their strategic positions, driving up the price of insulin and minimizing competition."
According to the investigation, insulin prices have increased over the past few years because "the insulin market has an influx of upward price pressures without offsetting downward forces." Reed and DeGette found "the structure of the insulin delivery and payment pathways create several incentives for entities along these pathways to artificially raise the price of insulin."
For example, wholesalers can generate a profit from selling insulin to pharmacies by setting the cost of insulin higher than their acquisition costs, according to the report. Reed and DeGette also note the current rebate system provides an incentive for PBMs to accept high-priced drugs. According to Reed and DeGette, drugmakers pay PBMs rebates in exchange for a spot on a formulary, which is a list of drugs covered under a health plan. As a result, drugmakers can set high list prices, but PBMs will not pay the prices because of the discounts. Instead, uninsured patients end up paying the high list prices.
Reed and DeGette in the report also note a lack of pricing transparency has contributed to the increase in the cost of insulin.
Reed and DeGette in the report recommended 11 policy proposals to address the rising cost of insulin:
Prescription drug expenditures are the fastest growing component of health care spending. And while reducing unwarranted prescribing variation is the single biggest improvement opportunity, there are several other near-term chances to reduce spending and grow revenues.
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Meningitis pharmacy creditors seek $21 million
Attorneys representing creditors of New England Compounding Pharmacy, a bankrupt Massachusetts custom drug maker tied to a fatal meningitis outbreak, are seeking to claw back more than $21 million, after revelations that owners pulled out funds in the year before the firm sought Chapter 11 protection.
In a document filed Tuesday, the creditors asked the court for standing to prosecute claims against New England Compounding Center’s owners, after the owners disclosed they had withdrawn $16.3 million from the company in the year preceding the bankruptcy filing, and paid another $4.8 million to insiders.
The Wall Street Journal, which picked up the filing late Wednesday, spoke to Brown Rudnick attorney William Baldiga, who represents the creditors. “The company’s assets are little or nothing, and now we know why,” Baldiga reportedly told the Journal. “Anything of any value was distributed to its owners in the period leading up to its demise,” he said. He added that the company’s decision to continue paying insiders so richly even after the problems were discovered “shocks the conscience.”
Hundreds of victims in the meningitis outbreak, which occurred last year, have sued New England Compounding Pharmacy.
Pot-themed sub shop seeks Mass. locations
“Cheba Hut,” a sub shop chain with
a stoner theme, would like to grow in Massachusetts, the Boston Herald reports.
The Tempe, Ariz.-based chain is talking to an area developer about franchises in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont, lured by the high concentration of college campuses here, according to the Herald.
“We’re heading East, and we’re coming for you guys,” COO Matt Trethewey told the Herald. “Boston is such a great town because the concentration of colleges is greater than any other area of the country.”
Cheba Hut’s tagline, “toasted subs,” and menu items like “nugs,” “pinners” and “blunts” make reference to slang used by marijuana smokers.
Akamai sells ad-targeting division to MediaMath
Akamai Technologies Inc. has sold its Advertising Decision Solutions unit to MediaMath, a venture-backed, New York-based company with offices in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, for an undisclosed amount of funding.
Founded in 2007, MediaMath, which has received at least $27 million in funding, provides its ad agencies and brands with the back-end technology and services needed for video, mobile and social network advertising through its TerminalOne platform.
In addition to the acquisition of ADS, MediaMath and Akamai have signed a multi-year agreement giving MediaMath exclusive rights to Akamai’s pixel-free technology to use in digital advertising and marketing applications. With the technology advertisers will now be able to gather 100 percent of audience and transaction analytics, a substantial increase from the 30 percent captured with pixel-based systems, according to the company.
Nearly all of Akamai’s ADS employees – approximately 70 – will join MediaMath, according to Akamai spokesman Jeff Young.
“We’re excited to partner with MediaMath,” said Mike Afergan, senior vice president and general manager of Akamai’s Web Experience Division. “Together, we’ll be able to provide our joint customers with an even more effective set of tools to manage their data, understand their audience, and help enhance the quality of online marketing campaigns.”
Facebook games startup SqueePlay seeks funds
Boston startup SqueePlay said Thursday it’s seeking to launch the first of its “next generation Facebook games” in March, and is seeking to raise $15,000 in a Kickstarter campaign to support the game.
The company’s first game for Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) is SqueeDogs, in which “the user plays as a puppy private eye who goes on adventures, solves mysteries, rescues lost pups and reunites them with their families – all while having a fun-filled romp through fantastical worlds.”
The Kickstarter campaign had raised $6,900 as of Thursday morning, and runs until Feb. 15. The startup plans to use the Kickstarter funding to “create additional worlds of increasing complexity, provide ‘games as a service,’ and support a marketing campaign.”
SqueePlay was founded by the mother-son team of Cerise Jacobs and Pirate Epstein.
Christian Science Church selects plaza developer
Boston’s Christian Science Church has selected Carpenter & Co., a Cambridge-based company, as the master developer for two development sites at the church’s 15-acre plaza in Boston’s Back Bay.
The parcels are part of the master plan designed to revitalize the plaza which was approved by the Boston Redevelopment Authority. The sites on Belvidere and Dalton streets are across the street from the Hilton and Sheraton Hotels.
One parcel allows for construction of a 250-foot building while the other is reserved for a 500-foot tower. Planned uses for the new buildings include a hotel, condominiums and apartments, along with ground floor restaurants and retail. The BRA approved the plans in 2011, and the church has been seeking a developer since.
“This is an incredibly unique urban planning opportunity to enhance the church’s plaza and its world class development,” said Richard Friedman, Carpenter’s president and CEO. “To me, it’s like dealing with a jewel of an urban environment and I’m very excited about it.”
The news was first reported by the Real Reporter.

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Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.
If you are concerned that BlackBerry’s latest smartphone attempt is going to fail miserably, BlackBerry really wants to convince you otherwise.
The company said today the Canadian debut of its Z10 smartphone was its best product launch in its history.
“In fact, it was more than 50 percent better than any other launch day in our history in Canada. In the U.K., we have seen close to three times our best performance ever for the first week of sales for a BlackBerry smartphone,” BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins said in a statement to VentureBeat.
Hein’s statement should make you roll your eyes a bit because in it he says quite a lot while also saying not much at all, at least mathematically. The reality is that there’s not much to talk about here without any actual sales numbers (not that BlackBerry is particularly likely to announce them).
But while early sales of the Z10 may be looking good, the real challenge for BlackBerry will be keeping them that way. The odds right now seem in the company’s favor, but perhaps we should wait until the Z10 makes it to the U.S. next month before we make any real predictions.
VentureBeat's mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative enterprise technology and transact. Discover our Briefings.


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Shoppers in Consett might have a double take when they visit Poundland on the town's Hermiston Retail Park.
The discount store has extended into its empty next-door neighbour to bring the total size of the shop to nearly 10,000sq ft.
The extension into the former Brantano shoe shop has created an additional five jobs, which brings the total number employed in the store to 32.
The move, which adds an additional 3,500sq ft, means that Poundland Consett can now stock a wider range of lines, including the PEP&CO clothing and homeware brand.
The revamped Consett shop, which opens on Saturday, November 27, is also one of the first in the region to offer chilled and frozen food.
Poundland’s retail and transformation director, Austin Cooke, said: “The new look Consett store will show off Poundland at its best and our investment will bring shoppers more choice and create valuable new jobs.
“Existing and new customers are going to love the extended ranges on offer which means they can buy more of what they need in a single trip.”
Poundland opened its first store 31 years ago in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, and now has more than 850 stores in the the UK and the Republic of Ireland.


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We have previously written on this blog about the risks employers take when they require workers to do anything while “off the clock.” Americans are protective of their time, and most hourly workers are not willing to show up early and stay late, unpaid, just to satisfy corporate policies that benefit the company.
The latest example of this is a lawsuit that Apple recently proposed to settle for $29.9 million. The actions in the lawsuit occurred from 2009-2015, when Apple required store employees to stay after their shifts and submit to searches of their bags and iPhones. The searches took between five and 20 minutes, and employees were not compensated for that time.
Apple argued protection of property and trade secrets
The lawsuit was filed in California and impacts 14,683 Apple Store employees. Each will receive about $1,286 from the settlement. In court, Apple contended that the searches were needed because of the threat that Apple employees might be stealing merchandise or trade secrets. They also said the only way for employees to get out of the searches was to leave their bags and phones at home when they came to work.
Employees must be paid for time spent on company policy compliance
This Apple lawsuit is very similar to litigation that Amazon has faced in the past for its mandatory and unpaid security checks of employees leaving their shifts at fulfilment centers. It is also similar to another, more recent, lawsuit against Amazon for requiring unpaid Covid-19 illness screenings before starting work shifts.
If you are a business owner and need your employees to spend extra time in order to comply with company policies, the safest way to protect your business from liability is to compensate workers for their time. The extra costs you may incur in payroll would be more than offset by costs saved in litigation.


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Germans get surprisingly wacky about their health, spending a lot of money and time on alternative cures like Kneipp and Schroth. And for chronic conditions, they may well be the answer.
Cobble-stoned lanes, half-timbered houses and a fabulous Christmas market: Esslingen near Stuttgart is a medieval gem of a town and wine lovers will not be disappointed either …
The name may not make it sound very appealing, but the Black Forest is Germany’s biggest single tourism destination for holidaymaking Brits.


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Matthew Rodbourne, co-founder and Business Growth Manager of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform ETHBITS spoke with CoinJournal at CoinFest UK 2018. Rodbourne shared news of upcoming developments for ETHBITS and its new iTrade platform which will launch in August. ETHBITS was founded a year ago by self-professed “crypto-fanatics”, it’s a peer to peer trading platform that […]
The post Matthew Rodbourne of EthBits Discusses Crypto Copy Trading and Market Manipulation At CoinFest UK appeared first on Coinjournal.
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Digital solutions have proven their worth in the pandemic. Even before that, platform solutions provided a new infrastructure for trade finance. Beyond the aspect of efficient settlement, mediating supply and demand is also a significant application area.
In a recent report published by Standard and Chartered Bank, Trade Finance corridors between India and South Korea are highlighted as some of the most promising and active in Asia.
Lower commodity prices and scarcer demand have been pushing some African countries into deeper recessions, especially those heavily depending on the export of metals and oil. According to GTR the risk of sovereign default has grown across countries in Africa because of currency risk and higher debt levels. In such a challenging environment, trade finance executives have urged MDBs (Multilateral Development Banks) to “intervene decisively” and increase risk appetite in the continent by providing credit support to banks.
The world economic crisis resulting from the pandemic has affected almost all countries in the world. The recovery is now expected in most regions, thanks to a catch up effect, expectations of a vaccine and very supportive fiscal policies.The crisis will nevertheless have lasting effects. It will bring or accelerate structural changes and will impact trade in several ways. Geopolitical tensions and a new US administration create further uncertainties. In this paper we briefly discuss some of these issues:
Over the past decade there has been a shift in strength between Western and Eastern banking. While Asia used to look at the West as an example of banking in terms of product and service innovation, the numbers recently shared in a research publication by McKinsey’s Future of Asia paints a different picture of the current situation.
Despite the challenging economic conditions, many Southeast Asian countries have been looking ahead optimistically while planning for recovery.
While dire news of Southeast Asian economies has lined newsfeeds the past months, many remain optimistic regarding the outlook of economic recovery. As global production lines recommence operations, the multiple sources predicts that countries in the region will rebound in the upcoming months.
After the collapse of oil trader Hin Leong and financial trouble at several other Singapore traders it was expected that banks in Singapore would tighten commodity financing practices.
Economic statistics for growth (or should we say contraction) look like something from another era: Eurozone -5,5%[i], advanced economies -6,1%[ii]. World merchandise trade volumes are expected to decrease between -13% and -32%, depending on the scenario laid out by the WTO[iii].
COVID-19 has shown to the world the true colors of centralizing manufacturing in one country, China. As the economy stopped during the first lockdown, corporates started considering the idea of distributing their manufacturing needs across the globe, mostly towards new emerging markets. That is, however, easier said than done.
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Dr Spiller treated 13 Face Plus Medispa clients to an evening of champagne and canapés with the brand’s skincare expert Sue Dann and three celebrity clients last week.
Last week, professional skincare brand Dr Spiller treated 13 lucky VIP Face Plus Medispa clients to a star-studded evening of champagne and canapés at the Medispa’s Sydney-based Bondi Junction premises. Hosting the evening was Dr Spiller’s skincare expert Sue Dann.
Over the course of the event, Dann told guests that Dr Spiller’s skin philosophy was simply to help people “rediscover great skin”.
“People aren’t born with bad skin,” she said. “Children’s skin looks after itself perfectly well but somewhere along the way things have gone wrong…
Special guests included Dr Spiller Biomimetic ambassador and award-winning news journalist, Sandra Sully, international Editor-at-Large Dhav Nadu (Elle China, Vogue Brazil, Vogue Germany, Vogue Turkey and Vogue Russia) and Olympic swimming champion, Leisel Jones.
Celebrity facialist, Sue Dann, spoke briefly to guests about “rediscovering great skin”, and shared insightful facts around women’s key skin concerns.
“Despite all the advances in skincare technology and the plethora of product choices on offer, more Australians than ever before are deeply concerned about premature ageing (dehydration, pigmentation and sensitivity are on the rise for every age group),” says Dann. “It begs the question: where are we going wrong? The answer is quite simple. Many products and treatments actually weaken the skin’s natural protective barrier ‒ we strip our skin with harsh cleansers, and we cause inflammation with regular application of acid-containing products and excessive exfoliation”
Sandra Sully and Leisel Jones also spoke to guests about their experience with the Dr. Spiller Biomimetic brand. They talked about how they were introduced to the brand and how it has changed their approach to skincare. Jones openly discussed her struggles with her skin and how Dr Spiller and Face Plus Medispa helped to transform her skin.
Dann said Dr Spiller takes “a very different approach” to the majority of skincare companies by “supporting the skin’s natural function instead of constantly interrupting it”.
“Healthy, happy skin rests on two simple rules for an at-home skincare regimen: a gentle cleanser and hydrating with a moisturiser that is easily absorbed by the skin,” she says.
On the night, each guest received a complimentary skin assessment with Dr Spiller’s and Face Plus Medispa dermal experts to discover their skin needs and devised a treatment plan to target their specific skin concerns.
Dann left the VIP guests with one winning skin tip: “Before trying new products, people should ask themselves ‘Will this support or disrupt my skin’s natural function?'” she says. “Skin will happily maintain a beautiful balance if you don’t cause it stress and confusion. Dr. Spiller has proven that time and again.”


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Parenthood could soon be on the cards for newlyweds Hailey Baldwin and Justin Bieber.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
And in a new interview with Vogue Arabia, fashion star Hailey revealed she may soon be swapping modelling work for mommy duties.
“I love kids and I can’t wait to have my own. I would say now that’s a closer reality,” she teased.
The 22-year-old also opened up about her upbringing, and said that despite being the daughter of Baldwin brother Stephen, she managed to have a grounded childhood.


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Orangetown Police Chief Kevin Nulty addresses about 50 Nyack business owners and residents Friday about the operating restrictions for village bars and restaurants.
The village on Friday altered its alcohol ban, allowing Main Street bars and restaurants to serve food and drinks until 10 p.m.
But business owners said that's not good enough.
Some don't want any restriction while others want to keep their kitchens open late. ...


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For the first time in the history of monthly MLS® sales, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board’s April sales tipped over the 2,000 threshold. The 2,055 sales in April edged out last month’s sales of 1,975 and are up 53% over the 5-year average for this month. Dollar volume set a new record monthly high as well in April with $678.3 million transacted in sales — a 65% rise over this month’s 5-year average.
The 2,615 listings remaining at month end are down 41% from the same time last year despite a dramatic fall off in new listings entered in April 2020 due to the pandemic economic shutdown. The good news is that year-to-date cumulative listings of 8,066 represent a 10% increase over 2020 and are less than 1% behind those entered in 2019.
Year-to-date MLS® sales after 4 months are 6,197, a 76% gain over the same period in 2020 while dollar volume of $2.0 billion increased 96% compared to 2020. The conversion of listings to sales is another metric indicating a supercharged market with 77% of all listings being sold. In the previous 5 years, this percentage has never attained 50% and you have to go back to 2004 and 2005 when the conversion percentage was as high as it is this year.
As for house prices, April was notable for a few reasons.
The southwest area of Winnipeg saw its average residential detached sales price go over $500,000 to end up at $521,625 and also be at the half million dollar mark for the first 4 months. Given this area of Winnipeg has a significant portion of sales within the city, it is not surprising Winnipeg’s average residential detached sales price was skewed upward to reach just under $400,000 in April. The region outside Winnipeg ended up at $351,000.
April also ushered in 13 one-million plus sales with nine selling in southwest Winnipeg, including the highest one at $2,250,000. Higher priced house sales were also evident in the price range sales activity chart with the $500,000 to $749,999 capturing the most sales activity at 17%. A close second was from $300,000 to $349,999 at 16%.
The brisk condominium sales in April saw the most sales activity at nearly 30% of total sales from $150,000 to $199,999 with the next busiest price range of $200,000 to $249,999 well behind at 18%. And not shockingly with all the bidding wars and lack of detached housing options, many buyers are looking at condominiums as alternatives. This likely explains why they have seen the biggest gain thus far with a 115% increase in sales over the same period last year.
If you have any questions about the real estate market, don’t hesitate to reach out.


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One of the main arguments against DeFi and other decentralized applications is the fact that most of the Ethereum activity today is unlikely to be sustainable. Many of the Ethereum use case examples, including stable coins and trading those stable coins for ETH, are based on the reintroduction or modification of third-party risks. This makes it questionable whether it is feasible to build these applications on a blockchain.
Bitcoin has many solutions to implement many of the popular use cases on Ethereum. Sovryn, a new DeFi application that uses Bitcoin, combines many of the most popular use cases into one interface. Bitcoin can easily adopt new tech developed by its rivals, as Sovryn shows.
If Bitcoin can adopt the features of its rivals, then the real competition among cryptocurrencies will be more about their monetary properties. Bitcoin is the best-known cryptocurrency money, with its liquidity and stability, as well as the unwavering, consistent monetary policy.
The bitcoin price also fell sharply from the record high of nearly $65,000 per bitcoin in mid-April. This was due to Elon Musk's fickle Tesla TSLA +1.5% billionaire and fears about a China-related bitcoin crackdown.
Todd Morley, co-founder, an ex-executive of Guggenheim Partners, is now a crypto- and blockchain investor and entrepreneur. He believes ethereum has a "much greater utility" than bitcoin and is "where the action."
As more countries openly accept cryptos, digital currencies are becoming more popular. Experts predict that Bitcoin will lose its position as the most popular crypto. Crypto investors will be more interested in digital currencies with better tech and greater agility. Ethereum seems to be doing just that.
Many believe that Ethereum will not be able to replace Bitcoin because it has many advantages over Ethereum. Senior market analyst Edward Moya of Oanda Corp stated that Bitcoin will remain the king of cryptos.


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south africa - deloitte enabling south africa, the bpo ... gradually using south africa as the...
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Riding the offshoring wave!
Offshore outsourcing business can prove to be a major boost for South Africa. While it has established itself as an emerging offshoring destination, it is further evolving to offer a lucrative customer-oriented workforce with capacity to deliver work of varying complexity. The emergence of South Africa has helped companies to provide quality services at lower costs in comparison to onshore delivery centres.
South Africa riding the offshoring wave!
ContentsExecutive summary 5
South Africa as an emerging offshoring destination 6
Current offshoring scenario 7
Factors affecting South Africas popularity 9
South Africa riding the offshoring wave 5
Executive summaryUnder increasing pressures to cut costs and achieve efficiencies in the current global macroeconomic situation, organisations fervently continue to look for destinations that are not only cost-effective, but can also provide quality services especially in terms of high-end processes. In this regard, South Africa has, to a large extent, been able to establish its offshoring mettle. A number of European, US and Australian companies have started offshoring complex processes to South Africa. As per current BPESA Business Process Enabling South Africa, the BPO industry association in South Africa estimates, the South African BPM sector employees 225 000 personnel and accounts for more than a ZAR50 billion contribution to the national annual GDP, with the country accounting for 1% of the global business process and information technology outsourcing market.
South Africa has been able to move up the value chain and is now not restricted to contact centre services only. Organisations are increasingly leveraging South African operations (captive or offshore) to deliver complex work such as financial-industry specific services and legal process services that require specific talent and high expertise. In fact, South Africa is viewed as an entry point for the rest of Africa. Companies are also using South African delivery centres for service delivery to other prominent African nations. A substantial amount of these services are in the BFSI domain; however, South Africa is also being considered as a prospective location within a companies global delivery network for shared services (back-office), especially in the areas of finance and accounting and human resources for Africa-to-Africa support.
The emergence of South Africas offshoring capabilities is supported by a number of factors including improving the countrys risk profile in terms of infrastructure, foreign trade and payments etc., and the availability of a large talent pool which is not only proficient in English but also has linguistic capabilities in French, German and Spanish. Given the helpful presence of large service buyers and service providers in the marketplace, government incentives and schemes, coupled with required infrastructure, are providing the much-needed boost to the rampant growth of the industry.
As South Africas contribution to the global IT-BPO market and the demand for its offshoring services are poised to grow in the near future, industry participants (government, institutions and corporates) have an opportunity to work in coordination to address pain points such as adequate supply of skilled labour in accordance with the rising demand, and still-high telecommunication costs. By addressing these talent and infrastructure related issues, South Africa can capture a larger share in the global IT-BPO market. As per estimates, if the country is able to capture an additional 3% of this market, it has the potential to export 76 billion rand ($6.6 billion) per annum of such services by 2030, which is expected to boost GDP by up to 99 billion rand ($8.6 billion) per annum by 2030, and create jobs to the tune of 192 000. Timely, targeted action to deal with these issues (talent and infrastructure) will be helpful in delivering quality along with efficiencies going forward.
South Africa riding the offshoring wave 6
South Africa as an emerging offshoring destinationIn recent times, South Africa has been increasingly considered an emerging outsourcing destination, whether through captive or offshore approach, while competing with locations such as Ireland, Egypt, Morocco and Poland. South African cities are ranked and consistently mentioned in the attractiveness index for outsourcing. In the 2015 Tholons Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations report, which ranks cities in terms of outsourcing attractiveness, three South African cities made the cut Johannesburg (#21), Cape Town (#57) and Durban (#100).
Importantly, this growing popularity of the nation is not contained in being merely the cheapest offshoring destination. Rather, it is being looked upon as a destination that provides quality customer experience particularly for complex processes such as new business capture and claims processing. Organisations that seek to have customer experience similar to that achieved by the onshore delivery centre, at a substantially lower cost are setting up their customer delivery centres in South Africa. For instance, Amazon is ramping up its customer service delivery from South Africa. At the same time, other organisations are emphasising end-to-end services delivery across a wide array of customer queries due to South Africas capability to provide support in addition to English language assignments. The delivery centres established in South Africa now also provide services in European languages such as French and Spanish.
Benefits of offshoring to South Africa
Cost savings (typically in the range of 30-50%) compared to onshore service delivery from the UK and Australia
Higher first-call-resolution rates than onshore delivery centres
Ability to deliver more complex end-to-end processes than other offshore delivery locations
Better performance compared to onshore delivery in sales and debt collection
Ease of management due to time zone compatibility
South Africa riding the offshoring wave 7
Current offshoring scenario
The complexity of services delivered from South Africa is on the rise. UK-based utilities are using South Africa contact centre delivery to support billing and meter issues, outages and debt collection. The banking sector uses these delivery centres for application support and collections, while the insurance sector engages these for inbound and outbound sales. Contact centre services have, so far, been the predominant offshoring services offered from South Africa; this trend, however, has been changing recently, with companies offering a number of other offshoring services pertaining to financial services and Legal Processes.
Organisations using SA contact centre services by sector (%)
Others includingMedia andHigh-tech
AirlinesEnergy and Utilities
Online Retailing/Home Shopping
Sectors using SA contact centre services by number of call centre FTEs
Others includingMedia andHigh-tech
Energy and Utilities
Online Retailing/Home Shopping
(Source: Analysis of South Africa as a BPO Delivery Location (BPeSA-Nelson Hall Report 2015))
South Africa riding the offshoring wave 8
Among these is international service delivery pertaining to the financial services industry. The country is being considered a prospective location within an organisations international delivery network for back-office shared services in the areas of Finance and Accounting and Human Resource for Africa-to-Africa support, with organisations gradually using South Africa as the centre for their African shared services hubs. The majority of the financial services provided are specific to the banking and insurance industries.
In the financial services space, South Africa is being used for more complex processing tasks that require higher expertise levels and customer engagement. Computer Science Corporation (CSC), for instance, is using South Africa operations to roll out life insurance BPO services to its Indian operations that support its US life insurance BPO clients. Old Mutual and Discovery are also looking to build global financial services shared service centres in South Africa, which will focus on financial services product development along with processing. Kleinwort Benson engages South African fund administration personnel to develop relationships with clients located throughout Europe. The financial industry specific services delivered from South Africa can be divided mainly into life insurance, fund administration and asset management.
Besides contact centre and financial industry services, quality legal process services (LPS) are also gaining the nations prominence. The South African LPS market can be divided into domestic and offshore markets. The offshore LPS market is expanding as buyers of offshoring services look for cost savings. South Africa has been able to deliver legal services across the value chain that include dictation, transcription and medium-level legal processes such as claims management, e-discovery and contract management. Also on offer are highly complex jobs such as compliance, due diligence, contract drafting and risk management. Existence of similarities in the legal and regulatory systems, commonalities in the legal background, coupled with already existing legal networks in South Africa, are helping the LPS segment to grow substantially.
Investment & Portfolio Administration, Client Reporting and


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Google recently announced some exciting news. The new and blown-up Google Plus cover photo, a cover photo that is more than double of its original size. Perfect for web and graphic designers who Read more..
Now some of us believe that the Google Plus Social Network is a ghost town and I suppose it is compared to the Facebook usage. Google plus has 400m+ users and Facebook just reached 1 billion, Read more..


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Guo Xiaofeng, author of Tencent News
On September 17, Communication Holdings (688036) issued an initial public offering and an investment announcement in Science and Technology Innovation Board.
The announcement shows that, according to the preliminary inquiry result, the issue price of the company is determined to be 35.15 yuan/ share. The price/ earnings ratio for this price is 38.50 times before the issuance and 42.78 times after the release. The transmission will be applied on September 19.
Voice Holdings intends to publicly issue 80 million new shares, accounting for 10 per cent of the total share capital of the issuer after the issue. The initial strategic placement of the issue is 12 million shares, accounting for 15 per cent of the current issue. The difference between the final strategic placement and the initial strategic placement will first be redialed to the offline issue. The initial issue number is 54.4 million shares, accounting for 80% of the initial strategic placement quantity, and the initial online issue quantity is 13.6 million shares, accounting for 20% of the issued number after deducting the initial strategic placement quantity.
According to the previous IPO, the acronym of the stock is referred to as
Financing is mainly used for seven projects such as the mobile phone manufacturing base of Chuanyin Zhihui Park. Six of these projects are planned to use 2.811 billion yuan of funds, and the remaining 300 million yuan is used as supplementary liquidity.
Annual shipments of 124 million mobile phones, more than millet, vivo and OPPO ranked fourth in the world. If not for the IPO, I believe many people would not necessarily know the voice, or even a little strange. Who is the speaker? How to achieve the fourth place in the world? Why did you choose IPO?
Popular in Africa
Audio Holdings was established in 2013 and is headquartered in Shenzhen's Niuniu Street Office.
The main products are TECNO (Mass Smart), itel (Low-end Functional Machine), Infinix (High-end Smart Machine) and Pice (between Functional and Smart Phone) and other four mobile phone brands. Data show that in 2018, the company shipped 124 million mobile phones, second only to Samsung, Huawei and Apple, ranking fourth over millet, vivo and OPPO.
Although Microphone ranks fourth in global annual shipments, it is not well known to Chinese people because 100% of its mobile phones are sold in overseas markets. More precisely, the sales of voice-over mobile phones are mainly concentrated in Africa, followed by South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America, and other emerging market countries around the world.
Especially in Africa, the voice-to-sound cell phone is a household name. According to the online information, over 80% of more than 80% of the phone's mobile phones were sold in Africa last year, with a market share of 48.71% in Africa. That is to say, the sound-transfer one takes up the whole of Africa's half-wall. Therefore, the sound transmission also has
It's not a new thing to go to sea, but it can survive overseas and be like voice transmission.
Zhu Zhaojiang, founder of Communication Holdings, said to the media earlier:
Zhu Zhaojiang was in charge of the overseas market of Qianwaveguide mobile phone in his early years. With the decline of waveguide brand, Zhu Zhaojiang, who has been the vice president of waveguide mobile phone in 2006, came out to establish a brand of voice, mainly in Africa and other markets.
Over the past decade, most domestic mobile phone brands have been digging gold in the Chinese market. Despite overseas expansion, the big head is still in China, after all, this is the world's largest smartphone market. But along the way, facing a series of high investment and cruel competition, such as price war, channel expansion, technology competition, marketing momentum, mobile phone manufacturers have encountered wave after wave of market differentiation and shuffling. Today, competition has never stopped and shuffling has never stopped.
In 2008, the voice industry avoided the fierce competition in the domestic market and focused on Africa, where the population was second only to China and India. At that time, there were only a few mobile phone brands in Africa, such as Samsung and Nokia. At that time, the market competition was relatively less fierce, and the voice industry gained more sales with relatively less investment. And profits.
The TECNO,itel function machine was the first to enter the African market, selling for about 65 yuan to 454yuan, which is very suitable for African users who are still struggling on the food and satiety line, and the function machine it has developed is very approachable. For example, the transmission of information aimed at the innovation of the essence
It is understood that the research and development team of voice transmission has developed a new facial localization technology specifically for African skin color and facial features. And on this basis, the African version of the beauty and filter was introduced. And in Africa, there are no street lights in most places at night. So the microphone adds a high-power flashlight to the mobile phone. To enhance the brightness of the flashlight. Many areas do not have adequate power supply, so the voice on the mobile phone used a super-large capacity of batteries, allegedly standby for a month. African people like music, like singing and dancing at any time and anywhere. The transmission of sound enhances the power of loudspeakers while guaranteeing the timbre. Headphones are also included in mobile phone packages.
Later, according to the needs of different consumers, different brand products were launched to meet the needs of different consumers, and multi-brand strategy was introduced. The price of itel is lower, mainly for young consumers, mainly for lively, personality labels; TECNO price is relatively higher, for people with higher consumption level, Infinix is mainly for e-commerce consumers. Spice is mainly aimed at the Indian market.
In addition, in order to enhance service, in 2010, Microphone established Carlcare Customer Service Center in Africa, which specializes in providing after-sales service for its brands. Audio is the first foreign mobile phone company to build a local after-sales service network in Africa. At present, there are more than 2,000 professional service outlets, covering more than 40 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. In the outside world, it not only expresses their determination to cultivate the place for a long time, but also strengthens the consumer's willingness in Africa, thus expanding the brand influence.
In addition to the above mobile phone products, Microphone has also created digital accessories brand Oraimo and household appliances brand Syinix. At the same time, rumors have also independently developed HiOS, itelOS, XOS and other intelligent terminal operating systems, around the OS operating system to develop application stores, game platforms, advertising distribution platforms and mobile phone housekeepers and other tools software.
From Zhu Zhaojiang's point of view, the survival principle of voice transmission abroad lies in adhering to high-quality brand, local innovation and co-creation and sharing. At present, there are more than 14,000 employees worldwide, and its global sales network covers more than 70 countries and regions in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and South Asia.
Thanks to the application innovation of localization and the high attention paid to technology research and development, the performance of voice holding company has also achieved substantial growth.
According to the prospectus, from 2016 to 2018, its operating income was 11.637 billion yuan, 20.444 billion yuan and 22.646 billion yuan respectively, with an average annual compound growth rate of 3.95%. The net profit attributable to the owner of the parent company was 0.63 billion yuan, 671 million yuan and 657 million yuan, respectively. The main business is outstanding and the revenue growth is obvious. In the first half of this year, the company's revenue was 105.04168.8 billion yuan, and its net profit was 816 million yuan. In terms of net profit alone, it has surpassed the whole year of 2018.
After gaining a firm foothold in the African continent, Chuanyuan entered the Indian market in 2016 and began to expand to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Similar to Africa, India currently has about 800 million people living on the food and clothing line, who still have a great demand for inexpensive functional machines.
With the continuous expansion, some problems have also been exposed. Despite the market for functional phones, demand for Smartphone replacement in Africa and India is increasing day by day. Compared with functional phones, the competition in the smartphone market is much fiercer and needs more financial support.
Take the Indian market for example. There are two sales companies in India, but the two sales companies have accumulated losses of more than 700 million yuan for three consecutive years. The net profits of the two companies from the second half of 2016 to 2018 are 32.38 million yuan, 168 million yuan and 500 million yuan, respectively. In this regard, the rumor said that the main reason is that India is still in the period of market expansion, in the early stage of brand promotion, marketing and after-sales network construction and personnel compensation have invested a large loss.
Industry analysts believe that the main problem is that low-priced voice products lead to gross margin pressure and weakened product competitiveness, especially in smartphones. In addition, millet, which also started at a low price, has already stabilized the Indian market. In order to make a breakthrough in voice transmission, we must increase R&D investment and improve product competitiveness.
In addition, the African market is facing the same problem. With Samsung, Huawei, Millet and other mobile phone companies attaching importance to the African market, voice transmission is facing a greater crisis.
Since 2018, Samsung Electronics has increased its investment in Africa, including the establishment of retail stores and the expansion of offline channels. Huawei, a leading high-end brand in Africa, has also launched cheaper low-end smartphones. In January this year, millet announced the establishment of an African department by issuing an internal document. It also cooperated with Jumia, an African e-commerce platform, to sell online products. After OPPO entered the African market, the main model cost $140. These domestic brands are looking for opportunities to erode the market for voice transmission.
One fact is that as competition in the African market intensifies, the gross industry interest rate will fall further. In its prospectus, Chuan Yin suggests that if we can't maintain product technological innovation and provide better products and services in the future, we will face the risk of declining share and dragging down profitability.
Therefore, in order to achieve greater development, open up new markets, improve product competitiveness, only to expand capital, and IPO is the best solution. Through the IPO, voice not only introduces a lot of capital, but also expands brand influence, so as to facilitate the transformation to smart phones and business expansion.
According to the prospectus, one third of the funds raised will be used for the construction of mobile phone manufacturing base project in Yiyin Zhihui Park. The project intends to expand the production of various types of mobile phone products, mainly smartphones, to increase the proportion of assets. The remaining funds will establish two mobile phone research centers in Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as a mobile Internet platform base, with the aim of improving R&D and service capabilities.
Earlier, Microphone has launched its own news media service Scooper and music media service Boomplay, and the number of users of the two core applications is increasing. On the other hand, Microphone has also launched credit and savings services in the field of mobile finance.
IPO is only the first step for voice to expand outward. However, on the road of smartphones, R&D is always bottomless, even with risks.In the global market where competition is ubiquitous, the key to success or failure in the future is whether voice can rely on smartphones, quickly adapt to the market and transfer to high-margin services such as mobile Internet services.


text:
Maserati CEO Calls Shenanigans on Electric Vehicle "Nonsense"
April 25, 2013 5:15 PM
comment(s) - last by
Auto exec admits his company may have to develop a hybrid powertrain in the U.S.
-- CEO of Fiat S.p.A.'s (
) high-end subsidiaries Alfa Romeo and Maserati -- admits his performance luxury car firm may be forced to make a hybrid powertrain to satisfy U.S.
regulations. But while his peers
like Ferrari S.p.A.
Holdings SE (
Bayerische Motoren Werke
(BMW) AG (
are at least feigning genuine enthusiasm about their upcoming hybrid or electric vehicle (EV) sports cars, Mr. Wester didn't candy-coat his opinions: he thinks that EVs are "nonsense".
Shanghai Auto Show
in a keynote:
It looks like something we will have to, but the only reason to do it is to meet regulations. We don't see it as a significant business.
All this discussion about zero emissions is nonsense. Nobody talks about the efficiency of how the battery is charged. It varies strongly from region to region, depending on how the energy is produced, nuclear, coal and so on, but even the best is not ahead of the internal combustion engine.
Diesel and CNG are the more obvious answers if CO2 is the focus. Both are more viable answers than hybrid. If they gave us a CO2 target instead of imposing technology then we would go that way.
If we want a realistic solution to emissions then the regulators need to be more honest in how they calculate emissions. Electric cars are not the answer.
The 2014 Maserati Ghibli -- not an EV
By his estimates electric vehicles have a plant-to-road lifecycle output of 86g of CO2/km in Europe, 110g/km in the USA, and
191g/km in China
. In other words, he's arguing that EVs are far from zero emissions -- and he's right.
To be fair, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), the agency tasked with CAFE regulation, does somewhat take this into effect
via its mpg-e
(electric vehicle mpg) numbers. That said, the numbers do seem a bit skewed -- EVs are
scoring 100 MPGe or more
. To put that in context the 1.4L engine Chevy CRUZE from General Motors Comp. (GM) puts off
about 161 g/km, meaning that it may produce less emissions in regions like China where much of the power comes from "dirty" sources.
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: progress is never easy....
4/26/2013 7:00:48 AM
"Of course, the governments know waaay better than the consumers what is best for them. Consumers could never figure out what types of vehicles meet their needs the best without the gentle guiding hand of our benevolent masters!"
Huh ?!!!. Governments know squat!. They rely on thinktanks, consultants, academia and private industries to advise them on things!. Because of self interests large corporations ended up controlling all of these!. And we get the mess we now have yet most people are BLIND to this. It has been decades since there are real innovations in the world of transportation. EVs were shun decades ago while the world focus on telecoms and computers, yet gas is king as an energy source. Instead of gas being cheaper, it rises and rises being controlled by a cartel (yeah, those banksters). Battery and materials technology crawl in a snail's pace for reasons that universities are not seriously looking at them. There is no unified effort to really sole the battery issue and getting renewable energy sources going in a big way. Your science has FAILED you!.
RE: progress is never easy....
4/26/2013 8:35:02 AM
I think you need to learn about sarcasm!!!!!!!!
(exclamation marks added for sarcasm)
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text:
As the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, Samsung commands a lot of attention at Mobile World Congress (MWC). Its stand in Hall 3 is one of the busiest at the show and this year is now exception.
While its competitors waited until Barcelona to reveal their new flagship devices, Samsung debuted the Samsung Galaxy S10 and the foldable Samsung Galaxy Fold at its own event the week before.
For many, MWC is the first chance to see the new devices in the flesh – even if the Fold was protected by a Perspex box this year.
- Samsung Galaxy S10: Hands-on review
- Chinese vendors account for a third of the market
- What is 5G? Everything you need to know
Samsung Galaxy S10 hopes
The new devices are integral to Samsung’s battle against market saturation. The S10 hopes to encourage consumers to upgrade at a time when product lifecycles are increasing, while the Fold is an attempt to maintain the company’s reputation as an innovator.
Not only are sales slowing, but Chinese manufacturers are challenging Samsung’s supremacy. Huawei has said it wants to be the world’s biggest phone vendor by next year, while others are increasing competition in mid-range segments.
In the UK, Samsung has traditionally led the Android charge against Apple. But the critically-acclaimed Huawei P20 has changed the landscape, while Xiaomi has also targeted Britain as part of its expansion into Western Europe. Amid this backdrop, the S10 has a lot riding on it.
Connor Pierce joined Samsung from Nokia as the head of UK and Ireland back in 2015 and was appointed Corporate Vice President late last year. He tells TechRadar Pro he is encouraged by the initial reaction to the S10.
“I think we’ve made a significant leap forward from previous flagships in terms of camera, power and the ecosystem,” he says. “The reaction has been so positive and the response from our partners has been great.”
It’s no secret that mobile phone manufacturers are hoping 5G will drive sales. All four major UK operators have plans to launch 5G later this year and Samsung is to release a 5G version of the S10.
Several vendors have announced 5G smartphones at MWC, but none are as high-profile as the Samsung flagship. Although uptake of 5G might be low to begin with, it’s likely that many early adopters will select the S10 – driving modest sales but positioning Samsung as an innovator.
“It will take time to get coverage [but] I do think operator plans will drive uptake of the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G,” says Pierce. “I think it will help drive growth in the market.
“In five months, let’s assume we will have broader coverage of 5G and a wider choice of devices so it’s more accessible. I think people will be blown away.”
The future is foldable
It’s clear that Samsung places great emphasis on being perceived as an innovator, and this helps to explain the Samsung Galaxy Fold.
While the S10 will hope to drive sales in a way the S9 failed to do, the Fold is a more niche product with a huge price tag. Some analysts have suggested vendors don’t want the first generation of foldables to be mass-market and instead want to learn how these commercial handsets are used in a real-world setting.
Pierce believes the Fold will attract a following, but admits it is important from a branding perspective and that Samsung will provide support to customers throughout the entire lifecycle of their device.
“We’ve spent many years and millions of hours-worth of engineering investment in making the Samsung Galaxy Fold. It’s about Samsung’s leadership [of the smartphone] market. It’s important for brand but we have an expectation that it will be adopted by our partners and early adopters.
“We can be proud of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and [we can judge success] in a number of ways. We are committed to delivering a positive experience.
“We’ve read about the lack of innovation in smartphones. We’ve proved that era of apathy is over and we’ve come up with a spectacular form factor. We’ve shown there is more to come and I think it’s a beginning of a new era.”
Of course, Samsung is not the only vendor showcasing a foldable device at MWC. The Huawei Mate X has stolen headlines, while LG has showcased a dual screen device as an alternative. Pierce is not worried the innovation in the Fold will be overshadowed.
“The more players, the more energy, the more innovation and the more creativity [in the market] is better for the company. We have our own ambitions and if [the competition] wants to keep up, let them try.”
Ten years of Galaxy
Speaking of competition, how important is it for Samsung to keep its position as the world’s biggest manufacturer? Is it more important to stay ahead of the pack or to increase the Average Selling Price (ASP) of devices and improve profitability?
Samsung has spent the past few years attempting to diversify its portfolio. It has expanded into components and telecoms networking equipment, launched new wearables, and placed great emphasis on connected consumer electronics powered by the SmartThings platform.
Pierce is proud of the legacy of the Galaxy range as it nears its decade in existence and believes Samsung’s reputation for quality and customer service will continue to endear it to customers and partners.
“I think the most important thing for Samsung is to have a successful business but that only works if you have a good experience. It’s about bringing 5G [and other innovations] to life. If we get that right, consumers enjoy the experience and feel loyalty to Samsung and the wider ecosystem.
“In the UK, people who have [multiple Samsung products] have the highest NPS scores. At least two thirds of people have a Samsung product in their household and a lot of iPhone owners love their Samsung TV.
“It’s been an incredible evolution over ten years … [Galaxy] is well-established as a premium brand and it stands for something meaningful. People see Galaxy as an innovative brand, especially with the [launch of] the S10.
The UK market
“The UK is a lighthouse market and we have a lot of expectation from our [international] colleagues," Pierce adds. "We need to build opportunities … it’s a very competitive market. My new role [as Corporate Vice President] gives me a stronger voice internally.
The UK is unique in that three quarters of the market is premium. In the past, it’s been a two-horse race, but we have a strong NPS that’s improving all the time.
“It’s about focussing on the right things, like adding value to partners and on what consumers really want."
- Here are the best Samsung mobile phone deals for March 2019


text:
As we announced some time ago, the new European regulation on energy consumption would come into force on March 1, 2023. In this way, those televisions that exceed that energy efficiency coefficient stipulated by the regulatory body they could not be sold in European territory. This especially affected 8K and 4K HDR Smart TVs with high brightness.
This new regulation led us to wonder what manufacturers would do as of this year to market new models of 8K televisions. Samsung will launch this year 3 new models with this resolutionand to comply with this law, it has had to significantly modify many aspects of its televisions.
A major change for high-resolution TVs
Since just a couple of days, any television that is marketed in Europe must meet its energy efficiency index (EEIMAX) do not exceed 0.90 on televisions up to 8K resolution and MicroLED. This is difficult for manufacturers, since it is the same limit that exists for 4K and 1080p televisions, and therefore complying with it on 8K televisions will be complex given their higher brightness delivery and pixel density.
For this reason, many manufacturers have jumped ship regarding selling 8K TVs this year. Firms such as TCL have abandoned the sale of these televisions in Europe, and LG only includes an 8K OLED model in its line for this year.
Samsung has managed to continue its commitment to 8K by modifying various aspects of its televisions as they come out of the box. This means that the user you will find specifications well below those expected when you shop for a Samsung 8K TV this year.
A standard Eco mode that significantly decreases brightness and image quality
According to an interview for Forbes, the manufacturer has assured that European users will find an Eco mode that will significantly decrease the brightness of the panel. To give you an idea, out of 50 brightness levels, there will be models that by default only reach level 8 or 15. In addition, Samsung has locked the brightness adjustment to those maximums in Eco mode to comply with the regulation.
The image quality has also been modified in this mode in order to comply with the new energy regulation, greatly reducing several of its aspects. However, the good news is that the user will be able to manually change the image modeso both quality and brightness are not affected and the user can adjust brightness levels as usual.
These settings will come by default when you purchase an 8K or 4K television that exceeds the limit imposed by the new European energy regulation, so you will have to change them from the settings TV if you want to get the most out of your TV.
This new energy regulation has been devised by the European Commission to encourage the development of more efficient panels in the long term by the manufacturers. It remains to be seen if Samsung will continue to support 8K with its Neo QLEDs or if it will end up abandoning the ship as many companies have done.


text:
Zuckerberg did not say that Groups would be spun off into its own mobile app, but a look at what the service does helps to illuminate Facebook's thinking in the area of standalone apps. "By creating a group for each of the important parts of your life — family, teammates, coworkers — you decide who sees what you share," the product's landing page proclaims.
"Giving experiences like that room to breathe and be their own brand is a really valuable thing," Zuckerberg said.
Mobile is a critical component of Facebook's business, given consumers' shift away from desktop PCs in favor of smartphones and tablets. The company now describes itself as being "mobile first," and its latest earnings results show that to be true, if you base it on advertising dollars.
For the first time, Facebook reported on Wednesday that more than half of its total advertising revenue came from mobile devices.
It would make sense, therefore, for Facebook to further monetize its service using a new suite of mobile apps, but first it would have to show advertisers that people are actually using them.
Karsten Weide, an industry analyst with IDC, said that developing more standalone mobile apps might provide consumers with a way into Facebook's services, without the friction. The amount of content and functions the Internet company has released over the years has grown so much it's almost become unwieldy, he said.
"It would make sense to branch out to let users access their services more directly," he said. Plus, some of Facebook's competitors, like Google and Yahoo, already offer a range of their own mobile apps for performing different functions.
Facebook is still growing the number of its users on mobile. In terms of monthly active users on those devices, the company reported a nearly 40 percent rise on Wednesday.
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text:
Algae bloom impacts beach vendor’s business by ‘almost 100 percent’
BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - Along the Coast in Biloxi on Sunday, it was a rare sight. Despite it being an extremely hot, final day of a long holiday weekend, the beaches were fairly empty. That’s bad news for beach vendors.
“Our business, it’s literally off almost 100 percent. We’re out here trying,” said Barney Foster.
Foster is the owner of Life’s a Beach Rentals. What’s typically one of his biggest tourism holidays, the Fourth of July, ended up being the worst this year. Harmful algae blooms forced beach closures all along the Coast, and many tourists found other ways to enjoy their holiday.
Foster said one of his locations barely made $150 on July 4. And he didn’t fare any better the rest of the long weekend.
“I realized real quick July’s our month. That’s when we make most our money. You lose Fourth of July, and starting off really bad, we might be shut down the whole rest of July,” he said.
Foster is selling equipment he usually rents out just to stay afloat this year. Along with having to lay off more than a dozen employees, he’s also closed one of his locations for the rest of the season.
“The first thing I realized was I gotta sell some stuff. So I started selling jetskis off, and those locations will not open this year, and I doubt - they might never reopen again,” he said.
Foster said he believes the risks of the algae bloom are minimal compared to the sacrifices he’s had to make because of the beach closures.
“I mean, I just want to ball up, and just - but you got to keep going. You can’t stop.”
Foster said he plans to shut down his location near the Biloxi lighthouse during the week, and operate only on weekends because of the slow business.
Copyright 2019 WLOX. All rights reserved.


text:
British Samsung fans will finally be means to get their hands on a Samsung Galaxy M31 soon. The South Korean tech hulk has announced skeleton to move a phone to a UK.
The M31 has a 64-megapixel quad camera, can fire 4K video and boasts a 6000 mAh battery. It was expelled in early Mar elsewhere, and now it’s finally headed for a UK. We’re meddlesome to see how good it goes down with UK phone buyers.
Notably, a M31 is a cheapest Samsung phone to underline a 64 MP camera, or 4K video recording, and it seems really able in both print and video formats.
Related: Best phone 2020 – The 11 best smartphones for you
The phone is powered by a Exynos 9611 chipset that was seen in a Samsung Galaxy M30. It’s a passable, yet distant from market-leading, option.
“The Galaxy M array has valid intensely renouned around a universe and a newest addition, Galaxy M31, is set to continue that success,” pronounced Conor Pierce, Corporate Vice-President of Samsung UK Ireland. “The M31 brings creation to where people wish it most; a pleasing display, absolute camera and outrageous battery life; and all this during a really permitted cost point.”
As a latest further a Samsung’s Galaxy M series, a M31 is entering into a good line and will have sincerely high expectations placed on it. When we got hands-on with a Galaxy M40, we quite favourite a cut-out selfie camera; it’s a pattern develop that done a phone demeanour like a top-end handset, rather than a mid-ranger. Small touches of peculiarity like this have set Samsung’s mid-range offerings detached from those of their competitors on several occasions.
The accessibility of a M Series has been a bugbear for UK consumers though, with a M40 never apropos widely available. Now, Samsung believes it’s a right time to move a new M31 to a UK.
Related: Best Android phones 2020 – The 15 best phones regulating Android today


text:
Of all Volvos sold in California last month, 77% were plug-in hybrids or EVs, the automaker said Thursday in a press release announcing its May 2022 North American sales.
That's an increase of 6% over the previous month, demonstrating the continued appetite for plug-in cars in California. Nationally, plug-in hybrids and EVs—which collectively get Recharge badging—represented 35.7% of the 9,372 cars Volvo sold in the United States in May.
2022 Volvo XC60 Recharge
That represents significant growth from just last year. In May 2021, Volvo confirmed met a previous goal in having plug-in hybrids top 20% of its U.S. sales, up from around 5% the year before.
Volvo is in the process of upgrading its plug-in hybrids with a bigger battery and more electric miles. It does good things to the XC60 Recharge, which we drove late last year, while the S60 Recharge sedan and V60 Polestar Engineered wagon should achieve 41 miles of electric range, Volvo claims. And to make sure customers get the message, Volvo has started masking exhaust tips.
2022 Volvo C40 Recharge
The automaker now has some all-electric models in its U.S. lineup as well. The EV lineup now includes the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge, and an electric version of the XC90 SUV is on the way.
The electric XC90 is expected to be the first production Volvo EV to ride on a dedicated platform. While the C40 Recharge and XC40 Recharge use the CMA platform shared with internal-combustion models, the XC90 EV is tipped to use a platform separate from other versions of the SUV. It will be one of the first models aimed at pushing Volvo to an all-electric lineup by 2030.


text:
Strong increases in Sodexo’s profits in the first half; Supports FY22 margin view, sees organic growth at lower end of outlook range
(RTTNews) – Sodexo SA (SDXAY.PK), a French catering services and facilities management company, said on Friday its first-half group net profit jumped to 337 million euros from 33 million euros. euros last year.
Earnings per share were 2.30 euros, compared to 0.23 euros a year ago.
Underlying net profit amounted to 339 million euros or 2.32 euros per share, compared to 128 million euros or 0.87 euros per share the previous year.
Turnover increased by 19.4% to 10.26 billion euros against 8.60 billion euros last year. Revenues increased by 15.9% at constant exchange rates.
Looking to the second half of the year, the company expressed confidence that the return to the workplace and sporting and leisure events will continue to recover. However, the environment remains uncertain with intermittent local outbreaks of Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine.
In addition, for fiscal 2022, the company maintained its expectation of an underlying operating profit margin close to 5%, at constant exchange rates.
The company now expects organic growth to be around the low end of the 15% to 18% range given in October 2021.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


text:
Fluidity that was – counter-intuitively – often represented in patchwork clothing was the key to a rather brilliant collection from Jonathan Anderson, one that seems likely to define the current London season.
Shares in South African retailer Woolworths slid to a six-year low on Thursday after it reported a 3.5 billion rand annual post-tax loss, hurt by a hefty write-down on the value of its David Jones business in Australia.
LVMH is close to acquiring a new perfume brand, Jean Patou, for its portfolio and has done it very much on the quiet. The French conglomerate took management control last year without any fanfare from Designer Parfums.
Charo Izquierdo, director of MBFW Madrid and the fashion weeks at Ifema, including Momad Metropolis and Momad Shoes, recently arrived in the capital with the goal of creating collaborations and improving quality.
Browns has linked up with fashion rental-to-styling service Armarium for a pop-up at its London store. It’s an interesting move that complements a full-price offer with Armarium’s affordable access to designer labels.
David Jones' new transformation plan could be a major boost for luxury brands in Australia as it grows its luxe offer in key locations and models its revamp on store like Harrods and Galeries Lafayette.


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The SEC’s conflict minerals reporting rules became effective January 1, 2013, and those rules impose burdens on companies throughout the automotive supply chain, given how prevalent the so-called “conflict minerals” are in...more
Supply chain compliance is on the government’s enforcement radar like never before. If the recent Executive Order on Trafficking in Government Contracts and final SEC Conflict Minerals Rules were not notice enough, the...more
Yesterday celebrated an auspicious anniversary as it was the 125th anniversary of the British newspaper, the Financial Times (FT), its first issue having been delivered on February 13, 1888. In England, and across the world,...more
With an effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy that adequately addresses supply chain issues, a company can better manage legal, reputational and economic risks.
A company risks legal, reputational and...more
I thought about the Astros futility when reading about the Criminal Enforcement Agreement (CEA) entered into by Gibson Guitar Corp (Gibson) for violations of the Lacey Act, which is a 111-year-old law, originally enacted to...more
The California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 (the “Act”) was enacted into law on September 30, 2010. According to Section 2 of the Act, the Act’s purpose is to “ensure large retailers and manufacturers provide...more
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Apple Boss Argues with US Government over EncryptionAdded: Friday, January 15th, 2016
Category: Recent Headlines Involving File Sharing > Current Events
Tags:ET, p2p, Torrent, Piracy, Peer To Peer, Network, Hackers, Internet, BitTorrent, Google, utorrent, bitcomet, extratorrent, www.extratorrent.cc, 2016
Tim Cook has challenged the American government to adopt a policy of “no backdoors” in regard to the encryption technology used by Apple and other tech giants. Apple CEO announced his point of view at a recent meeting between the US administration officials and tech firms including Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Google and others.
Tim Cook harshly criticized suggestions that the encryption technology being used by tech firms might have “back doors” built in in order to fight terrorist use of encrypted communications. According to the media reports, there was a spirited exchange between Apple CEO and US attorney general Loretta Lynch, who allegedly responded to Cook’s comments with a warning about the required “balance” between privacy and national security.
Of course, clashes between Apple and the American agencies over encryption occurred before. Just a few months ago, Apple refused to comply with a court order that requested the company to hand over texts sent using iMessage between two iPhones due to iMessage’s encryption. A year before that, the FBI director James Comey criticized the company for the inclusion of end-to-end encryption in its iMessage system. He claimed that he sees no point in marketing a “closet that could never be opened”, even if it is about a child kidnapper and a court order. Comey then also voiced similar views about the encryption used in Google’s Android platform.
So, Apple CEO’s stance on privacy came as no surprise to the American government. A year ago, Cook warned of the “dire consequences” of sacrificing the right to privacy. Then, in June 2015, he defended strong-encryption technology, saying that undermining the ability of ordinary citizens to encrypt their data is incredibly dangerous. The problem is that if any back doors for the government are left, hackers can find and use them as well.
Indeed, everyone knows the extent of the hacking problem today. Criminals are using every technology tool to hack into someone else’s accounts, and if they know there’s a back door somewhere, they won’t stop until they find it. So, weakening encryption would only hurt law-abiding citizens who rely on the tech firms to protect their information. After the Paris attacks late last year, Apple teamed up with 60+ other tech giants to reject calls for weakening encryption.
Friday, January 15th, 2016
|posted by (2016-01-15 14:33:06)|
|Nice article Sam, although I completely get what Tim is saying when it comes to weaker encryption effecting everyday citizen's. The typical motive and method behind breaching encryption should be considered before just eliminating or dismissing the possibility of it happening. *Point being, If only NSA had the technology (ie the physical capability) to De-crypt encrypted data I personally don't see a problem with that. I personally would never leave the back door open to house my house, But I wouldn't mind knowing that only the right people can get in when completely necessary...|
|When you look at the shady stuff that the US has done to private citizens the establishment doesn't agree with it's hard not to take issue even if it's only the NSA. Their charter is just too broad with regards to protecting America, it effectively means to protect the status quo.|
|posted by (2016-01-15 21:48:05)|
|fascinating stuff, since apple were some of the first to utilize a "backdoor" / "external command" of their devices camera / microphone / root systems, allowing them to turn off stolen devices, take photos, record audio, etc. without requiring an app.|
always funny how firms try to find ways around their previous mistakes, especially when those ways involve outright lies to the public. way to drink the coolaid, sam.
|posted by (2016-01-15 22:33:40)|
|It is the American courts who demand access more than anything else. They want easy access to anything they can prosecute.|
The NSA doesn't need back doors much. They have other means to gather intelligence.
I do not want ANYTHING I do to be viewed by anyone without my explicit permission beforehand.
In the use that falls under the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th amendments.
Back doors can be abused by private detectives more than anyone else.
And those PI's are frequently hired by the copyright nazi's...
If you want reasonable security then encrypt everything with open source encryption programs.
Apple is just like Microsoft - lots of hidden back doors and security vulnerabilities.
Linux (open source versions) rarely have those problems.
|posted by (2016-01-16 05:50:45)|
|Maybe they were based more on the records of the public who visit the online network as banned sites if those who should not have them intrigue encriptions of backdoors to know all passwords a sses ...|
|51N15T3R (But I wouldn't mind knowing that only the right people can get in when completely necessary...)|
Are you serious , the only right people is your self, no Government or bureaucrat is the Right people , fool to believe they are.
|posted by (2016-01-19 17:54:01)|
|@russianfuk I understand what your saying, just don't get the wrong idea the analogy I chose is not the best. I just don't wan to end up a prisoner to my own security, Although in the physical perspective that still apples to my point considering that quantum computers could one day break what we call modern day encryption.||
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New Event Venue Planned for SF
by Laura Monteverdi, Reporter
November 09, 2012 3:44 PM
An open space by the Empire Mall is empty now, but by next year it could be home to a new multi-theme event venue.
Jered Johnson is one of the partners in Venue, LLC, that will own the proposed facility.
“We spent a lot of time looking at different area venues in other markets and comparing our market to theirs and seeing where that void would be and we thought Sioux Falls was a great market for this concept,” said Johnson.
Johnson says the location, which will be on a separate lot owned by the Empire Mall is the ideal spot for the venue.
“Economically speaking we think its going to have a big impact on area businesses. The shopping district and being by the mall is excellent. So is the freeway access and hotels,” said Johnson.
He says the project is designed to be versatile.
“It’s going to be something that people are going to be able to go to and dine at it, or enjoy it for corporate event or perhaps a concert. We feel like there are a lot of different opportunities to expand on and open up to Sioux Falls,” said Johnson.
Though no date is set, Johnson says he has a plan in mind for the opening.
"Our goal obviously is in the next 12-15 months to hopefully have something built and ready to utilize,” said Johnson.
While no plans are set in stone as to how big the facility will be and how many people it can accommodate, the space will feature live concerts and have it's own sit-down restaurant.


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Pacific Yurts was recently featured on the cover of Recreation Management and in their cover article titled Structural Integrity – Nonconventional Buildings Offer Savings and Customization. Here’s a snippet:
Alan Bair, founder of a company that manufactures yurts, said his company has been producing more yurts than ever this past year due to the increasing trend of incorporating yurts into a variety of year-round recreation programs.
“Uses include cabin rentals, ski area warming huts and retail/rental facilities, meeting halls, classrooms and accessory buildings. Larger sizes with increased amenities are part of this recent trend. Recently, we have introduced a new line of low-maintenance fiberglass doors due to popular demand,” Bair said.
Some of the options include insulation, extra windows and doors, thermal glass windows, structural upgrades for extreme snow and wind loads, a 15-year warranty on premium roof fabric, and more.
Bair said that many park and government recreation area visitors want a camping experience, but not at the expense of personal comforts (a phenomenon he said is know as “glamping”).
“As a result, the popularity of yurt rental units has soared across the country, and the concept of comfortable winter camping has helped recreation areas expand their programs from seasonal to year-round,” Bair said.
“Creating more self-sustaining and profitable recreation programs makes good economic sense for many recreation managers’ he added. “Offered as simple retreats, ‘luxury’ accommodations with interior bathrooms and kitchenettes, or a variety of other sports and fitness uses, yurts provide a unique experience people love and return to again and again.”
You can read the whole article on Recreation Management’s website here.


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Life has changed drastically since the coronavirus forced social media stars to radically adjust how they do business and promote companies. When you consider that 50% of Black consumers trust Black celebrities, athletes & influencers for brand advice getting a co-sign for your business can mean big money. The market had been rapidly expanding as influencers proliferated, filling every conceivable niche and sub-niche interest, with brands set to spend $15 billion on influencers by 2022, just how valuable are they to a business's bottom line?
The Breakdown You Need To Know: CultureBanx reported that businesses are in search of ways to leverage the influence of the $1.3 trillion dollars of Black spending power, because of the cultural and financial collateral this community holds. With authenticity being key Black influencers ability to impact others purchase decisions suggests a sustainable industry, that marketing firm Mediakix expects to be worth $5 billion to $10 billion this year. When you mix strong Black influencers with Black-owned businesses the impact can be tremendous.
Influencers can have a lasting impact on African-American small business owners, who are younger and include more women than the general small business population, according to a report from Guidant Financial and the Lending Club. These companies need to harness the power of influencers from their communities. Especially because the study found 22% of African-American small business owners are millennials, and perhaps more willing to engage with influencers.
Epicenter of Influence: There are influencers who have pledged to help small businesses that are suffering due to the COVID-19 outbreak through the #Donate 1 Post campaign. They have agreed to donate one or more posts, valued at $3,000+ per post to promote small businesses to their followers. “If anyone can understand the struggle of minority owned small businesses, it’s the minority influencers that are and have small businesses themselves,” said Martin Ekechukwu, founder of the #Donate1post campaign.
Mega influencers are stepping up to help small businesses during these difficult times, like Yvonne Orji, actress on the hit HBO show Insecure. She commands a profound nearly 700,000 followers on Instagram, a platform that 43% of black adults use and is donating one post. “With much of our world turning to social media, it seemed like an effective, yet simple, strategy to support these businesses driving eyes and potential consumer dollars to their pages or websites, through a single post,” Orji said. Tapping into her influence is an easy way for small businesses to get in front of her aspiring followers.
Business, Culture & Influence: A study by Morning Consult revealed that Black consumers are more likely to heed brand advice from Black celebrities and influencers, than the public as a whole. Primarily because they sit at the epicenter of culture and knowledge existing in the margins of business. This makes these influencers more than a tool of brand commerce, they are a necessary salve for businesses in trying times like a pandemic.
A deeper dive into the Morning Consult study reveals that Black adults are more than twice as likely as all adults to seek out minority-owned businesses on a weekly basis (22% vs. 10%) and 48% of black consumers said they would be more likely to shop at a black-owned business, compared to 18% of all adults.
Next Wave of Influence: The celebrity rub has proven to increase sales for decades and influencers are vital intermediaries that help to connect companies with consumers on social media in a highly resonant, authentic way that can deliver immediate returns. It’s not just the Black community leaning on influencers during these difficult times, 80% of Americans seek recommendations before making a purchase.


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U.S.: Organic banana margins tightening on conventional, says importer
"I’d say we’re now at a lower margin compared to conventional bananas than what we used to be," president Mayra Velazquez de Leon told www.freshfruitportal.com during the recent Produce Marketing Association (PMA) Fresh Summit in Orlando.
"Everybody is trying to get there into organics, and we’re just trying to be out there and let our customers know we’re pioneers in the organic banana business."
Organics Unlimited has undergone a rebranding in the process, and is also engaging in new initiatives to promote its sustainability and community-oriented GROW label.
"So far they [buyers] love it [the rebrand]. They like the fact they can use it for display, and mostly that they have a new look in the box," she said.
"We’re also doing advertising on buses in the Portland area. That seems to be attracting attention."
The company maintains a strong presence in the U.S. Northwest, and if the Portland bus advertising campaign goes well the idea may be extended to Seattle, Washington State.
She said the grow project continued to focus on the "usual" types of projects, including scholarships, clean water programs, dental cleaning and clinic services.
"And in Ecuador we do microbusinesses for teenagers, early development for children and we’re doing the same thing a little bit with the U.S. border with Mexico."
"We’re a small company but we are packing for Chiquita, so it’s not a vision but it just tells you where the market’s going. So even though we’re packing for them we still have our own labels – the organics label and our social responsibility label which is GROW."
In terms of growing conditions, she said weather had generally been good.
In other crops, business has also been booming in organic coconuts and plantains.
"We’re working on growing that acreage [for coconuts]. We never have enough – every single week we’re short on coconuts," Velazquez de Leon said.
"We have to expand, and they're organic coconuts - there are fewer organic coconuts on the market.
"The other product is plantains – I think there’s more demand for plantains than there used to be in the plantains in the U.S. There is more interest at play," she said, attributing the growth to a rise in Latino populations in the U.S.
She said depending on which part of Latin America populations hailed from originally, they tended to consume plantains differently.
For example, in general terms she said people from the Caribbean would often choose greener plantains for cooking, while Mexican immigrants tended to wait until the plantains were more spotted so they would have a sweeter flavor.
"If you get the ones that are riper, the ones that are spotted, they’re easier to peel and they also taste better as they have more of a sweet taste, whereas the green ones are starchier.
"Caribbean people eat them when they’re green – they deep fry them, more like chips, whereas Mexicans eat them ripe as more of a dessert.


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Has Black Friday lost all meaning?
The Future. 2023 marks the 99th anniversary of Black Friday, but what was once a one-day event has extended well beyond 24 hours, sometimes stretching several weeks. With consumers pointing out many holiday sales begin as soon as Halloween wraps up, Black Friday could be obsolete within 20 years. A month-long “shopping day”Black Friday, the […]


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Prabhas Baahubali-The Conclusion tickets all booked up to ten days
Prabhas\' much-awaited movie Baahubali-The Conclusion is around the corner is all set to arrive in theaters on April 28 that just one day ahead of release. The prequel of Prabhas\' Baahubali-The Beginning has left many audiences with unanswered that is Why Kattapa Killed Baahubali?
Prabhas' much-awaited movie Baahubali-The Conclusion is around the corner and is all set to arrive in theaters on April 28. With just one day left for release, the audiences will finally know the reason as to Why Kattapa Killed Baahubali?
Fans have already booked the tickets in Advance and sources inform that ticket windows opened for Baahubali 2 on Tuesday across the nation.
It would be great news to the filmmakers, producers, and distributors that tickets of the movie have sold like hot cakes for all the shows within minutes. Hours later, the entire weekend, beginning Friday, and even early days of next week went housefull. Rumors are rife that tickets of Baahubali-The Conclusion are booked till May 2.
Highest ever advance sales revenues for a movie:
Also Read: Things you don't know about Baahubali 2
Ashish Saksena, COO-Cinemas, BookMyShow told indianexpress.com, “BookMyShow is experiencing an unprecedented advance booking for Baahubali 2. We have already sold over 1 million tickets across languages, even when the bookings have been live for just over a day. Though Baahubali 2 is largely perceived to be loved by south Indian audience, the response from Hindi speaking markets has been highly encouraging as well. Once all the cinemas in south come out with their schedules for the film, we expect the online ticket sales for Baahubali 2 to surge at an increasingly fast pace.”
BookMyShow has also already clocked its highest ever advance sales revenues for a movie, while the film’s release is still two days away. Watch the space for more updates


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A new digital training programme ‘Go and Grow Online’ aims to support over 20,000 small businesses across Ireland through virtual training and supports to accelerate digital, sales, CRM and financial skills.
Launched today (14 January) at StartUp 2022, Ireland’s largest virtual event for small business owners, participants will be able to access on average over €5,000 worth of supports to grow and develop their businesses.
Go and Grow Online is a 12-month training and support programme for small businesses in Ireland. The programme is free to access and offers digital workshops, drop-in sessions, e-learning, and links to specialist digital advisers so small business owners can boost digital skills and confidence. Topics covered in the programme include how to boost sales through selling online, digital marketing, cloud accounting, cyber security and more.
“We are witnessing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for small businesses. The events of the last two years have fundamentally altered the way we live, and created markets that simply didn’t exist beforehand”
Go and Grow Online is supported by Vodafone, Microsoft, and Klarna. The programme comes from Enterprise Nation, the small business network, small business support platform and provider delivering support to more than 50,000 UK small businesses every month.
A digital transformation Swiss Army knife
Irish businesses who take part in Go and Grow Online will have access to the platform and the supports provided including workshops, e-learning, and access to digital advisers.
The programme is devised in response to demand from small business owners – many of whom founded their companies in response to the pandemic, with stats showing a 42% increase in new company registrations in the first half of 2021 alone – who are looking for training on how to ensure their businesses succeed online.
When restrictions allow, there will also be in-person digital drop-in sessions, hosted in selected locations around the country, with content delivered by a network of digital trainers, all of whom are experts in topics ranging from SEO to online selling.
“SMEs account for a large majority of businesses in our economy, playing a pivotal role in innovation, job creation and economic development,” said Sinead Bryan, managing director of Vodafone Business Ireland.
“We’re therefore very excited to work with Enterprise Nation to deliver a best-in-class skills training programme to support businesses across all sectors and helping them maximise their digital potential. In doing so, businesses can unlock new areas for growth and customer interaction, empower employees and create operational facilities. This initiative will play an important role in future -proofing our SME sector and addressing skills gaps to make sure every business has the best chance of success.”
A once in a generation opportunity
“As a start-up, I’m always looking for ways to successfully grow my own business,” Aisling Flanagan, founder of Velvet Cloud Sheep’s Milk Yogurt and Cheese said.
“To have experts advising on digital and social selling as well as areas like finance is a major boost for me and my business.”
Enterprise Nation is a small business support platform and provider delivering support to more than 50,000 small businesses every month. Its aim is to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses – through expert advice (including a comprehensive resource library), events, acceleration support and networking.
Enterprise Nation was founded in 2005 by entrepreneur Emma Jones, also co-founder of enterprise campaign StartUp Britain. She is author of best-selling business books including Spare Room Startup, Working 5 to 9, Go Global, Start a Business for £99 and the StartUp Kit.
“We are witnessing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for small businesses,” Jones explained.
“The events of the last two years have fundamentally altered the way we live, and created markets that simply didn’t exist beforehand. You need look no further than the transition from offline to online selling. The acceleration of digital technology and social media has levelled the playing field, providing virtual marketing platforms and marketplaces for every business to connect directly with their audience – wherever in the world they may be. We want to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs in Ireland, giving them the tools they need to build their digital skills and grow their companies throughout 2022.”
Peter Lougheed, SME Lead, Microsoft Ireland the Go and Grow Online initiative is a unique opportunity for Ireland’s small businesses to continue the journey of digital transformation that has accelerated across all sectors in the last two years.
“The programme reflects Microsoft Ireland’s commitment to supporting the digital and online ambitions of SMEs to create efficiencies, grow and expand and remain competitive. We are excited to work with organisations around the country to help employees work productively wherever they are, adapt business processes with automation and business insights, provide advice on new ways to engage with customers and to embrace security as more businesses move to the cloud.”
Colin Creagh, head of Business Development at Klarna Ireland, added: “Small businesses are the driving force behind today’s economy, creating jobs, leading innovation and giving life to local communities. At Klarna we are delighted to support this initiative to support Ireland’s small business owners as they adapt to an online world.”
Main image at top (from left): Lisa Corcoran, head of SMB Business at Vodafone; Colin Creagh, head of Business Development at Klarna Ireland; Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation; and Peter Lougheed, SME lead, Microsoft Ireland