NEWS

SALESFORCE ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER CARBON CREDIT MARKETPLACE

Salesforce has introduced Net Zero Marketplace, a trusted platform that makes carbon credit purchases simple and transparent, and allowing organizations to accelerate climate positive impact at scale.

The global voluntary carbon market is estimated to grow to $50B by 2030 as many organizations race to achieve their net zero commitments. Yet, organizations may not always know how to build a carbon credit portfolio — or even where to start. What’s more, the path to purchasing carbon credits is complex, and buyers want to trust that the carbon credit projects have a positive impact.

Net Zero Marketplace, built on Salesforce’s Commerce Cloud, connects buyers and ecopreneurs — environmentally-focused entrepreneurs who lead and drive climate action worldwide — offering a catalog of third-party rated carbon credits and a seamless ecommerce experience for purchasing them. Net Zero Marketplace also features a climate action hub where anyone — businesses or individuals — can learn about climate issues.

“The uptick in extreme weather events shows that no one is spared from climate change — we need smart climate solutions now,” said Suzanne DiBianca, EVP and Chief Impact Officer, Salesforce. “Businesses aiming to achieve long-term emission reductions can complement their efforts with high-quality carbon credits. Net Zero Marketplace brings together Salesforce’s values, technology, and commitment to ecopreneurs to accelerate climate action.”

TENABLE APPOINTS PATRICIA GRANT AS NEW CIO

Tenable today announced that it has appointed Patricia Grant to Chief Information Officer (CIO). Grant will drive digital transformation, innovation and modernisation to support the company’s ambitious business objectives.

Grant has dedicated nearly 30 years in the high-tech industry to building, optimising and leading transformations across IT. Grant joins Tenable from ServiceNow, where she was the vice president of digital technology operations, leading multiple transformational initiatives for both employees and customers. During her tenure, Grant built the “Women in Tech” program–an internal mentorship group dedicated to empowering women in the industry and served as a mentor and advocate. Prior to ServiceNow, she worked at Symantec for 11 years and PeopleSoft, an Oracle Company, for nearly nine years.

“Patricia joins Tenable at a pivotal moment for the company,” said Amit Yoran, chairman and chief executive officer, Tenable. “Patricia’s proven track record of building highfunctioning programs will help further accelerate our growth and profitability.”

“Tenable is at the forefront of the cybersecurity industry, supported by passionate people committed to our work, teams and customers,” said Grant, “I’m excited to join Tenable and help translate the company’s vision and strategies into transformational action, driving efficiency and innovation.”

CLOUDFLARE MAKES R2 STORAGE ACCESSIBLE WITH NO EGRESS FEES

Cloudflare has announced that Cloudflare R2 Storage, the distributed object storage that eliminates egress costs, is now generally available. Cloudflare R2 Storage offers a better way for developers to store and access everything they need. Whether its storage for large media files, logs, or delivery of web assets, Cloudflare R2 offers flexibility with zero egress fees. R2 gives developers both an S3-compatible API, making for seamless migration and a powerful integration with Cloudflare Workers, Cloudflare’s highly scalable serverless computing platform. Developers can focus on innovating—building the applications and websites they need—instead of worrying about high storage costs or vendor lock-in.

“Egress fees are nothing but a tax on developers, stifling innovation and creativity. We are redefining the standard of how developers work with object storage, allowing them to focus on innovation, rather than the costs of accessing their data. That is why R2 Storage will never have egress fees,” said Matthew Prince, co-founder and CEO of Cloudflare. “Cloudflare’s mission is to build a better Internet, which means we’re focused on making the Internet faster, safer, and also more affordable for everyone. We have been blown away by the initial interest in R2 Storage, and we encourage any developer that wants a better type of storage to sign up and switch to R2 today.”

In order to build websites and applications, developers need a place to store large amounts of unstructured data, photos, videos, and graphics that is quickly and easily accessible. However, many cloud providers today charge increasingly egregious bandwidth pricing for developers to access their data, resulting in unnecessarily expensive cloud storage, vendor lock-in, and an inability for developers to easily use the data they have stored. Cloudflare R2 Storage frees developers from this vendor lock-in with automatic migration of data from S3-compatible services to Cloudflare’s highly performant, object store—minus the egress fees.

TRELLIX ESTABLISHES ADVANCED RESEARCH CENTER FOR THREAT INTELLIGENCE

Trellix announced the establishment of the Trellix Advanced Research Center to advance global threat intelligence. Comprised of hundreds of the world’s most elite security analysts and researchers, the Advanced Research Center produces actionable real-time intelligence and threat indicators to help customers detect, respond and remediate the latest cybersecurity threats.

The threat landscape is scaling in sophistication and potential for impact,” said Aparna Rayasam, Chief Product Officer, Trellix. “We do this work to make our digital and physical worlds safer for everyone. With adversaries strategically investing in talent and technical know-how, the industry has a duty to study the most combative actors and their methods to innovate at a faster rate.”

In coordination with the launch, Trellix Advanced Research Center also published its research into CVE-2007-4559, a vulnerability estimated to be present in over 350,000 open-source projects and prevalent in closed-source projects. It exists in the Python tarfile module which is a default module in any project using Python and is found extensively in frameworks created by Netflix, AWS, Intel, Facebook, Google, and applications used for machine learning, automation and docker containerisation. The vulnerability can be exploited by uploading a malicious file generated with two or three lines of simple code and allows attackers arbitrary code execution, or control of a target device.

“When we talk about supply chain threats, we typically refer to cyberattacks like the SolarWinds incident, however building on top of weak code-foundations can have an equally severe impact,” said Christian Beek, Head of Adversarial & Vulnerability Research, Trellix. “This vulnerability’s pervasiveness is furthered by industry tutorials and online materials propagating its incorrect usage. It’s critical for developers to be educated on all layers of the technology stack to properly prevent the reintroduction of past attack surfaces.”

ORACLE SETS UP INNOVATION HUB IN ABU DHABI

Oracle has announced the opening of an innovation hub in Abu Dhabi to help foster digital innovation and support the growth of the Emirate’s knowledge economy.

Located at Oracle’s Abu Dhabi office on Al Reem island, the new facility has been named the ‘Al Mustaqbal Oracle Innovation Hub’. The hub was inaugurated by His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Abdelhameed Al Askar, Director General, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority at an event that was attended by key Abu Dhabi Government leaders and Oracle executives.

H.E. Dr. Mohamed Abdelhameed Al Askar, Director General, Abu Dhabi Digital Authority said: “The Oracle Innovation Hub is the perfect place where countless minds will join hands to share knowledge, inspire, collaborate, innovate and empower new creations in Abu Dhabi. The hub is also an ongoing commitment towards creating an enabling ecosystem for the youth to succeed and contribute to the growth of the digital economy.”

“We look forward to seeing the newly inaugurated hub as a platform for organisations across public and private sectors, including SMBs, to accelerate their digital transformation and benefit from the most recent innovations.”

The ‘Al Mustaqbal Oracle Innovation Hub’ will act as a platform for Abu Dhabi’s public sector entities, Oracle customers and partners to better understand the potential of emerging technologies. The hub will also offer training and upskilling programs in latest digital technologies for Abu Dhabi’s Emirati students, entrepreneurs, and women in tech.

“At Oracle, we are committed to supporting Abu Dhabi Digital Authority’s mandate to leverage emerging technologies to simplify the lives of the Abu Dhabi community and deliver a digital government that is proactive, personalised, collaborative, and secure”, said Leopoldo Boado Lama, senior vice president – Business Applications, ECEMEA, Oracle. “The Al Mustaqbal Oracle Innovation Hub is designed to serve as a centre for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and exploration of numerous growth possibilities that can be achieved with latest cloud technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, and Internet of Things (IoT).

EL NILEIN BANK UAE PICKS NETWORK INTERNATIONAL AS TECH PARTNER

Network International (Network) has been selected as payment and technology partner for one of the leading Sudanese banks in the UAE, El Nilein Bank.

Building on its significant experience of enabling card solutions for the region’s leading banks, Network will support El Nilein’s debit card offerings along with instant issuing as well as ATM services. The collaboration will include enabling El Nilein’s customers to make purchases using e-wallets as well as digital commerce transactions.

El Nilein Bank aims to offer a unique and fully digitalised experience to individual consumers and small businesses alike through focused, innovative products, holistic services, and a lean operating model to support banking transactions, savings, and investments. Licensed by the Central Bank of the UAE, it also envisions becoming a trendsetter in stimulating and driving community banking activity in the UAE, ensuring digital access, scalability, resilience, high performance, and compliance anytime, anywhere.

Collaborating with this payment solutions company empowers El Nilein with access to Network’s advanced digital infrastructure, robust security protocols and value-added services, avoiding the need for major investments in card management infrastructure.

Commenting on the partnership, Navneet Dave, Managing Director & Co-Head of Processing – Middle East at Network International said, “We are thrilled to support El Nilein in bringing seamless and innovative digital payment solutions to consumers and SMEs in the UAE. The alliance advances over two decades of Network’s expertise in creating robust digital payments infrastructure for the region’s leading banks. We remain committed to leveraging best-in-class tech to enable financial inclusion and memorable customer experiences in the UAE.”

IBM TO ACCELERATE SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES IN SAUDI

Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) and IBM have announced the signing of a strategic agreement to drive adoption of artificial intelligence in the carbon capture and industrial domains across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Announced at the second Global AI summit in the Kingdom, the first use case under this agreement will be in collaboration with the Ministry of Energy in Saudi Arabia. SDAIA, Ministry of Energy and IBM will use artificial intelligence technology to detect, map, and eventually reduce carbon emissions across the country.

Dr. Majid Al-Tuwaijri, the CEO for the National Centre for AI, said,” This agreement with IBM will contribute to creating opportunities by addressing key challenges in circular carbon economy, petrochemical and industrial domains, through the development of innovative solutions in the field of data and artificial intelligence, and the exchange of shared experiences and investment opportunities in this vital area to support achieving the goals of Vision 2030.”

“This agreement would allow us to leverage IBM’s expertise in technologies like artificial intelligence,” Eng. Ahmed Al-Zahrani, Ministry of Energy’s Assistant Minister for Development and Excellence, said, “which will play a key role in promoting the adoption of the Circular Carbon Economy, achieving the goals announced during the Saudi Green Initiative.”

The management of greenhouse gas emissions is critical to the Kingdom’s reaching its objective of net zero, “said Dina Abo-Onoq, Managing Partner, IBM Consulting Saudi Arabia. “Using “multiple satellites and different types of imaging technologies, we will train an AI model to recognise and pinpoint different forms of gas across the entire country. By doing so, this will help with earlier and better visibility of the problem which has not been possible with conventional measurement approaches.”

As part of the overall agreement, IBM will work with SDAIA to identify high value applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve challenges in public and private sector organisations in the Kingdom, with a focus on supporting the Kingdom’s sustainability and industrialisation objectives.

AVEVA ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC LICENSING PARTNERSHIP WITH ARAS

AVEVA and Aras have entered into a strategic OEM partnership to deliver industrial “Asset Lifecycle Management” solutions.

AVEVA will license the Aras Innovator platform to deliver a series of scalable, Asset Lifecycle Management solutions, which will integrate Aras’ open and flexible portfolio of applications with AVEVA Unified Engineering and AVEVA Asset Information Management.

“Lifecycle management capabilities play a critical role in the large-scale digital transformation of all the industries that we support. By unifying data, they provide the basis for automating many business processes and, because they are based on accurate, real-time information, they also provide customers with assurance and trust in the accuracy of the engineering digital twin. Our partnership with Aras takes this a step further, by enabling customers to take advantage of innovative cloud-based Asset Lifecycle Management solutions to accelerate their digital transformation,” said Peter Herweck, CEO of AVEVA.

The integration of Aras’ cloudnative technology and AVEVA’s hybrid cloud solutions will provide customers with new capabilities for change and configuration management, requirements management, and whole asset visualisation across the breadth of AVEVA’s industrial software portfolio.

CISCO TACKLES VIDEO-MEETING FATIGUE

Arecent study focused on executives and knowledge professionals commissioned by Cisco and conducted by Dimensional Research showed that more than half (56%) of employees spend most of their time in meetings when working remotely with 33% saying that it takes up half of their workday. This has resulted in 95% of employees experiencing video meeting fatigue.

The overall fatigue is attributed mainly to technological issues, which comprise of background noise, poor sound, and video quality. These elements have actively contributed to physical ailments with 81% employees reporting headaches, neck and shoulder strains and eye strains over time. In the long run, this has also made employees consider leaving their current employers, with 42% planning on making the move within two years citing video meeting habits.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Ahmad Zureiki, Head of Collaboration Business, Cisco MEA, said: “The modern work environment is not confined to a single space or device anymore. It’s flexible, it’s mobile, it’s hybrid. Business leaders in today’s world know that their employees are their #1 asset, and that means finding ways to both accommodate employee priorities and reimagine the workplace to improve remote work.”

He added: “With the hybrid working model becoming the new normal, we had to create new techniques where employees are not overworked or drained out at the end of each workday. We believe that the best technology is also the most intuitive, which is why our Webex platform is using new technology-enabled solutions to constantly improve and reduce fatigue and stress.”

Cisco has been tackling these pain points with its Webex platform that is continuously innovating to limit videomeeting fatigue by introducing targeted solutions and software.

OMNIX LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE CENTER OF EXCELLENCE

Omnix has announced the launch of its state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence (XOC), an innovative managed service offering that was conceptualised to support businesses in their digital journeys.

Omnix’s XOC includes a unique combination of a Security Operations Centre (SOC), Network Operations Centre (NOC) and Operations Control Centre (OCC) with managed services aimed to assist organisations accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and overcome challenges relating to security threats, network issues and performance, as well as operations-related tasks.

The XOC, equipped with the skilled resources and tools, will enable customers to identify cyber threats and analyse network performance, with the goal of enabling organisations across sectors to remain focused on turning their aspirations into reality. It is designed to provide a centralised and coherent view of the users’ network, security, and operations challenges.

“At Omnix we understand our customer needs and are committed to provide both strategic and tactical offerings, especially at a time when they are looking to strengthen their digital transformation journey. The newly launched XOC builds on Omnix’s strength as an industry leading solution provider, and we are committed to providing an environment powered by best-inclass tools and highly qualified resources. Our XOC is the ideal solution for businesses who want to reap the benefits of technology, while remaining focused on their business objectives,” said Walid Gomaa, CEO of Omnix International.

GOOGLE CLOUD TO DRIVE CLIMATE ACTION IN SAUDI

Google Cloud announced a collaboration with the Saudi Data & Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA), Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA) and Climate Engine to launch the Earth Observation and Science Program. The program will help address environmental, water and agricultural challenges resulting from climate change, and paves the way for SDAIA and MEWA to lead climate action using artificial intelligence.

The Saudi government has placed environmental protection as one of the strategic components under its Vision 2030. Agriculture is also one of the key drivers shaping the Kingdom’s economic landscape. In addition to the Saudi and Middle East Green Initiatives that aim to improve quality of life and protect future generations.

Accordingly, SDAIA, MEWA and Google Cloud established the Earth Observation & Science Program, which relies on earth observation technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide sustainability solutions that will address climate change risks and enhance the protection of the environment in the Kingdom and the region.

The program focuses on five key areas to create a more sustainable environment and will address these areas in phases: environment preservation, pollution monitoring, sustainable agriculture, climate and nature protection, water, & food security. In the first phase of the program, scientists from SDAIA and MEWA are relying on the earth observation data and climate insights provided through Google Earth Engine to help measure the impact of water on vegetation and agriculture at field, country and regional levels.

SDAIA and MEWA in collaboration with Google Cloud and Climate Engine are launching the first sustainability research centre in the Kingdom and the Middle East. The centre will use AI technologies to develop impactful use cases and knowledge transfer through a series of trainings and workshops. Google Cloud and Climate Engine are developing a platform for the centre with user interfaces that will showcase former environmental case studies in water and agriculture and will enable scientists from SDAIA and MEWA to develop more use cases utilising data sets and AI tools via the platform.

“We are at a time where sustainability and climate action are at the top of many governments’ agendas,” said Elie Tabchouri, Head of Public Sector, Middle East, Turkey and Africa at Google Cloud. “The scientific research around climate change is highly dataintensive and increasingly cloud-based. Google Cloud’s sustainability solutions can help governments better understand climate risk, reporting and help communicate environmental impact authentically. We are optimistic that our collaboration with SDAIA will encourage more organisations to leverage technology in their climate action roadmap”.