Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director of Volta Trucks join us to reflect on the company’s innovations in last-mile logistics and the relationships that championed the startup’s growth.
FROM THE EDITOR
Welcome to the August 2024 edition of INNOVATION Magazine.
The summer holidays are in full swing and the staff here at the iThink Media have all thoroughly appreciated the air conditioning here in our head office on the sporadically sunny British days we’ve enjoyed so far. We’re bringing you three exclusive interviews this month, together with the latest global technology news and features.
For our cover interview this month, I speak to Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director of Volta Trucks. Shiv and Fraser dive into the EV truck company’s innovations in last-mile logistics and technology, while celebrating the relationships which championed the startup’s growth (p6).
Maytham Al-Elg, Localization Strategy Director of leading energy company Baker Hughes joins me to share his expert insights into the technological innovations and localised approaches driving growth in the MENAT energy sector (p34).
I sit down with Fabrizio Campanale, Vice President of One Assurance, Entertainment & In-Home Connectivity at Sunrise to discuss the company’s strategic approach to implementing emerging technologies to become the most innovative and customerfriendly telecommunications provider across Switzerland (p60).
Our features this month include unveiling a new human risk management platform (p24), exploring the potential for AI-driven progress on the African continent (p46), sharing five emerging tech trends in the retail industry (p68), announcing recipients of the third Venmo Small Business Grant (p80) and celebrating ten breakout technologies in the renewable energy sector (p90).
Our Startup of the Month is mysupply – the AI solution company transforming the sourcing process (p104).
Please enjoy our latest edition. As always, if you would like to be considered as an interviewee or you have a story for us to include, please do get in touch.
Contact us at editorial@ithink.media or connect with me on LinkedIn.
6
Shiv Taylor and Fraser McBeth of Volta Trucks
discuss the EV truck company’s innovations in last-mile logistics
The breakthrough technologies propelling the green transition forward
Maytham Al-Elg reveals industry insights from energy sector
24 Explore Mimecast’s breakthrough Human Management platform
46 technologies green energy
80 Who are the entrepreneurs receiving the third Venmo Small Business Grant?
60 reveals key from the MENAT 34
How can AI support Africa’s socio-economic growth?
Risk
104
Meet mysupply, our Startup of the Month
Sunrise’s Fabrizio Campanale on how the company is championing the use of new technologies in the Swiss telecommunications industry
68
Five emerging tech trends in retail to keep an eye on
Overcoming stalled starts with and innovation at Volta Trucks
Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director of Volta Trucks join us to reflect on the company’s innovations in last-mile logistics and the relationships that championed the startup’s growth.
with robust partnerships
Trucks
Bouncing back from bankruptcy, reassembling the organisation and supply chain, while maintaining a strategic vision during a transitional phase is no mean feat for any business.
But in the past nine months, electric vehicle (EV) startup Volta Trucks has achieved precisely this.
Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Volta Trucks set out to create an EV truck focused on last-mile logistics – aiming to improve the health and safety of cities and the people in them along the way. Production commenced in early 2023, but towards the end of the year the company filed for administration protection before being acquired by Luxor Capital Group. Since then, Volta Trucks has embarked on a journey of rebuilding its teams and operations, eager to take the lessons learned from this experience and begin the process of reinvigorating the business.
Reflecting on these lessons today are Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, and Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director at Volta Trucks. Both Shiv and Fraser place particular emphasis on the importance of
technological innovation, relationshipbuilding within their teams and the overall supply chain, and how the partnerships they have built are propelling the business forward.
Shiv emphasises that his current priorities lie in enabling customer and supplier experiences through technology – an instrumental task in the process of re-energising the company.
“In the Volta Trucks rebuild, we’ve been looking a lot at emerging technologies,” says Shiv. “Artificial intelligence has been a huge trend across all industries, and while you can say it’s just hype, AI can provide a lot of value to a business. So the question I’m asking is: how do we get into a good place over the next 12 months to enable AI to be effective, adding value to our customer, employee and supplier experience? That’s the key journey we look at whenever we talk about involving a new technology.”
As the company rebuilds, Fraser has been re-examining how Volta Trucks works with suppliers – preparing for the challenges of returning to production and getting ready to have customer vehicles out on the road later this year.
For Fraser, this is all about employing new strategies to be more effective within the supply chain. Within
this, positioning Volta Trucks as an attractive customer to suppliers has been a top priority.
“We wanted to work with the best organisations to deliver the best products,” says Fraser. “Coming into it, we knew we didn’t have the same level of financial clout as established vehicle manufacturers and, on a surface
Fraser McBeth (left) and Shiv Tailor (right)
“For us, it’s all about managing our teams’ expertise and unique abilities to deliver a product”
Fraser McBeth, Procurement Director
level, that we would be viewed as a less attractive prospect than working with someone who can guarantee a hundred thousand vehicles a year.
“I had previously sat on the other side of the table, and I understand the frustrations of suppliers wanting to work in a new way with more established companies. A lot of supply chain executives want to grow and develop their business, but sometimes to them, it feels like all customers are interested in is cost. That’s how we tried to differentiate our approach – we built relationships with suppliers where we could work together and tried to make ourselves a customer who was easy to work with. That was our key strategy for finding like-minded organisations who wanted to sustain a relationship.
“For us, it’s all about managing our teams’ expertise and unique abilities to deliver a product. Rather than saying ‘We’ve got this team, this is how we want something to be run,’ we like to work in a more collaborative way throughout the entire supply chain network. We wanted to avoid falling into the obscurity of normality, and
we believe we’ve been able to do that within this organisation – finding new ways of working with both customers and suppliers alike.”
Here, Shiv jumps in to emphasise how technology and data are helping to differentiate Volta Trucks as a partner of choice.
“The beauty of the Volta Trucks’ supply chain is that it’s connected at many data points, so we can understand specific details on how a component is interacting with a wider system,” explains Shiv. “What that means is that we have a greater ability to understand the downstream impacts of the supply chain, which helps us optimise the overarching network. We have enabled an automated process using our tech stack in the sales and manufacturing pipelines, which means that our suppliers receive much greater demand visibility.
“We’ve got the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process completely connected throughout the supply chain. A lot of our previous modelling relied on people, but now we’re
prioritising an emphasis on using AI and machine learning to make things more efficient and automate workflows. With this in place, we want to better enable our suppliers so that they can easily do what they need to do across the supply chain.”
While Volta Trucks has re-developed its approach to supply chain modelling in
the past few months, its efficient and streamlined approach has been in place from the beginning.
“Initially, our approach prioritised speed to market,” says Fraser. “You don’t have the luxury of time if you want to break into the commercial vehicle market as a newcomer. So we were trying to find products
“The beauty of the Volta Trucks’ supply chain is that it’s connected at many data points”
Shiv Tailor, Vice President of Enterprise Technology
THE COMMON PATH OF HENDRICKSON AND VOLTA
The collaboration between Hendrickson and Volta Trucks involves the creation of a new vehicle from the initial concept stage. Hendrickson has played a pivotal role in this process, providing expertise in suspension design and engineering. With over a century of experience in suspension design for the global markets, Hendrickson was able to offer Volta Trucks the optimal HA4 suspension, which was developed through extensive investment, research and development.
In order to provide a tailored suspension system solution, it is essential to respond promptly and passionately to the specifications of a new vehicle launch. Utilising the collaboration with Volta’s engineering team, Hendrickson was able to develop and deliver a prototype suspension system within a few months. This was facilitated by Hendrickson’s extensive global portfolio of commercial vehicle suspension systems, which enables the company to provide customers with the optimal suspension solutions and ensure that the suspensions effectively address the customers’ specific needs.
Guntram Rüf, Senior Engineering Manager, reflecting on the project with Volta, states: “Developing and building a complete vehicle is a challenge due to complicated regulations varying all over the world and even in EU and due to more and more complex vehicle architecture. A reliable well experienced system supplier like Hendrickson is one thing less to worry about and can assist and also guide if requested through all development phases from initial concept to prototype until delivery of serial products. Highly evolved tools and highly skilled employees in engineering and production support the vehicle manufacturer using their expert knowledge to ensure the suspension fits perfect to the intended application.”
The most encouraging aspect of the new HA4 suspension is the consistently positive feedback on rear suspension performance. This includes successful meeting of durability targets and positive dynamic feedback from both professional test drivers and customers who participated in the initial vehicle tests.
Volta’s forward-thinking approach to sustainable urban development has the potential to disrupt the commercial truck industry. The combination of enhanced battery performance and the ongoing reduction of inner-city emissions, coupled with the notable advancement in vehicle safety, aligns with Hendrickson’s sustainability principles.
Matthew Penistone, Team Leader of Engineering, continues to add, “It was great to be able to offer Volta a suspension system that allowed them to bring their vision from an idea, to a first running mule, through prototype to production and customer deliveries. Our team ensured seamless integration of the suspension into their vehicle systems, actively listening to their requirements and offering effective solutions to achieve ‘their goals.”’
Volta was able to place its trust in the Hendrickson suspension system and focus its attention on developing its innovative new components, safe in the knowledge that its suspension was in capable hands. While it was unfortunate that a product that had the potential to change the market was ultimately unsuccessful due to unforeseen circumstances. Hendrickson is now even more determined in the partnership with Volta Trucks to ensure the success of the re-launch, especially given the journey travelled and the challenges Volta has faced.
Hendrickson expects Volta Trucks to continue to be successful and is committed to exploring future opportunities for collaboration in the area of vehicle technology. As Volta Trucks grows and develops,, Hendrickson will be supporting with a range of well-designed suspension systems that meet the highest quality standards and exceeds customers’ specifications.
Finally, as James Parr, Managing Director of Hendrickson UK, comments:
“As a global market leader in providing suspension system solutions, where we design, manufacture, and sell highly engineered safety critical systems to the commercial vehicle market, it has been a privilege to be involved in such a high profile sustainability project with a strong vision around safety.”
“A great example of a supplier we’ve been able to work effectively with is Hendrickson. We’ve used their expertise in the truck market to try and facilitate high-quality products at speed”
that already existed, with realworld experience of being used in commercial vehicles, which helped us keep development costs down and focus our investment on trying to build the product itself.
“We felt that this gave us a stronger standing in the market, as we were taking products that were also used by our competitors and had been proven to be effective, rather than trying to build everything from scratch.
“However, because of this, we needed suppliers who were able to accommodate a more challenging timescale.
A key supplier who has been instrumental in this process is
“A key supplier who has been instrumental in this process is Lander. They have the ability to build products quickly in-house, piecing together what needs to be done to make the vehicle function and help us provide a solution”
Lander. Their engineering expertise and flexibility have been invaluable, especially in the early phases of prototype building. They have the ability to build products quickly inhouse, piecing together what needs to be done to make the vehicle function and help us provide a solution.”
According to Fraser, what made Volta Trucks stand out to the strategic
suppliers it targeted in the early stages of development was the company’s commitment to building relationships.
“A key facet of supplier relationships is transparency,” says Fraser. “We’ve always taken supplier feedback on board – what we do well, and importantly what we could do better. You can’t discount the value of oneon-one relationships with a supplier, especially in a post-COVID-19 world.
Moving the World through power and strength in tubular products
Lander is a leading European and North American based manufacturer of tube products to the automotive, commercial vehicle, off highway, and industrial markets. With a diverse product range for applications including Cooling Systems, EV Battery Cooling, Hydrogen Transfer, Fuel Delivery, Cross Car Beams, Seat Frames, Turbo Oil Pipes and Air Intake Pipes for Industrial Power Generators.
With 5 manufacturing plants in the UK and USA, Lander can CNC bend tubes in diameters from ø4mm up to ø152mm.
We engineer precision tube assemblies in materials including mild steel, stainless, aluminium, nylon and rubber.
Providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to our customers, we offer Design For Manufacture support during the Product Launch phase right through to aftermarket service requirements beyond the end of serial production. For more information please visit www.lander.co.uk or email enquiries@lander.co.uk
“Accelera has been an example of a great partner to work with through the whole project and have continued to be extremely supportive through the challenges of last year”
“Accelera has been an example of a great partner to work with through the whole project and have continued to be extremely supportive through the challenges of last year. We’ve been able to build strong relationships across their business and the focus and attention they’ve given us as a customer has helped us secure access to new technologies and opportunities in fresh markets.
“We’ve put a huge amount of time, energy and resources into building these relationships, including physically going to the suppliers’ plants. This has helped us better understand their strengths, as well as any challenges or pain points they may have as our business grows that we can work on together. When we get to that one-on-one level, we want to make sure that it’s not all about us. We want to look at our suppliers’ operations, and see what we can learn from them.”
Shiv and Fraser insist having a strong relationship with suppliers is particularly important when trying to disrupt the status quo as a business, particularly in the automotive and commercial vehicle industries.
“Cost has to be an important factor when we talk about being a sustainable business,” says Fraser. “Not only do we need to be sustainable, but the overall market needs to become more competitive. With alternative fuel products like electric vehicles, it’s the end customers who are ultimately paying more money. But we all need to find ways to bring more benefits into our supply chain to make it more accessible for the customer. And we couldn’t do that without our existing partnerships.”
Shiv echoes this sentiment from a technological perspective.
“I would like to add that culture is not more important than the quality or the capability of our partners,” says Shiv. “But when you’re working in such an adaptive world, you need to make sure that you have partners who are aligned with your vision.
“We didn’t necessarily get this right at the start, but we corrected quickly. Now, we have a set of suppliers who understand how the business is changing and what we’re trying to achieve, and I would argue that our relationship has become a true
Accelerate the shift™
We’re on a mission to transition the world’s hardestworking industries to zero-emissions power.
Zero-emission power isn’t coming soon. It’s already here, ready to take on the world’s most demanding jobs. And we’re on a mission to make clean power the new normal for all of the hardworking industries that keep the world running.
We partner with our customers to build right-sized solutions that will transition their fleets, grids, construction sites, ports, factories and plants to zero-emissions power. Our vision is a world where commercial and industrial applications are no longer synonymous with greenhouse gas emissions.
Integrated eAxle Systems
Pave the way to zero-emissions transportation with customisable technology and modular architecture for electric drivetrains.
The eAxle works for a variety of vocations. It maintains existing axle housing interface hardware for ease of OEM integration. It’s suitable for electric, parallel hybrid, series hybrid and plug-in hybrid configurations. It has a marginally higher unsprung weight compared to conventional mechanical axles, offset by power-dense eCarrier designed to mitigate ride and handling impact.
High Voltage Battery
High Voltage Battery Packs Transform your electrification solutions with our multi-chemistry portfolio and shift to a zero-emissions future faster.
partnership at this point. These partnerships are very intuitive –you know when you’ve got it right incredibly quickly.”
However, while Volta Trucks has built close relationships with its suppliers, bringing together components from a range of suppliers to create a cohesive product can be challenging. Fraser celebrates how the high-quality partnerships the company has built up have made this process more streamlined.
“From the beginning, we’ve tried to work with suppliers who can be fast and agile,” says Fraser. “And we’ve done our best to work closely with those suppliers, especially on an engineering front. As every supplier has different standard parts, it can become challenging to fit these components together without significant changes for all parties.
“A great example of a supplier we’ve been able to work effectively with is Hendrickson. We’ve used their expertise in the truck market to try and facilitate high-quality products at speed, supporting some really challenging timescales on safety critical components. They’ve been incredibly supportive from the outset, all the way through the process of bankruptcy, to today – this support gives us the confidence to restart with a new, exciting project.”
As Shiv and Fraser look to the future, they note how they see supply chains and the wider industry evolving
over the next few years – and what businesses need to do to be futurefocused.
“I do think that, looking forward, the biggest challenge for any supply chain is going to be cost,” says Fraser. “Many upfront costs are higher than ever, and cost-cutting can still cause challenges for customers. Across the industry, we need to be looking at new, sustainable components – but these industries need to become more competitive, because right now customers are the ones suffering from significant costs.
“A trend I’ve noticed is that there’s been a tremendous change in how businesses view supply chain teams. Over the next few years – in both
procurement and logistics – we really need to challenge how traditional roles are viewed and the way we work.
“Businesses which can give supply chain teams access to more data are the ones that are going to be the most successful. Unless you put the effort in, it’s very easy to lose the importance of relationship building in a post-COVID-19 world. People don’t travel as much anymore, and a lot of the interactions they have with suppliers is virtual. That doesn’t help you understand how your suppliers operate – their factories, their challenges, the work they put in. Connecting with people in person and utilising the best data around you will help differentiate your business, but it requires putting in the time.”
Currently, Fraser stresses how the relationship between businesses and suppliers is shifting.
“Suppliers are changing,” says Fraser. “Just because your business spends a lot of money with a supplier, doesn’t mean they’ll accept unreliability. They don’t need to work with you anymore, especially if you’re viewed as a difficult customer. Events like COVID-19 and the blockage of the Suez Canal have created so much pressure in the supply chain that businesses need to be much smarter about how they look at product flows and work better with people. If there are going to be challenges within your business, work alongside your supplier so they understand the problem fully. You can’t
be the business that cried wolf every week.”
“Touching on Fraser’s point, we need to make sure that we’re enabling the buyers from a technology standpoint to make the right decisions,” says Shiv. “So it’s all about simulating the data and displaying it in a way that makes sense. We must understand what the supplier needs to ensure we’re ahead.
“We want to enable our suppliers, but we need to understand what they expect to see from us from a digital perspective. For us, we have a threeclick mentality, meaning that suppliers should be able to access anything that they need from our system in three clicks. That’s our vision for our supply base.”
As the conversation comes to a close, both Fraser and Shiv celebrate the resilience their teams and wider supply
base have shown in a challenging time for the business.
“Our current supply chain and the support they have provided, especially over the last few months, has been invaluable,” says Fraser. “It’s a real testament to them and their abilities to help us transition into our next chapter. We’re doing everything to make the most of this situation and be successful, and the resilience that all of our teams have been able to show throughout the bankruptcy process has been remarkable. I think our suppliers recognise this, and vice versa.”
“We are ultimately nothing without our people,” agrees Shiv. “Our whole team is now even more motivated to see Volta be successful. The passion and energy they have, given the current uncertainty, is remarkable. I could not have wished for a better team.”
Learn more about Volta Trucks here.
ADDED VALUE
Fraser
“I’ve been listening to more podcasts recently,” says Fraser. “One of my favourites is the High Performance podcast, and in particular a recent interview with Gordon Ramsey. Obviously, he’s in a very different field to me, but how he spoke about his career journey resonated with me. He’s built his career making sideways moves, so when it became time for him to run his own kitchen he was prepared for the various challenges. In this podcast episode, he mentions that he learned to dance in the rain – having the resilience to know that in business there’s always going to be a storm, you have to learn to dance in the rain and thrive in the situation.”
Connect with Fraser
Shiv
“I recently read Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building by Claire Hughes Johnson, which is incredibly relevant when you’re looking to build a team,” says Shiv. “She’s the former COO of Stripe, and it was really interesting to learn how she built her operating model. I have begun applying her insights in terms of my own management and leadership strategies.”
Connect with Shiv
Mimecast unveils breakthrough Human Risk Management platform
Organisations can now transform how they mitigate employee risk with a new human risk dashboard and adaptive education offering.
Mimecast, a global cybersecurity leader, has unveiled its Human Risk Management (HRM) platform, marking an important and eagerly anticipated milestone in advancing toward the next generation of cybersecurity.
n response to customer and market demand for a more effective means of mitigating risk brought on by employee mistakes and user errors, Mimecast has charted a new path forward by developing a connected HRM platform.
The platform will provide unprecedented visibility into an organisation’s risk profile, scoring users by risk and allowing security teams to educate and protect the riskiest part of their employee base.
Human Risk Management Platform: A Comprehensive Solution to a Complex Problem
A small number of users tend to cause the majority of security issues for businesses around the world.
But, to date, organisations have invested in disconnected security point products, resulting in security professionals who cannot differentiate risk across employees, and frustrated end users who
“Our platform is centred around protecting organisations from employee mistakes and user error, aligning key defence and data controls to offer one of the most comprehensive approaches to human risk management”
Marc van Zadelhoff, CEO of Mimecast
ignore continuous security warnings and bypass disparate controls – all of which ultimately increases both human and organisational risk.
Mimecast's connected HRM platform, which is built on a central risk engine, is designed to prevent the evolving and sophisticated threats targeting human error within organisations. The new platform will offer preventative controls and direct actions that will mitigate the risk associated with human behaviour such as an errant click of a link, the opening of a malicious attachment or inadvertently sharing a document.
In an increasingly connected world, employees have access to a myriad of collaboration tools and unlimited access to organisational data, making them prime targets for complex attacks such as business email compromise (BEC) and phishing, but also makes them more prone to errors as they are constantly multi-tasking and have
multiple tools open at the same time. Traditional security measures often fall short in addressing these human-centric risks, leading to significant vulnerabilities.
“Our platform is centred around protecting organisations from employee mistakes and user error, aligning key defence and data controls to offer one of the most comprehensive approaches to human risk management,” said Marc van Zadelhoff, CEO of Mimecast. “We provide a single solution that brings together multiple technologies – from Mimecast and dozens of partners – to help organisations protect collaboration and engage employees in risk mitigation."
Human Risk Dashboard: Unparalleled Visibility
The HRM platform is engineered to include a unique human risk dashboard, providing security teams with company-wide human risk
scoring and visibility based on event data from both native Mimecast metrics as well as data from current and future integrations with thirdparty tools.
In addition to increased visibility at the organisation-wide, group, and individual levels, this dashboard is designed to also quantify attack
factors measuring the frequency and severity of inbound threats, with plans to analyse inbound phishing attempts, blocked malware, malicious web content loaded by visited websites, and more.
With full visibility into this data organisations can tailor security strategies specifically, including
awareness initiatives that provide more training to those who need it and less to those who don’t.
Mimecast Engage®: Transforming Security Awareness
A key pillar to the platform is the company’s new human risk awareness training offering,
Mimecast Engage®, which is built to redefine how security leaders can manage human risk.
Traditional security awareness programmes take a standardised approach, rendering IT leaders unable to identify high-risk employees or effectively mitigate the risky behaviour.
Mimecast Engage® technology, the result of the integration of Elevate Security technology acquired in December 2023 with Mimecast’s awareness training product, combines to eliminate blind spots by offering extensive visibility into employees' risky behaviours powered by the human risk dashboard and adapting interventions to each individual's unique risk profile. This approach also helps increase productivity as the lower-risk employees are interrupted far less with training tasks, enabling them to focus on more critical business activities.
“Mimecast Engage awareness and training empowers security teams to identify and reduce risky behaviour with smarter, more targeted training,” said Marc. “It leverages risk insights from the Mimecast ecosystem and beyond to deliver contextual interventions at the point of risk, helping to ensure a more secure worksurface.”
Key Benefits of the Human Risk Management Platform:
» VISIBILITY: The comprehensive human risk dashboard spans the collaborative landscape, ensuring organisations can keep up with and stay ahead of evolving threats.
» INSIGHT: Leveraging two decades of focused cybersecurity expertise, Mimecast’s HRM platform helps align cyber and human risk for more detailed and actionable insights. CISOs and security analysts can take these insights and make proper decisions and deploy the right tactics to keep the organisation secure.
» ACTION: Mimecast’s unified, AI-powered platform is engineered to ensure that threats can be detected and eliminated promptly, allowing for precise and proactive decision-making.
Mimecast is pioneering human risk management. The HRM platform and Mimecast Engage® technology are the latest innovations in its mission to advance security and transform the way organisations manage and mitigate risk.
By integrating security into the very fabric of human interaction, the organisation is setting a new standard for protecting businesses in an increasingly complex digital world.
For more information, visit mimecast.com.
Source: Mimecast
Deploying localisation growth
Deploying effective localisation strategy to drive growth in the energy sector
Explore industry insights from the energy sector in this exclusive interview with Maytham Al-Elg, Localization Strategy Director at Baker Hughes in the Middle East (ME).
Maytham Al-Elg is a senior leader in the Middle East (ME) at Baker Hughes, a leading energy technology company, and has worked in the sector for two decades.
ver the years, his specialisms have spanned oil and gas, energy, petrochemicals, refinery and utilities –primarily in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa and Turkey) region.
Today, Maytham joins us to reflect on his career growth, working in the MENAT region and the technological innovations driving growth in the energy sector.
Maytham Al-Elg
Maytham began his career as a field engineer in upstream operations after graduating with a mechanical engineering degree. From here, Maytham developed his knowledge further by performing a range of roles, including handling customer interface for sales and operation developing key accounts, before moving to the midstream and downstream sector, dealing with projects and operations execution for rotating equipment. He credits these positions for helping him build his knowledge in order to move to a more strategic role developing processes, operational excellence, improved efficiency and team building for customer and organisation success.
This professional progression has led Maytham to the position of Localization Strategy Director at Baker Hughes ME, a role that involves localisation strategies alignment and ecosystem development across product lines to meet customer needs and regional requirements.
Maytham believes his career journey has taught him the importance of self-discipline and challenging yourself to drive both personal and organisational growth, as well as the value of teamwork, commitment and taking accountability for your actions.
Launching our conversation, Maytham explores how embracing localisation for Baker Hughes works on a strategic level.
“The process starts with aligning all requirements from customers,
regulatory bodies and Baker Hughes itself – framing the need to reach a common ground for development,” explains Maytham. “When you work across several countries, there is a diverse range of needs that must be met in a specific way to support customers and serve the company’s vision. I view localisation needs as a driver for faster and more efficient results – positioning the end user and companies in a stronger place. From a strategic viewpoint, solutions developed closer to customer operations will be more tailored to their needs.”
“We are successful when multiple individuals and organisations work together”
Baker Hughes flexible onshore composite pipe being manufactured. Photo from www.bakerhughes.com
Challenging Energy Industry Problems Need Innovative Solutions
Material Design High Performance Sealing Components
Upstream - Midstream Downstream
From sourcing unique materials to developing innovative formulations and blends, our experts can create customer-centric solutions for specific applications
Engineering & Design
Using engineering expertise, complex modeling, and first-class laboratory testing, we custom design high-performance polymer products and components to perform in the most extreme environments.
Manufacturing
Our vertically-integrated manufacturing means our advanced manufacturing facilities offer over 30 processes and integrate cutting-edge technologies for greater efficiency, insight, and quality.
A6R, OL, P, FS, S, & T Seals
Piston Rings
Downhole Packers
Rider Rings / Wear Bands
Packing & Packing Cases
SigmaSeal®
Sintermesh®
OptiSeal®, OptiPak®, OptiVee® Tuff Breed® Well Service Packing
HPHT Seals
Bonded Seals
Valve Stem Seals & Seats
Tubing/Casing Hanger Seals
Pump Wear Rings & Bushings
Graphite Pressure Seals
“The Middle East region is no different from other developed regions when it comes to innovations, and it has become one of the leading regions in implementing new ideas and concepts”
For Maytham, it is a particularly exciting time to work in the MENAT region, as businesses from the area are driving key innovations transforming the energy sector.
“The Middle East region is no different from other developed regions when it comes to innovations, and it has become one of the leading regions in implementing new ideas and concepts,” says Maytham.
“Currently, there is a significant focus on implementing new technologies to lead the energy transition. Some of the key implementations include Carbon Capture technology, hydrogens, non-metallics, solar energy, digital transformation and many more. Adopting these new technologies is promoting innovation within the region, and these new ideas are expected to foster the energy transition globally.”
Global reach, local presence
Established in 2020 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, PPE International LLC is a Joint Venture between PRECISION POLYMER ENGINEERING Ltd, a unit of IDEX Corporation and a Saudi-owned diversified industrial company.
As the first High Performance Elastomer Sealing company localising operations in Saudi Arabia, our mission is to bring local products for Made in KSA technologies - primarily in the Energy sector - and support our partners’ global activities from the Middle East.
We work closely with a wide range of leading global oil & gas companies to develop sealing solutions that perform in difficult applications, last longer, require less maintenance and deliver the lowest cost of ownership.
PPE’s capabilities in the Kingdom includes a material laboratory used for R&D purposes and product quality control, application engineering, elastomer parts manufacturing and commercial support.
sa.prepol.com
According to Maytham, localisation is also playing an instrumental role in driving sustainable energy within the Middle East.
“Localisation helps us secure a reliable source of energy in times of uncertainty – to both the region and on a global scale,” says Maytham.
“Having a robust supply chain ecosystem and strong localised support builds the foundation
for meeting energy needs during geopolitical conflicts and disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic, simultaneously helping to lower emissions by reducing the needs of international logistics and transportation.”
Technology is also playing a significant role in driving innovation and localisation within the Middle East, explains Maytham.
“As the Middle East region – and more specifically the Gulf states – count for a significant portion of global energy needs, the future of energy in this region is looking bright”
Baker Hughes Low Carbon Technology
Photo from www.bakerhughes.com
“When it comes to localisation, the focus on enhancing the supply chain ecosystem in the region through development is igniting research and development,” says Maytham. “Specific ideas tailored to the harsh environment are forming, resulting in new technological innovations. This is crucial to the energy sector within the MENAT region, as we are seeing a steady need in growing and maintaining the large needs for different energy resources.”
However, while emerging technologies are crucial for transforming energy production, Maytham stresses that the development of new processes would not be possible without collaboration.
“We are successful when multiple individuals and organisations work together,” says Maytham. “In regards to success in localisation and meeting targets, one of the most critical elements is developing the supply chain ecosystem. This means partnering with a variety of local and international partners to enhance it. To begin, we start by identifying critical gaps along the supply chain to implement developments for products and services alongside our partners.
“In some cases, this development requires us to work with reliable global suppliers. When a need to enhance the development of high-performance polymers for the ecosystem in Saudi Arabia emerged, international suppliers were identified to start the journey in localising operations within the country. CDI Products is an incredibly successful example of partnering together to develop the supply chain ecosystem within a local market.”
So, what does the future look like for energy in the Gulf states? Maytham believes it’s all about utilising consistent innovation as a transformative power.
“As the Middle East region – and more specifically the Gulf states –count for a significant portion of global energy needs, the future of energy in this region is looking bright,” says Maytham. “We’re driving new technologies forward to support the energy mix, and this is expected to have steady growth, as seen with ongoing projects in the pipeline. And as this development grows, our processes become steadily more innovative.”
Learn more about Baker Hughes at bakerhughes.com.
Added Value
Further reading
Maytham is always looking to further his knowledge of the field.
“With the current developments in the industry, I am becoming more focused on the new energy needs by reading and learning about the new technologies in the fields of energy transition, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning and more,” says Maytham. “I make sure to dedicate some of my time to reading and looking into the latest developments in those areas, through conferences, books, webinars, new research papers and more.”
Events
Maytham is looking forward to attending:
• The Future of Energy on the 15th-16th October in Riyadh Front, Saudi Arabia
• Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADIPEC) 2024 on the 4th-7th November
Connect with Maytham
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article reflect Maytham Al-Elg’s personal experiences and perspectives.
REPORT: perpetuate
REPORT: How could AI perpetuate progress in Africa?
New GSMA report reveals huge potential for AI to support Africa’s socio-economic growth across agriculture, energy and climate sectors.
Africa represents just 2.5% of the global artificial intelligence (AI) market, but emerging applications could boost the continent’s economic growth by $2.9tn by 2030 according to AI4D Africa.
new GSMA report, ‘AI for Africa: Use cases delivering impact,’ identifies over 90 AI use case applications in frontrunning technology markets (Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa) that can drive socio-economic and climate impact. Drawn from existing research and interviews with leaders across civil society, NGOs, academia and the private sector, the report explores how Africa could benefit significantly from emerging AI applications.
However, unlocking the potential of AI will require overcoming critical barriers including the limited availability of data centres and expensive technology investments. By addressing digital skills gaps and increasing the availability of smartphones, mobile-based AI solutions may offer a practical way to circumvent current limitations and tap into AI’s full potential across the continent.
Today, the vast majority of African AI use cases
are related to agriculture (49%), climate action (26%) and energy (24%).
Agriculture use cases dominate AI deployments
Agriculture employs 52% of the African working population and contributes 17% on average to GDP. In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 80% of food is produced by smallholder farmers who often use traditional techniques and lack access to information that would help improve yields.
The GSMA finds that the majority of AI use cases in agriculture involve machine learning (ML) enabled digital advisory services, which equip farmers with data-driven advice to adopt climate-smart farming practices and optimise productivity. These solutions typically reach farmers via mobile devices, highlighting the importance of device ownership, digital
skills and literacy, and userfriendliness.
Providing affordable and reliable energy services
The region faces significant challenges to energy access and reliability, with half of its population living without access to electricity. Today, AI-enabled solutions in Africa are improving both on-grid infrastructure and off-grid systems, with use cases such as predictive maintenance, smart energy management, energy access assessment and productive use financing to monitor and extend services in energy-scarce areas.
The GSMA highlights that improving energy access and efficiency within the region is vital because it creates a virtuous cycle by enhancing internet and digital tool usage, cellular networks and broadband as well as the generation, transmission
and distribution of data needed for AI capabilities.
Supporting climate action
Despite contributing less than 3% of global energyrelated CO2 emissions, Africans disproportionately suffer from climate change: without intervention, climate-related emergencies could reduce African GDP by 8% by 2050.
The GSMA finds that the increasing availability of remote sensing technologies and satellite imagery has supported the development of use cases for Natural Resources Management, where AI is being used for biodiversity monitoring and wildlife protection. Early Warning Systems that offer predictive analytics and realtime disaster assessment to provide timely alerts for climate emergencies and other natural
disasters are also already being improved by ML models, significantly improving forecasting in data-scarce regions.
The overwhelming majority (98%) of AI use cases in Africa fall under predictive AI applications, which leverage ML approaches, due to the availability of historical datasets, ease of application and lower computation requirements compared with generative AI
models. The GSMA identifies several hurdles that must be overcome to reap the full potential of the AI opportunity including more nascent use cases and generative AI, which will be key to driving long-term socio-economic benefits.
Unlocking Africa’s AI capabilities
To train AI models effectively, extensive, diverse and representative data is essential. It
is crucial for datasets to reflect the complexities and nuances of African markets rather than mimic data from the Global North.
For instance, across Africa today, there is a major gap in the availability of locallanguage data. Despite efforts by governments and the private sector, highquality, locally relevant data remains very limited or hard to access, hindering AI development and scaling.
AI development also requires robust infrastructure and computing power. As AI applications expand, the energy demands of data centres and the cost of hardware and software will rise. Africa already faces a shortage of data centres and, in countries such as South Africa and Kenya, the cost of a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is prohibitively high,
representing 22% and 75% of GDP per capita, respectively – making it significantly more expensive than in highincome countries.
As local compute ecosystems grow, countries can leverage mobilefirst markets to develop distributed or hyperlocal edge computing, where tasks occur on devices including phones and laptops, thereby reducing reliance on high-powered data centres. After foundational models are trained on large datasets, AI models can be transferred to smartphones for finetuning. With smartphone penetration at 51% and expected to reach 88% by 2030, mobile-based edge computing will be central to expanding the proliferation and capabilities of AI in Africa.
“To harness the transformative potential of AI across Africa, there needs to be a strong focus on
increasing skills for both AI builders and users, especially among underserved populations,” says Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, Head of Mobile for Development at the GSMA. “Better training programmes are essential, particularly in the face of a global brain drain on AI talent.
“To ensure Africa doesn’t get left behind, strong partnerships are required across a broad ecosystem of partners including ‘big tech’, NGOs, governments and mobile operators. Policies must also evolve to address inequality, ethics and human rights concerns in AI deployment. As African countries shape their own unique AI strategies, active engagement in global forums will be pivotal in defining regulatory frameworks that promote ethical AI development and safeguard societal interests, moving toward sustainable solutions that benefit all African communities.”
Source: GSMA
"The team were professional and diligent throughout"
Leigh Feaviour, CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain
"Absolute pleasure working with the Digital Innovation team"
Mun Valiji, Chief Information Security Officer at Sainsbury’s
"A highly professional approach"
Andy Brierley, Vice President, Cloud Application Modernisation at IBM
"Digital innovation Magazine is a very flexible and professional team"
Kim Larsen CTIO, T-Mobile Netherlands
‘THE NEW FRONTIER’: CHAMPIONING INNOV AT SUNRISE
Fabrizio Campanale, VP of One Assurance, Entertainment & In-Home Connectivity at Sunrise on how the company is using new technologies to become the most innovative and customerfriendly telecommunications provider across Switzerland.
FRONTIER’: INNOVATION
AS THE FIRST OPERATOR IN EUROPE TO TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDER SUNRISE
LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO DEPLOY INNOVATIONS TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER
oday's Sunrise was created from the merger of Sunrise Communications and UPC Switzerland in 2021 and has become the largest private telecommunications provider in Switzerland. Sunrise provides awardwinning mobile voice and data, landline voice, landline internet and IPTV (internet protocol television) services to residential customers, and offers business customers a 360° portfolio from a single source, with outstanding end-to-end services and solutions optimally tailored to their needs for the digital, mobile and secure world of work, through an integrated nationwide landline network and mobile network across Switzerland.
Speaking to us today about Sunrise’s strategic approach to implementing emerging technologies is Fabrizio Campanale, Vice President of One Assurance, Entertainment & In-Home Connectivity at the company.
“Sunrise serves over 1.5 million TV users across Switzerland, and my team leads the deployment of new products in the entertainment and inhome connectivity and wifi domains,”
says Fabrizio. “We’re aiming to offer the best-connected entertainment customer experience across several verticals. Furthermore, for every service we offer, we have an intense network infrastructure operation, through which we constantly intervene – to innovate, to adjust, to expand and to troubleshoot.
“This is a massive machine, and it requires dedicated quality assurance to ensure that operational standards align, that hundreds of engineers are coordinated, and that customers get the best experience.”
This is achieved, Fabrizio explains, through the adoption of emerging technologies.
“Sunrise has always been synonymous with innovation – through our mindset and the way we approach every aspect of our business,” says Fabrizio.
“We are committed to continuously introducing innovations in our technology infrastructure and across all organisations.
“We are part of the Liberty Global group, and this allows us to leverage on the group scale when it comes
TO INTRODUCE 5G, SWISS
SUNRISE IS CONSTANTLY
DEPLOY TECHNOLOGICAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE.
TV set-top-box and architecture or broadband technology for home gateway, independently from which access is the customer connected: fibre, cable or mobile.
“Being a large telecom operator also gives us access to industry leaders as partners, who would otherwise be difficult to come across. By being able to work with leading companies, we have access to specific technologies and collaborate on innovative projects.”
One such industry leader is Nokia, who Sunrise has worked with to explore their Fixed Network Automation solution. Fabrizio emphasises this partnership, highlighting the importance of collaboration to foster innovation.
“In my area, Nokia is supporting us in the advanced analytics of the
“IN MY AREA, NOKIA IS SUPPORTING ANALYTICS OF THE IN-HOME PRECISE UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER CONNECTIVITY
Fabrizio Campanale, VP of One Assurance, Entertainment
in-home wifi to obtain a more precise understanding of how to optimise the customer connectivity experience,” explains Fabrizio. “As we are constantly improving in this area, it made sense to work with Nokia because their Fixed Network Automation tool provides innovative ways to identify anomalies in the customer home network. We’re working closely with them to pilot this solution.”
However, Sunrise is not just focusing on specific technological innovations such as these – rather, the company’s aim is to encourage a broader culture of innovation, spearheaded by two fundamental principles: providing the best service possible to customers, and operating these services in the most efficient way.
“When you see the world from this lens, you are driven to constantly push the boundaries,” says Fabrizio. “This maintains our competitive edge as well as long-term customer loyalty, because we’re remaining the best choice for the customers.
“Another example of innovation is in the entertainment product development: with the latest TV technologies and the most advanced
SUPPORTING US IN THE ADVANCED IN-HOME WIFI TO OBTAIN A MORE OF HOW TO OPTIMISE THE
EXPERIENCE”
Entertainment & In-Home Connectivity
user interfaces for the entertainment experience with recommendation engines that select the content based on your preferences or provide content highlights from all the streaming Apps now aggregated within the set-top-box.
“A further instance of innovation where we are very active at the moment is in the NW operations: introducing and increasing the automation, to monitor and detect
autonomously the anomalies and possibly self-healing the infrastructure. This is not only pushing the boundaries of efficiency but also reducing the time to solve service interruptions, again in favour of the best customer experience.
“Our infrastructure goes from the home premises to cable and fibre network to data centres and antennas across a huge network. So, it’s crucial for us to quickly identify anomalies and trigger an intervention. Our priority is to adopt emerging technologies that will help us better monitor performances and facilitate the needed fixes in the field. While these processes have been in the works for a while now, we’re entering a new phase of development with the advent of machine learning and artificial intelligence. There is an opportunity here, and it’s one that we need to take advantage of.
“The more advanced we can be in this area, the faster we can address problems and our services can be
as seamless as possible for our customers.”
Alongside machine learning and AI, Fabrizio highlights the company’s innovation in what Sunrise calls the connected entertainment experience.
“In the home, we manage the TV and broadband service,” says Fabrizio. “We have the ability to provide customers with the highest broadband speed, but if the layout of a user’s home is complex, the modem has been placed incorrectly or there is interference from neighbours, then we lose control of the service and the customer will be unsatisfied. To fight this, we invest in cloud-based managed service, so we can pull anonymised telemetry parameters from the customer’s home to understand what is happening in specific cases, and provide the best possible quality of services.
“Pulling into the cloud regularly the technical parameters from the devices we correlate them with the
optimal value they should have for the use cases and remotely improve users’ in-home network setup (wifi channels, band etc), without them even having to talk to us – everything is done automatically, bridging the socalled quality of experience with the quality of service.”
With these systems in place, Fabrizio is now looking to the future of Sunrise.
“We are now three years into the merger between Sunrise and UPC, so we have completed the integration,” says Fabrizio. “This has been a massive undertaking – from product to technology to culture. Now we are entering the next phase of growth. For us, this is all about keeping our promises to our clients and positioning ourselves as the national FMC (Fix Mobile Convergence) champion of Switzerland.
“We’ve used these three years to underpin the value of our offer, which makes us one of the stronger players in the telco market. We have the most advanced mobile technology, and we are continuously investing in it, we have the largest national broadband network and keep developing the fixed access technology. I believe that we currently have the best products on the market, and we can continue growing and improving our services.”
ADDED VALUE
Connect with Fabrizio
THE FUTURE OF AI
“Artificial intelligence and machine learning are very relevant within my role, but I’m also interested in looking at it from a human and societal point of view,” says Fabrizio. “I’m fascinated by how they will impact our society, the new generations, the consumers and dayto-day life. I truly believe we need to talk about it, and learn from the conversations being had, because while no one can know for sure what the future of AI and machine learning will look like, we can better understand the direction things are heading in.”
A NEW GENERATION OF BUSINESS LEADERS
“I have two sons,” says Fabrizio. “One is a teenager, and the other is at university. My wife and I have very intense discussions with them about their education and future considering the society evolution and the impact of technology on this. It's interesting and enriching the confrontation with the young generation on innovation and technology’s impact on life, while remaining open to their doubts and positive on the opportunities.”
Learn more about Sunrise here.
FIVE emerging technology trends in the retail industry
can take advantage of new technologies and elevate your retail strategy.
he retail industry is going through consistent technological innovations, but it can be challenging to know which of these emerging solutions are right for your business to invest in.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the most promising innovations leading the charge in the retail industry – and some of the exciting ways they’re being implemented.
1 Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence has taken multiple industries by storm, and retail is no exception. By including AI within your strategy, retailers can keep track of customer behaviours to provide a more personalised shopper experience. AI can take a customer's previous behaviours and generate unique messages and offers based on predictions, targeting consumers through various channels.
Businesses are also beginning to use generative AI to create more efficient store layouts. By utilising data from customer analytics, demand forecasting and shelving options, planograms can be generated automatically, with a layout that matches consumer demand.
2
Augmented reality shopping experiences
Augmented reality (AR) technologies are making the shopping experience easier for online consumers. AR is allowing customers to virtually ‘try on’ products from the comfort of their own homes – a powerful tool for retailers without physical storefronts. This technology can also be applied to home goods – allowing customers to see what furniture will look like within their living spaces.
AR can also be used effectively in-store, to enhance the unique product experience. Customers can scan a barcode or activate an AR display to learn about that product’s specific features and benefits, giving it a competitive edge and creating an experience consumers will actively seek out.
3
Voice assistant technology
Voice ordering has been widely used for some time – notably with Amazon Alexa’s voice purchasing capability. However, as these assistants build on advanced conversation AI, the nuances of customer purchases will grow, and it will become easier for consumers to purchase products without a screen.
This technology is also being celebrated for its in-store capabilities with the growing use of smart mirrors. Using a combination of voice assistants and AR, customers simply give commands to the smart mirror and a virtual fitting room experience is generated from that prompt.
4
An omnichannel through combining flexibility For businesses combine and convenience. payment virtual – friction convenience
Omnichannel
Omnichannel retail experiences
omnichannel retail strategy gives businesses the opportunity to engage with customers through many physical and virtual touchpoints, increasing the likelihood of purchase. By combining these experiences, omnichannel approaches meet customers' demand for flexibility while providing them with a harmonious shopping experience.
businesses with physical stores, offering click-and-collect options is an effective way to combine the physical and the virtual experience of shopping, affording the customer speed convenience. A customer is also more likely to spend money at a particular shop if payment flexibility is offered. If your business allows customers to pay in instalments, offers virtual payment options like Google Pay or Apple Pay or lets customers buy now and pay later friction is less likely at the point of sale and customers are more likely to return, thanks to the convenience of flexibility.
5 Indoor navigation solutions
For larger stores, indoor navigation can be a hugely beneficial tool for customers, making it easier for them to find what they’re looking for. While implementing this technology can be challenging, once the infrastructure is set up it can make significant improvements to your in-store experience.
Target is a notable example of a business with this technology in use. By using Bluetooth chips embedded in LED ceiling lights, Target can send signals to users' phones. If they have the Target app installed, customers can access a map that will help them find their position in the store and locate the items they need.
Melik Sevis, Planning and Procurement Makina (NMS), explores the strategies driving nimble approach to supply chain sustainability optimisation in the ever-evolving defence
10 entrepreneurs receive third Venmo Small Business Grant
The Venmo Small Business Grant programme is a part of Venmo’s ongoing commitment to the small business community, providing selected recipients with financial capital and mentorship resources to help them overcome challenges and achieve success.
can take advantage of new technologies and elevate your retail strategy.
hese 10 small business visionaries have not only harnessed the power of Venmo business profiles to manage and help grow their business but have also turned their unique business concepts, as well as their unwavering passion and excitement, into tangible successes.
These recipients will receive a $20,000 financial grant, pro bono
technical expertise and mentorship on topics such as legal services, financial analysis, digital marketing and more as a part of the programme.
This year, nearly 50,000 entrepreneurs applied for the Venmo Small Business Grant programme.
Turn over to meet three of the inspiring grant recipients...
Tak Tak Goods
Based in Cedar Creek, Texas, Tak Tak Goods offers handmade glassware that brings joy, humour and magic to your everyday routine.
“As I was learning to blow glass, I wasn’t compelled to comply with my peers’ historical, Eurocentric standards,” said Founder Risa Recio. “I developed a distinct, playful style amidst the classically trained aesthetic. The lack of POC representation drove me to forge my own path, break the rules and build a successful business. Tak Tak’s cornerstone product, the Face Cup, is a direct result of resisting those traditions. I’m proud that Tak Tak has ushered newfound appreciation for alternative techniques in glass and brought visibility to my experience as a female, Filipino immigrant and entrepreneur.”
“I developed the classically
Risa Recio, Founder
developed a distinct, playful style amidst classically trained aesthetic”
Soma Metalwork
Based in Yarmouth, Maine, Soma Metalwork offers hand-forged chef's knives, bespoke homeware and blacksmithing classes.
“I grew up as a second-generation South Asian American kid in Harlem,” said Founder Kiran Chapman. “In my 20s, I realised that working with my hands was crucial to my sense of self. I founded Soma Metalwork during my apprenticeship with a blacksmith, where I hand forge a line of kitchenware and teach blacksmithing classes. My goal is to share metalworking with underrepresented craftspeople who might not find traditional avenues for skill-building accessible. I want to grow my business and my community to foster open-mindedness, diversity and care.”
“My goal is to share metalworking with underrepresented craftspeople who might not find traditional avenues for skill-building accessible”
Kiran Chapman, Founder
The Traveling Black Women Network
Based in Atlanta, Georgia, The Traveling Black Women Network is a vibrant community connecting and supporting Black female travellers.
“I founded Traveling Black Women to create a global community where Black women travellers are confident and supported, and to address unique challenges like safety and representation,” said Founder Nadine Duncan. “What began as a travel guide has expanded to a vibrant online community of 100,000 members worldwide. We offer resources, organise trips, workshops, and meetups, and partner with amazing travel organisations – all to empower members with travel knowledge and cultural etiquette.”
“I founded Traveling Black Women to create a global community where Black women travellers are confident and supported, and to address unique challenges like safety and representation”
Nadine Duncan, Founder
Photo from
from www.travelingblackwomen.com
More About the 2024 Grant Recipients
The following businesses have also been selected as recipients of the Venmo Small Business Grant:
• Reachable Wellness, LLC (Keizer, OR): Personalised wellness company offering herbal goods and holistic health services.
• W4 Products, LLC (Portland, OR): DIALED[IN] Muscle Cream helps the elite and everyday athlete perform better and recover faster, developed by a world champion track cyclist.
• Syed Farms (Calhan, CO): A concept meat store specialising in Zabiha Halal chicken and goat meat.
• Resident Vinyl (Santa Ana, CA): Indie record store offering a curated vinyl selection and events that champion local musicians.
• The Country Dumplin (Columbia, TN): Delicious baked goods and meals, made without gluten, soy, nuts and dairy.
• Pure Intention Services, LLC (Fort Wayne, IN): Mental health care that promotes healing and empowerment for neurodivergent adults.
• Bouquet of Basil Herbals (Wheat Ridge, CO): Web-based holistic practice led by a Deaf clinical herbalist.
10 major tech trends in the renewable energy industry
Keep an eye on these technologies as they propel the green energy transition forward.
Driven by broader energy sector transformation and technological progress, the renewable energy industry is ushering in unprecedented development opportunities.
s these technological advancements progress, they continue to enrich the application scenarios of clean energy conversion – making energy use more sustainable and improving end user experience.
Here are the key technologies making waves in the renewable energy industry:
1: The Application of New Semiconductor Devices
To achieve net-zero carbon emissions, advancements in energy generation, transmission and conversion efficiency are crucial. According to French semiconductor
manufacturer Diamfab, diamond has the potential to become the ultimate WBG semiconductor material for high-power electronics. Diamond possesses ideal characteristics for highvoltage operation, high-temperature applications and high-frequency switching, with a critical electric field 30 times higher than silicon and three times higher than silicon carbide.
2: Source-Grid-Load-Storage Integration: Driving the Rapid Development of Energy Bases and Future Urban Construction
The construction strategy for the source-grid-load-storage operation mode in renewable energy integration can leverage multiple energy sources,
enhancing grid capacity for renewable energy integration and economic efficiency of active distribution grid operations.
3: The Extended Utilisation of Solid-State Transformer (SST) Technology and Medium-Voltage Photovoltaic (PV) Inverters
The medium-voltage PV power generation system based on SST technology offers a higher power density compared to traditional
“The medium-voltage generation system SST technology power density traditional
medium-voltage PV power system based on
offers a higher
compared to solutions”
solutions, with an overall improvement in conversion efficiency. In the future, SST technology may find applications in MW-level charging stations, HVDC power supply systems for data centres, energy routers and more.
4: Improving the Overall Lifecycle Efficiency of PV Power Plants through Digitisation and AI
Sungrow, a global leader in the development of solar inverters has introduced the concept of DEPCO
(Development, Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Operation), bringing about comprehensive digitisation to renewable energy power plants. The company has developed cutting-edge software solutions, namely iSolarTool for optimising the design of large-scale PV power plants, and iSolarBP for commercial and industrial PV assessment and design. By leveraging AI intelligence, these innovative tools enable end-to-end system optimisation, effectively boosting the efficiency and profitability of renewable energy development. Currently, these solutions are in the industry trial phase.
5: Green Hydrogen
The off-grid solar-hydrogen solution, IGBT-based hydrogen production rectifier power supply and the integration of hydrogen for complete energy self-sufficiency in residential buildings with PV and battery storage systems can further enhance energy efficiency.
6: Grid-Forming (GFM) Technology
GFM technology provides rapid, accurate and standardised dynamic responses to grid faults and disturbances. It offers strong support for the stable operation of new power systems in various application scenarios.
7: Further Enhancement of Direct Current (DC) Voltage Level in PV Systems
The increase of DC voltage in PV systems not only increases power density and efficiency but also reduces infrastructure and maintenance costs. Notably, Sungrow achieved a groundbreaking milestone by becoming the world's first company to introduce the 2000V solar-plusstorage high-voltage system and successfully integrating it into the grid in Yulin, Shaanxi.
8: "PE Agent," a Power Electronic Designer Based on Large Language Model (LLM)
During the energy transition, AI intelligence will likely play an increasingly significant role. A PE Agent can facilitate seamless communication between different AI models and between AI and humans, enabling intelligent management of the entire process of power electronics design and achieving ‘self-learning’ and ‘selfevolution’.
“VVPs are networks comprising small-scale energy-producing or storage devices, such as solar panels and batteries, that are aggregated to serve the electricity grid”
9: Virtual Power Plants (VVPs)
VVPs are networks comprising small-scale energy-producing or storage devices, such as solar panels and batteries, that are aggregated to serve the electricity grid. With the consent of their owners, the energy generated by these devices can be accessed by utilities during periods of high demand or saved for future use.
10: High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Technology
HVDC systems provide faster active power flow control compared to the more established CSC-HVDC technology. Additionally, they offer flexible and enhanced reactive power controllability at both converter terminals.
Source: Sungrow
IT’S ABOUT COMMUNITY.
Join us at Houston Energy & Climate Week
Energy demand is skyrocketing in America and abroad. However, the impact of this prosperity presents a challenge to ensure that energy is reliable, affordable, accessible and sustainable. Climate change is real, and the science is settled. Most Americans recognise it, and nearly two-thirds say it impacts their communities.
At the core of the Unity Commitment is the need to bring human and financial capital to rapidly address these challenges and transform how the world produces and consumes energy. Houston is the energy capital of the world. The Gulf South region brings a unique and diverse ecosystem and infrastructure to drive this transformation.
We cannot do this alone. Human ingenuity is in our DNA, and we appreciate it’s a “both-and” not “or” approach to address these challenges.
We do hard things and Houston Energy and Climate Week is an inclusive vehicle for unity.
HOSTED BY
September 9-13, 2024
Let’s collaborate…
Innovation Magazine is a specialist technology platform with over 166,700+ readers.
Our community consists of C, V and D level executives from a wide range of industries. A unique blend of thought leadership interviews and features that cover digital transformation, cloud & cyber, enterprise IT, artificial intelligence, machine learning and sustainability.
Demand
Webinars - Hosting & Promotion
Team up with Innovation Magazine and build media programs that deliver.
Find out more
How procurement AI solution provider mysupply is transforming the sourcing process.
erman startup mysupply is an advanced SaaS solution transforming sourcing with AI automation, which empowers companies to increase negotiation savings by 5-11% and reduce operational effort by 50%.
With the goal of making sourcing autonomous, mysupply now introduces an AI Sourcing Assistant to help users deal with all sourcing requests and even allows self-service sourcing for low- to medium-value goods and services. It can be integrated into a variety of systems like SAP Ariba, S/4HANA, ECC, Coupa, Ivalua and many more.
The company uses best-in-class game theory and AI algorithms for optimal negotiation outcomes and covers the sourcing process from RFP and supplier invitations, all the way up to fully automated negotiations.
With mysupply, requesters receive sourcing guidance and can source their demand with less effort, while also paying less in the process. The company’s solution wields AI to simplify sourcing in the following ways:
• Match incoming purchase requests with a user’s best suppliers
• Intelligently bundle demands together based on overlapping suppliers
• Add historical data to fine-tune the algorithm for the user’s niche
“Procurement teams are under high pressure to deliver the goods and services needed to run the business and deliver savings,” says Ronny Denk, Co-Founder and CSO at mysupply.
“Providing tangible benefits and liberating savings are key to keeping businesses up and running. Therefore automation and AI are the key
“Our vision is to give procurement professionals the time to focus on high strategic topics by making non-strategic sourcing fully autonomous”
Andreas Zimmermann, Founder and CEO
“Providing tangible benefits and liberating savings are key to keeping businesses up and running. Therefore automation and AI are the key technologies to make life easier for procurement professionals”
Ronny Denk, Co-Founder and CSO
technologies to make life easier for procurement professionals.”
“Our vision is to give procurement professionals the time to focus on high strategic topics by making non-strategic sourcing fully autonomous,” adds Andreas Zimmermann, Founder and CEO of mysupply.
As a member of ProcureTechs Network, the community of Europe's most innovative start-ups with a focus on procurement, mysupply is looking forward to helping shape the future of procurement.
Looking ahead to the coming years,
mysupply believes in an iterative approach, so the company constantly collects feedback from all its users. The goal? Ultimately mysupply is working towards making the entire procurement process better step by step, adding more and more intelligence and covering additional use cases. In the near future, the business is looking to leverage the power of machine learning and AI as much as it can to completely change sourcing for the better.
Check out mysupply’s use cases here.
See the company’s solution in action by heading here.
