September 1, 2021

Nedbank Launches Enbi, an Intelligent Digital Assistant Powered by Kasisto’s Industry Leading Conversational AI

A leading South African financial institution uses Kasisto’s KAI to create value and delightful experiences that exceed customer expectations

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Kasisto, creators of KAI, the leading digital experience platform for the financial services industry, have announced that Nedbank, a top African financial services group has selected and deployed KAI to power their intelligent digital assistant, Enbi. Nedbank chose to partner with Kasisto based on KAI’s proven conversational AI technology and its ability to transform customers’ digital experiences.

Nedbank is a leading bank in the South African region, with close to $80B in assets, 28,000 employees and over 7 million customers. Nedbank is committed to delivering market-leading solutions to their customers that improve client satisfaction levels .

Enbi offers Nedbank’s customers an intelligent, insightful and friction free digital banking experience by assisting customers conversationally with their day-to-day banking needs and questions. Customers are able to find out about Nedbank’s banking services and products while monitoring their financial well-being through insightful access to account information, spending patterns and opportunities to explore their finances in more depth via human-like conversations with Enbi. KAI-powered assistants like Enbi become more intelligent and personalized over time. KAI’s sophisticated conversational AI technology combines financial information, interaction history and behavioral data to offer hyper-personalized experiences that surprise and delight customers.

“At Nedbank we recognize that our customers are digitally savvy and demand banking experiences that provide value. Kasisto’s ability to deliver an intuitive and intelligent digital offering supports Nedbank’s ‘digital with heart’ commitment and is aligned to our ‘first in digital, digital first’ journey.” said Ravikumaran Govender, Programme Executive for Digital Fast Lane at Nedbank. “Our KAI- powered intelligent digital assistant, Enbi will deliver truly intuitive and engaging digital banking experiences our customers are looking for.”

“We are absolutely excited to work with Nedbank as they set the new standard with their digital first strategy and raise the bar as to what an intelligent digital assistant can do for their customers across the African market.” says Zor Gorelov, CEO and Co-Founder, Kasisto. “KAI fit the bill and provided all the advanced AI features Nedbank was looking for in a digital experience platform. Working together, Kasisto and Nedbank will ensure that Enbi delivers an exceptional digital experience to Nedbank’s customers, driving digital adoption and engagement. ”

If you would like to learn more about Kasisto, click here.

About Kasisto

KAI is the leading digital experience platform for the financial services industry. Kasisto’s customers include J.P. Morgan, Westpac, Standard Chartered, TD, Manulife Bank, and credit unions such as Fairwinds and Excite – and many more. These financial institutions chose KAI for its proven track record to drive business results while improving customer experiences. The platform is engaging with millions of consumers around the world, all the time, across multiple channels, in different languages, and is optimized for performance, scalability, security, and compliance. KAI is built with the deepest Conversational AI portfolio in the industry. Kasisto is headquartered in New York City, with offices in Silicon Valley and Singapore. Kasisto Singapore Pte Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kasisto. For more information visit kasisto.com. Follow Kasisto on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

CONTACT:
[email protected]

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September 1, 2021

B Lab report: Companies need to do more to make real progress on the SDGs

NEW YORK, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Despite declarations of progress, business action and performance on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not strategic or bold enough to achieve them by 2030, as shared in a report released today by B Lab, a global network of organizations transforming the global economic system.

This report examines usage data from over 1,700 companies that have used the SDG Action Manager, B Lab’s impact management solution for businesses to make progress on the SDGs.

“The 2030 Agenda is ambitious, but necessary in order to realize an economic system that benefits all people, communities and the planet,” said Dan Osusky, Head of Standards and Insights at B Lab. “We hope this report can provide proof of tangible steps businesses are taking on the SDGS, direction for targeted business action on the most impactful aspects of a business—its business model, supply chain and collective action efforts—and signal for the need for both more individual action and a broader shift to our economic system to one that benefits all stakeholders.”

Insights include:

When looking at the percentage of points earned by aspect of the business, companies performed better on their internal operations (41%) versus their business model (32%), supply chain (30%), or collective action efforts (29%).
Among the most frequent goals for improvement set across all SDGs is for a business to fundamentally shift their own governance structure to require the consideration of stakeholders in their decision making.

This report was developed with generous financial support from Generation Foundation, Emmanuel Faber, Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Full release available here.

About B Lab: B Lab is transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, tools, and programs for business, and we certify companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way. To date, our community includes 280,000 workers in over 4,000 B Corps across 77 countries and 153 industries, and more than 150,000 companies manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager. To learn more and join the movement, visit www.bcorporation.net.

September 1, 2021

Seegene Receives CE-IVD Mark for Use of Combo Swab, a Self-Collection Device with Four COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests

SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Seegene Inc. (KQ 096530), South Korea’s leading molecular diagnostics company, announced on August 20 that it has obtained CE marking for the use of Combo Swab, a self-collection device with four diagnostic assays.

Combo Swab is a user-friendly swab designed for efficient specimen collection at scale in which patients can easily collect specimen from their nasal and oral cavity under the supervision of a healthcare professional. With the CE-IVD mark, the Combo Swab can be now used with Seegene’s four COVID-19 diagnostic assays including ‘Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2 Assay,’ ‘Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2 Master Assay,’ ‘Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2 Variants I Assay’ and ‘Allplex™ SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB/RSV Assay.’ Seegene’s multiplex assays have been widely acknowledged across the world with its capability to detect multiple targets in a single channel. The availability of Combo Swab with the company’s diagnostic assays is expected to dramatically improve testing efficiency by facilitating continued testing for a large group of people in much reduced time.

The Combo Swab offers multiple benefits while reducing various inconveniences that nasopharyngeal swabs have. In comparison to the nasopharyngeal swab that needs to insert deeply patient’s nasopharynx until resistance is encountered, individuals can collect their own specimen by simply swabbing their mouth and nose without causing any discomfort. Due to its simplicity, it does not require healthcare professionals to take care of each patient, which in turn, allows efficient testing for a large group of people. While Combo Swabs can drastically improve the testing environment for mass testing, it also reduces the risk of accidental exposure to the virus for clinicians as they can maintain distance during the testing procedure. In July 2020, the company had applied for a patent on technology that detects SARS-CoV-2 virus through specimens collected from mouth and nose. Seegene said this new testing option will not only expand access to COVID-19 testing, but also minimize the workload for healthcare workers, resolving clinician shortage issues in many countries around the world.

Clinical data shows Combo Swabs have accuracy of over 96%, the same accuracy as the results from nasopharyngeal swabs. Countries like the US, UK, and Singapore have already adopted self-collecting devices such as oral and nasal swabs to scale up testing. Most self-administered testing, however, obtains samples from one’s mouth or nose, while Seegene’s Combo Swab collects specimens from both mouth and nose, therefore, the results obtained using Combo Swabs show higher accuracy over other self-collecting devices.

“With the rapid spread of the Delta variant, surveillance testing is the key to curb the further spread of COVID-19. Under such circumstances, Combo Swabs will facilitate efficient mass testing with its high accuracy,” said Min-Cheol Lee, Seegene’s Chief Technology Officer. “Seegene owns unique multiplex technologies which obtained over fifty original patents of detecting multiple virus genes in a single test. The combination of Combo Swabs and Seegene’s high multiplex technologies will certainly be the optimized solution to scale up the COVID-19 testing and be an essential tool for societies to reopen,” he added.

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September 1, 2021

Kava Swap Lists on AscendEX

Singapore, Aug. 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AscendEX, a global digital asset trading platform with a comprehensive product suite, is thrilled to announce the listing of the Kava Swap token (SWP) under the pair USDT/SWP on September 1st at 1 p.m. UTC.

Kava is focused on democratizing financial services and making them openly accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Kava Chain is a decentralized, permissionless, censorship-resistant blockchain built with the Cosmos SDK. This means it operates much like other Cosmos ecosystem blockchains, and is designed to be interoperable with other chains.

Kava.io is the first cross-chain Decentralized Finance (DeFi) hub providing applications and services to the world’s largest cryptocurrencies. Kava’s platform operates as a decentralized bank for digital assets connecting users with products like stablecoins, loans, and interest-bearing accounts so that they can do more and earn more with their digital assets. For example, sers can deposit their digital assets and use them as collateral to borrow Kava’s crypto-backed stablecoin, USDX. The native swap token (SWP), launching Monday Aug. 30, allows users to swap and engage with multiple assets across different chains.

Kava Swap is a cross-chain liquidity hub for all DeFi apps and financial services. Its purpose is to enable the aggregation of capital where it can then be deployed seamlessly across different blockchain ecosystems, DeFi apps, and financial services. At its core, Kava Swap is a cross-chain Autonomous Market Making (AMM) Protocol that leverages the Kava platform’s DeFi infrastructure, cross-chain bridges, and security. Kava Swap delivers users a seamless way to swap between assets of different blockchains and deploy their capital into market-making pools where they can earn handsome returns.

The Kava Protocol is the set of rules and behaviors built into the Kava Chain that enables advanced DeFi functionality like permissionless borrowing and lending. Like most Cosmos ecosystem blockchains, the automated transaction behaviors known as “Smart Contracts” are hardcoded into the protocol. They are referred to as “modules” in the Cosmos Ecosystem. The Kava App uses a special kind of module called a CDP. Hard Protocol is an application that runs on Kava Chain. It does not have its own blockchain. It builds upon the Kava Protocol and adds new functionality, expanding the Kava Ecosystem to include an autonomous money market protocol.

The HARD token is a unique token on the Kava Chain. It is given as a reward for supplying and borrowing on the Hard app. KAVA, the native token of the KAVA protocol, is used as a Proof of Stake (POS) staking asset, which ensures the finality and safety of loans on the protocol and also acts as the ‘lender of last resort’ in certain situations. The Kava Chain is secured by its native token KAVA and it is used across the full chain as a transport and a store of value. It is given as a reward for minting USDX on the Kava app. USDX is a stable coin loosely pegged to the US Dollar. It is minted when a Kava CDP is opened. KAVA, SWP, and HARD are all governance tokens, meaning holders can vote on the rules and proposed new features of the protocols.

About AscendEX

AscendEX is a global cryptocurrency financial platform with a comprehensive product suite including spot, margin, and futures trading, wallet services, and staking support for over 150 blockchain projects such as bitcoin, ether, and ripple. Launched in 2018, AscendEX services over 1 million retail and institutional clients globally with a highly liquid trading platform and secure custody solutions. AscendEX has emerged as a leading platform by ROI on its “initial exchange offerings” by supporting some of the industry’s most innovative projects from the DeFi ecosystem such as Thorchain, xDai Stake, and Serum. AscendEX users receive exclusive access to token airdrops and the ability to purchase tokens at the earliest possible stage. To learn more about how AscendEX is leveraging best practices from both Wall Street and the cryptocurrency ecosystem to bring the best altcoins to its users, please visit www.AscendEX.com.

For more information and updates, please visit:

Website: https://ascendex.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AscendEX_Global

Telegram: https://t.me/AscendEXEnglish

Medium: https://medium.com/ascendex

About Kava Swap

Kava Labs is focused on democratizing financial services and making them openly accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world. Kava is the first cross-chain Decentralized Finance (DeFi) hub providing applications and services to the world’s largest cryptocurrencies. Kava’s platform operates as a decentralized bank for digital assets connecting users with products like stablecoins, loans, and interest-bearing accounts so that they can do more and earn more with their digital assets.

For more information and updates, please visit:

Website: https://www.kava.io/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kava_Swap

Telegram: https://t.me/KavaSwap

Medium: https://medium.com/kava-labs

Marketing Department
AscendEX
[email protected]

September 1, 2021

VoltDB lance la réplication croisée de centres de données sans perte Active(N)

Une capacité brevetée permet à la plate-forme de données VoltDB de répliquer les données dans plus de trois centres de données à la fois tout en atténuant les conflits de données

BEDFORD, Massachussets, 31 août 2021/PRNewswire/ — En réponse directe aux besoins de ses principaux clients, travaillant avec certains des plus grands opérateurs télécoms du marché, VoltDB, la principale plate-forme de données de niveau entreprise construite pour permettre une prise de décision rapide en matière de données, a annoncé aujourd’hui l’introduction de sa réplication croisée de centres de données (XDCR) Active(N)^tm Loseless. Active(N) Lossless XDCR donnera aux opérateurs de télécommunications et aux entreprises qui cherchent à mettre en place des cas d’utilisation de la 5G un avantage considérable en augmentant la résilience de leurs réseaux contre les pannes et les risques de sécurité, ainsi qu’en ajoutant une protection supplémentaire contre la perte de données.

Active(N) Lossless XDCR réplique les données en temps réel dans quatre centres de données ou plus à la fois, ce qui permet d’obtenir une disponibilité « cinq neuf » (c’est-à-dire 99,999 %), qui devient rapidement indispensable à l’ère de la 5G.

« Nous venons d’élever la barre en matière de cohérence, de résilience et d’évolutivité des données », déclare Dheeraj Remella, directeur des produits chez VoltDB. « Nous pouvons maintenant offrir un niveau de réplication de centre de données qu’aucune autre plate-forme de données ne peut offrir, et cela permet vraiment aux entreprises d’avoir une disponibilité et une résilience infaillibles intégrées à leur architecture afin qu’elles puissent augmenter considérablement leur succès dans la monétisation de la 5G. »

La promesse de latence ultra-faible de la 5G crée de nouveaux cas d’utilisation qui obligent les données à être à la fois immédiatement disponibles et cohérentes, quelle que soit la localisation de l’utilisateur. Ce nouveau paradigme conduit inévitablement à des conflits de données. La solution XDCR unique de VoltDB offrira aux opérateurs de télécommunications et aux entreprises la possibilité unique de résoudre les conflits à la fois au niveau de l’application et de la base de données, afin de maintenir la résilience et la cohérence des données, même à des latences inférieures à 10 millisecondes et quel que soit l’endroit où les données sont stockées, dans un seul ou plusieurs centres de données

« N’importe qui peut effectuer des transactions rapidement », a déclaré Remella. « Nous donnons à nos clients les moyens de les faire rapidement tout en observant puis en corrigeant les inévitables conflits qui surviennent lorsque le même enregistrement est modifié dans plusieurs centres de données en même temps. Cela place les opérateurs de télécommunications et les entreprises qui utilisent VoltDB dans une position unique pour fournir une protection sans précédent contre les défaillances des centres de données et les cyber-attaques, tout en fournissant un accès aux données incroyablement rapide pour leurs applications distribuées dans le monde entier, y compris les applications critiques. »

Avec Active(N) Lossless XDCR, VoltDB enrichit sa plate-forme de données de niveau entreprise avec une fonctionnalité sans précédent pour aider les clients à se différencier dans la feuille de route vers l’automatisation et la transformation numérique et à construire des réseaux robustes qui permettent un déploiement et une monétisation plus rapides des cas d’utilisation de la 5G.

Pour plus d’informations sur VoltDB, rendez-vous sur le site www.voltdb.com/why-voltdb/activen-xdcr/ .

À propos de VoltDB
VoltDB permet aux applications d’entreprise d’ingérer, de traiter et d’agir sur les données en quelques millisecondes pour exploiter de nouvelles sources de revenus et prévenir les pertes de revenus. Possédant d’importants clients dans les télécommunications, la finance, les jeux et bien d’autres secteurs verticaux, la plate-forme de données VoltDB est idéalement positionnée pour être la technologie de référence de toute entreprise cherchant à tirer pleinement parti de la 5G, de l’IoT et de tout ce qui suivra.

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September 1, 2021

Register to rewrite your matric supplementary exams

Candidates who registered to write this year’s matric May/June supplementary examinations but either missed, failed a subject, or want to improve their marks, have another chance to improve their results.

According to the Department of Basic Education (DBE), National Senior Certificate (NSC) candidates can now sign up to write in November 2021.

Registration opened on 24 August and interested individuals are encouraged to register at their nearest District Office before the closing date, 7 September 2021.

“This is only for those who wrote the NSC June 2021 examinations,” the department stressed.

The May/June examination is a special examination offered to adult candidates that have not attained a matric qualification and those that wrote the previous November exams but may not have met the requirements for a pass or passed but wish to improve their results.

Meanwhile, those who wrote the Senior Certificate (SC) June 2021 exams can only register for the June 2022 SC assessments.

Registration opens in October and the exact dates will be communicated in due course, the department said.

Last week, the DBE released the results for the “second chance” exam, for which 239 024 NSC and SC candidates had enrolled.

According to the department, a significant number of candidates attained a pass in the gateway subjects.

The total number of students who attained a pass in mathematics and physical sciences is 11 557 and 8 258, respectively.

The results are available at the District Office or at the centre where the examination was written.

Source: South African Government News Agency