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Nine Teams Awarded $21K in NFTE Innovation Challenges

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New York, NY, April 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) today announced the winners of the NFTE World Series of Innovation for the 2020-21 school year. Nine teams of emerging social entrepreneurs were awarded a total of $21,600 in cash prizes for their ideas.

The World Series of Innovation is an annual global competition that invites young people ages 13 to 24 to tackle innovation challenges aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The challenges help young people learn about the critical issues addressed by the UN Global Goals while developing their entrepreneurial mindset. NFTE’s World Series of Innovation challenge series is presented by Citi Foundation, with additional support from leading global companies that prioritize investment in the UN SDGs.

The nine innovation challenges offered in the 2020-21 competition were sponsored by leading global companies and corporate philanthropies including Bank of the West, Citi Foundation, Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), Mary Kay, Inc., Mastercard, Moody’s Foundation, PayPal, and PIMCO. Hundreds of employees from these organizations also donated their time to run coaching sessions for student competitors or serve on judging panels. In total, more than 800 volunteers put in more than 2,200 hours supporting the competition.

“The World Series of Innovation was developed to help young people hone their design thinking skills but has grown into something more,” said Dr. J.D. LaRock, President and CEO of NFTE. “It offers youth a chance to act on issues they’re passionate about. As they tackle these challenges, they ideate solutions to some of the most important challenges facing humanity today – poverty, hunger, economic opportunity, equity and inclusion, social and environmental justice.”

“As we continue working towards economic recovery from COVID-19, young people can play a meaningful role in helping to build an inclusive and equitable future,” added Brandee McHale, Head of Citi Community Investing and Development and President of the Citi Foundation. “That’s why Citi and the Citi Foundation have long supported NFTE’s mission to empower youth through entrepreneurship education, providing the opportunity to learn more about the SDGs and how to apply their creativity to develop solutions that addresses challenges in their communities.”

Thousands of young people across the U.S. and in scores of other countries around the world began working on the challenges last fall. Judging concluded in March and prizes are currently being awarded to the top finishers in each challenge category. First place winners receive $1500, second place winners receive $600, and third place winners receive $300.

These are the 2020-21 World Series of Innovation winners, listed by challenge category:

Bank of the West Clean Energy Challenge (SDG 7) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Micro Hydro Home, a hydroelectric generator system. Developed by 14-year-old Leyla Parsi and 15-year-old Riya Aswani of the Brentwood School in Los Angeles, CA.
  • Second Place: ElectroMat, floor mats to capture kinetic energy. Developed by 18-year-old Cleo Lu, 17-year-old Elaine Ma, and 17-year-old Yuetong Zheng of Abraham Lincoln High School in San Francisco, CA.
  • Third Place: eC02 Schools, energy use tracking and carbon footprint analysis software. Developed by 13-year-old Sahasra Yellepeddi of Ereckson Middle School in Allen, TX.

Citi Foundation COVID Recovery Challenge (SDG 10) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Green Careers, a retraining program focused on green energy jobs. Developed by 15-year-old Vidya Balachander of Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, CO.
  • Second Place: Bazaar Technologies, an online platform to help small local businesses compete with ecommerce giants. Developed by 16-year-old Alice Liu, 16-year-old Claire Lantsman, 16-year-old Conor Ruane, and 17-year-old Zhao Wang of Boston Latin School in Boston, MA.
  • Third Place: Project Falcon, a way for teen web developers to help local businesses. Developed by 17-year-old Arjun Gupta of Lynbrook High School in San Jose, CA, 15-year-old Ellen Xu of Del Norte High School in San Diego, CA, and 21-year-old Rayan Garg of San Jose, CA.

EY Educational Equity Challenge (SDG 4) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Techquity Repairs, a program that offers free tech support and job training for low-income teens. Developed by 17-year-old Abby Kearny, 16-year-old Aybala Turkarsian, 17-year-old Erica Newell, and 16-year-old Kaitlyn Sauntry of Eastside Preparatory School in Seattle, WA.
  • Second Place: EduMatch, a college mentorship program. Developed by 16-year-old Dashawn Sheffield, a NFTE student at North Star Academy Washington Park High School in Newark, NJ.
  • Third Place: Rise, online computer science instruction for under-resourced communities. Developed by 16-year-old Shrawani Pal of the Oberoi International School in Mumbai, India.

Mary Kay Textiles Upcycle Challenge (SDG 12) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Loop Tee Loop, a sustainable clothing loop uniting textile manufacturing and recycling. Developed by 21-year-old Ernest Bernstein Zarate, 21-year-old John Kevin Genova, and 21-year-old Clarence Louise Caperal of Far Eastern University in Manila, Philippines.
  • Second Place: SwagSwap, a social network for teens into thrifting and upcycling. Developed by 14-year-old Aairah Koujalgi, 14-year-old Bhargavi Karthikeyan, 14-year-old Diya Shah, and 16-year-old Rhea Kamkolkar of South Brunswick High School in Monmouth Junction, NJ.
  • Third Place: Project dBrand, uniform de-branding and recycling service. Developed by 17-year-old Aisha Gupta and 17-year-old Twisha Chawla of California High School in San Ramon, CA.

Mastercard Gateway for the Unbanked Challenge (SDG 9) winning ideas:

  • First Place: FinanciAll, an app that uses AI to create “starter” credit ratings. Developed by 15-year-old Tina Mai of St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
  • Second Place: Safehandle, a reloadable prepaid debit card distributed through homeless shelters. Developed by 17-year-old Ashveen Banga, 18-year-old Brett Kim, 17-year-old Caeden Mujahed, and 17-year-old Lena Luostarinen of the Francis Parker School in San Diego, CA.
  • Third Place: CropSwap, a mobile banking system for smallholder farms. Developed by 16-year-old Eddie Nguyen and 16-year-old Hoang Tran of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA.

Moody’s Foundation Climate Action Challenge (SDG 13) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Croptimize, a drone system and data-sharing platform for farmers worldwide. Developed by 16-year-old Ashok Devireddy, 16-year-old Pranav Palleti, 17-year-old Pranav Prabhuram, and 16-year-old Shivam Pathak of Evergreen Valley High School in San Jose, CA.
  • Second Place: BioNet, biodegradable fishing nets to reduce ocean plastics. Developed by 14-year-old Maanav Rajesh and 16-year-old Maanya Rajesh of Carmel High School in Carmel, IN.
  • Third Place: Groundify, eco-friendly products made from recycled coffee grounds. Developed by 15-year-old Arshia Narula and 17-year-old Gurnoor Narula of Liberty High School in Frisco, TX.

Moody’s Foundation Peace & Justice Challenge (SDG 16) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Equally, a software platform leveraging artificial intelligence and natural language processing to detect implicit bias Developed by 16-year-old Moniola Odunsi of The Madeira School in Boyds, MD, 15-year-old Rushank Goyal of Rajeev Gandhi Higher Secondary School in Bhopal, India, 15-year-old Sora Shirai of Hanover High School in Hanover, NH, and 16-year-old Sualeha Irshad of Early College High School at Tarrant County College Southeast in Mansfield, TX.
  • Second Place: CityPoll, a geo-targeted app allowing citizens to discuss and vote on local issues. Developed by 16-year-old Sienna Narzarian of Brentwood School in Los Angeles, CA.
  • Third Place: Asfalis, a system to manage drug dosage/timing to reduce overdose. Developed by 17-year-old Abhiram Tamvada, 18-year-old Akul Gokaram, 17-year-old Lori Khadse, and 17-year-old Manas Bommakanti of South Brunswick High School in Monmouth Junction, NJ.

PayPal Environmental Justice Challenge (SDG 1) winning ideas:

  • First Place: EnviroFleet, a drone system to collect geospatial data in disaster zones. Developed by 17-year-old Daniel Gu and 17-year-old Parthiv Nair of Westview High School in Portland, OR.
  • Second Place: CropSafe, crop insurance and financial services for areas at risk from climate change and natural disasters. Developed by 18-year-old Brent Piper of Presentation College and 18-year-old Amy Narine of ASJA Girls College in San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago.
  • Third Place: ShoreSpectate, an app making shore erosion and ecosystem health data available to the public. Developed by 17-year-old Angela Mao of Syosset High School in Syosset, NY.

PIMCO Zero Hunger Challenge (SDG 2) winning ideas:

  • First Place: Robin Food, a bidding system to help food banks manage inventory. Developed by 17-year-old Robin Ye and 17-year-old Bryan Ng of the Hwa Chong Institute in Singapore, participants in a program run by the Halogen Foundation.
  • Second Place: ProduceCycle, a system for managing food waste. Developed by 16-year-old Ace Kim of Northern Valley Old Tappan High School in Harrington Park, NJ.
  • Third Place: Best Before, a fleet of healthy food trucks to replace “pagpag” in impoverished communities. Developed by 17-year-old students Amarra Cabangon and Rolan Domingo of Immaculate Conception Academy in Makati City (Metro Manila), Philippines.

See video entries from all the winners and finalists at nfte.com/wsivideos. Visit nfte.com/innovation for more information about the 2020-21 challenges, sponsors and prizes. A new set of innovation challenges will launch in September for the 2021-22 academic year competition.

About NFTE

Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) is a global nonprofit organization that provides high-quality entrepreneurship education to middle and high school students from under-resourced communities, as well as programs for college students and adults. NFTE reaches 70,000+ students annually in 25 states across the U.S. and offers programs in 12 additional countries. We have educated more than a million students through in-school, out-of-school, college, and summer camp programs, offered in person and online. To learn more about how we are promoting inclusive capitalism and building the next generation of diverse entrepreneurs, visit www.nfte.com.

About Citi Foundation

The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion, catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building economically vibrant communities. The Citi Foundation’s “More than Philanthropy” approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For more information, visit citifoundation.com.

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Artificial Intelligence

Sasken and JOYNEXT forge strategic partnership to accelerate innovation and expand global footprint

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BANGALORE, India, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Sasken Technologies Limited, a leading provider of product development and digital transformation services, and JOYNEXT, a respected Tier1 player in the automotive industry, announced a strategic partnership to collaborate on the development and launch of cutting-edge platforms for both in-vehicle systems (navigation, digital cockpit and 5G telematics) and off-vehicle cloud and digital services leveraging emerging technologies for the automotive industry.

Sasken and JOYNEXT will leverage their complementary expertise, global presence, and strong ecosystems to deliver innovative and integrated solutions to the automotive industry. This collaboration will enable faster time to market with the best IPs and provide unparalleled support throughout the product development process. By combining JOYNEXT’s proven advanced automotive solutions with Sasken’s innovative automotive hardware and software capabilities, including chip-to-cloud cognitive engineering, connected car solutions, optimised edge computing solutions, computer vision, generative AI, and cybersecurity, the partnership aims to address the complex needs of the automotive market while delivering enhanced customer experiences.
“We are excited to collaborate with JOYNEXT, as their automotive industry expertise aligns perfectly with Sasken’s ambition to maintain a leadership position in the global automotive market,” said Mr. Abhijit Kabra, CEO, Sasken Technologies. “By leveraging our respective strengths, we can provide unique value to our customers and accelerate technological advancements in the automotive industry.”
The partnership began with a multi-year collaboration focused on automotive software maintenance for navigation and ASPICE compliance. It also includes the definition and implementation of enhancements for new products to keep pace with evolving Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) architectures. Sasken will drive the initiative to address EV challenges such as range anxiety, compatibility with navigation ecosystem players, increasing driver confidence by incorporating real-time data on charging points, driving terrains and integration with ADAS systems. Proprietary algorithms will optimise battery range for safer, more efficient journeys.
“We at JOYNEXT are excited to join forces with Sasken,” said Stavros Mitrakis, CEO of JOYNEXT. “By leveraging Sasken’s strong hardware and software capabilities and our extensive automotive domain knowledge, we will be able to develop solutions that not only address today’s challenges, but also anticipate the needs of the future. We are confident that this partnership will enhance our product offering and enable us to deliver more innovative, safer, and more enjoyable driving experiences to our customers.”
The aim of the partnership between Sasken and JOYNEXT is not only to push the boundaries of product innovation, but also to ensure that products reach the market more efficiently, equipped with the latest technology and tailored to meet the ever-changing demands of consumers.
About Sasken:
Sasken is a specialist in Product Engineering and Digital Transformation providing concept-to-market, chip-to-cognition engineering R&D and Digital Transformation services to global leaders in Automotive, Semiconductor, Transportation, Industrials, Consumer Electronics, Enterprise Devices, SatCom and Telecom industries. For over 30 years and with multiple patents, Sasken has transformed the businesses of 100+ Fortune 500 companies, powering more than a billion devices through its services and IP. For more information, visit www.sasken.com 
JOYNEXT – WE CONNECT FUTURE
JOYNEXT is a leading AutoTech company, the Automotive Connectivity Business Unit of Joyson Electronics. Headquarters in China, JOYNEXT marks our global presence in Germany, Poland, France, US, Japan, etc. We develop technologies for intelligent connected vehicles and provide a highly personalized mobility experience that is empathic, safe, and adaptable. Our 1,500+ employees work at 7 R&D centers, 3 global manufacturing locations, and 4 customer canters around the world.
For more than two decades, JOYNEXT has been working as the development partner and system supplier of renowned car manufacturers and established long-term partnerships with various well-known OEMs. Our intelligent cockpit and smart connectivity products are equipped in millions of vehicles worldwide, complemented by our capabilities in developing autonomous driving technologies and software products, which lay a solid foundation for the cockpit and driving fusion facing the era of Central Computing Units.
Balancing innovation with sustainability, we are committed to contributing to industry transformation together with our eco-partners, such as Microsoft, HUAWEI, Qualcomm, Horizon Robotics, Black Sesame, Elektrobit, and QNX to deliver a smarter driving experience for end users. www.JOYNEXT.com
Media Contact:Rekha Sahay GhoshHead of Marketing & CommunicationsE: [email protected]: +91 080 6694 3009
Sasken Technologies Limited139/25, Ring Road, Domlur, Bengaluru 560071, IndiaT: +91 80 6694 3000, E: [email protected]: L72100KA1989PLC014226 | www.sasken.com
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IDnow bridges the AI-human divide with new expert-led video verification solution

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New VideoIdent Flex elevates trust with a human touch in the face of rising fraud and the closing of physical bank branches
LONDON, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IDnow, a leading identity verification provider in Europe, has unveiled VideoIdent Flex, a new version of its expert-led video verification service that blends advanced AI technology with human interaction. The human-based video call solution, supported by AI, has been designed and built to boost customer conversion rates, reduce rising fraud attempts, increase inclusivity, and tackle an array of complex online verification scenarios, while offering a high-end service experience to end customers.

The company’s original expert-led product, VideoIdent, has been a cornerstone in identity verification for over a decade, serving the strictest requirements in highly regulated industries across Europe. VideoIdent Flex, re-engineered specifically for the UK market, represents a significant evolution, addressing the growing challenges of identity fraud, compliance related to Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) processes and ensuring fair access and inclusivity in today’s digital world outside of fully automated processes.
Empowering businesses with flexible human-based identity verification
As remote identity verification becomes more crucial yet more challenging, VideoIdent Flex combines high-quality live video identity verification with hundreds of trained verification experts, thus ensuring that genuine customers gain equal access to digital services while effectively deterring fraudsters and money mules. Unlike fully automated solutions based on document liveness and biometric liveness features, this human-machine collaboration not only boosts onboarding rates and prevents fraud but also strengthens trust and confidence in both end users and organisations. VideoIdent Flex can also serve as a fallback service in case a fully automated solution fails.
Bertrand Bouteloup, Chief Commercial Officer at IDnow, commented: “VideoIdent Flex marks a groundbreaking advancement in identity verification, merging AI-based technology with human intuition. In a landscape of evolving fraud tactics and steady UK bank branch closures, our solution draws on our decade’s worth of video verification experience and fraud insights, empowering UK businesses to maintain a competitive edge by offering a white glove service for VIP onboarding. With its unique combination of KYC-compliant identity verification, real-time fraud prevention solutions, and expert support, VideoIdent Flex is a powerful tool for the UK market.”
Whereas previously firms may have found video identification solutions to be excessive for their compliance requirement or out of reach due to costs, VideoIdent Flex opens up this option by customising checks as required by the respective regulatory bodies in financial services, mobility, telecommunications or gaming, to offer a streamlined solution fit for every industry and geography.
Customisable real-time fraud prevention for high levels of assurance
VideoIdent Flex has a number of key features and benefits:
Customisable: Pre-defined configurations to meet specific industry requirements and regional regulations.Expert-led: High-quality live video verification conducted by trained identity verification experts, ensuring accuracy, reliability, and compliance for high levels of assurance.Extensive document coverage: Support for a wide range of documents, facilitating global expansion and inclusivity.Real-time fraud prevention: Advanced fraud detection capabilities, including AI-driven analysis and manual checks, combat evolving fraud tactics and help protect against social engineering fraud, document tampering, projection and deepfakes, especially for high-risk use cases and goods.Verification of high-risk individuals: Reviewing applications from high-risk persons, such as Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), high-risk countries; or assessing where fraud might be expected with real-time decisions, without alerting suspicion.Bouteloup concluded: “Identity verification is incredibly nuanced; it’s as intricate as we are as human beings. This really compounds the importance of adopting a hybrid approach to identity – capitalising on the dual benefits of advanced technology when combined with human knowledge and awareness of social cues. With bank branches in the UK closing down, especially in the countryside, and interactions becoming more and more digital, our solution offers a means to maintain a human relationship between businesses and their end customers, no matter their age, disability or neurodiversity.   
“VideoIdent Flex is designed from the ground up for organisations that cannot depend on a one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring their customers are who they say they are. In a world where fraud is consistently increasing, our video capability paired with our experts adds a powerful layer of security, especially for those businesses and customers that require a face-to-face interaction.”
About IDnow
IDnow is a leading identity verification platform provider in Europe with a vision to make the connected world a safer place. The IDnow platform provides a broad portfolio of identity verification solutions, ranging from automated to human-assisted from purely online to point-of-sale, each of them optimized for user conversion rates and security.
In 2021, IDnow acquired the French market leader for identity technology, ARIADNEXT, and the German identity Trust Management AG, enabling IDnow to offer its customers one of the broadest identification solutions through a single, integrated platform.
The company has offices in Germany, United Kingdom, and France and is backed by renowned institutional investors, including Corsair Capital and Seventure Partners. Its portfolio of over 900 international clients spans a wide range of industries, and includes leading international players, such as UniCredit, Telefonica, Sixt, Crédit Agricole, BNP, and Munich Re, as well as digital champions like N26, Solarisbank, Younited Credit, BoursoBank, Klarna and Tier mobility.
Press contact IDnowKatherina [email protected]+49 89 41324 6030
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MYCOM OSI Launches AInsights Availability in AWS Marketplace

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LONDON, April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — MYCOM OSI, a leading independent provider of Network Assurance and Service Experience Assurance solutions to some of the world’s largest communications service providers (CSPs), announced today that AInsights, is now available in AWS Marketplace, a digital catalog with thousands of software listings from independent software vendors that make it easy to find, test, buy, and deploy software that runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS). 

AInsights application offers predictive AI-based insights, combined with a comprehensive Data Fabric that powers Big Data Lakes with normalized network and service data. This critical enhancement to MYCOM OSI’s EAA suite enables CSPs to continuously predict the performance of their network and services, and to proactively identify and resolve problems before they impact their customers. This is specifically essential for the delivery and the assurance of high reliability and low latency 5G enterprise services.
The MYCOM OSI AInsights application is available as part of its SaaS offering operated on Amazon Web Services (AWS) as well as the CSPs’ hybrid cloud architecture. With this, MYCOM OSI customers and partners will benefit from high scalability and low-error predictive data insights from the network and its services in near real-time. AInsights’ replicable data models can be applied to different network functions for a deeper 360-degree network view. A factory approach using Open APIs enables intelligent data to be consumed seamlessly by any component of the CSP ecosystem.
AWS customers will now have access to AInsights, enabling predictive operations and assurance of CSP networks, directly within AWS Marketplace. This provides AWS customers with the ability to streamline the purchase and management of AInsights application within their AWS Marketplace account. 
“We are delighted to offer AInsights’ unique AI-driven insights to communications service providers to support their growth and transformation plans through AWS Marketplace,” said Mounir Ladki, President and CTO at MYCOM OSI. “With AInsights, CSPs can rapidly move from reactive to predictive assurance and operations of their networks and services. By accessing AInsights in AWS Marketplace, customers can quickly take their first step in achieving benefits of predictive AI-based insights to automate network operations and maximize customer experience.”
AInsights is now generally available in AWS Marketplace. Please visit https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/pp/prodview-p4ikrghvc24dq for more information.
For information on MYCOM OSI and its Service Assurance offerings please visit www.mycom-osi.com. To arrange a discussion with MYCOM OSI, click here or contact the team at [email protected], +447719820492

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