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Philips Foundation publishes its 2020 Annual Report highlighting the deployment of health technology expertise for underserved communities

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May 4, 2021 

  • 75 successful projects rolled out, including over 40 activities dedicated to combatting COVID-19 in 2020
  • Over 7.5 million people in underserved communities provided with access to healthcare in 2020
  • A global community of social entrepreneurs nurtured through development and scaling of sustainable models that provide affordable access to quality healthcare

Amsterdam, the Netherlands Philips Foundation, with its mission to provide access to quality healthcare for underserved communities through meaningful innovation, today announced publication of its 2020 Annual Report. The report outlines the success of more than 75 projects in 2020 that resulted in 7.5 million people in disadvantaged communities around the world having access to affordable quality healthcare services. This includes projects in China, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

“2020 was an incredibly challenging year, with the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the importance of global access to quality healthcare into sharp perspective,” says Margot Cooijmans, Director of the Philips Foundation. The urgency of our support responses worldwide took a dazzling flight. I am incredibly grateful to all the partners who joined forces with us in 2020 to deliver timely relief as well as lasting change, and to the employees of Philips and the Philips Foundation, for their constant support and energy in putting our mission into action – organizing access to healthcare for underserved communities.”

COVID-19 response

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck at the beginning of 2020, Philips Foundation stepped up its efforts to protect those communities most at risk. Notable examples highlighted in the organization’s Annual Report include:

  • Healthcare equipment for Thunder God Mountain Hospital (China) – with the support of Philips China, the Philips Foundation donated urgently needed healthcare equipment with a value of approximately EUR 2 million to the newly-built Thunder God Mountain Hospital in Wuhan city to support the prevention and treatment of pneumonia associated with COVID-19.
  • AI software to detect and monitor COVID-19 patients (South Africa) – with the help of implementation funding from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, the Philips Foundation helped to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) software that deepens the analysis of chest X-rays to help the rapid triage and monitoring of COVID-19 patients in 11 South African hospitals.
  • Machine learning and AI to identify epidemic outbreaks (Africa) – a donation by Philips Foundation to establish a Virus Outbreak Data Network in Africa aimed at improving the findability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse of digital assets, including data from Africa’s health systems to identify and contain COVID-19 outbreaks.
  • Rapid deployment intensive care units (Italy and Lebanon) – development and procurement support to create 20-bed mobile ICUs that can be rapidly deployed to locations where COVID-19 threatens to overwhelm local healthcare infrastructures. With financial help from the AFAS Foundation and Noaber Foundation, two of these units were deployed to the Lombardy region and the island of Sardinia in Italy, and in collaboration with Philips Lebanon, the Lebanese Army, and the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) organization, another was deployed in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut.

A full list of Philips Foundation’s COVID-19 response efforts is available on its website.

In addition to its COVID-19 response efforts, Philips Foundation succeeded in initiating new projects and keeping other ones going. Two examples that stand out are Philips Foundation’s joint initiative with UNICEF to fund and support the ‘Maker Innovation’ project in Kenya, and its collaboration with UK charity Global Action Plan to launch the ‘The Clean Air for Schools Framework’.

  • Maker Innovation project in Kenya – a ‘change the system from within’ initiative aimed at achieving better mother-, newborn-, and child-health in low-resource environments, by fostering local hands-on innovation and entrepreneurship to locally create and manufacture solutions that meet local needs. The project’s ‘Maker Space’ is equipped with digital fabrication tools and equipment for use by students at the University of Nairobi. Through support from the Philips Foundation and training from Philips, the project has already resulted in the development of 19 medical device prototypes, seven of which have been judged suitable for further development.
  • Clean Air for Schools Framework – a framework providing schools, teachers, parents and local authorities in the UK and the Republic of Ireland with an externally validated action blueprint for tackling air pollution in and around schools. With evidence suggesting that halving outdoor air pollution could result in a 20% to 50% reduction in the number of children with poor lung function [1], the tool was so well received that the blueprint is now being rolled out across Spain. 

New direction

In 2020, Philips Foundation made a strategic decision to focus on partnerships with social entrepreneurs to develop healthcare technologies and sustainable models that provide underserved communities with affordable access to healthcare – models that leverage the business and innovation expertise and resources of Philips to facilitate solution development and scale-up.

Philips Foundation helped 50 Healthy Entrepreneurs franchisees in Uganda, small businesses in local communities that sell over-the-counter medicines and health products, to expand their services with diagnostic tools and telehealth services. This resulted in increased public awareness of disease, better insight into patients’ conditions, reduced patient expenses, and increased revenue.

In addition, Philips Foundation provided a loan to CheckUps Medical, a provider of affordable primary healthcare services in Kenya and South Sudan, to help more low-wage families access medicines and care, launch a mobile clinic, and further develop CheckUps’ teleconsultation and home care services that started during the local lockdown. Philips Foundation also enabled the setting up of the Solvoz rapid humanitarian aid procurement platform, as well as the Mondmaskerfabriek, which at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis was the Netherlands’ first surgical face mask manufacturer.

As the Philips foundation moves forward, it will continue to foster innovation and create scalable models that make healthcare provision more equal and open to millions of people in underserved parts of the world.

To read the full Annual Report, click here.

[1] Whitehouse A, Effects of air pollution exposure on child health and do interventions work?, Centre for Genomics and Child Health, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London (UK) https://www.globalactionplan.org.uk/files/effects_of_air_pollution_exposure_by_dr_abigail_whitehouse.pdf

For further information, please contact:

Yannick Eshuijs
Philips Foundation
Tel.: +31 6 1852 6633
E-mail: [email protected]

About the Philips Foundation
Philips Foundation is a registered charity that was established in 2014 – founded on the belief that innovation and collaboration can help solve some of the world’s toughest healthcare challenges for the underserved and make essential impact. Reflecting our commitment to United Nations SDGs 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and 17 (Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development), the mission of the Foundation is to reduce healthcare inequality by providing access to quality healthcare for disadvantaged communities. Philips Foundation fulfills its mission by deploying Philips’ expertise, innovative products and solutions, by collaborating with key partners around the world (including respected NGOs such as UNICEF, Amref and Save the Children), and by providing financial support for the collaborative activities. More information on can be found at www.philips-foundation.com

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Gilbarco Veeder-Root champions fuel efficiency, clean fuels and diesel rebate solutions in mining

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JOHANNESBURG, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Global leader in technology solutions OEM Gilbarco Veeder-Root (GVR) is dedicated to enhancing operational performance by delivering comprehensive end-to-end wetstock, industrial, mining, and business-to-business solutions, all tailored to meet the specific needs of the customer.

 
 
By encompassing every aspect of mining operations, GVR commercial and industrial Middle East and Africa director Westtar Kapito says, “the company is setting new benchmarks for fuel efficiency, safety and sustainability within the mining industry”.
As part of a holistic approach to mining excellence, Kapito explains that Gilbarco’s integrated fuel and fleet management technology solutions are designed to address the multifaceted challenges of the mining industry.
Some of these facets include wetstock control, equipment maintenance and management, fleet management and automation, compliance monitoring and environmental sustainability, as well as driving productivity and profitability through innovation.
In addition, the introduction of Gilbarco’s clean fuel solution exemplifies the company’s commitment to maintaining equipment integrity and performance.
This technology, GVR says, monitors in real-time the status of up to 16 “clean fuels” key performance matrices, thereby ensuring that dirty fuel is flagged and not transferred into mining equipment which would affect engines and injectors and thus lower productivity.
Gilbarco’s comprehensive site automation solutions empower mining companies with critical data analytic insights, facilitating efficient monitoring and management of fleet and fuel inventory. Gilbarco’s dataFLEX360 platform plays a pivotal role, offering near real-time reporting and analytics to drive informed decision-making and operational agility.
dataFLEX360 is a Web-based, cloud-hosted strategic operational insights platform. The system ensures accurate, reliable and relevant reporting of all fuel, fleet and asset transactions, and provides for proactive corrective measures to reduce complex reporting and gives a consolidated and comprehensive view across all sites and assets.
With reconciliations at its core, dataFLEX360 provides solution accuracy on operational data.
Integral to the company’s solutions is compliance with Global Industry Standards and environmental stewardship, from leak detection to vapour recovery and clean fuel technologies. Gilbarco’s products are designed to ensure compliance and minimise the carbon footprint of mining operations.
Additionally, through the company’s innovative telematics technology and the data generated, it can systematically and seamlessly generate South African Revenue Services- (SARS-) compliant fuel rebate reports for any selected tax period.  
GVR’s technology provides a full audit trail required for eligibility for SARS rebates, and its reporting platform simplifies logbook and data gathering required, enabling successful rebate claims and return on investment.
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Invoca Wins CX Today Award for Best Conversational Intelligence Solution of 2024; Launches European Data Centre and Adds UK Sales Leader

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CX Today recognises Invoca as the foremost visionary in the Conversational Intelligence category. Additionally, expands its European presence with a new Data Centre and the appointment of Duncan MacPherson as UK Director of Sales.
LONDON, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Invoca, the leading revenue execution platform for revenue teams, has won the CX Today Award for ‘Best Conversational Intelligence Solution’ of 2024. CX Today, the leading international news publication honouring excellence in CX technology, hosted the CX Awards to honour excellence in CX leadership, technology innovation, and industry success.

“Invoca’s exceptional work in conversational intelligence has helped push the category forward, and we are thrilled to see their accomplishments acknowledged at CX Awards 2024,” said Charlie Mitchell, Senior Editor at CX Today and host of the awards.
The award recognises Invoca’s strength in empowering revenue teams across marketing, contact centre sales, and customer experience to enhance buying experiences, increase high-value leads, and boost revenue. For businesses that acquire customers over the phone, Invoca enables these digital marketing and contact centre teams to collaborate to drive revenue growth. Invoca stands out for capturing deep insights from consumer calls and digital interactions and ingesting revenue driven by calls and other metadata from CRM and contact centre solutions, making Invoca the source of truth for consumer engagements.
“We’re thrilled to be named the Best Conversational Intelligence Solution of 2024 by CX Today as we highlight our longstanding vision to help brands acquire customers and grow their revenue,” said Gregg Johnson, CEO of Invoca. “As AI pioneers in this space, having first introduced our broad base of patented AI technologies in 2015, artificial intelligence and machine learning are core to helping companies improve the customer experience and connect the buyer journey.”
The CX Awards’ judging panel, including Dan Miller, Lead Analyst at Opus Research, reviewed hundreds of applications for their organisation’s ability to improve overall customer experience through innovation and high-impact features.
“Invoca continues to demonstrate that they are a clear leader in conversational intelligence AI. We recognised Invoca for their ability to employ a sophisticated blend of AI technologies — including patented machine learning, generative AI, voice biometrics, and deep learning neural networks, to drive revenue,” said Dan Miller, CX Awards judge and Lead Analyst at Opus Research.
Invoca Launches New European Platform and Data Centre Amid U.K. Sales Leadership Expansion
Invoca continues to reinforce its commitment to maintaining data excellence with unwavering reliability and strict adherence to security standards. Protecting customer data privacy remains a top priority, particularly given the heightened concerns surrounding security and privacy. Invoca’s new European platform and localised data centres support its growing customer base by ensuring all customers can adhere to the highest level of enterprise-grade data privacy, and GDPR compliance standards. Invoca’s powerful EU-based infrastructure enables its customers to recreate the same Invoca experience using the full feature suite while maintaining the highest standards of quality.
Invoca has also welcomed Duncan MacPherson as UK Director of Sales. MacPherson brings extensive experience with large companies and start-ups selling customer engagement solutions. This is part of an overall expansion in the UK market, which includes hiring a localised sales and customer success team, sales development, and marketing support.
More Information:
See the results you can get with Invoca’s award-winning conversation intelligence: https://www.invoca.com/customersInvoca’s GDPR Compliance: Everything You Need to Know: https://www.invoca.com/blog/invocas-gdpr-compliance-everything-you-need-to-knowWatch the CX Today Awards winners revealed on demand: www.cxtoday.com/cxawardsJoin Invoca’s talented team today: https://www.invoca.com/company/careersAbout InvocaInvoca is a revenue execution platform that connects marketing and sales teams to help them track and optimise the buying journey to drive more revenue. By using a comprehensive revenue execution platform with deep integrations with leading technology platforms, revenue teams can better connect their paid media investments directly to revenue, improve digital engagement, and deliver the best buyer experiences to drive more sales. With Invoca, top consumer brands, including AutoNation, DIRECTV, Mayo Clinic, Mutual of Omaha, and Verizon, experience unbelievable results powered by undeniable data. Invoca has raised $184M from leading venture capitalists, including Upfront Ventures, Accel, Silver Lake Waterman, H.I.G. Growth Partners, and Salesforce Ventures. For more information, visit www.invoca.com.
About CX AwardsHosted by CX Today, the awards ceremony has become the beacon of recognition for companies and professionals pushing the envelope in the CX technology sphere.
The CX Awards 2024 is here for its fourth year and is bigger and better than ever before! Winners of the 2023 awards included Vonage, Calabrio, and UJET and more. Then, the ceremony included exclusive streams from our people winners, Jay Patel from Webex and Kimberley Wood from Ultimate. Yet, this year’s event featured many more CX leaders who shared their unique takes on the space.
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ASC Achieves Certification for Webex Calling

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ASC announces compliance recording and AI-driven analytics tool for Webex Calling
HÖSBACH, Germany, March 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — ASC Technologies, a leading provider of comprehensive recording and analytics tools, announces its successful certification for Webex Calling with Webex by Cisco, a leading provider of collaboration technologies powering hybrid work and customer experience. This certification distinguishes ASC as one of the few global vendors who are authorized to provide record capabilities for Webex Calling communications. This capability is essential for organizations in regulated industries that must adhere to strict compliance standards.

A key benefit of the ASC solution is the simple and fast configuration in the Webex Control Hub, which ensures a high level of user-friendliness. In addition, ASC enables the migration of on-premise solutions to the cloud by seamlessly transferring recordings to the cloud environment. This step enables organizations to accelerate their digital transformation and take advantage of cloud-based services. In addition, AI-driven analytics, powered by ASC’s solutions, help organizations gain a comprehensive view of their communications, enrich customer relationships, and streamline compliance and risk management processes.
“As a stable company that has been established in the market for 60 years, we see the certification for Webex Calling not only as a confirmation of our technological expertise, but also as a promise to our customers and partners,” says Dr. Gerald Kromer, CEO of ASC. “We are committed to providing innovative and reliable solutions that meet the demands of today’s communications technologies while ensuring our customers’ compliance requirements.”
This certification is a further milestone in ASC’s successful partnership with Cisco, which has already existed for 20 years. ASC will be exhibiting at Enterprise Connect in Gaylord Palms, and Cisco Live in Las Vegas, showcasing its innovative recording and analytics solutions and demonstrating the results of its collaboration with Cisco. These events offer a glimpse into how ASC’s solutions drive efficiency and insight.
About ASC
ASC is a worldwide leading provider of software and cloud solutions in the field of omni-channel recording, quality management, and analytics. Among our target groups are all companies that record their communications, especially financial service providers, contact centers, and public safety organizations. We offer solutions for recording as well as AI-based analysis and evaluation of all communications – with full flexibility as a cloud service, on-premise or as a hybrid solution. Headquartered in Germany with subsidiaries in 14 countries and experienced system integration partners in over 60 countries, ASC is the #1 Europe-based player in its industry.
About Webex by Cisco
Webex is a leading provider of cloud-based collaboration solutions which includes video meetings, calling, messaging, events, customer experience solutions like contact center and purpose-built collaboration devices. At Webex, we start with people and their experiences first. This focus on delivering inclusive collaboration experiences fuels our innovation, which leverages AI and Machine Learning, to remove the barriers of geography, language, personality, and familiarity with technology. Our solutions are underpinned with security and privacy by design. We work with the world’s leading business and productivity apps – delivered through a single application and interface. Learn more at webex.com.
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/asc-achieves-certification-for-webex-calling-302102352.html

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