Artificial Intelligence
NETSOL Technologies Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Total net revenues up 17.9% to $15.5 million in Q2 FY 2022
Q2 FY 2022 GAAP net income increased to $1.4 million or $0.13 per diluted share
Annual recurring revenue (SaaS and Support) increased to $25.0 million run rate
CALABASAS, Calif., Feb. 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — NETSOL Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTWK), a global business services and enterprise application solutions provider, reported results for the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, 2021.
Fiscal Second Quarter 2022 and Recent Operational Highlights
- Subscription (SaaS and Cloud) and support quarterly revenues increased 64% to $9.4 million.
- Expanded strategic partnership with leading IT and business consulting services firm CGI in Europe; partnership offers NETSOL’s premier, next-generation NFS Ascent® platform to the global finance and leasing industry, supported by CGI’s local business consulting, IT integration, and managed service solutions.
- NETSOL’s U.S. based mobility startup Otoz expanded its digital automotive retail platform MINI Anywhere® for BMW® Group Financial Services in the U.S. for its key brand MINI®. MINI Anywhere is now live with 12 MINI dealerships as of December – 11 in California and one in Texas; Otoz is also scheduled to onboard additional California- and Texas-based dealers before an expansion into Florida. Long term, the solution has the potential to be rolled out to over 100 MINI dealerships across all 50 states.
- Attained “Five-Star Premier Business Partner” of the American Financial Services Association (AFSA), supporting the Company’s efforts to gain a deeper and more consistent engagement with both the AFSA team and its member organizations as an industry thought leader.
- Achieved SOC 2 Type 1 compliance, attesting to NETSOL’s ability to protect client data; SOC 2 Type 1 compliance reinforces NETSOL’s commitment to ensuring the security of its clients’ (and their customers’) data and confirms that all system requirements were designed based on the trust services criteria relevant to the security standards set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Fiscal Second Quarter 2022 Financial Results
Total net revenues for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 were $15.5 million, compared with $13.1 million in the prior year period. The increase in total net revenues was primarily driven by an increase in subscription and support revenues of $3.7 million, slightly offset by a decrease in license fees of $631,000 and total services revenues of $667,000.
- Total license fees were $1.96 million, compared with $2.59 million in the prior year period.
- Total subscription (SaaS and Cloud) and support revenues were $9.4 million, compared with $5.7 million in the prior year period.
- Total services revenues were $4.1 million, compared with $4.8 million in the prior year period.
Gross profit for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 increased 26.5% to $7.6 million (or 49.4% of net revenues), compared to $6.0 million (or 46% of net revenues) in the second quarter of fiscal 2021. The increase in gross profit was primarily due to an increase in revenue of $2.4 million, offset by a $751,000 increase in cost of revenues. The increases in cost of sales were primarily due to increases in salaries and consulting costs of $367,000, travel costs of $124,000, depreciation of $15,000, and other costs of $245,000.
Operating expenses for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 were $5.99 million (or 38.7% of sales), compared to $5.96 million (or 45.4% of sales) for the second quarter of fiscal 2021. The increase in operating expenses was primarily due to increases in selling expenses and research and development costs, offset by a decrease in general and administrative expenses.
GAAP net income attributable to NETSOL for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 totaled $1.4 million or $0.13 per diluted share, compared with GAAP net loss of $242,000 or $0.02 per diluted share in the second quarter of fiscal 2021. GAAP net income attributable to NETSOL included a $901,000 gain on foreign currency exchange transactions in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, which was an increase from a gain of $14,000 in the prior year period.
Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 totaled $2.1 million or $0.19 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA of $617,000 or $0.05 per diluted share in the second quarter of fiscal 2021 (see note regarding “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” below for further discussion of this non-GAAP measure).
At December 31, 2021, cash and cash equivalents were $25.6 million, a decrease from $33.7 million at June 30, 2021.
Management Commentary
“Our strong momentum continued in the second quarter, and we remain well on track to achieve our growth targets for fiscal 2022,” said NETSOL Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Najeeb Ghauri. “Within our core business, the pipeline and mix of opportunities remains robust, particularly in our European and North American growth markets, giving us confidence in our ability to drive additional contract signings over the coming months. Our Otoz Digital Retail Platform, one of our more venture-focused operations, continued to expand through its MINI Anywhere partnership and is now employed by more than 65% of all MINI dealerships in California, with live operations beginning in a second state, Texas, in December; we remain encouraged by the initial response and total opportunity. We are committed to our vision of pushing the boundaries for new ownership and payment models, supporting our customers where they are today and where they want to go in the future, and creating new shareholder value in the process.”
Company CFO Roger Almond added: “Growth in recurring revenues from our subscription and support segment were a key driver of our strong financial performance during the quarter. Importantly, with a larger share of higher margin revenue contributions, our second quarter gross margin increased to nearly 50% of net revenues. We continued to welcome our workforce back across our global footprint during the second quarter, and we expect a return to sales growth with a related increase in expenses to support our increased business activity moving forward. Our cash position remains near record levels, providing the resources to support our core business growth as well as strategic investments in high-return, long-term opportunities, such as the promising work of the Otoz Innovation Lab. With these factors in consideration, we are reiterating our full year revenue outlook of 10% topline growth and 20% subscription revenue growth throughout the balance of the year.”
Conference Call
NETSOL Technologies management will hold a conference call today (February 14, 2022) at 4:15 p.m. Eastern time (1:15 p.m. Pacific time) to discuss these financial results. A question-and-answer session will follow management’s presentation.
U.S. Dial-In: 877-407-0789
International Dial-In: 201-689-8562
Please call the conference telephone number 10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization.
The conference call will be webcast live and available for replay here and via the Investor Relations section of NETSOL’s website.
For interested individuals unable to join the conference call, a dial-in replay of the call will be available until February 28, 2022 and can be accessed by dialing +1-844-512-2921 (U.S. Toll Free) or +1-412-317-6671 (International) and entering replay pin number: 13727026.
About NETSOL Technologies
NETSOL Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NTWK) is a worldwide provider of IT and enterprise software solutions primarily serving the global leasing and finance industry. The Company’s suite of applications is backed by 40 years of domain expertise and supported by a committed team of more than 1300 professionals placed in eight strategically located support and delivery centers throughout the world. NFS, LeasePak, LeaseSoft or NFS Ascent® – help companies transform their Finance and Leasing operations, providing a fully automated asset-based finance solution covering the complete finance and leasing lifecycle.
About Otoz
Otoz, a division of NETSOL Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: NTWK), provides business-to-business, white-label technology solutions for new mobility. The Otoz suite of agile and customizable mobility solutions ranges from car sharing and subscription products to AI-enabled chatbots, allowing businesses to engage consumers and facilitate the complete transaction lifecycle intelligently and digitally. Otoz technologies empower automotive companies and start-ups to launch digital retailing and new mobility models quickly and efficiently. The technology Otoz has developed is cloud-native and supported by artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), internet of things (IoT) and blockchain. Otoz technology drives utilization, while supporting robust and efficient operations.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the development of the Company’s products and services and future operating results, including statements regarding the Company that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as the effect of disparate stay at home orders and social distancing requirements imposed internationally by COVID-19 and its resultant impact on our financials and the world economy that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. The words “expects,” “anticipates,” variations of such words, and similar expressions, identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, but their absence does not mean that the statement is not forward-looking. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could affect the Company’s actual results include the progress and costs of the development of products and services and the timing of the market acceptance, as well as the delay in recovery or a prolonged economic downturn that effects our Company, our customers and the world economy. The subject Companies expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in the company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any statement is based.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most comparable financial measure based upon GAAP, as well as a further explanation of adjusted EBITDA, is included in the financial tables in Schedule 4 of this press release.
Investor Relations Contact:
Dave Gentry
RedChip Companies
407-491-4498
[email protected]
NETSOL Technologies, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Schedule 1: Consolidated Balance Sheets
| As of | As of | ||||||||
| ASSETS | December 31, 2021 | June 30, 2021 | |||||||
| Current assets: | |||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 25,587,515 | $ | 33,705,154 | |||||
| Accounts receivable, net of allowance of $173,589 and $166,231 | 7,190,759 | 4,184,096 | |||||||
| Accounts receivable – related party, net of allowance of $1,373,099 and $1,373,099 | – | – | |||||||
| Revenues in excess of billings, net of allowance of $82,042 and $136,976 | 18,730,022 | 14,680,131 | |||||||
| Revenues in excess of billings – related party, net of allowance of $8,163 and $8,163 | – | – | |||||||
| Other current assets, net of allowance of $1,243,633 and $1,243,633 | 2,581,401 | 3,009,393 | |||||||
| Total current assets | 54,089,697 | 55,578,774 | |||||||
| Revenues in excess of billings, net – long term | 985,772 | 957,603 | |||||||
| Convertible note receivable – related party, net of allowance of $4,250,000 and $4,250,000 | – | – | |||||||
| Property and equipment, net | 10,265,385 | 12,091,812 | |||||||
| Right of use of assets – operating leases | 1,029,294 | 1,345,869 | |||||||
| Long term investment | 2,921,667 | 3,155,852 | |||||||
| Other assets | 33,204 | 55,127 | |||||||
| Intangible assets, net | 2,657,204 | 3,904,656 | |||||||
| Goodwill | 9,516,568 | 9,516,568 | |||||||
| Total assets | $ | 81,498,791 | $ | 86,606,261 | |||||
| LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY | |||||||||
| Current liabilities: | |||||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ | 6,394,780 | $ | 6,696,035 | |||||
| Current portion of loans and obligations under finance leases | 10,147,993 | 11,366,171 | |||||||
| Current portion of operating lease obligations | 770,559 | 857,729 | |||||||
| Unearned revenue | 3,719,348 | 4,556,626 | |||||||
| Total current liabilities | 21,032,680 | 23,476,561 | |||||||
| Loans and obligations under finance leases; less current maturities | 120,277 | 699,841 | |||||||
| Operating lease obligations; less current maturities | 319,613 | 564,257 | |||||||
| Total liabilities | 21,472,570 | 24,740,659 | |||||||
| Commitments and contingencies | |||||||||
| Stockholders’ equity: | |||||||||
| Preferred stock, $.01 par value; 500,000 shares authorized; | – | – | |||||||
| Common stock, $.01 par value; 14,500,000 shares authorized; | |||||||||
| 12,186,070 shares issued and 11,247,039 outstanding as of December 31, 2021 and | |||||||||
| 12,181,585 shares issued and 11,265,064 outstanding as of June 30, 2021 | 121,861 | 121,816 | |||||||
| Additional paid-in-capital | 129,042,021 | 129,018,826 | |||||||
| Treasury stock (at cost, 939,031 shares and 916,521 shares as of December 31, 2021 and June 30, 2021, respectively) | (3,920,856 | ) | (3,820,750 | ) | |||||
| Accumulated deficit | (37,206,528 | ) | (38,801,282 | ) | |||||
| Other comprehensive loss | (34,935,629 | ) | (31,868,481 | ) | |||||
| Total NetSol stockholders’ equity | 53,100,869 | 54,650,129 | |||||||
| Non-controlling interest | 6,925,352 | 7,215,473 | |||||||
| Total stockholders’ equity | 60,026,221 | 61,865,602 | |||||||
| Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity | $ | 81,498,791 | $ | 86,606,261 | |||||
NETSOL Technologies, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Schedule 2: Consolidated Statement of Operations
| For the Three Months | For the Six Months | ||||||||||||||||
| Ended December 31, | Ended December 31, | ||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | 2021 | 2020 | ||||||||||||||
| Net Revenues: | |||||||||||||||||
| License fees | $ | 1,955,331 | $ | 2,586,504 | $ | 1,966,047 | $ | 2,589,979 | |||||||||
| Subscription and support | 9,374,869 | 5,724,802 | 15,605,258 | 10,896,665 | |||||||||||||
| Services | 4,142,762 | 4,810,154 | 11,322,418 | 12,282,194 | |||||||||||||
| Total net revenues | 15,472,962 | 13,121,460 | 28,893,723 | 25,768,838 | |||||||||||||
| Cost of revenues: | |||||||||||||||||
| Salaries and consultants | 5,661,917 | 5,294,662 | 11,324,327 | 9,821,311 | |||||||||||||
| Travel | 282,836 | 159,174 | 496,968 | 262,926 | |||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 728,868 | 713,749 | 1,494,603 | 1,420,998 | |||||||||||||
| Other | 1,156,754 | 911,566 | 2,492,215 | 1,839,719 | |||||||||||||
| Total cost of revenues | 7,830,375 | 7,079,151 | 15,808,113 | 13,344,954 | |||||||||||||
| Gross profit | 7,642,587 | 6,042,309 | 13,085,610 | 12,423,884 | |||||||||||||
| Operating expenses: | |||||||||||||||||
| Selling and marketing | 1,807,162 | 1,558,027 | 3,427,155 | 3,167,631 | |||||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 212,864 | 221,572 | 427,135 | 443,362 | |||||||||||||
| General and administrative | 3,733,303 | 4,065,788 | 7,706,442 | 7,493,424 | |||||||||||||
| Research and development cost | 235,390 | 110,419 | 510,620 | 196,408 | |||||||||||||
| Total operating expenses | 5,988,719 | 5,955,806 | 12,071,352 | 11,300,825 | |||||||||||||
| Income from operations | 1,653,868 | 86,503 | 1,014,258 | 1,123,059 | |||||||||||||
| Other income and (expenses) | |||||||||||||||||
| Gain (loss) on sale of assets | (80,125 | ) | (52,531 | ) | (190,725 | ) | (74,273 | ) | |||||||||
| Interest expense | (90,808 | ) | (94,241 | ) | (191,821 | ) | (197,568 | ) | |||||||||
| Interest income | 316,253 | 210,854 | 759,386 | 411,675 | |||||||||||||
| Gain (loss) on foreign currency exchange transactions | 901,016 | 13,981 | 2,185,164 | 310,022 | |||||||||||||
| Share of net loss from equity investment | (79,818 | ) | (43,685 | ) | (240,783 | ) | (151,535 | ) | |||||||||
| Other income | 19,668 | 45,365 | 22,697 | 132,637 | |||||||||||||
| Total other income (expenses) | 986,186 | 79,743 | 2,343,918 | 430,958 | |||||||||||||
| Net income before income taxes | 2,640,054 | 166,246 | 3,358,176 | 1,554,017 | |||||||||||||
| Income tax provision | (201,506 | ) | (245,434 | ) | (369,133 | ) | (509,728 | ) | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) | 2,438,548 | (79,188 | ) | 2,989,043 | 1,044,289 | ||||||||||||
| Non-controlling interest | (1,031,763 | ) | (162,916 | ) | (1,394,289 | ) | (568,839 | ) | |||||||||
| Net income (loss) attributable to NetSol | $ | 1,406,785 | $ | (242,104 | ) | $ | 1,594,754 | $ | 475,450 | ||||||||
| Net income (loss) per share: | |||||||||||||||||
| Net income (loss) per common share | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | $ | 0.13 | $ | (0.02 | ) | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.04 | ||||||||
| Diluted | $ | 0.13 | $ | (0.02 | ) | $ | 0.14 | $ | 0.04 | ||||||||
| Weighted average number of shares outstanding | |||||||||||||||||
| Basic | 11,244,539 | 11,580,030 | 11,249,372 | 11,683,631 | |||||||||||||
| Diluted | 11,244,539 | 11,580,030 | 11,249,372 | 11,683,631 | |||||||||||||
NETSOL Technologies, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Schedule 3: Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
| For the Six Months | ||||||||||
| Ended December 31, | ||||||||||
| 2021 | 2020 | |||||||||
| Cash flows from operating activities: | ||||||||||
| Net income | $ | 2,989,043 | $ | 1,044,289 | ||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash | ||||||||||
| provided by (used in) operating activities: | ||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 1,921,738 | 1,864,360 | ||||||||
| Provision for bad debts | (33,815 | ) | (175,575 | ) | ||||||
| Share of net loss from investment under equity method | 240,783 | 151,535 | ||||||||
| Loss on sale of assets | 190,725 | 74,273 | ||||||||
| Stock based compensation | 28,292 | 165,164 | ||||||||
| Changes in operating assets and liabilities: | ||||||||||
| Accounts receivable | (3,243,348 | ) | 5,479,516 | |||||||
| Revenues in excess of billing | (4,741,806 | ) | 4,540,271 | |||||||
| Other current assets | 304,464 | (252,781 | ) | |||||||
| Accounts payable and accrued expenses | 56,539 | 313,869 | ||||||||
| Unearned revenue | (749,249 | ) | (554,077 | ) | ||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | (3,036,634 | ) | 12,650,844 | |||||||
| Cash flows from investing activities: | ||||||||||
| Purchases of property and equipment | (773,953 | ) | (1,249,895 | ) | ||||||
| Sales of property and equipment | 201,773 | 123,194 | ||||||||
| Investment in associates | – | (93,000 | ) | |||||||
| Net cash used in investing activities | (572,180 | ) | (1,219,701 | ) | ||||||
| Cash flows from financing activities: | ||||||||||
| Purchase of treasury stock | (100,106 | ) | (1,392,671 | ) | ||||||
| Proceeds from bank loans | 188,272 | 705,338 | ||||||||
| Payments on finance lease obligations and loans – net | (715,121 | ) | (175,352 | ) | ||||||
| Net cash used in financing activities | (626,955 | ) | (862,685 | ) | ||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes | (3,881,870 | ) | 1,268,359 | |||||||
| Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents | (8,117,639 | ) | 11,836,817 | |||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period | 33,705,154 | 20,166,830 | ||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents at end of period | $ | 25,587,515 | $ | 32,003,647 | ||||||
NETSOL Technologies, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Schedule 4: Reconciliation to GAAP
| For the Three Months Ended |
For the Three Months Ended |
For the Six months Ended |
For the Six months Ended |
||||||||||||
| December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Net Income (loss) attributable to NetSol | $ | 1,406,785 | $ | (242,104 | ) | $ | 1,594,754 | $ | 475,450 | ||||||
| Non-controlling interest | 1,031,763 | 162,916 | 1,394,289 | 568,839 | |||||||||||
| Income taxes | 201,506 | 245,434 | 369,133 | 509,728 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 941,732 | 935,321 | 1,921,738 | 1,864,360 | |||||||||||
| Interest expense | 90,808 | 94,241 | 191,821 | 197,568 | |||||||||||
| Interest (income) | (316,253 | ) | (210,854 | ) | (759,386 | ) | (411,675 | ) | |||||||
| EBITDA | $ | 3,356,341 | $ | 984,954 | $ | 4,712,349 | $ | 3,204,270 | |||||||
| Add back: | |||||||||||||||
| Non-cash stock-based compensation | 25,289 | 74,169 | 28,292 | 165,164 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA, gross | $ | 3,381,630 | $ | 1,059,123 | $ | 4,740,641 | $ | 3,369,434 | |||||||
| Less non-controlling interest (a) | (1,293,037 | ) | (441,853 | ) | (1,881,916 | ) | (1,140,697 | ) | |||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA, net | $ | 2,088,593 | $ | 617,270 | $ | 2,858,725 | $ | 2,228,737 | |||||||
| Weighted Average number of shares outstanding | |||||||||||||||
| Basic | 11,244,539 | 11,580,030 | 11,249,372 | 11,683,631 | |||||||||||
| Diluted | 11,244,539 | 11,580,030 | 11,249,372 | 11,683,631 | |||||||||||
| Basic adjusted EBITDA | $ | 0.19 | $ | 0.05 | $ | 0.25 | $ | 0.19 | |||||||
| Diluted adjusted EBITDA | $ | 0.19 | $ | 0.05 | $ | 0.25 | $ | 0.19 | |||||||
| (a)The reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA of non-controlling interest to net income attributable to non-controlling interest is as follows | |||||||||||||||
| Net Income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interest | $ | 1,031,763 | $ | 162,916 | $ | 1,394,289 | $ | 568,839 | |||||||
| Income Taxes | 61,761 | 44,233 | 114,427 | 92,882 | |||||||||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 273,822 | 264,535 | 561,453 | 529,100 | |||||||||||
| Interest expense | 26,682 | 28,824 | 56,082 | 60,344 | |||||||||||
| Interest (income) | (101,385 | ) | (67,207 | ) | (244,729 | ) | (133,164 | ) | |||||||
| EBITDA | $ | 1,292,643 | $ | 433,301 | $ | 1,881,522 | $ | 1,118,001 | |||||||
| Add back: | |||||||||||||||
| Non-cash stock-based compensation | 394 | 8,552 | 394 | 22,696 | |||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA of non-controlling interest | $ | 1,293,037 | $ | 441,853 | $ | 1,881,916 | $ | 1,140,697 | |||||||
Artificial Intelligence
2024 Tang Prize Laureates Announced: Six Global Visionaries to Be Honored in Taiwan This September
TAIPEI, June 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — The prestigious 2024 Tang Prize Laureates have been announced, recognizing outstanding contributions in various fields. The Tang Prize in Sustainable Development is awarded to American chemist Omar M. Yaghi. In the field of Biopharmaceutical Science, the prize is jointly awarded to Joel F. Habener, Svetlana Mojsov, and Jens Juul Holst. University Professor Emeritus Hsu Cho-yun of the University of Pittsburgh and Academician of Academia Sinica is honored with the Tang Prize in Sinology. Mary Robinson, a former lawyer and senator, former president of Ireland, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and current Chair of The Elders, is awarded the Tang Prize in Rule of Law. These six distinguished laureates will be formally honored at an upcoming ceremony to be held in Taiwan this September.
The Tang Prize in Sustainable Development is awarded to Omar M. Yaghi, for his extraordinary contributions to sustainable development, particularly his pioneering work with Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and other ultra-porous frameworks that can be tailored for carbon capture, hydrogen and methane storage, and water harvesting from desert air. His research has revolutionized the field of chemistry and materials science, offering transformative solutions for sustainable development through the creation of customizable materials with exceptional properties.
Professor Joel F. Habener, Professor Svetlana Mojsov, and Professor Jens Juul Holst have been jointly awarded the Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science, for the discovery of GLP-1 (7-37) as an insulinotropic factor and the development of GLP-1 (7-37)-based anti-diabetic and anti-obesity drugs.
University Professor Emeritus Hsu Cho-yun is awarded the Tang Prize in Sinology for his exceptional contributions to the field of Sinology. Professor Hsu’s illustrious academic career has been distinguished by his holistic approach to the study of ancient Chinese history, seamlessly integrating an exploration of cultural and intellectual exchanges between China and the world. With his profound erudition and unwavering public spirit, Professor Hsu embodies the quintessential Sinologist, possessing both a deep historical sensibility and a broad, worldly vision.
The Tang Prize in Rule of Law is awarded to Professor Mary Robinson, for her “powerful advocacy for the most disadvantaged in different spheres, including gender equality, poverty alleviation, human rights, and climate justice.” In particular, the Selection Committee noted that her “passionate endeavors demonstrated an effective combination of legal acumen and practical solutions.” The Committee also noted that “from the national to the global stage, legal and political, she has innovatively transformed and expanded the various positions in which she has served to strengthen the rule of law.”
About the Tang Prize
Since the advent of globalization, mankind has been able to enjoy the convenience brought forth by the advancement of human civilization and science. Yet a multitude of challenges, such as climate change, the emergence of new infectious diseases, wealth gap, and moral degradation, have surfaced along the way. Against this backdrop, Dr. Samuel Yin established the Tang Prize in December 2012. It consists of four award categories, namely Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Every other year, four independent and professional selection committees, comprising many internationally renowned experts, scholars, and Nobel winners, choose as Tang Prize laureates people who have influenced and made substantive contributions to the world, regardless of ethnicity, nationality or gender. A cash prize of NT$50 million (approx. US$1.7 million) is allocated to each category, with NT$10 million (approx. US$ 0.35 million) of it being a research grant intended to encourage professionals in every field to examine mankind’s most urgent needs in the 21st century, and become leading forces in the development of human society through their outstanding research outcomes and active civic engagement.
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2444565/2024.jpg
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Artificial Intelligence
Key Tech Stocks Optimizing AI Usability and Infrastructure for a $20-Trillion Future
USA News Group CommentaryIssued on behalf of Avant Technologies Inc.
VANCOUVER, BC, June 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — USA News Group – Several big winners have been made already in the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. However, there’s clearly none bigger than chipmaking giant NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA), which just surpassed two of its big tech peers to become the most valued publicly-traded company on the planet. To put it into perspective, NVIDIA’s market cap is currently larger than each of Europe’s largest stock markets, while lucky investors who bet $1000 on NVIDIA stock just ten years ago would be sitting on an extra $297,600 today. Now as analysts are predicting that AI and cryptocurrency could inject $20 trillion into the global economy by 2030, the best minds in the tech sector are moving their pieces into place to secure their piece of the pie. Behind the scenes, tech stocks are optimizing the infrastructure, security, and usability of AI, including new developments from Avant Technologies Inc. (OTCQB: AVAI), International Business Machines Corporation (IBC) (NYSE: IBM), Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET), and Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN).
Known as a pioneer in the sector for its innovative AI technology, Avant Technologies Inc. (OTCQB: AVAI) has improved its main product, Avant AI™. This sophisticated AI system, celebrated for its advanced machine and deep learning capabilities, is adaptable across a wide range of industries.
In a recent strategic development, Avant has signed a Binding Letter of Intent (BLOI) with Flow Wave, LLC (FW), a Florida-based leader in immersible computer server technology. This agreement allows Avant to acquire up to 50 cutting-edge immersible computer servers from FW in a deal valued at $50 million.
“Avant’s revolutionary AI software platform is poised to transform the landscape of data center management,” said William Hisey, CEO of Avant. “By integrating proprietary machine learning algorithms with open-source innovations into these servers, Avant is developing a highly intelligent system designed to optimize resource allocation, enhance performance, and drive unprecedented levels of efficiency and automation. This marks the beginning of a new era for Avant Technologies, positioning us at the forefront of the supercomputer-driven data center industry and setting new standards for managing and storing AI applications.”
Flow Wave Immersible AI Supercomputer Servers are great for heavy AI and machine learning tasks because they have strong processing power, meaning they can analyze data faster and more efficiently. Their special cooling technology uses less energy, saving money and reducing environmental impact. The servers are also compact and easy to set up, making them ideal for data centers with limited space. Plus, their design helps them last longer and require less maintenance.
Avant plans to tackle the challenges of the digital age by buying up to 50 of these high-performance servers from Flow Wave. These servers, with their advanced cooling technology, boost performance and save energy. This deal shows Avant’s dedication to providing top-notch AI infrastructure and improving efficiency. More details about the transaction will be shared once a definitive agreement is finalized.
One of the most active tech giants in the AI space is International Business Machines Corporation (IBC) (NYSE: IBM), which recently released a new methodology through its IBM Research® wing called LAB (Large-Scale Alignment for ChatBots), through an open-source project called InstructLab with its subsidiary Red Hat®, which IBM acquired for $34 billion in 2019. The InstructLab project builds on the LAB technique for a community-driven approach to language model development through skills and knowledge training.
As well, IBM has teamed up with WPP and LinkedIn to launch a new business-to-business (B2B) solution powered by IBM’s AI and data platform watsonx, designed to reinvent how B2B markets identify and engage clients and prospects across the buying journey. WPP Open for B2B will help marketers solve complex B2B marketing challenges, accurately identify and engage buying groups, and improve clients’ return on investment.
“B2B marketers have been focused on creating truly personalized, relevant and consistent experiences for buying groups at scale for years,” said Jonathan Adashek, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at IBM. “Our collaboration with WPP and LinkedIn provides real-time, actionable insights that are based on trusted data. We are excited to create and use these new, powerful and trusted AI solutions to deliver a force multiplier for B2B marketing.”
Cloud-based security solution provider Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) recently announced the general availability of its AI Gateway platform, dubbed as a unified interface for managing and scaling the generative AI workloads of clients. Since its beta launch in September 2023, AI Gateway has handled over 500 million requests and is now ready for full client use.
The general availability release followed upon another Cloudflare announcement of a collaboration with Hugging Face, the leading open and collaborative platform for AI builders, for a one-click-simple global deployment for AI applications. With its Workers AI platform now generally available, Cloudflare became the first serverless inference partner integrated on the Hugging Face Hub for deploying models, enabling developers to quickly, easily, and affordably deploy AI globally, without managing infrastructure or paying for unused compute capacity.
“Workers AI is one of the most affordable and accessible solutions to run inference,” said Matthew Prince, CEO and co-founder, Cloudflare. “With Hugging Face and Cloudflare both deeply aligned in our efforts to democratize AI in a simple, affordable way, we’re giving developers the freedom and agility to choose a model and scale their AI apps from zero to global in an instant.”
Reporting impressive generative AI revenues in its latest Q3 2024 fiscal results has caused shares of Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) to jump this week, reporting more than $900 million in generative AI bookings in the latest quarter alone.
“Our actions to stay laser-focused on the needs of our clients are clear in our third quarter results,” said Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture. “We… achieved two significant milestones this quarter — with $2 billion in Generative AI sales year-to-date and $500 million in revenue year-to-date — which demonstrate our early lead in this critical technology.”
Prior to the financial report, Accenture announced its intent to acquire Italian-based network services company, Fibermind, which specializes in fiber and mobile 5G networks deployment, as well as infrastructure engineering services. Together, Accenture and Fibermind will offer clients network engineering capabilities, deep industry knowledge, and technology assets powered by automation, robotics, data and AI.
Prior to its surge into the position as the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA) made a pair of announcements, further cementing its role in the AI revolution.
The first was the announcement of its NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud Sensor RTX, a set of microservices that enable physically accurate sensor simulation to accelerate the development of fully autonomous machines of every kind, allowing developers to test sensor perception and associated AI software at scale in physically accurate, realistic virtual environments prior to real-world deployment.
The second announcement was the NVIDIA AI Computing by HPE, a portfolio of AI solutions and joint go-to-market integrations that enable enterprises to accelerate adoption of generative AI, co-developed with Hewlett Packard (HP).
“Generative AI and accelerated computing are fueling a fundamental transformation as every industry races to join the industrial revolution,” said Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO of NVIDIA. “Never before have NVIDIA and HPE integrated our technologies so deeply – combining the entire NVIDIA AI computing stack along with HPE’s private cloud technology – to equip enterprise clients and AI professionals with the most advanced computing infrastructure and services to expand the frontier of AI.”
All NVIDIA AI Computing offerings by HPE will be available through a combined marketing strategy involving sales teams, channel partners, and training. This strategy includes a global network of system integrators such as Deloitte, HCLTech, Infosys, TCS, and Wipro. These integrators will assist enterprises across various industries in running complex AI workloads.
Source: https://usanewsgroup.com/2023/10/26/unlocking-the-trillion-dollar-ai-market-what-investors-need-to-know/
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TIANJIN, China, June 21, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — On June 20th, Tianjin hosted the opening of the 2024 World Intelligence Expo (WIE). Under the theme “Intelligence: Expansive Development Space, Sustainable Growth Driver,” the event was co-organized by the people’s governments of the Tianjin and Chongqing municipalities.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the expo, pointing out that AI, as an important driving force for a new round sci-tech revolution and industrial transformation, will have a far-reaching impact on global economic and social development and human civilization progress. In his letter, Xi also noted that China has attached great importance to the development of AI, actively driven the deep integration of the Internet, big data and AI with real economy to cultivate and build the intelligent industry, accelerate the development of new quality productivity, and provide new momentum for high-quality development.
Chen Min’er, secretary of the CPC Tianjin Committee, addressed the opening ceremony of the expo. Wan Gang, chairman of China Association for Science and Technology, delivered the keynote speech. Hu Henghua, mayor of Chongqing; Wu Zhaohui, vice president of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration; Long Teng, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and Technology; and Shan Zhongde, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, addressed the expo, respectively. Tianjin Mayor Zhang Gong presided over the opening ceremony.
In his speech, Chen Min’er pointed out that Tianjin has been adhering to sci-tech innovation and industrial innovation at the same time, actively propelling exploration and practical applications in the realm of AI, and accelerating the development of new quality productivity to better empower its high-quality development and living. Chen added, “Leading sci-tech innovation with intelligence, Tianjin will rev up the R&D and application of some key core technologies, vigorously develop the sci-tech service sector, streamline the supply and demand channels for sci-tech achievements, boost sci-tech and innovation parks to improve their quality and efficiency, and accelerate the inter-sector application of AI to help innovation and breakthroughs in the fields of life science, low-carbon technology, and future research.
According to Hu Henghua, Chongqing is speeding up in digital industrialization and industrial digitization to build itself into a new digital economy highland. The 2025 World Intelligence Expo is scheduled to be held in Chongqing. Hu invited everyone to delineate a new AI landscape together, share golden opportunities during the digitization of Chongqing, and co-build a promising future in the AI era.
Wu Zhaohui suggested strengthening the inter-discipline cooperation to consolidate the AI research foundation, enriching AI scenarios with applets, and deepening industry-institute interactions to build an AI innovation ecosystem.
Zeng Yi, chairman of China Electronics Corporation; Chen Zhongyue, chairman of China Unicom; Yang Yuanqing, chairman and CEO of Lenovo; and Zhou Hongyi, founder of Qihoo 360 delivered speeches.
Contact: Xing MeiqiTel: 0086-22-28209030E-mail: [email protected]
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