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Sempra Energy Releases 2020 Corporate Sustainability Report

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Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today released its 2020 Corporate Sustainability Report, highlighting the company’s actions to create long-term value for shareholders and other stakeholders by managing risks and capturing opportunities related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. The company’s actions are anchored to its four key sustainability pillars:

  • Achieving world-class safety;
  • Enabling the energy transition;
  • Driving resilient operations; and
  • Championing people.

View the full details in the report at: sempra.com/sustainability/sustainability-report.

“Over the last two decades, the United States has doubled its gross domestic product, while registering the largest absolute decline in energy-related CO2 emissions of any country in the world,” said Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy. “We think there is an opportunity to continue making real progress and are committed to advancing critical new infrastructure investments that support decarbonizing the economies of North America, while making lower- to zero-carbon energy sources available to our global partners. Our multi-factor approach to managing our business is directly aligned with the value proposition of creating durable value for our shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders.”

Achieving World-Class Safety

Safety underpins the high-performance culture seen across the Sempra Energy family of companies, where community safety is prioritized and every employee feels responsible for their own safety as well as the safety of others. The Sempra Energy board of directors oversees this mandate across the organization through its Safety, Sustainability and Technology Committee.

The unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19 reinforced the company’s unwavering commitment to health and safety. Identified among the country’s critical infrastructure, Sempra Energy and its operating companies activated business continuity plans and safety protocols aimed at identifying and mitigating risks while continuing to work to deliver energy safely. Through these actions, Sempra Energy’s safety performance improved in 2020 with all operating companies achieving decreases in their employee recordable injury rate. Examples of safety highlights at each of Sempra Energy’s operating companies can be found on pages 55 and 80 of the report.

Enabling the Energy Transition

Sempra Energy and its family of companies have been advancing programs to decarbonize, diversify and digitalize its energy infrastructure while continuing to work hard to deliver safe, reliable and affordable energy to more than 36 million consumers across North America. The company’s “3Ds” framework supports its enterprise-wide goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 across scopes 1, 2, and 3 for its operations and the customers it serves. Sempra Energy is investing in the energy infrastructure needed in the following three key areas to expand its energy systems and help achieve its climate goals:

  • Decarbonization: Reducing the carbon content of energy in critical economic sectors – industrial, transportation and power generation – and emitting no more carbon in its operations than it removes from the atmosphere.
  • Diversification: Bringing new lower- to zero-carbon fuel choices to every market it serves, coupled with the expansion of advanced energy networks and storage to improve resiliency.
  • Digitalization: Integrating real-time information and cutting-edge analytics to benefit network operators and consumers with improved operational reliability and safety.

“Climate is at the center of our business strategy. That is why we have introduced an action-oriented framework around these three areas in this year’s report – all with a focus on building a stronger and more growth-oriented business, while allocating capital with a view toward emitting less carbon dioxide than we remove from the atmosphere by the middle of this century,” said Lisa Alexander, senior vice president of corporate affairs and chief sustainability officer for Sempra Energy. “We are optimistic about the future and committed to living our values – doing the right thing, championing people, and shaping the future – and I could not be more proud of the contributions of our more than 19,000 employees towards serving our stakeholders every day.”

The company’s action plan towards net-zero emissions includes interim goals and infrastructure deployment plans through three time periods: 2025, 2030 and 2050. Planned activities are outlined on page 22 of the report.

Driving Resilient Operations

Amidst the pandemic, employees across the Sempra Energy family of companies have continued to deliver essential energy to more than 36 million consumers in North America. With global energy demand projected to increase by 50% by 2050 according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, resilient energy infrastructure will take on even greater importance. That is why Sempra Energy is continuing to invest in and expand its energy transmission and distribution networks. Examples include, among others:

  • Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) connected more than 60 central-station renewable generators to the energy grid in 2020 with the capability of producing 11,000 megawatts of energy, while also connecting more than 40% of the state’s wind generation capacity to the energy grid through its transmission facilities.
  • San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is leveraging artificial intelligence and satellite technology to improve wildfire mitigation initiatives and help keep its communities safe from wildfire risks with one of the largest utility-owned weather monitoring networks in the nation.
  • Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) natural gas system provides flexible fuel delivery, long-term storage and reliable energy, especially for critical end-uses. The flexibility of natural gas as an energy resource has been critical in helping California’s electricity providers increase renewable energy penetration.
  • Sempra LNG’s design standards for infrastructure resiliency were demonstrated as Cameron LNG experienced the effects of two Category 4 hurricanes in 2020 with no injuries and minimal damage to the newly constructed liquefaction facilities.
  • IEnova, as a top renewable energy generator in Mexico, is making critical infrastructure investments with a goal of achieving 97% availability for its renewable generation fleet by 2030 and supporting clean and sustainable economic growth in Mexico.

Championing People to Advance a High-Performance Culture

Sempra Energy is continuing to advance its high-performing culture centered on the company’s vision, mission and values to provide a clear sense of purpose for its more than 19,000 employees with an unwavering focus on safety.

Other key factors in the company’s high-performance culture are a commitment to workforce development and training and a focus on fostering an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives and backgrounds are embraced. In 2020, Sempra Energy created an enterprise-wide action plan centered on five strategic pillars designed to advance the company’s goals for promoting diversity, economic prosperity and social justice. The five pillars include:

  • Leading from the top
  • Accelerating engagement
  • Creating opportunity
  • Driving conscious inclusion
  • Partnering with our communities

Learn more about Sempra’s action plan on page 57 of the report.

Sempra Energy’s operating companies are also committed to promoting an inclusive supplier base that represents the communities they serve. Moreover, the Sempra Energy family of companies is championing people with a focus on promoting economic opportunity and well-being within these communities. Actions taken include, among others:

  • SDG&E and SoCalGas purchased more than $1.7 billion in goods and services from businesses owned by women, minorities, service-disabled veterans and members of the LGBTQ community in 2020, marking the eighth consecutive year that each company’s supplier diversity spending exceeded 40% in total, consistently surpassing the California Public Utilities Commission’s goal of 21.5%.
  • Oncor’s supplier diversity accounted for nearly $335 million or 12% of its procurement spend, while the company issued $450 million in sustainable bonds with proceeds designated for investments or expenditures with women- and minority-owned suppliers.
  • Sempra Energy, its operating companies and the Sempra Energy Foundation contributed nearly $52 million to charities and other nonprofit civic and community groups in 2020. This includes more than $14 million to support community-based organizations engaged in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guidelines for the Report

This is the company’s 13th annual sustainability report. This year’s report draws guidance from leading global disclosure frameworks, including the Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, together with the company’s stakeholder materiality assessment introduced in its 2019 report. In addition, the report pilots 22 of the World Economic Forum’s Stakeholder Capitalism Metrics introduced in Fall 2020.

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Management ‘bought the AI hype’ and expect value but research shows lack of organizational readiness is primary hurdle: IFS

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IFS commissioned research shows value creation lags AI promise without the right planning and application
LONDON, April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — New research from IFS, the global cloud enterprise software company, has found that executive and board leadership have ‘bought the AI hype’ but organizations are unable to deliver operationally on expectations. The new global study of 1,700 senior decision makers, Industrial AI: the new frontier for productivity, innovation and competition, found that the promise of AI is being held back by technology, processes and skills. Half of respondents remain optimistic that with the right AI strategy, value can be realized in the next two years, and a quarter believe in the next year.

Expectations failing to meet reality
84% of executives anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI, with the top three areas AI is expected to deliver value in being high-impact: product & service innovation, improved internal & external data availability, and cost reductions & margin gains. The hype has become so high that 82% of senior decision-makers acknowledge that there is significant pressure to adopt AI quickly. However, this same group of respondents state that they are concerned that a failure to plan, implement and communicate properly means AI projects will stall in pilot stage.
Many organizations have not prioritized elements of development, nor have the infrastructure required to reap the rewards or the skills to deliver on that promise. The study found that over a third (34%) of businesses had not moved to the cloud. While this is not essential to AI adoption, it is indicative of an unprepared enterprise unlikely to be able to scale AI across their business. According to IFS, a robust Industrial AI strategy requires a potent combination of cloud, data, processes, and skills. 80% of respondents agree that the lack of a strategic approach means they have insufficient skills in-house to successfully adopt AI. This sentiment is seen elsewhere in the research with 43% of respondents rating the quality of AI resources in their business, in terms of human skills, as passable and not where it needs to be.
Christian Pedersen, Chief Product Officer, IFS, commented: “AI is poised to become the most transformational enterprise tool ever seen, but our research reveals that there are still fundamental misunderstandings about how to harness its power within an industrial setting. It is telling that AI is expected to significantly reduce costs and raise margins, but a lack of robust strategy means most businesses are under-skilled and under-prepared to achieve these ambitions. We built IFS.ai specifically with these challenges in mind. AI value simply will not be found in a single AI capability but instead by delivering AI across all products and business processes. This supports customers’ decision cycles and provides the data and AI services required to realize value faster.”
Pedersen continued: “Achieving this at scale needs a clear-eyed strategic focus, including the high-impact use cases specific to their industry, having a cloud-based infrastructure in place which has industrial AI embedded, and investing early in developing the skills needed. Adopting this approach will turn the tide of disillusionment, and deliver the benefits that boards and the C suite are demanding.”
Outlook optimistic but planning needed
The unfortunate reality of the skills gap means that in terms of AI readiness, many businesses are falling behind. IFS found that nearly half of respondents (48%) were most likely to say that they are gathering proposals and were much less likely to have a clear strategy and perceivable results (27%). A fifth of respondents are in the research phase, with uncontrolled tests taking place and a further 5% are lacking a coordinated approach and do not have anything in motion yet. Despite initial challenges, there is still optimism with respondents most likely to feel AI could make a significant difference to their business in 1-2 years (47%), and a further quarter (24%) believe it could be within a year.
In particular, respondents are most optimistic about the impact of AI in smart production and/or service delivery on effectiveness & business and operational management (22%) in the future. One fifth see the biggest impact being on innovation with new products and services (20%), growth & business model decision-making (20%), empowering people and increasing talent retention (19%), and customer experience and customer service (19%).
Action needed on data readiness
To reap these benefits, enterprises need to leverage the most strategic asset they have – their data. The right data volume and quality is critical for the success of AI applications. Respondents recognize how important real-time data is to successful AI projects, with over 4 in 5 (86%) stating this. Yet despite this recognition, less than a quarter (23%) of respondents have completed their data foundation with it supporting both data-driven business decision making and real time response to changes, suggesting that more work needs to be done to get data AI ready. Moreover, under half (43%) of respondents have majority structured data, with some unstructured.
Pedersen commented: “The lack of maturity at the data foundation layer needs to be addressed as part of an overall AI strategy, otherwise AI simply will never be the magic bullet that can turbocharge the enterprise. Clearly enterprises need support on data management and migration. While AI is seen as a shiny new tool that will revolutionize business, like all technology, it is never that simple. The power of Industrial AI is that it can touch all facets of a business from product innovation and customer experience to productivity and ESG. Its potential is massive if executives and organizations can combine vision, strategy, technology and skills. Now is the time to step back, take stock, and build a true Industrial AI plan and turn the hype into reality.”
Methodology:
Censuswide surveyed 1,709 C-level/President/SVP/Directors who work in Manufacturing, Telecommunications, A&D, Services, Construction & Engineering or Energy & resources in organizations with $50m+ annual revenue (Aged 18+) across the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, France, UAE, Norway, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Denmark and Finland between 06.03.2024 – 27.03.2024.
IFS Press Contacts:MEA& APJ: Adam GillbeCorporate CommunicationsEmail: [email protected] Phone: +44 7775 114 856
USA: Mairi MorganCorporate CommunicationsEmail: [email protected] Phone: +44 7918 607 299
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
https://news.cision.com/ifs/r/management–bought-the-ai-hype–and-expect-value-but-research-shows-lack-of-organizational-readiness,c3965172
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University medical centers in Germany choose Sectra’s radiology solution to streamline workflows and shorten lead times for patients

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LINKÖPING, Sweden, April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — International medical imaging IT and cybersecurity company Sectra (STO: SECT B) has signed two contracts to provide the radiology module of its enterprise imaging solution with two university medical centers in Germany—Universitätsklinikum Tübingen and Universitätsmedizin Göttingen. By implementing Sectra’s radiology solution, the hospitals aim to improve and streamline radiology workflows with Sectra’s tools for enhanced reporting efficiency, in turn speeding up diagnostics.

“When choosing a vendor, we wanted one that could provide us with a stable and fast system. We also wanted one facilitating collaboration among our radiologists. That way we can streamline our radiology workflows and in turn shorten lead times for patients as well as reduce the ever increasing workload for radiologists,” says Dr. Babak Panahi, Managing Senior Physician and Head of CT and CT Intervention, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen.
Universitätsmedizin Göttingen and Universitätsklinikum Tübingen are two university medical centers located in the cities of Göttingen and Tübingen in Germany managing 300,000 and 600,000 radiology exams a year. The two separate contracts for Sectra’s radiology solution were both signed during the third quarter of Sectra’s 2023/2024 fiscal year.
“Radiologists are under a lot of pressure as they are challenged to handle more images and more complex cases with less resources. Having a solution designed to streamline radiology workflows, facilitating reading and reporting of images, is therefore paramount. I am happy and excited to support Universitätsmedizin Göttingen and Universitätsklinikum Tübingen on their journey towards efficient radiology diagnostics,” says Guido Bötticher, Managing Director, Sectra DACH.
The radiology module is part of Sectra’s enterprise imaging solution that provides a unified strategy for all imaging needs while lowering operational costs. The scalable and modular solution, with a VNA at its core, allows healthcare providers to grow from ology to ology and from enterprise to enterprise. Visit Sectra’s website to read more about Sectra and why it’s top-ranked in ‘Best in KLAS’.
About SectraSectra contributes to a healthier and safer society by assisting health systems throughout the world to enhance the efficiency of care, and authorities and defense forces in Europe to protect society’s most sensitive information. The company, founded in 1978, is headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, with direct sales in 19 countries, and distribution partners worldwide. Sales in the 2022/2023 fiscal year totaled SEK 2,351 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange. For more information, visit Sectra’s website.
For further information, please contact: Dr. Torbjörn Kronander, CEO and President Sectra  AB, 46 (0) 705 23 52 27Marie Ekström Trägårdh, Executive Vice President Sectra AB and President Sectra Imaging IT Solutions, 46 (0)708 23 56 10
This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com
https://news.cision.com/sectra/r/university-medical-centers-in-germany-choose-sectra-s-radiology-solution-to-streamline-workflows-and,c3965089
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New CPS Protection Platform: TXOne Networks Unveils SageOne at GISec Global

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TAIPEI, April 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — TXOne Networks, a frontrunner in the realm of cyber-physical systems (CPS) security, is set to unveil its groundbreaking CPS security platform, SageOne, at the highly anticipated GISec Global from April 23rd to 25th, 2024. Attendees can find TXOne Networks showcasing SageOne at stand B99 in hall 5. This innovative platform consolidates all CPS security products onto a single, central management platform, promising streamlined operations and optimized threat detection capabilities.

SageOne, aptly named “Wise Man Number One,” serves as a comprehensive management console providing a holistic view of the CPS attack surface within operational technology (OT) environments. By enabling centralized control of TXOne’s three core product lines – Stellar for endpoint protection, Element for security inspection, and Edge for network defense – SageOne facilitates integrated OT security throughout the lifecycle of protected assets, ensuring robust threat detection and response mechanisms.
Key features of SageOne include:
CPS Attack Surface Management: Prioritizing operational security by offering clear visibility into the overall security posture of OT environments, SageOne identifies security focal points, illuminating asset information and security controls.Integrated Lifecycle Protection: Through centralized management, SageOne simplifies cybersecurity governance and fosters collaborative defense. It serves as an abstraction layer, facilitating contextualization and consolidation of data across multiple products, offering tailored, task-oriented consoles for executives, security personnel, and plant leaders.CPS Threat Detection & Response: SageOne aggregates security insights from various solutions to scout for potential risks, enabling early caution and response to both known and unknown threats.SageOne’s foundation rests upon advanced components, including Threat Intelligence, Behavior-Based AI Analytics Engines, Compliance Framework, Data Visualizer, and Ecosystem Integrator, ensuring comprehensive protection and seamless integration of different tools and technologies.
With its focus on analyzing unexpected behavior and unknown threats, SageOne enables the identification of suspicious events through cross-telemetry analysis within the OT-native XDR engine. This amalgamation of advanced technologies and user-friendly interface ensures the protection of critical infrastructures.
For rapid threat response, SageOne issues early warnings of suspicious behavior and orchestrates cross-telemetry analysis for CPS Threat Detection & Response. Integrated Lifecycle Protection ensures the security of devices and systems throughout their service life, contributing to great cost efficiency.
TXOne Networks reaffirms its commitment to CPS security and continuous advancement in OT security through SageOne. Visit TXOne Networks at the GISec Global from April 23rd to 25th, 2024, at stand B99 in hall 5.
For further updates and information, follow TXOne Networks on the blog, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About TXOne Networks:
TXOne Networks provides OT security products ensuring reliability and security in industrial control systems and operational technology environments through the OT Zero Trust methodology. Collaborating with leading industrial manufacturers and critical infrastructure operators, TXOne Networks offers practical and business-friendly approaches to OT defense. Its network and endpoint-based products secure OT networks and mission-critical devices in real-time with high security depth.
Website: www.txone.com 
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2389611/SageOne_header_3.jpg

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