Vonage-Meta Partnership Enabling Secure, Instant Payments Via Whatsapp In Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 (Bernama) -- Vonage, a global leader in cloud communications helping businesses accelerate their digital transformation, has partnered with WhatsApp as a Business Solution Provider, to launch payments on the messaging app in Singapore.

With this new capability, Vonage Conversational Commerce, enables businesses and consumers to benefit from seamless, end-to-end shopping experiences, from discovery to engagement and payments, all within WhatsApp.

According to a statement, Vonage Conversational Commerce enables brands to create omnichannel, messaging-first customer buying experiences across popular messaging, social and web platforms such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Apple Business Chat, Instagram and Twitter.

“Backed by the power of the full Vonage Communications Platform, we are delighted to meet customers' evolving needs with Vonage Conversational Commerce powered by Jumper.ai, providing embedded commerce capabilities to drive more engaging and seamless shopping experiences through WhatsApp.

“This development highlights our commitment to continue pushing the boundaries of conversational commerce and empowering businesses throughout Singapore to create meaningful relationships with their customers,” said Vonage Senior Director of Product Management, Yash Kotak.

As messaging becomes more important to consumers globally as a quick and direct way of connecting with their favourite brands, Vonage’s application meets the needs of major global brands, helping them to connect with consumers, while also turning these conversations into richer artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled customer experiences.

Seamless and secure payments on WhatsApp in Singapore, enabled for businesses by Vonage Conversational Commerce, will transform the way people and businesses in Singapore connect.

With an estimated over one billion users connecting with businesses across Meta’s messaging services every week, the ability to process payments securely through WhatsApp will enable companies to deliver a differentiated, and real-time customer experience, which will boost customer engagement and build loyalty.

-- BERNAMA

EATON RECOGNISED ELITE SUPPLIER BY KOREA AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 (Bernama) -- Intelligent power management company Eaton announced it was recently named an Elite Supplier at the Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) 11th Annual Symposium.

Held in Busan, South Korea, the symposium recognises the top performing KAI suppliers for achieving on-time deliveries, quality standards and customer satisfaction.

This is the second time Eaton has received the prestigious award, according to a statement.

“Over the past three decades, we have had the pleasure of working with a world-class aerospace and defence company like KAI. The award represents our team’s loyalty and dedication to KAI, and we look forward to our continued partnership in the future.

“From the KT-1 Woongbi in the early 1990s to the latest KF-21 Boramae development programme, Eaton continues to be a steadfast and reliable supplier for major fuel and hydraulics components and mission systems equipment,” said Eaton Aerospace Group Managing Director - Asia Pacific, Desmond Goh.

Eaton Aerospace Group has an illustrious history of supporting KAI and the South Korean defence industry.

Recently, Eaton acquired Souriau-Sunbank and Cobham Mission Systems, adding new products ranging from interconnect solutions to air-to-air refuelling, environment systems and missile actuation systems.

By broadening the company’s aerospace product portfolio, Eaton has strengthened its commitment to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as KAI and other global industry leaders.

Founded in 1911, Eaton is marking its 100th anniversary of being listed on the New York Stock Exchange, having served customers in more than 170 countries.

-- BERNAMA

MOBILE MONEY TRANSACTIONS IN EMERGING MARKETS SURPASS US$2 TRILLION BY 2027 - JUNIPER RESEARCH

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 (Bernama) -- A new study from Juniper Research, the foremost experts in the payments market, found that the total value of mobile money transactions in emerging markets will reach US$2 trillion by 2027, an increase of over US$500 billion from 2023. (US$1=RM4.49)

According to Juniper Research in a statement, growing at 33 per cent, the market is being driven by the transition to Payments-as-a-Platform (PaaP), a model which allows third parties to deliver products via mobile money apps.

PaaP enables third parties to have more access to users, without mobile money operators having to develop additional services themselves, enabling greater revenue for mobile money operators, whilst allowing them to meet increasingly sophisticated user demands.

The research predicted that by 2027, there will be 411 million users of sophisticated Mobile Financial Services (MFS) within emerging markets, a 40 per cent increase as a result of providers offering a variety of services, such as microloans and microinsurance, to satisfy growing user demand.

The rising maturity of several mobile money markets, growing customer awareness and affluence of users has increased the importance of mobile money vendors providing sophisticated MFS; investing in technologies that facilitate it.

In addition, the report urged mobile money vendors to leverage data analytics to best retain customers and fight off rising competition. By gaining valuable insight into consumer behaviour and preferences, vendors can provide better-tailored services to end users.

Combining this data with new third-party services via PaaP enables a more personalised service; increasing customer satisfaction and revenue.

-- BERNAMA

END-TO-END SUPPLY CHAIN VISIBILITY REMAINS ELUSIVE FOR ASIA-PACIFIC LOGISTICS COMPANIES: HERE TECHNOLOGIES STUDY

• HERE Technologies publishes inaugural study of 1,300 business decision-makers from the transportation and logistics sector across Asia-Pacific.
• Customer benefits and financial efficiencies top of mind for companies in 2023.
• APAC logistic firms eye drones, robotics, artificial learning and machine learning next.

Singapore, May 12 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – HERE Technologies, the leading location data and technology platform, today published an inaugural study, APAC On The Move, to provide insights from transportation and logistics (T&L) professionals across Asia-Pacific (APAC) on the current technology trends and practices that are shaping supply chain, fleet, and logistics management.

A key finding from APAC On The Move 2023 is the extent to which end-to-end asset tracking and shipment visibility remain a challenge for logistics companies three years since the onset of the pandemic. Nearly 90% of APAC logistics companies surveyed have cited technology implementation challenges as their biggest barrier to achieving real-time end-to-end supply chain visibility, despite the motivations to improve customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Home to some of the world’s largest manufacturing and exporting economies, the logistics industry in APAC plays a vital role in the global supply chain network. In recent years, T&L firms are under pressure from relentless consumer demands, changing customer expectations, and the arrival of new competition from start-ups and customer-turned-rival logistics operators.

Highlights from the HERE Technologies APAC On The Move 2023 study include:

Technology partnerships and implementations are big challenges
More than half of the firms surveyed (52%) have cited the challenge of identifying the right partners and/or suppliers as their biggest barrier to technology implementation. In mature economies like Australia and Singapore, the concern of potential disruption to existing processes and services ranked high. In India and Malaysia where the logistics industries are fragmented, knowing where to even begin with technology implementation is a concern.

Logistics companies surveyed want turn-key solutions that are easy to implement without expensive, time consuming, and labour-intensive system overhauls. According to the study by HERE, software integration challenges with existing infrastructure (52%), the lack of time to implement the solutions (39%), and high implementation costs (39%) are the main barriers to adopting logistics assets tracking and shipment/cargo monitoring solutions.

APAC logistics firms still rely on manual tracking 
The pandemic has exposed the vulnerabilities of manual interventions in the global supply chain. Yet, approximately 45% of APAC logistics firms surveyed are using asset tracking and shipment monitoring software in combination with manual inputs to track assets, shipment, and cargo.

Manual processes have a higher chance of creating gaps and vulnerabilities within supply chains, and this shows that a large number of companies still do not have a resilient infrastructure in place. Real-time and automated tracking solutions on the other hand provide opportunities to accelerate innovation and tackle disruptions promptly.

Across APAC, the Japanese logistics industry is leading the way with 70% of companies surveyed having moved to tracking assets in real-time with no manual inputs. Japan’s logistics sector is facing the looming ‘2024 Problem’ as stricter regulations – limiting truck drivers to a total of 960 hours of annual overtime work – kicks in from April 1, 2024. As the industry prepares for this impending crisis, the move to track assets in real-time is a critical step to addressing and alleviating labour shortage in Japan.

Tech investments motivated by customers first and financial benefits a close second
With intensifying competition and rising customer expectations in the region, the logistics sector wants to improve fundamental business performance indicators. The strongest motivator for adopting logistics asset tracking solutions is to increase customer satisfaction (48%).

On the other hand, APAC logistics companies are also prioritising financial benefits, such as to increase revenue (47%) and to gain competitive edge in the market (41%), when purchasing logistics asset tracking solutions.

APAC logistics industry eyeing future technologies and opportunities
The study confirms that most logistics companies in APAC are already using a form of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. IoT applications for inventory management (63%), warehouse management (61%), and order management (50%) are the most popular among logistics companies in the region.

Looking ahead, more than a quarter of logistics companies in APAC are planning to invest in drones (33%), robotics (30%), and artificial learning and machine learning (29%). These technologies have been identified by the logistics sector to seize opportunities and create lasting competitive advantage (41%), improve operational efficiency (40%), and increase customer satisfaction (39%).

Quotes

• Regu Ayyaswamy, Senior Vice President and Global Head, Tata Consultancy Services:
  “India's logistics sector is a critical enabler of economic growth, playing a crucial role in the seamless movement of goods and services across the country. However, the sector is rapidly evolving, and as a leading global IT services provider, TCS is committed to enabling businesses within the logistics sector to digitally transform their operations and drive growth. Our strategic partnership with HERE Technologies is a testament to this commitment. By combining HERE's world-class location intelligence platform with Digifleet^TM, TCS’ logistics solution, we are empowering businesses with real-time visibility and actionable insights.”

• Yoshikazu Kuwamura, Head of Department, Industry Digital Transformation Dept., Mitsubishi Corporation Singapore Branch:
  “Digitalisation is key to addressing challenges and unlocking new efficiencies in today’s supply chain. However, digitalisation itself is not enough to achieve full end-to-end supply chain visibility. Collaboration across the supply chain is essential to creating more agile and resilient operations. Together with HERE, we believe in helping logistics players in APAC to leverage location intelligence and to develop best practices and more effective strategies for managing risk and uncertainty.”
   
• Vivek Vaidya, Global Client Leader for Mobility, Frost & Sullivan:
  “The supply chain and logistics companies in APAC are at a different stage in evolution as far as asset tracking and shipment monitoring are concerned. On one hand companies are looking to invest in IoT, AI, and drones to improve real-time visibility and on the other hand a large number of companies are still relying on manual processes to achieve the same objective. The companies who are currently relying on manual process are likely to leapfrog to modern solutions. On the whole, the awareness about having real-time visibility on assets and cargo has gone up tremendously in the post-pandemic era and that trend is likely to continue. This underlines a strong growth potential for solution providers like HERE Technologies in this space for the next decade.”

• William Strugger, Senior Director for Global Market Intelligence, HERE Technologies:
  “The study indicates that logistics providers – who handle road, sea, or air transportation, or oversee transportation management – are consistently challenged at implementing asset tracking solutions. Their reasons include implementation costs, integrating with existing software/infrastructure, time needed for implementation, and lack of skilled manpower. This speaks to the need for logistics providers to engage professional services to speed the implementation of in-house software development or off-the-shelf turnkey software, or offload the entire effort to system integrators or location consulting boutiques to develop a bespoke solution.”

• Jason Jameson, Senior Vice President & General Manager for Asia-Pacific, HERE Technologies:
  “Visibility is essential in the supply chain business, and location technology is the key ingredient for building true visibility for businesses and their end customers. While it is promising to see many APAC logistics firms moved on to tracking their assets in real-time, there is still significant room for improvement, with close to half of the organisations surveyed still relying on some form of manual method for tracking. As a leading location data and technology platform, HERE Technologies plays a critical role in the logistics industry globally to not only turn real-world spatial data into a digital model for companies to utilise, but also to educate the industry on the power of location technology in optimising efficiencies and improving business operations.”

Read the APAC On The Move report for the full findings and data by each Asia Pacific sub-region.

Media contacts
HERE Technologies
Camy Cheng
+65 9088 4127
Camy.cheng@here.com

About APAC On The Move
APAC On The Move, published by HERE Technologies, contains insights from transport and logistics companies across Asia Pacific. This inaugural study consists of market research data and analysis from March 2023, based on responses from 1,300 players within the transport and logistics industry across eight countries: Australia, Chinese Taipei, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Designed to provide our customers and partners with a deeper understanding of the trends and best practices that are shaping the transport and logistics industry in region, APAC On The Move serves as a guide to help businesses navigate the current opportunities and challenges in supply chain, fleet and logistics management.

About HERE Technologies
HERE has been a pioneer in mapping and location technology for almost 40 years. Today, HERE’s location platform is recognised as the most complete in the industry, powering location-based products, services and custom maps for organisations and enterprises across the globe. From autonomous driving and seamless logistics to new mobility experiences, HERE allows its partners and customers to innovate while retaining control over their data and safeguarding privacy. Find out how HERE is moving the world forward at here.com.

Attachments

• APAC on the move 2023
• HERE_APAC On The Move_APAC PR_FINAL 

SOURCE : HERE

DUCK CREEK: COFORGE IS FORMATION ’23 INNOVATION ANYWHERE HATCH-A-THON WINNER

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- Duck Creek Technologies, the intelligent solutions provider defining the future of property and casualty (P&C) and general insurance, recognises Coforge as the winner of the company’s Innovation Anywhere Hatch-a-Thon at Formation ’23.

“Duck Creek’s Innovation Anywhere Hatch-a-Thon provides an exciting forum to showcase new thinking in insurance technology and celebrate the contributions to cloud-based SaaS technology by our developer and partner community,” said its Chief Enterprise Architect, Quinn Easterbrook.

Its Innovation Anywhere Hatch-a-Thon encourages the development of new and innovative ideas that advance on-demand, cloud, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology solutions to rapidly improve insurance carriers’ core technology systems, as well as unique concepts that address insurance carrier operational pain points.

Designed as an innovation marathon, Duck Creek brings together its internal teams and its developer community to upskill, build amazing solutions, and hatch new ideas that will further advance technology for the insurance industry.

In a statement, Duck Creek said this year is the second year the company has opened the Hatch-a-Thon to external ecosystem participants.

The 2023 Hatch-a-Thon call for entries challenged the developer community to keep insurance human, find untapped synergy between insurance operations, and integrate technologies that enhance customer experience to advance the P&C and general insurance industry globally.

The Hatch-a-Thon innovation marathon drew 35 entries which were reviewed by Duck Creek’s Innovation Anywhere committee and were judged based on innovation, product impact, business impact, and execution.

Three finalists, representing Coforge, Value Momentum, and Xceedance, were chosen to present their ideas on stage for attendees to view and vote for their favourite innovation during Formation ’23.

Formation attendees voted Coforge as the Formation ’23 Innovation Anywhere Hatch-a-Thon champion. The winning team from Coforge produced “document delivery using WhatsApp” to build connections and make it easier for policyholders to communicate directly across the Duck Creek Platform by using a policy number to retrieve documents.

-- BERNAMA

GOLDSTAR ENTERS INTO AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE PROJECT IN QUÉBEC

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 (Bernama) -- Goldstar Minerals Inc (Goldstar or the Corporation) has entered into a Purchase and Sale Agreement (the Agreement) for the acquisition of eight claims (the IMV Project) located in the Montérégie region of southern Québec, covering an area of approximately 481.05 hectares.

Dated Jan 27, the Agreement provides details including the name of the Corporation would be changed to Green Mining Innovation, the trading symbol would become GMI, and the Corporation will adopt an ecological, innovative and environmentally friendly approach to work.

In an arm’s length transaction, the Corporation will issue 18 million shares to the current owners (Owners) of the IMV Project at a deemed price of CAD$0.08 per share and will pay in shares a finder’s fee of five per cent equivalent to 900,000 shares. (CAD$1=RM3.31)

According to a statement, the Corporation would proceed with a non-brokered private placement for CAD$500,000 consisting of 8,333,333 units, at a price of CAD$0.06 per unit.

Each unit will consist of one common share and one purchase warrant where each warrant shall entitle the holder thereof to subscribe for one additional common share at an exercise price of CAD$0.12 at any time until two years after closing.

The warrants will provide for an acceleration clause if the shares trade above a specified price for more than 20 consecutive days.

With respect to subscriptions originating from a qualified intermediary, the Company may pay in cash a fee equal to seven per cent of the subscribed amount.

The private placement use of proceeds will be for transaction expenses (stock exchange fees, legal fees, geology consultant fees) and for exploration expenses to be incurred on the Corporation’s IMV Project.

The Owners of the IMV Project will have three representatives on the board of directors of the Corporation, namely André Gagné, Jacques Tremblay and Daniel Routhier. At closing, Gagné will become President and Chief Executive Officer, while Tremblay will become Chief Operating Officer.

-- BERNAMA

TRITON DIGITAL PARTNERS AUDACIA TO MEET GROWING PROGRAMMATIC AUDIO DEMAND IN APAC

KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 (Bernama) -- Triton Digital, the global technology and services leader to the digital audio, podcast and broadcast radio industries, announced it has entered into an agreement with Audacia, a global advertising marketplace using the power of audio to connect publishers, advertisers and customers.

Through this partnership, the Audacia ad network will have access to Triton Digital’s exchange of premium audio publishers across all audio formats in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

“The APAC region is expanding rapidly, as consumption of digital audio is up over 450 per cent in the last 24 months offering a valuable medium for advertisers to target and reach engaged audiences.

“This union will help accelerate awareness of the benefits of programmatic audio advertising in APAC,” said Triton Digital Global Head of Revenue, Stephanie Donovan in a statement.

Meanwhile, Audacia Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Kym Treasure said its partnership with Triton Digital will connect advertisers with publishers intending to reach the same target audience, while expanding access and increasing adoption of programmatic advertising.

Triton Digital’s network of audio publishers recently opted into Audacia’s ad network packages for the monetisation of international inventory.

Audacia will be leveraging Triton Digital’s Supply Side Platform (SSP), an audio-first SSP, built from the ground up for broadcasters, podcasters and music streaming services.

Integrated with the world's leading Demand Side Platforms (DSPs), the SSP provides advanced publisher controls to manage access, regulate pricing and establish ad quality settings in the Triton Audio Marketplace.

Furthermore, advertisers in Audacia’s network will have access to Triton’s analytics platform for real-time reporting with easy-to-use dashboards to compare performance metrics.

More information available at https://www.tritondigital.com/.

-- BERNAMA