To some it's just another blue-green damselfish, but to others, Alelia's Damselfish is an exciting new marine fish species worthy of some attention from marine fish breeders. Image: Bernadi et al.
Scientists Giacomo Bernardi, Gary C. Longo, and T.E. Angela L. Quiros have recently described a new species of Damselfish, Altrichthys alelia, from Busuanga Island, Philippines. Arguably, this is interesting simply for being a new damselfish species, but the paper's note that this was a "brooding" species of Damselfish immediately caught my attention.
Did the authors mean to imply that Alelia's Damselfish has a darkly unhappy personality likely to wreak havoc on an aquarist's aquarium? While that wouldn't be all that surprising, in this case "brooding" refers to the reproductive strategy of direct development, where the species' offspring forego the pelagic larval phase so common in tropical marine fishes, and instead are tended to by their parents until large enough to disperse and fend for themselves.
This was a pretty exciting story for me. As a long-time marine fish breeder I was learning something new. Up until now, the only damselfish species I was aware of that practiced brood care over non-pelagic larvae was the species most commonly sold as the Spiny or Orange-line Chromis, Acanthochromis polyacanthus. This direct-development reproductive strategy is only practiced by a few other tropical marine fish species, perhaps most notably the Banggai Cardinalfish, Pterapogon kauderni, and some seahorse species (Hippocampus spp.). Despite a wide range in the case of A. polycanthus, the lack of a pelagic larval dispersal phase has lead to localized biogeographic variations in genetics, morphology, and even color pattern (sounds like a story familiar to freshwater cichlid keepers).
What's alluring to marine fish breeders about direct-development is that it represents a reproductive strategy that the aquarist is likely already well-versed in from freshwater experiences: working with A. polyacanthus is potentially not unlike working with Discus (Symphysodon spp.), while working with the mouthbrooding Banggai Cardinalfish has always reminded me of my experiences breeding Frontosa (Cyphotilapia spp.). A prospective breeder might only have to have experience hatching brine shrimp (Artemia nauplii) as a first food. Success, hypothetically, should come swiftly and easily. So why don't we see a plethora of captive-bred Spiny Chromis everywhere?
Well, on the most basic level, there are two reasons. First, wild-caught Spiny Chromis are dirt cheap: online retailers sell the juveniles for less than $5 per fish. So, odds are good that there's no real monetary incentive to breed this species. But perhaps more importantly, Spiny Chromis are one of those marine fish species that I have to wonder if we should even be keeping. Now, to give credit where it's due, no freshwater aquarist that likes big cichlids would balk at the fundamentally graceful shape of an adult Spiny Chromis. But at 5 inches (13 cm) or more, and simply sooty black in most cases, this is not a damselfish that people are going to be clamoring over; there are simply more attractive, less belligerent choices for the average marine aquarium. So while a breeder might be inclined to try this species simply to add an accomplishment to his or her list, I just don't see real long-term viability for this species in culture at this time.
But that's where the newly-described Altrichthys alelia and its relatives come in. A. alelia is apparently neither large (the largest adult from the description was just over 2″ in length), nor is it unattractive. In fact, on the surface, the photos presented show a very pleasing coloration similar to that of the popular Green Chromis, Chromis viridis. Plus, the closely related A. azurelineatus, also found in the Philippines, is even more attractive (to my taste), sporting a black dorsal margin and black edges on the top and bottom of the deeply-forked caudal fin. And the implication from the authors is that yet another species, A. curatus, is also a brooder, making all three species in the genus of particular interest. Looking at the photos provided, A. alelia sports a downright vivid yellow stripe as a juvenile, which might be a big selling point for a captive-bred damselfish.
All three species of Altrichthys are attractive as adults, suggesting some promise as aquaculture candidates. Image: Bernardi et al.
This now has me on the hunt. This publication has opened my eyes to a few damselfish species that have the potential to be an "easy" species first, and these actually look like species that could sell. I've never kept any damsels from the genus Altrichthys, however, never mind that I've never seen one before this week, so whether they actually make good community tankmates or not is difficult to say. If any of these brooding damselfishes find their way into your tanks at some point in the future, remember that—just like your average cichlid or clownfish pair—you can hardly blame them if they become aggressive when they start breeding; they're doing what they're biologically programmed to do!
Consider this a shout-out and blanket request: I am ready to stake a claim. If you happen to come across a group of A. azurelineatus, shoot me an email. I'll let some other breeders chase A. curatus and the new A. alelia; there are enough species to go around!
Be sure to read the full species description in the open access paper published in Zookeys.
Kvanagh, Kathryn D. (2000) Larval brooding in the marine damselfish Acanthochromis polyacanthus (Pomacentridae) is correlated with highly divergent morphology, ontogeny and live-history traits. BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 66(2): 321–337.


Gymnastics and trampoline Parent & Toddler sessions are available throughout the week for those who want to entertain their children and get them active. A qualified coach will be available and help where needed but these sessions are all about you getting active with your toddler.
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Day 1 of the first SAP InnoJam Fashion with more than 20 female students from German universities was hosted by University Alliances at SAP Headquarters, Walldorf, Germany.
InnoJamers and CIO Helen Arnold.
The event was kicked off in the morning by SAP CIO Helen Arnold. She welcomed the students and talked about her career path also mentioning that she participated in an overnight competition 20 years ago and knows about the excitement and the possibilities attendees can take of such a great challenge. Moreover, she motivated the students to start their careers, since nowadays only 13% of working women hold excecutive positions. Also SAP Recruiting representative Kai Hucker highlighted that SAP is seeking for a significant rise of female professionals in leading positions.
SAP InnoJam is a 32 hours coding contest where participants learn and use SAP technologies, partner with fellow participants to build a prototype solution for a real-life business scenario and work with domain experts who share their knowledge and expertise with the crowd. Throughout two days the InnoJamers work on paper prototypes and later on build a running prototype solution and present in front of a jury.
During a four hour lasting Design Thinking period instructed by the coaches Matthias Edinger and Jürgen Wagner the female students from German universities designed prototype ideas for an application based on SAP Hana Cloud Platform and SAP UI5. Michael Osthof and Dr. Christoph Schroeder, both IBU Retail, Challenge Owner introduced the contest theme: Creating a smart In-Store Experience for Fashion by designing the perfect in-store shopping experience powered by an application to bring a fashion shopping trip to the next level the students started to improve widely known fitting room situations via their app models. Also he addressed the growing importance of mobile applications for the fashion industry and the retail sector.
Tech Coaches are excited to code.
Finally before dinner time the actual coding phase began! The four teams spread within the building – discussing, pondering and enjoying a tent camp atmosphere. Supported by five expert SAP coaches – Julia Lakatos, Julian Breuksch, Christian Heller, Denise Nepraunig and Rui Nogueira – this night will bring less sleep, but all sorts of fun. Code, code, code!


Frame Type Silt Curtain to fully enclose the working area of each grab dredger while carrying out the dredging works, in order to minimise the sediment run away to surrounding area during the dredging operation.
Type 1 silt curtains, are floating barriers that are designed to control various sediments or runoff in calm waters.
Type II Turbidity Curtain are floating silt barriers designed specifically for areas with moving water, currents, waves, or tides.


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Category: home improvement lending
Thursday November 21 2019, Weekly News Digest
News Comments Today's main news: SoFi helps Pro.com make home improvement loans. BlueVine raises $102.5M. OCC, FDIC propose Madden fixes. Zopa gets banking license. Twino CEO stands down, platform hits 1B euro in loans issued. Today's main analysis: LexinFintech lending business analysis (A MUST-READ). Today's thought-provoking articles: Fed rate inversion. 10 cities that cost money […]
The post Thursday November 21 2019, Weekly News Digest appeared first on Lending Times.
Today's main news: SoFi helps Pro.com make home improvement loans. BlueVine raises $102.5M. OCC, FDIC propose Madden fixes. Zopa gets banking license. Twino CEO stands down, platform hits 1B euro in loans issued.
Today's main analysis: LexinFintech lending business analysis (A MUST-READ).
Today's thought-provoking articles: Fed rate inversion. 10 cities that cost money to commute. P2P lending losses from 2017 and 2018.
SoFi provides home improvement loans for Pro.com. This looks like a good partnership.
BlueVine raises $102.5 million for banking services. This is a welcome service, and a new milestone in online banking because most digital banks target consumers. As far as I know, this is the only online banking service specifically targeting small businesses.
FT Partners advises BlueVine on Series F round.
The OCC, FDIC propose Madden fixes. If these pass, it will begin a new era in online lending.
The Fed rate inversion. A PeerIQ analysis. Plus, some interesting rundowns on digital wallets and Goldman Sachs' robo-advisor.
10 worst cities for commutes. A LendingTree analysis, and well worth the read. The report was published in October, but Business Insider reported on it recently.
Vouch adds growth funding insurance for startups.
5 ways to invest in real estate online.
ArborCrowd investors see strong returns on Quarry Station Apartments.
How crowdfunding has changed the real estate investing game.
Fintech is the fourth platform on the banking tech stack. An interesting read.
Balboa survey reveals small business owners anticipate strong Black Friday.
American Financial Exchange launches blockchain lending product.
5 alternatives to traditional savings.
Alchemy partners with Plaid on loan decisioning, fraud detection.
Zopa gets banking license.
Funding Xchange raises $10.4 million.
Tymit secures 4 million GBP.
Arbuthnot Commercial ABL issues 2 million GBP credit facility to EA-RS Fire Engineering.
Crowd2Fund's first EIS-approved funding round is now live.
Starling Bank loses sixth senior employee.
Robinhood debuts in the UK.
OakNorth completes 3.54 million GBP loan for mixed-use development.
Nexo joins Foundation for Wallet Interoperability.
Twino CEO stands down while platform hits 1 billion euro milestone. CEOs don't move aside unless it's the best thing for the company.
The best crowdfunding platforms in Europe.
Smart lenders AM launches marketplace lending investment fund.
EstateGuru partners with Ober-Haus.
China: LexinFintech analysis. A must-read from Seeking Alpha.
International: 2017-2018 P2P lending losses. From P2P-Banking.
Brazil: Neon raises $95 million.
Singapore: Ant Financial looking at digital banking license.
Mexico: The fintech sector to watch in 2020.
Southeast Asia: OneConnect starts two smart lending platforms focused on sustainable financing.
Brazil: How Brazil is leading Latin America's fintech revolution.
Australia: What a competitive mortgage looks like in November 2019.
Pro.Com Partners with SoFi to Make Home Improvements Even Easier (PR Newswire), Rated: AAA
BlueVine raises $ 102.5M more for banking services that target small businesses (TechCrunch), Rated: AAA
FT Partners Advises BlueVine on its $ 102,500,000 Series F Financing (FT Partners), Rated: B
The OCC and FDIC Both Propose a Madden Fix (Lend Academy), Rated: AAA
Big Tech Race to Own Digital Wallet; GS Robo-advisor on Launchpad (PeerIQ), Rated: AAA
Insurance startup Vouch tacks on growth funding to serve startups (Pitchbook), Rated: A
5 Ways to Invest in Real Estate Online (The Motley Fool), Rated: A
ArborCrowd Investors Receive Strong Returns on the Sale of Quarry Station Apartments (BusinessWire), Rated: A
How Crowdfunding Has Changed the Game for Real Estate Investing (The Motley Fool), Rated: A
The 10 worst US cities for commutes that cost you time and money (Business Insider), Rated: AAA
Fintech: The Fourth Platform – Part One (Forbes), Rated: A
Balboa Survey: Small Business Owners Anticipate Robust Black Friday (Monitor Daily), Rated: A
American Financial Exchange, LLC (AFX) Announces AMERIBOR on the Blockchain (Mondovisione), Rated: A
5 Best Alternatives to Traditional Savings Accounts (Nerdwallet), Rated: B
Alchemy Partners with Plaid to Enhance Loan Decisioning and Fraud Detection Capabilities (PRWeb), Rated: B
UK peer-to-peer lender Zopa gets banking license as it looks to compete with industry giants (Stock Daily Dish), Rated: AAA
Business Loans Marketplace Funding Xchange Raises $ 10.4 Million via Round Led By Downing Ventures, Gresham House Ventures (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
London-based mobile credit card company Tymit secures £4m in funding (AltFi), Rated: A
Arbuthnot Commercial ABL supports EA-RS Fire Engineering's acquisition of Circum with £2m facility (Business-Money), Rated: A
Crowd2Fund's first EIS-approved funding round goes live (P2P Finance News), Rated: A
Buzzy finance startup Starling Bank has lost another senior employee amid an exodus of executives (Business Insider), Rated: A
Trading giant Robinhood makes its UK debut in Revolut challenge (City A.M.), Rated: A
OakNorth Bank completes GBP3.54m loan to fund aparthotel development in London (Property Funds World), Rated: B
Crypto Lending Platform Nexo Joins FIO, As Usability Remains Top Priority (Chipin), Rated: B
LexinFintech: A Rare Quality (Seeking Alpha), Rated: AAA
Twino CEO stands down, as Latvian lender swings into black (AltFi), Rated: AAA
The Best Crowdlending Platforms (The African Exponent), Rated: A
Smart Lenders AM Launches New Investment Fund Specialized in Marketplace Lending (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Real Estate Crowdfunding Platform EstateGuru Partners with Ober-Haus on Market Research (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
Profits and Losses of P2P Lending Marketplaces 2017 and 2018 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
What does a competitive mortgage rate look like in November 2019? (finder), Rated: A
Ant Financial eyeing S'pore digital bank licence (The Straits Times), Rated: AAA
OneConnect leads Southeast Asia's sustainable financing with two smart lending platforms (Yahoo! Finance), Rated: A
Brazilian Digital Bank Neon Raises $ 95 Million (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: AAA
How Brazil is leading Latin America's fintech revolution (Business Insider), Rated: A
Why Mexico's Fintech Sector Will Be One to Watch in 2020 (Next Billion), Rated: A
Pro.com, the premier digital platform focused exclusively on building custom homes and major remodels from start to finish, announced a new partnership Tuesday with online personal finance company SoFi, aimed at revolutionizing how homeowners finance and complete their remodels, renovations and upgrades.
The startup, which offers financing and other banking services to SMBs, today is announcing that it has raised $102.5 million, a Series F round of equity funding that is coming from a mix of financial and notable strategic investors.
Led by ION Crossover Partners, the round also includes existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Menlo Ventures, 83North, SVB Capital, Nationwide (a major financial services player in the UK), Citi Ventures, Microsoft's venture fund M12, and private investors; as well as new investors MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd, O.G. Tech (the VC connected to Israeli billionaire and property magnate Eyal Ofer), Vintage Investment Partners, ION Group, Maor Investments and additional private investors.
FT Partners served as exclusive financial advisor to BlueVine and its board of directors on its $102.5 million Series F financing
There is finally some real light at the end of the tunnel. In the last two days we have heard from both the OCC and the FDIC on the Madden issue, something they called unfathomable in a joint amicus brief in Colorado a couple of months ago. They have each given notice of their proposal that would clarify the "valid when made" doctrine once and for all.
At the core of the issue is the ambiguity created by the Madden decision. A loan can be valid when it is made but if it is sold or transferred can suddenly become invalid in the Second Circuit states of NY, CT and VT. This has led to reduced consumer lending to these states and also concern that, given no regulatory clarity, this could expand to other states.
Here are links to the OCC and FDIC proposals. There will be a 60-day comment period where interested parties can weigh in.
Refinance demand increased by 13% from the previous week and was 188% higher than a year ago, when rates were 114 basis points higher.
First-time inversion driven by the long-end…
Source: PeerIQ, Blackstone, St. Louis Federal Reserve
In regulatory news, lawmakers are taking aim at payday loan rates. Congress members plan to introduce federal legislation that would cap interest rates at 36%.
The next move for Facebook would be to offer lending products most likely indirectly (e.g., via POS partnerships or via co-brand products such as Amazon Chase Visa, etc.).
Just two months ago, the ink was barely dry on a more than $24 million Series A that Sam Hodges raised for his startup Vouch Insurance. Now he is back with an even larger funding, led by Y Combinator's Continuity Fund, as the company seeks to join a crop of startups that cater to the needs of other startups.
Fireblocks Is Now Securing The Biggest Crypto Lending Company In The US (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Fireblocks (www.fireblocks.com), an enterprise platform for securing digital assets in transit, announced today, Celsius Network, the largest provider of interest income and digital asset loans in over 150 jurisdictions worldwide is enlisting Fireblocks to help protect over $400 million assets and 53,000 active wallets, securing both retail and institutional divisions.
The primary difference between using a crowdfunding site versus flying solo on your investment journey is that your investment is managed by a team of real estate professionals. Of course, that is also the biggest risk as you are completely dependent on the project developer to deliver what they promised.
If you are not an accredited investor but want to be involved in real estate crowdfunding, companies such as Fundrise, stREITwise, and RealtyMogul are a great place to start.
ArborCrowd (the "Company"), the first crowdfunding platform launched by a real estate institution, announced today that its Quarry Station Apartments investment ("Quarry Station") has been realized in under two years, providing investors with returns quicker and higher than initial projections. The property's $49.35 million sale price generated an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20.31%, surpassing the original return target of 16% to 19%.
Through real estate crowdfunding, the developer can utilize an online platform that enables a large group of people to invest small dollar amounts in the project. If the development company chooses to follow the crowdfunding option, here's how that could work:
First, the developer identifies an online platform that is suited to the company or mixed-use development. Each platform is different and most real estate crowdfunding sites receive significantly more project applications than they select.
If the investment passes all the legal, physical, and financial due diligence requirements the platform requires, that platform will then allow the developer to solicit funds using their site.
An investor can then use that platform to contribute financially to the development.
The funds are then tied up until the investor delivers on the project.
Online loan marketplace Lending Tree published a report on the most expensive commutes in the 100 largest cities in the US in October.
Consider a resident in New York, which Lending Tree ranked as the city with the fifth most expensive commute. Using Lending Tree's findings via 2017 Census Bureau data, the median annual earnings for a full-time employee in New York is $51,573; their hourly wage is $26. Now, consider the mean time of commuting one way, 41.8 minutes. If you make $26 per hour at your job, and you spend 83.6 minutes daily on your round-trip commute, then your time wasted commuting is worth $37 of time you would have been working.
Five cities in California – Oakland, San Jose, Irvine, San Francisco, and Fremont – took top 10 spots in the ranking, with four of those cities being in the increasingly expensive San Francisco Bay Area.
While the first generation of fintech companies created billions of dollars of value, because of new enablers like Plaid, Cross River Bank, Finix and Wisetack, we're now moving past that phase to one where fintech moves from being a business model unto itself, to being the fourth layer in the stack or the "fourth platform," wherein financial functions like payments, lending and insurance join connectivity, intelligence and ubiquity as layers of the stack upon which new companies can be built.
Online lender Balboa Capital released the results of its 2019 Black Friday Survey, which was conducted to examine how small business owners are preparing for this historically busy shopping day, and to find out what their Black Friday sales expectations are.
The survey reveals that 70% of small business owners are preparing for Black Friday early, and 83% anticipate meeting or exceeding their Black Friday sales goals. Balboa Capital's survey was sent to a sample of small business owners in a wide variety of industries during the first week of November 2019.
American Financial Exchange (AFX), an electronic exchange for direct lending and borrowing for American banks and financial institutions, announced today the launch of its AMERIBOR on the blockchain. AFX now mints two ERC-721 non-fungible tokens for each AMERIBOR transaction on the AFX platform (for each counterparty to the transaction). The pair of tokens is automatically minted when the transaction is repaid by the borrowing counterparty to the lending counterparty. Each token contains encrypted transaction data and encrypted counterparty data. The counterparty data is normalized prior to encryption to further preserve counterparty anonymity.
The pros. Peer-to-peer lending tends to be a win-win: Investors get a higher rate of return on their money than a lot of banking products offer, and borrowers get an interest rate on their loan that's usually less than bank-offered loans and credit cards.
The cons. Peer-to-peer lending won't give you quick access to your cash if you need liquidity.
Alchemy, one of the SaaS fintech lending infrastructure companies, has partnered with Plaid to support businesses in account and asset verification for improved lending decisioning.
British peer-to-peer lender Zopa has obtained a U.K. banking license, clearing a key hurdle in its bid to launch a digital bank and compete with industry giants.
Funding Xchange (FXE), a company that helps people and organizations find suitable business loans and funding options from its marketplace of more than 45 established lenders, has raised £8 million (appr. $10.4 million) through an investment round.
Tymit, the London-based mobile-enabled credit card company, has secured £4m in a funding round, which it will use to develop its customer service offering.
Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, the specialist asset based lending arm of Arbuthnot Latham, has completed a £2m asset based lending (ABL) transaction in support of the strategic acquisition of Circum Ltd, a fire protection services specialist, by EA-RS Fire Engineering Ltd. ("EA-RS"). The facility comprises a flexible confidential invoice discounting line and a term loan.
CROWD2FUND has launched its first funding round since being granted Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) approval from HMRC.
The platform has already raised 19 per cent of its target from current shareholders and has now opened the £1.2m fundraise to private investors.
Starling's head of banking compliance Rachel Coote has quit to join startup Paybase. Coote is the sixth senior employee to leave the buzzy finance company in 2019.The company's chief financial officer Tony Ellingham has confirmed he will also depart within the next year.
US fintech Robinhood, a commission-free trading startup valued at $7.6bn (£5.9bn), has today arrived in the UK.
Users will be able to invest in more than 3,500 US-denominated stocks, including Apple, Amazon and Tesla. They will also be able to access foreign stocks that are available to trade in dollars through depository receipts, such as Barclays and Burberry.
The finance will be used to fund the acquisition of a mixed-use property at 68‐86 Clapham Road in Oval, and in its place, develop an aparthotel with between 120-175 units, subject to receiving planning permission. The site is located within walking distance of several Zone 1 underground stations – Oval, Stockwell and Vauxhall – as well as the South Western railway line, providing services to Clapham, Waterloo, Guildford, etc.
Nexo, the dominant player in the crypto lending space, is joining the Foundation for Wallet Interoperability (FIO), the industry consortia bringing together leading companies in the blockchain ecosystem to solve the biggest problem faced by the industry — usability.
LexinFintech (LX) reported a solid set of Q3 results with loan origination growing 170% y/y that resulted in a beat on both revenue and EPS. More importantly, loan origination guidance was increased to RMB115-125b vs. the prior forecast of RMB115b.
Overall, asset quality remains stable at the end of Q3 with delinquency rate declining 9bps to 1.4% and the 6-month charge-off rate maintained at just above 2%.
Source: LexinFintech
Institutional funding has reached 75% of the total loan balance. In terms of origination, institutional accounts for 94% of the total loans originated, meaning that LX's own P2P platform Juzi Licai is becoming less relevant going forward.
Twino founder Armands Broks is to standing down as CEO and will now focus on new business opportunities and bringing talent on board.
The management change comes as Twino, which offers European investors investment opportunities in unsecured European consumer loans, reports pre-tax profits of €13m (£11m) for 2018, compared to a €7.2m (£6.2m) loss the year previous.
Twino has also disclosed that it has also issued loans to the value of €1bn (£860m), since it was set up 10 years ago, half of the value of which have been issued in the past three years.
Up to date, Mintos has issued over EUR 3 billion in investments, making it one of the biggest crowdlending platforms in Europe. Investors can invest in consumer loans such as cars, mortgage, short-term, and personal, as well as business loans like invoice financing, agriculture, business, etc. starting from as little as EUR 10 with return on investment of 11% per year on average.
Smart Lenders AM announces the upcoming launch of a new fund dedicated to financing loans to European SMEs issued through marketplace lending platforms (crowdlending).
Real estate crowdfunding platform EstateGuru and OberHaus, real estate agency operating across the Baltic region, have joined together to produce shared real estate market research and analysis with a specialized focus on the needs of the crowdfunding platform.
Source: P2P-Banking
The lowest fixed rate in Finder's database right now is 2.68%, a single basis point lower than the lowest variable. This is unusual (the lowest three year fixed rate this time last year was 3.74%).
Another online lender I spoke to was fine with apartments in the same suburb but didn't offer pre-approval. This meant I would have to start a full application with them even before I had found a place to buy. For some borrowers, this can be a significant turn-off.
Billionaire Jack Ma's Ant Financial Services Group said it may apply for a virtual banking licence in Singapore, a move that would add a heavyweight contender to the race.
OneConnect Financial Technology Co. Ltd. (OneConnect), today announced it is leading Southeast Asia's sustainable financing with the launch of two smart lending platforms – SeekCap, the Philippines' first lending platform that helps the underserved micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) manage cashflow and grow their business, as well as a multi-finance platform that will empower millions of unbanked and underbanked Indonesians with easy access to loans to finance their purchase of vehicles essential for their daily transportation so as to improve mobility and their lives.
MSMEs form the backbone of any economy. In the Philippines, more than 99% of all businesses are MSMEs and they contribute to almost 63% of total employment. Yet, at present, only 9% of loans and financing from the country's major banks go to MSMEs.
Brazilian Digital bank Neon has reportedly raised $95.27 million in a funding round led by Banco Votorantim and the General Atlantic fund. This is according to a write up in Estado.
Neon claims a customer base of 2 million users. The additional funding will help the digital bank grow with expectations to triple that number by 2020.
There were 380 fintechs operating in the country in May 2019, per Finnovista, and around two-thirds (64%) of Brazilian consumers are defined as fintech adopters by EY — a rate that's level with the global average and higher than the majority of G7 countries'.
Smartphone and internet penetration: Three-quarters of Brazilians used smartphones in 2017, which is expected to tick up to 86% by 2025 — and both figures are the highest across the region.
High fees charged by incumbents: Brazil's four largest banks control almost 80% of the country's deposits, with similar concentrations in credit and assets.
A large underserved population: Around 45 million people in the country don't have access to or have not used a bank account in the past six months.
The economy in Mexico remains largely informal and cash dependent. An estimated 44% of the adult population in Mexico owns no financial products. This largely unbanked population, coupled with the new fintech legislation, has created immense opportunities for Mexico's fintech sector to grow. In fact, roughly 100 new Mexican fintechs were established in 2018 alone, representing 52% growth for the industry. Mexico has become a regional leader with more than 273 fintech ventures operating in the country. When combined with Brazil's 380 fintech ventures, the two countries make up 56% of the region's total fintech activity.
Author Allen TaylorPosted on November 21, 2019 Categories Alchemy, American Financial Exchange, Ant Financial, ArborCrowd, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, Balboa Capital, blockchain lending, BlueVine, Brazil, Crowd2Fund, crypto lending, Daily News Digest, digital banking, Estateguru, Events, FDIC, Featured, fintech, fraud detection, Funding Xchange, Goldman Sachs, growth funding, home improvement lending, Latin America, LendingTree, LexinFintech, loan decisioning, Madden fix bills, mexico, Mintos, mortgage lending, Neon, Nexo, OakNorth Bank, OCC, OneConnect, p2p lending, PeerIQ, Plaid, real estate crowdfunding, real estate investing, Robinhood, robo-advisor, small business banking, Smart Lenders AM, smart lending, SoFi, Starling Bank, sustainable financing, Twino, Tymit, Vouch, Zopa
Friday March 2 2018, Daily News Digest
News Comments Today's main news: How Funding Circle wants to fix the financial system. VPC Specialty Lending, Ranger Direct see dividends move up. Klarna triples net profit, mainly in Nordic countries. Today's main analysis: International P2P lending volumes. Today's thought-provoking articles: Can Seed solve banks' digital onboarding issues? How banking institutions can decentralize (The best read of the day). Institutional […]
Today's main news: How Funding Circle wants to fix the financial system. VPC Specialty Lending, Ranger Direct see dividends move up. Klarna triples net profit, mainly in Nordic countries.
Today's main analysis: International P2P lending volumes.
Today's thought-provoking articles: Can Seed solve banks' digital onboarding issues? How banking institutions can decentralize (The best read of the day). Institutional investors wary of passivity.
Seed wants to solve banks' digital onboarding issues. AT: "I doubt that Seed, or any neobank, can save brick-and-mortar banks. This is an issue that traditional banks have to solve for themselves. Of course, the solution may be to partner with a tech company like Seed that can provide for banks what they can't provide for themselves."
Lendio opens franchise in South Carolina.
Eloan managing director disrupts financial services in Puerto Rico.
Magilla wants to be Match.com of lending.
California woman succeeds with Kiva loan.
Validus Specialty launches underwriting package for U.S. alt lenders.
Institutional investors wary of passivity.
Bonds and P2P lending.
LightStream home improvement survey reveals how home owners intend to spend their money to make improvements.
Ways to use crowdfunding to own a home.
FinLab launches contest for startups.
Kwittken picks up Lauren Road as new client.
How Funding Circle wants to fix the financial system.
VPC Specialty Lending, Ranger Direct see dividends tick up.
Leeds City Council to lend money to businesses.
IFISAs hit a few stumbling blocks.
How an Isa works.
Klarna's net profits triple.
Klarna sees double-digit sales growth.
International P2P lending volumes for February 2018. AT: "The big growth this month came to Landbay, Lendix, Mintos, Toborrow (229% and 245% vs. previous month and last year's month, respectively), and MytripleA. Big losers include ArchOver, Loanbook Capital, MoneyThing, ThinCats, and Proplend (100% and 100%)."
How banking institutions can decentralize. AT: "Hint: "Go crypto. If you read just one article today, let it be this one. Very interesting read."
Anatomy of a successful crowdlending strategy.
Smartag International partners with Indonesian fintech firm.
This neobank believes it can solve banks' digital onboarding problem (American Banker), Rated: AAA
Lendio Franchise Announced in Clemson Region (Lendio), Rated: A
In A Time of Need, A Woman Rises To Disrupt Fintech In Puerto Rico (Forbes), Rated: A
Fintech Startup Magilla Wants to Be the Match.com of Loans (Big Law Business), Rated: A
Crowdlending helped Shorewood business woman's dreams come true (tmj4), Rated: A
Validus Specialty Launches Package Policy for Fintech Companies (Crowdfund Insider), Rated: A
What's next for marketplace ABS? Revolvers, ETFs & IOs (Asset Securitization Report), Rated: A
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS WARY OF PASSIVITY (All About Alpha), Rated: AAA
Be cautious when seeking income (Money Week), Rated: A
2018 LightStream Home Improvement Survey (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Crowdfunding your way to homeownership (Mic), Rated: A
JPMC's FinLab Launches $ 3M Contest For FinTech Startups (PYMNTS), Rated: B
Accounts in Transit (O'Dwyer PR), Rated: B
Keeping the little guys in the loop: How Funding Circle hopes to fix the financial system (City A.M.), Rated: AAA
VPC and Ranger funds see dividends tick up, but remain below target (AltFi), Rated: AAA
Leeds offers business loans through peer-to-peer platform (Room151), Rated: A
Isas 2018: Innovative Finance Isas hit stumbling blocks (Financial Times), Rated: A
How does the Isa allowance actually work? (Which?), Rated: B
Klarna's profits driven by growth in Nordics and Germany (Financial Times), Rated: AAA
Klarna reports double-digit sales growth (Finextra), Rated: A
International P2P Lending Volumes February 2018 (P2P-Banking), Rated: AAA
How Banking Institutions Can be Decentralized (CoinTelegraph), Rated: AAA
Crowdlending: Anatomy of a successful strategy (EurekAlert!), Rated: A
Smartag International Signs Agreement to Provide Fintech Solutions to Rural Indonesia (PR Newswire), Rated: A
Since 2014 the neobank Seed has been reimagining one of the sleepier areas of banking: deposit accounts for small businesses.
Rather than walk into a branch — Seed, of course, has none — yoga instructors, food truck owners and other would-be customers can apply for accounts in less than five minutes on the startup's web or mobile app. If approved, they receive a business debit card in the mail.
Now Seed, led by veterans of the fintech Simple, is selling banks software to help them solve one of their most pressing problems: finding a way to open accounts online as branch transactions continue to decline.
Lendio, the marketplace for small business loans, today announced the opening of a new Lendio franchise in the Clemson, South Carolina Region. Through the Lendio franchise program, Andy Ronemus will help local businesses in the community apply for loans, review their options and secure funding, easing the financial hurdles for small business owners.
One notable leader in this endeavor is
Since its launch in January 2016, Sacramento-based startup Magilla Loans says it's originated more than $5 billion in loans and is changing the way lenders connect with borrowers. The platform can shrink into a few days what can often be a weeks- or months-long process of loan applications, data submissions and waiting just to get a loan term sheet.
One Shorewood businesswoman did this all on a website called Kiva.
Shelia Long's business is a workspace that helps ladies who work from home come together to get inspired.
"It was so great as the loans were coming in you can see like Switzerland, Boston, Carlsbad, Texas," said Shelia Long.
One-hundred-thirty-seven people in total used PayPal to help her get to a goal of raising $8,000 at zero-percent interest.
Validus Specialty Underwriting Services, Inc. (Validus Specialty) announced on Thursday a comprehensive package policy specifically designed for private U.S. fintech companies. According to the company, the solution is designed to address Fintech's complex risk management needs, which are traditionally underserved by incompatible and inadequate policy forms.
Last year, marketplace lenders learned that maintaining diverse sources of funding is just as important as managing the credit risk in their loans.
LendingClub, Marlette Funding and others developed their own securitization platforms, rather than relying on whole-loan sales to large investors. They also invited some of these investors to contribute seasoned loans to collateral pools for these in-house deals.
Geopolitical events are the most worrisome prospect on the minds of the decision makers at institutions looking ahead to 2018. The percentage of respondents who believe such events will have a negative impact this year is at 74%. The second most worrisome? Asset bubbles (65%).
More than three fifths (63%) of those surveyed said that the growth of passive investing has increased systemic valuation risk: 59% believe that flows into passive strategies artificially suppress volatility.
In 2015, Natixis found that 64% of institutions said they were upping their investments with active managers. In 2016, that number rose to 67%. In the latest survey it rose again, to 68%.
But Square Pie had sold bonds on the Crowdcube platform, offering lenders 8% a year. It illustrates why so many people are suspicious of mini-bonds (debt issued by small, retail-orientated firms). Anyone thinking of lending to just the one relatively new business has to be aware of the risks – and then ask: is 8% enough?
A more diversified option
The latest offering in this category comes from a platform called Goji, which aggregates a variety of direct-lending and peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. It has just brought out a Renewables Lending Bond, which pays out anything from 5.5% for a three-year term (with regular income) to 7.6% over five years, where the interest is rolled up at repayment. The underlying assets are provided by a direct lender called Prestige Group, which lends to clean-energy projects.
The book of loans – around 39 – has an average duration of four years, with a typical loan-to-value ratio of between 70% and 80%.
More than half (58 percent) of homeowners are planning to spend money on home improvement projects in 2018, according to the fifth annual LightStream Home Improvement Survey. LightStream is the national online lending division of SunTrust Banks, Inc. (NYSE: STI). Budgets for renovations are on the rise: among homeowners planning renovations, 45 percent will spend $5,000 or more — an all-time survey high. Those planning to spend $35,000 or more doubled from 2017.
The survey shows robust enthusiasm for renovation, as well as a thoughtful desire to balance a home's needs and the homeowners' budget, so they have the financial confidence to move forward. Specifically, the survey revealed the following trends:
Home "Sweat" Home
The majority of homeowners plan to invest sweat equity, as 65 percent say they'll do at least some of the work themselves. The 18-34 group is particularly fond of do-it-yourself projects, with 70 percent planning to work on at least a portion of their renovation.
Staying — and Aging — in Place
Only seven percent of homeowners are renovating to prepare their homes to be sold, the lowest percentage since 2015. Instead, 14 percent of homeowners across all age groups — not just baby boomers — are citing "aging in place" as a reason for making a home improvement. Even respondents aged 18 to 34 (11 percent) and 35 to 44 (10 percent) say they're renovating "to prepare my home so I can stay in it as I get older."
Tax Reform Boosting Budgets
With recent passage of tax reform, homeowners have already begun calculating how the changes might affect what they spend on home improvements. One in four homeowners who have set a budget for renovation projects stated that tax reform has had an impact, with 18 percent increasing their budget and seven percent decreasing it.
Paying for Projects
The majority of homeowners (62 percent) plan to pay for projects, at least in part, by using savings. Additional payment strategies were further revealed. Intent to fund through home equity lines of credit (HELOC) jumped from 10 to 13 percent. "U.S. economic growth and limited housing inventory have contributed to healthy home equity gains," said Ellen Koebler, SunTrust head of consumer solutions. "HELOCs can offer a financial solution for many homeowners, as accrued value may be available to tap for renovations."
At the same time, the percentage of people intending to use a home improvement loan has grown 29 percent from 2017 with 54 percent more 18- to 34-year-olds planning to fund projects through home improvement financing.
According to recent research from the National Association of Realtors®, 24% of buyers under age 36 saved for their down payment for more than two years.
NAR research also found that 25% of homebuyers ages 36 and younger used a gift from relatives or friends for some or all of their down payment.
Platforms have popped up that simplify this process: HomeFundMe, which launched last year, and Feather the Nest.
An estimated 1,500 "nesters" have used Feather the Nest to crowdfund a down payment since 2014, according to company president Beth Butler, with an average goal of $10,000 to $15,000.
To help identify FinTech products that may improve the financial health of underserved populations in the U.S., the Financial Solutions Lab (FinLab) launched its fourth annual $3 million challenge. The lab focuses on products that meet the financial needs of overlooked populations, JPMorgan Chase said in an announcement.
Kwittken signs up Laurel Road, online lender of student loans, personal loans and mortgages. Aaron Kwittken's firm will be responsible for raising awareness of the company's products through content marketing, brand activations, thought leadership and traditional media relations. Laurel Road, which is part of Darien Rowayton Bank, recently surpassed $3 billion in student loan originations.
"When we think about the people we hire, it's all about energy," says Funding Circle co-founder James Meekings. "We want staff to share their excitement about what they do with others in the office – even if they're talking about tax."
"Even though we now have 800 employees, we still feel like a small business. We still push for opportunity and for people to be creative."
The £219m Ranger Direct Lending and £337m VPC Specialty Lending investment trusts have announced their latest quarterly dividends with both portfolios showing an uptick since their last pay-outs.
Leeds City Council is to use a peer-to-peer lending platform to lend money to local businesses.
The authority has decided to use the rebuildingsociety.com platform — based in the city — to provide money for small and medium sized businesses with an LS postcode.
Innovative finance Isas (IF Isas) offer the promise of a good return, sheltered from tax, to investors willing to take on the higher risks of the peer to peer (P2P) finance market.
The market has taken longer than expected to ignite, however, as providers struggle to match growing demand with limited supply. Many new investors will find the door shut, at least for now.
Growing consumer indebtedness in the UK combined with the prospect of rising interest rates could push up default rates on loans, sharpening the dangers for those invested in the highest-risk P2P products.
For the tax year 2017-18, the maximum amount you can pay into one – or a combination – of Isas held in your name, is £20,000.
Once the new tax year for 2018-19 begins on 6 April, your allowance resets – once again to £20,000.
There are five main types of Isas. The current annual limits are as follows:
Help to Buy Isa: Money can only be used to buy your first home, and savings receive a government bonus of 25%. You can save £1,200 in the first month, then £200 per month thereafter. Therefore, in the first year you will have a limit of £3,400. In the following years the limit will be £2,400.
Lifetime Isa: Expressly for first-time buyers or to be used in retirement once the account holder has reached the age of 60. There's a 25% government bonus on savings up until the account holder is 50 years old. You can pay in up to £4,000 per year.
Cash Isa: A traditional savings account – money you pay in grows with the provider's interest rate. You can pay in up to £20,000.
Stocks & shares Isa: Money you deposit is invested in stocks & shares by the provider. Returns can be higher, but so is the risk that you may end up with less money than you paid in. There will also usually be fees involved for managing your investments. You can pay in up to £20,000.
Innovative finance Isa: Money paid in is invested in Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platforms, and you receive the interest when this loan is repaid. There is also some risk involved. You can pay in up to £20,000.
The Swedish group posted a 27 per cent increase in revenues to SKr4.53bn ($546m) while net profit more than tripled to SKr346m. Klarna processed about €18bn in online transactions last year, an increase of 42 per cent.
As a result, 89,000 retailers globally now use Klarna products, this represents a 20% growth compared to the previous year. Available in 14 countries, retailers are increasingly adopting Klarna solutions which makes the payment processes as smooth as possible for consumers. As a result of the surge in retailer adoption, Klarna now handles 10% of all online payments in Northern Europe.
This month I added Nexoos.
Mintos reached 500M EUR originated since launch. Twino reached 250M EUR originated since launch.
Decentralized banking is a term that has been construed in the wake of the cryptocurrency boom.
Cryptobanks are decentralized platforms that provide the usual services that centralized banks provide, primarily lending services and credit scoring, but essentially cuts out all of the middlemen that a centralized bank uses. The people needed in a bank to approve loans and structure financial data are replaced in a crypto banking ecosystem by smart contracts and p2p, peer-to-peer, services.
What kind of technologies do crypto banks use?
P2P, Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, Machine Learning, Big Data and smart contracts are used in crypto banking.
All transactions are recorded on the Blockchain.
Machine Learning Big Data.These technologies help to automate the lending process and cut through bureaucracy. AI can work 24/7 and match lenders with borrowers.
Do crypto banks have their own native currency?
Yes. Native cryptocurrencies help make the bank global.
Datarius, the first social p2p crypto bank, for instance, uses their own native token DTRC for all transactions. This helps create a standard for a global payment system within the p2p lending process.
What is social lending?
Thanks to Big Data and AI, crypto banks can see beyond a borrower's credit score to identify their level of trust. Listings can include Trust Limit, Trust Management and User Ratings which helps AI decide if the participant is justified in borrowing from a specific lender.
The entrepreneur's strategy for achieving this can be summarized in three stages. The first consisted of bypassing the banking monopoly on his platform using "cash vouchers," a tool dating from 1937 that had long been forgotten. They allow personal loans to be made without a bank as intermediary. Secondly, by collaborating with future competitors, the public authorities and the sector's regulators(2), the entrepreneur contributed to the development of a long-term crowdlending regulation in France. This collaboration relies on the creation of a meta-organization(3) called "Financement Participatif France" (FPF), which worked to define the status of "Intermédiaire en Financement Participatif" (IFP, equivalent to "crowdlending financing intermediary" in English), which regulates this new market.
Smartag International, Inc. entered into a joint venture agreement with PT. Supratama Makmur Sejahtera ("PTSMS"), an Indonesian Fintech company to form a Joint Venture Indonesian PMA company in which Smartag will own 51% equity and PTSMS will own 49%. This follows an earlier MOU signed on October 12, 2017 between PTSMS and PT Rijan Dinamis Selaras ("RDS") representing Pondok Pesantren Riyadhul Jannah Pacer Mojokerjo, founder of Consultative Assembly of Indonesian Boarding Schools which has a network of 28,000 boarding schools to undertake a Fintech project (the "Indonesian Project").
Author Allen TaylorPosted on March 2, 2018 Categories ArchOver, Banking, Banks, bonds, consumer lending, crowdfunding, CrowdLending, cryptobank, Daily News Digest, decentralized banking, eLoan, Featured, FinLab, Funding Circle, home improvement lending, IFISA, institutional investors, ISA, Kiva, Klarna, Landbay, Lauren Road, Lendio, Lendix, Loanbook Capital, Magilla, Mintos, MoneyThing, MytripleA, News, p2p lending, Proplend, Ranger Direct, real estate lending, Rebuildingsociety, Seed, Smartag International, ThinCats, Toborrow, underwriting, Validus Specialty, VPC Specialty Lending

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Pan searing can greatly enhance the flavors of your meat if you do it right, if you don't it can dry meat out and overcook it. The tricks to pan searing are not overly difficult, but like so many other things in the kitchen, mastering them and learning to throw out the timer in favor of your eyes can be difficult.
To Pan sear you need to start with a slope sided saute pan just large enough to hold what you are searing. If you are buying a pan with searing in mind, choose a heavy aluminum pan that heats evenly. Heating the pan first is essential, and making sure that the pan is hot enough is also vital. Turn your burner on medium heat, let the pan heat until it is fully hot but not smoking.
Add just enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan. The type of fat you use will depend on what you are searing as well as preference. Oil or clarified butter work best. Add your meat to the pan, the side you want to serve up should go face down first.
Now leave the meat until it develops a crust and is about halfway done. Flip the meat and sear the other side until done. You are looking for the meat to feel firmer, as it does when it cooks, you can also use a thermometer to check for doneness until you learn to get the feel for meat that is cooked to perfection.


text:
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Muddled nutrition in Delhi ends up in PIL
The Matri Sudha core team with young trainees
Civil Society News, New Delhi
Published: Jul. 03, 2017
Updated: May. 06, 2019
An estimated 50 percent of children in the National Capital Territory of Delhi are undernourished, but a State Food Commission that can address the problem has not been set up.
The Food Security Act of 2013 stipulates the setting up of food commissions in the states to monitor mid-day meals served in government schools and supplementary nutrition provided in anganwadis, which are mother and child care centres.
It has been more than three years since the enactment of the law, but the state government is yet to appoint a commission even though malnourishment in Delhi is well documented and it is also established that mid-day meals served in schools and anganwadis are of poor quality.
The law seeks to ensure, among many other things, that children from poor homes get at least one good hot meal in a day so that their growth and development is not impeded.
A public interest litigation (PIL) has now been filed in Delhi High Court by Matri Sudha, an NGO involved in child welfare and maternal health.
Matri Sudha wants the High Court to direct the government to set up the State Food Commission without which it won't be possible to deploy expertise and coordinate the work of various arms of the government to bring about a significant improvement in nutritional levels.
The commission is the pivot of the food security law and in its absence, there is no means of evaluating nutritional security nor is it possible to address complaints regarding violation of entitlements.
The law bestows on the commission several crucial functions to deal with the prevention and management of child malnutrition. It is supposed to identify households eligible for foodgrains at subsidised prices. It is expected to make sure that nutritional support reaches pregnant women, lactating mothers and children between the ages of six and 14.
A sparse meal at an anganwadi in Lal Kuan in southeast Delhi
The PIL, which has been filed through advocate Vikram Srivastava, says that in the absence of a State Food Commission, there is a vacuum in monitoring and evaluating the malnutrition situation in Delhi.
Since the Food Security Act is meant to specifically benefit the poor and disempowered, there is no alternative to enforcement of the law by the government.
At Rs 25,000 a month, Delhi has the highest per capita income in the country. Its GDP growth rate is 8.8 percent. But these levels of prosperity do not counterbalance malnutrition and anaemia among children and mothers.
No political party has seriously addressed the problem. It hasn't figured in election manifestos. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has inherited it as a legacy of previous Congress regimes. But despite being three years in power, AAP hasn't acted either.
A free-for-all kind of situation exists with no regulation over quality of meals and credentials of suppliers. There appears to be no coordination between departments. The result is malnutrition has gone up by one percent from 26.1 in 2005-6 to 27 percent in 2016-17.
The need for an accountable system is underlined by the scale of the demand. Roughly 30 percent of Delhi's population exists in slums. On record, there are 1.2 million children who avail of mid-day meal schemes in Delhi government schools. There are 840,000 beneficiaries of supplementary nutrition at anganwadis. This number is lower than the 1.7 million who were getting supplementary nutrition in 2012, which is strange because the number of anganwadis actually went up from 10,607 to 10,897 over the same period.
It is not clear why the State Food Commission has not been set up. Applications made by Matri Sudha under the Right to Information (RTI) Act have elicited confused responses from the state government.
For instance, the government at one stage said that the State Grievances Commission would serve as the State Food Commission. Under the law the government can designate an existing commission to do the job, but using the State Grievances Commission was not a workable idea because it had only two members and no chairman. Moreover, it has no expertise or machinery for dealing with the issues pertaining to child malnutrition.
The government's answer to the latest RTI application by Matri Sudha is that the setting up of a commission is under consideration.
Matri Sudha workers counselling women
Among the many issues that Matri Sudha has raised is that of accountability in the delivery of services. In October 2015, for instance, four service providers in the mid-day meal scheme were blacklisted by the Department of Education because of poor quality of food. Children were falling ill.
However, the same service providers were given contracts for anganwadis by another department of the government. This came to light in the answer to an RTI application filed in August 2016 with the Department of Women and Child Development.
The department provided a list of 23 service providers for supplementary nutrition and Matri Sudha found that three of them were those who had earlier been blacklisted under the mid-day meal scheme.
The PIL cites performance audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG). In its report on the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for the period 2006-07 to 2010-11, the CAG placed Delhi among nine states where malnourished children numbered above 50 percent.
A recent survey undertaken by CRY, an NGO dealing with child rights, in Delhi's slums also found 50 percent of the children surveyed to be malnourished. (See Civil Society January 2016.)
The CAG found 89 percent of cooked mid-day meals in Delhi failed to meet standards and that supervision by government departments was lacking.
Matri Sudha says in its PIL: "The concerned departments, primarily Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) and Department of Education (DOE) and their contractors responsible for providing adequate and nutritious food to children have been indicted of violations, unregulated operations and sub-standard food containing at times even extraneous elements such as lizards by the CAG."
"The petitioners submit that the non-appointment of the Food Commission in Delhi as mandated under the National Food Security Act, 2013 is one of the major causes for this poor state of affairs and leading to gross violations of children's right to health."
Matri Sudha's team consists of young people who work in the slums of Delhi. They promote awareness of nutrition and help pregnant women and mothers access government schemes.
Arvind Singh of Matri Sudha
Arvind Singh, 32, plays a lead role in Matri Sudha. His interest in malnutrition began with a project on iodine deficiency in eastern Uttar Pradesh. When he returned to Delhi, the CAG reports highlighting malnutrition in the capital were just out.
"It hit me that in Delhi, GDP is high, per capita income is high but that is completely contrary to what is happening at the grassroots. So, we started analysing government reports of the women and child development ministry and we found that there were clear-cut governance issues involved. We also started picking up issues that are linked directly or indirectly to malnutrition," says Singh.
"These were issues like tuberculosis, which is ignored by the government. For severely malnourished children with medical complications the government has a protocol. The ministry of health and family welfare has guidelines for such children. There are institutions in Delhi in all government facilities where such services are supposed to be provided. District hospitals are supposed to have nutritional support centres," Singh explains.
"We started filing RTIs. We went to government hospitals: Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, Guru Gobind Singh Hospital and the situation was exactly what we found in the reports. We did face-to-face interviews with the families whose children were admitted in those hospitals. In 2011, the National Commission for Child Rights came out with a fact-finding report on the ICDS which flagged issues of nutrition and the ICDS."
Matri Sudha's concern was that when facilities existed there was no reason why children should be allowed to fall into the third and fourth stages of malnutrition. It wanted to get the system working.
Under the ICDS anganwadi workers are the primary people who identify malnourished children. They are linked with the Asha workers, who under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), are linked to the primary health centres (PHCs).
But the Ashas and anganwadi workers have to be monitored. Similarly, the primary health centres have land and budgets but aren't functioning. Additionally, the AAP government has bypassed them by announcing Mohalla Clinics, thereby further distorting the system.
The ICDS has 95 projects covering a million beneficiaries — 200,000 pregnant and lactating mothers and 800,000 children from 0-6 years of age.
But Matri Sudha found to its surprise that only 65 children had been officially listed as severely underweight by the government.
So, the NGO conducted its own small survey in a part of southeast Delhi where it was working. It found that even in its tiny sample of 345 children below six years, about 31 were in the second and third stages of malnutrition. There was clearly something amiss with the state government's figures.
Anganwadi workers are the primary people who identify malnourished children
"There is a dedicated budget for malnourished children under the National Food Security Act and the government has revised the supplementary nutrition norms and costing in every state," says Singh. "After we brought this discrepancy to light we saw a change in the Delhi government report. In its last report, the figure for severely malnourished children went up to 1,000."
Matri Sudha reached out to the government. Singh says he went to the Delhi Secretariat and explained the situation to Sandeep Kumar, Minister for Women and Child Development. The additional director was also there. After an hour-long presentation, he said we will form a group to look into the matter.
"We waited six months and then again approached him. He said he had put inspectors and volunteers at the centres. We told him that wouldn't work because it was really a convergence problem between the two different ministries for women and child development and family welfare," says Singh.
"I also met Satyender Jain, the Delhi health minister in 2015. We went with a report on the PHCs. There are 240 plus in Delhi. The first point of reference for a malnourished child is the PHC. The municipal corporations operate a parallel system of maternity centres and dispensaries," says Singh.
"I told him, under the National Health Mission, the PHCs are to be strengthened by improving infrastructure. Their number is also to be increased. But meanwhile, the AAP government came up with its own parameters and left behind the 240 PHCs which have funding. They set up Mohalla Clinics though it would be so much wiser to strengthen existing PHCs, which already have human resources."
A woman whose malnourished children were helped by Matri Sudha
shailesh - Dec. 7, 2017, 5:44 p.m.
Amazing story with amazing images but sorry to say the photo editor has done a really bad job. The images look very hdr typish. It could have been an extra ordinary story if the photo editor had done his work properly.
Dr Chiranjeeb Kakoty - July 13, 2017, 9:15 a.m.
These 3 sentences sum it up all "No political party has seriously addressed the problem. It hasn't figured in election manifestos. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has inherited it as a legacy of previous Congress regimes. But despite being three years in power, AAP hasn't acted either." Children need priority attention and investments. As residents of India, they are entitled to a few rights and providing them their rights should not be taken as charity or some favour. It is not that funds is the major crunch- the major crunch is the will from within. A government, a department and a commission, no matter what we wish to name is a reflection of the society's mind set. Let us accept this fact first.
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If you want a chic Sydney venue with a relaxed atmosphere, beautiful interiors and superb water views, Café Birkenhead is just ideal. This place is a charming café during daytime and a glam venue at night where you can indulge in great food cocktails, wine and spirits. It also has a five-star service which is very important if you are considering hosting an important event such as your engagement party, hen's night or even a wedding.
Café Birkenhead can cater for 140 people at a sit-down style reception or for 200 guests at a cocktail party. Their packages are flexible, so you can choose the menu, beverages and the venue set up that suits your taste or budget. They love tailoring events according to the needs and desires of their clients, so just tell them what you want and the staff will do their best to fulfil your wishes.
Wedding venue at the Café Birkenhead is truly beautiful. Big windows provide plenty of natural light and sweeping water views towards the North Sydney, so you and your guests can sit back, relax and enjoy the evening in this elegant setting. Whether you prefer vintage-style, modern minimalism or any other style, the room can be designed to suit any theme or colour scheme.


text:
Priest–penitent privilege in France and the western portion of Europe received public recognition at a very early date owing to the perceived sacredness of the Seal of the Confessional.

History

Early writings
Among the Capitularies of Charlemagne, the first capitulary of the year 813 demands:

The "Austria" here referred to is the eastern part of the old Western Empire, then called Austria.

In France it was an established principle not only that a confessor could not be examined in a court of justice as to matters revealed to him in confession, but that admissions made in confession, if disclosed, might not be received or acted upon by the court and would not be evidence. Merlin(see Talk:Priest-penitent privilege in France#Merlin) and Guyot(see Talk:Priest-penitent privilege in France#Guyot), distinguished writers on French jurisprudence, cite a decree of the Parliament of Normandy deciding the principle and laying down that a person charged upon the evidence of a confession cannot be convicted and must be discharged. They cite decrees of other Parliaments laying down the sacredness of the seal of confession. Among others, they cite a decree of the Parliament of Paris in 1580, that a confessor could not be compelled to disclose the accomplices of a certain criminal, whose names the criminal had confessed to him when going to the scaffold. These decrees were judicial. The appellant's counsel in the Quebec case of Gill v. Bouchard, yields much valuable information on the French law upon the subject. In that argument there is cited a decree by the Parliament of Flanders in 1776 declaring that the evidence of a witness who repeated a confession which he had overheard was not admissible, and reversing the judgment which had been passed on the admission of such evidence.

Charles Muteau, another distinguished French jurist, speaks in clear and emphatic terms of the sacredness of the seal, citing, also, various instances in proof. He tells us in a foot-note of a certain Marquise de Brinvilliers, among whose papers, after she had been arrested, was found a general confession (apparently made in pursuance of religious discipline) accusing herself of an attempt to murder various members of her family. The court trying her, he says, absolutely ignored this confession: Muteau gives us a quotation from rodius in Pandect f.73, in which rodius says:

In Bonino's Case, which is cited in the course of the appellant's argument in Gill v. Bouchard as having been decided by the Court of Cassation of Turin (at that time part of the French Empire) in February 1810, and as being reported in the Journal du Palais périodique, VIII, 667, the court is reported to have decided that an open avowal made by a penitent in consequence of his being counselled in confession to make such avowal ought not to be received in evidence against him.

Merlin and Muteau tell us that formerly the breach of the seal by a priest was punishable with death. Guyot says that canonists are not agreed as to whether the breach is an offence recognizable by the civil courts [si c'est un délit commun ou un cas royal], but that several canonists maintain that the civil judges ought to have cognizance of it. This appears to be his own view because the breach is a grave crime against religion and society, a public scandal, and a sacrilege. He cites, however, a decree of the Parliament of Toulouse of 16 February 1679, deciding that the cognizance of the offence belonged to the ecclesiastical judge.

High treason
All these three writers except from the general inviolability of the seal the single case of high treason, that is, an offence against the person of the king or against the safety of the State. Merlin and Guyot, appear to base their authority for this exception on a statement by Laurent Bouchel (1559–1629), a distinguished French advocate who practised before the French Parliament. He was also an expert in canon law and he wrote a work on the Decrees of the Gallican Church. They cite Bouchel as stating that:

It is to be noticed that this statement by Bouchel, as cited by Merlin and Guyot, does not mention any decree or decision or any other authority supporting it. Muteau, in excepting high treason, appears to base the exception mainly upon a decree of Louis XI, of 22 December 1477, enjoining "upon all persons whatsoever" to denounce certain crimes against the safety of the State and the person of the king which might come to their knowledge. He says that the theologians have invariably maintained that confessors were not included among persons bound to reveal high treason. Muteau points out, also, that the Inquisition itself uniformly laid down that "never, in no interest," should the seal of confession be violated.

Dalloz
Désiré Dalloz in his learned and comprehensive work on jurisprudence, in which the whole of French law is compiled and commented on under the numerous subjects affected by it, says that as the laws of France (his work was published in 1853, when he was an advocate practising at the imperial Court of Paris) protect the rules of ecclesiastical discipline, they could not exact from the clergyman, in breach of these rules, the disclosure of secrets revealed to him in the exercise of his ministry. Citing the canon of the Fourth Lateran Council enjoining the secrecy of the seal, which, he tells us, only reproduces an older rule going back to the year 600, he observes that the inviolability declared by it is absolute and without distinction.

The decision of the Court of Cassation in Laveine's Case (30 November 1810, Recueil général des lois et des arrêts, XI, i, 49) affords support, not by the actual decision, but by certain words used in it, to the contention for the exception of high treason, while the actual decision is commonly cited as one of the leading judicial authorities for the general principle of the immunity of the confessor. It was a case in which restitution had been made by a thief through a priest outside confession, the thief, however, stating at the time that he regarded the conversation as being to his confessor and as made under the seal of confession, to which the priest assented. The court of first instance held that only a communication received in sacramental confession would be privileged and that, therefore, the priest was bound in this case to disclose the name of the thief. The Court of Cassation reversed this decision. Its judgment commences with a reference to the existence of the Concordat of 1801 and to the result that the Catholic religion is placed under the protection of the State, and it goes on to say that a confessor may not be ordered to disclose secret communications made to him in the exercise of his calling, "excepting those cases which appertain directly to the safety of the State" [hors les cas qui tiennent immédiatement à la sûreté de l'état]. Commenting on these words, Dalloz says that the jurist, Jean Marie Emmanuel Legraverend (1776–1827), admits the exception. Dalloz appears not to agree with it:

Article 378
By Art. 378 of the Code pénal impérial français, the French Penal Code promulgated in 1810:

The exception, mentioned in the article, of persons obliged by law to be informers, as pointed out by Dalloz, became obsolete because Arts 103–107, which dealt with the obligation of informing, were repealed by the law of 28 April 1832. Dr. H. F. Rivière, counsellor to the Court of Cassation, in his edition of the French Codes (Code Pénal, p. 68) has a note to that effect. Armand Dalloz, the brother and collaborator of the author of the Jurisprudence générale, says in another work:

The same writer says that the exception of the confessor is deduced from the principle of Art. 378, from the needs of the soul and, above all, from the laws which have recognized the Catholic religion. He continues:

In Fay's Case [(4 December 1891), Recueil général des lois et des arrêts, 1892, 1, 473] the Court of Cassation held that the ministers of religions legally recognized are obliged to keep secret communications made to them by reason of their functions; and that with regard to priests no distinction is made as to whether the secret is made known in confession or outside it, and the obligation of secrecy is absolute and is a matter of public policy. The annotator of the report begins his notes by saying that it is a universally admitted point that the exemption from giving evidence is necessarily extended to priests with regard to the matters confided to them in confession. He cites, among other cases, one of the Court of Cassation in Belgium declaring that there has never been any doubt that priests are not bound to disclose confessions in the witness box. The Concordat of 1801 was abrogated by the 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State. However, some terms of the Concordat are still in effect in the Alsace-Moselle region, as it was controlled by the German Empire at the time of the law's passage and today maintains a specific local law. The Catholic religion being no longer established in France under the auspices of the State, part of the grounds adduced for some of the decisions cited above cease to hold good. The 1810 Penal Code was superseded by a new Penal Code in 1994.

2020's
In October 2021, a report which investigated sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy and lay persons employed by the church, recommended to require priests to notify the police about child abuse cases that are mentioned in confession. Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort rejected the recommendation. Interior minister Darmanin told him in a meeting that priests are obliged to report cases of sexual violence against children, even when heard in the confessional, to the police. The spokesperson for the French bishops' conference later said that they are not required to do that.

References

Sources

 Code pénal impérial français

Evidence law
Law about religion in France
France

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


JAVA API: Set Active/Inactive task in schedule Monitor.
Do any one has sample code or advice for this? or which class in JAVA that do this action?
Sets this ScheduleTask active or inactive.
Thanks all Peter Grundler Michael Coxson. I really appreciate your helps.
I have tried ScheduleTask as well but it seems that it is to modify the schedule definition (Edit mode).
However what I need is to activate/inactivate fromactivity window of schedule (Last monitor).
The one that show little clock-with-a-pencil icon after editing.
Ah, ok. So you need to set active/inactive a time in a running schedule. From the looks of it that is not possible, as the ScheduleMonitor.Task object only offers "gets" and if you check your own screenshots above you will see (Read Only) in the title field of the Task Properties window. My guess is that once the ScheduleTasks are committed to the engine their start times are set, though it may be possible to modify them with an AE script call--I'd have to check.
In short: I dont think there is a way to do this with the API currently.
As correctly pointed out by Michael & Peter, there is a Schedule class and a ScheduleTask class in the API. The Schedule class represents a SCHED object, and the ScheduleTask represents a single task / entry in a SCHED object.. however, they do not represent a running SCHED object (just its definition).
the actual SCHED monitor is represented by class "ScheduleMonitor" and this gives access to an iterator of ScheduleMonitor.Task objects.. which, you guessed it, represent the live Tasks of a live SCHED Monitor (so basically that would be the object you are trying to Activate / Deactivate).
Unfortunately, the ScheduleMonitor.Task only has "getters" methods, no "setters" method.. so you cannot use it to set its status.
Why this class has no "setters" is unclear to me. I have tried to circumvent this a few times with no success so far.
Also, FYI, i am double checking with our engineering dept to make sure im not missing anything and this is indeed not currently possible..
I will post their response here when i get it!
I got confirmation that this operation is indeed not currently covered by the Java API. I will be opening a Product Enhancement around it indeed.
So at this point, Surawadee, your best bet is essentially to clear your current executing Schedule from the Schedule Monitor, modify the Schedule object to activate/deactivate the given Tasks, and then re-execute the Schedule to place it back into the Monitor. It's certainly a more "permanent" update, but currently it looks like about the only real method to achieve your result.
Michael_Coxson_5769 Thanks for the suggestion :) I actually would like to avoid the ID to have modify permission in production system. I checked the AE script before checking on this JAVA API but it does not exist. Only active JOBP can be modified, not JSCH.
brendan_sapience_automic Thanks for checking on this. It would be really helpful if this feature can be done via the AE script as well as MODIFY_TASK does for JOBP.
i added a request in the Ideation system for this, feel free to vote it up when you see it (it will likely be visible tomorrow)!
I saw you posted the idea last year. Was it the same thing ?
possibly... i dont have access to the external request and couldnt locate my original request..


text:
Lab, research facility design: Building automation and controls
Learn tips on how to design labs and research facilities — some of the most high-tech buildings around
By Consulting-Specifying Engineer December 26, 2019
The University of South Florida Health Morsani College and Heart Institute is a new research and teaching facility designed to provide students with a high-tech learning environment, along with an advanced research facility to explore new heart disease treatments. Features include clinical teaching laboratories, large lecture halls, smaller classrooms and teaching labs and flexible space. Courtesy: TLC Engineering Solutions
Kelley Cramm, PE, LEED AP BD+C
Associate/Mechanical Technical Leader
Henderson Engineers
Bryan Floth, LEED AP, AIA
George Isherwood, PE
Vice President, Health Care/Laboratory Group Leader
Peter Basso Associates Inc.
Troy, Mich.
Adam Judge, PE
Associate/Mechanical Project Engineer
Iain Siery, PE
David Wilson, PE, LEED AP
Kelley Cramm
Cramm is an associate and mechanical technical leader at Henderson Engineers. She received a 2019 ASHRAE Exceptional Service Award and has more than 30 years of industry experience.
Bryan Floth
Floth leads architecture and integrated design-build projects across the U.S. for the company. With nearly 30 years of experience, he has partnered with clients throughout his career to design and implement complex higher education, commercial, industrial, institutional and mission critical facilities.
George Isherwood
Over his 35-year career, Isherwood has worked on numerous new-construction and renovation projects. His health care work includes patient towers, ambulatory care facilities, operating rooms, cardiac catheterization labs and more.
Adam Judge
As Associate/Mechanical Engineer, Judge works on a broad range of project types. He has a wealth of laboratory experience, including recent renovations at the University of South Florida College of Medicine.
Iain Siery
Siery brings 14 years of progressive experience to the science and technology sector to CRB. His areas of specialty include mechanical utilities, HVAC, industrial ventilation and plumbing design for critical environments in R&D and manufacturing.
As senior engineer with Dewberry, Wilson centers his work on mechanical, electrical and plumbing projects. He brings more than three decades of engineering experience to the firm.
CSE: From your experience, what systems within laboratory and research facility projects are benefiting from automation that previously might not have been?
Cramm: Laboratory airflow control systems have advanced significantly in the past five to seven years. There are many new products and systems on the market that allow for improved airflow, temperature control and speed of response. Many of these systems provide feedback information that was not previously available such as true airflow measurement and fume hood face velocity.
Likewise, the technology improvements in occupancy-based controls has provided the opportunity to reduce airflows during unoccupied hours. In the past, we didn't use occupancy sensors in labs due to their inability to sense a researcher who may not be moving around much. Dual technology sensors have advanced such that they are viable for research laboratories.
Judge: Integration and communication between different building systems is becoming more straightforward. With the standardization of BACnet, lighting controls and occupancy sensors, laboratory temperature and airflow control systems and building-level HVAC system controls can often "talk" to each other without complicated gateways and hours of programming required to "translate" programming languages between systems.
CSE: What types of system integration and/or interoperability issues have you overcome for these projects and how did you do so?
Wilson: Providing uninterruptable utility systems to minimize loss of research due to loss of power, utility shutdowns, etc. Serving systems from an emergency power source, providing UPS systems to controls and equipment and providing redundant utility systems generating equipment to minimize any loss of research due to unexpected utility outages.
Judge: In the past, integration between the laboratory temperature and airflow control system (i.e., lab controllers and air valves) and the buildingwide automation system was frequently a challenge. The two systems rarely spoke the same language, so gateways had to be installed and programmers on both sides had to spend hours programming translations between the two systems. This often led to finger pointing between the two integrators as to who was responsible for the gray area in between. It is becoming more typical now for these systems to speak BACnet at the integration level, regardless of the communication protocol used at the device level, making integration much simpler.
Cramm: The classic problem in laboratories has long been difficulty integrating the laboratory airflow control system with the building management system. It used to be that the laboratory airflow controls could not be monitored from the BMS and if they could, there was no way to change setpoints or make adjustments. Many times, the lab airflow controls were a "black box." The industry is now embracing BACnet in a way that allows this integration to occur more seamlessly.
The other factor that has influenced this is the increase in laboratory airflow systems on the market. Many of these systems are BACnet-based, which allows them to be seen and controlled directly from the BMS.
CSE: Is your team using building information modeling in conjunction with the architects, trades and owner to design a project? Describe an instance in which you've turned over the BIM to the facility maintenance team for long-term operations and maintenance or measurement and verification.
Floth: Today, approximately 50% of our clients use BIM and understand how it can be integrated into their operations specifications. For us that BIM model is maintained by us through construction, then it's turned back over to the owners if all the correct information is plugged into it. It takes a lot of effort to maintain that BIM model once the building goes into operation but we're seeing an increase in how many owners are doing that.
Judge: TLC has been on the forefront of 3D design and BIM for years. Today is highly uncommon for engineers and architects to not use the Autodesk Revit BIM platform as a standard. The level of development varies from project, with most projects falling in the LOD 250 to 300 range. We have had minimal requirements from owners to provide higher LODs to the point that the BIM contains O&M and/or M&V information but have very recently started seeing this. This is typically a joint effort between the design team and the contractors. We have not yet seen an owner that had leveraged this level of BIM for these uses though.
Wilson: I have used BIM modeling in conjunction with architects as that is direction our industry is going at the moment. We did a new facility project where the Revit model was turned over to the owner for use for maintenance and updated as changes have been made to the facility as space functions have changed or when shelled future space was upfitted.
CSE: Have you included virtual reality or augmented reality in the design of such a project?
Wilson: I have been involved in a VR project where the BIM model was used to create a VR model for the research space. The users found the VR was very useful in understanding how the space would look once constructed as they could visually move through the space as if a mock-up space was built.
Judge: We have used VR to give owners, facility managers and architects virtual tours of mechanical and electrical rooms. This has been especially useful at demonstrating the level of accessibility for maintenance to equipment that may not translate easily on 2D drawings. We have also used VR technology to analyze congested above-ceiling areas and clashes.
Floth: Technology continues to drive quality, safety and speed to market and we are always embracing technology to provide better tools and more mobile applications. We are better today at obtaining information from the field and immediately disseminating that information to our clients and our teams. We are bringing the field to the office by using 3D laser scanning and AR. Many of our presentations are introducing VR to many of our clients for the first time. This is not just a cool way to convey our design plans, but a valuable tool that introduces a new way for clients to understand their projects, see areas for improvement and make changes in the design stage before they get expensive.
It's also been used with the constructability trades, with the contractors in design, to let everyone understand we're able to walk around in the BIM model and truly see some of the clearances, the conflicts, the clashes, the systems and where things may actually be changed with the design of the facility to make it much easier to build.
Photo courtesy: TLC Engineering
CSE: In what way is the need for more smart technology and features in such buildings affecting your work on these projects?
Judge: Smart technologies and features allow us to be more creative in our designs and provide owners with highly sustainable and resilient buildings. The challenge is explaining these systems to all stakeholders in the project to get sufficient buy-in to be able to implement them in the design.
Floth: New technology and new features are not significantly making building these facilities more complicated. There's not a lot of infrastructure, like pipe and wire that really starts to change to the way the building gets done from a design perspective. It does, however, open up opportunities for new configurations of things like lighting, systems, air, etc., because they are being controlled very easily from a basic controls system. So, it's not actually shifting construction methods or processes as much as it is with controls.
CSE: Has the "internet of things" come up in discussion or been implemented on such projects? How has this integration impacted the project?
Judge: Integration of multiple building systems, smart system analytics and energy and maintenance dashboard allow owners to see in detail how their systems are operating in real time. This has allowed preventive maintenance to evolve into predictive maintenance. These building analytics can now predict and alert the owner when systems are trending toward problems. One of our health care clients is going to be moving to a preventive maintenance platform that will analyze how the filters load up in their air handling units. As these data are collected and trended, the system will be able to not only alter the operations staff when the filters are ready to be changed, but alert them ahead of time when it is time to order new filters.
CSE: Cybersecurity and vulnerability are increasing concerns. Are you encountering worry/resistance around wireless technology and IoT as the prevalence of such features increases? How are you responding to these concerns?
Isherwood: We have been working with the technology groups within our owners' organizations. Some owners are limiting some functionality of the building systems to eliminate potential outside access to their networks. Part of this issue is the owners are hiring contract maintenance groups and not allowing them access to their network. Building technology needs to be on its own stand-alone platform and not linked to the sensitive technology of the owners' network. This increases costs when the building network runs parallel to the owners' network. The management of technology is a growing concern among the owners we work with.
Judge: Yes, especially with large institutions such as university systems, there is a great concern about cybersecurity. Typically, as long as the owner's information technology team is made fully aware of who needs access, what the system can and cannot see and do and how exactly it needs to attach to the network, appropriate means can be taken to provide connectivity without compromising cybersecurity.
CSE: How has your technology team worked with facility managers to implement security technology (biometrics, card-scan, etc.) in such facilities?
Floth: We're very much attuned to what's required, for example, to provide a biometric scan entry card location, just as we are to what's required to design and build a secure facility. Our co-team approach with mission critical work is extremely focused on bunker-type facilities related to data management and data storage in terms of servers and things like that. And those things are integrated. So, from a research facility standpoint, these things are all handled by very sophisticated systems that all they really require is some internet connectivity and fiber connections — as long as they are placed somewhat within the functional layout of the building and correctly, from an architectural perspective.
Consulting-Specifying Engineer