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Lee Byung Wook of South Korea Wins IMSTA FESTA’s 2018 Songwriting Competition
The International Music Software Trade Association (IMSTA) today announced that 20-year-old Lee Byung Wook of Seoul, South Korea, has won the 2018 Songwriting Competition hosted by IMSTA, which holds music technology celebrations in cities around the world. Lee first won the Seoul regional finals of the 2018 edition of the IMSTA Songwriting Competition at IMSTA FESTA Seoul and then beat out regional finalists from cities including Los Angeles, Berlin, Chicago, Toronto, New York, and Miami to win the 2018 IMSTA Songwriting Competition and an all-expense-paid trip to Santorini, Greece, to be part of a songwriting camp at the prestigious Black Rock Studios. “The quality of the songs reviewed during this year’s competition was exceptional, and we were impressed by the diversity of genres represented and by the increased presence of women songwriters,” said Ray Williams, managing director at IMSTA. “In the end, Lee’s song was undoubtedly the most remarkable. The young man’s talent is just tremendous. His song and the ease with which he played around with equipment during the Seoul show made it clear that he has put countless hours and immense passion into his craft.” Lee came into the competition as a relative unknown and early on went up against older, more experienced K-pop songwriters from Korea who are already getting their work placed. He delivered a contest entry that outshone every other song at the regional competition in Seoul and later found similar success in the final round of judging. With his song, he demonstrated a mastery of Western pop and his talent working with recording and mixing technologies. Since winning the competition, Lee has been picked up by a Seoul-based production group, becoming a professional member of the field. “We’re proud to shine a light on songwriters from around the globe — even in what some consider out-of-the-way places that might not seem like a source for truly great music,” added Williams. “Lee is an example of how our events can help to bring talent into the spotlight, and we can’t wait to see where he’ll go from here.” Black Rock will be among the first stops along Lee’s future path. A combination luxury villa and world-class recording studio, Black Rock has hosted numerous chart-topping songwriters, artists, and producers. Over the course of four days, Lee will join other songwriters from different cities and countries to write four songs. He’ll have the opportunity to make industry connections spanning the globe and to carry on international collaboration following the songwriting camp.. Further information about IMSTA, IMSTA FESTA, and the IMSTA FESTA Songwriting Contest is available at www.imsta.org
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Statement by the Supervisory Board of LOT Polish Airlines
The Supervisory Board of LOT Polish Airlines, having completed recruitment procedure, is going to appoint, on September 1, Mr. Rafał Milczarski to the position of the company’s President of the Management Board. As of September 1, Ms. Katarzyna Piskorz is going to serve as Member of the Management Board for Corporate Affairs, while Mr. Paweł Rozkrut is going to become Member of the Management Board for Financial and Economic Affairs on September 16. Mr. Rafał Milczarski has been President of the Management Board of LOT since January 2016. He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Cambridge University. During his studies, he worked as intern at UBS Bank in Zurich and JP Morgan in London. He has an extensive international experience in the transport industry. After studies, he worked in the maritime and railway logistics department at Foster Yeoman in the UK. He co-founded Kolej Bałtycka (Baltic Rail), one of the first private railway carriers of goods in Poland. In 2005, together with a UK industry investor, Freightliner Group, he founded Freightliner PL – a freight rail carrier. As President and Co-owner, he led the company from a start-up to the achievement of a few per cent share of the freight market in Poland. He was also the founder and former CEO of Freightliner DE, German subsidiary of Freightliner PL, and Association of Independent Railways. Since 2017, Mr. Milczarski has been President of AIRE (Airlines International Representation in Europe), which brings together airline carriers from across Europe. Since 2017, he has been President of Polska Grupa Lotnicza (Polish Aviation Group). The Group is formed by the key companies in the aviation industry that are owned by the Polish Treasury, including LOT Polish Airlines, LOT AMS and LS Airport Services. In August 2019, Mr. Milczarski was appointed to the IATA Board of Governors. Ms. Katarzyna Piskorz is an experienced corporate manager. For 15 years, she worked in PZU Group – the largest financial institution in Poland and Central and Eastern Europe. She managed the department that served as the competence centre for corporate functions. For more than two years, she has been managing the Department of the Management Board in PFR Nieruchomości (formerly BGK Nieruchomości) – the company which is an asset manager of two investment funds and provides operational services for SPVs of both of these funds, as a part of Poland’s National Housing Programme. Mr. Paweł Rozkrut has many years of international experience as a Board Member and Financial Director. He graduated from the University of Economics in Kraków in the field of Economics and studied physics at the Jagiellonian University. He worked in managerial positions at Unilever Polska, Cadbury Group in Poland and the UK, Cefic Polska, BP Castrol and AmeriGas Polska. At corporate structures he managed, he was responsible, among others, for reporting financial results of multiple countries and trading centres according to IFRS and US GAAP, control and compliance with SOX, managing numerous departments, as well as implementing best practices in the field of controlling. He has been a long-time member of the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).
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The world admires with inspiration : Kim Jin-sook CEO & Chairman of Karasadae Co., Ltd.
Speaking of two letters “hair loss,” usually leads to a middle-aged man who typically has a potbelly and looks older. Hair loss is often thought to be the most significant genetic factor. Of course, it's not 100% wrong. However, in addition to genetic predisposition, more and more adult men and women are worried about hair loss due to a strict diet, incorrect eating habits, smoking, and excessive stress. All these phenomena would mean that we are living in a world where hair loss is no longer a worry for men alone. Some say it is the era of 10 million baldness. We are facing direct or indirect hair loss-related products that are so incalculable today. All products promote efficacy and results, but the worrisome public is always worried about which product to choose. However, general hair loss products are challenging to expect effectiveness in a short time, such as a day or two. Most consumers have no choice but to rely on popular products or recommendations from people around them, and this method is the most significant part of the decision to purchase a product. In my twenties and thirties, I, a reporter, was confident that I had a lot of hair, and I thought that hair loss was a story of others. But, now I’m in my mid-forties, I cannot say it anymore as I feel my hair is thinner and my forehead is wider. I became increasingly interested in hair loss products and purchased expensive products one by one that piled up in my house. In the meantime, as a reporter who met K1-CURE through word of mouth and met with Kim Jin-sook, CEO of Karasadae Co., Ltd., and also as a consumer who represents the heart of all middle-aged men who would like to protect their ‘one string of confidence,’ I listened to CEO Kim's 24-years of know-how and management philosophy. ■ Girl's Dream and the First Step Kim Jin-sook was born in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do as the third child of three sons and one daughter. Her family wasn't wealthy when she was a child, but she grew up with no discomfort. In order to continue her studies in a larger city, her family moved to Daegu when CEO Kim entered middle school, but a year later, the family’s financial circumstance turned down unexpectedly. But, even in such difficulties, rather than being frustrated, she thought, “I can still help someone." And she was more interested in volunteering work. Her decision led to rewarding activities such as visiting underprivileged areas such as orphanages and nursing homes to clean up, or to assist seniors in bathing. However, CEO Kim, who did not stop at a reward, was dreaming of a hairdresser at the time and thinking that she would like to combine volunteering activities and beauty work. Also, she felt sorry there was no barber and hairdresser for volunteering. This dream came true after she married in 1990. In the early nineties, She got a hairdresser's license and started working on beauty. CEO Kim Jin-sook, who was reminiscent of the time, laughed saying, “I became more interested in beauty by doing beauty volunteering rather than by serving clients as a hairdresser.” She worked as a beauty volunteer and hairdresser. She registered her business in 1996 and opened a hair salon called 'Hairbank Karasadae' on Rodeo Street near Beomgye Station. CEO Kim, who became famous as a hairdresser afterward, has been a seminar lecturer for color, perm, and scalp clinic at home and abroad. As she lectured at seminars and cared for clients at her hair salon, she found that many worried about hair loss. CEO Kim, who had exposed to the grievances of customers, presented a product with customized preparations for the customers to easily care for the scalp. However, these products responded surprisingly well, and the number of customers increased, and as word of mouth grew, many consumers wanted to buy the product. Gradually, the demand surpassed the supply and reached a point where an individual cannot handle the order. CEO Kim made her mind, “What about launching a brand and producing a scalp care product?” As a result, “Karasadae Co., Ltd.” was born. ■ Step by Step, Slowly but Accurately Word-of-mouth about customized products has gone beyond Korea to the ears of many Asian buyers. Eventually, in 2012, she established Karasdae Co., Ltd. for export, launched the K1-CURE brand and began supplying it to the domestic and Thailand, Malaysia, China, Philippines, and Vietnam. Currently, the major products of Karasadae are mainly made up of professional products that match the concept of the trouble of scalp and hair, and hair loss care. In addition, Karasadae does not focus on advertising or promotion to reduce the burden on consumers. The company has drastically reduced the distribution stage by operating, demonstrating, and selling through various direct stores and franchises, mostly plastic surgery, dermatology, hair salons, spa, aesthetic shop and pharmacies. Currently, the Karasadae care products are ‘K1-CURE Scalp Shampoo ‘and ‘K1-CURE Scalp Tonic Serum’ that passed KFDA (Korea Food and Drug Administration) in 2012 and are a functional cosmetic line mainly used in specialty shops. And, there are two types of cosmetics for the scalp: 'K1-CURE Scaling Toner' and ‘K1-CURE Scalp Gel’. CEO Kim said, “K1-CURE Scalp Shampoo is a soft, delicate lotion-type shampoo foam that can cleanse waste materials without irritation, and help alleviate hair loss symptoms. K1-CURE Scalp Tonic Serum, which contains Karasadae N.T Complex ingredients that combine the unique technology of Karasadae, helps anti-aging care to the scalp and hair. ” and showed strong confidence. In addition to these Karasadae's products, there are four KARASADAE’s products (scaling toners, shampoos, gel packs, and tonic serums) that are targeting China for export and general household use. There is a Thai export-only product, ‘Mass H-1 Scalp Tonic Serum’. In particular, four of KARASADAE's products for export to China passed the CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) in March and obtained a permit. Also, in November, at the Myeong-dong Lotte Hotel, the company signed a contract for rapid export with Vietnam. ■ With the heart of Joan of Arc Indeed, Karasadae Co., Ltd. was ambitiously established in 2012, but it did not have sufficient enough capital or support except technology. At this time, the company could not adequately promote, and its financial pressures increased with an inventory. However, CEO Kim Jin-sook chose to make direct breakthroughs with domestic and foreign consumers. She participated in the Seoul Wig Hair Loss Prevention Exhibition and gave a strong impression by giving seminar lectures. The company attended the booths at various exhibitions and has been trying its best to meet even one more consumer. The numerous exhibitions include the Myanmar-Malaysia and China (Shanghai) Trade and Trade Promotion Agencies, 7th Korea Brand Daejeon, Health & Beauty Week, Imported goods and excellent goods exhibition, International Rotary Club Seoul, G-fair Korea Excellent Product Exhibition, Korea International Tourism Exhibition, Excellent Small and Medium Business Marketing Competition, and Seoul International Cosmo Beauty Industry Fair. Have anyone noticed these efforts of Karasadae? Several agencies have begun to respond. In 2013, the company promoted industry-university cooperation and joint development with Seoul National University of Science and Technology and completed technology transfer from Seoul National University of Science and Technology in 2014. At that time, the products of Karasadae entered three branches of some famous department stores. In 2015, the company was selected as one of the top 100 export frontier companies in Gyeonggi-do and obtained ISO9001/2008 quality management certification. Besides, it signed a contract to enter Chongqing Shopping Center, CITIC Group, China. In 2016, it was proudly selected for a China-focused certification support project, a customized Solomon support project for women companies, a Design Export Club project, and a 2016 new export support project. As the products of Karasadae gained popularity both at home and abroad, requests for sponsors gathered at various beauty fairs, and the company participated as an official sponsor in multiple competitions. For example, for 2013 Environmental Marathon, 2014 Miss Intercontinental Beauty Contest, 2014 Miss First Beauty World Competition, 2017 Korea Arts Awards Ceremony, the 5th Hip Hop Korean Culture Awards Ceremony, the 37th Golden Film Festival, ALL FC Champion Battle MMA, the company was designated as an official sponsor or official supporter. In particular, it was designated as an official sponsor of the Osong Cosmetics Beauty Industry Expo for three consecutive years since 2016, and received a plaque of appreciation from Governor of Chungbuk, and received a citation from the Governor of Gyeonggi-do for recognition of participation in community service. ■ A woman in action is beautiful CEO Kim Jin-sook, who has been interested in community service since her middle school years, still is practicing her desire to help society, even though she may be satisfied with living a comfortable life as a successful businessman. So, I want to introduce the 'New Women’s Club' which has a catchphrase, “Elegant women change the world.' CEO Kim Jin-sook has already passed a year since she took office as the second chairman after the founding Chairman Han Mi-ran and the first Chairman Jin Jin-ee The New Women's Club, launched in November 2015, often delivers where help is needed or hosts events to help underprivileged young people. CEO Kim, who is known as the most passionate leader, said, “It aims to promote women's rights, revitalize the local economy, and participate in and spread the international social, civic volunteering. We ask for your attention and encouragement of love to be reborn as a women's organization that can practice the true volunteering of sound and bright thoughts with female leadership in Gunpo City.” Since the inauguration of CEO Kim Jin-sook, the New Women's Club and Karasadae Co., Ltd. have officially sponsored the national drama `Pumba-wingless Angel '' in June 2018, and organized ‘the 6th TeenTeen Carol Song Festival’ to help underprivileged young people in December ofthesame year, which was hosted by renowned comedian SonHyn-soo. ■ Conscience Returns to Trust Hair loss-related products in Korea are perceived as expensive products compared to other beauty products. Thus, it is difficult for consumers to purchase without hesitation. Nevertheless, CEO Kim said firmly, “I have no intention of compromising with reality. The prices are indeed high. If we decide to sell more products, we can lower the unit price by adjusting the quality or amount of ingredients. But in the long run, those behaviors deteriorate the brand value of the Karasadae’s products in the minds of consumers.” When I listened to her and thought, there was no unique refill for the Karasadae’s products. Consumers have to buy the products in their containers every time. Launching a refill would eliminate the cost of the container, lower the unit price and increase sales. But she thought differently, and her answer was straightforward. “Unit prices may decrease, and sales may increase. But, when customers refill by themselves, there might be several side effects, such as air inflows or foreign substances introduced during storage or refilling, which could result in deterioration in quality. Of course, it could be a tiny probability. However, I think that the small probability could have a big impact on the image of the brand.” she said, adding that she would not give up her will. Overseas buyers and various network marketing companies have demanded that the unit price be lowered by reducing the amount of raw materials or replacing them with cheaper materials, but CEO Kim Jin-sook said she would not back down even if she could not sign a contract. CEO Kim Jin-sook said, “It is true that Karasadae’s products are relatively expensive. However, with the pledge of 'keeping,' we can say that we are more confident about our products than any other brand. I will not forget the words “honesty” and “loyalty,” and I want to continuously give “trust” to all those who meet the Karasadae. ” adding that she will not forget her original intention. ■ Dreaming of K-Beauty To summarize the recent trends of Karasadae, which has always run tirelessly, in March 2018, after several years of challenging the Chinese market, four brands of Karasadae passed the CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) and received certificates. As a result, many MDs, including the Post Office and the China Railway, have given love calls to the company. In May, it participated in the Cosmo Beauty Fair at COEX, located in Samsung-dong, Seoul, and signed contracts with several buyers from all over the world. In June, all K1-CURE products were approved as a designated venture startup innovation product by the Public Procurement Service. In July, the company opened official accounts on the US Amazon and Qoo10, a global agency purchasing site. In August, Karasadae’s products were introduced at the Beauty Center in Happy Department Store in Mok-dong, and in the same month, it officially provided K1-CURE products at the general film seminar held at KPOP Hotel in Gapyeong. And CEO Kim Jin-sook was also appointed as a member of the national committee to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the King Sejong’s accession to the throne. In September, the company held a pop-up event at Lotte Department Store in Bundang. In October, CEO Kim was appointed as senior vice-president of the Asian Pacific Hair-dresser & Cosmetologist Association held at Harim-gak in Seoul. Also, in the same month, it achieved a triumph of entering the duty-free store at Shinsegae's main store in Seoul. The company also held a pop-up event of ‘Korea Festa,’ a special event at Hyundai Department Store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, and soon participated in the 2018 Osong Cosmetics Beauty Industry Expo as official sponsor. In November, the company held a pop-up event at AK PLAZA in Suwon, participated in the 21st Asia-Pacific International Beauty Competition organized by Macau and Hong Kong. And she was invited as a speaker at the CIAM International Beauty Forum and awarded a plague of appreciation. She also introduced K1-CURE, a system brand that represents the trend of the scalping market and the direction of the scalp, hair loss and hair care market with the theme of ‘NOW IS TIME TO DO SCALP MAKE UP.’ In the same competition, she won the third prize in the Korean national team's CREATIVE EVENING IMAGE section and the first in the STATIC CREATIVE IMAGE section. At the end of December, a pop-up store event was held at Hyundai Department Store Mok-dong, and the company was designated as the official sponsor at the 38th Golden Film Festival. Also, New Women's Club and Karasada Co., Ltd. organized the 6th 'Teen Teen Carol Song Festival’ to help underprivileged young people at the Uiwang City Hall in Gyeonggi-do. In 2019, the company held the pop-up store event at the Hyundai Department Store in Pangyo and won the award in the ‘ Product Innovation Division of Korea Industry Awards’ sponsored by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, Ministry of Education and Environment. Also, K1-CURE, the representative brand of Karasadae, was designated as '2019 Seoul Award Excellent Product' by the Seoul Development Agency. Due to this tight schedule, she was considered to be tired but participated in the “2019 Seoul International Sourcing Fair” held at COEX and held a special spring event at a department store in Mok-dong. In May, as in 2018, the company participated in the Cosmo Beauty Expo held in COEX, located in Samsung-dong, Seoul, and has been well received by many buyers and visitors from all over the world. As such, CEO Kim Jin-sook, who had had a hectic time, said, “If everything goes as expected, we are expecting '$10 million export' by 2020, and we are receiving love calls from all countries. In the second half of 2019, we expect a remarkable increase in sales compared to the existing sales.” Like this, there seem to be solid stepping stones in front of the Karasadae’s future movements, but CEO Kim says she will not be relieved. She said she liked the word ‘inspiration,' and she began her volunteering work to give ` inspiration’ to the underprivileged, and the beginning of Karasadae came from her heart to give ‘inspiration’ to her customers. It is said that the object of 'Impression' was only gradually expanded from volunteering activities to the domestic market and then to the global market. Born in a small village in Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk Province, a young girl grew up while growing up in her dreams even though she faced a vast world and had difficulties. As she continues to live a faithful life every day, she has passed the age of fifty years old and is a successful businesswoman who is known as the respected women of this age. Perhaps today's CEO Kim Jin-sook is faithfully keeping her original intention in the heart, sticking to the management philosophy of the service and loyalty that do not expect compensation, and maintaining the true beauty of a female businesswoman. I want to wrap up the short interview hoping that she will be filled with fresh fragrances of flowers for her future adventure. ■ About Karasadae Co., Ltd. Karasadae, a professional scalp care manufacturer for hair loss, announced on July 9 that it has finally launched an ambitious line of basic cosmetics. After many years of research and development, it has completed all the primary lines and is a ‘GAHACOS Lab C. Luminous Solution’ containing a large amount of whitening patent material, ‘COS-VCE.’ Products containing these COS-VCE patented ingredients have the catchphrase 'Whitening Specialized Luminous Solution' and are waiting for the public’s love under the names of 'GAHACOS Lab C. Luminous Rejuvenating Serum' and 'GAHACOS Lab C. Luminous Moisturizing Cream.' These products, already known as K1-CURE, are the brand researched and developed by applying know-how based on the accumulated know-how of Karasadae Co., Ltd. for 24 years and the experience of 17 years of customized cosmetic preparation and 13 years of aromatherapy customized preparation. If you use existing K1-CURE scalp products on your face, it may be a little stronger and have possibility of troubles occurence, but K1-CURE's efficacy and effect are excellent. Thus, industry insiders say that some consumers have used it as a substitute for skincare among users. The company said that it started researching skincare products four years ago when it was difficult to ignore the continued request. In the process, the company began to develop products of 'vitamin C derivatives.' As a result based on the analysis of the efficacy and effects, including the patent for COS-VCE, which is used for the GAHACOS’s brand among vitamin C derivatives, it has been said that the product was not only best suited to the direction of the company's research and development and the atmosphere of the product to be made, but also to be a product with conviction that users can experience a quick effect in a short time. So, it is said that the company decided to make it the final product. Along with this launch, an official said, “The first product, GAHACOS Lab C. Luminous Rejuvenating Serum, contains a high-content of COS-VCE (Ethyl Ascorbyl Ether), which helps restore healthy, transparent skin. It also extracts white rose petals, white wine, and loquat leaves with MSA aging method, which is natural and helps develop moist and elastic skin, and 14 special superfood ingredients nourish the skin. The second product, GAHACOS Lab C. Luminous Moisturizing Cream, extracts red rose petals, red wine, and loquat leaves with MSA aging method, which is natural and gives vitality to the skin and makes the skin healthy and especially banana extracts that contain high amounts of serotonin make the skin moist and elastic, giving it a bright and vibrant skin luster."
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u-blox announces Markus Schaefer as new Executive Director for Global Marketing and Sales
u-blox (SIX:UBXN), a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies, has appointed Markus Schaefer as the new Executive Director for Global Marketing and Sales. Schaefer, a veteran of the semiconductor industry with a solid track record in growing market share in his previous positions, will complete u-blox's executive leadership team. The new head of sales will take over the lead from the CEO who in turn will focus more on corporate strategy and the alignment with key accounts. As Executive Director for Global Marketing and Sales, Markus Schaefer will define and implement the company’s sales and marketing strategy in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC sales regions. In addition to managing the company’s business expansion, he will be responsible for growing the sales channels, as well as for defining u-blox’s product marketing communication strategy. Schaefer holds a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (Dipl.-Ing.) from RWTH Aachen, Germany and an MBA from Tiffin University, Ohio, USA. He brings with him deep insights into products and markets relevant to u‑blox, acquired over more than 15 years while leading international sales teams at Infineon, NXP, and, most recently, MACOM. During his time at NXP, Schaefer helped to substantially grow the company’s RF and power management business. In the course of five years under Schaefer's marketing and sales leadership, the RF Product Lines market share grew from 10% to 40% and to a revenue level of over $600 million, with a particularly strong focus on the Asian and US markets. He joins u‑blox from MACOM, where he led the EMEA and India sales organization, drove organic year-to-year sales growth by 20%, and established the company as a leader in high performance RF and optics solutions. “We’re thrilled to have someone with such an impressive track record join our executive team,” says u-blox CEO Thomas Seiler. “Markus Schaefer is uniquely prepared to provide the industry insight, the competitive knowledge, and the sales know-how to capitalize on evolving customer opportunities to drive our sales strategy to the next level.” “In just over two decades, u-blox has positioned itself as a key player and leading innovator in positioning and wireless communication solutions,” says Schaefer. “I look forward to tapping into that momentum and working with the people across the company to continue to pursue and accelerate the growth path that the company is on." Markus Schaefer will join u-blox on September 1st and will be based in Thalwil, Switzerland.
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CTO Moon-Ok Cho, “Hdac Will Boost the Korean Industry in the Era of Fourth Industrial Revolution with the Blockchain Technology”
The blockchain has been regarded as the core technology that will lead the fourth industrial revolution, but there is a sharp contrast between the conflicting views on the blockchain technology in Korea. Large companies such as Samsung, Kakao, and SKT have already made dedicated blockchain teams/departments and announced their own business models. However, there is still no government policy to encourage them. In the face of these domestic situations, there is an indigenous company that has entered the blockchain industry as a global player. Dae-Sun Chung, CEO of Hyundai BS&C, a third generation of Hyundai Group, founded Hyundai Pay, a Fintech company in December 2016, and established Hdac Technology, a blockchain technology company in Crypto Valley, Switzerland, in October of the following year to respond quickly to IT trends. Hdac, which unveiled its MainNet in May 2018, pursues a blockchain technology company that can pervade every aspect of markets and industries based on the technology development strategies prioritizing commercialization. For this, Hdac will provide services from blockchain-based B2C services, including a simple payment service or a smart home, which can be easily used by ordinary users to enterprise blockchain solutions that will bring innovation to the industrial field through convergence with innovative technologies such as IoT, AI, FinTech, and Big Data. Hdac said in the press conference in March that it plans to launch a blockchain-based simple payment service and P2P asset-trading service. In addition, the Hdac Enterprise Blockchain Solution can be applied to a wide range of industries including construction and real estate sectors such as smart home, manufacturing sectors such as electronic contracts, purchasing, and production history management, and financial and distribution sectors such as membership points and remittances. Moon-Ok Cho, CTO & CSO of Hdac, in charge of a helmsman as a strategic and technical supervisor in Hdac, which has begun to blow the blockchain innovation in various fields, emphasized the visions for blockchain ecosystem through the interview with ACROFAN. Q1. What do you think about the current status of the domestic blockchain industry? It is true that the domestic cryptocurrency market had been so hot that the so-called ‘Kim-P (abbreviation for ‘Kimchi Premium’, which means that the market price of the domestic cryptocurrency is higher than that of the foreign cryptocurrency) was coined. The abstruseness of the blockchain technology and coin economy brought scammers and speculative forces, and also various negative effects. Due to the speculative frenzy started before the blockchain proved its usefulness, the misunderstandings to view blockchain and cryptocurrency as the same concept, as well as negative publicity about cryptocurrency, have stiffened. Fortunately, domestic companies are doing well. The reason why the blockchain industry in the whole world is paying attention to the Korean market is not just about 'Kimchi Premium'. There have been companies that challenge entrepreneurship in an environment that is not friendly, and I believe that the efforts and intentions of these companies are the driving force for putting Korea in the position of a blockchain powerhouse. In recent years, large corporations in Korea have been making efforts to foster relevant businesses such as building a dedicated blockchain organization, which is a very encouraging phenomenon. Q2. What do you think about a lot of skepticism about the impact of blockchain? A blockchain is a technology that makes transaction information into data blocks and links them, and it prevents data from being forged or falsified through distributed computing method. Therefore, it is the best way to apply to finance or payment services for enjoying the technical characteristics of blockchain. However, these areas are closely related to the national economy and governance of governments, and as such, they are strictly controlled at the national level. That's also why the government takes time to prepare related laws and regulations. However, companies are limited to the development of related business until the institutional framework is established. In addition to financial and payment services, there are areas which can take advantage of the technical characteristics of the blockchain such as services managing important documents including copyrights, legal documents, and contracts, and industrial areas including logistics and trade. Especially, when blockchain is applied to supply chain management (SCM) area, it is expected that the effective value for all the supply chain participants will be very great. In the process of supply, from raw materials to manufacturers, wholesalers and finally end consumers, many processes exist and participants with various roles are involved. The only technology that guarantees the reliability, security, transparency, and scalability of the data generated here is blockchain. The cost reduction by simplifying unnecessary verification procedures and manual work is the main aspect, and the power of the blockchain, combined with technologies such as IoT, cloud, and AI, will be enormous. Q3. It has been quite a while since Hdac had collected substantial funds through ICO in 2017. Isn’t there any materialized business yet? The story of collecting 300 billion won in ICO follows us, but the price was based on the time when the Bitcoin price was over 20 million won. Now, since the bubble has burst, it is time to pay more attention to every step. As we avoid ‘showing off’ marketing activities that deceive people’s eyes and ears like some other blockchain projects, it might have seemed that there is no materialized content, but it is not true at all. Hdac is working diligently and steadfastly to be worthy of the title 'Hyundai Group' and is carefully executing budgets to avoid waste of the funds. As stated at the press conference held in March, Hdac has completed or is carrying out multiple POC projects for Hyundai group companies in various industries. In the public sector, discussions on the actualization of business are underway since the signing of MOU between Busan City and Hyundai Pay in February, and there are still many other things that have not been disclosed yet. I would like to take this opportunity to say that Hdac has worked with Hyundai Heavy Industries to complete the POC for applying the blockchain to the existing electronic contract system, and is currently negotiating the contract of the further project. Q4. It seems that the government still has not decided responses to blockchain. What do you think about it? As long as the blockchain provides the ability to issue a cryptocurrency, it is, in fact, desirable for the government to be cautious about this. It is true that the negative effect of the speculative frenzy of cryptocurrency was considerably big, but the time given to a player in the IT competition is very short. Because the whole world is competing in real time without the border and day and night, it is likely to miss the 'Golden Time'. I think a cautious decision does not necessarily to be long. The operating system installed in most smartphones around the world is Android which was developed by Google and first launched in 2008, or Apple's iOS first announced with iPhone in 2007. Now, even if an outstanding operating system is developed by a Korean company, I think it is almost impossible to go through between them. No one will want to use an operating system that does not have an available app, and no developer will develop an app for an operating system without a user. The similar situation can occur in the blockchain. A major global IT company, Oracle's vice president of the blockchain development group, said in a recent media interview that more than half of the world's enterprises will use blockchain technology in three years. If we cannot avoid blockchain as it is the current of time that cannot be defeated, it may be better to prevent the side effects by putting it in the system. Furthermore, I believe that 'post-Android' could be a blockchain platform developed by a Korean company if the government provides a promotional policy for Korean companies to lead the global market in the long period. Q5. How do you foresee the trends of blockchain market for the next five years? While international standards are important, 'De Facto standards' are more important in the IT field. There are a number of international standards organizations such as IEEE, W3C, GSMA, and ISO, but now, the technologies and services created by open-source projects and companies based on them, Google or Amazon for example, becomes the standards. In other words, when people use it a lot in the real market, it becomes the standard, and we must be able to lead this de facto standard. At present, I think that Etherium is the closest to the de facto standard. Various technology standards starting with ERC become projects, and many developers voluntarily gather here to create a strong ecosystem based on spontaneity. It may be due to the technical superiority of Etherium, but the advantages of 'what people use most' are great. The more users there are, the easier it is to get relevant information. Also, a lot of information will make it easier for new users to come in. It is difficult for such an ecosystem to form in a short time. From this point of view, the future of the blockchain market is likely to become a battle for hegemony. However, it is not easy for followers to take the lead in platform competition, because it depends on how many people use it, rather than how well a particular blockchain is technologically superior. As such, long-term and aggressive promotion policy of the government is urgent. I went to MWC held in Barcelona this year. Although IoT, AI, 5G were the mains, it was not difficult to find companies preparing blockchain technology everywhere. I thought that the blockchain would be in the overall IT industry with IoT and AI at a point in the near future. Blockchain somehow got the spotlight a little early, but it is starting now. Ju-yung Chung, the founder of the Hyundai Group, always said, "Hey, have you ever tried to do it?" I think it is a spirit of the times that we all have to remind ourselves of. ### Moon-Ok Cho, CTO & CSO of Hdac, in charge of a strategic and technical supervisor in Hdac Technology and Hyundai Pay, is a representative FinTech specialist in Korea, who was responsible for ‘T Pay,' the mobile payment service of SK Telecom. In early 2010, he was attracted to the potential of a service model that combines blockchain and FinTech by encountering the blockchain technology for the first time through Hoh Peter In, a professor at Korea University’s Blockchain Research Institute. Moon-Ok Cho is the first-generation architect who introduced SOA(Service Oriented Architecture) to Korea at the time of working at Samsung SDS. Taking the first step into the IT industry as a developer, he has a higher level of understanding and experience than anyone else in both IT and finance, the core attributes of blockchain technology. Recently, he has written a book on Hyperledger development which is to be published.
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Bentley Systems Names Dr. Nabil Abou-Rahme as Chief Research Officer
Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructuretoday announced that Dr. Nabil Abou-Rahme has joined Bentley as chief research officer for Bentley Institute’s Digital Advancement Academies. He will work from Bentley’s London offices, and will lead Bentley’s efforts in digital advancement research, collaborating with government, university, and industry visionaries to promote innovative solutions for advancing infrastructure. His new role was introduced today to fellow researchers attending the Future Infrastructure Symposium convened at Bentley’s London Digital Advancement Academy. Dr. Abou-Rahme joins Bentley from the global consultancy firm Mott MacDonald, where he was actively involved in digital transformation, most recently as head of smart infrastructure and global practice leader for data science, and prior to that, as divisional director for intelligent transport. His career began with applied research in network optimisation and control at the Transport Research Laboratory, where he went on to manage research teams and complete a PhD. Subsequent technical highlights from his consultancy roles include specifications for the EU ITS Directive, implementation of bank-led contactless payment systems on public transport in South Africa and developing operational regimes for the first “smart motorways” in the UK. Bentley Systems CEO Greg Bentley said, “We are gratified to have Dr. Abou-Rahme join us to inaugurate our chief research officer role. We are newly able to advance infrastructure engineering through digital twins, by converging technologies to simultaneously meet their essential requirements for digital context, digital components, and digital chronology. Accordingly, an appropriate priority for Bentley Institute’s Digital Advancement Academies is now to work with authoritative research organizations to explore and substantiate the growing benefits, which are already realizable from infrastructure digital twins. By virtue of his unique combination of infrastructure engineering expertise and research experience, and contagious zeal for ‘going digital,’ Nabil brings the perfect fit to lead these collaborative endeavors.” Dr. Abou-Rahme said, “Bentley has a clear commitment to accelerating the adoption of digital technologies, including advancing BIM through digital twins. A key part of digital advancement research is a portfolio of demonstrator projects, collaborative prototypes that allow us to explore the art of the possible, while leveraging the best of academic, technical, and industrial experience within those teams. Our commitment also extends to supporting academic institutions through sponsorship and making our technologies available as a learning and development tool. Bentley’s open and collaborative approach to innovation is well established, and I am excited to be leading this portfolio into the next phase of application.” A chartered engineer, Dr. Abou-Rahme holds a PhD in Bayesian statistics from the University of Southampton, a Master of Science from University College London, a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Imperial College London, and a general management certificate from Roffey Park. In his talk today at the Future Infrastructure Symposium, a two-day gathering of industry experts, university researchers, and thought leaders to discuss the future of infrastructure, Dr. Abou-Rahme referenced a number of Bentley Institute-sponsored research projects around the world, including demonstrator projects at University College London, University of Cambridge, and Imperial College, and encouraged parties interested in collaborating on future demonstrator projects to contact him at Bentley.Institute@bentley.com
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Ziften Appoints Enterprise Sales Veteran Mickey DiPietro as Vice President of Sales
Ziften today announced the appointment of industry veteran MickeyDiPietro as Vice President of Sales. DiPietro brings to Ziften over 20years of experience as a senior sales executive that spans thespectrum from start-up to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to joining Ziften, DiPietro was Vice President of Sales / GMAmericas at Cyren from 2016-2019 where he created a highlytechnical, strategic sales team from the ground up, significantlygrowing new customer acquisitions in less than 3 years. Prior toCyren, DiPietro was at Zscaler where he was responsible for newmid-market customer acquisition. And prior to that, DiPietro was responsible for leading andbuilding mid-market enterprise sales teams for Authenic8, Google Apps, and Postini. “Mickey is an experienced sales executive with a long track record of building, training, andmentoring high performing sales teams,” said Mike Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer, Ziften."Ziften is experiencing strong growth in the endpoint security software market, and we arefortunate to add someone of his caliber to help drive our expanding sales team. I have theutmost confidence that he will contribute strong leadership centered on the needs of ourcustomers and partners during this exciting time of growth for Ziften.” "I'm excited by the opportunity to take a fast growing cybersecurity company’s sales team tothe next level,” said DiPietro. “The rapid adoption of Ziften’s cloud-delivered endpointprotection plus visibility and hardening platform along with the team’s commitment toinnovation gives me the necessary tools to build and maximize the performance of itssalesforce.”
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Yang-ho Cho The Chairman of the Hanjin Group dies in USA
Yang-ho Cho, The Chairman of the Hanjin Group, died in the United States at dawn today(Korea time) on August 8. He is 70 years old.
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LINE Founder Jungho Shin Appointed Co-CEO
LINE Corporation announced today that Jungho Shin, the Chief WOW Officer (CWO) of LINE Corporation, has also been appointed Co-CEO of the company. Taking effect April 1, the decision was made during the company's board meeting today. As a result, LINE will have two representative directors: Takeshi Idezawa, the CEO and President, and Jungho Shin, the Co-CEO and Chief WOW Officer. Shin's new appointment as Co-CEO comes as the company moves towards its next stage of development. Uncompromising in his service-driven mindset and the pursuit of "wow," Shin has been behind the creation of countless services--including the globally popular LINE messaging app--and has spearheaded the company's growth internationally. As a representative director, Shin will now focus on bolstering the competitiveness of LINE's services and promoting innovation--assuming clear responsibility for creating groundbreaking services and the company's operations. CEO and President Takeshi Idezawa will focus on the management side, as well as revenue, organizational structure, human resources, and recruitment, to create the best possible environment for the LINE Group. By having Idezawa and Shin commit to their respective areas of expertise under this new structure, the aim is to strengthen and enhance LINE's management structure, enable nimbler decision-making, and deliver world-class services that will accelerate LINE's growth, both in Asia and globally. LINE began its "second growth phase" this year, moving into new business domains such as FinTech, AI, and blockchain. In February, the company appointed Shin as "Chief WOW Officer", committing more than ever to pursuing a service-driven mindset and "WOW"-inducing services. "Service-Driven" describes LINE's founding philosophy, which maintains that service competitiveness capable of eclipsing the competition is essential for a business to grow. "WOW" is a word that sums up the company's core value of delivering an unprecedented user experience, something that is truly newsworthy.
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Dr. Leilei Shinohara Joins RoboSense as VP of R&D
RoboSense, announced today that Dr. Leilei Shinohara has joined RoboSense as Vice President of R&D. With more than a decade of experience developing LiDAR systems, Dr. Shinohara is regarded as one of the most accomplished experts in this field. He previously served as the lead of Valeo’s SCALA® LiDAR project, the world’s first automotive grade LiDAR product. Dr. Shinohara brings RoboSense a wealth of valuable experience that will help with the growth and development of the automotive grade mass production of RoboSense’s LiDAR products. Prior to joining RoboSense, Dr. Shinohara was the Technical Lead for Asia OEMs at Valeo, responsible for multiple programs, including automotive LiDAR, automotive safety products, and sensor fusion projects. He managed an international sensor product development team located in six countries, responsible for the development and implementation of systems, software, hardware, mechanics, testing and validation, and functional safety, building the first automotive grade LiDAR product. “We are thrilled to have a top LiDAR expert like Dr. Leilei Shinohara joining our team,” said Mark Qiu, RoboSense COO and Co-founder. “Dr. Shinohara is one of the world’s most seasoned talents in the LiDAR industry, exceptionally well suited to lead the R&D department here at RoboSense. We are confident that Dr. Shinohara will bring his valuable experience to build automotive grade LiDAR products that can be mass produced to empower highly automated driving.” Dr. Shinohara graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology with a Bachelor Degree in System and Control Engineering and a Master Degree in Mechanical and Control System Engineering. In 2008, he began PhD studies at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany, receiving his PhD degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 2014. During his six years of PhD studies, Shinohara focused on LiDAR systems and was involved in several sensor projects, including the design and simulation of optical sensor systems, optical quality measurement (MTF) systems, coherent Doppler wind LiDAR systems, and 3D LiDAR technology based on MEMS micromirrors for autonomous driving. As an outstanding LiDAR project manager and the chief engineer, Dr. Shinohara and his research team at KIT developed a LiDAR system which was later acquired by a German Tier 1 company. “I was impressed by the innovation capabilities and technical acumen of RoboSense, which were the major reasons that attracted me to join the team,” said Dr. Shinohara. “I am honored to join such a dynamic and promising team in the field of LiDAR technology. At CES 2019, a group of autonomous driving industry gurus expressed their ambition to accelerate the commercialization of AV [autonomous vehicle] technology, which further indicated the urgent demand for automotive grade solid-state LiDAR products that can be mass produced. This year at CES, RoboSense exhibited its latest MEMS solid-state LiDAR, which has superior performance to its peer products. With RoboSense’s leading technology and my previous experience in this industry, I am confident that together, we can greatly accelerate the development of automotive grade LiDAR products that can be mass produced to make highly automated driving a reality.” As an honoree of the CES 2019 Innovation Award, RoboSense demonstrated its new automotive grade MEMS solid-state LiDAR to the world: RS-LiDAR-M1, which has attracted the attention of major international OEMs and Tier 1 automotive companies. The RS-LiDAR-M1 offers a wide 120 degrees horizontal field of view with very high resolution. It adopts a lower-cost, mass production-friendly 905nm Laser waveband that achieves a long 200 meter detection range.
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Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Announces New Deputy Director and Organization Restructuring
Kim Bokkeun, new deputy director of Busan International Film Festival Busan International Film Festival has announced to fill a position which remained vacant since the late Deputy Director and Program Director Kim Jiseok passed away in 2017. Kim Bokkeun, a former head of CAC Entertainment film department and a film producer has been appointed as the new deputy director. Kim has produced 15 works of TV dramas and films which includes Art Museum By The Zoo, Interview, Whispering Corridors 5, He’s on Duty, Almost Che. Based on his long term work experience in filming, Kim will be in the forefront of reinforcing the festival organization’s administration, HR and structure. Other changes have been made along with the appointment of deputy director. Nam Dong-chul, Korean cinema programmer of Busan International Film Festival will serve as the new program director. Nam joined the Busan International Film Festival since 2009 as the head manager of Asian Film Market, after serving as the editor in chief of Cine21, which is a film magazine in South Korea. Nam will take the lead to derive change and improve the festival’s programming system according to many years of experience in the industry and programming field. Also, Moon Hyunjung has been appointed as the new general manager of the festival office. Moon’s various work experience at the Busan International Film Festival started in 2008 as public relations manager followed by marketing manager and program manager. She will undertake the household of festival office by actively interacting with the staffs. - Laying the foundation for the festival’s future plan with efficiency and interaction of the organization By restructuring process, the Busan International Film Festival aims for higher efficiency in order to lay the foundation for future planning to adapt the changing environment of the market. On January 2 festival office visited BIFF square in Nampo-dong, the originate of the Busan International Film Festival, for the new year kickoff meeting. Festival Chairman Lee Yong-kwan, Festival Director Jay Jeon, newly appointed Deputy Director Kim Bokkeun and office staffs made a resolution to improve the Busan International Film Festival as a film festival for the whole. The 24th Busan International Film Festival will be held from October 3, 2019 to October 12, 2019
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Lenzing Reinforces Textile Leadership with Appointment of New Senior Management
The Lenzing Group (Lenzing) today announced the appointment of Florian Heubrandner as Vice President of Global Business Management Textiles. Florian Heubrandner will be leading Lenzing’s global strategy and development across the textile value chain, bringing to life Lenzing’s transformation from a B2B fiber producer to a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) brand following the rejuvenation of TENCEL™, Lenzing’s textile specialty brand earlier this year and the launch of LENZING™ ECOVERO™, Lenzing’s sustainable viscose brand last year. “The appointment of Florian Heubrandner will enable us to grow from strength to strength in the global textile ecosystem,” said Robert van de Kerkhof, Chief Commercial Officer of Lenzing Group. “Over the past few years, Florian has played an integral role in Lenzing’s global leadership team and we are confident that under his leadership, our textile business will continue to grow and prosper, supported by stronger relationship with our partners and customers across the value chain.” Following the introduction of TENCEL™, Lenzing’s textile specialty brand, in February, Lenzing has been on a fast track to a B2B2C brand transformation while garnering steady growth via collaborations with consumer brands and participation in various fashion shows around the world. “Innovation and branding will remain our core focus in the textile segment,” said Florian Heubrandner, Vice President of Global Business Management Textiles. “Drawing on the synergies of our R&D center in Austria and the Application Innovation Center in Hong Kong, we will continue to empower the industry value chain with high quality fibers and value-added fiber and fabric innovation. One particularly exciting initiative will be the expansion of our production capacity for TENCEL™ Luxe branded cellulosic filament. A renewed focus on branding to drive stronger demand for TENCEL™ and LENZING™ ECOVERO™ branded fibers in the industry value chain will foster increased awareness of our brands among consumers and therefore generating demand for our fibers in the value chain.”
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BIzzabo CEO Eran Ben-Shushan Recognized as a Top 50 SaaS CEO of 2018
Bizzabo, today revealed that its Chief Executive Officer, Eran Ben-Shushan, was recognized as a Top 50 SaaS CEO of 2018 by The SaaS Report. The SaaS Report provides a comprehensive source for business news, investment activity, and corporate actions related to the SaaS and software markets. For this year's report, the Top 50 CEOs were selected based on detailed reviews from their respective employees and industry colleagues. Nearly 5,000 nominations on behalf of hundreds of CEOs were received this year. CEOs were assessed across a number of key areas including integrity, intelligence, energy, company culture, and company growth, among other areas. The list was developed to honor leaders of SaaS companies who have driven revenue growth while creating cultures that foster innovation. Since Eran co-founded Bizzabo in 2011, the company has enabled thousands of professional events around the world with its multi-award winning cloud platform. Its modern suite of tools create impactful and rewarding professional events that drive impactful in-person experiences, networking opportunities and business outcomes. Before founding Bizzabo, Eran was the CEO of Rosh-Pina Media Convention, one of Israel’s most prominent yearly events. He was also a project leader and system engineer at Elbit Systems. Eran began his career at the Israeli Air Force, serving as an officer for 9 years. He graduated cum laude from The Interdisciplinary Center Herzeliya, where he studied for a BA in Business and participated in the prestigious Sam Zell entrepreneurship program.
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[Column] Quantum Computing Age to Come ... Big Blue IBM Seeking Opportunities for a New Leap
"I'm not happy with all the analyses that go with just the classical theory, because nature isn't classical, and if you want to make a simulation of nature, you'd better make it quantum mechanical..." At 'Physics of Computation Conference' in 1981, a physicist Richard P. Feynman first delivered the message that quantum computing is needed. Since then, after several decades of steady development and research, we are now in the process of defining quantum computing and developing algorithms. So, IT companies such as Microsoft, Google and IBM are developing a 50-qubit quantum computer and are working hard on research. When quantum computing is applied to various fields in the future, a number of things that the existing computers could not do will become possible. Existing computers computed and processed information using a binary system of 'Bit' using 0 or 1. Quantum computers, however, use the principles of quantum physics, also called quantum mechanics. They use 'Qubit (a.k.a Quantum Bit)' which allows 'superstition' state of 0 and 1, such as 00, 01, 10, and 11. Since they exist in an 'entangled' state, once a change occurs in one qubit, the other entangled qubit can quickly process it. In this way, as quantum computers can simultaneously exist in multiple states and act on all the states, it becomes possible to do numerous calculations separately at the same time with only one processor. Today, there are about 3 billion transistors in smartphones. To double the performance of this smartphone, about 6 billion transistors will be needed. On the other hand, the performance of quantum computers can be expressed as 'n square(s) of 2' with n qubit(s) because of the property of 'superstition' state. For example, if you want to double the performance of a device that has 16 qubits, you only need to add 1 qubit. Quantum computing is incomparably faster than computers using 0 and 1 bits. It will be possible to calculate the formula that humans calculate for hundreds of years within a few seconds. ▲ IBM has made it possible for anyone to experience Quantum Computing through IBM Q. (Image source: www.research.ibm.com/ibm-q) IBM has spent the past 100 years cultivating the foundations of IT and seeding it, and now it is changed to a completely different shape. Vacuum tubes, switches, punched cards, quantum computers and AI all exist in the history of IBM. Moreover, cutting out the history of x86 hardware that it had started and the shift from massive hardware- to technology-centered is also a specialness of IBM's history. Therefore, its history and journeys have a special meaning and need to be watched with interest. IBM pointed out three areas as the possible application areas for quantum computing in the future. First, it is expected to be a field of Chemistry including material design, oil and gas, and drug discovery. In fact, IBM published the results of the simulation using quantum algorithms with chemistry in September 2017 in the international science journal, Nature. The second area is predicted to be Artifical Intelligence (AI), which is a key technology of the 4th industrial revolution, including classification, machine learning, and linear algebra. Lastly, the quantum computing will take effect in a field of Financial Services, especially in the sectors of portfolio optimization, scenario analysis and pricing. Quantum computing's development phases include 'Quantum Foundations', which defines the basics of everything in quantum computing, 'Quantum Ready', which can develop algorithms and expand the sizes. And finally, 'Quantum Advantage' is a phase to commercialization and application to reality with quantum computing. Currently, IBM and also other IT companies researching quantum computing are at just beyond the middle of the 'Quantum Ready' phase. In fact, IBM expects quantum computing to be the mainstream in the next five years, and by 2020 it will be at the phase of 'Quantum Advantage'. In preparation for 'Quantum Ready' phase, IBM launched the Quantum Computing Platform called IBM Q Experience in 2017, making it accessible to anyone including students and researchers. At first, only 5 qubits were available, but now, up to 16 qubits are available. Released with IBM Q Experience, the Quantum Information Science Kit (QISKit) is an open source quantum computing system for developers to help make today's quantum development process and research more active. IBM is working on a 100-qubit quantum computer with the goal of developing it by 2020. The 100-qubit quantum computer has the ability to simulate all the atoms in the universe. ▲ The development of quantum computing will reduce this entire data center to just a few racks. (Image source: Samsung SDS) The performance improvements of existing transistor-based computer systems so far are approaching a certain physical limitation. Semiconductor processes are already nearing the level of physically close to the size of electrons, and the interest in what will happen to the next generation of silicon-based semiconductors is growing. Accordingly, the quantum computing has long been anticipated as an innovative way to go beyond "physical barriers." Given the impacts of quantum computing on us, it is likely to lead the changes beyond the cloud than what we see in the near future for various practical issues. This may be because the operation conditions of the initial system will be as tricky as a superconductor. On top of that, quantum computing is evaluated as a "double-edged sword". This is because it is expected to have the power to cause the collapse of the existing encryption system as well as the change in both the existing infrastructure and service structure. In fact, in March 2017, the world's largest security conference, 'RSA 2017', discussed the threats and countermeasures of quantum computer's threats to the existing encryption technology. Especially, the National Security Agency (NSA) has predicted that quantum computing technology could destroy the current code order since 2016. Canadian research institute 'Global Risk Institute' also claimed that it is higher than 50 percent that the current encryption system is collapsed due to quantum computers in 2031. For now, if quantum computing is commercialized and exploited, it is expected to pose a major threat to any industry based on IT technology. Worldwide web communications, Internet banking, and even cryptocurrency will be exposed to the crisis, and it will be time to change all the systems and structures. With these peculiarities in mind, quantum computing researchers will not only focus on the development of quantum computers but will also work in a direction of enhancing the quality of life after its commercialization. In other words, they should be focused on harmoniousness with other industries. That will be a major premise of 'Quantum Computing' for humans.
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Apstra Announces Chief Marketing Officer to Accelerate Intent-Based Networking
Apstra® Inc. announced today that Michael Wood has joined the company as chief marketing officer and will head up all marketing and product efforts for the company. Wood is a seasoned strategic leader who brings nearly 30 years of experience to Apstra at a time when the company is expected to change the competitive landscape as a pioneer in intent-based networking. Prior to Apstra, Michael was at VeloCloud (acquired by VMware) for three years, where he was VP of worldwide marketing. Prior to VMware and VeloCloud, he was at Akamai, Cisco and Stratacom (acquired by Cisco) in product leadership and engineering roles. Michael brings with him extensive experience in the areas of product management, product marketing, scaling businesses, driving revenue, incorporating process, and outbound marketing to create lead and demand generation. He has experience scaling organizations within high growth startup environments and extensive hands on experience in networking as a service, virtualization, and the cloud and security sectors. “We are thrilled to welcome Michael to our growing team,” said Mansour Karam, CEO and founder of Apstra, Inc. “Michael has a great depth and understanding of what it takes to scale product management, product marketing and deliver results in a fast-paced startup environment which was really important for us to consider in this critical hire. He is a proven marketing executive with the ability to effectively lead our talented global marketing team.” “It’s an exciting time at Apstra and I am looking forward to helping to leverage our deep expertise in intent-based networking to transform data center operations,” said Michael Wood. “Apstra has an incredible amount of traction and I look forward to working with this passionate team to help enterprise, service provider and cloud customers realize massive TCO savings through data center network automation solutions.”
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Global Shop Solutions Celebrates 25-Year Anniversary of Erika Klein, Vice President of R&D
Global Shop Solutions is proud to celebrate 25 years of ERP software excellence under the leadership of Vice President of R&D Erika Klein. As the daughter of Dick Alexander, founder of Global Shop Solutions, Klein has lived and breathed the company since she was a young girl. From joining her parents at the office after school, to running our R&D department of nearly 100 people, Klein has been a visionary in 40+ years of company success. Klein’s journey as an employee started in Global Shop Solutions service department helping customers navigate our software, but she quickly transitioned into the role of Chief Software Designer. During her tenure, she has led the release of dozens of applications that simplify manufacturing for our customers. Each of the products released in the past two decades – Business Intelligence, CRM, Quality Control, FLOOOM, Document Control™, Advanced Planning & Scheduling, GAB, and Dashboards for Manufacturers – all have Klein’s design and manufacturing leadership. Every application within the system has made a direct impact to customers resulting in a better return on their investment and simplified manufacturing. “Twenty five years ago my remarkable sister, Erika Klein, walked through the doors of Global Shop Solutions for the first time as an employee,” says President and CEO Dusty Alexander. “Since then, she’s grown to lead our R&D department managing four teams and nearly 100 people earning the respect and admiration of all employees. Our manufacturing customers around the world benefit from her ability to lead others as her team brings great products to market every day.”
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JASK Appoints Recognized Cyber Market Maker Greg Fitzgerald as CMO and Unveils HQ2 in Austin
JASK, the provider of the industry’s first Autonomous Security Operations Center (ASOC) platform, today announced the appointment of Greg “Fitz” Fitzgerald as chief marketing officer (CMO). Fitzgerald is responsible for the global strategy and execution of JASK’s go-to-market functions to drive brand, demand and expansion for the company’s artificial intelligence-driven platform. Fitzgerald brings more than 25 years of technology leadership experience to JASK, most recently serving as chief operating officer of Javelin Networks. Prior to that, he was a founding executive member and CMO of Cylance, where the artificial intelligence (AI) endpoint protection and detection provider realized record growth, from idea to 1000 employees, in less than four years. Cylance transformed the anti-virus industry with AI and machine learning, and Fitzgerald’s innovative ideas for competitive differentiation, brand recognition and global expansion were paramount to its success. “Greg’s evangelical, cultural and leadership skills, earned from years in both start-up and public companies, make him a great fit to join the JASK team in disrupting a legacy market by creating a new one focused on autonomous security operations,” said Stuart McClure, CEO and co-founder of Cylance and JASK board member. An experienced cybersecurity marketing leader, Fitzgerald held CMO positions where he accelerated awareness and growth at Fortinet, Sourcefire (later acquired by Cisco) and TippingPoint (acquired by 3Com and HP). Currently, he is an advisory board member for Cylance, HYPR, Javelin Networks and Trustgrid, and chairman of the board of directors for Cyberforce Security, a global cybersecurity managed security service provider (MSSP). Additionally, he is on the boards of Reconstructing Hope and Knights of the Austin Symphony. “I’ve been blessed in establishing markets for some of the leading cybersecurity companies by focusing on the pain that security operations teams experience. After advising JASK for a year, I know this is the perfect time to join the team as we leverage modern technologies to automate manual processes and improve how enterprises approach cyber defense,” said Fitzgerald. “I join a leadership team made up of some of the most prominent industry leaders and the brightest talent in data science and engineering, and I look forward to building on our rapid growth, significant industry adoption and international expansion.” The appointment of Fitzgerald aligns with JASK opening its second headquarters today in Austin, strategically placing JASK in the Domain Northside where other key technology and cybersecurity companies are establishing a major presence. The company, which also has headquarters in San Francisco, is home to 40 Austin-based employees with plans to exceed 100 by the end of 2018. Fitzgerald joins JASK’s Austin-based leadership team that includes Chief Technology Officer (CTO) J.J. Guy, Vice President of Engineering Rob Fry, Vice President of Sales Brent Thompson, and Vice President of Product Rocky DeStefano. “Greg brings tremendous security industry experience, insight and energy to the team as we build our culture and significantly expand our sales and marketing presence,” said Greg Martin, CEO and co-founder, JASK. “His leadership and business expertise will be essential as we grow our channel network, build our technology alliances and enter new markets at rates he is used to driving. I’m amazed at the caliber of our team in Austin, a rapidly growing tech-focused city that is the perfect complement to our San Francisco team.” JASK’s expansion into Austin intersects with recent milestones including new Fortune 1000 customers across healthcare, financial services, retail, telecommunications and government organizations. The company’s recent momentum is a result of its unique approach to security operations. By providing security operations center (SOC) teams with the visibility and context needed to make optimal decisions, JASK enables security professionals to properly defend against cyber threats, while significantly decreasing the number of alerts they’ve had to deal with historically. “We are excited to welcome a company on the leading edge of cybersecurity as our first office tenant on Rock Rose,” said Jonathan Tate, principal at Endeavor Real Estate Group. “We're confident that opening their HQ2 at Domain Northside will help JASK recruit top Austin talent.”
