Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Toshiba's new CMOS operational amplifier features ultra-low current consumption

Toshiba: a new CMOS operational amplifier TC75S102F featuring industry-leading ultra-low current consumption. (Photo: Business Wire)


KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 -- Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has added ‘TC75S102F’ a new CMOS operational amplifier featuring industry-leading ultra-low current consumption to its lineup.

Operational amplifiers boost weak signals from sensor, and to support longer use between charges of battery-operated equipment, including IoT edge devices and mobile devices, they must also deliver lower current consumption.

Toshiba has used its CMOS process technology to optimise the circuitry of the new operational amplifier and lowered its power consumption by securing industry-leading low current consumption.

With a minimum supply voltage of 1.5V, the new device is a full-range input/output (Rail-to-Rail input/output) operational amplifier that offers higher performance than its predecessor, according to a statement.

More details at https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com/ap-en/top.html.

-- BERNAMA

Six One Commodities LLC widens power, gas business to Europe

 KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30 -- Six One Commodities LLC (61C) is expanding its power and gas business to Europe with the addition of a power team out of Berlin, led by Ingo Klause.

Klause has over two decades of experience in the CWE region for power trading. He worked for the Swedish utility Vattenfall as a lead trader and head of cross border trading and built successful trading strategies together with his team.

Six One Commodities US LLC (EU Trading) is an affiliate of Six One Commodities Global LLC and will be based in Berlin.

According to Klause in a statement, the team is well positioned to help 61C expand into Europe.

“A rapidly changing supply side will require strong analytical skills to navigate the implications for generation margins and location and time spreads across individual national power markets.

“Building, maintaining, and adjusting a comprehensive model will be critical when trying to capture these fundamental price shifts, and we are the team that can provide that capability,” he said.

Earlier in the year, 61C launched its LNG business in Asia by hiring an LNG team out of Singapore, led by Delia Proteasa to meet the region’s needs.

-- BERNAMA

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Hotel Nikko Changshu in China opens 2023

 



 

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 -- Okura Nikko Hotel Management Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Hotel Okura Co Ltd will open Hotel Nikko Changshu in 2023, which will be located at Changshu National New & Hi-Tech Zone in Changshu city.

The Changshu National New & Hi-Tech Zone is located about six kilometres south of the centre of Changshu, an area where the Changshu Municipal Government is focusing its development efforts, and is expected to become the driving force of Changshu's economy.

According to a statement, the company has contracted with Changshu Kuncheng Development Investment Co Ltd to manage the new property through its joint venture BTG Nikko International Hotel Management Co Ltd.

The Hotel Nikko Changshu will offer 288 guest rooms, each with a standard area of about 40 m², including 14 suite rooms, on 22 floors above ground and two underground floors.

It will also feature a full range of facilities, including a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, all-day dining and banqueting facilities, as well as a fitness centre and indoor pool.

Hotel Nikko Changshu will be the fifth property of Okura Nikko Hotels to open in Jiangsu Province in China, following the opening of Hotel Nikko Wuxi (2010), Suzhou Qingshan Hotel (2010), Hotel Nikko Suzhou (2015) and Hotel Nikko Taizhou (2016).

More details at www.okura-nikko.com.

-- BERNAMA

AIRTRUNK'S NEW 300 MW TOKYO DATA CENTRE IS SET TO BE THE LARGEST IN APAC (EXCLUDING CHINA)

 SYDNEY, Australia and TOKYO, Sept 29 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AirTrunk, a hyperscale data centre specialist, today announced it would be entering into the biggest data centre market in Asia (excluding China) with a plan to construct a new 300+ megawatt (MW) hyperscale data centre campus in Inzai, Tokyo. The initial ~60 MW phase of the campus is targeted to open in late 2021 to support anchor customer demand.

Set to be one of the largest independent data centres in Asia, AirTrunk TOK1 will be scalable to over 300 MW, allowing public cloud customers the ability to scale rapidly to support their growing capacity requirements in Japan. The data centre is the company’s sixth in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, bringing its platform to a total capacity of more than 750 MW across five tier one markets.

Founder and CEO of AirTrunk, Robin Khuda, said Japan is poised for a huge acceleration to the cloud.

“Japan is a highly developed market with strong international connectivity, underpinning its position as a technology and data centre hub in Asia. The rapid increase of cloud adoption in Japan will be enabled by critical infrastructure, including hyperscale data centres like TOK1.”

“TOK1 is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective infrastructure for our cloud customers in key Asia-Pacific markets. We’re ensuring operational excellence and a consistent experience for our customers across our data centre platform,” said Mr Khuda.

AirTrunk’s Head of Japan, Nori Matsushita, said that the local Japanese team will leverage AirTrunk’s global data centre expertise and regional standards gained from its hyperscale data centre developments in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

“AirTrunk’s unique construction methodologies, safety track record, and commitment to providing an efficient and sustainable digital ecosystem will be key to our success in Japan. We look forward to working with our partners to deliver this enormous data centre in Inzai.”

Japanese construction conglomerate, Daiwa House, has been appointed as the general contractor and will also take a stake in the project. Their local expertise, relationships, and strong construction credentials will be an asset to the development.

The data centre will bring several benefits to the local economy including substantial investment and hundreds of jobs during construction and on-going operations.

TOK1 will include seven buildings set across more than 13 hectares of land. Strategically located in Inzai’s data centre hub, the carrier neutral data centre will provide strong international and domestic connectivity with multiple fibre paths to the campus. Critically, AirTrunk has secured high voltage power to the site, with dedicated 66kV substations to power the data centre. AirTrunk’s efficient design will result in an ultra-low power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15, delivering significant energy efficiency.

Earlier this year, a consortium led by Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund 2 (MAIF2), a Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets-managed infrastructure fund, and including Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), acquired an 88 per cent stake in AirTrunk, valuing the company at more than $A3 billion and providing necessary capital and expertise to further realise AirTrunk’s expansion plans across APAC.

TOK1 is the newest addition to AirTrunk’s growing hyperscale data centre platform, which includes facilities in Sydney West (130 MW), Sydney North (110 MW), Melbourne (130 MW), Singapore (60 MW) and Hong Kong (20 MW).

About AirTrunk 

AirTrunk is a best-in-class hyperscale data centre specialist creating a platform for cloud, content and large enterprise customers across the Asia-Pacific region. The company develops and operates data centre campuses with industry leading reliability, technology innovation and energy efficiency. AirTrunk’s unique capabilities, designs and construction methodologies allow it to provide customers with a scalable and sustainable data centre solution at a significantly lower build and operating cost than the market. 

AirTrunk is a private company that is well capitalised to fund its development of data centres across Asia Pacific. For more information on AirTrunk, visit https://www.airtrunk.com/ 

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/83a089e1-4f4f-462e-8362-ed145f8f601f

Media contact

Katya Ginsberg
katya@bastioneffect.com
+61 405 073 304

Ted Mitchell   
ted@bastioneffect.com
+61 400 104 738 

SOURCE : AirTrunk Operating Pty Ltd

Monday, September 28, 2020

NTT COM DEMONSTRATION TEST TO LINK GAIA-X PLATFORM'S "IDS CONNECTOR" TECHNOLOGY AND SDPF BASED ON DATA TRUST®

 



The test environment image (Graphic: Business Wire)

The test environment image (Graphic: Business Wire)


— Will develop global platform for cross-field data utilization while protecting rights of data providers —

TOKYO, Sept 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), the ICT solutions and international communications business within the NTT Group (TOKYO:9432), announced today that beginning October 1 it will collaborate with the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA)1 in a demonstration test as the first phase of contributing to the development of a secure, global data-management platform2 that assures interoperability between data platforms built and managed in countries worldwide.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200927005006/en/ 

The test environment for sharing highly confidential data securely will include IDS Connectors3, the core technology of GAIA-X4, a federated data infrastructure for Europe, and NTT Com’s Things Cloud® IoT platform and Smart Data Platform (SDPF)5, the later incorporating Data Trust®6 policies. The demonstration, in addition to assessing the practicality and operability of a new structure for appropriately controlling the access rights of each data based on related laws and contracts, will shed new light on the requirements, etc. of platforms designed for international data management. The results are expected to lead to the establishment of global data management platforms that smoothly link local data platforms in countries across the globe.

In the demonstration, a test environment will be built to test various cases of international data sharing, such as remote monitoring of machines overseas, etc., to verify the practicality and operability of data sharing. Initially, in collaboration with the NTT Software Innovation Center,7 IDS Connector and SDPF will be deployed in a test environment in Japan to test system interoperability and the management of specific data-usage rights. The test environment in Japan will then be connected to IDSA’s test environment in Germany and a separate test environment at the Swiss nonprofit Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne8 to test the system’s practicality and operability in controlling data access rights internationally via NTT Com’s networks.

Thereafter, NTT Com will proceed with further verification and testing by applying the current test’s findings in a test operation environment (test bed), aiming to verify the interoperability of various hardware and software using the IDS Connector. The new global data management platform will be jointly developed by Japanese and overseas companies and organizations. At the same time, NTT Com will determine concrete requirements for the platform together with various organizations and companies active in Japan and overseas, including the Robot Revolution & Industrial IoT Initiative.9 Going forward, NTT Com hopes to support the formulation of basic specifications through public-private-academic collaboration. Ultimately, NTT Com aims to contribute to the realization of a smart world by developing and providing a platform for broad sharing and usage of data in wide-ranging fields worldwide.

Technologies for IoT, artificial intelligence and data utilization are increasingly being applied in diverse fields, including manufacturing, logistics, transportation, medical care, energy, cities and government. To facilitate advanced, multipurposed data use, systems are needed to ensure the safe, reliable exchange of data among industries, businesses and countries. Simultaneously, the rights of data providers and users must be protected and observed by managing when, where, who, why and under what conditions specific data can be used. Currently, legal systems and technologies are being developed worldwide to create such data infrastructure. Eventually, data exchange in international business may require compliance with data-infrastructure specifications according to the laws and regulations of relevant countries.
 
1The International Data Spaces Association (IDSA), originating in Europe, has defined a reference architecture and a formal standard to be used for creating and operating virtual data spaces. The International Data Spaces (IDS) Architecture is based on commonly accepted data governance models facilitating secure exchange and easy linkage of data within business ecosystems. IDSA counts over 120 member organizations from 21 countries.
2Global data-management platform is a function for mutually linking data platforms across borders so that each country can internationally distribute data safely, fairly and appropriately while protecting national assets and human rights.
3IDS Connector provided by IDSA is the core element of a data ecosystem designed to facilitate the secure exchange of data between trusted parties. Deployed in the GAIA-X infrastructure as well as in clouds, on edge computers or on devices, etc. that send and receive data, it provides settings for managing access to specific data based on laws and contracts.
4GAIA-X is an initiative announced by the German and French governments in October 2019 to build decentralized data infrastructure for data sharing and utilization protected by European data laws.
5Smart Data Platform (SDPF) is NTT Com’s next-generation platform that offers comprehensive, one-stop functions for corporate digital transformation (DX).
6DATA Trust® is a registered trademark of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT).
7The NTT Software Innovation Center is an NTT laboratory engaged in researching and developing IT infrastructure technologies, such as DX acceleration, software infrastructure, AI infrastructure and next-generation computers, that are becoming important infrastructure.
8Switzerland Innovation Park Biel/Bienne is a Swiss private nonprofit organization that carries out and supports primarily industry-oriented applied research and development.
9The Robot Revolution & Industrial IoT Initiative is a private organization established in 2015 at the initiative of the Japanese government to facilitate the use of industrial IoT, robots, etc. NTT Com has been active as the secretariat of the Global Data Management Platform Sub-Working group since October 2019.

About NTT Communications

NTT Communications solves the world's technology challenges by helping enterprises overcome complexity and risk in their ICT environments with managed IT infrastructure solutions. These solutions are backed by our worldwide infrastructure, including industry leading, global tier-1 public and private networks reaching over 190 countries/regions, and more than 500,000m2 of the world's most advanced data center facilities. Our global professional services teams provide consultation and architecture for the resiliency and security required for your business success, and our scale and global capabilities in technology world are unsurpassed. Combined with NTT Ltd., NTT Data, and NTT DOCOMO, we are NTT Group.
www.ntt.com | Twitter@NTT Com | Facebook@NTT Com | LinkedIn@NTT Com

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200927005006/en/

Contact

For more information
Akira Sakaino, Hideaki Niitsuma
Smart Factory Office
Business Planning, Business Solution Division
NTT Communications
smart-factory@ntt.com

Source : NTT Communications Corporation

AM BEST AFFIRMS CREDIT RATINGS OF TAIPING REINSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED AND ITS SUBSIDIARY

 HONG KONG, Sept 28 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a” of Taiping Reinsurance Company Limited (TPRe) (Hong Kong) and its wholly owned subsidiary, Taiping Reinsurance (China) Company Ltd. (TPRe China) (China). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings of TPRe reflect its balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorises as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The ratings also acknowledge the continued implicit and explicit support given by TPRe’s parent company, China Taiping Insurance Holdings Company Limited (CTIH), in terms of capital, investment, risk oversight and shared operational resources.

On 27 August 2020, TPRe entered into an agreement with Ageas Insurance International N.V. (Ageas), in which Ageas agreed to subscribe to additional shares issued by TPRe with cash. TPRe’s paid-in capital is expected to grow by HKD 3.1 billion, with Ageas accounting for approximately 25% of the increased capital. AM Best views the raised proceeds to materially boost TPRe’s capital and strengthen its underwriting capacity to support ongoing business expansion. AM Best also believes CTIH will maintain its controlling shareholding status in TPRe for the foreseeable future, and will continue to render capital and financial support to TPRe in a timely manner when necessary.

TPRe’s risk-adjusted capitalisation remained at the strongest level as of year-end 2019, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The capital and surplus has grown at an average rate of 15.1% per annum over the past five years, mainly driven by capital injections from CTIH and the partial retention of operating profits. Other supportive factors to its balance sheet strength include strong liquidity and prudent retrocession programmes.

TPRe has delivered consistently profitable operating earnings over the past five years, mainly attributed to positive underwriting results and favourable investment performance. The five-year average return on equity was 6.5% (2015-2019). Asia remains the company’s core focus, while the company continues to diversify its geographical coverage and product scope in the life and non-life segments. With the introduction of Ageas as a strategic investor, TPRe will benefit from additional support in overseas market expansion, particularly in Europe and a few target Asian markets.

The ratings of TPRe China reflect its strategic importance to TPRe, as well as its high level of integration with, and the explicit support it receives from TPRe. The subsidiary has delivered robust non-life premium growth over the past five years, and had commenced assuming life reinsurance business in 2019. Going forward, AM Best expects TPRe China to remain a key contributor to TPRe’s consolidated financials.

Offsetting rating factors include the diminishing underwriting margin in the non-life portfolio owing to natural catastrophe losses and the continued intense market competition, and the persistently low interest rate environment, which poses challenges to the asset and liability management of TPRe’s fast growing life reinsurance book. The company’s investment portfolio also is subject to some concentration risk from mutual funds and corporate bonds issued by financial institutions. Furthermore, fluctuations in foreign exchange have given rise to volatility in net profits over the past few years.

The company is well-positioned at the current rating level. Negative rating actions could occur if there is a material deteriorating trend in operating performance such that it no longer supports the current adequate assessment, or if there is a material decline in the company’s risk-adjusted capitalisation. Negative rating actions also could occur if there is a material deterioration in CTIH’s credit profile or if CTIH reduces the level of support it provides to TPRe.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2020 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

View source version on businesswire.com: 
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200925005332/en/

Contact

James Chan
Associate Director
+852 2827 3418
james.chan@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Christie Lee
Senior Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3413
christie.lee@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source : AM Best