St Kitts And Nevis Sets To Host Investment Gateway Summit This May

KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 (Bernama) -- St. Kitts and Nevis is gearing up to host its inaugural Investment Gateway Summit, a once-in-a-lifetime experience for economic citizens to ‘connect, collaborate and celebrate’ with like-minded global investors.

The summit will take place from May 11 to 15 at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, displaying world-class sustainable business and investment development practices in the twin-federation, according to a statement.

The St. Kitts and Nevis Investment Gateway Summit is about real conversations and tangible opportunities that global citizens can explore, offering a range of opportunities to connect with industry leaders and fellow entrepreneurs.

With hundreds of attendees from countries spanning the globe, including the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Singapore, and China, the summit promises unparalleled networking prospects.

The five-day event will bring together economic citizens, policymakers, corporate leaders, business delegations, academia, and think tanks from across the globe to collectively explore business opportunities and forge new partnerships.

Local exhibitors and international sponsors will have a unique opportunity to showcase  businesses and promote brands to this niche audience.

The Investment Gateway Summit is an opportunity for key stakeholders from businesspeople, economic citizens and governments to collaborate in sustainable development and connect for long-term collaborations, whereby participants will gain exclusive access to expertise and invaluable resources from reputable global leaders and investors.

Each day the detailed agenda is packed with exciting events, such as an exclusive opportunity to celebrate with the St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Honourable Dr Terrance Drew in a private Gala Dinner, alongside other economic citizens and special guests.

The programme includes unique opportunities for its guests to explore the idyllic island through events such as the St. Kitts Scenic Railway, create a memorable cultural experience on the Frigate Bay Strip, and learn about one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, the historical Brimstone Fortress.

-- BERNAMA

MIDEA GROUP'S MAIDEN ESG BRAND STORY SHOWCASES COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Bernama) -- Midea Group, a global technology group, recently released its 2023 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report with ambitious sustainable development goals set for 2030.

It includes achieving over 500 megawatts of photovoltaic power generation, reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity (scopes 1 and 2) by 0.040, securing Energy Management System Certification for 50 factories, and achieving 100 per cent carbon footprint accounting for major categories of smart home appliances.

This is aligned with the Sustainable Development Report Standards of the Global Report Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), according to the group in a statement.

The new report and campaign focuses on four dimensions, namely Protect the Blue Planet; Build a Harmonious Community; Practise 'Bring Great Innovations to Life'; and Jointly Create the Prosperous Ecology.

In order to communicate to a wider audience, Midea produced its first-ever ESG brand film and with this in mind, a narrative based film was created telling the story of a factory visit featuring Midea‘s most prominent VIPs which is the next generation.

This creative juxtaposition highlights kids as VIPs as well as future beneficiaries of its ESG initiatives. Their characters bring a warmth, simplicity, and charm only kids can provide, allowing the brand to deliver hard facts with a soft touch.

The film was launched globally on March 28, across Linkedin, Facebook, X, Youtube platforms, and with its unwavering commitment to sustainability, Midea Group is well-positioned to continue leading the way towards a greener and more sustainable future.

Currently, the group boasts five Global Lighthouse factories and 28 factories with national-level green factory titles; provides a multi-channel talent development system and cross-cultural exchange activities for its 190,000 employees; and plans to invest 140 million Chinese yuan towards education development in local communities. (100 Chinese yuan = RM65.45)

As a globally responsible citizen, Midea Group aims to support the United Nations Sustainable - Development Goals (SDGs) and has joined the United Nations Global Compact organisation. Its dedication to sustainability has also been recognised by Forbes, listing the group as one of the World’s Top Companies for Women in 2023.

-- BERNAMA

TOSHIBA DEBUTS PRODUCT OFFERING SENSORLESS CONTROL OF THREE-PHASE BRUSHLESS DC MOTORS

 

Toshiba: SmartMCD™ Series gate driver ICs with embedded microcontroller (Graphic: Business Wire)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Bernama) -- Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has started volume shipments of its SmartMCD Series of gate driver ICs with embedded microcontroller (MCU).

The first product, "TB9M003FG", is suitable for sensorless control of three-phase brushless direct current (DC) motors used in automotive applications, including water and oil pumps, fans and blowers, according to a statement.

TB9M003FG combines a microcontroller (Arm Cortex-M0), flash memory, power control functions and communications interface functions into a gate driver that controls and drives N-ch power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) for three-phase brushless DC motor drives.

This integration will reduce system sizes and component counts while realising advanced and complex motor control for a wide variety of automotive motor applications.

The new product also incorporates Toshiba's proprietary vector engine, hardware for sensorless sinewave control, reducing the load on the microcontroller, and the size of the software.

The expanding market for electric vehicles requires electrification, component integration, downsized electronic control units (ECUs), and quieter motors.

In response, the new product contributes to downsizing of ECUs by integrating a microcontroller into the gate driver, and to quieter motors by using vector control.

A supplier of advanced semiconductor and storage solutions, Toshiba looks forward to building and contributing to a better future for people everywhere.

-- BERNAMA

Threatlocker Expands Endpoint Security Services To Australia, Advancing Cybersecurity

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- ThreatLocker, a cybersecurity solution provider, has launched its advanced data centre in Sydney, Australia, just over a year after the grand opening of its second headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

According to a statement, this strategic move aims to enhance cybersecurity capabilities across various sectors in Australia, including the private sector, commonwealth, state, territory, and local governments.

The expansion of ThreatLocker will assist Australian entities in complying with the urgently recommended Australian Cyber Security Strategy implemented by the Australian Government.

Additionally, ThreatLocker offers Zero Trust Application Controls and Ringfencing capabilities that align almost any organisation with requirements presented by the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s Essential Eight Maturity Model.

Its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Co-Founder Danny Jenkins said: "Zero Trust is a mindset, and I admire the Australian government's holistic approach, involving the wider community to tackle a modern-day threat.

"As one of the top vendors assisting businesses with Essential Eight guidelines, we are thrilled to strengthen our collaboration with Australia through this centre, bolstering their data protection and compliance initiatives."

ThreatLocker, founded in 2017 by its CEO Jenkins, Chief Operation Officer Sami Jenkins, and Vice President of Quality Assurance John Carolan, protects over two million endpoints across more than 40,000 organisations globally.

The company offers a powerful Zero Trust endpoint protection platform that enables organisations to stop ransomware and other cyberattacks by controlling what software can run in their environments.

-- BERNAMA

MAJORITY BUSINESS SCHOOL ASPIRANTS WANT AI, INCLUSION, SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMMES

KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 (Bernama) -- Equity, inclusion and sustainability programmes are essential for a huge majority of prospective students in graduate business education, and most would not even consider applying to schools that do not have them, according to a survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

The annual survey of global prospective students of business school shows more than two-thirds of potential students agreed that equity and inclusion, as well as sustainability, are important or very important to their academic experience, according to GMAC in a statement.

In addition, three-quarters of candidates say efforts around well-being — defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of no poverty, zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, and decent work and economic growth —are important to them when pursuing higher education, to the point that many would eliminate schools from their consideration if these themes were not incorporated in the curriculum.

“The 2024 survey of prospective students reveals that candidates expect graduate business education to help equip them to advance social impact as a component of their professional and personal goals.

“Their strong desire to build evergreen skills like leadership in an uncertain world, data-driven problem-solving, and effective technology and human capital management persists, even though their preferences for delivery formats and study destinations may shift,” said GMAC Chief Executive Officer, Joy Jones.

Also driving the interest in advanced business education of would-be students is the transformative technology of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Their demand for it grew 38 per cent year-over-year, with two-fifths now saying it is essential to their curricula.

Interest was the highest among those from the Middle East and Latin America as well as among millennials and men. Global interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-certified business programmes also grew 38 per cent in five years, and to new heights in Asia, driven by demand in India and Greater China.

GMAC also found that candidates’ preference for hybrid programmes is growing. Over the past five years, interest in hybrid learning has grown globally at the expense of in-person learning, with most hybrid candidates wanting to spend half or more of their class time in-person and the rest online.

While the United States (US) remains the top study destination for most business school candidates globally, multi-year survey data shows that more candidates than ever before plan to apply to study within their country of citizenship instead of internationally, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

This year’s summary report considers data collected in the 2023 calendar year from 4,105 respondents in 132 countries worldwide. Among them, 42 per cent were female, 61 per cent were Gen Z, and 29 per cent of the US sample were from underrepresented populations.

-- BERNAMA

KFSH&RC Scientists Discover New Bacteria Species To Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- In a ground-breaking development, scientists at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC) have identified a new species of bacteria, referred to as "Stenotrophomonas Riyadhensis" through the application of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) technology.

According to KFSH&RC in a statement, this discovery signifies a major advancement in understanding how bacteria interact with existing drugs, paving the way for innovative therapeutic strategies.

Such efforts are essential in the global fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, highlighting KFSH&RC’s advanced research capabilities and its leading role in fostering scientific discoveries and enhancing patient care.

KFSH&RC research centre Head of the Infectious Disease and Immunity Department, Dr Ahmad Al Qahtani said: “Traditional bacterial identification methods may lead to misidentification, in contrast, WGS analysis offers a precise and targeted approach that ensures accurate identification and provides detailed insights into resistance mechanisms, proving its significance in disease outbreak investigations and patient care improvements.”

Meanwhile, its Head of Transplant Infectious Diseases at the Organ Transplant Centre of Excellence, Dr Reem Almaghrabi said the discovery’s importance in advocating for continuous monitoring and the use of advanced technologies such as WGS in developing faster and more accurate diagnostic methods.

The discovery of "Riyadhensis" reinforces the potential of genomic tests in innovating promising diagnostic and therapeutic methods, as well as deepening the understanding of bacterial resistance mechanisms, particularly in sensitive environments like intensive care units (ICU) and among patients with compromised immune systems.

This represents substantial progress in combatting antibiotic resistance, developing pharmaceuticals, and preventing the spread of diseases.

This newly identified bacteria was discovered amid an in-depth investigation into a suspected outbreak in the ICU of KFSH&RC in 2019, highlighting challenges previously unrecognised by the global scientific and medical communities in pinpointing and countering new bacterial strains.

Understanding the nuances of new bacterial species, particularly their antibiotic resistance, is crucial in modern healthcare and serves as the primary means of combatting bacterial infections. As these bacteria continuously evolve their resistance, they pose a significant and ongoing threat to human health.

-- BERNAMA

PHLEXCELL SDN BHD, A NANOMALAYSIA BERHAD COMPANY AND PARTNER UNVEIL TRANSFORMATIVE NEW FLEXIBLE DYE-SENSITISED SOLAR CELL (FLEXIBLE DSSC)

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- PhlexCell Sdn Bhd from NanoMalaysia Group of Companies and Universiti Teknologi Petronas, proudly announces the successful development of the Flexible Dye-Sensitised Solar Cell (Flexible DSSC), marking a significant milestone in renewable energy innovation. This breakthrough technology is poised to revolutionise the energy landscape, offering versatile and sustainable solutions for various applications, both indoors and outdoors.
NanoMalaysia Berhad CEO, Dr Rezal Khairi Ahmad, spoke on the project's completion, stating, "Bendable solar panel provides isolated energy versatility and independence for electronic devise thus the exponential growth projected in the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart sensor markets underscores the immense potential for our Flexible DSSC. With IoT devices set to triple by 2023 and the global IoT market forecasted to reach a staggering US$ 1.6 trillion by 2025, our technology stands ready to transform energy solutions within these rapidly growing sectors."

"As we witness a rapid shift towards renewable energy, the commercial landscape for dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs) is ripe with opportunity. With a projected CAGR of 12.4% from 2020 to 2027 and Malaysia's solar energy capacity expected to more than double by 2026, our Flexible DSSCs are positioned at the forefront of this transformative journey. The cost-effectiveness and impressive performance metrics of DSSCs are primed to catalyse significant demand, effectively addressing the essential requirements of economic affordability, energy reliability, and environmental preservation. The very nature of DSSCs to absorb a wider spectrum range including indoor lightings coupled with physical flexibility opens up a multitude potential of industrial and user applications".

There is a large market for flexible DSSCs in both the public and commercial sectors. For consumers, it is a leap toward energy independence, driving technological progress in everyday devices. Meanwhile, for businesses, embracing Flexible DSSC technology can lead to reduced operational costs and adherence to sustainability objectives, ultimately positioning them as leaders in innovation.

The Flexible DSSCs with sufficient light-to-electricity efficiency have a wide range of applications, powering communication devices like LoRA backscatter, RFID, passive Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), as well as personal and household gadgets such as wristwatches, small calculators, digital thermometers, smoke detectors, and wall clocks.

The Flexible DSSC aims to demonstrate the viability and efficiency of harnessing solar energy in diverse settings, promoting the adoption of renewable energy sources as an alternative to conventional silicon-based solar panels, which only work well under direct sunlight settings. Its flexibility enables seamless integration into various indoor applications, contributing to the advancement of green technologies.

This innovative breakthrough aligns with government priorities, which emphasise renewable energy and the advancement of eco-friendly technologies. It facilitates the transition towards a low-carbon economy with the eventuality of reaching net zero as early as 2050. NanoMalaysia's dedication in this field supports the country’s National Energy Policy and National Energy Transition Road Map. It resonates with global efforts to combat climate change while promoting the adoption of sustainable energy sources.

In line with Malaysia's National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) goals aiming for 70% renewable energy by 2050 and the cessation of new coal power plants, the groundbreaking DSSCs technology tailored for indoor use expedites Malaysia's transition to sustainable energy. It underscores NanoMalaysia’s commitment to a low-carbon future, bolstering the nation's ambitious renewable energy objectives and fostering the proliferation of indoor renewable energy solutions. The DSSCs for indoor applications serve as a pivotal innovation, aligning with Malaysia's New Industrial Master Plan, which propels the country's agenda for sustainable industrial growth by integrating state-of-the-art renewable energy solutions into its industrial framework and the 10x10 mySTIE policy on advanced materials as a driver of science and technology, contributing to Malaysia's socio-economic advancement through environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation.

Introducing Flexible DSSCs under Phlexcell Sdn Bhd marks a pivotal moment in Malaysia's journey towards sustainable energy solutions and creating new business and job opportunities via the development of relevant domestic value and supply chains. This is evidenced by entirely different yet recyclable raw materials as a by-product of existing industry and new processing techniques required for industrial-scale manufacturing. With its potential to drive economic growth, enhance energy security, and mitigate environmental impact, this technology represents a significant step forward in achieving national and international goals for a cleaner, greener future.

About NanoMalaysia, PhlexCell, and UTP Tripartite Alliance

In a significant move to advance innovation in solar technology and flexible electronics, NanoMalaysia has entered into a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PhlexCell and the University Teknologi Petronas (UTP), specifically with the Centre of Innovative Nanostructures & Nanodevices (COINN). This collaboration marks the establishment of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) aimed at developing new technologies, devices, and solutions through industry and research institution partnerships. The CoE will also offer training and short courses in rigid and flexible solar technologies, provide consultancy to the research and industrial ecosystems, and offer comprehensive services, including characterisation, testing, and R&D in solar technology and flexible devices.

SOURCE : NanoMalaysia Berhad

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
NanoMalaysia Berhad
Name: Ameerul Ashraff
Tel: +6017 358 5127
Email: ameerul@nanomalaysia.com.my
corporateaffairs@nanomalaysia.com.my
Website: www.nanomalaysia.com.my

--BERNAMA