Koupon Media and Punchh announce partnership

Combining Koupon’s powerful shopper insights and digital CPG offers with loyalty technology will create a unique opportunity for retailers to attract new consumers and convert them to loyal shoppers – Brad Van Otterloo, CEO of Koupon Media

DALLAS , Texas and SAN MATEO, Calif. (PRWEB)
September 26, 2019

Koupon Media, the leading consumer insights engine and promotion network in the c-store industry, and Punchh, the leader in digital marketing solutions for physical retailers, today announced a new partnership to develop a solution to help c-store retailers deliver a data-backed, omni-channel loyalty experience to shoppers. Through this integration with Punchh’s marketing technology, c-stores will be able to enhance loyalty programs by leveraging Koupon’s robust database of CPG-funded campaigns and its advanced consumer analytics platform.

“The challenges for successful loyalty programs within convenience stores are significant, but so are the opportunities,” said Brad Van Otterloo, CEO of Koupon. “We are excited to partner with Punchh to bring its best-in-class digital marketing and loyalty solutions to the c-store industry. Combining Koupon’s powerful shopper insights and digital CPG offers with loyalty technology will create a unique opportunity for retailers to attract new consumers and convert them to loyal shoppers.”

Punchh has a long track record of success driving sales and increasing loyalty for brick and mortar restaurants and is working to optimize its solutions for other verticals, including c-stores. Through this technical integration, Punchh will help c-store brands reach and acquire valuable customers, while Koupon will facilitate CPG collaboration and provide shopper insights to launch high impact campaigns. Together, Punchh and Koupon will provide c-stores with the solutions needed to create a consumer experience that delivers value and builds loyalty.

“Loyalty is playing an important role in the c-store industry and to remain competitive, c-store retailers must reimagine the loyalty experience,” said Shyam Rao, CEO of Punchh. “Koupon Media’s ability to source CPG-funded content and provide consumer insights across products, stores and channels will take Punchh-powered loyalty programs to the next level.”

About Koupon Media

Koupon Media is the leading consumer insights engine and promotion network in the c-store industry. Koupon connects over 40,000 c-store retailers with the world’s largest CPG brands to launch digital campaigns that grow sales. Offers delivered in the Koupon Network are powered by Koupon’s AI-driven insights engine which leverages over 10 billion consumer data points to help c-store marketers launch hyper targeted promotions. Since its founding, Koupon has delivered more than 4 billion offers and today its clients include 30 of the top 50 c-store chains in the United States.

About Punchh

Punchh is the world leader in innovative digital marketing products for physical retailers, combining AI and machine learning technologies, mobile-first expertise, and omnichannel communications designed to dramatically increase lifetime customer value. Punchh offers brands access to real-time consumer information via a live dashboard, enabling them to create and launch campaigns, target specific user segments and review guest feedback. Marketers can connect with customers across any channel through loyalty, offers, ordering, payments, feedback, surveys, gift cards, games and more. More than 170 global enterprise brands rely on Punchh to grow revenue by building customer relationships at every stage, from anonymous to loyalist.

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For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a way to build a probabilistic computer. (Purdue University image/Ahmed Zeeshan Pervaiz)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (PRWEB)
September 25, 2019

It may still be decades before quantum computers are ready to solve problems that today’s classical computers aren’t fast or efficient enough to solve, but the emerging “probabilistic computer” could bridge the gap between classical and quantum computing.

Engineers at Purdue University and Tohoku University in Japan have built the first hardware to demonstrate how the fundamental units of what would be a probabilistic computer – called p-bits – are capable of performing a calculation that quantum computers would usually be called upon to perform.

The study, published in Nature on Wednesday (Sept. 18), introduces a device that serves as a basis for building probabilistic computers to more efficiently solve problems in areas such as drug research, encryption and cybersecurity, financial services, data analysis and supply chain logistics.

Today’s computers store and use information in the form of zeroes and ones called bits. Quantum computers use qubits that can be both zero and one at the same time. In 2017, a Purdue research group led by Supriyo Datta, the university’s Thomas Duncan Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, proposed the idea of a probabilistic computer using p-bits that can be either zero or one at any given time and fluctuate rapidly between the two.

“There is a useful subset of problems solvable with qubits that can also be solved with p-bits. You might say that a p-bit is a ‘poor man’s qubit,’” Datta said.

Whereas qubits need really cold temperatures to operate, p-bits work at room temperature like today’s electronics, so existing hardware could be adapted to build a probabilistic computer, the researchers say.

The team built a device that is a modified version of magnetoresistive random-access memory, or MRAM, which some types of computers use today to store information. The technology uses the orientation of magnets to create states of resistance corresponding to zero or one.

Tohoku University researchers William Borders, Shusuke Fukami and Hideo Ohno altered an MRAM device, making it intentionally unstable to better facilitate the ability of p-bits to fluctuate. Purdue researchers combined this device with a transistor to build a three-terminal unit whose fluctuations could be controlled. Eight such p-bit units were interconnected to build a probabilistic computer.

The circuit successfully solved what is often considered a “quantum” problem: Breaking down, or factoring, numbers such as 35,161 and 945 into smaller numbers, a calculation known as integer factorization. These calculations are well within the capabilities of today’s classical computers, but the researchers believe that the probabilistic approach demonstrated in this paper would take up much less space and energy.

“On a chip, this circuit would take up the same area as a transistor, but perform a function that would have taken thousands of transistors to perform. It also operates in a manner that could speed up calculation through the parallel operation of a large number of p-bits,” said Ahmed Zeeshan Pervaiz, a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering at Purdue.

Realistically, hundreds of p-bits would be needed to solve bigger problems – but that’s not too far off, the researchers say.

“In the near future, p-bits could better help a machine to learn like a human does or optimize a route for goods to travel to market,” said Kerem Camsari, a Purdue postdoctoral associate in electrical and computer engineering.

The Purdue group is associated with the Discovery Park Center for Computing Advances by Probabilistic Spin Logic led by Joerg Appenzeller. A patent application for this technology has been filed through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization.

The work was partially supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency; the Semiconductor Research Corp.; Japan’s Council for Science, Technology and Innovation; the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; and the Research Institute of Electrical Communication of Tohoku University.

Media contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Writer: Kayla Wiles, 765-494-2432, wiles5@purdue.edu

Sources:

Supriyo Datta, 765-494-3511, datta@purdue.edu

Ahmed Zeeshan Pervaiz, apervaiz@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: For a copy of the paper, please contact Amy Patterson Neubert, Purdue News Service, at apatterson@purdue.edu.

ABSTRACT

Integer Factorization Using Stochastic Magnetic Tunnel Functions

William A. Borders1,8 , Ahmed Z. Pervaiz2,8 , Shunsuke Fukami1,3,4,5,6,7, Kerem Y. Camsari2, Hideo Ohno1,3,4,5,6,7, Supriyo Datta2

1Laboratory for Nanoelectronics and Spintronics, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

2School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

3Center for Spintronics Integrated Systems, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

4Center for Innovative Integrated Electronic Systems, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

5Center for Spintronics Research Network, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

6Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics (Core Research Cluster), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

7WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1557-9

Conventional computers operate deterministically using strings of zeros and ones called bits to represent information in binary code. Despite the evolution of conventional computers into sophisticated machines, there are many classes of problems they cannot efficiently address, including inference, invertible logic, sampling, and optimization, leading to considerable interest in alternative computing schemes. Quantum computing, which uses qubits to represent a superposition of O and I, can perform these tasks efficiently. However, decoherence and the current requirement for cryogenic operation, as well as the limited many-body interactions that can be implemented, pose considerable challenges. Probabilistic computing is another unconventional computation scheme that shares similar concepts with quantum computing but is not limited by the above challenges. The key role is played by a probabilistic bit-a p-bit-a robust, classical entity fluctuating in time between 0 and I, which interacts with other p-bits in the same system using principles inspired by neural networks. Here we present a proof-of-concept experiment for probabilistic computing using spintronics technology, and demonstrate integer factorization, an illustrative example of the optimization class of problems addressed by adiabatic and gated quantum computing. Nanoscale magnetic tunnel junctions showing stochastic behaviour are developed by modifying market-ready magnetoresistive random access memory technology and are used to implement three-terminal p-bits that operate at room temperature. The p-bits are electrically connected to form a functional asynchronous network, to which a modified adiabatic quantum computing algorithm that implements three­and four-body interactions is applied. Factorization of integers up to 945 is demonstrated with this rudimentary asynchronous probabilistic computer using eight correlated p-bits and the results show good agreement with theoretical predictions, thus providing a potentially scalable hardware approach to the difficult problems of optimization and sampling.

Noitom supplied all the motion capture and tracking technology to the Divergent experience at Lionsgate Entertainment World VR theme park in China.

ZHUHAI, China (PRWEB)
September 25, 2019

Fans of the Divergent film franchise can now experience the excitement of the movies in VR at the Lionsgate Entertainment World theme park which opened its doors this summer in Zhuhai, China on July 31.

The Dauntless Fear Simulator —based on one of the societal factions featured in the Divergent books and films’ plot—lets players tackle their darkest fears through a series of daunting challenges during the 15 minute-long, heart-thumping experience that includes a high-altitude challenge, maze, and outdoor adventure. The game’s virtual world set up is replicated exactly as it is in the Divergent films.

Created with Noitom’s proprietary Project Alice technology, Dauntless Fear Simulator features a highly accurate optical-inertial hybrid tracking system. Visitors to the experience are given controls, VR goggles, computer backpacks, and motion capture sensors as they traverse the various challenges inside the game. The open-world concept means that they can repeat the experience and get different outcomes, just like the simulator featured in Divergent. With over 1,600 square feet of space, multiple players can interact with each other as well as with textured surfaces, virtual screens, and objects inside the experience.

Noitom began planning the Divergent Dauntless with Lionsgate Entertainment World in November of 2017 including with R&D, installation, tests, and operations.

Lionsgate Entertainment World features indoor themed rides and virtual reality experiences inspired by the Hollywood studio’s movie franchises including The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, and Now You See Me.

Lionsgate Entertainment World was designed by Thinkwell Group, a global design and production agency. In collaboration with Thinkwell Group and Framestore which created the immersive virtual reality environment, Noitom applied its motion capture and tracking technology to make the Divergent Dauntless Fear Simulator possible. The experience is operated by Australian media and entertainment company, Village Road Show.

Founded in 2012, Noitom Ltd. works with a team of dedicated engineers who develop world-class motion capture technology for consumer and industrial markets through the integration of MEMS sensors, pattern recognition, human kinetics, and wireless transmission. Noitom is an international leader in innovative technology for use in animation, film, medical applications, robotics, and gaming. Noitom is headquartered in Beijing with an affiliate office in Miami, Florida, USA. For further information about Noitom and its services, please visit, http://www.noitom.com. For general inquiries, please email, info(at)noitom.com

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Max Barte is IEI’s summer 2019 scholarship winner.

I hope to improve the economic condition of disadvantaged groups through housing policy.

SAN DIEGO (PRWEB)
September 25, 2019

Ivey Engineering, Inc., (IEI), an engineering consulting firm, congratulates Max Barte of Vienna, Virginia, as the winner of the summer 2019 bi-annual scholarship essay contest. He is currently a sophomore at the University of Virginia.

Barte, who has lived overseas most of his life, is majoring in economics and hopes to understand better how the housing and financial markets in the United States work from the perspective of stakeholders such as renters, homeowners, landlords and local governments.

Barte sees himself practicing law in the next 10 years. “I hope to improve the economic condition of disadvantaged groups through housing policy,” he says.

Barte competed with over 100 other college students from the United States and Canada. Applicants were tasked to write an 800- to 1,000-word essay on one of three topics and were judged on creativity and originality.

Barte’s winning essay discussed several unique ways to incorporate energy efficiency into a building. One tip he mentions in his essay is designing a building with strong seals and insulation.

“The U.S. Department of Energy has found that reducing air leaks out of a home or building can improve health, comfort and spending on heating and cooling,” Barte explains in his essay.

“While it can significantly reduce energy costs to caulk and weather strip a building, the biggest savings come from designing buildings with airtight, durable seals around windows to maximize energy efficiency from the beginning,” he says.

“Max’s essay was informative, well written and contained original ideas on energy efficiency,” says Scott Friesen, president of IEI. “You can tell he spent some time doing research from the quality of his essay,” he says.

IEI understands how valuable a college education is and also the expense that goes along with it. The scholarship contest is a win for both IEI and the student, since it allows the firm to give back to the community.

Any potential or current college or university undergraduate student within the United States or Canada is able to apply. The next deadline for essays to be submitted is Nov.1, 2019. For contest requirements or for more information about the scholarship, visit IEI’s scholarship web page.

About Ivey Engineering

IEI is an expert witness and building systems consulting firm in San Diego, California. Established in 1994, IEI services clients in over 40 states and in several Canadian provinces. IEI’s consultants have experience in the design, construction, service and repair of HVAC, plumbing and fire protection systems, as well as energy efficiency related issues. To read more about Ivey Engineering and its consulting services, visit the company’s website. You can also connect with IEI on Linked In.

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COMMERCE, Mich. (PRWEB)
September 24, 2019

MSSP Alert, published by After Nines Inc., has named Nuspire to the Top 200 MSSPs list for 2019 (http://www.msspalert.com/top200). The list and research identify and honor the top 200 managed security services providers (MSSPs) that specialize in comprehensive, outsourced cybersecurity services.

Previous editions of the annual list honored 100 MSSPs. This year’s edition, at twice the size, reflects MSSP Alert’s rapidly growing readership and the world’s growing consumption of managed security services. MSSP Alert’s readership has grown every month, year over year, since launching in May 2017.

The Top 200 MSSP rankings are based on MSSP Alert’s 2019 readership survey combined with aggregated third-party research. MSSPs featured throughout the list and research proactively monitor, manage and mitigate cyber threats for businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations of all sizes.

This year, Nuspire was ranked number 27, up from number 45 in 2018. Nuspire was recognized for its consistent aggressive annual growth and recent merger with GBprotect. Also, for its tremendous customer service levels, which outflanks the competition.

“We are thrilled to be included in MSSP Alert’s Top 200, listed as one of the top 20% of MSSP’s in the world,” said Greg Yarrington, Nuspire COO. “Inclusion in this list is a true testament to our customer first culture, where we provide diligent 24x7x365 support with our security experts and innovative technologies, and work as an extension of our client’s security team to help them achieve the successful outcomes they desire for their security program.”

“After Nines Inc. and MSSP Alert congratulate Nuspire on this year’s honor,” said Amy Katz, CEO of After Nines Inc. “Amid the ongoing cybersecurity talent shortage, thousands of MSPs and IT consulting firms are striving to move into the managed security market. The Top 200 list honors the MSSP market’s true pioneers.”

MSSP Alert: Top 200 MSSPs 2019 – Research Highlights

The MSSP Alert readership survey revealed several major trends in the managed security services provider market. Chief among them:

• 
  The Top 5 business drivers for managed security services are talent shortages; regulatory compliance needs; the availability of cloud services; ransomware attacks; and SMB customers demanding security guidance from partners.
• 69% of MSSPs now run full-blown security operations centers (SOCs) in-house, with 19% leveraging hybrid models, 8% completely outsourcing SOC services and 4% still formulating strategies.
• The Top 10 cybersecurity vendors assisting MSSPs, in order of reader preference, are Fortinet, AT&T Cybersecurity, Cisco Systems, BlackBerry Cylance, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, SonicWall, Carbon Black, Tenable and Webroot (a Carbonite company).
• Although the overall MSSP market enjoys double-digit percentage growth rates, many of the Top 200 MSSPs have single-digit growth rates because they are busy investing in next-generation services – including managed detection and response (MDR), SOC as a Service, and automated penetration testing.

The Top 200 MSSPs list and research are overseen by Content Czar Joe Panettieri (@JoePanettieri). Find the online list and associated report here: http://www.msspalert.com/top200.

About Nuspire

Nuspire is the Managed Security Services (MSS) provider of choice, delivering the greatest risk reduction per cyber-dollar spent. The company’s 24×7 Security Operations Centers (SOCs) and managed detection and response (MDR) service combines award-winning threat detection and response technology with human intervention and analysis, providing end-to-end protection across the gateway, network and endpoint ecosystem. Nuspire pioneered distributed, managed security services within the enterprise and franchise market and today protects thousands of locations globally. For more information, visit http://www.nuspire.com and follow @Nuspire.

About After Nines Inc.

After Nines Inc. provides timeless IT guidance for strategic partners and IT security professionals across ChannelE2E (http://www.ChannelE2E.com) and MSSP Alert (http://www.MSSPAlert.com). ChannelE2E tracks every stage of the IT service provider journey — from entrepreneur to exit. MSSP Alert is the global voice for Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs).

• For sponsorship information contact After Nines Inc. CEO Amy Katz, Amy@AfterNines.com
• For content and editorial questions contact After Nines Inc. Content Czar Joe Panettieri, Joe@AfterNines.com

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