Category Archives: Technology: Computer

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PICMG® Releases Its Newest COM.0 R3.1 Spec for COM Express to Include PCIe Gen 4 and USB 4.0 Support


ExpressBASE6 R3.1-F

Summary:

  • COM.0 R3.1 adds support for PCIe Gen 4, for all module types, while adding USB4 support for Type 6 and updating 10G Ethernet to support CEI side-band signaling plus adding a second PCIe Clock for Type 7
  • R3.1 compliant, ADLINK provides two new modules, along with out-of-the-box ready development kits
  • Express-ADP Type 6 Basic size: powered by 12th Gen Intel® Core™ supporting advanced hybrid architecture with up to 6 Performance-cores (P-cores) and 8 Efficient-cores (E-cores) at 15W/28W/45W TDP
  • Express-ID7 Type 7 Basic size: powered by Intel® Xeon® D-1700 featuring integrated high-speed Ethernet for up to 4x 10G combined with 16 PCIe Gen4 lanes for instantaneous responsiveness and performance

ADLINK Technology Inc., a global leader in edge computing and a chair of the PICMG® subcommittee, is pleased to demonstrate PICMG’s latest COM.0 R3.1 with two new COM Express modules complying to the revision — ADLINK’s Express ADP Type 6 Basic size and Express-ID7 Type 7 Basic size.

Compared to R3.0, Revision 3.1 has added support for several advanced interfaces suitable for next-gen AIoT applications, such as PCIe Gen 4 support across all module types, USB4 for Type 6 and adding a second PCIe Clock while updating 10G Ethernet to support CEI side-band signaling for Type 7. Other enhancements include adding options for general purpose SPI, MIPI-CSI connectors, and SoundWire, as well as adding IPMB for Type 7.

R3.1 compliant, ADLINK’s Express-ADP Type 6 Basic size and Express-ID7 Type 7 Basic size modules are respectively powered by 12th Gen Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® D-1700 processors.

ADLINK Express-ADP Type 6 Basic size utilizes 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors based on advanced hybrid architecture with up to 6 Performance-cores (P-cores) and 8 Efficient-cores (E-cores), effectively boosting productivity and fueling IoT innovation across a wide variety of deployments. It provides DDR5 memory support with up to 4800 MT/s combined with increased cache, and integrated Intel® Iris® Xe graphics with up to 96EUs, to offer four concurrent 4K60 HDR displays and Intel® Deep Learning Boost for superior AI performance. Using DDI, eDP 1.4b and USB4/TBT4, the four independent displays support Display Alternative mode, the module provides premium graphics features for superior content support, display and I/O virtualization.

ADLINK Express-ID7 Type 7 Basic size, based on Intel® Xeon® D-1700 processor, features integrated high-speed Ethernet for up to 4x 10G combined with 16 PCIe Gen4 lanes for instantaneous responsiveness and performance. Built for rugged and edge AI applications, this ADLINK COM with Intel® Ice Lake-D empowers system integrators to realize all of their IoT innovations, from edge networking, unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous driving, robotic surgery, to rugged HPC servers, 5G base stations, automatic drilling, ship management, and more.

For immediate application-specific development, ADLINK will also have out-of-the-box-ready development kits with the abovementioned COM.0 R3.1 modules. Developers can seek further details about these dev kits from ADLINK’s I-Pi wiki website. In addition, for convenient reference testing, ADLINK offers carrier boards — Express-BASE6 R3.1 and Express-BASE 7 R3.1 — and bundled starter kits, available on ADLINK’s website.

Visit ADLINK Technology to learn more about these COM.0 R3.1 modules.

About ADLINK Technology

ADLINK Technology Inc. (TAIEX:6166) leads edge computing, the catalyst for a world powered by artificial intelligence. ADLINK manufactures edge hardware and develops edge software for embedded, distributed, and intelligent computing – from powering medical PCs in the intensive care unit to building the world’s first high-speed autonomous race car – more than 1600 customers around the world trust ADLINK for mission-critical success. ADLINK holds top-tier edge partnerships with Intel, NVIDIA, AWS, and SAS, and also participates on the Intel Board of Advisors, ROS 2 Technical Steering Committee and Autoware Foundation Board. ADLINK contributes to open source, robotics, autonomous, IoT and 5G standards initiatives across 24+ consortiums, driving innovation in manufacturing, telecommunications, healthcare, energy, defense, transportation and infotainment. For over 25 years, with 1800+ ADLINKers and 200+ partners, ADLINK enables the technologies of today and tomorrow, advancing technology and society around the world. Follow ADLINK Technology on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook or visit adlinktech.com.

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Cameyo Recognized as a High Performer in G2’s Fall 2022 Reports for Both DaaS and VDI Categories


Badges for the six awards Cameyo earned in G2's Fall 2022 reports for both DaaS and VDI solutions.

“Especially now, when two of the oldest VDI and DaaS providers are being acquired and their futures are uncertain, many organizations are looking for alternatives. And the first place most IT decision makers turn for advice is to their peers in the industry, to learn from their experiences.”

Cameyo, the Virtual App Delivery (VAD) provider that enables ultra-secure Cloud Desktops so your people can be productive from anywhere, today announced that it has been recognized as a “High Performer” in both the Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) categories of the G2 Fall 2022 reports while also receiving several “best of” recognitions in those categories, including Best Estimated ROI. G2 Grid® Reports are based on the ratings and reviews of real end-users and reveal the solutions in each software category that have the most satisfied customers and largest market presence.

“The fact that G2’s ratings and reports are based on the real-life reviews and experiences of actual customers makes these recognitions so much more meaningful to us, because everything we do, we do with the goal of delighting and empowering our customers,” said Robb Henshaw, Co-Founder and CMO of Cameyo. “To have so many of our customers take the time to share their reviews of Cameyo with their peers, and to be ranked so highly – especially compared to many of the larger, legacy providers – is an absolute honor.”

Based on these customer reviews, Cameyo received the following recognitions in the G2 Fall 2022 reports:

Cameyo’s Virtual App Delivery (VAD) platform provides an ultra-secure, simple, and cost-effective cloud desktop solution for enabling organizations to deliver all their apps – legacy Windows, internal web, and SaaS – to any device without the need for legacy virtual desktops or VPNs. Unlike traditional VDI and DaaS solutions, Cameyo is a cloud-native virtualization solution that delivers any application to any device without delivering the Windows OS. Cameyo’s cloud desktop solution dramatically reduces cost & complexity while increasing security and providing a more seamless user experience.

“Especially now, when two of the oldest VDI and DaaS providers are being acquired and their futures are uncertain, many organizations are looking for alternatives. And the first place most IT decision makers turn for advice is to their peers in the industry, to learn from their experiences. So the G2 Fall 2022 reports for the VDI and DaaS categories are more relevant than ever, and we’re honored that our customers are so vocal about their love for our solution,” said Andrew Miller, Co-Founder and CEO at Cameyo.

About Cameyo

Cameyo’s Virtual App Delivery (VAD) platform provides an ultra-secure, simple, and cost-effective cloud desktop solution for enabling you to deliver all your apps – legacy Windows, internal web, and SaaS – to any device without the need for legacy virtual desktops or VPNs. Unlike traditional VDI and DaaS solutions, Cameyo is a cloud-native virtualization solution that delivers any application to any device without delivering the Windows OS. Cameyo’s cloud desktop solution dramatically reduces cost & complexity while increasing security and providing a more seamless user experience. Cameyo is a Chrome Enterprise Recommended solution, and hundreds of enterprises and organizations across all industries utilize Cameyo to deliver business-critical applications to hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. As of September 2022, Cameyo has a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +83 with zero detractors – 100% of responding customers would recommend Cameyo to their peers. To learn more, visit cameyo.com.

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Egnyte Once Again Recognized for Data Security and Governance Capabilities in G2 Fall 2022 Reports


Egnyte, the secure platform for content collaboration and governance, today announced it has been named a leader and No. 1 ranked vendor by software marketplace G2 in several of its Fall 2022 reports, based on user reviews and other online data as it relates to customer satisfaction and market presence.

“The Egnyte platform continues to receive high adoption as organizations navigate the new hybrid work environment amid increasing cyberattacks and rapidly-evolving data privacy regulations,” said Julie Giannini, Chief Customer Officer at Egnyte. “Listening to and meeting the needs of our customer base is of the utmost importance, which is why this recognition from G2 is very meaningful. I’ve been fortunate to spend valuable time recently with many of our customers as part of Egnyte’s Spark Sessions.”

Over the past quarter, Egnyte has continued to make significant product enhancements, such as improvements to snapshot-based ransomware recovery, a redesign of the Egnyte web application, and enhanced malware scanning and management capabilities to more effectively detect potential malware and remediate malware attacks.

Reviewers on G2 continue to recognize the platform for its ease of use and ability to protect data from cyber threats, with notable feedback this quarter including:


  • “Egnyte is a reliable cloud-based storage platform that is easy for end users and provides a robust set of features that add value without compromising security…[it] solves the need for remote access to files for employees that work remotely or in different offices by eliminating the need for VPN access.” – Vice President, Finance
  • “After 13 plus years with Egnyte, my data is as safe today as it was on day one… I love that I can access my data from anywhere in the world.” – Director of Operations
  • “[Egnyte] provides an excellent service to protect your sensitive data against threats and ransomware detection in the cloud. Also, they customize a collaborative environment.” – Senior Application Engineer

To learn more about Egnyte’s offerings and to get a look into the company’s roadmap, attend next month’s Spark Sessions. The in-person events in Chicago on Oct. 6 and Boston on Oct. 20 will feature customers and Egnyte executives including Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Rajesh Ram and Chief Governance Officer Jeff Sizemore.

About Egnyte

Egnyte is the secure multi-cloud platform for content security and governance that enables organizations to better protect and collaborate on their most valuable content. Established in 2007, Egnyte has democratized cloud content security for more than 17,000 organizations, helping customers improve data security, maintain compliance, prevent and detect ransomware threats, and boost employee productivity on any app, any cloud, anywhere. For more information, visit http://www.egnyte.com.

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LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS Expands Integration with The Work NumberⓇ by Equifax


Today, LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS (“Launcher”), a technology provider specializing in loan originations, announced an expanded integration of Launcher’s appTRAKER Loan Origination System (“LOS”) with The Work Number® from Equifax, the industry-leading centralized commercial repository of income and employment information in the U.S.

appTRAKER LOS was designed for lenders looking for a more efficient way to consume data to originate loans and build a stronger portfolio. This expansion between appTRAKER LOS and The Work Number offers additional products for lenders:

  • The Work Number Select – Gold


Provides all employment and income information such as Employer Name, Employment Status, Rate of Pay etc.


Provides the status of an employment record on The Work Number database.

  • Employment & Income Verifications


Instant access to data direct from employers and payroll providers.

Lenders utilizing appTRAKER LOS are able to automatically access employment and income information, helping to reduce time and errors that can occur in a manual process.

“We are proud to deepen our relationship with Equifax by offering additional products from The Work Number,” said Nikh Nath, President of LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS. “Our integrations with third party data providers are invaluable to our lenders. The verifications provided by The Work Number can be run automatically or manually, during the underwriting phase or the verification phase. The integration allows the quality and flexibility needed to book loans quickly and efficiently.”

Auto lenders need the ability to automatically verify employment information on potential borrowers for a faster, lower friction borrower experience. With more than 573 million income and employment records from 2.5 million employers across a variety of industries, The Work Number allows lenders utilizing the appTRAKER Loan Origination System to have the information that they need at their fingertips to make smarter, faster credit decisions.

About LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS

LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS is a technology products and services company built on the foundation of care, understanding, innovation, and speed. It specializes in loan origination for subprime/nearprime automotive lending institutions, regional banks, and credit unions. Its product offerings include appTRAKERTM LOS for indirect automotive lending as well as consumer direct lending and leasing, myDEALER.CARE dealer relationship management system, and myACCOUNT.CARE customer self-service and communication solution. LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS has service offerings aimed at helping its clients with projects related to data analytics, data integration, telephony, and custom web development. Learn more at http://www.launcher.solutions/ or call 877.5LNCHER. Follow LAUNCHER.SOLUTIONS on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/launcher.solutions.

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Leading Canadian Technology Firm Creates a New Environment for Excellence with People at the Centre


C3 Solutions Logo

“Once we knew our employees were doing well and that our business and clients were stable, we felt we had spent enough time adapting to the pandemic. It was time to look forward, think differently, and start redesigning the future!” Elise Crevier, President, C3 Solutions

C3 Solutions – the industry leader in configurable Yard and Dock Management solutions – is proudly announcing its shift to a hybrid work environment, giving employees the flexibility to choose to work from home and from the newly remodelled, highly collaborative, and innovative corporate headquarters that has been aptly named the C3 House. The Montréal-based technology company is adding this new development to its long list of business-process upgrades in the past 18 months.

To sustain commitment among veteran and new employees and differentiate working at C3 from an everyday job at any company, the executive leadership team created an environment that fosters brainstorming, collaboration, and creativity.

The main driving forces behind the C3 House initiative are:

  • Upholding its vibrant culture
  • Maintaining its sterling reputation as a top employer
  • Creating an environment conducive to brainstorming, sharing, and innovation
  • Breaking free of the isolation of virtual interaction while offering the flexibility of hybrid work
  • Continuing to have fun together and create memorable moments

For this renovation project, C3 worked with Ædifica, a local design and architecture firm specializing in creating inspiring, meaningful, and sustainable spaces.

C3 Reservations: C3’s Online Dock Scheduling System streamlines the scheduling process by improving dock productivity, expanding visibility on scheduled appointments, and gauging vendor compliance.

C3 Yard: C3’s Web-based Yard Management Solution empowers yard managers by providing visibility on yard assets, optimizing the flow of trailers from gate to gate, and automating yard driver task assignment.

About C3 Solutions

Headquartered in Montréal, Québec, Canada, privately owned C3 is dedicated to developing, implementing, and supporting the most complete yard management and dock scheduling products on the market today. Since its founding in 2000, C3 has gained clients’ confidence worldwide and across many industries, including retail, grocery, distribution, manufacturing, and parcel post.

http://www.c3solutions.com

C3 is proud to continue providing paperless, automated, and touch-free business solutions in response to the growing need for global environmental sustainability – and the overall health of our communities, clients, and employees.

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Microsoft’s SaaS Expert, Nick Pinheiro, named Principal for Cloud Application Development


Esteemed Microsoft technologist, Nick Pinheiro, has been named Principal in the company’s Azure Cloud & Artificial Intelligence (AI) division. The move by Microsoft further solidifies their deep focus on software as a service (SaaS) and its strategic alignment with supporting the digital transformation of Enterprises, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and startups globally.

In this highly regarded and respected role, Nick will lead the engineering and development of the largest of software solutions and migrations to Microsoft Azure across the Fortune 100. Nick’s deep technical innovation with his creation of open-source project, the ‘Azure SaaS Development Kit (ASDK)’ (https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/development-kit/saas/), has been instrumental in onboarding organizations of all sizes to the Microsoft Cloud.

Over the past eleven years at Microsoft, Nick has propelled himself to the top. His diligent work can be seen in the platforms of the world’s largest organizations across industries such as technology, financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, government, energy, entertainment, sports and more. Nick’s expertise has now positioned him as one of the most highly sought-after technologists across all technology companies including Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Alphabet (Google).

In addition, within the past year Nick has released the most technologically advanced link-in-bio platform on the market. As simply a side project to demonstrate the capabilities of the Microsoft Cloud, ‘Link in Bio‘ (https://www.linknbio.com) is now the most preferred platform of its type across all search engines and social networks. Nick’s groundbreaking platform is being leveraged worldwide by influencers, artists, celebrities, athletes, digital marketers, and business owners.

A decorated speaker, Nick has addressed crowds of thousands across the globe. Nick’s next technology talk will be presented at the end of September in California where he will address the audience of Visual Studio Live. A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Nick attended Boston University where he received both his Graduate and Undergraduate degrees. Nick holds a master’s degree in Computer Science / Computer Information Systems.

Nick is the son of immigrants of the Cabo Verde Islands. His father is natural of the island of Brava and mother of the island of São Vicente.

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Frontline Systems Releases RASON® V2023 Platform with Patent-Pending Risk Analysis for Machine Learning Models


RASON Portal Model Editor

With a patent application now on file to preserve invention rights, our RASON users are the first to benefit from these innovative methods.

Frontline Systems is shipping RASON® V2023, a new version of its cloud platform for advanced analytics, that enables both business analysts and developers to easily create and run models using mathematical optimization, Monte Carlo simulation and risk analysis, data mining and machine learning, and business rules and calculations.

RASON is not new – since 2015 it has been available “around the clock” as an Azure-based SaaS platform, one of the first to offer a REST API for both predictive and prescriptive analytics. RASON has been enriched each year with new analytics and model management features – including support for business rules using the DMN open standard in 2019. But now it’s the first and only tool with fully automated methods for risk analysis of previously trained and validated machine learning (ML) models.

Risk analysis changes the focus from how accurately a ML model will predict a single new case, to how it will perform in aggregate over thousands or millions of new cases, what the business consequences will be, and the (quantified) risk that this will be different than expected from the ML model’s training and validation.

“With a patent application now on file to preserve invention rights, our RASON users are the first to benefit from these innovative methods,” said Daniel Fylstra, Frontline’s President and CEO. Frontline Systems is concurrently releasing new versions of Solver SDK®, its object library for developers, and Analytic Solver®, its tool for business analysts using Excel for the Web, Windows and Macintosh, with support for the same innovative methods.

How and Why Machine Learning has Lacked Risk Analysis

For a decade, data science and machine learning (DSML) tools – including RASON – have offered facilities for ‘training’ a model on one set of data, ‘validating’ its performance on another set of data, and ‘testing’ it versus other ML models on a third set of data. But this is not risk analysis: based on known data, it doesn’t assess the risk that the ML model will perform differently on new data when put into production use. While it’s common to assess a ML model’s performance in use, and move to re-train the model if its performance is unexpectedly poor, by that time those risks have occurred, often with adverse financial consequences. Quantification of such risks “ahead of time” has been missing in practice.

There are many reasons for this state of affairs: Data scientists with expertise in ML methods often are not trained in risk analysis; they think of “features” and even predicted output values as data, not as “random variables” with sampled instances. Even if known, conventional risk analysis methods are expensive and time-consuming to apply to machine learning: ML data sets include many (sometimes hundreds) of features, with limited “provenance” of the data’s origins. There are hundreds of classical probability distributions that could be ‘candidates’ to fit each feature. Only some of the features are typically found, after ML model training, to have predictive value; many are found to be correlated with other features and hence ‘redundant’. And in typical projects, a great many ML models are built.

How RASON Performs Automated Risk Analysis

Unlike most cloud DSML platforms, RASON also includes powerful algorithms for risk analysis: Probability distribution fitting, correlation fitting, stratified sample generation and Monte Carlo analysis. But asking users to “quickly master risk analysis” is asking too much. So Frontline Systems has invented ways to automate the entire risk analysis process. Using the new risk analysis capability is as simple as adding text such as “simulation”: { } to the RASON definition of a machine learning model – and the risk analysis typically adds just seconds to a minute to the existing process of training, validating and testing a ML model.

Internally, for each feature in a dataset, RASON tests an entire family of probability distributions – drawing on its first-mover support for the new Metalog family of distributions, created by Dr. Tom Keelin; optimizes all the parameters of each distribution; detects and models correlations among features, using rank order and copula methods; performs synthetic data generation, using Monte Carlo methods for stratified sampling and correlation; computes the ML model’s predictions, as well as user-specified financial consequences, for each simulated case; and importantly, assesses and quantifies the differences in performance of the ML model on this simulated data versus the training, validation and test data.

Results of the risk analysis, including key summary statistics, percentiles and risk measures, are available in JSON and OData form. Users can easily request and obtain the data needed to create charts on their own Web pages or in tools like Power BI or Tableau, or perform further analysis of their own.

Synthetic Data Generation as a Side Benefit

Synthetic Data Generation (SDG) has become topical in machine learning in recent years, with a number of companies founded just to supply software and services around this technology. SDG is used when there isn’t enough original data, or when use of the original data is restricted by law or regulation. But until now (in a patent and literature search), SDG has simply been used to better train ML models.

RASON V2023 includes a powerful, general-purpose, easy to use Synthetic Data Generation facility, invoked by simply writing “algorithm”: “syntheticDataGenerator” within a data “transformer” step. Unlike some special-purpose SDG offerings, this facility can accurately model the behavior of nearly any combination of features with continuous values. But RASON also uses synthetic data in an entirely new way, to analyze the risk that a ML model will yield unexpected results “large enough to matter” when deployed for production use.

Works with Already-Available ‘Augmented Machine Learning’

RASON’s V2022 release featured “augmented machine learning” features found only in other sophisticated machine learning tools. The user simply supplies data, and in a RASON “estimator” clause, adds “algorithm”: “findBestModel” and provides a list of “Learners” of different types – classification and regression trees, neural networks, linear and logistic regression, discriminant analysis, naïve Bayes, k-nearest neighbors and more. When the model is run, RASON automatically tests and fits parameters for all of the Learners (ML algorithms) to the training data, validates and compares them according to user-chosen criteria, and delivers the trained ML model that best fits the data. Again by adding a command as simple as “simulation”: { }, the user can perform a risk analysis on the “best model” found by RASON.

Free Trials, Learning and Coaching Resources

Analysts and developers can sign up for free trial accounts to evaluate RASON at https://rason.com, exercise the REST API, try out dozens of example models using optimization and simulation, forecasting and machine learning, business rules and calculations, and download the RASON User Guide and Reference Guide in PDF form. For more information please contact sales@solver.com.

Frontline Systems Inc. (http://www.solver.com) is the alternative to analytics complexity, helping business analysts and managers gain insights and make better decisions for an uncertain future, without the cost, delays and risk of ‘big vendor’ tools. Its products integrate forecasting and data mining for “predictive analytics,” Monte Carlo simulation for risk analysis, conventional and stochastic optimization for “prescriptive analytics,” and business rules and Excel calculations to make the best business decisions. Founded in 1987, Frontline is based in Incline Village, Nevada (775-831-0300).

Microsoft Excel, Office 365, Azure and Power BI are trademarks of Microsoft Corp. Tableau is a trademark of Salesforce Inc. Analytic Solver®, RASON® and Solver SDK® are registered trademarks of Frontline Systems Inc.

A Unified Solver Offers Performance, Flexibility and Ease-of-Use


News Image

“With this release, we’re going to be nimbler and faster to market than ever before,” said Dr. Amir Isfahani, President & CEO of Flow Science.

In the 2022R2 release, Flow Science has unified the workstation and HPC versions of FLOW-3D to deliver a single solver engine capable of taking advantage of any type of hardware architecture, from single node CPU configurations to cluster-like multi-node parallel high performance computing executions. Additional developments include a new log conformation tensor method for visco-elastic flows, continued solver speed performance improvements, advanced cooling channel and phantom component controls, improved entrained air functionalities, as well as boundary condition definition improvements for civil and environmental engineering applications.

“By combining the workstation and HPC versions of our products, we are making the latest HPC optimizations available to our workstation users who run on lower CPU core counts, removing the delay for our HPC customers getting their hands on the latest developments, and maintaining only one unified code base, which makes our development efforts that much more efficient. With this release, we’re going to be nimbler and faster to market than ever before,” said Dr. Amir Isfahani, President & CEO of Flow Science.

Committed to user success, FLOW-3D products come with high-level support, video tutorials and access to an extensive set of example simulations. Customers can also take advantage of Flow Science’s CFD Services to augment their product experience, including customized training courses, HPC resources and flexible cloud computing options.

A FLOW-3D 2022R2 product release webinar focusing on how to optimize run times on workstations and an overview of performance gains will be held on October 6 at 1:00 pm ET. Online registration is available at: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pv5FN2mHSX6KmhPKeu9B5Q

A full description of what’s new in all products is available at https://www.flow3d.com.

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Intuit Mint and TurboTax Blog Redesign by Reaktiv Is an Honorable Mention in Fast Company’s 2022 Innovation by Design Awards


reaktiv logo

Reaktiv Logo

We are honored to be recognized by Fast Company in the Innovation by Design awards. Accessible Design is important to the Reaktiv and Intuit teams and this award is a great testament to the skill and effort put forth to create an inclusive and accessible website.- Josh Eaton, CEO of Reaktiv

Reaktiv and Intuit Mint and TurboTax Blog was honored in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards for 2022 in the Accessible Design category.

The Innovation by Design Awards, which can be found in the October 2022 issue of Fast Company, honor the designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. The competition, now in its 11th year, features a range of blue-chip companies, emerging startups, and hungry young talents. It is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry.

The Intuit Mint and TurboTax blog refresh was initially designed for those who can see and navigate a website like most of us do. The problem is, 25% of the population has some disability that does not allow them to see or navigate sites without the aid of technology at all. We partnered with the Intuit Mint and TurboxTax team to build an accessible site and explained how it might impact design decisions. We implemented changes and adjustments to the designs and the code that were not only accessible but stayed true to Intuit’s ultimate design goal.

We started this project with an accessibility audit and leveraged that audit in the design phase to make sure we could address Intuit’s recommendations and requirements for branding while still being able to maintain accessibility. For example, we pushed back on some brand colors to make sure we had enough contrast.

But our designers and developers always have accessibility in mind, so we went beyond color contrast and alt text, and looked at the functionality of the site and how we could make it more accessible. The initial designs called for a “Load More” functionality that used infinite scroll. Infinite Scroll is not accessibility friendly, but the feature was a requirement. So, the question became, “How do we implement this component, and make it accessible without breaking the intended functionality while staying true to the initial designs?”

We did this by implementing a hidden keyboard page functionality that would allow those who use screen readers to navigate websites to understand and thus navigate the site. This resulted in a better screen reader experience and Intuit saw a boost in SEO as a byproduct.

At Reaktiv, our designers and developers always have accessibility top-of-mind. So, addressing and implementing unique features, is what we at Reaktiv, consider to be part of the project and not something that gets tacked on as an upsell.

“A common theme among this year’s Innovation by Design honorees, which range from healthcare interfaces to autonomous driving technology, is permanence,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “The products that leaped out to our editors and judges went against our quick-fix consumer culture, while also manifesting a more inclusive vision of design.”

Honorees for the 2022 awards were selected in the following categories: Accessible Design; Apps and Games; Automotive; Branding; Circular Design; Data Design; Design Company of the Year; Enterprise; Experience Design; Experimental; Fashion and Beauty; Finance; General Excellence; Graphic Design; Health; Home; Hospitality; Impact; Learning; Marketing; Materials; Packaging; Pandemic Response; Products; Rapid Response; Retail; Social Justice; Spaces and Places; Sports and Recreation; Students; Sustainability; Transportation; Urban Design; User Experience; Wellness; Workplace; Best Design Asia-Pacific; Best Design Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Best Design Latin America; Best Design North America; Years in Business (On the Rise: 0–4 Years, Established Excellence: 5–19 Years, Enduring Impact: 20+ Years); and Size of Business (Small Business: Fewer Than 100 Employees, Midsize Business: 100–999 Employees, Large Business: 1,000+ Employees). New categories included Accessible Design, Automotive, Circular Design, Enterprise, Experience Design, Hospitality, and Rapid Response.

The judges include renowned designers from a variety of disciplines, business leaders from some of the most innovative companies in the world, and Fast Company’s own writers and editors. Entries are judged on the key ingredients of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, user insight, cultural impact, and business impact.

Winners, finalists, and honorable mentions are featured online and in the October issue of Fast Company magazine, on newsstands September 27, 2022.

To see the complete list, go to https://www.fastcompany.com/innovation-by-design/list

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at http://www.fastcompany.com.

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Maptician Releases Conference Room Signage Integration to Power End-to-End Hybrid Office Solution


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Maptician, the market leading end-to-end technology solution for the hybrid workplace, announces the addition of conference room signage to the Maptician platform, providing firms an end-to-end technology solution to manage their hybrid office operations. Maptician is the all-in-one software solution for the hybrid workplace, from office hoteling, conference room management and employee collaboration, to innovative scenario planning and powerful reporting and analytics features that help organizations make great decisions.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s Bright Insights, 75% of organizations are implementing versions of hoteling or flexible work models. Legacy space planning platforms were not built to help organizations succeed in hybrid operations, especially as organizations must continuously evolve and learn what models help them be most successful. As a result, many organizations are cobbling together several, non-integrated solutions to manage their evolving strategies.

Maptician is an innovative technology built to make hybrid operations successful. An end-to-end solution for the hybrid workplace, Maptician enables intelligent decisions about people and space, including real estate reduction and reconfiguration, facilitates culture-specific hoteling strategies that promote in-office collaboration and networking, and provides reporting and analytics for finance professionals all in the industry’s simplest, most user-friendly UX.

With the addition of conference room signage, Maptician further enables organizations to leverage an end-to-end solution for their hybrid office. The conference room signage integration connects to any internet accessible device, including iPads and Android devices, enabling users to:

  • View live office maps to see whether a conference room is currently in use (red), available (green), book times both in real time and in the future.
  • Find a Room. The Find a Room page allows users to search for existing and available conference room reservation times.
  • View conference/meeting room information including capacity, size, location, Wi-Fi name & password, features, equipment, accessibility and restrictions.

Maptician Chief Executive Officer, Alaa Pasha, comments, “Our mission is to help make hybrid operations, simple, easy and successful. We’re delighted to add conference room signage features to further enable clients to leverage one, single innovative platform built for the modern workplace and help them stop struggling with inefficient legacy technologies. We love growing alongside our clients and look forward to continuously bringing more value to the Maptician platform.”

About Maptician

Maptician makes hybrid operations work by empowering companies to make great decisions about people and spaces. An end-to-end solution for the hybrid workplace, Maptician enables intelligent decisions about real estate reduction and reconfiguration, facilitates culture-specific hoteling strategies that promote in-office collaboration and networking, and provides reporting and analytics for finance professionals in the industry’s simplest, most user-friendly UX.

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