Ouriginal Study Reveals Effects of the Pandemic on the Usage of EdTech Solutions in 2020

Stockholm, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

 

The sudden digitalization of education proved to be a unique testing ground to learn and improve teaching in remote and distance learning environments

(STOCKHOLM, 08 December 2020) – Ouriginal, Europe’s leading provider of text-matching solutions for plagiarism prevention and text-similarity detection, has published its latest study today. Using numerical analysis of the usage patterns of Ouriginal’s solutions, the study reveals how lockdowns and the forced digitalization of learning environments have affected education worldwide. The three metrics chosen for the study indicate that whereas EdTech solutions have broadly increased their overall acceptance level, students do need their teachers’ guidance and encouragement even more in digital learning surroundings.

A Look at The State of Digital Education from an Originality Software Perspective

The sudden digitalization of the classroom in 2020 is certainly a unique testing ground for remote teaching and learning for millions of educators and students worldwide. Within this setting, EdTech software solutions have also seen a sudden change in their usage and importance. Ouriginal’s software solutions were among those.

“It is without question that the sudden move from a traditional classroom teaching setting to a fully remote and digital environment has been a stress test for educators and students alike. From an EdTech solution point of view, we were curious to see if there was any measurable effect of the pandemic on our product usage patterns,” says Andreas Ohlson, CEO of Ouriginal. “We wanted to know: Would we see more documents being checked during times of lockdowns or less? Would it affect the length of student’s assignments and papers? When looking at the numbers, we were actually amazed at what we found.”

Evidence That the ‘Human Factor’ in Teaching Cannot Be Overlooked, and Acceptance of EdTech Solutions Is on the Rise

The study used a numerical approach to Ouriginal’s solutions’ usage patterns, comparing three key metrics in 2020 with those of the previous year 2019.

Summarized, the three key findings of the study are:

  • The steady increase in the usage of EdTech solutions over the few last years jumped suddenly to a much higher degree when the pandemic started. High usage continues to persist, which indicates a breakthrough in the usage of EdTech solutions like Ouriginal’s.
  • During the pandemic written essays become shorter, but this effect was not long-lasting and was most probably linked to homeschooling periods.
  • More and more data volumes are being processed by EdTech solutions indicating the increasing importance and role of technical tools in education worldwide.

The full study is available in the newsroom for download.

If you are interested in insights into the findings of the study or an interview with Andreas Ohlson, CEO of Ouriginal, please reach out to [email protected] to arrange a meeting or call. 

About Ouriginal
Ouriginal is a text-matching software used to assess the originality of any given text. It was born when two companies, PlagScan and Urkund came together with the goal of offering a bold solution that enhances students’ potential to think original and saves teachers’ time when evaluating assignments. With more than three decades of combined knowledge and expertise, we deliver cutting-edge technology, catering to our customers’ needs.

Contact
Head of Marketing
Verena Kunz-Gehrmann
Verena heads up marketing and communications at Ouriginal. She is the person to get in contact with if you want to know more about the Ouriginal story.
[email protected]
+49 (0) 1522 990 8956


Appnovation Wins Three Awards at the 2020 MobileWebAward Competition

VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Appnovation has been recognized by the Web Marketing Association’s 2020 MobileWebAward Competition for its work to design and build Visit California’s Road Trip Republic digital hub. These international awards honor excellence in mobile websites and apps, recognize the individuals and organizations responsible, and showcase the best in creative and distinctive mobile websites and mobile applications from around the world. 

Appnovation earned three MobileWebAwards in the following categories:

  • Best Leisure Mobile Website
  • Best Regional Mobile Website
  • Best Travel Mobile Website

The Road Trip Republic digital hub is housed within Visit California’s website and is the digital destination to get travellers inspired to plan and share their ultimate California road trip. Appnovation designed and built the digital hub in three months. The Appnovation team that worked on the digital hub was led by Anton Morrison and included Derek Lucchese, Jenny Cho, Nikie Zuo, Saad Shahid, Bryan Heisler, Serge Fomin, Sanaz Shokravi, Darren Louie, Kiran Brar, Shawna Barnes and Victoria Wilson.

Appnovation and Visit California previously won six Awards of Excellence from The Communicator Awards in the website and mobile categories for the digital hub, and two Canadian Marketing Association Awards in the Innovative Media and Martech categories. 

The MobileWebAward Competition recognizes innovation, technology and user experience in mobile web development, judged on seven criteria including creativity, impact, design, content, interactivity, ease of use and use of the medium, across 84 industry categories. 

About Appnovation

Appnovation helps brands thrive through innovative, people-inspired experiences and solutions. By embracing the powerful combination of technology and agility, we seamlessly integrate strategy, experience, design, development and analytics.

We create standout digital experiences by collaborating with brands to understand the individual challenges and goals for every initiative. Focusing on our clients’ customers, we effectively combine empathy, evidence and real-world insight so that solutions are derived from truth and meaning. Appnovation is an award-winning team dedicated to inspiring possibility.



Laura Jeffery
Appnovation
6045680313
[email protected]

SHAREHOLDER DEADLINE: Pawar Law Group Announces a Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against Pinterest, Inc.; IMPORTANT DEADLINE- PINS

NEW YORK, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pawar Law Group announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of shareholders who purchased shares of Pinterest, Inc. (NYSE: PINS) from May 16, 2019 through November 1, 2019, inclusive (the “Class Period”). The lawsuit seeks to recover damages for Pinterest, Inc. investors under the federal securities laws.

To join the class action, go here or call Vik Pawar, Esq. toll-free at 888-589-9804 or email [email protected] for information on the class action.

According to the lawsuit, defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: the Company’s addressable market in the U.S. was reaching its maximum capacity; which significantly decelerated Pinterest’s future ability to monetize on U.S. average revenue per user; Pinterest was at an increased risk of losing advertising revenue; and as a result, Defendants’ public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times or lacked a reasonable basis and omitted material facts.

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than January 22, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

No class has been certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you hire one. You may hire counsel of your choice. You may also do nothing at this time and be an absent member of the class. Your ability to share in any future recovery is not dependent upon being a lead plaintiff.

Pawar Law Group represents investors from around the world. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter.
——————————-

Contact:  
Vik Pawar, Esq.  
Pawar Law Group  
20 Vesey Street, Suite 1410  
New York, NY 10007  
Tel: (917) 261-2277  
Fax: (212) 571-0938  
[email protected] 



Simplifi Selected by Beazer Homes to Provide Internet Access at Closing

PR Newswire

NAPLES, Fla., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Simplifi, a leading Advanced Communications provider, is proud to announce that Simplifi Connect, its wireless LTE router, has been selected by Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) to provide wireless Internet in all new Beazer homes as part of their Network Ready program. The latest enhancement in Beazer’s commitment to Surprising Performance, Network Ready launched October 1st. Each new Beazer home comes equipped with powerful technologies, including 5G ready wiring and a centralized network panel. Now, the newly built homes will also come with an active Internet connection to enjoy these features.

Internet access is typically established by a new homeowner through the local cable provider. The task is often overlooked, occurs after closing, and in some cases, can take months to occur. Beazer’s Network Ready program addresses these challenges, connecting new homeowners to the internet on day one.

“We all expect utilities like gas, water, and electricity to be connected when moving into a new home. Internet access has become as essential as any other utility,” says Nick Shevillo, CEO of Simplifi. “Network Ready bridges the internet gap to give customers the best move-in experience possible.”

To be deployed at Beazer’s scale, the Network Ready program needed a technology that could connect to the Internet wirelessly over all cellular networks in the U.S., provide instant, secure, and high-speed Internet through the entire house, and would be simple to install and manage remotely.

As part of the product search, Beazer evaluated everything from hot spots to complicated routers. Beazer found other options were either not powerful enough or too complex. Then Beazer found Simplifi Connect. Simplifi’s LTE Router is plug and play, provides WiFi throughout the entire home, and comes with an intuitive app for setup. The entire deployment, which will reach tens of thousands of homes, can be managed remotely by Simplifi’s Enterprise Management Platform.

Shevillo goes on to say, “Beazer Homes has an impeccable reputation as a leader and innovator in the homebuilding industry. Simplifi is thrilled and honored to be part of Beazer’s unique commitment to providing Surprising Performance to its homebuyers.”

About Beazer Homes (Beazer.com)
Headquartered in Atlanta, Beazer Homes (NYSE: BZH) is one of the country’s largest homebuilders. Every Beazer home is designed and built to provide Surprising Performance, giving you more quality and more comfort from the moment you move in – saving you money every month. With Beazer’s ChoicePlans™, you can personalize your primary living areas – giving you a choice of how you want to live in the home, at no additional cost. And, unlike most national homebuilders, we empower our customers to shop and compare loan options. Our Mortgage Choice program gives you the resources to easily compare multiple loan offers and choose the best lender and loan offer for you, saving you thousands over the life of your loan. We build our homes in Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. For more information, visit beazer.com, or check out Beazer on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

About Simplifi (Simplifi.io)
Simplifi is a leading Advanced Communications provider committed to unwiring the future, using LTE and WiFi technologies to connect the world at full speed. Headquartered in Naples, Florida, Simplifi has offices in San Diego, Detroit, Mexico City, and Buenos Aires.

https://simplifi.io/news/beazer-homes/ 
https://simplifi.io/ 
https://simplifi.io/connect/

 

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SOURCE Simplifi

Kratos Receives $37.7 Million Skyborg Program Contract Award from USAF Advanced Aircraft Office

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS), a leading National Security Solutions provider and industry-leading provider of high-performance, jet-powered unmanned aerial systems, announced today that Kratos has received a $37,771,577 award from the AFLCMC/WA Advanced Aircraft Program Executive Office for the Skyborg Delivery Order (DO) 2 contract to integrate, test, and deliver XQ-58A Valkyrie aircraft.

Steve Fendley,
President of
Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, said, “Kratos is excited to announce the receipt of the Skyborg DO 2 contract, meeting a long-term strategic objective. The Skyborg Program, one of three USAF Vanguard Programs, is focused on expanding the envelope of the application of unmanned aircraft use, particularly with respect to Artificial Intelligence. Kratos XQ-58A has been flying since March of 2019, approximately 30 months after aircraft conception, and was designed specifically for these applications and the ability to support missions from ISR to Strike in manned-unmanned teaming scenarios or in unmanned only mission sets. These capabilities are intended to substantially increase the effectiveness of our country’s military mission sets, while at the same time reducing risk to the exquisite assets and manned elements—saving resources and, most importantly, lives.”

The contract includes three phases of design, integration, and flight testing of the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie system, integrating multiple customer-defined mission payloads and customer-defined autonomy in coordination/cooperation with the Skyborg System Design Agent company, Leidos. Kratos currently works in partnership with Leidos’ Dynetics on the Gremlins Program.

About Kratos Defense & Security Solutions

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) develops and fields transformative, affordable technology, platforms and systems for United States National Security related customers, allies and commercial enterprises. Kratos is changing the way breakthrough technology for these industries are rapidly brought to market through proven commercial and venture capital backed approaches, including proactive research and streamlined development processes. At Kratos, affordability is a technology, and we specialize in unmanned systems, satellite communications, cyber security/warfare, microwave electronics, missile defense, hypersonic systems, training, combat systems and next generation turbo jet and turbo fan engine development. For more information, please visit www.KratosDefense.com.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of Kratos and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December 29, 2019, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other filings made with the SEC by Kratos.

Press Contact:

Yolanda White
858-812-7302 Direct

Investor Information:

877-934-4687
[email protected]



SAP Empowers Developers with Low-Code/No-Code Tools and Further Enhancements to SAP® Business Technology Platform

PR Newswire

WALLDORF, Germany, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced new tools, updates and services for making developers’ lives easier, regardless of skill level or job focus. These new offerings include low-code/no-code tools, a free tier model for SAP® Cloud Platform, exclusive free learning opportunities and further updates to SAP Business Technology Platform. The announcement was made at the SAP TechEd conference, being held online December 8–10, 2020.

Extension Through Process Automation, Low-Code and No-Code Tools
SAP Cloud Platform Extension Suite empowers developers to build and extend business applications, processes and innovations with clicks or code. With its latest enhancements, the suite now offers three complementary and integrated process automation tools, which address different skill levels and automation scenarios:

  • SAP Cloud Platform Workflow Management allows developers and business experts to gain end-to-end process visibility, and to configure and automate enterprise workflows in a low-code approach. SAP Cloud Platform Workflow Management includes new predefined content packages and integration with Experience Management solutions from SAP and Qualtrics, combining operational and experience data.
  • The SAP Ruum solution allows business users with no coding skills to create departmental processes in hours instead of days and weeks. About 50 SAP customers and partners, including German chemical company Evonik Industries AG, U.S. company Varian Medical Systems Inc. and Norwegian furniture maker Ekornes Ltd., have already joined the beta program for SAP Ruum. “With SAP Ruum, Ekornes was able to model the process in about an hour, without requiring a lengthy project with resources from our central team,” said James Fogarty, an Ekornes business operations analyst.
  • SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (RPA) 2.0 technology targets developers looking to automate repetitive, manual tasks with software bots. SAP Intelligent RPA includes prebuilt bot templates to drive efficiencies with SAP S/4HANA® and 12 lines of business. Beginning January 2021, SAP plans to include a limited edition of SAP Intelligent RPA in every SAP S/4HANA Cloud subscription.

Free Tier Model for SAP Cloud Platform
SAP in 2021 plans to offer developers a free tier model for SAP Cloud Platform, the integration and extension solution for SAP Business Technology Platform. The free tier model will provide users access to learn, develop and implement integrations and extensions in one account. It removes current time restrictions and allows users to transfer projects to production without the need to rebuild content. As an intermediary step toward the free tier model, SAP recently extended its current SAP Cloud Platform trial offering from three to 12 months.

“SAP Business Technology Platform is key for our customers to integrate and extend their SAP applications and to enable future business,” said Juergen Mueller, chief technology officer and member of the SAP Executive Board. “As the cornerstone of SAP’s own transformation and accelerated shift to the cloud, it helps to provide value to customers with a seamless technology experience, a robust ecosystem and greater development efficiency. The ongoing innovation to SAP Business Technology Platform underscores our commitment to the developer community and the entire ecosystem of customers and partners, and shows we are not only listening but also acting on what we hear.”

Integration Capabilities Updated
SAP Business Technology Platform helps make it easier to share data across SAP applications by providing SAP One Domain Model — a common data model for business objects. It now supports its first business objects for the end-to-end recruit-to-retire business process. More business objects for other end-to-end business processes will follow. Developers can access these through the SAP Graph software beta offering or SAP API Business Hub.

The redesigned user experience for SAP API Business Hub helps make it easier for architects and experts to identify relevant integration content, such as APIs and events, integration packs and user documentation. The update will be available as a beta shipment by the end of 2020.

Data to Value: Make Confident, Timely Business Decisions
To account for the tremendous increase in data volume and variety, on-premise installations of SAP HANA® can now be extended with SAP HANA Cloud as a hybrid data solution. This offers users a single access point to data across SAP and non-SAP sources while simplifying a customer’s data environment, reducing replication or inaccuracies, and increasing security and compliance.

The SAP Data Warehouse Cloud solution unites the data management capabilities of SAP HANA with the analytics features of the SAP Analytics Cloud solution. Its new, easy-to-use data flow builder allows users to integrate and combine structured and semi-structured data from SAP and non-SAP sources. The expanding business content library for SAP Data Warehouse Cloud includes prebuilt content ranging from financial analytics, utilities and automotive to retail, to help customers save time and effort modeling their data.

Exclusive Free Access to SAP’s Learning Resources
SAP TechEd 2020 attendees will get free access to the event edition of SAP Learning Hub for SAP TechEd. It offers learning journeys to upskill users on SAP Business Technology Platform and additional courses that lead toward SAP Global Certification digital badges. Attendees also can take advantage of a special discounted SAP Global Certification offering.

Find details and more announcements in the SAP TechEd News Guide and this video on SAP Business Technology Platform.

Join SAP TechEd in 2020 for free. Enjoy 48 hours of live and on-demand content, interactive workshops and learning opportunities. Channel One will stream a rolling agenda of continuous broadcasts and provide guidance on where to find more information across the event platform.

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews.

About SAP
SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
© 2020 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

Please consider our privacy policy. If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact [email protected] and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

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SOURCE SAP SE

Emmaus Life Sciences Launches Endari® Support Program

PR Newswire

TORRANCE, Calif., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc. (OTC: EMMA), a leader in the treatment of sickle cell disease, announced today the launch of the Endari® Support Program. The Program is intended to provide patients who are unable to afford Endari® access to the medication for minimal or no-cost. Emmaus has partnered with Lash Group’s TheraCom Specialty Pharmacy, a part of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, to fill prescriptions for Endari® and administer the Program.

Patients who cannot afford the cost of treatment and lack insurance coverage may call the Endari Support Program at 1-855-723-5646 or visit www.endarirx.com/esp to determine eligibility and complete the online application.

“We are very pleased to launch the Endari Support Program, which will allow us to better serve the sickle cell disease community by providing financial assistance to increase patient access to our treatment,” said Yutaka Niihara, M.D., M.P.H., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Emmaus. Dr. Niihara added, “This program follows our existing commercial co-pay assistance program. Emmaus is committed to providing Endari to all patients who may benefit from our sickle cell disease treatment, regardless of their means and situation.”

“At Lash Group, we are very excited to be partnering with Emmaus to help patients with sickle cell disease access and afford therapy through the Endari® Support Program,” said Tommy Bramley, President of Lash Group.

Endari®, Emmaus’ prescription grade L-glutamine oral powder, was approved by the FDA in July 2017 for treating sickle cell disease in adult and pediatric patients five years of age and older. Sales of Endari® began in the United States in 2018.

About Emmaus Life Sciences
Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc. is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, marketing and sale of innovative treatments and therapies, including those in the rare and orphan disease categories.  For more information, please visit www.emmausmedical.com.

About Lash Group
Lash Group, a part of AmerisourceBergen Corporation, is a patient support services company with more than 20 years of experience in the strategic design and delivery of programs that continuously improve patient access to pharmaceutical products and adherence to therapy. Through innovative technology and performance reporting, and a commitment to quality and ongoing process improvement, it ensures efficient and optimized delivery of services to patients and providers on behalf of its pharmaceutical, device and biopharma manufacturer clients. For more information, please visit www.lashgroup.com.  

About Endari® (prescription grade L-glutamine oral powder)
Indication – Endari is indicated to reduce the acute complications of sickle cell disease in adult and pediatric patients five years of age and older.

Important Safety Information
The most common adverse reactions (incidence >10 percent) in clinical studies were constipation, nausea, headache, abdominal pain, cough, pain in extremities, back pain, and chest pain.

Adverse reactions leading to treatment discontinuation included one case each of hypersplenism, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, burning sensation, and hot flash.

The safety and efficacy of Endari in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease younger than five years of age has not been established.

For more information, please see full Prescribing Information of Endari at: www.ENDARIrx.co/PI.

About Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder characterized by the production of an altered form of hemoglobin which polymerizes and becomes fibrous, causing red blood cells to become rigid and change form so that they appear sickle shaped instead of soft and rounded.  Patients with sickle cell disease suffer from debilitating episodes of sickle cell crises, which occur when the rigid, adhesive and inflexible red blood cells occlude blood vessels.  Sickle cell crises cause excruciating pain as a result of insufficient oxygen being delivered to tissue, referred to as tissue ischemia, and inflammation.  These events may lead to organ damage, stroke, pulmonary complications, skin ulceration, infection and a variety of other adverse outcomes.  Sickle cell disease is a significant unmet medical need, affecting approximately one hundred thousand patients in the U.S. and millions worldwide, the majority of which are of African descent. An estimated 1-in-365 African American children are born with sickle cell disease.

Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding the launch of Emmaus’ Endari® Support Program. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties which change over time, including uncertainties related to the success of the Program in affording increased patient access to Endari®, Emmaus’ working capital and ability to carry on its existing operations and obtain needed financing and other factors previously disclosed in the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and actual results may differ materially.  Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and Emmaus assumes no duty to update them, except as may be required by law. 

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SOURCE Emmaus Life Sciences, Inc.

Optum Expands Partnership With Wider Circle to Deliver 25,000 Healthy Meals to Individuals and Families in Need During Holiday Season

Optum Expands Partnership With Wider Circle to Deliver 25,000 Healthy Meals to Individuals and Families in Need During Holiday Season

Donations come at a critical time as food insecurity among the most vulnerable in the region continues to rise due to COVID-19

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Optum, a leading health services company, is expanding its partnership with Wider Circle, a tech-enabled community-based health care services company that drives better health for older adults and other vulnerable communities, to bring 25,000 meals to individuals and families, including Optum patients in Los Angeles County, during the holiday season.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201208005864/en/

Volunteers from Optum, Wider Circle and the Burbank Fire Department help sort and hand out food to residents in the Burbank area as part of food donation event to provide healthy food to people in need during the holidays. Wider Circle and Optum are partnering to deliver 25,000 healthy meals to families in need during the holiday season. (Photo: Business Wire)

Volunteers from Optum, Wider Circle and the Burbank Fire Department help sort and hand out food to residents in the Burbank area as part of food donation event to provide healthy food to people in need during the holidays. Wider Circle and Optum are partnering to deliver 25,000 healthy meals to families in need during the holiday season. (Photo: Business Wire)

The donations come at a critical time as food insecurity among the most vulnerable in the region continues to rise due to COVID-19. According to the latest figures from the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, access to healthy food is a major challenge in Los Angeles County – with approximately two million residents facing barriers to buying nutritious foods.

“Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic has left many people in our communities isolated and in need of support,” said Darin Buxbaum, president and chief operating officer of Wider Circle. “Optum’s generous meal donation will help ensure those most vulnerable have healthy meals, particularly during the holidays.”

Optum’s additional support for Wider Circle will bring the total number of meals delivered to 75,000, building on a partnership launched earlier this year to deliver healthy food to Los Angeles area residents. The Wider Circle partnership supports Optum’s goal of helping enable patients to live healthier lives, including addressing social determinants of health. It also helps LA area residents, particularly older adults, who may be isolated during the holidays and who may be facing food insecurity during COVID-19.

“As case numbers are rising in the region, this partnership brings healthy food to at-risk people who may be isolated and alone due to expanded social distancing measures,” said Dr. Amar Desai, M.D., CEO, Optum California. “Access to healthy food is an essential component to continued health and well-being and as the holidays draw near, we’re proud to work with Wider Circle, to get food to people with the greatest needs during these difficult times.”

During a food distribution event at the Joslyn Adult Center in Burbank, Optum employees joined Wider Circle and Helping Hands Community volunteers to distribute food kits to several hundred individuals and families from the local area. Wider Circle worked with the City of Burbank to coordinate the event, which provided food kits to residents who had the ability to drive-up in a vehicle or have food kits delivered to their homes. Each kit contains a 10-day supply of food. This event is one of several food delivery and drive-up distribution events being coordinated during the holidays by Optum, Wider Circle and its partners.

“The City of Burbank understands the value and importance of community partnerships, and we were happy to participate in this meaningful event, serving the community’s most in need during this holiday season,” said Marisa Garcia, parks and recreation director for the City of Burbank.

To learn more about Wider Circle programs and how to receive food supplies, visit www.widercircle.com. For questions about COVID-19 and health and safety guidelines, visit Optum’s resource information website at www.optum.com/covid-19.

About Optum California

Optum is a health services organization dedicated to helping make the health system work better for everyone. Part of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), Optum is patient-centered and strives to make health care simpler, with doctors and care teams focused on helping enable patients to live healthier lives. Optum California serves more than 1.4 million patients across Southern California through its family of medical groups and physician networks, including Optum, OptumCare Medical Group, AppleCare Medical Group, Beaver Medical Group, Monarch HealthCare, North American Medical Management of California and PrimeCare. More information is at www.optum.com/california.

About Wider Circle

Wider Circle works with health plans nationally to deliver unique community care programs that connect neighbors for better health. Centered on trusted relationships, Wider Circle connects health plan members with familiar neighbors to inform, support and motivate one another, empowering them to be more proactive about their health. Wider Circle’s trusted delivery network has been proven to drive resilience, improve member experience and engagement, and reduce hospitalizations. Today, Wider Circle offers its unique neighborhood care programs to more than 135 communities nationwide, including specialized COVID-19 support for vulnerable populations in isolation via virtual programming and peer-to-peer community support.

Media Contacts:

Brad Lotterman

714-445-0453

[email protected]

Wider Circle

Jessy Green

917-689-9295

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: United States North America California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Women Seniors Other Philanthropy Automotive Men Insurance Family Hospitals Fund Raising Consumer Foundation Professional Services Fitness & Nutrition Philanthropy Managed Care General Health Health General Automotive

MEDIA:

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(L to R) Antoinne Harris, VP Operations, San Fernando Valley Region Optum California and Derek Caho, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Optum California, sort food kits during a food donation event where Optum announced a partnership with Wider Circle to donate 25,000 healthy meals to families in need during the holiday season. (Photo: Business Wire)
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Volunteers from Optum, Wider Circle and the Burbank Fire Department help sort and hand out food to residents in the Burbank area as part of food donation event to provide healthy food to people in need during the holidays. Wider Circle and Optum are partnering to deliver 25,000 healthy meals to families in need during the holiday season. (Photo: Business Wire)

CynergisTek Announces Cybersecurity Expansion Agreement Across Nationally Recognized University System

CynergisTek Announces Cybersecurity Expansion Agreement Across Nationally Recognized University System

A commitment of partnership through newly signed Master Service Agreement (MSA) to diversify service offering beyond existing relationship with all operating units of the system

AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CynergisTek, (NYSE AMERICAN: CTEK), a leading cybersecurity firm helping organizations in highly regulated industries navigate emerging security and privacy issues, today announced that a state university system has signed a Master Service Agreement (MSA) authorizing CynergisTek to offer its entire suite of high-value services to the university’s diverse infrastructure, including numerous campuses, multiple academic medical centers, several laboratories, and other support locations. Besides this newly signed MSA, additional contracts were signed including a multi-year six-figure vendor security managed services renewal for one of the system’s academic medical centers and a consulting services contract with a department in the system that has not been supported in the past.

Under the MSA, the entire university system has the ability to leverage the expertise CynergisTek currently delivers to multiple entities in the system, including its complete portfolio of managed services.

CynergisTek’s long-standing relationship with the university began by helping the academic medical centers safeguard PHI and PII. The extension of the agreement comes at a time when the system, serving over half a million students and employees and their data, has identified the need to make security and privacy a priority as threat actors are focused on capturing financial information (51%) and employee information (48%) over patient records (34%), as outlined in a recent 2020 HIMSS report.

“We are honored to expand our relationship with this prestigious institution at a pivotal moment when the covid-19 pandemic has changed university operations including a quick shift to contact tracing, remote work, and digital learning, greatly increasing the threat landscape. The MSA is a testament to the strong relationships we have fostered with our clients and draws from the unique expertise both CynergisTek and our subsidiary Backbone Consultants can offer to our clients to bolster their security and privacy programs helping to prevent attacks and breaches,” says Caleb Barlow, CEO and president at CynergisTek. Mr. Barlow goes on to say, “This allows us the opportunity to drive growth inside and outside of healthcare, supporting the company’s strategy to diversify and build upon the demand into adjacent markets such as our recent Ball State University contract announcement.”

About CynergisTek, Inc.

CynergisTek is a top-ranked cybersecurity firm dedicated to serving the information assurance needs of the healthcare industry. CynergisTek offers specialized services and solutions to help organizations achieve privacy, security, and compliance goals. Since 2004, the company has served as a partner to hundreds of healthcare organizations and is dedicated to supporting and educating the industry by contributing to relevant industry associations. The company has been recognized by KLAS as a top performing firm in healthcare cybersecurity and was awarded the 2019 Top Healthcare Cybersecurity Consultants in Black Book IT Advisory Outcomes Survey.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of CynergisTek that can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “may” or similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties relating to product/service development, long and uncertain sales cycles, the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection, market acceptance, future capital requirements, competition from other providers, the ability of our vendors to continue supplying the company with equipment, parts, supplies and services at comparable terms and prices and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are or will be described in greater detail in our Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at http://www.sec.gov. CynergisTek is under no obligation (and expressly disclaims any such obligation) to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact:

CynergisTek, Inc.

Paul Anthony

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Allison + Partners

Jaime Tero

415-755-8639

[email protected]

KEYWORDS: Texas United States North America

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Other Health General Health Professional Services Data Management Technology Continuing Hospitals Security Education Other Technology Consulting Health

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Zscaler Announces Cloud Protection to Automate Security for Cloud Workloads

New Comprehensive Portfolio Extends Zero Trust Architecture to Cloud Workloads on Any Cloud Platform

ThreatLabZ
Research Shows Cloud Security Best Practices Routinely Missed 

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 08, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS), the leader in cloud security, today announced Zscaler Cloud Protection, a comprehensive portfolio that simplifies and automates protection for workloads on and between any cloud platform. The new solution minimizes attack surface and automates globally enforced security policies across organizations’ multi-cloud footprint. This extends a zero-trust approach to cloud workloads, delivering the same high performance and reliability that over 4,500 Zscaler customers trust to protect private application and internet access. 
The four components of Zscaler Cloud Protection enable organizations to tighten security while continuing to accelerate digital transformation in the cloud: 

  • Continuously ensure secure configuration and compliance of cloud platforms
  • Eliminate lateral threat movement with identity-based micro-segmentation
  • Simplify and secure app-to-app connectivity within and across clouds
  • Secure access to cloud applications without exposing them to the internet.

By removing concerns dealing with an organization’s attack surface and global policies across multiple clouds, Zscaler Cloud Protection is helping customers accelerate their cloud strategies with confidence.

“Hub International has embraced a cloud-first strategy to drive aggressive growth,” said Jeremy Embalabala, Vice President, Information Security at HUB International. “Zscaler Cloud Protection helps us deliver security and compliance across our growing, multi-cloud environments. Continuous assurance and automation ensure that we are always aware of our security posture, regardless of how fast things change.”

The customer move to the cloud is accelerating with analysts predicting over 65% growth in the next two years. Yet, cloud benefits are undermined by insecure legacy technologies and limited operational best practices.

With more than 90% of organizations unnecessarily exposing cloud services, and fewer than 10% meeting compliance against regulatory frameworks, poor security hygiene and exposed attack surfaces continue to plague enterprise cloud environments. Zscaler’s ThreatLabZ, which mines data from the largest security cloud in the world, found the following problems with business’ cloud security measures: 

  • Fundamental platform security is lacking, with 63% not using multi-factor authentication, 78% not disabling public access of cloud storage, and 92% not logging events sufficiently for forensic investigation
  • Network security groups are too permissive, with 26% publicly exposing management interfaces, and 5% of all workloads completely open to the internet
  • Open, flat networks unnecessarily expose organizations to lateral threat movement, with 87% of allowed network paths never used in large segments

Zscaler Cloud Protection can identify and automatically resolve these issues, and the vast majority of other public cloud security challenges. When compared to migrating legacy data center security to the cloud, Zscaler leverages automation, understandable business-level policies, and least privilege access to deliver a 90% reduction in security policies and cost reductions of 30% or more. 

“The cloud continues to accelerate digital transformation in every industry, but legacy security paired with cloud speed and agility have dramatically increased risk resulting in far too many security exposures,” said Rich Campagna, Senior Vice President, Cloud Protection at Zscaler. “The same zero trust principles that allowed Zscaler to revolutionize secure access for users with our platform will transform protection for cloud workloads, tightening security while reducing cost and complexity.”

Zscaler Cloud Protection is available today. Go to the Zscaler website to learn more, or to schedule a demo. For a full review of the Zscaler ThreatLabZ findings, go to the Zscaler Blog.

About Zscaler

Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) accelerates digital transformation so customers can be more agile, efficient, resilient, and secure. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange protects thousands of customers from cyberattacks and data loss by securely connecting users, devices, and applications in any location. Distributed across more than 150 data centers globally, the SASE-based Zero Trust Exchange is the world’s largest in-line cloud security platform.

Zscaler™ and the other trademarks listed at


https://www.zscaler.com/legal/trademarks


are either (
i
) registered trademarks or service marks or (ii) trademarks or service marks of Zscaler, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Any other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Natalia Wodecki
[email protected]

Investor Relations Contact:

Bill Choi, CFA
[email protected]