Day: April 2, 2024

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4me(R) Acquires StatusCast, Adding Incident Management Capabilities to Its Leading SaaS-Based ITSM Platform

The Acquisition Broadens the Reach of 4me® and Expands Its Capabilities by Integrating Real-Time Technology Service Status Updates for IT Teams, Service Providers and Customers

SANTA BARBARA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2024 / 4me®, the SaaS-based Service Management software platform for the modern enterprise, has completed the acquisition of StatusCast™. StatusCast is a cloud-based provider of incident management products. The acquisition strengthens 4me's position in the ITSM market and represents another advancement in its efforts to assist companies in transforming their businesses with the most advanced and complete service management platform in the industry.

"Our mission is to make IT teams more productive while we directly help our partners and customers deliver great customer experiences. Our transformation of traditional service management is built on an advanced technology platform," said Kevin McGibben, CEO of 4me. "Integrating StatusCast's leading capabilities for incident management and status updates with 4me's core IT Service Management capabilities strengthens the IT operational power of our platform."

"We are incredibly excited to join the fantastic team at 4me," said Eric Warth, VP of Operations at StatusCast. "4me's cutting-edge ITSM solution, with its emphasis on a comprehensive, service-centric, multi-tenant architecture, perfectly complements our mission to unify and automate status and incident communications. This acquisition is in line with our vision of transparently communicating with stakeholders relevant information efficiently so that teams can focus more on the incident than managing communications."

Companies like 8x8 use StatusCast's features to ensure seamless productivity and enhanced communication with their customers. These features include public and private status pages, configurable notifications, and subscriptions for the public, partners or customers. They can provide information about service availability, current incidents or scheduled downtime.

4me will now be able to deliver the following benefits with the addition of StatusCast:

  • Real-time service status notifications. Status page updates and notifications will enable IT organizations to provide public status pages, internal and customer status pages reflecting availability and status, including degradation and downtimes of critical services, technologies, and applications.
  • Visuals of the status of the IT service catalog, which will integrate with 4me incident management, automatically allowing for faster mean time to resolution (MTTR) in outages and service degradations.
  • MSPs, Network Operations Centers, support and service desk teams can use StatusCast incident management to add a layer of automation and end-to-end capability for incident management and service level agreement (SLAs) management for their clients.

To learn more, visit https://www.4me.com/it-service-management.

About 4me

4me is transforming service management for the modern enterprise. 4me's AI-forward, service-oriented, multi-tenant SaaS platform seamlessly connects teams to optimize IT service management. 4me's ability to automate cross-functional workflows makes frictionless service delivery possible, significantly improving business outcomes. The 4me platform's ease of use and deployment makes it the most advanced ITSM platform available today. Hundreds of organizations around the world look to 4me to elevate their Enterprise Service Management. To learn more, visit www.4me.com.

About StatusCast

Founded in 2013, StatusCast's mission is to help IT departments and SaaS companies keep their employees and customers better informed when applications or IT infrastructure goes down. StatusCast is a communication platform for the enhanced and timely distribution of critical information related to outages and maintenance, enabling organizations to be as effective as possible when problems occur. StatusCast's solutions are used by many of the world's leading Fortune 500 companies and SaaS brands.

Contact Information

Carlyn Manly
Marketing
carlyn.manly@4me.com

SOURCE: 4me

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View the original press release on newswire.com.

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Formerra Unveils Evonik Alliance for High-Performance Solutions

Partnership expands reach with Evonik's high-performance polyamides, including sustainable solutions.

ROMEOVILLE, IL / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2024 / Formerra today announced its new strategic partnership with Evonik, the global leader in PA12 and high-performance polyamides. This alliance enables Formerra to distribute Evonik's polyamides and sustainable materials in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Additionally, these materials are accessible in Mexico courtesy of Formerra's recent acquisition of Suministro de Especialidades.

Formerra has added PA12 and polyamides from Evonik to its lineup of high-performance material options for automotive, aerospace, and industrial applications.

Specifically, Formerra will distribute the following materials:

  • VESTAMID® L POLYAMIDE 12
  • VESTAMID® E POLYAMIDE 12 ELASTOMER
  • VESTAMID® D POLYAMIDE 612
  • TROGAMID® CX (transparent and microcrystalline polyamides)
  • Sustainable grades:
    • VESTAMID® eCO (PA12)
    • VESTAMID® RFP (PA12)
    • VESTAMID® Terra (PA610 and PA1010)

Doug Zupan, Vice President of Operations at Formerra, expressed enthusiasm about the addition of this new supplier. "Joining forces with Evonik empowers us to supply top-tier materials for critical applications in automotive, aerospace, and industrial sectors. Evonik's reputation in high-performance polyamide production and their commitment to sustainable solutions resonate with our vision of offering customers the best cutting-edge material options."

Craig Schmidter, Americas Director of Granules and Compounds at Evonik, added, "With Formerra's vast network and deep technical support for performance-driven applications, they are the ideal choice for our polyamide products distribution. In short, Formerra is a great match because they offer the technical material selection and engineering support that customers and applications need to incorporate our high-performance materials."

Evonik products enable Formerra to enter new markets such as aerospace and oil & gas; Evonik will play a key role in helping Formerra to accomplish this growth. In addition, Formerra will be able to support current and future customers with logistics, warehousing, technical service, and speed to market.

The Formerra-Evonik collaboration will focus on providing substantial benefits to fuel customer innovation in multiple markets.

Formerra will exhibit next month at NPE2024: The Plastics Show in booth S39025 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.

About Formerra

Formerra is a preeminent distributor of engineered materials, connecting the world's leading polymer producers with thousands of OEMs and brand owners across healthcare, consumer, industrial, and mobility markets. Powered by technical and commercial expertise, it brings a distinctive combination of portfolio depth, supply chain strength, industry knowledge, service, leading e-commerce capabilities, and ingenuity. The experienced Formerra team helps customers across multiple industries to design, select, process, and develop products in new and better ways - driving improved performance, productivity, reliability, and sustainability. To learn more, visit www.formerra.com.

About Evonik

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €15.3 billion in 2023. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable, and sustainable solutions for customers. More than 33,000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow.

Contact Information:

Jackie Morris
Marketing Communications Manager, Formerra
jackie.morris@formerra.com
+1 630-972-3144

SOURCE: Formerra

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View the original press release on newswire.com.

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Global Sports Brand U.S. Polo Assn. Delivers Record $2.4 Billion in Retail Sales for 2023, Targets $3 Billion and 1,500 U.S. Polo Assn. Stores

WEST PALM BEACH, FL / ACCESSWIRE / April 2, 2024 / USPA Global has announced that U.S. Polo Assn., the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), has delivered a record $2.4 billion in global retail sales in 2023.

The global sports brand’s record growth is the result of expanding its existing sizeable footprint across all regions around the world. U.S. Polo Assn. has seen a balanced growth strategy with significantly increased market share in more mature markets, such as North America and Western Europe, while delivering exponential growth in emerging markets such as Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and India. In fact, the brand is targeting to become a billion-dollar business in India alone, as U.S. Polo Assn. is an international power brand and the top-selling casual menswear brand in the country.

The brand’s footprint is a fast-growing presence across 190 countries, with over 1,100 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores and thousands of wholesale locations spanning department stores, sporting goods channels, and independent retailers, as well as e-commerce. U.S. Polo Assn. continues to climb the retail ranks as one of the largest global licensed sports brands in the world, ranking in the top five alongside the NFL, MLB, and NBA, according to License Global.

U.S. Polo Assn.’s strong execution has relied on a global focus regarding the brand’s worldwide store expansion. The brand has grown its global fleet to more than 1,100 U.S. Polo Assn. stores, targeting over 1,500 in the next several years. For 2023, new stores and existing strategic stores around the world have been enhanced with a more elevated brand and sports concept, providing consumers with an authentic experience when engaging with the brand.

U.S. Polo Assn. also built on its successful digital strategies to generate record growth in e-commerce with some 50 brand sites in 20 languages in 2023. U.S. Polo Assn. continues to grow its digital presence and global momentum on social media, with some 8 million followers worldwide.

“Our global team and strategic partners around the world delivered another record financial performance in 2023 while also achieving many major milestones across our product lines and global expansion efforts,” noted J. Michael Prince, President & CEO of USPA Global. “We continue to execute our aggressive product, store, digital, and international growth strategies to further expand our global footprint in key cities and markets worldwide, while also increasing the overall interest in the sport of polo.”

Prince added, “Despite the many challenges over the past several years facing global retail, U.S. Polo Assn. was able to exceed our goal of $2 billion three years early and has set a target to hit $3 billion and 1,500 U.S. Polo Assn. stores in the near future.”

True to the heritage of the brand, U.S. Polo Assn. maintains a strong connection to the sport of polo. By signing a recent landmark multi-year global deal with ESPN, the thrilling sport now has exposure to a massive global audience, extending to many parts of the world with reach to millions of households and multiple digital channels. The sport’s iconic U.S. Open Polo Championship®, which is broadcast by ESPN, now sits alongside the elite company of The Masters and Kentucky Derby as one of the country’s most prestigious spring sporting events.

In addition, the USPA now owns the USPA National Polo Center (NPC), the sport’s premier destination in North America. The 2024 American High-Goal Polo Season has brought record crowds and sellout Sundays, with the best polo in the world from January-April. Nestled in beautiful Palm Beach County, Florida, this outstanding venue spans 160 acres, encompassing multiple grass polo fields, fine dining, tennis courts, stadium seating, a swimming pool, and the NPC Retail Shop. Exciting updates to the world-class facility are slated for 2025.

“We continue to seek avenues and partnerships to expand into new global markets, as well as new and innovative areas of business. The combination of these factors, alongside our authentic connection to the sport of polo and outstanding global brand marketing, is the key to our global success,” Prince adds. “I am optimistic about the U.S. Polo Assn. global business maintaining its leadership position among its industry peers while gaining market share and our ability to reach over $3 billion in worldwide sales and 1,500 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores in the coming years.”

“Today, I am proud to say that our U.S. Polo Assn. global ecosystem is comprehensive of both the brand and the sport, with our $2.4 billion global sport-inspired brand, a global sports content platform with ESPN, and ownership of NPC, one of the sport’s most beautiful and prestigious venues,” concludes Prince.

About U.S. Polo Assn. and USPA Global

U.S. Polo Assn. is the official brand of the United States Polo Association (USPA), the governing body for the sport of polo in the United States and one of the country’s oldest sports governing bodies, founded in 1890. With a multi-billion-dollar global footprint and worldwide distribution through more than 1,100 U.S. Polo Assn. retail stores as well as thousands of additional points of distribution, U.S. Polo Assn. offers apparel, accessories, and footwear for men, women, and children in more than 190 countries worldwide. A recent, multi-year deal with ESPN to broadcast several of the premier polo championships in the world, sponsored by U.S. Polo Assn., has made the thrilling sport accessible to millions of sports fans globally for the very first time.

U.S. Polo Assn. has consistently been named one of the top global sports licensors alongside the NFL, NBA, and MLB, according to License Global. In addition, the sport-inspired brand is being recognized around the world with awards for global growth, expansion, licensing, and digital growth. Due to its tremendous success as a global brand, particularly in the last five years, U.S. Polo Assn. has been featured in Forbes, Fortune, Modern Retail, and GQ as well as on Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg, among many other noteworthy media sources around the world.

For more information, visit uspoloassnglobal.com and follow @uspoloassn.

USPA Global is a subsidiary of the USPA and manages the global, multi-billion-dollar U.S. Polo Assn. brand, providing the sport with a long-term source of revenue. Through its subsidiary, Global Polo Entertainment (GPE), USPA Global also manages Global Polo TV, which provides sport and lifestyle content. For more sports content, visit globalpolo.com.

Contact Information

Stacey Kovalsky
VP Global PR and Communications
skovalsky@uspagl.com
+001.561.790.8036

Kaela Drake
PR & Communications Specialist
kdrake@uspagl.com
+001.561.461.8596

SOURCE: USPA Global Licensing Inc.

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Nearly 250,000 illegal sexual videos removed from web in 2023: gender ministry

SEOUL, Nearly 250,000 illegal sexual videos were removed from the web last year, a 15 percent increase from the year before, data showed Tuesday. A total of 8,983 victims received help from the support center for online sexual abuse victims, up 12.6 percent year-on-year, according to a report by the Advocacy Center for Online Sexual Abuse Victims affiliated with an institute under the gender ministry. The center, founded in 2018, is dedicated to monitoring and removing illegal sexual content online, and supporting victims by linking them to investigative agencies and legal and medical assistance. Last year, the center deleted 245,602 illegal sexual videos online, an increase of 14.9 percent from the 213,602 removed in 2022. Most of the victims, or 74.2 percent of those who received help, were female, while 25.8 percent were male. Nearly 75 percent of the victims who sought help were in their 10s and 20s. The perpetrators were mostly people the victims have met only once, for instance through online chat , accounting for 37.8 percent of the total, followed by unidentified offenders recording 22.9 percent and strangers 20.8 percent. Most of the illegal sexual content was uploaded to porn sites, marking 114,672 cases, or 46.7 percent, followed by 29.9 percent found on search engines and 14.5 percent on social media. A gender ministry official pointed to the preemptive inspection of illegal sexual content targeting children or teens, along with reinforced cooperation from investigative agencies, as reasons for the leap in the amount of removed content. Last year, 35,725 items containing sexual content featuring children and teens were dislodged from the web, up 2.5 percent from the preceding year. The gender ministry plans to cooperate with other ministries to overhaul relevant policies to prevent second offenses against the victims from personal information leaks. It will also cooperate with overseas agencies supporting victims of online sexual abuse to counter content on overseas porn sites. Source: Yon hap News Agency

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Construction contracts dip 18.9 pct in 2023


SEOUL, The value of construction contracts in South Korea slumped nearly 19 percent in 2023 from a year earlier due to sluggish private projects, government data showed Tuesday.

Civilian and public works contracts in Asia’s fourth-largest economy were valued at 240.6 trillion won (US$178 billion) last year, down 18.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Private deals tumbled 26.4 percent on-year to 173.1 trillion won, while public-sector contracts climbed 9.9 percent to 67.6 trillion won.

Building contracts plunged 27.3 percent in 2023 from a year earlier, but civil-engineering deals expanded 6.5 percent.

The value of contracts clinched by the top 50 industry players contracted 16.2 percent on-year to 102.9 trillion won last year.

Construction contracts in the capital Seoul and its adjacent Gyeonggi Province nose-dived 25.2 percent on-year, and those in the rest of the country fell 13.1 percent.

In the fourth quarter of last year, t
he country’s construction deals increased 7.9 percent on-year to 72 trillion won thanks to a base effect, snapping a four-quarter losing streak, according to the data.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

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PPP lambasts N.K. missile launch as attempt to stoke domestic tensions in S. Korea ahead of elections

SEOUL, The ruling People Power Party (PPP) on Tuesday denounced North Korea's latest missile launch as a scheme aimed at driving a wedge in South Korean society ahead of next week's parliamentary elections. The comments came hours after the North fired a suspected intermediate-range ballistic missile into the East Sea, in an apparent show of force that came about a week before South Korea is due to hold general elections on April 10. "It's a scheme aimed at stirring up a conflict within the South by creating inter-Korean military tensions with the elections just around the corner," Park Jung-ha, the PPP spokesperson for the party's central election campaign committee said in a commentary. "We should be vigilant about the growing possibility in the future that the North might escalate its provocations aiming to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula in terms of intensity and frequency," Park said. Park also took note of Russia's veto last week on extending a U.N. mandate on an expert panel for monitori ng North Korean sanctions, saying that it has resulted in an effective void of international monitoring on its nuclear and missile development. "Our military will protect the people and ensure their safety based on the firm South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture," he said. "The North should bear in mind that continued provocations will only lead to international isolation and bring about the end of the regime." Source: Yonhap News Agency

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60 pct of overseas residents view Korea favorably after experiencing ‘hallyu’

SEOUL, Six out of 10 overseas residents reported a positive change in their perception of Korea after experiencing globally popular Korean cultural content, a government report showed Tuesday. The 2024 report issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and its affiliate, the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, showed that 66.1 percent of respondents who had engaged with Korean content, such as TV dramas and films, experienced a favorable impact on their perception of Korea. The report was based on an online survey conducted in November on 25,000 people residing in 26 countries worldwide who had experienced Korean cultural content. The figure, 66.1 percent, marks a 5.8 percentage-point increase from 60.3 percent in 2022. About 30 percent of respondents said the content had no effect on their perception, while 3.8 percent reported a negative change. When asked about their preference for Korean content, 68.8 percent of respondents expressed a positive sentiment, a 3.7 percentag e-point increase from the previous year. Particularly high levels of likeability were observed in other Asian countries, such as Indonesia (86.3 percent), India (84.5 percent), Thailand (83 percent), the United Arab Emirates (83 percent) and Vietnam (82.9 percent). More than 89 percent of respondents answered their interest in Korean content had either increased (45.9 percent) compared with one year ago or remained unchanged (43.5 percent). Egypt reported the highest increase at 67.6 percent, followed by India at 67.1 percent and Saudi Arabia at 65.1 percent. However, negative perceptions of the global boom of Korean content, known as "hallyu," also increased in 2023 with 32.6 percent expressing a negative view, up 5.5 percentage points from the previous year. The main reasons cited were it being "excessively provocative" (24.9 percent), "uniform and boring" (22 percent) and "excessively commercial" (21.1 percent). The average monthly consumption of Korean content per person among those who had experienced hallyu was found to be 11.6 hours. By country, India and Thailand tied for the highest consumption at 18.6 hours. Indonesia came in third with 17 hours, closely followed by Vietnam with 16.4 hours. In contrast, Japan, Canada, Australia and Italy had monthly averages of less than 10 hours. Netlix's global megahit "Squid Game" (2021) was chosen as the favorite Korean TV series for the third consecutive year. Coming in second and third in the drama category were "The Glory" (2022-2023) and "King the Land" (2023). "Squid Game" garnered significant popularity in Europe (23.7 percent) and the Americas (8.3 percent), while "The Glory" found favor in the Asia-Pacific region (5.4 percent). Among Korean films, "Parasite" (2019) and "Train to Busan" (2016) claimed the top two spots. "Parasite" was the most cherished Korean film in Europe (10.7 percent) and the Americas (12.6 percent), whereas "Train to Busan" was mainly popular in the Asia-Pacific region (8.2 percent). The report attributed the steady popularity of these titles to the lack of recent content capable of surpassing them. Source: Yonhap News Agency

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Seoul court dismisses professors’ bid to suspend increase of med school admission quota

SEOUL, A Seoul court on Tuesday dismissed a bid by medical professors to prevent the government from increasing the admission quota of medical schools starting next year. The Seoul Administration Court rejected an appeal by the Medical Professors Association of Korea to suspend the execution of the government's plan to raise the number of medical students by 2,000 next year. The appeal was filed against the education minister and the health minister. The court dismissed the case without deliberation, on the grounds that the association would not enjoy direct or specific legal benefits from preventing the increase of the med school quota. The court also determined that the counterparts to the education minister would be presidents of universities with medical programs, rather than medical professors at those institutions. The professors' body claimed that the government violated laws on higher education requiring the government to announce plans for university admission 22 months prior to the following ac ademic year. The government unveiled its medical school plans on Feb. 6. The professors also argued that the public would benefit if the government came up with different policies in essential medical fields, but the court dismissed such benefits as being indirect and abstract, not enough to suspend the government's plan for the quota increase. This was the first court decision on an appeal submitted by the medical community in protest of the proposed increase of the med school quota, with five other cases pending rulings. The government has been pushing for the increase of medical students in preparation for the country's fast-aging population and a shortage of physicians in rural areas. On the other hand, doctors have said the quota hikes will undermine the quality of medical education and result in higher medical costs for patients. They have called for measures to first address the underpaid specialists and improve legal protection against excessive medical malpractice lawsuits. Source: Yonhap News Agency

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