Companies

Amazon hits manage UK spy organizations to have highly confidential material

Published

4 years ago

October 27, 2021

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Cloud contract for GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 with US tech bunch plans to speed investigation yet liable to touch off power fears.

The UK’s three government agent offices have contracted AWS, Amazon’s distributed computing arm, to have characterized material in an arrangement pointed toward helping the utilization of information investigation and computerized reasoning for undercover work. The acquisition of a high-security cloud framework has been advocated by GCHQ, the UK’s signs knowledge body, and will be utilized by sister administrations MI5 and MI6, just as other government offices like the Ministry of Defense during joint tasks. The agreement is probably going to light worries over power given that a huge measure of the UK’s most restricted information will be facilitated by a solitary US tech organization. The arrangement, assessed by industry specialists to be worth £500m to £1bn throughout the following decade, was marked for this present year, as per four individuals acquainted with the conversations. Notwithstanding, the subtleties are carefully hidden and were not planned to be disclosed. In spite of the fact that AWS is a US organization, every one of the offices’ information will be held in Britain, as per those with information on the arrangement. Amazon won’t have any admittance to data hung on the cloud stage, those individuals said. Jeremy Fleming, GCHQ chief, has recently said that utilizing AI will be “at the heart” of his office’s change to guard the nation as spying moves into an advanced age. The new cloud administration — intended to have highly confidential data safely — will empower spies to share information all the more effectively from field areas abroad and power expert applications, for example, discourse acknowledgment which can “spot” and decipher specific voices from hours of catch accounts. It will likewise permit GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 to lead quicker look on one another’s data sets. GCHQ told the Financial Times it would not talk about its business associations with innovation providers. AWS declined to remark.

Ciaran Martin, who ventured down last year as top of the UK’s National Cyber Security Center, a part of GCHQ, said the cloud arrangement would permit the security administrations “to get data from enormous measures of information in minutes, as opposed to in many months”. Nonetheless, he excused ideas that the framework would influence the measure of data held by knowledge organizations. “This isn’t tied in with gathering or accumulating more information,” he said. “The undeniable business case is to utilize existing a lot of information all the more viably.”

Gus Hosein, leader overseer of Privacy International and a specialist in innovation and common freedoms, said there were “numerous things” that parliament, controllers and general society had to think about the arrangement. “This is one more stressing public-private organization, concurred stealthily,” he said. “On the off chance that this agreement goes through, Amazon will be situated as the go-to cloud supplier for the world’s knowledge organizations. Amazon needs to deal with serious consequences regarding itself which nations’ security administrations it is ready to work for.” While the arrangement is a first of its sort for the UK, Britain’s security device is lingering behind its US peers being used of business cloud administrations. The CIA marked its first $600m cloud contract with AWS in 2013, for the benefit of all the US knowledge organizations. This cloud arrangement was overhauled last year under another arrangement with a consortium containing AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and IBM.

Chief of naval operations Mike Rogers, previous top of the US National Security Agency, said the transition to distributed storage had helped insight officials focus in on likely suspects. “It gives us speed, it gives us adaptability, and by having the option to total more information, it builds the likelihood that you will recognize that needle in the bundle,” he said. The UK’s transition to get a US organization shocked a few specialists. “Sway matters and there’s a motivation behind why, all things considered, security innovation has consistently been constructed and kept up with in-house,” one security veteran said. GCHQ at first needed to discover a UK cloud supplier yet it turned out to be clear as of late that homegrown organizations would not be able to offer either the scale or abilities required, said two individuals acquainted with the arrangement.

Martin recognized that getting an abroad merchant implied that “controlling and confining seller admittance to information is critical”. “Yet, as long as the organization is from a dependable country, with innovation you comprehend, there are methods of doing this which will empower the offices to deal with the danger,” he said.

The French government this year upheld the making of a new “sovereign cloud” which will be utilized by the country’s public area to deal with touchy information utilizing government-supported security strategies. Named Bleu, it is relied upon to join the Gaia-X venture, which expects to encourage an European cloud industry fit for rivaling US organizations like Google and AWS.

Announcements

UAE announces fuel prices for June 2025

Published

3 days ago

May 31, 2025

Staff Reporter

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The UAE fuel price committee on Saturday announced petrol and diesel prices for the month of June 2025.The Fuel Prices Monitoring Committee has kept the prices unchanged from the month of May.

Super 98 petrol will cost Dh2.58 a litre, compared to Dh2.58 a litre in May, while Special 95 will cost Dh2.47 a litre, compared to Dh2.47 a litre the previous month.

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E-Plus category petrol will be available for Dh2.39 a litre, compared to Dh2.39 a litre in May, while diesel will now cost Dh2.45 a litre, compared to Dh2.52 a litre the previous month.

The UAE deregulated fuel prices in 2015, aligning them with market fluctuations.

Fuel prices in the UAE are tied to movements in the global oil market, which has experienced significant volatility since the beginning of the year.

Business

BEYOND Expo 2025 kicks off in Macau with over 800 tech companies, investors and global innovators

Published

2 weeks ago

May 22, 2025

Michael Gomes

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Asia’s biggest technology gathering, BEYOND Expo 2025, opened its doors on Wednesday, May 21, at The Venetian Macau’s Cotai Expo, marking its fifth anniversary with the theme “Empowering Asia, Bridging the World.” Running from May 22 to 24, the event brings together over 800 companies, 25,000 visitors, and more than 800 investors from around the world.

Covering everything from AI and HealthTech to Clean Energy, Robotics, FinTech, and SportsTech, the expo offers a glimpse into the future of innovation and how it’s shaping Asia’s global tech footprint.

The expo also offers unique opportunities for UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other GCC countries to explore cutting-edge solutions in AI, HealthTech, Clean Energy, FinTech, and Robotics, all aligning closely with national visions like “We the UAE 2031” and Saudi Vision 2030.

The opening day drew a crowd of top tech minds who took part in a high-profile panel titled “What’s Next?” Speakers included Alibaba Cloud founder Dr. Jian Wang, Carl Pei, CEO of smartphone brand Nothing, Dr. Burt Guo of Sichuan Aerofugia, Zhaopeng Chen of Agile Robots, and Jingkang Liu, founder of Insta360.

The event also marked the launch of the BEYOND Founders Club (BFC), a new community that aims to connect Asia’s rising tech entrepreneurs and help shape the future of innovation. BEYOND Expo Co-Founder Dr. Lu Gang said the expo was created in 2021 to highlight Asia’s tech progress on a global stage. “We are thrilled to celebrate our fifth year with our largest lineup yet,” he said.

Co-Founder Jason Ho added, “Launching the Founders Club is a powerful step. We believe technology should serve humanity, and this community will help guide the next generation of tech leaders.”

Alongside the expo, a packed schedule of over 300 speakers will lead summits and forums on major trends and topics. These include the Global Investment Summit, AI Summit, Wealth Summit, Fashion Tech Forum, Gen-Z Founder Forum, and SHETECH Summit, among others.

Investment plays a major role at BEYOND Expo, with live funding events like Fund at First Pitch, where 150 companies are competing in front of more than 100 investors for the chance to secure funding. The Wealth Summit, held in partnership with the Asian Family Legacy Foundation and Greenwich Economic Forum, highlights the growing role of family offices and regional investors in shaping the global innovation ecosystem.

For innovators and investors across the Gulf region, BEYOND Expo presents a valuable opportunity to connect with global tech leaders and explore partnerships, as Gulf countries continue to diversify their economies through investments in AI, clean tech, and smart industries, events like BEYOND offer access to cutting-edge trends, emerging markets, and cross-border collaboration with Asia’s fastest-growing tech hubs.

Held at The Venetian Macau’s Cotai Expo, one of Asia’s largest MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) venues, the event is supported by Sands Resorts Macau, known for its luxury hotels, shopping, dining and entertainment experiences.

For more information, visit: www.beyondexpo.com

Business

Dubai’s RTA invites companies to participate in tenders and auctions

Published

3 weeks ago

May 13, 2025

Michael Gomes

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Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced an exciting opportunity for businesses across the UAE, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), to engage in 116 tenders and auctions available until the end of 2025.

This initiative is part of the Dubai Government’s Public-Private Partnership Strategy 2024–2026, which is aimed at stimulating economic growth and fostering strategic collaborations within the emirate.

The tenders cover a broad range of sectors, including services, consultancy, infrastructure, insurance, outsourcing, operations and maintenance, information technology, and investment. RTA’s push to engage the business community underscores its commitment to enhancing public-private collaboration, supporting national companies, and driving innovation in various industries.

Abdulla Yousef Al Ali, CEO of the Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector at RTA, explained, “We are actively supporting Dubai’s business community through incentive-driven initiatives, including recognition programmes that celebrate major companies collaborating with SMEs.”

He continued, “To participate in RTA projects, companies need to meet specific qualification criteria, which can be easily accessed through RTA’s streamlined digital process via the Electronic Prequalification System on our official website. This system supports the development of government projects by attracting top-tier local and international companies, ensuring efficient project delivery, facilitating knowledge exchange, and developing national talent. It plays a crucial role in attracting investment and stimulating the national economy.”

The RTA’s electronic prequalification system is available free of charge, allowing companies to register by creating a username and password. Once registered, companies can select the ‘Supplier and Investor Management System’ to access the Electronic Prequalification System, where they can upload the required documents and specify their business activities of interest.

For more details on the available tenders and auctions, companies can visit the RTA website at www.rta.ae.