Connect with us

Technology

Apply Now: HP Announces 2024 Digital Equity Accelerator to Drive Global Digital Inclusion

Published

7 months ago

on

Canada* selected as one of this year’s focus countries to tackle digital equity challenges

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

News Highlights

Applications are now open for The Digital Equity Accelerator, qualified organizations in Canada*, Brazil, and Poland are invited to apply until March 1, 2024.The Digital Equity Accelerator, a joint initiative between HP Inc. and the HP Foundation, helps nonprofits from around the world strengthen capacity and scale digital impact.In the first two years, the Accelerator helped 17 participating organizations expand their reach by 8.1 million people.

MISSISSAUGA, ON, Feb. 15, 2024 /CNW/ – In an effort to bridge the global digital divide and foster inclusive opportunities, HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) and the HP Foundation invite submissions for the 2024 Digital Equity Accelerator. The program offers 10 selected nonprofit organizations a USD $100,000 grant, HP technology (~USD $100,000 value), and six months of virtual training to scale digital equity solutions focused on educational, healthcare, and economic opportunities. HP will accept applications until March 1, 2024, and organizations in Canada*, Brazil, and Poland are invited to apply.

“Digital equity is a core pillar of HP’s sustainability commitment as we believe in the power of technology to connect people and communities to create positive and lasting change,” said Mary Ann Yule, President and CEO, HP Canada. “We are excited to launch the Digital Accelerator program to provide solutions that reduce the digital divide and advance digital equity in Canada and accelerate the valuable work of local nonprofits to allow them to thrive.”

A $1 trillion-plus digital divide is limiting billions from achieving equal access to educational, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Through the Digital Equity Accelerator, HP is helping to create a more equitable world through access to hardware, connectivity, digital literacy, and quality, relevant content. The Accelerator helps organizations strengthen capacity and scale impact for digital equity solutions, particularly among people who are traditionally excluded.

Since 2022, Accelerator alum have focused on helping to drive progress for women, advancing technology for people with disabilities and aging populations, and increasing digital equity in underrepresented or under-resourced communities including women and girls, people with disabilities and aging populations, historically disconnected groups, and educators and healthcare practitioners. Over the first two years, the Accelerator helped extend the reach of 17 participating organizations by 8.1 million people.

2024 Program Countries: Driving Digital Equity in Canada*, Brazil, and Poland  

HP has strategically selected countries to address specific digital equity gaps. These countries represent diverse challenges in digital equity, aligning with HP’s commitment to fostering inclusive access globally.

Canada*, despite high internet usage, has persistent inequalities among Indigenous and rural communities and other marginalized groups, with targeted efforts to bridge connectivity gaps.1Brazil, despite increased home internet access, has a pronounced digital gap affecting vulnerable groups, including Indigenous and Afro-Brazilian populations and aging demographics.2Poland faces lingering divides, especially in rural areas and among refugee populations.3

Global Digital Divide Limits Equal Access to Educational, Healthcare, and Economic Opportunities

The growing digital divide is reshaping the educational landscape, impacting learning experiences of young individuals and influencing the future workforce, as highlighted by Global Business Coalition for Education (2022):

Digital Inequity: In 2020, only (34%) of primary, (41%) of secondary, and (68%) of tertiary education students had access to an internet-connected computer at home.Educational Shortfalls: Over half of young individuals are falling behind in acquiring essential skills for employment by 2030.Looming Talent Deficit: Projections indicate a significant ‘human talent shortage’ exceeding 85 million people by the year 2030.

Communities that bridge the digital divide have greater access to healthcare and economic opportunities:

Enhanced Healthcare Reach: In 2021, (37%) of adults accessed telemedicine services, with usage correlated to education levels, family income, and urbanization, as reported by the CDC (2022).Bridging Urban-Rural Gaps: Globally, (82%) of urban residents utilized the Internet in 2022, marking a 1.8-fold increase compared to rural areas. This ratio has steadily reduced from 2.3 to 1.8 over the past three years, showcasing a narrowing divide, according to ITU (2022).

HP’s Commitment to Digital Equity and Sustainable Impact

As nearly half of the world’s population remains offline, closing the digital divide through equitable access to technology, skills and content will transform lives and communities and create a more equitable world. Since the beginning of 2021, HP has been on a journey to accelerate digital equity for 150 million people by 2030. HP’s vision is to become the world’s most sustainable and just technology company, which is reflected in its focus areas of climate action, human rights and digital equity.

For more information on the Digital Equity Accelerator, please visit the website.

* Excluding the Province of Quebec

About HP

HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) is a global technology leader and creator of solutions that enable people to bring their ideas to life and connect to the things that matter most. Operating in more than 170 countries, HP delivers a wide range of innovative and sustainable devices, services and subscriptions for personal computing, printing, 3D printing, hybrid work, gaming, and more. For more information, please visit: http://www.hp.com.

__________________________

 

SOURCE HP Canada

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

Schematic Raises $4.8M in Funding For the Last Mile of Pricing and Packaging For SaaS Companies

Published

56 mins ago

on

September 20, 2024

By

Schematic is transforming pricing and packaging for B2B SaaS companies, allowing product and engineering teams to implement flexible models with minimal maintenance. By eliminating fragmented, homegrown systems, Schematic helps businesses adapt to modern buying preferences and maximize revenue. Now publicly available, the platform includes embeddable UI components and integrates deeply with Stripe. Backed by $4.8M in seed funding, Schematic offers a streamlined solution for managing the full pricing and packaging lifecycle.

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Schematic is transforming pricing and packaging for B2B SaaS companies by getting product and engineering teams out of billing projects. With just a few lines of code, businesses can implement pricing and packaging into any application, bridging the gap between outdated, inflexible billing tools and the demands of modern software businesses.

“Maintaining pricing and packaging has been messy for product and engineering teams. Tools exist for finance, but none bridge the gap to support feature fulfillment and user experience. Schematic fills that gap, offering control and transparency from rollout to revenue,” said Fynn Glover, CEO

The company announced today that it is now available to the public after a year in development with a select set of beta customers, and that it is launching Components – embeddable UI elements for purchasing experiences – and a deep integration with Stripe providing a full stack solution for pricing and packaging.

The current pricing and packaging landscape is dominated by fragmented systems and frankenstein implementations. Schematic surveyed 100s of product and engineering leaders and found that their homegrown systems and processes weren’t built for flexibility or to support modern buying preferences such as metering and modular packaging. Consistently, teams struggled to adequately resource pricing and packaging initiatives and, as a result, left significant money on the table.

“Historically, maintaining pricing and packaging for product and engineering teams has been a mess. The market has tools for finance teams in spades, but none that bridge the gap to the application to support feature fulfillment, the end user experience, and internal tools, so we end up building them from scratch. We built Schematic to address that gap, and our product allows businesses to handle the entire lifecycle of a feature from rollout to revenue, offering best-in-class control and transparency to end users out of the box,” said Fynn Glover, CEO of Schematic.

The company wants to eliminate the need for businesses to reinvent the wheel to support pricing and packaging in applications. Schematic offers the flexibility to launch, package, meter, and monitor features from one place, without the tax of architecting and maintaining homegrown systems.

Pricing and packaging sits within a $30B market that includes the tools to license, fulfill, and bill end customers. It faces significant challenges due to the consumerization of B2B SaaS that has led to evolving buying preferences and expectations, pressure on back office operations, and legacy tools that are difficult to implement, costly, and do not integrate well with modern tools and applications. This has led to fragmented, homegrown systems and processes that divert resources to maintain and delay growth initiatives.

Schematic believes that an integrated platform, rather than disconnected tools and processes, should support customers from purchase to feature delivery and the operators tasked with supporting them. The launch of Components extends Schematic’s value proposition with embeddable UI elements that deliver best-in-class purchasing experiences to SaaS customers.

Schematic’s co-founders Jasdeep Garcha, Benjamin Papillon, Giovanni Hobbins, and Fynn Glover are seasoned entrepreneurs with experience on many sides of this problem having most recently led Operations, Product, Growth, and Engineering functions at Automox, Twilio, and Relay Payments. They have previously built successful startups and bring their expertise to Schematic to address the evolving needs of B2B SaaS companies.

The company is launching with $4.8M in seed funding led by MHS Capital with participation from NextView Ventures, Active Capital, Atlanta Ventures, and the founders of LaunchDarkly, Salesloft, Salesforce Pardot, and Crowdstrike.

“The decision to back Schematic was easy, given the clear market need and the team’s proven track record. Schematic is poised for rapid growth by providing an integrated solution for SaaS pricing and packaging,” said Vijay Naggapan, partner with MHS Capital.

Schematic’s platform allows businesses to outsource pricing and packaging with a few lines of code, enabling them to quickly launch new packaging models, take the burden off of engineering almost entirely, and flexibly adjust their pricing and packaging to individual customer preferences. The product has been in beta for a year with customers ranging from early-stage startups to growth-stage scale-ups, all benefiting from the flexibility and control it provides.

“There should be a standard for how digital businesses operate pricing and packaging. Schematic provides that standard, eliminating fragmented systems that frustrate teams and slow down businesses,” said Fynn.

“Schematic has allowed us to manage entitlements and metering with ease, setting us up in just a few days,” said Daniel Chalef, CEO of Zep, an early-stage SaaS company that replaced manual processes with Schematic’s automation. By implementing Schematic Zep has adapted to customer demands for new offerings easily without major engineering investments.

Learn more about Schematic. The product is free for early stage businesses.

Media Contact

Jasdeep Garcha, Schematic, 1 9192158521, jasdeep@schematichq.com, https://schematichq.com/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/schematic-raises-4-8m-in-funding-for-the-last-mile-of-pricing-and-packaging-for-saas-companies-302252844.html

SOURCE Schematic

Continue Reading

Technology

Edifier Announces Opening of SoundStudio Showroom in New York

Published

56 mins ago

on

September 20, 2024

By

Edifier, a leading audio brand, is thrilled to introduce its cutting-edge audio products to the American market with a pop-up showroom, allowing customers to explore and experience the latest innovations in audio technology firsthand.

RICHMOND, BC, Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Edifier, the renowned audio brand, is set to open its SOUNDSTUDIO pop-up showroom in New York City from September 21 to September 28, 2024. Located at 545 W 23rd St, New York, the event will showcase Edifier’s flagship products, offering attendees a unique opportunity to experience top-tier audio equipment.

Visitors will have a chance to explore a wide range of Edifier products, including Planar Magnetic Headphones (STAX SPIRIT S10, S5, S3), Earbuds (NeoDots, NeoBuds Pro 2), Over-ear Headphones (WH950NB, W830NB, W800BT Pro), Table Speakers (D32, D12, MP230), 2.0 Speakers (R1280DB, S1000W, S3000MKII), and the Q Series Speakers (QR65, QD35, QS30). This carefully curated lineup is designed to cater to different audio preferences, from high-fidelity listening to immersive soundscapes.

Edifier is hosting this event to highlight its audio products and further solidify its position as a leader in the American audio market, offering attendees the chance to engage with the brand, share their “Passion for Sound,” and be among the first to experience the brand’s innovative audio solutions.

The showroom will feature Edifier’s latest state-of-the-art speakers and headphones in a stylish studio space, allowing visitors to experience their performance and design in real-life settings. This immersive environment will enable the American public to appreciate Edifier’s meticulous attention to audio quality and design, while fostering a friendly atmosphere for social gatherings and hands-on testing of the Edifier audio range.

The event will include special appearances from NBA, NFL, and AFL stars, including Edifier W830NB ambassadors Jared McCain (Philadelphia 76ers) and Donte DiVincenzo (New York Knicks), Tyrod Taylor (New York Jets) and Tyler Nubin (New York Giants). Attendees will have the opportunity to see how Edifier’s W830NB headphones play a vital role in keeping these sports stars connected to their passion for sound.

Attendees will not only have the chance to experience Edifier’s cutting-edge products but will also be treated to exclusive giveaways. Prizes include W800BT Plus headphones, W320TN earbuds, MP100 Plus speakers, NeoBuds Pro 2, W830NB headphones, and the Comfo Run series.

Frank He, Marketing Director at Edifier, stated “Edifier are delighted to be holding this event in New York. The event is crucial for showcasing the company’s leading products and innovative technology. The presence of the AFL, NFL and NBA stars discussing their use of the Edifier W830NB headphones reinforces Edifier’s status as a top contender in the consumer audio market.”

There are many surprises to explore throughout the week! Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to meet your favorite athletes and experience EDIFIER’s cutting-edge audio technology firsthand. More highlights and sidelights will be detailed on the Edifier global Instagram account (@edifier_global).

Full Event Schedule:

Sep 21st: Kick off the week with our Grand Opening, featuring electrifying beats by DJ Leisan Valieva.Sept 22nd: Get close with Tyrod Taylor of the New York Jets at an exclusive Meet and Greet.Sept 23rd: Get close with Tyler Nubin of the New York Giants at an exclusive Meet and Greet.Sept 24th: Join us for an incredible appearance with Jared McCain of the 76ers and Donte DiVincenzo of the New York Knicks!

About Edifier:

Edifier specializes in the design and manufacture of premium audio solutions that showcase technological innovation and design excellence. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Beijing, China, Edifier delivers outstanding sound experience through a wide range of audio systems for personal entertainment and professional use. Renowned for its award-winning design philosophy, expertise and innovation in acoustic technology, and superior manufacturing standards, Edifier is one of today’s leading innovators of audio electronics.  

More information about Edifier is available online at www.edifier.com/global

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edifier-announces-opening-of-soundstudio-showroom-in-new-york-302254188.html

SOURCE Edifier

Continue Reading

Technology

Volar Air Mobility and Exim Finance Partner to Pioneer Green Financing Solutions for Sustainable Aviation

Published

56 mins ago

on

September 20, 2024

By

MONTREAL, Sept. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Volar Air Mobility has formed a strategic partnership with Exim Finance to accelerate the commercialization of electric aircraft. This collaboration, formalized by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), focuses on developing innovative green financing solutions to support sustainable aviation globally.

The partnership centers around Volar’s RX-series Electric Aircraft, including the RX4E, the world’s first four-seater electric plane expected to receive commercial approval. Together, Volar and Exim Finance will create financial models that include green financing options and carbon credit offsets, making eco-friendly aircraft more accessible.

Key highlights of the collaboration include:

Development of sustainable financing models for RX-series Electric Aircraft.Introduction of carbon credit offsets to promote green aviation.Broadening access to electric aircraft in emerging markets.Aligning with global decarbonization goals like the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050.

Revolutionizing Air Mobility, Driving Innovation and Sustainability

Volar Air Mobility sets itself apart with an aircraft-agnostic technology platform, allowing it to integrate a variety of sustainable aircraft. The RX4E, a fully electric four-seater, is leading the charge toward a greener aviation future. Volar’s focus is on making electric air travel affordable and accessible in developing regions, supporting environmental goals while boosting local economies. By collaborating with Volar, Exim Finance is breaking new ground in green aviation. Exim Finance offers a range of financial services across Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.

Industry Leaders Comment on the Partnership

Mr. Salah Ibrahim Al Nasser, Chairman of Exim Finance, commented: “We are honored to be part of this significant initiative aimed at transforming the future of aviation through sustainable practices. As a financial institution committed to supporting innovation and environmental responsibility, EXIM Finance recognizes the critical importance of green aviation in reducing the industry’s carbon footprint. By partnering with key stakeholders, this Memorandum of Understanding represents a major step forward in creating a more sustainable aviation ecosystem.”

Mr. Henry Hooi, Chairman of Volar Air Mobility Holding Company Limited, added: “Volar Air Mobility is honored to be working with EXIM Finance on a pioneering initiative to develop a series of green financing solutions to enable green aviation. The opportunity is to co-develop pioneering solutions in UAE to enable broader adoption of green aviation globally, thus contributing meaningful environmental impacts and fulfilling the aspirations of many, including those outlined in the UAE Net Zero by 2050.”

Mr. Saif Aldarmaki, Founding Partner of Volar Air Mobility Industries, stated: “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to revolutionizing the green aviation sector. By working with Exim Finance, we are taking a bold step forward in realizing the promise of electric aviation and supporting the global transition to sustainable technologies.”

Mr. Anwar Hussein, Managing Partner and Co-founder of Volar Air Mobility Industries, emphasized the collaboration’s significance, stating: “With this MoU, we are laying the groundwork for the future of green aviation financing. Our combined expertise will allow us to create financing structures that support early adopters of electric aircraft and help expand the global market for eco-friendly aviation solutions.”

About Volar Air Mobility

Volar Air Mobility is a green air mobility technology company focused on the commercialization of electric aircraft worldwide. The company holds exclusive commercialization rights for the RX-series Electric Aircraft, developed by the Liaoning General Aviation Academy (LGAA), and is dedicated to fostering sustainable aviation technologies that contribute to a greener future.

About Exim Finance

Exim Finance provides investment, corporate, and commercial banking solutions across several continents, helping drive growth through innovative financial solutions. With a strong global presence, Exim Finance leverages a diverse team whose extensive connections with Export Banks and Credit Insurance providers enable them to deliver tailored financial solutions that empower clients’ success.

For more information, visit www.volarairmobility.com and www.eximfinance.ae.

Media Contact:
Miss Wyam Amiri
Inovartic Investment
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Email: 383409@email4pr.com 
Phone: +971561090758

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/volar-air-mobility-and-exim-finance-partner-to-pioneer-green-financing-solutions-for-sustainable-aviation-302254332.html

SOURCE Volar Air Mobility

Continue Reading

Trending