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Zum Recognized by White House for Student Transportation Modernization and Sustainability Efforts

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Heather Boushey, Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet, Discusses Announcement of $90M for Clean School Buses in California

SAN FRANCISCO, March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Heather Boushey, the Chief Economist for the Invest in America Cabinet at the White House, met with executives and staff at Zūm, the leader in modern student transportation.

The visit, which took place at Zum’s San Francisco bus yard, included a tour of Zum’s state-of-the-art facilities, a ride on one of Zum’s electric buses, a meeting with leadership, including Zum Founder and CEO Ritu Narayan as well as a robust roundtable discussion on the importance of the acceleration of the transition to electric school buses with Kevin Gong, EPA Pacific Southwest Region; Lisa Grant Dawson, Oakland Unified School District; Kim Raney, Oakland Unified School District; Arcadio Fokin, San Francisco Unified School District; Garth Saloner, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Dan Lashof, World Resource Institute; Sharon Lai, World Economic Forum; Ram Rajagopal, Stanford Sustainable Systems Lab; Tor Larson, Calstart; and Darlene Chiu Bryant, Global SF.

Boushey highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent announcement of nearly $90 million across California for clean school buses as part of the Investing in America Agenda.

“We were honored to host Heather Boushey to demonstrate how Zum’s proprietary technology is transforming the $50 billion student transportation industry, providing a revolutionary connected platform, increased safety, and a commitment to equity and sustainability,” Narayan said. “We commend the Administration for its historic investments in the electrification of transportation and supporting our vision of a better, healthier future for our children.”

“Since day one of this Administration, President Biden has committed to growing the economy from the middle-out and bottom-up. He passed historic legislation – the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS and Science Act – all of which make up his Investing in America agenda,” Boushey said. “And it is rebuilding our infrastructure, lowering costs, and creating opportunities for families, workers, and small businesses. The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition will boost our economy, create good-paying jobs, and improve air quality for children and their families.” 

In January, the EPA announced that Zum would receive over $26.5 million through the EPA’s first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition. The grant will help Zum’s school district partners electrify their school bus fleets. Additionally, Zum recently announced a $140 million funding round that will be used to accelerate the expansion of Zum’s AI-driven technology platform, a key tool in the company’s effort to fully decarbonize the school bus industry and provide schools with advanced technology to deploy more sustainable mobility options.

Thousands of schools across the country have partnered with Zum for school transportation, including Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest district in the country; San Francisco Unified School District; Seattle Public Schools; Howard County Public Schools; Oakland Unified School District; and Metro Nashville Public Schools.

In San Francisco, students, schools and families are experiencing the benefits of Zum:

98% of Zum’s buses arrive on time.Bus occupancy and ridership is at an all time high, an average 80%.The amount of time students spend on the bus has been reduced by 25%. This ensures students get more rest in the morning and participate in important after school activities.The school district has saved $3 million per school year – $15 million over the course of a five-year contract. These are resources that can go back into the classroom and after school activities and academic programs.The bus fleet size has been reduced by 20%. This drives down the environmental impact by having fewer diesel buses on the road.Above all, with the recent EPA Clean School Bus Program and State of California grants, Zum is able to expand its electric fleet and infrastructure in San Francisco and Oakland Unified. With over 280 electric chargers installed, and up to 120 electric school buses arriving in the coming school year, Zum is pacing towards its goal of transitioning San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified School Districts to fully electric fleets by the end of the 2026-2027 school year.

“Clean school buses are a win for our students, our community health, and for our planet. In Oakland, we are all in for the green economy, with equity leading the way to better jobs, cleaner air, and climate progress,” Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, “Federal bipartisan infrastructure funding has helped us leverage State and regional funding to build green energy, improve public transportation and maritime and shipping operations, and add jobs. Oakland values its partnership with the Biden Harris administration to keep enhancing our clean and green community.”

“The work Zum has been doing in our community has been invaluable to the health and well-being of Oakland,” said Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell. “We have partnered with Zum since the beginning because we saw the potential. The quiet, green buses get our students to school ready to learn, and they are improving the air quality of our city dramatically. That is good news for our students, families, staff, and all city residents. Oakland has long dealt with poor air quality because of the proximity to freeways and other sources of pollution. OUSD is thrilled that we can do our part to cut down on dirty air by using Zum buses to transport our students. We look forward to working with state and federal leaders to increase the use of this kind of transportation here and across the country.”

Founded and led by a first-generation immigrant and mother, Ritu Narayan, Zum is reimagining the yellow school bus system.

On top of transitioning to EV fleets, Zum has pioneered vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology that will send stored energy from EV school buses back to the city’s electrical grid. V2G at scale will lower peak energy demands, eliminate the need for costly and pollutive peaker plants and reduce the health risks associated with diesel buses. 

To learn more about how Zum is working with thousands of schools across the nation to deliver safe, reliable, zero-emission, and modern student transportation, please visit Zum’s website.

About Zum:
Zum has reimagined student transportation, the nation’s largest mass transit system, and developed sustainable ways to charge the grid. Zum’s robust operations and integrated end-to-end cloud-based platform provides a modern student transportation service for school districts purpose-built around the needs of kids and the expectations of modern families. Zum provides one seamless, real-time interface for parents, drivers, schools, districts, administrators, and operators to transport children safely and with increased visibility and personalized care. Always investing in the wellbeing of communities, Zum is also the only carbon neutral student transportation provider in the nation with plans to go Net Zero with its transition to EV electric buses. Zum is available nationwide, serving more than 4,000 schools across the U.S. Learn more at www.ridezum.com.

CONTACT:
Jenny Mayfield, Vice President of Communications – press@ridezum.com

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IronNet Inc. and Asterion Partner to Strengthen Cybersecurity and Counter-UAS Defense Solutions

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WASHINGTON and MANAMA, Bahrain, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — IronNet, the AI-based collective defense cybersecurity company, and Asterion, a leader in counter-UAS technology, announced today at the Bahrain International Airshow a partnership on the protection of critical infrastructure through the integration of AI-based cybersecurity and counter-UAS solutions.

This collaboration addresses the growing need for comprehensive and integrated defense strategies, representing a significant milestone in the evolution of air and space security. To enhance defense capabilities against unauthorized and hostile drones, the partnership integrates IronNet’s IronDome solution with Asterion’s advanced counter-UAS technology, delivering a layered defense framework that strengthens the protection of critical infrastructure, urban environments, and national borders.

The partnership integrates IronNet’s “IronDome” real-time cyber threat detection and coordinated response with Asterion’s drone detection and tracking systems, protecting airspace and critical assets from potential threats.

The methodology employs artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced sensor networks to analyze patterns and anomalies across a broad range of data sources. The result is a more robust and proactive defense system capable of identifying and mitigating threats before they can cause significant damage.

“Our partnership with Asterion represents a paradigm shift in how we approach critical infrastructure protection,” said Linda Zecher, CEO of IronNet. “By embracing the convergence of cyber and aerial threat detection and defense, governments and organizations can ensure a more comprehensive and effective approach to safeguarding critical infrastructure and national interests.”

“Together we’re creating a solution that addresses the multi-dimensional threats facing our clients today, including those originating from both ground, air and space-based sources,” said Andreas Mustert, Asterion Founder and CTO

About IronNet 

Founded in 2014, IronNet combines cutting-edge cybersecurity technology with exceptional expertise to deliver advanced, real-time defense solutions for organizations across the private and public sectors worldwide. Leveraging a team of top-tier cybersecurity specialists from industry, government, and academia, IronNet is dedicated to protecting enterprises, critical infrastructure, and nations against highly organized and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. With its industry-leading products and innovative approach, IronNet empowers clients to stay ahead of evolving cyber adversaries.

About Asterion 

A team of sensor, wireless IP and aircraft design specialists, all with outstanding track-records in their fields, have gathered in Asterion to follow a vision of creating a system of a fully networked early risk detection and game changing, collateral damage avoiding, protection of both local high-risk assets as well as long range border crossing threats, through groundbreaking efficiency and EW protected wireless communications. Rather than considering current risks, contemplating any conceivable future countermeasures is an important part of Asterion’s mission.

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Laconic and the Plurinational State of Bolivia announce landmark 5 Billion USD Sovereign Carbon Transaction

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CHICAGO and LA PAZ, Bolivia, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Laconic Infrastructure Partners Inc. (Laconic), announced today that it has been mandated by the Plurinational State of Bolivia to utilize its SADAR™ Natural Capital Monetization (NCM) platform to provide technology transfer in support of Bolivia’s capacity building initiatives as it seeks to finance the enhanced ambition set forth in its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

By using Laconic’s first-of-its-kind carbon securitization platform, multiple large-scale environmental data streams will be aggregated to monetize up to 5BN USD of Bolivia’s present & future carbon stocks in the world’s first Article 6 compliant benchmark Sovereign Carbon sale.

“The Plurinational State of Bolivia is committed to completely ending deforestation within our territorial borders by 2030”, said Marcelo Montenegro Gomez Garcia, Minister of Economy & Public Finance. “By working with Laconic, we have been able, for the first time, to generate sufficient development financing to enable our country to make this commitment a reality and enhancing our ambition under the Paris Agreement. This benefits not only our own citizens, but all of mankind, as we collectively strive to meet NetZero 2050.”

By creating its unique Sovereign Carbon product, Laconic has revolutionized financial intermediation in the global carbon market by allowing carbon to be traded as a true financial asset for the first time. This capability allows governments to efficiently monetize their natural capital assets by issuing bona fide securities to institutional buyers at scale globally.

The Sovereign Carbon market is the only mechanism capable of generating the 1 Trillion USD of carbon trading required annually for mankind to achieve its collective NetZero pledge.

Laconic’s unique technology platform, SADAR™, works continuously to manage the data streams which the Sovereign Carbon product requires – ensuring compliance with the not only the Paris Agreement itself, but all applicable local and regional regulatory authorities governing the carbon market. Governments rely on Laconic to ensure seamless compliance with their treaty commitments, allowing them to focus on further enhancing their NDC ambitions and accelerating the pace of global decarbonization.

“Laconic is honored to be working with the Plurinational State of Bolivia to champion the innovative Sovereign Carbon market”, said Andrew Gilmour, CEO of Laconic. “This transaction demonstrates the power of technology to drive change in emerging markets finance, as, for the first time, we are able to collectively harness market forces to generate more economic growth from the preservation of natural capital assets than from the exploitation of them. Put simply – our technology has made it possible to make more money preserving your forests than you can by cutting them down.”

About Laconic
Laconic delivers accurate environmental intelligence, data management tools, and geospatially-fused insights that enable governments, corporations, and financial institutions to engage fairly in data interchange activities that facilitate open and compliant capital markets activity in carbon-linked instruments.

Founded in 2021, the company is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Toronto, London, and Singapore.

For more information, please visit www.laconicglobal.com.

Laconic and SADAR (Sentient All-Domain Augmented Response), LUEI, and LUCID are trademarks or registered trademarks of Laconic Infrastructure Partners Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Media contacts:
Laconic
Brant Pinvidic
brant.pinvidic@laconicglobal.com

Elke Heiss
Elke.heiss@laconicglobal.com

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Kyndryl Unveils Dedicated AI Private Cloud in Japan to Accelerate Customer Deployment of AI Services

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Kyndryl AI private cloud supports customer testing and adoption using the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA

Private AI cloud is also available to Japanese academic institutions for AI research and innovation

TOKYO, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, today launched a dedicated AI private cloud designed to enable AI innovation in Japan. Supported by a collaboration with Dell Technologies using the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, Kyndryl is establishing a controlled, security-rich and sovereign cloud where organizations can develop, test and implement AI services that expand their ability to compete and accelerate business performance.

Kyndryl’s new AI private cloud in Japan will help financial institutions, insurance providers, manufacturers, retail companies, and academics to confidently design and prepare to deploy innovative AI-powered solutions.

Under the collaboration, Kyndryl is establishing a Kyndryl Vital AI Lab capability that will leverage the AI-powered open integration digital business platform, Kyndryl Bridge, to support end-to-end AI applications and solution development on the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform. Kyndryl experts will assist with envisioning and co-creating solutions that harness the benefits of generative AI and large language models to drive innovation and achieve business objectives. Kyndryl also will apply the domain and industry expertise of Kyndryl Consult to advance customers’ ability to create, verify and deliver AI at scale.

“Organizations want to explore and understand how AI and generative AI can enhance and accelerate their business and technology transformation initiatives. They need a reliable and scalable environment with advanced security capabilities where they can develop, test and refine new solutions,” said Jonathan Ingram, President, Kyndryl Japan. “Our new AI private cloud with the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA will provide a stable and trusted space where customers and Japanese academic institutions can confidently and privately design new applications and solutions, with support for their security, sovereignty, and data residency requirements.”

Customers using the AI private cloud environment also can access Kyndryl’s decades of experience supporting and managing mission critical applications and systems. The collaboration also will leverage Kyndryl’s ongoing work with NVIDIA that is focused on driving the development, implementation and use of solutions that deliver AI-powered insights and business outcomes.

“The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA integrates Dell’s leading AI portfolio with the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform, providing Kyndryl customers the option to procure an end-to-end, pre-validated, full stack infrastructure,” said Kyle Dufresne, SVP, AI solutions sales, Dell Technologies. “With this collaboration, Kyndryl customers can get started on a wide range of AI and generative AI use cases that require security and performance, including retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), model training, and inferencing.”

“Enterprises need next-gen expertise and skills to drive innovation within their businesses and tackle today’s AI challenges,” said Bob Pette, Vice President of Enterprise Platforms, NVIDIA. “The combination of Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA and Kyndryl’s infrastructure services experience will provide the technical foundation and know-how that organizations require to develop and deploy AI at scale.”

Kyndryl will support a variety of customer use cases via its AI private cloud and plans to explore ways the environment can be optimized to enable efficient workload orchestration and workload placement, along with examining how it can enable fractional GPU capabilities to support more granular control over computing resources. 

To accelerate customer adoption and implementation of generative AI solutions Kyndryl also plans to leverage NVIDIA NeMo, NVIDIA NeMo Retriever and NVIDIA NIM microservices, all part of the NVIDIA AI Enterprise platform for the development and deployment of production-grade generative AI applications. This will advance customers’ ability to transform the build, operation and scale-out of an AI factory, leveraging AI integrations across the NVIDIA stack for smooth performance of the AI private cloud.

Through Kyndryl’s new dedicated private AI cloud service, customers can tap into a wealth of expertise crucial to their adoption of AI at scale, with support for their data security, sovereignty, and residency requirements.

Learn more about Kyndryl’s collaborations with Dell and NVIDIA.

About Kyndryl
Kyndryl (NYSE: KD) is the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, serving thousands of enterprise customers in more than 60 countries. The company designs, builds, manages and modernizes the complex, mission-critical information systems that the world depends on every day. For more information, visit www.kyndryl.com.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements often contain words such as “will,” “anticipate,” “predict,” “project,” “plan,” “forecast,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “target,” “may,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “outlook” and other similar words or expressions or the negative thereof or other variations thereon. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, including without limitation statements representing management’s beliefs about future events, transactions, strategies, operations and financial results, may be forward-looking statements. These statements do not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date of this press release and the Company does not undertake to update its forward-looking statements. Actual outcomes or results may differ materially from those suggested by forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties including those described in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kyndryl Press Contact
press@kyndryl.com 

 

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