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Active and public transportation infrastructure upgrades underway for communities throughout Alberta

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RED DEER, AB, June 26, 2024 /CNW/ – Local infrastructure upgrades are coming to over 50 communities across Alberta through 48 active and rural public transportation projects after a combined investment of more than $60 million from the federal government and recipients.

This was announced by Minister Randy Boissonnault and the Mayor of Red Deer, Ken Johnston.

The City of Red Deer will rehabilitate the Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge, a significant historical landmark which is used as a main active transportation corridor. It is the only dedicated river crossing near the greater downtown and Riverside Meadows. This crossing also benefits more vulnerable communities by providing direct access to social supports located on either side of the bridge.

The Bow Valley region of Banff, Canmore, and Lake Louise will benefit from three new accessible electric transit buses and a charging station, which will improve traffic flow for commuters and visitors to this busy area in the National park. Similarly, in areas such as Cochrane, Rocky View County, and Medicine Hat, the upgrades or enhancements of transit vehicles will benefit the surrounding communities.

Other rural and Indigenous communities receiving funding will benefit from improvements to existing pathway systems and crosswalk infrastructure. Funding will also support better public transit services with new energy-efficient and accessible vehicles, upgraded equipment and improvements to bus stops, and rural transit planning studies and routes.

The details of each project can be found in the accompanying backgrounder.

Quotes

“As communities in Alberta continue to grow, it is vital to have active and rural public transportation infrastructure that meets their evolving needs. Our government’s investment will encourage Albertans to be active and healthy and contribute to a cleaner environment, creating more resilient and stronger communities for everyone.”

The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“This investment from the federal government means more than just upgrading infrastructure; it signifies a commitment to the well-being and safety of our community. Rehabilitating the Canadian Pacific Railway bridge not only preserves a significant historical landmark but also enhances connectivity, revitalizes our downtown, and ensures access to essential services for all residents, including those most vulnerable. Together, we are building a stronger, more inclusive Red Deer.”

His Worship Ken Johnston, Mayor of the City of Red Deer

“Thanks to the support of the Rural Transit Solutions fund, we are thrilled to be able to further expand our zero-emission fleet through the purchase of additional electric buses. Operating Roam Transit services within and around Banff National Park, environmental stewardship is paramount to us and our partner communities. Embracing advanced technologies to reduce emissions underscores our commitment to sustainable transit. Adding additional electric buses marks a pivotal moment in our transition, enhancing our journey to lowering emissions, and moving us towards a greener future”.

Martin Bean, CEO, Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission

Quick Facts

The federal government is investing a total of $36,301,698 through the Active Transportation Fund (ATF), the Rural Transit Solutions Fund (RTSF) and the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream (PTIS) of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP). The ATF is providing $18,438,784 of this investment for 31 projects, $15,193,328 of this investment is through RTSF in support of 15 projects, and $2,669,586 is through PTIS for two projects. Municipalities and associated funding partners are contributing a total of $24,892,275 to their respective projects.Since 2015, the federal government has committed over $30 billion for public transit and active transportation projects. These historic investments have resulted in close to 2000 projects across the country.Federal funding is conditional on fulfilling all requirements related to consultation with Indigenous groups and environmental assessment obligations.

Active Transportation Fund:

Active transportation refers to the movement of people or goods powered by human activity. It includes walking, cycling and the use of human-powered or hybrid mobility aids such as wheelchairs, scooters, e-bikes, rollerblades, snowshoes, cross-country skis, and more.In support of Canada’s National Active Transportation Strategy, the Active Transportation Fund is providing $400 million over five years, starting in 2021, to make travel by active transportation easier, safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable.The National Active Transportation Strategy is the country’s first coast-to-coast-to-coast strategic approach for promoting active transportation and its benefits. The strategy’s aim is to make data-driven and evidence-based investments to build new and expanded active transportation networks, while supporting equitable, healthy, active, and sustainable travel options.

Rural Transit Solutions Fund:

The RTSF helps Canadians living in rural and remote areas get around their communities more easily. It supports the development of rural transit solutions, including new transit service models that could be replicated or scaled up.A minimum of 10% of RTSF’s funding envelope is allocated to projects that benefit Indigenous populations and communities.RTSF’s Planning and Design Projects continuous intake remains open. Through this stream, eligible applicants can receive a grant up to $50,000 in support of a communities’ projects to plan and design a new or expanded transit solution for their communities. Some examples of eligible planning and design projects are assessment of routes and modes of travel, feasibility studies, public and stakeholder engagement and surveys.The RTSF complements Canada’s strengthened climate plan: A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy. Through the plan the federal government has committed to providing federal funding for public transit in support of making clean and affordable transportation available in every community.

Public Transit Infrastructure Stream (Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program)

This stream supports the building, expansion, and upgrading of urban and rural transit networks.Including today’s announcement, eighteen infrastructure projects under the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream have been announced in Alberta, with a total federal contribution of more than $1.97 billion and a total provincial contribution of more than $2.03 billion.In 2021, the government announced significant public transit funding that includes billions in support for zero emission buses, rural transit solution, active transportation, and support for major projects to accelerate the expansion of large urban transit systems that many Canadians depend on every day.Averaging $3 billion a year, this predictable and flexible public transit funding will respond to local needs by enhancing integrated planning, improving access to public transit and active transportation, and by supporting the development of more affordable, sustainable, and inclusive communities.On December 18, 2023, the federal government launched the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which highlights the need for a collaborative, region-specific approach to sustainability, focusing on strengthening the coordination of federal programs, and initiatives with significant investments. This Framework is a first step in a journey that will bring together multiple stakeholders. PrairiesCan, the federal department that diversifies the economy across the Canadian prairies, has dedicated $100 million over three years to support projects aligned with priority areas identified by Prairie stakeholders to build a stronger, more sustainable, and inclusive economy for the Prairie provinces and Canada.Infrastructure Canada is supporting the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy to encourage greater collaboration on investment opportunities, leverage additional funding, and attract new investments across the Prairies that better meet their needs. 

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Backgrounder: Active and public transportation infrastructure upgrades are underway for communities throughout Alberta

Associated Links

Active Transportation Fund
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/trans/index-eng.html 

National Active Transportation Strategy
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/trans/active-strat-actif-eng.html

Rural Transit Solutions Fund
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/rural-trans-rural/index-eng.html 

Investing in Canada: Canada’s Long-Term Infrastructure Plan
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

Public Transit Infrastructure Stream
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/pti-itc-eng.html

Strengthened Climate Plan
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview.html 

Federal infrastructure investments in Alberta
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/prog-proj-ab-eng.html

Building a Green Prairie Economy Act
https://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/B-9.88/page-1.html

Building a Green Prairie Economy
https://www.canada.ca/en/prairies-economic-development/programs/green-prairie-economy.html 

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A-LIGN Issues First ISO 42001 Certification to Synthesia

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TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — A-LIGN, the leading provider in cybersecurity compliance, has issued its first unaccredited ISO/IEC 42001 certification to Synthesia, marking a groundbreaking achievement in artificial intelligence (AI) compliance.

The issuance of Synthesia’s ISO 42001 certificate highlights A-LIGN’s unwavering commitment to excellence and its role in empowering clients to achieve and maintain the highest levels of compliance in the ever-evolving AI landscape.

“AI is revolutionizing our world, driving change in both business operations and regulatory frameworks,” said Patrick Sullivan, VP of Strategy & Innovation at A-LIGN. “At A-LIGN, we are dedicated to innovation through services like ISO 42001, ensuring our clients receive the trusted quality they expect as the AI landscape evolves. This commitment enables industry leaders like Synthesia to leverage compliance as a strategic advantage.”

London-based Synthesia is the first AI video company to achieve ISO 42001 compliance. This certification sets a new benchmark in the industry, showcasing Synthesia and A-LIGN’s joint dedication to compliance innovation and high-quality security.

“Synthesia is committed to the responsible, transparent, and secure development of AI technologies, and achieving ISO 42001 certification through A-LIGN’s audit process demonstrates our dedication to these principles,” said Martin Tschammer, Head of Security at Synthesia. “A-LIGN’s expertise and attention to detail helped us identify and remediate any gaps in our rigorous processes. Together, we have led the way for the rest of the industry in the adoption of this standard, fostering trust and ensuring the long-term success of AI development and use.”

For more information about A-LIGN and ISO 42001 certification services, visit https://www.a-lign.com.

About A-LIGN
A-LIGN is the leading provider of high-quality, efficient cybersecurity compliance programs. Combining experienced auditors and audit management technology, A-LIGN provides the widest breadth and depth of services including SOC 2, ISO 27001, HITRUST, FedRAMP, and PCI. A-LIGN is the number one issuer of SOC 2 and a leading HITRUST and FedRAMP assessor. To learn more, visit a-lign.com.

About Synthesia
Synthesia is the world’s leading enterprise AI video communications platform. More than 55,000 businesses, including half of the Fortune 100, use it to communicate efficiently and share knowledge at scale using AI avatars. Founded in 2017, Synthesia is headquartered in London and makes video creation, collaboration and sharing easy for everyone. Learn more at https://synthesia.io/.

Media Contact: Abigail Rodrigues, abigail.rodrigues@a-lign.com

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Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences Adds Carterra’s LSAXT Instrument to Speed Drug and Vaccine Research and Advance Patient Care

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The Center for Structural Biology in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences will be a hub of research innovation using Carterra’s platform in traditional and AI-driven workflows for characterizing both antibodies and other biomolecules

SALT LAKE CITY and NASHVILLE, Tenn. , Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Carterra® Inc., the world leader in innovative technologies enabling high-throughput biology, and the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences announced today the addition of the Carterra LSAXT label-free interaction analysis platform to the Center for Structural Biology (CSB). Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers will be able to discover and characterize large molecules including antibodies.

“Many of our researchers are trying to identify antibodies that bind to a protein involved in health or disease,” said Borden Lacy, director of the CSB and Edward and Nancy Fody Chair in Pathology and professor of biochemistry and pathology, microbiology and immunology. “The ability to rapidly screen and quantify binding for large libraries of antibodies will shape the way molecular discovery moves forward at Vanderbilt. The work we spend months on will now be completed in a matter of days. It is incredibly exciting.” 

Carterra’s LSA platform was used by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly during the COVID-19 pandemic to find antibodies effective against SARS-CoV-2. Within 90 days of isolating antibodies from an early COVID-19 survivor, Lilly was in clinical trials with the world’s first COVID-19 therapeutic, the antibody Bamlanivimab.

BAM, as it became known, is the fastest drug ever discovered and saved countless lives.  The publication in Science describing the feat concluded, “The resulting speed at which this drug discovery and development effort progressed…is a testament to the advanced discovery and characterization platforms.”

Vanderbilt investigators will now be able to leverage the Carterra platform for a variety of research aims. 

Two projects that are getting early traction include:

Stephanie Wankwicz, assistant professor of molecular physiology and biophysics and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Applied AI in Protein Dynamics, is elucidating the role of entropy in substrate specificity and catalysis.  Wankowicz is planning to use Carterra’s platform to more quickly and efficiently analyze a large panel of peptide sequence variants against a kinase. Older methods are very low throughput and would require high concentrations of the protein/peptide solution.

Brian Wadzinski, associate professor of pharmacology, recently submitted a grant application to characterize pan- and phosphor-specific nanobodies for investigating MAPK and PP2A signalling. Affinity measurements for these large panels of nanobodies and high-resolution epitope binning can only be performed on Carterra’s platform.

The LSAXT instrument includes hardware and software features that build upon the capabilities of Carterra’s original and highly successful LSA instrument while maintaining its impressive throughput and sample efficiency. The LSA platform delivers 100 times the data in 10 percent of the time-to-answer and uses only 1 percent of the sample required by other label-free platforms.

Just last year, Vanderbilt launched the Center for Applied AI in Protein Dynamics which will also benefit from the addition of Carterra’s platform.  The LSA® is the only label-free biosensor that can generate enough data, quickly and efficiently, to train algorithms and learning models used to predict the affinity and epitope coverage of drug candidates. Pharmaceutical and biotech companies who have now moved to AI-driven drug discovery workflows have standardized on the LSA.

Vanderbilt has always led its peers in research innovation,” commented Tim Germann, Chief Commercial Officer at Carterra. “To enable the use of AI in antibody discovery and characterization by adding the LSAXT to its stable of technologies cements Vanderbilt’s position as the academic leader in this rapidly evolving research landscape.”

Since its launch in 2018, Carterra’s interaction analysis platform has penetrated 19 of the largest 20 pharmaceutical companies, major universities and vaccine makers, contract research organizations (CROs), and biotechs on four continents. Characterizing binding kinetics and epitope coverage of large numbers of antibodies in early research has been transformative. The LSA platform has been profiled in multiple Science, Nature, and Cell peer-reviewed papers.

Media Contact:
Cheri Salazar, Sr. Marketing Manager
Carterra, Inc.
(408) 594-9400
Csalazar@carterra-bio.com 

About Carterra, Inc.
Carterra® is privately held and is the leading provider of high-throughput technologies designed to accelerate and improve the discovery of novel therapeutic candidates. Carterra’s LSA® instrument, software, and consumables for biotherapeutic discovery and characterization deliver up to 100 times the throughput of existing platforms in 10% of the time while using only 1% of the sample required by other systems. The LSA combines patented microfluidics technology with real-time high-throughput Surface Plasmon Resonance (HT-SPR) and industry-leading data analysis and visualization software to revolutionize mAb screening. The new LSAXT provides enhanced optics to enable additional applications in biotherapeutic discovery and characterization. Carterra, Inc. is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has Customer Experience Centers in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Boston, Manchester, England, and Munich, Germany. Carterra products are available in Asia-Pacific and Oceania through our exclusive distributor, Revvity. For additional information, please visit www.carterra-bio.com.

About the Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology
The Vanderbilt Center for Structural Biology promotes the broad use of structural biology approaches in all life science research and provides resources for education and training in state-of-the-art technologies. Uniquely, the CSB merges applications of high resolution structural biology disciplines, X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, cryo-electron microscopy and computational biology, with the biophysical instrumentation needed to characterize biomolecular interactions. This strategy allows researchers to solve fundamental structural problems in medicine and biology. The CSB facilitates collaborations with investigators across a range of Departments in both the College of Arts and Science, the School of Medicine Basic Sciences, and the School of Medicine in Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The CSB is directed by Borden Lacy, Edward and Nancy Fody Chair in Pathology and professor of biochemistry and pathology, microbiology and immunology.

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BMC Helping Customers Improve Lives and Customer Experiences in Healthcare, Financial Services and Energy Sectors

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NHS Northumbria patients, Nationwide Building Society members, and EDP customers benefit from the time- and cost-savings BMC delivers using data-driven insights and automation

HOUSTON, Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — BMC, a global leader in software solutions enabling business faster than humanly possible, has collaborated with European leaders in the healthcare, finance, and energy industries to optimize their IT and operational technology (OT) investments and realize the benefits of DataOps and ServiceOps for millions of their patients and customers.

NHS Northumbria, Nationwide Building Society, and Energias de Portugal (EDP) use the Control-M solution from BMC and the BMC Helix platform to gain data-driven insights instantly across complex hybrid IT environments, saving costs while drastically improving the speed and reliability at which they deliver value.

NHS Northumbria accelerates patient care with BMC Helix

Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust is among the largest healthcare organizations geographically in the U.K., with around 12,000 employees serving around 500,000 people in northeast England. Delivering a full range of health services across 10 main sites, including an emergency care hospital, general and community hospitals, and other facilities, the Trust seeks to improve patient outcomes and relieve pressure on its people and processes.

Using BMC Helix to digitize its end-user experience, NHS Northumbria has achieved:

90% paperless SLA improvement400% increase in Digital Workplace platform adoptionSignificant ROI within the first three yearsImproved patient processing times, real-time decisions, and secure authorizations from any device

“To achieve big things, you must develop the ability to get small things right, too. In our team, we ensure that excellence in everything is not an exception. It’s more of an attitude, and BMC shares those values,” said Glen Foster, Deputy Director for Service Delivery, Performance and Governance, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. “We’ve already improved care levels—now we aim to build out trust rating beyond outstanding and see what digital transformation can deliver.”

Nationwide Building Society meets high financial standards with BMC Helix Capacity Optimization

Based in the U.K., Nationwide is the world’s largest building society, with 16 million members. Nationwide decided to upgrade from its custom on-premises system to a cloud solution that could handle the organization’s complex IT estate, and selected the BMC Helix Capacity Optimization solution, which delivers robust forecasting, modeling, and extrapolation functionalities that made it stand out.

With the BMC Helix Capacity Optimization solution, Nationwide has:

Met regulatory requirements 6 months ahead of scheduleEnabled three months advanced notice for potential capacity issuesReduced requests forwarded to ITOps by 94%

“If we want to stand by the decisions we’re making, we’ve got to trust the data. Now, the data is in BMC Helix Capacity Optimization, so the system can consolidate and highlight what’s pertinent. Getting to this point was critical,” said Peter Norris, Process Owner for IT Service Demand and Capacity Management at Nationwide.

EDP powers the energy market with Control-M

As a global company, EDP relies on a wide range of business services to drive innovation and provide support to customers worldwide, including energy production, distribution, and management. To simplify, automate, and standardize the production of millions of invoices per day and ensure that accurate invoices were created, printed, and shipped on time, every time, EDP chose Control-M, the market-leading application and data workflow orchestration platform from BMC.

With this solution, EDP has:

Serviced nine million customersExperienced a 46% reduction in application workflow execution incidentsReduced requests forwarded to ITOps by 36%

“Control-M runs hundreds of applications and covers nearly all of our business in EDP. If anyone from the Application Teams or Process Architecture Teams comes to us with an integration request or other challenge, Control-M can always offer a solution,” said Carlos Miguel Pereira, Head of Scheduling Platform and Operations Management at EDP.

Additional resources

Learn more about BMC customers here

About BMC

BMC empowers 86% of the Forbes Global 50 to accelerate business value faster than humanly possible. Our industry-leading portfolio unlocks human and machine potential to drive business growth, innovation, and sustainable success. BMC does this in a simple and optimized way by connecting people, systems, and data that power the world’s largest organizations so they can seize a competitive advantage.

BMC, BMC Software, the BMC logo, and other BMC marks are the exclusive properties of BMC Software, Inc. and are registered or may be registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or in other countries. 

©Copyright 2024 BMC Software, Inc.
www.bmc.com

Editorial Contact
Madeline Bien
BMC
ExtComms@bmc.com

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