Technology

The Context Network Joins Kearney to Deepen Support for Clients Across Agriculture and Food Value Chains

Published

3 months ago

October 17, 2024

Deal enables broader depth of transformational support for Kearney and The Context Network clients.

CHICAGO, Oct. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Kearney, a leading global management consulting partnership, today announced its acquisition of The Context Network (Context), a consultancy with deep expertise in agribusiness and more than 30 years of serving clients in the sector. The acquisition increases Kearney’s presence in agriculture and food, two priority areas for the firm, while contributing to the ongoing growth of Context’s business and furthering rewarding career paths for the Context team.

Context’s team of professionals provide strategic advice to clients across the entire food and ag value chain, including crop input manufacturers, equipment manufacturers, and agricultural retailers. Alongside Kearney’s history, presence, and expertise in agriculture and food, Context will bolster the Kearney team to serve our clients with an even greater depth of knowledge. Kearney has prioritized investments across the food system as a key area for the firm’s growth.

“Acquiring The Context Network is a significant step to expand and deepen our client impact across the agriculture and food value chain,” said Carol Cruickshank, Kearney’s Americas region chair. “Kearney keeps a continuous focus on building the capabilities and solutions needed to adapt and support our clients in an ever-changing world.”

For Context, being acquired by Kearney is an opportunity to bring Context’s expertise to more clients and broaden their offerings to help more companies with end-to-end transformation. “The breadth and depth of Context’s network and expertise, combined with Kearney’s, will enable us to do even more toward our mission of advancing agriculture—of delivering meaningful, actionable solutions to our clients’ most pressing challenges,” said James Mann, partner and chair of the board of managers at Context. “That’s the goal that has always driven us, and we’re excited by what being part of Kearney means both for our people and for our clients.”

Kearney partner Rob Dongoski shared that the Context team works similarly to Kearney in their entrepreneurial spirit, focus on innovation, and willingness to roll up their sleeves and get to work. “The Context team has an unmatched understanding of large-scale production of staple crops and the complexity of the agriculture and food value chain,” Dongoski said. “This transaction will combine complementary capabilities to provide a stronger offering for our clients across the agriculture and food spectrum, solving a known gap in the industry.”

The Context acquisition represents a continuation of Kearney’s strategy of using inorganic moves to accelerate its top-line growth and better serve clients. In the past five years, Kearney has also acquired Cervello, a data and analytics provider; Prokura, a procurement and supply chain consultancy; OPTANO, which provides AI-powered operations optimization solutions; TEAMS, an industrial design firm; MSE – Management Solutions Experts, a Middle East consulting firm; and Silicon Foundry, an innovation advisory firm.

The Context Network will be known as “The Context Network, a Kearney Company,” while still offering the same level of service they’ve always delivered to their clients.

About Kearney

Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm. For nearly 100 years, we have been a trusted advisor to C-suites, government bodies, and nonprofit organizations. Our people make us who we are. Driven to be the difference between a big idea and making it happen, we work alongside our clients to regenerate their businesses to create a future that works for everyone. To learn more about Kearney, please visit www.kearney.com.

About The Context Network

The Context Network® is a global agribusiness consulting firm which helps organizations achieve remarkable results through strategic management insights and a network of agriculture, biotechnology, and food industry professionals, creating business solutions that deliver actionable outcomes. With a rich history of advancing agriculture across the entire food and ag value chain, our passion for agriculture is what drives us and is one of the main reasons we have become the premier global agribusiness consulting firm in advancing agriculture. To learn more, please visit us at www.contextnet.com.

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SOURCE Kearney

Technology

HevenDrones Partners with SMARTSHOOTER for Drone Defense

Published

11 minutes ago

January 15, 2025

New partnership addresses mission-critical demand for counter-drone technology amid escalating global conflicts

MIAMI, Jan. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — HevenDrones (Heven), the market leader in hydrogen-powered drones, announced today a partnership with SMARTSHOOTER, a global innovator in fire control systems that significantly increase hit probability against static and moving ground and aerial targets.

The collaboration integrates SMARTSHOOTER’s SMASH Dragon platform with Heven’s H100 and Urban drone platforms, enabling precision targeting and engagement of both ground and aerial threats.

“As drone conflicts escalate, we know that counter-drone technology will prove critical to the evolving needs of the armed forces,” said Bentzion Levinson, CEO of Heven. “By integrating our drones with SMARTSHOOTER’s fire control systems, we aim to address customer demand for the future needs of remotely-controlled warfare.”

SMASH Dragon is an advanced robotic weapon payload that can be mounted on various drones and unmanned aerial platforms. Leveraging SMARTSHOOTER’s SMASH proprietary fire control and target acquisition algorithms, along with ballistic-calculated shot release, the system directs the weapon and accurately times the shot to achieve a precise hit. The system is uniquely designed to lock, track, and engage unknown targets in unpredictable environments, whether static or dynamic, day or night, unaffected by target movements or human errors such as fatigue and stress.

Staying at the forefront of military technology innovation, SMASH’s proven track record includes recent successful deployments and significant contracts to supply the SMASH 3000 system to NATO Countries for counter-drone operations and equipping the British Army with SMASH systems for counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) capabilities.

About HevenDrones

HevenDrones was founded in 2019 with a clear vision: To unlock the immense potential of the drone economy. Heven’s hydrogen-powered, runway-independent drones are designed with endurance and adaptability in mind. Built for the most complex missions, Heven’s drones operate anywhere—efficiently, quietly, and reliably— providing the warfighter with the technology to get the job done.

About SMARTSHOOTER

Founded in 2011, SMARTSHOOTER is an Israeli-based company that has developed world-leading fire control systems to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of small arms. Their SMASH product line, which includes the SMASH Dragon, utilizes artificial intelligence, computer vision, and advanced algorithms to enable precise targeting of both ground and aerial threats, including drones. Headquartered in Yagur, Israel, SMARTSHOOTER also operates subsidiaries in the U.S. (Maryland), Europe (Germany), and Australia, serving a diverse array of global clients such as the Israel Defense Forces, U.S. Army, British Army, and other NATO member forces.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hevendrones-partners-with-smartshooter-for-drone-defense-302352140.html

SOURCE Heven Drones

Technology

HevenDrones Partners with SMARTSHOOTER for Drone Defense

Published

11 minutes ago

January 15, 2025

New partnership addresses mission-critical demand for counter-drone technology amid escalating global conflicts

The collaboration integrates SMARTSHOOTER’s SMASH Dragon platform with Heven’s H100 and Urban drone platforms, enabling precision targeting and engagement of both ground and aerial threats.

About HevenDrones

About SMARTSHOOTER

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hevendrones-partners-with-smartshooter-for-drone-defense-302352140.html

SOURCE Heven Drones

Technology

Extinguishing Wildfires with Light at Meta Photonix

Published

11 minutes ago

January 15, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — MetaPhotonix Inc. (MPI), a Silicon Valley startup, is developing a revolutionary method to extinguish large-scale wildfires using nothing but light – eliminating water! The innovative technology also aims to significantly reduce the need for aircraft, and firefighters, enabling fires to be extinguished by AI remotely at the speed of light.

In 2024, MPI achieved a small yet groundbreaking milestone, by remotely extinguishing a tiny flame, equivalent to the size of a candle, using only light. While small in scale compared to actual wildfires, this experiment serves as a vital proof-of-concept, paving the way for a future where wildfires can be managed quickly and cost-effectively.

“It’s like the first transistor—early stage, but with transformative potential,” said CEO, Dr. Leo DiDomenico, a former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist.

MPI’s technology, known as photopyrokinesis, leverages “structured light” from lasers and millimeter-wave sources. These initially low-intensity beams traverse the atmosphere where they would get focused to high-intensity at the disaster area to suppress wildfires without water, chemicals, or close-range human intervention.

This innovation could save the U.S. up to $1 trillion annually in wildfire-related costs, an amount rivaling the nation’s military budget, while addressing up to 20% of global CO₂ emissions.

Using precise light beams, MPI’s technology can potentially even target fires near buildings, offering a critical tool for protecting lives and property. Therefore, this approach is a potential game-changer for the insurance industry, allowing them to keep insuring homes, by reducing claims from wildfires. Each community might someday have its own quick-acting AI fire sentry protecting lives and homes – making fire insurance viable again.

Photopyrokinesis works by directing beams of structured light to fire zones to manipulate the electronic structure of the atmosphere and create localized shockwaves that deny oxygen to the fire. This process provides millions of tiny, controlled explosions each second, extinguishing flames rapidly and efficiently. It is like using dynamite to put out an oil well fire, but much more controlled and targeted.

The structured light’s unique properties allow it to even propagate on curved trajectories, like water from a hose, enabling precise targeting of the fire even in extreme wind conditions like Santa Ana winds.

Founded in 2022 by Dr. DiDomenico, MetaPhotonix Inc. is advancing in the XPRIZE Wildfire competition, but needs visionary investors to help scale this technology and protect lives, ecosystems, and economies from the devastating effects of wildfires.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/extinguishing-wildfires-with-light-at-meta-photonix-302351269.html

SOURCE MetaPhotonix Inc