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New GSMA report shows mobile internet connectivity continues to grow globally

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LONDON, Oct. 23, 2024 /CNW/ — The benefits of mobile connectivity have yet to be fully realised as 43% of the global population – equivalent to 3.45 billion people – still do not use mobile internet, according to the latest GSMA ‘State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2024‘ report.

While the proportion of the global population using mobile internet on their own device continues to increase annually, the rate of user growth is slowing. 160 million people started using mobile internet last year, compared to 2015-2021 when more than 200 million new users were added each year.

Closing the gaps

The findings from the latest report – funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) via the GSMA Mobile for Development Foundation – include:

4.6 billion people (57% of the global population) now use mobile internet on their own device350 million people (4% of the global population) live in areas without mobile internet networks (the coverage gap)3.1 billion people (39% of the global population) live within mobile internet coverage but do not use it (the usage gap). The usage gap is nine times the size of the coverage gapIn Sub-Saharan Africa, only 27% of the population use mobile internet services, leaving a 13% coverage gap and 60% usage gap

Closing the usage gap would be worth an estimated $3.5 trillion to the global economy during 2023-2030, with 90% of this impact benefiting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

For the unconnected in LMICs, device affordability and digital skills and literacy are the main barriers to mobile internet adoption.

In these countries, entry-level internet-enabled devices cost 18% of average monthly income, with this rising to 51% for the world’s poorest 20%. In Sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for a quarter of the global unconnected population, this rises to 99% of average monthly income for the region’s poorest 20%.

John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer at the GSMA, said: “Despite continued progress in expanding the reach of network infrastructure and in increasing mobile internet adoption, significant digital divides remain.

“Collaboration among governments, international organisations and the mobile industry is essential to addressing barriers such as affordability, digital skills, and awareness of the mobile internet and its benefits. This effort must also focus on investing in local digital ecosystems and ensuring robust online safety frameworks.”

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SOURCE GSMA

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RateMyAgent Announces Strategic Acquisition of Curated Social, Bolstering Market Position and Expanding Offerings

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MELBOURNE, Australia, Oct. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Just six months after appointing a new CEO and rejuvenating its Board of Directors, RateMyAgent, a leading player in the real estate review and reputation management industry, is excited to announce that they have signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Curated Social, which is expected to close later this quarter. As a renowned provider of curated real estate and mortgage content, Curated Social enables agents to nurture their primary sphere of influence at scale to efficiently attract referrals and repeat clients

This acquisition marks a significant milestone for RateMyAgent as it expands beyond its review platform to offer a more dynamic and comprehensive suite of marketing tools in the US, Australian and New Zealand markets. Curated Social’s integration is expected to empower real estate professionals not only to stand out during the agent selection process, but build their reputation as a trusted expert across their database on an ongoing basis. Additionally, this expanded capability will allow RateMyAgent to provide a complete offering to brokerages looking to deliver automated sphere-based selling programs to their agents – a service now widely regarded as essential, with the majority of all real estate transactions attributed to word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business.

“By combining RateMyAgent’s robust reputation management capabilities with Curated Social’s extensive real estate content library, we are poised to offer an industry-leading solution that keeps agents top of mind and significantly boosts their ability to win listings,” says Jim Crisera, CEO of RateMyAgent. “This acquisition enables us to offer multi-dimensional support to real estate professionals, broadening our platform’s utility and significantly increasing our Total Addressable Market.”

“We are thrilled to join forces with RateMyAgent,” said Joe Duenat, CEO of Curated Social. “This partnership creates a powerful synergy, combining RateMyAgent’s verified review platform with Curated Social’s automated content solutions. Our united offering will provide agents with an unparalleled toolkit to enhance their digital reputation and stay top-of-mind with their sphere of influence.”

Travis Saxton, Associate Partner at T3 Sixty, a leading USA real estate management consulting firm, commented on the acquisition: “There is a strong opportunity for RateMyAgent bundled with Curated Social in the USA marketplace. The timing could not be better as brokerages and large real estate brands look to bundle in scalable marketing products for their agents. Reviews are becoming increasingly critical for buyers and sellers in the market, and this combined solution is well-positioned to meet those needs effectively.” 

David Williams, Chairman of RMA Global Limited, notes, “With this acquisition, RateMyAgent breaks free from the confines of being a reviews only platform, stepping into a broader realm of strategic marketing and client engagement.”

About RateMyAgent
RateMyAgent (ASX: RMY) helps homeowners select trusted real estate professionals. Operating in Australia, New Zealand and the United States, RateMyAgent continues to lead the global market in championing agents that are dedicated to exceptional client service. RatemyAgent is both a platform for consumers to find and compare real estate professionals, and a powerful marketing tool for client-focused agents to build their reputation online. RateMyAgent is used by over 348,000 agents and over 9,800 real estate offices worldwide.

About Curated Social
Curated Social is a dynamic social media marketing platform designed specifically for real estate professionals. Curated Social was born out of the need for agents to maintain a strong online presence as in-person meetings became increasingly difficult. As a subsidiary of Steps Marketing, Inc., a trusted real estate marketing firm established in 2006, we leverage extensive industry knowledge to provide our clients with ready-to-post content tailored to their needs.

Media Contact:
Harry Marsden
harry.marsden@ratemyagent.com

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SOURCE RateMyAgent

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CorDx Selects MasterControl to Streamline Life Science Quality and Manufacturing Processes Globally

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IVD leader adopts MasterControl Qx and Mx platforms to ensure regulatory compliance across China, the US and more.

SINGAPORE, Oct. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — MasterControl announced today that CorDx Inc., the global diagnostics company and leader in IVD research and development, has chosen MasterControl Qx and Mx to help enhance quality management and manufacturing processes across its business. With MasterControl’s best-in-class automation and machine learning tools, CorDx Inc. will bring diagnostic tests and capabilities to clients faster and more efficiently so patients can better monitor and improve their overall health.

“Because regulations differ across international borders, it’s critical that we have a solution that helps us understand, manage and remain compliant with those standards, regardless of whether we are operating in the US, China or elsewhere,” said Aiiso Yufeng Li, CorDX Inc. Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “MasterControl provides the global capability that ensures we can work seamlessly without having to worry about slip ups in our quality control or manufacturing operations. It allows us to keep our focus on bringing innovations to the people and families that need it most.”

MasterControl’s Qx and Mx offerings give customers no-code options to customize, build and optimize quality event forms and workflows, rapidly digitize manufacturing processes and procedures, and automate training management. The platforms integrate across operating systems like ERPs, IoT devices, LIMS and more to provide seamless data connectivity, real-time status updates, and automated workflows.

“CorDx Inc. leads the industry in IVD research and development and is pushing the boundaries on diagnostics,” said Sue Marchant, chief product officer at MasterControl. “Removing regulatory hurdles and operational inefficiencies from workflows will not only improve overall performance, but it will also give CorDx Inc. the freedom to innovate and make new and meaningful impact in the lives of people across the world.”

To learn how more than 1,100 MasterControl customers are bringing life-changing products to market faster and for less, visit: https://www.mastercontrol.com/company/customers/.

About MasterControl:
MasterControl Inc. is a leading provider of cloud-based software solutions that enable regulated companies to deliver life-changing products to more people sooner. MasterControl’s manufacturing and quality management software solutions help organizations innovate faster, reduce costs, and improve compliance by automating and securely managing critical business processes throughout the entire product life cycle. For more information, visit www.mastercontrol.com.

About CorDx:
With nearly two decades of IVD experience, CorDx Inc is a leader in IVD research and development, manufacturing, and supply chain. CorDx Inc.’s proprietary line of rapid diagnostic products is recognized by families, medical professionals & veterinarians for reliability, affordability, and rapid results. CorDx is transforming the global diagnostics industry with innovative R&D solutions, a vertically integrated supply chain, and manufacturing footprints in China, United States and around the world.

 

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SOURCE MasterControl

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Infinitus Systems raises $51.5 million Series C funding on the strength of AI guardrails

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Industry-leading AI system with guardrails announces new investors including Andreessen Horowitz, and general availability of healthcare AI copilot FastTrack™

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Infinitus Systems, Inc., provider of the first AI platform specifically built to automate manual healthcare phone calls, has raised its Series C financing led by Andreessen Horowitz. 

Andreessen Horowitz and Memorial Hermann Health System joined existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Coatue, and GV (Google Ventures) in investing an additional $51.5 million to accelerate the Infinitus mission of transforming healthcare operations with AI. This brings the company’s total funding raised to $102.9 million.

The healthcare experience for patients and employees is falling short. Inefficiencies in back-office operations lead to delays in access to treatment and contribute to employee burnout from tedious manual processes. Infinitus solves this fundamental problem by enabling payors, providers, and drug manufacturers to automate one of the most time-consuming aspects of healthcare operations — manual phone calls. 

“We have an enormous opportunity to transform how the healthcare ecosystem exchanges administrative data,” said Ankit Jain, CEO and co-founder of Infinitus. “We are grateful for the support from our new and existing investors, as this funding will allow us to further scale our impact, continuing to innovate and deliver solutions that meaningfully improve the experience of patients with chronic conditions.”

Infinitus is setting the standard for how AI is used within patient services, much of this due to the strength of its industry-leading AI guardrails, safeguards designed to ensure AI systems operate within ethical, legal, and technical boundaries. The ability to combine guardrails at every level of the Infinitus AI system means the company’s AI products can handle long phone conversations with high accuracy, ensuring customers get the reliable data they need. The AI agent, for example, can navigate hundreds of conversational turns and long context windows, something even the most modern LLMs can’t do.

Unlike other solutions on the market, Infinitus has the ability to use LLMs for their reasoning and extraction capabilities through a coordination layer that restricts conversations to an approved set of topics. This discrete knowledge and action space puts to rest any concerns that the AI might hallucinate.

In addition, the phone calls on which these conversations occur stay secure and compliant, as all Infinitus solutions are HIPAA and SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and run on a HITRUST Certified Cloud.

“Our comprehensive guardrails enable us to create a secure and precise environment for these interactions. This not only minimizes errors but also ensures compliance and trust, which are paramount in healthcare,” said Shyam Rajagopalan, co-founder and CTO of Infinitus. “In addition to enabling our full-call automation, our guardrails play a major role in other products we have developed, including FastTrack™, the Infinitus AI copilot, which is built on many of these same components.”

The purpose-built AI copilot for healthcare, FastTrack enters general availability today. It enables call center staff contacting payors to bypass tedious IVR systems and hold times, reducing administrative task turnaround time and improving patient support.

“The potential for AI to revolutionize the healthcare industry is immense, and Infinitus is well positioned to help customers navigate this time of change,” said Scott Kupor, managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz, who also joined the Infinitus board as part of this investment. “We believe in Infinitus’s vision and are confident that their innovative solutions, like FastTrack, will continue to disrupt the industry and deliver significant value to both their customers and the broader healthcare ecosystem, safely and securely driving efficiency and enabling healthcare providers to focus more on patient care.”

FastTrack is powered by lnfinitus’s purpose-built AI system for healthcare, which draws from a vast knowledge graph of payor intelligence gathered from over 4 million calls and counting. It knows the right numbers to call, can navigate complex IVR systems, and waits on hold on behalf of reimbursement specialists or other call center staff – dropping callers in once a live payor agent answers. Use cases for FastTrack include claims processing, prior authorizations, and benefit verifications, among others.

“We believe this technology can help with workforce shortages by taking on some of the tasks that help support workflow,” said Feby Abraham, PhD, executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Memorial Hermann. “We are always looking for new ways to engage our employees and make them feel better supported. The unique challenges of the past few years have only heightened the need for support in this area.”

FastTrack does not require an integration to get started; API integrations are available, as well as integrations to popular systems of record such as Salesforce. Users of the system get back significant time they would have otherwise spent navigating IVRs, waiting on hold, or composing summary notes – another feature auto-generated by the solution.

FastTrack is the latest achievement for Infinitus, which also announced the launches of its AI electronic benefit verification solutions for patients covered by commercial insurance and Medicare earlier this year. Access to FastTrack can be requested via this link.

About Infinitus

Infinitus automates phone call conversations for leading healthcare companies. Through a combination of a multimodal and multi-modal AI system, human-in-the-loop guardrails, and an extensive knowledge graph, Infinitus automates the collection of data that would traditionally be gathered via human-made phone calls. With Infinitus, customers see a 10% increase in data accuracy often coupled with a 50% ROI over manual approaches. Infinitus supports 44% of the Fortune 50 and 27% of the Fortune 100 healthcare companies. Learn more at https://www.infinitus.ai/

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SOURCE Infinitus Systems, Inc.

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