Technology

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON ANNOUNCES BUILD BETTER TOGETHER

Published

5 days ago

March 27, 2025

This new initiative showcases and advances economic development, including growth, quality housing, businesses, jobs, lifestyle and cultural improvements for Chicagoans

CHICAGO, March 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Build Better Together (https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/progs/build_better_together.html), a comprehensive economic development strategy to drive inclusive and sustainable growth throughout Chicago at the groundbreaking for the adaptive reuse of 79 W. Monroe St. as 117 units of mixed-income housing. Under Mayor Brandon Johnson’s leadership, Build Better Together is transforming programs, policies and process improvements that are making Chicago better, stronger and safer together.

Build Better Together is designed to bolster public-private partnerships and strengthen cross-collaboration among the city’s Departments of Planning and Development (DPD), Housing (DOH), Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and Business Affairs and Consumer Protection (BACP), as well as World Business Chicago (WBC), the city’s public-private economic development agency.

“To drive development, growth and meaningful achievement in a city as large and diverse as Chicago, we must include all sectors and citizens—from businesses, institutions and government to the residents of all 77 community areas. Build Better Together will maximize the connections between all stakeholders and accelerate the development of infrastructure and assets that will not only enable successful change and progress in the near term but also foster a culture of continuous improvement,” Mayor Johnson explained.

This initiative is based on three foundational pillars–quality and affordable housing for all, business innovation and job growth, and neighborhood investments and vibrant communities. Build Better Together is designed to provide Chicagoans with access to what they need to live, work and thrive and prioritizes breaking down barriers to progress and making investments that directly improve people’s lives.

“Build Better Together is a critical next step in our citywide effort to deliver lasting, neighborhood-level economic progress,” Deputy Mayor of Business and Neighborhood Development Kenya Merritt said. “This encompassing strategy brings cohesion to the work that has been happening across departments—housing, planning, business development and culture—and focuses our efforts on creating meaningful, measurable outcomes in communities that have been overlooked historically. By deepening our partnerships, removing structural barriers and strategically investing in neighborhoods, we’re ensuring that every resident and business has a stake in—and benefits from—Chicago’s economic future.”

Build Better Together Will Strengthen Chicago’s Existing Assets

Build Better Together will enable Chicago’s proactive city departments to build on and maximize recent improvements and advances brought to fruition due to the Cut the Tape, a program Mayor Johnson initiated in December 2023, and the $1.25 billion 2024-2028 Housing and Economic Development (HED) bond he constructed and funded in June 2024.

“The holistic approach is expediting project approval timelines by more than 40% while creating more opportunities for as-of-right construction through proactive zoning changes that support density, vitality and transit-oriented investments,” DPD Commissioner Ciere Boatright said. “Meanwhile, the bond and other incentives are strengthening residential markets and encouraging population growth while enabling catalytic investments that attract and retain new business, support workforce development and preserve the buildings and institutions that make Chicago neighborhoods so unique.”

“Build Better Together represents a turning point in how we connect resources, policies and communities to accelerate the development of affordable housing and thriving neighborhoods. With programs like Rebuild 2.0, City Lots for Working Families, and soon, Green Social Housing, we’re able to direct funding and development resources where they’re needed most,” DOH Commissioner Lissette Castañeda said. “Programs like Cut the Tape are eliminating unnecessary barriers and making it easier to build affordable and mixed-income housing across Chicago. Reducing bureaucracy means developers can move from concept to construction faster, ensuring families get the homes they need without unnecessary delays. By increasing access to homeownership and preserving existing affordable housing, we are not just constructing buildings—we are building the future of Chicago’s neighborhoods.”

“Small businesses are the foundation of our economy, and Build Better Together is a game-changer in how we support them,” BACP Commissioner Ivan Capifali said. “Chicago’s 50,000-plus businesses are engines of job creation, innovation and economic mobility. Build Better Together is enabling us to build on our newly streamlined business licensing process powered by Cut the Tape, which offers transparent guidance and vastly reduced wait times. It also adds to the value of our 65 Neighborhood Business Development Centers that provide free, hyper-local assistance to entrepreneurs. This type of support ensures that Chicago will remain one of the best cities in the nation for small businesses to start, grow and scale.”

“Chicago’s cultural identity is one of our greatest economic strengths. The depth and breadth of our arts, music and creative industries not only enrich our communities but also attract businesses, top talent and investment. Our city’s festivals, art exhibitions and public events are more than just celebrations—they are economic engines that drive tourism, create jobs and generate revenue for local businesses,” DCASE Commissioner Clinée Hedspeth noted. “Our cultural scene is a key pillar of our economic future, and Build Better Together will enable us to expand our commitment to supporting and showcasing the artists, organizations, cultural experiences and creative economies in all our neighborhoods and strengthen our city’s global reputation even further.”

Build Better Together Positions Chicago for Success

“Chicago is a world-class city that offers its residents and businesses exceptional advantages and its visitors exceptional and singular experiences. Build Better Together will allow us to maximize all our city’s unique and varied assets, attract more businesses and residents and strengthen our investments in housing, culture and business support and creation to make our city more compelling, attractive and welcoming to all who experience it,” Mayor Johnson said.

“Chicago’s economic success is driven by bold ideas, targeted investments, and strong public-private collaboration,” World Business Chicago President & CEO Phil Clement said. “The Build Better Together strategy reflects this momentum—connecting businesses, investors, and communities to opportunities that generate inclusive, sustainable growth across the city and region.

“In 2024 alone,140 companies chose to expand, relocate or launch in Chicagoland—including 10 on the South and West Sides. That momentum helped earn Chicago the distinction of Top Metro in the U.S. for Corporate Relocation by Site Selection Magazine,” Clement continued. “Business attraction remains a core focus for our team and board, with every member actively recruiting and managing a pipeline of high-potential companies. We’re also building on global engagement, with ongoing foreign direct investment efforts tied to the UK, Japan and Germany.

“On the innovation front, Chicagoland’s emergence as a quantum hub is the result of over $5 billion in investment and alignment at every level—from federal and state partners to academic leadership at institutions like the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago. And through our development of an economic plan for the city, we’ve convened over 200 executives to align around six core growth sectors and the industries driving Chicago’s vibrancy,” Clement noted. ‘All of this reinforces our commitment to keeping the central business district—and all 77 community areas—competitive, thriving and future-ready.”

For more information, please visit
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/progs/build_better_together.html

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SOURCE World Business Chicago

Technology

IW247 Redefines Online Gaming

Published

17 minutes ago

April 2, 2025

HYDERABAD, India, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — IW247, a leading online gaming platform, is setting a new standard for gaming with around-the-clock opportunities to win. The platform is dedicated to providing uninterrupted action, bringing the gaming experience into a new era where ‘I WIN’ is at the core of everything.

What’s Behind the Name?

The ‘247’ in IW247 represents 24/7, symbolizing continuous gaming action, limitless excitement, and non-stop chances to win. IW247 is committed to delivering a superior, round-the-clock gaming experience for players worldwide.

What’s New with IW247?

IW247 offers several enhancements designed to improve the gaming experience:

Faster Performance – Enjoy seamless gameplay with quick navigation and responsiveness.Stronger Security – Enhanced protection features ensure the safety of both winnings and personal data.Smoother User Experience – An intuitive interface designed for ease of use.Revamped Visuals – A modern design reflecting a competitive and dynamic gaming spirit.Exciting New Games – A growing selection of games that provide continuous thrill.Exclusive Promotions – Engaging challenges, special rewards, and offers to keep players engaged.

A Gaming Platform for the Future

IW247 is more than just an online gaming platform—it represents a shift in the gaming experience itself. Whether you’re a casual gamer or a seasoned player, IW247 inspires players to dream bigger, play smarter, and win harder.

The future of gaming is here, where the game never stops, and neither does the chance to win.

About IW247

IW247 is an online gaming platform that offers a dynamic, secure, and user-friendly experience. With a wide variety of live casinos, sports betting, slots, instant games, and exclusive promotions, IW247 is designed to meet the needs of players who seek constant action and the thrill of winning. Built on cutting-edge technology, IW247 is committed to providing an innovative, 24/7 gaming experience where players can win anytime, anywhere.

Media Contact:

Site: https://bit.ly/iwsite
IG – https://www.instagram.com/iw247official/
FB – https://www.facebook.com/iw247official
X – https://x.com/iw247official
Threads – https://www.threads.net/@iw247official
YT – https://www.youtube.com/@iW247Official

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Technology

Jiangxi-GBA Economic Cooperation Promotion Held Successfully

Published

17 minutes ago

April 2, 2025

SHENZHEN, China, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — A report from Jiangxi International Communication Center(JXICC): On April 1, 2025, the Jiangxi & Greater Bay Area(GBA) Economic and Trade Cooperation Promotion Conference was held in Shenzhen, China. This event marked the 23rd consecutive year that Jiangxi has organized a major economic and trade event in the GBA, with the aim of further enhancing collaboration and exchanges while promoting high-level open development in Jiangxi.

During the conference, Jiangxi highlighted its significant achievements in transportation connectivity, economic and trade collaboration, and industrial synergy. The opening of the Ganzhou-Shenzhen High-Speed Railway has reduced travel time between the two regions to just two hours, facilitating cooperation. In terms of economic and trade cooperation, the GBA has become a primary destination for Jiangxi’s investment initiatives, with over 30% of Jiangxi’s project funding coming from Guangdong, and more than 80% of the foreign capital utilized in Jiangxi coming from Hong Kong and Macao. Jiangxi also plays a crucial role as an agricultural product supplier for the GBA, achieving fruitful results in industrial coordination and resource sharing for both regions.

The conference also emphasized new opportunities in technological innovation and industrial development in Jiangxi. The province is actively implementing an innovation-driven development strategy, accelerating the digital transformation of manufacturing, and fostering emerging industries. Currently, Jiangxi boasts multiple national and provincial advanced manufacturing clusters, with a modern industrial system quickly taking shape. Additionally, initiatives such as the establishment of industrial guidance funds have attracted capital from the GBA to support industrial growth. By the end of 2024, the total scale of these funds had reached 320.184 billion yuan, facilitating the initiation of several major projects in Jiangxi.

A signing ceremony for cooperative projects was held during the event, resulting in the signing of 83 projects worth a total of 45.046 billion yuan. These projects cover key infrastructure construction, critical manufacturing industry chains, the health industry, and other sectors, injecting new vitality into Jiangxi’s economic development.

The successful hosting of this conference signifies that economic and trade cooperation between Jiangxi and the GBA has reached a new level. Both sides aim to work together to write a new chapter in the modernization of China.

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SOURCE Jiangxi International Communication Center(JXICC)

Technology

Huawei puts scenario-based solutions in the spotlight for its Europe Enterprise Roadshow 2025

Published

18 minutes ago

April 2, 2025

From AI-ready storage to intelligent campus networks: Huawei highlights application-focused solutions as the central theme for digital and intelligent transformation of industries in Europe

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Huawei has kicked off its annual Europe Enterprise Roadshow, an initiative that sees an expandable truck with the latest scenario-centric ICT technologies travel across Europe to connect with customers, partners, and CXO executives.

The roadshow truck will visit 29 cities in 17 European countries with the message to “Accelerate Industrial Digital Intelligence”, serving as a mobile exhibition space to showcase Huawei’s latest solutions in data communications, data storage and optical networking. This year the mobile technology center will also purposefully focus on adaptive solutions designed for specific use cases to aid European industries in their quest for digital transformation.

The primary goal of the roadshow is to assist European companies and public sector institutions in speeding up their digital transition and embracing digital intelligence. Last year, the roadshow attracted more than 7,000 visitors.

“With the European Enterprise Roadshow 2025, we underline our commitment to digital and intelligent transformation in Europe,” explains Willi Song, President, Huawei European Enterprise Business. “This year, we are placing a special focus on industry-specific scenarios and strengthening our partner ecosystem. This allows us to show our customers and partners more specifically how our solutions address their individual challenges and drive transformation.”

Digital intelligence is gaining momentum in Europe

Europe is on the brink of profound change through the interplay of artificial intelligence, rapidly growing data volumes, faster networks and high-performance computing power. This in turn affects digital transformation in all sectors of the economy and promises to sustainably improve society, industries, and the environment. The enterprise roadshow showcases practical solutions on how to achieve this.

In civic administrations, public offices begin to offer personalized citizen services, while smart cities are evolving into intelligent living spaces. The healthcare industry adopts IoT technologies to improve patient care and academic research benefits from powerful AI storage solutions. Educational institutions are moving towards complete digitization while retail is implementing new, customer-oriented concepts.

“The technology is mature, the tools are ready – now is the right time to accelerate digital and intelligent transformation in Europe and fully exploit its benefits,” adds Song.

Storage, campus networks, and optical: Industry-specific solutions in focus

The Huawei Enterprise Roadshow 2025 presents a wide range of innovative ICT solutions for multiple industries. Huawei showcases its “Future-Proof Data Storage” technology to let companies unleash the value of exponentially growing data in the AI era. For modern campus environments, the “Xinghe Intelligent Campus” system offers a holistic, AI-supported infrastructure with Huawei’s unique Wi-Fi 7 technologies such as smart antennas and intelligent scheduling, VIP experience assurance, Wi-Fi Shield or AI-powered energy saving. The “All-Optical Network” solution promises ultra-fast, reliable connectivity for various application scenarios. In the education sector, Huawei demonstrates its “Research Data Management” system, which supports research institutions in efficiently managing large data volumes, as well as the “Education Campus Network” solution for a fully digitalized learning environment. For the public sector, the “Smart City” platform is introduced to help public administrations rapidly promote inclusive network coverage, improve civic services, and bridge the digital divide. In healthcare, Huawei presents the “HIS&PACS A-A-Unified Storage” solution for seamless integration of hospital information, picture archiving and communication storage systems. Among other products, Huawei will include its “Multi-Branch Retail Solution” for retailers and “Managed Wi-Fi Service for MSPs as well as “FTTO Solution for Hotels” to provide a fiber-optic network infrastructure for the hospitality industry and other sectors.

“Our industry-specific adaptations of storage, network, and optical solutions enable companies to achieve optimal performance according to their individual requirements,” says Song. “This way, we can support many industries and companies in accelerating transformation in Europe and promoting the adoption of digital intelligence.”

HUAWEI eKit and expanded partner ecosystem

A new addition to the Roadshow 2025 is HUAWEI eKit, the sub-brand for the distribution business in the SMB sector. The platform, active in over 100 countries, offers partners comprehensive solutions for transactions, operations, and marketing. The goal of HUAWEI eKit is to simplify deployments by providing solutions that are easy to manage and install, ensuring end-to-end simplicity for small and medium-sized businesses.

Additionally, Huawei provides its partners with comprehensive service packages. At the highest service level, Huawei enables the delivery of replacement parts within four hours. In customer support, Huawei offers hotline support in 18 languages for 33 countries and fast response times within five minutes.

The Roadshow enables valuable networking and local collaboration

At each stop of the roadshow, the truck becomes a walk-in exhibition stand with a total of 15 stations. From individual product areas to industry applications and flexible multi-solutions and services, each station offers deep and detailed insights. Huawei professionals are available at each location to present solutions and answer questions. Additionally, the roadshow truck provides a stage for local in-country events, such as panel discussions, presentations of user scenarios, customer sharing, product training, networking, Q&A sessions, or award events.

The Huawei Enterprise Roadshow 2025 runs from March to September and makes stops in key cities in France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Poland, among others.

For more information, visit https://e.huawei.com/eu/events/2025/eu/roadshow-2025/huawei-enterprise-roadshow-2025

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global provider of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions, infrastructures and smart devices. With integrated solutions in four key environments: telecommunications networks, IT, smart devices and cloud services, we are committed to bringing digitization to every person, home and organization for a fully connected and intelligent world.

Huawei’s complete portfolio of products, solutions and services is competitive and secure. Through collaboration with ecosystem partners, we create added value for our customers and work to empower people, enrich life in homes and inspire innovation in organizations of all kinds.

At Huawei, innovation focuses on customer needs. We invest heavily in research, focusing on the technological advances that drive the world forward. We currently have more than 207,000 employees and operate in more than 170 countries and regions. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a privately held company wholly owned by its employees. For more information, please visit Huawei online.

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