Category Archives: Cloud Computing

Maxhub to build advanced AI solutions with Microsoft Azure Cloud – NewscastStudio

Maxhub, a leading provider of collaborative communication and interactive display solutions, proudly announces it will integrate Microsoft Azure technology. Maxhub will harness the power of Azure to significantly amplify its international business growth and further AI technology advancements.

Amidst expanding global business horizons, Maxhub integrates with Microsoft Azure to empower itself by meeting the surging needs for scalable cloud computing and storage. Maxhub seamlessly shares data across multiple global data centers using the robust capabilities of Azure Cosmos DB and Blob Storage. By segregating foundational business data from personal privacy data and integrating with Azure Kubernetes Services, Maxhub have established a globally distributed architecture for deploying key services like OTA (Over-The-Air) and CMS (Content management system). This setup is tailored for Maxhub operational management within a worldwide scope. Not only does this enhance the research and operational efficiency, but it also effectively aligns with the data compliance regulations of various regions.

Maxhubs integration of Azure services will support its global business and drive it forward, helping users move into a new era of more efficient and high-quality service experiences. In addition, this move will promote Maxhubs innovative development in the field of artificial intelligence, which in turn will enhance users interactive experience with smarter and more comprehensive technology solutions.

We are preparing to harness Azure OpenAI features to explore AI applications in education. Our aim is to assist teachers in lesson planning and curriculum evaluation by integrating AI capabilities, said David Meng, President of Global Business Group at Maxhub. Our objective is to nurture a high efficient and intelligent ecosystem where creativity flourishes into meaningful human interactions. Microsoft Azures offerings align strategically with our vision and will establish a solid foundation for our success in global markets.

At present, the global demand for cloud computing and AI services is growing. Maxhubs application and exploration of Microsoft Azure will provide users with a solid technical foundation and empower businesses with cutting-edge technology. Microsoft is committed to empowering our customers and partners with supreme solutions that drive productivity and enrich collaborative experiences. Said Min Zheng, Vice President of Microsoft China.

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Maxhub to build advanced AI solutions with Microsoft Azure Cloud - NewscastStudio

Global Digital Classroom Markets Report 2023-2032: Smart Classes Gain Momentum with Increased Integration of VR … – PR Newswire

DUBLIN, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The"Digital Classroom Market Report by Product Type (Digital Classroom Hardware, Digital Classroom Content, Digital Classroom Software), Application (K-12, Higher Education), and Region 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global digital classroom market size reached US$ 139.1 billion in 2023. The market is projected to reach US$ 344.0 billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 10.6% during 2023-2032

The increasing number of schools, rising sales of smart devices, and the growing number of educational apps represent some of the key factors driving the market.

A digital classroom is a learning environment wherein teachers and students use technology to enhance the teaching and learning experience. It relies on multimedia resources, such as videos, podcasts, interactive simulations, and e-books that are used to support learning. It allows teachers to create and manage online courses, assignments, quizzes, and grade books. It offers tools for students to collaborate on group projects, share notes, and communicate with their peers and teachers.

It also provides a more interactive and engaging learning experience, which helps students to stay motivated and focused. It requires fewer resources like textbooks, paper, and stationery as compared to traditional classrooms. Nowadays, digital classrooms are offering accessibility tools for students with special needs, such as screen readers, magnification tools, and closed captioning.

Digital Classroom Market Trends

The increasing number of schools and rising applicants is catalyzing the demand for digital classrooms in schools around the world. This, coupled with rapid digitization, increasing sales of smart devices like smartphones, tablets, and laptops, and the high speed internet connectivity, represents one of the major factors strengthening the market growth across the globe.

Furthermore, the growing number of educational apps that provide students with interactive online lectures and study materials is influencing the market positively. Moreover, governing agencies of numerous countries are undertaking initiatives to open new schools and promote awareness about the importance of education. They are investing in introducing projectors and interactive whiteboards for classrooms to enhance the experience of children. In addition, key players are introducing smart desks for digital classrooms that are incorporated with advanced technologies, including biometrics sensors, touchscreen, and the internet of things (IoT) solutions. They are used in laboratories, libraries, and classrooms to offer a convenient environment to students.

This, along with the rising adoption of smart classes in digital classrooms with computer screens and projectors to ease learning in schools, is favoring the growth of the market. Apart from this, the integration of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, and cloud computing in digital classrooms that helps teachers to automate administrative tasks and offer personalized learning is creating a positive outlook for the market.

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Global Digital Classroom Markets Report 2023-2032: Smart Classes Gain Momentum with Increased Integration of VR ... - PR Newswire

Kyndryl and Cloudflare Announce Global Strategic Alliance to Drive Enterprise Network Transformation, Multi-Cloud … – PR Newswire

Alliance will focus on modernizing IT infrastructures by streamlining connectivity to multiple clouds and data centers, while providing robust network security

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Kyndryl(NYSE: KD), the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, and Cloudflare, Inc.(NYSE: NET), a leading connectivity cloud company,today announced a global strategic alliance, an expansion of their partnership, to enable enterprises to migrate and manage networks for multi-cloud connectivity and comprehensive network security. The partnership combines Kyndryl's end-to-end consulting services and expertise across enterprise networking, security and resiliency with Cloudflare's robust connectivity cloud that offers security, performance, and cloud flexibility all-in-one.

Kyndryl and Cloudflare first partneredin May 2023 to modernize enterprise infrastructure with end-to-end services, bringing managed WAN-as-a-Service and Cloudflare Zero Trust to the entire corporate network. Now, the two companies are focused on further innovation across all technology stacks to design, build, manage and modernize customers' vital systems. Cloudflare's capabilities will now be activated across Kyndryl's practice areas including Network & Edge and Security & Resiliency.

Enterprises have turned to Cloudflare and Kyndryl since they started partnering for complete network modernization, protections, and performance solutions across sectors worldwide from a supply chain distribution provider in the US, a leading financial institution in Spain, toAshok Leyland, a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer in India.

"As one of the premier automotive manufacturers worldwide, it is imperative that we are equipped with robust and secure networks to ensure our global IT infrastructure runs seamlessly. From dealer management to vehicle tracking, we need to run our 50+ Internet applications with zero or minimal disruption and enhanced security," said Vinod Gopinathan, CIO atAshokLeyland. "Kyndryl's managed services with Cloudflare's DDoS protection and mitigation solution enablesAshok Leyland to focus on our pursuit to technology innovation, advanced engineering, and enhanced connectivity."

The Kyndryl and Cloudflare global strategic alliance is focused on helping enterprises streamline connectivity to multiple clouds and data centers, while providing robust network security. Together, they will help businesses:

As testament to the partnership, Cloudflare has helped Kyndryl transform its network services and provide cloud cybersecurity protection, including DDoS mitigation. Cloudflare currently protects Kyndryl's internet properties, with Kyndryl operating on a self-service model including the ability to make changes seamlessly throughout the transformation without incurring additional charges. Since adopting Cloudflare's global connectivity cloud network and security services, Kyndryl has seen a reduction in IT infrastructure costs, accelerated web traffic and increased performance for data load balancing.

"Together with Cloudflare, we are enabling enterprises to migrate to next-generation networks and capitalize on advanced cloud features to achieve greater agility and innovation. We are thrilled to expand our relationship with Cloudflare, an industry leader in cloud networking," said Paul Savill, Global Practice Leader of Network and Edge Computing at Kyndryl. "With Kyndryl's expert managed and consulting services, we will be helping our joint customers secure, streamline and simplify their IT infrastructure, all while reducing costs and improving operational efficiencies."

"Cloudflare and Kyndryl is the duo that enterprises can fully lean on to migrate their networks and innovate across the cloud. Working hand-in-hand with customers, we've seen the demand and impact from Cloudflare's leading connectivity cloud and comprehensive cybersecurity for business environments, right in hand with Kyndryl's industry-leading consulting and managed network services," said Matt Harrell, Global Head of Channels and Alliances at Cloudflare. "Since partnering with Kyndryl, we have been able to scale Cloudflare's services at a new level. Our global strategic alliance can support any enterprise now across their entire network stack, regardless of where they stand in their cloud journey."

To learn more about the Kyndryl and Cloudflare Global Strategic Alliance, please check out the resources below:

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, visitwww.kyndryl.com.

About Cloudflare Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare's connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.

Powered by one of the world's largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.

Learn more about Cloudflare's connectivity cloud at cloudflare.com/connectivity-cloud. Learn more about the latest Internet trends and insights at https://radar.cloudflare.com.

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Cloudflare, the Cloudflare logo, and other Cloudflare marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Cloudflare, Inc. in the U.S. and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names referenced herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of theSection 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,, which statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties.Forward-looking statements expressed or implied in this press release include, but are not limited to,statements regarding future expectations related to how Kyndryl and Cloudflare will work together, how Kyndryl plans to leverage the Cloudflare products and connectivity cloud capabilities, expected benefits to customers from the global alliance between Kyndryl and Cloudflare, the companies' future plans to release additional capabilities, andcomments made by members of Cloudflare's and Kyndryl's management and others.Such forward-looking statements often contain words such as "will," "anticipate," "predict," "project," "plan," "forecast," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "target," "may," "should," "would," "could," "outlook", "believes", "seeks" 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 the companies' current 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 companies do not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. 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 Kyndryl's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on May 26, 2023 and Kyndryl's other SEC filings, and Cloudflare's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 21, 2024 and Cloudflare's other SEC filings.

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Kyndryl and Cloudflare Announce Global Strategic Alliance to Drive Enterprise Network Transformation, Multi-Cloud ... - PR Newswire

Akamai and Fujitsu expand A/NZ cloud relationship – ARNnet

According to Fujitsu Asia Pacific (APAC) CEO Graeme Beardsell, the agreement presents Fujitsu the opportunity to further to work with partners. In Australia, that includes local companies relating to Indigenous communities. Meanwhile in New Zealand, the focus is on the small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) and government department markets.

Additionally, there is also room to working with systems integrators from Fujitsu's side as a part of the agreement, despite tending to "compete with all the big players in town", Beardsell said to ARN.

The reason why the A/NZ region has been selected to first reap the benefits of the expansion, Beardsell continued, is due to the region's recent success.

"We have embarked upon strengthening our security practice here in Australia, and a lot of frameworks weve sat down and the partner ecosystem that weve established here, were sharing with Japan as well," he said to ARN. "So, were seen as a little bit of a testbed from a Fujitsu point of view."

Additionally, Beardsell worked at Akamai from 2014 to 2020, so he said it was "logical to pick up the phone and talk to Akamai again". He also was Fujitsu Australia's CEO from November 2020 to April 2022.

Looking past the initial A/NZ region, the pair have their sights on APAC, with distribution networks anticipated to play an important part in future of the expansion past A/NZ, as will discussions with hardware and software partners, such as Dell Technologies and Nvidia.

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Akamai and Fujitsu expand A/NZ cloud relationship - ARNnet

How to manage third-party risk in the cloud – TechTarget

The increasing levels of access and integration within cloud environments create risks and potential new avenues of compromise for cloud customers. Organizations can hope their cloud service providers are secure, but that's not always the case. Therefore, it's important to include CSPs in third-party risk practices.

Here's how to do that.

Organizations need to look at two critical elements before making decisions:

Customers often have less control over SaaS security capabilities than PaaS and IaaS. This means SaaS might have a higher risk from a third-party perspective, largely because providers hold all the responsibility for data protection, availability and service resiliency, as well as threat detection and response.

The types of data stored or produced and their sensitivity within cloud service environments and third-party access are also paramount to consider. Understanding these can help determine criticality and priority of cloud service risk evaluation -- particularly if the data is covered by regulations or industry compliance requirements.

Regardless of service model, organizations should ensure cloud services -- especially those critical to business operations -- are incorporated into ongoing third-party risk management practices.

Follow these key steps.

Cloud customers should request information about security practices and policies from CSPs just as they do any other vendor or third party. While some security questions are in line with standard best practices -- common policies, core types of security controls, etc. -- many cloud-centric questions must also be answered.

PaaS and IaaS cloud services, for example, often make heavy use of proprietary and custom virtualization hypervisors. CSPs should disclose at least some information about how they are configured and locked down.

The Cloud Security Alliance offers numerous questions to ask in its documentation. Its Consensus Assessments Initiative Questionnaire; Cloud Controls Matrix; and Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk Program, for example, provide questionnaire answers and other reputational information to help customers make more informed risk decisions about CSPs and their security practices.

Organizations using multiple cloud services could benefit from using a third-party risk management platform to keep track of the rapidly changing risk landscape across providers. Platforms such as ProcessUnity, Prevalent and Bitsight include extensive details about CSP reputation and threat intelligence, including dark web monitoring, noted incidents of all types and customer feedback.

Organizations should incorporate cloud service threat modeling that includes business continuity scenarios into their third-party risk management program.

As more and more organizations rely heavily on cloud applications and infrastructure for day-to-day functions, the impact to an organization if its CSP experiences a breach or a major outage could be devastating.

For any mission-critical cloud services -- for example, email, collaboration tools and financial reporting -- security teams should determine and document tolerable downtime, impacts of delays or complete lack of access for a period of time, and whether any workarounds exist.

For any possible breaches at a CSP, security teams should look to get the following information as quickly as possible:

As with any third-party security incident, responsiveness varies depending on the provider and the particular circumstances. The important thing to do is update internal security practices, processes, communication plans and continuity models to account for unexpected situations that could arise at any CSP.

Dave Shackleford is founder and principal consultant with Voodoo Security; SANS analyst, instructor and course author; and GIAC technical director.

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How to manage third-party risk in the cloud - TechTarget

Moving to the cloud? Here are three things you need to consider before you do – ERP Today

Cloud migrations often come hand-in-hand with digital transformations. The natural progression of technology has dictated such, with the cloud computing marketplace estimated to surpass $1 trillion in 2024. While the move seems like a no-brainer for many businesses, take a breath and consider a few factors before diving head-first into technology you might not fully understand.

First, you need to decide on cloud technology or a hybrid of cloud and on-premise technology for your ERP system. A hybrid system is typically used by those who already have a pre-existing ERP system in place. It could cost more to maintain in the long run, however a hybrid ERP means you wont have to rebuild an entirely new system as you would have to with a cloud-based ERP.

Cloud-based ERPs are easily scalable, require no infrastructure to set up and can provide a location for data access no matter where you are in the world. Updates are automatic and wont require you to personally go out of your way to instigate them. Cloud software is also adopting real-time data access, while also benefiting from automation, integrating data from multiple sources and decreasing the reliance and strain on IT teams.

The next factor you need to consider is if cloud technology will help leverage AI technology. Short answer: yes. Cloud software will help pave the way for AI tech to take the center stage. Cloud tech better positions everything from your business (data, systems, processes) to be ready for AI tools and functionality. Cloud technology is flexible and versatile; the agility of the technology on hand is why AI functions are so readily available. Insight Softwares Oracle system tools readily take advantage of generative AI to enhance the user experience.

Upgrading from old legacy systems to new and improved broaches the final factor you need to think about: how will you migrate data to the cloud? Insight Softwares Angle Professional was created for this specific purpose. Rather than having to import all legacy data, Angle Professional is a cloud data warehouse. Its a central point to access data and information from multiple, different sources.

Taking advantage of Excel systems and most users familiarity with the program is an efficient method of data migration, too. Insight Softwares Spreadsheet Server exploits the familiar Excel interface and can provide you with refreshable, drillable data. It also creates custom reports with the need to burden the IT team giving a lot more autonomy to users.

Oracle ERP Cloud technology is a powerful tool thats ideal for reinforcing your financial and accounting systems. Remember the factors you need to consider when deciding on what ERP technology to invest in and your business could see improvements in record time.

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Moving to the cloud? Here are three things you need to consider before you do - ERP Today

KubeCon 2024: All the latest news and announcements – ITPro

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Thanks for following ITPro's coverage of the opening keynote at KubeCon 2024 in Paris. Stay tuned for more KubeCon news over the next few days!

The crowd is thanked for joining and, just like that, people begin to filter out the keynote theatre.

And now, as they leave the stage, it looks like it's already time for the opening keynotes closing remarks! The hosts announce some exciting events that are yet to come during the conference.

Managed model training is a topic of the pairs address, and they discuss using Buildpack and Kubeflow, before moving on to talking about multi-cluster scheduling. Knative and KServe are also platforms used at Bloomberg.

To support their features, they need a scalable infrastructure and they need to support a complex machine learning lifecycle. They leverage open source solutions to help with this process.

They talk about the companys flagship product, Bloomberg terminal. The company handles a massive amount of data every day. They talk about how Bloomberg terminal uses AI (unsurprisingly given the focus of the keynotes so far).

Now two more speakers for the next keynote, Yuzhui Liu Team Lead at Bloomberg, and Leon Zhou, Software Engineer at Bloomberg.

After another speaker jumps into the news room, Ibrahim Haddad (via video), its a wrap for the news show!

Now Kakodkar will speak to cloud native and AIs relationship more generally, talking about the relationship of infrastructure and cloud native as symbiotic.

The keynote now cuts to an imitated live report from somewhere outside the conference center.

This just inKubernetes enters its second decade. It learned how to walk and then run, and now will fly into the AI galaxy - it looks like this keynote session will feature several different news broadcasters, or just plain speakers, over its duration.

Next to the stage is the curiously named Cloud Native News Show (complete with faux-news show graphics) headed up by Nikhita Raghunath and Rajas Kakodar.

To close out, the panel host reaffirms Kubernetes as becoming the standard for AI platforms, while also going over some of the panels discussion on resource allocation, data loading, and the importance of choosing the right specialized compute for the right model.

The questions are flying: What can we do to optimize for sustainability? One panelist jumps in to tout lower usage compute systems that, in turn, create lower costs.

Compute power seems to be a running theme in KubeCon 2024s opening keynotes, and the panels attention is turned considerably towards concepts of GPU sharing and efficient GPU use.

The panel starts with a question about how Kubernetes might be simplified, followed by a question about the compute decisions people should make in regard to Kubernetes. GPU-free LLM inference is one response to the latter of the two questions.

Next to the stage are several people for a panel discussion: Lu Qiu from Alluxio, Susan Wu and Clayton Coleman from Google, Victor Jakubiuk from Ampere Computing, and Ricardo Rocha from CERN.

Thats why hes announcing the companys new KAITO architecture, which will deploy and run inference for models. Its a speedy run through of the product and then hes off!

Next to the stage is Jorge Palma, Principal PM Lead at Microsoft, who will be taking the lead for a sponsored keynote on building an open source platform for AI. There are a lot of issues along the way, he says, such as containerizing models.

Topology aware placement is key to avoiding problems, he says, as well as an understanding of fault tolerance and resiliency. Problems need to be diagnosed easily and observability needs to be built in.

Klues hands over to Chatterjee to talk about the issues around scaling out GPUs, particularly with regard to training. To satisfy the demands of generative AI, he says, a vast amount of GPUs are needed.

They talk about time-slicing, a technique used to split the demands of AI workloads, as well as GPU sharing. Kevin gives a little shout out to some other talks at the conference if people want to know more!

They talk about how GPUs are at the heart of the AI revolution and will talk about what it takes to enable GPU support in Kubernetes, support that can help in directing AI workloads.

Two new speakers hit the stage, Kevin Klues, Distinguished Engineer, and Sanjay Chatterjee, Engineering Manager at NVIDIA, to talk about AI workloads with GPUs in Kubernetes.

Sharma brings up the phrase open source washing, which turns the groups attention to the importance of open source in AI. Morgan talks about the open source nature of Kubernetes but then also comments that this is affected by whether a model is open source, while Lacroix says that it would be helpful for all the tooling for AI to be open source.

The group also talk about inference cases, the possibility of smaller model use, and evolution in the space in general. They talk about the different workloads for AI, such as training, fine-tuning, and inference.

Sharmas focusing on linking cloud native and AI together, now bringing to the stage the co-founder of Mistral AI, Timothe Lacroix, lead product manager at Google, Paiege Bailey, and founder of Ollama, Jeffery Morgan. They discuss the relationship between AI and cloud native.

Sharma develops a visual language model that impressively details a picture of the conference hall itself! Everyone was suitably pleased.

Sharma talks about how, together, cloud native has made platforms more resilient and stable, listing some of the big names associated with it - Adidas, Disney, Spotifythe list goes on.

This is apparently the largest KubeCon ever according to Sharma - so big, she jokes, that even her parents are here!

Priyanka Sharma, Executive Director of Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) has hit stage to wild applause from the audience.

2024-03-20T08:19:57.636Z

The keynote session has begun, kicked off with a promotional video!

Everyone has now been allowed into the keynote theatre and it's filling up quickly.

No one's allowed into the keynote theatre just yet so this is a good time to get acquainted with the conference space.

The weather's getting nice now! KubeCon's keynote talks are located on the third floor of the centre.

The registration area is filling up, although the Paris Expo Centre's coffee shops aren't open yet unfortunately!

It's a crisp but sunny day here in Paris as people make their way in to the Paris Expo Centre for the first day of KubeCon 2024.

Welcome to ITPro's live coverage of KubeCon 2024 at the Paris Expo conference center. We're on the ground in Paris waiting for the opening keynote to begin.

In today's session, we'll hear from the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) on all the latest developments in the cloud native space, along with community updates and live presentations from a host of industry figures.

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Google partners with WWT for US sovereign cloud – DatacenterDynamics

Google and World Wide Technology (WWT) are partnering for sovereign cloud solutions in the US to target government customers.

Google Public Sector and technology solutions provider WTT have announced a joint effort to advance the adoption of Google Distributed Cloud Hosted (GDC Hosted), a sovereign cloud solution.

WWT is the first partner approved by Google Cloud to operate GDC Hosted sovereign clouds in the United States as a Managed GDC Provider.

We are excited to partner with WWT to help bring the power of Google Distributed Cloud to the federal government, said Jan Niemiec - Managing Director, Google Cloud. WWT understands the needs of customers with stringent requirements, including classified, restricted, and top-secret data.

Google said GDC Hosted is air-gapped and does not require connectivity to Google Cloud or the public Internet at any time to manage the infrastructure, services, APIs, or tooling, and it is built to remain disconnected in perpetuity.

We are proud to collaborate with Google Public Sector to offer our Public Sector customers a dedicated cloud solution to help secure sensitive data and support their data sovereignty, said Scot Gagnon, WWT VP of federal sales. In an era of data-driven decisions, secure data management for federal agencies is critical. Partnering with Google Public Sector, we will continue our track record of delivering innovative ideas and technology that accelerate mission-critical outcomes by giving federal customers the capabilities they need to manage the nations most sensitive applications and data.

According to WWTs website, the company operates around 500 racks across five of its own data centers many in St. Louis, Missouri and leases space in an Equinix facility in Ashburn, Virginia.

Most cloud providers in the US including Microsoft, Amazon, and Oracle have long had dedicated cloud regions for government customers.

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Google partners with WWT for US sovereign cloud - DatacenterDynamics

AWS and Fujitsu Expand Partnership to Modernize Legacy Cloud Applications – EnterpriseAI

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Fujitsu Limited announced the expansion of their global partnership to accelerate the modernization of legacy applications on AWS Cloud. The joint intuitive, named Modernization Acceleration, comes at a time when organizations are keen to modernize their legacy applications to move away from on-premise open service systems and to maximize the benefits of cloud.

According to research by McKinsey, organizations that invested in the right software tools experienced four to five times the revenue growth of their competitors. The digital transformation journey to modernization offers several benefits including improving customer engagement, building dynamic defenses to modern security risks, and better operational efficiency in the era of GenAI.

The Modernisation Acceleration initiative will be launched on April 1, with AWS and Fujitsu providing assessment, migration, and modernization of legacy mission-critical applications for customers across industries.

AWS and Fujisu will facilitate the entire end-to-end value creation through modernization including helping customers from final testing to migrations. The goal of this intuitive is to build a foundation for data utilization from legacy systems toward data-driven management.

According to Megumi Shimazu, Corporate Executive Officer, SEVP, Head of Global Technology Solutions, Fujitsu Limited, the partnership combines AWS broadest and deepest cloud-enabled technologies with Fujitsus years of mainframe and UNIX server expertise, we can deliver fast, secure modernization, allowing customers to focus on accelerating innovation across industries.

The initiative will leverage the expertise of the AWS Professional Services team that help customers accelerate the adoption of AWS solutions. This includes the use of AWS Mainframe Modernization, which integrates the tools needed to modernize mainframe applications using a single environment. Several other AWS services will be employed for this intuitive, including the AWS Security and Assurance Services, AWS Support and Managed Services, and the AWS Training and Certification.

Commenting on the partnership, Uwem Ukpong, vice president, Global Services, Amazon Web Services, shared his excitement about the expanded partnership with Fujitsu to drive digital transformation. He also shared that he looks forward to using the joint capacities to help customers derive greater insights from mainframe data.

The AWS Mainframe Modernization provides AWS Blue Age, an AWS refactoring solution that converts legacy mainframe workloads, including application code, infrastructure, and dependencies into modern workloads for the cloud. The expanded partnership will help customs use Futijsuss flagship GS21 series mainframes to reduce the cost and time required for data migration and modernization.

AWS and Fijutsu have been working on a proof of concept to modernize one of Fujitsus mission-critical applications running GS21 series mainframes on the AWS cloud. The proof of concept was successful using AWS Blu Age to convert the application with COBOL code to Java.

The two companies will use Fujitsus GS21 series mainframes to support the first 40 customers in North America, Europe, and Asia, and other key regions. This phase is expected to last until 2029, after which the joint initiative will start using Fujitsu UNIX servers and mainframes from other companies to support customers.

The next steps to facilitating modernization include incorporating AI technologies, such as GenAI, to accelerate mainframe modernization at scale. There are also plans for the joint initiative to automate functions such as cloud environment management, code analysis, and testing.

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AWS and Fujitsu Expand Partnership to Modernize Legacy Cloud Applications - EnterpriseAI

How Cloud Labs and Remote Research Shape Science – The Scientist

Article reviewed by Dana Cortade, PhD from Align to Innovate.

Stay up to date on the latest science with Brush Up Summaries.

Cloud labs provide remote access to automated scientific instruments, reagents, and robots.

Remote labs are physical laboratories that enable researchers to conduct experiments without being physically near the equipment. They offer remote access to raw reagents, instruments, sample preparation, and step-by-step experimental processes. Besides improving access to complex experiments for more researchers, remote labs can also minimize human error by automating workflows.1

Cloud labs are a type of remote lab that enables researchers to conduct their experiments remotely using a computer and cloud-based infrastructure.2 The cloud is an extensive network of software servers, which can be accessed through an online interface from any geographical location. Cloud labs provide access to software that coordinates automated scientific instruments, inventories (e.g., chemical reagents), and robots to perform experiments and process data.3 By logging into the cloud, researchers can carry out scalable, standardized, and robust biological protocols in remotely operated labs.

The idea of remote work can be traced back to the 1970s when Jack Nilles, a NASA engineer, proposed the use of telecommuting to alleviate traffic congestion.4 The advent of personal computers and widespread internet access in the early 2000s has contributed to the concept of remote work being popularly accepted as a viable working arrangement across many disciplines.5

In scientific research, the outbreak of the covid pandemic highlighted researchers strong reliance on in-person work and the limitations of human-dependent experimental procedures.6 It was during this time that cloud labs gained immense popularity in the research community.7 Currently, the demand for cloud lab services is growing at a faster pace compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Progress and adoption of remote labs stem from major milestones in remote work technologies, laboratory automation, robotics, cloud infrastructure, and the pandemic response.

The Scientist

The creation of remote labs has been made possible by rapid progress in automation, facilitated by advances in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).2,8

Automation is a multidisciplinary strategy that enables the operation of laboratory tools and instruments with minimum human interaction. Automation also improves sample throughput, which saves a considerable amount of discovery time and contributes to breakthroughs that are conventionally limited by manual methods. In order to automate their research, scientists depend on automated equipment. We hope with time and innovation that more and more labs will have access to automation, whether it's within their own labs, in core facilities that they can use, or in commercial entities like cloud labs, said Dana Cortade, a technical project manager at Align to Innovate, a scientific nonprofit organization that focuses on improving science via automation.

Robotics play a key role in automating standard laboratory operations and reducing human errors. As an example, liquid handling robots in remote labs enable reagent preparation and sample transfer between different experimental steps with high precision.9 Automation using pipetting robots is another time-saving strategy for simultaneous processing of many samples while reducing contamination risks.10

AI has significantly contributed to the development of automated and remote labs. Within the realm of AI, machine learning (ML) uses mathematical models to perform complex prediction tasks. Cloud labs commonly use ML models to predict material properties and experimental outcomes, supporting automated and semi-automated workflows. AI-based algorithms help scientists analyze big data faster by automating the process.11

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Two examples of commercial cloud labs areStrateosandEmerald Cloud Lab.12,13 Both primarily provide services for industry researchers. Strateos develops in-house cloud lab platforms for private companies working on drug discovery and characterization. Emerald Cloud Lab provides many laboratory services, such as sample preparation, bioassays, DNA and peptide synthesis, bioimaging, and biomaterial characterization. Arctoris is another commercial remote lab that is a technology-enabled multinational contract research organization (CRO). It offers a remote-operated platform that is mainly focused on automated, AI-driven drug discovery and testing.14

Biofoundries are another type of remote lab; they offer infrastructure for testing genetically engineered organisms for different biotechnological applications, such as the production of antibiotics, bioplastics, and biofuels.15 Although many biofoundries have been established over the last five years, they are not widely used in the biotechnology or biological research communities, largely due to lack of awareness. Recent initiatives such as The Global Biofoundry Alliance aim to foster coordination among biofoundries and expand their global reach.15

The recent growth of automated experimentation techniques and data science has led to the development of self-driving labs.16 These labs enhance molecule and material synthesis and characterization by performing ML-selected experiments using automated tools and techniques. Scientists use these facilities for the production of complex organic compounds, thin-film materials, and carbon nanotubes.17-19

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The main advantages of using cloud labs are scalability, safety, 24/7 availability, and automation of a wide range of tasks.20 Because cloud labs often include many types of remotely operated equipment, scientists can perform a broader range of experiments without needing technical expertise to manually operate each instrument. Newly generated experimental data is stored securely for future analysis, and successful experimental protocols can be saved, transferred to other work platforms, and reused in the future.

There are also challenges to using remote labs. For instance, many cloud lab limitations revolve around data integrity, data protection, and data security issues, stemming from service disruption, data loss, and cyber-attacks.21

Another limitation centers around funding challenges in academia, which prevents the widespread adoption of cloud technology. I think that a lot of the really cool discoveries and breakthroughs that we've seen have come from either really big labs or industry groups, because theyve had the funding for a while now to be able to have high throughput and automation in their labs, said Cortade. Additionally, commercial cloud lab services are often expensive and come with lengthy contract terms, primarily suitable for industry customers and not academic institutions. Align to Innovate is one recent initiative that aims to address this challenge.

References

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How Cloud Labs and Remote Research Shape Science - The Scientist