Category Archives: Technology

Researchers achieve long-lasting and renewable chemical production with photosynthetic microorganisms

Aug 08: Finnish researchers have taken an important step toward long-lasting production of renewable chemicals and fuels using photosynthetic microorganisms. By entrapping cyanobacteria engineered for ethylene production in thin nanocellulose films, the researchers enabled sustained ethylene production for more than four months and generated approximately twice as much ethylene as comparable suspension cultures. 

Photosynthetic microorganisms can use light energy to convert carbon dioxide into useful compounds under mild, environmentally compatible conditions. However, many current photosynthetic production systems rely on cells growing freely in large volumes of liquid. This creates a substantial demand for water and requires extensive mixing to keep the cells evenly distributed and exposed to light, increasing the resource and energy requirements of the process.

“For practical chemical production, photosynthetic microorganisms need to function not only as growing cultures, but as stable and long-lived biocatalysts,” says Senior Research Fellow Sergey Kosourov from the University of Turku in Finland. “One major limitation of suspension cultures is self-shading: cells near the light source block light from reaching cells deeper in the culture. This reduces the efficiency of light use and creates challenges when scaling the technology toward industrial applications.”

To address these limitations, the researchers entrapped the engineered cyanobacteria within specifically designed nanocellulose films. The nanocellulose scaffold, developed by researchers at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, provides a supportive environment for the living cells. These films act as living biohybrid catalysts in which the cells perform photosynthesis and produce the target chemical from atmospheric carbon dioxide, while the surrounding material maintains hydration, supports cell fitness, and facilitates light penetration.

“The important advance is that we are combining engineered photosynthetic cells with supporting materials to create functional living systems for chemical production. This biohybrid approach combines the natural abilities of the cells with the controllable properties of the surrounding material. Entrapping the cells within the matrix restricts cell division and excessive biomass accumulation, allowing more of the captured carbon and energy to be directed toward the desired product,” says Professor Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne, leader of the Photosynthetic Microbes research group at the University of Turku.

Living films sustained photosynthetic production for more than four months

The nanocellulose films containing ethylene-producing cyanobacteria were tested in a continuous-flow biofilm reactor, where they remained moist while exposed to the reactor headspace. This configuration facilitated the release and collection of ethylene from the films. Under these conditions, the cyanobacterial films remained productive for more than four months and generated up to approximately twice as much ethylene as comparable suspension cultures.

“Most studies of photosynthetic bioproduction focus on the highest production rate achieved over a relatively short period,” says Sergey Kosourov. “For practical applications, however, it is equally important to know whether the cells can remain productive for weeks or months and function as long-lived biocatalysts.”

The researchers also evaluated the biodegradability of the nanocellulose formulations and confirmed that the matrices could be broken down after the production phase. This finding supports the further development of biodegradable and potentially recyclable materials for photosynthetic production.

Engineering biocatalytic architecture to improve light use

The ethylene study focuses on long-term operation, but it forms part of a broader research programme at the University of Turku to develop effective living photosynthetic catalysts. In an earlier study, the team demonstrated that engineered living materials can be organized in innovative ways to improve light utilization. By layering cells with smaller light-harvesting “antennae” above cells with larger antennae, the researchers distributed light more evenly throughout the biocatalyst, substantially increasing light-to-product conversion efficiency.

“Together, these studies show that the biocatalysts can be designed for both long-term operation and more efficient light use. By engineering the photosynthetic cells and controlling their spatial organization within the biocatalytic architecture, we can improve light management and address limitations that are difficult to overcome in suspension cultures,” Kosourov explains.

The technology is still at the laboratory stage, and further work is needed to increase productivity, improve product recovery, and scale the platform to larger reactors suitable for pilot-scale operation.

“Our next challenge is to translate the performance of small laboratory films into larger, reliable production systems. This requires us to engineer the cells, materials, and reactors together so that light, water, and carbon dioxide are distributed efficiently at larger scales. If successful, this platform could support a new generation of low energy biohybrid technologies for the production of renewable chemicals and fuels,” says Professor Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne.

Together, these efforts aim to move biohybrid photosynthetic materials from laboratory demonstrations toward practical solar-driven biomanufacturing.

The new study was published in Trends in Biotechnology on 2 July 2026.

66% of India’s AI workers brace for headcount cuts, while engineers feel safer

Aug 07: Many tech workers believe AI will take their jobs, so they think the safe move is to work in AI. But the data says the opposite. In a survey of 1,552 India-based professionals by Blind, the anonymous community app for professionals, AI/ML roles report one of the highest perceived layoff fears of any function, with 66% expecting a layoff or significant headcount cut in their team within the next 3 to 6 months.

That puts AI/ML right next to the jobs everyone already assumes are most at risk. Sales/Marketing leads at 68%, with AI/ML (66%) and Product/Design (65%) close behind. Moving into AI/ML does not make you safer. These workers feel just as at risk as the ones they thought AI would replace.

Engineering is another job people expected AI to take first, but it turned out to be one of the safest. Only 24% of engineers say a cut is “very likely,” the lowest of any function, and overall at-risk sentiment (58%) is below the survey average. Data/Analytics’ at-risk sentiment falls to 51%, and 4 in 10 of its workers call a cut unlikely, the highest of any team. The two functions AI was believed to replace feel safer than the team building it.

The split is just as sharp by company. Salesforce (81%) and Oracle (80%) sit at the top, followed by Uber (77%) and PayPal (75%). Two of India’s own SaaS firms sit at the other end, with Zoho at 9% and Freshworks at 44%. The companies where workers feel most at risk are the enterprise software and payments firms.

The fear does not come from direct layoffs. It comes from the quiet signs before them. Among workers who expect a headcount cut, hiring freezes (27%) and budget or headcount-target cuts (24%) are the strongest signals they point to. Formal layoff announcements account for just 9%. 

In a Blind post on engineers’ job prospects in India, one Coinbase professional put it bluntly: “ML is honestly dead too… The best you can do is augment your current skills for backend AI pipelines. And ride it out as long as you can.” An Avalara professional went further: “the only safe ML guys are the ones with phd at deep mind.”

Methodology Blind surveyed 1,552 India-based professionals in July 2026 on perceived job security across teams and functions. Companies with fewer than 10 responses were excluded from company-level analysis. Response breakdowns are as follows:

Q1. Which team or function do you currently work in?

1. Engineering (39%)

2. AI / ML (25%)

3. Product / Design (9%)

4. Data / Analytics (6%)

5. Sales / Marketing (7%)

6. Operations / Support / G&A (7%)

7. Other (7%)

Q2. In the next 3-6 months, how likely is a layoff or significant headcount cut in your team?(“At-risk” = “Very likely” + “Somewhat likely”)

1. Very likely (29%)

2. Somewhat likely (30%)

3. Unlikely (17%)

4. Very unlikely (12%)

5. Don’t know (12%)

Q3. Which signal is the strongest driver of your read on your team’s risk? (full sample; figures cited in the release are among at-risk respondents only)

1. Hiring freeze (26%)

2. Budget or headcount targets cut (21%) 

3. Projects cancelled or deprioritized (12%)

4. Rising PIP / bench policy (11%)

5. Formal layoffs already announced (7%)

6. No warning signals right now (24%)

Disclaimer: This article is published for informational purposes based on data and statements attributed to Blind and does not independently verify the survey findings or claims. The views, statistics and opinions presented are those of the cited source and respondents, and should not be construed as the publisher’s views.

YBVR Launches CultVRe, a New Immersive Platform Bringing Culture Beyond the Screen

The new mobile and VR platform expands YBVR’s immersive media ecosystem into performance, art, heritage, and film.

YBVR has officially launched CultVRe, a new immersive platform designed to bring audiences closer to culture through mobile and virtual reality experiences.

Created by YBVR, the company behind experiential sports and music platforms including Xtadium and Xtadium Music, CultVRe marks the company’s expansion into the cultural sector. The platform gives cultural institutions, creators, and partners a new way to extend the reach of their content beyond physical venues and traditional screens.

CultVRe made its public debut at CM Málaga, where YBVR introduced the platform to cultural leaders, institutions, creators, and industry partners exploring the future of immersive storytelling.

Available on iOS, Android, and Meta Quest, CultVRe brings together point-of-view experiences that put audiences inside performance, art, heritage, and film. At launch, CultVRe features immersive heritage content from Toledo Monumental, while YBVR continues to expand its cultural pipeline through collaborations with leading institutions including San Francisco Ballet. 

“CultVRe represents a natural evolution for YBVR,” said Héctor Prieto, CEO of YBVR. “We have spent years developing immersive technology for sports and live entertainment, helping audiences feel closer to moments they could not physically attend. With CultVRe, we are applying that expertise to culture, heritage, and travel, creating new opportunities for institutions, destinations, artists, and partners to bring people closer to places, stories, and performances they may never otherwise experience in person.”

CultVRe is built around a simple idea: culture should be able to travel further. Through first-person video and spatial experiences, the platform allows audiences to step inside curated stories, places and performances from wherever they are, creating a stronger sense of presence, proximity, and access.

For cultural institutions and rights holders, CultVRe opens new possibilities for digital distribution, audience development, education, sponsorship, and long-term content value. Rather than replacing the live experience, the platform is designed to extend it, helping cultural content reach new audiences across devices and geographies.

The launch of CultVRe builds on YBVR’s experience in immersive media, multi-platform video delivery and fan engagement. Through its existing work in sports and music, YBVR has developed technology that brings audiences closer to live and on-demand experiences through mobile, VR, and connected devices. CultVRe brings that expertise into a new category, creating a dedicated destination for immersive culture.

CultVRe is free to download and is now available on iOS, Android, and Meta Quest. Audiences can download the app and explore the platform at https://ybvr.com/cultvre/.

Users can also follow CultVRe on Instagram at @cultvre.app for updates on new content and upcoming experiences.

Tenable Launches Industry’s First Open-Source AI Agent Exchange to Advance Collective Cyber Innovation and Defense

The CyberAgents Exchange, powered by Tenable, introduces a vendor-agnostic community for security practitioners to discover, share and build trusted AI components 

Dubai, UAE | Aug 06: — Tenable® Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: TENB), the exposure management company, today launched the CyberAgents Exchange, a new open-source AI exchange created to foster industry collaboration and improve collective cyber defense. The CyberAgents Exchange, powered by Tenable, is the only purpose-built, cybersecurity-native registry for AI agents, skills, MCP servers and multi-agent playbooks in the current market.

Security teams are increasingly turning to AI to scale security operations and manage risk overload, but end up building AI agents in isolation, repeatedly reinventing the wheel. Existing AI exchanges are either general-purpose or vendor-gated, forcing security teams to wade through irrelevant use cases, waste time on duplicate design and build efforts, or accept restrictive vendor lock-in. To improve the cybersecurity industry’s collective defense and outpace AI-generated threats, defenders need a unified, cyber-specific hub to accelerate development and share collective agentic tooling.

The CyberAgents Exchange eliminates these development silos and empowers industry collaboration with a truly open, free-to-use exchange. Built for trust and transparency, the Exchange provides code-level visibility into who built each AI component, when it was created and its peer-supported status. This transparency enables members to deploy AI components tailored to their specific organizational needs confidently. Additionally, the Exchange is a career asset for practitioners to build verifiable expertise in an emerging discipline and develop a catalog of peer-supported AI components.

“The CyberAgents Exchange fills a major and pressing industry need, especially as cybersecurity remains a growing issue and AI-enabled attacks rise,” said Seth Fogie, Director of Security for Baptist Memorial Health Care. “Its core philosophy of working together is what made the threat intelligence community so invaluable. My team has benefited greatly from the Exchange, and we look forward to contributing and collaborating with the wider community.”

Underscoring the industry’s commitment to collaborative, open-source AI defense, industry leaders SentinelOne and Recorded Future have joined the initiative as founding members of the CyberAgents Exchange. By contributing their deep expertise in autonomous security operations and threat intelligence, these industry pioneers will help anchor the Exchange as a truly unified, vendor-agnostic ecosystem. As founding members, both organizations will actively contribute secure AI agents, integration frameworks and playbooks to accelerate the community’s defense capabilities against rapidly evolving AI-driven threats.

More than 50 AI components, released under open-source licenses, are available, including:

● Navi (Agent): A command-line tool that leverages the Tenable One Vulnerability Management APIs to automate common vulnerability management and cyber exposure workflows.

● SentinelOne Purple AI (MCP Server): Allows users to access SentinelOne services with any MCP client.

● Recorded Future MITRE APT Attack Path Analysis (Skill): Pulls an organization’s Recorded Future threat map, maps an APT group’s MITRE ATT&CK techniques and cross-references against live Tenable findings to identify which attack path nodes are actively exploitable.

● SOC-Hunter (Skill): Leveraged daily by Tenable’s internal security operations team, SOC-Hunter provides proactive, hypothesis-driven threat hunting using the LOCK pattern across SIEM, EDR, VM, CSPM, CASB and code search.

● The Hounds Pack (Playbook): A skill-packaged playbook for The Hounds — 18 exposure-management specialists that hunt, tag and calibrate risk.

“Security is a team sport. We’ve addressed a gaping hole in the ecosystem of AI Agents, built for defenders, by defenders. With the CyberAgents Exchange, we’re creating a collaborative ‘town square’ where cybersecurity practitioners can build, test, improve and share the best in agentic defense,” said Vlad Korsunsky, Chief Technology Officer, Tenable. “With our deep roots in the open source community and our global ecosystem of customers and partners, Tenable is uniquely positioned to steward this collaborative effort to help scale security teams’ capabilities and outpace evolving threats.”

“To truly scale defenses against autonomous, AI-driven threats, the security community must move past isolated development and vendor-locked silos,” said Braden Preston, vice president of product management, SentinelOne. “As a founding member of the CyberAgents Exchange, SentinelOne is proud to champion a transparent, open-source foundation for agentic security. By sharing trusted, autonomous components and collaborative playbooks, we are empowering security teams globally to innovate faster, defend smarter and outpace modern adversaries together.”

“Joining the CyberAgents Exchange as a founding member lets us bring world-class threat intelligence directly into the open-source frameworks security teams are building today,” said Jamie Zajac, Chief Product Officer at Recorded Future. “But the promise of AI agents in security depends entirely on whether they can be trusted. Intelligence doesn’t just make agents smarter. It makes them traceable, auditable and repeatable. That’s the foundation the community needs to build autonomous defense that’s not only fast, but reliable.”

The Tenable CyberAgents Exchange is a free, open-source community with no fees for listing or using agents.

Why STEM Education Needs to Reach Students Long Before They Think About Careers

-Mary Ellen Randall, CEO of IEEE

 If you spend enough time with young people, you start to notice something. They are excited to learn about the world. But the way they learn is different. My grandchildren are very comfortable with using technology, however, as a grandparent, I have seen it firsthand. They are accustomed to learning in shorter bursts, through games, videos and social media, formats that center interaction and exploration rather than passive instruction.

Their interest is shaped not just by what they learn, but how they experience it. That matters more now than it did just a decade ago.

Emerging technologies are moving from theory to application at a rate that is much faster than in previous generations. Today’s kindergarteners will never know a world in which artificial intelligence wasn’t broadly available to everyone. Even once esoteric ideas like quantum computing aren’t abstract concepts with far-off implications for this cohort. If we wait until college or even high school to introduce students to these ideas, we are already behind.

The challenge is not a lack of interest. Research shows that fascination with STEM peaks between the ages of 11 and 15. And yet, there is a notable absence of engineering-related content for this age group. 

At the same time, the vast majority of jobs, nearly 80% will require STEM skills in the next decade. 

Closing that gap requires follow-through. Young people are highly adaptable, but we need to rethink how we teach if we want to reach them effectively. 

This is where organizations like IEEE have a responsibility and an opportunity.

We are in a unique position as a global community of technologists, engineers, and educators. We have the expertise, but more importantly, we have the ability to connect that expertise across disciplines and across generations. 

The IEEE Future Tech Explorers Challenge launched earlier this year with the goal to find new ways to teach these concepts. This challenge was designed to tap the collective ingenuity of the entire IEEE community and the rules were carefully designed so that participants were not locked into a single way of learning or a single solution to the problem.  

There is no one-size-fits-all approach. One of the big lessons of my time working in disaster response through IEEE MOVE is that every disaster is different, and the local needs of every place impacted by a storm is different.  

I think that lesson applies to the future of education too. What works for one student or in one classroom may not work for another. The power of IEEE’s community isn’t that it can produce a single right answer, but that it can produce many approaches, suitable for different learning styles, cultures, and contexts. 

If we want the next generation to be ready for what comes next, we need to meet them where they are — earlier, more creatively, and with a willingness to rethink how we teach. The interest is already there. Our job is to make sure the opportunity is there as well.

Researchers demonstrate first fully solution-processed solid-state polariton laser

University of Turku, Finland | Aug 06: Researchers have demonstrated a solid-state organic laser microcavity fabricated entirely by solution processing. The device operates in the strong light–matter coupling regime, where light and matter form hybrid states called polaritons. This makes the platform not only a new type of solution-processed laser but also a powerful way to study nonlinear polariton interactions. 

 Solid-state lasers are used in many modern technologies, from telecommunications and sensing to medical diagnostics and data storage. However, their fabrication often requires complex and energy-intensive manufacturing methods. This new work shows that organic laser devices can be made in a much simpler way, by coating each layer from a liquid solution rather than depositing it in vacuum.

“Our main result is that we can make a complete solid-state laser microcavity using only solution processing. This is important because it shows that simple and scalable fabrication can still produce the high optical quality needed for advanced laser physics,” says Associate Professor Konstantinos Daskalakis from the University of Turku in Finland.

In the new device, both the mirrors that trap light and the organic light-emitting layer were fabricated by spin coating. The high quality of the microcavity allowed the researchers to reach the strong light–matter interaction regime, where light and molecules mix together and form hybrid states called polaritons.

These polaritons allow the device to operate as a polariton laser. In simple terms, this means that the laser-like emission is produced through the collective behaviour of light and matter together, rather than by light alone.

“The exciting part is that we are not only making a simple solution-processed structure but also a working solid-state polariton laser. This gives researchers a much more accessible way to study these devices,” says Postdoctoral Researcher Hassan Ali Qureshi.

The study conducted by researchers at the University of Turku also revealed an unusual behaviour when the laser was driven strongly. Instead of emitting only from the centre of the excited area, the light redistributed outward and formed a ring-like pattern. This effect was reversible and could be controlled by changing the optical design of the cavity.

“For us, this was very interesting because we could see the effect of polariton interactions as a visible, macroscopic change in the emitted light. By tuning the cavity, we can control how strongly this redistribution appears. This gives us a practical knob for studying nonlinear polariton behaviour,” says Senior Researcher Henri Lyyra.

The researchers believe that the new platform can make organic laser and polariton research more accessible. In the longer term, it may support the development of low-cost photonic devices and help progress toward future organic lasers that are electrically driven.

The study was carried out at the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Turku in Finland, with collaboration from the University of Eastern Finland.

The results have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Hexnode Partners with Ingram Micro in Indonesia

This agreement comes as a concrete response to rising cyber threats and the increasingly complex device management needs of Indonesia’s hybrid-work era

Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug 05: Hexnode, the enterprise software division of Mitsogo has announced a new distribution agreement with Ingram Micro , appointing it as an Authorized Distributor in Indonesia. The collaboration strengthens Hexnode’s presence in Southeast Asia while expanding Ingram Micro’s portfolio in enterprise endpoint security. The appointment was unveiled at a media and partner gathering in Jakarta.

As Indonesia’s digital economy continues to grow, organizations are managing an increasingly diverse mix of corporate, personal, frontline, and specialized devices while facing a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape. According to Indonesia’s National Cyber and Crypto Agency (BSSN), the country recorded 5.5 billion cyber incidents in 2025—a 714% increase over the previous four-year average—with another 1.52 billion incidents detected during the opening months of 2026. The trend highlights the increasing importance of centralized endpoint security and management across enterprises.

Through this, organizations across Indonesia will gain broader access to Hexnode’s unified endpoint management platform through Ingram Micro’s extensive network of resellers, system integrators, and managed service providers. Together, the companies aim to help businesses simplify endpoint management, strengthen security, support compliance with regulations such as Indonesia’s Personal Data Protection Law (UU PDP), and improve operational efficiency across increasingly distributed IT environments.

“At Ingram Micro, our role as a distributor goes beyond making technology available. We build the local capabilities that enable our partners to successfully position, deploy, and support solutions for their customers. By adding Hexnode to our portfolio, we can help resellers and system integrators develop stronger managed services and recurring-revenue opportunities around endpoint management. Through technical enablement, solution integration, and go-to-market support, we aim to help our partners address a broader range of customer needs and accelerate the adoption of modern device management across Indonesia.” — Mulia Dewi Karnadi, President Director of Ingram Micro 

Hexnode UEM enables organizations to manage and secure endpoints across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and other enterprise platforms from a single console. The platform combines policy management, application lifecycle management, patch management, remote monitoring and management, automation, and compliance capabilities to help IT teams streamline operations while maintaining a strong security posture. It also supports specialized deployment scenarios, including kiosk devices, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environments, and rugged endpoints used across industries such as retail, healthcare, logistics, manufacturing, and field services.

“We’re honoured to launch our distribution partnership with Ingram Micro. Together, we’re strengthening our commitment to the Indonesian market and empowering businesses with world-class endpoint management solutions. We look forward to growing alongside Ingram Micro and its outstanding partner ecosystem.”

— Keith O’Leary, Enterprise Sales Director, ASEAN, Hexnode

10ZiG Expands Global Reach with Comprehensive Multi-Language Support Across Its Endpoint Software Portfolio

New multilingual capabilities in 10ZiG Manager v6 and 10ZiG Linux OS reinforce the company’s commitment to supporting customers and partners worldwide

PHOENIX and LEICESTER, UK – August 4, 2026 – 10ZiG® Technology, a leading provider of thin and zero client hardware and software solutions for VDI, DaaS, web application, and secure digital workspace environments, today announced expanded global language support across its software portfolio with the latest release of 10ZiG Manager™ v6. The update introduces native support for English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Dutch, enabling organizations and channel partners worldwide to deploy, manage, and support endpoint environments in their preferred language.

The announcement further strengthens 10ZiG’s commitment to serving international customers by delivering a fully localized software experience across its endpoint ecosystem. Combined with 10ZiG Linux OS v16.5 and later, which also supports the same languages, organizations can now benefit from consistent multilingual capabilities throughout the entire 10ZiG software stack—from endpoint operating system to centralized device management.

As organizations continue to modernize endpoint environments across geographically distributed workforces, localized management tools are becoming increasingly important for improving administrator productivity, accelerating deployments, and simplifying ongoing endpoint management.

“Technology should adapt to the organizations using it—not the other way around,” said James Broughton, Sales Director, EMEA, 10ZiG Technology Limited. “As our customer and partner community continues to grow across Europe and other international markets, providing native language support throughout our software portfolio helps remove barriers to adoption while creating a more intuitive experience for IT teams. This investment reflects our long-term commitment to supporting customers wherever they operate.”

The expanded language support represents another milestone in 10ZiG’s accelerating international growth strategy. Over the past year, the company has continued to strengthen its global presence through several strategic initiatives, including the opening of 10ZiG GmbH to expand operations across Germany and the DACH market. Additionally, across the broader EMEA region, the company announced the appointment of Dakel as its distribution partner for Spain, and the launch of the company’s global Fusion Channel Partner Program, designed to help partners capitalize on growing endpoint modernization opportunities worldwide.

These investments complement 10ZiG’s continued expansion of its hardware, software, and partner ecosystem while ensuring organizations receive localized support, simplified management, and deployment flexibility regardless of geography.

“International growth is about much more than expanding into new regions,” added Broughton. “It’s about delivering solutions that feel native to every customer and every partner. By extending multilingual support across our entire software stack, we’re making it easier for organizations around the world to deploy, manage, and scale secure endpoint environments while reinforcing our commitment to serving global markets.”

The multilingual capabilities are available immediately as part of 10ZiG Manager v6, alongside the platform’s recently introduced Linux Virtual Appliance deployment option, which simplifies implementation by eliminating the need for Windows Server infrastructure while providing the same centralized endpoint management capabilities at no additional cost.

Together with the multilingual capabilities already available in 10ZiG Linux OS v16.5 and later, organizations can now deploy a complete endpoint solution that delivers a consistent user and administrator experience across multiple regions and languages.

Mannai Information Technology opens regional headquarters in Riyadh to support Saudi Vision 2030

With the Riyadh RHQ, MIT KSA aims to provide strong innovation-led growth and customer support aligned with the Kingdom’s digital transformation initiatives

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Aug 04: Mannai Information Technology Saudi Arabia (MIT KSA), part of Mannai Corporation QPSC, opened its new regional headquarters (RHQ) in Riyadh, marking a significant investment in Saudi Arabia’s digital economy and a new phase in the company’s long-term commitment to expanding its footprint in the Kingdom.

Speaking on the RHQ opening, Alekh Grewal, Group Chief Executive Officer of Mannai Corporation QPSC said, “Saudi Arabia is one of the region’s largest and fastest-growing digital economies and the establishment of the regional headquarters in Riyadh represents a defining step in MIT KSA’s local growth strategy. It reflects our long-term commitment to supporting the Kingdom’s ambitious digital transformation agenda and Vision 2030 objectives.”

Lakshimi Narayanan, General Manager, Mannai Information Technology Saudi Arabia added, “The Riyadh headquarters will serve as a central platform for strengthening customer partnerships, accelerating local delivery capabilities, and expanding the company’s footprint across key sectors in the Kingdom. As Saudi Arabia builds on its position as the region’s largest digital talent cluster, our office will also play a critical role in nurturing local talent company.  We plan to grow our Riyadh team over the coming year, with hiring focused on cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure specialists to support our expanding client base in the Kingdom.” 

MIT KSA’s capabilities span Connected Cities and Sports Technology, Digital Transformation and Intelligent Platforms, Apps, AI and Cybersecurity, Cloud Transformation and Digital Workspaces, Enterprise and Hyperscale Infrastructure, and EPC and Technology Contracting — delivered through a global partner ecosystem. The company is prioritising engagement across government, smart cities, banking and financial services, energy and utilities, healthcare, education, transportation and logistics, and enterprise and critical infrastructure sectors.

“Saudi Arabia remains a strategically important market for the Group, noting that MIT KSA’s expansion is anchored in decades of trust, execution capability, and a consistent focus on delivering value-driven technology solutions across complex enterprise environments,” Khalid Mannai, Vice Chairman, Executive Committee, Mannai Corporation QPSC explained. “This milestone reflects MIT KSA’s continued evolution as a trusted technology partner in the region and strengthens its position as a key enabler of digital transformation across enterprise and government sectors.”

Mannai Information Technology Saudi Arabia draws on Mannai Corporation QPSC’s 75-years plus regional legacy and decades of technology expertise, giving the Saudi entity access to established delivery capabilities, technology partnerships, and enterprise experience across the Middle East.

Cyber Awareness Becomes Essential as Digital Safety Takes Centre Stage

New Delhi, Aug 3: As digital services become an important part of everyday life, cyber awareness has become essential for protecting citizens from online fraud, scams, and digital threats. Experts say the key to staying safe online is not panic, but awareness, caution, and timely action.

With increasing use of online banking, digital payments, social media, and digital government services, cybercriminals are using new methods such as fake calls, phishing messages, fraudulent links, and impersonation scams to target people.

 Pic Credit: Pexel

Don’t Panic, Follow Safe Digital Practices

Cyber experts advise citizens to remain calm and avoid making quick decisions when receiving suspicious calls, messages, or online alerts.

Important safety steps include:

• Do not share passwords, OTPs, PINs, or banking details with anyone.
• Avoid clicking unknown links received through messages or emails.
• Verify calls claiming to be from banks, government offices, or companies.
• Do not install unknown applications suggested by strangers.
• Report suspicious cyber activity immediately through official channels.
• Keep mobile phones, apps, and security systems updated.

Awareness and patience can prevent many cyber fraud attempts.

Government Steps to Strengthen Cyber Safety

The government has been taking several measures to improve cybersecurity awareness and protect citizens from online crimes.

Initiatives include:

• Public awareness campaigns to educate citizens about cyber fraud prevention.
• Cybercrime reporting platforms to help people report online financial fraud and seek assistance.
• Training programmes for law enforcement agencies and organisations to handle cyber threats.
• Digital safety guidelines encouraging responsible use of online services.
• Coordination between government agencies, banks, and technology platforms to improve response against cyber crimes.

Role of Advertisements and Notifications in Cyber Awareness

Public awareness messages, advertisements, and digital notifications play an important role in creating a cyber-safe society.

Regular awareness campaigns can help people recognise common fraud methods such as fake KYC updates, lottery scams, fake customer care calls, and investment fraud.

Government messages, banking alerts, and platform notifications remind users to stay cautious and encourage them to follow safe online practices.

Building a Confident Digital Society

Cybersecurity is not about avoiding technology — it is about using technology safely and responsibly. Awareness helps citizens enjoy the benefits of digital services while reducing risks.

A cyber-aware society can protect personal information, prevent financial losses, and build trust in India’s growing digital ecosystem.