Latest news with #EDB
HKFP
17 hours ago
- Politics
- HKFP
Schools must be national security ‘gatekeepers,' gov't says after principal warns against US consulate event
A Hong Kong school principal has warned teachers not to take part in Independence Day activities hosted by the US consulate after the city's authorities reportedly warned that participation may violate national security legislation. The unnamed school principal's remarks were quoted in a Wednesday post by Edu Lancet – a social media page run by former Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) subject manager Hans Yeung. A screenshot of the principal's message attached to the post reads: 'Per a reminder received from the Education Bureau's regional education office, teachers are reminded to be careful about Independence Day activities held by the US consulate in Hong Kong.' The principal advised against taking part in the celebrations 'to avoid violating the national security law and Hong Kong laws.' The message said, 'If you learn that there are students participating, please put the protection of students first and discourage them from doing so.' 'Clear guidelines' In a reply to Ming Pao, the Education Bureau (EDB) said: 'Schools have the responsibility to properly carry out their role as gatekeepers and enhance teachers' and students' sensitivity to national security.' However, the EDB did not confirm whether it had issued such a directive, nor did it clarify whether participating in US Independence Day events would amount to a violation of Hong Kong's national security laws. The bureau pointed out that Hong Kong would soon mark the fifth anniversary of the enactment of Beijing's national security law and said its multi-pronged approach included activities inside and outside the classroom to enhance students' understanding of the law. Meanwhile, in an interview with the Beijing-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po, published on Wednesday, Secretary for Education Christine Choi said that Hong Kong should be the first line of defence against what she called 'soft resistance' – a term used by government officials since 2021 without a clear definition. Choi said that the EDB had issued 'clear guidelines' to schools, including ordering them to conduct background checks on external organisations to ensure there were no 'anti-China disruptors' and to review their own off-campus activities and books to prevent the proliferation of 'illegal and harmful information'. Choi did not spell out those vetting guidelines or provide examples of partner organisations that were off-limits to schools for national security reasons. HKFP has reached out to the EDB and the US consulate for comment. The education chief also appeared to take aim at Edu Lancet. Without naming the page, she accused it of exaggerating safety concerns about Hong Kong schools' study tours in mainland China. Beijing inserted national security legislation directly into Hong Kong's mini-constitution in June 2020 following a year of pro-democracy protests and unrest. It criminalised subversion, secession, collusion with foreign forces and terrorist acts – broadly defined to include disruption to transport and other infrastructure. The move gave police sweeping new powers and led to hundreds of arrests amid new legal precedents, while dozens of civil society groups disappeared. The authorities say it restored stability and peace to the city, rejecting criticism from trade partners, the UN and NGOs.
Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Times
From compliance to control: mastering AI and data sovereignty
With top-tier infrastructure and strong policies ready, UK businesses must fast-track sovereign AI and data strategies to secure control, fuel innovation and stay competitive on the world stage The global economy is entering an unprecedented phase of transformation, driven by the rapid rise of data and artificial intelligence. According to a report by Forrester, by 2028 the global digital economy will reach a staggering $16.5tn (£12.2tn), making it the third-largest economy on the planet, behind only the US and China. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that AI alone will drive 7% of global GDP growth over the next five years, more than double the expected growth rate of 3.4% for the broader economy. This shift is a fundamental reordering of economic priorities and competitive advantage. The critical question for every organisation is clear: where will your growth come from in this new data-driven world? 'Data and AI are no longer optional tools or experimental technology, they have become the cornerstone of economic growth and the decisive edge in global competition', says Kevin Dallas, CEO of EDB, a leading enterprise data and AI platform provider. Despite this urgency, EDB's global research, involving over 2,000 executives across North America, EMEA and APJ, reveals that only 23% of enterprises are actively building their own sovereign AI and data platforms. These pioneers are pulling ahead — investing in sovereignty, observability and AI readiness to build platforms for autonomous, real-time decision-making. At the heart of this movement is sovereignty: the ability to exercise full control over AI and data assets without sacrificing agility or compliance. It's a comprehensive approach that covers access, visibility and the ability to use AI and data when needed most. 'Data and AI sovereignty isn't about hiding behind a firewall or retreating from global collaboration,' Dallas explains. 'It's about freedom — the freedom to choose your AI models, to keep data compliant with evolving regulations and to deploy capabilities across clouds, borders and teams without compromise.' According to EDB's research, 97% of enterprise leaders see becoming their own AI and data platform as mission-critical, yet only 63% understand that sovereignty is essential to achieve it. Without it, organisations risk agility without control, leading to fragmentation and lost opportunities. 'Building an AI and data platform isn't simply about technology procurement, it means bringing every tool, model and dataset into one secure, extensible environment where they can operate seamlessly together,' Dallas points out. The foundational technology enabling this is evolving. Solutions like Postgres offer a single architecture capable of handling structured and unstructured data, supporting transactional, analytical and AI workloads alike. This versatility is essential as enterprises move from experimentation to scaling production AI. Those already leading the way have begun building what Dallas calls 'agentic AI factories.' These are internal AI ecosystems designed to deliver hyper-personalised services and autonomous outcomes across multiple business domains. According to EDB's research, the 13% of organisations investing heavily in such systems report nearly three times the expected ROI compared to peers. In highly regulated industries — financial services, healthcare, defence and public sector — the pressure to scale agentic AI securely is intense. 'A sovereign platform that is hybrid by design makes this possible. It gives organisations the flexibility to run AI where their data resides — be it on-premises, across multiple clouds, or at the edge — while maintaining full observability and control over the entire data estate,' says Dallas. This approach safeguards sensitive information and ensures regulatory compliance without stifling innovation. Currently, just under one in four enterprises globally understand this urgency. But projections show that, within three years, half of all organisations will recognise sovereignty and AI readiness as mission-critical. This is a short window — one that demands swift strategic action. Success will require hybrid deployments that tightly couple data and AI, ensuring both are secure in motion and at rest. AI systems must be flexible, safe and production-ready. And, importantly, the underlying platforms must be open and extensible — not confined by proprietary technologies or legacy constraints. 'This is about more than competitive advantage,' Dallas stresses. 'It's about national and economic resilience. The UK has the talent, infrastructure and policy momentum. What it needs now is the commercial will to turn that potential into real platforms and capabilities.' For UK businesses, the risks of delay are clear. Falling behind in sovereignty and AI readiness threatens exclusion from emerging value chains, regulatory fines and a loss of customer trust. As sovereignty becomes a key differentiator, companies relying heavily on third-party platforms could risk reputational damage and diminished investor confidence. The UK's National AI Strategy has laid important groundwork — committing to secure, explainable and trustworthy AI ecosystems. Investments in computing infrastructure, including the AI Research Resource and Isambard-AI supercomputer, are among Europe's most significant. But government efforts can only pave the way; enterprises must take the wheel. 'Government can build the roads, but businesses have to drive the cars,' Dallas remarks. 'That means embedding sovereign AI and data governance into your core digital strategy, investing in talent and committing to platform ownership from day one.' Deploying AI responsibly is not simply about capability but accountability. Sovereign AI ensures compliance, aligns with business goals and allows organisations to innovate with confidence and transparency. Ultimately, sovereignty is not about isolation. It can enable global interoperability, adaptability and resilience, equipping organisations to compete confidently in a complex, evolving regulatory landscape. From GDPR in Europe to data localisation in Asia and cloud compliance in the US, the ability to adjust systems dynamically is critical. 'Flexibility built on control is the new foundation,' Dallas concludes. 'With the right platform architecture, organisations don't have to choose between openness and control — they can have both.' The competition for influence in the global AI economy is intensifying. Sovereign readiness will determine who captures the most value as digital transformation accelerates. 'There is a narrow window for the UK to assert itself,' Dallas warns. 'Every day counts. Those who transform intent into execution today will lead the next thirty years of growth.' The question now is whether UK enterprises are ready to make data and AI sovereignty their strategy before the window closes. To learn more, please visit
Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Aerospace company RTX to make more investments in S'pore under new pact with EDB
The agreement outlines a road map lasting 10 years for further long-term strategic collaboration in Singapore. PHOTO: PRATT & WHITNEY Aerospace company RTX to make more investments in S'pore under new pact with EDB SINGAPORE - Global aerospace company RTX will be looking to make more investments in Singapore under a new pact signed with the Economic Development Board (EDB), the firm said on June 18. The agreement outlines a road map lasting 10 years for further long-term strategic collaboration in the Republic. 'This agreement reaffirms RTX's longstanding commitment to Singapore and its role as a key hub for RTX's global operations, particularly in aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul, advanced manufacturing and innovation,' RTX said in a statement. It added that the agreement also sets the stage for investments and collaborations across areas such as advanced manufacturing; maintenance, repair and overhaul activities; artificial intelligence and innovation; talent and skills development; and foundational technologies for next-generation platforms. EDB executive vice-president Cindy Koh said: 'Singapore's longstanding partnership with RTX, a globally leading aerospace company, bears testament to our standing as Asia's leading aerospace hub. 'We are heartened to see RTX's growth in Singapore to capture aerospace and aviation growth opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.' She added: 'We are excited to witness the build-out of new capabilities in advanced manufacturing and innovation in the coming years, which will bring significant value to the ecosystem.' Mr Paolo Dal Cin, senior vice-president for RTX's operations and supply chain, said the agreement also builds on the company's decades-long partnership with Singapore. 'It represents our shared vision for building a strong future focused on technology, advanced manufacturing and talent development in the Asia-Pacific region,' he said. RTX, which is headquartered in Virginia, has more than 185,000 global employees and racked up over US$80 billion (S$102 billion) in sales in 2024. Singapore is its third-largest commercial footprint outside the United States, which RTX said is a result of strong support from the Singapore Government and its strategic location near major markets in the region. The Republic also serves as RTX's commercial aviation operational hub in the Asia-Pacific, which RTX notes is the fastest-growing region in the aviation industry. RTX has been in Singapore for over 50 years, with more than 4,300 employees across 12 factories here currently. The company added: 'RTX continuously invests in strategic partnerships to design, develop and produce innovative solutions that support the growing defence and commercial aviation customer base in Asia-Pacific.' Its businesses include Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney and Raytheon, through which it works to advance aviation, engineer integrated defence systems and develop next-generation technology solutions and manufacturing for global customers. Sue-Ann Tan is a business correspondent at The Straits Times covering capital markets and sustainable finance. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Business Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
EDB, US aerospace giant RTX sign MOU to invest, partner in AI and skills development
[SINGAPORE] The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and US aerospace conglomerate RTX announced on Wednesday (Jun 18) that they have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) detailing a 10-year roadmap to further long-term strategic collaboration in Singapore. The agreement affirms Singapore's role as a key hub for RTX's global operations, particularly in aerospace maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), advanced manufacturing and innovation, and the company's longstanding commitment to the country. Additionally, the MOU sets the stage for strategic investments and collaborations across other core spaces, such as artificial intelligence, talent and skills development, and foundational technologies for next-generation platforms. 'The agreement builds on our decades-long partnership with Singapore and creates new opportunities to explore innovation and future growth in the aerospace sector,' said Paolo Dal Cin, senior vice-president for RTX's operations and supply chain. Singapore is RTX's third-largest commercial footprint outside of the US, serving as the organisation's commercial aviation operational hub in the Asia-Pacific, which is the fastest-growing region in the aviation industry. The company has had a presence in Singapore for over 50 years, serving as the Republic's largest foreign aerospace and defense employer, with more than 4,300 employees across 12 factories. Earlier in February 2024, RTX business unit Pratt and Whitney announced its full operations of the Singapore Technology Accelerator (STA) in collaboration with EDB. The STA technology projects focus on automation, advanced inspection, connected factory and digital twin, developed to improve MRO shop performance, and are applied across four Pratt & Whitney Singapore-based MRO facilities.
Business Upturn
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
EDB Postgres® AI Accelerates New Era of Sovereign Data and AI for Enterprises, Industries, and Nations
By Business Wire India Published on June 17, 2025, 16:47 IST Singapore: The first secure Postgres platform that unifies transactional, analytical, and AI—democratizing agentic AI across hybrid environments through an easy-to-use interface The first secure Postgres platform that unifies transactional, analytical, and AI—democratizing agentic AI across hybrid environments through an easy-to-use interfaceEDB introduces new capabilities to the industry's first Postgres-based data and AI platform, allowing enterprises to easily manage, observe, and democratize the use of agentic AI within a sovereign setting. Only 13% of enterprises globally have successfully deployed a broad set of agentic AI applications at scale, according to EDB research (May 2025). These early leaders are seeing dramatically better returns—up to 227% higher ROI than the remaining 87%, and 23% better ROI than the next-best group—so this launch is essential for businesses who want to come out on top in the AI race. EDB Postgres AI transforms core operational data into an AI-ready asset, with just five lines of code to set up an AI pipeline that automatically syncs embeddings with source data, taking AI from concept to production 3x faster while cutting costs by 50%. EnterpriseDB (EDB), the leading Postgres data and AI company, today announced new innovations to the EDB Postgres AI (EDB PG AI) platform designed to help enterprises deploy and scale AI securely and compliantly across their Postgres environments, whether in clouds or on-premises. The platform streamlines operations at scale, integrates easily with existing data ecosystems, and centralizes hybrid management and observability in a single AI-ready control plane for the emerging era of agentic AI. See the demonstrations and configure your sovereign AI and platform at EDB PG AI is a unified platform with an easy-to-use interface for managing transactional, analytical, and AI workloads. As the industry's first Postgres-based sovereign data and AI platform, it unifies relational and non-relational data in a single system, featuring automatic pipelines and built-in development tools that seamlessly automate and operationalize data for AI. 'In this AI-first, sovereign-first world, C-suite executives in every geo point to a single, urgent need: a secure, open source, sovereign data and AI platform that gives them full control over how and where they build their AI future. True data and AI sovereignty means we are giving enterprises the freedom to choose—hybrid, with unique engineered systems, software, and cloud offerings—while also ensuring that they have the security and control they need,' said Kevin Dallas, CEO, EDB. Only 13% of enterprises globally have successfully deployed a broad set of agentic AI applications at scale, according to EDB research (May 2025). These early leaders are seeing dramatically better returns—up to 227% higher ROI than the remaining 87% and 23% better ROI than the next-best group. 'Globally, customers are increasingly turning to tested, optimized, and scalable architecture to more effectively implement open source AI at the enterprise level. To help meet this need, Red Hat collaborates through a robust partner ecosystem, including EDB, to help empower organizations with the solutions, services, and support they need to drive successful business outcomes with AI. Using EDB Postgres AI with Red Hat OpenShift AI, organizations can benefit from a more consistent platform for sovereign control of a company's data and its own AI models,' said Stefanie Chiras, senior vice president, Partner Ecosystem Success, Red Hat. The EDB PG AI platform introduces two new core capabilities that enable secure, scalable, and hybrid-ready agentic AI, bringing production-grade performance mainstream for enterprises across their Postgres estates: Low-code/no-code simplicity: AI pipeline creation in days, not months Developers and business users can easily build intelligent applications using a simple point-and-click interface and low-code software development kit (SDK)—transforming GenAI projects from concept to production in days instead of months within a pre-integrated platform. In just five lines of code, users can set up an AI pipeline that automatically syncs embeddings with source data, ensuring an always-up-to-date AI knowledge base without costly infrastructure maintenance. NVIDIA accelerated computing delivers the processing performance required for this new compute paradigm, while NVIDIA NIM microservices enable enterprises to run AI models locally and protect their data with sovereign AI. EDB Postgres AI integrates NVIDIA NeMo Retriever extraction, embedding and re-ranking microservices to ingest and process multimodal enterprise data, along with a catalog of NIM microservices to facilitate AI model extension. Together, these capabilities help enterprises operationalize their AI—securely, at scale, and on their infrastructure of choice. Sovereign hybrid Postgres data estate management and observability Hybrid management delivers comprehensive visibility across the entire Postgres estate, empowering developers and operators with real-time insights across hundreds of databases through an intuitive interface. With 200+ built-in metrics and intelligent recommendations, teams can identify and resolve issues 5x faster, boost application performance by up to 8x, and optimize infrastructure—no DBA expertise required. Anyone can optimize performance and manage large estates with ease, boosting productivity by up to 30% while cutting TCO up to 6x compared to legacy systems. 'The EDB Postgres AI engineered solution leverages several of Supermicro's strengths, including our portfolio of data center building block systems, experience in developing and delivering rack-scale AI solutions, and our experience in supporting OEM customers like EnterpriseDB,' said Cenly Chen, chief growth officer, senior vice president, and managing director, Supermicro B.V. 'This unified solution offers full hybrid capabilities and helps customers build sovereign, scalable, and compliant data and AI systems, giving enterprises the control and near-instant access to data needed for Gen AI.' Explore the comprehensive library of benchmarks here. Additional platform enhancements include: Data security at all layers with Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), supply chain security, and hardened container images from Iron Bank. Advanced security features include role-based access control with fine-grained permissions down to row level, robust audit logging for real-time threat detection, and data redaction to limit sensitive information exposure—ensuring compliance with evolving regulations including PCI DSS and SOC 2. with Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), supply chain security, and hardened container images from Iron Bank. Advanced security features include role-based access control with fine-grained permissions down to row level, robust audit logging for real-time threat detection, and data redaction to limit sensitive information exposure—ensuring compliance with evolving regulations including PCI DSS and SOC 2. Purpose-built PG AI Analytics Engine scales independently from storage and is optimized for columnar formats such as Iceberg and Delta tables, driving high performance queries across Postgres and the lakehouse ecosystem. Enterprises can unlock insights 30x faster than standard Postgres by using fresh operational data, breaking down silos, and eliminating ETL pipelines. Intelligent tiering offloads cold transactional data to storage that is up to 18x more cost efficient . scales independently from storage and is optimized for columnar formats such as Iceberg and Delta tables, driving high performance queries across Postgres and the lakehouse ecosystem. Enterprises can unlock insights by using fresh operational data, breaking down silos, and eliminating ETL pipelines. Intelligent tiering offloads cold transactional data to storage that is up to . A universal, secure data store supports all types of data models—SQL, vector, JSON, time-series, key-value, and more—for building applications with structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data types. Tiered storage and a query engine unify Postgres with scalable analytics tables in object storage. EDB PG AI delivers optimized read/write performance that scales seamlessly from high-concurrency transactions to complex analytical and vector queries, all within a hybrid, sovereign architecture. Proven performance advantages include: 6x better TCO and 30% faster transactional performance than SQL Server Up to 150x faster NoSQL performance vs. MongoDB Up to 4x faster NoSQL performance vs. MySQL supports all types of data models—SQL, vector, JSON, time-series, key-value, and more—for building applications with structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data types. Tiered storage and a query engine unify Postgres with scalable analytics tables in object storage. EDB PG AI delivers optimized read/write performance that scales seamlessly from high-concurrency transactions to complex analytical and vector queries, all within a hybrid, sovereign architecture. Proven performance advantages include: 'McKnight Consulting Group compared the integrated EDB Postgres AI platform against a usual DIY approach using AWS. Across all the eight critical components of an enterprise AI factory, EDB Postgres AI reduced overall complexity by 67%, delivered a 3x faster design-to-delivery capability (from seven months to nine weeks), and a 38% reduction in maintenance complexity and costs,' said William McKnight, president, McKnight Consulting Group. EDB PG AI represents a turning point for enterprises seeking to harness the full power of their data in the agentic AI era. To witness how your enterprise can accelerate AI initiatives with confidence while maintaining complete control of data assets, configure your own sovereign and AI platform at About EDB EDB Postgres® AI (EDB PG AI) is the first open, enterprise-grade sovereign data and AI platform—secure, compliant, and scalable, on-premises and across clouds. Built on Postgres, the world's leading database, EDB PG AI unifies transactional, analytical, and AI workloads, enabling organizations to operationalize their data and LLMs while maintaining control over sovereign environments. EDB PG AI is supported by a global partner network and delivers up to 99.999% availability as well as hybrid management and a built-in AI factory. As one of the most active contributors to the PostgreSQL project, EDB is deeply invested in the vitality of the global community. To learn more, visit EnterpriseDB and EDB are registered trademarks of EnterpriseDB Corporation. Postgres and PostgreSQL are registered trademarks of the PostgreSQL Community Association of Canada and used with their permission. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners. View source version on Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with Business Wire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. 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