Sen. Elizabeth Warren says she’d ban new fossil fuel production on federal lands as president

cnbc | April 15, 2019

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Monday that she would immediately move to place a “total moratorium” on new federal fossil fuel leases if elected president, blocking energy companies from drilling offshore and producing oil, gas and coal from U.S. government-owned land. The Massachusetts Democrat and 2020 contender said she would prioritize building new renewable energy projects. Warren said her administration would set a goal of producing 10 percent of the nation’s electric power from wind towers, solar farms, and other clean energy projects constructed offshore or on public lands. Warren revealed the proposal in a blog post on Medium that laid out her plans for managing the public parks and vast swaths of land that the federal government manages. She said it would form part of her strategy for addressing climate change.

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Emerging Technology

Talkdesk CX Cloud™ Achieves FedRAMP® In Process Designation

Businesswire | August 09, 2023

Talkdesk®, Inc., a global cloud contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes, today announced that Talkdesk CX Cloud™, its AI-powered cloud contact center platform, has achieved Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) In Process designation and is listed in the FedRAMP marketplace. FedRAMP® is a U.S. federal government-wide compliance program that promotes the adoption of secure cloud products and services across U.S. federal agencies by providing a standardized approach to security assessment and authorization. The FedRAMP In Process designation is given to companies that are actively working toward a FedRAMP Authorization and mandates that the company meets specific stringent security requirements. With the FedRAMP In Process designation, Talkdesk has the ability to enable modern customer service and to meet the highest security standards for information confidentiality, integrity, and availability. “We’re proud to announce that Talkdesk has achieved the prestigious FedRAMP In Process designation for our AI-powered cloud contact center platform. This recognition not only reaffirms our unwavering commitment to security and compliance but also showcases our dedication to providing government agencies with the most trusted, flexible, and innovative solution," said Charanya “CK” Kannan, Chief Product & Engineering Officer at Talkdesk. “As Talkdesk works toward FedRAMP Authorization, we are honored to empower our valued customers on their journey to modernizing government services and delivering exceptional citizen experiences.” With a comprehensive suite of applications for omnichannel engagement, CX analytics, workforce management, and contact center operations, Talkdesk CX Cloud enables federal, state, and local governments to deliver modern customer service and increase efficiency. The security-compliant, flexible and open platform helps government institutions gain agility and get faster time to value. A single, unified interface preserves customer context and empowers governments to improve service while increasing efficiencies and employee productivity, and reducing costs. According to recent industry research, 94% of organizations are moderately to extremely concerned about cloud security, with perceived threats ranging from insecure interfaces to unauthorized access and more. Because FedRAMP is known as one of the most rigorous cloud service provider certifications in the world, many companies in regulated industries are increasingly seeking FedRAMP authorized customer service solutions. In addition to its public sector commitment, Talkdesk remains deeply invested in supporting companies across industries as they accelerate digital transformation that improves how they engage with customers securely. About Talkdesk Talkdesk® is a global cloud contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes. Talkdesk CX Cloud and Industry Experience Clouds help enterprises deliver modern customer service their way. Our trusted, flexible, and innovative contact center platform leverages AI and automation to drive exceptional outcomes for their customers and improve the bottom line. Serving enterprise customers in over 100 countries, we partner with our customers to deliver continuous innovation and breakthrough results. Our unwavering commitment to doing what we say we will do and our investment in the highest levels of security and reliability for our products make us second to none in the industry. Improve customer experiences, increase efficiency, and grow revenue with Talkdesk, a cloud contact center platform built for your industry.

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Emerging Technology, Infrastructure

nZero Joins Green Proving Ground Program as U.S. General Services Administration Integrates Carbon Tracking Software for the First Time

PR Newswire | July 13, 2023

Carbon management and accounting platform nZero will be tracking real-time 24/7 carbon-free electricity under the U.S. General Services Administration's (GSA) Green Proving Ground (GPG) program as part of the Federal Government's quest to decarbonize federal buildings. The government agency recently announced that, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy, it will invest $30 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the sustainability of federal buildings by testing novel technologies through the GPG program. This marks the first year GSA is integrating carbon tracking software. nZero will be supporting the Biden-Harris Administration's larger initiative to advance clean energy tech offerings and establish net-zero federal buildings. "GSA serves as a standard for federal building development across the country, and our carbon management and emissions tracking will complement the agency's ongoing work toward achieving net-zero federal buildings," said Josh Griffin, Chief Policy Officer and Co-Founder at nZero. "The opportunity to work with GSA and the GPG program as one of the first carbon accounting software to be evaluated under this program is an honor. We look forward to working toward a common goal of decarbonizing the built world through more transparent and accurate greenhouse gas accounting." The GPG program works to advance GSA's goals of achieving net-zero emissions in federal buildings and creating clean energy jobs by evaluating American-made, emerging and sustainable technologies to help increase the deployment of federal electric vehicle supply equipment, protect air quality, reduce climate pollution, and enhance building performance. The GPG program leverages GSA's real estate portfolio to assess innovative building technologies in real-world settings. "nZero is playing an important role in the Green Proving Ground program, as the Federal Government drives further innovation and clean energy initiatives across the country," said Robin Carnahan, Administrator of GSA. "In furtherance of the Federal Government's mandate to track these emissions, nZero's participation in the program will help GSA evaluate accurate and efficient carbon accounting as we push toward our ongoing goal of net-zero federal buildings." With the additional funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, GSA is able to increase its evaluation and investment in technologies that will benefit its real estate portfolio. nZero's role as a selected technology pertains to greenhouse gas accounting, one of the GPG program's seven technology areas of focus. The seven areas include: Greenhouse Gas Accounting, Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment, Germicidal Ultraviolet, Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings, High-Performance, Onsite Renewables, and Window Retrofit. About nZero nZero is a real-time carbon accounting and management platform that collects, analyzes and produces emissions and insights data to help NGOs, government agencies and organizations accelerate their journey to net zero. nZero utilizes a proprietary carbon data model to capture and automate all emission points from an organizations' operational footprint at the highest granularity possible and provides 24/7 analysis of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Unlike other offerings that rely on third-party data and opaque averages, nZero's accurate, first-party, contextual data helps clients understand changes hour-by-hour, access metrics to reach climate goals and reduce operational and capital costs. nZero's data is audit-ready and compliant with all reporting criteria, mitigating risk and ensuring that organizations are prepared for new rules, regulations, and financial reporting demands. nZero recognition includes the 2022 "Leader in Sustainability" Award from the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN), the 2022 Sustainability Product of the Year Award from Business Intelligence Group, a TIME Magazine Best Inventions of 2022 recipient, as well as an honorable mention on Fast Company's 2022 World Changing Ideas List. About GSA GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the Federal Government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA's mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people.

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Emerging Technology

Euna Solutions Announces Technology Partnership with Pavilion to Fast Track Procurement for State and Local Government

Businesswire | August 16, 2023

Euna Solutions, a leading provider of purpose-built, cloud-based solutions for the public sector, today announced a new technology partnership with Pavilion, the leading search platform across the largest network of cooperative contracts for the public sector. Under the partnership, Euna Procure, powered by Bonfire, will be integrated with the Pavilion platform, delivering a seamless experience to find, use, and share cooperative contracts and fast-track the procurement process. Euna Procure is a complete set of eProcurement solutions for the public sector. It features the largest and fastest growing supplier network consisting of more than 700,000 suppliers. By integrating with the Pavilion platform, public sector procurement teams will now have access to more than 100,000 shareable contracts from over 400+ national and regional purchasing cooperatives, states, and local public entities. Access to this robust database will make the process of finding cooperative and piggybackable contracts substantially more efficient by allowing users to quickly identify existing contracts they can use to purchase compliantly without a new solicitation process. Other benefits of the Euna/Pavilion integration include: • Time and money savings: Within Euna Procure, users can seamlessly access shareable contracts. Piggybacking on a competitively solicited contract from a peer public entity reduces the administrative costs of running a new solicitation, which for some public entities can be more than $80,000. Shareable contracts can also provide access to more competitive pricing. • Internal and external collaboration: The integration allows agencies to more easily share contracts with other members within their agency, as well as with other agencies around the country. This provides procurement professionals greater access to public contracts, improving both internal and external collaboration. • Integrated workflows: Once procurement managers have identified the right contracts in the database, they will be able to easily reference them and invite suppliers to participate in new solicitations. “We are very excited about our integration with Pavilion as it will empower our customers to leverage their peers’ experience by accessing the nation’s largest network of shareable contracts,” said James Ha, Chief Growth Officer at Euna Solutions. “Partnerships like this help our customers promote responsible sourcing and efficient outcomes that improve communities.” “As public entities look to do more with less, we’re developing new ways to support procurement professionals in doing their most critical work,” said Mariel Reed, co-founder and CEO at Pavilion. “This partnership creates a more seamless experience for Euna Procure users to find, use and share contracts with other public entities so they can deliver better, faster services and drive greater impact for their communities.” About Euna Solutions Euna Solutions is a leading provider of purpose-built, cloud-based solutions that power critical administrative functions and financial operations for the public sector. Formerly GTY Technology, Euna Solutions offers easy-to-use solutions for procurement, payments, grant management, budgeting, permitting and K-12 administration that are proven to increase operational efficiency, transparency, collaboration, and compliance. Euna Solutions is a trusted partner to more than 2,000 government and public sector organizations across North America, empowering digital transformation and streamlining business processes while enabling higher levels of citizen access, engagement and satisfaction. About Pavilion Pavilion is purpose-built to help you work smarter by providing access to the largest network of shareable contracts from across the country – for free – with one simple search. Find the right contract for you, whether it’s from your neighbor’s filing cabinet or a national purchasing cooperative. Expedite your due diligence and connect with the right supplier to get a fast response and hands-on support.

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