Texas Tech Medical School Will No Longer Consider Race in Admissions, Bowing to Trump Administration Pressure

slate | April 09, 2019

Texas Tech University has agreed to stop using race as a factor in admission to its medical school after the Trump administration pressured the university and others to end the use of affirmative action. The president of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center signed an explicit agreement in February eliminating the use of affirmative action in response to a complaint lodged by the Center for Equal Opportunity, an anti-affirmative action group, more than a decade ago. The move is the first of its kind in response to Department of Education directives under Secretary Betsy DeVos, who last year walked back the department’s Obama-era instruction to colleges on how to legally factor in race in admissions.

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Emerging Technology, Cybersecurity

OwnBackup Achieves FedRAMP® Authorized Designation

Businesswire | July 20, 2023

OwnBackup, the leading SaaS data protection platform, today announced it has achieved FedRAMP® authorization for its OwnBackup Government Cloud solution. With this authorization, OwnBackup is now listed on the FedRAMP® Marketplace, and is eligible to provide data protection services to all U.S. Federal Government customers. Established in 2011, FedRAMP® is a government-wide program that promotes the adoption of secure Cloud services across the Federal Government, forming a public-private partnership to promote innovation and the advancement of more secure information technologies. By achieving FedRAMP® authorization, OwnBackup has demonstrated that it meets the rigorous security and compliance requirements of the program to host sensitive information in the Cloud. “FedRAMP® authorization is a significant milestone for OwnBackup, and reaffirms our position as the market leader in SaaS data protection,” said Sam Gutmann, Chief Executive Officer at OwnBackup. “This designation allows us to bring our best-in-class solutions to Federal Government agencies, partnering with these vital organizations to accelerate their digital transformation goals, while ensuring that critical Federal Data and Metadata remains secure.” OwnBackup’s FedRAMP® announcement comes at a time when the U.S. Government is making cybersecurity a clear priority. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a new National Cybersecurity Strategy focused on strengthening the Nation's digital infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of Cloud security and resilience, and protecting citizens and businesses from cyber threats. While no individual or company is immune to cyber threats, these attacks disproportionately target the public sector. The public sector manages a wide array of sensitive information, making it a popular target for cyber criminals. According to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR), the public sector had the second most attacks of any industry. With OwnBackup, U.S. Government Agencies can be better prepared to avoid disruption to critical services, ensure a continuity of operations, and uphold trust and confidence with the citizens that they serve. OwnBackup’s Data Protection Platform, which is used by over 6,000 customers across critical SaaS ecosystems, was designed with security in mind from its inception. OwnBackup’s solutions are architected with a variety of security controls across multiple tiers to address a range of security risks. About OwnBackup OwnBackup is a leading SaaS data protection platform for some of the largest SaaS ecosystems in the world, including Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and ServiceNow. Through capabilities like data security, backup and recovery, archiving, and sandbox seeding, OwnBackup empowers thousands of organizations worldwide to manage and protect the mission-critical data that drives their business. Co-founded by seasoned data recovery, data protection, and information security experts, OwnBackup is a trusted independent software vendor (ISV) partner on the Salesforce AppExchange, AWS Marketplace, and Microsoft Marketplace. The Company is headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, with research and development (R&D), support, and other functions in Israel, EMEA and APAC. OwnBackup has raised over $500 million in venture funding, is ranked on the Forbes Cloud 100 as one of the world's top private cloud companies, and is the partner of choice for some of the world’s largest users of SaaS applications.

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Emerging Technology, Government Business

Government of Canada teams up with Indigenous partners, Bruce Power and the medical isotope community to fight cancer

Globenewswire | July 04, 2023

The Government of Canada has announced its intent to lead the fight against cancer at home and around the world with funding announced today that will support the development of a medical isotope ecosystem in Canada. The partnership includes Indigenous communities, Ontario’s nuclear industry, and leading research facilities, academics, and firms working to commercialize novel therapies. As part of the funding announced today at the Bruce Power Visitors’ Centre, the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) will take the next step in their partnership with Bruce Power to jointly produce, advance and market new isotopes in support of the global fight against cancer, while also working together to create new economic opportunities within the SON territory. This funding will ultimately enable a pan-Canadian consortium – the Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem (CMIE) – to advance and accelerate the development of the next generation of novel medical isotopes and technologies. The CMIE will position Canada as a leader across all stages of the isotope production cycle, most importantly to ensure cancer patients and health care professionals have access to the critical isotopes they need, when they need them. “Canada is a world leader in medical isotope research and production, and Bruce Power is proud to be among the innovative companies that places Canada at the forefront of nuclear medicine,” said Mike Rencheck, Bruce Power’s President and CEO. “We are honoured to partner with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation to market isotope production and thank the federal government for its support in leveraging this historic opportunity, while creating sustainable economic benefits within the SON territory.” The Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, advanced the funding to support projects that strengthen Canada’s leadership position in research, development and production of medical isotopes and pharmaceuticals. “Our government is proud to partner in the creation of the Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem, which includes support for the SON First Nations communities’ partnership with Bruce Power to innovate in the fight against cancer,” said Minister Champagne. “The pandemic has shown us how important it is to have strong domestic production of pharmaceuticals, and we are delivering on our commitment to providing Canadians with the best therapies they need to care for their health. With this investment, we are making our country a major player in the global biomanufacturing and life sciences industry while creating good jobs for Canadians and stimulating the local economy.” Pam Damoff, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and the Member of Parliament for Oakville North-Burlington, has been a strong advocate for Canada’s medical isotope sector, and announced the funding on behalf of Minister Champagne at today’s event. “With this investment in the creation of the Canadian Medical Isotope Ecosystem, the Government of Canada is taking another major step towards building resiliency in our domestic medical production capabilities, which will help to ensure the health and safety of Canadians in the event of any potential future global supply chain disruptions,” said Damoff. “This investment will not only grow the economy, as the Ecosystem is expected to attract over $75 million in investment, and create or maintain over 600 highly skilled, well-paying jobs, but also contribute to economic reconciliation with the Saugeen Ojibway Nation.” Bruce Power partnered with the SON in 2019 in an historic collaboration for the marketing of current and new isotopes produced through the first-of-a-kind Isotope Production System (IPS) that was installed at Bruce Power in 2022. The partnership, named Gamzook’aamin aakoziwin, which translates to ‘We are Teaming Up to Fight the Sickness,’ includes a revenue-sharing program that provides a direct benefit to the community. “Today marks another important milestone in the Gamzook’aamin Aakoziwin partnership between Bruce Power and the Saugeen Ojibway Nation,” said Chief Veronica Smith, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. “By working together, patients around the world have access to cancer-fighting treatments made possible through medical isotope production.” “We are proud to be part of this innovative project, which will deliver benefits beyond the local community, to people across the world in the global fight against cancer,” said Chief Conrad Ritchie, Chippewas of Saugeen First Nation. The Made-in-Ontario IPS, designed and installed by Isogen (a joint venture between Framatome and Kinectrics) at Bruce Power, irradiates ytterbium-176 to produce lutetium-177, which is then transported to ITM’s manufacturing facility in Germany for processing of pharmaceutical-grade, non-carrier-added lutetium-177 (n.c.a. lutetium-177) and used in various clinical and commercial radiopharmaceutical cancer treatments. “With commercial production of lutetium-177 well underway at Bruce Power, physicians and their patients worldwide now have access to a new, dependable, large-scale supply of lutetium-177 for their cancer treatments,” said John D’Angelo, Chair, Isogen Corp. The funding announcement was made possible through Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Strategic Innovation Fund, which provides major investments in innovative projects that will help grow Canada’s economy for the well-being of all Canadians. The investment will help develop Canadian technologies and support advancements in Canada’s medical isotope industry, supporting projects at Bruce Power, TRIUMF, Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization, McMaster Nuclear Reactor, Canadian Nuclear Laboratories and BWXT Medical. About Bruce Power Bruce Power is an electricity company based in Bruce County, Ontario. We are powered by our people. Our 4,200 employees are the foundation of our accomplishments and are proud of the role they play in safely delivering clean, reliable nuclear power to families and businesses across the province and life-saving medical isotopes around the world. Bruce Power has worked hard to build strong roots in Ontario and is committed to protecting the environment and supporting the communities in which we live. Formed in 2001, Bruce Power is a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, OMERS, the Power Workers’ Union and The Society of United Professionals.

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Emerging Technology, Cybersecurity

ExtraHop® Introduces New Solution for Federal, State, and Local Governments

Businesswire | July 19, 2023

ExtraHop, a leader in network detection and response (NDR), today announced the launch of ExtraHop IDS for Government. As agencies look to implement a zero trust architecture ahead of the 2024 deadline, they are racing to enhance visibility into their IT environments so they can verify that all users, devices, and systems are in alignment with the framework. However, the growing move to decentralize IT infrastructure has added new challenges for already resource-strapped government organizations, increasing the potential for sensitive data exposure. To overcome these challenges, ExtraHop IDS for Government caters to public sector customers, offering an isolated network structure so they can be confident their data is secure. ExtraHop IDS, launched earlier this year, adds intrusion detection to the Reveal(x)™ NDR platform for deeper coverage, streamlined investigations, and a seamless user experience. Government customers can now experience these advantages with flexible deployment options and always-on updates to see more, know more, and stop more cyberattacks. With ExtraHop, government customers will benefit from: Flexible deployment options: Deploy either virtual (1 Gbps or 10 Gbps) or physical sensors (20 Gbps) pre-loaded with tens of thousands of curated IDS rules. Role-based access: Restrict network and data access based on employees’ roles to avoid unnecessary data leaks. Support for disconnected environments: Built-in REST APIs enable customers to upload resources to disconnected sensors, providing support to customers with restricted cloud access. Industry-leading decryption capabilities: Identify malicious activity within encrypted traffic to expose advanced threats and detect malware. "Historically, legacy IDS tools haven't been able to deliver the value that government organizations need, but ExtraHop has completely re-imagined the technology," said David Dalling, Cyber Chief Technology Officer, Accenture Federal Services. "ExtraHop approaches intrusion detection in a new, innovative way, which is well-suited for those in more regulated industries. When combined with the award-winning AI in ExtraHop’s NDR solution, Reveal(x), which strings together suspicious activity, and its unique understanding that attacks aren’t always from the outside, ExtraHop takes IDS to the next level." “Government organizations require solutions that accommodate their needs - solutions that address their decentralized IT structures, compliance concerns, and dwindling resources,” said Sohale Razmjou, Vice President of Federal, Blackwood. “We’re excited to partner with ExtraHop to deliver a solution that helps joint customers tailor their deployment models and access controls, so they can operate confidently.” ExtraHop serves customers in the federal, state, and local government sectors, including Dallas County and the City of Canyon. Defending vital government and civilian services from cyber threats, ExtraHop supports zero trust architectures, modernization efforts, ransomware mitigation, and more. “After two decades in the federal sector as a user, cybersecurity executive, and technology project manager, I can personally attest to the rapidly growing need for cybersecurity solutions that government organizations can trust to detect and reveal attacks in real-time,” said Mark Bowling, Chief Information Security and Risk Officer (CISRO), ExtraHop. “With ExtraHop IDS for Government, organizations can benefit from an up-to-date security solution that unifies detection, incident response, and network forensic evidence collection in a single tool, while also integrating seamlessly with tools popular among government customers such as Splunk and CrowdStrike.” About ExtraHop ExtraHop is the cybersecurity partner enterprises trust to reveal the unknown and unmask the attack. The company’s Reveal(x) 360™ platform is the only network detection and response platform that delivers the 360-degree visibility needed to uncover the cybertruth. When organizations have full network transparency with ExtraHop, they see more, know more, and stop more cyberattacks. Learn more at www.extrahop.com.

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