Victoria Fox's Blog, page 137

Thales, Sener and Telespazio are awarded a 125 million project in communications security

The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities will allocate 125 million euros to the first Spanish geostationary mission for “quantum key distribution”, an initiative that will allow progress in communications security.

The department has resolved the “design phase” of that first mission, and the Minister of Science, Diana Morant, has highlighted that the Government is training Spain “to be one of the leading countries in quantum technology, which could be incorporated into the European constellation of secure satellite communications”, known as “Iris Square”.

This is the first Spanish geostationary mission to distribute quantum keys -quantum key distribution (QKD)- and the ministry has made the award through the Center for Technological and Industrial Development (CDTI).

The winning companies are Thales Alenia Space Spain , for the “QKD GEO” submission, which is aimed at developing a payload to be embarked on a geostationary satellite at 35,786 kilometers above sea level; and Sener Aeroespacial and Telespazio ibérica SLU . for the “QKD LEO” submission, aimed at the development of a payload intended to be embarked on a low Earth orbit satellite.

The design process of the R&D solution lasts up to four months from the date of award, the Ministry of Science has reported in a press release, and has specified that once the designs have been delivered and evaluated, the company selected for each submission will go to the development, construction, verification and validation phase of prototypes, which lasts up to 20 months.

The project, which falls within the scope of PERTE Aerospace , is endowed with a total budget of 125 million euros from the European funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Public Service , through of the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructures.

The initiative is managed through the CDTI ‘s “pre-commercial” public procurement instrument and in coordination with the Spanish Space Agency.

The project will allow the creation of new knowledge through innovative R&D, since there are no technological solutions on the market that respond to this technological challenge, explained the Ministry of Science.

SOURCE

Orange responds to its rivals and provides 5G to its Simyo brand

The telephone company Orange, in the process of merging with MásMóvil , has finally joined its great rivals, Telefónica and Vodafone, and has launched a 5G service for its low-cost brand Simyo , as announced this Monday by the French operator.

orange era

To continue reading go Premium
Try it for €1 the first month

and enjoy unlimited access to all Expansión web content

I love you

Or sign up with your Google account in two clicks

SOURCE

Manfred Spitzer: The Über-Spitzer

When the man who condemns digitalization calls me back, I briefly wonder whether I missed the beginning of the conversation. “Cell phones and tablets make you demented, fat, depressed, addicted and blind,” my phone booms, “that’s all proven!” There are only a few seconds between the greeting and the key statements. This is Manfred Spitzer.

Without me asking a question, the brain researcher hurled at me the theses with which he became known – including through his 2012 bestseller Digital Dementia . Since then, he has been traveling around the country and painting digitalization blackly, in lectures, interviews and, for a while, even in his own television show.

SOURCE

Social Networks: When the Web Learned to Share

In 2006, sharing content digitally wasn’t that easy. For example, if you read a text on ZEIT ONLINE – about the DFB team’s semi-final exit at the World Cup – and found it so remarkable that you wanted to recommend it digitally, it was quite complicated: the link had to be in the address line of the browser, then you had to go to the platform or website where you wanted to share it and paste the link there again by hand. It doesn’t matter whether you wanted to share something by email, in a social media profile or elsewhere. In blogs you could often find a whole carpet of sharing icons, for each service separately. What wasn’t possible back then: Click on a small icon under the article to share it on all sorts of different platforms.

SOURCE

Telefónica will close on Thursday the deadline to sign up for the ERE

The period opened on January 9 and as of the 30th, the last date with figures provided by the company on the volume of memberships, 2,118 employees had registered, 62% of the total.

Specifically, 825 professionals from Telefónica de España, 244 from Telefónica Móviles and 49 from Telefónica Soluciones had signed up.

If the number of adhesions does not reach the expected 3,421 dismissals , the company, in accordance with what was agreed with the union representation, may resort to forced dismissals . In addition, Telefónica has reserved adhesion limits in critical areas or additional separations in departments with greater functional surplus for business reasons.

Workers’ Commissions have assured that in some addresses meetings are being held “in which workers are pressured to ‘voluntarily’ adhere to the collective dismissal , indicating that otherwise they will be forced out.”

The company denies such coercion to Servimedia. They assure that the same round of information meetings is being held as in other exit plans in which the details of the ERE are explained to those affected.

According to the schedule of the file agreed between management and unions, the company will respond to the requests on February 14 and departures will mostly occur on February 29 , although the ERE will be open until March 31, 2025.

Workers from the related companies Telefónica de España, Móviles y Soluciones who turn 56 years of age or older during 2024 and who have been working for more than 15 years can sign up for this ERE.

Those born in 1968 will receive 68% of the regulatory salary until age 63 and 38% until age 65.

Workers born in 1967, 1966, 1965 or 1964 will leave with 62% of the regulatory salary until age 63 and 34% until age 65, and the voluntary bonus will be increased to 10,000 euros for this section.

People born in 1963 or earlier will receive 52% of the regulatory salary until age 63 and 34% until age 65, with the same voluntary bonus, which workers who leave as forced dismissal would not obtain.

In the chapter on complements , the ERE includes reversibility of income (in the event of death, the legal heirs will receive the pending income), payment of the employee’s social security discount during unemployment, and group insurance up to age 63 (and up to 65 years for survival).

Telefónica has informed the CNMV that this ERE will cost it approximately 1,300 million euros , which will not have an impact on cash.

In parallel with this employment regulation file, Telefónica has launched an individual suspension plan (PSI) for workers in its Global Units in Spain.

This plan affects a number of employees that is not expected to exceed one hundred. Employees who are 56 years old or older and whose seniority is at least 15 years may sign up, with similar working conditions similar to other incentive leave plans.

In this case, the assignment must be made before February 10 and the effective date of the suspension of the contract will generally also occur on February 29, coinciding with the bulk of the ERE marches.

SOURCE

Antai creates a venture capital manager to invest in 25 start-ups

Antai , one of the reference groups in supporting and investing in emerging companies in Spain, has established a venture capital manager to manage its start-up portfolio and enter into new projects.

The entity, called Antai Ventu

To continue reading go Premium
Try it for €1 the first month

and enjoy unlimited access to all Expansión web content

I love you

Or sign up with your Google account in two clicks

SOURCE

Meta soars on the stock market after gaining 69% more

The American technology company Meta , owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp , closed the last year with positive figures on its balance sheet, recording significant growth in both revenue – above expectations – and profitability.

Thus, the Californian firm recorded an annual net profit of 39,098 million dollars (36,200 million euros at the current exchange rate), which translates into a strong progression of 69% in the year-on-year comparison. The business volume also improved considerably, which stood at 134,902 million dollars (almost 125,000 million euros) between January and December 2023, a 16% improvement.

Meta indicated yesterday when presenting its annual accounts that its results benefited in 2023 from the positive currency exchange rate in the amount of 374 million dollars (346 million euros). In addition, the firm, which cut its global workforce by 22% last year, up to 67,317 people, incurred restructuring expenses amounting to 3,450 million dollars (3,194 million euros), compared to the 4,610 million dollars it allocated to its restructuring in 2022. In total, the company’s costs fell by 1% throughout the year, to $88.15 billion (€82 million).

If only the last quarter of 2023 is counted, the American company tripled its net result , up to a total of 14,017 million dollars (12,978 million euros), 201% more. Quarterly turnover, for its part, rose 25% to end the last quarter of the year at 40,111 million dollars (37,139 million euros).

Forecasts for 2024

Looking ahead to the year that has just begun, the financial director of the technology multinational, Susan Li , stated that her estimate is to close the first quarter with revenues of between 34.5 billion and 37 billion dollars, with a neutral impact of exchange rates. of currency.

The company’s spending forecast ranges from $94 billion to $99 billion, in line with its previous forecast. Li also confirmed that Meta is focused on strengthening itself in Artificial Intelligence and highlighted that its long-term ambitions in terms of research and product development will require large investments in infrastructure beyond 2024.

Meta will pay a dividend of $0.5 per share on March 26.

SOURCE

The rural 5G plan will reduce the share of Huawei and ZTE in Spain

The Government’s indirect ‘veto’ on the presence of Chinese equipment in the 544 million mega-contest for the rural 5G network will result in Orange and Vodafone networks using Huawei or ZTE equipment in many of the affected areas. by the new rural network, end up disappearing at the hands of others built with Ericsson or Nokia equipment.

SOURCE

EU laws: regulation? Yes please

It’s 2027, you’ve just replaced your iPhone’s camera because the old one was broken. You tighten the last screw, put a fresh battery into the device, plug in the USB-C cable and install Fortnite . Or a porn app.

And please thank the EU. Because none of this would be possible without the laws with which the European Union is currently shaping the tech world for the better.

In fact, at the moment there is a veritable crescendo of EU regulations being passed or coming into effect, forcing real behavioral changes from the big tech companies. That alone is a major achievement because Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon and OpenAI are among the most powerful entities of our time.

SOURCE

AI Act: EU countries agree to regulate artificial intelligence

The countries of the European Union have spoken out in favor of comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence. The permanent representatives of the member states in Brussels approved the AI law, as EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton announced on X. Breton called the agreement historic.

Due to concerns in Germany and France, among others, the decision had been on the rocks for weeks. Now all that remains is for the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to give their final approval.

“The AI regulation is intended to ensure that we leverage the enormous potential of AI in Europe and at the same time take risks into account,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck. This balance has been achieved with the AI Act.

Ban on biometric mass surveillance

Negotiators from the member states and the European Parliament had already agreed in principle on the AI regulation in December. In the future, developers will have to clearly label texts, sounds and images generated with artificial intelligence in order not to mislead people. Further regulations should apply to “high-risk” applications, such as facial recognition in security authorities. Mass surveillance with biometric data, as in China, is fundamentally prohibited.

In Germany, the traffic light parties had only agreed to approve the AI regulation a few days before the vote in Brussels. The FDP had raised concerns about the law after concerns were expressed by business that the AI Act could contain too strict requirements for companies.

Digital association Bitkom appeals to EU member states

In the future, the regulation will classify AI applications into different risk classes. Providers must meet security and transparency requirements appropriate to the respective classes. According to experts, the regulations could become a model for laws in other countries. It would be an alternative to the more relaxed rules that apply in the USA – and the more restrictive requirements in China.

The digital association Bitkom has concerns. The European AI law alone does not guarantee legal certainty for companies, said Bitkom board member Susanne Dehmel. Rather, “what matters is a practicable interpretation and application of the requirements in the EU member states”. Only if bureaucratic hurdles and unwanted interactions with existing laws were avoided could European companies assert themselves in global AI competition.

The countries of the European Union have spoken out in favor of comprehensive rules for artificial intelligence. The permanent representatives of the member states in Brussels approved the AI law, as EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton announced on X. Breton called the agreement historic.

Due to concerns in Germany and France, among others, the decision had been on the rocks for weeks. Now all that remains is for the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to give their final approval.

“The AI regulation is intended to ensure that we leverage the enormous potential of AI in Europe and at the same time take risks into account,” said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck. This balance has been achieved with the AI Act.

SOURCE