The Republic of the Marshall Islands will become first Pacific island nation to publish fishing activity to Global Fishing Watch map

KOROR, THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU, April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — KOROR, THE REPUBLIC OF PALAU – The Republic of the Marshall Islands has committed to sharing its vessel monitoring data on Global Fishing Watch's public map, bolstering ocean governance and promoting compliance throughout some of the world's richest fishing grounds. This momentous decision was announced on April 14, 2022 at the seventh Our Oceans Conference by the Honorable John M. Silk, Minister of Natural Resources and Commerce for the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The declaration marks the first Pacific island nation to make its fishing activity visible to the world.

The partnership agreement was signed between the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority (MIMRA) and Global Fishing Watch, symbolizing the two organizations' dedication to advancing transparency of fishing activities in the Pacific Islands region, home to the world's most productive tuna fisheries.

All vessels flying the Marshall Islands' flag and foreign vessels fishing in its fishery waters will appear on Global Fishing Watch's map through the integration of the government's vessel monitoring system (VMS) data. These vessels primarily target tropical tuna species of the Western and Central Pacific ocean, which hold environmental, economic and cultural significance across the region's island nations""around half of the world's tuna catch comes from these waters.

"There is real value in open data when it comes to monitoring the ocean," said Glen Joseph, Director of the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority. "By making its fishing activity visible on the Global Fishing Watch map, the Republic of the Marshall Islands is helping demonstrate compliance. We hope the data–led insights complement already existing monitoring, control and surveillance tools to validate what is being reported by flag States and strengthen the way fisheries are managed."

"Global Fishing Watch is honored to be partnering with the Marshall Islands to build greater transparency of fishing activity in the Pacific," said Tony Long, chief executive officer of Global Fishing Watch. "This progressive decision will help facilitate accountability and good behavior in the region and support a more sustainable future by strengthening fisheries monitoring."

"Our partnership with Global Fishing Watch is an important element of our regional commitment to combat IUU fishing,” said the Honorable John Silk, Minister for Natural Resources and Commerce, Republic of the Marshall Islands. “In 2018, Marshall Islands' President Hilda Heine set out a bold vision of an IUU–free Pacific by 2023. Other Micronesian presidents signed onto that challenge the following year. To achieve this ambitious goal, we must harness innovative technologies to protect our marine resources and the livelihoods of Pacific people.”

Global Fishing Watch uses publicly broadcast automatic identification system data to track close to 70,000 commercial fishing vessels operating globally. Adding VMS data, which is required by many governments, provides an even clearer view of global fishing activity. The data can assist fishers abiding by the rules through faster, more efficient port entry and provide opportunities to implement regulatory and market incentives to reward them.

A country of coral islands and atolls spread out over 750,000 square miles (1.94 million square kilometers) of ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines, the Marshall Islands relies heavily on revenue from the tuna industry""well over one–third of the government's domestic revenue comes from the tuna sector.

As a member of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and one of eight Parties to the Nauru Agreement, this independent small island developing State recognizes the importance of collaboration to secure sustainable fisheries. Enhanced monitoring and regional solidarity across FFA's 17 Members has led to a decrease in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing throughout the Pacific, according to a recent quantification study which, in part, used Global Fishing Watch data to examine vessel activity throughout the region's waters.

MIMRA's fisheries MCS systems are state–of–the–art, and are backed by the resources of the FFA's Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre. Their monitoring systems build on an innovative management approach used by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement that caps regional fishing activity to support conservation and economic goals. With Global Fishing Watch now available to support and complement existing efforts, the Marshall Islands is taking the next step toward embracing fisheries transparency.

"Transparency can help vessel operators publicly demonstrate compliance and show their commitment to implementing relevant conservation measures," added Tony Long. "We believe the Marshall Islands' pioneering leadership will encourage other Pacific nations, as well as industry stakeholders, to embrace transparency in support of enhanced ocean governance."

The Marshall Islands joins a growing group of countries that are already publicly sharing their VMS data through Global Fishing Watch, including Belize, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Peru. Transparency of its fishing activity demonstrates the Marshall Islands' steadfast commitment towards compliance and will help amplify management and coordination efforts undertaken by the FFA. Global Fishing Watch's international program to advance ocean governance through greater transparency is made possible with the generous support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

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Global Fishing Watch is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea. By creating and publicly sharing map visualizations, data and analysis tools, we aim to enable scientific research and transform the way our ocean is managed. We believe human activity at sea should be public knowledge in order to safeguard the global ocean for the common good of all.

globalfishingwatch.org

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Clearspan Unveils Ping

DALLAS, Texas, April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Clearspan on Wednesday unveiled Ping, a customizable communications and collaboration solution that delivers secure voice, video and messaging anywhere, anytime and on any device. Purpose–built to serve the world's leading service providers and largest organizations, Clearspan Ping is designed to deliver unique user experiences with the security, privacy and control that large organizations require.

Ping is the latest addition to Clearspan's lineup of scalable communication technologies and serves as a foundational component in its journey to personalized communications.

"At Clearspan, we're committed to creating solutions that make it easier to create unique user experiences while retaining the security, privacy and controls that large organizations require," said Bill Crank, Clearspan's chief executive officer. "For decades, Clearspan has powered ubiquitous unified communications solutions that empower service providers and large organizations. Clearspan Ping is the next generation communications portal that enables personalized communications and will continue to digitally transform today's modern workforce, no matter where they're located."

Ping's modern user features include point–to–point and multiparty voice, video and messaging; screen and file sharing; team rooms that allow private space for collaboration; PSTN calling; and flexible access options including browser based, desktop, and mobile applications.

Ping sets itself apart with unique features:

  • Brandable: Ping is brandable for both service providers and organizations. There are no cobranding requirements, meaning Ping can truly reflect any organization.
  • Customizable: From easy integration of commonly used applications, such as call center agent control, faxing, and SMS texting, to cross platform messaging and IoT device monitoring, Ping is built to be customized. Additionally, Ping's deployment model is flexible. Users can choose from Clearspan cloud, public cloud, private cloud, or premise–based hosting.
  • Secure: Ping is 100 percent private with end–to–end session encryption, allowing complete data sovereignty without data mining.

Ping will be available worldwide beginning Sunday, May 1. Ping has already been trialed by some of the United States' largest universities and global tier one service providers. Interested parties can find more information about Ping and request a demonstration on www.ClearspanCloud.com.

About Clearspan"

Clearspan powers ubiquitous unified communications solutions that help the world's largest organizations digitally transform the way they work."For over forty years, Clearspan has enabled service providers and large organizations with innovative solutions and operational efficiency at scale."Clearspan's standards–based architecture uniquely delivers the carrier–grade reliability, scalability and security required "" without sacrificing the flexibility to seamlessly integrate both modern and legacy business applications and environments. Learn more at www.ClearspanCloud.com."

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Eurora Solutions raises $40M in Series A to tackle e-commerce shipping delays caused by EU regulation changes

  • Reported as one of the largest Estonian Series A rounds.
  • Eurora's unique AI–based solution was developed with 22 scientists from the world's top 1% universities and backed with support from European Union (EU) Archimedes Fund.
  • Eurora already has over 200 paying clients worldwide that use its technology to process millions of parcels every day.

TALLINN, Estonia, April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eurora Solutions, an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning–backed (AI/ML) cross–border e–commerce compliance platform, is announcing the closure of its oversubscribed Series A round, raising $40 million/ 31 million. Amsterdam based Connected Capital led the round, with existing investors, including Change Ventures, Equity United and Eurora's founder Marko Lastik also participating.

Eurora already has over 200 paying clients worldwide, including some of the biggest e–commerce players in Asia, such as JD.com, Yanwen and Topyou. These three companies alone process around billion parcels per year and deliver to more than 120 countries. The new funding will be used for geographical expansion in the UK, the US, and the Middle East, where rapid and high growth in the sector is expected, and product development and potential add–on acquisitions. In the past decade, global parcel shipping volume has tripled, and by 2026, this market is expected to reach over 260 billion parcels delivered.

In July last year, the EU ended the 22 import VAT exemption, and new trading regulations between the EU and the rest of the world gradually came into effect. This was intended to create a level playing field with local European manufacturers and retailers. Complying with this new regulation in the high volume, low value–per–package e–commerce market has been a challenge for merchants and logistics operators from the UK, the US, China and the rest of the world. These players are looking for software–based solutions that can help handle the billions of cross–border packages affected by this new EU regulation. Solutions with a high degree of accuracy, speed and at a low cost per package are required.

Eurora's proprietary AI/ML–based platform automates tax, compliance and customs services. It assigns e–commerce products an appropriate HS code*, calculates the applicable VAT and duty amounts, and automatically creates electronic declarations for EU duties and taxes via simple API integration. The platform delivers more than 96% accuracy for e–commerce packages despite often patchy input data and it operates at a fraction of the time and price of hybrid or manual code allocation solutions commonly used today. Eurora was the first official VAT Intermediary and the first company to issue an IOSS number*.

The B2B platform can be used by online sellers, marketplaces, logistics and postal companies, as well as tax and customs authorities. Eurora's compliance platform can automatically process 5,000 requests per second with up to 96% accuracy, the highest level of accuracy, speed, and automation available on the market. Marko Lastik has over 30 years of experience in logistics and is the founder and visionary of the platform, having created it together with 22 scientists from the world's top 1% of universities, such as Tallinn University of Technology, StatLab (a spinoff company of the University of Tartu) and Software Technology and Applications Competence Centre in Estonia.

Marko Lastik, the founder and CEO of Eurora Solutions, said: "The number of different declarations, codes, reports, records and tax calculations required in the international shipping business is ever increasing. Without the correct data sets and automated solutions for tax calculations and electronic declarations, cross–border trade has slowed down, resulting in severe delays, fines, increasing costs, loss of customers etc. Eurora's AI uses 500+ million records of training data from actual transactions from the largest logistics providers in the world, giving Eurora the knowledge of actual market practices. By using Eurora's platform, merchants can make deliveries faster and at lower costs, which results in increased customer satisfaction and trust."

Shaffy Roell, Investment Manager at Connected Capital, said: "We are excited to lead the investment into Eurora and support the team in scaling the platform globally. The founder and the full management team have impressed us with their quality, domain expertise, and vision for the company. We have seen a clear push from regulators to improve transparency and reporting for the increasing number of goods that enter through customs. We believe that Eurora has built a truly unique AI/ML–based platform, significantly improving compliance while reducing package delays and lowering costs for e–commerce parcels shipped into Europe."

For more info:
Anneli Aljas
CFO
pr@eurora.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ba059a2d–0ca1–4f72–8211–637f86d74f09


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1000629411)

Eurora Solutions raises $40M in Series A to tackle e-commerce shipping delays caused by EU regulation changes

  • Reported as one of the largest Estonian Series A rounds.
  • Eurora's unique AI–based solution was developed with 22 scientists from the world's top 1% universities and backed with support from European Union (EU) Archimedes Fund.
  • Eurora already has over 200 paying clients worldwide that use its technology to process millions of parcels every day.

TALLINN, Estonia, April 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eurora Solutions, an Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning–backed (AI/ML) cross–border e–commerce compliance platform, is announcing the closure of its oversubscribed Series A round, raising $40 million/ 31 million. Amsterdam based Connected Capital led the round, with existing investors, including Change Ventures, Equity United and Eurora's founder Marko Lastik also participating.

Eurora already has over 200 paying clients worldwide, including some of the biggest e–commerce players in Asia, such as JD.com, Yanwen and Topyou. These three companies alone process around billion parcels per year and deliver to more than 120 countries. The new funding will be used for geographical expansion in the UK, the US, and the Middle East, where rapid and high growth in the sector is expected, and product development and potential add–on acquisitions. In the past decade, global parcel shipping volume has tripled, and by 2026, this market is expected to reach over 260 billion parcels delivered.

In July last year, the EU ended the 22 import VAT exemption, and new trading regulations between the EU and the rest of the world gradually came into effect. This was intended to create a level playing field with local European manufacturers and retailers. Complying with this new regulation in the high volume, low value–per–package e–commerce market has been a challenge for merchants and logistics operators from the UK, the US, China and the rest of the world. These players are looking for software–based solutions that can help handle the billions of cross–border packages affected by this new EU regulation. Solutions with a high degree of accuracy, speed and at a low cost per package are required.

Eurora's proprietary AI/ML–based platform automates tax, compliance and customs services. It assigns e–commerce products an appropriate HS code*, calculates the applicable VAT and duty amounts, and automatically creates electronic declarations for EU duties and taxes via simple API integration. The platform delivers more than 96% accuracy for e–commerce packages despite often patchy input data and it operates at a fraction of the time and price of hybrid or manual code allocation solutions commonly used today. Eurora was the first official VAT Intermediary and the first company to issue an IOSS number*.

The B2B platform can be used by online sellers, marketplaces, logistics and postal companies, as well as tax and customs authorities. Eurora's compliance platform can automatically process 5,000 requests per second with up to 96% accuracy, the highest level of accuracy, speed, and automation available on the market. Marko Lastik has over 30 years of experience in logistics and is the founder and visionary of the platform, having created it together with 22 scientists from the world's top 1% of universities, such as Tallinn University of Technology, StatLab (a spinoff company of the University of Tartu) and Software Technology and Applications Competence Centre in Estonia.

Marko Lastik, the founder and CEO of Eurora Solutions, said: "The number of different declarations, codes, reports, records and tax calculations required in the international shipping business is ever increasing. Without the correct data sets and automated solutions for tax calculations and electronic declarations, cross–border trade has slowed down, resulting in severe delays, fines, increasing costs, loss of customers etc. Eurora's AI uses 500+ million records of training data from actual transactions from the largest logistics providers in the world, giving Eurora the knowledge of actual market practices. By using Eurora's platform, merchants can make deliveries faster and at lower costs, which results in increased customer satisfaction and trust."

Shaffy Roell, Investment Manager at Connected Capital, said: "We are excited to lead the investment into Eurora and support the team in scaling the platform globally. The founder and the full management team have impressed us with their quality, domain expertise, and vision for the company. We have seen a clear push from regulators to improve transparency and reporting for the increasing number of goods that enter through customs. We believe that Eurora has built a truly unique AI/ML–based platform, significantly improving compliance while reducing package delays and lowering costs for e–commerce parcels shipped into Europe."

For more info:
Anneli Aljas
CFO
pr@eurora.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ba059a2d–0ca1–4f72–8211–637f86d74f09


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