March 14, 2022

Sophi.io est finaliste des Global Media Awards 2022 de l’INMA pour l’automatisation de l’impression

TORONTO, 14 mars 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sophi.io, la plateforme d’automatisation et d’optimisation basée sur l’IA de The Globe and Mail, a été annoncée cette semaine en tant que finaliste des Global Media Awards 2022 de l’International News Media Association (INMA) dans la catégorie Meilleure Innovation dans la transformation des salles de rédaction. En partenariat avec Naviga, elle a automatisé la mise en page de l’impression pour Agderposten, un quotidien régional qui sert plus de 25 000 lecteurs en Norvège, et augmenté l’efficacité d’impression de 66 %.

« Le système d’apprentissage machine automatisé de Sophi est la plus grande transformation des médias imprimés depuis des décennies », a déclaré Gordon Edall, cofondateur de Sophi.io. « Nous sommes reconnaissants qu’Agderposten ait choisi de travailler avec nous et Naviga. Son engagement à améliorer l’efficacité et à adopter une technologie révolutionnaire comme Naviga Publisher powered by Sophi.io devrait inspirer l’ensemble du secteur des médias à se tourner vers un avenir où l’IA et l’automatisation aident tout le monde. »

Naviga Publisher powered by Sophi.io est un système basé sur l’intelligence artificielle qui imite les décisions humaines pour produire des pages de journaux qui ont l’apparence d’avoir été créées avec une compréhension des actualités de la journée ainsi que des normes journalistiques élevées. Tout ce qu’ont besoin de faire les rédacteurs est de hiérarchiser approximativement les articles et d’appuyer sur le bouton « Print My Newspaper » (Imprimer mon journal) pour générer une mise en page automatisée, sans modèles, en quelques minutes. Le fait de déléguer cette tâche laborieuse permet aux salles de rédaction de se concentrer sur leur véritable objectif consistant à trouver et raconter la prochaine histoire importante.

« Ce sont des heures économisées pour le journalisme », a commenté Katrine Lia, rédactrice en chef d’Agderposten. Et le personnel d’Agderposten ne peut souvent pas faire la différence entre les pages produites par Sophi et celles prises en charge par les rédacteurs.

Sophi et Naviga, un important fournisseur de technologies logicielles pour l’industrie mondiale de l’édition, collaborent avec Agderposten depuis plus d’un an maintenant et leurs succès ont ouvert la voie à l’ajout de dizaines de nouveaux titres de plusieurs maisons d’édition majeures cette année. Sophi fournit une technologie IA/AM (intelligence artificielle/apprentissage machine) de pointe qui, avec Naviga Publisher, automatise entièrement le flux de production d’impression de bout en bout.

Agderposten a été le premier client à utiliser Publisher. Son processus de production d’impression est désormais centralisé, la mise en page de ses journaux est automatisée jusqu’à 80 % et, plus impressionnant encore, Agderposten a réalisé une réduction de 66 % du temps et des ressources, réduisant ainsi le coût de production du journal imprimé et en permettant aux journalistes de se concentrer sur la création de contenu numérique au lieu de travailler sur InDesign.

Øyvind Klausen, PDG d’Agderposten, a déclaré qu’il s’attendait à ce que les économies et l’efficacité continuent d’augmenter alors que de plus en plus de pages d’Agderposten étaient automatisées et que davantage de ses journaux mettaient en œuvre cette solution d’automatisation d’impression.

Les Global Media Awards ont reçu 854 candidatures de 252 marques d’actualités dans 46 pays cette année. Le jury est composé de 50 experts issus des médias de 24 pays concentrés sur 20 catégories, parmi lesquelles les marques d’actualités, les plateformes médiatiques, les abonnements, la publicité, les données et renseignements, les produits et les salles de rédaction. Les lauréats seront annoncés le 9 juin.

À propos de Naviga
Naviga (https://www.navigaglobal.com) est le premier fournisseur de logiciels et de services optimisant les industries riches en médias. Sa plateforme d’engagement de contenu aide les entreprises à créer, enrichir, fournir et monétiser du contenu pour gérer les engagements de bout en bout. Ses solutions sont faciles d’utilisation, évolutives et flexibles. Alliant son expérience dans les médias à un dévouement au numérique, Naviga a développé des solutions logicielles qui aident toute entreprise axée sur le contenu à répondre aux exigences de l’avenir de l’information. Avec son siège social à Bloomington, dans le Minnesota, et des bureaux régionaux dans le monde entier, Naviga est un partenaire de confiance desservant plus de 1 400 services et clients institutionnels dans les domaines des médias d’actualités, des médias de divertissement, de la diffusion, des magazines et des services financiers dans 45 pays.

À propos de Sophi.io
Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) a été développée par The Globe and Mail pour aider les éditeurs de contenu à prendre des décisions stratégiques et tactiques importantes. Il s’agit d’une suite de solutions d’automatisation, d’optimisation et de prévision basées sur l’IA et l’AM qui comprend Sophi Site Automation, Sophi for Paywall et Sophi for First Party Data. Sophi apporte également à Naviga Publisher la mise en page automatisée en un clic de l’impression et la publication des journaux électroniques. Sophi vise à améliorer les mesures qui comptent le plus pour votre entreprise, telles que la rétention et l’acquisition d’abonnés, l’engagement, la récence, la fréquence et le volume.

Contact auprès des médias  
Jamie Rubenovitch 
Directrice du marketing, Sophi 
The Globe and Mail         
416-585-3355  
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com

March 14, 2022

Sophi.io finalista do INMA 2022 Global Media Awards em Automação de Impressão

TORONTO, March 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A Sophi.io, plataforma de otimização e automação com tecnologia de IA da The Globe and Mail, foi finalista esta semana do Global Media Awards da International News Media Association (Inma) de 2022 na categoria de Melhor Inovação em Transformação de Redações. Em parceria com a Naviga, ela automatizou o layout para impressão do Agderposten, um jornal diário regional que atende mais de 25.000 leitores em toda a Noruega, aumentando a eficiência da impressão em 66%.

“O sistema automatizado de aprendizado de máquina da Sophi é a maior transformação da mídia impressa há décadas”, disse Gordon Edall, Cofundador da Sophi.io. “Agradecemos ao Agderposten por ter escolhido trabalhar com a Naviga e conosco. Seu compromisso com a melhoria da eficiência e a adoção de uma tecnologia inovadora, como a Naviga Publisher, com a Sophi.io, deve inspirar toda a indústria de mídia a se voltar para o futuro, onde a IA e a automação irá ajudar a todos.”

Naviga Publisher powered by Sophi.io é um sistema que tem por base a inteligência artificial que emula decisões humanas para produzir páginas de jornais que parecem ter sido criadas com a compreensão das notícias do dia, bem como altos padrões jornalísticos. Todos os redatores precisam priorizar os artigos e clicar no botão “Imprimir Meu Jornal” para gerar um layout automatizado para impressão, sem modelos, em minutos. Com a simplificação deste trabalho intenso as redações podem se concentrar no seu objetivo real de encontrar e contar a próxima história importante.

“São horas economizadas que podem ser usadas no jornalismo”, disse a editora-chefe do Agderposten, Katrine Lia. Muitas vezes os funcionários do Agderposten não sabem diferenciar entre as páginas produzidas com a Sophi e as manipuladas pelos seus editores.

A Sophi e Naviga, uma grande fornecedora de tecnologia de software para a indústria editorial global, trabalha com o Agderposten há mais de um ano e o seu sucesso viabilizou a inclusão de dezenas de novos títulos de várias grandes editoras este ano. A Sophi fornece tecnologia AI e ML de ponta que, juntamente com o Naviga Publisher, automatiza totalmente o fluxo de trabalho de produção completa para impressão.

Agderposten foi o primeiro cliente a usar a Publisher. Seu processo de produção de impressão agora está centralizado, a distribuição de jornais já está até 80% automatizada e, o mais impressionante, o Agderposten já alcançou uma redução de 66% do tempo e dos recursos – baixando o custo de produção do jornal impresso e permitindo que os jornalistas trabalhem na criação do conteúdo digital e não no InDesign.

O CEO do Agderposten, Øyvind Klausen, disse que espera que a economia de custos e a eficiência continuem a aumentar à medida que mais páginas do Agderposten passem a ser automatizadas e que mais jornais implementem a solução de automação de impressão.

O Global Media Awards recebeu 854 inscrições de 252 empresas de notícias de 46 países este ano. O jurado é composto por 50 especialistas em mídia de 24 países, focados em 20 categorias, incluindo empresas de notícias, plataformas de mídia, assinaturas, publicidade, dados e insights, produtos e redações. Os nomes dos vencedores do primeiro lugar serão anunciados no dia 9 de junho.

Sobre a Naviga
A Naviga (https://www.navigaglobal.com) é a principal provedora de software e serviços para indústrias voltadas para a mídia. Sua Plataforma de Engajamento de Conteúdo ajuda as empresas a criar, enriquecer, entregar e monetizar conteúdo para o gerenciamento total dos engajamentos. Suas soluções são fáceis de usar, escaláveis e ágeis. Combinando sua experiência em mídia com uma dedicação ao digital, eles desenvolveram soluções de software que ajudam qualquer empresa focada no conteúdo a atender às demandas do futuro da informação. Com sede em Bloomington, MN e escritórios regionais em todo o mundo, a Naviga é uma parceira de confiança que atende a mais de 1.400 mídia de notícias, mídia de entretenimento, transmissão, revista, serviços financeiros e clientes corporativos em 45 países.

Sobre a Sophi.io
A Sophi.io (https://www.sophi.io) foi desenvolvida pela The Globe and Mail para ajudar os editores de conteúdo a tomar decisões estratégias e táticas importantes. A empresa oferece um conjunto de soluções de automação, otimização e previsão com base em IA e ML, incluindo Sophi Site Automation, Sophi for Paywalls e Sophi for First Party Data. A Sophi também capacita o Naviga Publisher para o layout automatizado de um clique para publicação impressa e de ePaper. A Sophi foi projetada para aprimorar as métricas que mais importam para sua empresa, como retenção e aquisição de assinantes, engajamento, recentidade, frequência e volume.

Contato com a Mídia
Jamie Rubenovitch
Dirigente de Marketing, Sophi
The Globe and Mail
416-585-3355
jrubenovitch@globeandmail.com

March 14, 2022

For Kids With COVID-19, Everyday Life Can Be A Struggle

WASHINGTON — Eight-year-old Brooklynn Chiles fidgets on the hospital bed as she waits for the nurse at Children’s National Hospital. The white paper beneath her crinkles as she shifts to look at the medical objects in the room. She’s had the coronavirus three times, and no one can figure out why.

Brooklynn’s lucky, sort of. Each time she has tested positive, she has suffered no obvious symptoms. But her dad, Rodney, caught the virus when she was positive back in September, and he died from it.

Her mom, Danielle, is dreading a next bout, fearing her daughter could become gravely ill even though she’s been vaccinated.

“Every time, I think: Am I going to go through this with her, too?” she said, sitting on a plastic chair wedged in the corner. “Is this the moment where I lose everyone?”

Among the puzzling outcomes of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 6 million people worldwide since it first emerged in 2019, are the symptoms suffered by children.

More than 12.7 million children in the U.S. alone have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Generally, the virus doesn’t hit kids as severely as adults.

But, as with some adults, there are still bizarre outcomes. Some youngsters suffer unexplained symptoms long after the virus is gone, what’s often called long COVID. Others get reinfected. Some seem to recover fine, only to be struck later by a mysterious condition that causes severe organ inflammation.

And all that can come on top of grieving for loved ones killed by the virus and other interruptions to a normal childhood.

Doctors at Children’s National and multiple other hospitals getting money from the National Institutes of Health are studying the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children.

The ultimate goal is to evaluate the impact on children’s overall health and development, both physically and mentally — and tease out how their still-developing immune systems respond to the virus to learn why some fare well and others don’t.

Children’s has about 200 kids up to age 21 enrolled in the study for three years, and it takes on about two new patients each week. The study involves children who have tested positive and those who have not, such as siblings of sick kids. The subjects range from having no symptoms to requiring life support in intensive care. On their first visit, participants get a full day of testing, including an ultrasound of their heart, blood work and lung function testing.

Dr. Roberta DeBiasi, who runs the study, said its main purpose is to define the myriad complications that children might get after COVID-19 and how common those complications are.

Brooklynn is one study subject. So is Alyssa Carpenter, who has had COVID-19 twice and gets strange fevers that break out unexpectedly, and other unusual symptoms.

Alyssa was just 2 years old when she started the study and has since turned 3. Her feet sometimes turn bright red and sting with pain. Or she’ll lie down and point her little fingers to her chest and say, “It hurts.”

Her parents, Tara and Tyson Carpenter, have two other daughters, 5-year-old Audrey and 9-year-old Hailey, who is on the autism spectrum. As for many parents, the pandemic has been a nightmare of missed school, unproductive work, restrictions and confusion. But on top of all the anxiety so many parents feel lies the concern for their toddler. They don’t know how to help her.

“It was just super frustrating,” says Tara Carpenter, who is quick to add that no one’s to blame. “We’re trying to find out answers for our kid and nobody could give us any. And it just was really frustrating.”

Alyssa would wail in pain from her red burning feet or whimper quietly. She’d come down with a fever, but suffer no other symptoms and be sent home from school for days, ruining Carpenter’s work week. But then in ballet class, with her pink tights and tutu, she’d seem totally normal.

In the past few months, symptoms have started to subside and it’s giving the family some relief.

“After the fact, what do we do about this?” asks Tara Carpenter. “We don’t know. We literally don’t know.”

For some families in the study, the child suffering from long COVID is the easy one during the hospital visits.

One recent day, another family finds that it’s the older sister Charlie who dissolves into tears because she doesn’t want blood drawn while younger sister Lexie, used to being prodded by nurses and doctors, hops up on the table. The family dynamics of COVID-19 are tough: The sibling with the illness may get more attention, which can create problems for the others. Exhausted parents struggle with how to help all their children.

In their work-ups, the children receive full medical check-ins. They also receive a full psychological assessment, run by Dr. Linda Herbert.

Herbert asks the kids about fatigue, sleep, pain, anxiety, depression and peer relationships. Do they have memory concerns? Are they having a hard time keeping things in their brains?

“There’s this constellation of symptoms,” she said. “Some kids are incredibly anxious about getting COVID again.”

She said psychological symptoms are among the most common, and it’s not just the kids with COVID-19, it’s their siblings and parents, too.

Danielle Mitchell feels the stress. She’s a single mother working full time, grieving the loss of her partner and trying not to seem too depressed in front of her daughter. The decision to enroll her daughter Brooklynn in the study was motivated by wanting to draw attention to the need for vaccines, particularly in the Black community.

“My baby keeps getting it,” she said. “Can’t the people around us try to protect her?”

Brooklynn whimpers when she hears she has to get blood drawn: “Do you have to?”

“Yes, baby,” the nurse says. “It’s so we can figure all this out.”

“If her daddy was here, he’d take her to Dave & Busters after this,” Mitchell says, before lowering her voice so her daughter can’t hear what she’s going to say. Her longtime partner, Rodney Chiles, wasn’t vaccinated.

He had qualms, like many do, about the vaccine and was waiting to get it. Shortly after Brooklynn tested positive during the run of the delta variant, he started feeling sick and went downhill fast. Chiles had pre-existing conditions, too, which accelerated his death. He was 42.

“And then he called us on a Sunday. He was like, ‘They are about to intubate me because I can’t keep my oxygen up. And I love y’all and, Brooklynn, forgive me,'” she said. It was the last time he talked to them before he died.

“I’ll tell you what,” Mitchell says. “The only reason I’m still here is because I have a child.”

On school days, Mitchell picks up Brooklynn from Rocketship Rise Academy Public Charter School in Southeast Washington. They walk hand-in-hand to the car for a short ride before she resumes working for a nonprofit organization.

One recent day after school, as Mitchell had a Zoom meeting in her bedroom office, Brooklynn munched popcorn and talked about how she and her dad bought a pair of tennis shoes and balloons for her mom last year on Mother’s Day. They forgot her mom’s shoe size and they had to come back home and check the size. She giggles as she tells it.

In her room, there’s a big photo of her dad and her, though she usually sleeps in bed with her mom now.

“Even though kids aren’t as sick, they are losing,” Mitchell said. “They’re losing parents, social lives, entire years. Yes, kids are resilient, but they can’t go on like this. No one is this resilient.”

Source: Voice of America

March 14, 2022

Former Central Africa Militia Head Handed Over to ICC: Court

THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS — The Chadian authorities on Monday handed over a former Central African Republic militia leader to the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the Hague-based court said.

Maxime Jeoffroy Eli Mokom Gawaka is suspected of crimes committed in 2013 and 2014 “in Bangui and other locations in the Central African Republic,” the ICC said in a statement.

Mokom was an “anti-Balaka” group leader, vigilantes from the CAR’s Christian and animist majority. In 2019, he became the country’s minister for Disarmament, Demobilization, Reintegration and Repatriation (DDRR).

The ICC has “found reasonable grounds” to suspect that Mokom, in his capacity as a “National Coordinator of Operations of the Anti-Balaka”, was responsible for crimes against humanity, including murder, torture, persecution and “enforced disappearance,” the court said in its statement.

On the war crimes front, he is suspected of, among other things, “intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population” and an attack against humanitarian assistance personnel as well as enlisting fighters as young as 15.

One of the poorest countries in the world, the CAR spiraled into conflict in 2013 when President Francois Bozize was ousted by a rebel coalition called the Seleka, drawn largely from the Muslim minority.

The coup triggered a sectarian bloodbath between “anti-Balaka” forces and Seleka rebels.

Two former anti-Balaka leaders, Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona and Alfred Yekatom, are already on trial at the ICC.

An alleged Seleka leader will go on trial at the ICC in September to face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Source: Voice of America

March 14, 2022

Cyclone Gombe Kills 7, Damages Houses and Roads in Malawi

BLANTYRE, MALAWI — Officials in Malawi say at least seven people have been killed and hundreds displaced by Tropical Cyclone Gombe, which also left 11 people dead in Mozambique. Authorities have deployed search and rescue teams to flood-hit areas.

Chipiliro Khamula is a spokesman for Malawi’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs.

He says reports show the cyclone caused heavy damage in about 10 districts, mostly in the south of the country.

“For instance, the Machinga district council reports that a 78-year-old man has died after being hit by a collapsing wall…The very same council also reports that a 49-year-old woman, her 32-year-old daughter and her two-year-old grandson have been washed away when they were trying to cross the flooded Namandanje River, in Ta Liwonde.”

Khamula notes that reports from Mulanje district indicate a police station, the local Revenue Authority offices and an immigration office at the border with Mozambique have been submerged and temporary closed.

The report further indicates that the Chikwawa-Nsanje Road has been cut off in the Chikwawa District, making the Nsanje District inaccessible by road.

In the Phalombe district, an evacuation camp hosting people affected by Tropical Storm Ana in January was also submerged, leaving the occupants homeless.

“District councils are still conducting assessments to establish the extent of damage. Meanwhile, the department has deployed a search and rescue team comprising the Malawi Defense Force and the Malawi Police Service to Mulanje and Phalombe districts,” he expressed.

The flooding comes as Malawi starts to recover from the effects of tropical Storm Ana which hit Malawi. The storm affected more than 900,000 people in 17 of the country’s 28 districts.

Ana killed about 80 people in Madagascar, Mozambique and Malawi. Another 18 people in Malawi are still missing following that storm.

Lucy Mtilatila is acting director at Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services in Malawi.

She says that between global warming and land degradation, Malawi should prepare for more cyclones and more flooding.

“Because most of the land is bare, no trees, no vegetation, so, when these waters come, the impact of these floods is very, very high. And the temperatures are increasing over the oceans. With these global warming, climate change, we expect that these cyclones will be developing more and more.”

She also says the impact can be mitigated by rethinking Malawi’s building codes.

“For example, if our houses are not withstanding torrential rains of 48 hours, that means we have to go back to drawing board and see how we can design structures like buildings, roads, bridges that can withstand these kinds of hazards in the future. That’s the only way we can adapt to these cyclones when they come.”

Currently, Malawi’s government is emphasizing the need for people living in flood-prone areas to voluntarily relocate.

Many people are resisting the move largely for fear of losing their ancestral land.

Source: Voice of America