Study: Tech Trends in Pandemic Times: 1 in 4 People Learned to Code During Lockdown

Doors shut on many plans during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plans turned to day-by-day approaches, particularly where daily livelihood was concerned and job stability had to navigate mass layoffs and furloughs in some fields.

Bucharest, Romania., October 9, 2020 -- Doors shut on many plans during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plans turned to day-by-day approaches, particularly where daily livelihood was concerned and job stability had to navigate mass layoffs and furloughs in some fields.

Doors shut on many plans during the Covid-19 pandemic. Plans turned to day-by-day approaches, particularly where daily livelihood was concerned and job stability had to navigate mass layoffs and furloughs in some fields.

Yet, despite this rather asperse scenery, the following phenomenon happened: employees turned to learning new skills to keep their leverage on the working market, as well as to garner a new feeling of personal development. Case in point: technology proficiency.

The golden top 3 podium: Python, Java and C++

According to a study that collected data in August 2020 from more than 1,000 people in the United States, which is cited by www.developer-tech.com, around 1 in 4 people spent time learning coding languages during the lockdown.
The most commonly learned programming language were Python, followed by Java and C++.

Millennials, most engaged with new tech trends

70% of the study respondents said their technology skills moderately or greatly improved since the Covid-19 breakout. Breaking it down by generation groups, millennials, at nearly 3 out of 4 respondents, were the most likely to have improved their tech skills with Generation X not far behind.

Baby boomers were considerably less likely to report any tech improvement; still, over half said they were more skilled now than they were before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biggest motivation to learn code: career development

The greatest motivations for people setting out to improve their skills were career development (55%), personal development (46%), and improving job search prospects (33%).

Online e-zines, online channels, and mostly freely available content, was the top source of training material for most (66%) people boosting their skills, with 1 in 3 turned to paid resources.

On average, people spent 7,2 hours per week improving their tech skills, the most time learning coding and programming languages, while improving telecommunication proficiency required the least study time.

One other interesting aspect to consider: people who had taken advantage of employee-provided training opportunities were much more inclined to pursue development on their own or through paid resources.

Over one-third of respondents (37%) whose employers didn’t offer technology education opportunities reported wishing their employer would do so.

Overall, close to 1 in 2 respondents believe their new or improved tech skills will be very or extremely beneficial to their career.

Article brought to you by VON Consulting Tech Division. People. Quality. Tech.
VON Consulting Tech Division is a start-up from San Diego, CA, which provides hardware design and verification services, IT support and software development for customers in different industries, mainly in IT, telecom, and networking and semiconductors industries. See more on http://www.vonconsulting.net.

Wellbeing and Personal Protection Business Subscription Boxes Launch

New to the subscription market is Curakit; the new approach to self-care and wellbeing for business.

London, UK., October 9, 2020 -- New to the subscription market is Curakit; the new approach to self-care and wellbeing for business.

Targeted at businesses across the UK, the personal protection and wellbeing subscription boxes enable employers to help protect and care for their employees by sending monthly Curakit boxes direct to the homes or desks of employees. In a world where personal protective equipment and physical and mental wellness is more important than ever, Curakit is the easy and affordable solution for UK businesses.

Recent research has revealed that 91%* of UK workers would like to work from home at least part of the time and research from the ONS showed that 30% of the UK workforce were still calling home the office. Therefore caring for the wellbeing of employees from afar will soon be the new normal.

Designed and made in the UK, the boxes retail at £20 per box for orders of 500 and over and at £25 per box for up to 49 monthly orders, the subscription service is just one way that business is evolving. Each colourful box comes complete with a 30 day supply of high quality personal protective equipment, as well as a series of items designed to lift mood, reduce stress and anxiety, which change monthly. It also features handy information on staying safe and physically and emotionally well in challenging work environments. The London based company has teamed up with two local brands for the supply of the kit, On The Lane, A health and wellbeing business based in Belsize park and Harley Street Care, a central London based brand of medical supplies.

An example box includes (note that items in italic change each month):

- 20 disposable face masks (Type IIR)
- 5 reusable KN95 masks
- 2 x 100 ml antibacterial hand gel bottles
- 30 antibacterial wipes
- 10 ml aromatherapy oil blend
- 50 ml luxury hand cream
- Confectionary
- Wellbeing booklet

Due to Covid 19, the subscription box market has grown significantly over the last four months as people prefer to shop online for their necessities. This has now transferred into world of work with employers looking for new ways to ensure that they are caring for the wellbeing of employees.

Curakit Founder, Josh White comments on the launch; “I’ve seen the world of subscription boxes grow significantly over the last two years and I saw a gap in the market for business subscription boxes when Covid 19 was at its peak in the UK. As businesses scrambled to help employees adapt to working from home, I saw that the obvious solution was for businesses to provide direct to home deliveries to ensure for wellbeing and personal protection from the virus. Curakit makes it easy for businesses to show that they care for their teams, at an affordable price.”

Josh continues; “This kit is designed to make people smile and feel reassured when it lands on their desk. Alongside the PPE is our handy “back to work guide”, containing easy to understand hints and tips for staying safe, reducing stress and anxiety. Featuring meditations, recipes and other activities to help alleviate stresses and strains whilst promoting physical and mental well-being. This is combined with our little treats like specially blended aromatherapy oil, hand creams and teas - which regularly change from month to month, so the kit remains engaging, fresh and interesting.”

For further information visit www.curakit.com

DataMesh Group Technology Enables Native Least Cost Routing on Payment Terminals

DataMesh Group deploying its payment technology to enable automatic least cost routing to eftpos’ Australian debit payment system. The Company sees $500 million per annum reduction in transaction fees for Australian merchants when fully implemented.

Sydney, Australia, October 6, 2020 -- Australian financial payment systems and software solutions provider, DataMesh Group (‘DataMesh’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to announce it has developed a unique capability to automatically apply least cost routing (LCR) technology within Australia’s debit card payment system for its customers.

LCR allows for the best economic outcome for merchants on contactless (tap-and-go) debit card payments by sending them through the debit network that costs the least to accept. It enables a debit payment to be uniquely "flagged" as a specific debit card transaction and sent to the lowest cost debit network, resulting in the lowest cost fee structure for the merchant.

Without LCR, the transaction is sent to the default debit network programmed on the customer’s card, which may not be the lowest cost debit network, resulting in higher transaction costs for merchants.
Merchants will use DataMesh’s ground-breaking software to enable automatic selection of LCR for debit transactions, resulting in lower costs for merchants by routing through eftpos.

DataMesh’s software can read the card/phone/watch, decipher whether it’s a debit or credit payment and attach the relevant message to the transaction before it’s sent to eftpos via the acquirer (potentially any bank), which has awarded the transaction the applicable fee structure. Merchants are then charged the lowest payment fees on debit transactions.

The Sydney-based fintech is among the first companies to have found a way to automatically select LCR on a tap-and-go debit payment.

DataMesh’s software can be uploaded on existing hardware terminals, negating the need for merchant acquirers to buy new terminals, nor requirements for action by merchants or cardholders.

eftpos, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), and retailers have been pushing for LCR, with the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) saying it will consider regulation if it’s not made widely available to merchants.

Currently, debit cards represent around 70 percent of all card transactions in Australia, so DataMesh LCR technology translates into significant transaction cost savings for merchants.

DataMesh Group CEO Mark Nagy said:
“The unique least cost routing capability developed by DataMesh is a massive win for Australian merchants, especially in this era of contactless payments.

“eftpos’ debit card network accounted for more than two billion cheque and savings transactions in 2019 worth around $130 billion. DataMesh is working with eftpos and other payments industry members in the push for least cost routing, and to bring down fees for merchants in what is a very challenging environment for retailers and consumers.

“Conservative estimates suggest a potential reduction in fees for merchants of up to $500 million dollars nationally per year if LCR was fully implemented.

“DataMesh LCR software is compatible with many legacy merchant terminals and most acquirers. We estimate more than half of card terminals in Australia are currently unable to fully support LCR, so our technology provides an effective solution and removes the need for acquirers to undertake costly hardware upgrades.”

DataMesh is focused on vastly improving and modernising merchants’ outdated backbone payment systems. It has developed solutions that not only fix current payment system issues for merchants but can increase their business efficiency through new and improved integrated technology.

Last month, the Company announced it had signed a major long-term agreement with national retail giant Peregrine Corporation under which DataMesh has become the company’s sole payments provider.

Peregrine is using DataMesh’s LCR capability through its acquirer to effect significant payment cost savings to its business, which had a reported annual turnover of $2.2 billion last year.

DataMesh’s software is fully developed in Australia, with all IP owned by DataMesh. DataMesh is Australian owned, and its technology is Australian built and operated.

DataMesh operates under PCI Standards Council and the Australian Payments Network regulations. DataMesh’s switching platform is EMV and PCI-DSS Level 1 certified for Card Present (CP) and Card Not Present (CNP) transactions.

About DataMesh Group:
DataMesh Group is focused on revolutionising the current payment systems available to Australian merchants, delivering integrated payment capabilities and valuable customer insights through bespoke payment and data processing solutions.

The Company’s proprietary financial switching platform (Unify™) has resolved payments technology and compliance issues for major retailers and their customers while maintaining robust relationships with banking and regulatory partners.

It is the world’s most modern and powerful cloud and terrestrial-based financial switching solution available on the market. DataMesh Group's suite of financial payment systems hardware, software, infrastructure and data analytics products provide streamlined, low cost and flexible payment solutions integrated to leading point-of-sale (POS) systems and various next-gen payment devices.

DataMesh technology enables retailers to design the experience they deliver to customers, creating a hub for commerce and data that merchants, acquirers, card schemes and third parties can use to achieve better business outcomes.

DataMesh operates under PCI Standards Council and the Australian Payments Network regulations.

DataMesh’s switching platform is EMV and PCI-DSS Level 1 certified for Card Present (CP) and Card Not Present (CNP) transactions. Data collected by its software is always safe and secure. www.datameshgroup.com

US Capital Global Provides Bridge to $16 Million Financing for State-of-the-Art Medical Center and Surgical Hospital in Austin, Texas

San Francisco-based private financial group US Capital Global further expands its healthcare financing across the United States during ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

San Francisco, California, USA., October 6, 2020 -- US Capital Global has structured and provided bridge financing to a $16 million facility for Westlake Surgical LP and Arise Healthcare System LLC. Operating high-end orthopedic and surgical centers in Austin, Texas, these companies provide premium medical care through their state-of-the-art surgical and imaging facilities, as well as emergency, rehabilitation, and wellness services. The Hospital at Westlake, for instance, is Austin’s finest locally operated acute care facility.

Headquartered in San Francisco, US Capital Global is a full-service private financial group with an established track record in investment banking, asset management, investment management, and capital formation services. The firm provides sophisticated debt, equity, and investment products to lower middle market companies and investors. All securities are offered by the group through its registered broker-dealer affiliate, US Capital Global Securities LLC.

The US Capital Global team has a long and proud history of supporting medium-sized businesses in the healthcare industry and has been increasing its healthcare financing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group has deep experience across a wide range of healthcare sub-industries, including medical devices and equipment, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical facilities and services, and drug manufacturing.

“I greatly appreciated the real-time feedback that US Capital Global has provided on what financing is available, as well as what it takes to qualify in this fast-changing credit market,” said Michael Welch, owner of Attila Management, the parent company of Westlake Surgical LP and Arise Healthcare System LLC. “This timely bridge facility addresses our immediate working capital needs, allowing us to pursue some of our corporate initiatives as we plan for a larger facility that will address our long-term financing needs.”

“We are pleased to have provided Westlake Surgical LP and Arise Healthcare System LLC with additional working capital to support their continued growth,” said Jeffrey Sweeney, Chairman and CEO at US Capital Global. “US Capital Global has recently supported numerous innovative medical firms that provide life-saving care, products, and services. In addition to Westlake Surgical LP and Arise Healthcare System LLC, these include advanced MedTech firms such as Smart Matrix, the next-generation wound-care firm; EDP Biotech, a biotech developer focused on early disease detection; and the respiratory products developer, Valley Respiratory Services.”

About US Capital Global:
Established in 1998, US Capital Global leverages the latest FinTech and RegTech innovation to provide sophisticated debt, equity, and investment products to lower middle market companies and investors. The US Capital Global group manages direct investment funds and provides wealth management and capital raise services through its affiliates, including US Capital Global Investment Management LLC, US Capital Global Wealth Management LLC, and its FINRA-registered broker-dealer, US Capital Global Securities LLC. The group collaborates closely with its peers in professional banking and investment advisory. www.uscapglobal.com

To learn more about US Capital Global, email Jeffrey Sweeney, Chairman and CEO, at jsweeney@uscapglobal.com or call +1 415-889-1010.

Accor, Hard Rock and Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen setting the benchmark with My Menu

My Menu a digital menu platform for restaurants, bars, clubs & pubs to take contactless orders and accept payments, making menus more accessible and restaurants becoming COVID-19 compliant overnight.

Kansas City, MO., October 5, 2020 -- My Menu a digital menu platform for restaurants, bars, clubs & pubs to take contactless orders and accept payments, making menus more accessible and restaurants becoming COVID-19 compliant overnight. With over 300+ hotels and 3000+ restaurant install base across 30+ countries, My Menu has established itself as a clear global leader in the contactless menu vertical.

My Menu’s innovative technology allows for much needed upselling at the point of ordering and helps increase the average order value helping the hospitality industry make a way in recouping it’s lost due to the pandemic.

Accor was the first hotel company to define a corporate policy when it came to the contactless menu, as early as May of this year. Floor Bleeker, Chief Information Officer at Accor said

“The health, safety and well-being of our guests and team members remain a top priority for Accor, especially during these unprecedented times. As a part of the #ALLSAFE program, the Accor Middle East & Africa IT team have partnered with My Menu, a global leader in the digital menu that redefine the way guests order food entirely contactless. Through this partnership, guests can now enjoy a menu copy on their personal device by scanning the restaurant’s QR code and without the need to download any application.”

“To date, more than 500 restaurants in over 150 Accor Hotels in the Middle East & Africa region have seamlessly implemented My Menu to ensure a contactless yet efficient service for guests.” added Floor.

Although most hotel brands haven’t announced a corporate standard a decision is being made at the property level. Many Marriott properties such as JW Marriott Marquis, The Grosvenor House, Le Meridien, Westin and others such as Caesar’s Palace, Meydan Hotels were among the early adopters of My Menu.

Globally loved iconic brand Hard Rock had this to say

“Love All, Serve All

At Hard Rock, we’ve lived by this motto for nearly 50 years. And right now, it’s more important than ever to us when it comes to keeping you safe.

That’s why we are going out of our way to ensure that your visit to Hard Rock Cafe is as safe (and enjoyable) as we can possibly make it.

Part of these measures is teaming up with My Menu to ensure that all of our menus are now digital - simply scan the QR code on your table and read the menu on your personal device. It’s easy and safe and our team of young, digitally minded, socially distanced servers are on hand to answer any queries you may have, to ensure your table is clean enough to eat off and to offer a friendly squirt of sanitizer if you want it. Stay safe and sound. After all, tattoos don’t wash off - but germs do!” said Nada Hayati, General manager at Hard Rock

Other popular brands who understood the importance of contactless menu at an early stage are Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen, Nandos, Wagamama, Carluccio’s, Max, Zafran to name a few.

When asked why are so many well-known brands opting for My Menu? The CEO and Co-founder of My Menu - Abhishek Bose said

“Our core objective at My Menu is to increase the average check value of any restaurant. I believe hotels and restaurants have realized that a good QR Code Menu is much more than just a safety feature. My Menu implemented with all its features has proven to increase sales by 30%!”

My Menu has recently announced direct integration with payment gateways such as Stripe, Razorpay, 2Checkout and Checkout. This enables restaurants in to accept online payment directly into their account.

To take advantage of the free trial and for further information visit https://www.mydigimenu.com/

My Menu is an 'all-in-one' menu and order management system for hospitality venues. The QR Code Generator and Menu ordering system provide guests with a complete contactless, self-ordering and self-payment system. My Menu’s online ordering and delivery module help the restaurant to start accepting orders directly at zero commission. My Menu improves efficiency and guest experience while increasing revenue. Integration with multiple payment gateways such as stripe, checkout, 2checkout, razor pay ensures restaurants can start accepting payments online directly into their accounts.

GS Medical in Thomasville, North Carolina Manufacturing Disposable Face Mask to Fight Shortage, Quality and Price

A North Carolina Based Surgeon is now Manufacturing Disposable Face Mask to Provide Better Quality and Fair Pricing.

Thomasville, North Carolina, United States., October 5, 2020 -- By the end of December 2019 Dr Gajendra Singh, a North Carolina based surgeon in Winston-Salem was experiencing shortage of mask for use in his office for patient consultation and office procedures. It lasted for several months and ongoing to the extent that his practice started to suffer. Because of unavailability of the mask his office had to turn down patients and stopped doing office-based procedures, which are being offered as lowest cost in the country. This greatly impacted the low-cost services provided to the community by his office. In the end of May he was able to purchase couple boxes of mask for about $45 each from an online retailer.

With the frustration of shortage, price gouging and very poor quality of imported masks, Dr. Gajendra Singh decided to start manufacturing of mask in the USA to avoid importing them from overseas and better control over quality and price. This led to the foundation of GS Medical Corp and a small, local, US based manufacturing firm was started in July 2020 in Thomasville, NC.

Main goal for GS Medical is to provide better quality and fairly priced disposable face masks made in the USA, to the community as well as medical professionals and facilities. With the COVID-19 spreading and shutting down businesses and increasing worries about the health, finances and lifestyle, GS Medical was able to provide jobs to the local community instead of spending money in importing face mask from China.

GS Medical has supported local community by providing charity to local schools, colleges and other necessary places by donating free masks. “My goal in life is to help other people and community as much as possible, like I have done in my other endeavors and medical practice” Said CEO Dr. Gajendra Singh of GS Medical.  He also added “I want anyone to reach out to me directly if anything I can do to help. By supporting this small business, community is actually supporting themselves and people working here”.

GS medical offer retail and wholesale purchase on its website https://gsmedic.com. It offers great discount for medical professionals, teachers, firefighters, law enforcement and medical facilities. For large purchases and discounts for the businesses and medical facilities, the company can be reached by email sales@gsmedic.com

About GS Medical:
GS medical is a local USA based manufacturer located in Thomasville, NC. At GS Medical, disposable face mask, are built to the international standards. These masks are developed using high-quality raw materials and are fully proficient in creating a physical barrier to particulate materials and fluids. In hospitals and healthcare facilities and other risky areas, there is a huge risk of cross-contamination. The quality collection of disposable face masks provide the necessary face shield to filter out germs, dust, pollen, smoke, and other disease-causing elements and help against splashes, droplets, or sprays entering the oral or nasal areas. Visit https://gsmedic.com for details.

FourPL Leadership Announcement - Anthony Hawkins

FourPL welcomes back founding member and partner, Anthony Hawkins after his secondment at Open Sky Group Pty Ltd as CEO

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia., September 24, 2020 -- FourPL, a leading Australian IT consulting company specialising in supply chain and spend management, is excited to welcome back founding member and partner, Anthony Hawkins to the FourPL fold after his secondment at Open Sky Group Pty Ltd as CEO.

For the past three years, Anthony successfully led Joint Venture organisation, Open Sky Group Pty Ltd from concept, through to the appointment of an external CEO, Ian Drummond.

Anthony will assume the role as Chief Strategy Officer allowing him to focus on supporting FourPL's customers around strategy, innovation and technology adoption. Along with Anthony’s focus on strategy and innovation he will also lead the Logistics Execution and Supply Chain Visibility service line.

Reflecting on his move back to FourPL, Anthony said: “I am relishing the opportunity to guide FourPL and our customers as they leverage technology, to capitalise on the opportunities that the market disruption creates for us.”
FourPL  are delighted to have Anthony back in the FourPL Team” says Brett Findlay, FourPL CEO.  “Under Anthony’s strategic leadership we are looking to provide customers with more focused expertise and solutions.”

Anthony is a highly experienced information technology professional, bringing business acumen, supply chain capability and information systems strategy to the business. Anthony’s ability to simplify complex problems and help his clients understand, visualise and articulate future directions for their information systems makes him an invaluable adviser. He is widely respected as an expert in his field and is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars.

About FourPL:
FourPL is a leading Australian owned supply chain and procurement solutions provider with offices in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. Our focus is to help large companies recognise where they can gain value with technology, understand how a technology initiative is performing, help them buy a solution, or deliver the outcome/service they require. We have specialist systems expertise within the domains of Spend Management, Logistics Execution and Supply Chain Visibility.
We work with global partners and leading-edge technology solution providers and take pride in our independence when choosing to work with solution providers. www.fourpl.com.au.

About FourPL Pty Ltd
FourPL PTy Ltd provide procurement and supply chain system advisory, implementation, support and operational services for our customers. FourPL Pty Ltd have specialist systems expertise within the domains of Spend Management, Logistics Execution and Supply Chain Visibility.  Our focus is to help large companies recognise where they can gain value with technology, understand how a technology initiative is performing, help them buy a solution, or deliver the outcome/service they require.  We partner with software market leaders in the domains where we are experts.