Technology

Transit and building improvements coming soon to Banff and surrounding area

Published

2 years ago

February 19, 2024

BANFF, AB, Feb. 19, 2024 /CNW/ – People visiting and living in and around Banff will be better served with improvements to transit services as well as to notable local cultural and essential service buildings after a combined investment of more than $13 million from the federal government and municipal partners.

Announced by Minister Sean Fraser, Mayor Corrie DiManno, Dave Schebek, Board Chair of the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission, and Chris Lorway, President and CEO of the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, these projects will broaden access to transportation options and improve traffic flow in the busy Banff region. In addition, improvements to ventilation and lighting in two public local buildings will support a healthier indoor environment.

With today’s funding, up to five accessible hybrid electric buses will be deployed in the Bow Valley region to provide improved transit service. Adding to the existing fleets within Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise, the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission will also replace current diesel buses with a mix of hybrid and electric vehicles that will include some extended range capabilities to be effective in the varying weather and terrain conditions. Funding will also support the expansion of services between Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise. These rural communities will benefit from the purchase of three accessible transit buses specifically to extend the current fixed route service and help improve connectivity in the entire region.

Through a partnership between Banff and the Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission, a new transit express lane will be created on Mountain Avenue which connects the downtown, a residential neighbourhood and two main tourist attractions in the area. The town will also see the creation of a new multi-use pathway to better connect residents and tourists with the existing local Roam Public Transit system and help reduce traffic congestion through the area.

Banff will also see investments in ventilation and lighting in notable local buildings to help improve the efficiency of these public spaces. The Catharine Robb Whyte Building will see upgrades to the existing lighting system with high efficiency LED fixtures and new automatic controls to reduce energy waste through a safer, hands-free operation. These improvements are expected to reduce the facility’s energy consumption by an estimated 11% and greenhouse gas emissions by 25.10 tonnes annually. Upgrades to the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity will be made to the Farrally Hall, Vinci Hall and Glyde Hall with Walter Philips Gallery and will include additional ventilation units and the replacement of outdated equipment to improve overall energy efficiency in the buildings.

Supporting upgrades to local transit and cultural infrastructure encourages healthy and sustainable modes of transportation and lifestyle and plays a key role in developing connected, dynamic, and prosperous communities.

Quotes

“Banff is one of the main hubs in the very busy Bow Valley region and the investments we’re making in local transit projects and community buildings will make it easier and faster for folks to get to where they want to go and upgrade the efficiency of public spaces.”

The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“This investment will add a critical transit lane, as well as bicycle and pedestrian path, in our community. It will help our leading-edge transit system to move more people faster and more effectively. We know reliable and frequent transit takes personal vehicles off of our finite road network, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and maintains our crystal clean air quality, all while improving the overall experience for the four million visitors to Banff each year and the 9,000 residents who work hard to welcome Canadians to their premier national park. The federal support for our energy efficiency upgrades in key facilities strengthens our goal to be a model environmental community and it creates financial sustainability in our vital cultural spaces.”

Her Worship Corrie DiManno, Mayor of the Town of Banff

“Roam Public Transit is continually striving to reduce congestion and contribute to lowering emissions through offering increased sustainable transit options within the Bow Valley. The funding provided through the Federal Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program and the Rural Transit Solutions Fund, supplemented by our partners Canmore, Banff and Improvement District 9, is allowing Roam to continue moving forward on this journey. This opportunity will further encourage and enable residents and visitors to move throughout the Bow Valley without the use of a private vehicle.”

Dave Schebek, Board Chair, Bow Valley Regional Transit Services Commission (BVRTSC)

“With this funding, we will be able to make important upgrades to two of the most historic buildings on our campus: Farrally Hall and Vinci Hall, as well as Glyde Hall with the Walter Philips Gallery. With this work, these three buildings will be able to significantly improve the environmental conditions and air quality which will better serve artists and leaders who come to Banff Centre.”

Chris Lorway, President and CEO, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

Quick Facts

The federal government is investing $8,789,777 towards these five projects through various programs including the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream (PTIS) and the COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure Stream (CVRIS) of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP), the Rural Transit Solutions Fund (RTSF), as well as the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) program. The Town of Banff is investing $4,932,765 and the Town of Banff Environmental Reserve is contributing $35,034.Federal funding is conditional on fulfilling all requirements related to environmental assessment obligations.Under the Investing in Canada Plan, the federal government is investing more than $180 billion over 12 years in public transit projects, green infrastructure, social infrastructure, trade and transportation routes, and Canada’s rural and northern communities.As the world moves towards a net-zero economy, people living and working on the Prairies are taking action and are leading to take advantage of growing economic development opportunities.On December 18, 2023, the federal government launched the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy, which highlights the need for a collaborative, region-specific approach to sustainability, focusing on strengthening the coordination of federal programs, and initiatives with significant investments. This Framework is a first step in a journey that will bring together multiple stakeholders.PrairiesCan has dedicated $100 million over three years to support projects aligned with priority areas identified by Prairie stakeholders to build a stronger, more sustainable, and inclusive economy for the Prairie provinces and Canada.Building a green Prairie economy is about working together on common interests, to make a sustainable and prosperous net-zero economy achievable.Infrastructure Canada is supporting the Framework to Build a Green Prairie Economy to encourage greater collaboration on investment opportunities, leverage additional funding, and attract new investments across the Prairies that better meet their needs.

Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (PTIS/CVRIS):

The Public Transit Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) supports the building, expansion, and upgrading of urban and rural transit networks.Investments in public transit help Canadians get where they need to be, create new manufacturing and construction jobs, reduce pollution, and make life more affordable.Including today’s announcement, over 10 infrastructure projects under the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream have been announced in Alberta, with a total federal contribution of more than $1.9 billion and a total provincial contribution of more than $2 billion.Under the COVID-19 Resilience Stream, the federal cost share for public infrastructure projects is 80 per cent in the provinces, and 100 per cent in the territories and for projects intended for Indigenous communities.Including today’s announcement, over 100 infrastructure projects under the COVID-19 Resilience Stream have been announced in Alberta, with a total federal contribution of more than $206 million and a total provincial contribution of nearly $10 million.

Rural Transit Solutions Fund:

Launched in 2021,the RTSF helps Canadians living in rural and remote areas get around their communities more easily by supporting the development of rural transit solutions.Applications are currently being accepted for the RTSF’s two funding streams:The Capital projects stream can provide up to $3 million for traditional modes of transportation and up to $5 million for zero-emission vehicles. Note: The Capital projects stream will be closing on February 28, 2024, at 3:00 pm, EST.The Planning and Design projects stream provides grants of up to $50,000 to support the development of transit planning activities such as assessment of routes, modes of travel, feasibility studies, public and stakeholder engagement and surveys. No closing date has been announced for this funding stream.A minimum of 10 percent of RTSF’s funding is allocated to projects that benefit Indigenous populations and communities.

Green and Inclusive Community Buildings:

The GICB program is providing $1.5 billion over five years to support green retrofits and new net-zero construction of community buildings in underserved areas. GICB aims to improve the places Canadians work, learn, play, live and come together by cutting pollution, reducing costs, and supporting thousands of good jobs. The program helps ensure that community buildings are energy efficient, inclusive, accessible, and have a long service life, while also helping Canada move towards its net-zero objectives by 2050.At least 10 percent of funding is allocated to projects serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including Indigenous populations in urban centres.

Technology

Safetyfirst Systems, LLC Provides Notice of Data Security Event

Published

16 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Safetyfirst Systems, LLC (“SFS”) is providing notice of a data security event that may involve information relating to certain individuals. While SFS is not aware of any misuse of information associated with this event, it is providing notice to potentially affected individuals out of an abundance of caution.

On January 19, 2026, SFS identified suspicious activity involving a limited portion of its server environment. Upon discovering the activity, SFS quickly took steps to secure its systems, notified federal law enforcement, engaged leading third-party forensic specialists, and performed a detailed investigation into the nature, scope, and impact of the activity. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed and/or acquired certain files from limited SFS systems between January 16, 2026, and January 19, 2026. SFS then conducted a comprehensive review of the affected files to determine what information may have been involved and identify the individuals to whom the information relates. The review has recently concluded, and SFS is providing this notification to potentially impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution. Although the types of information vary by individual, the affected information may include names, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.

Protecting the privacy and security of the information entrusted to SFS is a responsibility the company takes very seriously. In response to this event, SFS promptly strengthened security measures, continues to enhance its technical safeguards and monitoring capabilities, and is reviewing existing policies and procedures to further protect against similar incidents in the future. SFS is also providing notice to potentially affected individuals and, where required, appropriate regulatory authorities.

Although SFS is unaware of any misuse of personal information impacted by this event, individuals are encouraged to remain vigilant against events of identity theft by reviewing account statements, explanation of benefits, and monitoring free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Any suspicious activity should be reported to the appropriate insurance company, health care provider, or financial institution.

Individuals seeking additional information regarding this event can contact SFS’s dedicated assistance line at 1-833-289-5523 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Individuals may also write to SFS at PO Box 101, 3299 US Highway 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054-9998.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safetyfirst-systems-llc-provides-notice-of-data-security-event-302831894.html

SOURCE Safetyfirst Systems, LLC

Technology

Sunrate and Mastercard Release White Paper on Agentic AI and the Future of B2B Global Payments

Published

16 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

SHANGHAI, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sunrate, the global payment and treasury management platform, and Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, unveiled a joint white paper, Beyond Automation: Defining Agentic Global Payments, at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

Among the first reports in the payments industry to examine the impact of Agentic AI on B2B cross-border payments, the white paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how AI agents are reshaping enterprise payment operations. It proposes that cross-border payments are evolving beyond digitisation and automation into a new stage: Autonomy—where AI agents with reasoning, planning, and execution capabilities can independently orchestrate and optimise end-to-end payment and treasury workflows within defined governance frameworks.

As businesses expand across borders, B2B cross-border payments continue to be constrained by fragmented workflows, disconnected systems, foreign exchange inefficiencies, rising compliance requirements, and complex reconciliation processes. While traditional automation improves individual tasks, the white paper demonstrates that Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift by enabling intelligent agents to coordinate entire payment journeys across systems, counterparties, and approval workflows.

Drawing on Sunrate’s global payment infrastructure and AI-native product capabilities, together with Mastercard’s expertise in secure payment networks and data intelligence, the white paper defines Agentic Global Payments — a new category of AI-native global payment infrastructure built to automate and manage complex enterprise workflows.

The report identifies 16 major pain points across the B2B payment lifecycle and outlines 13 high-value AI use cases spanning supplier onboarding, accounts payable and receivable, virtual commercial cards, payment routing, foreign exchange management, compliance screening, fraud detection, reconciliation, and conversational operational support. It also demonstrates how AI agents can automate complex workflows—from extracting information across multiple document formats and conducting compliance checks to initiating payments, optimising FX execution, and completing reconciliation—while operating within enterprise governance and control frameworks.

The white paper further highlights that trusted adoption of agentic payments depends on more than technological capability. It identifies governance, transparency, security, and ecosystem collaboration as essential foundations for enterprise deployment, supported by frameworks such as Know Your Agent (KYA), payment tokenisation, auditability, and cross-industry interoperability.

Sunrate.AI portfolio currently includes the Payment Agent, FX Agent, Compliance Agent, Onboarding Agent, and Chat Agent, designed to help enterprises automate and optimise critical payment and treasury processes while maintaining compliance and operational control.

Mastercard has also been actively building the foundations for trusted agentic commerce – combining AI capabilities with verifiable authorisation, clear accountability and proven payments security. Its work in this area, including Agent Pay (alongside Agent Pay for Machines) and Verifiable Intent, are proof points in how Mastercard is enabling AI to participate in commerce safely and transparently.

“Our mission is to make global payments seamless, compliant, and intelligent,” said Paul Meng, Co-founder and CEO of Sunrate. “As businesses continue expanding internationally, AI agents will fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage global payments—enabling smoother capital flows, reducing operational friction, and embedding real-time intelligence into every payment decision. This white paper represents an important step in helping the industry understand how Agentic AI can be deployed responsibly at enterprise scale.”

“Agentic commerce is changing how businesses make and execute payment decisions, but speed without accountability creates new categories of risk,” said Anouska Ladds, Executive Vice President, Commercial & New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “As AI starts to act on behalf of businesses, autonomous payment decisions need a clear, auditable chain of identity, intent and action. That’s what allows organisations to delegate with genuine confidence — and what will determine whether agentic commerce scales past pilots.”

Released under WAIC 2026’s theme, “Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future,” the white paper provides business leaders with practical guidance on adopting AI-driven payment capabilities, covering implementation approaches, governance considerations, and real-world enterprise applications.

By combining Sunrate’s expertise in global payments and treasury management with Mastercard’s trusted payment infrastructure and network capabilities, the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the next generation of intelligent, secure, and autonomous B2B global payments.

Click here to check the white paper.

About Sunrate

Sunrate is a leading global payment and treasury management platform for businesses worldwide. Founded in 2016, Sunrate has enabled companies to operate and scale both locally and globally in 190+ countries and regions with its cutting-edge infrastructure, global network, and unified solutions.

Sunrate operates through offices across key markets, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London. The company partners with the top global financial institutions, such as Citibank, Standard Chartered, Barclays, J.P. Morgan. Sunrate is also the principal member of Mastercard and Visa. To learn more about Sunrate, visit https://www.sunrate.com/.

About Mastercard

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a resilient economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

www.mastercard.com

SOURCE Sunrate

Technology

JAMS Launches AI for Enterprise Job Scheduling: JAX and JAMS MCP

Published

16 minutes ago

July 24, 2026

A new AI agent and an open-standard connector let IT teams query, diagnose, and manage automation in plain language, on the model they choose, with operational data able to stay onshore inside their own network

SYDNEY, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — JAMS Software, an orchestration solution for scheduled and event-driven automation, today announced the general availability of two AI capabilities for enterprise job scheduling: JAX, an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client, and JAMS MCP, a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard that brings JAMS into external AI coding tools. Both capabilities ship at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

Automation environments grow faster than the teams that run them. Jobs multiply across SQL Server, Azure Data Factory, Airflow, SAP, JDE, and Banner, and when one fails, finding the root cause often means searching several consoles at once, frequently outside business hours. At the same time, IT leaders carry pressure to adopt AI while staying accountable for where operational data goes. JAX and JAMS MCP close both gaps together.

Full details on how JAX and JAMS MCP work, including the control model behind every action, are available at jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

JAX is an AI agent that runs inside the JAMS Web Client. It finds jobs, troubleshoots failures, and answers how-to questions in plain language, with each response grounded in the JAMS user guide and checked against a built-in glossary. JAX acts only when a user asks it to. Reads flow freely, and every write action pauses for the user’s explicit approval before it runs. JAX does not learn between sessions, and conversations are not retained on the server.

JAMS MCP is a connector, built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, that brings JAMS into the AI tools engineering teams already use, including Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex. Users query jobs, investigate failures, and manage runs in plain language without leaving their tool.

Both capabilities run inside the customer’s own network and act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions. There is no elevated AI account: whatever a user cannot do in the JAMS interface, JAX and JAMS MCP cannot do on that user’s behalf. Every JAX and MCP operation is recorded in its own dedicated log, and changes made through the JAMS API land in the JAMS audit trail like any other change. Customers choose their own AI model, whether a commercial provider such as OpenAI or Anthropic or a model running entirely on their own hardware, and JAMS never trains on customer data. In the current release, neither feature edits or deletes a job, folder, schedule, or agent definition. For teams that need operational data to stay onshore, JAX runs on a local model entirely inside the customer’s own network, so nothing leaves at all.

“Adopting AI usually means giving something up, most often visibility into where your data goes,” said Pete Hegland, Chief Executive Officer of JAMS Software. “We built JAX and JAMS MCP so that trade does not have to happen. Every action runs as the signed-in user, every change waits for approval, and the model can run on the customer’s own hardware, keeping operational data onshore.”

“For teams across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, two things matter: keeping data onshore, and getting answers when a job fails after hours,” said Shayne Cooper, Account Executive for APAC at JAMS Software. “JAX and JAMS MCP address both. The model can run on the customer’s own hardware, and the answer arrives in plain language at the moment it is needed.”

JAX and JAMS MCP are available now to all JAMS Web customers across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, with no separate licence, SKU, or additional cost. AI-assisted creation of new jobs and workflows from a plain-language description is on the roadmap for a future release, gated by the same approvals and permissions as every other action.

Learn how JAX and JAMS MCP work at https://jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

Fast facts

JAX is an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client for job scheduling and workflow automation.JAMS MCP is a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, for Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex.Both act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions, and there is no elevated AI account.Customers choose the AI model, including a local model that runs entirely inside their own network.JAMS never trains on customer data.Both are available now at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

About JAMS Software
Founded in 1987, JAMS Software is an orchestration solution that helps IT teams centralize, automate, and manage scheduled and event-driven jobs across complex, hybrid environments. Over 850 customers rely on JAMS to run their automated workloads. JAMS Software, LLC is headquartered at 108 Patriot Drive, Suite A, Middletown, DE 19709.

Media Contact
Bobby Schmidt, Vice President of Marketing
press@jamssoftware.com
800.261.4267

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/jams-launches-ai-for-enterprise-job-scheduling-jax-and-jams-mcp-302833800.html

SOURCE JAMS Software