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Choice Hotels Kicks Off 9th Annual “Mastery” Tech Innovation Summit, Operating at the Intersection of Hospitality, Franchising and Technology

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500 Choice technologists gather for trainings and workshops and to compete in a 48-hour make-a-thon to develop next-generation hospitality solutions

NORTH BETHESDA, Md., March 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH), one of the world’s leading lodging franchisors, kicks off “Mastery 2024” today, an annual week-long tech innovation summit where more than 500 company technologists come together at Choice’s Scottsdale, Arizona offices to learn and drive innovation through a series of gamified trainings and workshops that culminate in a 48-hour make-a-thon. In the make-a-thon, Choice associates ideate and build new software products leveraging advanced technology to drive profitability and value for the company and Choice hotel owners. During Mastery 2024, tech teams will develop solutions to speed up and improve the hotel onboarding process, measure and visualize a property’s environmental footprint, improve the customer service experience, and more. At the end of each make-a-thon, teams will present their new products to a committee of Choice executives, with winners receiving cash prizes and the chance to have their ideas continue to be refined and deployed across the organization.

“Mastery keeps us current on cutting-edge technologies like AI and helps spark creativity, innovation, and team building,” said Brian Kirkland, chief information officer, Choice Hotels International. “We want to make sure we are constantly innovating and trying new things so that we can continue to deliver value-driving technology for Choice, our franchisees, and our guests.”

Last year, a tool created during Mastery reduced daily tickets from 4,000 to just 40 using AI and other new technologies. Previous winning projects include online travel agency enhancements that yielded additional revenue and multiple security analysis and automation tools.

“Choice’s long-standing commitment and investment in technology provides hotel owners and operators of our brands with an edge,” said Anna Scozzafava, chief strategy officer and senior vice president of technology, Choice Hotels International. “Our hotel-facing tech is cloud-based, mobile-friendly and easy to use to ensure all owners can leverage our best-in-class tools.”

Choice recently announced the closure of its last data center, making it the first major hotel company to migrate its entire system infrastructure to AWS. Now fully on the cloud, Choice will continue to innovate and leverage the power of AI to drive even more business value for its franchisees. Choice has built and introduced industry-first owner-facing technologies, including the choiceADVANTAGE cloud-based reservation system; the Your Key to Profit platform, which centralizes profitability tools for owners; and choiceEDGE, which utilizes AI and historical trend analysis to help franchisees maximize room sales.

Choice Hotels has a history of technological firsts and innovation, including: 

In 1995, Choice launched the first hotel website with real-time rate and availability information.In 2003, Choice launched the first cloud-based property management system (PMS), choiceADVANTAGE.In 2009, Choice released the first hotel app for iOS.In 2014, Choice became the first hotel company to offer instant booking on TripAdvisor. That same year, Choice was the only hotel company listed on Forbes’ Top 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies.In 2016, Choice became the first hotel company to offer immediate in-app gift card downloads.In 2018, Choice launched choiceEDGE, the industry’s first cloud-based central reservation system (CRS).In 2019, Choice became the first hotel company to commit to being 100% on AWS (Amazon Web Services) Cloud.In 2021, Choice launched ChoiceMAX, an award-winning AI mobile-first revenue management solution.In early 2024, Choice completed its migration to the cloud.

About Choice Hotels® 

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world. The challenger in upscale and a leader in midscale and extended stay, Choice® has over 7,500 hotels, representing more than 630,000 rooms, in 46 countries and territories. A diverse portfolio of 22 brands that range from full-service upper upscale properties to midscale, extended stay and economy enables Choice® to meet travelers’ needs in more places and for more occasions while driving more value for franchise owners and shareholders. The award-winning Choice Privileges® rewards program and co-brand credit card options provide members with a fast and easy way to earn reward nights and personalized perks. For more information, visit www.choicehotels.com

© 2024 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All Rights Reserved     

 

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SOURCE Choice Hotels International, Inc.

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Air and Fathom5 Partner to Modernize Naval Fleet Readiness

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ARLINGTON, Va. and AUSTIN, Texas, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Air, the leader in Enterprise Readiness, and Fathom5, a technology company dedicated to secure infrastructure for AI-powered machines, today announced a strategic partnership to transform the U.S. Navy’s maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) capabilities.

The collaboration follows Fathom5’s selection as a winner in the Defense Innovation Unit’s NextMRO Prize Challenge Phase III, which aims to replace antiquated, siloed logistics frameworks with integrated, data-driven software. Fathom5 won based on its ability to transform real-world Navy data into intuitive, sailor-facing applications at the tactical edge.

To scale this solution for enterprise-wide Navy procurement, Fathom5 and Air are uniting Fathom5’s industry-leading, warship-deployed Condition-Based Maintenance AI with Air’s Enterprise Readiness platform. Air’s platform is purpose-built to close the “Readiness Gap”—the dangerous chasm between what the front line needs and what the enterprise delivers. It fuses predictive analytics, supply chain visibility, and repair cycle forecasting into a unified system that operates across Organizational, Intermediate, and Depot maintenance.

Together, the companies will address the Navy’s most critical sustainment vulnerabilities with the ability to:

Eliminate data silos and provide a single, authoritative source of truth.Use natural language to query technical manuals, analyze parts availability, proactively forecast issues, and identify alternative vendors in seconds, andAllow forward-deployed Sailors to execute work orders offline in Degraded, Denied, Intermittent, and Limited (DDIL) environments.

Proven Defense Impact

Air brings a successful track record of optimization across the Department of War. In recent sustainment operations, Air delivered a 99.6% reduction in part identification time, identifying replacement parts and suitable substitutes in minutes instead of days. By accelerating part allocation and replacing manual processes, the platform has saved commands hundreds of down days annually while sustaining 90% equipment readiness across echelons.

“This partnership will be pivotal as we work to close the Readiness Gap,” said Tara Murphy Dougherty, CEO of Air. “Together, Fathom5 and Air are uniquely positioned to accelerate Naval logistics by drastically shortening turnaround times, maximizing asset availability, and executing modern digital workflows at the speed of operational demand.”

“The future of naval readiness depends on giving Sailors the right information at the right time, wherever the mission takes them,” said Zac Staples, Founder and CEO of Fathom5. “By combining Fathom5’s AI-powered Condition-Based Maintenance capabilities with Air’s Enterprise Readiness platform, we’re helping transform maintenance from a reactive process into a predictive, data-driven advantage. Together, we’re enabling a more resilient fleet that can sustain operations in contested environments while keeping more ships mission-ready.”

About Fathom5

Fathom5, headquartered in Austin, Texas, develops secure digital infrastructure and advanced actuator technologies that strengthen the resilience and readiness of complex industrial systems. The company has achieved significant milestones, including delivering the first program-of-record artificial intelligence system deployed aboard a U.S. Navy warship and securing 17 patents across actuator technology and cybersecurity. Through its flagship Nsyte platform, Fathom5 provides secure edge infrastructure for maintenance and readiness applications, enabling advanced analytics and actionable insights at the point of need.  For more information, please visit www.fathom5.com.

About Air

Air, formerly Govini, created Enterprise Readiness, a new category of AI-native systems that close the Readiness Gap, the dangerous chasm between what the front line needs and what the national security enterprise can deliver. Air Enterprise Readiness platform aligns development, production, delivery, and sustainment into one coordinated execution system, revealing true capacity, exposing real constraints, coordinating critical resources, and executing at the speed of operational demands.The result: the national security enterprise has what it needs to succeed. For more information on Air and the Enterprise Readiness platform, visit www.air.ai.

Media Contacts

Fathom5: coleman@zilkermedia.com

Air: media@air.ai and air@weareinvariant.com

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SOURCE Air

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DoubleLine Paper: Honebuto Shock: Japan Courts a Truss-Like Redux

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TAMPA, Fla., July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sell-offs in Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) and the yen have put Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on notice, a DoubleLine paper argues, that Japan’s creditors have little tolerance for her government’s unorthodox proposal for a mixture of unfunded fiscal expansion with docile central-banking. 

Surveying the “Honebuto shock,” so-named after debt-and-yen sell-off following Tokyo’s annual fiscal policy statement, Bill Campbell, head of the DoubleLine’s Global Sovereign & Emerging Markets team, sees parallels to the gilts and British pound revolt over a 2022 proposal for unfunded fiscal expansion by U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss that swiftly brought down her government.

“Having committed to more than 370 trillion yen of public-private investment through fiscal 2040, the government is calling for monetary policy “in coordination with” that growth agenda,” Mr. Campbell writes. “In the eyes of the financial markets, this demand for the subordination of monetary policy to a political platform only adds fuel to the fire beneath a central bank already under criticism for what critics deem an overly cautious rate-hiking path.”

Mr. Campbell warns, “The Takaichi government should not assume the JGB market, having found its voice, will prove more patient than the gilts market that laid low the Truss government in 2022. In today’s inflationary climate, fiscal credibility is earned, not presumed – even in the G-7 countries. And a G-7 sovereign who embarks on unfunded fiscal expansion risks courting a buyers’ strike.”

The paper, titled “Honebuto Shock: Japan Courts a Truss-Like Redux,” is available here: https://doubleline.com/wp-content/uploads/DoubleLine_Honebuto-Truss-Redux_Campbell_071526.pdf

Mr. Campbell heads the Global Sovereign & Emerging Markets team at DoubleLine and serves as the lead Portfolio Manager for emerging markets and international fixed-income strategies. He is a permanent member of the firm’s Fixed Income Asset Allocation Committee. Mr. Campbell has written extensively in research papers and client briefings on evolving trends and episodic developments in global fixed income and currency markets. He holds a B.S. in Business Economics and International Business, as well as a B.A. in English, from Pennsylvania State University and an M.A. in Mathematics, with a focus on Mathematical Finance, from Boston University.

About the Global Sovereign & Emerging Markets Team

The Global Sovereign & Emerging Markets team at DoubleLine manages $XX billion in assets in sovereign debt, including U.S. Treasuries and non-U.S. sovereign issues, and corporate fixed income securities by issuers domiciled in ex-U.S. developed and emerging markets. The team comprises 14 investment professionals, including portfolio managers, analysts and traders.

About DoubleLine

DoubleLine Capital LP is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. DoubleLine’s offices can be reached by telephone at (813) 791-7333 or by email at info@doubleline.com. In addition to its headquarters in Tampa, Fla., and an office in Los Angeles, DoubleLine has offices in Dubai, London and Tokyo. Media can reach DoubleLine by email at media@doubleline.com.

DoubleLine® is a registered trademark of DoubleLine Capital LP. 

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SOURCE DoubleLine

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Signeasy expands beyond eSignatures with Intelligent Contract Management for growing businesses

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The platform combines eSignatures, AI-powered contract insights, renewal tracking, and a centralized contract repository to help businesses manage contracts from signature to renewal.

DALLAS, July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Signeasy today announced its Intelligent Contract Management platform, extending its product capabilities into every stage of the contract lifecycle. The platform gives Finance, Legal, Sales, HR, Procurement, and Operations teams one place to sign, manage, and get insights from every contract.

For most growing businesses, the real work starts after a contract is signed. Renewal dates, payment terms, obligations, and key clauses end up scattered across inboxes, shared drives, and spreadsheets. Without a large legal operations team, keeping track of them is manual, reactive work.

Signeasy’s Intelligent Contract Management platform closes this gap. It brings eSignatures, a contract repository, and contract intelligence into one platform.

“Contracts touch every part of a business — Finance, Legal, Sales, HR, Procurement, Operations — but the tools to effectively manage them have always been built for enterprise legal teams. We built Intelligent Contract Management so lean teams get the same contract visibility and intelligence as companies five times their size.”

— Sunil Patro, Founder & CEO, Signeasy

Signeasy’s Intelligent Contract Management platform includes:

Centralized Contract Repository: Store every executed contract in one searchable place — no digging through inboxes or shared drives.Conversational AI search: Ask questions about any contract in plain language, follow-up, and get answers with context instead of reviewing documents manually. Customer data is never used to train AI models.Key Term Extraction: Surface payment terms, renewal dates, obligations, and termination clauses instantly.Renewal Tracking and Alerts: Get automated reminders before contracts expire or auto-renew, so commitments never catch teams by surprise.Team Workspaces: Share visibility into contract status, with confidentiality controls for every team that touches contracts.eSignatures: Collect legally binding signatures from anywhere, on any device, and automate approval workflows to get contracts signed faster.

There’s no six-month implementation cycle. Businesses can bulk import existing contracts and onboard teams within hours with hands-on support from Signeasy.

Signeasy’s Intelligent Contract Management platform is available now. Visit www.signeasy.com to request a demo.

About Signeasy

Signeasy is an Intelligent Contract Management (ICM) platform built for growing businesses managing contracts across Finance, Legal, Sales, HR, Procurement, and Operations. Teams can prepare, sign, track, and manage contracts from one platform, with AI-powered workflows, integrations for Microsoft, Google, and HubSpot, and enterprise-grade security and compliance. Over 48,000 businesses globally use Signeasy to cut contract cycle times, reduce risk, accelerate revenue, and drive better business outcomes.

Media contact
Dhivya Venkatesan
Signeasy
Email: dhivyav@signeasy.com

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