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Global fintechs and web3 giants unite to increase blockchain-based cash assistance for humanitarian crises

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Humanitarian Council members include the Algorand Foundation, Circle, Worldpay, Mercy Corps Ventures, HesabPay, the United Nations Development Programme, and others

BARCELONA, Spain, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, in a move led by the Algorand Foundation, a coalition of fintech, web3, and humanitarian organizations announced the formation of a council seeking to increase access to blockchain-based cash assistance during humanitarian crises. The council’s objective – among other activities – is to advise UN agencies and NGOs on using blockchain technology for aid payments, and to develop a roadmap for the successful piloting of blockchain-based cash programs in distressed areas.

Over the past decade, the United Nations and NGOs have begun to offer more cash-based assistance (vs. in-kind or service assistance). According to the CALP Network, a thought leader in humanitarian cash and voucher assistance, this form of assistance now comprises 21% of all international humanitarian aid, reaching $10 billion in 2022, and there is potential for that proportion to be much higher (source). Humanitarian organizations are working to deliver this kind of aid as rapidly and economically as possible whilst navigating ever more complex financial regulations. Given this, the projects under the purview of this council will explore the potential benefits and opportunities of blockchain-based payment solutions in addressing these particular constraints.

The aim in using blockchain is to first offset the lack of financial and technological infrastructure in aid locations such as Afghanistan and others. In these regions, applying blockchain technology could bring more efficiency and ease to the delivery of cash-based aid, making it possible to respond on an even larger scale.

Scaling cash-based aid also requires transparency. Cash aid programs need to be traceable and auditable without infringing on the rights of its beneficiaries. By using blockchain, organizations can maintain an immutable, unchangeable record of how cash was distributed, without disclosing how it is used by the recipient. This model protects the privacy of those in crisis while maintaining the traceability and verification that aid programs, donors, and governments need.

Built on Algorand, global payment app HesabPay is already proving the effectiveness of merging blockchain and aid delivery. It facilitates the world’s largest humanitarian project ever to be run on a public blockchain, bringing support to more than 14,000 families in Afghanistan in collaboration with United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and supported by the WFP Innovation Accelerator.

Bernhard Kowatsch, head of the WFP Innovation Accelerator, added, “The success of HesabPay in Afghanistan highlights the significant impact and scalability of this technology. We are eager to extend these innovations globally to revolutionize aid delivery.”

“Direct cash-based humanitarian assistance has been growing rapidly and is the future thanks to the extraordinary benefits cash provides for recipients. To be effective, humanitarian payments must meet several requirements: instant settlement, easily scalable to thousands if not millions of recipients,  and transparent and traceable,” said Matt Keller, director of impact at the Algorand Foundation. “Blockchain checks all of these boxes, and one reason we invested in HesabPay, which delivers humanitarian aid payments in Afghanistan without sacrificing time or accountability.”

“At Circle Impact, our mission since 2021 has been to empower underserved communities and reach people who have traditionally been excluded from financial systems. We are excited to be part of the Humanitarian Council, where we can cultivate a new generation of financial inclusion aimed at powering humanitarian aid and disaster relief,” said Mercina Tillemann-Perez, Vice President of Circle Impact.

“Launching 16 crypto pilots in 10+ countries over the past 4 years, Mercy Corps Ventures has been actively deploying first-of-a-kind real world use cases in the humanitarian and development context leveraging blockchain technology. We’re now building out a Humanitarian Venture Lab with a pipeline of humanitarian pilots, use cases, and insights that show where the challenges Algorand Foundation is addressing are playing out – and getting solved – in real time,” said Sandra Uwantege Hart, Humanitarian Venture Lab lead at Mercy Corps Ventures.

“Humanitarian crises demand faster, more transparent aid solutions. Blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize aid delivery through unparalleled traceability. If this initiative can match the speed and efficiency of the 40 billion+ transactions Worldpay processes annually, there is an opportunity to provide life-saving support to the millions facing humanitarian crises, ensuring funds reach those in need without delay,” said Ahmed Zifzaf, head of crypto/web3 partnerships for Worldpay.

“In UNDP, we are exploring with Algorand how digital payments can bring transparency while making payments with more speed and trust to support the lives in countries without a strong banking ecosystem. Special attention is being paid to supporting the work of civil society organizations, such as through our Tadamon network of 4000 CSOs,” said Robert Pasicko, Innovation Team Leader a.i. at UNDP.

Serving council members currently include:

Sandra Uwantege Hart, Humanitarian Venture Lab Lead at Mercy Corps VenturesMercina Tillemann Perez, Vice President, Circle Impact at CirclePaula Gil Baizan, PoliSync Centre for International Policy EngagementAhmed Zifzaf, Head of Crypto/Web3 Partnerships at WorldpayHasan Fallaha, Livelihoods and Economic Recovery programme Analyst at UNDP SyriaAli Theyab Al-Zuhairi, Economic Reform (FFER-FED) Project Coordinator at the UNDP Iraq Country OfficeRobert Pasicko, Innovation Team Leader a.i., United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)Henri de Jong, Chief Business Development Officer at QuantozRory Crew, Technical Advisor on Data & Digitalization at the CALP NetworkNigel Pont, Senior Advisor at HesabPaySuzana Moreno, Blockchain Technology Strategy and Portfolio Project Manager at WFP Innovation AcceleratorKelly Stablein, Independent Humanitarian Consultant

About Algorand Foundation
Algorand’s mission is to power a world where information has integrity and innovative ideas can scale. The Algorand Foundation supports Algorand’s rapidly growing ecosystem by providing a best-in-class developer environment, supporting key infrastructure and setting technical standards, offering comprehensive support to builders and entrepreneurs, and providing the infrastructure for decentralized governance.

Founded by Turing Award-winning cryptographer Silvio Micali in 2019, Algorand has grown into a vibrant ecosystem of developers, entrepreneurs, and enterprise partners that benefit from institutional-grade certainty and resilience, while features like low fees, instant finality, and a minimal carbon footprint also appeal to the protocol’s millions of retail users. Builders of all kinds can use common programming languages like Python to develop advanced apps and protocols that solve important problems at a global scale: instant payments in war and disaster zones, self-sovereign identity for the disenfranchised, supply-chain traceability for global commerce, permissionless protocols addressing financial inclusion, and the creation of entirely new markets through tokenization, to name a few. To learn more and start your journey on Algorand, visit algorand.foundation.

About Circle
Circle is a global financial technology firm that enables businesses of all sizes to harness the power of digital currencies and public blockchains for payments, commerce and financial applications worldwide. Circle is the issuer of USDC and EURC – highly liquid, interoperable, and trusted money protocols on the internet. Circle’s open and programmable platform and APIs make it easy for organizations to run their internet-scale business, whether it is making international payments, building globally-accessible Web3 apps, or managing their internal treasury. Learn more at https://circle.com.

About HesabPay
HesabPay is a global payment app at the forefront of global financial inclusion, targeting the 2 billion unbanked individuals worldwide. With exponential growth, HesabPay now boasts over half a million users, facilitating $35 million in peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers monthly. The platform serves 250,000 households in managing their bill payments and supports over two dozen donors in distributing humanitarian cash assistance. HesabPay’s impact is evident in its expansive reach and the vital financial lifeline it provides. Discover the full extent of HesabPay’s services at hesab.com.  

About Mercy Corps Ventures
Mercy Corps Ventures invests in and catalyzes venture-led solutions to increase the resilience of underserved individuals and communities. Founded in 2015 as the impact investing arm of global development agency, Mercy Corps, we’ve supported 50 early-stage ventures to scale and raise over $465 million in follow-on capital. 44% of our portfolio has at least 1 female co-founder and centers around climate adaptation and resilience-building solutions in adaptive agriculture and food systems, inclusive fintech, and climate-smart technologies, so that those living in frontier markets can withstand disruption and plan for the future. Through capital and support, piloting new approaches, action-oriented insights, and rigorously managing impact, we catalyze the ecosystem toward smarter, more impactful investments. Learn more at www.mercycorpsventures.vc.

About Worldpay
Worldpay is a leading payments technology and solutions company with unique capabilities to power omni-commerce across the globe. Our processing solutions allow businesses of all sizes to take, make and manage payments in-person and online from anywhere in the world. Annually, we process over 40 billion transactions across 146 countries and 135 currencies. We help our customers become more efficient, more secure and more successful.

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SOURCE Algorand Foundation

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KBR Launches Inaugural Innovation Studio Powered by Applied Computing in Bengaluru

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BENGALURU, India, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KBR (NYSE: KBR) launched its inaugural Innovation Studio, powered by Applied Computing, in Bengaluru, India, establishing a base from which the two will deliver industrial AI from India.

Co-located with Applied Computing’s Bengaluru office, the studio serves as KBR’s operational hub for remote monitoring and advisory services delivered through INSITE 3.0, powered by Applied Computing’s Orbital Platform. The collaboration is built on combining Applied Computing’s foundation AI for energy with KBR’s process technology. The hub will deliver remote monitoring and advisory services to KBR’s existing global industrial customers, while also serving as the foundation for deploying the new INSITE 3.0 AI capability to the first wave of customers later this year.

In March, KBR launched INSITE 3.0, its digital delivery platform powered by Orbital, marking the first product to integrate the foundation model with KBR’s process technology expertise.

At the studio’s opening event last week, KBR leadership hosted members of the media as well as subject matter experts, experienced field engineers, operations and maintenance specialists. The launch event offered a first look at the facility and a live demonstration of INSITE 3.0 in action.

Hari Ravindran, SVP and Global Head of Technology Solutions, KBR, said: “The Innovation Studio reflects KBR’s commitment to building deep technology partnerships in India and investing in the future of industrial operations here. Co-locating the KBR Innovation Studio, staffed by our operational experts, alongside Applied Computing’s engineering team base, brings the best of both together: decades of process technology knowledge and a foundation model built specifically for energy. This is a long-term commitment to our customers in the region and to the engineers and specialists who will deliver for them.”

Dan Jeavons, President of Applied Computing, said: “India is where the future of industrial AI is being decided. The scale of operations, the pace of growth and the willingness to adopt advanced technologies are unmatched anywhere in the world. This studio launch is our chance to show, in a live control room, what foundation AI built for energy can actually do. Orbital is already delivering results at some of the largest refineries on the planet, and bringing the industry together in Bengaluru is the clearest signal yet of where we believe this technology is heading.”

Read more about how KBR and Applied Computing are working together to advance AI in the energy sector on kbr.com.
Learn more about Orbital at appliedcomputing.com.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/kbr-launches-inaugural-innovation-studio-powered-by-applied-computing-in-bengaluru-302801331.html

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Dun & Bradstreet Becomes the Trusted Partner for Global Agentic Workflows Through Integrations with Anthropic, OpenAI and Microsoft

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HONG KONG, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Dun & Bradstreet recently announced a series of collaborations with OpenAI, Microsoft and Anthropic, bringing the D&B Commercial Graph™ into their respective platform ecosystems. Users can now access Dun & Bradstreet data across leading AI platforms including ChatGPT, Codex, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Claude.

The collaborations represent an important step in embedding trusted business data into agentic workflows. As enterprises increasingly adopt AI to support research, analysis, onboarding, compliance, finance and risk decisioning, access to verified, structured and continuously updated business information is becoming essential to improving confidence, consistency and governance in AI-powered outcomes.

D&B Commercial Graph Powers the Core Data Foundation for the AI Era

As artificial intelligence continues to advance into the agentic era, enterprises increasingly require high quality data that is structured, contextualized and machine readable. AI agents supporting complex workflows, including due diligence, compliance screening, financial analysis and business decision making, rely on trusted data to generate accurate, reliable and actionable insights.

Anchored by the D-U-N-S® Number business identifier, the D&B Commercial Graph™ provides a foundational context layer for understanding business identity, relationships and risk across the global economy. Only with verified business information can agents deliver true business value and ROI in finance and risk management scenarios.

The D&B Commercial Graph™ integrates public and proprietary commercial signals, as well as directly contributed business information, to create a continuously validated view of business identity, ownership, supplier relationships, financials, and risk indicators. The result is an authoritative view of how businesses connect and operate globally. With more than 100 billion verifications, tests, and checks each month, D&B’s Commercial Graph™ delivers coverage, accuracy, consistency, and governance across enterprise systems and AI applications.

Building on this foundation, Dun & Bradstreet is working with leading AI platforms to embed a trusted data layer directly into enterprise workflows.

Collaboration with OpenAI: Bringing Verified Business Context into Finance Workflows

Dun & Bradstreet has collaborated with OpenAI to enable users to access the D&B Commercial Graph™ in ChatGPT and Codex via Model Context Protocol, or MCP, servers. The integration allows financial professionals to bring verified business identity, ownership, relationship, credit and risk data directly into their workflows to accelerate due diligence, financial reporting, validation, guidance and credit origination.

Through D&B-hosted MCP servers, customers can securely connect Dun & Bradstreet data to ChatGPT and Codex, using natural language prompts and custom agents to streamline data-intensive workflows. Users can also access D&B Finance Analytics tools via MCP servers to support automated business credit decisions, powered by real-time insight into hundreds of millions of businesses and a rules-based engine. This enables finance teams to identify and manage risk across portfolios within a headless AI architecture.

“AI is quickly becoming a core part of how organizations make decisions across finance, risk, and growth, and its impact depends on the quality of the data behind it,” said Scott Spencer, General Manager, Finance & Credit at Dun & Bradstreet. “By bringing the D&B Commercial Graph into ChatGPT and Codex, we’re meeting customers where they are working. This helps teams of all sizes, including small and mid-sized businesses, to embrace the power of AI with confidence in their workflows.”

Collaboration with Microsoft: Bringing Verified Business Data into Microsoft 365 Copilot

Through its collaboration with Microsoft, Dun & Bradstreet has made its Graph Connector available in Microsoft 365 Copilot, giving developers and enterprises no-cost access to a curated sample of data from the D&B Commercial Graph™. This allows users to explore how verified business data can support use cases such as research, business identification and workflow enhancement within Copilot.”

The D&B Graph Connector provides access to foundational information on tens of thousands of global public and private companies, including company summaries, locations, contact information, and key data such as employee and revenue ranges.

“Knowing who you’re doing business with is an essential part of knowledge workflows,” said Chantrelle Nielsen, Principal Product Management for Microsoft 365 Copilot at Microsoft. “Integrating this sample of Dun & Bradstreet data into Microsoft 365 Copilot provides that crucial first step of business identification and opens the door for users to explore new ways to use D&B’s continuously updated business data in Copilot.”

Collaboration with Anthropic: Accelerating Onboarding, Risk and Compliance Workflows in Claude

In collaboration with Anthropic, Dun & Bradstreet is bringing verified business, risk and compliance data capabilities into Claude to help enterprises accelerate onboarding and compliance workflows.

By integrating the D&B Commercial Graph™ into Claude, users can access verified business information, corporate linkage data and risk intelligence within a unified workflow framework, enabling more efficient entity verification, relationship analysis and process execution.

This approach represents the future of knowledge work for enterprises: AI systems that do not simply summarize information, but operate with verified enterprise context, risk logic, and governance.

Dun & Bradstreet China: Empowering Local Agentic Workflows with Trusted Business Data

From OpenAI to Microsoft to Anthropic, a clear trend is emerging: trusted business data is rapidly integrating into agentic workflows, becoming a critical foundation for large language models to connect with real-world business scenarios, support task execution and enable decision-making. Dun & Bradstreet China continues to drive the deep integration of trusted business data with both local and global AI platforms.

Currently, Dun & Bradstreet’s global data along with China Data by Topics via MCP servers support integration with leading international platforms and developer tools such as Microsoft Copilot, Cursor, Claude Code and OpenClaw, while also being compatible with local AI ecosystems including Trae, WorkBuddy, QoderWork, Coze and CherryStudio.

Leveraging the D&B Commercial Graph™, the D-U-N-S® Number and business data covering nearly 900 million companies worldwide, Dun & Bradstreet China embeds global business data capabilities into enterprise large language models, AI agents and business workflows. This helps customers access global company information more efficiently, identify corporate linkage networks and gain insights into potential risks.

In the AI era, Dun & Bradstreet is becoming a trusted partner within agentic workflows, helping customers make smarter, faster and more confident decisions across key scenarios including customer acquisition, risk management, supply chain management, trade compliance and global expansion.

About Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet provides the verified commercial identity foundation for enterprises to deploy AI at scale. The company originated the D‑U‑N‑S® Number in 1963, now the global standard for identifying commercial entities. Anchored by this identifier, the D&B Commercial Graph structures and connects business identity consistently across systems, enabling AI to operate on accurate, validated data. Since 1841, businesses of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to navigate change and accelerate growth. For more information, visit: www.dnb.com.hk

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SOURCE Dun & Bradstreet

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Wuhan extends sincere invitation to young people across the globe

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BEIJING, June 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — A report from China Daily

Wuhan in Central China’s Hubei province is shining in its golden era. The city is hosting the ongoing 2026 World Youth Development Forum from June 15 to 17, capturing global attention across central China. A frontrunner in the optical and chip industries, Wuhan resonates with young people worldwide and extends a sincere invitation to them.

The five letters spelling “WUHAN” act as five open windows to the world, forming the city’s unique identity and a heartfelt invitation to global youth.

Represented by the letter W for Water, Wuhan is a city nurtured by the Yangtze River. Sitting on the convergence of the Yangtze River and the Hanjiang River, it enjoys convenient access to the whole world. The city encompasses 165 rivers and 166 lakes, with water areas accounting for one-fourth of its total territory.

As an international wetland city with a population of over 10 million, Wuhan features romantic seasonal scenery all year round, featuring cherry blossoms in spring, lotuses in summer, sweet osmanthus in autumn and plum blossoms in winter. It is home to 1,050 parks of various styles and 2,500 kilometers of picturesque greenways and serves as a habitat for the Yangtze finless porpoise, known as the “giant panda of the water.” Endowed with abundant vitality, it stands as a magnificent city of picturesque mountains and rivers.

The letter U stands for University. Wuhan is China’s third-largest hub of intellectual resources, home to 95 higher education institutions, including Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology. It ranks fourth nationwide in terms of the number of academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Fourteen of its disciplines, including remote sensing technology and earth sciences, rank among the world’s top ten. In the Nature Index Science Cities rankings, Wuhan takes the fifth place in China and eighth across the globe.

The city has rolled out over 50 world-class innovation achievements, including the world’s first Beidou high-precision chip and the world’s fastest maglev technology. One in ten Wuhan residents is a college student. Every year, 300,000 fresh college graduates choose to stay in Wuhan to start businesses or seek employment. It is truly a “land of talents where brilliance thrives.”

The letter H represents High-tech. Wuhan boasts nationally influential strength in scientific and technological innovation. The world-renowned Optics Valley of China is located right in Wuhan. The city hosts the world’s largest manufacturing hub for optical fibers and cables, as well as China’s leading production hub for optoelectronic devices and small-to-medium-sized display panels.

Pillar industries such as optoelectronic information, automobiles and biomedicine are accelerating toward the trillion-yuan level. Meanwhile, emerging and future industries covering the digital economy, quantum technology, commercial aerospace, 6G and hydrogen energy are maintaining steady growth. Wuhan has evolved into a dynamic, fast-evolving city of innovation.

The letter A symbolizes Art. With a 3,500-year history of urban construction, Wuhan acts as a vital carrier of Yangtze River civilization and Jingchu culture. The city features diverse charms, ranging from the poetic heritage of the Yellow Crane Tower and the futuristic vibe of the suspended monorail, to breathtaking scenery of vast rivers and lakes and a vibrant street-food culture.

More than 40,000 concerts, e-sports festivals and sports events are held in Wuhan annually. Consistently listed among China’s top ten most popular tourist destinations, it is an inclusive cultural city where ancient heritage and modern glamour complement and shine for each other.

Last but not least, the letter N stands for Network. Wuhan is a world-class comprehensive transportation hub. A 4-hour high-speed rail trip or a 2-hour flight can cover 80 percent of China’s major cities and reach a population of 1 billion.

The Yangtze golden waterway, China Railway Express (Wuhan) and multiple passenger and cargo hubs connect the Maritime, Land, and Air Silk Roads. Huahu Airport ranks fourth in the world and first in Asia among professional cargo airports. Equipped with a national-level internet backbone interconnection hub, Wuhan realizes seamless network connectivity nationwide, consolidating its status as a globally connected intelligent hub city.

During the ongoing forum, Wuhan is presenting a host of well-designed characteristic activities tailored for young people based on its superior resources. These events vividly showcase an authentic, multi-dimensional and vibrant urban panorama to participating global youth.

The forum is currently presenting Wuhan’s development experience as a thriving “City of Youth” to the world. It introduces China’s practices in building youth-development-oriented cities, displaying Wuhan’s all-round support for youth innovation, entrepreneurship and personal growth via startup incubators, talent apartments, targeted policies and comprehensive service platforms. At this moment, a sincere “Invitation from Wuhan” is being delivered to young people across the globe.

Delegates from all participating countries will explore Wuhan’s sci-tech innovation frontier in person. They will visit core innovation platforms including Hubei laboratories, Dongfeng Motor Group, the Hubei Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, and Xiaomi Smart Home Appliances Factory to experience the tremendous momentum of Wuhan’s “One City, Three Corridors, and Multiple Belts” innovation pattern and witness the diverse manifestations of Chinese modernization with their own eyes.

Participants will also immerse themselves in unique Jingchu cultural customs. They will pay a visit to the Yellow Crane Tower, Hubei Provincial Museum and the Changjiang Civilization Museum, admire the stunning night scenery along the two rivers, and explore the time-honored heritage of Zhiyin Culture and the profound essence of Yangtze River civilization. Furthermore, delegates will take part in the Youth Market and Dragon Boat Festival Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience activities.

They will communicate with young inheritors of Han embroidery, carved paper-cutting and traditional Chinese medicine sachets, and gain an in-depth understanding of the profound heritage of traditional Chinese culture as well as the innovative vitality of contemporary young craftsmen.

 

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SOURCE China Daily

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