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Minister Vandal announces investments in clean energy projects to help reduce diesel use in Nunavut

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RANKIN INLET, NU, July 29, 2024 /CNW/ – Indigenous-led clean energy projects play an important role in reducing the use of costly and polluting diesel for electricity and heating in Northern and Arctic communities and support local jobs and economic development.

Today, the Honourable Dan Vandal, Minister of Northern Affairs and David Kakuktinniq, President of Sakku Investments Corporation, announced over $19 million in federal funding for three clean energy projects that will increase renewable energy generation in Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, and Naujaat, Nunavut.

Funding will support the construction of a 1.0 + megawatt solar and battery energy storage facility in Naujaat, which currently relies entirely on diesel to meet its electricity needs. This new facility will supply 30% of the community’s electricity demand with locally-produced renewable energy. The project name “Ikayuut” was chosen by the Hamlet Council of Naujaat. It comes from the Inuktitut word “Ikayuuti,” meaning “help, support, or resources,” and speaks to how the project will help support Naujaat’s power grid. Construction is set to start in the summer of 2024.

The federal government is also providing funding for early-stage work on three solar installations on buildings owned by Sakku Properties Ltd., a subsidiary of Sakku Investments Corporation, in Rankin Inlet. The systems will result in 300kW of installed generation capacity, which would reduce diesel and greenhouse gas emissions by more than 56,000 litres and 178,000 kilograms each year. The systems are expected to generate solar power for the community by 2025.

Funding is also being provided for the Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet Wind Energy Development Projects to undertake research and development of wind energy generation to reduce the communities’ reliance on diesel. They will incorporate traditional Inuit knowledge into community input-driven wildlife studies for wind development in northern Canada while supporting local labour, capacity building, training and economic development.

These Inuit-led clean energy initiatives are foundational to Nunavut’s energy transition. Canada is working directly with Indigenous communities to advance self-determination while building a low-emission energy future and creating economic prosperity, security and more resilient communities.

Quotes

“Sakku is pleased to partner with the Government of Canada to deliver renewable energy infrastructure projects for the Kivalliq region. Investing in a clean energy future for Nunavut is critical as our region grows and we shift away from burning fossil fuels, which is vital to protecting our lands, waters and communities for generations to come.” 

David Kakuktinniq
President and CEO of Sakku Investments Corporation

“As the Regional Inuit Association promoting the interests and rights of the Inuit of the Kivalliq, we are pleased to support Sakku Investments in advancing these important energy projects. It is critical that we fight climate change, build infrastructure that supports economic growth, and change the legacy of diesel fuel that is shipped through sensitive Arctic waters. I’d like to thank the Government of Canada for partnering with us to ensure energy infrastructure in Nunavut is a priority. Let’s continue to build a stronger, greener future.” 

Kono Tattuinee
President of the Kivalliq Inuit Association

“It is great to be back in the Kivalliq Region to announce support for new community-led clean energy initiatives. They are crucial to tackling climate change and growing a clean energy economy in the North. These Inuit-led and delivered initiatives will reduce pollution, save money, and create good jobs in Nunavut.”

The Honourable Dan Vandal, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for CanNor

“In Nunavut and across the country, clean energy presents an enormous economic opportunity that will also help people save money on their energy bills and keep the air clean. Supplying people in Rankin Inlet, Baker Lake, and Naujaat with clean energy will make a real difference in their lives and help fight climate change.”

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

“Helping advance Indigenous-led climate action projects, such as the Ikayuut Solar and Energy Storage Project, is critical to building a low-carbon economy and will help reduce the use of diesel in Canada’s Northern and Arctic regions. This project will be a shining example to other communities seeking to implement solar energy technologies and other renewable energy projects in the North and beyond.”

– The Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Quick facts

The federal government is investing $18.45 million toward a solar and energy storage facility in Naujaat, including:$6.5 million through the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program;$5.9 million through Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund;$1,050,000 under Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan’s) Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative; and$5 million through the Indigenous Community Infrastructure Fund, delivered by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) and administered by Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.Through CIRNAC’s Northern REACHE Program, the Government of Canada is investing $220,000 in the early project development work for solar photovoltaic installations on three Sakku Properties Ltd buildings, a subsidiary of Sakku Investments Corporation, in Rankin Inlet.The Northern REACHE program supports Indigenous and northern communities’ transition away from diesel fuel for electricity and heating by promoting and funding renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, hydroelectricity, and biomass heating. To date, Northern REACHE has supported a total of 222 clean energy projects in the North with an investment of over $102 million, including 47 projects in Nunavut.NRCan is providing 1,313,282$ in funding for the Baker Lake and Rankin Inlet Wind Energy Development Projects under the Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program (CERRC).The CERRC program provides funding for renewable energy and capacity-building projects to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels for heating and electricity in Indigenous, rural and remote communities across Canada. Supporting Indigenous leadership and collaborating on solutions to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in Northern communities for First Nations, Inuit and Métis is central to advancing the reconciliation journey and self-determination.Launched in 2019 and developed with Indigenous representatives and six territorial and provincial governments, Canada’s Arctic and Northern Policy Framework is a long-term vision for the Arctic and the North, reflecting the priorities and perspectives of the Arctic and northern people.

Associated links

Sakku Investments Corporation
Kivalliq Inuit Association
Low Carbon Economy Fund
Clean Energy for Rural and Remote Communities Program
Indigenous Off-Diesel Initiative

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SOURCE Indigenous Services Canada

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NUH WINS GOLD AT IHF AWARDS 2026 FOR GREEN OPERATING THEATRE PROGRAMME

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 NUH won Gold and received an Honourable Mention for its sustainability efforts at the International Hospital Federation Awards 2026, alongside presentations of its green surgical initiatives, digital health and organisational improvement initiatives at the World Hospital Congress.

SINGAPORE, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The National University Hospital (NUH) has won the Gold Award (Low Carbon Healthcare) for its Green Operating Theatre programme at the International Hospital Federation (IHF) Awards 2026. The hospital also received an Honourable Mention (Hospital Sustainability Acceleration) for its system-wide approach to embedding sustainability across healthcare delivery and hospital operations.

The awards were presented at the 49th World Hospital Congress in Seoul, where NUH is also sharing other initiatives in environmental sustainability, digital health and organisational improvement.

Professor Aymeric Lim, Chief Executive Officer of NUH, said: “Healthcare must become more sustainable without compromising patient care. Our teams have shown that simple, practical changes on the ground, from the way we run our operating theatres to how we use resources, can make a real difference. This recognition belongs to the multi-disciplinary teams and partners who turned ideas into everyday practice, and who continue to improve how we care for our patients.”

Advancing low-carbon healthcare by reducing the environmental impact of surgical care

NUH’s Green Operating Theatre (OT) programme began with efforts to reduce the use of high-carbon anaesthetic gases. What started as a targeted decarbonisation initiative has since grown into a hospital-wide programme that brings together clinicians, nurses, operations teams and facilities staff to drive sustainability across surgical practices, resource use, waste management and energy management.

The programme has achieved a 99 per cent reduction in the use of desflurane, a high-carbon anaesthetic gas, and delivered annual energy savings of about 660,000 kWh by optimising operating theatre ventilation during non-operating hours.

Surgical teams redesigned instrument sets used for high-volume knee replacement procedures to better reflect routine requirements, reducing emissions by almost 10,000 kg CO2e annually while also cutting water use and sterilisation workload. Efforts have also been made to reduce unnecessary consumables and expand medical recycling streams.

Collectively, these initiatives have generated valuable insights that NUH has actively shared through inter-cluster platforms and collaborations, helping to inform the adoption of low-carbon practices across Singapore’s public healthcare system.

Embedding sustainability into everyday healthcare delivery

NUH received an Honourable Mention for its organisation-wide approach to embedding sustainability into hospital planning and operations.

Guided by the IHF Sustainability Accelerator Tool, NUH integrated sustainability into leadership oversight, strategic planning and everyday decision-making, strengthening efforts in Appropriate Value-based Care, virtual care, procurement, workforce engagement and environmental stewardship.

This system-wide approach to advancing a sustainable healthcare system has been recognised internationally. In 2025, NUH became the first hospital worldwide to receive the Joint Commission International-Geneva Sustainability Centre’s Healthcare Sustainability Certification. This year, it was the only hospital in Singapore to be accorded the highest 5-Leaf distinction in Newsweek-Statista’s World’s Greenest Hospitals index.

A new model of rehabilitation care

Recognised as one of the top three healthcare innovations selected for the International Hospital Federation’s i-to-i Innovation Hub Awards 2026, the NUH Virtual Rehabilitation Centre (VRC) is helping to extend rehabilitation beyond hospital walls.

Developed as a virtual-first rehabilitation ecosystem, the VRC combines personalised patient education, self-management tools, AI-enabled telerehabilitation, remote monitoring and digital rehabilitation pathways to support patients throughout their recovery journey. By enabling rehabilitation to continue beyond traditional clinic visits, the VRC improves access to care, strengthens patient participation in recovery and allows therapists to focus their attention on patients with more complex rehabilitation needs. The digital home exercise programme, for instance, supports around 2,000 patients and records about 21,000 logins each month, freeing up the equivalent of 66 physiotherapist workdays annually for direct patient care.

The innovation demonstrates how technology can be used not simply to digitise existing services, but to transform how rehabilitation is delivered at scale.

Helping doctors work smarter with electronic medical records

NUH also presented results from its Great Epic Transformation (GET) programme at the 49th World Hospital Congress in Seoul. The hospital-wide programme trained specialist doctors to personalise their Epic electronic medical record (EMR) workflows, using customised note templates, order sets and shortcuts to work more efficiently.

Nine months after training, participating doctors spent 10.2 per cent less time in the EMR each day, equivalent to more than 33 hours saved per doctor annually, while time spent placing orders fell by 26.5 per cent. Twelve of 13 efficiency measures improved across both medical and surgical specialties. Based on annual estimates, the overall efficiency gains are valued at more than S$91 million a year.

The programme is being extended to allied health professionals and pharmacists across NUHS, with a target of reaching more than 2,000 healthcare professionals by the end of 2026.

About the National University Hospital (NUH)­

The National University Hospital (NUH) is Singapore’s university hospital. While the hospital at Kent Ridge first received its patients on 24 June 1985, our legacy started from 1905, the date of the founding of what is today the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine. NUH is the principal teaching hospital of the medical school.

Our unique identity as a university hospital is a key attraction for healthcare professionals who aspire to do more than practise tertiary medical care. We offer an environment where research and teaching are an integral part of medicine, and continue to shape medicine and transform care for the community we care for.

We are an academic medical centre with over 1,200 beds, serving more than one million patients a year with over 50 medical, surgical and dental specialties. NUH is the only public and not-for-profit hospital in Singapore to provide trusted care for adults, women and children under one roof, including the only paediatric kidney and liver transplant programme in the country.

The NUH is a key member of the National University Health System (NUHS), one of three public healthcare clusters in Singapore. For more information, visit www.nuh.com.sg

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SOURCE National University Hospital (NUH)

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NEXCOM NGFW platforms secure growing traffic across modern academic networks

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TAIPEI, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — NEXCOM, a leading supplier of network appliances, is helping academic institutions strengthen network security as digital learning expands across cloud platforms, AI-powered tools, remote access, and connected campus services.

As educational environments become more distributed, academic networks must support growing traffic and diverse connections while protecting sensitive data and maintaining reliable access to learning resources. NEXCOM’s Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) platforms provide a centralized security layer for inspecting and controlling traffic across campus and remote environments.

Learn more about securing digital learning environments in the joint case study.

Centralized Security for Digital Learning

On campus, NGFW platforms can inspect traffic between academic networks and external resources as students and faculty access learning platforms and web services. For remote users, secure VPN connectivity supports authorized access to internal resources while enabling centralized security policies.

“Every new digital service in education adds value for students and educators, but it also adds traffic, connections, and another layer of security responsibility,” says Allan Chiu, VP of Networking and Communication Solutions at NEXCOM. “The challenge is making sure security keeps pace without slowing down the learning experience. NEXCOM’s NGFW platforms provide the performance and scalability needed to secure modern, highly distributed academic networks.”

Scalable Platforms for Network Security

NEXCOM’s portfolio provides scalable platforms for firewall, edge security, secure remote access, and demanding network security workloads. Key platforms include:

NSA 7160R: A 2U high-performance security platform powered by dual Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, with eight PCIe 5.0 expansion slots and throughput of up to 1.6 Tbps.FTA 5190: A compact 1U edge server powered by Intel Xeon 6 SoC technology, designed for reliable connectivity and security at the network edge.

About NEXCOM

Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, NEXCOM is shaping the future of AI-powered networking with its software-defined solutions. Through its Network and Communication Solutions (NCS) unit, NEXCOM delivers cutting-edge platforms for Cybersecurity, OT Security, SD-WAN, SASE, Load Balancing, 5G uCPE, edge AI, and more. NCS specializes in professional design and manufacturing services, enabling reliable and scalable network infrastructures for businesses of all sizes. With a focus on innovation, NEXCOM’s solutions empower customers worldwide to build resilient, high-performance networks tailored to the demands of tomorrow’s connectivity challenges.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nexcom-ngfw-platforms-secure-growing-traffic-across-modern-academic-networks-302916203.html

SOURCE NEXCOM International Co., Ltd.

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Forrester’s 2027 B2B Go-To-Market Predictions: AI Agents Will Influence 75% Of B2B Purchase Decisions

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To remain competitive, providers must strengthen customer trust, substantiate value claims, and offer human expertise and guidance

SINGAPORE, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — According to Forrester’s (Nasdaq: FORR) 2027 B2B go-to-market predictions, business buyers will increasingly deploy AI agents to handle tasks across the buying process, from supplier discovery and information gathering to contract-renewal analysis. While truly autonomous buying will remain concentrated in high-volume, low-risk, and repeatable purchases, the ubiquity of these agents will require providers to ensure that their systems and sellers can respond with speed, accuracy, and consistency.

Forrester’s B2B Predictions reports, covering topics including B2B go-to-market strategy, business buyers, and content and creative, offer forward-looking insights to help executives and their teams anticipate change, reduce uncertainty, and make confident decisions ahead of market shifts. Key highlights from the 2027 B2B go-to-market predictions include:

Buyers will double their human interactions to validate AI-generated recommendations. As AI becomes the primary interface for researching products and providers, buyers will encounter more AI-generated recommendations, synthetic content, automated outreach, and agent-mediated interactions. Since AI cannot fully judge service provider fit, feasibility, trust, or accountability, buyers will require conversations with provider teams and trusted third parties including analysts, customer references, and partners to confirm and validate buying decisions.Two-thirds of providers will lose deals because buyers cannot verify claims. Buyers already use AI-assisted search and analysis tools to gather information about products and vendors, synthesize provider claims, and fact check. As the reliance on these capabilities continue to advance, go-to-market teams will need to act fast to restructure content discovery for AI tools, including providing credible and consistent proof points that AI tools can index and validate.Most CMOs will cut programs or accept reduced capacity after overestimating AI gains. As pressure intensifies to reduce personnel costs with AI, marketing leaders will eliminate as many as 25% of roles in anticipation of productivity gains that fail to meet expectations. As a result, they will have to choose between cutting program budgets to restore capacity through rehiring, contractors, or agency support or accept reduced execution with a smaller team. In either case, lower campaign investment, weaker execution, or both will reduce marketing’s overall value contribution.

“In 2027, the defining challenge for B2B go-to-market leaders will be to make deliberate choices about what to automate and where human judgment still matters,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. “As AI becomes ubiquitous across the buying process, B2B leaders that pair AI-driven speed and convenience with transparency, control, and trust will extract the most value from AI.”

Resources:

Download Forrester’s 2027 Predictions guide for B2B go-to-market.Register for Forrester’s webinar exploring the key trends reshaping B2B go-to-market strategies in 2027.Learn how to turn these predictions into action through Forrester’s global B2B events and research programs.

About Forrester
Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We empower leaders in technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, revenue, and product functions to make confident decisions in an AI-driven world and accelerate growth through customer obsession. Our unique research and continuous guidance model helps executives and their teams achieve their initiatives and outcomes faster and with confidence. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.

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SOURCE Forrester

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