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Higher Education Benchmark Report from Info-Tech Research Group Reveals Strategic Gaps and Opportunities for IT Transformation

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Info-Tech Research Group’s newly published higher education IT benchmark report details key gaps in stakeholder satisfaction, innovation leadership, and staffing while outlining strategies to elevate IT as a driver of institutional growth over the coming year.

TORONTO, Dec. 16, 2024 /CNW/ – Higher education IT departments are under increasing pressure to evolve from operational support teams to transformative agents of change. According to a new IT benchmark report from global research and advisory firm Info-Tech Research Group, titled Ground Your Institution for Higher Education’s Future Shock, IT departments must address critical challenges in stakeholder alignment, resource optimization, and innovation readiness to meet the demands of a rapidly changing technological landscape.

Based on data from five of Info-Tech’s IT diagnostics, the report offers a comprehensive assessment of the current state of higher education IT, identifying areas for immediate improvement and providing actionable strategies and recommendations for transformation.

“Higher education IT departments have demonstrated their ability to deliver essential services reliably, but the expectations of institutional leaders and stakeholders are shifting rapidly,” says Mark Maby, principal research director at Info-Tech Research Group. “To succeed in this changing environment, IT leaders must foster a culture of innovation, address staffing shortages, and prioritize strategic alignment with institutional goals. The insights in this report provide a roadmap for IT departments to transform and thrive in higher education’s future.”

The firm’s research findings emphasize the urgency for IT leaders to align with institutional goals by addressing critical gaps in areas such as data quality, security posture, and talent management. With mounting pressures to innovate and manage costs effectively, Info-Tech encourages IT leaders in the higher education sector to adopt robust enterprise architecture, embrace data-driven decision-making, and strengthen strategies for workforce development. These steps will enhance operational efficiency, support digital transformation, and position IT departments as catalysts for institutional success.

Key Findings from Info-Tech’s Higher Education IT Benchmark Report

Info-Tech’s report highlights the evolving role of IT in higher education and offers actionable strategies to address pressing challenges and seize opportunities for strategic growth:

Challenges Facing Higher Education IT

Bridging the Satisfaction Gap: While the median stakeholder satisfaction score is 7.7 out of 10, Info-Tech reports that only 9.9% of institutions achieve high satisfaction levels. This gap underscores the need for IT to transition from operational reliability to strategic partnership.Improving Cost Optimization: With 58% of IT departments underprepared to manage rising operational costs, institutions must adopt robust strategies to balance financial sustainability with technological advancements.

Cultivating Innovation: Many IT departments are categorized as “Trusted Operators,” capable of delivering services but falling short in innovation leadership. This lack of focus hinders the adoption of transformative technologies like AI and limits IT’s potential to drive institutional progress.

Addressing Staffing Challenges: The IT staff-to-employee ratio has declined sharply from 2.1% to 1.3% year-over-year, signaling a resource crisis that could jeopardize the management of complex systems and digital transformation initiatives.

Bolstering Foundational Capabilities: A lack of focus on enterprise architecture, project management, and data governance undermines institutions’ ability to execute large-scale IT projects, such as ERP implementations, and optimize costs.

Reinforcing IT Security Posture: Institutions often express satisfaction with IT security, but this perception drops significantly after incidents, underscoring the need for proactive security assessments and robust controls.

Opportunities for IT Transformation in Higher Education

Elevating IT’s Strategic Role: IT departments must prioritize agility, innovation, and alignment with institutional goals to meet stakeholder expectations for transformation.

Investing in Talent Management: Addressing staffing shortages requires strategic investment in talent acquisition, retention, and professional development to empower IT teams and foster growth.

Embracing Data-Driven Decision-Making: Improving data quality and governance is essential for successful AI adoption and other strategic initiatives and lays the foundation for informed decision-making.

Building Stronger Foundational Capabilities: Enhancing enterprise architecture, project management, and vendor partnerships can ensure smoother implementation of complex IT initiatives and align IT efforts with long-term institutional objectives.

As higher education institutions confront rapid technological advancements and shifting stakeholder expectations, IT departments face both significant challenges and transformative opportunities. Info-Tech advises that by addressing gaps in innovation, staffing, and foundational capabilities, as well as aligning their efforts with institutional priorities, IT leaders can redefine their role from operational support to strategic enabler. Info-Tech’s recently published report offers critical insights and actionable strategies to help IT departments drive meaningful change, foster resilience, and contribute to the long-term success of their institutions.

For exclusive commentary or to schedule an interview or podcast appearance with Mark Maby, an expert in the educational sector, and to access the complete Ground Your Institution for Higher Education’s Future Shock blueprint, please contact pr@infotech.com.

About Info-Tech Research Group
Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT and HR professionals. The company produces unbiased, highly relevant research and provides advisory services to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

To learn more about Info-Tech’s divisions, visit McLean & Company for HR research and advisory services and SoftwareReviews for software buying insights.

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and hundreds of industry analysts through the firm’s Media Insiders program. To gain access, contact pr@infotech.com.

For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X.

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Northwood raises $375 million to build the network connecting satellites to Earth

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Funding will scale the company’s shared, multi-orbit ground network for commercial, U.S. government, and allied customers

TORRANCE, Calif., Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Northwood Space Corp. (“Northwood”), the company building the network connecting satellites to Earth, today announced it has closed a $375 million Series C equity financing round. The funding will accelerate delivery on existing contracts, talent acquisition, and the buildout of Northwood’s global ground network for commercial, U.S. government, and allied space missions.

Since its Series B less than nine months ago, Northwood has deployed six multi-orbit-capable sites on two continents, demonstrated geosynchronous command capacity from a commercial phased array in live tests, developed and launched a high-throughput antenna system, and opened a new 185,000-square-foot headquarters and factory in Torrance, expanding its manufacturing footprint more than fivefold. Northwood has also added new customers and contracts across U.S. government agencies, commercial new-space operators, and traditional satellite operators.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and DFJ Growth co-led the round, with participation from Alpine Space Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, Stepstone Activate, In-Q-Tel (IQT), and others. A separate multi-year credit facility from HSBC Innovation Banking will also support working capital and network expansion.

“Space began as the frontier of human innovation, and communications sits at the heart of every mission, yet it has been neglected for decades,” said Bridgit Mendler, co-founder and CEO of Northwood. “We have built hardware that performs and a network that can support the most demanding missions. This funding lets us scale that network and build the infrastructure the next generation of space missions will depend on.”

“We’ve backed Northwood in every round since seed because we believe ground infrastructure is essential to making space infrastructure more abundant,” said Katherine Boyle, board director of Northwood and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “Northwood is building the ground network of the future and has become an indispensable partner to government and commercial customers alike.”

“What goes up must come down … this is a universal truth of sending data to and from space-based networks. Northwood plays an essential role in an oft-forgotten, yet critical segment, of that ecosystem — purpose-built to ensure mission-critical signals are delivered to and from satcom constellations reliably and securely. Northwood has emerged from a raw startup to a new-generation leader over the past year, changing the game with innovation and speed of execution to quickly surpass legacy incumbents,” according to Randy Glein, Founder and Managing Partner at DFJ Growth. “Northwood’s advanced phased array technologies, innovative systems, and vertically-integrated manufacturing approach are delivering robust capabilities to demanding commercial and government customers. We are thrilled to join the team at Northwood!”

The ground has become the bottleneck
Satellites are multiplying and spreading across orbits. Active satellites have grown from about 3,000 in 2020 to more than 14,000 by the end of 2025, with tens of thousands more projected by 2030, but the ground infrastructure they rely on was built for a different era of space and has not kept pace. Missions need more ground capacity, in more places, with more capabilities. Meeting the demand takes ground infrastructure that can serve multiple satellites at once, support multiple orbits, and deploy in months rather than years. Without modern infrastructure, the ground will limit what we can do in space, from satellite communications to Earth observation, from national security missions to cislunar exploration.

A space network built like infrastructure
Northwood designs and manufactures its own modular antennas in Torrance, California: Portal phased arrays for command and control and Prism high-throughput dishes for payload data. At full production, the company can build hundreds of antennas per year, and each system ships by standard freight and needs only flat ground, power, and fiber, with none of the extensive civil works traditional ground stations require.

Northwood’s own software and proprietary techniques combine multiple antennas into larger effective apertures. In a recent milestone, the company arrayed 10 Portals to achieve the receive performance of a 20-foot dish. That software extends to a modern API that lets satellite operators search, reserve, update, and cancel passes on the network, paired with hands-on Mission Architects who guide each customer from first conversation through deployment. Operators get a live link without building ground infrastructure of their own.

Because Northwood controls the full stack, from antenna hardware to site selection and buildout to scheduling software, space operators book the capacity they need on a shared network instead of spending millions of dollars on dedicated ground stations. And because the antennas are standardized and modular, the network is growing quickly: a new site takes three months rather than years, and new antennas go from truck arrival to live links in three to four hours. For select customers, Northwood also sells its antenna systems directly, the same hardware that powers the shared network.

Momentum since the Series B

Demonstrated multi-orbit, from LEO to GEO. Northwood demonstrated its multi-orbit capability in a prototype for the U.S. Space Force, delivering dedicated satellite command capacity as a service to geostationary orbit. The demonstration included a full-duplex link to a government GEO satellite from a Northwood Portal phased-array site, building on the company’s existing LEO demonstrations.High-throughput links. Northwood released Prism, a parabolic dish built for multi-gigabit links. Together with Portal, Prism will take the network to global coverage, with sites capable of 100+ Gbps in high-demand regions by the end of 2027.Production at scale. The company’s new 185,000-square-foot Torrance headquarters and factory, opened in September 2026, will produce hundreds of antennas and other components per year across dedicated production lines.Customers. Northwood has added new customers and contracts across U.S. government agencies, commercial new-space operators, and traditional satellite operators.Team. Northwood has grown to more than 140 employees and plans to add 400 jobs in Torrance and Washington, DC over three years across RF engineering, manufacturing, software and site operations.

This announcement is only the start. Northwood is rebuilding the full network stack for bringing data to, through, and from orbit, with several site and network expansions to be announced in the first half of 2027.

About Northwood
Northwood builds the network connecting satellites to Earth. Based in Torrance, California, the company combines modular antenna hardware, manufacturing, software, and global site operations into a shared ground network serving commercial, U.S. government, and allied customers. Northwood helps satellite operators establish and expand connectivity across orbits, supporting reliable communications as their missions grow. Learn more at northwoodspace.io. See open roles at northwoodspace.io/careers.

Media Contact
press@northwoodspace.io

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Cleafy Named a Leader in QKS Group SPARK Matrix™: Enterprise Fraud Management, 2026

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The QKS Group SPARK Matrix™ evaluates enterprise fraud management providers across Technology Excellence and Customer Impact.Cleafy is recognized for its cyber-fraud convergence approach, real-time attack visibility, and explainable fraud detection capabilities.

PUNE, India, Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — QKS Group announced today that it has named Cleafy as a leader in the SPARK Matrix™: Enterprise Fraud Management, 2026.

Anandh Ramaswamy, Practice Director at QKS Group, states, “Fraud increasingly begins as a cyberattack, well before a payment is initiated. Our assessment finds Cleafy particularly compelling in connecting these stages through its Fraud xDR approach, which brings device, malware, network, session, and transaction evidence into a continuous view of how an attack develops. Its deterministic micro-models and Attack Pattern Reconstruction help banks recognize account takeover, remote-access abuse, and payment scams earlier, with clear reasons for intervention rather than an isolated risk score. For institutions with substantial digital banking activity, this cyber-fraud convergence can strengthen prevention while supporting more proportionate customer interventions. Buyers should assess Cleafy as an attack-focused complement to their broader fraud controls, particularly where visibility before the transaction is a priority.”

Divya Baranawal, Vice President and Principal Analyst at QKS Group, states, “Cleafy’s Leader position reflects a distinctive approach to Enterprise Fraud Management: connecting cybersecurity intelligence with fraud operations rather than treating them as separate detection functions. Cleafy LABS contributes specialist threat research and intelligence, while Fraud xDR connects evidence across the digital journey to reveal how attacks develop. Cleafy Nyx builds on this foundation, autonomously hunting for emerging threats and connecting activity across sessions, accounts and devices, with recommended responses subject to institutional oversight. This combination is relevant for banks facing coordinated attacks and growing investigation volumes. Our evaluation also highlights the importance of validating channel coverage, integration requirements, and local service readiness against each institution’s operating environment.”

QKS Group defines Enterprise Fraud Management as the technologies and operational processes used to detect, prevent, investigate, and respond to fraud across customer interactions and transactions. As digital fraud increasingly combines compromised devices, malicious software, manipulated sessions, and payment activity, effective programs need to connect cyber and financial signals, apply timely risk controls, and equip investigators with auditable evidence. Evaluation therefore extends beyond transaction scoring to detection coverage, explainability, investigation workflows, deployment, and measurable customer impact.

Cleafy’s differentiation lies in its cyber-origin view of financial fraud. Its Fraud xDR approach transforms diverse device, application, network, malware, behavioural, and transaction signals into structured, connected evidence across digital banking journeys. Deterministic micro-models provide explainable detection indicators, Cleafy LABS contributes specialist threat intelligence, and Cleafy Nyx autonomously hunts for emerging threats, connecting evidence into coordinated attacks and recommending responses for analyst review. This architecture is especially relevant to banks prioritizing account takeover, banking malware, remote-access fraud, and authorized push payment scams. Buyers should validate fit with existing payment controls, required channels, and governance arrangements.

The QKS Group SPARK Matrix™ includes a detailed analysis of the global market dynamics, major trends, vendor landscape, and competitive positioning. The study also provides a competitive analysis and ranking of the Enterprise Fraud Management, 2026 providers in the form of the SPARK Matrix™. The study also provides strategic information for users to evaluate different vendor capabilities, competitive differentiation, and market positions.

“Maintaining our Leader position, and improving on it, reflects the value of the approach we’ve built,” said Michael Morris, Product Director at Cleafy. “We brought the discipline of cybersecurity into fraud prevention to recognise attacks before they become fraudulent transactions. With Nyx, we’re taking that further through Autonomous Fraud Operations, continuously hunting for emerging threats and giving banks the evidence they need to act earlier, with greater precision and efficiency.”

Additional Resources:

For more information about Cleafy, visit Here. SPARK Matrix™ Enterprise Fraud Management, 2026

About Cleafy

Cleafy helps banks stop financial fraud through Autonomous Fraud Operations. Rather than adding another tool for analysts, Cleafy investigates cases, produces evidence-based decisions and adapts to changing criminal tactics in production. European banks have been running Cleafy’s Autonomous Fraud Operations since December 2025, enabling fraud teams to prevent more fraud losses while focusing human expertise where it adds the greatest value.

Media Contact:
www.cleafy.com
Tammy du Preez
tammy.dupreez@cleafy.com

About QKS Group

QKS Group is a global analyst and advisory firm helping enterprises, technology vendors, and investors make trusted, data-driven decisions. Our portfolio spans the flagship SPARK Matrix™ evaluation framework, SPARK Plus™ analyst advisory platform, QKS Intelligence™ for market and competitive tracking, and QKS Community™ for CXO leaders and practitioners. All offerings are powered by a Human-Intelligence-driven framework and QKS’s closed-loop research methodology – integrating expert-led insights, quantitative modeling, and continuous validation to deliver credible, outcome-focused intelligence.

For more available research, please visit Research

Media Contact:
Anish Krishnan 
PR & Media Relations
QKS Group
5th Floor, Wing 2, Cluster C, 
EON Free Zone, Kharadi,
Pune, India
Email: support@qksgroup.com
Content Source: https://qksgroup.com/newsroom/cleafy-named-a-leader-in-qks-group-spark-matrix-enterprise-fraud-management-2026-1844
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LianLian Global and Cobre Collaborate to Streamline China-Latin America Payments

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HONG KONG, Nov. 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LianLian Global, the cross-border payment brand of Hong Kong-listed Lianlian DigiTech, today announced a collaboration with Cobre, the leading platform for instant business payments in Latin America, to power cross-border payments between China and Latin America.

Through this collaboration, LianLian Global clients can reach Cobre’s local payment infrastructure in Latin America, and Cobre clients can process fast, compliant payouts into China through LianLian Global’s licensed network.

Trade between China and Latin America reached approximately US$565 billion in 2025, up 6.5% year on year, according to China’s General Administration of Customs. Yet cross-border payments supporting this trade can involve multiple correspondent banks, adding costs and delays.

By combining LianLian’s licensed China payout capabilities with Cobre’s local infrastructure in Latin America, this collaboration gives businesses on both sides a more direct way to settle cross-border payments. The collaboration aims to reduce the number of intermediaries involved, lower payment costs and shorten settlement times. This collaboration also aims to provide transparent foreign exchange (FX) pricing and end-to-end payment tracking across both the collection and payout legs.

Bryan Jiang, General Manager of LianLian Global in Hong Kong, said:

“Latin America is one of the fastest-growing markets for us, and Cobre has built the local infrastructure needed to serve that market. With this collaboration, we can offer businesses on both sides a faster, more transparent way to make cross-border payments along the China–Latin America corridor.”

Jose Gedeón, CEO and Cofounder of Cobre, added:

“Latin American enterprises engaging in commerce require heightened speed and predictability in their transaction flows. Our work with LianLian Global allows us to provide just that.”

James Wong, Senior Vice President (Financial Services and Fintech) of InvestHK, said:

“Hong Kong has long served as a gateway between Asia and the rest of the world, and Latin America is a growing part of that story. We are pleased to see LianLian Global and Cobre working together to make cross-border business payments between both regions faster and simpler, leveraging our flagship HK Fintech Week to mark the start of the collaboration”.

As trade between Asia and Latin America deepens, both companies plan to extend the collaboration to additional payment corridors and use cases.

About LianLian Global

LianLian Global is the international brand of Lianlian DigiTech Co., Ltd. (HKEX: 2598) (“Lianlian”), a global payment and financial platform founded in 2009 and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2024.

Lianlian has served more than 13.3 million clients. Its services reach more than 200 countries and regions, support transactions and settlements in more than 140 currencies, and connect with more than 180 global e-commerce platforms. Lianlian holds 68 payment licenses and related authorizations worldwide, alongside a Hong Kong virtual asset trading platform (VATP) license.

About Cobre

Cobre is the leading enterprise payments infrastructure for Latin America, enabling businesses to move money faster across Latin America and the world. Cobre operates in Colombia and Mexico, offering three core solutions: Local Payments, Cross-Border Payments and Stablecoin Payments. In 2025, Cobre processed over US$17 billion in payment volume across 28 million transactions, serving more than 300 enterprise clients and achieving profitability. Trusted by leading fintechs, financial institutions, and multinational enterprises, Cobre helps businesses simplify financial operations and scale across Latin America.

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