Technology

National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement™ Launches First of its Kind Certification for Advanced Manufacturing and Tech-Related Programs

Published

2 years ago

January 6, 2025

NIICA certification assures ongoing alignment with the ever-changing needs of the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries

HANOVER, Md., Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement™ (NIICA), the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) national Intermediary for establishing and expanding Registered Apprenticeships (RAs) in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing supply chains, has announced its education program certification designed to ensure that training programs and degree pathways align with evolving employer needs in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries.

Through its innovative National Talent Hub™ (NTH) and its comprehensive database of industry competencies, NIICA offers a dynamic, data-driven certification process that ensures education and training programs remain aligned with employer job requirements and evolving Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). Unlike traditional certification models, the NIICA Certification™ leverages technology and automation through the NTH to provide real-time updates, enabling institutions to adapt their curricula to meet the ever-changing demands of the advanced manufacturing and semiconductor industries.

NIICA redesigned and maintains the Advanced Manufacturing Competency Model listed in the USDOL Competency Model Clearinghouse and developed the nation’s first semiconductor competency standard that informs the Semiconductor Competency Model. This data is included in the NTH database and is continually informed on an ongoing basis by industry input.

“True alignment between education and industry has always remained elusive and has required manual processes and physical interactions in an attempt to keep up with more technical job requirements,” said Mike Russo, NIICA President & CEO. “We at the Institute have worked with industry representatives over several years to develop the related knowledge, skills, and abilities required to succeed on the job and progress in careers spanning advanced manufacturing industries. Our work has included semiconductor industry roles, detailed down to specific employers and jobs, eliminating the need to spend time and money to develop these KSA profiles. Through our National Talent Hub™ and NIICA Certification™, we are now providing an automated process and seamless platform for aligning education programs with industry needs in real time, ensuring individuals gain the skills and competencies required to succeed in these high-demand fields.”

NIICA’s certification process begins when education and training providers submit program profiles through the NTH. These programs are evaluated for alignment against an industry-informed competency database, which identifies and standardizes the KSAs required for advanced manufacturing and tech job roles, with an emphasis on the semiconductor industry and its supply chain. The certification not only validates alignment with industries that have the same foundational skills requirements, but also signals alignment to specific occupations, providing employers, workforce boards, and learners confidence in program outcomes. There is also additional value for individuals and employers; individuals doing career and education mapping through the NTH will be directed to certified education programs and employers will be able to see these certified programs when they are looking for education resources.

“The National Talent Hub™ revolutionizes how education aligns with industry,” said Clay Nagel, Senior Director of NIICA’s National Center for Skill-Based Learning (CSBL). “Through real-time feedback on job requirements and KSAs, the National Talent Hub™ helps ensure education programs remain connected to the evolving needs of employers. Coupled with NIICA’s certification process, we’re creating a framework where education and industry work together to prepare workers for meaningful careers in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries – careers that require the same foundational and transferrable skills.”

NIICA’s certification supports its broader workforce development initiatives, including its work as the USDOL’s national lead in the development and expansion of RAs for semiconductor and nanotechnology related industries and their supply chains. This work is being advanced under the Growing Apprenticeships in Nanotechnology and Semiconductors™ (GAINS™) program and supports the Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship Program™ (SAM-TAP™), with education programs validated for curricular alignment through the NTH often providing the Related Technical Instruction (RTI), ensuring participants receive training that aligns with industry-specific demands.

Since its inception in 2022, NIICA’s GAINS program has secured:

118 employers engaged in RAs in 27 states7,554 apprentices committed to the program3,010 active Registered Apprentices154 standards signed or under development60 colleges and related education and training providers in NIICA’s national network supporting related technical instruction

Many of the NIICA certified education providers are also a part of the Semiconductor Industry Network of Colleges™ (SINC™), a growing network of 60 colleges and related education and training providers across the country that are supporting related technical instruction. In addition to community colleges, any education program and training provider can seek NIICA certification for its programs.

These certifications and tools are part of NIICA’s broader efforts to align education, workforce development, and industry needs. Below are some of the key initiatives driving NIICA’s mission to build sustainable talent pipelines:

Growing Apprenticeships in Nanotechnology and Semiconductors™ (GAINS™): GAINS is a USDOL-funded RA initiative focused on revolutionizing workforce development in advanced manufacturing and tech. By prioritizing skill-based learning over traditional time-based training, GAINS provides participants with mentorship, hands-on training, and the foundational competencies necessary to excel related industries.

Gateway Apprenticeship Program™ (G.A.P.): G.A.P. bridges the gap between high school Career and Technical Education (CTE) and employment. This scalable program leverages the existing education system to integrate pre-apprenticeship frameworks with RAs, ensuring that students gain the necessary skills to seamlessly transition into promising careers in high-tech fields or pursue further education.

Semiconductor Industry Network of Community Colleges™ (SINC™): SINC connects 60 colleges and related education and training providers with employers nationwide, to ensure curriculum is aligned with job requirements, creating a national network of RTI providers to support RAs and career advancement.

National Talent Hub™ (NTH): The NTH is a state-of-the-art portal that uses advanced data analytics to connect jobseekers to employers and training programs that target their specific needs. Unlike typical job matching services that use resumes and job descriptions to create matches, the NTH uses a dynamic database of required job competencies that is continually informed by industry to provide insights into the degree of alignment between individuals, careers, and course curriculum.

Semiconductor and Advanced Manufacturing Technician Apprenticeship Program™ (SAM-TAP™): NIICA’s SAM-TAP initiative supports states, employers, and training providers in developing competency-based RAs. As a USDOL Intermediary, NIICA provides these services at no cost, collaborating with state apprenticeship offices and commerce departments to expand talent pipelines in the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing sectors.

VetConnect & Veteran’s Fellowship Program: VetConnect connects veterans with RAs in advanced manufacturing and tech-based industries, providing additional resources through the VALOR Act to support their transition from military service into civilian careers. This initiative leverages NIICA’s Intermediary capabilities and ensures that veterans receive the support they need to succeed in high-growth fields like semiconductor manufacturing.

To learn more about NIICA’s certification process, visit www.niica.org/certification. For an in-depth look at the NTH, visit www.niica.org/national-talent-hub.

About the National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement™

NIICA is a 501(c)(3) organization that is responsible for a national strategy to build the talent pipeline to support strategic industry sectors – tech-based industries and advanced manufacturing tied to U.S. national security and global competitiveness.

NIICA is the nation’s leader in semiconductor talent pipeline development strategy and is the U.S. Department of Labor’s national RA industry Intermediary responsible for establishing and expanding RAs throughout the semiconductor and broader nanotechnology-related industries and advanced manufacturing supply chain. All related programing and support are being advanced through NIICA’s Center for Skill-Based Learning and the National Talent Pipeline Development Initiative.

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SOURCE National Institute for Industry and Career Advancement

Technology

Air and Fathom5 Partner to Modernize Naval Fleet Readiness

Published

51 minutes ago

July 20, 2026

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

Technology

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

Published

51 minutes ago

July 20, 2026

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

Technology

Signeasy expands beyond eSignatures with Intelligent Contract Management for growing businesses

Published

51 minutes ago

July 20, 2026

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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SOURCE Signeasy