Technology

Flourishing Takes Center Stage with the WFO, Harvard, Baylor, and Gallup

Published

1 year ago

April 30, 2025

The World Flourishing Organization (WFO), in partnership with Harvard University, Baylor University, and Gallup, has announced the unveiling of the first-year results from the Global Flourishing Study-the largest and most rigorous research effort of its kind-at Gallup Headquarters in Washington, D.C. on April 30, 2025. The event responds to alarming new data showing global employee engagement has dropped for the second consecutive year, highlighting urgent challenges in workplace motivation and productivity. The WFO is introducing “flourishing” as a new, science-backed benchmark for human performance, aiming to help organizations move beyond traditional engagement metrics. Key initiatives include the F-Org™ Trustmark for recognizing flourishing organizations, the Work Flourishing Index for rapid workplace assessment, a Flourishing Bootcamp for leadership development, and a Flourishing Blueprint program for executives. These tools are designed to make flourishing practical, measurable, and scalable, offering both individual and organizational insights. Flourishing is defined as a multi-dimensional state encompassing happiness, health, meaning, character, relationships, and financial stability. The WFO’s mission is to enable 1 billion people to flourish by 2035, positioning flourishing as essential for both individual well-being and organizational success. The Global Flourishing Study, led by Harvard, Baylor, and Gallup, is tracking 240,000 people across 22 countries over five years to provide unprecedented insights into what drives human flourishing worldwide.

WASHINGTON, April 30, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — As burnout rises, disengagement spreads, and organizations struggle to deliver real human value, the World Flourishing Organization (WFO) introduces a bold new benchmark: flourishing as the future of human performance. On April 30, Gallup HQ will unveil the first-year results of the Global Flourishing Study, the largest and most rigorous research effort of its kind.

“Our goal is to make flourishing practical, measurable, and scalable — so every organization, no matter where they start, can unlock the full potential of their people and achieve peak performance.” said Eleanor Allen, CEO of the WFO

Backed by Harvard University and Baylor University, this event marks a historic moment where science meets strategy, and the future of work re-begins. WFO CEO Eleanor Allen will join Professors Tyler VanderWeele, Byron Johnson, and Matt Lee to explore how flourishing is being activated at scale, from research labs to leadership teams, and from global policy to workplace culture.

In 16 years of Gallup’s global study, engagement has never dropped twice in a row — until now. In 2024, it fell to 21%, down from 23%, triggering an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity. Europe and MENA remain at the bottom with 13% and 14% engagement. This back-to-back drop is an alarm to action. Business as usual won’t fix it. A new standard is needed — one built on flourishing.

WFO, with Harvard, Baylor, and SHAPE Global, offers a science-backed, action-driven path forward:

• F-Org™ Trustmark – Global recognition for organizations designing the best journeys for their people.

• Work Flourishing Index – A rapid 14-question diagnostic adapted from the global research to assess workplace flourishing.

• Flourishing Bootcamp – An online individual leadership experience to build flourishing-first organizations.

• Flourishing Blueprint – A six-month transformation program for executives to elevate their organization’s potential.

WFO also supports the rollout of Harvard’s 12-question flourishing measure, offering personal reports for employees and organizational data to guide decisions. Participating organizations are recognized as Rising F-Orgs™.

“Flourishing is serious business. It’s an asset on your balance sheet. It warrants focus and attention from the board and management committees.”

— Gordon Watson, Chair, WFO

Why Flourishing? Why Now?

Flourishing is a multi-dimensional state of human strength, encompassing happiness, health, meaning, character, relationships, and financial stability. It bridges what matters to people with what drives organizational success.

This event is a call to action. Join our mission to elevate 1 billion people to flourish by 2035.

About the World Flourishing Organization

The World Flourishing Organization (WFO) is a global platform redefining great work. Co-developed with leading academic institutions and powered by science, the WFO helps organizations measure, activate, and scale flourishing to unlock performance, retention, and resilience.

About the Global Flourishing Study

Led by Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program, Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion, and Gallup, the Global Flourishing Study tracks 240,000 people across 22 countries over five years, providing unprecedented insights into human flourishing worldwide.

Learn more: worldflourishing.org | globalflourishingstudy.com

Media Contact:

Karen Seymour, Chief Impact Officer, karen@worlflourishing.org

Media Contact

Karen Seymour, The World Flourishing Organization, 1 5104970510, karen@worldflourishing.org, https://worldflourishing.org/

Eleanor Allen, The World Flourishing Organization, 1 3038082515, eleanor@worldflourishing.org, https://worldflourishing.org/

View original content:https://www.prweb.com/releases/flourishing-takes-center-stage-with-the-wfo-harvard-baylor-and-gallup-302440823.html

SOURCE The World Flourishing Organization

Technology

Bloomberg Introduces Spread-to-Benchmark Quoting for EUR and GBP Portfolio Trading Baskets

Published

18 hours ago

June 2, 2026

LONDON, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bloomberg today announced the launch of Spread-to-Benchmark quoting and trading for Euro (EUR) and Sterling (GBP) denominated portfolio trades through its Portfolio Trading Basket Builder (PTBB). The new functionality expands the range of quoting protocols available for European credit portfolio trading and reflects growing client demand for spread-based execution workflows, alongside increased dealer support for the convention across EUR and GBP markets.

Spread-to-Benchmark quoting is a well-established protocol for USD credit portfolio trades and is used by market participants to evaluate and execute portfolio trades. By extending this workflow to EUR and GBP portfolio trades, Bloomberg enables clients and dealers to transact using a familiar spread-based methodology across additional credit markets.

The introduction of Spread-to-Benchmark quoting for EUR and GBP baskets reflects increased client interest in evaluating portfolio trades through a spread-based lens and the growing adoption of spread-based execution workflows in European credit markets. The workflow provides market participants with an additional framework for assessing the relationship between credit spread risk and underlying government bond yields when pricing and executing portfolio trades.

Additional Workflow Flexibility 
The workflow complements Bloomberg’s existing portfolio trading capabilities, which support the full range of market-standard quoting conventions, including Price, Yield, Spread-to-Benchmark and Spread based workflows that reference Bloomberg’s evaluated pricing service (BVAL). This gives clients flexibility to compare and execute portfolio trades using the quoting methodology that best aligns with their investment objectives, execution preferences and internal risk management processes.

“European credit clients continue to look for execution workflows that reflect how they evaluate risk and monitor portfolio trading outcomes,” said Harry Street, Global Head of Credit and Equities Trading Product at Bloomberg. “By expanding dealer support for Spread-to-Benchmark quoting for EUR and GBP baskets, Bloomberg is broadening the range of workflow options available to clients trading European credit portfolios.”

“Portfolio trading workflows in fixed income continue to become more sophisticated as institutional investors look for ways to evaluate execution quality in changing market conditions,” said Kevin McPartland, Head of Market Structure & Technology Research at Crisil Coalition Greenwich. “Spread-based quoting helps market participants more clearly distinguish between the impacts of credit spread and underlying rates movements when determining how best to execute a portfolio trade.”

Bloomberg’s Electronic Markets solutions are used by leading financial institutions to trade efficiently in over 175 markets around the world. More than 9,000 client firms use Bloomberg Electronic Markets to access industry-leading depth and breadth of liquidity across asset classes from over 800 dealers globally. Bloomberg Electronic Markets provides market participants with comprehensive solutions across the trading lifecycle, including robust price transparency, analytics, automation and execution, powered by Bloomberg’s high-quality, multi-asset class data and tools.

About Bloomberg
Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit Bloomberg.com/company or request a demo.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bloomberg-introduces-spread-to-benchmark-quoting-for-eur-and-gbp-portfolio-trading-baskets-302787922.html

SOURCE Bloomberg L.P.

Technology

Dr. Sunho Kang, a senior battery-technology executive with leadership experience at major global battery and EV manufacturers, joins TeraWatt Technology as Head of Product and Technology

Published

18 hours ago

June 2, 2026

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — TeraWatt Technology Inc. (Headquartered in California, USA) is pleased to announce that Dr. Sunho Kang has joined the company as Head of Product and Technology.

Dr. Kang is a globally recognized battery-technology executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience spanning the United States, Asia, and Europe, and a distinguished track record of advancing innovations from laboratory research through gigafactory-scale production. He has held senior executive positions at world-leading organizations including Samsung SDI, Apple, and Volkswagen Group of America, and brings deep expertise in lithium-ion battery materials, cell engineering, and product industrialization across a broad range of applications, including electric vehicles and energy storage systems.

At TeraWatt, Dr. Kang will lead global product development and the commercialization of TeraWatt’s battery technology platform, aiming to accelerate the delivery of TeraWatt’s competitive products as well as the technology and commercialization roadmap including manufacturing scale-up.

Dr. Kang commented:

“I am thrilled to join TeraWatt Technology as Head of Product and Technology. TeraWatt’s innovative battery platform presents a tremendous opportunity to push the boundaries of lithium-ion technology, and I look forward to working with the team to accelerate product development and commercialization to deliver meaningful impact.”

TeraWatt Technology founder CEO Ken Ogata, Ph.D. commented:

“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Kang as our Head of Product and Technology. His deep expertise in battery materials, cell engineering, and productization will be instrumental in accelerating TeraWatt’s product roadmap and technology leadership. Together with Dr. Kang, we will continue to drive our mission forward.”

About TeraWatt Technology Inc.
TeraWatt Technology Inc. is a California-based company that produces lightweight, high-power, and safe next-generation lithium-ion batteries.

Company Overview
Name: TeraWatt Technology Inc.
Representative: Co-founder and CEO Ken Ogata
Headquarters: 28 Geary St, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94108, United States
Founded: January 2020
Established: December 2019
URL: https://www.terawatt-technology.com/

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dr-sunho-kang-a-senior-battery-technology-executive-with-leadership-experience-at-major-global-battery-and-ev-manufacturers-joins-terawatt-technology-as-head-of-product-and-technology-302786854.html

SOURCE TeraWatt Technology Inc.

Technology

Tencent Cloud and Soniox Announce Strategic Partnership: Combining Advanced Speech-to-Text (STT) Technology with Global Real-Time Infrastructure

Published

18 hours ago

June 2, 2026

HONG KONG, June 2, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology company Tencent, today announced a strategic partnership with Soniox, a San Francisco-based speech AI company that specializes in developing high-accuracy, low-latency speech AI solutions. The collaboration integrates Soniox’s speech-to-text (STT) technology with Tencent Cloud’s Real-Time Communication (TRTC) enterprise-grade global infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build and deploy multilingual voice AI applications across 200+ countries and regions.

Elevating Enterprise Voice AI at a Global Scale

In enterprise voice AI deployments, latency directly affects user experience and application reliability. The integration of Soniox’s high-accuracy, low-latency STT with TRTC’s global transmission infrastructure reduces latency across the entire pipeline, creating a comprehensive end-to-end solution for enterprises deploying conversational AI applications worldwide.

Soniox is the voice platform for every language. Unlike legacy speech AI, which was built primarily for English-speakers, Soniox delivers native-speaker accuracy across 60+ languages. Its technology can handle mid-sentence language switching — a user can switch between English and Chinese in a single utterance, and Soniox will capture every word with complete accuracy. All of this works through a single API that works for both speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

By integrating TRTC, the partnership leverages an enterprise-grade real-time communication backbone featuring more than 3,200 global nodes, sub-300 ms worldwide latency, and advanced capabilities such as AI noise suppression and weak-network resilience. These capabilities enable conversational AI applications to operate reliably across diverse network environments, including regions such as Southeast Asia and Africa.

With the roll out of this partnership, developers can integrate the Soniox STT API directly within the Tencent Cloud console. Whether targeting English-speaking markets or supporting languages such as Arabic, Hindi, and Malay, enterprises can build global voice applications — including intelligent customer service, voice assistants, real-time translation, and meeting transcription — to address the demands of expansion into emerging markets and multilingual scenarios.

Wison Xie, Head of Product at Tencent RTC, stated: “Tencent RTC has always been committed to providing reliable real-time communication infrastructure for global enterprises. Our partnership with Soniox brings together our strengths in enterprise-grade audio transmission and Soniox’s advanced speech recognition technology. Together, we are making it easier for businesses to deploy accurate, low-latency voice AI applications across any language and any market.”

Klemen Simonic, CEO at Soniox Inc., stated “At Soniox, our mission is to help businesses understand every word, in any language, with native speaker accuracy and exceptional speed. Partnering with Tencent Cloud combines our speech AI with world-class real-time infrastructure, enabling enterprises to build voice AI experiences that scale globally with low latency and reliability.”

About Tencent Cloud:

Tencent Cloud, one of the world’s leading cloud companies, is committed to creating innovative solutions to resolve real-world issues and enabling digital transformation for smart industries. Through our extensive global infrastructure, Tencent Cloud provides businesses across the globe with stable and secure industry-leading cloud products and services, leveraging technological advancements such as cloud computing, Big Data analytics, AI, IoT, and network security. It is our constant mission to meet the needs of industries across the board, including the fields of gaming, media and entertainment, finance, healthcare, property, retail, travel, and transportation.

About Tencent RTC:

Tencent RTC provides real-time communication solutions, including audio/video calling, live streaming, and in-game voice. With enterprise-grade security, AI-powered enhancements, and a global network of over 3,200 nodes, Tencent RTC powers mission-critical communication for customers worldwide.

About Soniox:

Soniox is a next-generation voice AI company bringing about the end of English-first speech AI. Most people on the planet did not grow up speaking English and often mix languages mid-sentence; and yet legacy speech AI was built for just English. Soniox is different: native-speaker accuracy across 60+ languages, true mid-sentence language switching, and flawless alphanumeric recognition that legacy providers still can’t match. For developers building global apps, Soniox is the only option. Try it for yourself at soniox.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/tencent-cloud-and-soniox-announce-strategic-partnership-combining-advanced-speech-to-text-stt-technology-with-global-real-time-infrastructure-302786832.html

SOURCE Tencent Cloud