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The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec invest close to $21.5 million in public transit in Sherbrooke

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SHERBROOKE, QC, Feb. 19, 2024 /CNW/ – Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant, and Geneviève Guilbault, Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, announce an investment of $21,445,679 to modernize the Société de transport de Sherbrooke (STS) and electrify its vehicles. The governments of Quebec and Canada are investing $12,482,553 and $8,963,126 respectively.

For the occasion, the ministers were accompanied by Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, MNA Élisabeth Brière, MNA for Saint-François Geneviève Hébert, MNA for Richmond André Bachand, Sherbrooke Mayor Évelyne Beaudin and STS President Laure Letarte-Lavoie. The projects funded will benefit the community by providing residents with a modern, efficient public transit network.

Firstly, more than $18.6 million will support the electrification of the STS operations centre. This sum also covers the expansion of the main building, the installation of a new electric entrance, and the acquisition and commissioning of charging stations for the 40 future 100% electric buses. These vehicles come from the contract announced on May 8, 2023 for the acquisition of 1229 electric city buses from Nova Bus.

In addition, $2.8 million is being invested to improve the customer experience. More specifically, boarding will be made easier and faster thanks to 140 new validators capable of accepting payment by credit card and QR code, which will be installed on the front and rear of all vehicles. The STS will also acquire 120 validators for paratransit to replace its token payment system and simplify fare management. Finally, passengers will be able to use Wi-Fi on board buses thanks to the acquisition and installation of a 5G/LTE modem communication system.

These projects will improve the capacity, quality and safety of the City of Sherbrooke’s existing public transit network, while helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and thus combat climate change.

This investment in public transit will help make this community more inclusive and enhances the quality of life for users of these services by making it easier for them to get around.

Quotes

“When we invest in public transit, we’re not only fighting climate change, we’re also investing in the well-being of local residents. Like the people of Sherbrooke, who will soon have access to a more modern, reliable and efficient bus service. We continue to deliver for Quebecers through investments that will make a real difference to their everyday lives.”

The Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Transport and Quebec Lieutenant, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“This is further proof that our government is massively supporting public transit in our regions. By offering direct benefits such as a 100% electric service adapted to the reality of its users, we are investing in improved services and quality of life for Quebecers.”

Geneviève Guilbault, Deputy Premier of Quebec and Minister of Transports and Sustainable Mobility

“Today’s investment in the city of Sherbrooke’s public transit system is a promise of efficient, convenient travel throughout the city, and an opportunity to contribute to the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of National Revenue and Member of Parliament for Compton—Stanstead

“In Sherbrooke, 53% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. So we need to work on moving away from the single-occupant car and towards active and public transportation. Today’s investment will not only support the Société de transport de Sherbrooke in its efforts to completely electrify its bus fleet, but will also enable it to offer a more efficient and reliable service to the population. By modernizing our public transit infrastructure, we’re making it easier and more convenient for residents to choose environmentally-friendly means of getting around.”

Élisabeth Brière, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development and Member of Parliament for Sherbrooke

“This investment shows our commitment to developing sustainable mobility initiatives throughout Quebec, including in Sherbrooke. The STS will be able to significantly improve both the experience and its energy performance. Together, we’re building an efficient transportation network, where quality of service and respect for the environment go hand in hand.”

Geneviève Hébert, Member of National Assembly for Saint-François

“Like us, many organizations in our region have great ambitions when it comes to electrification. Sometimes, all that’s needed is financial leverage to turn words into deeds, and I’m delighted that we can help modernize the STS operations centre, install charging stations inside the garage to accommodate the new electric vehicles, and enhance the user experience.”

André Bachand, Member of National Assembly for Richmond

“The development of sustainable mobility is one of my administration’s priorities. With this major financial support for five projects, our government partners are backing the STS’s energy transition and making it easier for the entire Sherbrooke community to get around. All the members of the municipal council welcome these investments in our public transit system with great appreciation.”

Évelyne Beaudin, Mayor of Sherbrooke

” The Société de transport de Sherbrooke is very grateful for the support offered today by the governments of Canada and Quebec. In addition to the technological advances they will enable, these investments will help us deploy a public transit network that meets our ambitions, is accessible and innovative, and is in line with our strategic objectives. The entire population of Sherbrooke will benefit from these projects.”

Laure Letarte-Lavoie, President of the Société de transport de Sherbrooke

Quick Facts

The amounts break down as follows :The Government of Quebec is investing $12,482,553 through the Programme d’aide gouvernementale aux infrastructures de transport collectif;The Government of Canada is investing $8,963,126 through the same program. These funds come from the Public Transit component of the Integrated Bilateral Agreement Canada – Quebec for the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.The Société de transport de Sherbrooke is contributing $1,579,322.The Public Transit Infrastructure Stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program supports the building, expansion, and upgrading of urban and rural transit networks.Investments in public transit help Canadians get where they need to be, create new manufacturing and construction jobs, reduce pollution, and make life more affordable.Including today’s announcement, 26 infrastructure projects or project bundles under the Public Transit Infrastructure Stream have been announced in Quebec, with a total federal contribution of more than $2.8 billion and a total provincial contribution of more than $5.4 billion.Today’s funding brings the Quebec government’s support for the STS to approximately $115.2 million since 2019. This amount includes:Up to 40 electric buses from the contract to acquire up to 1229 electric city buses from Novabus announced on May 8, 2023;$4.7 million from the one-time $400-million budget envelope allocated to public transit organizations to support the recovery of their services hard hit by health measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic.The federal government is investing $14.9 billion over the next eight years in reliable, fast, affordable, and clean public transit. This funding includes $3 billion per year in permanent, predictable federal public transit funding which will be available to support transit solutions beginning in 2026-27.

Associated Links

Backgrounder : The Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec invest close to $21.5 million in public transit in Sherbrooke

Investing in Canada: Canada’s Long-Term Infrastructure Plan
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/icp-publication-pic-eng.html

Public Transit Infrastructure Stream
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/pti-itc-eng.html 

Federal infrastructure investments in Quebec
https://www.infrastructure.gc.ca/plan/prog-proj-qc-eng.html

Strengthened Climate Plan
https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/weather/climatechange/climate-plan/climate-plan-overview.html 

Programme d’aide gouvernementale aux infrastructures de transport collectif
https://www.transports.gouv.qc.ca/fr/aide-finan/transport-collectif/PAGITC/Pages/PAGITC.aspx 

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Safetyfirst Systems, LLC Provides Notice of Data Security Event

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PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Safetyfirst Systems, LLC (“SFS”) is providing notice of a data security event that may involve information relating to certain individuals. While SFS is not aware of any misuse of information associated with this event, it is providing notice to potentially affected individuals out of an abundance of caution.

On January 19, 2026, SFS identified suspicious activity involving a limited portion of its server environment. Upon discovering the activity, SFS quickly took steps to secure its systems, notified federal law enforcement, engaged leading third-party forensic specialists, and performed a detailed investigation into the nature, scope, and impact of the activity. The investigation determined that an unauthorized actor accessed and/or acquired certain files from limited SFS systems between January 16, 2026, and January 19, 2026. SFS then conducted a comprehensive review of the affected files to determine what information may have been involved and identify the individuals to whom the information relates. The review has recently concluded, and SFS is providing this notification to potentially impacted individuals out of an abundance of caution. Although the types of information vary by individual, the affected information may include names, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers.

Protecting the privacy and security of the information entrusted to SFS is a responsibility the company takes very seriously. In response to this event, SFS promptly strengthened security measures, continues to enhance its technical safeguards and monitoring capabilities, and is reviewing existing policies and procedures to further protect against similar incidents in the future. SFS is also providing notice to potentially affected individuals and, where required, appropriate regulatory authorities.

Although SFS is unaware of any misuse of personal information impacted by this event, individuals are encouraged to remain vigilant against events of identity theft by reviewing account statements, explanation of benefits, and monitoring free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Any suspicious activity should be reported to the appropriate insurance company, health care provider, or financial institution.

Individuals seeking additional information regarding this event can contact SFS’s dedicated assistance line at 1-833-289-5523 between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. Individuals may also write to SFS at PO Box 101, 3299 US Highway 46, Parsippany, NJ 07054-9998.

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/safetyfirst-systems-llc-provides-notice-of-data-security-event-302831894.html

SOURCE Safetyfirst Systems, LLC

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Sunrate and Mastercard Release White Paper on Agentic AI and the Future of B2B Global Payments

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SHANGHAI, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sunrate, the global payment and treasury management platform, and Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, unveiled a joint white paper, Beyond Automation: Defining Agentic Global Payments, at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC).

Among the first reports in the payments industry to examine the impact of Agentic AI on B2B cross-border payments, the white paper provides a comprehensive framework for understanding how AI agents are reshaping enterprise payment operations. It proposes that cross-border payments are evolving beyond digitisation and automation into a new stage: Autonomy—where AI agents with reasoning, planning, and execution capabilities can independently orchestrate and optimise end-to-end payment and treasury workflows within defined governance frameworks.

As businesses expand across borders, B2B cross-border payments continue to be constrained by fragmented workflows, disconnected systems, foreign exchange inefficiencies, rising compliance requirements, and complex reconciliation processes. While traditional automation improves individual tasks, the white paper demonstrates that Agentic AI represents a fundamental shift by enabling intelligent agents to coordinate entire payment journeys across systems, counterparties, and approval workflows.

Drawing on Sunrate’s global payment infrastructure and AI-native product capabilities, together with Mastercard’s expertise in secure payment networks and data intelligence, the white paper defines Agentic Global Payments — a new category of AI-native global payment infrastructure built to automate and manage complex enterprise workflows.

The report identifies 16 major pain points across the B2B payment lifecycle and outlines 13 high-value AI use cases spanning supplier onboarding, accounts payable and receivable, virtual commercial cards, payment routing, foreign exchange management, compliance screening, fraud detection, reconciliation, and conversational operational support. It also demonstrates how AI agents can automate complex workflows—from extracting information across multiple document formats and conducting compliance checks to initiating payments, optimising FX execution, and completing reconciliation—while operating within enterprise governance and control frameworks.

The white paper further highlights that trusted adoption of agentic payments depends on more than technological capability. It identifies governance, transparency, security, and ecosystem collaboration as essential foundations for enterprise deployment, supported by frameworks such as Know Your Agent (KYA), payment tokenisation, auditability, and cross-industry interoperability.

Sunrate.AI portfolio currently includes the Payment Agent, FX Agent, Compliance Agent, Onboarding Agent, and Chat Agent, designed to help enterprises automate and optimise critical payment and treasury processes while maintaining compliance and operational control.

Mastercard has also been actively building the foundations for trusted agentic commerce – combining AI capabilities with verifiable authorisation, clear accountability and proven payments security. Its work in this area, including Agent Pay (alongside Agent Pay for Machines) and Verifiable Intent, are proof points in how Mastercard is enabling AI to participate in commerce safely and transparently. 

“Our mission is to make global payments seamless, compliant, and intelligent,” said Paul Meng, Co-founder and CEO of Sunrate. “As businesses continue expanding internationally, AI agents will fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage global payments—enabling smoother capital flows, reducing operational friction, and embedding real-time intelligence into every payment decision. This white paper represents an important step in helping the industry understand how Agentic AI can be deployed responsibly at enterprise scale.”

“Agentic commerce is changing how businesses make and execute payment decisions, but speed without accountability creates new categories of risk,” said Anouska Ladds, Executive Vice President, Commercial & New Payment Flows, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “As AI starts to act on behalf of businesses, autonomous payment decisions need a clear, auditable chain of identity, intent and action. That’s what allows organisations to delegate with genuine confidence — and what will determine whether agentic commerce scales past pilots.”

Released under WAIC 2026’s theme, “Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future,” the white paper provides business leaders with practical guidance on adopting AI-driven payment capabilities, covering implementation approaches, governance considerations, and real-world enterprise applications.

By combining Sunrate’s expertise in global payments and treasury management with Mastercard’s trusted payment infrastructure and network capabilities, the collaboration reflects a shared commitment to accelerating the next generation of intelligent, secure, and autonomous B2B global payments.

Click here to check the white paper.

About Sunrate

Sunrate is a leading global payment and treasury management platform for businesses worldwide. Founded in 2016, Sunrate has enabled companies to operate and scale both locally and globally in 190+ countries and regions with its cutting-edge infrastructure, global network, and unified solutions.

Sunrate operates through offices across key markets, including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and London. The company partners with the top global financial institutions, such as Citibank, Standard Chartered, Barclays, J.P. Morgan. Sunrate is also the principal member of Mastercard and Visa. To learn more about Sunrate, visit https://www.sunrate.com/.

About Mastercard

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re building a resilient economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. 

www.mastercard.com

SOURCE Sunrate

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JAMS Launches AI for Enterprise Job Scheduling: JAX and JAMS MCP

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A new AI agent and an open-standard connector let IT teams query, diagnose, and manage automation in plain language, on the model they choose, with operational data able to stay onshore inside their own network

SYDNEY, July 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — JAMS Software, an orchestration solution for scheduled and event-driven automation, today announced the general availability of two AI capabilities for enterprise job scheduling: JAX, an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client, and JAMS MCP, a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard that brings JAMS into external AI coding tools. Both capabilities ship at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

Automation environments grow faster than the teams that run them. Jobs multiply across SQL Server, Azure Data Factory, Airflow, SAP, JDE, and Banner, and when one fails, finding the root cause often means searching several consoles at once, frequently outside business hours. At the same time, IT leaders carry pressure to adopt AI while staying accountable for where operational data goes. JAX and JAMS MCP close both gaps together.

Full details on how JAX and JAMS MCP work, including the control model behind every action, are available at jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

JAX is an AI agent that runs inside the JAMS Web Client. It finds jobs, troubleshoots failures, and answers how-to questions in plain language, with each response grounded in the JAMS user guide and checked against a built-in glossary. JAX acts only when a user asks it to. Reads flow freely, and every write action pauses for the user’s explicit approval before it runs. JAX does not learn between sessions, and conversations are not retained on the server.

JAMS MCP is a connector, built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, that brings JAMS into the AI tools engineering teams already use, including Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex. Users query jobs, investigate failures, and manage runs in plain language without leaving their tool.

Both capabilities run inside the customer’s own network and act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions. There is no elevated AI account: whatever a user cannot do in the JAMS interface, JAX and JAMS MCP cannot do on that user’s behalf. Every JAX and MCP operation is recorded in its own dedicated log, and changes made through the JAMS API land in the JAMS audit trail like any other change. Customers choose their own AI model, whether a commercial provider such as OpenAI or Anthropic or a model running entirely on their own hardware, and JAMS never trains on customer data. In the current release, neither feature edits or deletes a job, folder, schedule, or agent definition. For teams that need operational data to stay onshore, JAX runs on a local model entirely inside the customer’s own network, so nothing leaves at all.

“Adopting AI usually means giving something up, most often visibility into where your data goes,” said Pete Hegland, Chief Executive Officer of JAMS Software. “We built JAX and JAMS MCP so that trade does not have to happen. Every action runs as the signed-in user, every change waits for approval, and the model can run on the customer’s own hardware, keeping operational data onshore.”

“For teams across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, two things matter: keeping data onshore, and getting answers when a job fails after hours,” said Shayne Cooper, Account Executive for APAC at JAMS Software. “JAX and JAMS MCP address both. The model can run on the customer’s own hardware, and the answer arrives in plain language at the moment it is needed.”

JAX and JAMS MCP are available now to all JAMS Web customers across Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore, with no separate licence, SKU, or additional cost. AI-assisted creation of new jobs and workflows from a plain-language description is on the roadmap for a future release, gated by the same approvals and permissions as every other action.

Learn how JAX and JAMS MCP work at https://jamsscheduler.com/product/ai.

Fast facts

JAX is an AI agent built into the JAMS Web Client for job scheduling and workflow automation.JAMS MCP is a connector built on the open Model Context Protocol standard, for Cursor, VS Code with Copilot, Claude Code, Claude Desktop, and Codex.Both act as the signed-in user, with that user’s exact JAMS permissions, and there is no elevated AI account.Customers choose the AI model, including a local model that runs entirely inside their own network.JAMS never trains on customer data.Both are available now at no additional cost as part of JAMS Web.

About JAMS Software
Founded in 1987, JAMS Software is an orchestration solution that helps IT teams centralize, automate, and manage scheduled and event-driven jobs across complex, hybrid environments. Over 850 customers rely on JAMS to run their automated workloads. JAMS Software, LLC is headquartered at 108 Patriot Drive, Suite A, Middletown, DE 19709.

Media Contact
Bobby Schmidt, Vice President of Marketing
press@jamssoftware.com
800.261.4267

 

 

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/jams-launches-ai-for-enterprise-job-scheduling-jax-and-jams-mcp-302833800.html

SOURCE JAMS Software

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