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New community spaces in Kitchener

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KITCHENER, ON, Sept. 19, 2024 /CNW/ – After a federal government investment, combined with community donations, The Working Centre will create a dynamic, beautiful and inviting new community space. MP Bardish Chagger and Joe and Stephanie Mancini, directors of The Working Centre, announced that the project will construct a community centre and new home for St. John’s Kitchen.

Operated by The Working Centre, the Victoria Campus Community Centre will be an inclusive, sustainable and welcoming space for drop-in visits, gatherings, shared meals, and activities as well as access to critical resources for those in need. Constructed with a mass-timber structure to minimize the building’s carbon footprint, the facility will also feature a rooftop solar panel array that will support net-zero carbon emissions. An open-concept community kitchen, courtyard, and public bathrooms will foster a dynamic, creative and welcoming atmosphere, while helping to deliver essential services and supports.

The Working Centre was established in Kitchener in 1982 to respond to poverty and unemployment in the community. The aim of the organization is to provide access to tools to support greater community opportunity for those most vulnerable. The Victoria Campus Community Centre will provide an important space for an estimated 2,000 individuals experiencing homeless and precarious housing conditions in the Waterloo Region.

Quotes

“The Victoria Campus Community Centre will be a welcoming space, providing some of the most vulnerable residents in Kitchener access to critical services, resources and community activities, while using innovative, clean solutions that will contribute to a greener community. The federal government continues to invest in underserved communities, while also building a greener and more inclusive tomorrow for future generations.”

The Honourable Bardish Chagger, Member of Parliament for Waterloo, on behalf of the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

“The Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program is helping to rebuild St. John’s Kitchen, recreating a 38-year history of involving the community in the serving of a free daily meal. The contribution ensures that through the use of heat pumps, electric appliances, insulation, solar panels and energy efficiency the new building will achieve substantial reductions in carbon emissions. This beautiful, new drop-in space will extend the work of St. John’s Kitchen through the provision of meals, laundry, washrooms, welcome, connection to resources and healthcare supports for the most vulnerable. This new Community Centre will be fully accessible and will create a dynamic space that reduces isolation, increases access to services and supports, and serves as a neighbourhood gathering space.”

Joe Mancini, Director, The Working Centre

Quick facts

The Government of Canada is investing $2,244,000 in this project through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program (GICB) and The Working Centre is contributing $6,101,481 through fundraising.The GICB program was created in support of Canada’s Strengthened Climate Plan: A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy. It is supporting the Plan’s first pillar by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy efficiency, and helping develop higher resilience to climate change.The program launched in 2021 with an initial investment of $1.5 billion over five years towards green and accessible retrofits, repairs or upgrades.Budget 2024 announced an additional $500 million to support more projects through GICB until 2029.At least 10% of funding is allocated to projects serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including Indigenous populations in urban centres.The GICB program launched its third intake of applications on August 1, 2024, for small and medium retrofit projects (with eligible costs ranging from $100,000 to $2,999,999); and on September 4, 2024, for large retrofit projects, (ranging from $3 million to $25 million in eligible costs), to upgrade existing community buildings or to create new, energy-efficient buildings.Both intake streams will close on October 16, 2024 at 15:00 Eastern Time.For more information, please visit the Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada website at: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada – Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program.

Associated Links

Green and Inclusive Community Buildings
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/gicb-bcvi/index-eng.html 

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

Housing and Infrastructure Project Map
https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/gmap-gcarte/index-eng.html

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Web: Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada

SOURCE Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities

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Nordic brings edge AI to battery-powered Wi-Fi devices, achieving twenty times lower standby power with new nRF71 Series

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Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Thread, and on-device AI on a single chip, with existing software and tools, built for billions of intelligent devices that run for years on a battery

OSLO, Norway, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Nordic Semiconductor, a global leader in low-power wireless solutions, today announces the nRF71 Series of ultra-low-power Systems-On-Chip (SoCs), bringing together ultra-low-power Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth® Low Energy (LE), Thread®, and edge AI onto a single chip.

Built on the ultra-low-power design, software, and tools that have made Nordic a trusted leader in Bluetooth LE, the nRF71 Series delivers up to 20 times lower standby power usage than current-generation nRF70 Series Wi-Fi products. 

This leap in energy efficiency is expected to unlock new possibilities for developers targeting battery-powered Wi-Fi devices in applications such as smart home, wearables, and industrial IoT.  

“Edge AI will be part of every connected device, but for those that run on a battery, Wi-Fi has demanded a power budget they could not afford,” said Kjetil Holstad, EVP Wi-Fi and Power Management, Nordic Semiconductor. “With the nRF71 Series, Nordic removes that barrier. We are bringing Wi-Fi and edge AI to the same ultra-low-power platform and tools developers already trust for Bluetooth LE, so the next generation of intelligent products can connect to any network, make decisions on the device, and still run for years on a battery.”

Edge AI and the entire application on one chip

AI inference at the edge can now run directly on a single chip, with no external AI processor, so devices respond faster, use less power, and need fewer components. Keyword spotting, anomaly detection, and image classification are practical on battery-powered devices using nRF71 Series, thanks to its integrated Axon Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which runs machine learning models 10x to 17x faster than the 256 MHz Arm® Cortex®-M33 processor alone. The nRF71 Series can also run ultra-small AI models that developers build from their own data with Nordic’s Neuton software, which is ideal for running edge AI on the processor alone.

From its Axon NPU and Neuton software to over-the-air model updates with nRF Cloud, Nordic is bringing edge AI to battery-powered Wi-Fi devices, with the application, wireless connectivity, and AI all running on a single chip.

Battery-powered Wi-Fi for smart home, security, and industrial IoT 

With nRF71 Series, battery-powered smart home hub, Matter bridge, or Thread border router designs can now run Wi-Fi, Thread, and Bluetooth LE on a single chip, as can Matter-enabled smart locks, security panels, wearables, and industrial sensors. Two independent radios with separate RF and processing blocks make this possible: a Wi-Fi radio and Nordic’s 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio from the latest generation nRF54 Series wireless SoCs. Both radios receive simultaneously, for devices to maintain their Wi-Fi connection to the cloud while listening for Bluetooth LE or Thread traffic, without either protocol waiting for the other.

The first nRF71 Series SoCs are the nRF7120 and the nRF7120E.  The nRF7120 offers dual-band Wi-Fi 6, while nRF7120E adds tri-band Wi-Fi 6E, and the Axon NPU for hardware-accelerated edge AI. Both parts come with 4 MB of on-chip non-volatile memory and 1 MB of user-accessible RAM. 

On show at Electronica

Nordic will showcase the nRF71 Series, including a Nordic-branded module, at this year’s Electronica, in Hall C6, booth 159.

Availability

The nRF71 Series is now sampling with selected customers.  
Developers can contact their local Nordic sales representative for availability. 

About Nordic Semiconductor

Nordic Semiconductor is a leading low-power wireless IoT company, providing the essential platform and wireless technologies that connect the world’s IoT devices for the consumer, healthcare, and industrial markets. By offering world-class hardware, embedded software, development tools, and cloud lifecycle services, the company simplifies the development and maintenance of secure, reliable, and scalable connected products. www.nordicsemi.com 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nordic-brings-edge-ai-to-battery-powered-wi-fi-devices-achieving-twenty-times-lower-standby-power-with-new-nrf71-series-302926830.html

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Tencent Cloud Selected for HKMA’s Agentic Finance Expert Group, Showcases WorkBuddy’s New Financial Capabilities at Hong Kong FinTech Week

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HONG KONG, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Tencent Cloud, the cloud business of global technology leader Tencent, showcased a range of innovative solutions at Hong Kong FinTech Week 2026, including the international version of WorkBuddy, eKYC, Tencent Cloud Risk Control Solutions, Tencent Marketing Cloud, and its global AI infrastructure network. Among them, the newly launched investment research capabilities on WorkBuddy International Edition emerged as a key focus among financial industry professionals attending the event.

During Hong Kong FinTech Week, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced the launch of Project SAGE (Securing Agentic Finance with Governance and Enablement) and established the Agentic Finance Expert Group. Tencent Cloud was selected as a member of the group, bringing its experience in deploying WorkBuddy across financial services to collaborate with the HKMA and industry stakeholders on standards and governance for Agentic Finance, supporting the responsible development and adoption of the technology in Hong Kong.

WorkBuddy International Edition Introduces New Financial Capabilities to Enhance Investment Research Efficiency

Tencent WorkBuddy is a full-scenario AI agent desktop workstation designed for modern workplace scenarios. Its International Edition was launched on May 28 this year. By simply entering a natural language prompt, users can instruct WorkBuddy to autonomously access information, break down tasks, utilize relevant tools, and execute complex workflows, generating ready-to-use deliverables across a wide range of work and learning scenarios.

Designed for financial researchers and consultants, financial content creators, and individual investors, WorkBuddy’s newly launched investment research capabilities help streamline a range of investment research tasks. It supports company research, portfolio assessments based on user-provided information, and stock screening based on specific criteria.

For example, when conducting company research, users can simply instruct WorkBuddy: “Compile data from Tencent Holdings Limited (00700.HK) across its latest 12 reported quarters, provide an in-depth analysis of its revenue, profit margins and growth drivers, and retain the original sources.” WorkBuddy can then help retrieve and consolidate financial reports across multiple quarters, analyze key business metrics, business composition and performance trends based on company disclosures, and generate a preliminary research report while preserving original source references. Users can further refine their analysis through follow-up questions on specific figures, calculation methodologies or the drivers behind business performance, significantly reducing the time spent on manual data collection and information consolidation.

According to the WorkBuddy spokesperson, WorkBuddy is built on human-in-the-loop collaboration. While AI assists with data gathering, data analysis and information synthesis, research judgment and investment decisions remain firmly in the hands of professionals. By streamlining repetitive, time-consuming and cross-platform workflows, WorkBuddy enables users to devote more time and effort to strategic analysis and in-depth research. Looking ahead, WorkBuddy will continue to expand its financial capabilities to improve productivity across a wider range of financial services scenarios.

Tencent Cloud Selected for the Agentic Finance Expert Group to Advance Interoperability Standards

During Hong Kong FinTech Week, the HKMA officially launched Project SAGE and established the Agentic Finance Expert Group. Tencent Cloud was selected to join the group and will focus on contributing to interoperability standards-related initiatives, drawing on WorkBuddy’s experience in financial services to support the responsible development and adoption of Agentic Finance in Hong Kong.

As AI Agent technologies continue to mature, the financial industry’s use of AI is evolving from improving internal operational efficiency to exploring how AI Agents can deliver more efficient and secure financial services. This emerging model, known as Agentic Finance, has the potential to reshape how customers access and use financial products and services. Meanwhile, the associated risks and challenges need to be properly addressed to support its responsible development and adoption, particularly in areas such as agent identity verification, accountability and system security.

According to the HKMA, Project SAGE aims to enable practical applications of Agentic Finance, while ensuring the governance framework is in place. This initiative focuses on four key areas: Market Development and Use Case Exploration, Agent Identity, Interoperability Standards, and Legal and Regulatory Frameworks. Through its participation in the interoperability standards initiatives, Tencent Cloud will support the exploration of how AI Agents across different institutions and platforms can securely identify one another, accurately communicate instructions, and safely exchange data, laying the foundation for the large-scale adoption of Agentic Finance.

Liming Hu, Vice President of Tencent Cloud, said: “Common standards and protocols can help reduce duplicate integration efforts and mitigate risks associated with interactions between systems, providing a critical foundation for the large-scale adoption of Agentic Finance. We look forward to bringing WorkBuddy’s practical experience in financial services into industry discussions and contributing to the development of Hong Kong’s Agentic Finance ecosystem and related standards.”

Tencent Cloud has extensive experience serving the financial industry, and supports more than 10,000 financial institution customers worldwide. Its AI Agent tool, WorkBuddy, is already widely used across banking, insurance, securities, and asset management scenarios, and has accumulated extensive practical experience in AI Agent collaboration and cross-platform interoperability.

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.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/tencent-cloud-selected-for-hkmas-agentic-finance-expert-group-showcases-workbuddys-new-financial-capabilities-at-hong-kong-fintech-week-302927523.html

SOURCE Tencent Cloud

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Wincomm and Portwell to Showcase Next-Gen Medical AI Computing at MEDICA 2026

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A Broader Computing Portfolio from Mobile care, Medical AI and Operating Room

HSINCHU, Nov. 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Wincomm, a Portwell company, will join Portwell Taiwan and Portwell Europe at MEDICA 2026 to present a shared direction for medical AI computing. Taking place November 16–19 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the joint showcase at Hall 12, Stand C76 will connect embedded computing, medical All-in-One (AIO) PCs, and portable devices across a wider range of healthcare applications.

With participation from Portwell Taiwan and Portwell Europe, the showcase brings together product engineering expertise and regional support to help medical equipment manufacturers and system integrators explore suitable computing architectures for their applications.

The joint presentation reflects a broader development in healthcare technology: demand for more diverse computing platforms tailored to different workloads, power requirements, installation constraints, and system integration needs. By presenting their complementary portfolios together, Wincomm and Portwell offer visitors a more comprehensive view of the platforms available for developing connected medical equipment and deploying intelligence at the clinical edge.

A Shared Medical AI Direction: Application-Specific Platforms Across the Care Environment

Together, Wincomm and the Portwell group will present a medical AI development direction centered on application-specific computing: combining mobility, graphics acceleration, clinical integration, and serviceability according to the needs of each care setting.

The demonstration portfolio spans the following application areas:

Application area

Featured models

Development focus

Mobile medical
cart computing

WMP-22U/24U

Energy-efficient Intel® Core™ Ultra computing
and optional triple hot-swappable batteries for
continuous mobile workflows

GPU-accelerated
medical AI

WMP-22S/24S and
MEDS-P2210

Computing platforms for demanding medical
imaging and AI workloads, including AIO
configurations with discrete GPU options

Medical box
computing

MEDS-7081, 7082, 5210,
and DTEC-D012

Embedded computing options for medical
equipment integration and application-specific
deployment

Operating room
computing

WMP-22T/24T/27T-PIS

AIO platforms designed for operating room
integration and surgical information workflows

Point-of-care
computing

WMP-109, MEDS-
P1003, and WMP-
22P/24P-IP54

Clinical information access and interaction at the
point of care

Portable medical
computing

WMT-101

Handheld information access, barcode scanning,
and NFC-enabled data capture

Medical device manufacturers, system integrators, and healthcare technology partners are invited to explore the demonstration portfolio and discuss future medical AI development opportunities.

Exhibition: MEDICA 2026
Dates: November 16–19, 2026
Location: Düsseldorf, Germany
Wincomm Portwell Joint booth: Hall 12, Stand C76
TW Excellence booth: Hall 16, Stand B23

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/wincomm-and-portwell-to-showcase-next-gen-medical-ai-computing-at-medica-2026-302927355.html

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