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LF Decentralized Trust Adds HKMA, Mastercard, and More as Members

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Spotlights Line-up of New Projects, Releases, Labs, and Deployments at First Meeting of Global Community at Member Summit

SAN FRANCISCO and HONG KONG, Oct. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ –Today, Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust (LF Decentralized Trust), the premier open source foundation for decentralized technology ecosystems, announced Gala Games, Mastercard, Qila, and Stellar as additional general members. In addition, Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has joined as an associate member. 

The involvement and investment from these additional members will be valuable as we scale LF Decentralized Trust

With HKMA, there are now a total eight central banks and financial authorities that are associate members of LF Decentralized Trust. As members, they play a valuable role in defining the technical requirements for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and encouraging consistent development and application of common components in projects worldwide. This work is on display in sessions like the Project Ensemble roundtables taking place during Hong Kong Fintech Week, which features contributions and insights by Daniela Barbosa, General Manager of Decentralized Technologies at the Linux Foundation and Executive Director of LF Decentralized Trust. 

“As we continue to develop and enhance the Ensemble Sandbox, the HKMA is proud to support the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust as a founding member,” said George Chou, Chief Fintech Officer, Hong Kong Monetary Authority. “This initiative aligns perfectly with Project Ensemble’s commitment to fostering innovation through open-source technologies. By leveraging decentralised technology in the Sandbox, the HKMA aims to enhance the efficiency, transparency, security and interoperability of the tokenisation market in Hong Kong. We believe that collaboration within this vibrant ecosystem can promote meaningful advancements in financial services, ultimately benefiting all stakeholders.”

These new members joined in time for LF Decentralized Trust Member Summit, the first convening of the organization’s global member community. Member Summit is a member-only forum for discussing the growing line-up of LF Decentralized Trust projects, labs, and deployments and engaging the global community in planning for the upcoming year. As a lead-up to the summit, the technical leadership of LF Decentralized Trust projects gathered for a two-day, invite-only Maintainer Days event to share knowledge, collaborate, and strategize project roadmaps.

The Member Summit agenda featured speakers from around the world sharing development and deployment updates and lessons, including the latest on multiple new labs and projects as well as deep dives into cross chain, token, and privacy requirements and technologies. 

“The creation of LF Decentralized Trust has created a groundswell of interest and action from new and existing members and project communities,” said Barbosa. “There is a robust pipeline of proposals for new technologies to come under our umbrella as new projects, labs, and updates, reflecting the excitement for a neutral host for this next generation market infrastructure. The involvement and investment from these additional members will be valuable as we look to scale LF Decentralized Trust to meet the needs of the community and the market.”

New General Member Quotes

The support of LF Decentralized Trust’s members is what makes it a neutral home for technical collaboration and innovation:

Gala Games

“Our membership in LF Decentralized Trust and collaboration with the Hyperledger Fabric community represent a groundbreaking moment in Gala’s journey to reshape entertainment through decentralized technology,” said Eric Schiermeyer, founder and CEO of Gala Games. “With GalaChain, we’re creating a blockchain specifically designed for the worlds of gaming, film, and music—an industry-first. We’re excited to work with the best in the field, driving innovation and setting the standard for Web3 entertainment.”

Mastercard

“Mastercard and the Linux Foundation share a common vision to drive innovation, set new standards for digital transactions, and foster a more inclusive and efficient digital economy,” said Raj Dhamodharan, executive vice president, Blockchain and Digital Assets at Mastercard. “As a founding member of the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, we’re excited to bring our expertise and Multi-Token Network (MTN) solution together to advance secure, scalable, and interoperable solutions that support the future of global financial applications and services.”

Qila

“Qila.io is excited to become a member of the Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, contributing to the transformative journey of Web3 infrastructure, where decentralized solutions are reshaping value creation,” stated Sid Ugrankar, CEO of Qila. “By joining this esteemed initiative, we are committed to empowering enterprises, developers, and communities to seamlessly adopt blockchain and tokenization technologies. Our focus is on fostering innovation and transparency to support a more secure and inclusive digital ecosystem, driving impactful changes, and helping to build the decentralized economy of tomorrow.”

Stellar

“The Stellar Development Foundation is joining LF Decentralized Trust because it aligns with the foundation’s mission to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology,” said Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dix. “Being a part of LF Decentralized Trust gives the Stellar Development Foundation the opportunity to collaborate with other leaders in blockchain to shape this technology and deliver real world utility that solves problems for people.”

About Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust

LF Decentralized Trust is the neutral home for the open development of technologies that empower organizations to innovate with secure and resilient code. It is the Linux Foundation’s flagship organization for a broad range of technologies and standards that deliver the transparency, reliability, security, and efficiency required for a digital-first economy. Supported by a diverse, global base of members and communities, LF Decentralized Trust champions open source best practices across a growing ecosystem of blockchain, ledger, identity, cryptographic, and related technologies. To learn more, visit: www.lfdecentralizedtrust.org.

About the Linux Foundation

The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects, including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, OpenChain, OpenSSF, PyTorch, RISC-V999, SPDX, Zephyr, and more, are critical to the world’s infrastructure. The Linux Foundation focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.

The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

Contact:
Emily Fisher
LF Decentralized Trust
PR@lfdecentralizedtrust.org

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ST Engineering iDirect and MBSat Partner to Build Next-Generation Sovereign Connectivity Services Across Oman and the Middle East

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Intuition ground system selected to support MBSat’s planned 2027 service launch, enabling accelerated deployment, dynamic resource management and scalable service growth

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ST Engineering iDirect today announced a strategic partnership with Mohammed Al Barwani Satellite Company (MBSat), part of Mohammed Al Barwani Group, to provide the ground system technology foundation for MBSat’s next-generation satellite gateway and network operations across Oman and the wider Middle East region. Intuition will provide a flexible, software-defined foundation to support sovereign connectivity services, enabling efficient service deployment, dynamic resource management and scalable network operations.

Intuition will deliver a turnkey ground segment solution that accelerates deployment, simplifies operations and gives MBSat the flexibility to scale services as demand grows. The software-defined platform enables dynamic resource management, service automation and seamless integration with existing and future operational systems. The solution also includes Ka-band gateway infrastructure, service provisioning and management capabilities, open API integration frameworks, training and full-lifecycle support. Together, these capabilities will help MBSat launch and operate services efficiently while adapting to evolving market requirements.

The network will leverage capacity from MB Sat-1, a sovereign MicroGEO satellite, with planned service launch in 2027, to support flexible, scalable connectivity services across the region.

The partnership reflects growing investment in sovereign communications infrastructure across the Middle East as operators seek greater control over service delivery, network expansion and long-term technology evolution.

“This partnership represents an important milestone in our efforts to build an advanced satellite communications platform in Oman and the region,” said Ammar Al Rawahi, General Manager, MBSat. “Through our collaboration with ST Engineering iDirect, we are establishing the technical infrastructure required to launch services efficiently, respond to evolving customer needs and expand into new markets, supporting the sustainable long-term growth of our business.”

“We are providing MBSat with a flexible, software-defined ground platform that integrates with its existing operational environment,” said Sridhar Kuppanna, Chief Executive Officer, ST Engineering iDirect. “This enables more efficient service deployment and operations today, with the flexibility to scale, introduce new capabilities and evolve as requirements change.”

About ST Engineering iDirect

ST Engineering iDirect, a subsidiary of ST Engineering, is a global leader in satellite communications, providing technology and solutions that enable its customers to expand their business, differentiate their services and optimize their networks. Through its portfolio of ground infrastructure, intelligent networking and advanced satellite communications solutions, the company supports operators, service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide.

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ST Engineering iDirect and MBSat Partner to Build Next-Generation Sovereign Connectivity Services Across Oman and the Middle East

Published

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Intuition ground system selected to support MBSat’s planned 2027 service launch, enabling accelerated deployment, dynamic resource management and scalable service growth

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ST Engineering iDirect today announced a strategic partnership with Mohammed Al Barwani Satellite Company (MBSat), part of Mohammed Al Barwani Group, to provide the ground system technology foundation for MBSat’s next-generation satellite gateway and network operations across Oman and the wider Middle East region. Intuition will provide a flexible, software-defined foundation to support sovereign connectivity services, enabling efficient service deployment, dynamic resource management and scalable network operations.

Intuition will deliver a turnkey ground segment solution that accelerates deployment, simplifies operations and gives MBSat the flexibility to scale services as demand grows. The software-defined platform enables dynamic resource management, service automation and seamless integration with existing and future operational systems. The solution also includes Ka-band gateway infrastructure, service provisioning and management capabilities, open API integration frameworks, training and full-lifecycle support. Together, these capabilities will help MBSat launch and operate services efficiently while adapting to evolving market requirements.

The network will leverage capacity from MB Sat-1, a sovereign MicroGEO satellite, with planned service launch in 2027, to support flexible, scalable connectivity services across the region.

The partnership reflects growing investment in sovereign communications infrastructure across the Middle East as operators seek greater control over service delivery, network expansion and long-term technology evolution.

“This partnership represents an important milestone in our efforts to build an advanced satellite communications platform in Oman and the region,” said Ammar Al Rawahi, General Manager, MBSat. “Through our collaboration with ST Engineering iDirect, we are establishing the technical infrastructure required to launch services efficiently, respond to evolving customer needs and expand into new markets, supporting the sustainable long-term growth of our business.”

“We are providing MBSat with a flexible, software-defined ground platform that integrates with its existing operational environment,” said Sridhar Kuppanna, Chief Executive Officer, ST Engineering iDirect. “This enables more efficient service deployment and operations today, with the flexibility to scale, introduce new capabilities and evolve as requirements change.”

About ST Engineering iDirect

ST Engineering iDirect, a subsidiary of ST Engineering, is a global leader in satellite communications, providing technology and solutions that enable its customers to expand their business, differentiate their services and optimize their networks. Through its portfolio of ground infrastructure, intelligent networking and advanced satellite communications solutions, the company supports operators, service providers, governments and enterprises worldwide.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/st-engineering-idirect-and-mbsat-partner-to-build-next-generation-sovereign-connectivity-services-across-oman-and-the-middle-east-302918467.html

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Global Security & Technology Summit Unveils Month-Long Program of Activities Ahead of December Event

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Organizing Committee of the Global Security & Technology Summit (GSTS) held an introductory session today at the Ministry of Interior’s headquarters in Riyadh, bringing together representatives from the government, private, and nonprofit sectors to introduce the program of activities leading up to the summit. The upcoming summit will be held in Riyadh under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, under the supervision of HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Minister of Interior, and organized by the Ministry of Interior in cooperation with Tuwaiq Academy.

During the session, the Organizing Committee presented the comprehensive GSTS program, comprising three key components: GSTS Month, running from November 1 to 30, 2026; the Global Security & Innovation Fair (SAIF), taking place from November 24 to 26, 2026; and the main Summit, scheduled for December 18 to 20, 2026, in Riyadh. Together, these events form an integrated program designed to advance security and technology innovation, strengthen national capabilities, and foster international cooperation.

GSTS Month will feature working groups, boot camps, training programs, knowledge-sharing sessions, and technical workshops across Saudi Arabia’s 13 administrative regions, delivered both in person and remotely in collaboration with specialized entities. The month-long program aims to develop national capabilities, identify emerging talent, enrich knowledge-sharing opportunities, and equip professionals with the knowledge and skills needed to develop innovative solutions to future security and technology challenges.

The main Summit will bring together global leaders, decision-makers, experts, and innovators to explore the future of security and technology, promote the integration of advanced technologies within the security sector, strengthen national capabilities, support innovation, and foster international cooperation, further positioning the Kingdom as a global hub for security and technology.

Showcasing the latest technological breakthroughs and security solutions, the summit will bring together government entities, private sector organizations, academic institutions, and research centers to facilitate knowledge exchange and collaboration across key fields, including cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), smart security solutions, emerging technologies, and crisis management. The program will also feature main sessions, specialized discussions, and interactive exhibitions. Registration is available at gsts.sa.

Advisor to HRH the Minister of Interior and Chairman of the GSTS Organizing Committee, Ahmed Altowayan, stated that the summit builds on Saudi Arabia’s efforts to establish an advanced security and technology ecosystem focused on knowledge and innovation, keeping pace with rapid developments and future challenges.

Mr. Altowayan noted that the summit is a global platform for strengthening cooperation and exchanging expertise, anticipating future developments in security and technology, and developing strategic partnerships and innovative solutions that enhance the efficiency and readiness of security systems.

Vice Chairman of the GSTS Organizing Committee, Eng. Abdulaziz Alhammadi, said that the summit will offer a range of integrated programs and activities focused on enhancing national skills, encouraging innovation, and supporting international cooperation.

He added that GSTS Month will help build national capabilities, discover talent, and develop skills, with SAIF providing a platform for innovators and researchers from around the world to showcase leading technological solutions, while the main Summit will bring together leaders and experts to discuss the future of security and technology and explore new strategic partnership opportunities.

SAIF will take place at the Riyadh International Convention & Exhibition Center, bringing together innovators, researchers, technology talents, and industry experts from around the world to showcase promising innovations and projects across 14 fields of technology and innovation. The fair will provide opportunities to engage with project owners, including students, graduates, and entrepreneurs, and explore the different stages of innovation development through interactive zones, panel discussions on emerging security and innovation trends, and knowledge-sharing workshops led by specialists. Visitor registration is open to participants from within and outside the Kingdom through saifair.sa.

The introductory session also featured contributions from representatives of government, private, and nonprofit sector entities, alongside members of the media. Discussions focused on developing national capabilities in security and technology, strengthening students’ technical expertise, translating scientific research into practical solutions, and supporting Saudi companies in developing security and technology solutions and advancing digital transformation.

Organized by the Ministry of Interior in cooperation with Tuwaiq Academy, GSTS is produced by Tahaluf, with the Ministry of Education serving as Strategic Scientific Partner, Tahakom as Founding Partner, and Elm as Principal Partner.

Registration for participants from within and outside the Kingdom is available at gsts.sa.

Click here to view the media kit. 

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