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PQShield announces participation in NEDO program to implement post-quantum cryptography across Japan

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Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) company PQShield has been named a supporting member of the Cyber Research Consortium (CRC), which is receiving a grant from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).NEDO is funding the CRC for a major project to enhance Japan’s defenses against cyber attacks, improve its situational awareness, and establish a common cybersecurity infrastructure.As part of the CRC, PQShield is being subcontracted to design and deliver new PQC primitives and protocols across Japan, and to conduct R&D towards the ongoing global development of PQC standards. 

OXFORD, England and TOKYO, Jan. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — PQShield, the cybersecurity company specializing in post-quantum cryptography (PQC), has joined the Cyber Research Consortium (CRC) in Japan to participate in its program with the Japanese government’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to enhance Japan’s defense against quantum-enabled cyber attacks. As a supporting member of the CRC, PQShield will design and deliver PQC protocols that can be implemented across Japan’s technology supply chain, and contribute to the ongoing global PQC standardization process. NEDO is providing a funding grant to CRC to support this project.

The publication of NIST’s finalized PQC standards in August 2024 gave businesses, governments, and institutions globally a defined route to modernizing their cryptography, safeguarding their data, and protecting themselves from future quantum attacks. In July 2024, to kick-start this process in Japan, NEDO announced that research into PQC implementation technologies would take place as part of its “Enhancement of situational awareness and defense capabilities to counter cyber attacks”, a newly-established project within Japan’s K Program funded by NEDO and delivered by the CRC. The goal of this research is to achieve advanced functionality in quantum-resistant cryptography, such as ring signatures, threshold signatures, and threshold encryption. The K Program is an R&D initiative that builds on the collaboration between public and private organizations in Japan to investigate critical technologies for civil and defense purposes. 

Now, PQShield – the leading PQC company which contributed directly to the development of NIST’s cryptographic standards after being founded as an Oxford University spinout in 2018 – has been named a supporting member of the CRC under its NEDO grant, and will be subcontracted to deliver designs and protocols for PQC implementation technologies. PQShield’s Lead Cryptography Researcher Dr Shuichi Katsumata, based in Japan, will lead the company’s work under the CRC. 

As part of the CRC, PQShield is being subcontracted to carry out two PQC projects for NEDO: designing PQC primitives; and, in collaboration with AIST, constructing new protocols to ensure that non-PQC protocols can be updated to align with NIST’s latest standards. Both projects will contribute to the ongoing effort to coordinate robust, global standards for PQC. All results will be published in academic papers, the primitives designed by PQShield will be submitted to NIST’s standardization call for multi-party threshold cryptography, and the protocols constructed with AIST will be shared with the Internet Engineering Task Force to become public RFCs.

PQShield is working directly with AIST, on the design and standardization of new PQC protocols, while further support for this project is being provided by CRC subcontractors SCU Inc., Mitsubishi Electronics, and The University of Tokyo. The full list of participants in this project is:

FFRI Security IncPreferred Networks IncFujitsuNTTPowder Keg TechnologiesRicerca SecurityMitsubishi ElectronicsJapan ElectronicsHitachiToppan DigitalPQShieldSecafySCU IncYokohama National UniversityWaseda UniversityKeio UniversityThe University of TokyoAISTIwasaki Gakuen

Through this collaborative project, PQShield aims to enhance the functionality and security of the technology supply chain across Japan and globally. This includes planned R&D into the difficulty of the lattice problems PQC is based in, opening up avenues to understand the fundamental security of current cryptography standards. PQShield already has a strong presence in Japan, with partners including Mirise Technologies, Sumitomo Electric and NTT Data Group Corporation – the NEDO grant supports the company’s growing presence in the market and the expansion of its local team.  

Dr Ali El Kaafarani, founder and CEO of PQShield, said: “Securing critical infrastructure from quantum computers requires strong collaboration between governments, universities and the private sector, and this project is an ambitious and necessary step to protect against the quantum threat. Japan is an important market for PQShield and plays a critical role in the global technology supply chain. We are pleased to be working directly with NEDO and the government of Japan to help implement PQC across the country and protect against the cyber threats of the future.”

Tsutomu Matsumoto, Director of the Cyber Physical Security Research Center at AIST, said: “The implementation of post-quantum cryptography across Japan is extremely important, and updating existing protocols to support NIST’s latest standards will play a significant role in this process. We’re pleased to support this vital mission and look forward to collaborating with fellow CRC subcontractors, including PQShield, to design and standardize new protocols which can become public RFCs.”

PQShield’s project with the CRC and NEDO will run from 2024 to 2026, with the final standardization documents to be delivered in 2026. 

About PQShield

PQShield is a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) company creating the global standards and core technologies to power the future security layer of the world’s leading organizations. Its quantum-secure cryptographic solutions work with companies’ legacy systems to protect sensitive data now and for years to come. It is the only cybersecurity company that can deliver high-quality secure implementations of quantum-safe cryptography on chips, in applications, and in the cloud, and is also an authority on PQC side channel attack resistance, having built a dedicated PQC SCA test lab with industry partners. PQShield is also a leading contributor to the post-quantum cryptography standardization projects throughout the world.

Headquartered in the UK, with teams throughout Europe, the United States and Japan, PQShield is principally backed by Addition, Oxford Science Enterprises (formerly OSI), Kindred Capital, Crane Venture Partners, and InnovateUK. Its extensive research paper catalog is available here.

About AIST

The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), one of the largest public research organizations in Japan, focuses on the creation and practical realization of technologies useful to Japanese industry and society, and on “bridging” the gap between innovative technological seeds and commercialization.

For this, AIST is organized into 5 departments and 2 centers that bring together core technologies to exert its comprehensive strength.

AIST, as a core and pioneering existence of the national innovation system, has about 2300 researchers doing research and development at 12 research bases across the country, based on the national strategies formulated bearing in mind the changing environment regarding innovation.

AIST is also actively building a global network by, for example, signing memorandums of understanding for comprehensive research cooperation (MOUs) with major research institutes around the world.

About NEDO

NEDO, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, is a Japanese national research and development agency that creates innovation by promoting technological development necessary for realization of a sustainable society. NEDO acts as an innovation accelerator to contribute to the resolution of social issues by developing and demonstrating high-risk innovative technologies having practical application. Learn more about NEDO at https://www.nedo.go.jp/english/index.html

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Driving Certainty Through Uncertainty: eclicktech’s Engineering Approach to Agentic AI

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XI’AN, China, May 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As generative AI moves from experimentation to enterprise deployment, the industry focus is shifting from model capability to operational reliability. The challenge is no longer simply building smarter AI, but ensuring AI systems can operate safely and consistently inside complex production environments.

eclicktech recently shared its internal engineering practices around Agentic AI, highlighting how the company is applying context engineering, multi-cloud infrastructure, and layered security frameworks to support enterprise-scale AI deployment.

To support global operations across more than 230 countries and regions, eclicktech built its Cycor platform around a multi-cloud architecture integrating AWS, Google Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, Huawei Cloud, and other providers. According to the company, this approach improves infrastructure flexibility, reduces vendor lock-in risk, and enables more efficient orchestration of large-scale Kubernetes clusters and AI workloads.

eclicktech stated that one of the key lessons from early Agent development was that prompt engineering alone was insufficient for enterprise deployment. The company therefore shifted toward context engineering — an approach focused on delivering the right information, at the right time, while optimizing limited token resources.

Its engineering framework includes six layers of context management covering active sessions, short-term memory, long-term semantic storage, knowledge graphs, operational experience, and reusable organizational skills. The system also supports proactive context injection, allowing relevant operational history and risk information to be surfaced automatically before sensitive actions are executed.

To improve inference efficiency, eclicktech introduced layered token governance and progressive tool-loading mechanisms, dynamically loading tools and information only when required. The company said this approach helped improve tool selection accuracy and reduce unnecessary token consumption during complex operational workflows.

Security remains a core requirement throughout the architecture. eclicktech’s governance framework includes namespace isolation, dry-run verification, human approval workflows, rule-based validation, and rollback mechanisms designed to reduce operational risks associated with AI-driven automation.

According to eclicktech, the next stage of enterprise AI competition will depend not only on model capability, but also on engineering reliability, infrastructure orchestration, context management, and organizational knowledge systems.

Note: Certain technical information referenced in this article is derived from eclicktech’s internal engineering practices and is provided for industry reference purposes only.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/driving-certainty-through-uncertainty-eclicktechs-engineering-approach-to-agentic-ai-302767441.html

SOURCE eclicktech

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How a Unified Monetization Solution Is Driving eCPM and Revenue Growth for Casual Games Worldwide

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SINGAPORE, May 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Casual, hyper-casual, and hybrid-casual games have become dominant categories in the global mobile market, making in-app advertising (IAA) a key driver of monetization success. However, many developers continue to face major challenges, including unstable fill rates, fluctuating eCPMs, difficulties balancing multiple regional markets, and the ongoing tradeoff between user experience and revenue growth.

To address these issues, zMaticoo has compiled a series of monetization case studies from leading game publishers and studios across China, Vietnam, Europe, and North America. These teams span hyper-casual, puzzle, board, card, and light-casual game categories, with DAUs ranging from millions to tens of millions. By adopting the same monetization framework, they achieved simultaneous growth in fill rate, eCPM, and ad revenue while maintaining stable user experience.

A common challenge among these teams was the shrinking monetization margin across global markets, creating an urgent need for sustainable revenue growth. At the same time, developers were cautious about over-monetization negatively impacting retention and player engagement.

To solve these challenges, zMaticoo introduced an AI-driven monetization system with full-funnel optimization capabilities. The platform connects developers directly to premium global advertiser budgets across both performance and brand advertising. AI models identify high-value traffic in real time based on region, audience, and usage scenarios, prioritizing high-eCPM demand sources. Separate bidding strategies are applied for mature and emerging markets to avoid revenue loss caused by one-size-fits-all pricing models.

The platform also provides refined ad format optimization:

Banner Ads: optimized display share and loading timing to improve SOV and stabilize eCPM;Interstitial Ads: precisely triggered during high-value moments such as level completion or pause screens, with especially strong premiums in emerging markets;Rewarded Video: deeply integrated into gameplay loops, delivering high user acceptance and conversion performance.

On the technical side, zMaticoo optimized SDK infrastructure to improve fill stability under weak network conditions. Ad loading time was reduced from five seconds to under two seconds through a rebuilt loading architecture. Progressive asset loading further minimized timeout-related drop-offs. AI-powered ad templates dynamically generated personalized creatives, improving both CTR and conversion performance.

The zMaticoo team also provides one-stop operational and analytics support. Developers can monitor fill rate, impressions, eCPM, and revenue through a unified dashboard, while dedicated optimization specialists provide 7×12 support for A/B testing, strategy iteration, and scaling guidance. The platform is deeply integrated with major mediation solutions, enabling one-time integration and multi-scenario deployment while reducing development and maintenance costs.

According to zMaticoo platform data:

In mature markets including the United States, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, banner eCPMs increased by 5%–10%, while interstitial premiums improved by over 5%;In emerging markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and Southeast Asia, interstitial eCPMs increased by more than 10%.

The monetization framework has demonstrated effectiveness across hyper-casual, puzzle, board/card, and utility app categories, supporting both rapid scale-up and long-term monetization stability.

Partner feedback includes:

“We are highly satisfied with the revenue uplift after integration. Our core products’ banner performance now ranks among the top tier.””Revenue recovered significantly after A/B testing, and we are expanding testing across more products.””One solution now supports multiple global markets without requiring separate monetization strategies for each region.””Interstitial monetization performance has been especially strong, with SOV reaching 10%–20% for several partners.”

zMaticoo believes successful monetization today is not about stacking more ad platforms, but about leveraging AI, technology, and refined operations to unlock long-term traffic value. Whether for hyper-casual publishers, puzzle game studios, or global mobile app companies, this AI-powered monetization framework is designed to deliver sustainable revenue growth while preserving user experience.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/how-a-unified-monetization-solution-is-driving-ecpm-and-revenue-growth-for-casual-games-worldwide-302767432.html

SOURCE zMaticoo

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Fox ESS Celebrates Strong Momentum with Integrated Solar Storage & Charging Solutions at Smart Energy 2026

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SYDNEY, May 9, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Fox ESS, a global leader in renewable energy solutions, attended Smart Energy 2026 during 6-7 May as a platinum sponsor. At the event, Fox ESS showcased its next-generation approach to solar storage and EV charging solution, delivering a seamless, future-ready energy experience for homeowners and installers across Australia.

Integrated Solutions Tailored for Aussie Homes

At Smart Energy 2026, Fox ESS highlighted its storage-to-charging solution, designed to make everyday energy use more convenient for local residents. With performance-led products and proven market traction, Fox ESS is set to play its part in building a more resilient energy future for Australia.

Battery Systems

Fox ESS continues to build momentum in the battery market. Sunwiz, an Australian solar consultancy, recently reported that Fox ESS ranked No.1 in March for installation capacity. And the company also revealed it has installed more than 25,000 systems in April. During the exhibition, Sunwiz presented Fox ESS with an award, recognising the company as Top Solar Company for Fastest Growing Battery.

CQ7 V6+ High Voltage Battery (42kWh and above)
Building on Fox ESS’ proven strengths, compact design and high capacity, CQ7 V6+ is well suited to medium-sized households and ensure the free use of electricity and maximize the self-consumption.EQ4800 High Voltage Battery (28kWh)
A reliable choice for smaller households, designed for efficient day-to-day energy storage.

Alongside its battery range, Fox ESS showcased all-in-one systems, including Stackable AIO and EVO, designed to simplify installation while maintaining a high standard of design and presentation.

Inverters

Fox ESS offers a range of inverters to suit local requirements, supported by up to 200% PV oversizing and a 10-year product warranty.

Single-phase: H1‑G2 (3–6kW); KH series (7–10.5kW)Three-phase: H3 Smart (5–15kW); H3 Pro (15–29.9kW); H3 Plus (50–125kW)

EV Chargers

With EV adoption accelerating, Fox ESS also offers EV charging solutions with solar linkage, designed to work across its inverter portfolio. The chargers provide robust, smart energy management, including dynamic load balancing to help protect home circuits.

A Series (7.3kW / 11kW / 22kW): IP65 and IK08 protection, OCPP-compliant.L Series (7.3kW / 11kW): straightforward installation with multiple colour options.

Big Battery Still Takes Centre Stage

As the Cheaper Home Battery Program moves into a new phase under an updated rebate policy, interest in larger battery systems continues to grow, particularly as more households consider EV upgrades amid rising fuel costs. More EVs typically mean households need greater energy availability, making higher-capacity storage an increasingly attractive option.

Looking ahead, from 1 July 2026, the Australian Government’s Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) will provide eligible households with three hours of free daily electricity to align with peak solar generation. Households with larger batteries will be well placed to make the most of this opportunity.

Fox ESS is also working with local VPP partners, including Amber Electric and Origin Loop VPP, helping homeowners unlock maximum value while supporting greater grid stability.

Maimai Comes Alive at the Exhibition

Visitors to the Fox ESS stand experienced a full programme of brand activations across the event. Following the online announcement, Sydney served as Maimai’s first physical stop, bringing the community together for face-to-face engagement. Attendees queued to take photos with the brand’s friendly and recognisable mascot.

Long-Term Commitment to Australia

Fox ESS has opened two local offices in Melbourne and Sydney, with more than 30 dedicated specialists supporting local customer needs. The company is also looking to play a wider role in Australia’s energy transition.

Notably, Ian Thorpe made his first in-person appearance at Fox Night, where he presented partners with awards. At the event party, Fox ESS also hosted a battery installation challenge, featuring eight rounds of competition, with the final winners receiving a range of prizes.

“We’re delighted to see such a strong result following the rollout of local policy. With nearly 400,000 Australian households now installing batteries, Fox ESS has played a key role, but this is only the beginning. We’re committed to keeping momentum and helping make a smarter, more reliable energy future a reality for more homes.” said Brooks Richard Geng, APAC & Middle East Managing Director, Fox ESS.

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