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CEPT University Hosts Three Day Global South Academic Conclave on WASH and Climate 2025

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~ Participants from 30 countries on CEPT campus from February 21 to 23, 2025

AHMEDABAD, India, Feb. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The second edition of the Global South Academic Conclave (GSAC) on WASH and Climate 2025 commenced on February 21 at CEPT University. Organized by the Center for Water and Sanitation (CWAS) at CEPT Research Development Foundation (CRDF) and the Faculty of Planning at CEPT University, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Viega Foundation, the three-day conclave brought together experts and stakeholders to address critical challenges in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) amidst changing climates.

The key highlight of the opening day was the launch of the PAS@15 report, celebrating 15 years of the Performance Assessment System (PAS). This digital platform for urban WASH performance assessment in India, developed by CWAS, has become a vital tool for data-driven improvements in water, sanitation, and climate resilience. Since its launch in 2009, PAS has expanded its reach from 414 to over 800 cities in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam and Sikkim, covering a population of 115 million, making it the country’s largest WASH and climate-linked database for urban areas.

With climate change exacerbating water scarcity, sanitation challenges, and waste pollution, data-driven solutions such as PAS are critical for climate-resilient urban planning. By tracking water efficiency, sanitation infrastructure, and solid waste management, PAS empowers cities to build a sustainable and climate-smart future. PAS has shown that measuring performance can lead to measurable impacts. As cities face climate uncertainties, data-driven governance will be the foundation for sustainable, resilient, and equitable urban development.

Post the launch of the report, faculty members and Heads of CWAS, Prof Dinesh Mehta and Prof Meera Mehta reflected on the 15-year journey of the initiative and shared the report’s key findings. CWAS has been working on urban water and sanitation-related action research since 2009. CWAS began its work when CEPT University received a grant from the Gates Foundation for Performance Assessment System (PAS) Project. Over the past decade, the project has developed an online system, methods, and processes for performance assessment and improvement for urban water supply and sanitation in India.

The full report is available on https://cwas.org.in/cwas-resources/fifteen-years-of-performance-assessment-system-pas

Delivering the opening address, Professor Barjor Mehta, President, CEPT University, highlighted the importance of academic gatherings focused on climate change. He stressed the power of academia to bring diverse stakeholders together to build consensus and drive action. “We, the academia, are the custodians of knowledge, experience and the drive towards addressing the issues of climate change. We must document the developments and foster an active community so that we can continue contributing towards policymaking in the years to come,” he said.

Over the next two days, the conclave featured discussions on a wide range of topics, including WASH outcome monitoring, governance and financing for climate-resilient WASH, and the intersection of WASH, climate, and urban planning. Keynote addresses were delivered by K Srinivas, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India; Ms. Sheela Patel, Society for the Promotion of Area Resource (SPARC); Ms. Sunita Narain, CSE; Mr. Rakesh Mohan, Centre for Social and Economic Progress; Mr. Rick Johnston, World Health Organization (WHO); Mr. Ashok Khosla, Development Alternatives and Mr. Kalanithy Vairavamoorthy, International Water Association (IWA).

About CEPT University

CEPT University is a recognized leader in education and research in the areas of architecture, planning, design, technology and urban management. Its teaching programs aim to build thoughtful professionals and its research programs deepen understanding in its areas of expertise.  CEPT University also undertakes advisory projects to support the national, state and city governments and large sections of private industry. Through its education, research and advisory activities, the University strives to contribute to enriching the lives of people in India’s villages, towns and cities. 

The University comprises five faculties: viz. the Faculty of Architecture, the Faculty of Planning, the Faculty of Technology, the Faculty of Design, and the Faculty of Management. In December 2023, CEPT University was recognized by the Government of India as a Centre of Excellence in Urban Planning and Design. This comes with an endowment of Rs. 250 Crore to be used towards the research and training on India specific knowledge in Urban Planning and Design over the next 25 years.

CEPT University was established by the CEPT University Act of 2005 enacted by the government of Gujarat. It was originally started in 1962 as the School of Architecture supported by the Ahmedabad Education Society. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) of the Government of India recognizes the University as a Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO). CEPT University is recognized as a Center of Excellence by the Government of Gujarat. CEPT University has over 30 ongoing collaborations and exchange programs with top-ranked universities across the world.

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Zifo Transforms Ontology Engineering with AI-Powered Intelligent Automation

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Advanced AI solution speeds up ontology creation by 80%, generating structured, interoperable knowledge models for science-driven organizations.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CAMBRIDGE, England, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Zifo, the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations, has developed an Intelligent Automation solution for Ontology Engineering, which is designed to seamlessly generate structured, interoperable knowledge models while accelerating ontology creation by 80%.

Overcoming the Bottlenecks of Manual Ontology Creation

Manual ontology creation in the biopharma industry has traditionally been a time-consuming process that requires specialized expertise. Organizations frequently struggle with semantic ambiguity, complex integration challenges, and limited scalability, resulting in workflows that can take weeks to complete. Zifo’s AI-powered automation tackles these challenges head-on by eliminating 80% of the manual work through automated class generation, description creation, and precise IRI mapping.

Addressing the Complexities of Semantic Knowledge

Developing comprehensive knowledge models often demands deep domain expertise to define relationships and align terminology. Zifo’s intelligent solution overcomes this by providing an AI-guided workflow featuring an intuitive interface, meaning specialized ontology engineering knowledge is no longer required. By leveraging LLM-powered generation, the solution creates precise definitions with a deep understanding of domain-specific context, while generating standardized synonyms and establishing controlled vocabulary alignment to eliminate inconsistent terminology.

A Solution Designed for Scalable Scientific Data Modeling

The AI-powered solution addresses critical format compatibility and integration points in ontology management:

Seamless Integration: Automated mapping connects directly to established ontologies, including NCIT, CHEBI, OBI, and EFO, via BioPortal and OLS APIs.Massive Scalability: Parallel processing and batch operations empower teams to execute large-scale ontology projects without performance limitations.Automated Hierarchies: The AI autonomously generates semantic relationships and parent-child hierarchies based on domain context and predefined relation vocabularies.Format Compatibility: The solution produces direct OWL/RDF exports with proper URIs, ensuring seamless downstream integration.

Unique Features include:

Multi-Source Integration: The solution combines BioPortal, OLS, and EMBL-EBI APIs to guarantee comprehensive ontology coverage.Intelligent Ranking System: The system uses AI-powered relevance scoring and justification for precise ontology mappings.Precise IRI Mapping: It ensures that each generated class is linked to the correct IRI, directly promoting semantic web compatibility.Human-in-the-Loop Design: The solution automates repetitive tasks while maintaining vital expert oversight.End-to-End Workflow: Users are guided through a complete pipeline, from initial domain knowledge input straight to exportable OWL files.Visual Knowledge Graph: An interactive graph visualization allows for intuitive relationship exploration and validation.Multi-Format Exports: Provides seamless export options in CSV, OWL, or HTML Ontograph formats for downstream use, collaboration, and visualization.

Strategic Value Across the Scientific Chain

This solution breaks down the traditional barriers of data structuring. Built on a robust backend of Python, LangChain, and leading LLM models, alongside a frontend framework using Next.js 15 and Cytoscape.js for graph visualization, the solution is highly adaptable. Furthermore, future optimization enhancements will include provisions for uploading user-defined classes or semi-ready ontologies.

About Zifo

Zifo is the leading global enabler of AI and data-driven enterprise informatics for science-driven organizations. With expertise spanning research, development, manufacturing, and clinical domains, Zifo serves a diverse range of industries including Pharma, Biotech, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, and more. Trusted by over 190 organizations worldwide, Zifo is the partner of choice for advancing digital scientific innovation.

For more information, visit www.zifornd.comhttps://zifornd.com/practical-ai-blueprints/

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SOURCE Zifo Technologies

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UNC-Chapel Hill establishes ‘Carolina in the Capital’ with new Washington, D.C. office

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has opened a new office in Washington, D.C., establishing an expanded presence for the University in the nation’s capital and creating exciting opportunities for students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Located at 101 Constitution Avenue NW, the 10,861-square-foot space – coined “Carolina in the Capital” – will support a variety of functions, including educational programming for undergraduate and graduate students, alumni relations and engagement with government partners.

As a leading R1 university, UNC-Chapel Hill annually attracts more than $1.6 billion to the state’s economy to fund research that creates a better quality of life for all its citizens. More than 60% of UNC-Chapel Hill’s total research funding comes from federal sponsors with the majority of that federal funding coming from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is based in the Washington area.

“Carolina in the Capital is a state-of-the-art facility that reflects our commitment to creating experiential learning opportunities for our students and faculty,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “The space is designed as an immersive learning environment where students can translate classroom knowledge into hands-on experience, which has never been more important. The facility also strengthens our ability to support engagement between our staff, alumni, policymakers and partners.”

Supporting students participating in Carolina’s Washington-based academic programs is a priority. For years, students and faculty have relied on temporary or borrowed spaces across the city. The new office provides a permanent home where students can gather, learn and build community while living and studying in Washington. A robust schedule of classes and events will fill the space throughout the year.

The Washington, D.C. region is home to the largest concentration of out-of-state Carolina alumni anywhere in the country. The new office creates a dedicated space to strengthen those connections and support networking, mentorship, professional development and community-building among D.C.-based Tar Heels.

The space will also serve as a platform to bring Carolina’s research and academic expertise into closer conversation with policymakers, industry leaders and member organizations. Carolina is the nation’s 11th largest university in the country based on research volume with primary federal funding coming from NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF), both based in the D.C. area. Carolina is a proud member of the Association of American Universities (AAU) and the Association of Public & Land Grant Universities (APLU), which are both based in Washington.

The office is funded entirely through the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation and does not use any state appropriations.

You can view additional photos of the space here.

Media Contact: UNC Media Relations, 919-445-8555, mediarelations@unc.edu

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SOURCE University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Office of Communications

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Investing.com Acquires Stonki to Accelerate Its Entry into the Agentic AI Era

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The acquisition strengthens Investing.com’s AI capabilities, advancing a next-generation research assistant that can analyze markets, generate insights, and guide investors in real time

NEW YORK, April 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Investing.com, one of the world’s largest financial platforms used by more than 60 million investors each month, today announced the acquisition of Stonki, an AI-powered investing assistant designed to help traders turn ideas into structured, actionable trading plans.

The move marks a major step in the company’s evolution toward agentic AI, strengthening its ability to deliver faster, deeper, and more actionable market insights to a growing base of more than 300,000 paying subscribers across its InvestingPro suite, the company’s premium subscription offering for advanced market data, tools, and AI-driven insights.

Over the past 12 months, nearly 3 million users have used WarrenAI, Investing.com’s AI-powered financial research assistant launched last year, to perform market analysis, making AI a central entry point into the platform’s ecosystem. With the addition of Stonki, the company is moving beyond traditional AI tools toward agentic systems that can proactively guide users through the investment process.

“We’re entering the age of agentic AI, where the technology moves beyond just answering questions to actively helping investors think, analyze, and act,” said Omer Shvili, CEO of Investing.com. “Bringing Stonki.ai into the fold accelerates our goal of building an agentic platform that will serve as a 24/7 analyst for our users. We are developing this to be more than just a tool; it will be a partner that identifies opportunities, tracks unfolding situations, and surfaces trade ideas even when the user isn’t active—giving our users the kind of edge that was previously only available to professional investors.”

Founded in 2025, Stonki is developing a new category of ‘agentic’ AI for investing, enabling users to turn investment ideas into fully defined strategies with entry and exit conditions, risk management rules, and continuous monitoring.

“We started Stonki because, as investors and traders ourselves, we knew how much time and focus it takes to stay on top of the market and properly manage a day trade, a swing trade, an investment idea, or a portfolio,” said Ulas Bilgenoglu and Itay Verkh, co-founders of Stonki. “We set out to build AI that could carry part of that load by continuously monitoring the market, turning ideas into structured strategies, and helping users make better decisions with clear entry and exit conditions, disciplined risk management, and ongoing tracking. Joining Investing.com gives us the scale, data, reach, and strong AI foundation to accelerate that vision. Together, we can create an experience where AI helps users stay ahead of the market, manage risk, and act with greater confidence.”

The acquisition expands Investing.com’s AI capabilities across both technical and fundamental investing workflows. Stonki’s technology is built around persistent, real-time intelligence, continuously monitoring markets, tracking user-defined strategies, and alerting investors when conditions align, rather than relying on one-off prompts or static analysis.

For active traders, the platform is evolving into a real-time analysis engine designed to support high-frequency decision-making with precision and speed. For long-term investors, it is becoming a central hub for research, enabling users to evaluate opportunities, set personalized alerts, and monitor portfolios based on their individual investment strategies.

Users will be able to define specific conditions, such as a stock crossing a long-term moving average, and have the AI continuously monitor the market, analyze relevant signals, and surface actionable insights in real time. The system will also review portfolios on an ongoing basis, helping investors avoid potential losses and uncover new opportunities aligned with their strategy.

This latest step builds on Investing.com’s broader strategy of expanding its AI-powered suite, including WarrenAI, ProPicks AI, and its recently launched AI Chart Analysis, all aimed at delivering faster, more accurate and more actionable insights to investors.

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SOURCE Investing.com

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