World's first driverless on-demand vehicles arrive in Perth, West Australia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 (Bernama) -- One of the world's first driverless, on-demand vehicles -- RAC Intellicar -- has arrived at Perth in Western Australia after the official unveiling recently.

“The arrival of the prototype vehicle was a significant transportation milestone for both Western Australia and Australia,” said RAC Group chief executive officer, Terry Agnew in a statement.

“How we move around is rapidly evolving and being able to test emerging vehicle technologies right here in Western Australia will help us adapt to these changes in the safest way possible,” added Agnew.

It is highlighted that human error is the cause of the vast majority of road deaths and serious injuries. Therefore, if Western Australia and Australia could safely transition to driverless vehicles sooner, hundreds of Australian lives could be saved.

Over coming years, vehicle automation will become more prolific within the transport network whereby it is important to conduct trials to better understand the potential impacts and opportunities.

“Having a robust understanding of the technology and what it means for Western Australia will help develop a roadmap for the safe transition to our driverless future,” the statement said.

Designed as a shared mobility service, the RAC Intellicar will become the newest addition to RAC's automated vehicle program, supported by the Western Australian Government and vehicle manufacturer, NAVYA.

The RAC Intellicar detects obstacles and makes decisions which allow them to operate autonomously. It also features two Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) antennae to determine the precise position of the vehicle at any given time. More details at rac.com.au/intellicar.

--BERNAMA 

RIDE-SHARING LEADER GRAB SELECTS AXONIFY MICROLEARNING PLATFORM FOR MILLIONS OF DRIVER-PARTNERS ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIA

SYDNEY, Australia, Sept. 11, 2018 /Medianet International-AsiaNet/--
 
Axonify, the world's leading corporate microlearning platform, today announced that Grab Inc. (Grab), the leading online-to-offline (O2O) platform in Southeast Asia, has implemented the Axonify Microlearning Platform to provide comprehensive driver-partner onboarding and continuous learning for millions of driver-partners across the region.
  
Grab selected Axonify based on its scalable solution and dynamic, interactive and gamified approach to training and to support its 'Better 365' driver-partner welfare campaign. Through Axonify, Grab will be able to seamlessly incorporate new driver training and assessment into the online driver acquisition process.
 
Additionally, Grab driver-partners have access to an on-demand content hub where Grab will be able to deliver training modules and learning reinforcement activities based on the specific driver's needs and profile.
  
"As we continue to grow rapidly, Axonify helps us to deliver onboarding training to new driver-partners as well as refresher training to current driver-partners in a more scalable and consistent way. It enables us to focus on continuously improving driver efficiency and satisfaction, as well as safety and service levels to passengers," said Russell Cohen, Head of Regional Operations for Grab. "We want to provide driver-partners with continuous learning and upskilling opportunities. Axonify's bite-sized, engaging training modules does just that by helping our driver-partners to easily consume the training sessions at their convenience."
  
Reducing significant training costs, interactive training videos and short assessments can be completed on mobile devices instead of at an on-site location and Grab driver-partners will be alerted by Axonify when new training content is available.
  
"We are pleased to team up with a transformative tech leader like Grab to support their driver-partners across Southeast Asia," said Christine Tutssel, Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Axonify. "Onboarding and continuous training on topics such as English and financial literacy will help create an educated and skilled team of drivers. Improving overall driver satisfaction at scale is mission critical for Grab and we look forward to helping ease that process."
  
Grab currently operates in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Used by more than 6 million people daily, Grab provides Southeast Asia consumers with safe and affordable transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services.
 
Axonify is the only microlearning platform trusted by global business leaders to drive performance. For more information, visit Axonify.com
  
SOURCE: Axonify  
 
--BERNAMA

Beneficial Insurance Ltd proclaimed stable by A.M. Best

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Bernama) – In a statement today, A.M. Best – a global credit rating agency -- affirmed the financial strength rating of B++ (good) and the long-term issuer credit rating of ‘bbb’ for Beneficial Insurance Ltd (BIL) New Zealand.

It further added that the outlook of these ratings is stable and reflects BIL’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorises as adequate, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

BIL’s balance sheet strength is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation, which is currently at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR).

Over the medium term, A.M. Best expects the company’s planned high level of underwriting growth to drive a notable increase in net required capital, however, strong internal capital generation is expected to enable it to maintain at least very strong risk-adjusted capitalisation.

Offsetting balance sheet factors include the company’s small absolute capital base, which increases its sensitivity to shock events and adverse changes in prospective performance, growth or dividend payouts.

BIL – which is 100 per cent New Zealand owned and operated – has a track record of strong operating performance, with the company having reported a five-year average return on equity of 18 per cent (fiscal years 2014-2018).

Profitability over this period has been driven by underwriting operations and a good five-year average combined ratio of 90 per cent.

Prospectively, A.M. Best expects strong underwriting performance to be supported by continued low loss ratios and from a gradually improving expense ratio, as the company benefits from economies of scale as it executes planned business growth.

BIL’s largest line of business is pet insurance, which currently accounts for more than 90 per cent of gross written premiums. The other lines are motor breakdown insurance and consumer credit insurance.

--BERNAMA

Sunshine Coast delivers Australia's fastest communications to Asia

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 7 (Bernama) -- Australia’s fastest telecommunications connection to Asia and second fastest to the United States will occur from the Sunshine Coast, thanks to a new international submarine cable contract that has been agreed between Sunshine Coast Council and RTI Connectivity Pty Ltd (RTI-C).

Sunshine Coast Council was the first local government in Australia to secure an investment in an international submarine cable; and in an increasingly digital world, the value of this investment for the region's future could not be understated, a statement said.

The project includes a 550km undersea fibre optic cable which will connect the Sunshine Coast to the 9,600km Japan-Guam-Australia South (JGA-S) submarine cable that is currently being delivered by a consortium involving RTI-C, Google and AARNet.

At Guam, the JGA-S cable will connect to the SEA-US Cable System, a highly efficient Trans-Pacific cable which will forge connections between South-East Asia and the United States for more than 1.5 billion people.

The investment of up to AUD$35 million (RM103.8 million) in the undersea cable connection from the Sunshine Coast to the JGA-S cable plus supporting land-based infrastructure is being jointly funded by the Sunshine Coast Council and the Queensland Government. (AUD$1 = RM2.97)

The Sunshine Coast will provide the fastest, most affordable international connection point for Queensland and Australia to Asia, providing a significant step-change in Queensland's attractiveness as an investment location.

The landing of a submarine cable on the Sunshine Coast will not only diversify the landing locations for telecommunications traffic, but will also provide speed, reliability and capacity improvements for the whole of the state.

The cable – which would connect to a new cable landing station near the Maroochydore City Centre –  would increase data transmission speed, provide greater redundancy and should, over time, lead to a reduction in international communications costs for business and consumers.

Ratepayers will also benefit from the agreements reached with RTI-C, as the council will receive a revenue stream from customers accessing the JGA-S cable network through the Sunshine Coast cable connection.

The new path will deliver traffic into and out of Australia faster than the Sydney route as it is geographically closer to mainland China, Hong Kong and Japan besides west coast of the United States where big companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon are located.

The international submarine cable will also benefit small business as it will provide better connectivity, speed and redundancy and encourage new companies to look at the Sunshine Coast to take advantage of the connectivity to international communications infrastructure.

The submarine cable will be supplied and installed by Alcatel Submarine Network (ASN). It is expected to be completed by the first half of 2020, the statement said.

-- BERNAMA

TCL Flagship Products Win Gold Awards

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 (Bernama) -- Two TCL Corporation flagship products at IFA Berlin 2018 recently won awards jointly issued by Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag (GIC/AHK) and International Data Group (IDG).

The TCL QLED TV X8, which received the Display Technology Gold Award, provides users the ultimate visual experience with primary colour quantum dot display technology with up to 157 per cent colour gamut and Dolby Vision HDR technology.

The X8 also features the hardware resources of Onkyo and is equipped with the Dolby Atmos acoustic algorithm.

Additionally, the AI series can be triggered by far field voice which allows the audiovisual and interactive experiences of X8 to complement each other.

On the strength of integrated variable frequency air-cooling, negative oxygen ion preservation, smart frost-free and space divisions, the TCL Inverter No-Frost Refrigerator was awarded the Full DC Inverter Technology Gold Award.

To prepare for the in-depth integration of cutting edge technologies and products, TCL has been actively enhancing its presence in the fields of AI, big data, 5G telecommunications and display technology.

At IFA Berlin 2018 -- a leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances --TCL Research Europe in Poland was officially unveiled. This research centre will play a critical role in developing AI technology among TCL’s worldwide footprints.

--BERNAMA

Malaysians 96 per cent users in Southeast Asia downloading COSCOI´s educational apps

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 (Bernama) -- Malaysians are among 96 per cent of users in Southeast Asia downloaded educational apps for children featuring cute characters of ‘Go East’ developed by COSCOI -- an animation character development and digital contents company in South Korea.

The users also includes those from Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand whereby Vietnam and Indonesia take up 80 per cent of total sales. The apps have been downloaded about 40,000 times in a month after released, a statement said.

“I expect the apps to succeed in the global market without difficulty thanks to their strong showing in Southeast Asia. We plan to release 11 more educational apps this year,” said Coscoi vice-president, Ja Keun Kim.

The company recently released smart edutainment apps ‘Go East! Coloring’ and ‘Go East! Xylophone’ as part of ‘Coscoi Friends’ series using ‘Go East’ -- its typical intellectual property in animation. The app series have been distributed to 135 countries.

It also has signed a contract with Zalo -- a famous messenger app of Vietnam -- to supply ‘Go East’ emoticons soon and it is in consultation with other Southeast Asian companies over license for ‘Go East’ and other emoticons.

The company has developed Mobile App Service (MAS) -- a content management platform -- to launch and manage apps for an effective distribution and utilisation of ‘Go East,’ its intellectual property.

‘Go East’ is an animation content adapted from ‘Journey to the West’ -- a 15th century classical Chinese novel which deals with the adventures and exploits of a monkey named Sun Wukong.

Characters in the story also received positive responses in global character, animation and IP exhibitions including the LIMA 2018 in Las Vegas, USA, the Beijing International Film Festival in Beijing, China and the Mifa 2018 in Annecy, France. More details at http://www.coscoi.net.

-- BERNAMA 

A.M. BEST AFFIRMS CREDIT RATINGS OF ROYAL INSURANCE CORPORATION OF BHUTAN LIMITED

SINGAPORE, Sept 3 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- A.M. Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” of Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan Limited (RICB) (Bhutan). The outlook of these Credit Ratings (ratings) is stable.

The ratings reflect RICB’s balance sheet strength, which A.M. Best categorizes as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, neutral business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM).

RICB’s strong risk-adjusted capital position is supported by its investment portfolio, which mainly comprises loans and deposits. The company’s earnings have been consistently positive, derived primarily from its sizable portfolio of loans and advances. The neutral business profile reflects the company’s market-leading position in the relatively small life and non-life markets of Bhutan. RICB is the larger of two insurance companies in the country and holds a monopoly position in the life insurance sector in its domestic market.

Offsetting rating factors include RICB’s ERM, which is assessed as marginal. The company has no developed asset-liability management framework for its life insurance business. The risk of asset-liability mismatches have been heightened by significant growth in RICB’s annuity business in recent years, which increased the company’s reserve leverage ratio to 2.8 times as of Dec. 31, 2017.

Positive rating actions are unlikely in the near term. Negative rating pressure could result if risk-adjusted capitalization deteriorates as a result of adverse operating performance. 

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