Tag: 3BL

Ada Lopez, Senior Manager, Global Product Diversity Office, Lenovo

The past year has seen artificial intelligence (AI) become a dinner-table topic of conversation around the world, thanks to bots such as ChatGPT, which dazzles users with its ability to compose lifelike text and even computer code. But what happens when AI makes wrong decisions?

It’s a serious issue. Bias – and gender bias in particular – is common in AI systems, leading to a variety of harms, from discrimination and reduced transparency, to security and privacy issues. In the worst cases, wrong AI decisions could damage careers and even cost lives. Without dealing with AI’s bias problem, we risk an imbalanced future – one in which AI will never reach its full potential as a tool for the greater good.

AI is only as good as the data sets it is trained on. Much data is skewed towards men, as is the language used in everything from online news articles to books. Research shows that training AI on Google News data leads to associating men with roles such as ‘captain’ and ‘financier’, whereas women are associated with ‘receptionist’ and ‘homemaker’.

As a result, many AI systems, trained on such biased data and often created by largely male teams, have had significant problems with women, from credit card companies which seem to offer more generous credit to men, to tools screening for everything from COVID to liver disease. These are areas where wrong decisions can damage people’s financial or physical health.

This is compounded by the fact that just 22% of professionals in AI and data science are women, according to the World Economic Forum’s research. Gender itself is also becoming a more complex topic, thanks to non-binary and transgender expressions, leading to more potential for bias in many different forms.

AI is a powerful tool that offers us the chance to solve previously unsolvable problems from cancer to climate change – but unless the bias issue is addressed, AI risks being untrustworthy, and ultimately irrelevant. If AI professionals cannot confront the bias issue, these tools will not be useful, and the artificial intelligence industry risks another ‘AI Winter’, as seen in the 1970s, when interest in the technology dried up.

Dealing with data

Going forward, businesses will increasingly rely on AI technology to turn their data into value. According to Lenovo’s Data for Humanity report, 88% of business leaders say that AI technology will be an important factor in helping their organisation unlock the value of its data over the next five years.

So how will business leaders deal with the problem of bias? For the first time in history, we have this powerful technology that is entirely created from our own understanding of the world. AI is a mirror that we hold up to ourselves. We shouldn’t be shocked by what we see in this mirror. Instead, we should use this knowledge to change the way we do things. That starts with ensuring that the way our organisations work is fair in terms of gender representation and inclusion – but also by paying attention to how data is collected and used.

Whenever you start collecting data, processing it, or using it, you risk inserting bias. Bias can creep in anywhere: if there is more data for one gender, for example, or if questions were written by men.

For business leaders, thinking about where data comes from, how it’s used, and how bias can be combatted will become increasingly important.

Technical solutions will also play an important part. Data scientists don’t have the luxury of going through every line of text used in a training model.

There are two solutions to this: one is having many more people to test the model and spot problems. But the better solution is to have more efficient tools to find bias, either in the data which the AI is fed with, or in the model itself. With ChatGPT, for example, the researchers use a mental learning model to annotate potentially problematic data. The AI community needs to focus on this. Tools to provide greater transparency in the way AI works will also be important.

Understanding bias

It also helps if we consider the broader context. The tools we use today are already creating bias in the models we will apply in the future. We might think that we have ‘solved’ a bias issue now, but in 50 years, for example, new tools or pieces of evidence might change completely how we look at certain things. This was the case with the history of Rett syndrome diagnosis, where data was primarily collected from girls. The lack of data on boys with the disorder introduced bias into data modelling several years later and led to inaccurate diagnoses and treatment recommendations for boys.

Similarly, in 100 years, humans might work for only three days a week. That would mean that data from now is skewed towards a five-day way of looking at things. Data scientists and business leaders must take context into account. Understanding social context is equally important for businesses operating in multiple territories today.

Mastering such issues will be one of the touchstones of responsible AI. For business leaders using AI technology, being conscious of these issues will grow in importance, along with public and regulatory interest. By next year, 60% of AI providers will offer a means to deal with possible harm caused by the technology alongside the tech itself, according to Gartner.

Business leaders must plan thoroughly for responsible AI and create their own definition of what this means for their organisation, by identifying the risks and assessing where bias can creep in. They need to engage with stakeholders to understand potential problems and distinguish how to move forward with best practices. Using AI responsibly will be a long journey, and one that will require constant attention from leadership.

The rewards of using AI responsibly, and rooting out bias wherever it creeps in, will be considerable, allowing business leaders to improve their reputation for trust, fairness and accountability, while delivering real value to their organisation, to customers and to society as a whole.

Businesses need to deal with this at board level to ensure bias is dealt with and AI is used responsibly across the whole organisation. This could include launching their own Responsible AI board to ensure that all AI applications are evaluated for bias and other problems. Leaders also need to address the broader problem of women in STEM, particularly in data science. Women – especially those in leadership roles – will be central to solving the issue of gender bias in AI.

An AI-driven future

Understanding the problem of gender bias and working towards effective ways of dealing with it will be vitally important to forward-thinking organisations hoping to use AI to unlock the value of their data.

Thinking carefully about how AI is used across an organisation, using tools to detect bias and ensure transparency, will help. But business leaders also need to take a broader view of where their data comes from, how it is used, and what steps are being taken to avoid bias. Doing so will be essential to unlocking the value of their data – and creating an inclusive future where AI can work to its fullest potential.

June 13, 2023 /3BL Media/ – The Ray has implemented a regional staff strategy for accelerating net-zero transportation nationally. To better support net-zero projects at transportation agencies and accelerate project delivery by reducing the time required for planning and procurement, dedicated regional staff teams will work from satellite offices distributed among four U.S. regions: Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West. The strategy will be effective immediately, as The Ray currently works with more than 51 transportation agencies at the local, state, and regional levels across 29 states to scale infrastructure projects that will produce safer, cleaner and smarter outcomes in the transportation and energy sectors. The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation awarded The Ray a $250,000 grant to support the launch of the regional strategy and, more broadly, the innovative planning and solutions that The Ray deploys in the Southeast to make renewable energy and electrification accessible and more affordable.

“The Ray has pioneered technology applications and net-zero project concepts in transportation and energy for nearly a decade,” said Allie Kelly, Executive Director of The Ray, “and those ideas and our know-how have met the moment of tremendous opportunity.” She continued, “Across the country, state agencies and communities alike have an urgency for infrastructure that we can help them build, projects such as roadside solar; smart highway systems that are safer and less congested; longer-lasting, quieter roads paved with scrap tire rubber, and using empty transportation ‘right-of-way’ for expanding and securing the energy grid, instead of stringing new wires across neighborhoods.”

As an organization with a national reach, grouping partner activity by region and distributing the pipeline of projects and analyses between regional teams at The Ray creates process efficiencies that produce faster results for transportation agencies – helping the agencies themselves to go faster. Regional coordination of agency partner activity also facilitates the visibility and viability of opportunities for multi-state collaboration. The Ray provides:

Technology transferConnections to private sector 
technologists and expertsConnections to peer transportation 
agenciesAdvanced planning tools and softwareTechnical assistanceProcurement assistanceProject organization and facilitationPolicy analysisPublic awareness and promotion

National Presence 
These services directly address the gaps and challenges facing transportation agencies with expertise, tools, analysis, collaboration, and, indirectly, by building confidence in and enthusiasm for innovation. In both formal and informal collaborative partnerships, The Ray continues to promote and scale net-zero infrastructure that will support decarbonizing transportation and enable the safe operation of connected and autonomous vehicles.

Net-Zero Projects 
The Ray’s mission is to reimagine how advanced transportation infrastructure and technology connects communities, lives, and the world in a way that is safer, more responsive to the climate, more regenerative to the environment, and more capable of creating economic opportunity through innovative ideas and technologies that will transform transportation infrastructure. At The Ray C. Anderson Memorial Highway on Interstate 85 in West Georgia, The Ray is catalyzing net-zero transportation infrastructure on a real-world test bed – zero carbon, zero waste, zero deaths. Leading the way with some of the world’s boldest thinking, The Ray has built more than a dozen projects that are literally changing the facts on the ground in transportation, showing that the technologies to achieve net-zero in transportation already exist. The Ray has experienced phenomenal growth since its first project in 2015, the installation of a solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station at the Georgia Department of Transportation rest area at the Georgia-Alabama state line.

Regional Strategy 
Led by the new Director of Regional Programs, Beverly West, The Ray has organized its partner agencies across the nation by four contiguous geographies to create a regional approach to service delivery, as opposed to centralizing all service delivery out of one office. The regional approach will be performed in collaboration with The Ray’s new GIS Manager, Jessie Hong-Dwyer, Ph.D., and the GIS team. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) play a crucial role in this regional work, by utilizing The Ray’s partnership with Esri and their powerful tools, the GIS team can identify, propose, and provide informed recommendations for suitable clean energy and connectivity projects within transportation infrastructure’s right-of-ways that effectively align with The Ray’s net-zero objectives.

“This team of teams strategy will allow The Ray to leverage our partnerships and the know-how that we have cultivated over the last decade to deliver technology solutions to transportation agencies across the country in an efficient and effective way,” said Beverly West, Director of Regional Programs.

Four Regional Managers will report to the Director of Regional Programs. The Regional Managers will be responsible for delivering services to transportation agency partners in the following regions:

Northeast / Mid-Atlantic: Maine, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maryland

Southeast: Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana

Midwest: Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin

West: Montana, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, California

About the Director of Regional Programs 
Beverly West is the Director of Regional Programs at The Ray. Prior to joining the team, she enjoyed a 23 year career with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Most recently she served TxDOT as Section Director in the Strategic Planning Division with oversight of multiple programs including: Emerging Technologies Initiatives, Business Intelligence & Performance Management, Enterprise Policy Governance, Business Continuity of Operations, and Internal Risk Management and Prevention. Her teams created, led or facilitated enterprise initiatives such as the Connected & Autonomous Vehicle Task Force (CAV), Urban Air Advisory Committee (UAM), National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) plan, TxDOT’s Strategic Plan and COOP plans.

About the Western Regional Manager 
David Peters serves as the Western Regional Manager for The Ray. Prior to joining The Ray, he worked in various roles as the American Association for State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). Most recently he served as the Associate Program Manager for Resilience and Sustainability as a member of the Policy & Government Relations team. Before his time with AASHTO, David was a member of the Energy, Infrastructure, and Environment Division at 
the National Governors Association (NGA), working closely with Governors’ staff on energy and infrastructure policy.

About the GIS Manager 
Jessie Hong-Dwyer, Ph.D. serves as the GIS Manager for The Ray. Before joining the team, she was a professor of geography, teaching introduction to advanced-level GIS courses and conducting numerous GIS research projects for more than ten years at the University of West Georgia. She has collaborated with the Georgia Department of Education, Cobb County School District, and the National Geographic Society as a GIS professional. Jessie is a published author of 35+ scientific articles and a presenter of 25+ papers at regional, national, and international professional conferences. She holds a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Colorado Boulder, an M.S. in geography from San Diego State University, and a B.S. in geography from Ohio State University.

About The Ray 
The Ray is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity and net-zero highway testbed, located on 18 miles of Interstate 85 between Lagrange, Georgia and the Georgia-Alabama state line. This stretch of interstate is named in memory of Ray C. Anderson (1934-2011), a Georgia native recognized as a leader in green business when he challenged his company, Interface, Inc., to pursue a zero environmental footprint. Our mission is to reimagine how we connect our communities, our lives and the world in a way that is safer, more responsive to the climate, more regenerative to the environment, and more capable of creating economic opportunity through innovative ideas and technologies that will transform transportation infrastructure. The Ray Highway is paving the way for a zero carbon, zero waste, zero deaths highway system that will build a safer and more prosperous future for us all. Learn more at www.TheRay.org.

MEDIA CONTACT 
Sarah Grizzle, Director of Communications, The Ray 
310.699.2054 | sgrizzle@theray.org | @TheRayHighway

Originally published on Illumina News Center

Each person’s genetic code harbors millions of variants that differ from one individual to the next, and account for differences in health and disease risk. The more human genomes are sequenced, the more data researchers have to compare and predict which variants are most likely to cause disease. Despite the collective efforts of scientists and clinicians worldwide, the function of the vast majority of these variants remains unknown.

And genetic risk prediction has suffered from an ethnicity bias. Seventy-eight percent of the data in the Genome-Wide Association Study Catalog comes from people of European ancestry; when primarily European genomic data is used to train polygenic risk scores, it results in uneven performance when applied to other ethnic groups.

Sequencing a greater diversity of people is part of the solution, but even that can only tell us so much. “The main issue is that humans are pretty bottlenecked,” explains Kyle Farh, vice president of Artificial Intelligence at Illumina. “Even though there are 8 billion of us, our genetic diversity still looks like the original population of 10,000 common ancestors we’re all descended from. There just isn’t enough information to glean from the human species. It became clear several years ago that, to really understand the human genome, the data contained in human genome sequencing was not enough.”

Homo sapien DNA records the evolutionary history of a few hundred thousand years. But to avoid bias and learn even more about ourselves, scientists are broadening the search by tens of millions of years to study our more distant family, the primates.

DNA as living history

Evolution is the world’s longest-running experiment. Generation by generation, nature has been testing genes through random mutation—variants that harm an animal’s fitness are quickly removed from the gene pool, and ones that are neutral or beneficial survive to be passed on. “The results of these experiments are documented in every species’ genome,” Farh says. “They’re right there. It’s a living document.”

The taxonomic order “Primates” comprises over 500 species, encompassing apes, monkeys, prosimians like lemurs and loris—and us. We’re all descended from the same ancestors, and despite our wildly varied forms, living primates share more than 90% of our DNA with one another. Mutations that occur in chimpanzees or bonobos also occur in humans, and work from Illumina scientists shows that if a variant is tolerated by natural selection in another primate, it’s 99% likely not to cause disease in us. This isn’t true for more distantly related mammals—a variation that’s harmless in mice or dogs, for instance, may be pathogenic in gorillas or humans.

For the millions of years that primate species have been evolving in parallel, mutations that cause disease have been eliminated by natural selection. So by sequencing modern primates, we can improve our knowledge of which variants don’t cause disease.

Scientists at Illumina, in collaboration with those from 24 countries, just published the results of a vast study of primate genomes in four papers in the journal Science. The study sequenced over 800 individuals from 233 species of nonhuman primates, representing all 16 families and over 86% of living genera. But the sequencing was just the first step: Once they had all this data, they needed a way to interpret it. So they developed PrimateAI-3D.

An algorithm trained by evolution

The large language model ChatGPT has garnered much attention for its ability to generate humanlike responses to any prompt. Its artificial intelligence is trained on a massive data set of existing writing, so it can accurately predict the next sentences that would sound most natural based on the conversation up to that point.

PrimateAI-3D is an algorithm built on deep-learning language architectures analogous to those used in ChatGPT, but designed to model genomic rather than linguistic sequences. By presenting it with variants that are ruled out for disease in our macaque and orangutan cousins, its developers have effectively leveraged natural selection to train its parameters. The neural network learns where benign variants are represented in a gene and, by process of elimination, which regions are likely to cause disease if mutated. In this way, it learned how to accurately predict pathogenic variants in humans better than any human could.

The study published in Science compared PrimateAI-3D against 15 other machine-learning methods on four patient cohorts—one for neurodevelopmental disorders, one for autism spectrum disorders, one for congenital heart disease, and the UK Biobank. The first three cohorts are some of the largest studies to date that sequenced both an affected child as well as their unaffected parents; by contrast, the half a million genomes in the UK Biobank are mostly from healthy members of the general population. The study also evaluated the algorithm in the National Institutes of Health’s ClinVar database and other datasets.

Across six different clinical benchmarks, PrimateAI-3D outperformed all other existing methods by a wide margin. These findings will help researchers prioritize a small handful of variants that are most likely to affect a person’s health.

Furthermore, PrimateAI-3D demonstrated impressive improvements in predicting people at increased risk for common diseases in the UK Biobank cohort, especially across non-European ethnic groups. “What we find is that 97% of otherwise healthy people in the general population carried highly actionable variants for clinically relevant conditions,” says Farh, one of the study’s principal authors. “Up to now we’ve learned that you need genome sequencing if you have a rare disease or cancer—but actually it looks like every healthy person in the population has highly impactful variants in our genomes that are clinically relevant and are important to be informed about.”

Giving back to the gibbon and baboon

On top of the benefit to human health, these efforts could also be instrumental for primate conservation. “We’re in a hurry to collect this data because the majority of these species are on a fast track to extinction,” Farh says. The genetic diversity recorded in an animal’s DNA tells us not only how many individuals remain in that species’ population, it also tells the story of that population’s size over time, back through the generations. “That tells us how quickly the species is declining, and how much time they have left. That’s in their genomes.”

PrimateAI-3D’s developers found that its performance scales directly with the size of the dataset used to train it, so the more primate species they can sequence, the better the tool can become. The monkeys and apes can help us, and we can help them. “I think we’re only at the beginning,” Farh says. “There’s a tremendous amount that can be learned here. And the idea that you can learn more about our own species from other species is, I think, deeply romantic.”

PrimateAI-3D will be made broadly available to the genomics community in an upcoming release of Illumina Connected Software products.

On Monday, June 12 at Tapestry HQ in Hudson Yards on the west side of Manhattan, multi-platinum artist, singer, songwriter and Coach global brand ambassador Lil Nas X made a surprise appearance at the Coach Foundation’s annual “Dream Day,” the signature conference of the Coach Foundation’s Dream It Real initiative. Launched in 2018, Dream It Real creates opportunities, removes barriers and supports the next generation of young people to achieve their dreams with a focus on under-represented communities.

Lil Nas X joined Dream It Real scholars from the Coach Foundation’s partner organizations Opportunity Network, Bottom Line, Point Foundation, the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), and the Hetrick-Martin Institute at Coach’s headquarters in Hudson Yards for a day of mentorship, networking and professional development. He surprised several students with a styling session with stylist, Matthew Mazur, where they collaborated to put together confident, career-ready looks with Coach pieces from its Dream It Real Closets.

As part of Dream It Real’s mission to support students holistically as they pursue their dreams through scholarships, mentorship and professional opportunities, Dream Day’s activities featured intimate “Dream It Real ‘Real Talks’” led by executives where they discussed their career journeys and topics like branding and digital marketing, and the “Dream It Real Portrait Studio,” where Lil Nas X coached students as they took headshots for their resumes. The day ended with a party for the students where they met with the Coach teams and their Dream It Real mentors, a cohort of Coach employees who have offered their support and guidance to students over the past academic year.

“Always stand beside yourself,” Lil Nas X told the students. “You are going to be the main person you can count on when you’re chasing your dream. The main person that you have to believe in. Always move forward and stand on your own path.”

Coach also announces today that the Coach Foundation’s Dream It Real initiative has exceeded its commitment of providing 5,000 scholarships to students by 2025. Since the initiative’s launch, Dream It Real has provided resources to more than 150,000 young people from historically underrepresented and marginalized communities globally through its programs including:

Dream It Real Mentor Program has enrolled 250 Coach/ Tapestry employees from stores, corporate, and distribution centers to mentor 250 first-generation college students receiving 4-year scholarships from the Coach Foundation.Dream It Real Closets, a program that provides product donations to inspire young people in the Dream It Real network as they prepare for their future. To date Coach has donated over $25 million (retail value) to Dream It Real Closets and nonprofit partners.Dream It Real Teacher Appreciation has supported over 1,500 educators and teachers in low-income school districts with Coach gifts.

“Our goal is to create a more impactful future for this generation and those to come,” said Coach CEO and Brand President, Todd Kahn. “It is wonderful to have a brand ambassador, Lil Nas X, that embodies our purpose and breaks down barriers, helping us to encourage everyone to have the courage to be themselves through self-expression. I am consistently amazed by students and young professionals who have the courage to Dream It Real every day and the drive to make those dreams a reality, and that is what Dream Day is all about.”

Established in 2008, to help create a better future for all, the Coach Foundation has donated over $65 million to hundreds of worthy causes across the globe. The Coach Foundation equips historically underrepresented and marginalized students around the world with the resources needed to achieve their dreams. For more information, please visit https://www.coach.com/coachfoundation.

ALBERTA, Canada, June 13, 2023 /3BL Media/ – International Paper (IP) and Via Separations Inc. (Via) are pleased to announce a collaboration aimed at reducing the energy intensity and carbon emissions of the kraft pulping process.

After four successful pilot demonstrations, Via Separations Inc. will break ground on a new manufacturing technology enhancement – the first of its kind – at IP’s Grande Prairie mill in Alberta, Canada, in the second quarter of 2023.

Via’s Black Liquor Concentration System displaces steam use in evaporators, electrifies the separation, and provides modular demand response for kraft pulp mills translating to cost, energy and emissions savings for the facility. This first-of-a-kind deployment will unlock repeatable projects across other IP mills.

“We are proud to be a leading global supplier of planet-friendly packaging, pulp and fiber-based products people depend on every day,” commented Clay Ellis, senior vice president, Global Cellulose Fibers, International Paper. “We believe in being responsible stewards of our resources and this project is a great example of our Vision 2030 commitment to reduce enterprise greenhouse gas emissions by 35% and ensure our manufacturing process is sustainable for generations to come.”

International Paper is one of the world’s leading producers of fiber-based products. Beyond creating products people depend on every day, IP is creating what’s next through innovative solutions, sustainable operations and collaboration with innovative companies like Via.

Shreya Dave, CEO of Via Separations said, “Via is decarbonizing industries today by changing the way we manufacture our most important chemical and material products. The pulp and paper sector is a perfect focus for us due to its renewable products and focus on sustainability. Our collaboration with IP demonstrates their commitment to energy efficient solutions that boost the economy and create jobs.”

Via Separations Inc. and International Paper are excited to join with Natural Resources Canada’s Investments in Forest Industry Transformation (NRCan IFIT) program to support the collaboration. NRCan IFIT is designed for innovative and transformational capital investments to ensure industry competitiveness in the forestry industry.

“The collaboration with NRCan and Via Separations has allowed us to bring our technology to one of our most innovative mills to reduce emissions and advance a key industry in the Alberta and Canadian economy,” said IP’s Government Relations Director, Dave Kluesner. “It’s an honor to work with both groups.”

About Via Separations: 
Based in Watertown, MA & spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Via Separations eliminates energy use in industrial processes, enabling pathways for a more sustainable, resource efficient future. With its core filtration technology, Via has applications across industrial manufacturing. Via is a venture-backed company with investors such as The Engine, Safar Partners, Prime Impact Fund, NGP ETP, and MassCEC, along with federal and state support such as the National Science Foundation. More information is available on its website at www.viaseparations.com.

About International Paper:

International Paper (NYSE: IP) is a global producer of planet-friendly packaging, pulp and other fiber-based products, and one of North America’s largest recyclers. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., we employ approximately 39,000 colleagues globally who are committed to creating what’s next. We serve customers worldwide, with manufacturing operations in North America, Latin America, North Africa and Europe. Net sales for 2022 were $21.2 billion. Additional information can be found by visiting www.internationalpaper.com

Originally published in Covia’s 2022 ESG Report

2022 was another remarkable year for Covia as we continued to grow, evolve, and leverage our best-in-class capabilities to position ourselves as an industry-leading provider of diversified specialty minerals. I am proud of the progress we have made during the year, and inspired by the teamwork, collaboration, and “One Covia” mindset that our Team Members demonstrate every day.

In our second year as a privately held company, we delivered another year of substantial growth, allowing us to further invest in our long-term strategy. In 2022, this meant expanding capacity at several sites to capture new growth opportunities, reducing our environmental impact through targeted investments, and building new capabilities to drive innovation and operational excellence for those who rely on us — all while navigating a challenging economic environment. And, above all, the safety of our Team Members and stakeholders remains our priority — for this reason, we refocused and revitalized our program to reinforce a Safety First mindset.

2022 also represented our first year of measured progress against our Goals that Inspire and I feel a great sense of accomplishment for what we have achieved thus far. Enhancing our safety program decreased our all-incidence rate and our continuous improvement mindset drove progress toward our environmental goals. Through The Covia Foundation, we donated approximately $1.2 million within our local communities and our Team Members collectively contributed 10,800 volunteer hours to local projects and organizations meaningful to them. We also became a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact and are committed to further incorporating its ten principles into our strategies, policies, and procedures.

We are pleased that our progress to date has us on track to meet our goals, and we continue to push forward to deliver against each of our commitments. As we evolve our organizational strategy and ESG objectives in 2023 and beyond, we value the opportunity to refine our programs, implement best practices, and align with our stakeholder needs to create a more sustainable future for all. Looking ahead, we remain focused on improving our Team Member experience and helping our local communities thrive.

Operationally, we are committed to responsibly producing the minerals and materials that provide essential components of everyday products while advancing both environmental and societal objectives.

I am grateful for our dedicated Team Members, who remain relentless in the pursuit of achieving our objectives, both in the short and long term. This report provides a look inside our organization and the importance we place on ESG throughout our business. As you read it, you will find numerous stories, highlights, and photos (all of which were taken by our Team Members) that demonstrate our collective efforts and many celebrated successes. Every single one of our sites has made important contributions to our progress during the year. It’s exciting to see ALL of them represented in this report, showcasing the importance of the individual contributions that collectively set us on the path toward WHERE WE’RE GOING.

Thank you for taking the time to read Covia’s 2022 ESG Report, and for your continued support of Covia and our ESG journey.

RESTON, Va. /3BL Media/ – Science Applications International Corp. (NYSE: SAIC) has been named the Large Prime Company of the Year at the Small Business Industry Awards, sponsored by the National 8(a) Association and the HUBZone Contractors National Council.

“Small businesses bring talent, innovation and technical expertise to support our customer’s missions,” said John Bonsell, senior vice president of Government Affairs at SAIC. “We are proud of our Supplier and Small Business Team’s efforts to support small businesses through advocacy, mentorship and networking programs.”

SAIC was recognized for supporting the organizations leadership panels, facilitating and sponsoring outreach events, and helping small businesses identify new business opportunities.

Led by Rita Brooks, director of Small Business Programs, SAIC was also recognized for its programs to support and promote long-term relationships with small businesses. The Mentor-Protégé program matches small businesses to subcontract and prime contract opportunities. The Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer program utilizes innovative solutions from small businesses to solve the complex defense requirements of SAIC customers.

The National 8(a) Association provides assistance to small, disadvantaged businesses. The HUBZone Council is a non-profit trade association comprised of companies and organizations working together to improve and support the HUBZone program and small business community. As a partner with both organizations, National 8(a) Association and the HUBZone Council presented the award to Brooks at the awards gala in New Orleans, Louisiana on Wednesday, February 16, 2023.

More information about SAIC’s small business outreach, is available on SAIC.com.

About SAIC

SAIC® is a premier Fortune 500® technology integrator driving our nation’s technology transformation. Our robust portfolio of offerings across the defense, space, civilian and intelligence markets includes secure high-end solutions in engineering, digital, artificial intelligence and mission solutions. Using our expertise and understanding of existing and emerging technologies, we integrate the best components from our own portfolio and our partner ecosystem to deliver innovative, effective and efficient solutions that are critical to achieving our customers’ missions.

We are approximately 25,000 strong; driven by mission, united by purpose, and inspired by opportunities. SAIC is an Equal Opportunity Employer, fostering a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion , which is core to our values and important to attract and retain exceptional talent. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, SAIC has annual revenues of approximately $7.7 billion. For more information, visit saic.com. For ongoing news, please visit our newsroom.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release contain or are based on “forward-looking” information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “guidance,” and similar words or phrases. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, among others, estimates of future revenues, operating income, earnings, earnings per share, charges, total contract value, backlog, outstanding shares and cash flows, as well as statements about future dividends, share repurchases and other capital deployment plans. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially from the guidance and other forward-looking statements made in this release as a result of various factors. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause or contribute to these material differences include those discussed in the “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Legal Proceedings” sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as updated in any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC, which may be viewed or obtained through the Investor Relations section of our website at saic.com or on the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Due to such risks, uncertainties and assumptions you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. SAIC expressly disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statement provided in this release to reflect subsequent events, actual results or changes in SAIC’s expectations. SAIC also disclaims any duty to comment upon or correct information that may be contained in reports published by investment analysts or others.

Media Contact:

Thais Hanson
703.676.8215 | publicrelations@saic.com

The concept of the workplace has expanded to include hybrid and remote work scenarios. However, one fundamental aspect remains consistent across all settings: the importance of integrating more physical movement into daily work routines.

Insufficient physical activity ranks as the fourth major risk factor for mortality, according to the World Health Organization. This sedentary lifestyle trend has resulted in a staggering annual global healthcare cost of $24.7 billion.

Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) professionals should prioritize the issue of movement within the workplace due to its critical role in protecting the safety and well-being of employees. By proactively addressing movement, EHS professionals can effectively prevent immediate workplace injuries and reduce the long-term risk of developing severe diseases.

In this post, we’ll cover how EHS professionals can combat the epidemic of inactivity through the implementation of a few simple solutions. We’ll look at the role microbreaks play in encouraging movement, highlight the benefits of regular movement, and share workplace health tips to enable more movement throughout the workday.

How Microbreaks Encourage Movement 

Encouraging employees to incorporate regular movement breaks throughout the workday is an effective strategy to promote physical well-being, reduce the risk of musculoskeletal issues, and enhance overall productivity. One simple way to enable more movement is by promoting microbreaks.

What are microbreaks?

Microbreaks are short, frequent breaks taken during the workday that encourage employees to move more. These breaks are designed to combat the sedentary nature of many jobs and promote physical activity and movement. Workers get busy, focus on their work, and forget to take these breaks.

Benefits of microbreaks

Microbreaks provide employees with dedicated time to engage in physical activity. Whether it’s a quick walk around the office, stretching exercises at their desk, or simple movements like squats or lunges, these breaks encourage employees to get up and move.

Microbreaks also help break up long periods of sitting by prompting employees to stand up, stretch, or perform light exercises.

Digital tools that encourage microbreaks 

Many fitness trackers can be programmed to remind employees to move at regular intervals or challenge them to achieve a certain number of steps every hour. Some productivity tools such as task timers can be set to automatically notify workers they need to take a break after a certain amount of time has passed.

Solutions that can be seamlessly incorporated into the worker’s regular environment remove barriers to remembering to take microbreaks.

Movement: Good for the Body and the Mind 

Ensuring your workforce incorporates regular movement in their daily work life offers numerous physical, mental, and productivity benefits.

Improved circulation: Microbreak movements stimulate blood flow, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the muscles and organs, and improving overall circulation. As we use energy throughout the day toxins build up that cause blood clots, muscle tension, and contribute to fatigue and discomfort. Over time these toxins will eventually weaken our musculoskeletal structures (muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons). We effectively wear out, and that’s when injuries can happen. Movement is the key to enhancing blood circulation that delivers the energy “building blocks” our muscles need to work throughout the day. As circulation continues through the body it removes the toxins that cause damage, while delivering greater comfort and well-being. This contributes to better long-term health.Musculoskeletal health and pain reduction: Extended periods of sitting can strain muscles and joints, leading to stiffness, back pain, and other musculoskeletal issues. By incorporating microbreaks, employees can perform stretching exercises, change their posture, and alleviate muscle tension.Increased energy and focus: Prolonged periods of inactivity can lead to mental fatigue and decreased focus. Taking microbreaks to move and engage in physical activity can combat this mental exhaustion and enhance energy levels. Movement stimulates blood flow to the brain, increasing oxygen supply and promoting alertness. Employees who incorporate regular microbreaks often report improved concentration, enhanced cognitive function, and increased productivity.Stress reduction and emotional well-being: Microbreaks not only benefit physical health but also contribute to emotional well-being. Engaging in movement and exercise releases endorphins, which are natural mood-boosting hormones. By taking short breaks to stretch, walk, or perform light exercises, employees can reduce stress levels, alleviate feelings of tension, and promote a positive emotional state.Enhanced productivity and creativity: Contrary to popular belief, taking frequent breaks throughout the workday can actually enhance productivity and creativity. By incorporating movement, employees can combat the monotony of extended periods of sedentary work, combat mental fatigue, and promote fresh thinking.

Incorporating microbreaks into the work routine is a proactive measure that EHS professionals can advocate to support employee health and well-being.

Incorporating Healthy Movement in Remote and Hybrid Work Environments 

Establishing a healthy workspace 

When employees work from home, it is crucial to ensure they have a healthy and ergonomic workspace that promotes comfort and reduces the risk of musculoskeletal issues. The kitchen table, or worse, a counter top and a barstool are not a healthy workplace.

Proper chair and desk height: Employees should have a chair and desk that are adjustable to their body proportions. The chair should provide good lumbar support, and the desk height should allow for a relaxed posture with arms parallel to the floor and feet flat on the ground or a footrest. Adjustable desks that give the option for standing are great!Posture: Encourage employees to maintain a good posture while working. They should sit up straight, with their back supported, shoulders relaxed, and feet firmly planted on the ground. Avoiding slouching or hunching over the desk helps prevent strain on the neck, back, and shoulders. Use an imaginary plumbline to align your ears over your shoulders, and your shoulders over your hips.Equipment positioning: Positioning of computer monitors, keyboards, and mice should be optimized for comfort and proper alignment. The top of the monitor should be at eye level, and the keyboard and mouse should be at a comfortable distance, allowing for relaxed arm and wrist positions.

Learn more: How To Set Up a Home Office: Basic Ergonomic Tips 

Home office exercise routine 

To combat the sedentary nature of home-based work, employees should incorporate regular exercises and stretches into their workday. Here are some suggested exercises and stretches:

Microbreak exercises: Encourage employees to take short exercise breaks every hour or so. These breaks can include simple exercises like squats, lunges, jumping jacks, or push-ups to get the blood flowing and engage different muscle groups.Stretching routine: Provide employees with a list of stretching exercises they can perform at their desk. These may include neck stretches, shoulder rolls, wrist and finger stretches, seated turning, and leg stretches. These exercises increasing blood circulation that can help relieve tension, improve flexibility, and prevent muscle stiffness.Movement breaks: Encourage employees to take brief movement breaks throughout the day. This can involve walking around the house, climbing stairs, or doing household chores. Movement breaks not only promote physical activity but also provide mental refreshment, enhancing focus and productivity.

Self-care and mindfulness 

Working from home can blur the boundaries between work and personal life, leading to increased stress and burnout. Teaching remote and hybrid workers about factors of holistic office ergonomics such as lighting, temperature, and noise levels can improve their sense of well-being at work. Encouraging self-care activities and mindfulness practices can support employees’ physical and mental well-being.

Get Your Workforce Moving 

By prioritizing a healthy workspace, incorporating exercise routines, and emphasizing self-care and mindfulness practices, home-based employees can maintain their physical and mental well-being while working remotely. Proactively providing guidance and resources for creating a healthy work environment and promoting movement can contribute to increased productivity, reduced discomfort, and improved overall job satisfaction.

Movement is Part of a Healthy Lifestyle 

We should remember that the necessity of enhancing movement and using better work practices (ergonomics) doesn’t “clock out” at the end of the day. Adopting an ergonomic lifestyle promotes the benefits discussed in this post for the long-term. Stay tuned for the next post when we will help you begin changing those ingrained bad habits, and usher in new healthy ones.

Learn more about ergonomics in the workplace from Antea Group.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on our operations, including our testing mix, which affected our environmental metrics. As Quest transitions to the post-pandemic period, we anticipate that there will be additional impacts and we will remain focused on sustainability considerations.

Key elements driving our environmental sustainability program

Pollution prevention: We will minimize waste in our operations through process improvements and focused recycling efforts
Energy efficiency, sourcing and use: We will include renewable energy in our sourcing of energy when cost-effective and feasible. We will use energy efficiently and make efforts to improve efficiency through technology and innovation
Fleet conservation: We will utilize technology to improve our ground fleet efficiency, thereby reducing carbon fuel use and associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHG)
Strategic sourcing: We will take environmental impact into consideration when making decisions about the materials and services we purchase in order to reduce consumption of natural resources and decrease waste and emissions

Our Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) department leads the development of our strategic environmental plans and GreenQuest, working closely with regional teams to identify opportunities for improvements and to lead local projects. We maintain programs to monitor the environmental impacts at our major laboratories and audit environmental management. We train key staff in environmental management, covering handling of chemicals, pathogens, and waste reduction, and include localized training in the specifics of each facility. We continue to pursue ISO 14001 and ISO 22301 certifications in 2022 for our San Juan Capistrano laboratory, and we are also pursuing LEED-equivalent certification for our new Clifton laboratory.

Climate action

In 2021, we started the process of analyzing climate risks and opportunities for our business based on the recommendations of the Task Force for Climate Related Financial Disclosures. We created teams to review our climate risks and opportunities, as well as our water use and waste. We also initiated efforts to improve measurement of our GHG emissions, with a focus on Scopes 1 and 2.

Data in the following tables include estimates. US EIA’s Commercial Building Energy Consumption Surveys (CBECS) data and EPA’s Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGrid) were used to estimate utility usage and related emissions factors for small locations when not available from other sources. These data cover 100% of our operations in North America and Latin America.

To date, our efforts to reduce our GHG emissions have included energy efficiency measures at our facilities, such as laboratory testing platform consolidations, LED lighting retrofits, purchase of green power, and route optimization, including the following key accomplishments in 2021:

Completed the consolidation of the majority of our East Region lab operations into our Clifton, NJ lab
LED lighting retrofits which we believe will reduce our overall electricity consumption by 59% in our Marlborough cytology lab
Reduction of 1.2M miles in driving through route optimization projects for our fleet, which we believe will result in reduction of 424 metric tons of CO2 emissions
Quest continues to qualify for the EPA’s Green Power Partnership by exceeding 7% renewable energy use.

Fleet conservation is another key aspect of our efforts to reduce GHG emissions, which we estimate resulted in a reduction of 1.8 billion pounds of CO2 and the elimination of more than 1,100 surplus vehicles in the last 15 years.

Electric vehicles

We are considering electric vehicles for our fleet. In 2021, we began the development of an electric vehicle pilot project. At our lab in Clifton, NJ, we installed charging stations in the public area of the garage. We are building out charging infrastructure at out Marlborough, MA lab and plan to begin infrastructure design and construction at remaining pilot locations.

A Gold Rating in India

Our office facilities in India achieved a Gold Rating from the India Green Building Council, which encourages green concepts and techniques to address national priorities in India. The rating considers site and facility management, water efficiency, energy efficiency, health and comfort, and innovation.

Waste reduction

Quest works with suppliers to find products and processes that can minimize waste across our operations. In 2021, several of our facilities completed new waste management projects which we believe reduced hazardous waste or landfill waste, such as:

Our Las Vegas facility eliminated pH wastewater disposal, thus reducing hazardous waste generation by 285,000 lbs
At our West Hills, CA and Sacramento, CA labs, all paperwork was required to be recycled, reducing our future annual landfill waste by 210,000 lbs
Cleveland HeartLab™ began recycling and reusing Styrofoam shipping containers
Specimen cup and stool container redesigns, among other changes, reduced Quest’s plastic waste by 105 tons in 2021, for a total of 407 tons saved since the project initiated in 2018
Reduced the amount of paper waste in our PSCs by an additional 270 tons in 2021, for a total of 546 tons saved since the project initiated in 2018

Water reduction

Our facilities continue to look for creative ways to reduce water consumption. Overall, in 2021, we reduced our water consumption by 16%.

In California, several of our logistics hubs transitioned to waterless fleet vehicle washing, which we estimate will save 32,490 gallons of water per year
At the Las Vegas facility, a 310 linear-foot planter was removed to reduce water used to maintain plants, which we estimate will save 164,250 gallons of water
At Cleveland HeartLab, all toilets are now fitted with water-saving flushers
In the Dallas lab facility, all urinals were replaced with flushless units

Occupational health and safety

The Quest Diagnostics EHS team believes our critical business objectives include workplace safety; the health of our em ployees, contractors, and others working in our facilities; and the protection of the environment. We are committed to proactively managing workplace safety to eliminate risks and hazards as well as ensure regulatory compliance. In 2021, we invested in safety data management software which will allow us to improve performance, gain insight, and drive compliance. Our safety management system aligns with ISO 45001 and ANSI Z10 elements by:

Creating regional/business unit strategic plans that review current metrics, evaluate and develop EHS programs, identify opportunities to reduce workplace injuries, address trends, mitigate risks, generate action plans for identified risks and professional development of our EHS professionals
Periodically conducting internal audits at all facilities • Encouraging employee engagement in safety committees
Requiring employees to review and acknowledge job hazard analyses
Providing monthly job-specific safety training to employees through the company’s learning management system

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By Liz Peters

A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) curtails the power of the EPA to address wetland protection and pollution, limiting its scope in control over water pollution through the Clean Water Act.

With the already tenuous state of clean water globally, what does it all mean? What are the implications, near and long-term?

At issue in Sackett v. EPA was whether the wetlands on the Sackett family’s property constituted “waters of the United States” and considered “protected wetlands” under the Clean Water Act, the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. The majority opinion found that protection under the Clean Water Act applies to wetlands with “continuous surface connection”–or a form of interconnectivity. With the decision, the vast majority of wetlands in the United States — more than 100 million acres — are no longer protected. Four of the justices disagreed with this reasoning, finding the new test overly narrow and that adjacent wetlands covered by the act should also include wetlands near to but not connected.

The May 25 decision restricts the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing new regulations, raising concerns about water quality and flood control impacts, with scores of wetlands no longer under the purview of the Clean Water Act.

This narrowed scope presents an opportunity for development on these land areas without being subject to the EPA’s regulation of the use of materials, chemicals or consideration of the immediate bodies of water. Earthjustice’s Director of Strategic Legal Advocacy Kirta Datla shared: “Why should you care? Wetlands are essential. They store water to prevent and mitigate floods, filter pollutants before they reach other bodies of water, support forestry, food and seafood production, and recreation, and more.”

All this can have a tremendous impact on the quality of the water we drink and public health at large, leaving a regulatory void.

Hear from experts in water safety and quality on the consequential ruling and the need for robust regulation:

Amy Cornelius, Founder, Sustainability Consultant, GreenBeams
Member of the IWBI Water Concept Advisory

“Water is precious and it is up to all of us to protect what we have for our health – not just people, but all the living things on the earth. Wetlands are key to protecting water. They not only store more carbon than rainforests. They also hold floodwater, minimizing erosion and storm damage, while trapping sediments and pollutants, cleansing the water as it is slowly released. Also, we all know that waters do not stop at state borders. Taking away the federal standard will result in a mishmash of protection as states go in different regulatory directions, which will lead to more pollution running downstream from newly deregulated wetlands and streams.”

Matt Howard, Vice President, Water Stewardship, The Water Council
Member of the IWBI Water Concept Advisory

“While the Supreme Court ruling is disappointing and seems to ignore the emerging science on how wetlands interconnect with other water bodies, this process raises a bigger question. That is, how much longer can we wait until comprehensive updates are made to the Clean Water Act? It’s been just over 30 years since its passage and watershed conditions, emerging contaminants, and the science of surface and groundwater connections have changed. Let’s use this setback to ignite broad-based improvements to our federal water laws. And while we’re at, develop a national water strategy to mitigate against these types of setbacks in the future.”

Rodolfo Perez, Ph.D., IWBI’s Senior Director, Standard Development, Water and Materials Concept Lead

“Nature repeatedly tells us that resources are interconnected. Wetlands act like buffers to hold stormwater and discharge water to surface streams and ground wells. Eventually, this water may make it to our taps. As wetland management undoubtedly impacts our water quality, effective water governance should strive to become as integrated as possible to be truly sustainable and to promote people’s health.

At IWBI, we know water is a critical resource for our health and well-being–and its preservation is compulsory to it remaining clean, fresh and accessible.”

View original content here.