In a significant development, France and Germany have thrown their weight behind plans to create a cloud computing ecosystem aimed at reducing Europe’s dependence on established tech giants including Google, Microsoft and Amazon. The project, dubbed Gaia-X, aims to establish common standards for storing and processing data on servers that are sited locally and comply…

On Friday, the government of Singapore stated, it plans on soon launching a wearable device which will enable the contact tracing for the coronavirus which emerged in Wuhan, China. On successful testing, it will distribute it to all of 5.7 million residents. Like India’s Aarogya Setu app, Singapore has also developed a smartphone app to…

On Thursday, Australian graphite explorer EcoGraf Ltd stated, it has signed an agreement with German industrial conglomerate Thyssenkrupp AG for the supply of graphite products that are used in making batteries. EcoGraf’s supply agreement is with Thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH, a unit of Thyssenkrupp AG. In a statement EcoGraf said, Thyssenkrupp Materials Trading GmbH would…

In a development that marks a turning of the tide, two of Canada’s largest telecoms companies have opted to team up with Ericsson and Nokia Oyj to build their 5G telecoms networks and ditching Huawei Technologies for the project. Telus Corp and Bell Canada have eschewed Huawei. According to analysts, the development will help the…

On Wednesday, Michele Bullock, the Assistant Governor of Australia’s central bank stated, the central bank is weighing its option of using its regulatory powers to slash the cost of electronic payments for merchants and consumers. The development comes in the wake of consumers becoming wary of using cash in these times of the coronavirus pandemic.…

On Wednesday, WhatsApp, Facebook’s messaging platform, and PayPal Holdings Inc said, they have invested in ride-hailing, payment, and food delivery app operator Gojek, in the Indonesian firm’s latest funding round. Although WhatsApp and PayPal did not disclose the size of the investment nor their stakeholdings, according to a Gojek investor, WhatsApp’s investment was “meaningful”. In…

On Wednesday, in a statement Facebook Inc said, it has signed a global licensing deal with one of India’s biggest music labels. The deal allows consumers to select songs from Saragama’s gigantic catalogue of Bollywood music for their Facebook and Instagram posts. With the news of the deal reaching the market, Saregama India Ltd’s shares…

According to the results of a survey by Germany’s Ifo economic institute, German carmakers are optimistic about production and exports of vehicles in May. The development comes as a ray of hope in Germany’s economy which has been ravaged by the coronavirus which emerged in Wuhan, China. Germany’s index for export expectations rose to -9.8…

On Wednesday, Polestar, an electric vehicle maker owned by China’s Geely stated, it plans on opening 20 showrooms in the mainland, as it prepares for deliveries of its Polestar 2 electric sedan. Polestar aims to compete with Tesla Inc’s Model 3. Currently, Polestar has just 1 showroom in Beijing. It plans to have 20 of…

In a statement on Tuesday, France’s state-controlled power group EDF said, it has entered into a joint venture partnership with China Energy Investment Corporation (CEI) to develop offshore wind farms in China. EDF will take a 37.5% stake in the project company through its subsidiaries EDF Renewables and EDF China with CEI Group holding the…