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CZ gets four months in prison, Gary Gensler had Ether as security for at least 1one year, and the FBI targets crypto mixers.

Bitcoin market participants are doubting the staying power of the ongoing BTC price relief bounce.

The platform was utilized to launder funds acquired from various criminal activities, including computer hacking, ransomware attacks and drug trafficking.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF has seen its first day of net inflows, following over $17.5 billion in outflows since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.

Investments in the first quarter were influenced by innovation in areas like restaking, modularity, Bitcoin layer-2 solutions, and macroeconomic factors.

Bitcoin bulls welcome some BTC price relief while whales get busy accumulating nearly 50,000 BTC at the local lows.

In the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Process Mining, SAP Signavio has once again been recognized as a Leader in the market based on Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute.

Complimentary copy: 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Process Mining Platforms Download yours here

This is the second year in a row that SAP Signavio has been positioned as a Leader in the report. We believe that this positioning implies that SAP Signavio is a key driver for SAP’s growth and long-term strategy.

According to the Gartner Magic Quadrant research methodology, “Leaders execute well against their current vision and are well positioned for tomorrow.”

Our solutions solve today’s real and diverse customer use cases — operational excellence, compliance, automation, transformation, etc.– and recognizes that we have a compelling vision for a future in which process automation and process AI open up new opportunities for our customers and partners.

SAP Signavio continues to focus on ensuring the long-term success of all of our customers and partners.

Revenue NSW

In the Australian state of New South Wales, the tax collected by Revenue NSW accounts for more than 35% of finances, helping fund essential services, from healthcare to education and policing.

With a vision to be the world’s most innovative and customer-centric revenue agency, Revenue NSW set out with a very specific objective: it wanted to analyze cases in which clients had overpaid land tax to identify why these overpayments occur and what experience clients received when obtaining refunds. This analysis would not only help reduce overpayment volumes and improve the client experience, but also enable the agency to work more efficiently for its diverse stakeholders.

“As part of our Aspire 2032 strategy, our vision is to be the world’s most innovative and customer-centric revenue collection agency,” shared Jocelyn Yem, director of Strategy and Innovation at Revenue NSW.”‘Embrace Innovation’ is one of our strategic focus areas, where we can respond to our customers’ needs by embedding a culture of continuous improvement. SAP Signavio Process Intelligence has helped us achieve our first stage in this journey.”

“SAP Signavio Process Intelligence has painted a clear picture of why clients pay too much land tax and how we can process refunds smoothly, along with a detailed road map to help us put these insights into action,” confirmed Sabrina Bazouni, director of Land Tax at Revenue NSW.

Fujitsu Limited

Recognizing the wide-ranging effect of business process transformation solutions, Fujitsu Limited has embraced SAP Signavio solutions across its operations and portfolio.

At one of its manufacturing plants in Japan, Fujitsu used the SAP Signavio Process Intelligence solution to gather process execution data directly from the shop floor into the continuous improvement model the company had been using for many years. Integrating process data into the Kaizen discussions delivered never-before-seen insights, which helped the company further optimize its shop-floor processes and transform their Kaizen from traditional to digital, using process mining to generate data-driven insights.

This firsthand experience of the solutions has also allowed Fujitsu to enrich its customer offerings with new frameworks, insights, and tools that can help customers realign their organizations and make changes at speed.

Having seen the potential of SAP Signavio solutions, Fujitsu now plans to extend its use both internally and externally. One such planned initiative involves combining the concepts of the digital twin on an organization and the intelligent enterprise, using business process transformation solutions as the mechanism of change.

Download a complimentary copy of the report here.

Dee Houchen is global head of Market Impact for SAP Signavio.

Optimize and transform business processes fast and at scale Learn how

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms, Marc Kerremans, David Sugden, Nick Duffy, 29 April 2024 

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Tether’s USDT hegemony in the stablecoin market may shift as institutional investors chip into the crypto market.

Navigating disruption and uncertainty is always daunting, especially in economies and industries that evolve at different speeds. The influences of AI, post-globalization trends, regulatory changes, constrained capital, and other factors are impacting every region and industry, albeit at different rates and levels of severity.

By using any of a variety of SAP Preferred Success services when implementing and adopting SAP S/4HANA Cloud, customers can strategically and effectively handle each change. Their efforts include 44% improved user experiences, 40% faster incident resolution, 38% better enablement and upskilling, and 38% faster time to value from their technology investments, according to a Forrester Consulting analysis.

And now, with the latest offering for SAP Preferred Success, customers are going beyond navigating turbulence. They can also maximize opportunities, reduce risks, and understand how dynamic economic and market forces impact their long-term success.

Introducing SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium

The SAP Preferred Success service for RISE with SAP, premium can deliver more guidance and insight to help accelerate and optimize the value of the cloud ERP journey, in addition to the foundational services of SAP Preferred Success.

With personalized services designed to meet unique business needs proactively, customers can realize benefits, including:

• Improved productivity with access to SAP knowledge and best practices
• Accelerated ROI with tailored guidance and expert support to organize SAP solutions faster and more efficiently
• Fewer risks by following best practice recommendations that minimize system disruptions and help ensure smooth operations
• Better alignment by matching SAP solutions with organization goals, capitalizing on the features and innovations of every release
• Higher efficiency by consistently fine-tuning and providing personalized recommendations aligned with specific business value drivers

For customers such as Kyocera Document Solutions Australia (Kyocera), SAP Preferred Success helps create a solid foundation for modernizing business operations. “Using SAP Preferred Success enabled us to accelerate the business acceptance of change and drive a continuous improvement landscape. It has provided an avenue to reevaluate our processes and create a more efficient business,” states Rohan Higgins, chief financial officer of Kyocera Document Solutions.

As a result of the quality and caliber of the SAP expertise and active engagement, Kyocera has successfully moved 100% of its ERP processes to the cloud, leading to zero manual touchpoints across its forecasting processes. Other customers have realized additional benefits, such as more efficient business processes, smaller database sizes, infrastructure simplification, and reduction of cost centers.

A personalized, proactive partnership for the lifetime of your cloud solution Read more on SAP Preferred Success

SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium can provide additional elements for modernizing business operations, including:

• A dedicated, named enterprise adoption expert with a strong technical and functional background, who can provide expertise and help orchestrate how-to conversations supporting the build of outcome-focused plans
• Assistance and guidance based on recommended best practices to help increase the customer’s understanding of its business processes and how the solution is being used
• Ongoing innovation and transformation through continuous review of the customer’s calendar and plans – including the adoption of entitlements, such as business AI, sustainability, intelligent technologies exploration, and process management
• Clean core guidance and quality checks for each project phase to help ensure the customer can leverage existing and future innovations within RISE with SAP

With a dedicated focus on sustainability exploration, SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium helps ensure that businesses can embrace a more sustainable future while driving growth and success in the digital age. By leveraging the comprehensive suite of tools and resources provided by SAP and orchestrated by an enterprise adoption expert, organizations can navigate their sustainability initiatives with confidence and precision.

SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium also offers a unique avenue for harnessing the transformative power of AI with cloud ERP. Through a tailored approach, customers are guided by seasoned enterprise adoption experts facilitating a comprehensive exploration of business AI. Customers are then empowered to innovate, automate, and optimize their business processes using the cutting-edge AI capabilities seamlessly integrated into the SAP ecosystem.

Access to such a wealth of products, tools, and frameworks gives invaluable insights on configuring and customizing AI solutions to suit unique needs. By leveraging built-in AI capabilities from SAP, customers are not only equipped to streamline operations but also to drive innovation and achieve sustained growth in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Accelerating Competitive Outcomes from Cloud ERP

As businesses continue to compete in an ever-evolving landscape, the need for innovative solutions that drive growth and efficiency has never been more critical. And SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium is ready to help, offering the functional and technical guidance, personalized services, and ongoing support necessary to realize the full potential of the cloud.

As demonstrated by success stories worldwide, including that of Kyocera, SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium is helping customers not only adapt to change but also seize new opportunities for growth. This service is not just a solution; it’s a strategic partnership that can empower organizations to thrive in an ever-evolving world.

Ready to amplify the impact of your cloud ERP transformation? Visit us online or contact your local SAP representative to learn more about SAP Preferred Success for RISE with SAP, premium.

Mine Ecevit is cloud ERP lead for Cloudified Services Sales and Go to Market at SAP.

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Deribit exchange data reveals that the put-to-call ratio for Bitcoin options contracts is currently at 0.50, with a maximum pain point of $61,000.

This week’s 12% Bitcoin retreat was a “well-needed market cleansing,” said the former BitMEX boss.

Memes might be the “most simplistic connection” between financialization, tokenization and culture, says Kain Warwick.

Bitcoin’s price chart looks similar to when spot Bitcoin ETFs were launched in the United States — suggesting a breakout soon, though there are some differences this time around.

The Hong Kong Bitcoin ETF launch was in the top 20% of launches, and 77% of local crypto holders still plan to invest: Asia Express.

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts largely oppose CBDCs — but industry leaders including Consensys, Ripple and Stellar are throwing their weight behind them.

Deep fake nudes to be outlawed in UK and Australia, pick up artists fake big live stream audiences to meet women, plus more news: AI Eye.

At this year’s Hannover Messe trade fair, SAP and its partners showed how they are embedding artificial intelligence (AI) in their products to help companies achieve new levels of excellence in manufacturing and other industries.

The glass bottles on the high-speed filling line made quiet clinking sounds as they sped around the bend of the track. The visitors to the SAP booth at the internationally renowned industrial trade fair were waiting for the moment when an optical sensor, using AI support, spotted the bottle that was only three-quarters full and kicked it out of the line and into a defects bay. “This system has a capacity of 6,400 bottles per hour,” said a grinning Ben Hughes from SAP’s Solution & Innovation Experience team. “In comparison, the original system from our partner Krones can fill 50,000 bottles, but that would be much too loud here at the trade fair booth.”

The showcase demonstrated how the cloud-based SAP Digital Manufacturing solution could serve as the process order management system for SAP customers, whether they typically work with a lot size of one or with continuous manufacturing at higher speeds. The purchase order could have come from an SAP S/4HANA system, for instance, and ended here with execution in production. “We can see the hardware integration with our own eyes,” said Hughes.

AI was also involved: a camera captured the fill level of each bottle. If it was outside the defined tolerance, the bottle was rejected and this information was sent to the SAP system. A manufacturer could use this data to calculate the production costs for the system and the profitability of every work center, all with AI support. The data from all systems would give experts and management insights into how well the production process was working. This, in turn, would help improve planning.

HANNOVER MESSE 2024 – Bring Out New Manufacturing Excellence with SAP!

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Hannover Messe 2024 took place from April 22-26. Muhammad Alam paid a visit for the first time in his role as leader of the SAP Product Engineering Board area. At the SAP booth, which featured the motto “Bring out new manufacturing excellence,” he emphasized the importance of AI as an integral part of SAP solutions: “AI has the opportunity to fundamentally create significant value for our customers, particularly in the industrial space, with an ability to create resiliency from a supply chain perspective that just wouldn’t be possible without the application of AI.”

SAP demonstrated nearly its entire portfolio in an industrial context in Hannover. “SAP uses what we call ‘end-to-end scenarios’ to do this,” said Georg Kube, head of Industry Data Ecosystems. To reflect this, the booth was set up in line with this logic. The “design to operate” graphical element, which maps all steps of the manufacturing process, showed the corresponding step in the value chain at each station of the booth. “We integrate our solutions with the specific process that manufacturers have,” Kube said. “They design a product, then it’s manufactured, then it’s bought by a customer, and in the end it is being used and maintained. We offer integrated solutions for every step in this process.”

Working Together for Success

Darcy MacClaren, global CRO for Digital Supply Chain, acknowledged the challenges faced by SAP, its customers, and its partners: “We are facing environmental and geopolitical disruptions and we want to be sustainable.” She said collaboration is the key to achieving these daunting goals, a message that was echoed in many presentations and podium discussions at the booth.

Deliver individualized, sustainable, and smart equipment, products, and components Discover manufacturing solutions from SAP

For example, experts from BMW, Witte Automotive, and SAP discussed how the automotive industry network Catena-X is creating a standard that enables collaboration, data interchange, and transparency to support decarbonization along the value chain. Catena-X serves as a blueprint for other industrial networks under the Manufacturing-X umbrella, such as Factory-X for factory equipment suppliers and operators.

The showcases at the trade fair booth wouldn’t be possible without partners, which also play a decisive role in SAP’s competitiveness and future viability. “The partner ecosystem is a key success factor for SAP,” said Andreas Markus Thon, head of Digital Supply Chain MEE. “They are enriching our suite with their applications and solutions and are critical for high quality and successful adoption and use of our solutions.”

A Fleet of Robots Delivers Materials

SAP’s “Modular Manufacturing” showcase let visitors witness examples of successful partner collaboration for themselves. It demonstrated a fleet of autonomous transport robots that delivered a variety of parts for a valve from storage to assembly stations. Thanks to the fleet control software with embedded AI from SAP partner Kinexon, the robots from different manufacturers worked together seamlessly, making autonomous, situational decisions as to which station should assemble or disassemble the parts. The scenario demonstrated that SAP systems can also implement modular production, which is typically used in manufacturing scenarios involving many variants and low to medium product volumes. SAP S/4HANA, SAP Extended Warehouse Management, and SAP Digital Manufacturing were deployed here.

The “Industrial Metaverse” showcase was another big draw. It let visitors to the SAP booth put themselves in the shoes of a systems operator, using VR (virtual reality) glasses to inspect a system virtually, even if the manufacturing was taking place on the opposite side of the globe. The “Injection Molding Machine” scenario vividly demonstrated how planning and manufacturing dovetail in integrated, agile, made-to-order production, as the machine produced colorful recycled plastic cups for guests at the end of the process.

Other topics at the trade fair included potential uses of digital twin solutions, such as virtual models and real-time simulations, as well as collaboration between people and machines. A summary description of all the presented scenarios is available here.

The World’s Largest Industrial Trade Fair

The guiding theme of Hannover Messe 2024 was “Energizing a sustainable industry.” Nearly 4,000 exhibitors from 60 countries presented solutions for a high-performance, sustainable industry. As part of an industrial ecosystem, they showed how carbon neutrality can be achieved through electrification, digitalization, and automation.

Companies from Germany, China, Turkey, the U.S., Italy, and France booked the largest exhibition spaces. Around 1,600 speakers appeared on the venue’s 11 conference stages. This year’s partner country was Norway.

Under its motto “Bring out new manufacturing excellence,” SAP demonstrated how it is using AI to advance manufacturing processes, among other solutions, at its more than 1,000-square-meter booth in Hall 15. Visitors to SAP’s booth had the opportunity to see 27 product demonstrations and nine interactive showcases. More than 25 SAP partners showed the collaboration and variety of potential uses of their solutions, and 35 presentations by experts and customers were featured at the booth.

Photo ©nottebrock.

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Last week the UN Plastics Treaty reached its final stages of negotiations at INC-4 in Ottawa, Canada, to develop a legally binding, international agreement to tackle plastic pollution across the entire plastics life cycle. The fifth and final round of negotiations is due to complete by the end of this year, where an agreement is expected to be formally ratified in 2025.

The treaty represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to unleash the potential of business to solve the plastic crisis. Its success is crucial. Production of new plastic is forecast to double by 2040 without new and effective action. Only 10% of plastic is currently recycled, and each year 19 to 23 million tons of plastic end up in our rivers, lakes, and seas. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions from plastics production, management, and disposal represent around 3.3% of global emissions. Exposure to plastics also has implications on human health, with plastic traces being found in our blood.

Fortunately, there is global consensus on the pressing need to end this ecological and environmental crisis, which is why 160 countries and hundreds of observer organizations are working together on this unique opportunity to end plastic pollution.

A Treaty Addressing the Entire Plastics Value Chain

The existing plastics ecosystem is heavily fragmented. Under current conditions, financial flows fund the creation of virgin polymers while a linear material flow continues bringing new plastics to market.

Centered on regulating production and consumption, the negotiations take every stage of the plastic value chain into account, from creation of the primary polymers to how plastic waste is managed. It covers product design for plastic reduction and recycling as well as extended producer responsibility to increase accountability among the most polluting entities while ensuring a just transition for affected communities.

Together we can enable a future with zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality Learn more

This is an ambitious project. It will involve redesigning products, making circularity possible through repair, reuse, and recycling, and making recycled polymers more economically viable than virgin plastics.

New jobs, markets, and business opportunities will be created by the treaty. Research and development into plastic alternatives will be accelerated to eliminate the health-harming pollutants from plastic that are released at every stage of plastic production. Additionally, it will require the evolution of waste management systems to deal with the legacy of plastic waste.

SAP Endorses the Business Coalition

The Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, convened by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and WWF, assembles businesses and financial institutions committed to supporting the development of an ambitious, effective, and legally binding UN treaty to end plastic pollution.

“To end plastic pollution, we require both ambitious government policy and accelerated business action. The global plastics treaty offers a once-in-a-generation opportunity to put in place the right legally binding rules, measures, and incentives to tackle this global problem,” says Rob Opsomer, executive lead, Plastics and Finance, Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

With over 200 members, including SAP, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty is calling for global business rules underpinned by harmonized regulations to tackle the full life cycle of plastic products. This will level the global playing field, making it easier for businesses and investors to scale both upstream and downstream solutions, mobilize the right investments, and support new innovations. 

“For decades, SAP software has been instrumental in enabling our customers to manage material flows, including plastics,” says Natasha Pergl, global sustainability lead, SAP Consumer Products. “We understand first-hand the challenges our customers face in managing the complex and fragmented web of regulations in place today that make it difficult to understand current material flows and align upstream efforts with downstream solutions.”

SAP Calls for Harmonization

Achieving systemic change will require collaboration and joint innovation, which depends on effective, well-functioning communication. Software and network technology are central to bridging the information gap and operationalizing an inclusive plastics ecosystem. The treaty must lay the foundations for harmonized regulations and simplified information flow as well as accelerate the implementation of global rules.

To achieve this, four essential elements need to be in place:

• Common definitions for plastics and packaging to ensure mutual understanding and interoperability: This applies to the categorization of various plastic polymers, how products are structured and denominated, and how they are packaged and sold.
• Harmonization across the plastics life cycle, covering criteria for product design, extended producer responsibility schemes, and assessment for recyclability: This will support businesses to design for circularity and recyclability, ensure that strategic decisions are guided by the capabilities of existing downstream infrastructure, and highlight where new capital investments are needed.
• Harmonized national disclosure schemes to ensure uniformity, comparability, and information transparency: This is essential for giving investors and regulators a base of information for policy steering and decision-making. It will also allow business to harness the full potential of AI-driven innovation to accelerate solutions at scale.
• Recognition of the role of digital tools for traceability: Improved data and the application of digital tracking will enable true progress.

“The treaty goals are ambitious, but with an agreement that focuses on global rules covering product design and material fate, extended producer responsibility schemes, and chemicals of concern, we can unleash the power of global business to deliver the solutions necessary. Importantly, SAP is ready with the processes and systems to help businesses quickly grasp the opportunity and scale impact to end plastic pollution,” says Stephen Jamieson, global head of Circular Economy Solutions, SAP.

Software solutions, such as SAP Responsible Design and Production and SAP Green Token, already allow companies to monitor, measure, and act to facilitate the design of products for a more sustainable and circular economy. But a more effective information flow for better collaboration and innovation is required to achieve systemic change.

The Role of AI

An obvious benefit of agreed common terminology and harmonization of criteria and disclosure rules is that it can open the door for businesses to leverage AI. Some envisaged applications in the production process include reducing virgin polymers and boosting material and supply chain efficiency. Downstream uses such as waste sorting, material recovery, quality control, identifying waste flow trends, and predictive analytics would also be made possible.

A Bold Approach

Discussions in Ottawa were productive and focused on decreasing and restricting plastic production. During the talks, Rwanda and Peru submitted a motion to reduce the production of primary plastic polymers worldwide by 40% by 2040, from a 2025 baseline. Their vision is for this to be legally binding, much like the Paris Agreement to limit global warming.

Robust data clarity and systems for sharing information are crucial for enabling businesses in the implementation of such a treaty. Only by connecting data points throughout the supply chain and across jurisdictions can material flows and emission sources be fully understood.

Work will continue towards INC-5 in Busan, South Korea, in November, where the final text will be agreed prior to being ratified in 2025.

For more information:

• Visit the SAP Sustainability page
• Watch this GreenBiz webinar recording

Heather Davies is a brand journalist.

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The Bitcoin halving is widely expected to have a positive impact on the price of the preeminent cryptocurrency, but analysts expect volatile price consolidation in the short term.

BTC price action spooks ETF investors, data shows, but there is reason to believe that Bitcoin is seeing a broadly healthy correction.