Salesforce to reopen its office headquarters located in San Francisco this May

In a recent announcement, Salesforce, Inc., an American cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management services, has stated that it will reopen its San Francisco-based headquarters this May. However, the employees can still work remotely throughout 2021. Company president and Chief People Officer Brent Hyder have said that the company would decide how and when to reopen each location based on guidance from health officials and medical experts.

The company has also stated that it will open its offices in Palo Alto and Irvine, California, and more in the coming months. Regardless of whether a local office is reopened or not, the company will extend the option to all its employees to continue working from home till December 31, 2021. The company has planned a phased reopening stage; thereby, the offices will gradually reopen from 20 percent to 75 percent capacity, depending on the Covid data rating.

At this stage, the company will allow both vaccinated and non-vaccinated employees to work with them, and they will continue to follow safety protocols and provide testing when required. To date, 17 Salesforce offices are open globally and most of which are in the Asia Pacific.

 

Brand new PS5 IP being tested at PlayStation's London Studio

Sony Interactive Entertainment's London Studio has stated that it is hiring developers to work on a new intellectual property (IP) for PlayStation 5. This will be the first-ever indication that London Studio's PS5 project will have a new IP. London Studio is one of the long-running PlayStation first-party team which made SingStar series most famous during PlayStation 2 era. The studio has worked on various peripheral-based PlayStation games for both the EyeToy camera and, recently, PlayStation VR.

London Studio's last game, Blood & Truth, became the first VR to reach number one position on the UK physical software charts after its release in 2019. Now, London Studio is working on an exclusive PS5 game with a multiplayer component based on recent reports. London Studio's website indicated that its unannounced PS5 game would be a new IP.  It is said that Leading VFX Artists and Technical Artists are working for a "brand new, next-gen IP."

It is still a mystery what London Studio is working on, but reports suggest that they are working on an unnamed sequel to the PlayStation VR headset, which will launch sometime after 2021. Regardless of when the game launches, PlayStation has announced that a PSVR successor is in the works, and it will unveil new controllers and six new games coming to the current iteration of PSVR this year.

 

CDC Committee Agrees to Extend ‘Pause’ on J&J Vaccine Rollout for Further Review

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has extended Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine pause and has decided to review it further after federal officials recommended a pause in the rollout. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met one day after the FDA and CDC recommended the pause over concern of six instances of a rare, severe blood clot in over 6.8 million vaccine recipients.

Many members at CDC felt there was insufficient data to make an evidence-based decision about the vaccine. The committee has decided to collect further background information about cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) with low platelet count, specific risk factors, ability to compare thrombotic cases post-vaccination between AstraZeneca and J&J vaccines, and the true incidence of cases specific to J&J vaccine recipients.

The committee members have stated that the extended pause did not indicate increased concern but instead an attempt to better characterizes the risk. The instances have been described as "extremely rare" by the FDA. The committee said that by Friday, it would determine when to meet next and discuss the data.

 

Grant Thornton’s public sector business wins $350-million consulting contract from TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has awarded Grant Thornton's public sector business with a $350 million blanket purchasing agreement (BPA) for program analysis and strategic support services. The five-year, single-award BPA has a ceiling of $350 million, and it aims to deliver integrated consulting and business program support services to the various security agency. Grant Thornton is an American member firm of Grant Thornton International, the seventh-largest accounting network in the world.

Grant Thornton has stated that it will help the TSA identify and gain technological capabilities to boost the agency's operational effectiveness. The consulting firm will provide an office-wide strategic initiative design that supports various areas such as risk mitigation, R&D, technology assessment, technical reviews, and risk analysis and management. Reports state that the TSA has approximately 47,000 employees and a $7.68 billion budget as of the fiscal year 2020.

Grant Thornton Public Sector utilizes a global networking platform to bring robust and innovative solutions and support the government's mission-critical needs. This experience will help the firm gain new insights and entrepreneurial culture that empowers its employees to deliver better outcomes for their clients' organizations and enterprises. The company states that it will further improve its services and help the public sector address various challenges in acquisition, human capital, data analytics, and performance management.

 

 

SkyChain collaborates with Synergy Global Announce to Create a VFX Rendering Company

SkyChain Technologies Inc., a Vancouver based company, providing Blockchain Infrastructure services and power solutions, in a recent announcement has stated that it has entered into an agreement with Synergy Global Consulting Corp. to establish a joint venture company that provides premier visual effects (VFX) and renders services to the film and entertainment industry. The company also aims to become a full IAAS (Infrastructure as a Service) provider in 2021.

Under the terms of the agreement, the total $800,000 investment will be in the joint venture company's equity stake. The $800,000 investment will comprise $400,000 from SkyChain and another $400,000 from an investment company. SkyTrain will have the right to appoint three out of six members of the joint venture's board. It is said that the long-term investment in the next project phase will be approximately over 1.5 million Canadian dollars.

SkyChain and Synergy will sign a final agreement by the end of April 2021 and are projecting to have the business up and running for service by August 20th, 2021. The company's primary vision is to become a leading player in crypto/data mining hosting by growing to 100Mw of crypto hosting capacity and providing the best in-house VFX services.