Work begins on Bradley Avenue
London Watch
After decades, the city has overcome the final obstacle to extending Bradley Avenue. CTV London's Sean Irvine reports.
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National Post
an hour ago
- National Post
NetApp Report Highlights Fierce Competition in Global AI Leadership
Article content SAN JOSE, Calif. — NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the intelligent data infrastructure company, today released its new report, The AI Space Race, examining which countries are leading the fierce global competition to become the world leader in AI innovation. While some countries are further ahead than others, this survey of CEOs and IT executives in the U.S., China, the U.K., and India found that every player has the potential to thrive in the global race for AI dominance. Article content AI is no longer optional for business, and the region that leads the world in AI innovation will be well-positioned to be a technological superpower, and drive potential benefits like economic growth, improved quality of life, and global political influence in the years to come. Successfully fueling AI innovation requires organizations to prepare their data to make it accessible, secure, and scalable—wherever it lives—to produce trusted and valuable outcomes. Article content 'In the 'Space Race' of the 1960's, world powers rushed to accelerate scientific innovation for the sake of national pride. The outcomes of the 'AI Space Race' will shape the world for decades to come,' said Gabie Boko, CMO at NetApp. 'The companies and regions that can get their data ready for AI will be able to generate differentiating business insights and unlock operational efficiencies that launch them ahead of their rivals. Intelligent, scalable, secure data infrastructure is a decisive factor as the global competition drives businesses to solidify their AI ambitions and understand how they translate into a true, lasting advantage.' The AI Space Race is Still Anyone's Game Article content When asked what region is best positioned to lead AI innovation in the long term, respondents from every country overwhelmingly pointed to the U.S. (43 percent). Article content However, everyone sees themselves as AI ready, and every region views themselves as competitive in the global AI innovation race. The report shows that 81 percent of global respondents are currently piloting or scaling AI, while 88 percent view their organization as mostly or completely ready to sustain AI transformation. The massive investment in AI innovation around the globe shows that everyone is working to become the world leader in AI innovation. However, some countries are working harder than others, with respondents from India (29%) and UK (32%) reporting that they feel extra pressure to compete as China and US are seen as clear leaders. With all this fierce rivalry and active investment, the field is wide open for any country to achieve that goal. Article content Driving the global differences in the state of AI innovation are diverging priorities in how it is implemented. Respondents in China put a much greater focus on scalability with 35 percent ranking it as a top capability—11 percent higher than the global average—suggesting a focus on rapid deployment to make an early impact. By contrast, leaders in the U.S., U.K., and India put a greater emphasis on integration with existing systems. This long-term strategy to enable sustained AI growth may result in greater business value in the future, though the short-term approach may drive more immediate results. Article content While organizations are focused on turbocharging AI innovation, CEOs and IT leaders need to be aligned on the state of their technology environments and plans to drive long term success and leadership. Article content In China, the survey indicates there is a critical misalignment between Chinese CEOs and IT leaders on both AI readiness and actual deployment, which could hinder its long-term leadership potential: 92 percent of Chinese CEOs report active AI projects, compared to just 74 percent of Chinese IT leaders. In the United States, alignment is stronger—77 percent of CEOs and 86 percent of IT leaders say the same. Perceptions of AI readiness are also misaligned. While 68 percent of Chinese CEOs consider their organizations AI-ready (versus 62 percent globally), only 58 percent of their IT counterparts agree (versus 72 percent globally). In the United States, CEO and IT readiness is more closely aligned at 60 percent and 61 percent, respectively. These differences suggest that internal alignment—not just ambition—may shape how AI strategies are executed, depending on region and role. Article content However, concerns about the quality of results from AI projects have the potential to slow down innovation if they are not addressed. Globally, 79 percent of respondents reported a fear of broken models and biased insights resulting from poor data and cloud strategies. Businesses that want to tap into the opportunity of AI innovation will need strong data governance strategies to serve as the foundation for their digital transformation. Article content 'One of the most significant success factors in the AI Space Race will be data infrastructure and data management, supported by cloud solutions that are agile, secure and scalable,' said Russell Fishman, Senior Director, Product Management at NetApp. 'Winning organizations will be those that recognize that they require an intelligent data infrastructure in place to ensure unfettered AI innovation. This is critical no matter the company size, industry or geography. As organizations around the world embrace AI at scale, NetApp is there to help them extract maximum value from their data by creating an AI ready data infrastructure that unifies, manages and harnesses their data for optimal AI outcomes.' Article content The AI Space Race is just getting started, but the organizations that can move the fastest will lead in AI innovation. The fierce competition highlighted by this report shows that businesses need to find an edge that will help them leverage AI securely and efficiently to stay a step ahead of their peers, no matter how fast the race evolves. Adopting an intelligent data infrastructure offers organizations unparalleled flexibility and agility to move into the cloud when needed, scale AI workloads seamlessly, reduce costs, and quickly adapt to evolving business needs. As AI increasingly moves from generating content to taking action, businesses need security that starts with the data itself. Only an intelligent data infrastructure delivers a full chain of trust, empowering enterprises to move fast, without compromising control. Article content To learn more, read the report brief and the infographic: Article content Join NetApp and Steve McDowell of NAND Research for a LinkedIn Live event on Wednesday, June 25 at 11am ET: Methodology NetApp partnered with Wakefield Research to conduct a quantitative research study during May 2025, among 400 IT Executives and 400 CEOs in 4 countries (US, China, UK and India). Article content Additional Resources Article content About NetApp Article content NetApp is the intelligent data infrastructure company, combining unified data storage, integrated data, operational and workload services to turn a world of disruption into opportunity for every customer. NetApp creates silo-free infrastructure, harnessing observability and AI to enable the industry's best data management. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in the world's biggest clouds, our data storage delivers seamless flexibility. In addition, our data services create a data advantage through superior cyber resilience, governance, and application agility. Our operational and workload services provide continuous optimization of performance and efficiency for infrastructure and workloads through observability and AI. No matter the data type, workload, or environment, with NetApp you can transform your data infrastructure to realize your business possibilities. Learn more at or follow us on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contact: Article content Article content Kenya Hayes Article content Article content NetApp Article content Article content Investor Contact: Article content Article content Kris Newton Article content Article content
CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
Residential tower at Richmond and Oxford gets green light, council also paves way for parking lots into housing
743 Richmond St., seen on June 24, 2025, is slated for development into a residential tower. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London) A pair of endorsements by London City Council Tuesday are expected to attract much needed housing to the downtown area. Councillors have given the green light to a residential tower at the northern edge of Richmond Row. The property is situated at 743 Richmond St., the southwest corner of Oxford and Richmond streets. 'They actually have a lot of experience dealing with incredibly tight spaces and small footprints, and being able to turn those into transformative developments,' said Mayor Josh Morgan of Toronto-based developer Fritzrovia Real Estate. The company plans to build at 35-storey mixed use tower at the site, an intersection notorious for heavy traffic, acknowledged Planning and Environment Committee Chair and Councillor Steve Lehman. proposed building at 743 Richmond Artist renderings of proposed building at 743 Richmond St. (Source: Fritzrovia Real Estate) 'And I know there's going to be traffic disruption, there has to be. But as much as possible, to keep it in that alleyway, and at the side, away from shutting down lanes of traffic there,' he said. The plan includes 512 apartments geared to students and other would-be downtown dwellers. The building will also have two floors of commercial space. 'It's bringing in a lot of density and intensification into the downtown. So that's one thing that we're always trying to do,' said Ward 13 Coun. David Ferriera, in whose ward the building will be located. 'Also, it is right at the main north entrance to downtown, which is very significant,' he commented. proposed building at 743 Richmond Artist renderings of proposed building at 743 Richmond St. (Source: Fritzrovia Real Estate) Initial plans allowed for only 77 parking spaces at the building. Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis says that's a work in progress. 'They do have a plan that could add a fairly significant number of parking spaces, underground spots, but it will require a little bit of negotiation with the city,' Lewis explained. Demolition of the existing building at the site, home to a former retailer, is expected to begin later this year. Meanwhile, residential development could also be coming to the opposite end of downtown. Municipal parking London Municipal parking lots at Horton and Ridout streets. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London) City Council has paved the way for a pair of municipally owned parking lots at Ridout and Horton streets to be developed into housing. The city will go ahead with a Request for Proposals later this year. But according to Mayor Morgan, a number of submissions have already been received, ranging between 450 and 600 units. 'This is kind of the southern end of what is a grassroots movement called The River District, where private sector, business owners, have come together to say, 'We really want to brand this area that is a dynamic way, and get people excited about it.' So, there could be a development here that plays into that. There's a lot of potential for it,' said Morgan. The former brownfield sites are being offered to developers in 'as-is' condition.
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Oxford Economics Acquires Alpine Macro, Montreal-based Global Investment Research Firm
LONDON and MONTREAL, June 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oxford Economics, the leading independent global forecasting and economics consultancy, has acquired a majority stake in Alpine Macro, a prominent global investment research firm based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2017, Alpine Macro provides forward-looking financial market forecasts and investment strategy to institutional clients across more than 60 countries. The firm is widely recognized for its provocative financial market insights, bold investment ideas, and out-of-consensus forecasts. 'The acquisition brings together Oxford Economics' world class macroeconomic analysis with Alpine Macro's deep financial market expertise, allowing us to deliver even more comprehensive and well-rounded advice, not only to our existing clients but also to a broader spectrum of asset managers, hedge funds, investment banks, and pension funds,' said Adrian Cooper, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Economics. 'This strategic acquisition will accelerate Oxford Economics' global expansion and strengthen our service offering. It builds on our proven track record of robust global modelling, extensive country and industry knowledge, and accurate economic forecasting,' Cooper added. 'I am thrilled that Alpine Macro is joining forces with Oxford Economics, a firm renowned for its high-quality macroeconomic and market research,' said Arun Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Alpine Macro. 'This transaction will enable us to dramatically deepen our research capabilities, enrich our client experience and deliver cutting-edge research via an AI enabled platform. Together we become the largest, most comprehensive privately held independent research firm in the world,' added Kumar. 'Oxford Economics sets the gold standard in global macroeconomic research, and Alpine Macro has always aspired to become the gold standard in top-down investment strategy,' said Chen Zhao, Chief Global Strategist and founder of Alpine Macro. 'Tapping into Oxford Economics' depth, breadth, and analytical rigor in macro research, Alpine Macro will achieve that goal sooner.' Blake, Cassels & Graydon provided legal counsel to Oxford Economics. Raymond James served as exclusive financial advisor and Fasken Martineau DuMoulin provided legal counsel to Alpine Macro. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Oxford Economics: Founded in 1981 as a commercial initiative with Oxford University's business college, Oxford Economics began by providing economic forecasting and modelling services to UK companies and financial institutions expanding internationally. Today, we are one of the world's leading independent global advisory firms, delivering high-quality forecasts, reports, and analytical tools covering over 200 countries, 100 industries, and 7,000 cities and regions. Our best-in-class economic and industry models give us a unique ability to anticipate market trends and evaluate their economic, social, and business impacts.
