Latest news with #Ethics
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Ahsan vows to deepen cooperation with World Bank
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment to deepening cooperation with the World Bank in pursuit of a resilient, inclusive, and future-ready Pakistan. He was talking to the newly appointed Country Director of the World Bank Bolorma Amgaabazar, who called on him in Islamabad on Wednesday. The outgoing Country Director, Najy Benhassine, also participated in the meeting. Welcoming Amgaa-bazar, Minister Ahsan Iqbal appreciated the World Bank's continued partnership and acknowledged Benhass-ine's instrumental role in deepening development cooperation during his tenure. He expressed confidence that this positive trajectory will continue under Amgaabazar's leadership, especially under the evolving priorities set forth in Pakistan's long-term development road-map. Minister Iqbal emphasised that the government has launched the URAAN Pakistan initiative — a comprehensive and future-oriented development framework designed to position Pakistan as a $3 trillion economy by 2047. He noted that the initiative is rooted in five strategic pillars, known as the 5Es: Exports, E-Pakistan, Environment and Climate Resilience, Energy and Infrastructure, and Equity, Ethics and Empowerment. The initiative is focused on smart governance, inclusive growth, and public sector transformation. 'In today's fast-changing global context, planning must be intelligent and adaptive,' said the Minister. 'URAAN Pakistan is about creating hope, harnessing innovation, and enabling long-term stability through scenario-based planning and institutional reform.' Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Washington Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Trump's Middle East trip coincides with a big week for Turkey's Erdogan
You're reading an excerpt from the WorldView newsletter. Sign up to get the rest, including news from around the globe and interesting ideas and opinions to know, sent to your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. President Donald Trump is the center of attention this week in the Middle East. On the first major tour of his second term, Trump was feted Tuesday in the royal court in Riyadh where he presided over the inking of a slate of potentially lucrative business deals with the oil-rich monarchy. The investment extravaganza — which, because of its many links to Trump's family enterprises and personal connections, has raised profound ethical concerns — will proceed to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, where more deals are in the offing.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
SAS debuts new, custom AI models to bust business bottlenecks
SAS INNOVATE , ORLANDO, In the latest wave of its $1 billion investment in industry solutions, data and AI leader SAS has debuted a new selection of AI models. Each model addresses a specific labor- and time intensive process that can drag business down. SAS' packaged models come either ready-to-go or intended to tailor and accelerate model training on customer data. All can quickly and easily integrate with the existing systems of organizations of all sizes. Inspired by guidelines from SAS' Data Ethics Practice, customers can rely on SAS' simple documentation to create models that deliver results that are easy to understand and explain. Users are equipped to take back their time and enjoy boosted productivity and return on investment, all while adhering to the highest standards of responsible innovation. The models, available now, include: • Cross-Industry: o AI-Driven Entity Resolution. o Document Analysis. • Health Care: o Medication Adherence Risk. • Manufacturing: o Strategic Supply Chain Optimization. • Public Sector: o Payment Integrity for Food Assistance. o Tax Compliance for Sales Tax. 'SAS Models are based on SAS' core assets, talent and intellectual property from its wealth of experience working with customers to solve industry problems,' said Kathy Lange, Research Director at IDC. 'Between their scalability and seamless integration with existing environments, SAS Models are a great option for those looking to accelerate time to production who might lack the expertise or time to build models from scratch.' A model portfolio on a roll and an agentic sneak preview As SAS continues to lead the future of AI for business , new models will be launched per evolving customer and market demand. Fresh offerings coming in 2025 will include: • Banking: o Fraud Decisioning for Payments and Card Models. • Health Care: o Payment Integrity for Health Care. • Manufacturing: o Worker Safety Monitoring. • Public Sector: o Tax Compliance for Individual Income Tax. As SAS redefines what's possible with pre-built AI innovation, the next chapter includes agentic counterparts to SAS' models, bringing even more autonomy to industry-specific offerings. It can take weeks or months for data scientists to create and fine-tune data lakes: essential repositories that can store, then crunch large amounts of raw customer data in its original format, then restructure and transform it to make it ready for models to use. SAS' answer to this issue: a pre-built AI agent that will automate complex data preparation tasks, helping models run in real time, with no manual data restructuring required. 'We believe the future of AI lies in agents that are not only intelligent but also responsible, ready-to-use and relevant,' said Udo Sglavo, VP of Applied AI and Modeling, R&D at SAS. 'Our new industry-specific models, built on decades of domain expertise and guided by our ethics-first approach, represent a bold step toward agentic AI: solutions that think with context, act with purpose and deliver real-world impact.' Today's announcement was made at SAS Innovate, the data and AI experience for business leaders, technical users and SAS Partners. This year's event is supported by our partner sponsors, including Microsoft, Intel and AWS.
Business Wire
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
LRN Research Exposes Gaps in Ethical Culture, Enforcement, and Risk Management
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- LRN Corporation, a leader in ethics and compliance (E&C) solutions, has released its 2025 Global Study on Ethics & Compliance Program Maturity, providing one of the most comprehensive views on the state of corporate compliance programs worldwide. As the global regulatory environment grows more complex, the study finds E&C programs remain uneven in their maturity and reveals significant shortfalls in areas critical to long-term success, including cultural measurement, manager accountability, and enforcement consistency. The data from our latest study shows progress, but also offers a call to action for organizations to do more to embed ethical behavior into day-to-day decision-making, especially at the middle management level. 'As organizations face increasing scrutiny, rising complexity, and fast-evolving risks, the strength and sophistication of a company's E&C program becomes a true differentiator,' said Kevin Michielsen, CEO of LRN Corporation. 'The data from our latest study shows progress, but also offers a call to action for organizations to do more to embed ethical behavior into day-to-day decision-making, especially at the middle management level.' Drawing on insights from global benchmarking and survey data using LRN's proprietary Program Maturity Assessment (PMA), the report evaluates the maturity of E&C programs across six core dimensions: Culture, Written Standards, Enforcement & Incentives, Risk Assessment, Training & Communication, and Resources & Board Oversight. The study reveals that while organizations are updating codes of conduct and expanding board-level oversight, deep gaps remain in middle management engagement, culture-building, enforcement, and risk assessment. Key Findings: Cultural Alignment Underdeveloped: Although 76% of companies conduct annual ethics or culture assessments, only 31% evaluate ethical behavior in performance reviews. Just 15% report having a strong 'tone in the middle,' with manager training and accountability notably under-resourced, including 20% offering no manager-specific training at all. This lack of investment risks reducing corporate values to empty rhetoric, rather than lived practice. Codes of Conduct Frequently Updated, Not Fully Embedded: 71% of organizations revise their Code of Conduct at least every three years, with 45% doing so annually, up from 11% a decade ago. However, many still struggle to integrate these standards into real-world decisions and ensure they're seen as relevant, actionable, and accessible to employees across functions and geographies. Training and Impact Measurement Gaps Persist: Only 44% of organizations assess training comprehension, and just 37% track misconduct trends after training. Many programs focus on completion rates rather than outcome-based metrics, limiting their ability to demonstrate true effectiveness. Investigations Remain Manual and Fragmented: Over 35% of organizations still use spreadsheets to track misconduct cases, and fewer than 30% use cross-functional investigation teams, raising serious concerns about data integrity, auditability, and consistency. Risk Assessment Practices Lack Depth: Only 19% of organizations include talent management risks in their compliance risk assessments, and fewer than one-third evaluate reputational or ethical misconduct risk comprehensively. 'Organizations that embed ethics into how they lead, manage, and reward people are positioning themselves for long-term resilience and trust,' said Ty Francis, MBE, Chief Advisory Officer at LRN Corporation. 'Organizations may have the right policies on paper, but without investment in middle management, integrated systems, and accountability structures, they will struggle to translate principles into practice.' The 2025 Global Study on E&C Program Maturity offers a clear roadmap for building resilient, values-driven organizations based on insights from a diverse, global pool of compliance professionals. Organizations must reinforce manager accountability to ensure that ethical values are consistently modeled and upheld at every level. They should modernize investigations by adopting integrated tools, enhancing speed, transparency, and credibility, and closing the measurement gap by rigorously evaluating organizational culture, training effectiveness, and ethics-based decision-making. To download the full 2025 Global Study on Ethics & Compliance Program Maturity, visit here. The 2025 Global Study on Ethics & Compliance Program Maturity is the latest installment in LRN's decade-long research series of surveys and analyses that track data points from organizations across the world. This research complements other LRN ongoing studies, including the Ethics & Compliance Program Effectiveness Report, the Benchmark of Ethical Culture Report, and Code of Conduct Report. Combined, LRN industry research provides unparalleled insights into best practices, benchmarks, and innovative strategies shaping the future of compliance programs. About LRN Corporation LRN is the world's largest dedicated ethics and compliance company, educating and helping more than 30 million people each year worldwide navigate complex legal and regulatory environments and foster ethical cultures. As one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Companies, LRN's growth and impact underscore our commitment to excellence and innovation in the advancement of ethical business practices. Our combination of practical analytics and software solutions, education, and strategic advisement helps companies translate their values into concrete practices and leadership behaviors that create sustainable, competitive advantage. LRN is the trusted long-term partner to more than 2700 organizations, including some of the most respected and successful businesses in the world.
Zawya
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Zawya
Mahama unveils landmark Code of Conduct for appointees
President John Dramani Mahama has launched a comprehensive Code of Conduct and Ethics for all political appointees, marking a significant step toward enhanced transparency, accountability, and ethical governance. The unveiling fulfils a key promise made during the 2024 general election as part of the President's 120-day Social Contract with the Ghanaian people. The Code of Conduct applies to executive branch officials, including the President, Vice President, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, and Presidential Staffers. 'This Code represents a bold declaration of the standards we must uphold as servants of the public,' President Mahama stated during the launch ceremony at the Presidency. 'It is a living and enforceable framework that outlines what is expected of every individual appointed under this administration. This is a government of shared responsibility, and there will be no sacred cows.' The Code of Conduct is based on core principles intended to promote a new political culture grounded in transparency, humility, and ethical leadership. Key provisions include requirements that all political appointees: Serve the public with integrity and impartiality Place the national interest above personal interests Avoid misuse of office or state resources Declare and manage any potential conflicts of interest Eschew opulence and be accountable for the use of public funds Demonstrate humility in service, measured language, and respect for citizens The Code of Conduct establishes stringent guidelines to prevent and manage conflicts of interest, mandating disclosure of any situation where personal interests may conflict with official duties. Specific prohibitions include holding stakes in companies that deal with the Government or relevant ministries, using insider knowledge for personal benefit, and awarding contracts to connected entities. To maintain impartiality and prevent undue influence, the Code prohibits appointees from accepting gifts or favours, particularly from individuals or companies with interests in governmental decisions. Gifts received during official engagements exceeding GH¢20,000.00 must be declared and surrendered upon leaving office unless otherwise permitted by the President. Purchasing and distributing hampers using government funds is generally prohibited, with limited exceptions for modest staff recognition. All official and unofficial international travel undertaken by Ministers requires the prior approval of the Chief of Staff's office. A report and retirement of impressed funds are due within 14 days of return. President Mahama emphasised the importance of asset declaration, noting that appointees who failed to meet the March 31, 2025, deadline will forfeit three months of salary to the Ghana Medical Trust Fund (Mahama Cares). Additionally, non-compliant appointees will be required to donate an additional one month's salary, for a total donation of four months' salary, to the Mahama Cares Trust Fund. 'However, if by the close of Wednesday, 7th of May 2025, any of you still fail to declare your assets, count yourself as automatically dismissed.' 'Strict compliance with this code will restore confidence in the political elite and help to consolidate our democracy,' President Mahama concluded. 'Let us walk this path together with discipline, humility, and an unyielding commitment to the people of Ghana.' Demonstrating his commitment to the principles outlined in the Code, President Mahama, represented by Presidential Spokesperson and Minister of State for Government Communications Felix Kwakye Ofosu, presented two vehicles donated by a car company to Chief of Staff Julius Debrah, to be added to the Government vehicle pool. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.
