Latest news with #Kitemark
Mid East Info
29-05-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
UAE Space Agency sets global standard with third CIPS Ethics Kitemark award - Middle East Business News and Information
First space agency globally to achieve the prestigious ethical procurement certification The UAE Space Agency has been awarded the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS) Ethics Kitemark for the third consecutive year, maintaining its distinction as the world's first space agency to receive this international honour. The CIPS Ethics Kitemark is a globally respected standard that recognises organisations and individuals committed to upholding the highest principles of ethical behaviour and integrity in procurement and supply chain management. To be awarded the Kitemark, organisations must demonstrate that staff have completed annual ethics training and that CIPS' globally recognised code of ethics has been adopted and embedded into procurement policies and procedures. This certification reflects the UAE Space Agency's strategic commitment to transparency, good governance and global best practice as it continues to grow its role as a leader in space exploration and scientific innovation. By aligning procurement activities with international standards, the Agency is ensuring that its supplier partnerships are fair, accountable and sustainable, and that public trust is maintained in every aspect of its operations. Commenting on the achievement, Sam Achampong, Regional Director, CIPS MENA, said: 'Ethical procurement is the foundation of public trust and long-term organisational success. The UAE Space Agency's commitment to ethics, transparency, and professionalism sets a powerful example for both the public sector and the global space community. We are proud to recognise the Agency's leadership with the CIPS Ethics Kitemark for a third consecutive year.' The Ethics Kitemark also contributes to building internal capability, helping organisations identify and mitigate risk, prevent unethical conduct, and improve procurement outcomes. It is increasingly seen as a mark of assurance for stakeholders, partners, and international collaborators. In addition to its focus on ethical practice, the UAE Space Agency has invested in developing the skills and competencies of its procurement team. This includes professional development pathways such as the MCIPS (Member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply) qualification, a globally recognised standard of procurement excellence. Maha Al Mansoori, Director of the Support Services Department at the UAE Space Agency, said: 'As we pursue ambitious goals in science, technology and space exploration, we recognise that integrity must remain central to how we operate. Achieving the CIPS Ethics Kitemark for the third year running is not only a testament to our team's dedication, but also a reflection of our commitment to responsible procurement that aligns with the values of the UAE Government. We are proud to lead the way for ethical sourcing in the space sector globally.'
The Guardian
27-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘We have to protect people': Martin Lewis on his fight to stop money worries worsening mental health
'I'm not a case study', says the money expert and broadcaster Martin Lewis, politely but firmly batting away questions about his own mental health. 'I'm not being rude to you in any way. All I want to do is let people know that like many people, I have brittle mental health, and I have experienced my dark days, but I don't see the need to make that public.' Lewis's career has been built on talking fluently and precisely but when it comes to mental health issues perhaps actions speak louder than words. The 52-year-old, who became fabulously rich in 2012 when he sold his website for a reported £87m, founded his charity, the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, nine years ago. Of his motivation, he has spoken of his growing realisation of the 'marriage from hell' that is the combination of money problems and mental health issues. It is also known that Lewis lost his mother in a road accident two days before his 12th birthday. It made him reclusive as a teenager. On receiving his windfall from the website sale, Lewis put £9m into a fund for charitable giving. 'We have to protect people,' he says. 'We have to protect people who can't protect themselves, and we sometimes have to protect people from themselves within the mental health world.' Thanks to smart investments, the fund has enabled £12.5m in charitable donations so far, of which £4.7m has gone to the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, and it still has £8m in its coffers. Lewis's charity has chalked up some significant policy wins in its time, including changes to rules that forced lenders to send distressing letters to people in problem debt, and the introduction of a training module for all health professionals on the links between money and mental health problems. On Thursday it received a long-desired endorsement, a 'very, very powerful Kitemark', with the announcement that it will join a handful of consumer bodies with 'super complainant' status under the Enterprise Act. A similar status is expected in relation to the Financial Services and Markets Act, widening the scope for potential activism. It may sound technical and bureaucratic, but that is the world in which Lewis works so effectively. The status gives the charity the power to raise official complaints against regulators on behalf of a group of consumers, to which they and the government must respond. It is an opportunity to tackle systemic issues that Lewis will no doubt seize. He is a inveterate doer and explains his plans while catching up with his 25,000-a-day steps target in a walk around Westfield shopping centre in White City, west London, after filming for ITV's The Martin Lewis Money Show. 'I didn't quite make it last year – I did 24,700, average. So I need to sort myself out,' he says. A first target could be the insurance industry. The charity has a 'lived experience' group of 3,000 people who provide insights into the problems people with mental health issues are facing, and the disproportionate premiums being paid for travel policies is flashing red on the dashboard. The testimony seen by the charity suggests, he says, that someone with severe depression is being charged an average of three times more than someone with no medical conditions. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'This jumps to an average of 11 times more for some for someone with severe bipolar, with some people with this condition having to pay prices at 27 times more than a person with no medical conditions,' Lewis adds. 'The problem: is that justified?' It is an opportune moment for the charity, headed by its chief executive, Helen Undy, to join the top tier of consumer bodies. The Labour government has put economic growth at the top of its to-do list, and regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority (to the initial concern of its chief executive, Nikhil Rathi), have been told to establish it as an official objective. There is concern that the FCA's consumer duty, under which banks and other financial institutions must set higher and clearer standards of protection for customers, could be rolled back in the name of deregulation and red-tape slashing. 'Of course, I have concerns about the deregulation push,' Lewis says. 'That doesn't mean I'm necessarily opposed to it, as long as it is done sensibly … I think we have to be very careful about unintended consequences of a lack of consumer protection by pushing for growth while businesses go for short-term profit. 'There are many things that are done out there where actually businesses look at it in the short term [such as] threatening people to pay with debt letters. Hugely counterproductive. All it does is catastrophise people's finances, retrench them. They stop earning income, and you tend to collect less money. Signposting them to health [support] is better than threatening them.' Lewis is equally withering about the manner in which the government scrapped the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners who did not receive means-tested benefits, which he said seemed to have been intended to send a signal to the markets about Labour's credibility. 'A poor decision, a bad policy,' he says. 'If we are going to do this [go for growth], we need to do this cleverly, and there needs to be a little bit of listening, not just to business, but also to those people who look at what's going on for consumers. 'My worry is that if we give free rein to some of the instincts that are out there, I think it could be detrimental', he adds. 'Having said that, I do accept the need to push the growth, so I'm waiting to see the balance.' It will be comforting to many that Lewis is there to keep an eye on the scales.
BBC News
10-02-2025
- Science
- BBC News
Scotland's Makar: New writing needs protection from AI
Scottish writers and publishers are considering innovative ways to tackle challenges they face from artificial intelligence (AI).Scotland's Makar Peter Mackay said he had "huge concerns" about the technology in terms of the creation of new literature and tools available include ones designed for research, and others that can suggest sentence structures, character traits, dialogue options and plot Mackay said among ideas to better protect new writing included food packaging-style guides for work written by computers, and special logos for the covers of AI-free books. Lewis-born Gaelic poet Mackay was appointed Scotland's national poet in original makars were medieval poets or bards, often tied to the royal court and expected to make work for significant the past two decades, Scottish cities have appointed their own makars and in 2004 the first national poet was Mackay is eager to encourage new he said: "I have got huge concerns about AI in terms of the creation of new literature and creation of new books, partly because as a writer it could be disastrous for new people who are in the profession."It's very hard to make a living as a writer anyway and if you are having to compete with the cumulative knowledge of every book written before condensed into some form of conglomerate, that is very hard to do." A simple guide to help you understand AI Last year, Mackay attended a workshop for writers, publishers and academics where AI was a topic of looked at how it might be possible to make it clear a piece of writing was not computer Mackay said: "One of the things that was discussed was a Harris Tweed Orb or Kitemark-style mark to say 100% AI-free or 100% organically produced."Harris Tweed's Orb logo is sewed in clothing, and other items that use the fabric, to show the tweed has been handwoven and finished by islanders in the Western Isles, and made from wool dyed and spun in the British Standards Institution's Kitemark has been used as a trademark on UK-made products for more than 120 Mackay said alternatively books created using AI could include a break down of the sources of its style and sentence structure, similar to way additives are listed on cereal boxes."It might outline this is 1% Vladimir Nabokov, 2% Gertrude Stein," he said. Mackay is a judge on this year's Highland Book Prize and he believes the competition and other literary awards could also play a part in protecting AI-free writing."I think one of the things book prizes do is celebrate oddity, celebrate diversity, celebrate distinctive style, the kind of thing that AI doesn't do at the moment," he said."It is the odd turn of phrase rather than the expected turn of phrase and I would hope that book prizes are still able to do that."They offer a marker of really interesting, new, distinctive voices."He added: "I dread the first time a prize is won by something that turns out to be AI generated."Where would that leave the people who have been sitting for hours by themselves scribbling away having to compete with computer-generated poems, short stories and novels?"
