With more than 20 years of history, HL-TopMix has established itself as a leader in animal feed production, offering end-to-end solutions for livestock farmers across the country. Facing a dynamic market and growing demands for speed and quality, the company decided to centralize the management of all key operations—from finance and accounting to production, inventory, and sales.

The new system was integrated with existing solutions such as a MES (Manufacturing Execution System) platform, weighing equipment, and quality control systems, ensuring automation and seamless real-time data flow.

To remain a reliable partner for our customers, we must constantly evolve and invest in the best technologies. Implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central gives us a 360-degree view of our business in real time,

said Vanya Bahchevanova from HL-TopMix.

Now we have a single source of truth that allows us to be more efficient, plan production optimally, and ensure full traceability of our products. We can also be more flexible toward customers without disrupting our workflows. This is a key step not only in optimizing our current processes but also in preparing for future challenges, such as the transition to the euro,

she added.

From the implementation partner’s perspective, the project is a strong example of how ERP drives measurable results:

We are proud to work with a market leader like HL-TopMix and to contribute to their digital transformation. The project demonstrates how modern ERP solutions can bring real, measurable benefits to the manufacturing sector in Bulgaria—boosting efficiency and laying the foundation for sustainable growth,

said Dobrin Zdravkov, COO at Team VISION Bulgaria.

Among the key benefits HL-TopMix reports after the implementation are: centralized management and greater transparency, higher operational efficiency, optimized order management, improved customer satisfaction, streamlined production planning, and advanced analytics and reporting.

The main areas of the investigation include topics related to the protection of minors, transparency in advertising, access to data for researchers, as well as mdeanaging the risk of addictive and harmful content.

Giant platforms like TikTok must meet additional requirements in the area of algorithmic transparency and systemic risk. It is precisely these areas of the short video sharing and content creation platform that are currently under investigation by the EU.

While investigating a series of alleged violations, the EC will enhance its requirements for information disclosure by the video-sharing platform.

In a press release, the EU declares that there is no deadline by which the investigation must be concluded. Its duration will depend on various factors, such as “the complexity of the case, the extent to which the company concerned cooperates with the Commission and the exercise of the rights of defence”.

“TikTok has pioneered features and settings to protect teens and keep under 13s off the platform, issues the whole industry is grappling with. We’ll continue to work with experts and industry to keep young people on TikTok safe, and look forward to now having the opportunity to explain this work in detail to the Commission”, said TikTok’s spokesperson in an email to TechCrunch.

The company confirms that it has received a document showing that it is aware of the opening of an investigation by the EU.

The platform also states that it complies with the requirements and sends all the information that is required of it, but has not yet received a response from the EC.

Additionally, TikTok shares that the proposal it made for a meeting between Commission officials and the company’s child protection staff has not yet been accepted.

The EU is concerned about TikTok’s UX, which the EU says encourages content addiction.

“Such assessment is required to counter potential risks for the exercise of the fundamental right to the person’s physical and mental well-being, the respect of the rights of the child as well as its impact on radicalisation processes,” states EC.

The EU will closely monitor whether TikTok complies with the obligations included in the Digital Services Act to introduce measures to provide a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors.

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Japan’s Fair Trade Commission also said it was examining whether Google had entered into agreements with Android smartphone makers to share ad revenue on the condition that the device maker did not install a rival search engine.

On top of all this, it will also check if Google services are prioritised on Android phones.

Google was quick to state that Android is an “open source platform that has enabled diversity” from partners and device manufacturers.

The Japanese commission will seek public input, including from third parties, until 22 November.

“Its openness and flexibility ensure that users always have a choice to customize their devices to suit their needs, including the way they browse and search the internet, or download apps,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC via email.

Android is the world’s largest mobile operating system, accounting for a roughly 80% market share of smartphones.

Google seems to have suffered a number of breaches in recent years. Some of Google’s business practices in relation to Android have come under scrutiny from regulators around the world.

Google seems to have suffered a number of breaches in recent years. Some of Google’s business practices in relation to Android have come under scrutiny from regulators around the world. In 2018, the European Union fined Google a record €4.34 billion ($4.6 billion) for abusing Android’s dominant position.

The EU said Google had unfairly favoured its own services by forcing smartphone makers to pre-install Google Chrome and Search apps bundled with the Google Play app store.

After an appeal by Google, the EU court reduced the fine imposed on Google last year.

During the trial, which began last month, the U.S. Department of Justice alleged that Google violated antitrust law through exclusive agreements with mobile phone and browser makers to make its search engine standard for consumers.

According to CNBC, this ongoing proceeding is the largest US tech antitrust trial in decades.

The new rules, known as the Digital Services Act (DSA), define companies with more than 45 million users as very large online platforms and are subject to obligations such as risk management and external and independent auditing. They are also required to share data with authorities and researchers and adopt a code of conduct.

The European Commission has given online platforms and search engines until 17 February to publish their monthly active users. Many major online platforms have four months to comply with the rules or risk being fined.

Twitter reported that it has 100.9 million average monthly users in the EU based on an estimate of the last 45 days.

Alphabet said the average monthly number of logged-in users amounted to 278.6 million on Google Maps, 274.6 million on Google Play, 332 million on Google Search, 74.9 million on Shopping and 401.7 million on YouTube.

Apple noted that its App Store, built for the iPhone alone, with more than 45 million monthly users, could be described as a very large online platform. But it will apply the same rules to the App Store for iPad, Mac computers, Apple Watch and TVs.

Earlier this week, Meta Platforms said it had 255 million average monthly active users on Facebook in the EU and about 250 million average monthly active users on Instagram in the last six months of 2022.

Telecom operators are pushing for the European Union to introduce new laws that would require U.S. technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Netflix to shoulder a portion of European telecom network costs, with telecom operators arguing that they drive much of the region’s Internet traffic.

In September, the European Commission’s head of industry, Thierry Breton, said it would launch a consultation on so-called “fair share” payments in early 2023 before proposing a bill.

Now the European Internet Exchange Association (Euro-IX) has said the proposal risks reducing the quality of service for users across Europe and could “inadvertently create new systemic problems” in critical infrastructure.

“The internet is a complex ecosystem and it is politicians who are ultimately responsible for the systemic effects arising from policy choices.”

writes Bijal Sangani, managing director of Euro-IX.

It was later added that legislators should not prioritize “administrative rules over technical necessity or a high-quality internet” for the people of Europe.

The reason for all of this is European regulations which are meant to place restrictions on the way EU citizen data gets transferred to the U.S.

However, European politicians don’t seem to be worried about that.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire made their statements soon after Meta’s announcement.

AppleInsider reports that at an event in Paris Habeck admitted that after having been hacked he stopped using Facebook and Twitter and life has been fantastic to him for the last fours years. Le Maire on the other hand said:

“I can confirm that life is very good without Facebook and that we would live very well without Facebook.”

He also thinks digital giants must understand that the European continent will resist and affirm its sovereignty.

CNBC however, reports that Meta’s spokesperson announced that the company has no such plans at that moment and it has no intention of withdrawing from the European market.

The company is being prevented by European data regulations for processing users’ data in between countries. Meta says that this process is really important to its business especially when it comes to ad targeting. However, European’s laws’ aim is to protect users’ privacy by keeping their data in the EU’s jurisdiction.

In an annual report Meta stated:

“If a new transatlantic data transfer framework is not adopted and we are unable to continue to rely on SCCs or rely upon other alternative means of data transfers from Europe to the United States, we will likely be unable to offer a number of our most significant products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe, which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.”

CNick Clegg, Meta’s VP of Global Affairs and Communications said, according to City.A.M that “a lack of safe, secure and legal international data transfers would damage the economy and hamper the growth of data-driven businesses in the EU, just as we seek a recovery from Covid-19.”

He also added that the change will have an influence on both small and large businesses.

Xiaomi appointed TRUSTe LLC to conduct an independent audit of its data protection and security management. The review comprehensively evaluated whether the processing of personal information conducted by Xiaomi is performed in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union (EU). Cui Baoqiu, Xiaomi Vice President and Chairman of Xiaomi Security and Privacy Committee said:

“We regularly engage with TRUSTe, as well as other credible institutions globally to warrant that Xiaomi’s user privacy protection, including GDPR compliance, keeps improving and perfecting its practices to offer our users reliable and trustworthy products and services. I’m very pleased to see that Xiaomi has completed TRUSTe’s annual audit of GDPR privacy compliance, which demonstrates our commitment to privacy protection.”

Xiaomi continues to submit to outside scrutiny when it comes to data protection and user privacy, adopting the GDPR of the EU compliance assessment in 2018.

The Validation Requirements focus on program-level measures in eight areas: Integrated Governance, Risk Management, Resource Allocation, Policies and Standards, Processes, Awareness and Training, Monitoring and Assurance, and Reporting and Certification.

Freeing up focus for patient care by automating routine tasks with AI

Highly capable professionals spend an undue amount of time on routine tasks that pull their attention away from the patient. For example, in radiology departments, imaging staff say almost 25% of their work is inefficient and could be automated.

We now have the tools to automate such tasks to relieve the burden on imaging technologists and free up focus for patient care. AI-enabled technology can make it easier for technologists to plan and execute routine exams, helping them to get images first-time-right with enhanced confidence and precision.

We will see an increased use of AI-based automation in image-guided therapy, where physicians perform minimally invasive procedures on patients with heart disease or other conditions. Interventional physicians may spend up to two hours reporting on cases after a full day of treating patients. AI could help alleviate this workload by auto-logging different steps of the procedure – enabling physicians to give their full attention to providing patient care.

Improving access to care through virtual collaboration between providers

64% of global healthcare leaders say they’re currently investing heavily in virtual care. But while this healthcare technology trend is generally seen as impacting the patient-provider relationship, the rise of virtual collaboration between providers themselves offers equally promising opportunities.

The adoption of tele-ICUs in acute care is a prime example. A tele-ICU can extend critical care resources to the bedside, no matter where the hospital is.

By using a live collaboration platform, experienced sonographers can remotely assist their local counterparts with exams, while colleagues can use the same platform to discuss patients’ medical status with them.

Photo Credits: Philips

Connecting the hospital to the home with virtual care

Health technology innovations are enabling people to better engage with providers, access more care overall, and get the resources they need to stay informed while taking more preventative healthcare measures.

Healthcare providers are turning to remote patient monitoring and virtual visits in order to maximize access to care, strengthen connections with at-risk populations, minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission, provide more convenient experiences and reduce the strain on scarce hospital resources.

According to the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO), half the world still lacks access to quality care, and without drastic action, the WHO estimates that 5 billion people will be unable to access healthcare by 2030. World-leading healthcare organizations continue to pioneer digital health technologies that bring care closer to patients and partner with local providers to keep improving access to quality healthcare for everyone, no matter where they live.

Offering more services at facilities closer to patients

Another healthcare technology trend enabling more equitable access to care is the move from hospital-centric to locally delivered care. Patients who have traditionally had to travel long distances for state-of-the-art or specialized healthcare can access these technologies via smaller (and sometimes even mobile) healthcare facilities.

Out-of-hospital settings like local diagnostic hubs, Virtual Care Stations, and even technology-equipped container structures can offer closer-to-home healthcare that’s especially vital for people living in rural and underserved communities. Primary care facilities and local clinics, through a combination of virtual specialist support and technologies such as ultrasound and X-ray imaging, can now function as remote hospitals, providing services such as ultrasound exams to pregnant women. If a patient comes in with a broken wrist, a local practitioner can make an X-ray and immediately share it with a remote traumatologist, radiologist or emergency doctor for remote consultation instead of requiring the patient to make a lengthy trip to a big-city hospital.

Photo Credits: Philips

Certain types of specialist treatment have also become more routine, giving rise to the growing trend of office-based labs and ambulatory surgery centers that offer patients access to potentially life-saving minimally invasive procedures closer to their communities.

In the near future, one can imagine nurses routinely performing ultrasound exams at retail or community centers, using a portable handheld device with support from a remote expert sonographer and AI algorithms that can extract basic information from the scan.

Integrating data to enable clinical collaboration and patient-centered care

Multidisciplinary care teams are trying their best to connect and keep track of all relevant information pertaining to their patients – from a variety of subspecialty reports to information about patients’ current condition, demographic data, and health history. Deciding on the right therapy is equally complex, especially in areas like oncology where physicians and patients may face a bewildering number of choices.

Integrated diagnostics is a rapidly evolving field where organizations have smart, connected systems in place that give them comprehensive and actionable insights into their patient populations by uniting imaging, monitoring, laboratory, genomics and longitudinal data. Multidisciplinary tumor boards are an example of this healthcare technology trend. With integrated diagnostics solutions, care teams can now deliver comprehensive, patient-centric cancer care, uniting patient data from disparate sources in dashboards, thus facilitating collaborative diagnostics, treatment and follow-up decisions.

Using predictive analytics to proactively manage transitions of care

Using the power of AI and predictive analytics, we can now extract relevant insights on patient flow and patient care needs from vast amounts of real-time and historical hospital data, to predict capacity needs in the next 24 to 48 hours. After initial validation, the resulting algorithms can be updated on a regular basis to take recent trends and circumstances into account – offering clinical and operational teams the real-time, actionable insights they need to make timely and effective decisions.

By embedding these data-driven practices into everyday management of patient flow, healthcare systems will be able to get the most out of precious resources and manage transitions of care more effectively across the patient journey, from hospital admission to discharge and back into the home – ensuring that the patient gets the right care in the right place at the right time.

Increasing flexibility and circularity through service business models

Healthcare organizations are increasingly implementing ‘as a service’ business models. For example, many are turning to SaaS (Software as a Service), whereby cloud-based systems give physicians, staff and even patients the opportunity to access data remotely, share critical insights in real time and collaborate more effectively, for better care coordination. SaaS models generally require a lower initial investment, and give organizations the financial flexibility to ’pay as they go,’ leading to more predictable costs.

Another benefit of SaaS models is their overall energy efficiency. When companies move to the cloud, their average server utilization can approach 65% compared with just ~15% on-premise. And while the PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of the average data center is 1.7, the cloud industry average is just 1.2. In short, this means fewer servers are required, and that any servers that are in use are consuming less energy.

Decarbonizing healthcare through renewable energy and efficiency

The healthcare sector is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for over 4% of global CO₂ emissions. Health leaders across the world recognize the health implications of climate change – and the industry’s responsibility to take action.

The greatest scope for improvement lies in the transition to renewable energy, as well as in improving the lifetime energy efficiency of the devices and systems used in healthcare. Electricity consumption while in use accounts for the vast majority of these products’ total environmental impact. On a global level, it is primarily the combined effect of renewable energy and energy efficiency that will drive decarbonization.

Photo Credits: Philips

Helping health consumers make sustainable choices through eco-labeling

In the rapidly expanding world of e-commerce, it is not unusual for consumers – including those buying personal health devices – to buy the same product in two or three formats to try them out at home. According to Pitney Bowes, 51% of shoppers consciously overbuy online, knowing they’ll return the items they don’t want. But when it comes to returns, too often, somewhere in the chain, it ‘pays’ to destroy the product and avoid the costs of transport, storage, relabeling, etc., rather than going back to the source.

Highlight the environmental benefits of ‘rethinking returns’ through better-informed ordering. In Europe, we see more and more brands signing up to the EU’s Green Consumption Pledge to raise awareness of products’ environmental footprint. One way they can do this is through the adoption of eco-labeling.

Turning innovations and commitments into measurable outcomes

Being able to measure and report outcomes in granular detail is central to proving the value of healthcare services, helps providers compare treatment options, and reveals opportunities for improving or even redefining care. Providing granular outcome data is increasingly becoming a requirement for unlocking reimbursement pathways, as the healthcare industry transitions away from fee-for-service models and towards value-based care.

As pressure mounts for healthcare companies to step up their actions to safeguard the health of people and the planet, there is an increased demand for proven results. This is why healthcare organizations are putting more resources into measuring not just clinical outcomes, but outcomes relating to social impact and environmental sustainability, too – such as proof of carbon-neutrality, or use of renewable energy sources.

A warning message showed up just before all the sites went offline. It reproduced both the Ukrainian flag and map being crossed out. A part of this message says:

“Ukrainians!…All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect worse.”

NEWS IN KYIV: Several Ukrainian government websites down due to a major a cyberattack. Below is the @MFA_Ukraine website now. It reads in part: "Ukrainians!…All information about you has become public, be afraid and expect worse." Sites of MOD and Education ministry also down. pic.twitter.com/3lbA06Q3Fl

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) January 14, 2022

Oleg Nikolenko, the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, said in a message to ‘The Guardian’:

“As a result of a massive cyber-attack, the website of the ministry of foreign affairs and other government agencies are temporarily down. Our specialists have already started restoring the work of IT systems and the cyber-police has opened an investigation.”

The attacks have been condemned by Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg and Josep Borrell – the EU’s top diplomat. The EU’s political and security committee and cyber units are planning to meet with the aim of deciding how to respond and to support Kyiv. He explained:

“We are going to mobilize all our resources to help Ukraine to tackle this. Sadly, we knew it could happen.”

According to him, it’s difficult to say who is the culprit and he will not blame anybody because at that moment he has no proof. Stoltenberg said that an agreement will be signed between Ukraine and Nato in order to give Kyiv access to Nato’s malware information sharing platform. Ann Linde, Sweden’s foreign minister, commented:

“We have to be very firm in our messages to Russia, that if there are attacks against Ukraine, we will be very harsh and very strong and robust in our response.”

The US Embassy in Moscow did not give an immediate response and did not comment on the situation.