Category: Press Releases

• Results offer micro-scale view of green employment opportunities from deploying low-carbon technologies in retrofit and new buildings
• Even with conservative estimations, the journey to net-zero buildings could generate more than 141 million job years

Rueil-Malmaison (France), 10 October 2023 – Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, together with Boston University, today announces a first-of-its-kind study that finds that more than 2 million new jobs and up to 141 million additional job years can be created in Europe and the United States by adopting clean energy technologies in new and retrofitted buildings. The results come from a research collaboration between the Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability (IGS) and the Schneider Electric^TM Sustainability Research Institute (SRI).

The open-access paper, “Building a Green Future: Examining the Job Creation Potential of Electricity, Heating, and Storage in Low-Carbon Buildings”, is the first to estimate job creation in low-carbon “buildings of the future” at such a granular level. Taking a micro-scale view, the study estimates the global employment outcomes for low-carbon building archetypes spanning residential, hospital, hotel, office, retail, and education in regions of North America, Europe and Asia. The data focused specifically on the potential around deploying rooftop solar panels, heat pumps, and energy storage batteries for self-produced (or prosumer) renewable energy. These low-carbon technologies—all of which are readily available today—support the electrification and digitalization of the buildings sector, which is critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. The study’s job estimates will be fully realized over time in alignment with global net-zero goals targeting 2050, making this a reasonable timeline for 100% renovation of eligible buildings.

“It is increasingly clear that, thanks to modern technologies, it is now feasible to rapidly transition buildings to net-zero,” explained Vincent Petit, Senior Vice President of Climate and Energy Transition Research at Schneider Electric and Head of the SRI. “What we often do not realize is that such a transition comes with significant socioeconomic benefits. This research is another demonstration of this fact.”

Key findings:

• Job creation potential depends on both the region and type of building. For residential buildings, approximately 0.05 jobs can be created per building. For commercial buildings, it ranges between 0.3 and 4.7 jobs each. Due to the number of combined residential and commercial buildings, the job creation potential surpasses millions.
• Europe envisions substantial job creation, with specific figures indicating the potential workforce growth in several key countries. France could potentially generate 295,000 jobs, closely followed by Germany with 257,000 jobs, Italy with 252,000 jobs, the UK with 247,000 jobs, Spain with 212,000 jobs, and the Netherlands with 66,000 jobs.
• Significant job creation is anticipated across various regions of the United States with the West region with 182,000 potential jobs created, while the Midwest is projected to see an increase of 18,900 jobs. In the Northeast, 123,000 jobs are anticipated, and the South and Southeast regions are poised for substantial growth, with an estimated 319,000 jobs.
• The greatest job creation potential is in using heat pumps for large buildings and battery storage in regions and building types with surplus solar energy.
• For heat pumps, solar PV, and batteries, the largest share of job years comes from construction and installation.
• The research expands on two recent findings from the SRI that demonstrated over 60% carbon emissions reduction can also be achieved when implementing these low-carbon solutions and up to 70% when deploying digital building and power management solutions in existing office buildings.

“Employment is often a polarizing topic at the center of the transition to a net-zero economy, mired in uncertainty about emerging opportunities in green energy,” stated Benjamin Sovacool, Director, Boston University Institute for Global Sustainability and Professor, Earth & Environment, College of Arts & Sciences. “This study brings greater detail to the sizable potential for new jobs created by low-carbon buildings, a compelling co-benefit of decarbonization that could have the power to ease social and economic concerns and positively shape climate policy.”

These findings can drive significant benefits in the near term, making the detailed estimations useful for informing companies, communities, and governments seeking to engage in building projects. For policymakers, understanding the potential that the transition to net-zero living can have on creating jobs could potentially incentivize skeptics to favor a green energy shift. For business decision makers, job estimates can improve forecasts around scope, investment, lifecycle management and impact for building projects.

Access to the research paper and reference:

Sovacool, BK, D Evensen, TA Kwan and V Petit. “Building a Green Future: Examining the Job Creation Potential of Electricity, Heating, and Storage in Low-Carbon Buildings,” Electricity Journal 36(5) (June, 2023), 107274, pp. 1-11. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tej.2023.107274

Access to Schneider Electric^TM Sustainability Research Institute report

Schneider Electric, 2022, July 13. Towards net-zero buildings: a quantitative study. Sustainability Research Institute, Boston, MA, USA and Grenoble, France. Retrieved from: https://www.se.com/ww/en/insights/sustainability/sustainability-research-institute/building-a-green-future.jsp

About Schneider Electric

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values. www.se.com

Discover the newest perspectives shaping sustainability, electricity 4.0, and next generation automation on Schneider Electric Insights

Hashtags: #News #Sustainability #Net-Zero #SRI #BuildingsOfTheFuture #Electrification #Decarbonization

Attachment

• Schneider Electric and Boston University Joint-Study Reveals Over 2 million New Jobs_Press Release

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000843353

Two billion people will experience mental illness during their lifetime.
450 million people currently cope with mental health issues.

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Workplace Options (WPO), the world’s largest independent provider of holistic wellbeing solutions, is tackling the persistent stigma that surrounds mental health and help-seeking in a new booklet released as part of the organization’s campaign for this year’s World Mental Health Day. The booklet, which explores the harmful impact of mental health stigma on employees’ wellbeing and their willingness to seek help—including its global implications—coincides with the theme for this year’s event, which promotes mental health as a “universal human right.”

“In honor of World Mental Health Day, I want to spotlight why ending mental health stigma is imperative to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion in our personal and professional lives,” begins Alan King, President and CEO of Workplace Options, in the booklet’s opening statement. “As we continue to cultivate an inclusive space where individuals feel safe and empowered to bring their whole selves to work, free from judgment or fear of discrimination, we must also create a culture where people can openly and honestly discuss their mental health.”

“When we erase the stigma, the obstacle blocking access to critical holistic care,” King later goes on, “more people will receive help. World Mental Health Day is an opportunity, and an urgent reminder, for our world to unite in breaking down barriers and building a universal workplace, where asking for mental health care is met with understanding and compassion, not judgment or bias.”

World Mental Health Day, celebrated each year on October 10 by over 150 countries worldwide, was originally conceived in 1992 to advance mental health advocacy and improve mental health literacy at the population level before a yearly theme was instituted in 1994 that aimed to spotlight specific issues, regions, or demographics. In the spirit of the inaugural topic, titled, “Improving the Quality of Mental Health Services throughout the World,” most of these themes have kept close to the issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Honoring this message, WPO’s booklet highlights current disparities in access to mental health services.

Workplace Concerns – Employees in Europe, Middle East & Africa

Further demonstrating the organization’s commitment to DEIB and mental health advocacy, WPO recently launched a new interactive and proactive data tool for its client companies called the Workplace Stress Index. WPO produced the first-of-its-kind resource, which measures organizational level stress for each of its client companies across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with the intention of guiding company decision-makers on how to direct mental health and wellbeing budgets in a way that is conducive to their employees’ unique and specific needs, breaking down long-standing barriers to care in the process.

WPO will host a virtual conference Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging: From Awareness to Action on October 24, 2023. The event, which will examine best practices for implementing DEIB strategies in the workplace, how to incorporate DEIB into the employee experience, as well as trends and insights into the current DEIB landscape, will feature thought-provoking talks from Workplace Options leaders including King and Chief of Staff Molly Hall, as well as expert guests from the Diversity Movement, CEO and Co-founder Donald Thompson, CDE, and Co-founder and VP of Content and Programming Jackie Ferguson, CDE. The conference will also include a panel discussion on how to champion DEIB in the workplace.

About Workplace Options (WPO)

Founded in 1982, Workplace Options (WPO) is the largest independent provider of holistic wellbeing solutions. Through customized programs, and a comprehensive global network of credentialed providers and professionals, WPO supports individuals to become healthier, happier, and more productive both personally and professionally. Trusted by 56 percent of Fortune 500 companies, WPO delivers high-quality care digitally and in-person to more than 79 million people across 116,000 organizations in more than 200 countries and territories.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Dart
Senior Global Manager
Jennifer.Dart@workplaceoptions.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
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GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8946096

FortiSwitch 600 and 2000 deliver intelligent, scalable connectivity that seamlessly integrates with AIOps and FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

John Maddison, Chief Marketing Officer and EVP, Product Strategy at Fortinet
“Fortinet has delivered secure switching solutions for 20 years, making it uniquely positioned to empower customers with a comprehensive secure connectivity solution for the entire LAN. We are the only vendor offering fully converged wired and wireless networking and AI-powered security through a single platform, providing visibility and security from the moment a user or device connects to the network.”

News Summary
Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security, today announced two new campus switches, the FortiSwitch 600 and 2000. These switches support the growing connectivity and security needs of the campus with high performance, embedded intelligence, and seamless integration with Fortinet’s AIOps management tool and FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services.

The modern campus requires new levels of connectivity
Users require more bandwidth than ever before, and many organizations are investing in next-generation wireless access points (APs) to provide increased connectivity. Unfortunately, legacy switching solutions often can’t keep up. To ensure network availability and a positive user experience, organizations need high-performance switches that intelligently organize AP traffic and prevent bottlenecks.

FortiSwitch 600 and 2000: Access and core switches for the connected campus
The new FortiSwitch 600 and 2000 announced today expand Fortinet’s secure, simplified, and scalable switching portfolio. They are designed with the performance and port density to meet the demands of the modern campus and scale as connectivity needs grow.

The FortiSwitch 600 series is a multi-gigabit secure campus access switch with up to 5GE access and 25GE uplinks to optimize network performance by intelligently supporting traffic from next-gen APs to business-critical destinations. The FortiSwitch 2000 series is a campus core switch designed to support larger, more complex campus environments by aggregating high-performance access switches, like the FortiSwitch 600. Both include a dual power supply for the redundancy today’s high-performance campuses require.

A platform approach to secure connectivity
Fortinet has delivered wired and wireless LAN solutions that converge networking and security since the company’s founding 20 years ago. The new switches announced today are the latest additions to our secure connectivity platform, which provides comprehensive security, access control, and unified management throughout the LAN.

Customers who use FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls as a switching controller eliminate overlays while benefitting from FortiGuard AI-Powered Security Services like advanced malware protection, IPS, sandboxing, and web filtering. And all FortiSwitch models integrate with FortiAIOps, Fortinet’s AI for IT operations tool that provides real-time insights into potential network issues and automates manual tasks. Bringing networking and security into a single solution provides unprecedented visibility into the entire LAN and enables NAC functionality, like profiling and onboarding new users and devices, at no extra charge.

We believe it’s because of this industry-leading approach that Fortinet has been recognized as a Visionary in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure for three consecutive years and as a Gartner® Peer Insights Customers’ Choice for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure for six years in a row.

Supporting Quotes
“Our campus environment supports thousands of students and faculty, and Fortinet switches helped us modernize our infrastructure to offer the consistent connectivity and Power-over-Ethernet they need. And by managing all of our switches through FortiGate NGFWs, we consolidated point products into a unified platform that offers more visibility into potential security risks than we’ve ever had before.”
– Jeff Howlett, Chief Information Officer, Meredith College

“Our customers need powerful solutions that can scale with their connectivity needs, especially within high-performance networking. By partnering with Fortinet, Mainline can offer next-generation switches with the access, uplink, and power organizations need, as well as a pathway to a simplified and secure platform for their entire LAN. The FortiSwitch can stand on its own but where it really shines is when paired with other solutions within the Fortinet Security Fabric.”
– Ryan Ryszka, Security Systems Engineer, Mainline Information Systems

Additional Resources

• Learn more about the FortiSwitch 600 and 2000 and Fortinet’s secure connectivity platform.
• Learn about Fortinet’s free cybersecurity training, which includes broad cyber awareness and product training. As part of the Fortinet Training Advancement Agenda (TAA), the Fortinet Training Institute also provides training and certification through the Network Security Expert (NSE) Certification, Academic Partner, and Education Outreach programs.
• Learn more about FortiGuard Labs threat intelligence and research and Outbreak Alerts, which provide timely steps to mitigate breaking cybersecurity attacks.
• Learn more about Fortinet’s FortiGuard Security Services portfolio.
• Read about how Fortinet customers are securing their organizations.
• Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Subscribe to Fortinet on our blog or YouTube.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure, By Mike Toussaint, Christian Canales, Tim Zimmerman, 21 December 2022.

Gartner, Voice of the Customer for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure, By Peer Contributors, 29 May 2023

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, MAGIC QUADRANT and PEER INSIGHTS are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Fortinet
Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet’s solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs.

FTNT-O

Copyright © 2023 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet’s trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, the Fortinet logo, FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, FortiASIC, FortiClient, FortiCloud, FortiMail, FortiSandbox, FortiADC, FortiAI, FortiAIOps, FortiAntenna, FortiAP, FortiAPCam, FortiAuthenticator, FortiCache, FortiCall, FortiCam, FortiCamera, FortiCarrier, FortiCASB, FortiCentral, FortiConnect, FortiController, FortiConverter, FortiCWP, FortiDB, FortiDDoS, FortiDeceptor, FortiDeploy, FortiDevSec, FortiEdge, FortiEDR, FortiExplorer, FortiExtender, FortiFirewall, FortiFone, FortiGSLB, FortiHypervisor, FortiInsight, FortiIsolator, FortiLAN, FortiLink, FortiMoM, FortiMonitor, FortiNAC, FortiNDR, FortiPenTest, FortiPhish, FortiPlanner, FortiPolicy, FortiPortal, FortiPresence, FortiProxy, FortiRecon, FortiRecorder, FortiSASE, FortiSDNConnector, FortiSIEM, FortiSMS, FortiSOAR, FortiSwitch, FortiTester, FortiToken, FortiTrust, FortiVoice, FortiWAN, FortiWeb, FortiWiFi, FortiWLC, FortiWLM and FortiXDR. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments.

Media Contact:	Investor Contact:	Analyst Contact:
Margaret Reeb Fortinet, Inc. 408-235-7700 pr@fortinet.com	Peter Salkowski Fortinet, Inc. 408-331-4595 psalkowski@fortinet.com	Brian Greenberg Fortinet, Inc. 408-235-7700 analystrelations@fortinet.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8945440

New York, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  CertiK, the global in blockchain security and smart contract code auditing, has again earned acknowledgment in the release notes of Apple’s iOS 17 updates. The recognition stems from CertiK’s identification of three critical security vulnerabilities in Apple’s iOS kernel, confirmed to impact several Apple devices running previous versions of iOS 17.

As per Apple’s release notes, these vulnerabilities target the kernel, GPU driver, and ProRes driver. If left unaddressed, they would enable an app to execute arbitrary code with elevated kernel privileges. In its most recent update, Apple has mitigated these risks with enhanced memory handling protocols.

Platforms like iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 are expected to become popular access points for Web3 applications, which are increasingly targeting mobile users. This rise in adoption places an increased emphasis on the security of the mobile devices used to access them. CertiK’s SkyFall team has investigated the security measures of mobile wallets and has conducted comprehensive assessments of various security layers on mobile devices.

This is the second time CertiK has won recognition for its efforts to secure Apple software. In August 2023, Apple officially acknowledged CertiK’s SkyFall team in its previous iOS and macOS release notes. CertiK is proud to continuously help Apple secure its services and devices, and these latest findings reinforce the value of the firm’s in-depth security research and efforts to preemptively identify threats.

Web3 needs robust, multi-tiered security solutions, ranging from the application layer down to the kernel. As our digital ecosystem grows increasingly interconnected, security must be built-in at every layer to genuinely protect systems and assets. This acknowledgment by Apple stands as proof of CertiK’s commitment to securing the entirety of the Web3 world.

About CertiK

CertiK is a pioneer in blockchain security, combining expert manual review with best-in-class AI technology to protect and monitor blockchain protocols and smart contracts. Founded in 2018 by professors from Yale University and Columbia University, CertiK’s mission is to secure the web3 world. CertiK applies cutting-edge innovations from academia to enterprise, enabling mission-critical applications to scale with safety and correctness.

One of the fastest-growing and most trusted companies in blockchain security, CertiK is a true market leader. To date, CertiK has worked with nearly 4,100 enterprise clients, secured over $370 billion worth of digital assets, and has detected almost 70,000 vulnerabilities in blockchain code. Our clients include leading projects such as Aptos, Ripple, Sandbox, Polygon, BNB Chain, and TON.

​​CertiK is backed by InsightPartners, Sequoia, Tiger Global, Coatue Management, Lightspeed, Advent International, SoftBank, Hillhouse Capital, Goldman Sachs, Coinbase Ventures, Binance, Shunwei Capital, IDG Capital, Wing, Legend Star, Danhua Capital, and other investors.

Follow along on Discord and Telegram for the latest news and announcements.

Contact:

Elisa Yiting Xu
yiting.xu@certik.com

Jesse Leclere
jesse.leclere@certik.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000843327

The new solution breaks ground in decarbonisation strategy evaluation and management

LONDON and HOUSTON and SINGAPORE, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wood Mackenzie, the global insight business for renewables, energy and natural resources, has launched Lens Carbon, a unique end-to-end solution that enables users to screen, analyse and value carbon management projects on a global scale.

As the newest addition to Wood Mackenzie’s Lens data analytics platform, Lens Carbon offers a single flexible solution to explore carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS), direct air capture (DAC) and carbon offset projects through proprietary data, analysis and benchmarking.

“As customers are looking to screen for emitting assets, optimum carbon storage sites and carbon prices to identify the best opportunities, Lens is specifically designed for these workflows,” said Mhairidh Evans, Global Head of CCUS. “This seamless experience brings Wood Mackenzie’s renowned expertise, analyses, and modelling insights together to enable faster, more accurate operational and strategic planning.”

Emerging technologies such as CCUS and DAC will play a key role in an orderly energy transition so businesses and governments are now forming their strategies and evaluating potential projects. Lens Carbon enables customers to navigate the complexities of these solutions and make investment decisions to support their decarbonisation goals with confidence.

With integrated user workflows, the Lens platform helps quantify risk and identify opportunities through understanding project dynamics and their impact on investments. This is complemented by expert written analysis to provide deeper insights on CCUS, carbon prices and carbon offsets to unlock the story behind the data.

Elena Belletti, Global Head of Carbon Research, added: “Carbon management technologies and market-based mechanisms, such as offsets, will continue to evolve as the industry scales. Lens Carbon will help businesses and investors stay at the forefront of this changing market by giving them immediate access to critical data and analysis through this powerful solution.”

For further information, please contact Wood Mackenzie’s media relations team:

Mark Thomton
+1 630 881 6885
Mark.thomton@woodmac.com

The Big Partnership (UK PR agency)
woodmac@bigpartnership.co.uk

About Wood Mackenzie

Wood Mackenzie is the global insight business for renewables, energy and natural resources. Driven by data. Powered by people. In the middle of an energy revolution, businesses and governments need reliable and actionable insight to lead the transition to a sustainable future. That’s why we cover the entire supply chain with unparalleled breadth and depth, backed by over 50 years’ experience in natural resources. Today, our team of over 2,000 experts operates across 30 global locations, inspiring customers’ decisions through real-time analytics, consultancy, events and thought leadership. Together, we deliver the insight they need to separate risk from opportunity and make bold decisions when it matters most. For more information, visit woodmac.com.

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000843074

ROME, Oct. 09, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The jihadist threat may be silent, but that does not mean it is dead. This is what emerges from the Special Report issued by the Med-Or Foundation, titled ‘The Silent Enemy: Presence and Evolution of the Jihadist Threat in the Broader Mediterranean’, presented at Luiss Guido Carli University in Rome. The report, overseen by the Director of Institutional Relations at the Foundation, Andrea Manciulli, analyses the current state of threats linked to terrorism and jihadist radicalism in the geopolitical and geographical space of the enlarged Mediterranean.

The jihadist threat “is not an imminent threat but an immanent one, meaning that it can resurface at any moment,” said Marco Minniti, Chairman of the Med-Or Foundation. “Today, international terrorism has two major incubators. One is in Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, where we have a significant and important presence of both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in conflict with each other. […] The other incubator is Africa, where we have all the national variants of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State”.

According to Alfredo Mantovano, Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the key to averting Islamist threats is not repeating past mistakes: “A dramatic mistake was thinking that the military dismantling of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq between 2016 and 2017 had ended the Islamist threat”. “On the contrary,” Mantovano observed, “the fragmentation of the Islamic State has resulted in a massive exodus of jihadist militants streaming from the Middle East to Africa, without the West fully grasping the magnitude of the situation, without the adoption of effective and coordinated measures and with a progressive withdrawal of military contingents from sensitive areas”.

Keeping attention high is also the call issued by Lorenzo Guerini, President of the Parliamentary Committee for the Intelligence and Security Services and for State Secret Control (COPASIR), according to whom we must “understand that the fact that the threat is silent does not mean that it is absent”. Guerini drew attention to the danger posed by so-called ‘void areas’ where terrorism could find fertile ground. These “are places where terrorism can thrive, and we must pay attention, reflect, and above all, work together. When it comes to Africa, this means European cooperation. Europe must put the situation in Africa at the top of its agenda in many areas of work, from supporting local governments and local realities to create better security conditions and counter terrorism, to a real, concrete, ambitious plan for Africa and its development”.

For more information:
Press Office LaPresse – ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/07d392b5-f95c-46a4-ad2f-3e8b7658ec89

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8945694