Press Releases & News

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LONDON, United Kingdom – ASOS.com, the UK’s leading online fashion store has launched http://www.asosfollowsfashion.com, a Twitter application aggregating the latest tweets from fashion industry insiders and influencers.

Commenting on the launch, James Hart, eCommerce Director at ASOS.com, said: “We’ve been chatting to our customers through social media for a few years now but our ASOS colleagues also follow and interact with some of fashion’s greatest through Twitter. With asosfollowsfashion.com, we get to share this passion. It’s a simple tool with a simple goal really; to connect fashion-loving people with real time news and views from the best of the fashion world.”

Featuring categories like ‘The Brands’, ‘The Bloggers’ and ‘The A-List’, asosfollowsfashion.com helps users to discover interesting fashion tweeters and view real-time fashion news and stories. Encouraging users to help curate the list of featured tweeters, the application also invites them to share their view and highlight any accounts that should be added.

“ASOS.com’s continued growth is due to their consistent ability to innovate with their online activity,” said James Haycock, Managing Director of AdaptiveLab, the creative technology company that built the social media application. “Their open approach to including competitors on the site demonstrates that they really understand the role their brand can play when it comes to social interaction, as this application positions them as a useful resource that will have continued relevance.”

About AdaptiveLab
AdaptiveLab is a London-based creative technology company. The company designs innovative online products and services (that it launches under its own name and creates tailor-made) for clients such as ASOS.com and YouGov Plc. http://www.adaptivelab.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/adaptive_lab

About ASOS.com
Established in June 2000, ASOS.com is the UK’s largest independent online fashion and beauty retailer with over 35,000 products and 1500 new lines added each week. Aimed primarily at fashionably aware 16-34 year olds, the site attracts over 6.9million unique visitors per month and has in excess of 2.9million registered users. http://www.asos.com http://www.twitter.com/asos http://www.asosfollowsfashion.com

For further information, images and samples please contact:

Amy Davies
asos.com
Greater London House
Hampstead Road
London
NW1 7FB

+44 (0)20 7836 1284
press@asos.com
http://www.asos.com

Submitted by:
John Wood
+44 (0)777 152 0001
jw@worldwidepr.net
http://www.worldwidepr.net
http://twitter.com/worldwidepr
London, United Kingdom
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Caja Madrid – established for some 300 years and currently Spain’s fourth largest financial group – has revolutionised its training systems through the use of a learning content management system (LCMS) augmented by a learning management system. The new system – supplied by Giunti Labs, the leading learning and mobile content management solution provider – is intended to improve both the efficiency and cost effectiveness of Caja Madrid’s staff training activities.

High levels of employee productivity and efficiency are crucial to Caja Madrid’s continued success and growth. This is the main reason why Giunti Labs’ learn eXact LCMS represents the most suitable solution for the organisation’s training contents production and management.

The project – known as ‘Aula Virtual de Caja Madrid’ – aims to exploit, and profit from, Caja Madrid’s as well as its partners’ and collaborators’ knowledge. All this is possible through a special system for learning materials development and delivery which is aligned to market rhythm and requirements.

This brand new ‘Aula Virtual’ supports a web-based content development method that can be used by internal and external subject matter experts as well as by learning object (LO) providers. Since LOs are then managed on the same LCMS and labelled with the same metadata schema, the whole process becomes more efficient from both content reuse and update points of view.

“The learn eXact LCMS solution allows Caja Madrid to organise – according to industry standards – all its learning content into one single content management system and digital repository,” explained Giunti Labs’ CEO, Fabrizio Cardinali.

“Most importantly, the legacy content of a huge number of instructor-led courses is being transferred into the system and tagged with a SCORM-based metadata and taxonomies framework. The same framework is also applied to all e-learning content.

“To ensure the efficient reuse and quality of the content, all third party content producers use learn eXact for their content production and management,” he said.

In February 2009, Caja Madrid adopted the SCORM 2004 standard for all its learning materials and recently began insisting that all those providing its learning materials did so with Giunti Labs’ SCORM 2004 conformant eXact Packager software.

In April 2009, Giunti Labs’ eXact Lobster Digital Repository was installed in Caja Madrid and content providers started generating content connected to Giunti Labs’ eXact Lobster at Caja Madrid. In the first months of 2010, Caja Madrid’s employees have begun using the resulting learning content.

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About Caja Madrid

Caja Madrid is Spain’s fourth largest financial group. It offers a complete range of banking products and services to meet its 7 million retail, business and private customers’ needs. Its customer base comprises families, small and medium sized companies, big corporations and private and public institutions.

With more than 15,000 employees and an extensive network of more than 2,000 offices all over Spain, Caja Madrid can also boast of an advanced subsidiary system comprising a series of external networks. One of the most important of these is the MAPFRE network system that, in addition to its brokers and delegates, also provides more than 600 Caja Madrid dealers inside MAPFRE offices.

Caja Madrid also benefits from its foreign branches in Lisbon, Miami and Vienna and has a strong presence in other countries including the US, Mexico, Cuba, China and Morocco.

Caja Madrid is also a leader in social action in terms of the amount of resources applied. For more than three centuries it has been working hard, from both a social and cultural point of view, to address social issues and provide assistance in cultural, educational and environmental sectors.

About Giunti Labs

Giunti Labs http://www.giuntilabs.com is a leading Online and Mobile Learning Content Management Solutions provider with offices around the world. Giunti Labs provides a wide range of solutions for content development, content management and content delivery, covering:

• Multi-language bespoke content production

• Content management and digital repository platforms

• ePortfolio and skills management solutions

• Mobile learning technologies

• Consulting and professional services

Giunti Labs provides solutions to many sectors including public sector, defence, manufacturing, finance, retail, ICT, education and healthcare.

Giunti Labs is part of Giunti Group, a leading educational and cultural heritage publisher with roots back to 1841. Over the years, Giunti has built a catalogue of over 12.000 titles and has acquired new brands worldwide.

Further information from:

Minna Leikas, Giunti Labs, +39 3474435167, m.leikas@giuntilabs.com

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405, bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Omniplex, a leading provider of e-learning solutions with bases in the UK and North America, is exhibiting at the eLearning Guild’s annual conference, being held on 24th and 25th March, in Orlando, Florida, USA. In addition, Matthew Lloyd, Omniplex’s managing director, is speaking at the conference – giving a ’guided tour of knowledge theory and its practical implications’.

Based in the USA, the eLearning Guild is the oldest source of information, networking and community for e-learning professionals. As a member-driven organization, the Guild produces conferences, online events, e-books, research reports and Learning Solutions Magazine and aims to enable e-learning professionals to share knowledge, expertise and ideas to build a better industry — and better learning experiences — for everyone.

According to the event’s organizers, to ensure your organization’s e-learning success, you need to make connections with the right people, ideas, strategies, tools, technologies, and resources. They claim that those attending the eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions Conference & Expo will find all the connections they need ‘under one roof’.

“Since 2002 the eLearning Guild’s Annual Gathering has been the go-to resource for e-learning professionals, attracting the best minds in the industry,” commented Susan Morin, Omniplex’s Vice President of North American Operations. “Now this community’s annual gathering has become the Learning Solutions Conference & Expo – and we’re delighted to be exhibiting there.

“Blatant Media will be joining us on our stand in Florida – and a number of our partners are also exhibiting, including Yukon, Articulate and Raptivity,” she added.

Omniplex offers a number of delivery and tracking solutions, including the Flash-based LMS, Absorb Learning Management System produced by the Alberta, Canada, based Blatant Media Corporation.

Blatant Media’s software and online training solutions help users:

• Monitor employee training, experience, development and critical performance requirements
• Share an employee personal success plan to help progress towards reaching corporate performance goals and employee career advancement
• Convert critical training into engaging adult learning opportunities, including soft skills, policy, compliance and simulation training

Omniplex’s learning solutions encompass the corporate training process, from course development solutions, through delivery and tracking to, crucially, retention measurement and learning reinforcement.

Omniplex provides the leading authoring tools Articulate, Captivate and Raptivity, along with user training and support to help clients develop their in-house course development capabilities. Alternatively, Omniplex can develop specific courses for clients through its design company, Cursim.

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About the eLearning Guild

Based in the USA, the eLearning Guild is the oldest source of information, networking and community for e-learning professionals. As a member-driven organization, the Guild produces conferences, online events, e-books, research reports and Learning Solutions Magazine — all devoted to the idea that the people who know the most about making e-learning successful are the people who produce e-learning every day in corporate, government, and academic settings. The Guild’s goal is to create a place where e-learning professionals can share their knowledge, expertise and ideas to build a better industry — and better learning experiences — for everyone.

About Omniplex

Omniplex is a leading provider of e-learning authoring, delivery, tracking and reinforcement products and services. Based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, in the UK, and in Montreal, Canada, Omniplex supports clients across Europe and North America.

Further information on Omniplex can be found at www.omniplex.co.uk and www.omniplex.biz

Further information from:

Matthew Lloyd, Omniplex Ltd, +44 (0)1442 275304 / 08444 120550; matthew.lloyd@omniplex.co.uk

Susan Morin, Omniplex (North America), +1 (514) 448-2239; susan.morin@omniplex.biz

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

FREMONT, California — Rental Software ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management-software ) developer TReXGlobal.com has published 2010’s top 10 tax tips for the 10 million real estate investors and landlords in the United States, and the property managers and real estate professionals who work with them. Property Managers, Property Management ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management ) Companies and Real Estate professionals can provide these valuable tax tips to their real estate investor clients for free.

According to a study by the GAO (Government Accountability Office), about 25 percent of rental property owners over reported their net income from rental real estate, by overstating rent received or understating expenses or losses. The estimated amount of net income overstated by misreporting rental property owners was $2.1 billion.

Due to the recession, there has been a significant increase in the number of accidental landlords in the US – property owners who have turned properties that they want to sell into units that they must rent out. Many of these individuals will be including their rental property income and expenses in their tax filing for the first time. The top 10 tax tips for 2010 will help them save them thousands of dollars by minimizing their taxes.

Everyone’s tax situation is different, and the tax tips should not substitute professional advice.
Rental Property owners should always consult with their tax advisors to consider specific factors that
might affect their situation.

The top 10 tax tips for rental property ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management/real-estate-news/top-10-tax-tips-for-rental-property ), and other rental property tax deductions ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management/landlord-resources/rental-property-tax-deductions ), are available at http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management

About TReXGlobal.com

TReXGlobal.com develops rental management ( http://www.trexglobal.com ) software and property management ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management )tools for property managers ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-manager ), landlords ( http://www.trexglobal.com/landlord ), and tenants ( https://www.trexglobal.com/tenant ). Products offered by TReXGlobal.com include Simplify’Em Pay Rent ( http://www.trexglobal.com/pay-rent ) Online and Property Management Software ( http://www.trexglobal.com/property-management-software ). TReXGlobal.com’s products have been featured in Forbes, Chicago Tribune, Accounting Today, WebCPA.com, Inman News and other publications. The company has partnerships with Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions (FNRES), Bay East Association of REALTORS®, San Diego Association of REALTORS®, IPX1031, RealTown – The Real Estate Network, and many other leading real estate companies. More information is available at TReXGlobal.com ( http://www.trexglobal.com ).

Media Contact:

Niman Singh
Director of Community Relations
(510) 979-9066
Press@TReXGlobal.com

Over the last couple of weeks Mark Eaton, of the quality, innovation and productivity organisation Amnis, has spoken at two conferences organised by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), the UK’s leading source of news and information on health management. The conferences covered Lean healthcare and leadership.

According to HSJ, the Lean healthcare conference was intended to provide delegates with the knowledge and skills to get Lean off the ground in their organisation and across the patient pathway. The key speakers offered insights into how to embed the principles of Lean in delegates’ organisation processes and in their workforce culture.

“Although the concept of Lean has been around for years, there is still much to be done to embed the key elements of Lean in the NHS,” commented Mark Eaton.

“Recognising the benefits of reducing waste and promoting efficiency, many healthcare organisations have embarked on a journey of Lean and have reaped the benefits. By streamlining processes and eliminating waste across the whole patient pathway, service improvement can move away from silo-thinking and deliver real efficiency,” he said.

Among the positive and enthusiastic feedback from delegates was this comment from Phil Annal, of the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust, and Project Manager at North Cornwall Mental Health Integrated Care Pilot (ICP): “I thought the event was excellent and Mark Eaton’s presentation really hit home on some key issues for us. In particular, I found the Desire/Risk 2×2 matrix and the ‘Pressure, Vision, Internal Skills, Continuous Improvement’ table most helpful.”

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About Amnis Limited

Working with both public and private sector organisations, Amnis is a consultancy which specialises in innovation, transformation and organisational improvement, helping clients plan and deploy strategies for successful transformation. Its goal is to help clients not only deliver sustainable change but also to develop their capability to tackle their next challenges.

Providing both consultancy and training services, Amnis’ team includes specialists in Lean/Six Sigma, organisational development, strategic planning, change management and systems thinking.

Further information from:

Ruth Bodman, Amnis, 00 44 (0) 870 446 1002; ruthbodman@amnis.uk.com

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Russia’s own world-renowned gift-giving experts RussianFlora.com announces its newest catalog overflowing with gorgeous flowers, delectable gourmet treats, and memorable gifts sure to melt her heart on Women’s Day.

RussianFlora.com, the experts in flower and gift delivery throughout the Former Soviet Union, today announced the launch of an expanded online catalog full of stunning flower arrangements, decadent chocolates, delicious wines, and unforgettable gift baskets just in time to commemorate Women’s Day, the time-honored Russian holiday.

Celebrated on the 8th of March, Women’s Day stands out as one of the most romantic, effusive, and love-filled holidays of the year. Similar to a combination of Valentine’s Day and Mother’s day, Women’s Day is the perfect day to celebrate the wisdom, beauty, patience, and unconditional love of the special women in your life – mothers, wives, girlfriends, daughters, and even colleagues – by showering them with attention, admiration, praise, and – of course – presents. This year, RussianFlora.com is making it easy for spouses, sons, fathers, friends, and business owners to follow tradition and bestow heartwarming gift baskets upon their special ladies.

Women’s Day celebrations date back to the ancient Romans who honored women with a similar holiday. Once each year matrons (free-born married women) received presents from their husbands and enjoyed their love and attention. Female slaves were given gifts as well and were allowed to have a day off. The women would dress in their best attire, adorn their hair with fragrant flowers, and visit the temple of the goddess Vesta, the beautiful – and wise – guardian of the hearth and home.

“The Roman Empire has fallen and many years have passed, but the fire of Vesta’s hearth still burns in Russia where the tradition of honoring women on the March 8th is still very much alive,” says Dimitriy Pereg, Chief Flower Officer at RussianFlora.com. “In Russia, there’s no better way to shower your precious lady with love, thank her for everything she does, and orchestrate an enchanted evening than to present her with gorgeous flowers and gifts from RussianFlora.com for Women’s day.”

At RussianFlora.com customers can opt to follow tradition by sending red tulips that represent the renewal of spring, the strength of friendship, and the power of love. Another common choice for Women’s Day is the bright yellow mimosa which stands for vitality, joy, wisdom, and warmth. But don’t let tradition tie you down this Women’s Day; any spring flowers that will catch her eye will do for a Women’s Day Bouquet, and at RussianFlora.com you can combine flowers and build the perfect bouquet or romantic basket.

Don’t forget that flowers only complement your Women’s Day gift to Russia. Along with plenty of positive compliments it is customary to give delicious chocolates, adorable plush toys, and striking gift baskets with women’s favorite items such as sweets, perfumes, cosmetics, and gourmet treats. Men: No matter what you want to send your beloved this Women’s Day, RussianFlora.com has the perfect gift for March 8th. You’ll find a huge variety of holiday gift baskets for family members and business associates that are sure to warm any heart and titillate any tastes. Some men struggle with finding the perfect gift for a woman, but they don’t have to worry when they order a fabulous gift basket from RussianFlora.com because hardly any woman can resist a gift of succulent fruits, high-quality gourmet treats, mouthwatering chocolates, delicious wine, and lovely flowers.

Women’s Day Gift Baskets from RussianFlora.com are specially designed to show your passion, gratitude, friendship, and love with elegance, beauty, and unmatched quality not only this Women’s Day, but also on any romantic occasion. You can order Women’s Day flowers and Women’s Day gifts to make this Women’s Day the best she’s ever had.

About RussianFlora.com

RussianFlora.com is a BBB accredited company based in the Former Soviet Union that specializes in delivering superior quality gifts to Russia and all over the world. By maintaining professional relationships with established, local florists and gift delivery companies in each region, RussianFlora.com has become renowned for its incredible selection of fresh, beautiful flowers and stunning romantic gifts as well as its ability to guarantee delivery in Russia within 48 hours, and its dedication to providing high-quality customer service. Learn more about the company at www.RussianFlora.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Brookline, MA USA, 27  February 2010.
Probayes Technologies (Grenoble, France) has joined with IDmachines LLC (Brookline, MA, USA) to bring its security and productivity solutions based on Bayesian modeling, inference and learning to the United States marketplace. Probayes Keystroke Dynamics, Fraud Detection and Operational Risk Management products provide strong authentication and security in depth in addition to powerful predictive analytics. These end-user applications are supported and complemented by a Software Development Kit (SDK) and Bayesian modeling toolkit to speed use of knowledge development for security and a wide range of applications across disciplines.

Today’s security solutions need to address a dynamic and wide ranging array of threats. Even better it would predict them. Probayes and IDmachines find that products such as keystroke dynamics and fraud/incident detection are a natural complement to other strong authentication techniques. The two companies bring decades of experience with security and machine learning to its end-user, integrator and original equipment manufacturer partners. The end-user products are targeted at large scale infrastructure and enterprises. IDmachines brings a particular expertise with organizations that look to leverage the Personal Identity Verification Interoperability (PIV-I) such as Federal, State and local government as well as financial services and other critical infrastructure sectors.
Probayes products are currently used by leading European Union financial institutions and Global 100 organizations. Emmanuel Mazer, CEO of Probayes, stated “Knowing Sal D’Agostino for a long time, I am very proud to work with his company. By partnering with IDmachines, I am sure our US customers will benefit from their high level of commitment and recognized security expertise. This will ensure the successful deployment of our products, and a quick return on customer investment.”
“IDmachines is very excited at the opportunity to work with Emmanuel Mazer and his team at Probayes. Having worked with Emmanuel over the last 3 decades one can only be amazed at the timeliness and elegance of the important innovations he has brought to market in machine learning. The ability of organizations and their networks to deploy security in depth and for the network to learn provides tremendous potential for enterprise security and improved delivery of goods and services to its customers. Keystroke dynamics and fraud detection are only the first examples of how Probayes and its partners and customers will leverage the tools of probability.”

The ability to identify anomalies goes to the heart of most security solutions. Probayes solutions provide an ability to include new and broader information into analysis engines that can identity and predict these anomalies. Cyber security that combines strong authentication techniques with security in depth improves security measures and enables global transactions and access. The demand for enhanced cyber security solutions includes the need to access cloud computing services and is particularly true in the current environment of widespread attempts at fraud.
“It’s important that these security and learning tools get put to work in building 21st century networks and products” commented Mr. D’Agostino.

Contact:

Sal D’Agostino
IDmachines LLC
1264 Beacon Street
#5
Brookline, MA 02446

sal@idmachines.com

+1.617.201.4809

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About IDmachines:
IDmachines works with its customers to enable identity and security using standards based solutions. Across government, critical infrastructure and other enterprises IDmachines enables the migration to a single high assurance multi-purpose identity credential and global interoperability. IDmachines help end-user, system integrator, and manufacturing and services organizations achieve game changing developments in the identity, access and security world.

About Probayes:
Probayes provides software for predictive analytics solutions. A spin-off from the French CNRS research lab, it was founded in 2003. Probayes has developed unique technology allowing its customers to easily extract from data using existing expertise predictive models to address key business requirements. The applications cover a wide range of fields including, user authentication, trajectory prediction, and fraud detection.

The Hague, 25 February 2010, ID Control, the specialist in strong and easy authentication and encryption has integrated its’ solutions with Securepoint, the Unified Threat Management solution which protects the gate to your network resources or your remote office from a mixture of risks and threats. Sensitive information from your network or application can now be securely exchanged with Securepoint’s VPN access to the right persons, who are really who they proclaim to be.

A lot of organizations that offer remote working facilities to their clients, subsidiaries, branche offices, suppliers or employees enable private tunnels to internal network resources or applications through VPN. Securepoint manages the network related security threats and risks in a blended easy protective approach and provides the VPN from one centrally managed secure point at the gate. Together with ID Control users need to authenticate themselves when accessing the VPN, which was before with only a user name and password, which is a relatively weak authentication mechanism. ID Control empowers the authentication procedure by providing strong authentication tokens with dynamic passwords on your mobile phone or on a hardware token.  Next to One Time Password authentication the user’s legal binding digital signature on a USB token can be used to sign-on to the access of  Securepoint’s VPN.  ID Control’s solutions are affordable and very user-friendly and available for Securepoint’s VPN but also for web based email and other services such as web application, network and remote desktop access.

Hans Kortekaas, CEO of ID Control, says that unauthorized access is probably the most significant vulnerability to your organizations’ network environment. This can put the availability of your network, the confidentiality of business data inside your network, and your entire business activity at risk. And it also exposes your company and its management to potential compliance issues with regulations and data privacy laws. Controlling the identity and access of the users to VPN are ranked high in priority on the list of security measures nowadays. With ID Control and Securepoint in place, confidentiality, integrity, and proof of origin of any communication before entering the tunnel into your network can be ensured.

Securepoint, www.securepoint.de, founded in 1997, is the fastest growing Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution in Germany and develops and markets innovative IT-Security Technology for the total protection of an organization’s network. Securepoint UTM-security solutions (Unified Threat
Management) with Firewall, IDS, VPN, Virus protection, web content/spam filtering and high availability features meet all of the security demands and wishes of today’s IT security manager. Securepoint excels in the easy web based configuration and administration of the system for all security modules. Securepoint is available as Appliance, or Software which can be installed on any computer or server, or VMWare image. All Securepoint solutions are distributed over a network of 2.000 partners securing already more than 32.000 networks worldwide. Customers range from small businesses, lawyers and doctors, to large industries and ministries.

ID Control, www.idcontrol.com located in The Hague, provides strong and easy authentication tokens and unified authentication management. The range of strong authentication tokens for secure online access is composed of HandyID, MessageID, KeystrokeID, the ID Control OTP Key and USB Token.
HandyID is an OTP generating application running on your mobile device, the ID Control OTP Key is an OTP generating hardware token, the ID Control USB Token stores and generates digital signatures and OTPs and KeystrokeID recognizes users on the basis of their typing behaviour while logging in. At the same time ID Control offers e-mail encryption, decryption and authentication with MailID which uses MessageIDs One Time Passwords (OTP) via SMS for opening up e-mail with attachments.

The partnership between Amnis and the Institute of Operations Management (IOM) is entering its fifth year with the first of six one-day masterclasses that are scheduled to occur throughout 2010. Over the last five years the partnership between Amnis and the IOM has produced over 50 joint events, involving several thousand participants.

In addition, Amnis and the IOM have announced two further versions of Amnis’s flagship Lean training programme – known as the ‘Accelerated Lean Skills Programme’ (ALSP).

The three-day ALSP takes participants from beginner to practitioner level and gives them the skills to lead their first projects within the healthcare sector. The programme, which has over 3,000 successful graduates at present, fits into Amnis’ Lean Leader Programme – a scheme of study for those wishing to further develop their Lean-related knowledge and expertise.

Participants receive all materials, guides and follow-up telephone and email support, as well as a book by Amnis’ Mark Eaton, the programme lead. The three days of training broadly cover:

• Day 1 – Lean Basics & Core Lean Tools (Part 1)
• Day 2 – Value Stream Mapping & Core Lean Tools (Part 2)
• Day 3 – Lean Simulation & Making Lean Programmes Work

Among the comments from participants on previous ALSPs are:

• “It was an all-round excellent theoretical and practical course which has given me real confidence in leading colleagues through a structured approach to continuous improvement.” (Mike Hill, Head of Trading Standards, Essex County Council)
• “This course was a useful and informative introduction to Lean skills and has provided me with ideas and a means to put them into practice.” (Laura Castell, Network Manager, Shell)
• “It was highly interactive. The programme had a good pace, great content and I really enjoyed the simulation exercises.” (Alicia Dermott, GM Distribution, Asda)

The series of one-day masterclasses covers:

• Understanding Lean (9^th March, London) – Covering the basic principles of Lean and providing an overview of the key tools
• Value Stream Mapping (23^rd March, Corby) – Focusing on those who have already gained an understanding of Lean and its principles
• Lean for Managers and Executives (20^th April, London) – Exploring the management systems and structures that are needed to make Lean work and to create a culture of continuous improvement.
• Standard Work (4^th May, Corby) – Examining 5S and Standard Work, tools used in Lean programmes.
• Expert in Lean (8^th June, London) – For those who have extensive knowledge of Lean, this masterclass reviews Lean tools and concepts including Heijunka, Jidoka and TPM.
• Sustaining Lean (22^nd June, Corby) – Examining the key skills required to deliver successful improvement.

For further details about the Amnis/ IOM ALSPs and the series of one-day masterclasses, contact Ruth Bodman (ruthbodman@amnis.uk.com) or visit http://www.downloads.amnis.uk.com/IOM2010.pdf.

End

About the Accelerated Lean Skills Programme (ALSP)

This fast paced and highly interactive programme gives participants the understanding and experience to enable them to successfully participate in Lean programmes within healthcare organisations. The programme covers all the basic concepts of Lean and how these can be turned into successful Lean events and programmes. The programme is accredited by the Institute for Healthcare Management (IHM) and involves three days of training and a short post-training project for which telephone and email support is available.

The three days of training broadly cover:

• Day 1 – Lean Basics & Core Lean Tools (Part 1)
• Day 2 – Value Stream Mapping & Core Lean Tools (Part 2)
• Day 3 – Lean Simulation & Making Lean Programmes Work

The course is aimed at those with little or no knowledge of Lean and those looking to take their basic knowledge to a higher level.

The Accelerated Lean Skills Programme is accredited by the Institute of Healthcare Management and provides recognition under their CPD scheme. Successful graduates of the programme receive an endorsed certificate. The Programme is intended for senior staff, managers and above working with healthcare organisations which are being tasked with either participating in a Lean programme or are required to look at making Lean work within their own areas.

About Amnis Limited

Working with both public and private sector organisations, Amnis is a consultancy which specialises in innovation, transformation and organisational improvement, helping clients plan and deploy strategies for successful transformation. Its goal is to help clients not only deliver sustainable change but also to develop their capability to tackle their next challenges.

Providing both consultancy and training services, Amnis’ team includes specialists in Lean/Six Sigma, organisational development, strategic planning, change management and systems thinking.

Further information from:

Ruth Bodman, Amnis, 00 44 (0) 870 446 1002; ruthbodman@amnis.uk.com

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com

Migrating to easier-to-use learning management systems, along with mobile learning are the two ‘hottest topics’ in the learning technologies world at present, according to research by Omniplex.

A poll of visitors to the stand of e-learning solutions provider Omniplex, at this year’s Learning Technologies exhibition, held in London’s Olympia, revealed that they were primarily preoccupied with two ‘hot topics’.

“One priority was people looking to migrate from an existing learning management system (LMS) to a system that is easier to use,” revealed Matthew Lloyd, managing director of Omniplex.

“This reflects the trend towards organisations taking control of their LMS in-house – along with the trend to develop their own e-learning materials in-house, which has boosted demand for such things as rapid authoring tools which can be used by in-house subject matter experts rather than by professional e-learning designers and developers.

“Providing systems and opportunities for mobile learning was the other hot topic,” he added. “In particular, the announcement of the iPad by Apple was seen to be of great importance to the mobile learning space.

“As ‘virtual working’ becomes increasingly popular, so more organisations’ workforces not only tend to be more widely distributed but also need to access learning and performance support materials remotely, on a just-in-time and just-enough basis. We’re finding that this is encouraging more organisations to investigate – and develop – mobile learning options.

“While ‘desktop PC-delivered e-learning’ is far from outdated, increasingly we are seeing it being augmented by mobile learning applications which make these learning materials available – via a range of delivery devices – to users wherever they are.”

According to the Learning Technologies event’s organisers, this year’s event – held at the end of January - attracted more exhibitors and visitors than ever before, highlighting growing confidence within the e-learning industry.

“We certainly had our busiest show ever this year,” commented Lloyd, who added that Omniplex received 20 per cent more ‘serious’ enquiries on its stand at this year’s Learning Technologies exhibition than it did at last year’s event. In both years, the number of enquiries Omniplex received was ‘over 100’.

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About Omniplex

Omniplex is a leading provider of e-learning authoring, delivery, tracking and reinforcement products and services. Based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, in the UK, and in Montreal, Canada, Omniplex supports clients across Europe and North America.

Further information on Omniplex can be found at www.omniplex.co.uk and www.omniplex.biz

Further information from:

Matthew Lloyd, Omniplex Ltd, +44 (0)1442 275304 / 08444 120550; matthew.lloyd@omniplex.co.uk

Susan Morin, Omniplex (North America), +1 (514) 448-2239; susan.morin@omniplex.biz

Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, +44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com