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CSG Systems International Approves Quarterly Dividend

CSG

CSG Systems International Approves Quarterly Dividend DENVER, May 25, 2021 – CSG ® (NASDAQ: CSGS) today announced that its Board of Directors approved the Company’s quarterly cash dividend payment of $0.25 per share of common stock to be paid on June 25, 2021 for shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 14, 2021. About CSG For more than 35 years, CSG has simplified the complexity of business, delivering innovative customer engagement solutions that help companies acquire, monetize, engage, and retain customers. Operating across more than 120 countries worldwide, CSG manages billions of critical customer interactions annually, and its award-winning suite of software and services allow companies across dozens of industries to tackle their biggest business challenges and thrive in an ever-changing marketplace. CSG is the trusted provider for driving digital innovation for hundreds of leading global brands, including Airtel Africa, América Móvil, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DISH, Formula 1, Hutchison 3 Indonesia, Inmarsat, Mastercard, Maximus, Microsoft, Mobily, MTN, New Leaf Service Contracts, State of California DMV, TalkTalk and Telstra. To learn more, visit our website at csgi.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Copyright © 2021 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. CSG® is a registered trademark of CSG Systems International, Inc. All third-party trademarks, service marks, and/or product names which are referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners, and all rights therein are reserved. Contacts: John Rea Investor Relations CSG +1 (210) 687 4409 john.rea@csgi.com Contact Details John Rea +1 210-687-4409 john.rea@csgi.com Company Website https://www.csgi.com

May 25, 2021 06:30 AM Mountain Daylight Time

Cloud-Native Storage Innovator Lightbits Labs Announces Carol Platz as Vice President of Marketing

Lightbits Labs

Lightbits Labs ™, the pioneer and leader in NVMe™ over TCP (NVMe/TCP) software-defined storage, today announced Carol Platz as Vice President of Global Marketing. Carol will lead Lightbits Labs’ strategic marketing initiatives and global marketing team with responsibilities spanning inbound and outbound marketing, demand generation, corporate communications, and channel marketing. Carol’s expertise and keen understanding of the customer journey will be influential in executing the company’s vision to expand customer implementations for new use cases and the catalyst that will drive the next phase of growth for Lightbits. Platz has had a successful decade-plus career in the storage industry building high-performing teams, architecting brands, developing channels, and producing well-oiled demand and lead generation engines. Carol was most recently at WekaIO, a high-performance data platform solutions provider, and prior to that Western Digital, Cloudian, SGI, and Panasas. “Carol will be an invaluable resource for Lightbits Labs, bringing unique, highly specialized insight into software-defined cloud storage technologies and the marketing strategies needed to ensure business success,” said Kam Eshghi, Chief Strategy Officer at Lightbits Labs. “With her leadership, Lightbits Labs is well positioned to grow our brand and product awareness as customers embrace the value, efficiency and scalability of NVMe/TCP-based, cloud-native storage.” Lightbits saw 5x growth in revenue in 2020 fueled by LightOS™, which delivers limitless flexibility without compromise, solving today’s data center problems with better performance, elasticity, and cost-efficiency. It provides a single storage platform regardless of deployment model or data center size and works with heterogeneous server configurations all on standard Ethernet TCP/IP networks. Utilizing standard x86 servers, there is no vendor lock-in; newer technologies, server platforms, and chipsets can be deployed as soon as they are available or when their cost is at an optimal level thus eliminating cycles of qualification and characterization. LightOS provides high-performance, scale-out, software-defined and cloud-native storage that enables customers to scale their business effortlessly, accelerate IT operations, and reduce storage overhead costs—all at the speed of flash. Additional resources: Lightbits Grows Revenues by Over 5X in 2020 While Driving Innovation Through Technology Advancements and Patents Blog: Lightbits Hits High Gear with New Features, Expanded Intel Support, Customer Success—and a New Board Advisor from VMWare Customer Success Story: Finanz Informatik Technologie Service About Lightbits Labs Lightbits Labs’ mission is to lead the cloud-native data center transformation by delivering scalable and efficient software defined storage that is easy to consume. Founded in 2016, Lightbits brings the agility of hyperscale storage to private clouds and edge clouds. The company pioneered NVMe/TCP so the solution is easy to deploy at scale, while delivering performance that is similar to local flash. Lightbits Labs is backed by strategic investors including Cisco Investments, Dell Technologies Capital, Intel Capital, and Micron, as well as top investors and VCs including Avigdor Willenz, Lip-Bu Tan, Marius Nacht, SquarePeg Capital, and WRVI Capital. Visit www.lightbitslabs.com or contact us at info@lightbitslabs.com. Follow Lightbits Labs: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook Lightbits, Lightbits Labs, LightOS, and Lightbits SuperSSD are trademarks of Lightbits Labs, Ltd. Contact Details Rainier Communications Alan Ryan +1 508-475-0025 alanryan@rainierco.com Rainier Communications Colin Boroski +16178406815 cboroski@rainierco.com Company Website https://www.lightbitslabs.com/

May 25, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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Freightlancer acquires freight marketplace Loadshift, receives investment from Maas Group founders, appoints new CEO.

Freelancer.com

Freelancer Limited (ASX: FLN) (OTCQX: FLNCF), the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and jobs posted, today announced that it’s partially owned subsidiary, Freightlancer, acquired Loadshift, Australia’s largest heavy haulage freight marketplace with 85.8 million kilometers of freight requested in 2020. At the same time, Freightlancer received $3.7 million investment from Wes Maas, CEO and founder of Maas Group Holdings (ASX: MGH, market capitalisation $1.2b), a diversified industrials group, Tom Cavanagh, CEO & founder of EMS Group (now a division of ASX:MGH), a specialist in machinery hire, sales, repairs and rebuilds to support underground mining and tunnelling and others. Startive Ventures, a venture fund focused on global technology and Internet startup opportunities also participated in the round. Tom Cavanagh, an experienced executive in the mining & equipment industries as founder and CEO of EMS group is also joining Freightlancer as Chief Executive. Founded in March 2007 by entrepreneur Phil Callaghan, Loadshift has grown to be Australia’s largest online heavy haulage freight marketplace with 68,837 freight requests (up 26.8%) for 85.8 million kilometres of freight requested in CY 2020 and over 73,000 loads posted in the last twelve months. Loadshift In FY20, Loadshift EBITDA was approximately $766k. The purchase price was $7.7 million. Freelancer Limited owns 53% of Freightlancer Holdings Pty Ltd after the transactions closed. Forward-looking statements This document contains certain "forward-looking statements". The words "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "project", "forecast", "estimate", “outlook”, “upside”, "likely", "intend", "should", "could", "may", "target", "plan" and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Indications of, and guidance on, future earnings and financial position and performance, including Freelancer’s FY21 outlook, are also forward-looking statements, as are statements regarding Freelancer’s plans and strategies and the development of the market. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Freelancer, which may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Freelancer cannot give any assurance or guarantee that the assumptions upon which management based its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct or exhaustive beyond the date of its making, or that Freelancer's business and operations will not be affected by other factors not currently foreseeable by management or beyond its control. Such forward-looking statements only speak as at the date of this announcement and Freelancer assumes no obligation to update such information. The release, publication or distribution of this document in jurisdictions outside Australia may be restricted by law. Any failure to comply with such restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws. About Freelancer Twelve-time Webby award-winning Freelancer.com is the world’s largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace by total number of users and projects posted. More than 50 million registered users have posted over 19 million projects and contests to date in over 1,800 areas as diverse as website development, logo design, marketing, copywriting, astrophysics, aerospace engineering and manufacturing. Freelancer owns Escrow.com, the leading provider of secure online payments and online transaction management for consumers and businesses on the Internet with over US$5 billion in transactions secured. Freelancer also owns Freightlancer & Loadshift, enterprise freight marketplaces with over 88 million kilometres of freight posted in 2020. Freelancer Limited is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX:FLN and is quoted on OTCQX Best Market under the ticker FLNCF. Contact Details Freelancer.com Phil Sylvester +61 400 538 309 psylvester@freelancer.com Freelancer.com Sebastian Siseles +14158012271 sebastian@freelancer.com Freelancer.com Helma Kusuma +19179202356 helma@freelancer.com Company Website https://www.freelancer.com

May 25, 2021 06:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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CSG Names Liz Bauer Executive Vice President

CSG

DENVER, May 24, 2021 – CSG (NASDAQ: CSGS) today announced the appointment of one of its top leaders, Liz Bauer, to executive vice president and chief marketing and customer officer. A creative and innovative industry leader, Bauer has been instrumental in developing and growing CSG’s business success over the last two decades. Previously senior vice president, chief investor relations and communications officer, Bauer’s influence at CSG has stretched across the company’s growth strategy, values-based culture, investor and analyst relations, communications and marketing, and its customer-first business approach. CSG president and CEO Brian Shepherd knows Bauer’s passion for building strong and successful teams coupled with her expansive track record of cross-functional accomplishments continue to distinguish her journey at CSG. “I’ve been extremely fortunate to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Liz since 2016 and know first-hand the impact she’s made on the company, our people, and our customers. From helping CSG make a bigger impact in the communities and industries we serve, to bringing a customer-obsessed approach to everything we do, to strengthening our culture and accelerating our growth, Liz is a critical member of the CSG executive leadership team,” Shepherd said. “I feel privileged to have played a part in the company’s evolution and growth over the years,” Bauer said. “We’ve done this by investing in and amplifying CSG’s strengths, which include our people, our domain expertise and our history of delivering on our commitments. “CSG’s success is the result of our decades-long commitment to understanding our customers and aligning our strategy, our employees and our industry-leading technology platforms around putting them first. I’m excited to continue our work in this critical area of differentiation for CSG, as we work hard to elevate both our culture and the business.” As chief customer officer, Bauer and her team work side-by-side with CSG’s other business functions todeliver a differentiated customer experience, deepen its customer relationships, and win more new business. In addition, in her role as chief marketing officer, Bauer will continue to position and differentiate the CSG brand through multiple channels and stakeholders in the marketplace, with a focus on accelerating growth in existing and new verticals. In addition to her work at CSG, Bauer is a current member of the World 50 CXO 50 community. She served on the board of the National Investor Relations Institute, the founding board of West Denver Preparatory Charter School and previously chaired the Rocky Mountain WICT Gala. Bauer is based in and works out of the company’s global headquarters in Denver. About CSG For more than 35 years, CSG has simplified the complexity of business, delivering innovative customer engagement solutions that help companies acquire, monetize, engage, and retain customers. Operating across more than 120 countries worldwide, CSG manages billions of critical customer interactions annually, and its award-winning suite of software and services allow companies across dozens of industries to tackle their biggest business challenges and thrive in an ever-changing marketplace. CSG is the trusted provider for driving digital innovation for hundreds of leading global brands, including Airtel Africa, América Móvil, AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DISH, Formula 1, Hutchison 3 Indonesia, Inmarsat, Mastercard, Maximus, Microsoft, Mobily, MTN, New Leaf Service Contracts, State of California DMV, TalkTalk and Telstra. To learn more, visit our website at csgi.com and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Copyright © 2021 CSG Systems International, Inc. and/or its affiliates (“CSG”). All rights reserved. CSG® is a registered trademark of CSG Systems International, Inc. All third-party trademarks, service marks, and/or product names which are referenced in this document are the property of their respective owners, and all rights therein are reserved. ### Contacts: Tammy Hovey Global / North America / Asia-Pacific Public Relations CSG +1 (917) 520-275 tammy.hovey@csgi.com Kristine Østergaard Europe / Middle East / Africa Public Relations +44 (0)75 0051 8412 kristine.ostergaard@csgi.com John Rea Investor Relations +1 (210) 687 4409 john.rea@csgi.com Contact Details CSG Tammy Hovey +1 917-520-2751 tammy.hovey@csgi.com Company Website https://www.csgi.com

May 24, 2021 06:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time

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The Future of Indoor Air Quality

YourUpdateTV

While concerns over indoor air quality are nothing new, the COVID-19 pandemic has made people realize just how important clean, indoor air is to our health. As states continue to fully reopen, facilities around the country are turning to new technologies to help keep indoor spaces safe. Recently, Dr. Ken Thorpe, a scientific advisor to Integrated Viral Protection, participated in a nationwide satellite media tour to discuss the impact of these new technologies and what the future holds for indoor air quality. A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/wrtkcmLQ5pY As more states begin to fully reopen, Houston-based Integrated Viral Protection (IVP) is helping businesses do so safely with their IVP Biodefense Indoor Air System. The air filter system instantaneously catches and kills airborne COVID-19 and other RNA viruses and has been granted emergency use authorization by the FDA. IVP is playing an integral role in reopening businesses such as hotels and restaurants and keeping children in schools around the country safe and is positioned to be the standard going forward, promoting clean and healthy air in all spaces. IVP is installed in health care settings across the U.S. to include over 100 healthcare facilities, including COVID-19 specialty hospitals, neuro-psych facilities, rehabilitation hospitals and tertiary centers. The game changing technology works by forcing air through a heated filter that captures and kills contaminants, including airborne pathogens, instantaneously, without changing the ambient air temperature significantly. IVP has been endorsed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as one of five top technologies in the world to combat COVID-19, and was recently named a top 25 Newsmaker of the Year by the Engineering News Record. Integrated Viral Protection (IVP) has also launched a new portable air purifying unit that instantaneously kills COVID-19 and other airborne pathogens. The compact travel unit, ideal for spaces up to 250 square feet, quietly cleans the air anywhere, including in hotel rooms, meeting rooms, residential spaces and more. The unit is also perfect for hotel and dorm rooms or common areas of a home. This protection against viruses and airborne pathogens is especially valuable when visiting high-risk individuals or hosting indoor gatherings. For more information, visit ivpair.com About Dr. Ken Thorpe, Ph.D.: Kenneth E. Thorpe, Ph.D., is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management, in the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. As a respected health care expert, Dr. Thorpe regularly testifies before committees in the U.S. Congress and in front of governments around the world on aspects of health care reform, and he is a frequent national presenter on issues of health care financing, insurance and health care reform at health care conferences, television and the media. About Integrated Viral Protection Solutions: IVP is playing an integral role in reopening businesses such as hotels and restaurants and keeping children in schools around the country safe and is positioned to be the standard going forward, promoting clean and healthy air in all spaces. IVP is installed in health care settings across the U.S. to include over 100 healthcare facilities, including COVID-19 specialty hospitals, neuro-psych facilities, rehabilitation hospitals and tertiary centers About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content. It includes separate channels for Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Media and Entertainment, Money and Finance, Social Responsibility, Sports and Technology. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

May 21, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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News Release

Apple Named in Federal Antitrust Lawsuit Filed by Entertainment Company

Primary Productions, LLC

Primary Productions LLC recently charged Apple with antitrust violations of the Sherman Act, alleging restraint of trade for how the technology giant inhibits developer access to Apple’s App Store and userbase. The suit seeks class-action status on behalf of millions of software developers that are blocked from the App Store in favor of apps developed by Apple and its cronies. The complaint states it is first-to-file such a case protecting developers of free apps. In 2018, the group developed an app designed to educate the public about blockchain wallets by distributing hundreds of millions of dollars of free digital blockchain encryption currency, aka cryptocurrency. Apple killed the app before release because it allegedly threatened Apple’s low-price gaming Apple Arcade. Anticompetitive exclusion from a marketplace, such as that of smartphone enhanced internet commerce, is prohibited by civil and criminal code formalized as the Sherman Act of 1890. The lawsuit states that “Apple has so far distanced the independent developer from direct access to his or her audience, that critical commerce is restrained in violation of the Sherman Act.” The lawsuit further states that “in 2021 alone, as of filing, Apple has already rejected one million apps, representing millions of person-hours of lost work, all to appease the Apple giant.” “Apple is a monopsony retail buyer of apps, and hence underpays developers, even those of free apps, when it disallows them or suppresses their ranking on the App Store,” said attorney Keith Mathews. “Broader than existing Apple antitrust litigation, this case finally protects independent developers of free apps.” As for solutions beyond monetary damages, which could exceed $100 billion, the lawsuit demands an injunction requiring Apple to permit due process before denying an app, via an “App Court” to act independently and thereby avoid the problem of favoritism and cronyism. Attorney Mathews’ firm, Associated Attorneys of New England, seeks to join the New Hampshire-based Coronavirus Reporter app lawsuit to create a multi-district national litigation effort. That app, despite being designed by Dr. Robert Roberts, who consulted for NASA, developed the quantitative test that has been used to diagnose heart attacks, and chaired the prestigious Fields Medal committee, was blocked by Apple from being the first COVID-19 app in February 2020. Download a copy of the complaint here and at www.LawsuitPressRelease.com. Contact Details LawsuitPressRelease.com John P. David +1 888-859-6637 john@lawsuitpressrelease.com

May 20, 2021 03:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time

Phase 4 Services Taps MCR Labs Operations Director for CFO Role

MCR Labs

Adding to their roster of cannabis industry and laboratory operations experts, Phase 4 Services, a laboratory management and consulting firm, has hired Ross Gutman to serve as vice president & chief financial officer. Gutman has served as director of business operations at MCR Labs, one of the oldest and most well-known cannabis testing labs on the East Coast, for nearly six years. He will draw on the knowledge and experience he’s gained while growing MCR Labs into a multimillion-dollar operation to assist Phase 4 clients with establishing effective finance, accounting, and administrative processes. Gutman will continue to guide business operations at MCR Labs while he takes on additional duties of strategic planning and process improvement for Phase 4 and their clients. “This is an important opportunity for Ross,” said Michael Kahn, president and founder of MCR Labs. “His work for us was the turning point in going from being a great local testing lab to becoming an organization capable of scaling operations and expanding at the same pace as the rest of the cannabis industry.” Phase 4 Services works with cannabis testing labs in both the marijuana and hemp industries to streamline administrative processes, advance testing capabilities, and scale operations to meet the ever-growing demand for reliable compliance testing. About Phase 4 Services: Phase 4 Services is a scientific consulting and laboratory management firm dedicated to growing, supporting, and enhancing hemp and cannabis testing laboratories. Founded by experts in analytical testing, pharmaceutical chemistry, business administration, and development strategy, our team is equipped with the knowledge and experience necessary to ensure partner laboratories are successful in their pursuit of advancing public health and safety for cannabis patients and consumers. For more information visit http://phase4services.com. Contact Details Phase 4 Services Joe Crinkley +1 857-230-0839 pr@phase4services.com Company Website https://phase4services.com/

May 20, 2021 07:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Cyvatar Wins Two Coveted Global InfoSec Awards at RSA 2021

Cyvatar

Cyvatar today announced two more prestigious industry award wins, this time as 2021 Global InfoSec award winners for the Cutting-Edge in Cybersecurity-as-a-Service (CSaaS) and the Most Innovative SecOps-as-a-Service, by Cyber Defense Magazine--the industry’s leading electronic information security magazine. This year marks Cyber Defense Magazine’s ninth year of honoring global InfoSec innovators. Its submission requirements are for any startup, early-stage, later stage, or public companies in the information security space who have a unique and compelling value proposition for their product or service. “We’re thrilled to receive one of the most prestigious and coveted cybersecurity awards in the world from Cyber Defense Magazine,” said Cyvatar Co-Founder and Chief Executive Corey White. “We knew the competition would be tough, and with top judges who are leading infosec experts from around the globe, we couldn’t be more pleased.”. Award judges are CISSP, FMDHS, CEH, certified security professionals who voted based on their independent review of the company submitted materials on the website of each submission including but not limited to data sheets, white papers, product literature, and other market variables. “We scoured the globe looking for cybersecurity innovators that could make a huge difference and potentially help turn the tide against the exponential growth in cybercrime, said Gary S. Miliefsky, Publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine. “Cyvatar is absolutely worthy of these coveted awards and consideration for deployment in your environment.” CDM has a flexible philosophy to find more innovative players with new and unique technologies, than the one with the most customers or money in the bank. CDM is always asking “What’s Next?” so we are looking for Next Generation InfoSec Solutions. Whether you’re a small business starting from scratch or need to amplify your existing security investments, Cyvatar is here for you. Get started for free or reach out to Cyvatar at CYVATAR.AI. About Cyber Defense Magazine With over 5 Million monthly readers and growing, and thousands of pages of searchable online infosec content, Cyber Defense Magazine is the premier source of IT Security information for B2B and B2G with our sister magazine Cyber Security Magazine for B2C. We are managed and published by and for ethical, honest, passionate information security professionals. Our mission is to share cutting-edge knowledge, real-world stories and awards on the best ideas, products and services in the information technology industry. We deliver electronic magazines every month online for free, and special editions exclusively for the RSA Conferences. CDM is a proud member of the Cyber Defense Media Group. Learn more about us at https://www.cyberdefensemagazine.com and visit https://www.cyberdefensetv.com and https://www.cyberdefenseradio.com to see and hear some of the most informative interviews of many of these winning company executives. Join a webinar at https://www.cyberdefensewebinars.com and realize that infosec knowledge is power. About Cyvatar Cyvatar is committed to cybersecurity for everyone. As the industry’s first subscription-based, cybersecurity-as-a-service (CSaaS) company, it’s our mission to transform the way the security industry builds, sells, and supports cyber solutions. We empower our members to achieve successful outcomes by providing expert advisors, proven technologies, and a strategic process roadmap to guarantee results that map to their business drivers. Our approach is rooted in proprietary ICARM (installation, configuration, assessment, remediation, maintenance) methodology that delivers smarter, measurable security solutions for superior compliance and cyber-attack protection faster and more efficiently, all at a fixed monthly price. And because we’re a subscription, members can cancel anytime. Cyvatar is headquartered in Irvine, California with locations around the world. Begin your journey to security confidence at CYVATAR.AI and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. Contact Details Cyvatar KC Higgins +1 303-434-8163 kc@cyvatar.ai Company Website https://cyvatar.ai/

May 19, 2021 12:15 PM Eastern Daylight Time

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COVID-19 crisis will lead to a new period of rapid, transformative growth and prosperity: Studio 44 reveal 10 key insights for business leaders

Stockwood Strategy

As we recover from the COVID pandemic, environmental, social and technological trends are converging, leading to rapid, disruptive and transformative change, the likes of which we have not experienced for more than a generation, argues Simon Sear, CEO and founder of Studio 44. Leaders need to ensure that they and their organisation are ready to innovate and transform. Sear said: “The COVID crisis will lead to a new period of rapid, transformative growth and prosperity just like the First World War led to the roaring twenties, the Second World War to the golden age of capitalism and the recession of the late 1970s to the expansive growth of the 1980s. Spring always follows winter.” Combining with this natural economic cycle are major tailwinds, such as society’s demand for more progress on racial and gender equality, social mobility and mental wellbeing, Studio 44 argues. Governments and wider society have reached a tipping point on progress with environmental sustainability, while technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), hyper-automation and the Internet of Things (IoT) are supercharging change. These converging trends will result in rapid, disruptive and transformative change, the likes of which we have not experienced for more than a generation. Sear added: “Economists are predicting record growth and leaders need to ensure that their organisations are bold, more agile and quicker to change than at any time in history in order to deliver competitive performance in terms of cost efficiency, revenues and return on capital” Studio 44 has identified ten key insights by working with leaders during the challenging times of COVID, ranging from experimentation to mindset, technology to organisational culture. Sear concluded: “The crisis has highlighted many insights into how leaders can prepare for this next phase of growth and the journey ahead. They are at a once in a generation inflection point, opportunity is coming, and they need to ensure that they and their organisation are ready to innovate and transform.” Here is a summary of Studio 44’s top ten insights: Create a common mission: Often, in non-crisis times, organisations pay lip service to their mission. It’s written down, but no one really buys it. If the crisis did one thing very well, it was to provide a focus. The need for speed: The pace of change had been increasing, but the crisis supercharged this. Leaders need to focus their organisation on being able to respond quicker and with more agility than ever before. Change the corporate mindset: Many companies have long-held beliefs that limited their ability to respond and transform assumptions that need to be put in the bin. Make bold investments: The successful businesses of the last 12 months were the ones that had historically invested in new ways of working and bold new propositions. Experiment: In a decade that will be defined by rapid change and transformation, inexpensive, fast experimentation needs to be in the DNA of an organisation. Allocate your best people to your best opportunities: The pace of change is becoming ever faster and the war for talent continues to heat up. Leaders need to balance the need for transparency and fairness with quickly getting the right people in the right roles to optimise the chances of an organisation’s success. Teach more than new digital skills: In building on the successes of working from home and a period of change and disruption, it's crucial to teach employees new cognitive strategies and behaviours to enable them to adapt. Break the silos: During the COVID crisis innovative leaders gathered a multi-skilled team, incentivised them all for success in the same way and gave them the space to make it happen. Many leaders are now thinking about how they can maintain this kind of operating model and not return to older ways of working and the inefficiencies they create. Keep communicating: The pace of disruption and uncertainty in the next decade means that people will often feel unsettled and will seek reassurance. These are the same needs team members faced during the COVID crisis. Practice stakeholder capitalism: Leaders need to take a cooperative model into the next period of transformation. They need to take a long-term view, to have a strategy that not only ensures financial performance in the short term, but invests, and is seen to invest, in longer-term positive outcomes for all stakeholders. About Studio 44 Studio 44 is creating the future. It is a next generation consultancy that helps senior business leaders create step-out growth, disrupt markets and transform their culture and ways of working. It brings together smart people from tech, the arts, business and science with a common mission to create growth for clients with a focus on people and the planet. By bringing diverse thinking and the spirit and energy of a start-up to corporate clients Studio 44 radically shifts the operating model of a traditional consultancy. Contact Details Studio 44 Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://studio44.io/

May 19, 2021 05:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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