Birkett Long is pleased to announce its support of Colchester Kings RFC, East Anglia’s first gay and inclusive rugby team, as kit sponsor.

Established in June 2022, the team aims to give queer people and their allies a safe space to participate in team sports whilst eliminating homophobia and transphobia in rugby by reducing barriers to join in team sports. This ambition leads them to support the LGBTQ+ community by promoting inclusion and participation in a welcoming and friendly environment.

The partnership is an organic one for Birkett Long, as Colchester Kings’ values of equality, diversity and inclusion reflect the firm’s own values.

Community is at the heart of Birkett Long, which has a history of actively supporting the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to running a number of LGBTQ+ focused webinars and publishing regular blogs focused on helping those in the community tackle legal issues that affect them, the firm has a high profile presence at local Pride events every year. You will always see employees cheering on the Kings and handing out crowns at Kings matches…whatever the weather!

The commitment is demonstrable and ingrained at every level as a number of the firm’s staff completed LGBTQ+ awareness training for businesses offered by local charity The OutHouse. The Divorce and Family team also witness signatures on statutory declarations for gender recognition certificates for free.

Birkett Long’s Head of Marketing, Jennie Skingsley, said: “We are delighted to have the opportunity to support the Colchester Kings Rugby team and are so proud to see our logo on the team kit at matches. We understand what it means to the players to put on the kit and we’re right there with them. It’s a vital part of showing our commitment to supporting the LGBTQ+ community throughout the year – we don’t just put a rainbow on our website for Pride month!”

Samuel Biscoe, Chairperson of Colchester Kings Rugby team said: “We’re delighted to have Birkett Long as a sponsor for our inaugural year. Having a local firm that is visibly engaged in our community is really important to us and we’re delighted with the support that they have given us since we established the team last year. We look forward to a long and engaging partnership as the club enters the International Gay Rugby league this September.”

Logpoint has been selected by CABI to provide its SIEM and SOAR solutions. Logpoint will be essential for CABI’s IT and cybersecurity operations, centralizing everything in a single pane of glass, increasing visibility across the infrastructure, and reducing the workload through automation and increased efficiency.

Logpoint SIEM fuses indecisive signals into meaningful alerts by adding context to accelerate detection and investigation. Logpoint SOAR automates the investigation of security incidents and provides case management tools to help analysts automate incident response.

“Logpoint’s user-friendly SIEM and SOAR solutions are an ideal fit for our requirements. We like the ease of use and the streamlining of services, as well as the elimination of manual triaging, which allows us to make better decisions about our security efforts,” says Jamie Brown, CABI Security Engineer. “We are able to detect and prevent security breaches before they become a problem, freeing up time previously spent on manual processes.”

CABI is an international, inter-governmental, not-for-profit organization based in Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom with 49 member countries. It has more than 400 employees from more than 20 locations globally. CABI’s mission is to improve people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment.

“CABI’s selection of Logpoint demonstrates our strength in providing efficient, robust capabilities to improve the business outcomes of cybersecurity and our ability to deliver speedy time to value, says Tim Wallen. “We’re excited to provide CABI cutting-edge SIEM and SOAR technology.”

The Lending Standards Board (LSB) formally welcomes its new Chair, Ken Scott, who took up his role with effect from 1 April 2023. Mr Scott’s extensive experience will support the LSB’s mission of working to ensure fair outcomes for financial services customers.

During his executive career, Mr Scott played a key role in driving the regional growth of HSBC’s commercial bank, with a particular focus on championing customer service. He later led the subprime lending business for Citigroup across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

His other career achievements include leading a successful turnaround as Chief Executive of real estate agents Hamptons International; floating MG Capital, an early fintech player, on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM); and building listed software provider ILX Group into a leading international skills-based eLearning, classroom training and consultancy business.

Mr Scott’s current appointments include non-executive chair of JLC Distribution, and Senior Independent Trustee at St John’s Foundation, a Bath-based charity supporting vulnerable members of the local Bath & NE Somerset community.

Mr Scott replaces Chris Pond, who has reached the end of his six-year tenure – the maximum term allowed under the LSB’s governance rules.

Emma Lovell, Chief Executive of the LSB, said: “While Chris will be a hard act to follow, we are gratified to have attracted someone of Ken’s calibre to take up the mantle. Ensuring fair outcomes for business and personal customers within financial services is a constant and ever-changing challenge.

I look forward to drawing on Ken’s counsel and expertise as we continue to help firms navigate this landscape. All that is left to do is to thank Chris – a committed and enthusiastic ambassador for the LSB who undoubtedly will be missed. And, to welcome Ken.”

Ken Scott said: “The financial services regulatory environment is destined to continue changing and adapting. I am very excited to get going and begin contributing officially to the LSB’s vital work. I warmly thank Chris Pond for his assistance in onboarding me over the past few months.”

San Francisco, CA – ID2020 announced today that Mastercard Community Pass has been awarded the coveted ID2020 Certification for digital ID solutions.

With more aspects of daily life – work, education, play, government services, shopping, and even social connections – now taking place online, governments, NGOs, and the private sector are in the midst of an unprecedented digital transformation.

And yet today, one person in nine – approximately 850 million people globally, including nearly a quarter of all children – is being left behind because they have no official record of their existence, let alone a way to prove their identity online.

These individuals often lack access to the most basic of services, including education and health care, the ability to open a bank account or apply for credit, exercise their rights as citizens and voters, travel, or meaningfully participate in the modern economy. As this digital transformation continues to extend into all aspects of social, political, and economic life, individuals who live in rural communities – especially those with limited digital connectivity or electricity – are even more likely to be systematically excluded.

Mastercard Community Pass is a shared, digital platform that will enable governments, NGOs, and other service providers to enhance access to critical services while simultaneously reducing the cost of service delivery. With Community Pass, individuals will receive a functional ID and a digital wallet – carried on a smart card – that enables them to receive food and humanitarian aid; access agricultural services, education, healthcare, and formal financial services; and more. Moreover, Community Pass was developed specifically to work offline, thus ensuring that individuals living in low- and no-connectivity environments are able to access critical services and opportunities.

“We could not be more delighted to announce the certification of Mastercard’s Community Pass,” said ID2020 Executive Director, Clive Smith. “Mastercard has long been a leader in the movement toward more privacy-preserving approaches to digital ID. We are encouraged to see them extend their product offerings to serve those who live in rural environments and who often struggle to access even the most basic of services. We hope that other solution providers will follow their lead to ensure that the needs of society’s most vulnerable are met.”

ID2020 announced the launch of the ID2020 Certification at the 2019 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. It recognizes digital ID solutions that adhere to leading industry standards for privacy, user management, portability, and interoperability.

Solutions are evaluated against 56 functional, outcomes-based Technical Requirements, which were developed with extensive input from the private sector, governments, and civil society organizations. The certification provides funders, implementers – and ultimately, end-users – with a “third-party seal of approval” so that they can trust that a solution was developed with ethical principles and consideration of the inherent risks and potential harms of digital ID systems in mind. The Technical Requirements are also widely used by developers aiming to build ethical, inclusive digital ID solutions.

“As we move towards a more digital world, we must ensure that no one is left behind. Cultivating privacy-preserving digital identity is not just a matter of technology, it’s a matter of trust – and the true power of digital identity lies not in the data we digitize, but in the lives we can change. We thank ID2020 for their recognition and ongoing partnership. By prioritizing privacy and empowering marginalized individuals to benefit from their own digital identity, we can build a more inclusive and equitable society for all,” said Andro Koutsoudis, Vice President, Mastercard Community Pass.