AJCCA Conference 2024 in Singapore - Strengthening Cybersecurity Alliances and Recognizing ACRA Achievements

-Enhancing Cybersecurity in the ASEAN region by Expanding Regional Alliances and Forging New Partnerships-

TOKYO, Nov. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On October 17, 2024, the ASEAN Japan Cybersecurity Community Alliance (AJCCA) held a successful conference at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre in Singapore. This year's theme was "The Strategic Role of Cybersecurity Communities in Driving Cyber Resilience in Asia," Government officials, industries, and academics in the cybersecurity field participated, making it an opportunity to deepen regional cooperation.

The welcome speech by AJCCA Chairman Dr. Rudi Lumanto marked the beginning of the event, where he reported on the cybersecurity strengthening initiatives that the association has been advancing. He particularly emphasized the importance of tackling cyber threats through regional cooperation. Dr. Lumanto also expressed his commitment to future efforts, leaving a strong impression on the participants.

â–ªï¸Laos has joined as a new member

Lao Cybersecurity Community (LCSC) has officially joined AJCCA as a member. With this addition, the number of AJCCA member countries has expanded to 10, including Laos. This further strengthens the cooperation across ASEAN, and it is expected to enhance regional cybersecurity efforts.

â–ªï¸AJCCA and SEA-CC Global Partnership to Strengthen ASEAN Cybersecurity

In a landmark agreement aimed at bolstering cybersecurity across Southeast Asia, the ASEAN Japan Cybersecurity Community Alliance (AJCCA) and the South East Cybersecurity Consortium (SEA-CC) signed a memorandum of understanding, witnessed by Singapore's Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Ms. Rahayu Mahzam, and AJCCA Chairman, Dr. Rudi Lumanto. Marking a significant step forward for both organizations in their mission to create a safer digital environment in the ASEAN region.

This agreement makes SEA-CC the second global partner of AJCCA, reinforcing their shared commitment to promoting cybersecurity programs and activities across the region. Both organizations are eager to reach more users and provide tangible benefits to society through their joint initiatives.

Dr. Rudi Lumanto expressed confidence in the partnership's potential, stating, "Collaborating with various communities in the region will enhance security awareness and advance our mission of improving and sustaining cybersecurity capacity." He emphasized that these collaborations are vital to ensuring the region is prepared for the evolving cyber threats.

â–ªï¸AJCCA and idCARE Forge New Partnership to Promote Cybersecurity Awareness

In a significant move to bolster regional cybersecurity, the ASEAN Japan Cybersecurity Community Alliance (AJCCA) signed a mutual understanding and cooperation agreement with the Indonesia Cyber Awareness and Resilience Center (idCARE) of the University of Indonesia.

This partnership marks a major milestone for AJCCA, as idCARE becomes the third global partner in its mission to enhance cybersecurity across the region. Both organizations emphasized that the collaboration would focus on promoting cybersecurity awareness and capacity-building initiatives, which they view as critical in addressing the emerging and sophisticated cyber threats faced by governments, businesses, and individuals in the digital age.

Dr. Salman, Chair of idCARE, expressed his enthusiasm for the new partnership, stating that it would allow the benefits of idCARE's programs to reach a broader audience across ASEAN. "This collaboration will boost the impact of our initiatives, especially in promoting resilience in the face of evolving cyber threats," he said.

As part of this cooperation, idCARE has also introduced a new open-source security monitoring tool, Mata Elang, developed under their Project Elang initiative. This tool has now been made available through AJCCA's community services, offering a free and accessible alternative for anyone seeking security monitoring solutions. This initiative aligns with the shared goal of both organizations to provide resources that can help safeguard digital environments.

Dr Rudi Lumanto, Chairman of AJCCA, mentioned that this partnership highlights AJCCA's continued efforts to strengthen the region's cybersecurity framework, focusing on community-based solutions and open-source tools that address real-world security challenges.

â–ªï¸AJCCA Announced Cybersecurity Resilience Awards Honoree at Singapore Cyber Security Week

AJCCA announced the award honoree of the First Cybersecurity Resilience Awards (ACRA). The prestigious awards aim to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to advancing cyber resilience in their respective countries across the ASEAN region and Japan.

The head of the award committee, Dr. Hiroshi Esaki, shared that the ACRA initiative is designed to honor those who have played a pivotal role in championing cybersecurity and resilience within the region. "This initiative will celebrate individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to cybersecurity in Japan and ASEAN countries," Dr. Esaki noted. "It can have numerous positive impacts on the broader cybersecurity landscape, fostering a community that values resilience and collaboration."

ACRA Lead Coordinator, Sam Jacoba, added that the award would spotlight the exemplary work done between 2019 and August 2024. "The nominees will be evaluated based on five core criteria that align with the Vision, Mission, and Values of the AJCCA," he said. "These are: Dynamic Leadership, Resilience, Trustworthiness, Respect, and Collaboration."

The inaugural ACRA 2024 awards this year recognized 19 individuals from Japan and ASEAN countries for their dedication to advancing the AJCCA's vision of "a dynamic and resilient cybersecurity community in our region through trustworthy and respectful collaboration." These awardees have demonstrated unwavering commitment to promoting cybersecurity and resilience in their respective nations, ensuring the growth of a secure digital ecosystem across the region.

This initiative marks a significant milestone in AJCCA's efforts to foster collaboration and resilience among its members, with the hope of driving future advancements in the cybersecurity landscape throughout Southeast Asia and Japan.

List of ACRA Honorees:

Dr. Rosyzie Anna Awg Hj Md Apong (Brunei)
Mr. Mohamad Azad Zaki Haji Mohd Tahir (Brunei)
Mr. Ann Kim (Cambodia)
Mr. Phannarith Ou (Cambodia)
Dr.-Ing. Kalamullah Ramli (Indonesia)
Dr. Rudi Lumanto (Indonesia)
Dr. Koji Nakao (Japan)
Dr. Hiroshi Esaki  (Japan)
Dr Amirudin Abdul Wahab (Malaysia)
Mr. Tahrizi Tahreb (Malaysia)
Mr. Jeffrey Ian C. Dy (Philippine)
Mr. Angel S. Averia, JR (Philippine)
Mr. Ng Hoo Ming (Singapore)
Mr. Johnny Kho (Singapore)
Dr.M.L.Kulthon Kasemsan (Thailand)
Dr. Prinya Hom-anek (Thailand)
Mr. Ngô Tuấn Anh (Vietnam)
Mr. Nguyá»…n Thành HÆ°ng (Vietnam)
Mr. Masayuki Furukawa (Japan)

▪︠AJCCA Conference 2024 - Videos

The AJCCA Conference 2024, held on November 17 in Singapore, is available to view on the AJCCA website. >> https://ajcca.net/

URL: https://ajcca.net/
Contact: info@ajcca.net

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

AJCCA Conference 2024 in Singapore - Strengthening Cybersecurity Alliances and Recognizing ACRA Achievements

AJCCA Conference 2024 in Singapore - Strengthening Cybersecurity Alliances and Recognizing ACRA Achievements

Findings are the first, peer-reviewed evidence of gene-edited microbes supplying a material proportion of corn farmers' nitrogen in commercial production 

BERKELEY, Calif., Nov. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Peer-reviewed research published today in Scientific Reports describes a new technology that could revolutionize a century-old approach to providing nitrogen to crops. The study, a collaboration of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue University, and Pivot Bio, a leading sustainable agriculture company, presented first-of-its-kind evidence showing how gene-editing enhances microbes' ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and transfer it to cereal crops.

Using isotopically labeled nitrogen, researchers traced nitrogen in the air to chlorophyll of corn leaves, providing evidence that it was fixed from the air by the gene-edited microbes. Field studies also showed that these microbes could fix and supply nitrogen comparable to up to 40 pounds of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer with similar yields.

Improving the effectiveness of nitrogen fertilizers has been a long-standing challenge. "The core issue," explains Dr. Bruno Basso, a professor of environmental science at Michigan State University, who was not involved in the study, "is that the soil-plant-atmosphere system is extremely complex." Unpredictable weather makes it difficult to match nutrient supply to plants' demand, and to determine precisely how much nitrogen a crop will require and whether the nutrient will remain in the soil. "My research lab has spent years helping farmers, using advanced sensing technology and computer models to help them better understand their fields and use nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently to increase profit and reduce environmental impact, such as nutrient losses to groundwater and greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere."

Diazotrophs, special types of bacteria that occur in nature, have a unique ability to turn atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonium, the building block of amino acids and proteins. This process, commonly known as biological nitrogen fixation (BNF), was the main form of nitrogen nutrition for crops for thousands of years before synthetic nitrogen fertilizer was invented.

"Native soil diazotrophs lose their ability to perform BNF when exposed to high concentrations of nitrogen in the soil for extended periods of time. This is an evolutionary response to conserve energy because BNF is a very energy-intensive process," explains Dr. Jean-Michel Ané, professor of bacteriology and plant and agroecosystem sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a co-author of the study. "We need to convince these bacteria to maintain high levels of BNF in environments with lots of nitrogen, such as synthetically fertilized soils."

Researchers at Pivot Bio developed gene-edited microbes using non-transgenic methods to enable diazotrophs to continue providing nitrogen to the crop even under high nitrogen conditions. "With the gene edits, we blind microbes to the presence of nitrogen in their surroundings, so they continue to fix ammonium, delivering it directly on the root system," said Dr. Karsten Temme, chief innovation officer and co-founder at Pivot Bio and a co-author of the paper. "We also introduced other edits to ensure the bacteria can transfer the fixed nitrogen to the crop instead of keeping it for itself."

The paper presents evidence of this process happening in the lab and field test plots. It is also the first peer-reviewed paper covering PROVEN^® 40, Pivot Bio's second-generation commercial product for corn containing gene-edited nitrogen-fixing microbes.

"Nitrogen fertilizer is arguably the most significant invention of the past century and will be essential to the world's development and food security for the foreseeable future. However, we believe it can be used better," said Dr. Temme. "Pivot Bio's focus is on improving the productivity of farming by increasing the efficiency of nitrogen with our gene-edited microbes and reducing losses of synthetic fertilizer to the environment."

In the field, the researchers used a variety of isotopic experiments to again demonstrate nitrogen fixation, this time under real-world conditions, and quantify the nitrogen levels in the plant. They also collected hundreds of samples from farmers who reduced nitrogen fertilizer rate by 35 to 40 pounds of nitrogen per acre, replacing it with Pivot Bio's PROVEN 40. On average, researchers found plants treated with PROVEN 40 had higher nitrogen levels early in the season and no negative impacts on yield, even though they had received less synthetic fertilizer.

"It is very hard to keep track of nitrogen as it moves from the air to the microbe and then to the plant. We rely on the isotopic signatures of nitrogen atoms coming from the air versus those in the soil," Dr. Ané explains. With these measurements, researchers detected isotopically labeled nitrogen in the chlorophyll of corn leaves in the lab, a sign that microbes supplied that nitrogen to the plant.

"This extensive research is promising because it means that farmers can start reducing nitrogen fertilizer without compromising productivity: a win-win for the farmer and the environment," said Dr. Temme. "This is very exciting because the technology is highly scalable. Our products have already been used on over 13 million acres in the U.S. since their commercial launch five years ago, which translates into real impact."

Dr. Basso agrees. "If this technology continues to improve and deliver more nitrogen to crops, and they show this translates to reductions of environmental pollution and the overall agricultural carbon footprint, it could be a game changer for nitrogen management. The more we replace synthetic fertilizer for more efficient and sustainable sources of nitrogen to support crop yield, the better is for farmers, communities and the environment."

The full paper can be found in Scientific Reports. Founded in 2011, Scientific Reports is an open-access journal from the Nature Portfolio, publishing notable original research across the natural and clinical sciences and known for its rigorous peer review process.

About Pivot Bio
Pivot Bio is a leading sustainable agriculture company delivering to farmers patented crop nutrition technologies that harness the power of nature to reliably and productively grow the food the world needs in the face of increasing volatility. Currently available in North America, and soon in Brazil, the company's products are a breakthrough innovation. They are among the industry's most promising climate solutions. The company's nitrogen is weatherproof, safer to handle, and does not leach or contribute to nitrous oxide emissions. Pivot Bio has been recognized three times by Time magazine on its annual list of best inventions, by Fast Company on its World Changing Ideas and World's 50 Most Innovative Companies lists, by CNBC on its Disruptor 50 list of private companies, by Fortune on its Impact 20 list of startups driving social good and by MIT Tech Review as one of 15 climate tech companies to watch. For more information, visit PivotBio.com.

** The press release content is from PR Newswire. Bastille Post is not involved in its creation. **

Breakthrough Research Presented in Scientific Reports Demonstrates How Gene-Edited Microbes Offer a New Source of Nitrogen to Farmers