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Samsung ranks among top 7 companies in WBA’s 2023 Digital Inclusion Benchmark
Samsung officially announced that the company get the seventh position out of 200 companies in the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA)’s 2023 Digital Inclusion Benchmark. The WBA reviews companies focusing on seven key categories including human rights, the environment, and digital inclusion.
The Korean tech giant was partially recognized for its ongoing efforts to facilitate access. The company follows leading practices in supporting accessibility by including accessibility features in its products.
As a company that develops products and technologies that improve the lives of its users, Samsung is committed to practicing digital responsibility. Looking forward, the company will continue to explore ways to make it easier for people to access and use a variety of convenient and meaningful digital technologies.
Samsung’s latest TVs also include an avatar-based sign language guide that provides sign language-based menu descriptions for improved accessibility. The company also discloses data on how the economic value it generates is distributed among stakeholders and calculates its sustainable value creation.
It is worth mentioning that, the WBA represents a coalition of more than 200 global, regional, and local organizations that aims to shape the contribution of the private sector to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Back in 2020, the WBA introduced its first Digital Inclusion Benchmark, which assesses companies’ progress in improving technology access, enhancing digital skills, promoting trusted use, and open and ethical innovation. And now, the company determined Samsung for WBA’s 2023 Digital Inclusion Benchmark.
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Samsung also supports various programs aimed at improving digital skills at all levels and increasing school connectivity. The firm manages its programs through its local offices, often in partnership with local governments and NGOs to demonstrate best practices. It also reports engagement metrics for its programs.
Since 2013, the company’s flagship program, “Samsung Innovation Campus”, has been delivering technical training programs for teenagers and unemployed youth. While “Samsung SW Academy for Youth,” a one-year Korean program, has been providing theoretical and practical training programs since 2018.
Over the years, the training has been aimed at helping the youth develop their potential and competitiveness as professional software developers assisting in the form of future employment opportunities in the technology sector.
Samsung’s latest foldable phones come with Google Messages by default. The company has now revealed the reason behind this move on Galaxy devices. Samsung says Google Messages replaced Messages to foster RCS adoption.
According to AndroidAuthority, a source explained Samsung’s decision to switch to Google Messages as the default messaging app. The recently released Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 come with Google Messages with RCS enabled by default.
Looks like promoting Google Messages on Galaxy devices will boost RCS adoption. Samsung Messages isn’t already installed on newer phones. However, one’s stopping you from getting it on your Galaxy from the Galaxy Store.
While many apps support the RCS feature, Google Messages offer the best user experience. Making it a default messaging app is an effort to boost the adoption of RCS tech. Apple is also preparing to bring RCS chat functionality to iMessage for iPhones.
What Samsung source said:
- Even if messaging apps follow the RCS standard, the availability may be limited depending on which app the other party uses. That’s why we decided to make Google Messages the common messaging platform, allowing Galaxy users to communicate more freely. This also enables a messaging app to respond to changes of the RCS standard more quickly and efficiently.
Previously, Samsung devices launched in the US came with two messaging apps. This time, the company has removed the Samsung Messages. During the first setup, users are notified that Google Messages is the default messaging application.
Samsung SmartThings gained the international standard ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification. The company has officially announced this major development in its global connected living platform.
SmartThings received ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for information security management systems. Certification reiterates that the SmartThings Cloud operates per international standards.
To be certified, a company has to meet the standard across a total of 123 detailed items, including policies for information security, access control for information assets, and incident response.
SmartThings receiving the ISO 27001 certification is the result of our sustained focus on the protection of information in a hyper-connected world with exponentially increasing intelligence.
Seungbum Choi, Executive Vice President and Head of Device Platform Center at Samsung Electronics said “this is just another step in our drive to fortify the platform’s security. We will continue to find new ways to ensure that SmartThings’ personalized services are provided even more safely.”
BSI Prez says that they have recognized that the operation capability and security level of Samsung SmartThings is excellent. It will further boost trust in the SmartThings platform and strengthen business competitiveness.
ISO 27001 is the leading global standard for ISMSs and was established by the International Organization for Standardization. It provides companies with guidance to manage the risks to information assets systematically and achieve information protection goals.
Samsung Health app integrated the Dr.diary (Doctor Diary) glycated hemoglobin feature. The blood sugar management platform announced the launch of its glycated hemoglobin estimation functionality on Samsung’s Health application.
According to ETNews, Dr.diary announced the integration of a glycated hemoglobin level feature in Samsung Health. Galaxy users will now be able to check the estimated glycated hemoglobin level provided by Doctor Diary.
To activate the feature, Health app users will have to permit certain conditions of data in the Blood Sugar service. It is worth noting that glycated hemoglobin is a key figure for diabetes diagnosis, which users will find worth using in the Health app.
Established in 2017, Dr.diary is a blood sugar management platform. It analyzes and predicts the changes in glycated hemoglobin using its own algorithm. Earlier this year, the firm secured a patent for “glycated hemoglobin estimation based on blood sugar data table.”
Song Je-yoon, CEO of Doctor Diary, said, “With our predicted glycated hemoglobin level prediction algorithm being installed in Samsung Health, more people will be able to recognize their glycated hemoglobin level and manage their health more efficiently.”
Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a standardized numerical value of the percentage of hemoglobin, such as hemoglobin, which has been glycated by glucose. Glycated hemoglobin reflects the average blood sugar level over the past 2-3 months.
Samsung Health (with Wear OS Galaxy Watch) users can conveniently check their estimated glycated hemoglobin level within the app and use this information to manage their blood sugar levels through diet and exercise.