Daily Business Report-April 29, 2020
Naval Base Point Loma Old Town Campus is home to the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command, or NAVWAR (U.S. Navy Photo)
NAVWAR leads team in testing of 5G
wireless technology throughout Navy
Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) in San Diego established an integrated product team (IPT) to accelerate the adoption of fifth generation (5G) wireless technology across the Department of the Navy, modernizing fleet operations and increasing fleet readiness worldwide.
Formed in October 2019, to support the Navy’s participation in the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering’s broad-based 5G initiative, NAVWAR’s 5G IPT partnered with commands and organizations across the San Diego Metro area to bring 5G experimentation and testing efforts to the fleet concentration area.
The IPT is leading a smart warehouse and asset management project where they will outfit a Naval Supply Systems Command warehouse with 5G smart devices for automated, real-time visibility into operations and movement across the supply chain.
According to the project summary, the San Diego smart warehouse and asset management project will use 5G to support a warehouse management system to manage the order and inventory for overall warfighter logistics support. This includes optimizing warehouse operations and improving the efficiency, accuracy, security, and safety of supply management, storage, and distribution.
Throughout the project, NAVWAR is working closely with experts across the country, taking a whole-of-Navy approach, with NAVWAR Headquarters providing project oversight, Navy Region Southwest providing operational expertise and Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific providing technical expertise. The Fleet Logistics Center in San Diego supplied the initial test-site for the project and are now serving as the operational customer.
—- Reported by Elisha Gamboa, Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR) Public Affairs
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Making Billions: the Richest People in the World
In the last year, the wealth controlled by the world’s top billionaires has jumped by over $76 billion.
Even in the teeth of jittery markets, many of the world’s richest people have seen their wealth surge to new heightw as COVID-19 unfolds.
Today’s infographic draws data from Forbes Billionaire’s List and shows a broad cross-section of the world’s billionaires — highlighting their stratospheric wealth in the current economic climate.
View the Visual Capitalist infographic
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15 million unemployment calls last week;
some disconnected
Emily Hoeven | CalMatters
On Tuesday, California began accepting unemployment insurance claims from millions of previously ineligible workers, including gig workers, independent contractors and the self-employed. But will the state unemployment agency’s overloaded and antiquated tech system be able to handle it?
If the past — or the present — is anything to go by, probably not.
Many who called the agency in recent weeks found phone lines jammed or calls disconnected before they could talk to a live representative, the Los Angeles Times reported. Others said attempts to file online claims resulted in error messages, frozen screens and other glitches.
With over 3.4 million Californians filing for unemployment since March 15, the Employment Development Department has rushed to keep up by drastically expanding call center hours, redeploying 1,340 state employees to answer phones, and simplifying the online application.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday the state has already issued an unprecedented $4.4 billion to jobless Californians since March 15. And he said an additional 600 employees will be added to state call centers to meet demand, which reached 15 million calls last week.
The governor also introduced several initiatives to “reduce stress on the call center,” including an online chat-bot and a texting service to answer frequently asked questions.
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Drug developed 25 years ago at Scripps Research
now being tested for use in COVID-19 patients
An anti-inflammatory drug developed at Scripps Research 25 years ago is now being tested as a way to prevent acute respiratory distress in patients with COVID-19, the pandemic disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
The drug, a monoclonal antibody now owned by the pharmaceutical company Implicit Bioscience, is planned to be used in a small clinical trial taking place at four sites in Italy, Spain, Australia and Singapore.
The trial will assess whether the drug, known as IC14, can temper the immune system’s response to coronavirus infection of the lungs, thus preventing dangerous levels of inflammation seen in patients with severe cases of the disease.
The drug targets an immune system protein called CD14, that Ulevitch and Scripps Research colleagues first linked to innate immunity and inflammation in work started in the mid-1980s.
The drug was tested by a pharmaceutical company in a phase 1 clinical trial in 2004 and determined to be safe in patients.
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SD Foundation board OKs $5 million
for interest-free loans for nonprofits
The San Diego Foundation Board of Governors has approved $5 million to support short-term, interest-free loans to San Diego County nonprofit organizations impacted by COVID-19.
The $5 million investment from The Foundation, which will specifically fund nonprofit organizations throughout San Diego County, complements a separate $5 million recently approved by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors that supports small businesses located in unincorporated areas of the county.
The combined $10 million investment seeds the new San Diego County COVID-19 Small Business and Nonprofit Loan Program (SBNLP), which is administered by The San Diego Foundation.
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Ninth Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown
named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Judge M. Margaret McKeown of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, a La Jolla resident, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Judge McKeown is internationally recognized for her work on judicial ethics, gender issues, and international rule of law, and has gathered numerous accolades acknowledging her ardent pursuit of access to justice and her impact on the judiciary. Appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1998, she is the former president of the Federal Judges Association and former chair of the ABA Rule of Law Initiative.
She also chaired the ethics committee for federal judges, the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Committee on Codes of Conduct. She now chairs the ABA’s Commission on the 19th Amendment, as we approach the centennial of its passage guaranteeing women’s right to vote.
McKeown has taken a leadership role in support of fair and equal treatment in addressing workplace harassment issues. Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Sidney R. Thomas appointed her to chair the Ninth Circuit Ad Hoc Committee on Workplace Environment, and she was appointed to the Federal Judiciary Workplace Conduct Working Group by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
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F&F Properties purchases and donates over
2,000 KN95 masks to local hospitals, staffs
F&F Properties, a San Diego property development and housing provider, purchased and donated over 2,000 desperately needed KN95 masks to Scripps Mercy Hospital and Sharp Mary Birch Hospital. The masks are currently being distributed to medical professionals throughout several San Diego hospitals. The F&F Properties team also donated KN95 masks to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
The company team has made more than 10,000 disposable masks available to all building tenants and former staff, along with their families, spreading across 33 apartment communities in 18 different neighborhoods throughout San Diego County. The company has also equipped all current staff members with KN95 masks and sanitization kits.
And to support first responders working the beaches, F&F Properties founder and president Dan Feder, his wife and four children facilitated lunch drop-offs throughout the county. Over a two-day period, the Feder family purchased over 100 meals to support struggling local restaurants and safely delivered them to police officers, lifeguards and other essential workers from Oceanside down to Imperial Beach.
“Just like other housing providers across the country, we’re doing what we can to give back to our own community,” said Feder. “I hope these small acts of kindness will inspire others to contribute as well.”
