#custom mof changes

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Advances in electrochromic coatings may bring us closer to environmentally friendly ways to keep inside spaces cool. Like eyeglasses that darken to provide sun protection, the optical properties of these transparent films can be tuned with electricity to block out solar heat and light. Now, researchers in ACS Energy Letters report demonstrating a new electrochromic film design based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that quickly and reliably switch from transparent to glare-diminishing green to thermal-insulating red. Hongbo Xu and colleagues used MOFs in their electrochromic film because of the crystalline substances' abilities to form thin films with pore sizes that can be customized by changing the length of the organic ligand that binds to the metal ion. These features enable improved current flow, more precise control over colors and durability. In demonstrations, Xu's MOF electrochromic film took 2 seconds to switch from colorless to green with an electric potential of 0.8 volts, and 2 seconds to switch to dark red with 1.6 V. The film maintained the green or red color for 40 hours when the potential dropped, unless a reverse voltage was applied to return the film to its transparent state. The film also performed reliably through 4,500 cycles of switching from colored to clear. With further optimization, the researchers say their tunable coatings could be used in smart windows that regulate indoor temperatures, as well as in smaller scale intelligent optical devices and sensors.

Read more.

[chemicalmarketwatch-sp]

The Global Market for Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs): Current Trends, Challenges, and Future Opportunities

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are gaining substantial attention as a new class of advanced materials with immense potential across various industries. These hybrid materials, composed of metal ions and organic linkers, exhibit unique properties such as high porosity and tunable structures, making them suitable for a wide range of applications, including gas storage, separation technologies, catalysis, and drug delivery. As the MOF industry continues to grow, it is crucial for industry leaders to understand the key trends and challenges shaping the market. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the MOF market's trajectory, key drivers, and what the future may hold for this evolving industry.

Market Dynamics: A Rapidly Expanding Sector

The global Metal Organic Frameworks market is expected to witness strong growth in the coming years. It is estimated at USD 0.51 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 1.70 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 22.1% from 2024 to 2030. The primary drivers of this growth are the increasing applications of MOFs in diverse industries and their unique capabilities in addressing critical challenges related to energy storage, environmental sustainability, and advanced materials.

The adaptability of MOFs, particularly their ability to be customized based on the application, is a key factor driving their adoption. Their extensive internal surface area and tunable pore sizes make them ideal for gas storage applications, including hydrogen and methane storage, where efficiency and space optimization are paramount. The chemical and oil & gas industries are also benefiting from MOF technologies in gas separation processes, leading to cost savings and enhanced environmental performance.

Beyond gas-related applications, MOFs are finding increasing use in the pharmaceutical sector, where they are employed for controlled drug release and delivery. Additionally, their potential for catalysis in chemical reactions is opening up new avenues in industrial chemical processes. As industries are compelled to adopt more sustainable practices due to stringent environmental regulations, MOFs are playing a vital role in areas such as carbon capture and water treatment, further driving their market demand.

Key Growth Drivers in the MOF Market

Sustainability and Environmental RegulationsA significant factor driving the expansion of the MOF market is the global focus on sustainability. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are enforcing stricter environmental laws to combat climate change and reduce emissions. MOFs, with their capacity to absorb gases such as carbon dioxide, are gaining attention as an essential material in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Industries such as oil & gas and energy are increasingly exploring MOF applications to meet regulatory requirements and lower their carbon footprint, particularly in the area of post-combustion carbon capture.

Rising Demand for Efficient Energy StorageAs the world shifts towards renewable energy sources, the need for efficient energy storage technologies is rising. MOFs are emerging as an ideal solution for storing hydrogen, a critical component for the future of clean energy, especially in fuel cells. MOFs offer higher storage capacity compared to traditional materials, allowing industries to improve the efficiency of energy storage systems. The transportation and automotive industries, in particular, are exploring MOF-based solutions to enhance the performance of hydrogen fuel cells, which is expected to be a key driver of market growth.

Advancements in Healthcare and Drug DeliveryThe healthcare industry is another promising area for MOF applications. MOFs are being used in drug delivery systems due to their ability to encapsulate therapeutic agents, enabling precise and controlled release over time. This capability makes them highly desirable in the development of new pharmaceutical treatments, particularly in personalized medicine. The demand for advanced drug delivery mechanisms is fueling research into the use of MOFs for safe, efficient, and targeted drug administration.

Industry Challenges: Addressing Barriers to Adoption

While the outlook for the MOF market is positive, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to ensure sustained growth and widespread adoption. One of the most significant hurdles is the high cost associated with the synthesis of MOFs. Producing these materials at an industrial scale requires expensive raw materials and complex manufacturing processes, which can limit their commercial viability. The development of cost-effective synthesis methods is a critical area of ongoing research, as reducing production costs will be essential to unlocking the broader potential of MOFs.

Another challenge is the lack of standardization within the MOF industry. Given the wide variety of MOFs and their customizable properties, there is currently no universal standard for the production, characterization, and performance of these materials. This variability can create inconsistencies in the quality and effectiveness of MOFs, especially when scaling up production for commercial use. Industry-wide standards and best practices will be necessary to facilitate the adoption of MOFs across sectors.

Furthermore, the long-term stability of MOFs in real-world applications remains a concern. In industrial applications such as gas storage and separation, MOFs must maintain their structural integrity and performance over extended periods of time and under varying environmental conditions. Continued research is needed to improve the durability and resilience of MOFs, ensuring they can meet the rigorous demands of industrial use.

Competitive Landscape and Regional Trends

The competitive landscape of the MOF market is highly dynamic, with several key players making strides in developing and commercializing MOF-based technologies. Notable companies in the market include BASF SE, MOF Technologies, NuMat Technologies, and Strem Chemicals, Inc. These companies are investing heavily in research and development to create MOFs with tailored properties for specific industrial applications. Collaboration between MOF producers, end-users, and research institutions is crucial in driving innovation and accelerating the commercialization of MOF technologies.

Geographically, North America and Europe are leading the market in terms of research and development activities, particularly in the environmental and energy sectors. The United States and Europe are witnessing strong investments in MOF-based carbon capture and air purification technologies. Meanwhile, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to emerge as a significant growth area in the coming years due to its rapidly expanding industrial base and increasing demand for clean energy solutions.

Future Prospects: Innovation and Collaboration as Key Drivers

Looking ahead, the future of the MOF market will be shaped by continued innovation and strategic collaboration across industries. Companies that focus on reducing production costs, improving material performance, and standardization MOF production processes will be well-positioned to capture market share. Additionally, partnerships between MOF producers and key industries—such as energy, healthcare, and chemicals—will drive the development of new applications and business opportunities.

Investment in R&D is critical to advancing the field and overcoming current limitations. Breakthroughs in computational modeling and material design are expected to accelerate the discovery of new MOF structures tailored for specific applications. As the market matures, regulatory support, government funding, and collaborative efforts will play an essential role in pushing the boundaries of what MOFs can achieve.

To gain deeper insights, download the PDF brochure : 

The global Metal Organic Frameworks market presents a wealth of opportunities for innovation and growth, driven by the increasing demand for sustainable solutions in key industries. Despite the challenges, the market is set to expand significantly over the next decade, offering significant value for industry leaders who invest in MOF technology and capitalize on its potential to revolutionize the future of materials science.

[myindustrialspecialist]

9th September 2024 Free Trade Zones (Malaysia) or Duties Free Zones Discover how Malaysia's Free Trade Zones provide tax incentives, skilled labor, and strategic infrastructure, making them an ideal location for global business expansion. With the rapid rise of globalisation and free trade agreements, Free Trade Zones (FTZs) have become instrumental in fostering international commerce. In Malaysia, these zones, known as Duties Free Zones (DFZ), offer businesses numerous incentives to grow and expand into new markets. This article explores the benefits of Malaysia's FTZs and their importance in the country's industrial and commercial sectors. What is a Free Trade Zone? A Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Malaysia is a designated area where companies can engage in commercial and industrial activities under the oversight of the Ministry of Finance (MoF). FTZs offer streamlined customs procedures, allowing goods to enter without immediate customs duties, facilitating trade and improving business operations. Before setting up operations in a Free Trade Zone, it's crucial to understand the difference between a Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) and a Free Commercial Zone (FCZ): Free Industrial Zone (FIZ): Focuses on businesses manufacturing goods for export, requiring at least 80% of the output to be exported. Goods transferred from the FIZ to other parts of Malaysia are considered imports and are subject to customs duties. Free Commercial Zone (FCZ): Prioritises trading and transportation of goods and is typically located near ports to enhance trade efficiency. FCZs focus on business and logistics activities, unlike FIZs, which concentrate on manufacturing. Malaysia Free Trade Zone List Malaysia is home to 22 Free Industrial Zones and 24 Free Commercial Zones, making it a hotspot for global businesses looking to take advantage of its strategic location. Some of the key Free Trade Zones include: Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone (Penang): A major hub for electronics and semiconductors. Pasir Gudang Free Industrial Zone (Johor): Catering to diverse industries such as chemicals and automotive. Port Klang Free Zone (Selangor): A key logistics hub located next to one of Southeast Asia’s busiest ports. Sungai Way Free Trade Industrial Zone (Selangor): Promoting industries like textiles and electronics. Ulu Klang Free Trade Zone (Kuala Lumpur): Well-positioned for international trade and logistics. Prai Free Industrial Zone (Penang): An essential area for manufacturing, electronics, and exports. Batu Berendam Free Trade Zone (Melaka): Focused on trade and logistics due to its strategic location near highways and the Malacca International Airport. Advantages of Malaysia Free Trade Zones Malaysia’s Free Trade Zones provide several competitive advantages for businesses: 1. Tax Incentives Businesses in FTZs enjoy significant tax incentives, such as reduced corporate tax rates and exemptions from import duties on raw materials. This reduction in tax liabilities helps businesses lower their operational costs, encouraging further investment from both local and international companies. 2. Access to a Skilled Workforce FTZs attract a skilled workforce due to the specialized nature of industries operating within these zones. Companies can benefit from local talent with industry-specific expertise, particularly in areas like manufacturing and logistics. Educational institutions nearby further enhance the available workforce with continuous training and development programs. 3. Enhanced Global Competitiveness Operating in a Free Trade Zone provides businesses with strategic advantages in global markets. With simplified customs procedures and lower operational costs, companies can respond quickly to changes in demand, expanding their presence on an international level. 4. Modern Infrastructure FTZs are equipped with state-of-the-art infrastructure, including reliable transportation networks, utilities, and telecommunication systems.

The Malaysian government ensures that these facilities are well-maintained, making it easier for businesses to operate efficiently and deliver goods both domestically and internationally. Choosing the Right Free Trade Zone for Your Business With numerous Free Trade Zones across Malaysia, it can be challenging to choose the one that best fits your business needs. Here are a few considerations: Location: Consider proximity to ports, airports, and highways for optimal logistics and accessibility. Industry Focus: Some FTZs cater to specific industries like electronics or automotive, so ensure the zone aligns with your business activities. Incentives: Different FTZs offer varying tax incentives and benefits based on location and industry. Business in a Free Trade Zone With Industrial Malaysia Malaysia’s Free Trade Zones are invaluable for companies seeking to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and compete globally. Whether you need tax breaks, access to skilled workers, or a strategic location, FTZs offer the perfect environment for business growth. At My Industrial Specialist, we understand the unique needs of your business. Our team provides personalized support to help you find the right Free Trade Zone that aligns with your operational goals. We ensure a seamless transition for companies looking to benefit from Malaysia’s thriving Free Trade Zones. Contact us at My Industrial Specialist to get started on your journey to business success in one of Malaysia’s Free Trade Zones. Take advantage of the many benefits offered by Malaysia’s Free Trade Zones. Let My Industrial Specialist help you find the ideal location for your business needs and guide you through the entire process. Contact us today and start your industrial investment journey with myindustrialspecialist.com.

[itmindslab]

What is Sales funnel optimization? - IT Mindslab

Sales funnels are the vital part of online businesses. They are one of the most important aspects that can make or break your entire business. The sales funnel is essentially a process in which customers progress through as they interact with your business over time.

For more information: What is Sales funnel optimization? - IT Mindslab

What is a sales funnel?

The sales funnel is a process of converting a lead into a customer. It’s the process of getting a visitor to your website to buy your product. There are many stages in the sales funnel optimization process and each stage needs to be optimized for better conversion rate.

The first step is lead generation, where you attract potential buyers by marketing your business through various channels such as social media, email campaigns etc., once they come in contact with your brand then you nurture them by sending them relevant content through email or SMS messages until they convert into customers by purchasing something from you (the last stage).

The sales funnel optimization process is a continuous process, which means you have to keep working on it and the results will show over time. The problem is that most businesses don’t have time or knowledge of how to optimize their sales funnel. This is where you come in. As an Internet marketer, you can offer your services as a funnel expert and help businesses convert more leads into customers by optimizing their sales funnels for them.

The purpose of a sales funnel

Sales funnel optimization is used to increase the number of conversions that you get from your website or ads.

Conversions are important because they help you measure the success of your marketing campaigns, allowing you to see what is working and what isn’t. If a campaign isn’t converting well, then it’s time for some changes!

The purpose of sales funnels is to increase sales–and increased sales means more money for both yourself and your business over time.

A sales funnel is a series of steps that lead to an end goal. The end goal is usually a sale or conversion. The best way to create and optimize funnels is by using A/B testing. In this article, we’ll go through the basic steps for creating your first sales funnel and optimizing it with A/B testing.

The stages of a sales funnel.

The stages of a sales funnel, and how they relate to your business:

Top of the funnel (TOP) – This is where potential clients are targeted. It’s important to get their attention so you can move them into the middle stage, where they become prospects.

Middle of the funnel (MOF) – Here, you qualify prospects by asking questions about what they want out of a solution and whether or not it fits with their needs. If it does fit, then there’s no reason not to move forward! But if not…that’s okay too–you don’t want anyone who isn’t going to benefit from using your product or service anyway. You can always try again later when circumstances change for either party involved in this exchange process we like call “buying” :)

Bottom line/bottomline/bottom line up front (BLUF)…I mean bottomline(?)…I’ll just call him Bob because his name isn’t really important here anyway…heh heh….

The bottom line is that you want to get a sale. And what better way than to create a sales funnel? It’s a great way to understand how your audience interacts with your company and how they perceive their needs.

The optimization process.

Identify the problem.

Analyze the problem.

Test your solution, and measure its effectiveness on a larger scale than before. If it’s working, implement it on more channels or sites; if not, go back to step one!

Step 1: Identify the problem. Your first step is to identify what the problem is that you’re trying to solve, or what your goal is. This can be something as simple as “I want more traffic for my site” or as complex as “I want people to complete a specific action by clicking on an ad.”

Sales funnels are the vital part of online businesses

Sales funnels are the vital part of online businesses. They are used to convert visitors into customers, and they can be optimized to increase conversions at each stage of the funnel.

The purpose of a sales funnel is to guide your prospects through the buying process by educating them on your product or service, getting their contact information and then following up with them until they make a purchase. The goal is to get people from just knowing about your business (awareness) through signing up for more information (interest), moving into an evaluation phase where they compare different options before finally closing with an actual purchase or sale.

When a prospect visits your website for the first time, they are at the top of your sales funnel. They may not even know that you exist yet, so you need to get their attention and convince them to learn more about what you do. This is where lead generation comes in. Your lead generation efforts should focus on creating an opt-in form that allows visitors to enter their email address in exchange for valuable content like articles or ebooks.

A sales funnel is a tool that can be used to help increase your conversion rates and improve your overall sales. It’s important to understand how they work and what you can do with them so that you can get the most out of them.

For more information: What is Sales funnel optimization? - IT Mindslab

[megasoft012]

How to find custom hardware inventory classes imported (MOF) into ConfigMgr database

How to find custom hardware inventory classes imported (MOF) into ConfigMgr database

Configuration Manager site database contains a large collection of information about the network, computers, users, user groups, and many other components of the computing environment. Being SCCM Admin, you need to understand the different categories of the SQL views, what information is stored in each view, and how the SQL views can be joined to one another to create reports that return the…

[greenfue]

 Facilitations will be provided for expediting customs release of import consignments to the Climate Change Conference (COP27)

 Facilitations will be provided for expediting customs release of import consignments to the Climate Change Conference (COP27)

Given Issuing the COP-27 Simplified Customs Procedures Manual by MoF, Dr. Mohamed Maait Announces:  Letters of undertaking delivered by companies are approved in place of submitting letters of bank guarantee or cash guarantee for COP 27 import release under a temporary release basis  A bonded area at Sharm El Sheikh International Airport is created to complete cargo customs clearance…

[sociallyinsmmagency]

Growth Marketing 101: The Secret Sauce You Need to Triumph

The term “growth marketing” may seem, at first glance, redundant. After all, why do companies market if not for growth? What is the difference between “growth marketing” and “just marketing?” Confusion is understandable.

Think about it almost like being married. On a wedding day, two people get married: the event happens, their identity is affected, and their lives are changed. But marriage, while it starts there, is about so much more.

You will spend a lifetime learning the other person’s needs and desires. You will invest time in building a relationship with them. You will change and they will change.

Traditional marketing vs Growth marketing

Traditional marketing is like the wedding day. It’s the day you spend a bunch of money on, hoping that everything “sticks.” It’s about attracting new customers, driving conversions, and generating that initial upfront interest.

Growth marketing is the marriage. That’s when you do the hard work of self-improvement for the health of your relationship and develop good communication to make sure it “sticks.” You test different techniques and create loyalty through the whole marketing funnel.

Now, all analogies fall apart at some point, so don’t take it too seriously, but with that framework, you can see why growth marketing is so crucial for businesses in 2022. In crowded markets, it’s important to make the best of every asset you have—including a loyal customer base. Growth marketing is how you do that.

Let’s dig in.

Growth Marketing and The Funnel

The marketing funnel is a concept that allows marketers to envision their audience in a series of narrowing qualifiers.

#1 Top of funnel (TOF/ToFu)

At the very top of the funnel are people who aren’t yet customers. Your marketing is making them aware of your business’ existence and niche in the market. This is where your audience is the widest: there will always be people who don’t know much about you.

Traditional marketing focuses nearly exclusively on audiences at this level of the funnel. Displays in shop windows, billboards off the highway, magazine ads, and mailings direct to your house are all intended to grab the attention of potential customers and convert that attention into a visit to their website, for example. Traditional, TOF-focused marketing doesn’t necessarily concern itself with what happens to customers after this point.

#2 Middle of funnel (MOF/MoFu)

Growth marketing really differentiates itself from traditional marketing as you move through the funnel. MOF marketing is targeted to audiences who have shown interest in you.

In this region of the marketing funnel, brands would use growth marketing strategies to educate and nurture the leads toward an informed sale. You already have your audience’s attention from TOF, so this is where you work to make sure you don’t lose it. The MOF is where the actual sale takes place!

#3 Bottom of funnel (BOF/BoFu)

The ultimate goal of growth marketing is getting down to the BOF. Not only do you have the attention of your audience, you’ve converted the clicks into an informed customer, and now you want that customer to come back to purchase from you again.

Even better, you want them to become their own sort of walking, talking TOF advertisement through word-of-mouth referrals and recommendations. Fealty is probably the key indicator of any relationship: if you’ve built a solid relationship with your customer, they will be loyal to you and talk you up to their friends.

The role of growth marketing

So how does growth marketing work when it comes to the marketing funnel? A growth strategy in marketing is focused on moving the audience through the funnel using both responsive and proactive techniques. 

Sometimes, these techniques might seem like throwing a bunch of paint against the wall and hoping it sticks. It might be like throwing stuff against a wall, but maybe more like throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it’s done: it still looks chaotic, but at least it’s purposeful.

Growth Marketing Techniques

We all know that having a purpose isn’t enough. You can want to accomplish something and go about it entirely in the wrong way. That’s why it’s super important to take a look at your goals and attack them with the right technique for the job. In this blog, we’ll talk about the top ones.

#1 A/B/even C testing

Have no fear: this is not some kind of weird spelling test. Instead, it’s when you run ads that are similar in most, but not all ways, to compare stats and then draw conclusions. For example, the same copy but a different graphic, or the same ad but different geographic locations.

Comparing the data with each variable change allows you to fine-tune a strategy that works best for your leads at any given point in the funnel. This experimentation is a perfect example of that spaghetti-throwing we were talking about: it might seem strange, but you gotta get that marketing strategy perfectly al dente. And what better way to do that than testing and comparing what works??

#2 Research and adaptation

Research doesn’t have to stay limited to your own company’s marketing. Taking notes on competitor strategies, industry trends, and general customer preferences—and then acting on those observations—is a good way to make sure you’re not losing your touch.

For example, maybe your industry is finding a lot of success with influencer marketing. If you’re not paying attention, by the time you’re bringing on an influencer, the rest of your market may have moved on. Staying engaged with what’s going on in your corner of the market will help you be an innovative leader.

#3 Cross-channel marketing

You might currently only be marketing on Instagram or Facebook or TikTok or…you get the point. Instead, create campaigns for each platform that develops holistic profiles of your customer base.

What works on one channel might not work on another, so create a plan for each that meets your goals based on the data you collect. Also keep in mind that different channels tend to work better at different points in that funnel. For example, Facebook Ads is perfect for TOF marketing, but when you’re working on your folks in the MOF, email or even SMS/texting might capture them better.

How to Be a Good Growth Marketer

Whether you’re looking to take this on yourself, hire a staff member to head up efforts, or even bring in a social media agency like Sociallyin, you want to make sure you’ve got the right person for the job.

#1 Open-minded

Being willing to try new things, experiment, and admit when something isn’t working is a lot harder than it sounds. It often ties into humility. As you work on your growth marketing strategy, you need your team to be adaptive and flexible.

That’s not to say that if you have a good strategy underway you should always be second-guessing yourself. Feel free to be confident in the attack you’re taking, but always be willing to hear other ideas and test them in the future.

#2 Evidence-focused

Growth marketers need to make decisions from an informed place. Even as you are testing different ideas and trying new things, remember that “gut feelings” aren’t your benchmarks—you need data.

Use your analytics tools to gauge the results of every digital marketing decision you make (like click-through rate, engagements, email sign-ups, etc.) and compare them against your goals for that campaign and what part of the funnel you’re targeting.

#3 Jack-of-all-trades

The primary job of someone in growth marketing is to be creative and then measure the results. We’ve just talked about that results piece, but we can’t underplay the importance of creativity and expertise when it comes to growth marketing.

A growth marketing lead may not be the ones spending hours in the Adobe Creative Suite or wrestling over phrasing—if you’re in a position to have a full marketing department, you probably have designers and copywriters for that. But growth marketers need to have at least a rudimentary understanding of principles at every level of the marketing process.

For example, growth marketers need to know if what they want to try is possible. If they envision some sort of elaborate photo shoot for creatives and it’s just not feasible, the whole team could become frustrated. They also need to be able to step in and help with last-minute changes. If the copy says something that suddenly becomes inappropriate due to a newsworthy event, for example, the growth marketer may need to step in and be the one to immediately redirect without missing a beat…or a comma.

FAQs

What are growth marketing strategies?

A: Growth marketing strategies are the tactics you implement to market to everyone in your marketing funnel. Think of it like a road map or a blueprint, almost: it’s the plan you set for how to market and remarket to the same people as they progress from the awareness stage to the sale and then to the loyalty and referral stages of their relationship with your business.

I need to know how to calculate market growth rate. Can you help me?

Market growth rate and growth marketing are two different areas of marketing. The market growth rate is how much more of the market your business is capturing now than in the past, expressed as a percentage. There’s a lot more to be said about this, but here’s a quick formula to get you started:

Subtract the market size for year one from the market size for year two. Divide the result by the market size for year one and multiply by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

I need to know how to be a growth marketer. Where do I start?

This article is a great place to start. Working on developing the personal skills you need to be a good growth marketer like open-mindedness, creativity, and being driven by data is a good idea, too. Research what other growth marketers are up to, take some design classes, dust off that old writing textbook from college, and learn how to interpret insights and analytics. You got this!

In Conclusion…

Neither marriage nor growth marketing is a Crock Pot dinner—you can’t “set it and forget it.” Building relationships with people in any capacity requires involvement, and that remains true when those relationships are with customers you’ll never meet or see in person.

But just like all the best things in life, that investment will pay off. 

If you would like to get started with growth marketing but aren’t completely sure where to start, our team here at Sociallyin would love to help. Our paid ads, community management, and creative teams get results. Send us an inquiry today!

This post first appeared on Sociallyin Insider, please read

the original post: growth marketing

[newlearner7]

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

What is ITIL?

ITIL is a set of well-defined guidelines that helps Software professionals to deliver the best IT services. ITIL guidelines are the best practices that are observed, gathered, and put together over time for delivering quality IT services. The full form of ITIL is Information Technology Infrastructure Library.

Popular IT services covered by ITIL are Cloud services, backup, network security, Data processing and storage, managed print services, IT consulting, Help desk support, IOT etc.  

 Features of ITIL

Here are some important features of ITIL

One language/terminology.

ITIL is a means to deliver a consistent quality.

Focus on IT. However, it is just not only suitable for IT.

Existing activities and how to optimize them.

Related process and tasks (roles).

What ITIL is not?

ITIL is not a complete blueprint, but just bricks and material from which you can build your own building depending upon your business needs.

It is not a quick fix, but a set of processes that you need to build into the mind-set of your employees, and that must be continually updated and improved.

It is not only another method of control but a way of setting up your organization so that it works towards the goals without controlling management.

Evolution of  ITIL

ITIL was orginally introduced in the 1980s as an initiative by the UK Cabinet Office in an effort to improve the quality of IT services while saving costs for the government. But, the original version of ITIL is far different from the current version, which is now owned by Axelos (a non-government entity).

ITIL has evolved through the years, starting with ITIL v1 which was adopted by organizations worldwide in the 1990s. By the year 2000, ITIL had grown in popularity and became the basis for Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF).

ITIL HISTORY

ITIL is a Library which is Used in Managing IT Services and Continuously Improving It Support and Service Levels.

The main goals of ITIL is to ensure that IT services align with business objectives, even as business objectives change.

ITIL was Continuously improving and growing since it was introduced in late 20th century in more than 30 volumes.

In2000, the second version of ITIL was published by grouping them into sets that mapped to different aspects of IT management, services, and applications. Around this time, Microsoft standardized on ITIL to help develop its Microsoft Operations Framework.

The main essential parts of ITIL is the configuration management database (CMDB), which provides the central authority for all components—including services, software, IT components, documents, users, and hardware—that must be managed to deliver an IT service.

ITIL principles helps ensure you can get to the root cause of problems in your environment as quickly as possible and that you have the right visibility into the systems and people to prevent future problems.

 PRINCIPLES

  Focus on value :

Focusing on value is about recognizing services for what they are, a vehicle for value. It is the outcome of the service which is of value to the customer, not the service itself.

  Start where you are :

It was American tennis player Arthur Ashe who first said “Start Where you are,Use what you have,Do what you can” It was a new expression, but the sentiment was already an old one.Outside of a start-up, few business opportunities happen in a “greenfield” site; an empty space where there is no pre-existing capability.

Progress iteratively with feedback :

We can’t do everything at once.Trying to tackle too many things at once is a recipe for staff burnout. Aim to deliver small chunks of value early, have the customer validate what you are doing to make sure you really are heading in the right direction, build on what you have done based on what you have learned from the customer.

  Collaborate and promote  visibility :

The collaborate and promote visibility principle is closely connected to the think and work holistically principle (which we will look at next). For people to collaborate effectively on projects which span many teams, they must all understand the holistic perspective they must see the bigger picture

  Think and work holistically :

This holistic perspective is particularly important when change is applied: a minor change to one step in the value stream can have a profound impact on upstream and downstream steps, so changes must be assessed from a whole-view perspective. Often, a well-intentioned improvement made by one team in isolation can break a value chain

  Keep it simple and practical :

A simple process will be able to handle 80% of variation. Adding decisions and actions to support non-mainstream demands will only complicate the process and slow it down for the 80%. It’s better to apply general exception handling e.g. mainstream demand is handled by a simple, standardized process and the less frequent outliers are handled on a case-by-case basis.

  Optimize and automate :

Optimize and automate is about using people and Automation effectively. The number of people you have is often the primary constraint on progress, so technology should be used to its full potential to ensure your people can avoid people wasting time on simple, repetitive tasks and focus on the complex decisions, creative endeavours, and problem-solving tasks which require human intervention.

PROCESSES

Service Strategy :

The service strategy stage facilitates organizations to strategize and set business goals to meet customer demands and needs.

Service Design :

This stage in the lifecycle includes the design of service management processes, technology, infrastructure, products, processes, and functions.  

Service Transition :

Risk and impact of any change must be taken into consideration, which is where this stage begins. Transition planning and support is focused on maintaining current functionality while deploying new organizational changes with minimal risks.  

Service Operation :

Service Operation is the stage where day-to-day operational tasks would fall. This stage is responsible for monitoring infrastructure and application related services and enables businesses to meet the needs of their customers and staff.

Continual Service Improvement :

The quality check of continual service improvement ensures that throughout the lifecycle, improvement is the end goal. This is also part of service continuity management.

Benefits of ITIL Processes :

Stronger alignment between IT and the organization as a whole

Clearer expectations for both the IT service desk and their customers

Reduced costs

Improved resource utilization

Greater visibility of assets

Better management of risks,system failures, and service disruptions

Improved service level and testing.

 MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

Problem Management :

  Problem management is the process of identifying and managing the causes   of incidents on an IT service. It is a core component of ITSM frameworks.

The closer you get to real incident experts, the less you actually hear the question: “What caused the incident?”  Sure, you’ll hear it plenty from executives, and customers, and the press. But the experts know better.

Incident Management :

   An incident management process is a set of procedures and actions taken to respond to and resolve critical incidents: how incidents are detected and communicated, who is responsible, what tools are used, and what steps are taken to resolve the incident.

IT Service Management :

   IT service management -- often referred to as ITSM  is simply how IT teams manage the end-to-end delivery of IT services to customers. This includes all the processes and activities to design, create, deliver, and support IT services. The core concept of ITSM is the belief that IT should be delivered as a service.

 THE FUTURE

ITIL will continue to help organizations ensure that they are supporting the best processes for their environment. As the underlying capabilities of businesses continue to change rapidly, ITIL processes should change with them. For example, an ITIL Change Approval Board (CAB), which typically reviews whether changes should go into production, may have to adapt to the speed of change by adapting to a policy-driven approval process.

[fumpkins]

Solutions to water challenges reside at the interface

SethDarling’s research study at Argonne National Laboratory mixes chemistry, physics, products science and engineering to address the main international difficulty of tidy water ease of access. Credit: Institute for Molecular Engineering at Argonne NationalLaboratory

In action to increasing water shortage, leading Argonne National Laboratory scientist Seth Darling explains the most sophisticated research study developments that might resolve international tidy water ease of access. His detailed paper concentrates on understanding and managing the user interfaces in between products andwater

Interfaces figure out the efficiency of innovations like water quality sensing units, filtering membranes as well as pipelines. Darling’s own laboratories are dealing with adsorbents to advance water treatment. He provided his findings today in the Journal of Applied Physics

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Adsorbents

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Adsorption is among the finest systems for cleansingwater In this procedure, pollutants adhere to the surface area of permeable products to optimize surface area-to- volume ratio.

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Highly permeable triggered carbon is the most thoroughly utilized since it is plentiful and economical. Zeolites can trap entire particles in their 3-D crystalline cage structures, allowing them to selectively bind specific substances from water- based solutions. Polymer- based sorbents have almost endless versatility in their style.

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“We will continue to rely [on] these tested innovations,” Darling stated. “But there is also a pressing need for sorbents that are more effective and energy-efficient.”

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Reusability

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Reusability is an important metric for sorbent products, which can significantly lower expenses and boost the sustainability of a treatment procedure. Polymeric foam sponges are appealing prospects for this technique.

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Darling is heading a group that produced the Oleo Sponge, which can absorb 90 times its weight in oil throughout the whole water column. To produce the Oleo Sponge, the scientists carried out a method called consecutive seepage synthesis (SIS). Using SIS, they grew metal oxide within the foam fibers to change typical polyurethane foam, discovered in seat cushions, into an oil adsorbent.

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The oxide functions as the “glue” to which the oil-loving (oleophilic) particles connect. Reusable oil is drawn out from the sponge, so it can be utilized consistently.

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TargetingIndividual Pollutants

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Researchers are likewise creating next-generation sorbents that have greater uniqueness– more binding power to target private toxins. Ideally, scientists might customize interfacial residential or commercial properties to adsorb particular particles to capture difficult water pollutants like nutrients and heavy metals.

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Researchers are now examining how to repurpose metal-organic structures (MOFs), a product currently utilized in gas sorption, for this function. Related to zeolites, MOFs include metal ions or clusters bound by natural ligands. MOFs have a high area, manageable structures and tunable pores.

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“We have a water crisis, which is based on increasing population, urbanization and climate disruption. And there’s unsustainable use of our water,”Darling stated.”Part of addressing this is through policy solutions, but we also need new, more energy-efficient and cost-effective technologies.”

Explore even more: Scientists modify seat cushion product to tidy oil spills.

. More info: Seth B. Darling, Perspective: Interfacial products at the interface of energy and water, Journal of Applied Physics(2018). DOI: 10.1063/ 1.5040110

Journal referral: Journal of AppliedPhysics

Provided by: AmericanInstitute ofPhysics

New post published on: https://www.livescience.tech/2018/07/18/solutions-to-water-challenges-reside-at-the-interface/

[enterinit]

Windows 10 SDK Preview Build 18362 released

Windows 10 SDK Preview Build 18362 released. Tools Updates Message Compiler (mc.exe) The “-mof” switch (to generate XP-compatible ETW helpers) is considered to be deprecated and will be removed in a future version of mc.exe. Removing this switch will cause the generated ETW helpers to expect Vista or later. The “-A” switch (to generate .BIN files using ANSI encoding instead of Unicode) is considered to be deprecated and will be removed in a future version of mc.exe. Removing this switch will cause the generated .BIN files to use Unicode string encoding. The behavior of the “-A” switch has changed. Prior to Windows 1607 Anniversary Update SDK, when using the -A switch, BIN files were encoded using the build system’s ANSI code page. In the Windows 1607 Anniversary Update SDK, mc.exe’s behavior was inadvertently changed to encode BIN files using the build system’s OEM code page. In the 19H1 SDK, mc.exe’s previous behavior has been restored and it now encodes BIN files using the build system’s ANSI code page. Note that the -A switch is deprecated, as ANSI-encoded BIN files do not provide a consistent user experience in multi-lingual systems. Breaking Changes IAppxPackageReader2 has been removed from appxpackaging.h The interface IAppxPackageReader2 was removed from appxpackaging.h. Eliminate the use of use of IAppxPackageReader2 or use IAppxPackageReader instead. Change to effect graph of the AcrylicBrush In this Preview SDK, we’ll be adding a blend mode to the effect graph of the AcrylicBrush called Luminosity. This blend mode will ensure that shadows do not appear behind acrylic surfaces without a cutout. We will also be exposing a LuminosityBlendOpacity API available for tweaking that allows for more AcrylicBrush customization. By default, for those that have not specified any LuminosityBlendOpacity on their AcrylicBrushes, we have implemented some logic to ensure that the Acrylic will look as similar as it can to current 1809 acrylics. Please note that we will be updating our default brushes to account for this recipe change. TraceLoggingProvider.h  / TraceLoggingWrite Events generated by TraceLoggingProvider.h (e.g. via TraceLoggingWrite macros) will now always have Id and Version set to 0. Previously, TraceLoggingProvider.h would assign IDs to events at link time. These IDs were unique within a DLL or EXE, but changed from build to build and from module to module. Read more API Updates, Additions and Removals here. Read the full article

[nznetworkblr]

Trading plan for 12/03/2018

The week begins with the strength of risky assets after the risk-on support of the US labor market report and the ongoing discussion about the exemptions from the Trump customs policy. The political scandal in Japan weighs on USD / JPY. NZD, AUD, NOK are strong. The stock market shines green again. So des Bitcoin.

On Monday 12th March, the event calendar is light in important data releases, but the market participants should keep an eye on 10-y Bond Auction in the US and Federal Budget Balance.

USD/JPY analysis for 12/03/2018:

USD / JPY fell to the level of 106.35 in response to new information about the Muritomo scandal. The case concerns the sale of a plot in Osaka Prefecture for 14 percent values for a private school in which the wife of Prime Minister Abe was the honorary director. Today, Aso Finance Minister confirmed that changes were made to Muritomo's several Ministry documents. Shortly after the situation, Abe said in media that he feels responsible for the MOF land sale document alterations and that it's a situation that has shaken public faith. He wants finance minister Aso to take responsibility for the investigation and delegates Aso's responsibility to clarify full facts of document alterations. So far it does not look like a major political turmoil is growing in Japan, but who knows what will investigation reveal.

Let's now take a look at the USD/JPY technical picture at the H4 time frame. The initial market reaction to the news was a drop from the level of 106.95 to 106.40, but now the bulls are defending the support at the mentioned level. The market tried three times to break out above the trend line resistance around the level of 107.00, but so far no avail. The market conditions are overbought, so the further downside slide toward the level of 105.53 and 105.25. If those two levels are clearly violated, then the next technical support is seen at the weekly time frame at the level of 104.42.

The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com Source Here : Forex Trading

[robertbryantblog]

When Firewalls Protect Against

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[retailerpsolutions-blog]

Frequently asked questions on Value Added Tax (VAT) in UAE

Ministry of Finance (MoF) UAE has published VAT information on their website(www.mof.gov.ae). The new piece of information has published in the format of frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) and is designed for the awareness of VAT system in UAE.

General Questions

Q.1.1- What is Tax?

Tax is the means by which governments raise revenue to pay for public services. Government revenues from taxation are generally used to pay for things such public hospitals, schools and universities, defence and other important aspects of daily life.

There are many different types of taxes:

A direct tax is collected by government from the person on whom it is imposed (e.g., income tax, corporate tax).

An indirect tax is collected for government by an intermediary (e.g. a retail store) from the person that ultimately pays the tax (e.g., VAT, Sales Tax).

Q.1.2- What is VAT?

Value Added Tax (or VAT) is an indirect tax. Occasionally you might also see it referred to as a type of general consumption tax. In a country which has a VAT, it is imposed on most supplies of goods and services that are bought and sold.

VAT is one of the most common types of consumption tax found around the world. Over 150 countries have implemented VAT (or its equivalent, Goods and Services Tax), including all 29 European Union (EU) members, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia.

VAT is charged at each step of the ‘supply chain’. Ultimate consumers generally bear the VAT cost while Businesses collect and account for the tax, in a way acting as a tax collector on behalf of the government.

A business pays the government the tax that it collects from the customers while it may also receive a refund from the government on tax that it has paid to its suppliers. The net result is that tax receipts to government reflect the ‘value add’ throughout the supply chain. To explain how VAT works we have provided a simple, illustrative example below (based on a VAT rate of 5%):

Q.1.3- What is the difference between VAT and Sales Tax?

A sales tax is also a consumption tax, just like VAT. For the general public, there may be no observable difference between how the two types of taxes work, but there are some key differences. In many countries, sales taxes are only imposed on transactions involving goods. In addition, sales tax is only imposed on the final sale to the consumer. This contrasts with VAT which is imposed on goods and services and is charged throughout the supply chain, including on the final sale. VAT is also imposed on imports of goods and services so as to ensure that a level playing field is maintained for domestic providers of those same goods and services.

Many countries prefer a VAT over sales taxes for a range of reasons. Importantly, VAT is considered a more sophisticated approach to taxation as it makes businesses serve as tax collectors on behalf of the government and cuts down on misreporting and tax evasion.

Q.1.4- Why is the UAE implementing VAT?

The UAE Federal and Emirate governments provide citizens and residents with many different public services – including hospitals, roads, public schools, parks, waste control, and police services. These services are paid for from the government budgets. VAT will provide our country with a new source of income which will contribute to the continued provision of high quality public services into the future. It will also help government move towards its vision of reducing dependence on oil and other hydrocarbons as a source of revenue.

Q.1.5- Why does the UAE need to coordinate VAT implementation with other GCC countries?

The UAE is part of a group of countries which are closely connected through “The Economic Agreement Between the GCC States” and “The GCC Customs Union”. The GCC group of nations have historically worked together in designing and implementing new public policies as we recognize that such a collaborative approach is best for the region.

Q.1.6- When will the VAT go into effect and what will be the rates?

VAT will be introduced across the UAE on 1 January 2018 at a standard rate of 5%.

Q.1.7- How will the government collect VAT?

Businesses will be responsible for carefully documenting their business income and costs and associated VAT charges. Registered businesses and traders will charge VAT to all of their customers at the prevailing rate and incur VAT on goods/services that they buy from suppliers. The difference between these sums is reclaimed or paid to the government.

Q.1.8- Will VAT cover all products and services?

VAT, as a general consumption tax, will apply to the majority of transactions of goods and services unless specifically exempted or excepted by law.

Q.1.9- Will the cost of living increase?

The cost of living is likely to increase slightly, but this will vary depending on the individual’s lifestyle and spending behaviour. If your spending is mainly on those things which are relieved from VAT, you are unlikely to see any significant increase.

Q.1.10- What measures will the government take to ensure that businesses don’t use the VAT implementation as an excuse to increase prices?

VAT is intended to help improve the economic base of the country. Therefore, we will include rules that require businesses to be clear about how much VAT you are paying for each transaction. You will have the required information to decide whether to buy something or not.

Q.1.11- How can one object to the decisions of the Authority?Any person will be able to object a decision of the Federal Tax Authority.

As a first step, the person shall request the FTA to reconsider its decision. Such request of re-consideration has to be made within 20 business days from the date the person was notified of the original decision of the FTA, and the FTA will have 20 business days from receipt of such application to provide its revised decision.

If the person is not satisfied with the revised decision of the FTA, it will be able to object to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee which will be set up for these purposes. Objections to the Committee will need to be submitted within 20 business days from the date the person was notified of the FTA’s revised decision, and the person must pay all taxes and penalties subject of objection before objecting to the Committee. The Committee will typically be required to give its decision regarding the objection within 20 business days from its receipt.

As a final step, if the person is not satisfied with the decision of the Committee, the person may challenge its decision before the competent court. The appeal must be made within 20 business days from the date of the appellant being notified of the Committee’s decision.

VAT for Businesses

Q.2.1- Who can or will be able to register for VAT?

A business must register for VAT if their taxable supplies and imports exceed the mandatory registration threshold of AED 375,000.

Furthermore, a business may choose to register for VAT voluntarily if their supplies and imports are less than the mandatory registration threshold, but exceed the voluntary registration threshold of AED 187,500.

Similarly, a business may register voluntarily if their expenses exceed the voluntary registration threshold. This latter opportunity to register voluntarily is designed to enable start-up businesses with no turnover to register for VAT.

Q.2.2- What are the VAT-related responsibilities of businesses?

All businesses in the UAE will need to record their financial transactions and ensure that their financial records are accurate and up to date. Businesses that meet the minimum annual turnover requirement (as evidenced by their financial records) will be required to register for VAT. Businesses that do not think that they should be VAT registered should maintain their financial records in any event, in case we need to establish whether they should be registered.

VAT-registered businesses generally:

must charge VAT on taxable goods or services they supply;

may reclaim any VAT they’ve paid on business-related goods or services;

keep a range of business records which will allow the government to check that they have got things right

If you’re a VAT-registered business you must report the amount of VAT you’ve charged and the amount of VAT you’ve paid to the government on a regular basis. It will be a formal submission and it is likely that the reporting will be made online.

If you’ve charged more VAT than you’ve paid, you have to pay the difference to the government. If you’ve paid more VAT than you’ve charged, you can reclaim the difference.

Q.2.3- What does a business need to do to prepare for VAT?

Concerned businesses will have time to prepare before VAT will come into effect in January 2018. During that time, businesses will need to meet requirements to fulfill their tax obligations. Businesses could start now so that they will be ready later. To fully comply with VAT, We believe that businesses may need to make some changes to their core operations, their financial management and book-keeping, their technology, and perhaps even their human resource mix (e.g., accountants and tax advisors). It is essential that businesses try to understand the implications of VAT now and once the legislation is issued make every effort to align their business model to government reporting and compliance requirements. We will provide businesses with guidance on how to fully comply with VAT once the legislation is issued. The final responsibility and accountability to comply with law is on the business.

Q.2.4- When are businesses supposed to start registering for VAT?

VAT will come into force on 1 January 2018. Any business that is required to be registered for VAT and charge VAT from 1 January 2018 must be registered prior to that date.

To enable businesses to prepare for introduction of VAT and comply with this registration obligation in time, the electronic registrations will be open for VAT from the third quarter of 2017 on a voluntary basis and a compulsory basis from the final quarter of 2017 for those that choose not to register earlier. This will ensure that there is no last minute rush from businesses to register for VAT before the deadline.Q.2.5- When are registered businesses required to file VAT returns?Taxpayers must file VAT returns with the FTA on a regular basis (quarterly or for a shorter period, should the FTA decide so) within 28 days from the end of the tax period in accordance with the procedures specified in the VAT legislation. The Tax returns shall be filed online using eServices.Q.2.6- What kind of records are businesses required to maintain, and for how long?Businesses will be required to keep records which will enable the Federal Tax Authority to identify the details of the business activities and review transactions. The specifics regarding the documents which will be required and the time period for keeping them will be stated in the relevant legislation.

Q.2.7- How long must a taxable person retain VAT invoices for?

Any taxable person must retain VAT invoices issued and received for a minimum of 5 years.

Q.2.8- How should a business determine the place of supply?

The place of supply will determine whether a supply is made within the UAE (in which case the UAE VAT law will apply), or outside the UAE for VAT purposes.

For a supply of goods, the place of supply should be the location of goods when the supply takes place with special rules for certain categories of supplies (e.g. water and energy, cross-border supplies).

For the supply of services, the place of supply should be where the supplier is established with special rules for certain categories of supplies (e.g. cross-border supplies between businesses).

Q.2.9- Can businesses offset customs duty against VAT payments?

The cost of living is likely to increase slightly, but this will vary depending on the individual’s lifestyle and spending behavior. If your spending is mainly on those things which are relieved from VAT, you are unlikely to see any significant increase.

Q.2.10- How will real estate be treated?

The VAT treatment of real estate will depend on whether it is a commercial or residential property.

Supplies (including sales or leases) of commercial properties will be taxable at the standard VAT rate (i.e 5%).

On the other hand, supplies of residential properties will generally be exempt from VAT. This will ensure that VAT would not constitute an irrecoverable cost to persons who buy their own properties. In order to ensure that real estate developers can recover VAT on construction of residential properties, the first supply of residential properties within 3 years from their completion will be zero-rated.

Q.2.11- What sectors will be zero-rated?

VAT will be charged at 0% in respect of the following main categories of supplies:

International transportation, and related supplies;

Supplies of certain sea, air and land means of transportation (such as aircrafts and ships);

Certain investment grade precious metals (e.g. gold, silver, of 99% purity);

Newly constructed residential properties, that are supplied for the first time within 3 years of their construction ;

Supply of certain education services, and supply of relevant goods and services;

Supply of certain Healthcare services, and supply of relevant goods and services.

Q.2.12- What sectors will be exempt?

The following categories of supplies will be exempt from VAT:

The supply of some financial services (clarified in VAT legislation);

Residential properties;

Bare land; and

Local passenger transport

Q.2.13- Will there be VAT grouping?

Businesses that satisfy certain requirements covered under the Legislation (such as being resident in the UAE and being related/associated parties) will be able to register as a VAT group. For some businesses, VAT grouping will be a useful tool that would simplify accounting for VAT.

Q.2.14- Will there be bad debt relief?

VAT registered businesses will be able to reduce their output tax liability by the amount of VAT that relates to bad debt which has been written off by the VAT registered business. The legislation will include the conditions and limitations concerning the use of this relief.

Q.2.15- Will there be a margin scheme?

To avoid double taxation where second hand goods are acquired by a registered person from an unregistered person for the purpose of resale, the VAT-registered person will be able to account for VAT on sales of second hand goods with reference to the difference between the purchase price of the goods and the selling price of the goods (that is, the profit margin). The VAT which must be accounted for by the registered person will be included in the profit margin. The legislation will include the details of the conditions to be met in order to apply this mechanism.

Q.2.16- How will partial exemption work?

Where a VAT registered person incurs input tax on its business expenses, this input tax can be recovered in full if it relates to a taxable supply made, or intended to be made, by the registered person. In contrast, where the expense relates to a non-taxable supply (e.g. exempt supplies), the registered person may not recover the input tax paid.

In certain situations, an expense may relate to both taxable and non-taxable supplies made by the registered person (such as activities of the banking sector). In these circumstances, the registered person would need to apportion input tax between the taxable and non-taxable (exempt) supplies.

Businesses will be expected to use input tax (ratio of recoverable to total) as a basis for apportionment in the first instance although there will be the facility to use other methods where they are fair and agreed with the Federal Tax Authority.

Q.2.17- What are the cases that would lead to the imposition of penalties?Penalties will be imposed for non-compliance.

Examples of actions and omissions that may give raise to penalties include:

A person failing to register when required to do so;

A person failing to submit a tax return or make a payment within the required period;

A person failing to keep the records required under the issued tax legislation;

Tax evasion offences where a person performs a deliberate act or omission with the intention of violating the provisions of the issued tax legislation.

Q.2.18- Will there be any special schemes for SMEs?

No special rules are planned for small or medium sized enterprises. However, the FTA will provide materials and resources available for these entities to assist them in their enquiries.

Q.2.19- Will there be transitional rules?

Special rules will be provided to deal with various situations that may arise in respect of supplies that span the introduction of VAT. For example:

Where a payment is received in respect of a supply of goods before the introduction of VAT but the goods are actually delivered after the introduction of VAT, this means that VAT will have to be charged on such supplies. Likewise, special rules will apply with regards to supplies of services spanning the introduction of VAT.

Where a contract is concluded prior to the introduction of VAT in respect of a supply which is wholly or partly made after the introduction of VAT, and the contract does not contain clauses relating to the VAT treatment of the supply, then consideration for the supply will be treated as inclusive of VAT. There will, however, be special provisions to allow suppliers to charge VAT in situations where their recipient is able to recover their VAT but where there is no VAT clause.

Q.2.20- How will insurance be treated?

Generally, insurance (vehicle, medical, etc) will be taxable. Life insurance, however, will be treated as an exempt financial service.

Q.2.21- How will financial services be treated?

It is expected that fee-based financial services will be taxed but margin based products are likely to be exempt.

Q.2.22- How will Islamic finance be treated?

Islamic finance products are consistent with the principles of sharia and therefore often operate differently from financial products that are common internationally.

To ensure that there are no inconsistencies between the VAT treatment of standard financial services and Islamic finance products, the treatment of Islamic finance products will be aligned with the treatment of similar standard financial services.

Q.2.23- Can UAE nationals claim VAT?

A scheme will be introduced to allow a UAE national who is not registered for VAT to reclaim VAT paid on goods and services relating to constructing a new residence which will be privately used by the person and his family. This will allow the recovery of VAT on such expenses as contractor’s services and building materials.

Q.2.24- How quickly will refunds be released?

Refunds will be made after the receipt of the application and subject to verification checks, with a particular focus on avoiding fraud.

Q.2.25- Will FTA issue rulings or provide tax advice?

In the course of its interaction with taxpayers, the FTA may provide its views on various matters in the law. Taxpayers may choose to challenge these views. It should be noted that penalties may be imposed on taxpayers who are found to violate any tax laws and regulations.Q.2.26- Will it be possible to issue cash receipts instead of VAT invoices?A supplier registered or required to be registered for VAT must issue a valid VAT invoice for the supply. To be considered as a valid VAT invoice, the document must follow a specific format as mentioned in the legislation. In certain situations, the supplier may be able to issue a simplified VAT invoice. The conditions for the VAT invoice and the simplified VAT invoice are mentioned legislation.

Q.2.7- Will there be any VAT that businesses are not allowed to claim?

VAT will not be deductible in respect of expenses incurred for making non-taxable supplies. Furthermore, input tax cannot be deducted if it is incurred in respect of specific expenses such as entertainment expenses e.g. employee entertainment.

Q.2.28- Under which conditions will businesses be allowed to claim VAT incurred on expenses?

VAT on expenses that were incurred by a business can be deducted in the following circumstances:

The business must be a taxable person (the end consumer cannot claim any input tax refund).

VAT should have been charged correctly (i.e. unduly charged VAT is not recoverable).

The business must hold documentation showing the VAT paid (e.g. valid tax invoice).

The goods or services acquired are used or intended to be used for making taxable supplies.

VAT input tax refund can be claimed only on the amount paid or intended to be paid before the expiration of 6 months after the agreed date for the payment of the supply.

Q.2.29- Will non-residents be required to register for VAT?

Non-residents that make taxable supplies in the UAE will be required to register for VAT unless there is any other UAE resident person who is responsible for accounting for VAT on these supplies. This exclusion may apply, for example, where a UAE business is required to account for VAT under a reverse charge mechanism in respect of a purchase from a non-resident.

Q.2.30- Will VAT be paid on imports?

VAT is due on the goods and services purchased from abroad.

In case the recipient in the State is a registered person with the Federal Tax Authority for VAT purposes, VAT would be due on that import using a reverse charge mechanism.

In case the recipient in the State is a non-registered person for VAT purposes, VAT would be paid on import of goods from a place outside the GCC. Such VAT will typically be required to be paid before the goods are released to the person.

Q.2.31- How will Government Entities be treated for VAT purposes?

Supplies made by government entities will typically be subject to VAT. This will ensure that government entities are not unfairly advantaged as compared to private businesses.

Certain supplies made by government entities will, however, be excluded from the scope of VAT if they are not in competition with the private sector or where the entity is the sole provider of such supplies. It is likely certain government entities will be entitled to VAT refunds – this is designed to avoid budgeting issues and provide a level playing field between outsourced and insourced activities.

For the supplies provided for government entities, the treatment of such supplies shall depend on the same supply and not on the recipient of the supply. Therefore, if the supply is subject to the standard tax rate, the treatment would remain the same even if it is provided to a government entity.

Q.2.32- Will Businesses have to report on their business in each of the Emirates?

It is expected that businesses will need to complete additional information on their VAT returns to report revenues earned in each Emirate. Guidance will be provided to businesses with regards to this.

It is expected that the rules will be relatively straightforward for most businesses and will be based, for example, for B2C transactions, on the location of the transaction (e.g. in a retail environment, the location of the shop).

Q.2.33- Will the goods exempt from customs duties also be exempt from VAT?

Not necessarily. Some goods that are imported may be exempt from customs duties but subject to VAT.

VAT for Tourists and Visitors

Q.3.1- Will tourists also pay VAT?

Yes, tourists are a significant source of revenue for the UAE and will pay VAT at the point of sale. Nevertheless, we have set the VAT rate deliberately low so that VAT is a limited burden on all consumers.

Q.3.2- Will visiting businesses be able to reclaim VAT?

It is intended that we will allow foreign businesses to recover the VAT they incur when visiting the UAE. This is important as it encourages them to do business and also, because a lot of other countries have VAT systems, it protects the ability of UAE businesses to recover VAT when visiting other countries (where the rates are a lot higher).

UAE VAT Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q.4.1- How can someone access UAE Tax Law?

Tax Laws and the related Executive Regulations will be published as soon as issued

Other Questions

Q.5.1- What other taxes is the UAE considering?

As per global best practice, the UAE is exploring other tax options as well. However, these are still being analysed and it is unlikely that they will be introduced in the near future. The UAE is not currently considering personal income taxes, however.

Q.5.2- Will this impact economic growth of the UAE?

Our analysis suggests that it will help the country strengthen its economy by diversifying revenues away from oil and will allow us to fund many public services. This is a sign of a maturing economy.

Q.5.3- Where can I learn more about the UAE’s plan to implement VAT?

The government has launched an awareness and education campaigns to educate UAE residents, businesses, and other impacted groups. Our aim is to help everyone understand what VAT is, how it works, and what businesses will need to do to comply with the law.

As part of its awareness campaign, the Ministry of Finance has launched the first phase of the awareness sessions during the period from March till May 2017. These sessions were held in the different Emirates.

We will also set up a website where you can find information to understand the new tax in detail.

A telephone hotline has been set up so that you can call and speak to one of our employees directly on 600599994.

Q.5.4- Changing my business systems for VAT reporting will cost money. Can the government help?

When VAT is introduced, the government will provide information and education to businesses to help them make the transition. The government will not pay for businesses to buy new technologies or hire tax specialists and accountants. That is the responsibility of each business. We will, however, provide guidance and information to assist you and we are giving businesses time to prepare.

Q.5.5- What are the penalties for not complying with a business’s VAT responsibilities?

Everyone is urged to fully comply with their VAT responsibilities. The government is currently in the process of defining the exact fees and penalties for non-compliance.

Administrative penalties for violations will be decided by Cabinet and announced after issuance. There will be further penalties decided by Courts in the case of tax evasion.

Source:

https://www.mof.gov.ae/En/budget/Pages/VATQuestions.aspx

[importexportliense-blog]

Welcome to msme

Imports are any resource, good, or service that producers in one nation sell to consumers in another country. Export home, trading home, star buying and selling houses and tremendous star trading homes holding the certificate as service provider exporter the place they comply with the endorsement of the identify(s) of the supporting manufacturer on the relevant annual advance license shall even be entitled for the annual advance license. This license and/or materials imported thereunder shall not be transferable even after completion of export obligation. Such annual advance license shall be issued with optimistic worth addition with out stipulation of minimal worth addition. That is notably necessary in case of import of chemical compounds and such different items.

The entitlement below this scheme shall be as much as 125% of the common fob worth of export in the preceding licensing year. Advance intermediate license: this license is granted to a producer exporter for the import of inputs required in the manufacture of products to be provided to the last word exporter holding an advance license/particular imprest license. This scheme is allowed to be operated on pre and post export foundation by a producer exporter and merchant exporter.

Particular imprest license: this license is granted for the obligation free import of inputs required in the manufacture of products to be equipped to the ultimate exporter holding an advance license/special imprest license. For this the duty free license holder desiring to avail such facility may strategy a financial institution for opening an inland l/c in favour of an indigenous supplier.

Such special imprest license is granted for the responsibility free Import Export Liense of inputs required in the manufacture of goods to be supplied to the eous/models in epzs/stp/ehtp, holders of license beneath the epcg scheme, tasks financed by multilateral/bilateral agencies/funds as notified by the dept. Of financial affairs, mof, fertilizer plants if the provision is made below the process of worldwide competitive bidding, provide of products to refineries and proejcts/purposes for which mpf permits import of such items on zero customs obligation.

A duty free license holder except advance intermediate license holder intending to supply the inputs from indigenous sources/canalising companies/eous/epz/ehtp/stp models in lieu of direct imports has the option to source them towards advance release order denominated in foreign change/indian rupees. In such circumstances, the license is invalidated for direct import and permission within the form of aro is issued which is able to entitle the supplier to the advantages of deemed exports. Following this the abroad banker will send the paperwork to the importer's banker in india.

[enterinit]

Windows 10 SDK Preview Build 18361 released

Windows 10 SDK Preview Build 18361 released. Message Compiler (mc.exe) The “-mof” switch (to generate XP-compatible ETW helpers) is considered to be deprecated and will be removed in a future version of mc.exe. Removing this switch will cause the generated ETW helpers to expect Vista or later. The “-A” switch (to generate .BIN files using ANSI encoding instead of Unicode) is considered to be deprecated and will be removed in a future version of mc.exe. Removing this switch will cause the generated .BIN files to use Unicode string encoding. The behavior of the “-A” switch has changed. Prior to Windows 1607 Anniversary Update SDK, when using the -A switch, BIN files were encoded using the build system’s ANSI code page. In the Windows 1607 Anniversary Update SDK, mc.exe’s behavior was inadvertently changed to encode BIN files using the build system’s OEM code page. In the 19H1 SDK, mc.exe’s previous behavior has been restored and it now encodes BIN files using the build system’s ANSI code page. Note that the -A switch is deprecated, as ANSI-encoded BIN files do not provide a consistent user experience in multi-lingual systems.

Breaking Changes

IAppxPackageReader2 has been removed from appxpackaging.h The interface IAppxPackageReader2 was removed from appxpackaging.h. Eliminate the use of use of IAppxPackageReader2 or use IAppxPackageReader instead. Change to effect graph of the AcrylicBrush In this Preview SDK, we’ll be adding a blend mode to the effect graph of the AcrylicBrush called Luminosity. This blend mode will ensure that shadows do not appear behind acrylic surfaces without a cutout. We will also be exposing a LuminosityBlendOpacity API available for tweaking that allows for more AcrylicBrush customization. By default, for those that have not specified any LuminosityBlendOpacity on their AcrylicBrushes, we have implemented some logic to ensure that the Acrylic will look as similar as it can to current 1809 acrylics. Please note that we will be updating our default brushes to account for this recipe change. TraceLoggingProvider.h  / TraceLoggingWrite Events generated by TraceLoggingProvider.h (e.g. via TraceLoggingWrite macros) will now always have Id and Version set to 0. Previously, TraceLoggingProvider.h would assign IDs to events at link time. These IDs were unique within a DLL or EXE, but changed from build to build and from module to module. Read more about API Updates, Additions and Removals here. Read the full article