#to design and implement IT infrastructure

[omangom-it-solutions]

How to Use Solutions Architecture to Design and Implement the Right IT Infrastructure for Your Business

In the digital era, the backbone of any successful business is a well-designed IT infrastructure. Solutions architecture emerges as the key to aligning business objectives with technology capabilities.

This blog post aims to guide businesses through the process of utilizing solutions architecture to design and implement the most fitting IT infrastructure. From understanding the basics to the practical steps, we'll unravel the path to a seamlessly integrated and effective IT environment.

What is Solutions Architecture?

Solutions architecture is the practice of designing and structuring IT solutions to meet specific business needs. It involves understanding and defining business, technical, and non-functional requirements to create a robust and scalable IT infrastructure.

Benefits of Using Solutions Architecture

Improved Alignment: Solutions architecture bridges the gap between business and IT, ensuring that the IT infrastructure aligns seamlessly with the business goals and objectives.

Cost Reduction: By carefully designing the IT infrastructure based on actual requirements, unnecessary costs can be minimized, leading to more efficient resource utilization.

Increased Agility: A well-architected solution allows businesses to adapt quickly to changing demands, ensuring flexibility and responsiveness to market dynamics.

How to Use Solutions Architecture for IT Infrastructure Design

1. Understand Your Business Requirements:

Identify Critical Business Needs: What are the fundamental business processes that your IT infrastructure needs to support? Understanding these needs is the first step in creating a solution that adds real value.

2. Identify Your Technical Requirements:

Specify Hardware, Software, and Networking Needs: Determine the specific technical requirements, including the type of hardware, software applications, and networking components necessary to meet business objectives.

3. Consider Your Non-Functional Requirements:

Evaluate Performance, Scalability, Security, and Compliance: Non-functional requirements, such as performance expectations, scalability needs, security measures, and compliance standards, play a critical role in defining the solution architecture.

4. Design Your IT Infrastructure:

Choose Appropriate Components: Based on the business and technical requirements, design the IT infrastructure by selecting the right mix of hardware, software, and networking components.

5. Implement Your IT Infrastructure:

Deploy Hardware and Software: Put your design into action by deploying the chosen hardware and software components. Configure the network infrastructure and migrate data to the new environment.

6. Monitor and Manage Your IT Infrastructure:

Implement Monitoring Tools: Establish a robust monitoring system to track the performance of your IT infrastructure. Regularly manage and maintain the system to ensure it continues to meet business needs.

Conclusion

Summary of Key Points

Solutions Architecture Overview: A brief exploration of the principles and components of solutions architecture.

Benefits of Solutions Architecture: Improved alignment, cost reduction, and increased agility.

Practical Steps: Understanding business requirements, identifying technical needs, considering non-functional requirements, designing, implementing, and monitoring IT infrastructure.

Ready to revolutionize your IT infrastructure? Contact OMANGOM for a free consultation. Our solutions architecture team can guide you in creating an, digital marketing services, web design and development services, mobile application development, cloud application development and  IT infrastructure that not only aligns with your business needs but is also scalable and secure.

[sigzentechnologies]

Embracing Agility: How Cloud Architecture Design Transforms Businesses

Introduction to Cloud Architecture In the contemporary landscape of technology, businesses are increasingly reliant on cloud services to propel their operations forward. Cloud architecture design has emerged as a pivotal element in this domain, offering scalable, flexible, and secure infrastructures that cater to diverse business needs. Crafting an efficient cloud architecture involves strategic…

[vivencyglobal]

IT Networking Solutions by Vivency Technology LLC

Vivency Technology LLC is a trusted provider of advanced IT networking solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of businesses. Our comprehensive services include network design, implementation, and optimization for seamless connectivity and enhanced productivity.

Whether you require structured cabling, wireless solutions, or secure data networks, our team of experts ensures tailored solutions to support your business growth. With a commitment to quality and innovation, we deliver robust networking systems that ensure reliability, scalability, and security.

Partner with Vivency Technology LLC to experience cutting-edge IT networking solutions that empower your organization to stay connected in the digital age. Visit our website for more information or to request a consultation.

[damlahayal]

RABİSU - PLATİN (2)

In an ever-evolving digital landscape, having a reliable online presence is integral to success. At Rabisu, we specialize in delivering tailored hosting solutions that empower businesses to thrive. Our diverse range of services—spanning VPS in the UK to comprehensive web hosting—ensures that every client can find the perfect fit for their unique needs. With a focus on speed, security, and seamless performance, Rabisu is dedicated to providing you with the infrastructure necessary to scale your operations and engage with your audience effectively.

VPS UK

When it comes to vps uk hosting, Rabisu stands out for its unmatched performance and reliability. Our virtual private servers are meticulously designed to cater to businesses that require a scalable and secure hosting environment without compromising on speed or up-time.

With Rabisu, you leverage cutting-edge technology that guarantees exceptional performance, allowing your applications to run smoothly even under high traffic conditions. Our VPS solutions come with full root access, enabling you to customize your environment to meet specific needs.

Additionally, Rabisu offers flexible pricing plans that ensure you get the most bang for your buck. Whether you are a start-up or a well-established organization, our plans can be tailored to suit your requirements. We believe in providing our customers with the best value, ensuring your investment drives the desired results for your business.

With 24/7 customer support, you can rest assured knowing our expert team is always available to assist you with any issues or questions you may have. Choosing Rabisu means choosing peace of mind when it comes to managing your digital infrastructure.

Secure your VPS UK hosting today with Rabisu, and take the first step towards a more efficient and scalable online presence. Visit Rabisu to get started now!

Hosting

When it comes to reliable and efficient hosting solutions, Rabisu offers a range of options tailored specifically for your needs. With our cutting-edge VPS UK hosting, you can expect exceptional performance and stability, ensuring that your website remains online and responsive at all times.

Our hosting provides you with dedicated resources, allowing you to customize your server environment according to your unique specifications. This means you have better control over your website's performance, allowing for faster load times and a superior experience for your users.

Rabisu is committed to delivering top-tier security features with our hosting services. We implement advanced security protocols to protect your data, ensuring peace of mind while you focus on growing your business.

Furthermore, our customer support team is always available, ready to assist you 24/7. Whether you're facing a technical challenge or have questions about configuring your server, our experts are just a call or message away, guaranteeing that you are never left in the dark.

In choosing Rabisu for your VPS UK hosting needs, you are opting for reliability, flexibility, and unparalleled support; what more could you ask for? Take your website to new heights with our outstanding hosting solutions today!

[reasonsforhope]

"The Netherlands is pulling even further ahead of its peers in the shift to a recycling-driven circular economy, new data shows.

According to the European Commission’s statistics office, 27.5% of the material resources used in the country come from recycled waste.

For context, Belgium is a distant second, with a “circularity rate” of 22.2%, while the EU average is 11.5% – a mere 0.8 percentage point increase from 2010.

“We are a frontrunner, but we have a very long way to go still, and we’re fully aware of that,” Martijn Tak, a policy advisor in the Dutch ministry of infrastructure and water management, tells The Progress Playbook. 

The Netherlands aims to halve the use of primary abiotic raw materials by 2030 and run the economy entirely on recycled materials by 2050. Amsterdam, a pioneer of the “doughnut economics” concept, is behind much of the progress.

Why it matters

The world produces some 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste each year, and this could rise to 3.4 billion tonnes annually by 2050, according to the World Bank.

Landfills are already a major contributor to planet-heating greenhouse gases, and discarded trash takes a heavy toll on both biodiversity and human health.

“A circular economy is not the goal itself,” Tak says. “It’s a solution for societal issues like climate change, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, and resource-security for the country.”

A fresh approach

While the Netherlands initially focused primarily on waste management, “we realised years ago that’s not good enough for a circular economy.”

In 2017, the state signed a “raw materials agreement” with municipalities, manufacturers, trade unions and environmental organisations to collaborate more closely on circular economy projects.

It followed that up with a national implementation programme, and in early 2023, published a roadmap to 2030, which includes specific targets for product groups like furniture and textiles. An English version was produced so that policymakers in other markets could learn from the Netherlands’ experiences, Tak says.

The programme is focused on reducing the volume of materials used throughout the economy partly by enhancing efficiencies, substituting raw materials for bio-based and recycled ones, extending the lifetimes of products wherever possible, and recycling.

It also aims to factor environmental damage into product prices, require a certain percentage of second-hand materials in the manufacturing process, and promote design methods that extend the lifetimes of products by making them easier to repair.

There’s also an element of subsidisation, including funding for “circular craft centres and repair cafés”.

This idea is already in play. In Amsterdam, a repair centre run by refugees, and backed by the city and outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, is helping big brands breathe new life into old clothes.

Meanwhile, government ministries aim to aid progress by prioritising the procurement of recycled or recyclable electrical equipment and construction materials, for instance.

State support is critical to levelling the playing field, analysts say...

Long Road Ahead

The government also wants manufacturers – including clothing and beverages companies – to take full responsibility for products discarded by consumers.

“Producer responsibility for textiles is already in place, but it’s work in progress to fully implement it,” Tak says.

And the household waste collection process remains a challenge considering that small city apartments aren’t conducive to having multiple bins, and sparsely populated rural areas are tougher to service.

“Getting the collection system right is a challenge, but again, it’s work in progress.”

...Nevertheless, Tak says wealthy countries should be leading the way towards a fully circular economy as they’re historically the biggest consumers of natural resources."

-via The Progress Playbook, December 13, 2023

[spocks-kaathyra]

thoughts about the Cardassian writing system

I've thinking about the Cardassian script as shown on screen and in beta canon and such and like. Is it just me or would it be very difficult to write by hand?? Like.

I traced some of this image for a recent drawing I did and like. The varying line thicknesses?? The little rectangular holes?? It's not at all intuitive to write by hand. Even if you imagine, like, a different writing implement—I suppose a chisel-tip pen would work better—it still seems like it wasn't meant to be handwritten. Which has a few possible explanations.

Like, maybe it's just a fancy font for computers, and handwritten text looks a little different. Times New Roman isn't very easily written by hand either, right? Maybe the line thickness differences are just decorative, and it's totally possible to convey the same orthographic information with the two line thicknesses of a chisel-tip pen, or with no variation in line thickness at all.

A more interesting explanation, though, and the one I thought of first, is that this writing system was never designed to be handwritten. This is a writing system developed in Cardassia's digital age. Maybe the original Cardassian script didn’t digitize well, so they invented a new one specifically for digital use? Like, when they invented coding, they realized that their writing system didn’t work very well for that purpose. I know next to nothing about coding, but I cannot imagine doing it using Chinese characters. So maybe they came up with a new writing system that worked well for that purpose, and when computer use became widespread, they stuck with it. 

Or maybe the script was invented for political reasons! Maybe Cardassia was already fairly technologically advanced when the Cardassian Union was formed, and, to reinforce a cohesive national identity, they developed a new standardized national writing system. Like, y'know, the First Emperor of Qin standardizing hanzi when he unified China, or that Korean king inventing hangul. Except that at this point in Cardassian history, all official records were digital and typing was a lot more common than handwriting, so the new script was designed to be typed and not written. Of course, this reform would be slower to reach the more rural parts of Cardassia, and even in a technologically advanced society, there are people who don't have access to that technology. But I imagine the government would be big on infrastructure and education, and would make sure all good Cardassian citizens become literate. And old regional scripts would stop being taught in schools and be phased out of digital use and all the kids would grow up learning the digital script.

Which is good for the totalitarian government! Imagine you can only write digitally. On computers. That the government can monitor. If you, like, write a physical letter and send it to someone, then it's possible for the contents to stay totally private. But if you send an email, it can be very easily intercepted. Especially if the government is controlling which computers can be manufactured and sold, and what software is in widespread use, etc. 

AND. Historical documents are now only readable for scholars. Remember that Korean king that invented hangul? Before him, Korea used to use Chinese characters too. And don't get me wrong, hangul is a genius writing system! It fits the Korean language so much better than Chinese characters did! It increased literacy at incredible rates! But by switching writing systems, they broke that historical link. The average literate Chinese person can read texts that are thousands of years old. The average literate Korean person can't. They'd have to specifically study that field, learn a whole new writing system. So with the new generation of Cardassian youths unable to read historical texts, it's much easier for the government to revise history. The primary source documents are in a script that most people can't read. You just trust the translation they teach you in school. In ASIT it's literally a crucial plot point that the Cardassian government revised history! Wouldn't it make it soooo much easier for them if only very few people can actually read the historical accounts of what happened.

I guess I am thinking of this like Chinese characters. Like, all the different Chinese "dialects" being written with hanzi, even though otherwise they could barely be considered the same language. And even non-Sinitic languages that historically adopted hanzi, like Japanese and Korean and Vietnamese. Which worked because hanzi is a logography—it encodes meaning, not sound, so the same word in different languages can be written the same. It didn’t work well! Nowadays, Japanese has made significant modifications and Korean has invented a new writing system entirely and Vietnamese has adapted a different foreign writing system, because while hanzi could write their languages, it didn’t do a very good job at it. But the Cardassian government probably cares more about assimilation and national unity than making things easier for speakers of minority languages. So, Cardassia used to have different cultures with different languages, like the Hebitians, and maybe instead of the Union forcing everyone to start speaking the same language, they just made everyone use the same writing system. Though that does seem less likely than them enforcing a standard language like the Federation does. Maybe they enforce a standard language, and invent the new writing system to increase literacy for people who are newly learning it.

And I can imagine it being a kind of purely digital language for some people? Like if you’re living on a colonized planet lightyears away from Cardassia Prime and you never have to speak Cardassian, but your computer’s interface is in Cardassian and if you go online then everyone there uses Cardassian. Like people irl who participate in the anglophone internet but don’t really use English in person because they don’t live in an anglophone country. Except if English were a logographic writing system that you could use to write your own language. And you can’t handwrite it, if for whatever reason you wanted to. Almost a similar idea to a liturgical language? Like, it’s only used in specific contexts and not really in daily life. In daily life you’d still speak your own language, and maybe even handwrite it when needed. I think old writing systems would survive even closer to the imperial core (does it make sense to call it that?), though the government would discourage it. I imagine there’d be a revival movement after the Fire, not only because of the cultural shift away from the old totalitarian Cardassia, but because people realize the importance of having a written communication system that doesn’t rely on everyone having a padd and electricity and wifi.

[reachartwork]

Blues (left), aka "Proto Man" - never designed for autonomy, never expected to achieve personhood. A complex amalgamation of brain organoids and stem cells integrated into a robotic frame, Blues was created by Light and Wily solely to test neural integration technologies before implementing them in human subjects. He exists as a living laboratory, a consciousness born from scientific expedience rather than compassionate creation. As you can imagine, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder about it.

Bass (right), the enigmatic commander of the Direct Unaugmented Opposition (DUO) - an amnesiac human terrorist (she'd say "resistance fighter") searching for purpose, her past, and a way to save the human race from Olympus Valley technocracy. Operating through guerrilla tactics, Bass leads her followers in systematic attacks on data centers, technological infrastructure, and research facilities, all while pursuing her personal vendetta against Dr. Wily, who made her the thing she is today. And she'll make sure he's crushed inside her Power Claw if it's the last thing she ever does.

[fatehbaz]

"The most fashionable bathing station in all Europe". British industrialists and American mining investors plotting the colonization of the Congo, while mingling at Ostend's seaside vacation resorts. Extracting African life to build European railways, hotels, palaces, suburbs, and other modern(ist) infrastructure. "Towards infinity!"

---

In 1885, King Leopold II achieved an astonishing and improbable goal: he claimed a vast new realm of his own devising, a conjury on a map called [...] the Congo Free State. [...] [A] fictional state owned by the king, ruled by decree, and run from Brussels from 1885 to 1908. [...] This was [...] a private entrepreneurial venture [for the king]. The abundance of ivory, timber, and wild rubber found in this enormous territory brought sudden and spectacular profits to Belgium, the king, and a web of interlocking concession companies. The frenzy to amass these precious resources unleashed a regime of forced labor, violence [millions of deaths], and unchecked atrocities for Congolese people. These same two and a half decades of contact with the Congo Free State remade Belgium [...] into a global powerhouse, vitalized by an economic boom, architectural burst, and imperial surge.

Congo profits supplied King Leopold II with funds for a series of monumental building projects [...]. Indeed, Belgian Art Nouveau exploded after 1895, created from Congolese raw materials and inspired by Congolese motifs. Contemporaries called it “Style Congo,” [...]. The inventory of this royal architecture is astonishing [...]. [H]istorical research [...] recovers Leopold’s formative ideas of architecture as power, his unrelenting efforts to implement them [...]. King Leopold II harbored lifelong ambitions to “embellish” and beautify the nation [...]. [W]ith his personal treasury flush with Congo revenue, [...] Leopold - now the Roi Batisseur ("Builder King") he long aimed to be - planned renovations explicitly designed to outdo Louis XIV's Versailles. Enormous greenhouses contained flora from every corner of the globe, with a dedicated soaring structure completed specifically to house the oversize palms of the Congolese jungles. [...]

---

The Tervuren Congo palace [...]. Electric tramways were built and a wide swath of avenue emerged. [...] [In and around Brussels] real estate developers began to break up lots [...] for suburban mansions and gardens. Between 1902 and 1910, new neighborhoods with luxury homes appeared along the Avenue [...]. By 1892, Antwerp was not only the port of call for trade but also the headquarters of the most profitable of an interlinking set of banks and Congo investment companies [...]. As Antwerp in the 1890s became once again the “Queen of the Scheldt,” the city was also the home of what was referred to as the “Queen of Congo companies.” This was the ABIR, or Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company, founded in 1892 with funds from British businessman “Colonel” John Thomas North [...].

Set on the seaside coast, Belgium’s Ostend was the third imperial cityscape to be remade by King Leopold [...] [in a] transformation [that] was concentrated between 1899 and 1905 [...]. Ostend encompassed a boomtown not of harbor and trade, like Antwerp, but of beachfront and leisure [...] [developed] as a "British-style" seaside resort. [...] Leopold [...] [w]as said to spend "as much time in Ostend as he did in Brussels," [...]. Ostend underwent a dramatic population expansion in a short period, tripling its inhabitants from 1870–1900. [...] Networks of steamers, trams, and railway lines coordinated to bring seasonal visitors in, and hotels and paved walkways were completed. [...] [A]nd Leopold’s favorite spot, the 1883 state-of-the-art racetracks, the Wellington Hippodrome. Referred to with an eye-wink as “the king incognito” (generating an entire genre of photography), visitors to the seaside could often see Leopold in his top hat and summer suit [...], riding his customized three-wheeled bicycle [...]. By 1900, Ostend’s expansion and enhancement made it known as “the Queen of the Belgian seaside resorts” and “the most fashionable bathing station in all Europe.” Opulence, convenience, and spectacle brought the Shah of Persia, American tycoons, European aristocrats, and Belgian elites, among others, to Ostend.

---

Leopold’s interventions and the Congo Free State personnel and proceeds played three pivotal and understudied roles in this transformation, all of which involved ABIR [British industrialists].

First, it was at Ostend that an early and decisive action was taken to structure the “red rubber” regime and set it in motion. In 1892, jurists such as [E.P.] had ruled, contravening [...] trade laws, that the king was entitled to claim the Congo as his domanial property [...]. Leopold [...] devised one part of that royal domain as a zone for private company concessions [...] to extract and export wild rubber.

Soon after, in 1892, King Leopold happened to meet the British “Colonel” John Thomas North at the Ostend Hippodrome. North, a Leeds-born mechanic [...] had made a fortune speculating on Chilean nitrates in the 1880s. He owned monopoly shares in nitrate mines and quickly expanded to acquire monopolies in Chilean freight railways, water supplies, and iron and coal mines. By 1890 North was a high-society socialite worth millions [...]. Leopold approached North at the Ostend racecourse to provide the initial investments to set up the Anglo-Belgian India Rubber Company (ABIR). [...]

---

One visible sign of Ostend’s little-known character as Congo boomtown was the Royal Palace Hotel, a lavish property next to the king’s Royal Domain, which opened in 1899. With hundreds of rooms and a broad sweep of acreage along the beachfront, the palace “occupied the largest space of any hotel in Europe.” [...]

King Leopold met American mining magnate Thomas Walsh there, and as with North, the meeting proved beneficial for his Congo enterprise: Leopold enlisted Walsh to provide assessments of some of his own Congo mining prospects. The hotel was part of [...] [a major European association of leisure profiteers] founded in 1894, that began to bundle luxury tourism and dedicated railway travel, and whose major investors were King Leopold, Colonel North [...].

At the height of Congo expansionism, fin-de-siècle Antwerp embodied an exhilarated launch point [...]. Explorers and expeditioners set sail for Matadi after 1887 with the rallying call “Vers l’infini!” (“towards infinity!”) [...].

---

Text above by: Debora Silverman. "Empire as Architecture: Monumental Cities the Congo Built in Belgium". e-flux Architecture (Appropriations series). May 2024. At: e-flux.com/architecture/appropriations/608151/empire-as-architecture-monumental-cities-the-congo-built-in-belgium/ [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me. Italicized first paragraph/heading in this post was added by me. Presented here for commentary, teaching, criticism.]

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Maya Yang at The Guardian:

The Trump administration has ordered US states to suspend a $5bn electric vehicle charging station program in a further blow to the environmental movement since the president’s return to the White House. In a memo issued on Thursday to state transportation directors, the transportation department’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) ordered states not to spend any funds allocated to them under the Biden administration as part of the national electric vehicle infrastructure (NEVI) program. “The new leadership of the Department of Transportation … has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program,” Emily Biondi, the FHWA’s associate administrator for planning, environment and realty, wrote in the memo. “Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded,” Biondi added. “As result of the rescission of the NEVI Formula Program Guidance, FHWA is also immediately suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years. Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved,” she wrote.

Biondi added that until new guidance is issued, reimbursements of existing obligations for designing and building charging stations will be allowed in order to prevent the disruption of current financial commitments. According to an existing page on the energy department’s website, the NEVI program provides funding to states to strategically deploy EV chargers. Funding is available for up to 80% of eligible project costs including the acquisition, installation and network connection of EV chargers, proper operation and maintenance of EV chargers, and long-term EV charger data sharing.

Tyrant 47’s petty war on electric vehicles rears its ugly head, as the Trump Misadministration suspends $5BN electric vehicle charging programs.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 2012, Dutch teenager Boyan Slat presented a TED Talk on his concept for cleaning up the ocean with simple mechanisms to sweep up all the trash. While scientists and plastics experts cautioned that his ideas were ineffective, Slat’s non-profit the Ocean Cleanup, founded the year after his talk went viral, has gained millions of followers and big-name backers, including Salesforce, Maersk, KIA, and PayPal’s Peter Thiel. But the venture had one major problem: its first two designs didn’t work, despite the group burning through tens of millions of dollars over the course of a decade. The Ocean Cleanup has since pivoted to work with upstream river “interceptors” that are much more efficient at capturing garbage, but its website still prominently features its latest ocean debris “solution”—essentially a trawl fishing net dragged between two boats that has, to date, collected a comparatively miniscule amount of trash. Tech projects like these are more of a curse than a blessing. Even if the Ocean Cleanup one day somehow beats the insurmountable odds and removes all surface-level traces of plastic marine pollution, it’d still be missing the vast majority of waste that sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor, or breaks up into tiny microplastics. While companies like these bring increased attention to the plastics crisis, they’re ultimately flashy gimmicks that lull our public consciousness into thinking a clever gadget can solve a collective-action problem. These projects also allow consumer brands—like Coca-Cola, an official “Global Implementation Partner” of Slat’s group—to greenwash their continued massive plastic production, while lobbying behind-the-scenes against regulations that would actually help the world break its plastic addiction.  “We now know that we can’t start to reduce plastic pollution without a reduction of production,” environmental scientists Imari Walker-Franklin and Jenna Jambeck write in the introduction to their forthcoming study, Plastics. To meaningfully address this crisis and others like it, we need to look upstream, invest in reuse infrastructure, and mandate biodegradable packaging and high material recyclability. At a minimum, we need to start making producers bear the cost for the collection and disposal of their poorly designed goods.

[eretzyisrael]

by Hank Berrien

A bombshell new report states that the British government is knowingly sending millions of pounds to the terrorist group Hamas.

NGO Monitor obtained a British Consulate-General in Jerusalem (BCGJ) document dated November 2022 with a plan for “UK Humanitarian Support in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

The document notes distribution of “multi-purpose cash” assistance in Gaza.  The document states, “The cash assistance component will be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Social Development MoSD. … The MoSD in Gaza is affiliated with the de facto authorities and thus UK Aid can be linked directly or indirectly with supporting the de factor [sic] authority (Hamas) in Gaza which is part of a proscribed group.”

“Since taking control of Gaza in 2007, Hamas has employed a number of methods to divert international aid,” NGO Monitor wrote. “By exploiting monies and material intended for humanitarian purposes, the terrorist organization expanded its military infrastructure, paid salaries, and cemented its rule. More disturbingly, this aid diversion was central in Hamas’ preparations for the October 7 massacre, including the construction of tunnels and other military installations, and stockpiling supplies and resources.”

“Hamas has exercised effective control over the MoSD in Gaza for several years. In April 2019, Hamas appointed a politburo member, Ghazi Hamad, to lead the Ministry,” NGO Monitor notes. “As of July 2024, Hamas leader and politburo member, Ghazi Hamad, heads the Gaza branch of the MoSd. … In November 2024, the US Treasury Department designated Hamad, labeling him a “senior Hamas official. … In an October 24, 2023 interview on Lebanese television, Hamad hailed the October 7th massacre.”

“A Hamas-controlled entity was an integral partner in determining how cash assistance provided by the UK government to UNICEF would be distributed in Gaza,” NGO Monitor’s Anne Herzberg explained.

Israeli journalist Amit Segal noted after reading the report that the funding appears to have continued after the Hamas terrorist offensive.

“But maybe London changed its policy after October 7?“ Segal asked rhetorically. “Well, in March 2024, UNICEF wrote that it ‘maintained and strengthened the partnership with the MoSD,’ adding in November that ‘this humanitarian cash transfer program in the Gaza Strip is supported by the European Union, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).’”

“Citing the UN Financial Tracking System, NGO Monitor wrote that ‘in 2024, the UK provided UNICEF with approximately $23.1 million for West Bank and Gaza operations,’” Segal pointed out, adding, “And yet, at the same time that Britain is knowingly sending millions of pounds to Hamas, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is busy condemning Israel for the war in Gaza.”

[thesimblrofficedirectory]

Welcome to The Simblr Office Directory

This blog is an archive of the submissions for the office-centric OC prompt posted by the light of Simblr, @kashisun.

Here you can browse all the amazing creations submitted by your fellow simblrs. Feel free to scroll to your delight or click one of the links under the cut to see who's on roster under (or over) a particular bureau or delegation.

Want to be added to the directory or confirm that you've been queued? Just include a link to your post in an ask off anon and it will be queued within 48 hours. Until we get through the backlog and can queue at a more leisurely pace, all ask submissions will receive a confirmation. You can always mention us, but we won't be able to provided confirmation for that method.

Leaving the company? If you'd like your post removed, just include a link to the post in an ask off anon and it will be removed. Sideblogs may require additional verification. Please allow, at most, 48 hours for the request to be honored. Removal requests will not be confirmed, only acted upon.

Every company's hierarchy is a little different. Designations for this directory are based on some of the companies I've worked for, but especially on the multi-media marketing company I work for now.

Bureaus and Their Delegations

Delegations with an * currently have low or no headcount (posted and queued). Excludes leadership.

Bureau of Client Engagement

Leadership

Billing*

Escalations*

Product Support*

Quality Assurance*

Sales*

Bureau of Compliance (Bureau-specific Internal Affairs and Auditing)

Leadership

Client Engagement*

Facilities*

Finance*

Human Resources*

Information and Technology*

Legal (General)

Legal (Leadership)

Marketing*

Bureau of Facilities

Leadership

Catering*

Environmental (Janitorial, HVAC, and Plumbing)*

Mechanical (Electrical, Elevators, Equipment Maintenance)*

Premise* (Grounds Maintenance and Real Estate)

Purchasing* (From pushpins to pallet jacks)

Security

Warehousing* (Shipping, Receiving, Mail room, and Inventory)

Bureau of Finance

Leadership

Accounting

Asset Management*

Investments*

Travel and Accommodations*

Vendor Relations*

Bureau of Human Resources

Leadership

Career Development (Internships and Internal Role Transitions)

Dependent Care*

Employee Activities Committee (Members are volunteers)

Employee Benefits*

Floating Delegates (Administration) (For profiles that list a nondescript secretary/admin/receptionist/assistant role)

Floating Delegates (General) (For profiles that do not list a position)

Floating Delegates (Leadership) (For profiles that list a nondescript managerial role)

Health Services*

Payroll*

Recruiting*

Training*

Union Relations*

Bureau of Information & Technology

Leadership

Data Security*

Infrastructure*

Public Relations

Research and Development*

Systems and Devices*

Telecommunications*

Bureau of Marketing

Leadership

Copy

Design

Planning and Implementation*

Board of Directors

Chief Officers

CEO - Chief Executive Officer/President

COO - Chief Operations Officer/Vice President

CCO - Chief Compliance Officer/Vice President

CFO - Chief Finance Officer/Vice President

CITO - Chief Information and Technology Officer/Vice President

CMO - Chief Marketing Officer/Vice President

Executive Administration* (Admins that report to chief officers)

[mariacallous]

On Jan. 20, as U.S. President Donald Trump was being inaugurated in Washington, D.C., some 8,000 miles away in Dar es Salaam, the government of Tanzania was reversing prior denials and declaring that there was, in fact, an outbreak of Marburg virus. Marburg, a highly contagious hemorrhagic virus, is a cousin to Ebola with a case fatality rate as high as 88 percent, and it could bring the kind of global attention the Tanzanian government has long tried to avoid.

Using lessons from the West African Ebola outbreak that began in 2014, which took two years and more than $2 billion of U.S. funding to contain, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were mapping a way to stop the Marburg outbreak early.

The same day in the Western Hemisphere, officials were tracking a new outbreak of the extremely rare and Ebola-like Chapare hemorrhagic fever in Bolivia as they readied to prepare a response. But two weeks later, no plans have been executed, and the USAID leaders who would be responsible are on administrative leave as part of the new administration’s assault on foreign aid. None of the outbreaks have been contained.

Now, Trump has ordered an ill-considered scheme that contravenes U.S. law, could tear apart the international aid infrastructure built with bipartisan support over decades, and which would mean many more outbreaks and other disasters worldwide.

In the early hours of Monday, Feb. 3, Elon Musk—the businessman-turned-top Trump advisor—declared that he and the president had reached a decision about USAID—“we’re shutting it down.” USAID staffers were told that the agency’s headquarters were closed, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that he was the new head of the agency, and the White House confirmed plans to merge it with the State Department. Reporting suggests the move would include laying off many or most of the USAID staff responsible for crucial programs.

To be clear-eyed: This is neither good policy nor legal under the most basic elements of U.S. law and the Constitution.

There are many reasons to demand reform at USAID. Critiques of the agency have emerged from the left and the right. Too much aid is poorly designed for the world of 2025, the agency too often operates in a neocolonial model, and not enough of the investment reaches those who need it most. But many of the critiques from Musk are completely baseless.

And aid money saves lives. Halting it has shut down efforts to prevent children from dying of malaria, stopped clinical trials for various drugs and medical devices, threatened a resurgence of HIV, and more.

And any reforms should be done legally. The U.S. Agency for International Development is an independent agency with authorities legislated by Congress. Its history is complex, but its status is clear. The president—let alone Musk, who is neither elected nor confirmed by Congress—does not have the legal authority to abolish USAID or move it under the State Department unilaterally.

USAID traces its origins to a bill introduced by U.S. Sen, William Fulbright that passed Congress in September 1961 and became the Foreign Assistance Act. After signing it into law in November, then-President John F. Kennedy created USAID by executive order to implement the law. Originally, the agency functioned under the authority of the secretary of state.

However, after significant debate in Washington over the independence of the agency, President Jimmy Carter created the United States International Development Cooperation Agency (IDCA) in 1979, bringing development and security assistance programs together and moving USAID from the State Department and into the agency. The order delegated the authorities created by the Foreign Assistance Act to the director of the IDCA.

In 1998, Congress took up reform of the aid infrastructure, passing the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act, which abolished the IDCA. That act formally established USAID as an independent agency, stating that “there is within the Executive branch of Government the United States Agency for International Development as an entity described in section 104 of title 5” of the United States Code.

The law required the president to come up with a plan and provided the option to, within 60 days, alternatively move all of USAID’s functions into the State Department. President Bill Clinton declined to do so and, as a result, USAID was confirmed as an independent statutory agency created by Congress. As it had done since inception, the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act provided that the secretary of state would give foreign-policy guidance to USAID.

Since 2016, Congress has passed five authorizing laws that define new authorities, oversight, and authorizations of funding levels, and USAID’s independence has been maintained throughout. As such, USAID remains a distinct statutory agency with separate authorization, appropriation, and authorities. Several senators have already weighed in to make this argument.

Dissolving USAID or merging it into the State Department without the authorization of Congress would be unconstitutional. Article I of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the legislative prerogative to create and abolish agencies. And that authority has been affirmed by the judiciary in the years since: “To Congress under its legislative power is given the establishment of offices, the determination of their functions and jurisdiction,” wrote the Supreme Court in Meyers v. United States (1926).

Because Congress established USAID by statute, the executive branch lacks the unilateral authority to abolish it or subsume it without a corresponding act of Congress. This is not a small or a limited issue: The separation of powers doctrine is central to U.S. constitutional government, and allowing the executive to reshape or eliminate an agency that Congress created and continues to fund would deeply weaken the legislature’s independence.

Rubio, in fact, has been among the most recent legislative architects of USAID. He was the lead sponsor of the Foreign Aid Transparency and Accountability Act of 2016, which enacted USAID’s obligation to establish measurable goals and monitor them with results posted online. Rubio also co-sponsored a follow-up bill that required USAID to publicly share which countries and organizations received the funds.

This is exactly why USAID needs highly trained, well-qualified professional staff of the type that is now threatened with dismissal.

Ongoing disease outbreaks demonstrate why attacks on USAID are not just unconstitutional, but also bad policy. Aid should be independent. Merging with the State Department and initiating mass layoffs do not serve U.S. interests as defined by Rubio in a Jan. 26 press statement. It does not make the United States safer or stronger.

A Jan. 27 report from the Africa CDC indicates that there have already been nine deaths from the Marburg outbreak—surpassing the total number of deaths from the last outbreak in Tanzania. It is occurring in the Kagera region, which borders multiple countries and is a major transit hub, creating a very real risk of spread to other Central and East African countries—and beyond.

If the virus is not quickly contained, it could develop into a regional epidemic, as occurred in West Africa in 2014 when a small Ebola outbreak spread to more than 13,000 cases in a matter of months. Although they occurred primarily in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, infections spread as far afield as the United States and Spain. It took two years and the deployment of the United States military to contain it.

But the Tanzanian government has little interest in talking to the U.S. State Department about its outbreaks. Indeed, the Tanzanian government first denied there was any Marburg outbreak—much as it has done with mpox and did previously during COVID-19. The diplomatic arm of the United States government is very unlikely to be seen as a partner, since U.S.-Tanzania relations are complex and fraught. China, not the United States, is the country’s largest trading partner, while India is the largest investor.

Tanzania has worked hard to build a middle position between Washington and Beijing, and as such, U.S. diplomats are engaged across multiple strategic areas with the government of Tanzania—from military bases to trade to human rights and democracy. The independence of agencies such as USAID and the CDC allows them to engage differently.

USAID is both funding and personnel. It funds the local organizations around the world that can often be most effective in addressing health, while also providing expertise to secure accountability and transparency. USAID helped with the effective Marburg virus response in 2023, when it supported the Tanzanian government and UNICEF to secure needed equipment, medicines, and people. It funded the Red Cross to engage its network of community-based volunteers to respond. All of that capability is now frozen, and it could be lost altogether.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization currently reports 118 other separate health emergency events. There are new outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Uganda. The clade I strain of mpox has been detected in the Americas. Bird flu is a growing regional and global crisis. The AIDS pandemic continues.

Every one of these outbreaks not only puts lives at risk around the world, but also has implications for U.S. foreign policy, existing within complex trade-offs of geopolitics and human need. None are best tackled by the State Department directly.

Usually, the World Health Organization would take the lead on such efforts. But Trump’s recent executive order cut off U.S. cooperation with WHO and ordered the secretary of state to find bilateral alternatives—which, in a more normal world, would include USAID.

Doing aid better—and with the outcomes and focus that Rubio has pushed for—requires people, infrastructure, and political independence.

That should give us pause. Is this move really about aid at all, or is it about auditioning tactics in the aid sector that Trump and allies want to use in other areas of government, no matter the impact?

[reasonsforhope]

"Seven federal agencies are partnering to implement President Biden’s American Climate Corps, announcing this week they would work together to recruit 20,000 young Americans and fulfill the administration's vision for the new program. 

The goals spelled out in the memorandum of understanding include comprehensively tackling climate change, creating partnerships throughout various levels of government and the private sector, building a diverse corps and serving all American communities.

The agencies—which included the departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor and Energy, as well the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps—also vowed to ensure a “range of compensation and benefits” that open the positions up to a wider array of individuals and to create pathways to “high-quality employment.”  

Leaders from each of the seven agencies will form an executive committee for the Climate Corps, which Biden established in September, that will coordinate efforts with an accompanying working group. They will create the standards for ACC programs, set compensation guidelines and minimum terms of service, develop recruitment strategies, launch a centralized website and establish performance goals and objectives. The ACC groups will, beginning in January, hold listening sessions with potential applicants, labor unions, state and local governments, educational institutions and other stakeholders. 

The working group will also review all federal statutes and hiring authorities to remove any barriers to onboarding for the corps and standardize the practices across all participating agencies. Benefits for corps members will include housing, transportation, health care, child care, educational credit, scholarships and student loan forgiveness, stipends and non-financial services.

As part of the goal of the ACC, agencies will develop the corps so they can transition to “high-quality, family-sustaining careers with mobility potential” in the federal or other sectors. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said the initiative would prepare young people for “good-paying union jobs.” 

Within three weeks of rolling out the ACC, EPA said more than 40,000 people—mostly in the 18-35 age range—expressed interest in joining the corps. The administration set an ambitious goal for getting the program underway, aiming to establish the corps’ first cohort in the summer of 2024. 

The corps members will work in roles related to ecosystem restoration and conservation, reforestation, waterway protection, recycling, energy conservation, clean energy deployment, disaster preparedness and recovery, fire resilience, resilient recreation infrastructure, research and outreach. The administration will look to ensure 40% of the climate-related investments flow to disadvantaged communities as part of its Justice40 initiative.  

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the MOU would allow the ACC to “work across the federal family” to push public projects focused on environmental justice and clean energy. 

“The Climate Corps represents a significant step forward in engaging and nurturing young leaders who are passionate about climate action, furthering our journey towards a sustainable and equitable future,” Regan said. 

The ACC’s executive committee will hold its first meeting within the next 30 days. It will draw support from a new climate hub within AmeriCorps, as well as any staffing the agency heads designate."

-via Government Executive, December 20, 2023

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This news comes with your regularly scheduled reminder that WE GOT THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR and basically no one know about/remembers it!!! Also if you want more info about the Climate Corps, inc. how to join, you can sign up to get updates here.

[wachinyeya]

June 16, 2025, Kaleigh Harrison

Verde and Ergon have signed a memorandum of understanding to scale the use of carbon-negative asphalt binders in U.S. infrastructure projects. The collaboration is designed to integrate Verde’s binder technology into Ergon’s existing national operations, making low-carbon asphalt available at commercial scale.

While efforts to cut operational emissions have advanced, the embedded emissions in materials such as asphalt remain a significant hurdle. By targeting these often-overlooked emissions, Verde and Ergon’s collaboration provides a practical, near-term solution that can be implemented within current roadbuilding practices.

Unlike many emerging carbon-reduction technologies, Verde’s binder is already compatible with existing asphalt standards and construction methods. This allows roadbuilders to adopt the material without the need for design changes, new equipment, or extensive retraining—critical factors for gaining market acceptance in the risk-averse construction sector.

Ergon brings established strengths to the partnership, including a nationwide network of asphalt refining and blending facilities and relationships with departments of transportation, contractors, and material suppliers. Leveraging this infrastructure provides a clear pathway to moving beyond pilot projects to full-scale market rollout.

Tackling Embodied Carbon in Road Construction

Pavement materials, including asphalt, contribute a significant share of the total carbon footprint of infrastructure projects.

Verde’s technology addresses this issue by capturing and converting CO₂ into a high-performance binder that replaces traditional petroleum-based materials. The resulting asphalt products are designed to meet or exceed current performance standards while delivering a lower carbon profile.

By combining Verde’s field-tested technology with Ergon’s operational scale, the companies aim to offer a practical solution for decarbonizing one of the infrastructure sector’s most carbon-intensive materials—without disrupting existing supply chains.

[residentialrabbit]

(I think i accidentally never sent the ask so)

In case I ever want to actually continue the self insert fic

Utopia, is there a way for wheelchair users to get around or even get up into haven home on their own or is my idea of them relying on the kindness of others (and in the fanfics case bitching about the lack of inclusivity) correct?

Since Haven Home in particular is designed by Cheri I think they would have implemented infrastructure that makes getting around haven home easier. As to they would get up the stairs I think Kalei would just carry the MC up them.

Though once in Utopia I think wheelchair users would simply get asked if they want the ability to walk. I feel a little anxious saying that but these are literal god beings who can just snap their fingers and make anything happen.