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RMB introduces robots for various business operations

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As part of its strategy to stay at the leading edge of innovation, South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) is focusing on robotics as one of the ways in which to improve the bank’s overall performance and help digitise operations.

Because robots can master repetitive tasks currently performed manually, they are suitable for many of the processes conducted by employees, particularly in back offices. Robotic process automation (RPA) is the software technology that automates manual, repetitive and mature processes, making them faster, more cost effective, and often with a return on investment on the software and systems within about a year. Robotics is also easily adopted to automate high-risk and compliance-focused processes due to the robot’s ability to process at zero defect.

Being a non-integrated software system, robots are also easy to introduce to the bank’s existing IT systems. As they are “code free”, robots service the businesses in the bank rather than trying to comply with an IT system. Coded technology is complicated and costly and takes far more time to implement. Robots are “a virtual workforce” that operate 24 hours a day, with 100% efficiency, and can reduce costs by between 25% and 40%.

Introduced a year ago, the RMB Robotics Centre of Excellence manages RMB’s capability to introduce robotics into its various business units. It has 20 employees who ensure that the correct processes for automation are selected and implemented. Fourteen projects have already gone live with a number of others in the pipeline.

“We’re finding great applications for robots within the bank, especially for automating inefficiencies between different systems,” says RMB chief executive James Formby.

The first bot, known as Mr Robert Bot (Rob for short) joined RMB on Feb 1 2016 with his own employee number. So far 10 bots have been introduced to 14 projects that include four processes capturing new client information and performing maintenance of that information. Others have taken over some of the repetitive tasks of compliance, manual billing, financial data consolidation and reporting.

“We believe that one robot can effectively augment between three and four people, allowing staff to focus on the more complicated, analytical, client-facing and value-adding aspects of their functions,” says Reshnie Naidoo, who manages the RMB Robotics Centre of Excellence. “The desire and demand in RMB for robotics is present as people will be able to focus on a greater breadth of knowledge rather than the depth and detail necessary in more admin-related processes.”

It is projected that one of the robotics projects introduced in RMB’s Corporate Banking division’s finance department will save about 4,000 hours per year. And this is just the estimate for the initial processes reviewed, which are only about 10% of all processes.

“We have redefined multiple processes and introduced the robots to do the jobs within minutes, compared with people who previously completed these manual tasks over days,” says Naidoo.

In the future, more intelligent robots, known as artificial intelligence (AI), will be introduced. AI mimics human thoughts whereas robotics mimic actions. AI automates processes, which require judgment and where the outcome is not always standard, such as Know Your Customer, some compliance-type functions, supporting credit analysts and dealmakers in their functions, and query management.

Intelligent robots will also be able to conduct tasks such as speech recognition in call centres and document scanning for handling of paper. Voice assistants will be able to answer specific questions, process complex requests, understand natural language and teach themselves to update their own algorithms.

“We are very excited about the future possibilities that technology can offer our people and business,” says Formby. Having successfully introduced robotics to the bank, RMB is examining how far it can take the technology, as well as AI, to improve the bank’s overall efficiency and performance, while staff become familiar with a new way of operating.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Arrive Nigeria Today, May 10th

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex came into Nigeria for a private visit following an invitation by the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa.

The Director of Sports, Defence Headquarters, DHQ, Air Vice Marshal Abidemi Marquis, said the founder of Invictus Games will spend three days in Nigeria and would interact with wounded soldiers and their families.

He said the visit scheduled from 10th to 13th May 2024 would help wounded soldiers in their recovery efforts.

Marquis said: “Because we realised that 80 per cent of our soldiers have been involved in this recovery programme, they are getting better.

“Their outlook on life is positive. You know, when you are engaged in, you experience a permanent disability, you know, issues, it affects your mental health and also your outlook on life.”

Prince Harry and Meghan who are already in Nigeria, First made a visit to children at the Lights Academy in Abuja, Nigeria.

Here are pictures.

Prince Harry and Meghan at Light Academy In abuja

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