Neural Becomes First Foundation Sponsor for the Risk & Assurance Group

Neural Technologies, developers of anti-fraud, revenue assurance, revenue management and analytics software, has confirmed they will be the first vendor to provide annual ‘foundation’ sponsorship for the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG). RAG’s mission is to provide free advice and information to risk and assurance professionals working in the communications sector. Neural believes the sponsorship will reinforce their position as thought leaders by supporting the education of RAFM professionals worldwide, and by ensuring the industry is conscious of the newest assurance techniques and technologies, as well as the emergence of new risks to comms providers.

The foundation sponsorship means Neural will provide financial and other support to RAG on an annual basis. In exchange, Neural’s brand will be promoted at four major RAG conferences over the course of 2017. The first of these will be held at BT’s London headquarters and is scheduled for March 15th and 16th; see here for more details. An announcement is expected shortly about a two-day conference to be held in Germany in June, and RAG is negotiating with potential hosts about bringing the RAG roadshow to operators in Africa and Asia during the second half of the year.

Neural Marketing Manager Sara Whitwell (pictured above) said of the sponsorship deal:

We decided to sponsor RAG because we see the potential of this group changing the future of the industry. There are many groups that look to assist in driving fraud, risk and revenue assurance forward but they are constrained for a number of reasons. What I have experienced at RAG has been interactive, collaborative meetings that have one common goal – to educate, to support and work as a team. That team includes operators, vendors, individuals and consultants which is refreshing and a positive for the industry.

Neural’s Chief Commercial Officer Luke Taylor added:

RAG is a change from how other events and working groups have worked in the past. From what I have seen to date, RAG will be challenging providers of commercial events globally. As a vendor I am excited about where RAG can take the OSS/BSS industry for revenue management and how they bring all parties together to work for the same goals.

RAG Chairman Rob Chapman stated how much he appreciated the support of Neural Technologies.

Neural obviously has an enviable reputation as experts in fraud management, which means they always have plenty to contribute to the RAG agenda, but mostly I’ve found it a pleasure to work with them on a personal level. They have all been enthusiastic about RAG and its mission. Neural’s foundation sponsorship is the first of its kind for RAG, and will allow us to pursue our goal of delivering e-learning services during the times between our conferences. I hope and anticipate that other vendors will follow suit, meaning we will be able to bring more risk and assurance practitioners together, and so convince executives of the need for increased investment in the work we all do.

I recently interviewed Luke and Sara, and they shared their views about a wide range of topics, including industry collaboration, the usefulness of Big Data technology, and how we should manage risk as telcos experiment with radical new propositions. That interview will be published on Commsrisk next week.

Eric Priezkalns
Eric Priezkalnshttp://revenueprotect.com

Eric is the Editor of Commsrisk. Look here for more about the history of Commsrisk and the role played by Eric.

Eric is also the Chief Executive of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), an association of professionals working in risk management and business assurance for communications providers. RAG was founded in 2003 and Eric was appointed CEO in 2016.

Previously Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and he has worked with Cable & Wireless, T‑Mobile, Sky, Worldcom and other telcos. He was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press.

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