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Pleasanton, Calif. – September 15, 2026 -- Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY) has appointed Sarah Kennedy Ellis as chief marketing officer, effective October 5, 2026, tasking her with driving the enterprise software vendor's brand strategy for the AI era.

Kennedy Ellis arrives from Google Cloud with two decades of enterprise marketing experience

Kennedy Ellis will report directly to co-founder, CEO, and chair Aneel Bhusri and take charge of Workday's global marketing and communications organization. She joins from Google, where she led global marketing for Google Cloud and Google Workspace, contributing to what the company describes as one of enterprise technology's fastest-growing businesses.

Bengaluru – September 15, 2026 -- Mitti Labs will supply Google with one million high-integrity carbon credits by 2030 under the largest rice methane offtake agreement to date, a five-year deal covering 100,000 hectares of smallholder rice farms across India.

Deal converts 70,000 farmers to methane-cutting irrigation methods

The agreement will transition more than 70,000 farmers to water- and methane-saving irrigation practices, targeting elimination of 3 million tons of near-term warming impact measured on a GWP20 basis, equivalent to 1 million tons under GWP100 metrics. Rice paddies under continuous flooding account for more than 10% of global methane emissions, according to Mitti Labs.

Rockville, Md. – September 15, 2026 -- The Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) named Bandwidth, Google and ServiceNow as finalists for the AFP 2026 Pinnacle Awards, sponsored by Truist for a third consecutive year, with all three finalists having built AI-enabled treasury systems.

Voting closes September 18 ahead of Las Vegas announcement

Community voting to select the Grand Prize winner runs until Sept. 18, 2026. The winner will be revealed during AFP 2026, held November 8-11 in Las Vegas, and Truist will donate $10,000 to The Just One Project on the winner's behalf.

Miami – September 15, 2026 -- Qtonic Quantum has appointed Gina Fratarcangeli, a former Google Managing Director who oversaw an $8 billion Global Strategic Integrator ecosystem, as Senior Advisor for AI Transformation and Global Alliances. The move brings three decades of enterprise leadership from Google, Accenture, IBM and Genpact to a quantum cyber risk company scaling its post-quantum readiness business.

Fratarcangeli drove 89% year-over-year growth leading Google's North America systems integrator business

At Google, Fratarcangeli managed profit-and-loss portfolios of up to $5 billion and guided enterprise modernization programs for Fortune 1000 companies. Her joint AI go-to-market strategies with global systems integrators delivered 89% year-over-year growth, according to the company.

Barcelona – September 11, 2026 -- The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) will convene 1,000 cities, more than 25,000 visitors, over 1,000 exhibitors and 600 speakers in Barcelona from November 3-5, 2026, organized by Fira de Barcelona under the theme "Urban Solutions, Real Impact."

Housing takes center stage as a top urban priority

The 2026 edition places special emphasis on housing, one of the most pressing challenges facing cities globally, showcasing technologies aimed at delivering scalable, tangible results. SCEWC will host the first edition of "HOWS Barcelona," a new global housing summit focused on urban planning, land policy, housing law, affordable housing and building renovation and reuse.

Beachwood, Ohio – September 11, 2026 -- Referna, a referral network for independent professionals, has been accepted into the Google for Startups Cloud Program, gaining Google Cloud credits and technical resources to scale its AI-driven matching and live-meeting infrastructure.

Referna organizes independent professionals into structured referral circles of 8 to 12 peers

The platform groups fractional CFOs, consultants, recruiters, and other client-service experts into small circles of non-competing peers serving the same type of client. Members meet regularly and refer business to one another, replacing informal networking with a structured system for warm introductions.

Barcelona – September 11, 2026 -- The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) will convene 25,000 attendees, 1,000 exhibitors and 600 speakers from 1,000 cities in Barcelona from November 3 to 5, 2026, organized by Fira de Barcelona under the theme "Urban Solutions, Real Impact."

Housing takes top billing as cities confront a global affordability crunch

The 2026 edition dedicates its content structure to housing as one of the most pressing challenges facing municipal governments worldwide. Organizers will launch HOWS Barcelona, a new global housing summit running alongside SCEWC, covering urban planning, land policy, housing regulation, social and affordable housing, and building renovation and reuse.

Barcelona – September 11, 2026 -- The Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) will convene 1,000 cities, more than 25,000 visitors, over 1,000 exhibitors and 600 speakers in Barcelona from November 3-5, 2026, organizers Fira de Barcelona confirmed.

Housing takes center stage as urban infrastructure gap widens

Under the theme 'Urban Solutions, Concrete Impact,' this year's edition places specific emphasis on housing, described as one of the most pressing challenges facing cities globally. The congress program is structured around seven thematic tracks: enabling technologies, energy and environment, mobility, governance and economy, lifestyle and inclusion, infrastructure and building, and blue economy.

Barcelona – September 10, 2026 -- Fira de Barcelona will convene 1,000 cities, more than 25,000 attendees and over 1,000 exhibitors at the Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) 2026, running November 3-5 at the Gran Via venue under the theme "Urban Solutions, Real Impact."

Housing takes center stage with new HOWS Barcelona summit

The event will launch HOWS Barcelona, a dedicated housing world summit addressing urban planning, land policy, social and affordable housing, and building renovation. The summit opens debate on what organizers call a new residential paradigm, reflecting housing's status as one of the most pressing global urban challenges.

Oakland – September 07, 2026 -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has launched SHARE (Smart Home Assets for Reliability and Efficiency), a Virtual Power Plant designed to enroll nearly 21,000 existing home energy devices and deliver hundreds of deeply discounted home energy upgrades across Bay Area communities.

PG&E assembles a multi-partner coalition to deploy the VPP

The initiative brings together PG&E, Rewiring America, Google, Carrier Global Corporation, Tesla, Sunrun, Renew Home, Demand Side Analytics and encoord to coordinate a network of home batteries, smart devices and battery-enabled heat pumps that reduce energy use during peak demand periods.

PG&E is working with Tesla, Sunrun and Renew Home to enroll nearly 21,000 existing flexible energy devices into the program, with the resource expected to begin supporting the grid as early as fall 2026.