Phoenix Software Delivers a Faster JES3plus® with V1R2

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Sept. 27, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Phoenix Software International, Inc., today announced its intention to make JES3plus V1R2, a derivative work based on IBM's z/OS JES3, generally available effective September 30, 2022. This release provides new functionality and integrates continuous delivery items made available over the past twelve months. Thanks to Phoenix's JES3plus Customer Advisory Council, organizations that migrate to JES3plus can reap the benefits of new features that were ranked in terms of providing true business value to their fellow customers.

JES3plus V1R2

Functional Highlights:

  • Parallel SPOOL I/O "" Takes full advantage of the Parallel Access Volumes technology supported by modern mainframe DASD through support for up to eight STARTIO channel programs running concurrently for a single SPOOL extent. This is a major improvement over the traditional JES3 approach of allowing only one STARTIO at a time per SPOOL extent.
  • Reduced Local Lock Contention "" Now intrinsic to the way JES3plus operates, multiple I/O completion SRBs execute simultaneously by acquiring the local lock only if and when needed. In addition, if the completing I/O contains requests from only a single address space, the SRB is scheduled directly to that address space rather than to the JES3plus address space.
  • Improved WLM Batch Initiator Balancing – Enabling this facility results in JES3plus placing batch jobs into idle initiators across the JESplex using a target percentage derived from WLM's initiator allocation counts. Until now this behavior occurred on JES2 systems only.

"Switching to JES3plus is the obvious choice for existing IBM JES3 customers," said Ed Jaffe, Chief Technology Officer at Phoenix Software International, "and we have reinforced that point by improving performance with empirical results so dramatic they speak for themselves. SPOOL I/O–intensive benchmarks conducted on our z15" showed JES3plus running nearly twice as many jobs as IBM JES3 while simultaneously reducing FICON channel utilization by 92%! Similarly–favorable results were observed when comparing against JES2. And, because our roadmap for enhancements is 100% customer driven, we believe a migration to JES3plus is not only the easiest and least risky choice, it's the one that just makes sense."

(E)JES V6R2

(E)JES V6R2, the latest release of Phoenix Software's modern z/OS JESplex management tool, includes enhancements for viewing and managing Coupling Facility connections and structures, WLM scheduling environments, job class/groups, sysplex members, and z/OS UNIX mounts. Additionally, support has been added for a filter repository that provides end user ability to save filters and reload them.

Phoenix Software Product Releases: September 2022

Phoenix Software is refreshing its product line this month. Product downloads will be available to customers via the Phoenix Software International Support portal. Visit https://phoenixsoftware.com/support.htm#downloads. New product releases include:

  • (E)JES V6R2
  • CONDOR z/OS 26.2 z/VSE 32.1
  • CYGNET z/OS 26.2 z/VSE 32.1
  • Entrypoint 16.3
  • FALCON z/OS 26.2 z/VSE 32.1
  • Falcon64 11.2
  • JES3plus V1R2
  • Key/101 9.2
  • PHX–Adders /PHX–Guest 7.4
  • PHX–BDT V1R2
  • PHX–KeyPlus 5.4
  • PHX–ODE 7.4

About Phoenix Software International

Phoenix Software International, Inc., (https://www.phoenixsoftware.com) is a systems software development company providing advanced software applications to enterprises around the globe. The company offers a wide range of solutions to modern business challenges.

Press contact:
(310) 338–0400
news@phoenixsoftware.com

" Analysis summary and raw benchmark SMF data available upon request.


We Must Ensure That Climate Funding Reaches the Guardians of the Forests

While 2020 saw the highest deforestation rate in Brazil’s history, for example, deforestation rates were up to three times lower in Indigenous territories. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

While 2020 saw the highest deforestation rate in Brazil’s history, deforestation rates were up to three times lower in Indigenous territories. Credit: Mario Osava/IPS

By Solange Bandiaky-Badji and Torbjørn Gjefsen
WASHINGTON DC, Sep 27 2022 – US $270 million may sound like a lot of money, especially for just one year. But it is only a small fraction—less than one percent—of all global funding for climate change adaptation and mitigation.  This small fraction, however, is the annual amount that was invested in the tenure and forest management of Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPs and LCs) over the past decade.

This month we learned that the actual amount of funding that reached IPs and LCs was a small fraction of the small fraction: only 17 percent went to activities that specifically named an indigenous organization.

This figure likely overestimates the actual share that reaches these communities as intermediary institutions also have project implementation costs that are part of this funding.  The discrepancy calls into question whether the $1.7 billion pledged at the UN climate change meetings to Indigenous Peoples and local communities for their land tenure and conservation initiatives will actually reach them.

Securing and protecting the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is one of the most cost-effective, equitable, and efficient means of protecting, restoring, and sustainably using tropical forestlands and the ecosystems services they provide

The rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities are inextricably linked to the preservation of key ecosystems and the maintenance of carbon stored in tropical forests and peatlands. At least 36 percent of Key Biodiversity Areas globally are found on IP and LC lands, along with at least 25 percent of the above-ground carbon storage in tropical forests.

Efforts to reduce climate change and the loss of biodiversity depend on these landscapes remaining intact, and IP and LC forest management has proven more effective in this regard than any other. While 2020 saw the highest deforestation rate in Brazil’s history, for example, deforestation rates were up to three times lower in Indigenous territories.

The most recent United Nations climate report, embraced this point, stating: “Supporting Indigenous self-determination, recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ rights and supporting Indigenous knowledge-based adaptation are critical to reducing climate change risks and effective adaptation.”

In a report our organizations released in September, we found that between 2011 and 2020, donors disbursed approximately $2.7 billion (on average $270 million annually) for projects supporting IP and LC tenure and forest management in tropical countries. We compiled data on this funding stream and assessed the grants along different dimensions of “Fit for Purpose” criteria—meaning that funding is given in ways that are effective, relevant and appropriate for IP and LCs.

Applying the “Fit for Purpose” criteria for IP and LC funding over the past decade was educational. We found that:

  • IP and LC-led: Only 17 percent of IP and LC tenure and forest management funding between 2011 and 2020 mentioned an indigenous organization, indicating that a low share of funding is under leadership of Indigenous and community organizations.
  • Mutually Accountable: There is a lack of accountability and transparency from donors towards IPs and LCs, inhibiting IP and LC understanding and influence over donor priorities and decisions. Most private foundations, who represent the majority of the IPLC Forest Tenure Pledge donors, do not share data on their projects systematically.
  • Flexible and Long-term: Donors have increasingly been providing funding through long-term funding agreements, which provides IP and LC organizations with much-needed predictability and security. Yet, a lack of flexibility to change or adapt priorities within projects restricts IP and LC organizations in addressing diverse community needs, imminent threats or seize on windows of opportunity.
  • Gender Inclusive: Only 32 percent of IP and LC tenure and forest management funding included gender-related keywords, despite the essential role of women in IP and LC forest management and their notable exclusion from many governance structures and forest management decisions.
  • Timely and Accessible: Due to strict eligibility and administrative requirements of bilateral and multilateral donors, IP and LC organizations must overcome considerable barriers to access funding. Funding for IP and LC tenure and forest management has therefore generally relied on traditional development aid funding structures, with national and international organizations acting as intermediaries.

Securing and protecting the tenure rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is one of the most cost-effective, equitable, and efficient means of protecting, restoring, and sustainably using tropical forestlands and the ecosystems services they provide.

Many things get in the way of funding Indigenous Peoples and local communities, but in the end we will not solve the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity extinction unless we embrace the need for more equitable partnerships. We have already pledged the funding to support them, now we have to make sure they receive it.

Solange Bandiaky-Badji, PhD, is the Coordinator of the Rights and Resources Initiative
Torbjørn Gjefsen is Senior Policy Advisor, Climate, for Rainforest Foundation Norway.

Inflation Phobia Hastens Recessions, Debt Crises

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 27 2022 - Inflation phobia among central banks (CBs) is dragging economies into recession and debt crises. Their dogmatic beliefs prevent them from doing right. [...] Read more »