Industry news

The UK inflation rate remained at 2.3% in March, the highest level since September 2013. The rate was unchanged from February, but much higher from January's rate of 1.8%, partly thanks to the fall in the pound after the Brexit vote, which has raised import prices. To read more on this story, click here.

Related news: Inflation Up to New High

Yet more evidence of the increasing role of cyber security for business as pay day loan company, Wonga, has been hacked with the personal data of 270,000 customers being stolen, both in the UK and Poland. The theft is of personal data such as names, email addresses, phone numbers and bank account numbers. Wonga has been struggling recently, reporting a pre-tax loss of over £80 million for 2015. The Global Sourcing Association (GSA) will be highlighting the importance of cyber security at their Symposium this June featuring John Mcafee, you can book your ticket here.

Related news: UK Firms Warn of Serious Hacking Attempt

London has held off competition to retain its Fintech crown in the recent rankings from Deloitte for the Global Fintech Hubs Federation. Singapore held off competition as well to stay near the top, with new challenges from Chicago and Tokyo. The UK must continue to champion innovation to maintain its fantastic appeal to this emerging industry.

Related news: Fintech Acquisiton Demonstrates Changing Industry

Rating agency AM Best have said that “Brexit and political uncertainty in Europe are likely to depress merger activity among European insurers this year”. More likely will be foreign mergers, especially with weaker currencies inside the Europe and many foreign insurers looking to expand offerings. US insurers in particular may be looking to diversify assets and product offerings.

Related news: Police to Halt M&A Deals?

Now that Article 50 has been triggered, the countdown to Brexit has officially begun and according to the Financial Times, this has led to the extension of many outsourced contracts within the UK government as staff have to focus on Brexit duties. It is true that the extension of a contract does not always to the cheapest outcome for the taxpayer, who may prefer a new tender, but one key reason the FT may have missed is that many of the extended contracts are examples of successful sourcing. Despite some high publicity failures, sourcing in general is a success and the avoidance of transfer costs can save departments millions. You can read the FT article here for more information.

Related news: Sourcing Market Could Win in Brexit

Accenture has acquired UK-based Genfour, an automation service provider with deep domain expertise and industry experience in assessing, implementing and managing automation solutions. The acquisition strengthens Accenture's capabilities as a leading provider of intelligent automation services, the company said. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. You can read more of the story here.

Related news: Accenture & Blue Prism in RPA Alliance

UK firms have been warned about "serious" cyber attacks originating in China that seek to steal trade secrets.The gang behind the attacks has compromised technology service firms and plans to use them as a proxy for attacks, security firms have said. PwC and BAE said the group had mounted many different attacks as part of a campaign they called Operation Cloud Hopper. By targeting the suppliers of IT outsourcing, the attackers were able to stealthily gain access to the networks and systems of their true targets. Dr Adrian Nish, head of threat intelligence at BAE, said the attackers used these third parties as a "stepping stone" to get at the companies and organisations they were really interested in. You can read more here.

Related news: Cyber Crime Continues Increasing

This is a good article from All Things IC about the Future of Work that offers some interesting insights, Breaking the issues down into five categories, the article discusses the uncertainties of the future of work and the major things to consider around the topic. IF you want to learn more on the Future of Work, join the GSA at their Future Of Work In The Digital Age conference this May.

Sri Lanka seeks to establish a Digital Identity Council to implement the national policy on collection, storage, sharing and use of citizens’ personal data under the proposed centralized Household Transfer Management project. In 2015, the cabinet authorized ICTA to facilitate implementation of the centralized Household Transfer Management project. The project aims to establish a National Digital Identifier and National Digital Transaction platform where data including biometric information of citizens would be stored and shared with government organizations through a National Authentication Platform. The Digital Identity Council also sends a message to the international community that Sri Lanka is a country embracing digital transformation. To read more, click here.

Related news: Time to Invest in Sri Lanka is Now

The Civica Group, a market leader in business-critical software applications, digital solutions and outsourcing services, has established a stronger position in the social housing sector with the integration, re-naming and re-branding of the former Abritas business, following its acquisition in December 2016. The move consolidates the Group’s market-leading portfolio of housing, repairs and asset management software under the Civica name and enhances the company’s ability to help social housing providers respond to a changing environment through more responsive and efficient services. Combining the specialist expertise of both companies, Civica now supplies more than 400 customers in the sector, supporting services for five million tenants. You can read the full story here.

Related News: Civica Selected for Council Contract