Industry news

Technavio’s latest report on the global engineering services outsourcing (ESO) market provides an analysis on the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2016-2020. The top four emerging trends driving the global engineering services outsourcing according to Technavio information and communications technology research analysts are: Emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning, Evolution of industrial IoT, Growing trend of engaging clients with consulting services, Nearshoring and growing captive operations in emerging countries. Find out more here.

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Ride-sharing service Uber has acquired a New York-based artificial intelligence start-up which it hopes can speed up its progress in creating self-driving cars. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will see Uber gain 15 specialist researchers who will form a new division at the company known as Uber AI Labs. Geometric Intelligence’s co-founder Gary Marcus told the BBC the team would have a wide brief - ranging from improving traffic predictions to working towards a future of flying cars. Read more here.

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The GSA is hosting an awards showcase in February, highlighting the winning projects from the GSA UK Awards. This is an opportunity to gain inspiration for your own projects from critically acclaimed projects. Members of the GSA will be there to give tips as to how you may lift a trophy in 2017. If you are hoping for victory in 2017, this is a great opportunity, register now at the GSA UK website.

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Other GSA Events on sourcingfocus.

US President-elect Donald Trump has warned that US companies would face "consequences" for outsourcing jobs abroad, as he touted his early success in persuading an air conditioner maker to keep about 1,000 jobs in the country rather than move them to Mexico. We knew that a president Trump would push protectionist policies but signalling so early after the election the importance that anti-globalisation will play in his possible agenda is a concern. You can read more here. For more information, you can watch this video from Reuters.

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Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned after suffering a heavy defeat in a referendum over his plan to reform the constitution. This will be seen as a further blow to establishment parties in European elections, with long term concerns over the Italian economy and the health of the European Union. The Italian economy has been struggling with high debts, sluggish growth and a weak set of financial institutions. For more information, click here.

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The number of agency workers is set to reach one million by 2020 if current growth trends continue, according to Resolution Foundation research. The current number of 865,000 has grown by 30% since 2011, it said. Last week, the government announced a review into modern working practices which will likely address the changing way we work. For more information, click here.

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For more on UK employment, click here.

Information Services Group, Inc. (ISG) today announced the acquisition of Alsbridge Holdings, Inc., a U.S.-based sourcing, automation and transformation advisory firm, to create a new industry powerhouse in technology research, advisory and digital transformation services. The "new" ISG will serve more than 700 blue-chip clients – including 75 of the 100 largest enterprises in the world – up 35 percent from ISG alone, and its global team will grow by approximately 20 percent, to 1,300 research and advisory professionals. "This is an exciting and historic moment for our firm and all of our stakeholders," said Michael P. Connors, chairman and chief executive officer of ISG.

For more analysis, check out Horses for Sources analysis of the deal.

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The move in recent years to find new ways of articulating the value that suppliers believe are the real benefits of outsourcing has included discussion about how the industry defines itself. It is my view that in the next few years, we will see a split – between those business partners that move inexorably towards the ‘vested’ model and those that remain committed to the long established ‘purchase and supply’ commodity model.

William Carson, GSA A-List Member, Head of Market Engagement, Teleperformance UK

The future of the sourcing industry will be debated at Sourcing Predictions 2017, a GSA event on the 15th of December at Linklaters, 1 Silk St, London. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the trends affecting the sourcing industry.

GSA Sourcing Predictions 2017, click here.

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Flight bookings for travel to Sri Lanka during the next five months shows a modest 1.3 percent growth compared with the same time last year, according to tourism analytics firm ForwardKeys. “Our data shows that Sri Lanka deserves congratulations on a tremendous year for attracting visitors. In a competitive environment, continued effort will be needed to keep up the impressive rate of growth,” Jameson Wong, ForwardKeys, director of business development, APAC, said. In-depth analysis shows a choppy pattern. Bookings for December and January are respectively 3.5 percent and 4.1 percent ahead, but February and March are 9.8 percent and 21.3 percent behind, the company said.

For more information, click here.

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Thousands of TalkTalk and Post Office customers have had their internet access cut by an attack targeting certain types of internet routers. It is not yet known who is responsible for the attack. The attack involves the use of a modified form of the Mirai worm - a type of malware that is spread via hijacked computers, which causes damage to equipment powered by Linux-based operating systems.

To learn more, click here.

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