Industry news

In a report published by the Reform Think Tank, the NHS is told it should adopt the same thinking that has cut costs and improved quality in retail and car manufacturing. The report warns that the “protectionism and political conservatism” of the NHS is itself a barrier to good patient care. It goes on to argue that the traditional organisations, which have little changed over 50 years, are both out of step with the new healthcare needs and are also bankrupting the service. The authors argue the importance of new entrants and competition and predict that new models of healthcare provided by both public and independent organisations with replace almost 75% of NHS care by 2024.

This Reform Report coincides with nurses calling for a £10 fee to be charged to patients for seeing a GP in an effort to raise £1bn funds – though the Report argues that more funding is not the answer.

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SME to drive collaboration in NHS shared service programme

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) have cut the forecasted growth rate of the US from 2.8% to 2% however it expects a 3% growth in 2015. The reduction in growth forecast has been blamed on a “harsh winter” which led to a weak first quarter. The IMF have also urged the US to increase its minimum wage in order to address its 15% poverty rate.

Bank of England steers away from interest raise

Phil Pavitt best known for his role in transforming HMRC’s IT programme and saving them up to £226m has now accepted the role of CIO in Specsavers. Since leaving HMRC, Pavitt was global IT operations and transformation director at Aviva. Pavitt’s new role at Specsavers appears to mean they are looking to dramatically improve their IT & data operations.

HMRC announces specialist recruitment drive

Tech is booming in the UK. London's tech sector alone will contribute an additional £12bn to the UK economy over the next decade, as it grows 5.1 percent per annum - Mayor Boris Johnson said, as he addressed the audience at London Tech Week. According to Bloomberg Philanthropies, London has more people working in financial technology than any other city in the world.

Mentoring scheme receives backing from technology giants

Fans will be able to get even closer to one of the most famous tennis tournaments in the world through innovative technology and enhanced interactive mobile experience. Delivered by IBM and marking its 25-year long partnership with The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), new innovations have transformed the official Wimbledon iPhone and Android apps, and added new functionality to the iPad app for 2014.

Australian Department of Health take 13 year IBM outsourcing agreement to tender

China’s outsourcing sector has become a major sector for growth reaching a value of 272 billion dollars in 2013, and representing 2.97 percent of the country’s GDP. Last year the outsourcing industry contributed 0.8 percent of China’s economic growth according to the “2014 Development Report of China’s Outsourcing Brand Development”. The report states that the outsourcing industry employ's 5.36 million directly and a further 17.8 million indirectly. The report also shows a strong growth in KPO and off shore outsourcing business.

Major Chinese investor looks to outsource management services

According to the Financial Times, the independent committee on standards in public life is publishing a report which says that civil servants fail to properly monitor the conduct of private companies and voluntary groups thoroughly enough. The report finds that poor standards have undermined trust in providers, whilst there are concerns over the ability of civil servants to manage contracts.

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Skills in public procurement fail to improve

In its latest effort to turnaround its fortunes, Sikka will take up the helm at Infosys in July, as Shibulal retires as CEO and co-founder and executive chairman Narayana Murthy steps down.

Infosys struggles to retain workers

The London based buy side technology and management consultancy, Citisoft, has launched an exit strategy service. This service is planned to help asset managers mitigate the risks of exiting from outsourcing contracts. Citisoft have come up with a list of possible exit planning options for both voluntary and forced exit scenarios.

The National Audit office (NAO) has highlighted key concerns to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) regarding their Army 2020 restructuring programme, stating the failure to test its feasibility could result in significant risks in the UK’s armed forces going forward.

The key concerns included a lack of contingency plans to stop recruiting shortfalls, a failure to provide agreed ICT support and the provision of ‘weak data’. As part of the 2020 programme the Army has awarded Capita a contract to help with their recruitment, however the MOD has been accused of not providing Capita with the correct infrastructure that is vital to them running its this contract.

MoD outsourcing strategy revealed