Industry news

KPMG, a leading professional services firm, has partnered with four other organisations, through the KPMG ASEAN Decarbonisation Hub, to equip businesses in the region to meet their sustainability goals in the face of strong economic headwinds and uncertainties. Through this partnership, businesses in the region will be able to “plug-and-play” decarbonisation solutions as they undertake ESG transformation towards meeting net zero goals. They will also be able to raise green financing, gain credible accreditations and certifications, and leverage digital tools for cost effective growth. A major focus of the partnership will be to facilitate low carbon and energy efficiency project origination, structuring, financing and implementations.

The four partnering organisations are Bureau Veritas (BV), Energy Institute (EI), Maybank Singapore (Maybank) and two research institutes at the National University of Singapore (NUS) – Energy Studies Institute (ESI) and Sustainable and Green Finance Institute (SGFIN). These four organisations have each signed a Memorandum of Understanding with KPMG to provide their complementary expertise to catalyse businesses’ decarbonisation goals via the Hub.

Read more on Macaubusiness here

The Cabinet Office has issued its latest update on the UK Government’s Transforming Public Procurement Programme, including helpful information on the timeline for the “go-live” of the new regime.  The new regime, which we know will be the most significant change to procurement law and practice for a generation, is now due to come into effect in spring 2024.

While we are still expecting the Bill to receive Royal Assent later this spring, the Cabinet Office has clarified that the six month lead in period to the new regime taking effect should start after the final version of secondary legislation is laid in Parliament

Read more on Lexology here

New technologies are transforming the insurance industry and disrupting the existing ecosystem. As an ever-increasing number of insurtechs emerge, so too has artificial intelligence (AI) – with the potential to change the way insurance firms work forever.

With these points in mind, six industry experts took to the DLA Piper stage – discussing embedded insurance; new methods of insurance distribution; partnerships within the industry; regulatory trends; AI and other hot topics.

Read more on The Fintech Times here

Webhelp, a leading global customer experience BPO player, today announces the appointment of Benjamin Faes as CEO of the UK to further spearhead growth in the region.

Benjamin, whose experience includes 13 years at Google and CEO of AOL France, was VP of Global Sales and Marketing at Webhelp prior to his promotion.

Benjamin has had a pivotal role at crucial moments in the evolution of digital transformation, from playing a key part of Google’s acquisition of YouTube, to driving AOL’s transition from an ISP into both an online publisher and a premium ad network.

Read more on Webhelp here.

One of the largest global customer experience (CX) technology and services innovators for end-to-end digital CX solutions, today announced that Adam Foster has been named President of TTEC EMEA.

"Our industry is rapidly evolving and ever more global. TTEC is committed to driving significant growth across Europe, Middle East, and Africa and we will continue to invest in top talent. That's why I am thrilled to welcome Adam Foster to the TTEC family," said Ken Tuchman, Chairman and CEO, TTEC.

Ken continued, "With a strong track record of executing digitally enabled growth strategies, Adam will be integral to connecting TTEC's broad set of capabilities–from CX technology to outsourcing excellence–for clients across the region."

Read more on TTEC here

In this article Jerry Sanham, business development director at radio communication and RF-to-mmWave designer and manufacturer Filtronic, discusses the role of UK SMEs in the high technology supply chain.

UK businesses want to build robust, and resilient networks of suppliers, particularly in high-tech sectors. Furthermore, government and national security agencies are keen to ensure that capability, technology and resources critical for national security remain available within the UK.

Sourcing goods, services and expertise from within the UK minimises the risk of disruption and builds a self-sustaining business ecosystem that is better able to withstand external shocks and geopolitical upheaval.

Read more on Productions Engineering Solutions here.

Fiverr, the online gig marketplace for just about anything, today launched a white glove service for big-budget buyers. Called Project Partner, the service pairs customers with a project leader who manages their project end-to-end.

Shai-Lee Spigelman, the general manager of Fiverr Business states that, "Medium-to-large businesses that are outsourcing projects may also want to outsource management of those projects, our project partners are here to help right from the start to [help] complete those projects."

 According to a 2020 survey from the Project Management Institute, only 46% of organizations make project management a top cultural priority. Across all organizations, 11.4% of all resources are wasted due to inferior project management processes, the same survey found.

Read more on Yahoo Finance here

Millions of meetings are held daily by people who speak different languages, with varying levels of fluency, which can compromise efficient and natural communication. Considering the need for professionals to express their best ideas in any language across the world, Woopi, Stefanini Group's Artificial Intelligence (AI) company, created and launched an AI-based simultaneous translation platform, Voicero.

The product is integrated with leading collaboration platform Microsoft Teams, and is available through Azure Marketplace and AppSource. Voicero allows real-time voice translation, meaning a professional can speak Korean and others can hear it in the language of preference.

"Through our distribution agreement with Microsoft, we're confident the tool will become accessible to anyone, anywhere on the planet," says Alex Winetzki, Woopi CEO and Director of R&D at Stefanini Group.

Read more on PR Newswire here.

Teleperformance, a global leader in outsourced digital integrated business services, today announced it has been named to The Global Sourcing 100® list in the Leader category for large established global firms for the 8th consecutive year by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® (IAOP®).

"Teleperformance has long been at the forefront in leveraging emerging digital capabilities with our vast high-touch experience and domain expertise to deliver simpler, faster and safer operations at lower cost for our clients," said Teleperformance Chairman and CEO Daniel Julien. "The International Association of Outsourcing Professionals' continued recognition of our capabilities and the impact we deliver is another testament to the success of our transformation into a digital integrated business services company."

Read more on PR Newswire here.

There is little doubt that AI has taken the tech sector by storm in recent months. Indeed more column inches in the mainstream media than any other tech subject in a long while. I’ve been testing ChatGPT for a few months now and admit to being highly impressed. But at the same time, I can also see the dangers.

I have been at the forefront disruptive technological change for many decades during which I have seen the devastation it can wreck on established businesses. Just look at how Amazon affected bookshops, how streaming affected the music industry or UBER affected taxis.

Read more on TechMarketView here.