Industry news

The UK and Estonia have signed a memorandum of understanding on digital government in order to promote the uptake of digital public services.

The move will see the two governments share information, contacts and expert knowledge alongside joint events, in a bid to promote and develop digital public services.

Estonia is seen as an example of success in digital governance that has allowed for increased efficiencies and savings. The country is expected to act as a blueprint for other European countries, as to the ways in which public services can be updated through new technology.

Francis Maude, Minister for the Cabinet Office said: "I was hugely impressed when I visited Estonia last year by how much of government there is online, with e-voting, e-health, e-schools, and virtually all tax returns completed on line in minutes."

IT spending to break £75 billion barrier

The Government has moved to consult businesses regarding the creation of new cyber security standards. All industries will have until the 14th of October to supply evidence to the government supporting their preferred standard.

The consultation is being initiated by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, in a bid to refine current standards from the 2011 Cyber Security Strategy, which has been criticised for being confusing and outdated.

The evidence submitted will be used by the government “to select and endorse a preferred organisational standard amongst the private sector.” Cyber security has become an increasing threat, with breaches costing many millions for businesses.

The outreach to the industry comes on the heels of the education department’s move to consult the IT industry in the creation of the new school curriculum to ensure that the focus is relevant to business requirements.

Government begins ICT industry consultation for syllabus revamp

Global BPO provider Firstsource Solutions has won the trophy for Best Outsourced Contact Centre in the Welsh Contact Centre Awards.

As well as winning one award, Firstsource also had finalists in two other award categories.

Having only recently come to Wales, opening its centre based at Cardiff Bay in June 2012, Firstsource has rapidly made an impact with 400 employees now based within their Cardiff facility.

Kathryn Chivers, General Manager Firstsource Cardiff, said: “As a newcomer to Wales, Firstsource is delighted to have won this award which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff in our Discovery House Centre”.

The awards success comes on the back of the NOA awards where Firstsource won in three categories.

Outsourcing Yearbook Autumn Supplement featuring the NOA Awards has been released

BA’s merger with Spanish airline Iberia has contributed to the loss of all profits for the UK airline as the Spanish economy falls at a faster than expected rate.

BA has announced a pre-tax annual loss of €1 billion after the merger with Iberia. Spain has seen its economy continue to falter within the eurozone, with a further contraction of 0.8 percent in Q4 2012.

BA made a profit of €347 million in 2012 after losses made by bmi, however the merger with Iberia saw a loss of €351 million, with the faltering Spanish economy wiping out all loses for BA.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of International Airlines Group (IAG) , the multinational airline holding company that counts Iberia and BA as its subsidiaries, said: “We didn't expect the uncertainty around the eurozone to be as bad as this", he added that, “we're in it for the long term. I don't regret the merger."

IAG has also suffered from increasing fuel costs with price rises of 20 percent alongside costs relating to the restructuring of Iberia.

Owners of BA, International Airlines Group to cut 4,500 jobs

BA integration with regional airline bmi threatens 1,200 jobs

New legislation introduced by the government designed to promote competition within NHS procurement has been criticised for promoting privatisation within the service.

Writing to the Daily Telegraphmore than 1,000 NHS staff criticised the promotion of openness in procurement which would allow for private companies to take contracts if they competed effectively with public services.

Critics have also raised fears that the government’s move will distract MPs from their primary function, with their time being refocused to perform procurement functions.

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, responded to the criticism of the legislation saying: “We want to be there to do the best job for patients. That is the purpose of the regulations.”

NHS looks to paperless savings

Google is set to be curtailed by European privacy authorities, as they approve measures to limit the Internet giant’s storage of personal information.

An investigation has been approved after EU data protection authorities grew weary of Google’s failure to respond to criticism of its privacy policy, including a failure to guarantee the deletion of personal data after set time periods have expired.

Leading the investigation into Google will be the French National Commission on Computing and Liberty (CNIL), who have the ability to impose injunctions and give warnings.

US industries strikes out at EU privacy

Glencore have removed the deadline of the 15th of March for completing the acquisition of mining giant Xstrata after failing to get regulatory approval from Chinese authorities in time.

The delay is the third time that the takeover has been postponed following a series of obstacles. These have included Qatar using their stake to block the proposal and Xstrata shareholders going against parts of the takeover plan.

The takeover will create a company worth around £50 billion, with 130,000 employees spanning more than 40 countries. The acquisition has already achieved approval from the EU and South American authorities with Chinese regulator approval representing the final huddle for the protracted takeover.

Europe set to approve Xstrata Glencore merger

BSkyB is to pay £180 million for Telefonica’s UK broadband business, taking control of services used by half a million O2 and BE home line and broadband customers. Another £20 million will be paid after the completion of the customers switch to Sky.

The purchase comes as Sky seeks to become the second largest broadband provider in the UK, competing against Virgin Media.

BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch said of the deal, "The acquisition of Telefonica UK's consumer broadband and fixed-line telephony business will help us accelerate".

Telefonica has sold the broadband business as it seeks to focus on expanding its 4G offering.

The deal is expected to be completed by April if it receives approval from regulators.

Liberty Global to make bid for Virgin Media reigniting old rivalries with Sky

M-commerce sales tripled in value in 2012, reaching £7.5 billion in value as technology and consumer practices advance.

Compared to 4 percent of total e-retail sales in 2011, 2012 saw M-commerce account for 12 percent of e-retail according to figures from the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Index.

While the report recorded rapid increases in growth during the year, a slow-down was recorded towards the end of the year.

There is a fear among analysts that many retailers are failing to effectively develop a M-commerce presence. NFC payments are expected to further develop the use of mobile devices for e-retail.

Visa and Samsung join forces to push NFC

BYOD topped future trends in IT for the coming year as IT managers rated BYOD schemes as their top priority for 2012-13.

Greater user demand and expectations of cost reduction from the employment of BYOD saw the idea top other popular categories, including the likes of cloud computing, PSN and broadband capabilities, in the professional association for public sector ICT management’s (Socitm) latest annual IT Trends report.

The survey saw that cost savings, flexibility and technological and service development were rated as the top concerns by respondents, with BYOD seen as a progressive and simplistic answer to achieving these goals.