Industry news

Transport for London (TfL) is looking to sign a contract with a supplier for their coming roll out of real-time information (RTI) screens, which will improve services for customers by allowing them to view real-time information of service availability at stations.

The electronic service update boards (ESUBs) which will be situated in front of station gate lines will provide an overview of services at a glance for customers entering the station.

The £2m contract with a single supplier is set to last 4 years, and covers the manufacture and supply of the ESUB units.

TfL currently has 340 ESUBs across its underground network and intends to roll out further ESUB units for the Docklands Light Railway, the overground network, cable car and some train operating company sites. 100 of the oldest units of the existing 340 ESUBs, are now obsolete and cannot cope with the advanced software required to meet demands.

“Transport for London is committed to providing information to customers that allows them to make the most effective use of the network. Real-time information provided at stations is key to this, and is delivered through a number of channels and formats,” TfL said in the tender notice.

Telefonica has unveiled its new app to rival Skype, Whats App and Viber. The app allows smartphone users to communicate and send messages using their data allowance rather than using their minutes or text allowance.

Tu Me will be free to download and will be promoted to members of Telefonica's O2, Movistar and Vivo networks, which totals 300 million customers across the world.

The app will allow users to send messages, pictures, and voice messages with others who also have the app. Messages will be encrypted when transmitted and Telefonica has vowed not to analyse or provide third-party access to the contents unless required to do so by the courts.

"We've seen the growing popularity of communication apps on smartphones but we believe we've gone one better with Tu Me using our knowledge and insights of how people use their devices," said Telefonica Digital's chief commercial officer Stephen Shurrock.

Indian-owned call-centre, Firstsource, has said that the first minister’s announcement of 600 new jobs back in March of 600 jobs was a ‘misunderstanding’. A new call centre will be opened creating 600 job roles, many of these, however, will be filled by existing members of staff who will be transferred to the new call-centre.

Staff at the new operation run by Firstsource in Cardiff Bay will deal with call centre enquiries for the satellite television company BskyB, work is currently being carried out in Cardiff by the outsourcing call centre operator Conduit. The vast majority of the 600 people working at Firstsource will be transferred over from Conduit.

When asked whether the first minister's comments had been premature, a spokeswoman for Firstsource said: "We have never said that we were going to take on new jobs."

Cognizant announces first quarter 2012 results.

Highlights from the financials announcement include:

• First quarter revenue up 2.9% sequentially and 24.8% year-over-year;

• Revises guidance for 2012 revenue growth to at least 20%;

• Net headcount addition for the quarter was approximately 2,800

Revenue for the first quarter of 2012 rose to $1.71 billion, up 24.8% from $1.37 billion in the first quarter of 2011. GAAP net income was $243.7 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, compared to $208.3 million, or $0.67 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2011. Diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis was $0.86. GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 18.6%. Excluding stock-based compensation expense of $31.4 million, non-GAAP operating margin was 20.4%, slightly higher than the Company's targeted 19-20% range.

"Due to a slower than anticipated acceleration in demand as we entered the second quarter, we are adopting a more conservative stance for the remainder of the year and revising our guidance to at least 20% revenue growth for 2012," said Francisco D'Souza, Chief Executive Officer of Cognizant. "We continue to believe that we have the right portfolio of services to sustain our industry leading growth and also meet the changing demands in the market as clients continue to grapple with their dual mandates of cost containment and innovation/business transformation."

Smart City Technology is to be trialled in Greenwich Peninsular, a 190 acre riverfront area by the surrounding the Dome which is up for redevelopment.

Greenwich will play witness to the co-operation between five tech firms and an outfit called Living Plan IT, which markets a so-say ‘urban operating system,’ with UK HMG present to give its blessing to the plan and with the local council, Greenwich, also promising support.

The firms involved are Hitachi Consulting, Philips, McLaren Electronic Systems, engineering consultancy Buro Happold, Critical Software and contract management specialist 8over8. The aim is to develop and regenerate urban spaces like this part of London with new tech-based approaches.

The hope is Smart City technologies is to facilitate smarter, sustainable and intelligent-living which will lead to more efficient use of energy and other resources, providing the basis for innovative services for residents, businesses and governments as well as new jobs and exports.

In response to the changing landscape of the outsourcing industry, the NOA have introduced five new categories for the NOA Awards in association with Wipro Technologies. The Awards which is in its 9th year will take place in London on the 25th October 2012. The new awards, for which entries are now open, are:

• In-house Outsourcing Professional of the Year -sponsored by Olswang

• Shared Services Centre of the Year

• Outsourcing Rising Star

• Skills Development Programme of the Year

• The Outsourcing Works Award for Best Delivery of Business Value

Martyn Hart, Chairman, National Outsourcing Association said “Outsourcing evolves non-stop, and the awards categories have been supplemented this year to account for that. It’s a chance to reward the best efforts of those at the cutting edge – those improving services, saving the government money and improving business prospects. Suppliers, end-users, advisories, destinations, projects and professionals all covet these awards. Last year, we received more entries than ever before – a record we’re expecting to be broken this year. ”

As well as the five new categories, the following categories are also up for grabs:

• Outsourcing Service Provider of the Year

• Outsourcing Advisory of the Year

• BPO Contract of the Year

• IT Outsourcing Project of the Year

• Financial Services Outsourcing Project of the Year

• Public Sector Outsourcing Project of the Year

• Telecommunications, Utilities and High Tech Project of the Year

• Offshoring Project of the Year

• Offshoring Destination of the Year

• Outsourcing Contact Centre Provider of the Year

• Outsourcing End-User of the Year

• Award for Innovation in Outsourcing

• Award for Corporate Social Responsibility

• Award for Academic Achievement

The closing date for entries is Friday 27th July 2012, when the NOA’s panel of outsourcing experts will commence the judging process. Entering is free and straightforward – for details of the entry process download the entry pack at www.noa.co.uk . The shortlist will be announced in September.

Gemalto has been awarded has been awarded the contract for the management of UK drivers’ licences by The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). IBM had previously held the contract, believed to be worth £60 million to £300 million.

The supplier responsibilities will include providing between 40 and 80 million secure permit documents, digital tachograph cards and biometric residence permits.

“The DVLA is recognised as a centre of excellence for the issue of high security national documents like the Driving Licence and Biometric Residence Permit,” commented Simon Tse, Chief Executive Officer of DVLA.

“The new contract we have signed today delivers millions of pounds of saving for the UK taxpayer and allows DVLA to issue even more secure driving licences, and provide the next generation of high security smart cards for other parts of UK government. We look forward to working with Gemalto to ensure the UK’s cards remain among the most secure in the world.”

The government is unlikely to meet targets of installing superfast broadband to 90% of the UK by 2015. According to a new report from the London School of Economics (LSE), the current levels of funding will not suffice.

The report estimated that for the target to be met, the public funds set aside, around £1.3 billion for the scheme would need to nearly double. The remaining funding could come from the private sector. It was also stated that the £50 million set aside for the scheme in the latest Budget would not come close to the funding required.

The report, ‘Costs and Benefits of Superfast Broadband in the UK’, stated: “The government’s universal service commitment for basic broadband to reach the whole country by 2015 is on course.

“However, meeting the government targets of 100% fast broadband coverage and 90% superfast broadband coverage in 2015 will absorb not only the funding from public sources but also roughly equal funding from private sources.”

The report also noted that it was unclear whether the £50 million fund for a “wave of 10 smaller super-connected cities” would be for ‘superfast’ or ‘ultrafast’ broadband.

SAP has announced plans to create 250 jobs in Ireland over the next three years. The software giant will be employing staff with skills in computer science, engineering, physics, maths, information systems and business.

150 of the new posts will be based in Citywest, Dublin - SAP's centre for services, sales and global support functions. The remaining 100 positions will be based at SAP’s recently founded cloud services and support centre in Galway. SAP currently has 1,200 employees in Ireland.

Barry O'Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland, said: "This expansion drive will help support major growth in customer demand in the emerging technology areas of cloud computing, mobile applications and high-performing database technology."

SAP began operations in Ireland 15 years ago and claims that 30,000 people in the country use SAP software every day. The company also delivers services to many Irish global firms such as Ryanair, Bank of Ireland and Guinness.

The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. has announced that it has agreed to acquire BWise, a global leader in enterprise governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) software.

With this acquisition, NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions now offers companies the ability to track, measure and manage key organizational risks – including the risk of non-compliance – with industry leading governance, management and compliance software and services.

Established in 1994, BWise provides companies with a single software platform designed to cover all aspects of a company's GRC needs.

Bruce Aust, Executive Vice President, NASDAQ OMX: "With increasing regulations and, subsequently, greater exposure to risk, GRC is seen as a key indicator of business performance and stability. At NASDAQ OMX, we continue to be motivated by a strong desire to help our companies be more transparent, strategic and efficient. We are excited to align BWise's best-in-industry GRC solutions with our premium board portal, Directors Desk, as we continue to look for innovative ways to provide C-level executives and boards with relevant, integrated services. We also look forward to continuing to promote the fairness, efficiency and integrity of the global marketplace with the integration of BWise and SMARTS."