Industry news

BAE Systems has announced it has developed a Star Trek-esque invisibility cloak that makes tanks invisible to the enemy.

The invisibility cloak, called Adaptiv uses on board thermal cameras to record the tanks surroundings. It then relays the information to the external cloak, which is made up of hexagonal pixels that can change temperature very quickly. This renders the tank invisible to infra-red sensors at makes them extremely difficult to detect at night.

The technology also has the capability can also make tanks look like a cow.

West Dunbartonshire Council has rejected a detailed shared services proposal, preferring in localised, ring-fenced services, a plan that flies in the faces of other the Scottish councils looking to merge key back office functions.

The council has rejected the notion that the Clyde Valley Partnership would save taxpayer cash and improve service quality. The scheme hoped to save £30 million per year. As the second council to drop out - from the partnership of eight – the future of the scheme could be in doubt.

Infosys is expanding into the US, where it expects to hire 1000 non-Indian staff in the near future, says Nandita Gurjar, Infosys’ Global Head of HR, who will this month relocate to the USA to oversee the hiring.

Nandita Gurjar, also commented that non-Indian employees will eventually constitute 15 per cent of Infosys’ total workforce. Gurjar says being based in its largest market will provides "a ground-level understanding of what areas we need to address as a global corporation".

HMRC, the Office of National Statistics and the DVLA could be affected as PCS union members at Fujitsu vote in favour of strike action.

Of 720 members 65% voted for a strike, and 85% for other forms of industrial action. There was a 63% turnout. Strikes could now take place in September and October.

The industrial relations issue has come after continued dissatisfaction over the treatment of a Unite union member Alan Jenney.

Workers feel he was unfairly dismissed by Fujitsu due to his position as a union rep. During headcount cuts at Fujitsu, other staff members were redeployed. Workers feel Mr Jenny was unfairly targeted by management.

Value of new contracts signings is at its lowest level for 8 years, says analyst firm Ovum

Total contract value (TCV) of deals announced in this quarter was just $19bn (£11.8bn) – down 40% on the same perios last year – this is the lowest TCV has been since 2003. "The distinct lack of large deals on offer was a major contributing factor, combined with the on-going lack of demand from private sector firms, particularly in the US," said Ed Thomas, Ovum analyst.

LBM, a provider of multichannel contact centre outsourcing, digital and data services, has invested £1million in transforming its contact centre in Altrincham.

Mark Bates, LBM chief executive said: “This project is one example of the many investments we are currently undertaking to further enhance the services we deliver on behalf of clients.”

FirstGroup has announced that it will use technology which merges the swipecard and the debit card, to directly take the fares from passengers’ bank accounts rather than needing, like the Oyster, a trip to the booking office or website to top up.

“FirstGroup has been slow coming to the table on this but what we wanted to do is get the future proof technology right,” said Giles Fearnley, who became FirstGroup bus chief earlier this year. “This card gives genuine pay as you go. It will enable us to market personalised fares, to tailor pricing and offers, and reward regular users”

CSC has bought Maricom Systems, who provide business intelligence and data management solutions that support mission-critical health IT systems within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Maricom will enhance CSC capabilities in the areas of healthcare informatics and data management. It is expected that it will implement IT improvements in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

James Sheaffer, CSC North American Public Sector line of business president, said the addition of Maricom Systems supports CSC's strategic focus on high growth areas of the US federal government.

British Gas will begin a major rollout of touch screen smart meters to UK homes.

The smart meters give detailed information of a customer's energy costs in real time.

The display has been developed by smart metering technology firm Landis+Gyr, and also gives, for homes that have them, info on the levels of energy generated by solar panels.

The arrival of smart meters updates in the way people are charged – bringing an end to estimated bills. The rollout will take up to eight years.

A campaign to stop hundreds of job losses at a UK contact centre site has been launched.

Marketing Derby, with the backing of Derby City Council, hope to safeguard jobs at the Egg site by attracting new business keen to use the workforce in its contact centre.

The campaign started yesterday with advertisements in property magazines. A jobs fair will take place on 14 September, brokering introductions between workers and potential employers.