Industry news

The European Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka (ECCSL), in partnership with the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka and Maldives, will conduct a one-day seminar titled ‘Sri Lanka – The Next Asian Economic Miracle? - Resetting Economic Development Priorities’ on Wednesday, 19 July at JAIC Hilton from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the event’s Chief Guest. The EU Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Tung-Lai Margue will also address the gathering. The conference will examine the public and private sector initiatives that could determine Sri Lanka’s trajectory in becoming an Asian economic miracle. Participants will benefit from fresh insights into the future direction of the economy through policy statements of key Government ministers and the presentations of reputed academics and speakers from the private sector. The panellists will debate what Sri Lanka must do to overcome current challenges.

Related news: Sri Lanka Focus is Upon New Trade and Investment

The Taylor Review into employment has arrived and brings with it a myriad of suggestions for the future regulation and classification of work. The review calls for an end to the cash in hand economy which could be costing the government £100's of millions by introducing a payments system through platforms such as credit cards, contactless payments and PayPal. The review has been said not to go far enough by opposition MP's and unions who call for greater worker protection. The recommendations and agenda of the review appear to be an attempt to mould the gig economy into the old structures of employment that have existed for decades, creating unrealistic expectations for change. If you demand more security, pay and/or employment will fall, it's the flexibility of the gig economy that has made it popular. The government needs to rebuild its ancient architecture of defining and regulating work, not try to change the world to fit it to what the pre-existing structures.

Full story here.

More news: UK Economy Slows Further in Worrying Spiral

A government review into the rapidly changing world of work is to demand a radical overhaul of employment law and new guarantees on the minimum wage. A report by former adviser to Tony Blair, Matthew Taylor, will recommend gig economy workers should receive benefits such as sick pay and holiday leave and be covered by some of the minimum wage requirements. The changes will be aimed at companies such as Uber and Deliveroo, who hire workers in what is being known as a new "dependent contractor" payment. It's not going to be that difficult to guess what the outcome will be of these suggestions, if they manage to be squeezed through Mrs May's government then it will be consumers who pay the difference, so prices will rise for those metropolitan types who like a taxi and a takeaway, just as inflationary pressure is starting to bite from the ill judged Brexit experiment. These suggestions are unrealistic and focus on a time when a job was a nine to five affair.

Read more here.

Recent news: Blockchain Technology Could Help Transform Criminal Justice System

France is set to ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040, in what the ecology minister called a "revolution". It's a political move, which many may call a master stroke, Nicolas Hulot (the ecology minister) called for something to happen in over 20 years time when you have left office. Last week, car manufacturer Volvo said all of its new car models would be at least partly electric from 2019, a risky move considering the rather low penetration of hybrid cars in the mass market. It is not clear what will happen to fossil fuel cars when the ban comes into place.

Read the full story.

Recent news: Blockchain Technology Could Help Transform Criminal Justice System

In a worrying sign for the UK economy, major firms have curtailed investment plans and consumers are spending less on their credit cards according to Deloitte. Once again, the Brexit experiment is to blame followed by one of the most inconclusive elections in British history, which has rather unsurprisingly left everyone rather confused. There has been a steady stream of poor economic figures for the country to digest just as Europe appears to be emerging from a decade of discontent. How a government with little authority or understanding of public opinion will grapple with a slowing economy is difficult to tell, but like businesses, I can't say I'm optimistic.

Read the full story.

Recent news: Gig Economy Set for Regulation Overhaul in UK

Police Foundation and CGI discuss need for digitisation to shake up a justice system beset by changing crimes, archaic practices, spending cuts and inefficient paper-based systems. A joint report by the Police Foundation together with CGI has discussed how digitisation can transform the UK’s criminal justice system and put service users at its heart, delivering better experiences for everyone. “Reforming justice for the digital age,” outlines the costs and inefficiencies caused by a paper-based system and argues that digitisation, collaborative working practices, and technologies such as intelligent automation and blockchain can help resolve many of the Criminal Justice System’s (CJS) historic challenges."

You can read the full story here.

UK service providers indicated another slowdown in business activity growth during June, which largely reflected the weakest upturn in new work since September 2016. Survey respondents commented on subdued business and consumer confidence, alongside some instances of delayed decision making around the election. "A slowing in services sector growth completes a triple-whammy of disappointing PMI survey readings. Although the three PMI surveys are running at levels that are historically consistent with GDP growing by around 0.4% in the second quarter, it's clear that the economy heads into the third quarter losing momentum. With business optimism having been hit by the intensification of political uncertainty following the general election and commencement of Brexit negotiations, at the same time that households are battling against rising inflation, the indications are that the economy's resilience is being tested" said Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit.

Justin Zatouroff, head of business services at KPMG UK comments "fierce competition for new work is putting pressure on pricing, which is leading to an ongoing squeeze on margins. The combination of input cost inflation, Brexit and pricing pressures suggests that businesses in the services sector need to keep an eye on the horizon".

Related news: Sourcing Market Could Win in Brexit

Teleperformance, the global leader in outsourced ominchannel customer experience management, announced today its public sector services programme in the UK has achieved accreditation to the Global Sourcing Standard for Service Providers. Teleperformance is the first supplier globally to achieve the accreditation and follows the BBC as only the second organization to achieve accreditation with merit. Matt Sims, chief executive of Teleperformance UK and South Africa, said: “Accreditation to the Global Sourcing Standard is a wonderful achievement. I am especially proud of our public sector team, and this well-deserved accolade recognises the rigour and governance that has underpinned our work supporting UK public sector services for almost twenty years.” Kerry Hallard, Chief Executive of the GSA added, “I am delighted to confirm the accreditation of Teleperformance to the GSA Standard for its public sector services. I am particularly pleased to announce Teleperformance UK as the first ever supplier to have achieved accreditation and warmly congratulate them on their accomplishment.”

To read the full press release, click here.

As a truly independent industry association and professional body representing the global sourcing industry, the GSA’s mission is to professionalise sourcing so as to grow the positive reputation, and therefore size, of the industry. To help achieve this, the GSA are calling on everyone to spend just 15 minutes of their time completing the GSA’s Annual Sourcing Industry Satisfaction Barometer. The survey will assess the industries drive towards best practice and the Global Sourcing Standard. Click here to learn more.

Attend the GSA’s debate on Being Human In A Digital World and have your say.

Unless you’ve been keeping Rip Van Winkle company under a nearby tree recently, you won’t have escaped the hype surrounding robotic process automation and the much-prophesised Doomsday scenario where the jobs of 15 million Britons (nearly half of the UK’s 31.8 million workforce) will eventually be wiped out, taken over by machines.

Whether you believe the headlines or not (the statistic mentioned above was actually volunteered by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England), there is no doubt that as automation in general - and robotic process automation (RPA) specifically - starts to scale, entire white-collar professions will become endangered, with the lower income professions most likely to be hardest hit.

Of course, the benefits of RPA cannot be ignored; high volume transactions processed with greater accuracy and at higher speeds, with less risk of downtime, providing a better customer experience and inevitably, for a lower longer-term cost. It’s little wonder then that enterprises are falling over themselves to deploy robotics into their operating models to improve profits and increase shareholder value; that’s the nature of business after all, it keeps the wheels of the economy turning and its why the Government has recently provided a £17 million handout to universities for research into artificial intelligence initiatives including robotics and driverless vehicles.

Except that this is only one part of the equation; as more and more people are displaced by robots it begs the questions ‘where do they turn to?’, ‘what jobs will they do?’, ‘how do they earn an honest living so as not to be a burden on an already creaking state?’

At the GSA we strongly believe that if the economy is going to truly benefit from such innovations, there needs to be a broader and ongoing discussion on the impact of technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) on society. The narrative needs to extend beyond purely the commercial benefits achievable and look closely at the human impact in terms of reskilling and redeployment of displaced workforces.

We cannot afford to lose sight of the fact that these technologies will not only significantly impact existing workforces, but recognise the fall-out will impact future generations. Therefore, Government, Business Leaders and Trade Associations must come together and act now, to cohesively apply the learning from previous industrial revolutions and avoid making the same mistakes this time round.

This is why we are hosting the World’s First National Debate on the societal impact of automation at our Symposium on 28 June, where trade unions, buy-side organisations, vendors & industry commentators will come together to discuss the possible consequences for our society. Given the importance of this discussion we are throwing open the doors and allowing attendance to this debate free of charge. Spaces will be strictly limited so please contact us to register your place.

There is no place for workforce abandonment in the 21st Century, I invite you all to come along and play your part in ensuring it doesn’t happen!