Industry news

Sri Lanka's finance ministry on Monday said it was formulating a new trade and investment policy, tax reforms and various other measures to improve the investor climate in the island country. A statement by the ministry quoted Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera as saying the government aimed to make Sri Lanka an export-driven economic and financial hub of the Indian Ocean, while creating unprecedented opportunities in many sectors. "In order to achieve these objectives, the government has set out a high-level reform agenda in several key sectors of the economy, facilitating and empowering the private sector as the principle engine of growth," Samaraweera said.

The minister added that given the rapid increase in climate-related disasters in many countries, like the floods Sri Lanka faced recently, the building of climate/disaster resilient infrastructure will be of paramount importance for the future. "If we are to meet this challenge, we must incorporate climate resilient concepts into all future infrastructure development projects," he added. The Sri Lankan government led by Maithripala Sirisena recently announced that it hopes to attract foreign investors into the island country and convert it into an international and trading hub due to its geographic location. Already a mega 1.4 billion dollars Port City project, the first of its kind in South Asia, is being constructed near the Colombo Port which will attract investments totalling 13 billion dollars from next year. The project is being positioned as a hub to the whole of South Asia.

Related news: Sri Lanka Sees Growth Fly Despite Dip

HCL Technologies (HCL), a leading global IT services provider, announces the launch of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) services to help organizations comply with EU GDPR regulation. The new GDPR Regulation which is mandated to be adopted by May 2018, extends the data rights of individuals and requires organizations to develop clear policies and procedures to protect personal data and adopt appropriate technical and organizational measures.

“In the digital era, privacy, security and personalization are the most significant issues facing corporations and individual alike. Enabling GDPR compliance is not just about managing regulatory requirements but can also be a source of competitive advantage, said Maninder Singh, Corporate Vice President and Head – Cyber Security & GRC, HCL Technologies. “HCL’s industry leading solutions, IT expertise and extensive European experience working with global corporations makes the company an ideal partner in this space.”

According to the monthly Index of industrial Production (IIP) released by the Census and Statistics Department, the volume of industrial production in Sri Lanka has increased by 1.8% in April 2017 compared to the same month in 2016. Among the manufacturing industries, the volume of products of ‘Furniture’ (27.8%), ‘Other non-metallic mineral products’ (10.4%) and ‘Fabricated Metal Product’ (10.2%) has shown remarkable increases during April, 2017 compared to those of April 2016 while the volume of food products has increased by 0.1 %. The manufacturing industries, volume of ‘Wood and products of wood’ (22.3%) and ‘Chemical and Chemical products’ (9.8%) and ‘Tobacco product’ (8.6%) reported decreases during this period. However, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) declined to 98.7 in April from 109.5 in March 2017.

Related news: India to Support Sri Lanka Railway Investment, Sri Lanka Growth to Accelerate in 2017

Capita Life & Pensions has been awarded the “Excellence in Outsourced Customer Service” award for its work with Zurich, at the prestigious Global Sourcing Association UK’s Professional Awards. Capita has delivered frontline customer service to Zurich’s two million customers over the last 10 years. The award recognised Capita’s “Voice of the Customer” programme, which has been designed to enhance the way Zurich provides customer service and feedback to its customers.

"The GSA UK’s Professional Awards recognise talent and application of best practice across the sourcing industry, and we are rightly proud of the achievements our partnership with Zurich. This latest accolade is further proof of Capita’s commitment to delivering outstanding customer service for our clients. Zurich’s strategic aims were embedded into the service we helped to provide, and we recognised the need to move from simply hearing what our customers were saying to truly listening. This has been key to the success of the Voice of the Customer programme." said Nikki Moss Customer service manager, Capita Life & Pensions.

To read more, click here.

India today signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to provide USD 318 million as line of credit to develop the island nation's railway sector, officials said. The agreement was signed by RHS Samaratunga, Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Mass media, and David Rasquinha, Managing Director of India's Export-Import Bank in Colombo.

During his first visit to Sri Lanka as prime minister in 2015, Narendra Modi had declared a line of credit of USD 318 million for the development of Sri Lanka's railway sector. That visit, the first standalone bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister since 1987, had come in the backdrop of increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean nation. China has been investing heavily in Sri Lanka, developing mainly ports that could potentially be used as a base for its navy, though Beijing says the investments are part of its Belt and Road Initiative that aims to link it with Europe and Africa via the Indian Ocean.

Related news: Sri Lanka Growth to Accelerate in 2017, Sri Lanka and South Korea Strengthen Ties

According to ComputerWeekly.com, large UK firms are prepared to pay out more than £136,000 on average to cyber criminals who launch ransomware attacks, after building stockpiles of bitcoin. A survey, commissioned by secure connectivity firm Citrix, also shows that more than two-fifths are stockpiling bitcoins in case of a ransomware attack, compared with a third a year ago. The 2016 research revealed that one-fifth (20%) of companies with 250-500 employees did not have any contingency measures in place in case of a ransomware attack, however this has fallen to just 7% in 2017. Read the full story here.

Related news: Wavestone Look Into the Possibilities of Blockchain

It is amazing how different technologies can be adapted to new uses and markets. Blockchain, the technology behind the fabulously fluctuating Bitcoin, is increasingly being heralded by governments as the technology to revolutionise the public sector. An increasing number of countries are trialling blockchain for security in public records. Young countries in Eastern Europe, such as Georgia and Ukraine are pioneers of e-government, using blockchain for land registries to improve the trust in government. They are not the only ones, Sweden, Dubai and Estonia are also implementing the technology. A new wave of innovation is being embraced by government.

Related news: Wavestone Look Into the Possibilities of Blockchain

As the BA scandal moves on to the compensation phase, we need to address a problem in the whole airline industry. To compete with low-cost airlines, major airlines are cutting important costs in IT and support, meaning IT faults are becoming worryingly common. Sourcing is about finding cost advantage through experience and efficiency. By finding a quality service provider, firms can save money, expand operations and improve quality, simply focusing upon cost cutting will not provide the service customers deserve. Investing in quality is much cheaper than massive compensation.

Related news: BA Shambles Highlights Importance of Implementing Best Practice

Spending a holiday stuck in the departure lounge of an airport is not anyone’s idea of relaxation. Sadly, a massive IT fault left many passengers of British Airways (BA) in this exact situation, with the company blaming the fault on a power spike at its outsourced IT division in India. Sadly, blaming the outsourcing company is rather cliché, but the benefits of the sourcing outweigh the negatives. This is especially true if both buyers and service providers adhered to best practice which through transparency and communication helps avoid these fallouts.

Cost cutting can come from both sides of a contract, with decisions impacting on long running business operating models and leaving firms vulnerable to disruption. The BA disruption was caused primarily through a lack of appreciation for risk at the parent company, with limited and outdated plans for recovery in the case of technical disruption. As always, proper planning and good communication are a necessity, you can’t simply blame a service provider.

Kerry Hallard, CEO of the Global Sourcing Association (GSA) is available for comment, please contact jamest@gsa-uk.com or call 44 (0)7432 267 543.

Related news: BA Boss denies outsourcing was the root cause of their latest woes

UK services PMI figures have arrived and they are looking weak. The expectation of 55.0 (anything above 50.0 indicates growth) proved an unreachable summit as the index creeped in at 53.8 for May. Not great news for the stability of the Pound which is likely to fluctuate over the next week as the election reaches its final stage. Commenting on the figures, Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG UK said:

“These latest PMI figures point to a more subdued outlook for UK services. Those relying on the spending appetite of UK consumers are feeling the pressure, while export driven services still benefit from the weaker pound. The softer data for UK services contrasted with indications of a pick-up in both manufacturing and construction activity, which represent a smaller share of UK output, hence some resurgence in growth momentum this year should not be ruled out following a weak start in Q1.”

With Brexit negotiations just around the corner, the UK might be about to see a slide towards the Brexit economy that was predicted before the vote in 2016. Sadly, it is unlikely that the next government will have the stomach for liberalising reforms that the country needs to boost growth in the coming years.