Industry news

Starting with just one client and a workforce of 100 people across two floors of Webhelp’s Umhlanga Ridgeside office in October last year, this global consultancy and customer experience organisation has quickly shown the demand for Durban as a business hub.

“BPO (business process outsourcing) is one of the fastest-growing sectors in South Africa with significant year-on-year growth. We’ve had significant government and stakeholder support leaning into the incredible job opportunities this sector creates for young, unemployed individuals with little or no work experience,” commented Tammy Chetty, managing director of Webhelp South Africa.

Read more here.

• The latest findings from KPMG reveal that sustainability reporting has grown steadily, with 79 percent of leading companies providing sustainability reports
• There has been marked improvement in companies reporting carbon reduction targets, but action remains too slow in key related areas, with less than half of companies currently recognizing biodiversity loss as a risk
  
• Among the thousands of reports analysed, less than half of the world’s largest companies are providing reporting on ‘social’ and ‘governance’ components of ESG
• KPMG outlines a series of recommendations, including companies shifting from a narrative-driven approach and making better use of data to drive change and provide evidence of action
• From recent local data and discussions with our community, Maltese companies appear to be lagging the global trend presented in this survey, although there are promising developments, including reporting by 17 companies under the Malta ESG Platform. Transparent ESG reporting and action will be crucial if Maltese companies are to remain relevant to international business and align with the broader values of Malta’s residents. 

Read more in KPMG here.

What happens when virtual reality meets reality? With the metaverse — interactive, virtually enhanced spaces that can be accessed by multiple users via avatars — it has led to the shaping of uniquely immersive and authentic experiences that have opened up new ways for businesses, communities and individuals to create value, socialise and solve problems.

To explore a new world of opportunities present in this bold new universe, KPMG recently conducted a consumer survey gathering perspectives, expectations and feelings towards metaverse participation.

Read more on KPMG here.

As organisations place advanced data and sophisticated analytics at the heart of their operations and reshape customer experiences with innovative digital services, new cybersecurity and privacy challenges are emerging that require corporate leaders to take digital trust seriously. 

Building and protecting trust is integral to how businesses interact with stakeholders. KPMG’s 2022 ‘Cyber Trust Insights’ report has surveyed 1,881 executives to outline five key steps to building trust through cybersecurity and privacy. 

Weaving cybersecurity and privacy into organisations, building internal alliances, evolving the role of the CISO, securing leadership support, and collaborating with other partners in the corporate ecosystem is key to increased trust. 

Read more on Security Brief here.

DXC Technology is launching a major UK initiative, focused on providing opportunities and support for neurodivergent individuals. The DXC Dandelion Programme was initially trialled within Australia and New Zealand and now, following the success of the initiative those territories, it is being expanded across Europe and APAC.

The Dandelion Programme has been designed to help people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other neurological conditions to establish careers within the IT industry. The initiative is particularly active in the UK where DXC has just completed a successful twelve-month pilot. In total, the Dandelion Programme in the UK has so far resulted in opportunities for 25 neurodivergent individuals.

Read more on TechMarketView here.

As part of its mission, Crown Commercial Service (CCS) helps to manage over £10 billion of technology spend each year on behalf of public sector customers, and in the last 18 months, the technology team has increased commercial benefits for technology customers from £431 million to £1.2 billion. In this interview, Dr Philip Orumwense, Commercial Director and Chief Procurement Officer for Technology at CCS, explains what it takes to achieve such commercial success.

Read more at Civil Service World here.

From reducing litter through glow-in-the-dark bins to the company pioneering a low-cost heat pump revolution, these are the winners of the 2022 Global Good Awards

Sustainability – whether it’s around the environmental impact of the underwear you just bought, or how you heat your home – is a topic on many people’s lips. Although we tend to hear more about the laggards than the leaders, there are scores of people, projects and companies driving real change. Each year, the Global Good Awards champions the best of the best.

In 2022, given the urgency needed, the panel of judges has introduced strict new thresholds and will no longer award ‘gold’, the top level of recognition, solely because an entrant has scored the highest in a category. Instead, the winners will have to reach minimum scores of 80 per cent for gold, 75 per cent for silver and 70 per cent for bronze. 

Read more on Positive News here.

So, let’s recap. Back in August, we discussed Phase 1 of the asset lifecycle, “Evaluate & Acquire,” where you benchmark future inventory and forecast existing well performance using insights.

Next up was Phase 2, “Design & Develop,” which allows you to run simulations and understand the asset’s impact from different variables on productivity, using historical and proprietary data.

Now armed with data and forecasts to justify asset development, we’re ready for Phase 3, where we source materials and services and kick off your project. A phase that supports the execution of a company’s operations.

Read more on Enverus here.

Clutch evaluates technology service and solutions companies based on the quality of work, thought leadership, and client reviews.

Companies must exhibit an unusually high ability to deliver top-tier work to their clients to be eligible for a Clutch Leader Award. Receiving this award is no small feat and is an exceptional recognition.

"Clutch is a customer's opinion and choice leader in the custom software development market; it's an honor to be recognized."
Boris Kontsevoi, Intetics CEO and President

Read more on Newswire here.

The Ukrainian international IT services industry emerged from the Soviet Union's admired mathematical education and Ukrainian scientific school of early computer science in the '90s and, in the last two decades, has become a nearly $7 billion export industry with about 285,000 specialists.

Yet on February 24, 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Even with the experience of a similar invasion in 2014, many clients and prospects understandably began to worry for their teams, products and future this time around. Boris Kontsevoi shares his view on what happened to the Ukrainian IT industry after six months of the war in the new article for Forbes Tech Council.

Read more on Newswire here.