Industry news

IBM has signed a contract to deliver IT services to the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

The announcement comes after IBM was selected as a preferred bidder after a decision to select a private sector IT partner in 2011.

Services will include the provision of Information Management & Technology (IM&T) services alongside consultant firm NTT Data. Alongside IM&T services IBM will also deliver record management services.

Dr Kevin Harris, medical director, Leicester’s Hospitals, said: “This is a very exciting partnership and could be the single most important thing that we have ever done in terms of improving technology in our organisation".

Infosys Technologies have raised revenue predictions to 6.6 percent from 5 percent prompting a share rise of over 15 percent.

The revenue prediction growth comes after expectations from analysts that Infosys would lower predictions.

Infosys posted a net profit of 23.69 billion rupees in the third quarter of the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Rajiv Bansal, chief financial officer, Infosys, said: “We were able to maintain our margins through efficiency improvements despite increased operating expenses. We remain focused on making the right investments for profitable and sustainable growth in the longer term”.

The Japanese government have approved a $116 billion stimulus package, aimed at driving economic growth of 2 percent and create 600,000 jobs.

The recession has hit the world’s third largest economy, heavily reducing export and domestic demand, along with the impact of natural disasters.

The stimulus package is aimed at halting the trend of contraction that Japan has undergone in the last two quarters.

Organisations will increasingly seek to monetise Big Data as the costs of managing and storing data rise according to Gartner.

Gartner’s prediction placed 30 percent of companies as looking to trade information in the near future. There is an expectation from analysts of a rise of data resellers to act as intermediaries during such transactions.

The selling on of data is controversial giving the sensitive nature of user information. This has led to government reaction with the US Federal Trade Commission subpoenaing large information brokers to reveal how they use information.

The Financial Ombudsman Service are hiring 1,000 staff in order to deal with increasing demands and a predicted workload increases of 45 percent.

The increasing workload has stemmed in part from payment protection insurance (PPI) claims.

Tony Boorman, deputy chief ombudsman, said "While we see some businesses using complaints positively to improve customer service, many continue to frustrate their customers with delays and inconvenience".

The UK government has announced an extension for SMEs to apply for the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers, giving employers until March 2014 to apply for the grant.

The grant of £1,500 was originally available during the 2012/2013 financial year, with the extension coming after positive feedback from participants.

In addition to being extended, the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers will allow employers to receive grants for increased numbers of apprentices, rising to a maximum of ten apprentices.

The grant is designed to encourage businesses with less than 1,000 employees to take on apprentices as part of a national effort to provide young people with employment opportunities.

The UK Border Agency (UKBA) are to place tender for a new border security system with integrated functionality.

New capabilities are to include integration with mobile devices and biometric functionality.

Currently employing two main security systems operated by Border Force, the UKBA have entered into a procurement process for support services for existing security systems with the additional capabilities. Support services will include current services including maintenance, development and testing services.

Amazon will hire an extra 100 staff for its London Digital Media Development Centre.

The new staff will include user-interface specialist, software development engineers and graphic designers. The new staff will be involved with new interactive digital services including games, TV and smart phone devices.

Opened in last September the Digital Media Development Centre houses brands including Amazon’s LOVEFiLM design and deployment team.

Genesis Cymru Wales 2 which aims to find work for the unemployed faces closure after failing to meet targets.

The Welsh government are looking to end the scheme ahead of schedule in June 2014 and stop £23 million in European government support.

Cymru Wales 2 was aimed at unemployed situated in deprived areas of Wales, offering support and advice including mentoring and help with childcare, interviews and training.

A Education Department spokesman said: "A recent internal review of Genesis Cymru Wales 2 has identified that the programme is under-performing in relation to some key performance outputs.”

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have announced plans for a new super prison and the closure of six old prisons.

The new prison will be around 25 percent larger than the current largest facility with 2,000 places and will be located either in north-west England, north Wales or London.

The six prisons are to be closed based due to being "old and uneconomic" according to a MoJ statement.

A ministerial statement said: "Our strategy for the custodial estate is to ensure that we have sufficient places to meet the demand of the courts whilst securing best value for money for the taxpayer."