Industry news

Online charging and policy management services provider MATRIXX Software and Capgemini have partnered to take their clients to the next level of mobility.

The partnership will deliver a new app that offers visibility and control of data services across mobile networks.

Communications Services Providers with "Mobile data is the main driver for growth in the Telco industry for the years to come. Capgemini is anticipating these future needs and, with MATRIXX, we now have the technology to deploy smart charging and policy on a commercial scale," said Dee Burger, of Capgemini’s telecom, media and entertainment practice sector.

Atos has introduced the MyCity, which will allow the people of Barcelona to interact with their city via ther mobile phones. The app is developed by Atos and hosted on its servers.

Services are set to include: FixThis for reporting geo-located photo incidences with smartphones, Next2Me to look up nearby services, City Transport and iBiking, City Agenda for leisure and culture events based in geo-location search, City Traffic, M-Parking, and City Beaches.

Barcelona City Council CIO Manel Sanromà said he has received positive feedback from citizens that “clearly demonstrates that we have filled a need, a need of more connectivity and facilitate access to municipal services for the citizen at any time and from anywhere," Sanromà said.

A new venture led by Verne Global, a British company, will create the world’s first data centre powered exclusively by hydro-electric and geothermal energy.

Under-sea cables have been laid to combat Iceland’s previous lack of connectivity, and Iceland hopes to reposition itself as the green data centre capital of the world.

Cold air is pumped from outside to cool the equipment – this use of natural resources not only makes not only it green, but cheap. The centre is neighboured by a geothermal power station that creates energy from the ultra-hot volcanic ground beneath.

Iceland’s Foreign Minister Ossur Skarpheoinsson said: “This is the beginning of a new chapter of the industrial life of Iceland. When something is new, you need someone to go first. Verne is a pioneer. It is an icebreaker.”

In a cost cutting bid, YouGov has relocated its data centre from Berlin to London.

Veeam Software's backup and replication software helped facilitate this, by virtualising the data in Berlin, for replication in London. This slashed costs of transporting equipment and data.

Nicholas Carter, You Gov director of global systems operations, said: "We had initially been very happy with the Berlin-based managed service, yet additional services and capability had to be taken on the providers' terms - reducing our flexibility and locking us into their costs."

American call centre company Conduit is creating 600 jobs in Cardiff, to provide homecare service for British Gas.

Conduit already employs nearly 2000 people in South Wales.

First Minister Carwyn Jones said "[this is] yet another indication that Welsh government policies are having a beneficial effect supporting the economy and creating jobs during these difficult times. Professional and financial services are a key growth sector for the Welsh economy and I am delighted that Conduit is yet again expanding its operations in Wales."

The government has officially launched CloudStore, it’s collection of 1700 pre-authorised cloud-based services, ready for government departments to purchase for 258 suppliers. It is divided into four categories: Infrastructure, platform, SaaS and consultancy services.

Francis Maude stated: ““Using cloud solutions that have already been secured and accredited will almost always be less expensive, and we will only pay for what we use. We will also know from the outset the cost of the product and, importantly, the cost of exit from contracts that will be no longer than 12 months.”

Chris Chant, G-Cloud Programme Director, said “The Public Sector will benefit immediately from this framework allowing them to adopt a range of Cloud services at reduced costs and improved agility without compromising performance or security. Costs that were previously averaging between £900 to £1500 per server per month, will be reduced to £150 or lower.”

The government has officially launched CloudStore, it’s collection of 1700 pre-authorised cloud-based services, ready for government departments to purchase for 258 suppliers. It is divided into four categories: Infrastructure, platform, SaaS and consultancy services.

Francis Maude stated: ““Using cloud solutions that have already been secured and accredited will almost always be less expensive, and we will only pay for what we use. We will also know from the outset the cost of the product and, importantly, the cost of exit from contracts that will be no longer than 12 months.”

Chris Chant, G-Cloud Programme Director, said “The Public Sector will benefit immediately from this framework allowing them to adopt a range of Cloud services at reduced costs and improved agility without compromising performance or security. Costs that were previously averaging between £900 to £1500 per server per month, will be reduced to £150 or lower.”

Groupon has bought Hyperpublic, an SME that develops location-based technology that can be integrated into other apps.

Hyperpublic seems a good fit for Groupon: one of its products, is API (application programming interface) called "Geo Deals & Events," which displays local deals and events depending on where a person is, such as concerts. Another of its products, Places+, allows users to search for local businesses, restaurants and points of interest.

Hyperpublic proudly declared that Groupon's acquisition is "a huge win for our team, our investors and everyone who contributed to our company over the past two years." Terms of the deal remain undisclosed.

The government is paying an inordinately wasteful amount of money in both redundancy packages and agency fees to fill vacant civil service positions.

Civil servants received almost £90m in redundancy payments last quarter. Concurrently, the government spent £30m on employment agency fees. Jon Trickett, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office accused the government of being in a “headlong rush” to casualise the service, without paying heed to whether positions would need to be refilled or not.

HH Global has made two senior level appointments to its IT division.

Alastair Sames, previously CIO at Adare, takes up the role of Head of IT Solutions at HH Global, whilst Nick Doyle, previously at Communisis plc and Verifone, joins as Head of IT Service Delivery.

Robert MacMillan, CEO, HH Global comments: “IT is the lynchpin of most organisations today, both internally and in the service they provide to clients. For HH Global, dealing with client projects which are time critical and across the world, it is imperative that we have a robust and sound IT network and structure. Alastair and Nick will add real value, not only in ensuring our IT systems are resilient, but also providing an innovative approach to IT which makes HH Global’s offer stand out from the crowd.”