Industry news

Local councils of the future may undergo a process of ‘Californication’ as they respond to budget cuts, new analysis predicts. A report published today by localism think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN) outlines three new models for town halls of the future as councillors navigate budget cuts in the coming decade.

One scenario outlined in the ‘Future Councils’ report suggests that a lack of funding and new rights for citizens over planning and service delivery could by 2020 leave local authorities in the same kind of position as the Californian state government: struggling to provide services in the face of high demands, low income and increased direct democracy.

NLGN Director and report author Simon Parker, said: “Local authorities are quietly preparing to transform the way they work in response to budget cuts. Some services will change radically as councils become commissioning hubs. Expect councils to redesign everything from social care to street cleaning, more delivery by the private and voluntary sectors, and an increased reliance on personal budgets.

Google announced on Thursday that it acquired the restaurant rating company ZAGAT.

“ZAGAT will be a cornerstone of our local offering — delighting people with their impressive array of reviews, ratings and insights, while enabling people everywhere to find extraordinary (and ordinary) experiences around the corner and around the world,” Marissa Mayer, vice president of local, maps and location services at Google said in a blog post. “I’m incredibly excited to collaborate with ZAGAT to bring the power of Google search and Google Maps to their products and users, and to bring their innovation, trust and wealth of experience to our users.”

Research carried out by the Contact Centre Management Association of Ireland (CCMA) revealed the sector employs more than 29,000 people spread of over 100 contact centre operations nationwide.

More than half contact centre companies in Ireland witnessed growth in revenue in 2010 – with almost three-quarters expecting to see rising turnover over the next 2-3 years.

With support of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, the research provides insights, including its capacity for growth, competitiveness, skill levels and challenges ahead.

Tracy Kennedy, board member of the CCMA and head of customer operations for Bord Gáis Energy said: “These figures outline the crucial role the contact centre sector plays in the Irish economy, and the high level of service which is provided by skilled professionals throughout the country.”

Cognizant, a leading provider of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services, today announced that it will provide a range of application services to Cambridge Assessment, a not-for-profit examination group owned by Cambridge University.

As part of this multi-year, multi-million pound engagement, Cognizant will work with Cambridge Assessment and help rationalize and consolidate its portfolio of applications, and deliver application maintenance and production support services to enable the organization to improve the management and processing of examinations.

Cambridge Assessment is made up of three exam boards—Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR), University of Cambridge International Examinations, and University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (English for Speakers of Other Languages)—and plays a leading role in the research, development, and delivery of educational assessment to over 8 million learners around the world.

Cambridge Assessment engaged with Cognizant in June 2011 to consolidate application support services in its portfolio to ensure efficiencies and competitiveness in a demanding market, as well as the flexibility to continue to respond to the current and future needs of the business.

In the SWC Technology Partners survey, just 3.7% of respondents said that their company has adopted a cloud solution for the whole company. 54.2% of respondents indicate that their company is not pursuing any cloud computing initiative. Privacy and security (20.9%) are stated to be the of greatest concern when considering cloud, followed by cost (9.8%).

Elliott Baretz, vice president of SWC, said: "The technology industry can be rife with hype. Most reasons for eschewing the cloud have nothing to do with technology. Privacy and compliance and legal issues are what are keeping businesses on the sidelines."

On 19 September, over 1,000 Fujitsu workers will strike on as a result of unsatisfactory pay conditions. This will affect HMRC, the Office of National Statistics and the DVLA, amongst other public agencies.

The workers – members of both PCS and Unite trade unions – will strike for 24 hours from midnight on Monday 19 September.

Sony has appointed a chief information security officer, Philip Reitinger, in the wake of a series of enormous data breaches.

Reitinger, previously worked as head of the US National Cyber Security Center and for Microsoft, is now its senior vice-president and chief information security officer of Sony.

Outsourcers have superior technology for managing supply chains, and as such, companies should consider outsourcing this part of their business. According to a new Gartner report, leveraging an outsourcing partner's processes, technologies and capabilities can prove the best way of managing a supply chain.

"Supply chain executives are starting to apply more comprehensive analysis to outsourcing decisions. These will factor-in agility, responsiveness and cost," stated Michael Dominy, research director at Gartner. "Companies must focus on what they can do best and appropriately outsource activities that value chain partners can do better," he added.

Appearing before the Commons Transport Select Committee, Philip Hammond has spoken out following much criticism of his department’s decision to give a contract to build 1,200 trains and carriages to German manufacturer Siemens.

He rebutted Colin Walton, the UK chairman of Bombardier criticisms of the tender process, stating: “There was no objection from any of the bidders until the outcome was announced. At no point did any of the bidders object to the terms of invitation to tender, the bundled nature of the contract or the evaluation criteria.”

He suggested that Bombardier should re-evaluate its own bidding proposals. “It is not just about the financing, it is about the whole life cost to the taxpayer,” said Mr Hammond, adding: “It is not as if Bombardier needs propping up. It has won 11 of 14 train procurement contracts and supplied half of the trains since privatisation. It has had an extraordinary run of success and I hope it will continue to be successful.”

Leader of the opposition, Ed Milliband said: "I am going to do everything I can to support Bombardier and to support the people of Derby and try and make the government think again. Bombardier is not just important for Derby, it is important for the whole country because we want train manufacturing to stay in Derby and to stay in Britain,"

UK chocolate brand Thorntons has stated that outsourcing its IT and other activates will help deliver an annual cost saving of £2 million.

“This, together with the ongoing benefits of our procurement review and the recent restructuring of our head office cost base, should deliver a full-year benefit of £2 million that will flow through in full in the 2012/13 financial year,” said a Thorntons spokesperson.

HP provides Thorntons end-to-end management and support for IT, networking and applications.