By SolarWinds Senior Vice President of Engineering Krishna Sai
Krishna Sai leads the engineering, technology and architecture teams at SolarWinds. He is a seasoned leader and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience scaling global engineering teams and building winning products across multiple industries. Sai has held leadership roles at Atlassian, Groupon, and Polycom, co-founded two technology companies, and holds several patents.
Krishna Sai
New data is being created and accumulated at a relentless pace. One recent estimate found a whopping 328.77 million terabytes of data are created each day. Managing this flood of data in all its forms is no easy task – but the potential business insights that can be gleaned from this data are enormous.
Government organizations have opened their eyes to the vast amounts of data they generate and the various ways this data could be leveraged to improve citizen services. Deep learning technology, which leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology to mimic human learning and decision-making, is a critical tool for uncovering data insights and driving innovation. For example, the Home Office could use deep learning technology to help streamline intricate tasks like the handling of visa and immigration applications, improving employee productivity, and accelerating visa decisions. Meanwhile, air traffic controllers could leverage deep learning to more accurately predict short-term congestion spikes at busy airports, helping improve the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system.
As government organizations explore ways to harness deep learning technology, database managers should start to prepare. Here are four key considerations for database management in this era of big data and deep learning.
Strengthen Database Foundations
The foundation of successful deep learning initiatives lies in high-quality, real-world data and consistently high-performing databases. While AI can process massive datasets at unprecedented speeds, government databases must be able to support the complex processing requirements needed to extract actionable insights.
To meet the growing demands of advanced AI algorithms and deep learning, government IT teams need to plan and execute effective strategies for their data and databases. This could include upgrading to more powerful and efficient databases equipped with unlimited throughput, scalable processing power, and zero latency.
Harness the Cloud
Database managers are increasingly turning to cloud-hosted database services to help manage the vast amounts of data government organizations generate and collect. Unlike on-premises data centers, cloud-based solutions are less constrained by operational and technical requirements. This means cloud-hosted databases can more quickly and easily scale to process growing amounts of data. When managed effectively, cloud-hosted databases can also help organizations optimize IT spend and improve performance across the technology stack.
But Don’t Rule Out On-Premises
However, factors like an uncertain economy, budget constraints, and high up-front migration costs are causing some public sector organizations to hold back on cloud investments. And that is a valid choice. The reality is not all database workloads perform optimally in the cloud, and migrating might introduce unnecessary complexities. Additionally, inflationary pressures have impacted some pay-as-you-go cloud models, making on-premises database solutions an attractive and reliable option.
Prioritize Observability, Regardless of Environment
Government CIOs must manage concerns around cost, productivity, and efficiency whether they prioritize cloud-hosted or on-premises databases. That’s where observability technology can make a difference.
By implementing observability, IT pros can get a comprehensive view of the IT environment and databases – no matter if they’re on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment. Observability technology discovers and maps the data estate and provides health and daily performance metrics. Down-to-the-second data collection allows teams to uncover issues connected to an error or outage, accelerating root-cause analysis and remediation. With observability, database teams can help ensure the success of deep learning implementations, enabling the government to more effectively serve its citizens.
National social enterprise Fusion21 has officially announced a new nationwide social value partnership with Rugby based developer Newlands Developments.
The ground-breaking collaboration will see social impact incorporated into all Newlands Developments’ projects at the pre-planning application stage to ensure multi-million pound developments benefit the local area and people who live there.
Fusion21, based in Merseyside, specialises in public sector procurement and social value services, and first joined forces with Newlands Developments in 2021 on their Brackmills Gateway project in Northamptonshire.
L-r Mark Chadwick and Sarah Maguire from Fusion21, Ben Taylor and Ed Pigott from Newlands Development
The support from Fusion21’s social value experts saw significant benefits delivered for the local community, including the creation of 45 full-time jobs, subcontracting packages awarded to 23 businesses within a 20-mile radius, and a dozen on-site training courses provided to local residents.
Impressed by the success of Brackmills Gateway, Newlands Developments approached Fusion21 for their help with projects nationwide.
Fusion21’s social value team is now working with the developer on extending their social value footprint with a number of major planned schemes.
The team is helping them to maximise social value within developments, which could be through creating jobs, offering work experience opportunities for young people, or reinvestment within the local borough through using local supply chains.
Ben Taylor, Planning Director at Newlands Developments, said: “This is an exciting partnership for Newlands who are fully committed to embed our schemes in the communities they serve. Fusion21’s experience will assist us in meeting the social value objectives contained in our ESG & Sustainability Strategy published earlier this year, that includes preparing detailed Employment, Training and Skills Plans for all of our projects.”
Fusion21’s strong track record was also a key factor for Newland Developments.
They were involved in the £80 million Headbolt Lane infrastructure project in Kirkby, which resulted in £518,000 of local investment and jobs for 117 Knowsley residents.
Over the previous 12 months, Fusion21’s work to support developers and contractors linking social value to development resulted in over 300 jobs for local people and 16 new apprenticeship opportunities. A further 30 young people benefited from work experience placements with a focus on inspiring the next generation to consider careers in construction. This generated almost £7 million in social return on investment.
The procurement and social value specialist is also working with a number of major house builders to monitor and support delivery of social value including Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, Equans, Redrow, Gleeson Homes, and Vistry.
Sarah Maguire, Head of Social Value at Fusion21, said, “Our partnership with Newlands Developments is reshaping how we approach social value on a large scale. Our expertise in social value linked to planning and new development is a real USP and Newlands is a developer who is keen to really give back to the local community.
“Together, we’re rewriting the rules of development to ensure we deliver lasting change for local people and businesses.
“Having a social value strategy embedded at the planning application stage is something we’re seeing more and more local authorities requesting. Our ambition is to become the social enterprise of choice for forward-thinking developers who want to embrace a transformative approach.”
Experienced transport policy and public affairs specialist, Robert Gwynn, has been appointed as Strategic Development Manager at Asset Alliance Group.
Gwynn joins the commercial vehicle specialist to support its plans to increase the number of alternatively fuelled vehicles across its fleet, as part of the company’s long-term commitment to serving customers’ changing needs.
Joining from Volta Trucks, where he was Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Gwynn previously spent more than six years at Hermes in operational and public affairs roles.
“I’m really excited to be joining a forward-thinking company that is keenly aware of the importance greener fuels have in a more sustainable future for the transport sector,” says Gwynn. “With financing one of the key challenges in the decarbonisation of transport, Asset Alliance Group has a huge part to play in facilitating operators’ transition to a cleaner and greener future.”
Bringing experience of policy analysis and lobbying campaigns in the transport industry, Gwynn will be responsible for developing strategy to transition Asset Alliance Group’s vehicle fleet from diesel to renewable alternative fuels.
Willie Paterson, Chief Executive of Asset Alliance Group, says: “Rob joins us at a pivotal moment in the company’s journey towards decarbonisation. By harnessing his expertise in environmental and sustainability issues, we will be better equipped to meet the changing needs of our customers.”
One of Gwynn’s immediate priorities is to bring fresh insights on alternative fuel technologies and government policy driving developments to advance the company’s ambitions on the road map to decarbonisation.
“With this knowledge, and working closely with vehicle manufacturers, we can determine what type of assets we need to have on our books, ensuring we offer expert advice to our customers on how alternative fuels can fit in with their own sustainability plans,” Gwynn adds.
Based in the Wolverhampton office, Gwynn will report to Asset Management Director, Marc Mellon.
As we usher in 2024, local authorities across the UK find themselves at a crucial crossroads in the continually evolving employment arena. A Local Government Association survey reported last year that over nine out of ten councils were experiencing recruitment difficulties in at least one occupation.
Although councils offer a wide range of over 800 roles – spanning social work to IT – they grapple with persistent staffing challenges. These include employee shortages, budget constraints, outdated recruitment processes, and a growing reliance on agency staff. However, there are a number of steps that local authorities can take to improve the situation.
Key Challenges
Recruitment and Retention
An alarming 78% of councils report difficulties in attracting qualified staff, with retention posing a significant hurdle, as per the Local Government Association’s 2021 report. Particularly problematic is hiring and retaining younger talent in areas such as social services, education, and healthcare, recruiting skilled professionals.
The Office for National Statistics reveals that, despite a modest increase in public sector employment to 5.87 million employees in June 2023, local government experienced slower growth compared to central government, not helped by ongoing issues in recruitment and retention.
Financial Constraints
The burden of financial constraints, exacerbated by unresolved pay disputes, further complicates the recruitment landscape. Examples such as Guildford Borough Council freezing recruitment due to a £300 million debt and Glasgow City Council having to settle a £770 million pay dispute underscore financial strains faced by local authorities. With costs rising, many councils are struggling to balance their budgets, intensifying the urgency for strategic solutions.
Outdated Recruitment Processes
While the private sector has largely adapted to modern recruitment practices, many local councils lag behind, and it is high time they followed suit. Workforce planning strategies must include a thorough review of processes and tools. Notable efforts, such as Halton Borough Council replacing long paper application forms with CVs and introducing immediate interviews highlight some positive strides. Centralising departmental recruitment, as many councils are now doing, and implementing modern applicant tracking systems and recruitment software help standardise processes and enhance efficiency. This enables potential employees to find the roles that fit best and helps councils hire better candidates faster and cost-effectively.
Developing Solutions
Employer Branding
Creating a compelling ‘Employer Brand’ – that is, how candidates perceive a potential employer – is pivotal in attracting and retaining talent. Many factors influence this, including their positive and negative experiences with the council as constituents, and news coverage. Local councils, delivering essential services to the community as they do rather than selling a product, must differentiate their value proposition to potential employees. Understanding employee aspirations such as flexibility, security, and meaningful work in a culture that aligns with their values is crucial. It’s important to communicate shared values to potential candidates, and deliver on those promises, especially in attracting younger workers and competing for experienced talent against the private sector.
Communicating Unique Benefits
Emphasising the unique advantages of working in local government is also vital. Stability and job security, work-life balance through innovative practices such as the four-day work week, diverse career opportunities, and the ability to make a tangible impact on the community are powerful selling points that recruiters should underscore.
Community Impact: Working for a council means making a tangible difference in people’s lives, a powerful motivator for many
Stability and Job Security: The public sector offers a lifeline in an era of economic uncertainty and recruiters should not underestimate this advantage.
Work-Life Balance: Innovative councils are finding ways to introduce flexible work arrangements, including the four-day work week
Diverse Opportunities: With roles spanning urban planning to environmental health, local councils offer many diverse opportunities, with clear progression paths.
All this needs to be communicated clearly to candidates.
Process Modernisation
Leveraging technology for online campaigns and streamlining application processes is imperative for councils to stay competitive. Embracing such change while ensuring a consistent employee experience not only aids recruitment but also reduces risks and enhances return on investment. Council successes, such as those highlighted in this local government recruitment case study, demonstrate the positive impact of embracing modern tools and strategies. It shows how campaign tools such as our Pay for Performance helped the council increase their application volume and improve their conversion rates, particularly in sectors requiring specialised skills.
Strategic Planning and Partnerships
Recruitment is not a one-off activity but an ongoing process that demands meticulous planning. Identifying current and future workforce needs and establishing the right partnerships with educational institutions and commercial organisations are strategic moves that can offer invaluable support to local councils.
The challenges facing local government recruitment are many but not insurmountable. By modernising processes, strategically highlighting the unique benefits of council jobs, and forming effective partnerships, local governments can attract and retain a skilled and committed workforce, thereby shaping the future of effective local governance.
First manufacturer to be recognised for unified video and access control software
Genetec Inc. (“Genetec”), a leading technology provider of unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions, has announced it is the first manufacturer to achieve the Cyber Assurance for Physical Security Systems (CAPSS) 2023 standard, for unified video and access control software. The specific solutions to be granted CAPSS approved status are Genetec Security Center Omnicast™, Genetec Security Center Synergis™ and the Genetec Synergis™ Cloud Link.
@GPSJ file image
Unlike its competitors, Genetec does not rely on third party integrations to provide video and access control through a single interface. This is significant as it not only streamlines deployment and maintenance of the system but also simplifies the process of CAPSS recertification for all parties.
In the UK, the prestigious CAPSS programme is jointly written by the UK’s two technical authorities; the National Protective Security Authority (NPSA) and National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). It was introduced in recognition that cyber-attacks are an ever-increasing threat to critical national infrastructure and aims to set the gold standard for the cybersecurity of physical security systems.
CAPSS certified technology is a requirement for high security government projects and is increasingly being specified in tenders for other critical national infrastructure (CNI) sectors, such as telecoms. It gives security managers confidence that the software and hardware solutions they select have strong and effective cyber mitigations at the core of their development and operation.
“Our Certification with CAPSS and equivalent standards is an essential element in demonstrating our comprehensive approach to cyber resilience,” explains Mathieu Chevalier, Principal Security Architect and Manager at Genetec. “Customers can be sure that the cybersecurity of physical security is hard baked into the design of our solutions”.
“We’re thrilled that consultants, channel partners and end users can now confidently specify Genetec for any deployment in which CAPSS certification is mandated or desired,” adds Paul Dodds, Country Manager, UK & Ireland at Genetec. “We are already very well established in the government and CNI sectors, where there’s a great need for trusted unified video and access control software that enhances cyber resilience.”
CAPSS is the latest in a growing list of certifications held by Genetec that demonstrate its unwavering commitment to cybersecurity and privacy. Others include ISO 27001 and 27017, the UL 2900-2 – level 3 standard, SOC 2 Type II and the European Privacy Seal.
For more information, about Genetec and its accreditations, please visit the Genetec Compliance Portal: Genetec Compliance Portal
Charis client services director Jonathan Hunt outlines the impact the Charis Shop platform is having on organisations working directly with the most vulnerable in their care.
Jonathan Hunt
Supporting vulnerable people in their homes is a fundamental aspect of community care, whether they are recovering after a stay in hospital, struggling with mental health issues, or are simply becoming overwhelmed by the additional financial burden imposed on them by higher energy bills, inflation and general increases in the cost of living.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks is simply ensuring that their homes are fit for purpose. Discharging an elderly patient who has no family support into a cold, empty house with an empty fridge is not an option. Housing a single mum in a home which is inadequately furnished with carpets, beds and kitchen appliances will simply add to the overall sense of anxiety. The time and resources that are needed by vulnerability teams involved in finding solutions do not represent the most cost-effective use of a hardship fund.
Charis is working increasingly with NHS Trusts and local authorities responsible for supporting those in the community who struggle with independent living. The rapid and secure distribution of a broad range of products and vouchers through its Charis Shop platform, can generate significant time and money savings on the allocation of the funding.
Energy and food vouchers make up the fundamentals of financial support, ensuring that at the very least individuals can keep warm and have a plate of hot food. Beyond this, the Charis Shop can be used to access the supply of clothes and soft furnishings (such as carpets, curtains, and bedding), furniture, small and large electrical appliances as well as emergency Winter Warmth and Heat the Home bundles containing everything you need to retain heat both personally and within the home.
Products are carefully selected to provide an immediate relief to the intense discomfort of living in poverty. Energy efficiency is also a key consideration. We have recently added air fryers to the Shop, which can cook at 20% of the cost of traditional ovens. The more we can help vulnerability teams to set their clients up to be as energy efficient as possible, the better the use of allocated resources in the long term.
One of our local authority partners recently explained how the Shop has become an essential tool in helping residents navigate the cost of living.
“We work with vulnerability teams across the council and voluntary sector. The Charis Shop enables these teams to offer food and or fuel vouchers as part of a more holistic approach to money advice and support. Because specific criteria are built into the front end of the system, the teams can make fast and accurate eligibility assessments, which allow them to quickly meet the immediate needs of residents”.
Something we have been increasingly conscious of recently is the issue of digital exclusion – both among elderly residents who have not had reason to incorporate smart technology into their lives, and for whom the cost of a device and internet access is prohibitive. Too often people miss out on financial support simply because they cannot access online applications. As one of our NHS partners recently commented: “With the recent addition of digital products to the Charis Shop, we have been able to help individuals with access to vital services, including DWP, the Home Office and mental health support”.
Improving the physical comfort of vulnerable people has a massive impact on their emotional wellbeing too. NHS teams understand how the stress of returning to cold, ill-equipped homes can impede recovery and the Charis Shop enables them to efficiently establish the right environment into which patients are discharged. One of our NHS partners recently sent us the following comment:
“I am the Clinical Matron for the Discharge Coordinator Team within my local Mental Health Trust. We are increasingly using the Charis Shop and it’s rapidly becoming an invaluable resource. With new products frequently becoming available, we are better able to plan discharges, reduce length of admission, and minimise delays where practicable, which in turn leads to a better patient experience. Some of our patients are unable to manage independent living and, as part of their discharge plans, we arrange various levels of supported accommodation for them. This often comes without basic amenities such as cookers, beds and furniture. Many of our patients are not in a financial position to purchase these items at once, so to be able to support them via the Charis Shop is hugely beneficial.
“We have been able to clearly demonstrate the benefits of the Charis Shop, and this has led to all three of our Integrated Care Board putting funding in place. This allows patients from across the county to access this resource and experience the positive impact it can have on them moving forward, whilst reducing the stress of financial hardship”.
Over the last year 48 local authorities have put £2.6 million through the Charis Shop platform, issuing vouchers for food, energy and other essential items, and equipping homes with quality furniture, soft furnishings and energy efficient electrical appliances.
By TechnologyOne UK executive vice president, Leo Hanna
Leo Hanna
Local government is facing a perfect storm. Funding pressures and demographic challenges are getting worse, councils are having to pursue modernisation amid economic volatility, and they are still recovering from the disruption caused by Covid-19. For some, this has been an accelerant to digital progress. For others, a blocker.
We partnered with Financial Times Longitude to survey 500 senior local government leaders across the UK to better understand how local authorities navigate the complexities of the digital landscape. In addition to the government leaders, a survey of 2,000 UK citizens was conducted to gauge sentiment on trust and satisfaction with digital services delivered by local government.
The resulting report, The new digital reality (and how not to get left behind) revealed that to navigate a path to progress, councils seek digital pragmatism – balancing value for money with joined-up services built on robust infrastructure. But to truly engage citizens in this new reality, an innovative digital experience will prove make or break.
The funding trap
One of the report’s key findings highlights a critical issue facing local councils: a gap between digital plans and the ability to fund them. A staggering 63% of councils identify this challenge. The Local Government Association is now warning that an “existential crisis” threatens the entire sector as inflation drives up wages and the cost of providing many services. Councils around the country have warned that they are close to bankruptcy, and some are now controlled by central government because of financial failures.
Unfortunately, this is becoming a recurring theme for local government. The report showed that more than half of local authorities in England plan to cut more services while raising council tax by the maximum possible amount, suggesting this list will only get longer in the months and years to come.
Thirteen years of budget pressures, more cuts expected, and rising resident demand for services amid the cost-of-living crisis are putting significant pressure on councils. It’s clearly time for new thinking and everything should be on the table. Part of the solution is digitisation. Ageing IT systems must be replaced by modern solutions capable of effective planning, budgeting, and forecasting.
Mission: digital
The report addresses a crucial aspect of local governance – citizen satisfaction with digital services. With only 41% of residents content with their council’s approach, our research shows there’s room for improvement. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the research shows that digital channels are key to enhancing employee productivity and citizen engagement, to meet the evolving needs and expectations of their residents and employees.
So local government leaders know they must find ways to do more with even less. But they are also aware that there is no room for error on IT investment. Local government wants to innovate, and the challenges of recent years have accelerated digitalisation. But ambition must be tempered with realism: digital solutions have to come with genuine and measurable benefits.
Smart and secure
In an era where cyber threats evolve rapidly, the report exposes a startling reality: 59% of councils have an outdated approach to cybersecurity. Despite the increasing risk of breaches, many local governments lag in adopting robust cybersecurity measures.
As we have seen over the last few years, cyber-attacks on councils are costly for taxpayers and pose a threat to democracy. We believe there is a role for government to provide funding to help local authorities invest in modern IT systems that act as a first line of defence against cyber criminals. This includes helping councils to move away from legacy, on-premise systems and upgrading to Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. Systems haphazardly patched together still deliver mission-critical services at local authorities across the country but they need to be urgently overhauled if they are to remain secure.
If you ask councils whether they would prefer to invest in frontline IT experts or teachers, the answer is clear. But the reality is that the cost of an incident can be catastrophic and have lasting financial impact on a local community. As costs and demand for services rise, modern software solutions can help to ease the burden, freeing up valuable resources when they are needed most.
In a world where digital transformation is no longer a choice but a necessity, local governments must lead the charge. The TechnologyOne and Financial Times Longitude report is a valuable guide for local authorities seeking to navigate the digital frontier successfully. As we stand at the intersection of technology and governance, the path forward requires bold steps and innovative solutions to create better, smarter, and more secure communities for all citizens, ensuring that no one gets left behind in this new digital reality.
The findings of the report will be explored with local government leaders in a series of events around the country this February bringing the stories, insights, and people behind our New Digital Reality report life. To register visit The New Digital Reality Launch Events.
TechnologyOne is a global Software as a Service (SaaS) company. Founded in Australia, we have offices across six countries. Our enterprise SaaS solution transforms business and makes life simple for our customers by providing powerful, deeply integrated enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. Over 1,200 leading corporations, government departments and statutory authorities are powered by our software.
Our global SaaS solution provides deep functionality for the markets we serve, including local government and higher education in the UK. For these markets we invest significant funds each year in R&D. We also take complete responsibility to market, sell, implement, support and run our solutions for our customers, which reduce time, cost and risk.
Introduction: In July 2018, Swindon Council embarked on a transformative journey in partnership with Matrix Workforce Management Solutions to address long-standing procurement challenges. Through a strategic collaboration, this case study delves into the successful transition from a master vendor solution to a neutral vendor model. The study highlights the problems faced by Swindon Council, the innovative solution devised by Matrix, and the remarkable outcomes achieved.
The Problem: For over 16 years, Swindon Council grappled with a Master Vendor solution that led to a concerning predicament. Over 50% of services were being procured off-contract, leading to inflated costs, lack of standardised processes, and compromised quality control. The absence of an effective tracking mechanism hindered proper management of services and posed potential quality risks.
The Solution: Recognising the need for a comprehensive solution, Matrix proposed a tailored Neutral Vendor managed service model. Collaborating closely with Swindon Council, Matrix ensured that the solution aligned seamlessly with their objectives. The implementation, conducted within an eight-week timeframe, was marked by the successful onboarding of all off-contract expenditures. This swift action yielded immediate and substantial cost savings. Through the standardisation of processes, a clearer view of spending patterns emerged, enabling better decision-making and allocation of resources. Furthermore, adherence to compliance protocols significantly reduced the risks associated with off-contract expenditures.
The Outcome: The transition from the traditional master vendor model to the innovative neutral vendor approach proved to be a resounding success for Swindon Council. By effectively addressing the challenge of off-contract spending, the council experienced noteworthy cost savings, streamlined processes, and elevated service quality. This shift not only positively impacted the financial bottom line but also bolstered service delivery and vendor management.
Key Results: Matrix’s partnership with Swindon Council yielded impressive results:
Over £4.5 million in cost savings
Creation of more than 4,000 placements
An average of 10 candidates per order
An exceptional fulfilment rate of 99%
An impressive 220% expansion of the supply chain
Conclusion: The collaboration between Swindon Council and Matrix Workforce Management Solutions stands as a testament to the potential for innovation and efficiency in the public sector. Through a well-designed transition from a Master Vendor to a Neutral Vendor model, the council achieved substantial savings, enhanced service quality, and improved vendor management. This case study serves as an inspiring example of how strategic partnerships can drive positive change and deliver tangible results in complex procurement environments.
By Kyran O’Mahoney, Chief Technology Officer– NCBI, National Council for the Blind in Ireland
As the digital era moves at an unprecedented pace, it presents a great opportunity for those with visual impairments to gain access to online assets that heretofore have been difficult to utilise. However, the Accessibility Index by the NCBI highlighted that progress is still needed, even among Ireland’s education websites and apps, many leading universities and secondary schools require additional steps to improve their digital accessibility.
Technological progress can allow those with visual impairments to engage in the world with much-improved autonomy. However, many institutions continue to trail in providing tools that deliver better digital experiences for the visually impaired. This technology should be a priority because removing hurdles and providing new resources makes life easier for the user.
For those with a visual impairment, navigating digital interfaces can be challenging, particularly for individuals dependent on-screen readers who rely on keyboard-based interaction. Web pages and applications lacking accessibility pose obstacles; it could be course enrolment, accessing content or joining virtual conversations or communities. Enterprises that fail to address these issues inadvertently alienate potential customers who cannot find the necessary information.
For accessibility to work effectively, it shouldn’t be an afterthought or just something to mark off a list when we create digital platforms or content. Accessibility should instead be at the centre of all decisions to ensure everyone can have digital access and control. When we design digital tools with everyone in mind, it helps all people use technology to a high standard. If organisations start including accessibility right from the start, they can make sure their products and services work well for all.
Making accessibility a priority means considering it from the start of any design process, particularly when selecting or designing digital platforms and content. Here are some top tips to help:
Vary formats: Provide information in different ways and formats, like audio, big print, or electronic Braille, to help others. This allows those who can’t see well to access information in the way that suits them.
Keyboard tools: Ensure you create websites using keyboard navigation to support special tools like screen readers to access and move through the content.
Visual support: Add captions to help people who can’t see well understand what’s in the pictures and follow videos.
Feedback: Test platforms and content on those with visual impairment to help find any issues. This can improve everyone’s accessibility.
The NCBI is determined to change these people’s lives. As Ireland’s agency for people who are blind or have trouble seeing, they work with 55,000 kids and adults nationwide, helping individuals live confidently and independently.
Through their work, NCBI knows it’s essential for everyone to be able to access the digital world and get to the content they need. Using Blackboard Learn from Anthology to help with this alongside Anthology Ally, they can change class materials into different types, like audio or electronic Braille. This lets learners get the class content in the most suitable format.
This technology makes a real difference to the people using it; one user said, “Being able to get class content in Braille made a big difference. Now I can use my electronic Braille tool without any problems.” This shows that technology that’s easy to use is essential for people who don’t see well.
Another area needing attention is social media platforms, which have created additional hurdles for those with visual impairments. In particular, image descriptions and accessible hyperlinks must be presented inclusively by incorporating image descriptions, appropriate hyperlinking and video captions to deliver true inclusivity.
Although there has been encouraging progress, to improve accessibility, there is significant work ahead. The Accessibility Index compiled by Inclusion Accessibility Labs highlights a growing necessity for enhanced digital accessibility and inclusiveness.
We know that technology has the opportunity to transform accessibility for individuals with visual impairments; to unlock and empower the user, organisations must prioritise accessibility thoroughly. By creating inclusive digital environments and adopting accessibility tools, we can bridge gaps, regardless of visual impairment.
Neil Darwin, Managing Director of Cambridge and Leeds-based economic and commercial development consultancy Deyton Bell, has been appointed to the Institute of Economic Development (IED) Board of Directors.
Neil Darwin
With over 30 years’ experience working in economic development, Neil has led Deyton Bell’s support for global public, private and not-for-profit organisations via consultancy, in-house and outsourced services since December 2020, having first joined the organisation in 2017.
Neil was formerly Chief Executive of Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough LEP and Opportunity Peterborough, the city’s urban regeneration company, and Managing Director of Regional Cities East. He specialises in strategy development, programme management, delivery and change management, developing organisational capacity and capability, and works with partners across the UK and Europe.
Having held a number of economic development roles across public and private sectors, and with extensive experience in political environments, Neil is aiming to bring a wealth of knowledge to support the IED’s mission for change.
“The economic development landscape is currently the most fractured I have known with a critical debate underway between growth and inclusion, with a need for rapid action to achieve net zero,” Neil said. “These macro challenges require the IED to have a strong national voice and exert influence as we move towards the next general election. Recent progress by the IED has been positive and the Grow Local, Grow National manifesto presents an important blueprint for the sector and government to grasp. The scale of the challenge facing the sector was my motivation for seeking a board position.”
Having been an IED member for around 25 years, Neil suggested that the Institute has “never been in better health” and that economic development is “as hot as it has been for a long time” as it rises to the forefront of the policy agenda.
“Throughout my career, operating around the country, I have developed strong insights into economic opportunities and threats impacting our towns, cities, rural and coastal communities,” he explained. “My work with various local authorities has shown that in an era of austerity, economic development capacity has diminished, yet those same authorities rely heavily on economic development to keep their communities prosperous and increasingly bring in new income. We are on the cusp of change, and the IED’s call for councils to be given statutory powers over economic development is the manifesto for delivering it.”
Neil added that “the next chapter for UK economic development is arguably the most important to date”, and he would also bring his specialist expertise in innovation, business support, infrastructure development and delivery, inward investment and skills to the Board.
The Chief Economist at Deyton Bell also reflected on his own experience as an IED member. “There is more value now than ever before,” Neil said. “Myself, and the Deyton Bell team, have attended different IED events and engaged in learning modules on the way. Connections are being facilitated above and beyond the Annual Conference, and we are seeing a more inclusive network, sharing of knowledge and experiences, as well as movement to influence national decision-making on economic development.”
IED Chair Tom Stannard added: “I am pleased to welcome Neil to the Board, not least given his vast experience working in economic development across public, private and government sectors, all of which make up IED membership.”
Workforce and digital expert brings a strong social care voice to the board’s debates and guidance for the dedicated health tech agency and its clients
Dr Jane Brightman has joined the Highland Marketing advisory board, to bring a strong social care perspective to its debates on health and care technology and the guidance it provides to the agency and its clients.
Dr Brightman, who recently became director of workforce strategy at Skills for Care after two-years as assistant director of programmes at NHS England, said: “I follow the discussions that you publish, and I am keen to bring the social care voice to them.
“The more we talk about social care, the more system leaders are likely to sit up and listen. Also, I want to make sure that we are talking about social care properly. That we are not just paying lip-service to ‘the NHS and care’, but recognising social care as an important sector in its own right.”
Dr Brightman started her career with the UK’s largest not for profit care provider, the Anchor Trust, and soon developed an interest in training and technology. She was director of a private training provider before moving to Skills for Care in 2016, where she worked on national workforce initiatives, qualifications, and learning.
Dr Brightman moved on ahead of the second wave of Covid-19, as the pandemic was leading to new interest in digitising social care, integrating health and social care, and using technology to support remote working and care for people in their own homes.
One of her concerns now is to make sure that momentum is reinvigorated. At NHS England, Dr Brightman worked on system reform and the digitising social care programme, which is aiming to get digital care records into 70% of providers by March.
NHS England is also driving ambitious programmes to create shared care records across England and to explore the potential of care tech. “Digitising in social care is moving in the right direction,” Dr Brightman said, “but there is a lot more to be done, particularly on interoperability and digital skills.
“Skills for Care is working on a workforce strategy for adult social care, and digital will be a big part of that, because we want to make sure that technology is used to support our fantastic social care workforce and the people they support.”
Highland Marketing is an established PR, marketing and content agency with more than 20 years’ experience in health and care tech and med tech. It employs or works with more than 30 experts in strategy, content campaigns, and sales acceleration.
The Highland Marketing advisory board is made up of NHS and industry experts. It holds regular debates on hot topics in health and care tech and provides advice and guidance to the agency and its clients on market issues and effective communications approaches.
Susan Venables, co-founder and client services director at Highland Marketing, said: “We are really pleased that Dr Brightman has agreed to join our advisory board.
“We had the privilege of working with her during the Covid-19 pandemic and were impressed with her knowledge of and commitment to social care. I am confident she will continue to be a strong and effective voice for her sector and look forward to hearing her perspective on health and social care digitisation as we head into an election year.”
“What is the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and what will be the impact on your business?” asks Claire Agutter as she discusses the new DORA regulations.
Claire Agutter
The watchdog organisation, Which?, has warned about the consequences of transitioning to digital payments, highlighting that many financial institutions report failures and outages daily. While major outages like TSB have gained attention in the news, Which emphasises that this is a daily occurring issue and urges consumers to be cautious, and the new DORA regulations should help financial institutions to minimise the risk of hefty fines, over £49m in TSB’s case.
DORA is a significant development in EU financial regulation – the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) – Regulation (EU) 2022/2554. DORA addresses a crucial gap in managing operational risk for financial institutions, focusing on the protection, detection, containment, recovery, and repair capabilities against ICT-related incidents. DORA is binding and directly applicable in all EU Member States as a Regulation, not a Directive.
In this article, Claire Agutter will discuss how financial institutions managed operational risk before DORA mainly through capital allocation, but this did not comprehensively cover all components of operational resilience. DORA introduces rules for managing ICT risk, incident reporting, functional resilience testing, and third-party risk monitoring. It acknowledges that ICT incidents and a lack of operational resilience can jeopardise the stability of the entire financial system.
The financial landscape in the European Union (EU) is on the verge of a transformative shift with the imminent arrival of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) – Regulation (EU) 2022/2554. This groundbreaking regulation aims to revolutionise financial institutions’ operational risk management, specifically focusing on the protection, detection, containment, recovery, and repair capabilities against ICT-related incidents. In this article, Claire will look at the significance of DORA for businesses beyond the financial sector, exploring its implications and offering practical tips for compliance.
Traditionally, financial institutions managed operational risk through capital allocation. However, this approach fell short of ensuring comprehensive operational resilience. DORA fills this crucial gap by introducing rules for managing ICT risk, incident reporting, functional resilience testing, and third-party risk monitoring. The acknowledgement that ICT incidents can jeopardise the stability of the entire financial system underscores the urgency and importance of DORA.
What does DORA Mean for Your Business?
DORA establishes uniform requirements for the security of networks and information systems supporting the business processes of financial entities. Its scope extends beyond traditional financial institutions, encompassing non-traditional entities like crypto-asset service providers and crowdfunding platforms. Third-party service providers like cloud and data centres are also brought under the regulatory umbrella. DORA sets a deadline of January 17, 2025, for compliance, necessitating a strategic and timely approach for businesses to align with the new standards. But the question many have is, where do I start? Here are six practical steps for DORA Compliance:
Review and Strengthen ICT Risk Management:
DORA places the responsibility on the management body of entities to define and execute appropriate ICT risk management strategies actively. Continuous risk assessments, cyber threat identification, and comprehensive frameworks are essential. As regulatory technical standards (RTS) are still being developed, businesses should stay informed and be prepared to align with forthcoming guidelines.
Establish Incident Reporting Procedures:
Covered entities must establish systems for monitoring, managing, logging, classifying, and reporting ICT-related incidents. The severity of incidents will dictate the necessity for reporting to regulators and affected parties. As rules on incident classification and reporting timelines are still pending, businesses should remain agile to adapt their incident reporting procedures accordingly.
Conducting DORA Testing:
Regular testing of ICT systems is a core requirement under DORA. Basic tests, vulnerability assessments, and scenario-based testing should be conducted annually. Financial entities with a critical role in the financial system must undergo threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) every three years. While technical standards for TLPTs are forthcoming, businesses should prepare for comprehensive testing to validate their systems’ resilience.
Monitoring and Managing:
One distinctive aspect of DORA is its extension to ICT providers servicing the financial sector. Financial entities must actively manage third-party ICT risk, negotiate specific contractual arrangements, and map dependencies. The European Commission is exploring standardised contractual clauses to facilitate compliance. Financial institutions must ensure their critical functions are not overly concentrated with a single provider, preparing for direct oversight from relevant ESAs for critical third-party service providers.
Informed and Engaged:
The evolving landscape of DORA requires businesses to stay informed about developments from European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). Engagement with ESAs will be crucial for understanding and implementing regulatory technical standards (RTS) and implementing technical standards (ITS) once finalised.
The NIS 2 Directive:
DORA’s intersection with the Network and Information Systems Directive (NIS 2) adds another layer of complexity. Businesses should proactively understand and navigate the relationship between DORA and NIS 2, ensuring compliance with both frameworks.
Navigating the New Regulatory Landscape
As DORA reshapes the regulatory framework for ICT risk management in the EU, businesses must adapt swiftly to ensure compliance. The collaborative efforts of financial entities, ICT providers, and regulatory bodies will play a pivotal role in fortifying the resilience of the entire financial system. By incorporating the practical tips outlined above, businesses can meet the new requirements, enhance their overall operational resilience, and minimise the risk of hefty financial fines in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
By Steve Haskew, Head of Sustainability and Social Leadership
Large and small businesses alike are finding themselves at a crucial time where many aspire to decarbonise their operations without denting revenue from their products and services. The recent Autumn Statement by Jeremy Hunt announced key initiatives to support businesses wanting to transition towards net zero. The extension of the Climate Change Agreement Scheme gives energy-intensive businesses like steel, ceramics, and breweries around £300 million of tax relief every year until 2033 to encourage investment in energy efficiency and support the net-zero transition. It is incredibly important, and thus reassuring, to see the government investing in their net-zero strategies – helping to build long-term resilience for the nation as we look to decarbonise. Here at Circular Computing, we have seen the immense benefits of decarbonising our operations and have helped other businesses realise the potential of remanufacturing their IT estates.
However, despite the chancellor’s positive outlook, businesses still encounter barriers that impede their progress on this decarbonisation journey. Recent data illustrates the true extent of such barriers – L.E.K. Consulting report has shown that three-quarters of UK business executives cite funding as a significant obstacle to their decarbonisation efforts. Furthermore, a survey of over 1,200 large organisations reveals that 82% of business leaders believe the UK’s energy crisis is adversely affecting their ability to meet decarbonisation targets, as reported by Schneider Electric.
Outside of funding, given the complexity of this landscape, many businesses, even if they have the right resources, are not sure where to start. Decarbonising your business’ operations should be simple, and there are ways enterprises can achieve this without breaking the bank. One of these ways is looking towards your IT estate and choosing tech that isn’t harming the planet.
Steve Haskew
The benefits of decarbonising your IT estate
There is a tendency to believe that when pursuing a journey of net zero, your business profitability will take a hit. There’s a perception that reducing emissions in your business is time-consuming and can have long-term financial impact. Despite these assumptions, there is more to gain than to lose through decarbonisation efforts for businesses. UK business leaders within sectors such as industrials, healthcare and energy have said that they have benefited majorly through reducing their emissions in key areas. These areas include energy efficiency and operating costs, where 53% of senior leaders have seen improvements in these areas. Moreover, if businesses of any size neglect decarbonising their operations, it can cost them and the economy in the long run. So much so a report by The Aldersgate Group found that neglecting industrial decarbonisation could cost the UK economy £224bn by 2050.
The obvious question from this is where businesses can start to decarbonise their operations. The answer is looking towards their IT estates. A study found that 80% of a laptop’s environmental impact stems from its production, not its use, with the IT industry representing 3.9% of the annual global greenhouse gas emissions by building new laptops. Not only is there an environmental case to transition away from brand-new hardware, but there is also a business case. By 2025, 75% of organisations will experience ongoing electricity shortages, accelerating the push for sustainable IT over buying brand new. Because of this prediction, it questions our take, make, use, and replace model that businesses deploy in their IT estates.
The alternative for businesses is a circular economy that invests in the remanufacturing of IT products over buying brand new. Construction giant Balfour Beatty saved over £1 million and reduced their environmental impact by purchasing 6,000 Circular Computing remanufactured laptops. Each time an organisation buys a remanufactured computer, they are guaranteed to see a drop in their CO₂ emissions, with a peer-reviewed scientific study by Cranfield University finding that a remanufactured laptop of ours produces over 15 times less CO₂ compared with an average new laptop.
Through investing in remanufactured tech, businesses not only help themselves decarbonise their IT operations, but also won’t see a drop in quality. Circular Computing’s extensive 5+ hour Remanufacturing Process and 360-point quality check deliver second-life laptops to clients certified as brand new with no extra cost to the environment. The WWF, through purchasing 560 remanufactured laptops, prevented 281 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent greenhouse gases from being released but were also guaranteed laptops that hadn’t dropped in quality or performance.
Getting started
At Circular Computing, we urge leaders to inspire others and make fundamental changes at the industry level, not just for their own operations. Decarbonising your business operations is not an easy task, but we wish to help those who want to make a start.
If you are a business looking to make a greater impact in becoming more climate-friendly, there are some useful tips that make a world of difference. By auditing your supply chains and knowing where your tech comes from, you can better understand whether your IT estate is sustainable for your business. Embracing a model that embraces reusing the whole laptop can allow fewer resources to be used up and one less laptop to be put on the pile of e-waste. Lastly, collaborating with third parties to measure your business carbon footprint can put you at ease and help you know if you are going in the right direction, in terms of decarbonising your IT estate.
To some businesses, it can be a mountainous task to reduce emissions, and each company across the UK has varied roadmaps towards the destination of net zero. It can be overwhelming to see other organisations within or outside of your industry making great strides in this area while you may be lagging behind. Yet, through businesses asking for help and supporting each other, as enterprises, we can help each other and make this transition to net zero easier and more efficient.
The Northamptonshire Sport installed solar and wind powered defib cabinet at Northampton Bike Park.
Turtle Defib Cabinets, which has a long partnership history with local authorities, emergency services and non-profits, has designed and engineered the UK’s first solar and wind powered defibrillator and bleed control cabinet. Northamptonshire Sport, one of 43 non-profit Active Partnerships focused on increasing physical activity levels, committed to setting a higher standard for saving lives when it installed a wind and solar powered defib cabinet in Northampton Bike Park in August 2023.
Defib cabinets must maintain a temperature above 0 degrees, although above 10 degrees is recommended; a solar and wind powered unit is therefore transformational for people in environments where an electricity supply may be restricted or cost-prohibitive to install – such as public and country parks and sports facilities.
As a pre-launch partner – along with Kington Golf Club, the highest 18-hole course in England – Northamptonshire Sport assisted with the final research stage, prior to the unit being available to purchase. Martin Barnwell, Strategic Director for Operations at Northamptonshire Sport, said: “It’s great to partner with Turtle on this project. The Bike Park has fast become a hub for cycling in Northamptonshire. Having the new defib and bleed kit on-site helps keep our visitors safer when they’re enjoying the trails and tracks.”
The Northamptonshire-based manufacturer, Turtle, undertook a two-year research and development period, which allowed them to engineer a product that successfully captures solar and wind power. Remote monitoring has also been developed to give cabinet custodians peace of mind day and night.
Mike Dowson, founder and Managing Director of Turtle with an installed solar and wind powered defib cabinet at Kington Golf Club
Defibrillator equipment is battery powered, but power is required to keep outdoor cabinets at the correct temperature, maintaining the life of the battery and efficacy of the equipment, including the defib pads. Cabinets are usually wired to an electrical source, but in remote areas or places where installation of an electric feed is cost prohibitive, solar powered cabinets have been used as an alternative. They are, however, fraught with issues, not least because of the UK’s limited winter sunlight and limitations of vertically placed panels.
Aided with funding from medical innovation support network Medilink UK, Mike Dowson, founder and Managing Director of Turtle and his team worked with The University of Warwick to conduct academic feasibility studies. He explains: “We not only identified that there was a gap in the market for a wind powered defib cabinet, but also that the solar products that were available are not designed in the most optimal way to harness solar energy. Our research and development over the last two years has ensured we could design, engineer and manufacture a failsafe defib and bleed control cabinet that will help to save lives in places where people were previously very vulnerable.”
Turtle’s innovative design negates the issues that current models present; the location and angle of the solar panel is optimal on Turtle’s cabinet, to help ensure a continuous supply of electricity. Nevertheless, research also discovered that in the UK winter, solar alone should not be relied upon to guarantee that defibrillator equipment would function correctly at all times. With wind power combined, the unit is not only failsafe, but it is also ideal for partly shaded locations and blustery environments.
Dowson continued: “Our design angles the solar panel in a way that maximises power from the sun’s rays, but also comprises a wind turbine to ensure the cabinet works when the UK weather is at its worst. The remote monitoring option provides a daily cabinet status, such as updates on environmental conditions, charge status, when the cabinet has been accessed or if there are any faults. If a wi-fi-enabled defibrillator model is selected, peace of mind can be gained without any manual cabinet checks.”
Bleed control kits do not need to be kept at a specific temperature. However, since Turtle engineered the first publicly accessible bleed control cabinet for The Daniel Baird Foundation bleed control kit, the company reports that the majority of its defib cabinet customers now select a combined unit. Local authorities – such as Mansfield Town Council, Tower Hamlets Council and Leicester City Council – are also placing bleed control kits inside legacy defib cabinets and Turtle provides an updated information sticker for the front of the cabinet is part of the service.The lifesaving packs were developed by West Midlands Ambulance Service and leading consultants from the Trauma Network and The Daniel Baird Foundation.
Dowson concluded: “The response from communities and users of Northampton Bike Park and members of Kington Golf Club has been fantastic and as you would expect, people have said they feel safer. When you know that every minute following a cardiac arrest decreases a person’s survival rate by 10 per cent – and you think about the ‘what if’ scenario – it’s hard to argue against the need for more public defib cabinets – wired or weather powered.”
Procurement experts Fusion21 has announced the suppliers successfully appointed to its national Building Improvements Framework worth up to £346 million over a four-year period.
Following a competitive tender process, a total of 70 specialist firms – 74% being SMEs, have secured a place on the framework which has been developed to support public sector organisations, including housing, education, and healthcare providers. The framework offers a wide range of internal and external improvement works from the installation of kitchens, bathrooms, windows and doors to roofing work. It has been enhanced to include four new dedicated lots covering damp and mould, external environmental improvements (such as fencing, driveways, walls, hard and soft landscaping), insulation, and aids and adaptations.
Peter Francis, Executive Director of Operations at Fusion21 said: “In response to member and supply chain feedback and in line with the proposed updates to the Decent Homes Standard, the renewed framework now covers even more aspects of building improvement. It is set up to help tackle problems such as damp and mould as well as issues with major components like roofs, windows, doors, kitchens and bathrooms, hard and soft landscaping and aids and adaptations.
“In addition to working with a team of technical procurement experts, Fusion21 members accessing this offer will benefit from a compliant and efficient route to market, flexible call-off options and geographical coverage across the UK, down to a regional and local level.
“As with all Fusion21’s frameworks, the Building Improvements Framework will also support our members to deliver social value to their communities, aligned to their organisational priorities.”
Successful suppliers appointed to Fusion21’s national Building Improvements Framework:
A. Connolly Limited, Amber Construction Services Limited, Arc Group London Limited, Architectural Decorators Limited, Aspect Group Services Limited, Axis Europe Plc, AYM (Services) Limited, BAAS Construction Limited, Bell Group Ltd, Breyer Group Public Limited Company, C.L.C. Contractors Limited, Carroll Group Limited, Chas Berger Limited, Chigwell (London) Limited, Clark Contracts Limited, Combined Facilities Management Ltd, CTS Projects Limited, DLP Services (Northern) Limited, Ecosafe Heating Limited, Emanuel Whittaker Limited, Esh Construction Limited, Etec Contract Services Limited, Fortem Solutions Limited, Frank Rogers (Building Contractor) Limited, FWJ Limited, Guildmore Ltd, Ian Williams Limited, Jackson, Jackson & Sons Limited, Jeakins Weir Limited, Kier Services Limited, Lawtech Group Limited, LCB Group Holdings Limited, Lovell Partnerships Limited, M & J Group (Construction & Roofing) Ltd, M&R Heating Services Northwest Limited, M&Y Maintenance & Construction Limited, M.D. Building Services Limited, Mascott Construction (Europe) Ltd, Maurice Flynn & Sons Ltd, Milestone Contracting Limited, Morgan & Bond Limited, Mulalley & Co. Limited, Niblock (Builders) Limited, Oxford Direct Services Trading Limited, P. Casey & Co Limited, P. Casey (Land Reclamation) Limited, P.K. Murphy Construction Limited, Penny Lane Builders Limited, PiLON Limited, Piperhill Construction Limited, Polyteck Building Services Limited, Quinn (London) Limited, R & M Williams (Holdings) Limited, R. Benson Property Maintenance Limited, Re-Gen (UK) Construction Limited, Saltash Enterprises Limited, Seddon Construction Limited, SERS Energy Solutions Group Limited, Sterling Services (Northern) Limited, Surefire Management Services Limited, Sustainable Building Services (UK) Limited, T Brown Group Limited, T.S.G. Building Services Plc, Thomas Sinden Limited, Topcoat Construction Limited, United Living (South) Limited, Ups Building & Maintenance Limited, Wates Property Services Limited, Wright Build Ltd, WRPS Group Limited.
Sodexo UK & Ireland is proud to announce that colleagues from its Government business, which has worked alongside and supported the UK Armed Forces both in the UK and overseas for many years, have been recognised by the award of his personal commendation by the Vice Chief of Defence Staff (VCDS), General Gwyn Jenkins CB OBE ADC.
Caption: Sodexo’s contract team in Cyprus were also among the winners at Sodexo’s annual Spirit of Sodexo Awards dinner, held at ACC Liverpool in December
Christina Williams, Deputy Contract Manager for Sodexo in the Falkland Islands, has been awarded a VCDS Commendation for her exceptional service to the MoD. Her 27-year commitment, working in the Falkland Islands for Sodexo and supporting UK Armed Forces on the islands, is marked by outstanding leadership and selfless dedication, positively impacting thousands of lives. Christina’s impact has extended beyond her professional role, exemplified by her significant charitable contribution and her proactive approach during a number of crisis response events, the Covid-19 pandemic as well as working with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) on sustainable solutions for waste generated on the islands.
The DIO team at headquarters British Forces Cyprus and Sodexo’s contract team in Cyprus were collectively honoured with a VCDS Commendation for their collaboration and support in Operation Polar Bear. The team played a crucial role during the summer of 2023 in the largest UK non-combatant evacuation operation during a crisis, providing essential welfare services and sustenance to over 2,400 British nationals evacuated from war-torn Sudan as well as supporting the additional 2,000 service personnel stationed on the island to support the evacuation.
VCDS Commendations are awarded twice a year, alongside the state honours and awards, to individuals and teams who have performed outstanding service to the MoD.
Mark Baker, Chief Operating Officer Defence, Sodexo UK & Ireland told GPSJ:“I would like to congratulate Christina, the team in Cyprus and the in-flight catering team at RAF Brize Norton. These commendations reflect not only the individual excellence of our team members but also the collective spirit, collaborative ethos and commitment of Sodexo in support of the UK’s Armed Forces.
“Our involvement in such critical operations, which has spanned four decades of support to the British military, showcases our agility, adaptability and resilience, especially in challenging times. This recognition underlines the positive impact our people have within the communities they live, work and serve and the outstanding delivery of services, even under the most demanding circumstances.”
Both Christina and the Cyprus team were also among the winners at Sodexo’s annual Spirit of Sodexo awards dinner, held at ACC Liverpool in December, which celebrated a year of outstanding achievements and excellence across its business. Christina was awarded the lifetime achievement accolade and the Cyprus team was recognised with the CEO award.
Meanwhile, the In-flight Catering Team at RAF Brize Norton, Hestia South, has been awarded an Air Officer Commanding 2 Group commendation by Air Vice-Marshal Suraya Marshall for their collective work. The team worked selflessly in partnership with station military personnel to sustain operational tempo whilst supporting a myriad of global operations, including Operation Polar Bear.
Drainage engineers from Lanes Group plc are responding to calls for help across England and Wales as businesses are threatened by flooding caused by Storm Henk.
Lanes teams are extremely busy as flooding continue to cause major problems, with call-outs particularly high in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Gloucestershire, Avon, and South Wales.
Lanes Derby Area Development Manager Chris Norbury said: “We’re doing all we can to help our customers, responding to flooding affected shops, warehouses, offices and factories, and assisting local councils in their flood recover work.
“There is a lot of standing water across car parks and hard standing areas which is making it difficult for businesses to trade. At this stage it’s a process of firefighting a problem, doing the best we can to support customers.
“Once the waters recede, there will be more to be done to clean up areas and remove silt and other debris that will have been washed into surface water drainage systems.
“In some cases, foul sewer systems will also have surcharged, so some businesses will be faced with contamination from raw sewage.”
Heavy rains test surface water drainage systems to the limit. Weaknesses in the system, such as blockages in downpipes or in car park slot drains and gullies, can quickly trigger localised flooding, added Chris Norbury.
Storm Henk is the latest in a series of adverse weather events to hit the UK in recent weeks. Persistent heavy rainfall has left the ground waterlogged and rivers bursting their banks.
In areas with the highest flood risks, this has left water with nowhere to go, resulting in flooding.
On the morning of Friday 5th January, the Environment Agency had issued 285 live flood alerts across England, while Natural Resources Wales had 19 live flood alerts. There are no flood alerts in Scotland.
Kyle Burgess, Area Development Manager for Lanes Cardiff, said: “We are very busy supporting customers who have been affected by flooding or are concerned about the risk of surface water flooding affecting their premises.
“Our jet vac tankers are able to over-pump surface water into nearby clear-running stormwater drains and remove sewage that may have flooded buildings and take it for safe disposal at an authorised waste site.”
Where circumstances and available resources allow, it may also be viable to deploy tankers to vacuum surface flood water and take it for safe disposal at an authorised waste site.
Kyle Burgess added: “However, where an area’s entire surface water systems is overloaded, there is so much excess water that there can be limited options, in the short-term for clearing it from a particular location.”
In some instances, it looked like the disruption – for example flood water blocking car parks and access roads – could have been avoided if the site’s surface water system had been clear and flowing.
This demonstrates the value of preparing for what are expected to become more regular periods of volatile weather, caused by climate change, by carrying out appropriate planned and preventative drainage maintenance.
Lymington-based WAN Acceleration firm Bridgeworks has done it again. The company has been awarded the accolade of Networking Communications Project of the Year at the SDC Awards 2023, after having also being a finalist in Computing’s Cloud Excellence Awards, and in the UK IT Industry Awards. This is adding to the company’s award for the Data Centre ICT Networking Innovation of the Year at the DCS Awards 2023, which it has won consecutively on several occasions previously.
Bridgeworks patented artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies accelerate the performance and efficiency of organisations’ existing technologies across their Wide Area Networks (WANs). Bridgeworks PORTrockIT WAN Acceleration dramatically improves data throughput up to 98% of bandwidth – regardless of distance.
Collecting their award (left to right) are Antony Reynolds – VP and Global Channels Leader, Pippa Hodgson of Bridgeworks, David Trossell – CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks, and Lead Journalist – Business and Technology, Graham Jarvis of Trudy Darwin Communications who is part of Bridgeworks’ P.R. agency’s team.
David Trossell, CEO and CTO, of Bridgeworks Ltd, commented after the award win: “It’s such a great pleasure to be awarded and to be recognised by the IT industry for the unique work we do, insofar as mitigating the effects of latency and packet loss with WAN transmission. Our technology demonstrates that artificial intelligence and machine learning can be a force for good – particularly in healthcare, government and public sector more widely where large volumes of data often need to be transferred.”
National Institutes of Health
This includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US. WAN Acceleration powers the National Institutes of Health’s global data transfer requirements at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. It rates as the world’s largest biomedical research agency. The National Institutes of Health has gone from never being able to achieve the required disaster recovery replication between datacentres, to be able to consistently meet their demanding requirements.
The NIH was struggling to able to address this issue for a couple of years. NetApp and Aspera couldn’t achieve this reliably . Bridgeworks was brought in to conduct a quick proof of concept (POC) that took a couple of days to set it up, and then that was it. The difference between running a NetApp Snap Mirror replication across two machines within the same datacentre and between the two machines separated across two datacentres 2,000 miles apart over a 10Gb WAN was just 6 MB/s.
The savings come not only come from the time reduction in replicating their data, but also in the confidence they now have in protecting their data. Bridgeworks has also helped NIH to resolve a number of network infrastructure issues that had plagued them for a number of years. Although very successful, we can’t fully disclose the results into the public domain. Yet, it is a substantial multi-million US dollar contract. Moreover, US-based company, CVS Caremark, connected two virtual tape libraries over 2,860 miles at full WAN bandwidth, and achieved a performance gain of 95 times the unaccelerated performance.
Maximise bandwidth
Steven Umbehocker (SU), CEO and CTO of OSNEXUS Corporation further explains why being able to mitigate latency and package, as well as having the ability to maximise bandwidth, is important to organisations that are accelerating their adoption of hybrid cloud strategies: “This can be in the form of object storage for backup and disaster recovery sites, which all puts a greater importance on the efficient use of the WAN. This is important across all sectors. However, it is especially important in sectors such as healthcare to protect data like PACS images.”
Umbehocker’s company was one of the key case studies to Bridgeworks’ award entries. He particularly feels that WAN Acceleration is critical to improving Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) in an environment where organisations have to take cyber-security and data protection compliance very seriously. He says it’s imperative to have adequate WAN bandwidth to store data quickly, and to restore it when it’s needed – particularly in a disaster recovery situation. This is the case whether caused by humankind or by natural disaster. Efficient remote replication to disaster recovery sites also depends on it.
OSNexus is also seeing increase demand for metro clusters, where the storage is distributed across multiple sites to achieve zero downtime in the event of a site outage. Umbehocker adds:
“That’s only possible when the latency is low enough to provide sufficient and adequate performance for the workloads. PORTrockIT solves these latency issues so that metro clusters and DR sites can be deployed across a much larger geographic area. If you have an earthquake in one zone, that larger metro cluster offers benefits. You can avoid downtime, enabling organisations to link their disparate sites together. There is much latency between New York and Tokyo, and so you need something like PORTrockIT to mitigate latency.”
With high latency and packet loss, he explains that data transfers are delayed and may need to be present, which reduces performance – the transfer rate. WANs are typically spanning portions of the public internet and/or shared dark fibre infrastructure that IT organisations don’t have much control over, and simply upping bandwidth doesn’t address the latency issues. A different approach is required to boost WAN performance – designed to specifically address inherent latency issues and packet loss.
Successful year
As recently highlighted in GPSJ, this year has been a successful year for Bridgeworks. It saw the company travelling to the British Embassy in Washington DC to participate in a Thought Leadership AI programme seminar and reception. A select number of British companies were invited to showcase their artificial intelligence (AI) and zero trust architecture (ZTA) solutions. The welcoming speech was delivered by Jamie Eykyn, Chairman of Bridgeworks.
In his speech in Washington, he said: “The world of technology has advanced immeasurably in the 50 years since I was involved developing digital ticketing systems. From point solutions to specific problems, to integrated management systems. Nowadays, there’s also the deployment of advanced AI and cloud-based high-speed communications and compute, and the ability to co-ordinate a multitude of activities from a bewildering number of data collection points in virtual real-time across – for example – a battlefield.” WAN Acceleration is therefore highly flexible.
For years David Trossell has supported for the promotion of women in technology by backing Brockenhurst College’s STEM Awards. More to the point, with regard to the SDC Awards, he stepped aside to give the limelight to Pippa Hodgson, a software development engineer who works as part of Bridgeworks’ research and development team. Trossell concludes by wishing her and everyone else a happy and prosperous new year in 2024. No doubt more awards, more award wins and more successful projects will be in the offing then.
The findings of an internal audit review into the use of Scottish Government electronic purchase cards (ePC) have been published.
The review was commissioned by the First Minister following the public release of significant amounts of ePC spending data in August.
The review was undertaken by auditors in the Scottish Government Directorate for Internal Audit and Assurance, who have recommended improvements to policy and guidance, including enhanced monitoring and reporting, as well as a review of card usage and limits, and of categories of exclusions and out-of-scope expenditure.
The Permanent Secretary has also indicated that corporate guidance should be reviewed and updated to reflect the principle that all staff ‘away days’ should be carried out within public sector venues, with any exceptions requiring senior (director-level or above) approval of an appropriate business case.
An on-going review of the number of card holders has already resulted in a reduction of just under 10% since the summer, while mandatory training and follow-up refresher training will also be given to everyone with ePC responsibilities.
Electronic purchase cards are routinely used by the Scottish and UK Governments to pay for low value items such as catering, one-off supplies and training.
The Internal Audit team reviewed 194 transactions that had been the focus of reporting or commentary in news and social media. The audit of this sample found that all but one were appropriate expenditure under the current ePC policy. The transaction that was not appropriate was not made by the cardholder and was identified via banking system controls as fraudulent and the expenditure was refunded.
Among the purposes of the transactions identified through the audit were:
Nail polish; used by Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) to distinguish items of glassware to prevent cross-contamination. Nail polish has to be used for this purpose under chemistry standard operating procedures.
Driving theory tests; these tests form part of the advanced driving course provided to staff who, as part of their job, spend a significant amount of time driving to rural and remote locations in Scotland.
Pregnancy tests; must be included as part of a ship’s medical stores for Marine Scotland vessels under Merchant Shipping legislation.
Asda Christmas purchases; Christmas lunch for Marine Scotland vessel crew working on Christmas Day.
Public Finance Minister Tom Arthur told GPSJ:
“The Scottish Government is focused on delivering the best value for money for taxpayers – something that is particularly important during a cost-of-living crisis, where both household and public sector budgets are tight. That is why the First Minister commissioned a review into ePC spending to ensure we have the right procedures in place.
“It is reassuring that the review concludes that the transactions audited were all appropriate under the current ePC policy, with the only exception being a fraudulent transaction carried out by a third party. I welcome the recommendations which aim to strengthen processes, including reviewing what may or may not be purchased through ePC, as well as improved monitoring and mandatory training.
“The use of ePC is standard practice across governments and it is vital that policies and guidance on usage remain as robust and transparent as possible. This will ensure civil servants can continue to carry out their daily duties effectively while maintaining the best use of public funds.”
SolarWinds Vice President, Government Affairs Chip Daniels
In early December 2020, nation-state threat actors exploited SolarWinds software in an unprecedented cyberattack – an event known today simply as SUNBURST.
It shone a light on the concerning new reality for the software industry – that previously unforeseeable attacks were becoming increasingly sophisticated, striking at the heart of the supply chains we all rely on.
SUNBURST was the first cyberattack to demonstrate this dangerous threat escalation. There have been many incidents since then that have highlighted both the scope and persistence of these cyberthreats, as well as the negative impacts they’re capable of inflicting.
Chip Daniels
If there is any good to be gleaned from this incident, it’s that the attack sounded an alarm for leaders everywhere to re-examine their security, prepare for threats, and raise the standards of the supply chain.
Three years on and it’s not just SolarWinds that has learned lessons from this incident. The global world of business and commerce, the IT industry, governments – in fact, everyone with a vested interest in the safety and security of their data and systems security – are implementing measures to address the weaknesses that these types of supply chain attacks uncovered.
Building security from the ground up
Protecting the supply chain starts with the entire IT industry ensuring that it builds secure software by default. By ensuring security is built in from the ground up, it will enable the entire industry to stay vigilant and safeguard our collective cyberinfrastructure.
A strong security foundation also requires having the right teams in place to monitor threat levels and ensure they have a cybersecurity incident playbook ready for any type of coordinated response. Why? Because the next attempted coordinated attack is just around the corner.
As an industry, we must ensure we address the ongoing cyber skills shortage so that we have enough skilled people to make our systems robust enough to keep them safe.
And yet, despite all the good work that is being done, the fact remains that it is almost impossible for any single company or organisation – working in isolation – to thwart persistent cyberattacks carried out by motivated and well-funded nation-state attackers.
That’s why it’s imperative that we come together – private and public sector – to strengthen our security efforts.
Securing cyber defences with public/private collaboration
We need to promote transparent and open information-sharing within the industry. One of the first things we advocated following SUNBURST was the prioritisation of transparent communication.
Not just with the industry and our customers, but as part of a wider collaboration with U.S. government agencies, so that we could understand what happened to help the entire industry be safer.
It’s an approach we believe should be replicated in every corner of the globe. Today, private companies and governments must form a two-way partnership and work together to negate cyberthreats.
Only by doing so can we ever hope that our digital world – used for trade, e-commerce, finance, healthcare, education, and so much more – can become a safer place to operate.
By collaborating and sharing our knowledge and experiences we can build a strong defence against well-organised and funded adversaries. This is imperative as modern threat actors have developed new tools and techniques with greater speed and sophistication than ever before.
Collaboration is key to ongoing security
This collaboration also extends to the way we train the people that keep us safe. As I mentioned earlier, we need to embrace education models to allow more cybersecurity professionals to enter the market, as the entire industry is experiencing a lack of qualified individuals to fill cybersecurity roles.
One way to do this is for software companies to increase incentives for young professionals and implement training among tech communities.
If SUNBURST taught us one thing it is this – the industry has learned that no one company, organisation, or government can stand alone against these threats. We’ve discovered that coordinated disclosure of incidents – and transparent, prompt information-sharing – helps protect us all. Over the last three years, I’m pleased to say that I’ve started to see the industry embrace a greater level of transparency and collaboration between public, private, and government organisations for our shared benefit. We just need more.
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