Industry News
LSIS: Learning and Skills Improvement Services provides news from the Excellence Gateway with 2 case studies highlighting good e-practice:
BIS: A new report sets out details of the manufacturing parts & products that car makers want to source from the UK, but are not currently buying here. The report identifies some of the reasons for this, where purchasing decisions are made and where the UK has the potential capability to meet this currently untapped demand.
Companies in the UK are already winning more than £7bn of work annually from vehicle makers, but there are clear opportunities to grow this business. Using data collected from vehicle manufacturers & supply chain companies, the report identifies the opportunities with a new purchasing wish list of interior & exterior vehicle parts from manufacturers.
Vince Cable also welcomed the news that JLR’s Evoque (which starts production in July 2011 backed by a government offer of support of up to £26m) has resulted in supply chain contracts worth £2bn being awarded to 40 manufacturers across the UK.
ScotGov: A 3-year contract for water & waste water services has been awarded to Business Stream after the Scottish Government tendered the first national water contract to maximise value for money in the public sector. It is estimated that between £18.6m and £24.5m of savings will be delivered throughout the contract, which begins on 1 April 2011. It represents around 20% of the Scottish market. The £220m contract also provides a range of additional services to support the reduction in water usage across the public sector.
Since 2008, ScotGov has developed & implemented procurement strategies for national commodities on behalf of all Scottish public sector organisations. It has already, for example, delivered national procurement contracts for the bulk-buying of gas & electricity that meets over 98% of public sector demand in Scotland, while providing annual savings of around £10m for electricity and £5m for gas.
WAG: Wales is establishing itself as a world leader in the use of digital technologies to improve patient safety and the quality of health & social care, the Health Minister, Edwina Hart claimed last week. Significant investment has been made in delivering an integrated digital healthcare service, which puts the needs of patients at the centre of service delivery.
£4.7m has been invested in creating the Individual Health Record (IHR) system – which will allow healthcare professionals working in local Out of Hours Services to see a summary of a patients GP record.
Mrs Hart said the development of the IHR has been commended by international experts from as far afield as Canada, the USA, continental Europe and New Zealand, who have described the achievements in Wales as ‘a model for how to run a successful national ICT Programme’.
Mrs Hart said the development of the IHR has been commended by international experts from as far afield as Canada, the USA, continental Europe and New Zealand, who have described the achievements in Wales as ‘a model for how to run a successful national ICT Programme’.
MoD: The ParachuteTraining School at RAF Brize Norton recently opened a new virtual reality parachute trainer which uses the latest digital imagery to create a realistic virtual world in which to train Service personnel. The new trainer allows parachute students to be suspended by harnesses and wear virtual reality goggles to practise jumps in a range of realistic environments.
They can also simulate emergency situations so that the parachutist can practise drills realistically in the safety of the simulation. The performance can be recorded on video so instructors can provide feedback to improve skills.
EU News: Last week the European Commission launched the EGNOS “Safety-of-Life” service for aviation. The EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service) system enables precision approaches and renders air navigation safer as well as helps reducing delays, diversions and cancellations of flights.
In addition the free-to-use technology allows airports to increase their overall capacity and cut operating costs. EGNOS also enables the planning of shorter, more fuel efficient routes which will reduce the CO2 emissions of the industry.
EGNOS is a satellite-based augmentation system which improves the accuracy of GPS signals across Europe and is the precursor of Galileo, the global satellite navigation system being developed by the European Union.
Press release and related links
OS: Last week, Ordnance Survey held an event at its new head office to reveal the second phase of its new pricing & licensing model to current Licensed Partners, which aims to enable greater access to its products and geographic datasets under a simplified structure.
The second phase saw the launch of two new contracts, available for use from 1 April 2011, to build upon the practice of making fewer, broader licences covering commercial activities. The new contracts are the Printed Products contract and the View, Tracking and Scheduling contract.
Press release and related links
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