GBS WORLD NEWS | WEEK 1 | JULY 2023
Nearshore Americas recently published their Nearshore Value Index 2023, which depicts where IT and BPO investments are generating the best returns. The report identified Belize in Central America as the number-one BPO value destination for 2023. The country ranked higher than other favorite destinations in the region, including Jamaica and Mexico, likely due to its affordability, geographical proximity to the US market, and high population of native English speakers.
PwC Australia has fired eight partners in relation to a tax leak scandal, where confidential government tax plans were leaked by a former partner in January this year. The accounting giant has undertaken an extensive investigation following the leak, to identify and rectify any further issues of misuse of confidential information.
And speaking of coming under fire, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is embroiled in a job scandal involving some of their third-party recruitment firms. The Indian-based IT services and consulting company announced that six employees (along with six associate firms) have been banned due to ethical misconduct. This follows off the back of whistleblower allegations earlier this year that executives were accepting bribes for jobs.
In Birmingham, United Kingdom, Sigma Connected, a customer contact solutions and BPO provider, hosted a tour of its firm for the Mayor of the West Midlands. The company – which has experienced significant expansion, now employing 5,000 individuals from the UK, Australia, and South Africa – invited the Major to discuss growth and investment plans and community initiatives.
The United Kingdom has organized a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, for their first-ever meeting on the international security risks and potential threats of artificial intelligence (AI). The meeting, to be held later this month, will have representatives from around the globe as well as international AI experts.
And in related AI news, ScopServ, a provider of IT solutions in South Africa, recently released a whitepaper discussing the impact of AI on the state of customer experience in South Africa. The paper unpacks the current landscape and trends of AI in the country, and it provides insights into the benefits and challenges of collecting customer data through AI.
Canadian-based BPO company, Integrated Financial Technologies (IFT), recently won the 2023 CUSTOMER Contact Center Technology Award, issued by CUSTOMER magazine. The award shows recognition for the company’s IFT Ignite platform, which combines AI with leading industry tools to empower agents in their delivery of quality customer experiences.
Globally, the medical billing outsourcing (MBO) market is estimated to reach US$40.3 billion by 2032. This prediction comes from The Brainy Insights’ recently published market research report. The increase in demand for software solutions in the medical industry is expected to cause significant market expansion in combination with increasing government efforts to effectively manage digital health data.
