Successful UK network to launch in Sheffield following £260,000 investment deal.
In a survey of over 650 Sheffield-based professionals aged 25 - 45, conducted by CitySocialising, results showed that over 84% of those who had moved to Sheffield within the last 2 years, arriving with no social network in place, found integrating into city life a "slow" and "difficult" process. Meeting new people in Sheffield, they commented, was “not as easy as they thought it would be.” Over 90% welcomed a network in Sheffield to help connect them with new local friends to explore the city's "fantastic" social and cultural scene with.
Plus, 56% of the local professionals in this age group that had lived in the area for more than two years, stated that they would be keen to find new friends in Sheffield, to go out with outside their usual social and work circles. The main reasons given were because their friends were moving out of the city, were settling down and having children or simply because they had too little time to organise their social lives and that there was no easy way to meet new people from their local area within the city.
Throughout March and April 2009, CitySocialising, the UK's leading online and offline social network for outgoing professionals, embarked on the research-finding mission in Sheffield to find out about the views and experiences of young professionals in the city ahead of its plans to launch a network in the city in July 2009, following a quarter of a million pound investment deal.
CitySocialising’s growth plans amidst the tough economic climate signal a step away from virtual networking, where users can accumulate thousands of online “friends”, towards making genuine, real world connections and harnessing the power of the internet to reinvigorate local communities and networks.
The views of those polled in Sheffield reflected the opinions of CitySocialising's 50,000+ members based across 12 UK cities ( with Sheffield being one of seven new cities being launched in June and July 2009) Sanchita Saha, CEO of CitySocialising commented:
“Sheffield is such a vibrant city with lots going on and the people we've met here are incredibly friendly and welcoming and socialising in Sheffield,is a lot of fun. But, as with all cities, the fast pace and transient nature means it can still be difficult to integrate and meet people from your local community. We provide people who are new to Sheffield,a fun and easy way to socialise with other people that have the same interests as them.”
“Plus, the older and busier you get the more difficult it becomes to meet new friends outside your usual network. The results of our research has given us confidence that the network will do a lot of good in the city. Our fast growing member-base across the UK and the recent investment are a great indicator that the CitySocialising network is one that is providing a valuable service and a refreshing, real world alternative to online social networking and meeting friends in the virtual world.
Throughout the whole of June and July 2009, they will be hosting a series of 14 launch events across the UK for both new and existing cities. The Sheffield date has been confirmed for Thursday 16th July at the Riverside Bar. Visit http://sheffield.citysocialising.com for a free invite to the launch event.
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Credit crunch-councils fight back to improve citizens' services
Wycombe District Council and Northgate Public Services today announce that they have formed an innovative, incremental partnership which will improve customer services in Wycombe. The agreement will see the establishment of a Regional Shared Services Centre designed to advance and promote transformation of council processes across the South East.
From Monday 6th July 2009 Northgate took over responsibility for the management of Wycombe’s Customer Service Centre. Under Northgate’s leadership, employees will benefit from improved investment and support, as their skills and capabilities are developed to meet changing demand.
The partnership is focused on radically improving customer experience and supporting business processes within the council. It will help to increase residents’ satisfaction at a time when services are under extreme pressure and unprecedented demand. It will enable customers to benefit from service enhancements and the Council to radically improve the way it deals with enquiries with improved response times, better information processing, and customer service.
The partnership will not only deliver immediate efficiencies to the Council, in the longer term, it will proactively seek other public service and not for profit organisations as additional partners to develop the Regional Shared Services Centre. It is anticipated that this could bring in substantial revenues coupled with guaranteed cost savings over the course of the five year partnership. The success of the Regional Shared Services Centre will also help to boost jobs in the town.
This partnership builds upon a successful ICT managed services relationship between Wycombe District Council and Northgate which has already delivered productivity gains from service level consistency. The proposed centre is the first of a number of regional excellence centres planned by Northgate as one of its responses to the challenges faced by the public sector over future years. The centres are aimed at providing public bodies and community organisations with new opportunities to radically overhaul business processes, improve services, and generate cost efficiencies through economies of scale and shared resources.
Councillor Roger Colomb, Wycombe District Council’s cabinet member for procurement and customer services said today: “This partnership is first and foremost about delivering positive outcomes for our residents. Wycombe District Council is committed to providing excellent customer service. We recognise that we have to improve the way that we engage and deliver services to our residents in these difficult economic times. At the heart of what we are doing are major service improvements combined with value for money for our council taxpayers.
“We are delighted to be working with Northgate on this innovative, joint venture, and in the longer term, we are hopeful that ultimately other authorities, public services and community-based organisations in the South East will work with us to make the Regional Shared Services centre a major success.”
Joe Bradley, Managing Director, Citizen Services, Northgate Public Services, said today: “These are difficult times for councils across the UK. They are faced with increased demand and extreme pressure on resources. People not only want more but better services. We are committed to transforming the way that services relate to people and their needs, and to reaching out to the most disadvantaged in our communities.
“Wycombe Council shares our values and our vision. We are delighted that it has chosen to become part of our South East Regional Service Centre. Over the next year, we aim to establish regional centres of customer excellence throughout the UK. These will help public bodies deliver better services for less and provide guaranteed cashable savings over the lifetime of a contract. So long as councils like Wycombe wake up to the challenge, they can deliver the successful services that their communities have a right to expect.”
From Monday 6th July 2009 Northgate took over responsibility for the management of Wycombe’s Customer Service Centre. Under Northgate’s leadership, employees will benefit from improved investment and support, as their skills and capabilities are developed to meet changing demand.
The partnership is focused on radically improving customer experience and supporting business processes within the council. It will help to increase residents’ satisfaction at a time when services are under extreme pressure and unprecedented demand. It will enable customers to benefit from service enhancements and the Council to radically improve the way it deals with enquiries with improved response times, better information processing, and customer service.
The partnership will not only deliver immediate efficiencies to the Council, in the longer term, it will proactively seek other public service and not for profit organisations as additional partners to develop the Regional Shared Services Centre. It is anticipated that this could bring in substantial revenues coupled with guaranteed cost savings over the course of the five year partnership. The success of the Regional Shared Services Centre will also help to boost jobs in the town.
This partnership builds upon a successful ICT managed services relationship between Wycombe District Council and Northgate which has already delivered productivity gains from service level consistency. The proposed centre is the first of a number of regional excellence centres planned by Northgate as one of its responses to the challenges faced by the public sector over future years. The centres are aimed at providing public bodies and community organisations with new opportunities to radically overhaul business processes, improve services, and generate cost efficiencies through economies of scale and shared resources.
Councillor Roger Colomb, Wycombe District Council’s cabinet member for procurement and customer services said today: “This partnership is first and foremost about delivering positive outcomes for our residents. Wycombe District Council is committed to providing excellent customer service. We recognise that we have to improve the way that we engage and deliver services to our residents in these difficult economic times. At the heart of what we are doing are major service improvements combined with value for money for our council taxpayers.
“We are delighted to be working with Northgate on this innovative, joint venture, and in the longer term, we are hopeful that ultimately other authorities, public services and community-based organisations in the South East will work with us to make the Regional Shared Services centre a major success.”
Joe Bradley, Managing Director, Citizen Services, Northgate Public Services, said today: “These are difficult times for councils across the UK. They are faced with increased demand and extreme pressure on resources. People not only want more but better services. We are committed to transforming the way that services relate to people and their needs, and to reaching out to the most disadvantaged in our communities.
“Wycombe Council shares our values and our vision. We are delighted that it has chosen to become part of our South East Regional Service Centre. Over the next year, we aim to establish regional centres of customer excellence throughout the UK. These will help public bodies deliver better services for less and provide guaranteed cashable savings over the lifetime of a contract. So long as councils like Wycombe wake up to the challenge, they can deliver the successful services that their communities have a right to expect.”
Monday, 6 July 2009
Portaltech questions the strength of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standard
…Confused and contradictory advice is often given by
qualified security assessors…
Portaltech, a leading UK eCommerce Systems Integrator and Consultancy, suggested today that the PCI standard has not yet accomplished what it set out to achieve. The PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) is a worldwide information security standard put together by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). The standard was created to help organisations that process card payments to prevent credit card fraud through increased controls of data and its exposure to compromise. The standard applies to all organisations which hold, process or pass cardholder information from any card branded with the logo of one of the card brands.
Andrew Walker, CEO of Portaltech, commented: “The standard is ambiguous and there is a feeling in the industry that the card issuing companies don’t mind the ambiguity. Even though there have been many versions of the standard, each one is more onerous than the last and has not been successful in ironing out the problems. There is also a concept of ‘scoping’ – where the implementation decisions can reduce the scope to which the standard applies. This in turn causes confusion and means that some systems and processes may fall outside the boundaries of the standard and therefore will not be investigated – even if these systems or processes contain sensitive personal information.”
Walker continued: “It has been suggested by some IT security professionals that the PCI DSS does little more than provide a minimal baseline for security. The fact is, you can be PCI-compliant and still be insecure. Look at online application vulnerabilities. They're arguably the fastest growing area of security, and for good reason — exposures in customer-facing applications pose a real danger of a security breach.” Furthermore, a recent report by Verdict Research suggests that online growth is slowing which means that competition between retailers for online shoppers will be harder and the customer experience becomes more important. However, PCI DSS is a step towards making all businesses pay more attention to IT security, even if minimum standards are not enough to completely eradicate security problems.
Companies have had security breaches while being registered as PCI DSS compliant. In 2008 one of the largest payment service providers, Heartland Payment Processing Systems, suffered a data breach which has been estimated by some as exceeding one hundred million card numbers. Other notables include the Hannaford Brothers and the Okemo Mountain Resort, each of which was PCI compliant. It has been noted that this may be an indication of the limits of a snapshot certification; the evaluation cannot ensure that the target company will maintain the good practices seen in an audit.
Validation of compliance can be performed either internally or externally, depending on the volume of card transactions the organisation is handling, but regardless of the size of the organisation, compliance must be assessed annually. Organisations handling large volumes of transactions must have their compliance assessed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), while companies handling smaller volumes have the option of self-certification via a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). In some regions these SAQs still require signoff by a QSA for submission. However, Portaltech has found that the advice and assessment can be different depending on the individual QSA – even if they are from the same company – adding further to the standards ambiguities.
About Portaltech
Portaltech is a specialist technology consultancy that focuses on designing, developing, integrating and supporting market leading eCommerce solutions. Our reputation is founded on technical excellence and the ability to successfully deliver complex projects for a range of brands and companies in the Retail, Telco, Consumer Products, Logistics and Media & Entertainment industries. By utilising this cross sector experience with expertise in technology evaluation and selection, project implementation and Web 2.0 consulting services, we are able to advise and support our customers to transact in both online and multi channel sales environments.
qualified security assessors…
Portaltech, a leading UK eCommerce Systems Integrator and Consultancy, suggested today that the PCI standard has not yet accomplished what it set out to achieve. The PCI Data Security Standard (DSS) is a worldwide information security standard put together by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). The standard was created to help organisations that process card payments to prevent credit card fraud through increased controls of data and its exposure to compromise. The standard applies to all organisations which hold, process or pass cardholder information from any card branded with the logo of one of the card brands.
Andrew Walker, CEO of Portaltech, commented: “The standard is ambiguous and there is a feeling in the industry that the card issuing companies don’t mind the ambiguity. Even though there have been many versions of the standard, each one is more onerous than the last and has not been successful in ironing out the problems. There is also a concept of ‘scoping’ – where the implementation decisions can reduce the scope to which the standard applies. This in turn causes confusion and means that some systems and processes may fall outside the boundaries of the standard and therefore will not be investigated – even if these systems or processes contain sensitive personal information.”
Walker continued: “It has been suggested by some IT security professionals that the PCI DSS does little more than provide a minimal baseline for security. The fact is, you can be PCI-compliant and still be insecure. Look at online application vulnerabilities. They're arguably the fastest growing area of security, and for good reason — exposures in customer-facing applications pose a real danger of a security breach.” Furthermore, a recent report by Verdict Research suggests that online growth is slowing which means that competition between retailers for online shoppers will be harder and the customer experience becomes more important. However, PCI DSS is a step towards making all businesses pay more attention to IT security, even if minimum standards are not enough to completely eradicate security problems.
Companies have had security breaches while being registered as PCI DSS compliant. In 2008 one of the largest payment service providers, Heartland Payment Processing Systems, suffered a data breach which has been estimated by some as exceeding one hundred million card numbers. Other notables include the Hannaford Brothers and the Okemo Mountain Resort, each of which was PCI compliant. It has been noted that this may be an indication of the limits of a snapshot certification; the evaluation cannot ensure that the target company will maintain the good practices seen in an audit.
Validation of compliance can be performed either internally or externally, depending on the volume of card transactions the organisation is handling, but regardless of the size of the organisation, compliance must be assessed annually. Organisations handling large volumes of transactions must have their compliance assessed by a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), while companies handling smaller volumes have the option of self-certification via a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ). In some regions these SAQs still require signoff by a QSA for submission. However, Portaltech has found that the advice and assessment can be different depending on the individual QSA – even if they are from the same company – adding further to the standards ambiguities.
About Portaltech
Portaltech is a specialist technology consultancy that focuses on designing, developing, integrating and supporting market leading eCommerce solutions. Our reputation is founded on technical excellence and the ability to successfully deliver complex projects for a range of brands and companies in the Retail, Telco, Consumer Products, Logistics and Media & Entertainment industries. By utilising this cross sector experience with expertise in technology evaluation and selection, project implementation and Web 2.0 consulting services, we are able to advise and support our customers to transact in both online and multi channel sales environments.
ScanLink HPA140 amplifier delivers boost to mobile radio networks
VHF amplifier from Wood & Douglas enables longer distance, more reliable wireless communications with low power footprint
Wood & Douglas, the leading independent manufacturer of professional radio solutions, today announced the launch of wireless amplifier, ScanLink HPA 140, to provide improved communications across VHF radio networks.
The ScanLink HPA140 is a Class C amplifier, featuring high power gain (up to 50 Watts output), flexible power supply options, processor controlled fan cooling (reducing carbon footprint) and internal antenna connection monitoring.
Initially designed for the needs of the UK utility market, the ScanLink HPA140 amplifier provides a more effective means by which utilities can deliver tele-protection, enabling them to diagnose faults remotely and monitor the performance of and protect the value of remote assets.
Alan Wood, Managing Director of Wood & Douglas said: “Utilities are regulated to deliver a high quality service to customers. They need to know how their assets are performing and be aware of issues as quickly as possible to ensure the efficient provision of service. The ScanLink HPA140 amplifier allows utilities to utilise wireless communications between remote sites and control centres, reusing frequency allocated to the UK utility market to deliver remote monitoring and management solutions.”
Many utility base stations are located on prime hilltop sites and share mast space with other networks. The ScanLink HPA140 enables low power drive sources to be boosted in output to overcome insertion losses and deliver a more reliable wireless solution over longer distances.
“Whilst the initial product motivation was the utilities market, the ScanLink HPA140 can be applied across any mobile radio network where there is a need for VHF power amplification,” continued Alan Wood.
Wood & Douglas Ltd, with a 30 year pedigree, is internationally recognised as a leading source of high quality specialist radio communications hardware. All the company’s products are designed and manufactured in the UK. Products include OEM and end user radio telemetry modules, broadcast studio and outside broadcast radio links and digital video products for the law enforcement sector.
Wood & Douglas, the leading independent manufacturer of professional radio solutions, today announced the launch of wireless amplifier, ScanLink HPA 140, to provide improved communications across VHF radio networks.
The ScanLink HPA140 is a Class C amplifier, featuring high power gain (up to 50 Watts output), flexible power supply options, processor controlled fan cooling (reducing carbon footprint) and internal antenna connection monitoring.
Initially designed for the needs of the UK utility market, the ScanLink HPA140 amplifier provides a more effective means by which utilities can deliver tele-protection, enabling them to diagnose faults remotely and monitor the performance of and protect the value of remote assets.
Alan Wood, Managing Director of Wood & Douglas said: “Utilities are regulated to deliver a high quality service to customers. They need to know how their assets are performing and be aware of issues as quickly as possible to ensure the efficient provision of service. The ScanLink HPA140 amplifier allows utilities to utilise wireless communications between remote sites and control centres, reusing frequency allocated to the UK utility market to deliver remote monitoring and management solutions.”
Many utility base stations are located on prime hilltop sites and share mast space with other networks. The ScanLink HPA140 enables low power drive sources to be boosted in output to overcome insertion losses and deliver a more reliable wireless solution over longer distances.
“Whilst the initial product motivation was the utilities market, the ScanLink HPA140 can be applied across any mobile radio network where there is a need for VHF power amplification,” continued Alan Wood.
Wood & Douglas Ltd, with a 30 year pedigree, is internationally recognised as a leading source of high quality specialist radio communications hardware. All the company’s products are designed and manufactured in the UK. Products include OEM and end user radio telemetry modules, broadcast studio and outside broadcast radio links and digital video products for the law enforcement sector.
Adili halves costs and doubles output with smartFOCUS DIGITAL
Ethical fashion retailer selects smartFOCUS DIGITAL for simple and stylish email marketing campaigns.
smartFOCUS DIGITAL, a leader in email and digital marketing, has been selected by Adili, the online ethical fashion site, to carry out professional in-house digital marketing campaigns. The power and flexibility of the smartFOCUS DIGITAL email marketing system has enabled Adili to halve its costs and double its marketing output.
Established in 2006, Adili boasts 80 of the best sustainable and fair brands from around the world. It also sources fabrics and materials from all over the world for its own label collection which is produced in India, Nepal, Turkey and Colombia. The site sells ladies’ and men’s fashions, along with home collections, and regularly keeps in contact with subscribers and customers by sending e-newsletters featuring the latest offers.
Adili was a user of smartFOCUS DIGITAL software before moving all marketing over to an out of house team. This approach proved too inflexible for Adili’s marketing needs, and the company made the decision to bring its marketing back in house.
Adili needed a technology system that could provide professional and targeted results to reflect their market position, without time restraints and that was readily adaptable by the team. The company is using smartMARKETER eChannel, a digital marketing system that allows the user to create and manage email content with ease and efficiency. This is vital for Adili’s small in-house team, allowing it to create chic email campaigns for its green thinking customers.
Another draw for Adili was the level of software training given and the amount of support that smartFOCUS DIGITAL could give during the implementation process – crucial for getting the marketers comfortable using the software. Adili has been able to quickly turn around extremely successful campaigns, which are driving an increase in brand awareness. As well as halving costs and doubling its output, Adili is benefitting from a deliverability rate of up to 99.6 percent and click-through rates as high as 15 percent.
Rebekka Peake, Marketing Coordinator for Adili, said: “This solution has been brilliant for our in-house marketing team. We’ve all quickly mastered the software without any HTML or design skills knowledge. Part of the attraction of smartFOCUS DIGITAL is the continual developments that are made to the software. We send out up to 50,000 emails a month so having a comprehensive solution is very important. I think the results speak for themselves.”
Bryan Black, sales director of smartFOCUS DIGITAL, said: “Adili returning to smartFOCUS has been a great privilege for us. It really shows the strength of our digital marketing and proves that we can provide a solution that truly is easy to use in house but can also give you great return on investment, which is important to all businesses right now. It’s great to see this pioneering ethical fashion retailer doing so well and we hope to keep saving them money.”
www.adili.com
www.smartfocusdigital.com
smartFOCUS DIGITAL, a leader in email and digital marketing, has been selected by Adili, the online ethical fashion site, to carry out professional in-house digital marketing campaigns. The power and flexibility of the smartFOCUS DIGITAL email marketing system has enabled Adili to halve its costs and double its marketing output.
Established in 2006, Adili boasts 80 of the best sustainable and fair brands from around the world. It also sources fabrics and materials from all over the world for its own label collection which is produced in India, Nepal, Turkey and Colombia. The site sells ladies’ and men’s fashions, along with home collections, and regularly keeps in contact with subscribers and customers by sending e-newsletters featuring the latest offers.
Adili was a user of smartFOCUS DIGITAL software before moving all marketing over to an out of house team. This approach proved too inflexible for Adili’s marketing needs, and the company made the decision to bring its marketing back in house.
Adili needed a technology system that could provide professional and targeted results to reflect their market position, without time restraints and that was readily adaptable by the team. The company is using smartMARKETER eChannel, a digital marketing system that allows the user to create and manage email content with ease and efficiency. This is vital for Adili’s small in-house team, allowing it to create chic email campaigns for its green thinking customers.
Another draw for Adili was the level of software training given and the amount of support that smartFOCUS DIGITAL could give during the implementation process – crucial for getting the marketers comfortable using the software. Adili has been able to quickly turn around extremely successful campaigns, which are driving an increase in brand awareness. As well as halving costs and doubling its output, Adili is benefitting from a deliverability rate of up to 99.6 percent and click-through rates as high as 15 percent.
Rebekka Peake, Marketing Coordinator for Adili, said: “This solution has been brilliant for our in-house marketing team. We’ve all quickly mastered the software without any HTML or design skills knowledge. Part of the attraction of smartFOCUS DIGITAL is the continual developments that are made to the software. We send out up to 50,000 emails a month so having a comprehensive solution is very important. I think the results speak for themselves.”
Bryan Black, sales director of smartFOCUS DIGITAL, said: “Adili returning to smartFOCUS has been a great privilege for us. It really shows the strength of our digital marketing and proves that we can provide a solution that truly is easy to use in house but can also give you great return on investment, which is important to all businesses right now. It’s great to see this pioneering ethical fashion retailer doing so well and we hope to keep saving them money.”
www.adili.com
www.smartfocusdigital.com
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