ICT sector stories

US firm Bourns launches NZD $356m bid for loss‑making Rakon, offering NZD $1.55 a share and locking up 41% of the chip maker’s stock.

Canada commits CAD $244.2m to new DI Assist scheme, backing SMEs to develop defence and dual-use tech and bolster its industrial base.

ScotlandIS issues a final call for Digital Technology Awards 2026 entries, adding an AI Trailblazer category before 13 January deadline.

AI is set to manage 41% of Singapore’s customer service cases by 2027, as service teams embrace “agentic” tools despite security concerns.

Pearson will roll out Redrock’s palm-print ID across 20,000 global test centres and remote exams to tighten security and curb fraud.

Telcos race ahead on AI-first observability as New Relic links faster AI monitoring uptake to higher returns and fewer costly outages.

OutSystems names Fay Sien Goon as CFO to steer global finance and support its push into AI-powered application development and agentic systems.

Vertex Group names Puneeta Rajwant to steer India expansion, InfraTech launch and drive its Vertex 2.0 agenda towards INR ₹1,000 crore.

Mitsumi unveils India push with INR ₹700-1,000 crore IT and mobile distribution expansion across metros and smaller cities over 3 years.

StarHub secures its first CDP ‘A’ climate rating, as energy, renewables and supply chain reforms sharpen its decarbonisation strategy.

CapitaLand India Trust to sell 20.2% stakes in three data centres to CapitaLand India Data Centre Fund for INR ₹7.02b to boost flexibility.

BGF invests GBP £16.6m in Workbooks to accelerate US expansion and deepen development of its integrated mid-market SaaS platform.

Vespertec says AI growth will slam into hard data centre limits by 2026, as chip, memory and cooling bottlenecks reshape infrastructure plans.

Australian employers now take an average of five weeks to hire staff, with delays driving heavier workloads, project setbacks and lower morale.

Accenture to acquire UK AI specialist Faculty for USD $1bn, in its biggest British AI startup deal and a major bet on AI safety expertise.

Marqeta has hired veteran payments executive Patti Kangwankij as CFO, completing a leadership reshuffle under chief executive Mike Milotich.

Mphasis appoints tech and banking veteran Punit Sood as independent director to bolster its AI-led push into global finance clients.

UK learning platform HowNow backs domain-specific AI agents to join teams as ‘colleagues’ by 2026, reshaping workflows and competition.

CFOs seize control of cloud spending as volatile infrastructure and AI costs erode tech start-up margins and strain forecast accuracy.

January Capital raises over USD $130m for an Asia-Pacific growth credit fund targeting sponsor-backed technology companies.