Infosys Launches IT Services for Public Sector With Consulting Engagement for National Health Services, UK

Business Wire, Nov 5, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 2001

Infosys Technologies (Nasdaq:INFY), world leader in consulting and information technology services, initiated its specialised services for the Public Sector, with an assignment for National Health Services (NHS), UK. The Public Sector practice of the company will focus on information and service aggregation, aimed at reducing transaction costs and defining new levels of public service and constituent intimacy.

With their array of services and multitude of stakeholders, Governments are similar to huge corporations, and face many of the same challenges. Infosys' mission is to deliver technology-enabled transformation to Governments through best of breed business solutions. The Public Sector practice will create a digital model for the public to easily access information, participate in decision-making and conveniently transact with the Government.

On a visit to the Infosys headquarters in Bangalore, the UK Minister for IT, Doug Alexander stressed the relevance of technology to Government, and said, "The British government takes pride in being professional and responsive to the needs of its constituents. This calls for innovative and effective solutions to provide the public easy, fast and secure access to the government. It is understood that global development of software is here to stay and Infosys is known to be a pioneer in this field. With their project management and excellent execution skills, Infosys is the first Indian technology company to have won a contract with the UK government and the NHS. Based on the success of this current engagement we can consider opportunities for Infosys to be involved in the technology initiatives of the UK government."

Commenting on the Infosys Public Sector Practice, Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman & CEO, Infosys, said, "Progressive governments are embracing technology as a way to facilitate transparency and efficiency in governance, and are offering services similar to those in the private sector. Therefore, Infosys has identified government as a focus area."

Providing impetus to the Public Sector practice is a consulting assignment with the National Health Service, UK. NHS, the world's largest health maintenance organisation with over one million employees, engaged Infosys to enable all General Practioners and hospitals to access patient records electronically using ERDIP or Electronic Record Data Implementation Programme. Infosys will assist NHS with programme management, technical coordination, data migration, system integration, system design and build the ERDIP pilot for patients with coronary heart disease. After an initial engagement for South West Devon Hospital, Infosys is to assist the NHS in the national rollout of ERDIP across all 240 NHS hospitals. By 2005, the health records of the UK's 60 million citizens will be accessible on a secure shared database. The ability to access patient records swiftly and seamlessly and sharing these records with other hospitals will revolutionise the efficiency of healthcare in the UK.

For NHS, which has embarked upon the IT path, it is a journey towards a digital society. Says Dr. Nick Gaunt, Clinical Lead for Health Informatics in South & West Devon Health Authority and Director of Electronic Health Record Project, "Governments today, in their role of public infrastructure builders must build a digital society to enhance service levels to citizen stakeholders. Infosys, with its understanding of technology and how it shapes the business world is helping NHS to achieve this through strategic directions in technology roadmaps."

The Infosys-NHS relationship has also expanded with assignments with Hertsmere Borough Council to review its IT infrastructure and analyse its capability to deal with the additional load expected through e-governance.

"Though e-government is essentially about people, technology underpins it. We have the ambitious goal of e-enabling services by 2005, and for this we need to partner closely not just with the local authorities but also with service providers such as Infosys. We found the Infosys team to be very knowledgeable and extremely professional. They brought tremendous merit to us in determining the best solutions to achieve maximum value for our services. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them," said John Robinson, Senior Business Analyst, Hertsmere Borough Council, UK.

According to Sanjay Viswanathan, Head -- Infosys' public sector practice, "Infosys' Public Sector practice is a focussed effort to build speed and efficiency in government agencies in order to improve their interactions with various constituents. With a three pronged approach -- policy formulation, e-relationship frameworks and infrastructure enabling -- Infosys will be able to create a model that is ubiquitous in access across time, location, device and trustworthy in information security and technology."

For more information on the Pubic Sector offerings of Infosys, please contact Sanjay Viswanathan at 0044-208-774 3359.