Latest news with #EY
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Over 3 Years, India jumps 93 spots in net speeds
India, the largest data consumer globally, ranks 26th in average internet connection speed and is narrowing the gap with other major markets, data from US-based speed test company Ookla showed. Ookla's data showed India had a median download speed of 136.53 Mbps in the April to June period, having moved up 93 spots from No. 119 in September 2022, driven by rapidly expanding 5G coverage. In comparison, the US ranked 13th and China 8th, with median download speeds of 176.75 Mbps and 207.98 Mbps, respectively. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report, the per capita data consumption in India is the world's highest at 32 GB per month. It is 29 GB in China and 22 GB in the US. 'India witnessed a landmark transformation in its digital connectivity with the commercial launch of 5G in October 2022, propelling one of the world's fastest nationwide 5G network expansions,' said Affandy Johan, industry analyst, Ookla. 'This launch had a dramatic influence on download speeds across the country.' According to EY, 5G towers already account for about 57% of the total telecom towers in India. It said the country's 5G subscriber base reached 326 million at the end of March, accounting for some 28% of the total wireless connections. At the end of December 2024, India's average monthly 5G data usage per user stood at 40 GB, almost 1.5 times the average mobile data consumption.
BBC News
5 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Auditors raise concerns over unfinished Hilton hotel loan
Auditors have raised concerns over a £15m loan taken out eight years ago to build a city centre Hilton hotel that remains City Council borrowed the money in 2017 for the construction of the 160-bedroom hotel in Fletton an audit plan, accountancy firm EY said there was a "significant" risk the value of the hotel would be less than the amount of the City Council has been approached for a response. In 2017 the authority borrowed £15m from the government so it could lend money to a developer to build the hotel, which has grown to about £17m including stalled in 2020, which the authority blamed on a slowdown in the buildings industry following Brexit and the coronavirus company responsible for building the Hilton went into administration in 2023, prompting plans by the council to sell it to another striking a deal last year, the sale unexpectedly fell through before contracts were council recently decided to buy the hotel in order to write off its loan to the developer and then restart construction plan is for the council to oversee the completion of the hotel, before it can pay back its loan to the government, either by selling the hotel or using the income generated from guests. 'Vigilant oversight' In its audit plan for the year ending 31 March, EY highlighted concerns over "governance arrangements in relation to the Hilton hotel loan".It said there was a risk the sale of the hotel would not be sufficient to cover the cost of the loan."We recommend the council to maintain vigilant oversight of the financial implications arising from the Hilton hotel loan," it said in the ambition is for the new hotel, which is currently about 80% complete, to form part of a wider redevelopment of the Fletton Quays would be run as a franchise using the Hilton brand.A spokesperson for Hilton has previously said: "Hilton Garden Inn Peterborough remains an important project for us and we look forward to working closely with key stakeholders to complete the development at the earliest opportunity."EY's report will be considered by the council's audit committee at a meeting on 21 July.A report produced ahead of the meeting said: "Ensuring our base foundations are robust forms a crucial part of the council's journey to financial sustainability." Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The National
a day ago
- Business
- The National
Rachel Reeves 'set to ape Thatcher with bank regulation bonfire'
The Chancellor will use her Mansion House speech on Tuesday to unveil a regulation bonfire in a bid to usher in an economic boom similar to that seen when Thatcher tore up the rules of the City, The Sun on Sunday reports. She will urge bank bosses to keep staff in the UK rather than moving to New York or Paris. Post-Brexit London has seen an exodus of financial services workers, with consultancy firm EY finding that more than 7000 jobs had moved from the UK to the EU in 2022. A Treasury source told The Sun on Sunday: 'Millions of Brits work in financial services, but for too long red tape and excessive regulation has choked off innovation and growth in the economy. 'Well, no more. Britain is entering a new era. We will slash regulation and make the UK the best place in the world to do business. 'Forget Paris, New York and Frankfurt – come to London, Leeds and Edinburgh. 'Rachel is determined to create a new Big Bang which will turbocharge growth in the economy for a new generation to put more pounds in people's pockets.' READ MORE: No need to wait for UK. Scotland can launch its own form of wealth tax The Chancellor is under immense pressure after her failure to turn around the flagging UK economy. Growth fell in May for the second month running and the Office for Budget Responsibility last week set out a bleak picture of the public finances. She will tell City grandees on Tuesday that bankers can be assured of 'higher wages and higher living standards', The Guardian reports. Elsewhere, the Bank of England is likely to cut interest rates, in news that will be welcome for people with mortgages, but only if there the Government's National Insurance hike continues to prevent firms from hiring new workers and making redundancies. Governor Andrew Bailey told The Times there was 'consistent' evidence of businesses 'adjusting employment' because of Labour's jobs tax, adding that he believed 'path is downward' for interest rates, which currently stand at 4.25%.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
It's Time For Agentic L&D
Getty If there's room for Agentic AI in the headlines, there is room for something else these days: Agentic Learning and Development or Agentic L&D for short. Over the years, organizations have allowed the Learning and Development function to become too polite. L&D is overly eager to serve at the edge of business instead of operating at the center. This situation is no longer acceptable in an era dominated by AI. The L&D function doesn't have to get rude, but it should get ready to start swinging. Agentic L&D is a necessary new term for an essential new way of thinking, one that positions Learning and Development not as content delivery, but as a capability sherpa. It sits inside the work, not around it. It influences business outcomes, not just training metrics. It behaves as though it's part of the business strategy, not simply trying to keep up with it. If you've seen the recent job description for Microsoft's Director of AI-Era Skilling Transformation, you've already seen what is coming. The job doesn't mention instructional design. Not at all. It talks about embedding learning into the systems, sprints, and day-to-day moments that define real work. "This role exists to deliver transformative skilling experiences that intrinsically motivate individuals and teams to skill through exploration, demonstration, and real-world experiences," states the posting. In other words, it's calling for Agentic L&D, whether the company uses the term or not. EY's GenAI Academy is already doing it: contextual learning embedded into role-based journeys. Not bolted on nor tucked away in an LMS. It's lived, applied, and then measured. If organizations are serious about preparing teams and people for what's next—and for what's already arrived—then the days of learning as an accessory are over. It's time to stop reporting on completions, taking orders, or just offering content. It's time for L&D to move from passive support to active influence. It's time for Agentic L&D. From Around the Work to Inside It L&D has trained an entire profession to operate like instructional caterers. Stakeholders place the order, L&D delivers a menu of options, and everyone gets their post-course certificate. Meanwhile, the real work—the problems, the decisions, the friction—keeps happening elsewhere. Agentic L&D doesn't hover at the margins. It embeds and operates at the source, at the point of the work. As author Harold Jarche wrote back in 2013, "Work is learning and learning is the work." Agentic L&D takes that idea seriously and operationalizes it at scale. EY's GenAI Talent Academy, as mentioned earlier, pushes in this direction. Their role-based pathways don't require sign-up. They shadow actual workflows, adapting to projects in motion. L&D stops being an interruption (or outpost) and becomes an enabler inside the work. From Content to Context People do not necessarily need more learning content. It's available at the fingertips of your next AI prompt. The digital shelves are now full of content, let alone what already exists in the various learning and content portals. What's missing is context; learning that lands where the friction actually lives. Agentic L&D begins with a different brief. Not "build a course," but "find the pain." Where are employees struggling to act? Where are decisions being delayed or reversed? Where are teams improvising because the current system no longer fits? Where are the skills or role gaps? Microsoft's recently released AI-Era Skilling job brief is clear. Don't upload content; instead, embed and then align to capability. Change how work is accomplished, not just how it's taught. "Champion the shift from episodic learning to continuous, AI-augmented skilling embedded directly into the flow of work through business aligned co creation," also states the job brief. This change means there will be a need to rewrite default behaviors and expectations for L&D practitioners. More in-line decision trees. Fewer generic case studies. More job-embedded prompts and "what do you think" open-ended questions in the flow of work. And yes, that potentially also means fewer formal courses and more short-form AI nudges that help to change and calibrate behavior. Both AI and human L&D performance coaches are going to crush it. Agentic L&D does not try to keep up with the business; instead, it walks beside it, listening, adapting, and building learning directly into the flow of work. While content may be present—and it should—it also starts with context. What is the business context of the performance gap? From Input to Outcome If the L&D function is still reporting on attendance and satisfaction, they have missed the point. It's not about participation; it's more about assisting in human potential transformation, which involves a better understanding not only of what goes into the learning (and the team member) but also of the outcome. Agentic L&D measures capability velocity, which is the time it takes to move from friction to fluency or from confusion to competence. At a minimum, it is about shifting from an in-role skill or task to the next level. According to Continu, organizations using data-driven L&D see retention increase by 46%, productivity by 37%, onboarding acceleration by 34%, and per-employee revenue jump by 29%. These are business outcomes! Ultimately, Agentic L&D ought to be tracking retention uplift, error reduction, skill uptake, competence gap analysis, and even career or role mobility optionality. LinkedIn's 2024 Workplace Learning Report suggests organizations that link learning to talent movement don't just keep people; they grow them. Isn't this the actual point of L&D? What Comes Next The thinking around Agentic L&D is not about a rebrand; it's a full-scale L&D reset. (And I don't have it all figured out yet. I'm still noodling.) Learning isn't solely a calendar of events or content on a platform. It isn't simply a set of course completions with colorful dashboards. It is an embedded 'guide on the side' agent who is woven into the culture, decisions, rituals, systems, and workflows of the organization. It is part AI and part human, but led by the humans. Agentic L&D consults, curates, and activates. It doesn't just take orders. It is the fulcrum of performance change across the organization. If AI has earned the adjective agentic, so should the L&D function. But the function itself needs to be reset—and led—accordingly. Because if L&D does not become 'agents in the business' (or Agentic L&D), the work will move on without it. And this time, it won't come back.
News18
4 days ago
- Business
- News18
The Forgotten 99.9%: Rethinking India's Sporting Future
India needs a Plan B — a structured, economically viable, culturally respected path for the 99.9% who give their youth to sport. Because the system's true success is not defined by a few elite podiums, but by how it values everyone who dared to try. It's within this broken backdrop that Shaurya Sports, founded by Akhil Ganju, steps in as a visionary force reimagining India's sporting ecosystem. Where most models chase the top 0.1% and abandon the rest, Shaurya flips the question: What if we created a system where passion doesn't go to waste? Where dedication pays off—even when the medals don't come? While India has long bet its future on the top 0.1%, a quiet transformation is underway. Across 12 states, Shaurya Sports is conducting semi-professional trials—open-format scouting events designed to identify raw, skilled, passionate players who may not be in national camps or elite academies, but possess serious talent and commitment. Each trial is backed by structured metrics: video analysis, AI-led skill benchmarking, speed and biomechanics assessments, and detailed player profiling. Already, over 30,000+ players have participated in these trials since launch, creating a talent reservoir that reflects India's overlooked sporting middle class—not school kids or national stars, but the vast segment in-between: serious players looking for a serious pathway. This effort feeds directly into the rapidly expanding universe of corporate cricket, a space now far bigger than casual weekend sport. Today, over 20,000 companies across India organize internal or inter-corporate tournaments every year. Shaurya's own flagship property – the Shaurya Corporate Premium League – with matches played in stadiums equipped with DRS, live streaming, fan engagement, and celebrity commentary. Teams from top-tier companies like EY, Accenture, Maruti, Pine Labs, Hero, and Honda have competed, drawing in tens of thousands of employees and families as active viewers. If measured as a standalone economy, corporate cricket in India is now conservatively valued at ₹300–₹400 crore annually—through spending on venues, travel, branding, jerseys, hospitality, video production, coaching, and talent acquisition. And it's still largely untapped. Shaurya's vision is to fuse these two engines: Semi-professional players who bring talent, energy, and ambition, and corporates who bring visibility, funding, networks, and long-term infrastructure In this mutually beneficial ecosystem, companies no longer field teams just to 'have fun"—they can scout real talent from Shaurya's trials, sponsor teams, and elevate serious cricketers into semi-professional careers. On the flip side, players who once faced dead-ends at age 20 now find structured opportunities: performance-based entry into high-stakes tournaments, stipends, visibility to sponsors, and eventually, career stability—whether as athletes, coaches, analysts, or league professionals. This isn't just a new tournament model. It's a new sports economy. Just as the IPL unlocked value at the elite level, Shaurya Sports is unlocking the semi-pro and corporate grassroots – where 99.9% of India's players actually live. The difference? This time, there's tech for transparency, AI for progress, corporates for scale, and a model for dignity. Every player tracked, every match analysed, every opportunity earned – not handed.
