False claims were circulated on Twitter that Infosys, an Indian IT company owned by Rishi Sunak’s father-in-law, was involved in the government’s emergency alert system.
The alert was sent to every 4G and 5G device in the UK at 3pm on Saturday, though some users on Three’s network said they didn’t receive the test.
The system, modeled on similar systems in the US, Canada, the Netherlands and Japan, is used by governments and emergency services to alert people to issues such as severe floods, fires and extreme weather.
What claims?
A Twitter user claimed that Infosys “paid a huge amount of money to implement a failed emergency alert in the UK”.
Another claimed that the government had awarded Fujitsu a “multi-million dollar contract” to manage the emergency warning system, and explicitly stated that they had outsourced the Infosys project.
In addition to the claims, some users shared an Infosys press release from 2003 which revealed that the company was partnering with Fujitsu to help the Japanese company develop products.
How is Rishi Sunak connected to Infosys?
Akshata Murthy, wife of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, is the daughter of N. R. Narayana Murthy, an Indian businessman and billionaire who helped found the information technology company Infosys.
Founded in 1981, the multinational company employs over 340,000 people worldwide and has annual sales of $19 billion as of March 2023.
Ms Murthy owns a 0.93% stake in the technology company, which is valued at around £690m.
Mr. Sunak’s family ties to Infosys have previously been criticized for their proximity to a trade deal struck when he was chancellor.
Does Infosys participate in the UK Emergency Alert System?
There is no indication that Infosys is directly involved in the UK’s emergency alert system, which was being tested across the country this weekend. Officials say the allegations circulating online have no basis in reality.
A government spokesman said I from viral statements: “This is not true at all – there is no connection with Infosys when the emergency alert system is working.”
The verification of the alerts was carried out in cooperation with the major mobile networks using the software of the American company Everbridge, with the alerts being compiled in the GOV.UK Notify system developed by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Fujitsu was awarded a publicly announced contract worth up to £1.6m in October 2022 to oversee the technical delivery and operational support of the alert system, with a maximum value of £5m subject to approval.
orphan officials I about the statement made in Parliament by Cabinet Minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe explaining the “small amount of work” done by Fujitsu regarding the public address system. She said: “Fujitsu played a small role in the development of the UK Emergency Alert System, initially providing a domain expert to support early development through the DCMS. [Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport].”
Infosys and Fujitsu have worked together before, as suggested in a 2003 press release shared by some Twitter users, but they are separate companies and there is no evidence that Infosys is involved in a precautionary deal. contracts in which companies participate internationally.
Some Twitter users cited feedback on the Infosys website about the development of an emergency alert system, but this refers to a 2009 project in Australia where the company entered into a five-year partnership with mobile operator Telstra to develop an Australian alert system. .
There is no evidence that Fujitsu or Infosys are currently collaborating on projects.
Infosys has been awarded as the provider of a number of other current and past government contracts related to customer relationship management (CRM), data management and testing services, all of which have been made public through the government contract search service.
They are valued at between £129,000 and £25 million and were awarded between 2015 and 2023.
What other companies are involved in the emergency system?
The British Emergency Alert System is based on technology developed by the American company Everbridge, which specializes in critical event management for businesses and government agencies.
Cabinet signed a £19,500 one-year deal with Everbridge for access to its mission-critical event management software in March 2022, with a new three-year deal totaling £60,750 signed last month.
In a statement on its website, the company said the software is currently being used by 25 countries for their nationwide alert systems, including Germany, Spain, Denmark, Norway and Estonia. Evrbridge has also confirmed that its technology has been used in British trials.
Source: I News
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