Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

A recently released Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Market report indicates significant continued growth in the BPO sector over the next decade. The results of the study on which the report is based show an expected growth from the 2022 market of $245.9 billion to $544.8 billion in 2032, an 8.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

As noted in our recent blog posts, The Rise of Next-Gen Business Process Outsourcing and Key Contracting Issues to Consider, the core premise of next-gen business process outsourcing (BPO) includes (1) the leveraging of automation, bots, performance tools, and other technology to transform and optimize workflows and business processes and (2) the implementation of solutions to collect and analyze data to improve user experiences and business outcomes. Next-gen BPO drives the development and implementation of transformative technology and the generation of critical business data. As such, the identification of key intellectual property (IP) and the allocation of IP use and ownership rights invariably becomes a gating issue in contract structuring and negotiations.

Our recent blog post, The Rise of Next-Gen Business Process Outsourcing, highlighted the importance of understanding the exciting opportunities and the challenges of next-gen business process outsourcing (BPO) in order to effectively negotiate contract provisions that maximize the benefits of next-gen BPO and minimize the risks. In this blog, we take a look at a few key issues to consider when developing and negotiating a next-gen BPO contract.

Business process outsourcing (BPO) transactions are on the rise, with bullish forecasts from industry analysts including a projected revenue annual growth rate (CAGR 2023–2027) for the global BPO market of 6.48%, reaching a market volume of $450 billion by 2027 and global revenue exceeding $500 billion by 2030, and the North American market alone projected to achieve 8.9% CAGR 2023–2030.

The recent rise in popularity of generative AI–powered applications such as ChatGPT poses important copyright issues for individuals and businesses with respect to content creation, including the scope of rights with respect to commercial use, content publication, potential liability for infringement, and content enforcement.

The UK government published its first National Quantum Strategy (the Strategy) on March 15, setting out £2.5 billion (over $3 billion) in funding quantum research and naming a quantum computing industry as a strategic priority for the United Kingdom. The following day, the science and technology committee of the UK House of Commons (the Committee) announced a new inquiry on turning quantum technologies into commercial products. As quantum-focused startups proliferate, UK policymakers are demonstrating their intent to enable early-mover advantages in the sector.

The UK government published a white paper on March 29 setting out a “pro-innovation” UK regulatory framework for artificial intelligence (AI). The framework centers upon five cross-sectoral principles, of which implementation will be context-specific to the use of AI, rather than the technology itself. The government does not propose introducing a new regulator or any new legal requirements on businesses, instead leveraging existing powers of UK regulators and their domain-specific expertise.

On October 11, the Bank of England (BoE), the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (together, the Supervisory Authorities) published a discussion paper (DP5/22) on the safe and responsible adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services (Discussion Paper). The Discussion Paper forms part of the Supervisory Authorities’ AI-related program of works, including the AI Public Private Forum and is being considered in light of the UK government’s efforts towards regulating AI.

Despite general awareness regarding phishing (we have written about phishing in a prior post), it still remains one of the most common ways to accomplish cyberattacks. It should be no surprise that cybercriminals are constantly coming up with more elaborate and sophisticated ways to gain access to sensitive systems and data. A recent CIO.com article lists three measures designed to deter phishing and related attacks, which we have summarized below.

The White House Office of Science and Technology recently published The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People (the Blueprint), a set of five principles to help guide designers, developers, and deployers of AI in the design, use, and deployment of automated systems with the goal of protecting the public’s rights.