Since the last edition of Focus , Latham has launched its Al-Mirsal blog, featuring timely insights and commentary on legal developments in the Middle East. The blog is produced in English and Arabic and provides useful analysis of legal developments for anyone with an interest in the Middle East.

If you have any feedback on this edition of Focus , or if you have any suggestions for particular areas you would like to see covered in a future edition, please do not hesitate to contact us.

SOURCING

April White Papers

More Than Terms and Conditions: The Changing Role of the Outsourcing Lawyer

This is the third in a series of outsourcing white papers that Focus will publish in the Middle East and Africa to assist organisations in understanding and considering the key legal, commercial and operational issues that may be encountered during the outsourcing lifecycle. Leading organisations in the Middle East and Africa continue to turn to outsourcing as a means of enhancing standards of business performance while also introducing efficiencies and achieving, and maintaining, cost savings. This white paper explains the importance of the outsourcing contract in ensuring such objectives are met and focuses on the role of the outsourcing lawyer required to produce a contract that works as a useful governance tool for the life of the outsourcing relationship.

Previous white papers have discussed certain key legal issues that organisations should consider prior to the initiation of an outsourcing project and the issues in an outsourcing deal that should be of concern to, and require input from, the CFO. Future white papers will address issues such as carrying out due diligence on potential vendors, putting together an effective project team to run the procurement process and identifying the contract tools that you can use to manage your vendors in an outsourcing relationship.

Proposed Amendments to the South African Labour Relations Act. The proposed amendments to the LRA and their impact on labour brokers and on outsourcing is a key topic of interest to anyone with a level of involvement in the procurement of services in South Africa. This white paper provides an overview of the current legal position of the clients of labour brokers under the South African Labour Relations Act 1998 (LRA) and the effect upon such clients of the proposed amendments to the LRA.

NEWS

ictQatar issues First Comprehensive Radio Spectrum Policy: The Supreme Council of Information and Communication Technology of Qatar (ictQATAR) has issued Qatar's first comprehensive Radio Spectrum Policy, which is aimed at managing the country's valuable spectrum resources, while encouraging innovative uses of spectrum for economic and societal benefits in both the public and private sectors.

Emirates eGovernment Announces Plan 2012–2014 and Initiatives for 2012: The UAE Government has announced its plan and associated major initiatives to be implemented over the next two years to support the leadership directive of providing all Government services electronically in two years' time. The initiatives include: the interactive and collaborative electronic encyclopaedia of the UAE (UAEPedia), the UAE eGovernment Award, the computing cloud of the UAE Government and the Open Government Programme.

IP / DATA PRIVACY

DIFC Data Protection Strategic Plan 2012–2014: This article describes the DIFC's recently published data protection strategic plan, which includes, amongst other objectives, a statement of the Office of the Commissioner of Data Protection's intention to apply to the EC for acceptance of the DIFC as a jurisdiction with an adequate data protection regime.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.