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CGI (TSX:GIB.A) extends contract with City of Edinburgh Council to 2029

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TSX:GIB.A
10 September 2020 15:41 (EDT)
CGI Inc. - Executive Chairman, Serge Godin

Source: Het Financieele Dagblad

IT and business consulting services company CGI (GIB.A) has signed a six-year extension to its contract with the City of Edinburgh Council.

The extended service period, which will now expire in 2029, will see an additional C$175 million brought in as income for CGI.

In support of the Scottish capital’s aim to become carbon neutral by 2030, CGI will deliver transformative digital services using artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and advanced analytics.

These improvements include bridging the city’s “digital divide”, offering digitally advanced networks and equipment to schools, and addressing core programs and projects such as finance, tourism, health and social care, intelligent traffic signals and smart streetlights.

Lindsay McGranaghan, Vice President and Business Unit Leader for Scotland, said Edinburgh is a vibrant and diverse capital city that is growing at twice the national Scottish average.

“This growth brings huge opportunities to develop a modern, digital infrastructure that meets the demands of twenty-first century living.

“By using the latest digital technology, we aim to help the Council make living and working in Edinburgh more transparent, collaborative and dynamic,” she added.

Despite the success of the existing five-year relationship between the two organisations, not everyone is on board with the extension.

Tory group leader Iain Whyte said the contract would require serious consideration following a number of previous problems.

“The initial partnership with CGI took a very long time to deliver a decent basic service and certainly hasn’t delivered the developments in ‘smart city’ that were promised last time round.

“This seems to be a new promise to do what was meant to happen a few years ago, so it will need some really strong management and really strong scrutiny of the contract to make sure it delivers,” he added.

CGI (GIB.A) is currently down 0.76 per cent and is trading at $92.43 per share at 10:57am EDT.

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