serco = RCA!

[Hannah Bell]

Serco Group plc (LSE: SRP) is a business services company based in Hook, North Hampshire in the United Kingdom. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Serco was founded in 1929 as a United Kingdom division of the Radio Corporation of America and initially provided services to the cinema industry.<2> It changed its name to Serco in 1987<2> and has been a London Stock Exchange listed company since 1988....

Serco operates in various sectors:

Transport: Serco operates London's Docklands Light Railway,<5> Woolwich Ferry<6> and Cycle Hire scheme<7> (all for Transport for London), and Great Southern Railways in Australia.<8> Serco also has a joint venture with NedRailways, the UK arm of Dutch national rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen, to operate passenger trains in the UK: Serco-NedRailways has a 25 year concession for Merseyrail in Liverpool and operates Northern Rail services in the north of England.<9> Serco also operates the Dubai Metro.<10> Serco formerly operated the Copenhagen Metro with Ansaldo STS, until selling its share with effect from 1 January 2008.<11> In addition, Serco Rail Operations operates infrastructure monitoring trains in the UK.<12> Serco's Home Affairs division, run by Tom Riall, also operates speed camera systems throughout the UK and designs, writes and tests the software that controls the matrix message signs, signals, emergency roadside telephones (SOS) and traffic monitoring on England's motorway network including the National Traffic Control Centre....

Detention: Serco supplies electronic tagging devices for offenders and asylum seekers.<15> In Britain, Serco runs four prisons, a Young Offenders Institution and a Secure Training Centre.<16> It also operates two Immigration Removal Centres.<17><18> Serco is also responsible for the contracted-out court escort services in the south-east area (formerly a role undertaken by HM Prison Service).<19> In addition, Serco runs Hunfeld Prison in Germany.<20> In Australia Serco runs Acacia Prison in Western Australia<21> and Borallon Correctional Facility in Queensland...

Defence: Serco holds defence contracts worldwide including the UK Government’s first modern outsourced contract for the operation and maintenance of the UK Ballistic Missile Early Warning System at RAF Fylingdales;<23> contracts are also held for the operation and maintenance of RAF Brize Norton,<24> RAF Halton<25> and RAF Northolt<25> in the UK and RAF Ascension Island in the mid-Atlantic.<25> Serco also provides support services to garrisons in Australia.<26> Serco also manages many aspects of operations at the Defence College of Management and Technology in Shrivenham.<27> Serco is one of three partners in the consortium which manages the Atomic Weapons Establishment....

Education: Serco holds a 10 year contract with Bradford City Council to manage and operate the local education authority,<35> providing education support services to the City's schools, and similarly manages and operates Walsall<36> and Stoke-on-Trent local education authorities.<37> Serco is one of Ofsted's three Regional Inspection Service Providers, responsible for school inspections in the English Midlands.<38> Serco is also the provider of a Student information system, Facility, used in schools and colleges in several countries....

much more. criminy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serco_Group


Firm that does the dirty work for government on the cheap September 25, 2010

Serco, the detention centre operator, rides the privatisation wave, writes Nick O'Malley.

ON MONDAY before the 36-year-old Fijian Josefa Rauluni fell to his death from a rooftop at Villawood detention centre, staff of the British company managing the centre, Serco, hauled mattresses to the footpath to break his fall. It was a busy day for Serco.

In Ireland its employees were managing the nation's traffic lights. In the US they were running prisons, border security and defence systems. Public transport kept them busy in Dubai and South Australia. Welfare-to-work programs, schools, prisons and detention centres (or ''custodial accommodation'' in company literature) were administered in Britain. Serco people were building military hospitals in Germany and helping to decommission US military bases in Iraq.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/firm-that-does-the-dirty-work-for-government-on-the-cheap-20100924-15ql1.html

They're at spy central, too: Serco North america in reston, va:

Serco Inc. is a leading provider of professional, technology, and management services focused on the federal government. Our customer-first approach, robust portfolio of services, and global experience enable us to respond with innovative solutions that achieve outcomes that matter. Serco Inc. is part of an international service company with employees around the world. To read more about our parent company, Serco Group plc, click here.

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In 1897, Marconi’s successful development of trans-Atlantic radio communications and his drive to expand this capability resulted in the establishment of an American communications company named Radio Corporation of America (RCA). RCA assumed all the assets of the Marconi Wireless Company in America so that all technological development of radio communications for the U.S. Armed Forces would come under the auspices of the U.S. Government via a wholly-owned American entity.

RCA’s success in America soon turned to the market on the other side of the Atlantic. On September 10, 1929, RCA set up the first RCA subsidiary in the UK—this is what we traditionally consider to be the “start” of Serco. In 1959, an RCA subsidiary in Great Britain negotiated a contract to install and commission an early warning radar station at RAF Fylingdales as part of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System project. This contract, awarded in 1960, secured the future for RCA in the UK. RCA now had evolved with demonstrable capabilities in the field of technical support for the most complex antenna and radar communication networks.

In 1969, RCA organized itself into operational divisions, one of these divisions was focused on service, and so it came about that the RCA Service Division was formed—the part of the company that would eventually be purchased by its management and staff and renamed Serco.

Bringing Service to Life in North America

Serco established its North American foothold in 1988 when it was incorporated, acquiring companies that shared a similar vision of transforming how public services are delivered.

In 2005, Serco acquired Resource Consultants Inc. (RCI), which expanded its capabilities in IT services, systems engineering, strategic consulting and HR-focused business process management. Then, in 2008 Serco acquired SI International, further broadening its capabilities in IT and professional services in North America and gaining new federal government and DoD relationships.

Serco now employs more than 11,500 people in over 100 locations across North America. The company delivers essential information technology and management services to all branches of the U.S. military, federal civilian agencies, state and local agencies, and commercial customers. Serco has access to over 200 contracts with capabilities in the areas of National Security & Intelligence, IT & Professional Services, Human Capital Management and Engineering & Logistics.

http://www.serco-na.com/Default.aspx?Area=AboutUsNew&Subarea=HistoryNew&Page=HistoryNew


RCA: More republic of money players

The incorporation of the assets of Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (including David Sarnoff<5>), the Pan-American Telegraph Company and those already controlled by the United States Navy led to a new publicly held company formed by General Electric (which owned a controlling interest) on 17 October 1919.<6>

The subsequent cooperation among RCA, General Electric, United Fruit, Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and AT&T laid the groundwork for significant developments in point-to-point and broadcast radio, including the new National Broadcasting Company. The Navy turned over to RCA the former American Marconi radio stations appropriated during the war. Admiral Bullard received a seat on the RCA Board of Directors for his efforts in establishing RCA. The end result was government-created monopolies in radio for GE and Westinghouse and in telephone for AT&T.

GE used RCA as its retail arm for radio sales from 1919, when GE began production, until separation in 1930.<9> Westinghouse also marketed home radios through RCA until 1930.<[br />
Separation from General Electric
In 1930 the US Department of Justice brought antitrust charges against RCA, General Electric and Westinghouse. As a result, GE and Westinghouse gave up their ownership interests in RCA. RCA was allowed to keep its radio manufacturing facilities, and GE and Westinghouse were allowed to compete in that business after a 30-month interval.

RCA was one of the eight major computer companies (along with IBM, Burroughs, Control Data Corporation, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR and UNIVAC) through most of the 1960s. RCA marketed the Spectra 70 Series (70/15, 70/25, 70/35, 70/45, 70/46, 70/55, 70/60, 70/61) that were compatible with IBM’s 360 series and the RCA Series (RCA 2, 3, 6, 7) competing against the IBM 370.

Business and financial conditions led to RCA's takeover by GE in 1986 and its subsequent break-up...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RCA