News

Artificial intelligence, automation and robotics

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  BEIS replaces Excel-based grant system with data management portal

  The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is replacing an Excel-based system for grant applications with a data management system built by Aiimi

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  Google posts $50bn in ads revenue as it looks to broaden the business

  Google reported second-quarter revenues of $61.9bn driven by spending on ads, but the company’s CEO sees the business moving into new areas

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  Microsoft results show demand for automation and AI

  Microsoft’s Dynamics business has benefited from enterprises automating business processes and the connectivity with Teams

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  Digital manufacturing industry gets £53m government funding boost

  Money will be used to create five digital manufacturing research centres, a digital supply chain innovation hub and to fund 37 industry projects

• July 23, 2021 23 Jul'21

  SAS steps up free data skills programme for job seekers

  SAS has expanded its free data skills for jobseekers’ programme, aiming it at people who have been adversely affected by the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic

• July 23, 2021 23 Jul'21

  BCS, Royal Statistical Society, Alan Turing Institute combine to cement data science professionalism

  BCS, the Royal Statistical Society and the Alan Turing Institute are combining to form an alliance to promote professional and ethical standards in data science

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  UK government publishes full Innovation Strategy

  Strategy aims to put the UK at the global forefront of science, research and innovation

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  SAP Q2 2021: revenue down 1%, 600 new S/4 Hana signups

  SAP has reported second-quarter 2021 revenue of €6.669m, down 1% on the same year-ago quarter. Cloud revenue has increased by 11% to €2.276bn, just over one-third of the total, and 250 customers claimed for new Rise with SAP package in the quarter

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  Interview: Chano Fernandez, co-CEO of Workday – a European co-helming a Californian enterprise

  Chano Fernandez, co-CEO of Workday, explains how the company’s storied and humane employee culture needs constant tending, and looks forward to a post-Covid acceleration

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  How IoT and machine learning are automating agriculture

  A new generation of farmers is tapping the internet of things and machine learning to operate self-sustaining urban farms with minimal supervision

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  Fujitsu uses quantum-inspired algorithm to tackle space waste

  A UK Space Agency project is being used to showcase how a quantum-inspired algorithm can work out the best way to manage space debris

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  SAP invests €250m in UK economy

  Investment includes a new, UK-based cloud service, two new offices, and a beefing up of SAP’s apprenticeship and internship programmes

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  AI to have biggest impact on fintech development over next five years

  Artificial intelligence will become the most influential technology in the fintech sector over the next five years

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  BMW launches quantum challenge for automotive sector

  Car maker is encouraging researchers and startups to submit industry-specific algorithms that take advantage of quantum computing

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Oracle’s Miranda advances customer wins against SAP for cloud applications suite

  Steve Miranda, executive vice-president of applications development for Oracle globally, is showcasing three US customer wins against SAP at the supplier’s quarterly Oracle Live event

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Automation is key to digital transformation

  Automation will enable IT teams to focus on driving transformative projects instead of supporting tasks that can be automated, says UiPath CEO Daniel Dines

• July 08, 2021 08 Jul'21

  Developers have a moral duty to create ethical AI

  Corsight AI publishes report on how organisations can develop more human-centric AI and biometric technologies

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  Social robots on the rise in the Netherlands

  The acceptance of robots being used in everyday life is making significant strides, but this is just the beginning

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  Clara Shih, CEO, Salesforce Service Cloud on the shape of post-pandemic service work

  Salesforce Service Cloud CEO Clara Shih has returned to the supplier after a period as a founder CEO and sees the future of contact centre and field service with relatively fresh eyes

• July 07, 2021 07 Jul'21

  Forrester finds companies confounded by data deluge

  A Dell-commissioned study by analyst firm Forrester finds organisations overwhelmed by mounds of data

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Google Cloud ties up with AI Singapore on skills training

  Google Cloud is working with Singapore’s national AI programme to build up the country’s talent pool in machine learning and AI

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Ocado sees 19.8% increase in retail business revenue

  Online retailer’s half-year results show a significant increase in revenue for its retail business, with numbers reaching £1.2bn

• July 06, 2021 06 Jul'21

  Gulf hospitals flock to digital health to manage lifestyle diseases

  The Middle East is accelerating its take-up of digital healthcare technologies following lessons learned in the Covid-19 pandemic

• July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21

  Ordnance Survey Data Hub marks first anniversary with developer highlights

  A year after its launch, the Ordnance Survey Data Hub is claiming a 50% increase in like-for-like downloads. The resource has proved its mettle during the Covid-19 pandemic for the London Ambulance Service and has benefited the National Library of ...

• July 05, 2021 05 Jul'21

  Klarna’s alumni thrive with new ventures after witnessing path to success

  Former Klarna employees are using their experiences with the fintech giant to create the next wave of Swedish tech startups

• July 02, 2021 02 Jul'21

  UK needs legislation with specific focus on biometric technologies

  The UK’s former biometrics commissioner has told MPs that Parliament should explicitly legislate on the use of biometric technologies so it is clear to both police and private companies which uses are acceptable

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Online Safety Bill unfit for purpose, says new campaign group

  Campaign group set up to oppose Online Safety Bill says the duty of care is too simplistic, cedes too much power to US corporations and will, in practice, privilege the speech of journalists or politicians

• June 24, 2021 24 Jun'21

  Salesforce declares AWS partnership to enable intelligent applications

  Salesforce and Amazon Web Services have declared a ‘strategic partnership’ that is claimed to enable the easier creation of artificial intelligence-infused applications

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  IBM serves more AI power at Wimbledon 2021

  The annual Wimbledon tennis championship is an event IBM uses to showcase the insights possible using Watson-based artificial intelligence applications

• June 23, 2021 23 Jun'21

  Bahrain university uses Alexa on campus

  University in Bahrain is using Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant to support users of its campus

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  EU regulators call for ban on biometrics in public spaces

  European Union’s data protection regulators say facial recognition and other biometric identification technologies present too great a risk to fundamental human rights to be allowed in public spaces

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  CDEI: UK public wants clear algorithmic transparency policies

  A research exercise by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has found the UK public wants clear, easy-to-understand information about algorithms in use by the public sector

• June 22, 2021 22 Jun'21

  Inside Macquarie Bank’s data transformation journey

  Australia’s Macquarie Bank has moved all its data and analytics to the cloud and is applying machine learning to detect fraud and improve customer experience

• June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21

  Exor International showcases Industry 4.0 smart factory

  Intel and Telecom Italia have worked with Exor to look at how 5G and AI can help build Industry 4.0 applications for manufacturing

• June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21

  NHSX set to unveil post-Covid data strategy

  The smart use of patient data could power new AI-based healthcare systems and speed up the discovery of new treatments

• June 21, 2021 21 Jun'21

  New lab to bolster Singapore’s Industry 4.0 capabilities

  Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research teams up with local manufacturing software company to make Industry 4.0 capabilities more accessible to manufacturers

• June 18, 2021 18 Jun'21

  ICO issues guidance on facial recognition in public spaces

  Information commissioner’s concern over the problematic use of facial recognition in public spaces has prompted her to publish official guidance on its deployment, while civil society calls for an outright ban

• June 18, 2021 18 Jun'21

  UK taskforce calls for cutting GDPR protections

  The UK’s Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform has recommended scrapping safeguards against automated decision-making contained in the General Data Protection Regulation

• June 17, 2021 17 Jun'21

  CIO interview: Warren Breakstone, S&P Global Market Intelligence

  S&P’s managing director and chief product officer for data management solutions talks about using data to make better decisions and how to continue innovating in a fast-moving market

• June 16, 2021 16 Jun'21

  Axiata doubles down on Google Cloud

  The regional telecoms group plans to use Google Cloud’s compute, storage and networking services across the six telcos under its fold

• June 16, 2021 16 Jun'21

  Tech features high on McKinsey’s disruption list

  The management consulting firm has published a list of innovations that could disrupt business models, with many related to IT

• June 16, 2021 16 Jun'21

  Matt Hancock at CogX: ‘Huge opportunities’ ahead to exploit health data

  Health secretary tells CogX 2021 conference in London that huge opportunities lie ahead in the application of analytics to pseudonymised patient data

• June 15, 2021 15 Jun'21

  Oliver Dowden hails Tech Zero Taskforce at CogX

  Government backs a group of UK tech companies and associations to combat the climate emergency, drive green investment and help consumers make greener choices

• June 14, 2021 14 Jun'21

  G7 commits to action on ransomware, digital privacy

  The G7 urges Russia to do more to hold criminal ransomware gangs operating from within its borders to account as it commits to more action on the issue

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  CIO interview: John Hunter of Council of Europe takes cloud route to document management

  John Hunter, CIO of the Council of Europe, describes how his team has modernised the human rights organisation’s document management in the cloud

• June 11, 2021 11 Jun'21

  Can technology help save the world’s oceans?

  To tie in with World Oceans Day earlier this month, IBM hosted a panel discussion on the potential to use IT to support sustainable fishing

• June 10, 2021 10 Jun'21

  How Ubisoft is embracing the cloud

  Game developer Ubisoft has been tapping cloud computing to overcome the constraints of game development and create gaming experiences that live on for years to come

• June 09, 2021 09 Jun'21

  Google plots a course to address AI in manufacturing

  Artificial intelligence and machine learning have the potential to change every industry – Google has set its sights on manufacturing

• June 08, 2021 08 Jun'21

  Oracle and Crown Commercial Service renew MoU to continue cloud use

  Oracle and the UK government’s Crown Commercial Service have renewed a memorandum of understanding for the continued use of the supplier’s cloud infrastructure and applications

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  MoD launches digital strategy

  The Ministry of Defence aims to invest an additional £1.6bn in digital over the next 10 years, and plans to establish a federated ecosystem of digital innovators and developers to ensure continuous progress

• June 07, 2021 07 Jun'21

  BT claims £2m in savings with Qlik data analytics

  BT claims it has secured £2m in cost savings by putting Qlik data analytics in the hands of 1,200 members of staff in its Consumer business

• June 04, 2021 04 Jun'21

  IBM and Hartree partner on AI and quantum research

  Hartree Centre joins IBM’s Digital Accelerator programme to further research into artificial intelligence and quantum computing

• June 03, 2021 03 Jun'21

  Royal Navy trials AI during exercise in Scotland

  The Royal Navy is testing two different artificial intelligence systems to see how they would perform against a supersonic missile threat

• June 03, 2021 03 Jun'21

  Pandemic a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ chance to reshape security

  The volume of remote working has made it hard to paint an accurate picture of the true state of enterprise cyber security, but it presents an opportunity to change things up

• June 03, 2021 03 Jun'21

  Sapphire 2021: Klein vaunts rebooted Ariba business network as sustainability driver

  At the virtual Sapphire 2021 conference, SAP CEO Christian Klein trumpeted the supplier’s procurement network, Ariba, as the core of a revamped global engine for promoting sustainable economic growth

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  BCS demands reform to rules on computer evidence following Post Office Horizon scandal revelations

  Professional IT body wants changes to how computer evidence is used in court in the wake of the Post Office case

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  Oxbotica and TRL pilot safety framework for off-road autonomous vehicles

  Autonomous vehicle technology companies develop code of practice to deploy autonomy safely, efficiently and at scale across a range of environments, in particular off-road settings such as mines, farms and ports where there are no pre-defined or ...

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  How supply chain digitisation is paving the way to gene therapy

  Big pharma has been on the frontline to vaccinate the world against Covid-19. Digitising supply chains sets them up to personalise patient care

• May 27, 2021 27 May'21

  Singapore deploys drones to monitor reservoir water quality

  Singapore’s national water agency PUB is deploying autonomous drones at six reservoirs to monitor water quality and other activities to improve operational efficiency

• May 26, 2021 26 May'21

  Databricks unveils data sharing protocol as part of data lakehouse

  Databricks announces launch of open source project called Delta Sharing at Data + AI Summit, with backing of data providers and business intelligence tool suppliers

• May 26, 2021 26 May'21

  Build 2021: Code abstraction and automatic code generation

  Microsoft’s annual software developers’ event, Build, opened up with the company’s CEO painting a picture of opportunity for software developers

• May 26, 2021 26 May'21

  Disabled travellers promised better train journeys by Passenger Assistance app

  An app developed by UK startup Transreport for the Rail Delivery Group aims to improve train travel for disabled passengers

• May 25, 2021 25 May'21

  Think 2021: AI and automation dominate IBM’s growth strategy

  Think 2021 was an opportunity for IBM to showcase its progress in a vision for hybrid cloud operations and artificial intelligence

• May 24, 2021 24 May'21

  Melbourne taps AI to ease traffic congestion

  University of Melbourne has teamed up with public and private sector organisations to build an AI application that can predict traffic congestion up to three hours ahead

• May 21, 2021 21 May'21

  Alibaba taps machine learning to digitise Chinese classics

  Alibaba’s research arm Damo Academy has developed a machine learning model to convert scanned pages of ancient Chinese classics into text

• May 20, 2021 20 May'21

  UK government publishes framework on automated decision-making

  The framework focuses on making the use of algorithms and automated decision-making systems within the public sector more ethical, transparent and accountable

• May 18, 2021 18 May'21

  Government response to National Data Strategy consultation depicts data as ‘asset, not threat’

  Government responds to consultation with a promise of delivery, putting an emphasis on data as an asset, not a threat, and finding respondents keen on levelling up

• May 18, 2021 18 May'21

  Australian budget lends support to digital economy

  Australia’s A$1.2bn Digital Economy Strategy ticks most of the right boxes, but some industry experts say areas such as broadband infrastructure and artificial intelligence are still underfunded

• May 17, 2021 17 May'21

  Oxford University uses Oracle Cloud to speed up analysis of Covid-19 variants

  The University of Oxford is availing itself of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in the genomic sequencing and analysis of SARS-CoV-2, in part to identify new Covid-19 variants

• May 13, 2021 13 May'21

  NHSX data strategy due in ‘a few weeks’

  NHSX director of policy and strategy Simon Madden says the long-awaited strategy is expected to “trigger huge debates” on issues such as access, choice and transparency, and will be published in draft form shortly to allow for consultation

• May 13, 2021 13 May'21

  Mars expands Microsoft strategy to drive business agenda

  Mars plans to drive new data insights and AI across its supply chains to optimise production and lower its carbon footprint

• May 12, 2021 12 May'21

  Engineering firm Briggs of Burton maps global expansion with SAP’s Rise service

  Briggs of Burton, an engineering firm that makes hygienic equipment for drinks, food and pharmaceutical companies, has chosen SAP’s Rise service to guide its global expansion, initially in China

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  How OAG has adapted data services for return to airline travel

  Covid-19 led to radical changes across the travel sector. Despite lower passenger flows, global travel data provider OAG reworked its data offerings to prepare for a return to normal

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  UK lagging in post-Covid AI-driven business recovery

  Senior IT decision-makers across Europe see artificial intelligence adoption accelerating, but the UK is in the slow lane

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  IBM doubles down on AI and hybrid cloud

  IBM is beefing up its core technology capabilities in artificial intelligence and hybrid cloud to speed up application modernisation and improve AI adoption

• May 11, 2021 11 May'21

  How the British Red Cross harnessed digital mapping honed abroad for the domestic Covid-19 crisis

  The British Red Cross and the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership have been putting digital mapping to work throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to help match human needs to local organisations

• May 07, 2021 07 May'21

  Monmouthshire County Council digitises HR with Zellis cloud

  Monmouthshire County Council is using a cloud HR system from Zellis as part of its digital transformation programme, aimed at being lean and agile

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  Premier League promotes football analytics with Oracle Cloud

  From season 2021-22, the Premier League will provide in-match statistics and analysis for fans, made possible by Oracle Cloud

• May 06, 2021 06 May'21

  Wipro’s AI platform to improve vaccine safety

  Wipro is partnering a stem cell technology firm on the use of its Holmes artificial intelligence platform to help researchers ascertain the safety and potency of vaccines

• May 05, 2021 05 May'21

  Interview: ONS data science chief Tom Smith on government data capability

  The managing director of the Office of National Statistics’ Data Science Campus, Tom Smith, describes the organisation’s data capability building activities for and across government

• May 05, 2021 05 May'21

  Cambridge scale-up company Eagle Genomics expands in India

  UK data analytics life sciences-focused scale-up company Eagle Genomics announces Indian expansion to coincide with government declaration of UK-India trade partnership

• May 05, 2021 05 May'21

  Executive interview: Juergen Mueller on SAP’s tech strategy

  SAP CTO Juergen Mueller offers a glimpse into the company’s thinking around delivering business applications as microservices, among other areas and updates in its technology strategy

• May 04, 2021 04 May'21

  How Transport for NSW is tapping machine learning

  Transport agency in New South Wales taps machine learning to restore public confidence in the state’s transportation network amid the pandemic

• April 29, 2021 29 Apr'21

  UK demand for digital automation skills soars

  The need for automation proficiency has more than doubled in the past two years, according to research

• April 27, 2021 27 Apr'21

  UK supermarkets to trial age estimation tech for alcohol purchases

  Biometric age estimation technology developed by Yoti to be tested in UK supermarkets for alcohol purchases as part of government-led digital identities initiative

• April 26, 2021 26 Apr'21

  Digital tech potential in health and social care not yet realised, says King’s Fund

  Report by health policy think-tank says that although there is evidence that digital technology can support staff and patients, there are large gaps in the evidence base

• April 26, 2021 26 Apr'21

  How Toffs is seizing Asia’s CDN market

  Toffs Technologies is eyeing second- and third-tier cities in Asia as it bolsters its infrastructure and experiments with the use of home networks as content delivery networks

• April 22, 2021 22 Apr'21

  SAP Q1 2021: Revenue nudges up 2% year-on-year, S/4 adoption up 2.5% on prior quarter

  SAP has reported first quarter 2021 revenue of €6.35bn, up 2% on the same year-ago quarter. Cloud revenue has increased by 1% year-on-year, and S/4 adoption is up 2.5% on the previous quarter

• April 22, 2021 22 Apr'21

  Australia and India team up on critical technology

  The first three projects under a joint research grant programme will focus on developing ethical and regulatory frameworks for quantum computing, AI and 5G

• April 21, 2021 21 Apr'21

  Anti-food-waste app Karma taps up Google Cloud to power global expansion plans

  Swedish startup Karma is on a mission to help consumers and businesses across the globe fight food waste, and it has enlisted the Google Cloud Platform to help it achieve its goal

• April 21, 2021 21 Apr'21

  EU lays out plans to regulate AI development

  Proposal aims to encourage the development of ethical artificial intelligence systems that do not infringe the human rights of EU citizens

• April 20, 2021 20 Apr'21

  Singapore’s ViewQwest debuts security service

  ViewQwest’s SecureNet service uses Palo Alto Networks’ next-generation firewall with deep packet inspection capabilities to guard against cyber threats

• April 19, 2021 19 Apr'21

  Google and Siemens combine forces to address AI at the industrial edge

  The partnership shows how the public cloud giants are branching out into specialist application areas to different industry sectors

• April 16, 2021 16 Apr'21

  SAP users identify data skills shortage as importance of analytics spikes

  Research from the SAP UK & Ireland User Group has demonstrated a data skills dearth among users and a delay in using the SAP Hana in-memory database until full S/4 Hana ERP implementations

• April 15, 2021 15 Apr'21

  Uber ordered to reinstate six drivers fired by automated process

  A default judgment handed down by Dutch court has ordered Uber to reinstate six drivers with compensation following unevidenced accusations of fraud and automated firing via algorithm

• April 15, 2021 15 Apr'21

  Google launches multimillion-dollar cloud tech push to boost Covid-19 vaccine distribution

  Tech giant Google is ploughing millions of dollars into initiatives to bolster the availability of Covid-19 vaccines and make it easier for people to access information about immunisation programmes

• April 14, 2021 14 Apr'21

  EU set to tilt AI balance in favour of citizen rights

  New draft EU regulations aim to protect people from biased decision-making

• April 14, 2021 14 Apr'21

  Why Microsoft’s $19bn acquisition of Nuance makes sense

  Microsoft regularly demos real-time speech-to-text transcription and has just spent $19bn on bolstering its voice capabilities

• April 13, 2021 13 Apr'21

  Microsoft enters the Dragon’s den with Nuance acquisition

  The $19bn acquisition of Nuance firmly plants Microsoft at the forefront of voice recognition. The stage is set to combine voice with artificial intelligence

• April 12, 2021 12 Apr'21

  Nvidia targets datacentre memory bottleneck

  The graphics processing unit (GPU) chipmaker has introduced its first datacentre chip, named after computer pioneer, Grace Hopper