News

Europe and Middle East information technology (IT)

• December 01, 2020 01 Dec'20

  ABM Amro to sell head office as it focuses on enabling remote working

  Dutch Bank is selling its head office and redesigning another facility to facilitate increased home working

• November 30, 2020 30 Nov'20

  $60m Middle East tech fund targets 120 startups

  Venture capital fund expects rapid regional technology growth in the post-Covid-19 world

• November 26, 2020 26 Nov'20

  Data safes will give users control over their data

  Belgian computer scientist tells Computer Weekly how people can regain control of their online personal information

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Amazon Swedish language site will expand reach of local retailers

  Amazon launches Swedish language website and promises to make more products available in the Nordic region

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Finnish finance giant pilots fingerprint payments

  OP Financial introduces biometric security technology to enable higher-value payments to be made safely using contactless cards

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Privacy advocates call for European probe into Palantir

  Dutch group SOMI is trying to raise awareness of Palantir’s data privacy practices and how it works with European government agencies

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  IT Priorities 2020: European IT budget share reflects home-working challenges brought by Covid

  European organisations are being forced to redivert more limited budgets during the pandemic

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  Dutch IT award recognises importance of research in the wild

  Promoter of human-centric scientific research techniques claims the prestigious 2020 Netherlands Prize for ICT Research

• November 12, 2020 12 Nov'20

  Company accused of spying on Assange acted for Ecuadorian Intelligence, says ex UC Global manager

  Former operations chief of UC Global told Spanish Court the company accused of spying on Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was acting on the orders of Ecuadorian Intelligence

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Norway has lowest physical cash use in the world, says report

  Norway claims to use less cash as a proportion of total spending than any other country across the globe, according to a study by its central bank

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  EU aid funds used to train ‘unaccountable intelligence agencies’ in high-tech surveillance

  Hundreds of documents obtained by campaign group Privacy International show how the EU is supporting surveillance programmes in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Deutsche Bank to sell retail banking IT unit to TCS for €1

  Deutsche Bank has agreed to sell its retail banking IT operation to one of its main IT suppliers for a token €1

• November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20

  Tampere’s perfect storm triggers a startup revolution

  Previously a hub for Nokia and Microsoft, Finland’s second-largest city is capitalising on a wealth of technical knowhow to become the dark horse of the Nordic startup scene

• November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20

  Nordic countries to develop common digital system

  Common digital platform will help small and medium-sized enterprises across the Nordic region with data sharing

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  Robot lawyer gets Sberbank role

  Russia's largest state-owned bank creates a robot lawyer to reduce the time taken to process documents and make decisions based on them

• November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20

  Finnish government rolls out digital projects to support SMEs

  Finland is set to create network of technology hubs that will support SMEs in the country, as well as create links across the EU

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Finnish therapy centre accused of covering up cyber attack

  Private therapy practice Vastaamo faces questions over its security and business practices in the months leading up to one of the biggest data breaches in Finland’s history

• October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20

  Sopra Steria hit by new version of Ryuk ransomware

  IT services company Sopra Steria says it has contained the ransomware virus, but systems will take a few weeks to be fully operational

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Highly unusual hacking attack directly threatens therapy patients

  A hacker has directly contacted therapy patients to say their highly personal therapy notes will be put on the internet unless they pay the ransom

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Dutch government ‘unambitious’ in digital

  The Netherlands has been working at home as much as possible since the outbreak of Covid-19, but its dependence on technology and connectivity does not seem to be reflected by the government’s approach to digitisation

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Cooperation between Norway’s security agencies planned following cyber attack on parliament

  Government seeks to develop enhanced national IT infrastructure with an embedded early warning system and defence shield to protect the IT systems of public and private organisations

• October 23, 2020 23 Oct'20

  Deutsche Bank in talks over sale of IT unit to TCS

  German bank is said to be in negotiations to sell its retail banking IT operation to Indian IT giant

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Orange Belgium reveals first 5G innovations in Port of Antwerp

  Augmented field operators and connected tugboats are potential use cases as applications based on next-generation network aim to go full steam ahead at Belgian port

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Saudi Arabian authorities work with Chinese IT giants on digital goals

  Saudi Arabia has signed two agreements with Chinese IT suppliers as it strives to deliver its ambitious programme to diversify its economy

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Nordic countries in denial over IT industry equality

  Arriving in Denmark to find she was the only woman on a computer science master’s course was a shock to Plamena Cherneva

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Nordic CIO Interview: Teemu Salmi, Stora Enso

  Working with startup communities helps to drive digital transformation at one of the world’s largest forest industry companies, Stora Enso

• October 19, 2020 19 Oct'20

  Estonian rude awakening spurs tech startup activity

  Money laundering scandal in Estonia has sparked tech startup activity in the Baltic country as banks look for answers

• October 16, 2020 16 Oct'20

  Spanish court to question witnesses over ‘illegal surveillance’ of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

  The Spanish National Court in Madrid is to hear evidence from information security expert Andy Müller-Maguhn and two lawyers who were subject to ‘illegal surveillance’  of their meetings with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London

• October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20

  WikiLeaks led the way for newsrooms to use encryption to protect sources, says Italian journalist

  Stefania Maurizi says in written evidence that Julian Assange pioneered the use of encryption by journalists to protect sources. Her work shows that the US put pressure on Italy to stop the extradition and prosecution of CIA officers responsible for...

• October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20

  Benelux ports use blockchain in major efficiency drive

  Belgian startup T-Mining develops application based on blockchain technology to make container handling safer and more efficient

• September 30, 2020 30 Sep'20

  Norway leaves door open to Huawei

  Government gives telecoms companies responsibility to choose their equipment suppliers, which could include Huawei

• September 29, 2020 29 Sep'20

  Coronavirus has changed perception of healthtech, say ministers

  German health minister Jens Spahn and UK health secretary Matt Hancock say Covid-19 has accelerated healthcare technology adoption across Europe and changed attitudes towards tech in the healthcare system

• September 25, 2020 25 Sep'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Per Boström, Skanska

  The construction industry may be a slow starter when it comes to adopting digital technology, but it is reaping the benefits quickly, with Sweden’s Skanska focused on playing catch up, according to CIO Per Boström

• September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20

  Green Cargo extends Rimini contract to keep legacy SAP backend running

  Mainframe and SAP to provide systems of record, with real-time data for new digitisation initiatives, built on multi-cloud, RPA and low-code platforms

• September 17, 2020 17 Sep'20

  Saudi Arabia sees cyber security boom as coronavirus bites

  Saudi Arabian CIOs have been forced to increase their security posture as the Covid-19 pandemic transforms working methods

• September 17, 2020 17 Sep'20

  Swedish bank cuts branches and jobs, increases IT spend

  Swedish bank is increasing investment IT to improve digital banking as it reduces its branch network

• September 10, 2020 10 Sep'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Maria Lundberg, ICA Gruppen

  The CIO of Swedish retail giant ICA Gruppen, Maria Lundberg, who is overseeing the digitisation of four retail sectors, tells Computer Weekly about the challenges of providing shared IT services for localised needs

• September 09, 2020 09 Sep'20

  Abu Dhabi government launches peer-to-peer coding campus

  Abu Dhabi government launches a specialist programming school that uses peer-to-peer teaching methods and gamification

• September 08, 2020 08 Sep'20

  Nordic banks invest and innovate to keep digital rivals at bay

  Large traditional banks are accelerating their digital transformations as the regional fintech sector makes its presence felt

• September 07, 2020 07 Sep'20

  Dutch bank set to save €5m via Veeam backup upgrade

  Rabobank ditched legacy backup where patching took months and restores took hours. Those times are now cut down massively and the bank has a readily available test environment

• September 01, 2020 01 Sep'20

  Norway’s corporates want government to support ‘herd immunity’ to cyber attack

  Leading business organisations in Norway call on government to play a more active role in improving and coordinating the country’s cyber defences

• August 27, 2020 27 Aug'20

  CTO interview: David Rafalovsky, Sberbank Group

  Russia’s Sberbank is well into its digital transformation journey, with artificial intelligence and supercomputing now at the centre of its plans

• August 25, 2020 25 Aug'20

  Nordic startups send a message to global investment community

  Early-stage tech companies across the world should set up Nordic operations earlier in their development journeys

• August 24, 2020 24 Aug'20

  Dutch Alzheimer’s app developed to aid interaction for dementia patients

  An app aimed at helping dementia patients and their families has been developed by the Alzheimer Society in the Netherlands.

• August 12, 2020 12 Aug'20

  Beyond.pl plots Polish datacentre campus expansion to capitalise on growing continental cloud demand

  Polish colocation provider Beyond.pI says expansion plans are in direct response to growing demand for sustainably powered datacentre capacity in central Europe

• August 11, 2020 11 Aug'20

  French data protection authorities to probe TikTok as suitors circle

  France’s CNIL has confirmed a new investigation into TikTok’s data protection practices

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Netherlands investigates innovative privacy technology SSI

  Dutch research organisation is looking into areas where self-sovereign identity technology could be used in society and business

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Egypt’s datacentre plans take key step forward

  Government lays the foundations for a datacentre industry with its new data protection law

• August 04, 2020 04 Aug'20

  Nordic enterprises look for SAP price reductions as they navigate Covid-19

  Businesses in the Nordics are using SAP Cloud Platform to address Covid-19 challenges and are also seeking price reductions

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Private equity leads Nordic IT sector consolidation

  Private equity firms and industrial giants are triggering mergers and acquisitions in the Nordic tech sector as investment slows amid the Covid-19 pandemic

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Estonian police and border services need better IT to block criminals from becoming e-residents

  Police and Border Guard Board of Estonia needs to improve its IT systems to stop criminals from becoming e-residents, says report

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  Finland government funds work on potential quantum leap

  Finland's government is committing money to the development of quantum computing technologies to potentially provide a giant leap for the nation's industries

• July 29, 2020 29 Jul'20

  How analogue film will be the future of digital history

  The pandemic meant GitHub had to wait until July to store a 21TB snapshot of its code repositories, on special film that can last a thousand years

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  Slack takes legal route against ‘weak, copycat’ Teams

  Microsoft could be set for another joust with the EU, as its rival, Slack, files an anti-competitive complaint

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  Aramex ships in Rackspace Technology to accelerate datacentre downsizing and move to AWS cloud

  Dubai-based international shipping and logistics firm Aramex is in the midst of a cloud-focused digital transformation designed to tighten up its last-mile delivery operations with the help of Rackspace Technology

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  New opportunities for Nordic startups post-Covid-19 as virtual offices become the norm

  As companies adjust to digital office life in the pandemic era, a host of Nordic startups are already helping them convert these short-term fixes into long-term strategy

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  Privacy Shield: Companies face new hurdles to legally transfer data to the US

  Businesses will have to conduct legal assessments to ensure they can transfer data from the EU to the US and other countries, following a European Court of Justice ruling

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  BMW Group signs six-year HPC contract with eco-friendly Swedish colocation firm

  Motor manufacturer agrees to double-down on its use of EcoDataCenter's environmentally friendly colocation facilities

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  Russia Report reveals long-running cyber warfare campaign against UK

  Russia has been hacking the UK for years and the British government has also known about it for years, according to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  Santander consumer arm to automate further after Nordic project

  Time and cost savings achieved by RPA pilot were high and customer experience improved, says bank

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  BBVA explores quantum computing for banking

  Early results from BBVA's research into quantum computing shows that the technology's application in complex computational tasks in banking is not far away

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Brede Nielsen, Avinor

  The Covid-19 pandemic put Avinor’s IT head at the centre of the airport operator's response

• July 16, 2020 16 Jul'20

  Room for improvement in Dutch digital skills

  The Netherlands has good telecommunications and IT networks that can be used safely and reliably, but there is room for improvement in digital skills among the Dutch

• July 15, 2020 15 Jul'20

  Huge declines in traditional outsourcing as Covid-19 puts a stop on deals

  Traditional IT outsourcing deals value plummets in the last quarter as contracts dry up amid Covid-19 disruption

• July 09, 2020 09 Jul'20

  Dutch banking’s transaction monitoring utility gets green light

  Plans for a shared utility to monitor financial transactions in the Netherlands have been given the go-ahead after six months of proving the concept

• July 06, 2020 06 Jul'20

  Avinor creates contactless airport check-in for Norway

  Norwegian airport operator introduces touchless travel check-in to limit the potential spread of Covid-19

• July 03, 2020 03 Jul'20

  Bergen’s tech hub seeking to scale after positive start

  Norway's second largest city is building a tech ecosystem that is beginning its development with a focus on the city's industrial heritage

• July 02, 2020 02 Jul'20

  Police secrecy over ‘IMSI-catcher’ mass surveillance of mobile phones

  Following a tribunal ruling, constabularies in England and Wales can refuse to confirm or deny whether they use mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers to monitor people’s location, phone calls and text messages

• July 01, 2020 01 Jul'20

  Lenovo, top-of-the-world Chinese supercomputer supplier, sweeps all markets

  Supercomputers are not just about computing power, they are a symbol of political ambition. Chinese supercomputer supplier Lenovo is now the dominant supplier across the world

• June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20

  Lawyers learn of fresh US allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from press reports

  The US has filed an updated indictment against Julian Assange alleging that he conspired with hacking groups to obtain information for WikiLeaks. Defence and prosecution lawyers learned about it from press reports

• June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20

  Airports deploy thermal cameras to control Covid-19, science suggests it’s merely ‘safety theatre’

  UK airports are rolling out thermal surveillance cameras to identify people who may have coronavirus, but science says the technology is ineffective at detecting and preventing the spread of the disease

• June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20

  EU-backed bid to build data preservation cloud for European research community gathers pace

  The Archiver project, which aims to create a hybrid cloud-based data preservation environment for scientific researchers across Europe, has named the ICT suppliers in the running to deliver on its vision

• June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20

  Nordic business is leading open banking charge in Europe

  Nordic region has the right ingredients to prove open banking can benefit consumers, businesses and the economy

• June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20

  Datacentre investment boost as Norway’s government reinstates tax relief

  Government reinstates datacentre energy tax relief for cryptocurrency mining organisations after investments in the country’s datacentres drops

• June 17, 2020 17 Jun'20

  Amnesty identifies most privacy-invasive Covid-19 contact-tracing apps

  Bahrain’s ‘BeAware Bahrain’, Kuwait’s ‘Shlonik’ and Norway’s ‘Smittestopp’ are the most privacy-invasive contact-tracing apps, reveals Amnesty International study

• June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20

  Danske Bank begins process of creating autonomous development teams

  Danish bank begins the process of changing how thousands of its staff work as it attempts to be more responsive to digital demand

• June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20

  Norway’s contact-tracing app suspended over privacy concerns

  Norway has been given until 23 June to justify the location tracking of citizens who download its contract-tracing app

• June 12, 2020 12 Jun'20

  Santander to recruit 3,000 more IT staff

  Spanish bank to recruit a further 3,000 tech staff globally to accelerate its digital transformation

• June 11, 2020 11 Jun'20

  Tech firms respond to Nordic government calls

  Nordic firms are working with tech suppliers to help them get back up and running after Covid-19

• June 10, 2020 10 Jun'20

  Berlin breaks the national mould to become a global hub

  German capital is attracting tech startups from across the world as it cements its position as a leading European hub

• June 10, 2020 10 Jun'20

  CaixaBank introduces facial recognition ATMs

  Spanish bank broadens its use of facial recognition technology on cash machines

• June 09, 2020 09 Jun'20

  AS Roma to develop video tracking with Acronis AI expertise

  Italian football club will get variable-price ticketing using artificial intelligence expertise to develop systems. It has also deployed Acronis cloud backup

• June 09, 2020 09 Jun'20

  Netherlands digital sector yearns for government recognition

  The sector building and supporting the Netherlands’ digital infrastructure wants to be valued as highly as Schiphol airport and the port of Rotterdam are for the Dutch economy

• June 08, 2020 08 Jun'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Janne Puustinen, Valmet

  Janne Puustinen built Finnish industrial technology company Valmet’s entire IT organisation from scratch after a demerger

• June 05, 2020 05 Jun'20

  Businesses develop apps quickly to manage disruption of Covid-19

  Healthcare companies, insurers, government agencies and big tech companies have used technology from Pegasystems to develop apps to manage the disruption caused by coronavirus

• June 04, 2020 04 Jun'20

  Dutch organisations invest heavily in compliance – but in vain

  Despite the fact that companies in the Netherlands have invested heavily to comply with GDPR legislation introduced two years ago, 90% of them are still discovering fundamental weaknesses in their IT environment

• June 03, 2020 03 Jun'20

  Lidl Finland speeds up with new local server racks

  Lidl brings server racks to its Finnish stores in a bid to improve connectivity and introduce new services to its customers

• June 01, 2020 01 Jun'20

  Egypt offers free tech scholarship to 100,000 citizens

  Egypt's youths are being offered free training to help them to prepare for the careers of the future

• June 01, 2020 01 Jun'20

  How Saudi Arabia is using cloud to navigate the Covid-19 downturn

  Organisations in Saudi Arabia are using cloud computing services to help them navigate challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic

• May 21, 2020 21 May'20

  Coronavirus: Dutch work on XR technology shows promise in pandemic scenario

  Netherlands leads the way in the development of extended reality technology, which could prove its value in a crisis such as Covid-19

• May 20, 2020 20 May'20

  Coronavirus: Pandemic spurs QR code app upgrade at PayPal

  PayPal introduces QR code payment functionality to its mobile app to support social distancing

• May 20, 2020 20 May'20

  Coronavirus: Bahrain sees fintech take-up surge amid Covid-19 crisis

  Covid-19 has spurred the use of financial technology in Bahrain, which could boost the industry in the country and wider Gulf region

• May 18, 2020 18 May'20

  Flagship digital investment at Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc pays off

  Abu Dhabi National Oil Company sees flagship digital project in high demand after proving its value in responding to the Covid-19 crisis

• May 18, 2020 18 May'20

  Swedish mining firm LKAB revamps data backup setup to support downtime avoidance goals

  State-owned Swedish mining company LKAB scooped the prize for Best Data Security and Data Protection Project at the Best of VMworld 2019 Europe User Awards. Here we run through what the project involved

• May 15, 2020 15 May'20

  Sweden’s Preem puts automation to the test

  Preem is automating software testing as part of a wider plan that includes the introduction of robotic process automation software

• May 14, 2020 14 May'20

  Deutsche Bank’s planned tech spend unaffected by global crisis

  Deutsche bank is driving on with its ambitious IT investment plans, with the Covid-19 pandemic, if anything, adding fuel to it

• May 13, 2020 13 May'20

  Report reveals inadequate cyber security at Schiphol Airport

  A report has revealed problems with critical security systems in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport

• May 12, 2020 12 May'20

  Opportunity in times of crisis for Nordic tech startups

  Nordic tech startups face some major challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, but this could be the making of some of them

• May 11, 2020 11 May'20

  Coronavirus: SMEs in the UAE forced to digitally transform

  The UAE, like the rest of the world, continues to be heavily impacted by the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, and technology is helping to lead the fight

• May 07, 2020 07 May'20

  Finland’s postal service targets new revenue streams through digitisation

  Posti plans to use the new SisuID digital authentication method to accelerate business growth and opportunities