News

Europe and Middle East information technology (IT)

June 26, 2019 26 Jun'19
TietoEVRY merger headlines wider consolidation in Nordic IT industry

The merger of Tieto and Evry is only part of the widespread consolidation that is hitting the region’s tech sector
June 26, 2019 26 Jun'19
Shipping giant Maersk on taking a cloud-first approach to disrupting the competition

Rasmus Hald, who heads up the cloud centre of excellence at shipping giant Maersk, opens up about how the firm is embracing a cloud-first policy in the name of seeing off competitive threats and improving the sustainability of its operations
June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19
Half of Dutch IT decision-makers can’t explain blockchain technology

IT decision-makers in the Netherlands know that blockchain has significant benefits, but half don’t understand how to apply it
June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19
Three Finnish banks, one core IT platform

Can a shared core IT platform enable three Finnish banks to become more efficient yet maintain individual competitiveness?

June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19
Moscow’s 2019 Startup Village rewards innovation

Moved to a bigger site, Moscow’s annual Startup Village continues to expand, with interest from large corporates growing
June 25, 2019 25 Jun'19
Saudi banks trial blockchain-based identity technology at ATMs

Biometric and blockchain technologies are being used in tandem to provide ID verification at Saudi Arabian cash machines
June 20, 2019 20 Jun'19
Tech startups establish deep roots in Copenhagen

Danish capital offers all the advantages startups need to get off the ground and many are staying there for the long haul
June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19
Finland’s Tieto and Norway’s Evry merge to fend off competition from Indian suppliers

Two of the Nordic region's biggest IT suppliers merge as competition in their home region increases
June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19
Regional alliances boost Nordic AI industry

Universities and technology businesses in Nordic countries are working cross-border as part of two pan-Nordic organisations
June 19, 2019 19 Jun'19
Luxembourg tech startups get premium connections

Luxembourg is at the centre of a continent with ambitious plans to develop a thriving tech industry, but what makes it different?

June 12, 2019 12 Jun'19
From oil crash to tech startup boom in Norway

For countries highly dependent on oil, the global price crash had huge potential ramifications – one of which, in Norway, was the development of a thriving technology sector
June 12, 2019 12 Jun'19
Apple cancels plans to build second European datacentre in Denmark

The consumer electronics giant plans to focus its efforts on expanding its soon-to-be completed datacentre in Denmark, rather than invest in standing up a second facility in the country
June 10, 2019 10 Jun'19
Etihad Airways uses artificial intelligence to source ideas from staff

UAE airline works with tech startup to create a platform to help it apply employees’ ideas to address business challenges
June 07, 2019 07 Jun'19
NotPetya offers industry-wide lessons, says Maersk’s tech chief

There are several key industry-wide lessons to be learned from the NotPetya attack in 2017, according to the information chief at one of the companies most heavily impacted
June 07, 2019 07 Jun'19
Edtech in the Nordics offers students alternative learning journeys

Pioneering attitude to technology innovation across business and society lends itself to adoption in education across the region
June 05, 2019 05 Jun'19
Finland’s Tieto reorganises to grab growth opportunities

Tieto is cutting costs as part of its growth plan that will see hundreds of job cuts in Finland and Sweden
June 05, 2019 05 Jun'19
Emirates NBD builds bank of future with Amazon Web Services

UAE bank is accessing the latest technology through a close relationship with IT giant Amazon Web Services
June 03, 2019 03 Jun'19
Nordics block European Commission tech tax levy to protect digital investment

The Nordic EU countries have formed a powerful voice against the European Commission’s plans on digital service tax.
May 31, 2019 31 May'19
Facebook loses bid to halt European court decision on EU-US data sharing

Irish Supreme Court dismisses attempt by Facebook to prevent the European Court of Justice considering the validity of US-EU data transfers, after Austrian lawyer Max Schrems argued that they put the privacy of EU citizens at risk
May 30, 2019 30 May'19
Microsoft embarks on renewable-powered datacentre push in Sweden

Microsoft is doubling down on its efforts to have more of its datacentres powered by renewable energy, with commitment to make its facilities in Sweden the most sustainable yet
May 30, 2019 30 May'19
Danish government launches national AI strategy

Strategy aims to capitalise on investment in artificial intelligence technologies to enhance Denmark’s societal advancement and give business and industry a competitive edge
May 29, 2019 29 May'19
Finland globalises AI training programme

The success of an online course in understanding artificial intelligence launched in Finland has led to a global roll-out
May 28, 2019 28 May'19
Swedes need to keep a week’s cash under the bed

The Swedish population is being advised to keep enough cash at home to last a week in case of problems such as online banking crashes
May 28, 2019 28 May'19
Saudi Arabia’s largest auto company completes SAP project as part of digital transformation

Abdul Latif Jameel Motors wins SAP Quality Gold Award for digital revamp programme that overhauled performance and efficiency across its business
May 28, 2019 28 May'19
Dutch IT security firm dumps corporate structure

Boss of Netherlands-based Computest turns to self-management model to make company more nimble
May 22, 2019 22 May'19
Gothenburg – a hotbed for early startups

Sweden’s second-largest city is by no means the biggest startup hub in the Nordic region, but its global reach is a distinct advantage
May 21, 2019 21 May'19
Dutch lecturer researches the person behind the cyber criminal

Dutch academic is trying to get inside the mind of cyber criminals by understanding what makes them tick
May 21, 2019 21 May'19
Middle East Interview: Dubai-based Fetchr

Delivery app Fetchr is spreading across the Middle East with its mobile-to-mobile delivery service. We talk to its founder
May 20, 2019 20 May'19
Danske Bank launches initiative to help SME customers with cyber security

Danske Bank launches initiative to support the cyber security efforts of its SME customers
May 16, 2019 16 May'19
Norwegian industry and state must combine to counter cyber threats

Norway has been targeted by two large ransomware attacks in recent months – and public and private organisations must react in a coordinated way
May 15, 2019 15 May'19
Facebook engaged in ‘calculated’ campaign to eliminate competition, claims businessman

A US businessman is seeking damages from Facebook after accusing the social media company of unfairly blocking “humorous” Facebook pages which generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue
May 14, 2019 14 May'19
Electronic ID in the Nordics – a model for other countries?

Use of electronic identity schemes in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark is far ahead of other countries – but why?
May 10, 2019 10 May'19
Dutch businesses not yet implementing NIS Directive

Little urgency to comply with the Network and Information Systems Security Act, which seeks to protect the Netherlands’ vital infrastructure and digital services from cyber attack
May 09, 2019 09 May'19
Facebook co-founder: ‘It is time to break up Facebook’

Co-founder of Facebook, Chris Hughes, has published an op-ed in The New York Times calling for Facebook to be broken up, as it faces investigations from the US Federal Trade Commission
May 09, 2019 09 May'19
Deutsche Börse harnesses Microsoft cloud

German stock exchange signs deal with Microsoft that will not only benefit the exchange, but other organisations in the sector that are considering cloud migration
May 08, 2019 08 May'19
Finnish gaming company PAF migrates to the cloud

Move to Amazon Web Services cloud brings scalability to gaming company that gives part of its profits to good causes
May 07, 2019 07 May'19
Swedish government tells citizens to hoard cash in case of cyber attack

Civil Contingencies Agency says cash is needed in case of emergencies such as technology failures and cyber attacks
May 03, 2019 03 May'19
Police down two dark web markets

Europol-supported coordinated law enforcement approach across Europe and the US was key to operations’ success
May 01, 2019 01 May'19
Middle East Interview: Bahrain fintech drive gathers speed

Bahrain wants to be a launchpad into the wider region for financial technology firms looking to scale
May 01, 2019 01 May'19
Danish financial services regulator launches sandbox initiative

FT Lab offers fintech startups a platform to test out their products in a secure environment
April 29, 2019 29 Apr'19
Danske Bank and IBM bring AI to banking IT

Artificial intelligence partnership is designed to reduce the risk of major IT outages and keep the bank’s customers happy
April 26, 2019 26 Apr'19
Facebook faces fresh privacy actions from regulators

Facebook faces legal action from Canada after it dismissed regulators’ findings that it failed to protect customer privacy. The firm has set aside $5bn to settle a privacy action in the US and faces a new investigation in Ireland
April 26, 2019 26 Apr'19
GDPR cases drive bigger budgets for Nordic regulators

High-profile General Data Protection Regulation cases in Finland and Sweden have increased the workload for regulators, which are to receive an increase in funding
April 23, 2019 23 Apr'19
Stockholm prospers as tech hub as perceptions of entrepreneurs changes

Stockholm has thrived as a tech startup hub after out-of-date attitudes to entrepreneurs changed
April 23, 2019 23 Apr'19
Egypt aims to develop coding skills earlier in education system

An Egyptian government initiative will see thousands of teenagers trained to code in HTML, CSS and Python
April 18, 2019 18 Apr'19
Etihad Airways automates customer and luggage journey monitoring

National airline of United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, will improve passenger journeys through automated monitoring
April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19
Construction halted at Apple datacentre in Denmark over alleged contractor dispute, report suggests

A local media report suggests construction of Apple's first non-US datacentre has halted in Denmark over a dispute over missed deadlines by the contractor tasked with delivering the build
April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19
Middle East CIOs optimistic as budgets increase and digital transformations expand

Cyber security and risk management will see the biggest increase in spending, but digital transformation of businesses is a major driver of investment, survey shows
April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19
Sweden to take up Finnish AI challenge

Following Finland’s example, Swedish companies are starting to use a training programme to bring staff up to speed with artificial intelligence
April 15, 2019 15 Apr'19
Facebook takes extraordinary legal steps to contain document leak

Facebook targets journalists and news organisations for computer searches