News

IT for government and public sector

November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Scottish government unveils strategy for digital planning

Scotland’s government has published a document that describes its strategy for the digitisation of the nation’s planning system
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Government’s infrastructure strategy says technology is key

The strategy aims to put innovation and technology at ‘the heart’ of its approach to transforming the country, as government launches new national infrastructure bank
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Merger of national policing systems over budget and behind schedule

UK government effort to replace legacy IT systems suffers further delays, and will not be fully completed until 2025 at the earliest
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Rishi Sunak’s Spending Review pledges £100bn to transform the country’s infrastructure

Chancellor’s spending promise includes more than £260m for programmes such as 5G testbeds, local full-fibre networks and the Shared Rural Network

November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
UK government Geospatial Commission stipulates actions to exploit location data

Report outlines some actions public bodies and companies can take to make better economic use of location data
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
Securing UK’s critical national infrastructure is a 2021 priority

Government outlines the UK’s strategic cyber security policies for the coming 12 months, with critical national infrastructure a clear priority
November 25, 2020 25 Nov'20
NHSX to launch data strategy for health and social care

Government sets out plans to ‘bust bureaucracy’ in the NHS, including implementing a new data strategy, consulting on changes to data collection legislation, and making progress on shared care records
November 24, 2020 24 Nov'20
Post Office accused of lying and being in contempt of Parliament in IT scandal

Campaigning politician demands access to documents that could prove that the Post Office lied
November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20
MPs subjected to over 22 million malicious email attacks in 2020

Members of Parliament are targeted by millions of spam and phishing emails every month, according to a Freedom of Information disclosure
November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20
Subpostmasters want £300m from a government that allowed Post Office ‘reign of terror’

The government allowed the Post Office to “run amok” and destroy lives, says complaint to Parliamentary Ombudsman

November 20, 2020 20 Nov'20
HM Land Registry drafts digital ID standards

The department’s draft identity-checking requirements aims to provide clarity for software developers creating solutions to be used for property lawyers
November 20, 2020 20 Nov'20
Local authorities lagging behind in digitisation of citizen records

Nearly a third of councils can't tell how much citizen information they store is in digital format, study shows
November 19, 2020 19 Nov'20
Transparency and honesty key to major programmes success, says NAO

Major government projects often lack underlying data on costs and benefits, and it’s often not clear who is accountable for integration of different elements, according to a National Audit Office report on lessons learned on the programmes
November 19, 2020 19 Nov'20
Security sector broadly backs Boris Johnson’s Cyber Force

Security community says the presence of a robust cyber defence force alongside a robust physical one will be vital to the UK’s national security
November 19, 2020 19 Nov'20
Fujitsu staff under investigation for potential perjury in Post Office IT trial named

Court documents reveal the names of the Fujitsu employees under investigation for potentially providing misleading information in criminal trials
November 18, 2020 18 Nov'20
US cyber security chief fired for contradicting Trump

CISA chief Chris Krebs ousted for doing his job fighting disinformation in an apparent purge of officials deemed disloyal to president Donald Trump
November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20
HMRC warns over uptick in Self Assessment tax scams

HMRC issues updated warnings as 2021 Self Assessment deadlines loom
November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20
GDS looks for Gov.uk head of technology and architecture

GDS role is offering up to £85,000 a year and includes being responsible for developing the Gov.uk programme as government aims to make it a platform for content, rather than just a publishing system
November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20
Botched software update to blame for Post Office Horizon crash

Post Office says planned firmware update caused the problem that left branches unable to do business for 90 minutes
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 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
NHS completes transition to HSCN

All 950 NHS, social care, private sector and local authority organisations have migrated from the legacy N3 network to the Health and Social Care Network
November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
Human error blamed in Welsh Covid-19 patient data leak

Public Health Wales accepts recommendations of independent probe into data breach that saw PII on 18,105 coronavirus patients leaked
November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
Hackney systems could be unavailable for months, says council

A month after a highly disruptive cyber attack on its systems, Hackney Council is still struggling to get back up and running
November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
Government issues guidance on post-Brexit procurement

From 1 January 2021, procurement notices will have to be published through the Find a Tender e-notification service
November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20
Post Office explanation of IT system outage so vague it is ‘pointless’

Post Office criticised over vagueness of its explanation of the cause of a UK-wide IT failure that saw subpostmasters unable to do business
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
UK government makes inroads in maritime autonomy

The Maritime Future Technologies team has been formed to facilitate trials of innovative approaches and support regulatory updates
November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20
Humanitarian data collection practices put migrants at risk

United Nations report on smart borders warns that data collection about migrants and refugees by humanitarian organisations risks excluding them from essential basic services like access to food
November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20
Public sector IT leaders struggle with data infrastructure legacy

The impact caused by the pandemic means government tech executives in Europe are looking for ways to quickly modernise their estates, research says
November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20
Police open criminal investigation into potential perjury by Fujitsu staff in Post Office IT trials

Current and former Fujitsu staff could face prosecution for giving false evidence in the trials of subpostmasters accused of theft and false accounting
November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20
UKtech50 2021: Help us find the most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year’s list
November 12, 2020 12 Nov'20
DCMS opens talks with private sector on future of digital identity market

Department has met with suppliers to discuss plans for a trust framework to show ‘what good looks like’ as it ploughs ahead with digital identity plans
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
Tim Berners-Lee startup releases decentralisation tech to enterprises

Roll-out of Inrupt’s decentralised privacy technology to four large organisations is helping the startup to develop explicit use cases, which it hopes will prove the tech and lead to faster adoption
November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20
Amazon charged with breaching EU antitrust rules

Tech giant accused of using data it collects on smaller retailers to benefit its own e-commerce business
November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20
Lack of openness on Horizon errors remains as Fujitsu refuses to explain latest outage

Subpostmasters are being kept in the dark about errors in the branch computer system they use, despite the Post Office and Fujitsu being slammed in court over their lack of openness
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
DCMS’s Whittingdale: National data strategy not tied to EU trade deal

Minister tells ODI Summit that national data strategy is nearly finished and will fuel UK economic growth post-Brexit and post-pandemic
November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20
Border technologies largely fail to respect human rights

AI-powered border technologies used to ‘manage’ migration frequently make the process more arbitrary, discriminatory and unjust, says human rights group
November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20
Industry tells House of Lords committee it has ‘grave reservations’ about CDS

The Customs Declaration Service is untested, unproven and not ready, and HMRC is taking a “cloak and dagger approach” to working with the industry, hears a Lords committee – but HMRC says delivery of Brexit IT is on track
November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20
Better data sharing needed to help children during pandemic

Closing gaps in data infrastructure will help the education sector respond better to children’s needs during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Open Data Institute
November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20
EU moves closer to encryption ban after Austria, France attacks

Draft resolution document setting up an EU-wide ban on end-to-end encryption is set to be waved through this week
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 06, 2020 06 Nov'20
Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected HMRC’s operations, says NAO

NAO’s insight into HMRC’s annual report and accounts finds that the pandemic has created challenges for the department’s transformation programmes, including Universal Credit and the end of the Brexit transition period
November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20
Finger pointed at Fujitsu as Post Office Horizon system crashes nationally

Post Office branches offline during busy business hours after suffering an IT error that the Post Office said related to IT from supplier Fujitsu
November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20
HMRC shuns Gov.uk Notify and seeks supplier to unify notifications

Tax collection agency HMRC will spend up to £9.75m to streamline notifications through text, voice and email
November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20
Risk of ‘widespread disruption’ at UK border after Brexit transition period, NAO warns

National Audit Office report highlights concerns over UK’s readiness when Brexit transition period ends, including several IT systems at risk of not being ready in time
November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20
Royal Navy tests new tech in Cyprus

Navy has been trialling drones, autonomous systems and new communication systems under plans to evolve the Royal Marines into a ‘hi-tech raiding and strike force’
November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20
Slot of the Antarctic: Tape the best option for polar survey backup

Tape deemed the best medium for backup on board the Antarctic research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, with Quantum’s Scalar i3 chosen in a fully redundant deployment
November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20
Mastercard: Looks like a tech firm, acts like a tech firm, is a tech firm

Financial services giant finds itself in a prominent position as the volume of digital transactions increases
November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20
Asda recruits new IT chief to handle transition

Former Morrisons CTO Anna Barsby will lead retailer’s tech agenda as part of its acquisition by the Issa brothers
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
Government sets out plans for security vetting IT platform

A three-year programme to transform the security vetting process for civil servants includes a technology platform due to be rolled out in summer 2021
November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20
Subpostmasters’ complaint about government begins its journey to Parliamentary Ombudsman

Government faces scrutiny of its handling of the Post Office IT scandal that destroyed subpostmasters’ lives and livelihoods
November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20
NHS weathers cyber crime storm during pandemic, says NCSC

The NCSC dealt with over 700 incidents in the 12 months to August 2020, with over 200 specifically related to Covid-19, and the NHS a critical area of focus
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
November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20
Government seeks Council of Science and Technology co-chair

Co-chair will be part of the council that advises the prime minister on science and technology policy issues, including sustainable development, innovation and the UK’s research and science capability
October 30, 2020 30 Oct'20
Government invests £200,000 to boost Scottish geospatial sector

The new Scottish Geospatial Network Integrator will work on developing opportunities in the geospatial services industry
October 30, 2020 30 Oct'20
CCS out to tender for technology services framework worth up to £2bn

Third iteration of Crown Commercial Service’s technology services framework includes technical management, transformation programmes and integration and management
October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20
Most further education colleges have skills shortages in IT teams, says Jisc

A report from member organisation Jisc has found that a larger number of further education colleges have a skills shortage in IT teams
October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20
Victims contest technology firms’ attempt to dismiss cobalt mining deaths case

Technology companies say they cannot be held responsible for the deaths of children mining for the cobalt used in their products
October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20
UK Hydrographic Office launches innovation programme

The programme aims to help startups and innovators use marine geospatial data to develop products and systems to “support safe, secure and thriving oceans”
October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20
Royal Navy and US Navy evolve joint AI and ML work

The teams are working on improving interoperability and interchangeability of technology between the US and UK
October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20
ICO slams Experian over ‘invisible’ data processing

Data processing practices used by Experian broke data protection law, says Information Commissioner’s Office
October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20
Not enough time to get software ready for end of Brexit transition period, warns industry

Software suppliers are concerned they don't have enough time or information to help businesses be ready on time for the end of the Brexit transition period
October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20
Policy Exchange calls on government to publish digital ID strategy

The lack of reliable digital ID services in the UK is limiting the country’s digital infrastructure potential, according to a report on digital identity, which also recommends the government to clarify the future of Gov.uk Verify
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
Digital public services fail UK citizens on multiple fronts

Commission for Smart Government publishes paper on obstacles facing the UK’s digital government, setting out principles for digital government initiatives to follow
October 23, 2020 23 Oct'20
Cyber attack on Hackney Council is ‘morally repugnant’, says mayor

Mayor of Hackney is ‘incredibly angry’ at the cyber criminals behind the attack, which will continue to disrupt key council services for some time
October 23, 2020 23 Oct'20
Nesta launches report on collective intelligence

Report sets out how to combine machine and human intelligence to drive innovation that could solve social challenges
October 23, 2020 23 Oct'20
NHS trust takes another look at its appointment of IT scandal CEO

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has asked for external review of its process when appointing controversial executive
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
Bath and North East Somerset goes live with integrated care record

Record system allows health and care professionals to share information across Virgin Care, local GPs, Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bath and North East Somerset Council
October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20
US Justice Department files antitrust lawsuit against Google

Lawsuit alleges Google used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in a number of interconnected digital markets, violating US federal antitrust law
October 21, 2020 21 Oct'20
How Malaysia’s Selangor state is tapping cloud

Malaysian state has built a cloud-based payment services platform for citizens and is looking to tap cloud-based analytics to upgrade its surveillance cameras, among other cloud computing initiatives
October 20, 2020 20 Oct'20
Hackney Council services to be disrupted ‘for some time’

Inability to make housing benefit payments is likely to sting some tenants as Hackney cyber attack drags on
October 20, 2020 20 Oct'20
Police given access to self-isolation data

NHS Test and Trace self-isolation data will be made available to police after new guidance changes data-sharing rules
October 20, 2020 20 Oct'20
MoD launches science and technology strategy

Strategy sets out how the department will find and fund technological breakthroughs, focus on data and deliver next-generation military hardware
October 20, 2020 20 Oct'20
Labour shares concerns over ‘whitewash’ Horizon IT inquiry

Labour MPs write to postal affairs minister expressing fears that the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal does not guarantee cooperation from the Post Office, Fujitsu and government
October 20, 2020 20 Oct'20
Making Tax Digital could impose unreasonable costs on taxpayers, says PAC

Public Accounts Committee calls on HMRC to assess whether the administrative burden placed on taxpayers through its Making Tax Digital programme is reasonable before continuing to roll it out
October 19, 2020 19 Oct'20
Scottish Borders extends CGI outsourcing contract until 2040

CGI will continue to provide the Scottish council’s end-to-end managed IT services until 2040, making it one of the longest extensions in the company’s history
October 19, 2020 19 Oct'20
UK Space Agency funds three Covid-19 tech projects

Projects include drones to carry coronavirus tests and samples, a mobile app using satellite technology to provide access to community transport, and e-learning courses in Earth observation data analysis
October 16, 2020 16 Oct'20
UK announces proposals to protect cash amid evolution of digital payments

Government wants to ensure access to physical currency by consumers at retailers of all sizes
October 16, 2020 16 Oct'20
Serco and Sitel contact-tracing contracts agreed to be penalty-free for underperformance

Penalties for underperformance were not included in NHS contact-tracing contracts with Serco and Sitel, it has emerged from questions to the Department of Health by Conservative MP David Davis
October 16, 2020 16 Oct'20
UK government aims to prioritise future innovations

Government research has been published to enable evidence-based recommendations on emerging technology with greatest impact
October 16, 2020 16 Oct'20
Welsh shared electronic record project is far from realising ambition, says auditor

Welsh Community Care Information System roll-out, originally due in 2018, is taking longer and costing more than expected, and the prospect of a full take-up among local organisations is still uncertain
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 16, 2020 16 Oct'20
Services Australia taps AI in document processing

Services Australia and Capgemini have developed an AI engine to classify and extract information from claim documents in a pilot project
October 15, 2020 15 Oct'20
UK regulators lack the skills and expertise to cope with increasing use of algorithms

MPs told that multiple regulators will be needed to govern the ever-growing use of algorithmic systems in all areas of the economy and public sector
October 15, 2020 15 Oct'20
Emerging tech can improve regulatory processes, says BEIS report

Regulators should take a best-practice approach to the use of emerging technologies but need to be aware of the challenges, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
October 15, 2020 15 Oct'20
Post Office races to solve IT error under gaze of public and banks

The Post Office is focusing urgently on fixing an IT error suffered by a subpostmaster amid the ongoing IT scandal
October 15, 2020 15 Oct'20
Hackney services still offline in ongoing cyber attack

Services remain disrupted two days after council was hit by a serious incident, as residents are warned to be on their guard
October 14, 2020 14 Oct'20
Public sector security failings leave UK at risk, says think tank

Reform report urges adoption of new policies in the next version of the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy
October 14, 2020 14 Oct'20
Unions urge government to improve conditions for Amazon workers

Unions have urged the UK government to leverage its position as a client of Amazon to improve conditions for workers
October 14, 2020 14 Oct'20
US Elections: Malicious internet domains spike as campaigns heat up

Internet domains related to the US presidential election are 56% more likely to be malicious than regular ones
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
GMB Union boss calls for Dido Harding to resign from NHS Test and Trace

Following the news that a technical glitch caused 16,000 coronavirus cases to go unreported, the GMB Union has called for Test and Trace chair Dido Harding to quit
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
Government minister’s plea for subpostmasters to take part in review of IT scandal rejected

Government minister met with former subpostmaster online in an attempt to get victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal involved in government review
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
Hackney Council services offline after ‘serious’ cyber attack

Services to residents of the London borough of Hackney are being disrupted by a cyber attack
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
HMRC signs five-year £169m contract with Fujitsu for VME platform

Supplier will host 13 HMRC applications on its virtual managed environment platform, following its role as an incumbent provider to the department under two different contracts