News

IT for government and public sector

June 19, 2026 19 Jun'26
Civil society: Police facial recognition must be strictly limited

Digital rights groups map out ‘minimum, necessary’ human rights protections to be included in UK government’s upcoming legal framework for police facial recognition
June 19, 2026 19 Jun'26
UK government publishes guidelines to ‘end era of outsourcing’ – will IT be in scope?

New strategy will see UK government apply Public Interest Test to outsourcing contracts worth £1m or more
June 19, 2026 19 Jun'26
Chilling effects of surveillance threaten democracy, UN finds

United Nations study finds the chilling effects of pervasive digital surveillance in modern life undermines an entire web of interconnected and interdependent human rights, representing a systemic threat to democratic norms and political ...
June 19, 2026 19 Jun'26
UK information commissioner John Edwards resigns after HR investigation

The UK’s information commissioner has resigned following an HR investigation, saying there were occasions when he exercised ‘poor judgement’ and made ‘inappropriate attempts at humour’

June 19, 2026 19 Jun'26
Scotland officially launches own NHS app

People in Scotland are able to download the first version of the MyCare.scot app on their smartphones, following the roll-out of the web-based version
June 18, 2026 18 Jun'26
US suspension of Anthropic models prompts AI sovereignty calls

The US government’s control order to suspend access to Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models raises concerns about the UK’s over-reliance on American tech
June 18, 2026 18 Jun'26
Gulf CIOs shift focus from recovery to cyber resilience as regional threats intensify

Commvault’s Yahya Kassab says organisations across the Gulf are reassessing recovery strategies, AI risks and cloud investments amid growing cyber threats
June 18, 2026 18 Jun'26
UAE’s push towards agentic AI raises stakes for governance and accountability

As the UAE accelerates plans to embed autonomous AI into government services, experts warn that governance frameworks must evolve from policy documents into operational controls that ensure transparency, accountability and trust
June 17, 2026 17 Jun'26
Post Office delays signing Horizon software replacement contract

Lot 2 of the contract to replace Fujitsu’s controversial Horizon EPOS system has still not been signed off
June 17, 2026 17 Jun'26
Cabinet Office states Capita set to miss Civil Service Pension Scheme deadline

Outsourcing firm’s botched takeover of civil service pension administration has seen scheme members experience financial hardship

June 17, 2026 17 Jun'26
Google Cloud Summit: UK to deploy AI-powered planning system

The UK planning system is being reworked with artificial intelligence and computer vision to provide data in a consistent format
June 16, 2026 16 Jun'26
Scottish minister clarifies police facial-recognition approach

The Scottish government has confirmed its intention to ensure police use of facial recognition is lawful before deployments start taking place, unlike in England and Wales where the technology has been rolled out in a ‘legal vacuum’ without any ...
June 16, 2026 16 Jun'26
MPs call for UK government to back sovereign IT

Amendment to the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill calls for the government to publish a ‘digital sovereignty strategy’ to promote domestic technology
June 16, 2026 16 Jun'26
NHS trusts operating on fewer patients with Palantir FDP, warns Foxglove

Around 30% of English hospitals that use Palantir’s FDP tools for scheduling are carrying out fewer procedures than before adoption, according to data from campaign group Foxglove
June 16, 2026 16 Jun'26
UK data regulator slammed over lack of action on complaints

The UK data regulator is being threatened with legal action after it was accused of ‘ignoring’ thousands of data protection complaints, with critics describing its new approach to complaint triage and investigation as akin to a ‘digital bin’ for the...
June 16, 2026 16 Jun'26
Amnesty calls for ban on AI risk-profiling systems

Amnesty International says AI-driven risk profiling systems are discriminatory and may lead to misleading results that violate international human rights law
June 15, 2026 15 Jun'26
Post Office Capture appeal objections not ‘right, just or fair’

Influential advisory group tells Post Office there is a ‘clear case’ that Capture convictions are unsafe
June 14, 2026 14 Jun'26
UK Finance ‘shocked but not surprised’ by rise in fraud as tech firms ‘profit’ from it

Two-thirds of authorised push payment scams begin on tech platforms, according to UK Finance annual report
June 12, 2026 12 Jun'26
Oracle fixes PeopleSoft flaw exploited by ShinyHunters

A zero-day vulnerability affecting Oracle’s PeopleSoft products is being exploited by a ShinyHunters campaign targeting schools and universities
June 11, 2026 11 Jun'26
AI Summit London: AI’s role in UK defence

AI innovation moves quickly, unlike the speed of innovation in the military. How can AI be used to improve the UK armed forces?
June 11, 2026 11 Jun'26
Government aims to make UK top spot for open source AI

AI minister Kanishka Narayan unveils funding for computer access to support open source developers of artificial intelligence technology
June 10, 2026 10 Jun'26
ICO strips commissioner Edwards of responsibilities in HR inquiry

The UK’s information commissioner John Edwards has been temporarily stripped of his responsibilities in the wake of a workplace investigation
June 10, 2026 10 Jun'26
Lammy announces AI legal assistants for Crown Courts at London Tech Week

Deputy PM David Lammy announces AI legal assistants for Crown Courts and AI tools for judges to tackle record backlogs
June 10, 2026 10 Jun'26
UK government invites experts and industry groups to advise on digital ID plans

After mounting criticism of its digital identity policy, the government is convening an independent advisory group and improving engagement with industry stakeholders in an attempt to improve public trust
June 10, 2026 10 Jun'26
Prince William charity and Salesforce set up data lab to tackle homelessness

Prince William’s Homewards charity is partnering with Salesforce and LandAid to launch a data lab with the aim of using data technology to predict and prevent homelessness
June 09, 2026 09 Jun'26
Microsoft smashes record for biggest ever Patch Tuesday update

Microsoft has obliterated the record for the largest ever Patch Tuesday drop, with its June 2026 update addressing approximately 200 flaws and three zero-days
June 09, 2026 09 Jun'26
UK government launches AI Assurance Stakeholder Consortium

The consortium, launched in partnership with BCS, aims to build trust in artificial intelligence and help the UK economy grow through responsible AI adoption
June 09, 2026 09 Jun'26
UK government pumps £200m into AI skills and adoption

Partnering with businesses, trade unions and workers, the UK government want to upskill workers and spread artificial intelligence adoption
June 08, 2026 08 Jun'26
Councils exit 10-year Capita deal to boost decision and project velocity

Two councils that were once part of a five-council group outsourced to Capita take back control of their IT to allow for decision-making and IT projects that aren’t bound by the slowest member
June 08, 2026 08 Jun'26
Starmer announces sovereign compute strategy amid £1.1bn chip investment

Prime minister launches strategy to develop UK sovereign compute capability as government pumps £1.1bn into AI hardware plan
June 08, 2026 08 Jun'26
Red tape or responsible tech? Regulation’s growing influence on govtech suppliers

As artificial intelligence and digital regulations tighten across the UK and Europe, government technology suppliers are redesigning products and absorbing rising compliance costs, raising questions about regulatory impact
June 08, 2026 08 Jun'26
DfE proposes changes to student funding for assistive technology

The UK Department for Education is proposing to reduce access to paid-for assistive technology in favour of free-to-access services
June 04, 2026 04 Jun'26
EU unveils full-stack sovereignty package to build Euro tech muscle

European Commission launches package spanning chips, cloud and energy to reduce dependency on US and Chinese supply chains and to foster a sovereign vertical domestic stack
June 04, 2026 04 Jun'26
Property sector plans for digital ID collapse over government policy concerns

A major initiative to introduce a standard digital identity scheme for house buying and selling has been shelved due to political uncertainty and lack of clear benefits
June 04, 2026 04 Jun'26
Capita launched civil service pension scheme site without ‘basic’ web security

Outsourcer went live with its troubled civil service pensions administration without a basic Domain Name System security feature
June 03, 2026 03 Jun'26
SIT Committee urges Palantir exit in push to end US cloud grip

A Science, Innovation and Technology Committee report contains recommendations that would radically alter UK public sector IT, procurement and relationship with hyperscalers if adopted
June 03, 2026 03 Jun'26
Capgemini wins another 10-year HMRC deal

This particular deal is for contact centre as a service, which sees artificial intelligence being deployed to streamline processes
June 02, 2026 02 Jun'26
Data dive: Mapping the UK public sector’s hyperscale dependence

UK government and local authorities have built critical infrastructure amid a web of US hyperscaler cloud and other providers, which brings risks of exposure to a narrow set of non-UK suppliers
June 02, 2026 02 Jun'26
Scottish residents granted permission for group action against Capita

People of Scotland given the go-ahead on group proceedings regarding the 2023 Capita cyber breach, in which the personal information of millions of people was stolen from Capita systems after a major cyber attack
May 29, 2026 29 May'26
MEPs urge European Commission to take action over Europol’s shadow IT

MEPs have written to the European Commission calling for action following revelations that Europol and Frontex processed, stored and transferred personal data in ways that raise serious concerns about compliance with EU law
May 29, 2026 29 May'26
How Canberra Institute of Technology is transforming classroom learning

Faced with a fragmented IT estate and poor room utilisation, CIT partnered with Cisco to standardise the institute’s physical and virtual classrooms, boosting inclusivity and slashing on-site support
May 28, 2026 28 May'26
National cyber shield could be ready in five years

GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler confirms plans to build a national cyber defence capability using AI agents to defend critical infrastructure at ‘machine speed’
May 28, 2026 28 May'26
Ministers refused to sign off £563m Capita contract amid civil service pension disaster

The ramifications of Capita’s botched Civil Service pension contract continue as politicians distance themselves.
May 27, 2026 27 May'26
UK has ‘narrowing window’ to stay ahead of tech threats, says GCHQ chief Keast-Butler

UK needs to treat cyber security 10 times more urgently in the wake of threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, says GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler
May 27, 2026 27 May'26
Datacentre dive: AI factory power draw changes the grid calculus

We look at energy as the key driver – and bottleneck – in development, and why water use is less of an issue now datacentres use liquid cooling over air cooling
May 27, 2026 27 May'26
Datacentre dive: Do AI datacentre physics make on-premise unviable?

Does substantial GPU power draw and liquid cooling mean the end of the on-premise datacentre? We look at the AI factory revolution and find that a hybrid path for enterprises will likely still exist
May 27, 2026 27 May'26
Datacentre dive: From rust belt to megawatt AI factory

We visited Terawulf’s Lake Ontario 750MW datacentre development. Photos and recordings weren't allowed, so we took notes and wrote them up in more traditional ways
May 27, 2026 27 May'26
UKtech50 2026: Vote for the most influential person in UK technology

Our judges have selected the top 50 leaders from a long list of top-class nominees – now it’s your chance to tell us who you think is the most influential person in UK technology
May 26, 2026 26 May'26
Sir Alan Bates questions UK government commitment to Post Office criminal investigation

The UK government needs to increase funding for police investigation of Post Office scandal crimes, or face a five-year delay
May 26, 2026 26 May'26
UKtech50 2026: The longlist of the UK’s influential tech leaders

Each year, Computer Weekly launches a search for the most influential people in UK IT, asking the tech community who it thinks should be in the top 50 – here is the longlist of everyone nominated for 2026