News

IT for government and public sector

May 20, 2015 20 May'15
BT and BDUK failed to make costs transparent, says report

A major report on BDUK commissioned by DCMS identifies a number of failures around the transparency of the scheme’s costs
May 19, 2015 19 May'15
GDS will not scale locally with continued bespoke approach

If the Government Digital Service (GDS) continues to develop bespoke digital services, the progress it has made to date will not scale at a local level, Eddie Copeland, head of technology at the Policy Exchange, has warned
May 18, 2015 18 May'15
Socitm to launch women in IT network

Society of Information Technology Management on the hunt for partners to help launch women in IT network
May 18, 2015 18 May'15
Whitehall technology chiefs vetoed new Windows XP support deal

Government technology chiefs vetoed a new deal with Microsoft to continue Windows XP support to force laggards to move off the OS

May 15, 2015 15 May'15
Joanna Shields appointed junior minister

Former Tech City CEO Joanna Shields appointed parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
May 15, 2015 15 May'15
Fire services to keep Airwave Tetra radios until 2020

The Department for Communities and Local Government approves a major extension of the fire services' Firelink Tetra network to the end of 2019
May 14, 2015 14 May'15
Digital age a turning point for policing, says commissioner Leppard

Policing in the digital age will face a turning point in the next two years, according to City of London Police commissioner Adrian Leppard
May 11, 2015 11 May'15
PSNGB rebrands to drive information sharing across PSN

PSNGB, the trade association set up to promote the Public Services Network, rebrands itself as Innopsis and says its work is far from over
April 29, 2015 29 Apr'15
Met Police offers up to almost £200,000 for CIO role

The Metropolitan Police is offering up to almost £200,000 to fill its CIO position, which has been open since February 2015
April 29, 2015 29 Apr'15
Criminal Courts Review Commission set to review subpostmasters' claims of wrongful prosecution

The Criminal Courts Review Commission (CCRC) reviews subpostmasters' claims of wrongful prosecution by the Post Office due to IT problems

April 29, 2015 29 Apr'15
Vodafone sends network in a backpack to Nepal earthquake zone

Vodafone’s charitable arm, the Vodafone Foundation, deploys instant mini networks to help restore communications in quake-hit Nepal
April 22, 2015 22 Apr'15
Collaboration key to cyber security, says US homeland security chief

Collaboration between governments and with the private sector key to improving global cyber security
April 20, 2015 20 Apr'15
Post Office failed to investigate account shortfalls before legal action, report claims

Post Office too quick to take legal action against subpostmasters, finds independent report
April 20, 2015 20 Apr'15
UK startups facing too many challenges, say entrepreneurs

Startups need more support if London’s digital economy is to develop, according to business leaders at Westminster Policy Forum
April 16, 2015 16 Apr'15
Solihull Council's datacentre plans slammed by G-Cloud champions

Solihull Council is building a new datacentre with 10-20 years of capacity, much to the chagrin of industry watchers
April 15, 2015 15 Apr'15
Liberal Democrats promise to double innovation spend and 99.9% broadband roll-out

The Liberal Democrats’ general election manifesto promises to double innovation spending and roll out high-speed broadband to 99.9% of homes
April 14, 2015 14 Apr'15
Security risk potential linked to young, mobile users

A study conducted by wireless supplier Aruba Networks has identified a distinct cohort of high-risk, security-agnostic workers
April 08, 2015 08 Apr'15
Exit checks system for UK borders finally goes live

The Home Office launches a system for making exit checks of travellers at UK borders, following the scrapped e-Borders programme
April 08, 2015 08 Apr'15
Alleged White House hack highlights typical security failings, say experts

The alleged penetration of sensitive White House computer networks highlights typical security failings, say information security experts
March 31, 2015 31 Mar'15
Brecon Beacons National Park soups up staff comms with Unify

Brecon Beacons National Park Authority deploys Unify’s OpenScape voice technology to keep remote staff and home workers in touch
March 31, 2015 31 Mar'15
Microsoft adds ODF 1.2 to Office 365 to adhere to government demands

Microsoft will roll out the ability export documents in open document format (ODF) in Office 365, regardless of original file format, to adhere to government policy
March 30, 2015 30 Mar'15
Rural payments service failed GDS assessment but still went live

The troubled rural payments digital service failed its most recent assessment by the Government Digital Service, but was still launched to farmers
March 27, 2015 27 Mar'15
National Police ICT Company operational after four years of wrangling

The national Police ICT Company is operational and aims to save £465m a year – nearly four years after Theresa May proposed its creation
March 27, 2015 27 Mar'15
UK government pays £150m to Raytheon to settle e-Borders dispute

UK government agrees to pay Raytheon £150m to settle dispute over the cancellation of e-Borders contract
March 27, 2015 27 Mar'15
Nordics' Glenna research cloud project underway

Researchers in the Nordics will soon enjoy a new cloud infrastructure from which to share systems and resources
March 27, 2015 27 Mar'15
Retiring MP aims to uncover truth of alleged Post Office computer system problems

Retiring MP James Arbuthnot is determined to get to the bottom of problems with the Post Office system that led to subpostmasters being blamed for account shortfalls
March 27, 2015 27 Mar'15
MPs slam Defra for making rural payments 'digital by default'

MPs have slammed the government’s decision to make rural payment claims from farmers a 'digital by default' service
March 26, 2015 26 Mar'15
Samsung targets business with Microsoft tools integration

Samsung has pre-installed Microsoft OneNote, OneDrive, and Skype on the new Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge, as it expands into business
March 25, 2015 25 Mar'15
UK government adds five authentication providers to Gov.uk Verify identity management system

The Government Digital Service (GDS) adds five authentication providers to the Gov.uk Verify identity and access management scheme
March 24, 2015 24 Mar'15
MPs seek reassurance over Post Office mediation scheme

Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) select committee seeks reassurances over the Post Office mediation scheme
March 20, 2015 20 Mar'15
What went wrong with Defra's rural payments system?

A £154m system to process payments to farmers has been forced to resort to paper forms. What went wrong – and is this a digital disaster?
March 20, 2015 20 Mar'15
Information Commissioner's Office calls for transparent public sector outsourcing

For greater transparency, public sector buyers and suppliers should be open about their dealings before signing contracts, says ICO
March 19, 2015 19 Mar'15
BIS sets out to assist development of digital sharing economy

The government has set out a number of proposals to assist in the development of the £9bn trade body Sharing Economy UK
March 19, 2015 19 Mar'15
Government creates Crown Hosting venture with Ark Data Centres

Cabinet Office signs seven-year joint venture agreement with Ark Data Centres to create Crown Hosting Service
March 18, 2015 18 Mar'15
Internet of things and 5G network research priority in 2015 Budget

Research into the internet of things and the 5G networks to support it figured highly in chancellor George Osborne’s 2015 Budget
March 13, 2015 13 Mar'15
Japan recruits hackers for cyber security force

The Japanese government plans to recruit hackers to identify and protect against cyber security threats
March 12, 2015 12 Mar'15
CIO interview: Ivor Nicholson, Nottinghamshire County Council

Nottinghamshire County Council is facing £77m in cuts by 2018 and by rolling out new services, it plans to save £8m through technology alone
March 11, 2015 11 Mar'15
Post Office ends working group for IT system investigation day before potentially damaging report

The Post Office closed a working group involved in an investigation into claims against allegedly faulty accounting software used by subpostmasters
March 09, 2015 09 Mar'15
US cyber crime indictment prompts calls for zero tolerance

A newly-revealed US indictment of three suspected cyber criminals has prompted a call for zero tolerance for cyber intrusions
March 06, 2015 06 Mar'15
Procurement guidelines saved government £91m in 2014, says Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude

The government made £91m savings in 2014 with “militant” guidelines around procurement, says Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude
March 05, 2015 05 Mar'15
China and US cross swords over software backdoors

Barack Obama criticises Chinese plans to force tech firms trading in China to share encryption keys and put backdoors in software
March 04, 2015 04 Mar'15
Strong future for enterprise IT in Nordic countries

From attracting the world to its ice-cool datacentres to the digitisation of the public sector, there is plenty going on in the Nordic region
February 25, 2015 25 Feb'15
SMEs seek legal advice over controversial Capita contracts with government

SMEs that claim to have lost significant revenue through two government contracts are seeking legal advice over alleged breaches of competition law
February 25, 2015 25 Feb'15
£700m spent on Universal Credit yet to deliver value for money, say MPs

The Department for Work and Pensions has spent £700m on Universal Credit so far, but has yet to convince MPs it is value for money
February 17, 2015 17 Feb'15
Home Office wins appeal against £224m Raytheon payment over e-Borders cancellation

The Home Office has won an appeal against a tribunal decision to award £224m to supplier Raytheon over the cancellation of its e-Borders contract
February 17, 2015 17 Feb'15
International spyware operation linked to NSA

The US National Security Agency has reportedly hidden surveillance software in the hard drives of several top computer makers
February 16, 2015 16 Feb'15
DWP starts national Universal Credit IT rollout

The next phase of the national IT rollout for the controversial Universal Credit programme has started
February 12, 2015 12 Feb'15
Airwave's Tetra emergency services radio "costly and inflexible"

Incumbent Airwave failed to advance to the next stage of the Emergency Services Network procurement because its Tetra radio technology was too inflexible for current needs, according to reports
February 11, 2015 11 Feb'15
General election 2015: Major parties focus on tech agenda

With advancements around data protection and state surveillance of internet traffic, the UK is heading into its first tech-aware general election
February 10, 2015 10 Feb'15
Why peer-to-peer lending is such a threat to banks

Consumer trust for finance firms has never been high, and since the financial turmoil at the end of the previous decade it has reached rock bottom