News

IT for government and public sector

April 30, 2019 30 Apr'19
Department for International Trade slashes tech SME funding

Smaller UK companies will see their ability to showcase their offerings at large international events compromised, trade bodies say
April 29, 2019 29 Apr'19
Fix the basics first, then worry about AI, advise experts

The freedom of the internet is at risk, with the cyber arms race and the industrialisation of hacking are set to continue as attackers move up the value chain to target trust mechanisms, threat experts predict
April 29, 2019 29 Apr'19
Home Office to award £300m contract for management of biometric services

Government department is behind schedule in the selection of suppliers to work on two platforms covering fingerprints, DNA and facial matching capabilities
April 29, 2019 29 Apr'19
Ofcom must rethink rural broadband USO, says Lords report

There are still serious concerns about whether or not the 10Mbps broadband USO is fit for purpose, and Ofcom needs to take account of them, according to The House of Lords Select Committee for the Rural Economy

April 29, 2019 29 Apr'19
CIO interview: Dylan Roberts, CDIO, Leeds City Council

After 15 years leading technology in Leeds, Dylan Roberts is building a digital ecosystem for the entire region, even looking at how digital services can help extend life expectancy for local people
April 26, 2019 26 Apr'19
Digital map of UK underground pipes and cables to be developed

The Underground Asset Register is expected to reduce the costs and safety issues associated with maintaining underground cables and pipes
April 26, 2019 26 Apr'19
Huawei leak inquiry launched

Cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill has instituted an inquiry aimed at discovering who leaked confidential discussions about UK mobile operators’ use of Huawei in their future 5G networks to the press
April 26, 2019 26 Apr'19
Central government fails to meet SME tech spending targets

Smaller businesses find it “impossible” to win public sector tenders while the number of single-bid contracts rises, report says
April 26, 2019 26 Apr'19
Dutch road management organisation encourages startups to innovate

Dutch highway management agency RWS is sharing data with the private sector to stimulate innovation
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
UK up for cyber challenge but work to be done, says minister

Lidington says National Cyber Security Strategy has “revolutionised the UK’s fight against cyber threats”

April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
NCSC and ICO pledge to support data breach victims

The UK’s cyber security agency and privacy watchdog have agreed to work together to improve support for data breach victims and enhance cyber guidance
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
European Union to create central biometrics database

New rules will see the introduction of a repository of personal data from hundreds of millions of citizens to support law enforcement across member states
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
Cabinet Office seeks chief digital information officer

The newly created role will sit within the Government Digital Service and lead a 630-strong reporting function for digital, data and technology strategy
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
No final decision taken on Huawei 5G ban, government claims

Culture secretary tells MPs that a final decision on use of Huawei in UK 5G networks has not been taken, and says government is taking the leak of confidential discussions at the National Security Council very seriously
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
JEDI cloud chief quits as award date for controversial 10-year US government cloud deal nears

Chris Lynch, director of the US Defence Digital Service, has assured staff that the 10-year JEDI cloud project will proceed as he confirms his departure
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
School should prepare kids for the digital workplace, say teachers

Many teachers say school should prepare young people for working in a digital environment, but a number of schools are underinvesting in technology
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
Cabinet Office addresses 5G security issue

Cabinet Office uses NCSC conference to lay out government’s approach to the security of 5G networks, as controversy grows around using equipment from Chinese supplier Huawei
April 25, 2019 25 Apr'19
NCSC looks to industry to scale Active Cyber Defence

The national cyber security agency is calling on wider government organisations as well as industry to help scale automated cyber attack blocking systems country-wide
April 24, 2019 24 Apr'19
Internet Watch Foundation raises stakes in war against online child porn

Organisation’s work around tackling the spread of child sexual abuse imagery is being enhanced with advanced video tagging technology and artificial intelligence
April 24, 2019 24 Apr'19
NCSC to scale up intelligence sharing, says GCHQ director

The GCHQ director has outlined the agency’s cyber security mission in the third decade of the internet age at CyberUK, promising to scale up the sharing of declassified cyber intelligence with industry
April 24, 2019 24 Apr'19
Market must address IT failures in large infrastructure projects, government says

If companies want certainty that strategic investment will continue post Brexit, they need to address areas such as technical complexity management, says the chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority
April 24, 2019 24 Apr'19
PM May approves Huawei for use in 5G networks despite opposition

The UK’s National Security Council has approved the use of Huawei’s networking equipment in parts of the country’s 5G mobile networks in spite of widespread opposition
April 23, 2019 23 Apr'19
Global intelligence agencies share UK stage for first time

Representatives of intelligence agencies from the Five Eyes alliance are to share a public platform in the UK for the first time at this year’s NCSC CyberUK conference
April 23, 2019 23 Apr'19
London Ambulance Service trials real-time access to patient data

The NHS Identity Service pilot enables clinicians to access summary care records on secure iPads
April 23, 2019 23 Apr'19
Digital court system reaches first key milestones

The platform rolled out at Crown Courts in England and Wales a year ago has increased speed and efficiency of online citizen services and saved 100 million sheets of paper so far
April 23, 2019 23 Apr'19
Open doors at Huawei in China as it mounts defence

Computer Weekly was on a recent UK press tour of Huawei’s new campus in Dongguan, China. The company is opening up as it faces US criticism for alleged complicity with China’s security apparatus
April 20, 2019 20 Apr'19
NCSC urges better online security practices

UK cyber security agency is urging citizens to improve online safety and password security after research reveals most-hacked passwords and a survey exposes gaps in online security
April 19, 2019 19 Apr'19
UK government adds voice to citizen services delivery

Voice technology enables access to more than 12,000 information items through Alexa or Google Home
April 18, 2019 18 Apr'19
20 firms join Tech Nation’s cyber security scale-up programme

Tech Nation scale-up programme is designed to boost the UK’s cyber sector, accelerate the growth of its top companies and build a robust, cross-industry network
April 18, 2019 18 Apr'19
Widespread adoption of digital ID could boost economic growth

New study argues that the standard could bring benefits to businesses in sectors such as financial services as well as government – but it all depends on high adoption rates
April 18, 2019 18 Apr'19
State-sponsored hackers are hijacking DNS, researchers warn

A DNS-hijacking campaign targeting the Middle East and Africa may lead to actors more broadly attacking the global DNS system
April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19
UK government to introduce online porn age checks

World-first regulations will see age verification introduced in July and enforced by the British Board of Film Classification. Non-compliant sites risk withdrawal of payment services or being blocked
April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19
HM Land Registry completes blockchain trial

HM Land Registry’s blockchain project is part of a wider digital transformation initiative which aims to simplify and speed up the process of buying and selling property
April 17, 2019 17 Apr'19
Government says no conflict of interest in trial despite Post Office chairman’s dual role

BEIS refutes MP’s suggestion of Post Office chairman’s conflict of interest in group litigation case involving Horizon IT system
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 17, 2019 17 Apr'19
TfL suspends Wi-Fi service as Extinction Rebellion spreads

Transport for London has cut off its public Virgin Media Wi-Fi service to disrupt climate change protests
April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19
Home Office curbs bulk emails following data breach

Department has introduced new rules for mass messaging after exposing email addresses of EU settled status scheme applicants
April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19
Findings published from three-month pilot for NHS App

Biometric login functionality and additional repeat prescription ordering capability are among the enhancements made in response to user feedback to the NHS App
April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19
MP questions government over Post Office Horizon case

Labour MP asks the government about the costs associated with the Post Office Horizon legal battle
April 16, 2019 16 Apr'19
Dutch national weather service adopts cloud to expand service offerings

The migration of legacy systems to an AWS set-up will precede the design of a real-time early warning centre for the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
April 15, 2019 15 Apr'19
Post-Brexit IT talent shortages concern UK CIOs

Finding and training tech staff remains an issue and is set to get worse after the UK leaves the European Union, says Barclaycard study
April 15, 2019 15 Apr'19
NHS launches care home availability portal

New tool is aimed at optimising hospital occupancy and saving social care staff “hours of phoning around”
April 15, 2019 15 Apr'19
NCSC seeks new breed of cyber security startups

The UK intelligence community is seeking to promote a new breed of technology startup to help detect, respond to and facilitate rapid recoveries from cyber attacks on the UK
April 12, 2019 12 Apr'19
UK government launches cloud sustainability probe

Government departments are being asked to provide information about the energy footprint of the cloud services they use
April 12, 2019 12 Apr'19
Mott MacDonald builds smart cities on Azure cloud

The Microsoft cloud will be used to run digital twins of city infrastructure to help city planners manage infrastructure more effectively
April 12, 2019 12 Apr'19
Police local cyber crime units get multimillion pound boost

UK policing marks the completion of the local phase of a national cyber crime programme to complement regional and national response capabilities
April 12, 2019 12 Apr'19
Lancaster University enhances student engagement with cloud-based chatbot

University is using Amazon Web Services to enhance the development of a voice-enabled “online companion” with machine learning and artificial intelligence
April 11, 2019 11 Apr'19
European Commission tackles transformation challenges with cloud

Modernisation plan continues at the EC, with an upcoming migration and major savings on the horizon
April 10, 2019 10 Apr'19
EC publishes artificial intelligence guidelines

Report is intended as a starting point of an international discussion around trustworthy AI and its recommendations will be put to the test in a trial later this year
April 09, 2019 09 Apr'19
Judge in Post Office trial rejects application to recuse himself

The Post Office’s claim that the judge overseeing the case concerning its controversial Horizon IT system was biased has been dismissed – but will now be considered by the Court of Appeal
April 09, 2019 09 Apr'19
UK councils team up to boost cyber security

Three UK councils and data analysis firm Splunk have teamed up to improve cyber defence capabilities and maintain their security systems
April 09, 2019 09 Apr'19
GCHQ cyber courses for teens recognised by qualification board

The Scottish Qualifications Authority has accredited courses pioneered by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre to teach teenagers about cyber security
April 08, 2019 08 Apr'19
UK introduces world’s first online safety regulations

Announcing ‘the end of online self-regulation’, a duty of care is introduced to hold companies accountable for potential harm and safety of users of their services
April 05, 2019 05 Apr'19
NHS IT jobs need to be promoted differently

More ambition and a mindset change is required to attract more technology talent to the national health service
April 05, 2019 05 Apr'19
Dutch government to make AI national priority

The Dutch government wants to increase its focus on the artificial intelligence sector, as other countries gain an advantage
April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19
No-deal Brexit threatens future of UK CAV sector

The UK has turned itself into a global leader for connected and autonomous vehicles, but its position is at risk because of Brexit, a new report warns
April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19
Social inclusion unit aims to expand diversity in IT conversation

New unit at startup hub wants to explore how technology can be applied to address the barriers many people face in participating in society
April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19
National Savings and Investments makes £300m extension to Atos deal

UK government-owned savings bank adds three years to IT services contract with French supplier
April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19
NHSX announces new leadership

DCMS director-general Matthew Gould is to take over as chief executive of the NHSX, with recruitment set to accelerate at the newly formed digital strategy unit
April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19
Enhanced Wi-Fi cuts costs to maximise efficiency at Dorset school

The need for cost-effective, manageable wireless infrastructure without additional annual licence fees drove Lytchett Minster School’s decision to upgrade its on-site network with TP-Link
April 04, 2019 04 Apr'19
Post Office to appeal judgment from first Horizon trial

The Post Office will appeal against some of the judgments from the first trial concerning the Horizon computer system used by subpostmasters
April 03, 2019 03 Apr'19
Home Office Brexit app will work on Apple devices

An agreement has been reached to make the app for EU nationals to apply for settlement in the UK work on iOS-based products
April 03, 2019 03 Apr'19
Government urges businesses and charities to up cyber security

The UK government is urging businesses and charities to take action to prevent cyber attacks as the costs go up, despite an overall reduction in breaches, partly driven by new data protection laws
April 03, 2019 03 Apr'19
MI5 and the Met ramp up use of analytics to tackle terrorism

Police and intelligence organisations are working on technologies that will help “sharpen radars” around detecting terrorist intents
April 03, 2019 03 Apr'19
Most business decision-makers and knowledge workers happy to work alongside robots

Fears that automation will remove jobs for knowledge workers are reducing as opportunities emerge to upskill and eradicate mundane work
April 03, 2019 03 Apr'19
Government invests £10m in education technology strategy

The UK government has launched a strategy encouraging technology companies to help schools use technology to reduce teacher workload, among other things
April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19
Government invests in knife-detection tech research

The Home Office and the Department for Transport are channelling more than £460,000 into fast-tracking the development and deployment of technologies that can detect concealed blades in public spaces
April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19
SMEs forced into automation as Making Tax Digital goes live

Small businesses are faced with all manner of challenges as the government presses ahead with its plan to digitise the UK tax system
April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19
Four in 10 leading banks failing on email fraud protection

Top UK traditional and challenger banks risk exposing customers to email fraud, a study reveals
April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19
Huawei reports record numbers despite tumultuous year

Huawei has become one of the world’s largest technology companies by revenue, suggesting the accusations over its ties to the Chinese government are failing to have much impact
April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19
Post Office could face huge costs bill for first Horizon trial

Subpostmaster claimants’ legal team makes application for the Post Office to pay millions of pounds of costs associated with trial
April 02, 2019 02 Apr'19
Welsh government buys Microsoft Office 365 for teachers and pupils

The Welsh government will provide Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus across 1,521 maintained schools in Wales
April 01, 2019 01 Apr'19
Digital industries lead UK economy

Technology, media and creative businesses are leading national economic growth, according to research
March 29, 2019 29 Mar'19
How research firm Icon is using analytics and wearables to enhance clinical trials

The company is investing in emergent technology to boost the attractiveness of trials as a care option and attract more participants, while enhancing internal efficiency around drug and device development.
March 29, 2019 29 Mar'19
Met Office seeks chief information security officer

The national weather service wants to recruit a new leader to spearhead a cyber security enhancement programme
March 29, 2019 29 Mar'19
Interview: Mark Gray, director of digital transformation, Crown Prosecution Service

The introduction of fully digital services to improve stakeholder engagement is among the highlights of a world-first transformation initiative in the criminal justice system
March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19
Swan lands in Scottish Highlands

Capita’s Scottish public sector network, also known as Swan, is to be extended to 150 sites in the Highland towns of Fort William, Inverness, Thurso and Wick
March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19
Infosec pros slam government-mandated backdoors

Government-mandated encryption backdoors increase vulnerability to nation-state attacks, according to the majority of cyber security professionals
March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19
Huawei making no progress on addressing security concerns

Huawei has made no material progress on addressing the issues identified last year by the NCSC, according to the latest highly critical report from its HSCEC Oversight Board
March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19
Post Office made to repay public money it allocated to fund Horizon litigation

A senior civil servant asked the Post Office to repay public money it had wrongly allocated to paying legal costs
March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19
Businesses losing out on early payment discounts due to outdated software

Chief financial officers need to upgrade their accounting software to benefit from discounts available for paying suppliers early
March 28, 2019 28 Mar'19
Scottish government advances payments programme

Platform is intended to support outbound and inbound payments and could integrate Gov.UK Pay in Scotland
March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19
Oslo car-free plan builds on micro-mobility trend

Norway’s capital steers away from reliance on cars as political agenda is aided by technological innovation to realise social goals
March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19
Cyber attacks targeting industrial control systems on the rise

Malicious cyber activity increased to almost half of the industrial infrastructure protected by Kaspersky Lab in 2018, but the UK is among the most secure countries, the security firm reports
March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19
Government expects NHS IT overhaul will unleash innovation

Common technical standards, modular contracts and a fintech-style regulatory model will underpin the new approach to technology in the health service in England
March 27, 2019 27 Mar'19
Mind the overlap between GDPR and ePD, warns privacy lawyer

Organisations need to be aware of the overlaps between European data protection and privacy rules, and which takes precedence, a privacy lawyer warns
March 26, 2019 26 Mar'19
Police make 61 arrests in global crackdown on dark web

Law enforcement agencies from the US, Canada and Europe, including the UK, have joined forces to target suppliers and buyers of illegal goods on dark web marketplaces and warn buyers of risks
March 26, 2019 26 Mar'19
Police algorithms should be regulated, says think tank

Better use and regulation of data-driven technologies should be the norm in UK policing, according to research
March 26, 2019 26 Mar'19
BT switches on quantum network link at Adastral Park

BT has opened its quantum network link between its Adastral Park research base and the UK Quantum Network node at the University of Cambridge
March 26, 2019 26 Mar'19
Nominet urges SMEs to register .uk domains to thwart squatters

The automatic right of .co.uk domain name holders to register the shorter .uk domains ends in June
March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19
All change: What can suppliers and IT buyers expect from G-Cloud 11?

The government is set to start accepting applications for the next iteration of G-Cloud from 25 March, but will it be more of the same or radical change for suppliers and public sector IT buyers this time around?
March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19
UK government at odds over Huawei threat

The chair of the Science and Technology Committee has criticised the government’s vague response to concerns about Huawei’s activities in the UK
March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19
Manchester City Council CIO steps down

In a return to the private sector, Bob Brown joins healthcare technology firm EMIS as chief solutions officer
March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19
London launches open data cultural map

The collated data on the capital's cultural locations is hoped to support local authorities, property developers and associations develop existing clusters and build creative infrastructure
March 22, 2019 22 Mar'19
Government cyber security strategy is ‘chaotic’

Responding to potential threats at a national level is unfeasible given the time ministers are currently dedicating to Brexit negotiations, says shadow Cabinet Office minister
March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19
Interview: How the DWP Dojo innovates

Juan Villamil, director of enterprise infrastructure and production operations at DWP Digital, discusses how the Department for Work and Pensions tests out new tech ideas
March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19
Horizon IT system trial suspended after Post Office accuses judge of bias

The Post Office legal team in the case brought by more than 500 subpostmasters has called for the judge to be recused after questioning his impartiality
March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19
GDS and Cabinet Office admit to over-optimism over Verify

The system's architects blamed failures to deliver the objectives set out in the original business plan on the slow pace of digital transformation across government at a Public Accounts Committee session this week
March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19
Norway’s IT sector and government to tackle skills shortage

Norway's IT sector is getting much-needed government support to help improve access to talent
March 21, 2019 21 Mar'19
Russian cyber espionage groups targeting EU governments

Two Russian cyber espionage groups are targeting EU governments ahead of European elections, say researchers