News

IT for government and public sector

• September 04, 2019 04 Sep'19

  New funding announced to tackle online child abuse

  Government announces £30m of new cash to tackle online child harm as part of Spending Review 2019

• September 03, 2019 03 Sep'19

  Post Office changes IT leadership reshuffle decision

  The Post Office has changed its IT leadership reshuffle weeks after announcing its original plan

• September 02, 2019 02 Sep'19

  Nearly £1m of EU funding to boost tech skills in UK SMEs

  An initiative led by the Department for Work and Pensions will focus on enhancing skills in rural locations to unleash competitiveness in areas such as agritech and biorenewables

• September 02, 2019 02 Sep'19

  Interim GDS boss gives preview of priorities

  Alison Pritchard sets out key areas of attention for the digital service, from analytics to Brexit work

• September 02, 2019 02 Sep'19

  UK organisations join quantum comms pilot

  Four UK companies are taking part in a pilot project to build the most secure communication infrastructure in Europe

• September 02, 2019 02 Sep'19

  Dutch virtual reality can help reduce teacher shortage worldwide

  Dutch lecturer uses virtual reality to improve teaching and developments are being watched by the Teachers Task Force of Unesco

• August 30, 2019 30 Aug'19

  Government confirms GDS minister

  Simon Hart appointed minister for implementation, with responsibility for the Government Digital Service

• August 30, 2019 30 Aug'19

  Location analysis expands Nordic telco’s range of services

  Nordic telecoms company works with startup to offer services to businesses through location data analysis

• August 29, 2019 29 Aug'19

  UK gets first millionaire ethical hacker

  Six months after the first millionaire ethical hacker was announced, five more have been recognised, including a Briton, who have collectively discovered nearly 5,000 vulnerabilities

• August 29, 2019 29 Aug'19

  Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency hit by IT workers’ strike

  DVSA tech staff are on a month-long strike over working conditions and expect their action to affect the IT workload at the government agency

• August 29, 2019 29 Aug'19

  Government investigates matching geospatial data with AI

  Report looks into the commercial opportunities of matching location data with a number of emerging technologies

• August 28, 2019 28 Aug'19

  Targeted cyber attacks, including ransomware, on the rise

  Governments and healthcare institutions are prime targets of ransomware operators, a report shows

• August 28, 2019 28 Aug'19

  CIO interview: Network Rail plans digital factory to accelerate modernisation

  The operator will enhance its multimillion-pound IT strategy with a sharper focus on areas including mobile, data and cultural change for digital transformation

• August 28, 2019 28 Aug'19

  Ransomware has evolved into a serious enterprise threat

  Ransomware has seen a resurgence since the start of 2019, with cyber criminals changing code and tactics to target enterprises and local authorities for higher ransom payments, McAfee researchers warn

• August 27, 2019 27 Aug'19

  Councils deliver savings through digital initiatives

  Projects under the Digital Channel Shift programme reported fivefold return on investment

• August 23, 2019 23 Aug'19

  IR35 reforms: HMRC defends off-payroll rules guidance against "woeful" IPSE jibes

  HMRC promises there are more preparatory materials in the pipeline to help the private sector prepare for the April 2020 IR35 rules, after IPSE brands its current guidance "woeful"

• August 23, 2019 23 Aug'19

  Three more identity providers to withdraw from troubled Gov.uk Verify programme

  Three of the five companies supporting the government's troubled digital identity scheme are pulling out, raising further questions over the viability of the £175m programme

• August 22, 2019 22 Aug'19

  Security pros reiterate warning against encryption backdoors

  The majority of security professionals believe countries with government-mandated encryption backdoors are more susceptible to nation-state cyber attacks

• August 22, 2019 22 Aug'19

  A helping hand from the Nordics in the eye of the GDPR storm

  Nordic IT companies are well suited to supporting enterprises in their data protection projects, even though openness is more natural to them

• August 22, 2019 22 Aug'19

  Student Loans Company appoints chief information officer

  Stephen Campbell will be leading a complex transformation programme and handling problems including high staff turnover

• August 22, 2019 22 Aug'19

  NHSX aims for mental health services transformation

  Digital unit of the NHS has started a discovery process focused on children and young people

• August 21, 2019 21 Aug'19

  Healthcare faces triple cyber threat, says FireEye

  Criminal and nation-state cyber attackers are increasingly targeting the healthcare industry to steal data, carry out espionage and cause disruption, a report reveals

• August 20, 2019 20 Aug'19

  NHSX kicks off discovery process to revamp screening

  The digital unit decides to prioritise improving the delivery of services and starts discovery exercise

• August 20, 2019 20 Aug'19

  Government opens new round of digital funding for councils

  Grants of up to £350,000 will be invested from the £7.5m Local Digital Fund for local authorities to enhance their projects focused on innovation

• August 20, 2019 20 Aug'19

  YPO debuts £400m datacentre and cloud framework for local councils and schools

  Procurement management organisation YPO has set live a public sector framework designed to support local authorities and educational institutions embrace hybrid cloud

• August 20, 2019 20 Aug'19

  Buyers think SD-WAN is too expensive and complicated

  Building and maintaining an SD-WAN is perceived as a complicated endeavour, and the industry’s messages are not getting through, says a new report

• August 19, 2019 19 Aug'19

  Q2 shows ransomware proliferation, Kaspersky warns

  Ransomware modifications have more than doubled in the past year, the number of ransomware families has grown, and the number of attempted infections is up nearly 50%

• August 16, 2019 16 Aug'19

  ICO to probe facial recognition at King’s Cross

  UK privacy watchdog is to investigate whether the use of live facial recognition technology at King’s Cross complies with data protection laws

• August 16, 2019 16 Aug'19

  UK government advances plans for National Robotarium

  Edinburgh-based facility National Robotarium is hoped to support the growth of national smart robotics companies

• August 16, 2019 16 Aug'19

  NHS readies data-driven health checks

  The government takes another step towards ramping up use of data-driven technologies in the public health system, with expected benefits including reduced pressure on public resources

• August 15, 2019 15 Aug'19

  Australia needs to get digital identity right

  A top Ping Identity executive urges Australia to put more focus on digital identity management following the government’s efforts to lay the groundwork for an open banking regime

• August 15, 2019 15 Aug'19

  Latest Post Office Horizon problems fixed with software update to blame

  The Post Office has fixed the latest problems with its Horizon system, affecting hundreds of branches

• August 15, 2019 15 Aug'19

  2019 set to be another record year for data breaches

  The number of data breach incidents continues to rise and looks set to reach another record this year, with the business sector first in the firing line, according to a mid-year breach report

• August 14, 2019 14 Aug'19

  Publicly accessible biometric database highlights key failings

  The discovery of a publicly accessible database of biometric information highlights failings by the supplier, the need for supply chain security, and the challenges of using biometric data

• August 14, 2019 14 Aug'19

  NTT Security partners with Europol

  Link-up is part of a commitment to share strategic information with partners and law enforcement to bolster threat intelligence in the global fight against cyber crime

• August 13, 2019 13 Aug'19

  Government drives surge in outsourcing spend

  Back-office transformation is a key area of focus for the government as new deals continue to flow despite economic uncertainty, according to research

• August 13, 2019 13 Aug'19

  HS2 rolls out augmented reality for staff training

  Immersive technology will support processes around the development of high-speed railway’s London super hub before it is built

• August 12, 2019 12 Aug'19

  South Wales Police starts facial recognition trial despite opposition

  The use of the facial recognition app by South Wales Police marks the latest deployment of controversial facial recognition technology by police forces in the UK

• August 12, 2019 12 Aug'19

  Department for Work and Pensions claims payments progress

  Key milestones were completed as the government department seeks to evolve its service delivery with innovations such as distributed ledger technologies

• August 12, 2019 12 Aug'19

  Hundreds of Post Office branches hit by new Horizon problem

  Subpostmasters suffering slow running and frozen terminals while Post Office searches for a fix to issues apparently caused by a software update

• August 09, 2019 09 Aug'19

  Prime minister to launch fast-tracked visas for skilled workers

  Prime minister Boris Johnson has urged government departments to work on a new fast-tracked visa for those skilled in sciences, and may scrap other visa caps to attract top talent

• August 09, 2019 09 Aug'19

  F-Secure warns of F5 Big IP-related security issue

  F-Secure has discovered security issues relating to an F5 device that it says could potentially turn hundreds of thousands of load balancers into beachheads for cyber attacks

• August 09, 2019 09 Aug'19

  Whistleblowers: James Glenn’s battle with Cisco opens new front on cyber security

  James Glenn, a 42-year-old security specialist, fought a 10-year legal battle with Cisco after blowing the whistle on serious security flaws. He lost his job, but has no regrets

• August 08, 2019 08 Aug'19

  Ransomware a continued threat to business, report warns

  Businesses are increasingly becoming the most popular targets for ransomware, which remains a top cyber threat around the world, especially in the US, a report reveals

• August 08, 2019 08 Aug'19

  NHS gets £250m boost for AI and genomics

  National Artificial Intelligence Lab will work on new treatments for cancer, dementia and heart disease

• August 07, 2019 07 Aug'19

  The $10bn question: Why is the US government’s JEDI cloud contract taking so long to award?

  The announcement of who has won the US government’s controversial $10bn, decade-long cloud contract is nearly 12 months overdue. So what’s holding it up?

• August 07, 2019 07 Aug'19

  Digital transformation hampered by lack of C-suite support

  Most organisations are driving digital projects, but only a small percentage is happy with the board support they receive, according to research

• August 06, 2019 06 Aug'19

  African bank foils suspected North Korean cyber attack

  An African bank is among the financial institutions to be targeted by North Korea’s multi-billion dollar cyber theft campaign to support its weapons programmes

• August 06, 2019 06 Aug'19

  Scottish government launches £30m Cloud Services Framework with a 50% SME supplier list

  Framework has gone live with 14 suppliers making the cut, who will be on hand to provide public sector organisations in Scotland with access to public, private and hybrid cloud services, as well as colocation capacity

• August 06, 2019 06 Aug'19

  Problems around police algorithms emerge in government debates

  Information sharing across agencies, data protection and governance implications are discussed as the government attempts to appropriately use data-driven technologies

• August 05, 2019 05 Aug'19

  Most UK university applicants at risk of email fraud

  The majority of hundreds of thousands of applicants to UK universities are at risk of email fraud before and after A-level results day, due to a failure to implement full Dmarc protection, a study reveals

• August 02, 2019 02 Aug'19

  CDEI concludes public engagement on online targeting

  The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has concluded a major events programme supporting one of its upcoming reviews

• August 02, 2019 02 Aug'19

  Birmingham City Council ends 13-year IT contract with Capita

  Local authority to bring IT services in-house, saying “the time is right to transfer the services back to the council”

• August 01, 2019 01 Aug'19

  IR35 reforms: Contractor poll highlights lack of faith in new UK government

  Research into how the contractor community views the government and its ability to deliver the private sector IR35 reforms should provide “food for thought” for prime minister Boris Johnson

• August 01, 2019 01 Aug'19

  Industrial control system cyber security risk high, report warns

  The industrial control system cyber risk to global oil and gas companies is high and rising, as new attack groups continue to enter the arena

• August 01, 2019 01 Aug'19

  Central government data infrastructure threatens digital progress

  Leaders across UK public sector see their current legacy technology as a key hurdle to modernisation, according to research

• July 31, 2019 31 Jul'19

  Cisco pays $8.6m after whistleblower discloses security flaws in video surveillance system

  James Glenn, a video surveillance expert working for a Cisco reseller in Denmark, alerted Cisco to security faults and stands to gain a share of a multimillion-dollar settlement with the US government

• July 31, 2019 31 Jul'19

  Middle East businesses welcome Amazon Web Services region launch

  Bahrain AWS region, with three datacentres, links Middle East to AWS's global network and will help to accelerate digital transformation

• July 31, 2019 31 Jul'19

  Police Scotland awards National Network contract to BT

  Police Scotland is embarking on a £3.9m network project as part of its wider digital transformation strategy

• July 31, 2019 31 Jul'19

  5G mobile networks transformative for health and social care, says TechUK

  A new report produced by TechUK and the Liverpool 5G testbed shows how 5G can be used effectively in the NHS, and offers recommendations to government

• July 30, 2019 30 Jul'19

  UK government announces new online safety body

  The UK Council for Internet Safety has an expanded scope to tackle digital abuse and will inform future policy development

• July 30, 2019 30 Jul'19

  Mobiles top target of nation state surveillance

  Nation states are targeting individual mobile users for intelligence gathering and disruption of rivals as security on mobile devices lags behind traditional computing, a report reveals

• July 29, 2019 29 Jul'19

  ODI investigates use of private sector data by cities

  The Open Data Institute is seeking to find out whether cities have the levels of access needed to access data collected by private sector organisations

• July 29, 2019 29 Jul'19

  ICO selects first innovation Sandbox participants

  UK privacy watchdog has chosen the first firms to take part in its Sandbox programme aimed at developing innovative and beneficial products and services that are privacy compliant

• July 29, 2019 29 Jul'19

  One-third of UK councils have IT budgets cut

  Many local authorities’ IT budgets are being reduced at a time when they are trying to digitally transform to cut costs and improve processes

• July 26, 2019 26 Jul'19

  New digital minister appointed as PM Johnson continues reshuffle

  Former telecoms executive Nigel Adams takes over as minister for digital and sport, succeeding Margot James

• July 25, 2019 25 Jul'19

  Crown Commercial Service to replace Crown Marketplace

  The Cabinet Office’s executive agency tweaks its modernisation strategy to boost government procurement efficiency and advances its own technology agenda

• July 25, 2019 25 Jul'19

  New ministerial appointments for tech policies in Boris Johnson Cabinet

  The new Prime Minister has brought in ministers in all the key government posts affecting digital and technology policy

• July 24, 2019 24 Jul'19

  Smart technology will transform Dutch neighbourhood

  A programme in the Netherlands is creating a smart neighbourhood as a pilot for how people could live in the future

• July 24, 2019 24 Jul'19

  Controversial ‘immigration exemption’ used in 60% of cases

  The UK government has used a controversial GDPR opt-out in response to the majority of its immigration-related data requests since the start of 2019, the High Court has heard

• July 24, 2019 24 Jul'19

  AI to advance Swedish military systems

  Swedish report into use of artificial intelligence in military systems reveals opportunities and concerns

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  Phishing attack highlights cyber security need at universities

  UK university cyber security is once again under the spotlight after Lancaster University reveals that it has been targeted by a phishing attack used to send fake invoices

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  UK government to boost AI and data use in preventive healthcare

  A programme led by Public Health England and NHSX will aim to usher in a “new era of evidence-based self-care", with patients increasingly expected to allow access to their personal data

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  Home Office hands EE additional £220m for ESN

  Home Office quietly announces a major extension to the ESN project, pumping over £200m of additional taxpayer money into its contract with EE

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  High Court to hear challenge to immigration exemption in DPA

  The High Court is to hear a challenge by two human rights groups of a controversial clause in new UK data protection legislation they say is in conflict with the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and undermines the General Data Protection Regulation

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  IT infrastructure and cyber security ‘critical’ for Student Loans Company future

  Upgrades to key systems and cyber defence capability will be required so the non-departmental public body can continue to perform key functions, according to a major review

• July 22, 2019 22 Jul'19

  CDEI publishes reports on online targeting and bias in algo decisions

  Recommendations due in late 2019 and early 2020 from Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation’s work on online targeting and bias in algorithmic decision-making

• July 22, 2019 22 Jul'19

  Big tech firms back UK cyber security initiative

  Big technology firms have pledged their support for UK investment in an initiative to “design out” of new tech the most damaging cyber security threats

• July 22, 2019 22 Jul'19

  HMRC makes cloud and data progress

  HMRC has shifted half of its systems to virtualised servers, and is nearing completion of a major core system roll out and boosting data capability to support its digital ambitions

• July 19, 2019 19 Jul'19

  Second CyberThreat Summit announced by NCSC and SANS Institute

  CyberThreat 2019 aims to bring together a more diverse set of technical professionals in cyber security from the private and public sectors in the UK and abroad to encourage collaboration

• July 19, 2019 19 Jul'19

  Government launches digital identity consultation and new pilot scheme

  DCMS is seeking views on the role of the government and private sector in developing digital identities, while a small-scale trial will open up passport data for companies to prove online IDs

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Verify deemed ‘unachievable’ by major government projects review

  Issues around the digital identity project and a major compliance project led by the Ministry of Justice are impossible to solve, according to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Digital minister Margot James quits after Brexit vote

  James voted against the government in an attempt to stop the next Prime Minister from suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Parliamentary committee calls for halt to facial recognition trials

  Issues with biometrics and forensics pose a significant risk to effective functioning of the criminal justice system, according to a report by the Science and Technology Committee

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Welsh council aims to cut back-office processing costs by 95% through automation

  A council in South Wales is expecting to reduce the cost of human resources business processes by up to 95% through robotic process automation

• July 17, 2019 17 Jul'19

  NHS still has thousands of PCs running Windows XP

  NHS computers are still being upgraded three years after the WannaCry ransomware attack to the health system, raising concerns over cyber security

• July 17, 2019 17 Jul'19

  Conditions ‘not quite there’ for government chief data officer

  The long-awaited appointment for government’s chief data officer requires a perception in departments that data is actually valuable, government officials said

• July 17, 2019 17 Jul'19

  MPs slam Home Office over troubled Emergency Services Network programme

  The plan for a new communications network for police, fire and ambulance services is three years late and £3.1bn over budget, and Public Accounts Committee fears further delays

• July 16, 2019 16 Jul'19

  NCSC calls out Microsoft over Dmarc reports

  The UK’s cyber security agency has called out Microsoft for seriously undermining global email security by failing to provide crucial reports from its email platforms

• July 16, 2019 16 Jul'19

  NCSC reports on second year of cyber defence at scale

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre releases a report on the second year of its Active Cyber Defence programme to demonstrate its effects in the public sector and wider UK cyber ecosystem

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  Government must ‘stop choosing ignorance’ around data

  In a letter to digital secretary Jeremy Wright, civil society groups warn that a number of shortcomings must be addressed to enable the government to reap data-related benefits

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  US judge dismisses challenge over Department of Defense mega-cloud contract

  The US Department of Defense looks set to award a $10bn cloud contract after a legal challenge to the procurement process failed

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  Organisations turn to AI in race against cyber attackers

  Businesses are racing to automate their defences as hackers and nation states launch increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  UK public sector needs to prioritise mobile device security

  Only 10% of public service stolen and lost mobile are recovered, underlining the need for mobile-centric, zero-trust model to reduce the risk, says MobileIron

• July 12, 2019 12 Jul'19

  SD-WAN in play: How software-defined solves core business challenges

  For foodservice business HMSHost International and chemical products firm Element Solutions, both customers of networking supplier Aryaka, software-defined wide area networking technology is proving its mettle when it comes to solving core business ...

• July 12, 2019 12 Jul'19

  Home Office boosts tools to tackle online child abuse

  New systems will be introduced to speed up investigations and limit the number of distressing images viewed by law enforcement officers

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  NHS makes health information available through Alexa

  The collaboration between the government and Amazon follows a push from the centre to add voice to services

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  Draft finance bill dims hopes of private sector reprieve on April 2020 roll-out of IR35 reforms

  Publication of the draft IR35 private sector reform legislation dims hopes the government might announce a delay to rolling out the changes in April 2020

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  University of Bristol upgrades to Nimble as it takes IT off-site

  Higher education institution gets trouble-free hybrid flash performance from Nimble and stores 600TB of data at two colocation sites to which it is transitioning from on-campus

• July 10, 2019 10 Jul'19

  Crown Commercial Service launches ICT framework for education

  The deal aims to help education sector bodies procure technology products and services, with SME participation becoming more prominent