News

IT for government and public sector

• November 06, 2023 06 Nov'23

  Netherlands starts building its own AI language model

  Dutch government allocates €13.5m to develop an open artificial intelligence language model according to national values and guidelines.

• November 06, 2023 06 Nov'23

  UK science minister announces quantum tech funding and collaboration plans

  Science minister George Freeman announces £14m in funding for quantum technology projects as government signs collaboration agreements with Australia and the Netherlands

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  Bristol and Cambridge to host 2024 AI supercomputers

  Dell and HPE are working on supercomputers with the two universities as part of the government’s artificial intelligence funding drive

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  CDDO publishes digital roadmap update

  The CDDO envisions that by 2025, digital services will exceed public expectations, civil servants will be equipped for a digital future, and government efficiency and security will be enhanced

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  How the UK crime agency repurposed Amazon cloud platform to analyse EncroChat cryptophone data

  UK crime agency repurposed AWS-based analytics platform to triage EncroChat data and identify threats to life in messages sent on encrypted phone network

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  AI Summit: 28 governments and EU agree to safe AI development

  In a joint communique at the UK government’s AI Safety Summit, all participating governments agreed to deepen their cooperation around the risks associated with artificial intelligence

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  Government announces millions to fund AI skills

  Funding has been allocated to ensure the UK grows its understanding of artificial intelligence and develops an AI talent base to help properly utilise the technology in the future

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson on her AI Safety Summit goals

  As the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park takes place, Computer Weekly caught up with Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson to find out what one of the UK’s most prominent AI advocates wants from proceedings

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  British Library falls victim to cyber attack

  The British Library is experiencing a major IT outage following a cyber incident of an undisclosed nature

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  Biden’s AI plans focus on US workers’ protection

  The US president has issued an Executive Order that sets out his administration’s strategy for AI safety and security

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  UK government to invest £100m in using AI to research treatments for incurable diseases

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak confirms £100m in government funding for AI-led research into incurable diseases

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  UK government AI Summit already branded ‘missed opportunity’

  The dominance of big tech firms, a focus on speculative risks over real-world harms, and the exclusion of affected workers, mean the AI Safety Summit is a wasted opportunity, say civil society groups

• October 30, 2023 30 Oct'23

  Frontier AI Taskforce starts recruitment drive

  The second progress report from the Frontier AI Taskforce reveals new hires plus vacancy posts for software and research engineers

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Tech firms cite risk to end-to-end encryption as Online Safety Bill gets royal assent

  Tech firms continue to be concerned that the Online Safety Bill could undermine end-to-end encryption despite government reassurances

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Domestic abuse charities surface fresh worries over NHS data sharing

  With new NHS data access options coming into effect at the end of October, a group of campaigners including womens' charities and the BMA have warned that the revived GP-patient data sharing scheme risks putting vulnerable people at risk

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  ‘Egregious’ to link passport data with facial recognition systems

  The Scottish biometrics watchdog has spoken out against the UK policing minister’s plans to integrate passport data with police facial recognition systems

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  UK regulators confident they are ready for AI safety governance

  MPs at a recent artificial intelligence governance meeting were keen to hear how Ofcom, the FCA and the ICO are preparing for UK AI legislation

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  Germany: European Court opinion kicks questions over EncroChat back to national courts

  Germany lawfully obtained data on German EncroChat users from France, but whether the evidence is legally admissible is a matter for national courts

• October 26, 2023 26 Oct'23

  Sunak sets scene for upcoming AI Safety Summit

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak has outlined how the UK will approach making AI safe, but experts say there is still too big a focus on catastrophic but speculative risks over real harms the technology is already causing

• October 25, 2023 25 Oct'23

  Government-led Smart Data Discovery Challenge launched to stoke innovation

  A government-led coalition has launched an open-call competition for ideas using smart data to help support individuals and small businesses, emulating open banking

• October 25, 2023 25 Oct'23

  UK IT professionals express concerns about government’s generative AI goals

  Research reveals 93% of UK IT professionals are concerned by the government’s current plan to become a global leader in artificial intelligence because of lack of training and risk assessment

• October 24, 2023 24 Oct'23

  Michelle Donelan reaffirms UK's commitment to AI safety

  In a keynote speech, the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology discussed the UK's pro-innovation approach to AI safety

• October 24, 2023 24 Oct'23

  Government puts £75m into innovation hubs

  Eight innovation ‘launchpads’ will each get a share of the funding for projects covering sectors such as agri-tech, digital healthcare, renewable energy and technologies for the creative industry

• October 23, 2023 23 Oct'23

  Taxpayers to fund a further £150m for Post Office IT scandal

  Total bill for the scandal goes well over £1bn, as subpostmaster campaign leader considers private prosecutions of Post Office executives

• October 20, 2023 20 Oct'23

  Five Eyes chiefs warn of Chinese spying campaign to steal high-tech secrets

  Intelligence chiefs warn high-tech companies and universities they may be the target of attempts by the Chinese Communist Party to steal technology secrets

• October 20, 2023 20 Oct'23

  Public Accounts Committee highlights smart meter failures

  In spite of failing to meet roll-out targets, millions of smart meters are not working, and some will break once 3G and 2G networks are switched off

• October 19, 2023 19 Oct'23

  Sellafield local authority unsure if data was stolen six years on from North Korea ransomware attack

  Senior managers at an ‘Achilles heel’ local authority for Europe’s biggest nuclear site ‘still don’t know what was lost’ in a 2017 cyber attack, according to a council source

• October 19, 2023 19 Oct'23

  Government concedes it will miss 2024 e-prescribing target

  The government won’t meet its target to get rid of paper prescribing in hospitals by 2024, and has pushed the goal post back two years to 2026

• October 19, 2023 19 Oct'23

  Post Office auditors presumed subpostmasters were ‘on the fiddle’ or ‘in a muddle’

  Public inquiry into Post Office scandal hears how head office staff routinely made negative assumptions about subpostmasters in small branches

• October 18, 2023 18 Oct'23

  Former Post Office executive admits he wouldn’t sign unfair contract he pushed on subpostmasters

  Former contract manager said contract that subpostmasters had to sign with Post Office “put them on the hook” for everything

• October 17, 2023 17 Oct'23

  Hacktivist attacks against Israeli websites mirror attacks following Russian invasion of Ukraine

  Hacktivists supporting Gaza and Palestine have launched hundreds of website defacement attacks against Israeli websites, mirroring the pattern of attacks that occurred after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

• October 17, 2023 17 Oct'23

  Government to pump £30m into NHS medtech

  The government hopes the funding, which is available to integrated care systems across the country, will ease winter pressures through the help of technology

• October 13, 2023 13 Oct'23

  UK startups pilot semiconductor funding

  ChipStart is a new initiative from the UK government to help build out the National Semiconductor Strategy by supporting startups

• October 13, 2023 13 Oct'23

  ‘Angry’ lawyer warned against Post Office computer investigation in 2010 email

  Angered by his exclusion from an important discussion, former Royal Mail lawyer told colleagues of the risks to the Post Office if, as planned, they publicly investigate allegations against its computer system

• October 12, 2023 12 Oct'23

  Scottish biometrics watchdog outlines police cloud concerns

  Police Scotland’s response to the biometrics commissioner’s formal information notice ‘did not ameliorate’ his concerns about the sovereignty and security of the sensitive biometric information being uploaded to cloud infrastructure that is subject ...

• October 11, 2023 11 Oct'23

  Public sector buyers of AI tech must interrogate its suitability

  The Ada Lovelace Institute has published a review on public sector use of artificial intelligence foundation models, looking at the risks and opportunities associated with the technology, and how these can be dealt with from the early stages of ...

• October 11, 2023 11 Oct'23

  Why only 1% of the Snowden Archive will ever be published

  Speaking to Computer Weekly after we published new revelations from the Snowden archive, the Guardian’s Pulitzer Prize winner, Ewen MacAskill, explains why more of the Snowden trove is unlikely to see the light of day

• October 05, 2023 05 Oct'23

  Microsoft: Nation-state cyber espionage on rise in 2023

  Microsoft’s latest Digital Defence Report outlines how nation-state cyber activity has largely moved from destructive attacks to espionage and intelligence gathering

• October 05, 2023 05 Oct'23

  Red Cross issues rules of engagement for hackers in conflicts

  The digital rules of engagement are the first time cyber activity has been looked at by the conflict watchdog, but a number of hacker groups have already come out and said they will not be following them

• October 05, 2023 05 Oct'23

  Government launches £60m Regional Innovation Fund

  The £60m fund aims to support universities in areas with lower R&D investment, while the government is also pumping £8m towards AI scholarships

• October 05, 2023 05 Oct'23

  Policing minister wants to use UK passport data in facial recognition

  The policing minister’s plans to integrate the UK’s passport database with police facial-recognition systems have been met with criticism from campaigners, academics, and the biometrics commissioner for England and Wales

• October 04, 2023 04 Oct'23

  IR35: HMRC completes first phase of CEST upgrades with Ocelot platform migration

  HMRC has confirmed that its online IR35 status checker tool has completed its migration to a new platform, as the government tax collection agency’s revamp of the service continues apace

• October 04, 2023 04 Oct'23

  ICO issues guidance on workplace surveillance

  Guidance on employee monitoring covers how employers can conduct their digital surveillance lawfully, transparently and fairly, and warns against businesses intruding on their workers’ private lives

• October 03, 2023 03 Oct'23

  Cyber experts urge EU to rethink vulnerability disclosure plans

  The European Union’s proposed cyber security vulnerability disclosure measures are well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive, as making unmitigated vulnerabilities public knowledge increases the risk of their exploitation by various actors, ...

• October 03, 2023 03 Oct'23

  Amnesia hides names of individuals behind Post Office’s ‘head on a spike’ strategy

  Former Post Office lawyer deflects individual responsibility for a strategy that crushed subpostmasters, blaming the organisation as a whole

• October 03, 2023 03 Oct'23

  Public sector needs systemic reform of capacity to innovate

  Improving the public sector’s capacity to innovate requires a culture of innovation underpinned by people, skills and new ways of working with the private sector

• October 03, 2023 03 Oct'23

  Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group

  A conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists mounted an extraordinary campaign against one of the world’s most prestigious science journals – part of a series of joint investigations between Byline Times and Computer Weekly

• October 02, 2023 02 Oct'23

  Versity targets Exabyte volumes in data archiving

  Versity builds archiving for Exabyte data volumes on tape and in object storage. It has built its own S3 and transitioned to a GPL licence for supercomputing archives

• October 02, 2023 02 Oct'23

  How the Australian government is approaching AI

  The Australian government is experimenting with AI use cases in a safe environment while it figures out ways to harness the technology to benefit citizens and businesses

• September 29, 2023 29 Sep'23

  Government hands over £12.5m to farming tech innovators

  Some 19 projects focusing on automation and robotic technology will get funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to boost the agricultural sector