News
IT for government and public sector
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August 15, 2023
15
Aug'23
Norfolk and Suffolk police hit by FoI-linked data breach
Latest UK police data breach relates to crime suspects, victims and witnesses across East Anglia, and comes just days after a similar incident at the Northern Irish service
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August 14, 2023
14
Aug'23
CMA provisionally clears US healthcare giant’s purchase of GP IT supplier EMIS
US company UnitedHealth is looking to buy UK healthcare technology firm EMIS in a £1.2bn deal
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August 11, 2023
11
Aug'23
Biden administration bans investment in Chinese high tech
Executive Order prohibits investment firms from supporting Chinese firms specialising in AI, quantum and advanced semiconductors
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August 10, 2023
10
Aug'23
DWP accounts highlight decline in outside IR35 workers in wake of department’s £87.9m tax bill
The Department for Work and Pensions has seen a marked decline in the number of outside IR35 contractors it engages since the department was hit with a £87.9m tax bill several years ago, its accounts show
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August 10, 2023
10
Aug'23
Babylon Health faces downfall
GP at Hand provider once hailed by Matt Hancock looking to sell UK business after merger plans collapse
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August 10, 2023
10
Aug'23
Sutton Council steps up tech-enabled care for residents
Council partners with technology-enabled care provider to support vulnerable residents living independently in their own homes
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August 10, 2023
10
Aug'23
MoD embarks on cloud-based push to digitise data protection request service
After previously finding itself on the receiving end of a reprimand from the UK data protection watchdog for taking too long to respond to subject access requests, the Ministry of Defence sets out how its turned the situation around with the help of...
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August 10, 2023
10
Aug'23
PSNI investigating second breach after laptop stolen
Just hours after accidentally disclosing the personal details of 10,000 personnel, the Police Service of Northern Ireland has notified a second data breach after a police issue laptop and documents were stolen from a parked car
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August 09, 2023
09
Aug'23
Northern Irish police expose staff data in botched FoI response
Human error is being blamed for the leak of personally identifiable information on all serving officers and civilian staff at the Police Service of Northern Ireland
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August 08, 2023
08
Aug'23
MPs warn about growing prevalence of tech-enabled domestic abuse
The UK government must take action to prevent perpetrators from being able to use connected or smart technologies to conduct their domestic abuse, a select committee has warned
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August 08, 2023
08
Aug'23
UK voter data hacked in cyber attack on election watchdog
An unknown threat actor who attacked the UK’s Electoral Commission had access to data on millions of UK voters for over a year, the watchdog has revealed
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August 03, 2023
03
Aug'23
Plexal takes on new cohort for cyber security leadership scheme
Six more cyber security startup founders have been selected to take part in Plexal’s latest Cyber Runway Ignite programme, which is designed to help them develop their leadership skills
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August 03, 2023
03
Aug'23
UK government recruits panel to focus on semiconductors
A panel of experts is being recruited as part of the government's national semiconductor strategy to ensure the UK’s chip sector can grow
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August 02, 2023
02
Aug'23
Ivanti MDM users told to patch against two dangerous flaws
Users of Ivanti’s mobile device management platform have been warned to act now to patch two vulnerabilities that were chained by a threat actor in a series of cyber attacks on the Norwegian government
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August 02, 2023
02
Aug'23
Wirral Council set to deploy Microsoft Fabric data platform
The platform, which is being developed in collaboration with Simpson Associates, will be used to aid decision-making and improve operations
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July 31, 2023
31
Jul'23
G-Cloud 13 suppliers claim framework extension is making it ‘commercially unviable’ to sell through
Government procurement chiefs at the Crown Commercial Service are under fire for extending the life of the G-Cloud 13 framework and preventing suppliers from upping their prices as inflation bites
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July 28, 2023
28
Jul'23
Lancaster Uni lends cyber support to nuclear decommissioning body
Lancaster University’s cyber team has joined with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to help support and protect its 300-year mission, while enhancing its own capabilities in the process
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July 28, 2023
28
Jul'23
Scottish university hit by Rhysida ransomware gang
Data allegedly stolen from the University of Western Scotland has been put up for sale on the dark web by a ransomware gang going by the name Rhysida
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July 27, 2023
27
Jul'23
Post Office tried to convince independent IT witness that he was wrong about Horizon
‘Delusional’ Post Office tried to influence an expert witness and get him to change his view about IT evidence which was detrimental to its case against a subpostmaster
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July 25, 2023
25
Jul'23
CCRC refers two more subpostmaster convictions for appeal
Two more subpostmaster convictions referred to appeal court by the Criminal Cases Review Commission
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July 25, 2023
25
Jul'23
Tetra radio users’ comms may have been exposed for years
A number of flaws in the encryption algorithms used in the secure Tetra radio communications standard have potentially left users exposed to snooping
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July 25, 2023
25
Jul'23
Mayor of London announces startup funding
Seven technology startups working on the Mayor of London’s Poverty Prevention Challenge will receive up to £50,000 each to further develop their proposals, designed to help alleviate the cost-of-living crisis for the capital’s most vulnerable
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July 25, 2023
25
Jul'23
Small satellite testing gets funding boost
A new facility has been established as part of the government’s £200m funding for Earth Observation
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July 24, 2023
24
Jul'23
CIO interview: Sean Green, University of East Anglia
In his role as director of digital and data at the University of East Anglia, Sean Green provides high-performance computing to researchers and manages the diverse needs of a campus with the characteristics of a small town, all while finding the ...
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July 24, 2023
24
Jul'23
Tribunal investigates complaint that journalists’ phones were unlawfully monitored
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal has agreed to investigate complaints by Northern Ireland investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey that they were unlawfully placed under surveillance
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July 21, 2023
21
Jul'23
Government boosts protection for encryption in Online Safety Bill but civil society groups concerned
House of Lords adopts amendment to require Ofcom to commission a report before requiring technology companies to scan encrypted messages, but drops proposals for judicial oversight
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July 20, 2023
20
Jul'23
Electronic Trade Documents Act receives royal assent
Digital trade documents are to be accorded the same status in law as paper ones under a law implemented to help reduce paper waste and speed up the UK’s foreign trade
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July 20, 2023
20
Jul'23
Online Safety Bill screening measures amount to ‘prior restraint’
The Open Rights Group is calling on Parliament to reform the Online Safety Bill, on the basis that its content-screening measures would amount to “prior restraint” on freedom of expression
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July 20, 2023
20
Jul'23
Interview: Richard Corbridge, CDIO, DWP
Only 13 weeks into his new role, the Department for Work and Pensions’ CDIO speaks to Computer Weekly about plans for artificial intelligence, data modernisation and how to complete a business plan in record time
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July 20, 2023
20
Jul'23
How the DSMA balances security and privacy with press freedom
In a world of information sharing and 24-hour news cycles, the Defence and Security Media Advisory committee have to balance national security and data privacy with freedom of the press
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July 20, 2023
20
Jul'23
BBC outsources IT to India’s Tata Consultancy Services
TCS continues to build its UK public sector business, with the BBC its latest customer
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July 20, 2023
20
Jul'23
AI and data experts to be brought into government through secondment programme
The government has announced plans for a secondment programme designed to bring digital experts into government departments
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July 19, 2023
19
Jul'23
‘Significant gaps’ in UK AI regulation, says Ada Lovelace Institute
UK government’s plans to diffuse regulatory responsibility for AI among existing regulators will mean the tech is “only partially regulated”, while its data reforms will undercut already-limited existing protections, says Ada Lovelace Institute
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July 18, 2023
18
Jul'23
NATO membership to drive Nordic cyber security sector growth
The Nordic cyber security sector will see increasing demand as Finland and Sweden joint NATO
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July 17, 2023
17
Jul'23
Subpostmaster compensation deadline will be missed, warns public inquiry chair
Subpostmasters that successfully sued the Post Office and exposed the Horizon scandal are at the ‘back of the queue’ and won’t receive compensation by current deadline
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July 17, 2023
17
Jul'23
Police Scotland use cloud for biometric data despite clear risks
Police Scotland confirms it has stored significant volumes of biometric data on a cloud-based digital evidence sharing system despite major ongoing data protection concerns, bringing into question the effectiveness of the current regulatory approach...
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July 14, 2023
14
Jul'23
UCLH uses machine learning to cope with emergency beds demand
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has deployed a machine learning tool which uses real-time data to predict how many emergency beds will be needed
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July 13, 2023
13
Jul'23
Civil society groups call on EU to put human rights at centre of AI Act
Dozens of civil society groups are calling on EU institutions to prioritise people and human rights in AI legislation as secretive negotiations begin
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July 13, 2023
13
Jul'23
MPs launch inquiry into government use of data
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee is to investigate the possibility of reforming the way government collects and analyses data, and whether the UK census could be scrapped
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July 12, 2023
12
Jul'23
Digital public services ‘riddled’ with problems, says TUC
The UK’s increasingly digitised public services are plagued by design, governance and workplace issues that are undermining the government’s stated goal of improving efficiency, but can be alleviated by giving public sector workers a greater say in ...
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July 12, 2023
12
Jul'23
Ofcom’s online safety preparedness efforts hobbled by government
Despite Ofcom’s progress so far, UK government changes to the scope and timetable of the Online Safety Bill are hobbling the ability of the regulator to successfully prepare for the new regime
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July 12, 2023
12
Jul'23
Cozy Bear lures victims with used BMW 5 Series
A recent Cozy Bear campaign saw the Russian APT group pivot to exploiting an advert for a used car as it targeted diplomatic missions in Kyiv
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July 11, 2023
11
Jul'23
EU formally grants data adequacy to US
The European Commission has formally granted the US data adequacy, allowing companies and organisations to freely transfer personal data across the Atlantic via the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. But privacy activist Max Schrems has already committed...
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July 11, 2023
11
Jul'23
Horizon inquiry adjourned as Post Office disclosure failures threaten to ‘derail’ proceedings
Statutory public inquiry into Post Office Horizon scandal adjourned because of Post Office disclosure failures, ‘retraumatising’ victims of a scandal that destroyed the lives of thousands of people
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July 11, 2023
11
Jul'23
Peer calls for every Post Office prosecution to be reviewed
Post Office prosecutions should be reviewed in light of damning evidence laid bare by statutory public inquiry into Horizon scandal, says peer James Arbuthnot
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July 10, 2023
10
Jul'23
Met Office bids to make climate data more accessible with Esri
The Met Office is offering a new data portal, built on Esri’s geographic information systems technology, to enable users to understand local and national impacts of climate change
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July 07, 2023
07
Jul'23
House of Lords launches an investigation into generative AI
The government wants the UK to lead AI regulation, but technology is developing at a breakneck pace
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July 06, 2023
06
Jul'23
Biometrics watchdog calls for public space surveillance review
The biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner is calling for a review of public space surveillance to gain a clearer picture about the proliferation of Chinese surveillance technology across the public sector, but warns against applying double...
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July 06, 2023
06
Jul'23
Privacy campaigners call for UK data adequacy to be revoked
The European Commission should revoke the UK’s data adequacy if its Data Protection and Digital Information Bill passes, which campaigners argue ‘flies in the face’ of the decision
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July 06, 2023
06
Jul'23
Former Fujitsu IT chief evidence postponed after late Post Office disclosure
Post Office has disrupted Horizon inquiry schedule through late disclosure of ‘significant’ evidence as key IT witness evidence is postponed