News

IT for government and public sector

• November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18

  Departing DWP IT boss Mayank Prakash to take on digitisation role at Centrica

  DWP’s outgoing chief digital and information officer will begin new role in charge of digitalisation of Centrica’s consumer business in the New Year

• October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18

  IoT R&D projects missed out on £10m of government funding

  A series of delays and disruption caused chiefly by changes in project ownership meant the government’s IoT UK Research and Innovation Programme failed to use a quarter of its allocated budget between 2015 and 2018

• October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18

  Hyperoptic full-fibre network hits public housing milestone

  More than 150,000 publicly owned homes have now been connected to Hyperoptic’s ultrafast fibre broadband network

• October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18

  UK Post Office looks to enable reusable digital ID

  The UK Post Office is investigating the possibility of enabling UK citizens to re-use their passport data for other applications where digital identity is a key component

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  Budget 2018: A mixed bag

  Computer Weekly looks at some of the detail in the tech-laden 2018 Budget and can’t get away from the big elephant in the room: the impact of a potential No Deal Brexit

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  Budget 2018: No great leap forward for broadband, but no need to panic

  The chancellor set aside £1.6bn for digital technology in the Budget, but broadband services did not draw much attention. Is this a surprise, or a reflection of growing commercial investment in full-fibre, and what should the role of government be?

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  IR35 reforms: Private sector extension confirmed for April 2020 in Autumn Budget

  As the government confirms the IR35 reforms will be extended to large and medium-sized businesses in the private sector from April 2020, campaigners claim the move risks destabilising the UK's flexible workforce

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  UK government taskforce commits to distributed ledger technologies

  Report says distributed ledger technology “has the potential to deliver significant benefits in financial services and other sectors in the future”

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  Hammond’s digital services tax is a big risk, say experts

  The tech industry is not impressed with the chancellor’s plan to tax web giants, saying it can stifle innovation, while tax lawyers warn that it is a very risky move that could lead to US retaliation

• October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18

  Government consults on full-fibre for tenants, new-build homes

  Proposed legislation would compel landlords and property developers to offer full-fibre broadband to tenants and customers

• October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18

  Why subpostmasters and Post Office are battling it out in the High Court

  After over a decade of controversy, next week marks the beginning of a court battle between subpostmasters and the Post Office over allegations of faults in an accounting system leading to unfair prosecutions

• October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18

  Finnish city Espoo trials artificial intelligence for community support

  The authorities for Finnish city Espoo are testing out AI technology to help them target services at the residents who need them most

• October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18

  Police tech is ‘a complete and utter mess’, says Home Affairs Committee

  Committee has “serious concerns” about police forces’ digital capabilities, interoperability and tech adoption, and urges ministers to take responsibility

• October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18

  O2 extends rural 4G network to 339 communities

  O2 has extended its rural network roll-out, targeting over 300 small communities all over the UK

• October 26, 2018 26 Oct'18

  IoT ecosystem needs to be investigated, say experts

  A conference of IoT experts convened by Enisa and Europol has made key recommendations to ensure security vulnerabilities do not overshadow benefits

• October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18

  MEPs call for action in wake of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal

  European members of parliament demand action to protect citizens’ privacy from abuses such as those uncovered in the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal

• October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18

  Firms will use AI to automate HR processes within two years

  Companies are gearing up to automate HR processes with artificial intelligence and machine learning, while at the same time battling with outdated IT systems

• October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18

  ICO issues maximum £500,000 fine to Facebook

  The UK privacy watchdog has confirmed that Facebook has escaped a fine of more than $1bn under the GDPR, but will face the maximum under the DPA for failing to protect users’ personal information

• October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18

  Autonomous taxi trials underway in Dubai

  Dubai’s transport authority has started road testing the region’s first autonomous taxi, designed in partnership with Dubai Silicon Oasis and DG World

• October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18

  CityFibre backers pump £2.5bn into full-fibre broadband

  Network expansion will add 27 towns and cities to CityFibre’s current roll-out to 10 locations in support of a consumer full-fibre service delivered by Vodafone

• October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18

  11 of 12 border IT systems at risk of not being ready by Brexit, says NAO report

  All but one of the critical IT systems needed at the UK border are at risk of not being ready by 29 March 2019, which will have implications if there is a no-deal Brexit

• October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18

  Government can’t guarantee no-deal Brexit data-sharing agreement

  Digital minister Margot James says there is no clear timetable on when the UK will secure a data adequacy decision from the EU, and cannot guarantee an agreement will be in place in the event of a no-deal Brexit

• October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18

  Interview: Steve Grobman, McAfee CTO shares his views on some burning security questions

  Cyber security technology innovator and veteran Steve Grobman shares his views on adversarial artificial intelligence, post-quantum cryptography and security for next-gen tech

• October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18

  Government to invest £8m in Brexit customs training and automation

  The Treasury and HMRC are putting measures in place to support the customs sector should the UK leave the EU with no deal, including funding to increase automation and training

• October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18

  Government pumps more funding into NHS ‘test beds’ programme

  Seven new “test beds” will receive £7m to trial a range of technologies to improve patient care in the second wave of the NHS Test Beds Programme

• October 22, 2018 22 Oct'18

  Government to invest an extra £215m in UK innovation centres

  The extra funding will be given to the Catapult network of innovation centres, focusing on digital, medicines discovery, future cities and transport systems

• October 22, 2018 22 Oct'18

  McAfee CTO raises concerns about election cyber security

  The security industry needs to look at the security of election processes around the world as well as the security of voting and counting machines, says McAfee CTO

• October 19, 2018 19 Oct'18

  Interview: Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, on his NHS ‘tech vision’

  Matt Hancock brings rare digital experience to running the NHS and social care systems, but can he overcome the legacy of past health service technology failures?

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Dubai Health Authority unveils virtual health app for GP consultations

  Health authority adopts new technology as part of the Dubai Future Accelerators initiative

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Industry and government must collaborate to drive the digital economy, says techUK CEO

  Industry and government must work together to grow use of technology across the UK economy, according to techUK CEO Julian David

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  McAfee researchers uncover ‘significant’ espionage campaign

  Researchers discover campaign targeting South Korea, the US and Canada with links to eight-year-old source code from a threat group that has been dormant for five years

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Middle East gears up for 5G

  The race for 5G is well and truly under way, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia are well positioned to be among the first countries in the world to deliver the benefits of this new telecoms protocol

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  MoJ to go all-in on public cloud as infrastructure modernisation push gathers pace

  The Ministry of Justice claims modernising, retiring and migrating its legacy IT systems to the public cloud will help it accrue long-term savings of around 60% on hosting costs

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  Home Office ‘seriously’ considered ESN shutdown

  New disclosures from those responsible for the troubled Emergency Services Network project have revealed that, contrary to previous denials, the Home Office came close to pulling the plug earlier this year

• October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18

  No new funding for Hancock’s NHS tech vision

  Getting the technology plan right is more about standards than money, says health and social care secretary Matt Hancock, as he explains why NHS organisations won’t be given additional funding to deliver on his vision

• October 17, 2018 17 Oct'18

  Hancock sets out NHS tech vision

  Government will mandate national open standards for the NHS and tech suppliers, build a health and caretech ecosystem and give local NHS organisations more flexibility in how and what tech they buy

• October 16, 2018 16 Oct'18

  Public Health England builds Ceph and Lustre cloud for analytics

  Healthcare analytics and modelling organisation Public Health England built an open source cloud from Red Hat Ceph object storage and Lustre scale-out file access storage to petabyte scale

• October 16, 2018 16 Oct'18

  UK faces 10 cyber attacks a week as hostile states step up hacking, says NCSC

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has thwarted more than 1,600 attacks over the past two years – many by hostile nation states

• October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18

  Home Office completes initial test of online system for registering EU citizens

  Online application process for registering EU citizens in the UK after Brexit has concluded initial trials, and will now be expanded to a wider group

• October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18

  Microsoft staff allegedly pen open letter urging firm to drop bid for US government cloud deal

  Letter calls on software giant to bow out of the race for a controversial, 10-year cloud contract with the US Department of Defense

• October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18

  Tech companies should not be under legal duty to remove terrorist material, says watchdog

  The internet should not be a safe place for terrorists, but making it compulsory for technology companies to trawl for radical content risks interfering with the rights of innocent people, says Max Hill QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism ...

• October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18

  Cost of WannaCry attack to NHS set at £92m

  Department for Health and Social Care estimates the immediate cost of the May 2017 WannaCry attack on the NHS was £92m, and says it will have spent about £275m on improvements to its cyber security infrastructure by the end of 2021

• October 12, 2018 12 Oct'18

  Watchdog calls for clarity on Schedule 7 terrorism powers

  The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation has called for greater clarity over police Schedule 7 powers to seize mobile phones and computers and question people without grounds for suspicion at ports and airports

• October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18

  RATs and Mimikatz among top publicly available hacking tools

  Remote access Trojans (RATs), web shells and Mimikatz among the top publicly available tools that are used in cyber attacks around the world, a five-nation cyber intelligence report reveals

• October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18

  The troublesome saga of Gov.uk Verify

  As the government plans to hand over its flagship identity assurance programme to the private sector, Computer Weekly looks at the history of the troubled project and how Gov.uk Verify ended up on the chopping board

• October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18

  Nato to be fully operational in cyber space by 2023

  Nato is aiming to achieve full operational readiness in cyber space within five years

• October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18

  Robots in the workplace supported by 81% of business chiefs

  Robotic process automation continues to be taken up by more organisations – but despite proven benefits, those that already use it are struggling to scale it up

• October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18

  Google-supported programme in Netherlands helps primary schools with computational thinking

  A programme to help primary school teachers in the Netherlands understand IT is gaining momentum

• October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18

  Ofcom says government should lead on internet regulation

  Representatives from the telecoms regulator tell House of Lords that the government should build a framework for internet regulation that other bodies can follow and enforce

• October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18

  Bug bounties not a silver bullet, Katie Moussouris warns

  Targeted bug bounties have a role to play in cyber security, but they are not a "silver bullet", and run the risk of wiping out talent pipelines if poorly implemented, warns bug bounty pioneer

• October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18

  Huawei Connect 2018: Huawei tackles barriers to effective AI

  At its annual customer and technology event, Huawei chairman Eric Xu set out 10 key challenges facing AI, and revealed how the networking supplier’s strategy will help to address these

• October 09, 2018 09 Oct'18

  Government to end investment in Gov.uk Verify digital identity system

  Cabinet Office announces 18-month transition to hand troubled identity assurance programme over to private sector

• October 09, 2018 09 Oct'18

  Tech takes centre stage in CBI’s pre-Budget wish list

  Industry calls on government to set the tone for a tech-friendly business environment after the UK leaves the EU

• October 09, 2018 09 Oct'18

  Cooperation vital in cyber security, says former Estonian minister

  States acting alone cannot be efficient in cyber security and need to cooperate with others to build trust, says a former foreign minister of Estonia

• October 08, 2018 08 Oct'18

  NCSC head calls for technocratic partnership to fix cyber risks

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre is appealing for collaboration with the technology industry to remedy key vulnerabilities in current IT

• October 08, 2018 08 Oct'18

  Geospatial Commission pumps £5m into unlocking value of location data

  Commission wants to unlock the value of location data held by its partners through the use of emerging technologies

• October 05, 2018 05 Oct'18

  GDPR case work swamps Denmark’s data protection agency

  The agency investigating alleged breaches of GDPR in Denmark is recruiting additional resources to cope with the increase in work

• October 05, 2018 05 Oct'18

  Business secretary awards regulators £10m to drive innovation

  Regulators will be given funding to drive innovation and strengthen regulations in areas such as automation, data and artificial intelligence

• October 04, 2018 04 Oct'18

  CIO interview: Niall Quinn, technology director, Crown Commercial Service

  The Crown Commercial Service’s technology director talks about how the government’s procurement agency is working to make buying easier, drive innovation forward and shake up the public sector

• October 04, 2018 04 Oct'18

  UK and allies accuse Russia of cyber attack campaign

  The UK National Cyber Security Centre has identified a campaign by the Russian military intelligence service of “indiscriminate and reckless” cyber attacks

• October 03, 2018 03 Oct'18

  Matt Hancock plans to sequence five million genomes in five years

  The health secretary aims to expand the government-funded 100,000 Genomes Project and sequence five million genomes over the next five years and roll out genomic testing across the NHS

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Technology shouldn’t leave anyone behind, says Jeremy Wright

  DCMS secretary of state highlights investment in 5G and superfast broadband, and says no one should be left behind by technology

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Filling the blockchain chasm

  Blockchain as a term is becoming common language, but there is a long way to go before it will mean anything to the performance of most organisations

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Industry backs Norway’s AI powerhouse project

  Industry and academia in Norway are working together to boost the country’s artificial intelligence capabilities

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Openreach extends full-fibre broadband roll-out to Coventry

  Openreach is forging ahead with its Fibre First full-fibre broadband programme and has started to roll out ultrafast services in Coventry

• October 02, 2018 02 Oct'18

  Government explores blockchain to make buying and selling property easier and cheaper

  HM Land Registry moves into the next phase of a project that will use the latest technologies to speed up property transactions

• October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18

  Launch of NHS app marks a new era

  The NHS has begun piloting its coveted app, but how exactly will it work, and what does it mean for patients accessing the health service?

• October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18

  Government launches public consultation on smart data

  Smart data review aimed at encouraging new data services to help customers of utilities and banks

• October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18

  Police Scotland sets out 10-year digital plan

  Scottish Police Authority has approved Police Scotland’s 10-year digital transformation plan, which aims to bring the country’s police forces into the 21st century and requires £244m in capital funding and £54m in reform funding

• October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18

  UK will unilaterally tax web giants, says Hammond

  Chancellor threatens to go it alone on tax reform for digital services businesses if an international agreement cannot be reached

• October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18

  UK firms’ password security score ‘average’

  While businesses are making strides in strengthening password security, there is more work to be done, with the UK password score lagging behind the frontrunners, a survey shows

• October 01, 2018 01 Oct'18

  Two autonomous vehicle projects funded in government contest

  The National Infrastructure Commission’s Roads for the Future contest has awarded a £50,000 prize fund to two projects exploring how to make the UK’s roads ready for connected and autonomous vehicles

• September 30, 2018 30 Sep'18

  UKtech50 2018 – help us find the most influential people in UK IT

  Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year's list

• September 28, 2018 28 Sep'18

  EU sees eIDAS regulation come into full force

  A regulation aimed at cutting red tape to enable a digital single market in Europe will soon be in full force, but it could present some challenges to the UK after Brexit

• September 27, 2018 27 Sep'18

  Australian teen Apple hacker avoids jail time

  “Fan” who broke into Apple’s mainframe from his home in Melbourne has avoided prison because the information he gathered was recovered

• September 26, 2018 26 Sep'18

  ICO threatens fines for outstanding fees

  The UK’s privacy watchdog has issued warning letters to organisations, including some NHS trusts and government organisations, for failing to pay a new data protection fee

• September 26, 2018 26 Sep'18

  Indian IT giant TCS sees IBM and Accenture as nearest rivals

  Rapidly-growing Tata Consultancy Services has its eyes on the US IT giants, with customer service key if it is to overtake them

• September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18

  MI5 admits to ‘unlawful’ spying on Privacy International

  The UK's intelligence agencies acted unlawfully by intercepting communications data on NGO, Privacy International, the UK's most secret court ruled.

• September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18

  NHS Digital to publish new guidance on data standards

  Data could be a huge advantage for the NHS, but data quality and accessibility is still a big challenge, says NHS Digital CEO Sarah Wilkinson as she promises clear guidance on standards and interoperability

• September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18

  DWP IT chief Mayank Prakash quits for new job outside government

  Chief digital and information officer leaves after four years in the civil service – no news yet on his successor

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  InfoWatch opens training centre to help address Middle East skills shortage

  Security supplier offers Middle East customers cyber security and digital training facility as organisations in the region struggle to equip staff with latest skills

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  No Deal Brexit could mean additional costs for tech businesses

  The government plans to continue to enforce existing intellectual property rights in the event of a No Deal Brexit, according to the latest planning notices, but businesses could face additional costs to access EU and UK markets

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  Government launches £7.5m digital innovation fund for local councils

  Councils with digital innovation ideas can apply for grants up to £100,000 from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  Fair trade software on the agenda but Dutch businesses not ready to buy it

  There is already free trade chocolate and coffee on supermarket shelves, but two Dutch tech entrepreneurs are trying to add free trade software to the mix

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  NHS Digital hires chief information security officer

  Robert Coles will lead the health and care sector’s response to cyber attacks and help local organisations meet the government’s cyber security standards

• September 24, 2018 24 Sep'18

  Phased roll-out of ESN to start in early 2019

  The government will adopt a phased approach to the roll-out of the new emergency services 4G communications network

• September 21, 2018 21 Sep'18

  Businesses that take humans with them on robotics journeys gain the most

  Businesses that put human development at the centre of their automation strategies will profit the most

• September 21, 2018 21 Sep'18

  Tech won’t solve customs border issues, House of Lords EU Committee finds

  Tech won’t solve potential customs issues at the border post-Brexit, at least not in the short term, and especially not in case of no-deal Brexit, according to a House of Lords report

• September 20, 2018 20 Sep'18

  Scottish government pumps £13.5m into The Data Lab

  Funding will help data innovation centre to explore data opportunities for Scotland’s economy

• September 20, 2018 20 Sep'18

  Digital economy competition panel meets to discuss regulations

  Experts on a new panel put together to review competition in the digital economy have met for the first time to discuss how to ensure the country has the right regulations in place

• September 20, 2018 20 Sep'18

  Police chiefs put plans in place as UK may lose access to EU data sharing tools post Brexit

  Police chiefs have put plans in place to help forces find alternatives to share and access information, should the UK lose access to EU data sharing systems post Brexit, but say processes would be “slower and ultimately less effective”

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  IT sector advises Swedish government on elections and voting system

  Swedish IT secure is helping the government make election systems more secure and reduce external influence

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  TechUK calls for councils to establish digital boards

  Local authorities should ensure they have a digital board made up of academia, local bodies and industry, to drive transformation, improve capacity and capability

• September 19, 2018 19 Sep'18

  EU-backed bid to cap idle energy use by datacentre servers moves closer

  Move to improve the energy efficiency of datacentres by capping idle energy use by servers by 2020 comes one step closer, despite opposition from IBM, HPE and Dell-EMC

• September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18

  Migration Advisory Committee recommends lifting the Tier 2 visa cap

  A government committee has advised migration reforms to abolish the cap on the UK’s Tier 2 skilled worker visa

• September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18

  EU needs clear 5G regulation to guarantee mobile success

  The mobile ecosystem could be worth more than 4% of European GDP by 2022, if the right regulatory actions are taken by the European Union government

• September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18

  Government and businesses won’t be ready for no deal Brexit, says IfG

  The Institute for Government says progress on Brexit systems implementations hasn’t been fast enough, and businesses haven’t been given enough time to prepare for a no deal scenario

• September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18

  Leeds NHS trust vows to dump its fax machines by 2019

  Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has launched a campaign to get rid of its fax machines by January 2019 in a bid to remove paper and champion innovation

• September 17, 2018 17 Sep'18

  ESN delays are leaching vital funds from UK police forces

  Ongoing delays to the Emergency Services Network roll-out are costing the UK taxpayer £330m a year, according to the National Audit Office

• September 17, 2018 17 Sep'18

  Government stays firm on target of 25 million Gov.uk Verify users by 2020

  Cabinet Office has confirmed it is sticking to its target of having 25 million Verify users by 2020, despite government projects watchdog calling for project to be scrapped