News

IT for government and public sector

• 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 ...

• 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

• 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

• 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...

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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...

• 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

• 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

• July 06, 2023 06 Jul'23

  Public inquiry hears how Post Office security withheld evidence from people it suspected of theft

  The Post Office told investigators to include potential evidence in reports to their own lawyers, but not the subpostmasters they suspected of theft

• July 05, 2023 05 Jul'23

  Germany: European Court of Justice hears arguments on lawfulness of EncroChat cryptophone evidence

  The European Court of Justice will decide whether the collection and sharing of data intercepted by law enforcement from EncroChat crypto phone network is compatible with European law

• July 04, 2023 04 Jul'23

  ‘Political lethargy’ to blame for digital exclusion, says Lords

  A House of Lords report about digital exclusion across the UK has blamed slow and undedicated government intervention for the extent of digital exclusion

• July 04, 2023 04 Jul'23

  Scotland’s Techscaler programme joins forces with CivTech

  The partnership between the scaler programme and the innovation accelerator means CivTech alumni companies will be offered Techscaler membership and gain access to its technology hubs, education initiatives and support

• July 04, 2023 04 Jul'23

  Coping with the ongoing chip crisis in the UK

  China has imposed export restrictions on key semiconductor compounds, so how will the UK's National Semiconductor Strategy cope?

• July 03, 2023 03 Jul'23

  PAC slams HMCTS justice system transformation programme

  HMCTS has consistently underestimated the scale and complexity of the reforms, and criticises the programme, which only has £120m of its £1.3bn budget left with only just over half of projects completed, MPs say

• June 30, 2023 30 Jun'23

  AI can never be given control over combat decisions, Lords told

  Artificial intelligence is technically incapable of distinguishing between the complex contextual factors of combat situations, and will likely never be able to, according to legal and software experts

• June 30, 2023 30 Jun'23

  NHS data stolen in Manchester Uni ransomware attack

  The ransomware gang behind the cyber attack on the University of Manchester appears to have got its hands on an NHS dataset being used by the university for research purposes

• June 29, 2023 29 Jun'23

  NHS has potential to get digital transformation right

  NHS must address digital skills gap in its workforce, demonstrate the value of the NHS App and address the digital maturity gap in organisations if it wants to succeed, MPs say

• June 29, 2023 29 Jun'23

  NHS England signs five-year Microsoft 365 contract

  Hot on the heels of its earlier deployment of Microsoft Teams, NHS England is now going all-in on the rest of the software giant’s online productivity tools

• June 29, 2023 29 Jun'23

  NHS to launch Digital Health Check

  The NHS Digital Health Check will be rolled out from spring 2024, and allow patients to do certain tests and get advice from their homes

• June 29, 2023 29 Jun'23

  The Finnish Food Authority uses AI to accelerate research

  Researchers have reduced the time taken to get critical insights into potential public health crises and address issues in real-time, through artificial intelligence

• June 28, 2023 28 Jun'23

  Charity demands transparency in digital universal credit system

  The digital universal credit system needs overhauling to ensure greater transparency over benefit claims and more effective means of redress when things go wrong, says child poverty charity

• June 28, 2023 28 Jun'23

  Scottish government tech accelerator opens latest funding round

  The Scottish government’s CivTech accelerator is seeking technology businesses to help develop new tools to improve public services, as well as to address pressing social and environmental issues

• June 28, 2023 28 Jun'23

  GDPR tax reclaim scheme preys on fears of SMEs

  IT suppliers are a target of companies offering a tax reclaim scheme that preys on small businesses’ fears around General Data Protection Regulation compliance

• June 27, 2023 27 Jun'23

  Three years on, EncroChat cryptophone hack nets 6,500 arrests and seizures of €900m

  French and Dutch prosecutors say three years after they infiltrated the EncroChat cryptophone network in a novel hacking operation, Europe’s courts are opening the way for more collaboration and data sharing between law enforcement agencies

• June 27, 2023 27 Jun'23

  UK AI plans offer ‘inadequate’ human rights protection, says EHRC

  The UK’s equality watchdog says the government must properly consider human rights when implementing rules to regulate artificial intelligence, as current plan offers little protection

• June 27, 2023 27 Jun'23

  One Login’s Gov.uk ID check apps downloaded over two million times

  The One Login digital identity system is being used by eight government services, and GDS has issued more than 1.5 million verified identities since summer 2022, while its ID check apps are proving popular

• June 23, 2023 23 Jun'23

  ICO under fire for taking limited action over serious data breaches

  The ICO has come under fire from lawyers and data protection specialists for just issuing written warnings to two public bodies over serious data breaches that placed people’s lives at risk

• June 22, 2023 22 Jun'23

  Manchester University students threatened by ransomware gang

  Students and staff members at the University of Manchester are being pressurised by an unnamed ransomware gang

• June 22, 2023 22 Jun'23

  UK pension scheme expands relationship with IT services giant TCS

  Tata Consultancy Services retains contract with UK pension scheme for another decade after extending a contract that was first signed in 2011

• June 20, 2023 20 Jun'23

  Post Office will not oppose potential Horizon conviction appellants

  Post Office CEO told MPs that the organisation is telling some subpostmasters it won't oppose them if they appeal

• June 20, 2023 20 Jun'23

  More than 50% of care providers have adopted digital records

  The adoption of digital social care records has reached more than 50%, but the sector still has a way to go to reach the government’s target of 80% by March 2024

• June 20, 2023 20 Jun'23

  Tech entrepreneur Ian Hogarth to chair AI Foundation Model Taskforce

  The government has hired tech investor Ian Hogarth to lead its taskforce on artificial intelligence (AI) safety, aiming to tackle the safety challenges presented by AI and build public confidence in the use of the technology

• June 20, 2023 20 Jun'23

  Union chief calls for outsourced services to be brought in-house

  Unison general secretary calls on Labour to bring outsourced public sector contracts in-house if they fail to meet certain tests

• June 19, 2023 19 Jun'23

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak faces pressure from banks to force tech firms to pay for online fraud

  The UK’s major banks have told the prime minister to force tech firms to do more to prevent fraud that the banks end up paying for

• June 19, 2023 19 Jun'23

  Dutch government puts up €123m to address shortage of ICT workers

  Financial injection aimed at improving cooperation between vocational education and business in the Netherlands, and making the tech professions more attractive

• June 16, 2023 16 Jun'23

  Collaboration in finance sector develops prototype API for digital currency

  The Bank for International Settlements and the Bank of England worked with private sector on central bank digital currency experiment

• June 15, 2023 15 Jun'23

  Exploitation of Barracuda ESG appliances linked to Chinese spies

  Intelligence from Mandiant links exploitation of a flaw in a subset of Barracuda ESG appliances to a previously untracked China-nexus threat actor

• June 15, 2023 15 Jun'23

  Technology secretary Chloe Smith announces £54m package for AI

  In her speech at London Tech Week, Smith launched funding to support a series of AI initiatives, including creating a research and innovation ecosystem for trustworthy and responsible AI, and developing AI technologies to help the UK reach its ...

• June 15, 2023 15 Jun'23

  Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030: Progress report

  Halfway into its plan to give the country a makeover by 2030, Saudi Arabia’s emphasis on technology is starting to pay off

• June 15, 2023 15 Jun'23

  Department for Education plans to assess AI risk and benefits

  The department has begun a consultation looking at the role of generative artificial intelligence in education

• June 14, 2023 14 Jun'23

  EU AI act passes a significant milestone

  The European Union’s AI Act will ban the use of artificial intelligence to profile people based on race or gender and prohibit use of biometric identification in public spaces

• June 14, 2023 14 Jun'23

  Google Cloud signs MoU to accelerate take-up of AI by UK defence sector

  Google Cloud is continuing to make in-roads into the UK public sector after signing MoU with The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory

• June 13, 2023 13 Jun'23

  London Tech Week: Keir Starmer calls for AI job loss discussion

  Labour leader sees a need for a broad regulatory framework and a frank discussion with business to inform policy around job losses arising from artificial intelligence

• June 13, 2023 13 Jun'23

  Delayed Making Tax Digital programme to cost taxpayers extra £1.5bn

  HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) Making Tax Digital programme, which is running several years behind schedule, is expected to cost five times more than planned, National Audit Office (NAO) report finds

• June 12, 2023 12 Jun'23

  Ada Lovelace Institute warns against Covid app reuse

  There are a number of lessons policy-makers should take away from the use of apps developed as part of the Covid-19 response

• June 12, 2023 12 Jun'23

  Rishi Sunak calls for urgency in building out UK tech

  The UK prime minister used his speech during London Tech Week to discuss funding tech, attracting talent and AI safety

• June 09, 2023 09 Jun'23

  UK-US Atlantic Declaration bolsters tech and data collaboration

  Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak agree greater collaboration on responsible artificial intelligence, quantum computing and Open RAN