News

IT for government and public sector

July 02, 2020 02 Jul'20
Loan charge MPs denied House of Commons vote on Finance Bill policy amendments

Despite securing the support of 50 named MPs, an amendment to the forthcoming Finance Bill that could have seen thousands of people fall out of scope of the Loan Charge policy has been denied
July 02, 2020 02 Jul'20
Cops take out encrypted comms to disrupt organised crime

The UK’s National Crime Agency, alongside other law enforcement agencies in France and the Netherlands, have busted illicit arms and drugs rings after disabling an encrypted comms platform
July 02, 2020 02 Jul'20
Police secrecy over ‘IMSI-catcher’ mass surveillance of mobile phones

Following a tribunal ruling, constabularies in England and Wales can refuse to confirm or deny whether they use mass surveillance devices, known as IMSI-catchers to monitor people’s location, phone calls and text messages
July 02, 2020 02 Jul'20
Civil and family courts to get video platform for remote hearings

Video platform that has been used in magistrates’ and crown courts during the coronavirus pandemic will be extended to civil and family courts

July 02, 2020 02 Jul'20
CMA calls on government to revamp regulations for tech giants

Competition regulator says current laws are not fit for purpose and wants a new, ‘pro-competition regulatory regime’ that the likes of Google and Facebook must abide by
July 01, 2020 01 Jul'20
Equity in STEM education more important than ever, says Parliamentary group

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM suggests recommendations for increasing equity in education after stating coronavirus makes diversity increasingly important
July 01, 2020 01 Jul'20
UK government announces Office for Talent

The Office for Talent is part of a research and development roadmap, which includes an innovation programme to accelerate innovation in government
July 01, 2020 01 Jul'20
Lenovo, top-of-the-world Chinese supercomputer supplier, sweeps all markets

Supercomputers are not just about computing power, they are a symbol of political ambition. Chinese supercomputer supplier Lenovo is now the dominant supplier across the world
June 30, 2020 30 Jun'20
Australia to invest a record A$1.35bn in cyber security

The Australian government is making its largest ever investment in cyber security over the next decade to identify cyber threats, disrupt foreign cyber criminals and build new capabilities
June 30, 2020 30 Jun'20
HMRC and Treasury accused of ‘direct interference’ in independent loan charge review

Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group report pours scorn on claims that December 2019 review of government’s disguised renumeration policy was conducted independently

June 30, 2020 30 Jun'20
Government expands Future Fund eligibility criteria

The Future Fund will now be accessible to startups that have previously taken part in accelerator programmes, but early-stage firms continue to struggle
June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20
MPs urged to back Finance Bill amendments to loan charge policy

Loan Charge Action Group urges its members to ask their MPs to support an amendment to the controversial loan charge policy that could see more people fall outside its scope
June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20
Lawyers learn of fresh US allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from press reports

The US has filed an updated indictment against Julian Assange alleging that he conspired with hacking groups to obtain information for WikiLeaks. Defence and prosecution lawyers learned about it from press reports
June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20
MPs to examine fairness of private prosecutions in light of Post Office IT scandal

Parliamentary Justice Committee to hold short inquiry into the rules and regulations surrounding private organisations’ ability to initiate criminal proceedings
June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20
Lords urge government to take immediate action on online harms

Select committee calls for tech giants to be held responsible for the harm done to individuals, wider society and democratic processes through online misinformation
June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20
UKCloud signs MoU with CCS to provide public sector with discounted cloud pricing

Public sector-focused IaaS firm UKCloud has become the latest supplier to sign a discounted pricing deal with the UK government
June 26, 2020 26 Jun'20
CBI: Government must take steps to drive SME business innovation

The coronavirus pandemic has shown how much can be achieved in a short period with a strong partnership between government and industry – and this needs to continue
June 25, 2020 25 Jun'20
NHSX seeks evolution of digital transformation capabilities

New approaches and team structures could be tested as a result of learnings from the work around Covid-19
June 25, 2020 25 Jun'20
Former Post Office CEO and Fujitsu play the blame game in Horizon IT scandal

Post Office and Fujitsu blame each other for many of the failings in the Horizon IT scandal that wrecked lives
June 25, 2020 25 Jun'20
CBI: UK needs an immigration and training rethink

For the UK to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, vast swathes of the population will need retraining – and overseas IT specialists will also be needed
June 25, 2020 25 Jun'20
CBI: Digital economy needs joined-up regulations and gigabit broadband

The coronavirus pandemic has shown the need for fast, reliable networking across the UK. The CBI is urging the government to do more
June 25, 2020 25 Jun'20
HMRC yet to begin building UK border IT system

The UK government has still not built its Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS) IT system, despite the end of the Brexit transition period looming, while the Port of Dover’s head of EU exit proposes just licensing the French IT system instead
June 24, 2020 24 Jun'20
Firm that investigated controversial Post Office IT system to support criminal conviction appeals

Second Sight is working with law firm in appeals by subpostmasters against criminal convictions in Horizon IT scandal
June 24, 2020 24 Jun'20
IT services giant gives staff time out to volunteer for police clients

IT services company CGI responds to Met Police call by offering its staff the opportunity to take 11 days paid leave to volunteer their time
June 23, 2020 23 Jun'20
SoftIron aims at data too valuable for commodity storage

UK array maker hopes to be the storage provider of choice for those that really value their data, with highly optimised Ceph-powered hardware aimed at HPC users and enterprises
June 22, 2020 22 Jun'20
Government to publish digital strategy this autumn

Strategy will set out how to increase tech-led economic growth and productivity after the Covid-19 pandemic, says digital secretary Oliver Dowden
June 22, 2020 22 Jun'20
Immigrants’ rights campaigners take Home Office to court over visa algorithm

Campaigners claim built-in algorithmic bias makes processing of visa applications ‘discriminatory’
June 22, 2020 22 Jun'20
East Coast Main Line to get £350m digital signalling boost

Government accelerates the roll-out of electronic signalling, pumping £350m into a digital signalling system on the East Coast Mainline
June 22, 2020 22 Jun'20
Care Quality Commission to discuss concerns over Paula Vennells’ NHS role

Healthcare regulator will be discussing concerns about former NHS boss chairing an NHS trust at an upcoming meeting
June 19, 2020 19 Jun'20
Post Office Horizon scandal victims keep pressure on government’s doorstep

Subpostmasters fighting for justice in IT scandal are pressuring government on numerous fronts, as momentum is regained after reduced activity due to Covid-19 lockdown
June 19, 2020 19 Jun'20
Technology firms come under scrutiny for ties to law enforcement

Three major technology companies have committed to not selling facial-recognition tech to law enforcement, but remain silent on how other technologies can be used to fuel racial injustice and discriminatory policing
June 19, 2020 19 Jun'20
AI bias and privacy issues require more than clever tech

The new AI Barometer report from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has assessed the threats and opportunities of artificial intelligence in the UK
June 19, 2020 19 Jun'20
Facebook allows US users to disable political ads

Users of the social media platform will soon be able to opt out of seeing politically motivated posts
June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20
US pulls out of talks with Europe for global digital tax

Despite the US’s resistance to an international digital services tax, the UK and other European countries plan to continue pushing for a global solution to taxing technology giants
June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20
Data protection watchdog calls for controls on police mobile phone stop-and-searches

Information commissioner wants new safeguards on the use of police powers to download sensitive personal data from the mobile phones of suspects and crime victims
June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20
EU-backed bid to build data preservation cloud for European research community gathers pace

The Archiver project, which aims to create a hybrid cloud-based data preservation environment for scientific researchers across Europe, has named the ICT suppliers in the running to deliver on its vision
June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20
Survey finds 30% of people let down by public-sector tech during pandemic

ThoughtWorks research highlights problems around remote schooling, local government and GP services
June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20
Nordic business is leading open banking charge in Europe

Nordic region has the right ingredients to prove open banking can benefit consumers, businesses and the economy
June 17, 2020 17 Jun'20
Amnesty identifies most privacy-invasive Covid-19 contact-tracing apps

Bahrain’s ‘BeAware Bahrain’, Kuwait’s ‘Shlonik’ and Norway’s ‘Smittestopp’ are the most privacy-invasive contact-tracing apps, reveals Amnesty International study
June 17, 2020 17 Jun'20
Select committee chair demands sharper teeth for review of Post Office IT scandal

Call for government review of Post Office Horizon scandal to have the power to force individuals to give evidence under oath
June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20
NHS Digital seeks suppliers for Covid-19 testing service

The NHS Digital tender aims to find a partner to handle the development, delivery and running of the coronavirus testing service
June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20
Government publishes geospatial data strategy to capitalise on location data

National Geospatial Strategy will develop the country’s location data framework over the next five years
June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20
Norway’s contact-tracing app suspended over privacy concerns

Norway has been given until 23 June to justify the location tracking of citizens who download its contract-tracing app
June 15, 2020 15 Jun'20
UK quantum technology projects get a £70m boost

Government is funding 38 projects, one-third of which are focused on quantum computing
June 15, 2020 15 Jun'20
Northern Ireland invests £1.7m in online learning

Package of online skills interventions aimed at people who have been affected by the coronavirus
June 15, 2020 15 Jun'20
Blow to government review of Post Office scandal as key forensic accountants refuse to support it

The government’s proposed review of the Post Office IT scandal has received a further setback as forensic accountants join subpostmasters in refusing to back it
June 12, 2020 12 Jun'20
NHS email service users ensnared in phishing attack

More than 100 accounts on the NHSmail service were affected by attack, but health service says no patient data was accessed
June 12, 2020 12 Jun'20
UK to boost data science efforts in citizen services

Government Digital Service launches Data Labs to enhance services with tools such as artificial intelligence and natural language processing
June 12, 2020 12 Jun'20
UN secretary general calls for global digital cooperation

Antonio Guterres launches roadmap for digital cooperation and calls for world leaders to come together to “connect, respect and protect people in the digital age”
June 12, 2020 12 Jun'20
Subpostmasters will not cooperate with government review into IT scandal

A group of subpostmasters who suffered at the hands of the Post Office’s error-prone IT system refuse to participate in a government review into the scandal, describing it as a sham