News

IT for government and public sector

July 31, 2016 31 Jul'16
DWP director Kevin Cunnington set to take over as new head of Government Digital Service

Kevin Cunnington, currently director general for business transformation at DWP, is taking over as the new head of the Government Digital Service
July 28, 2016 28 Jul'16
Revealed: The battle for GDS – how Whitehall mandarins are trying to carve up digital strategy

Insiders say senior civil servants want to break up the Government Digital Service and return IT to its previous departmental model
July 28, 2016 28 Jul'16
MI5 accused of compromising security court

Judges at the UK's most secret court were persuaded not to disclose the existence of secret intrusive data on the population after briefings and lunch with MI5's deputy director general
July 28, 2016 28 Jul'16
UK’s top security judges struggle to assess privacy threats

Technological advancements make it difficult for the Investigatory Powers Tribunal to assess privacy threats, say the tribunal’s own judges

July 27, 2016 27 Jul'16
Digital Greenwich joins forces with University of Surrey for 5G smart city tests

Collaboration will investigate “smarter” ways to cope with challenges related to transport, health, energy and the built environment
July 27, 2016 27 Jul'16
Accenture to move HMRC tax system to private cloud

HMRC has awarded Accenture a contract that will run until 2020 to digitise the UK tax system
July 27, 2016 27 Jul'16
Warwickshire and West Mercia police select Saab to update shared control room

Warwickshire and West Mercia combine emergency and contact centre systems using Saab Group’s Safe unified control room system
July 27, 2016 27 Jul'16
Gov.uk Notify notifications system starts to be used for live digital services

Status updates system is latest part of the government-as-a-platform strategy from the Government Digital Service
July 26, 2016 26 Jul'16
No barrier to trial in UK, Lauri Love extradition hearing told

British hackers, including members of Anonymous, have been tried in the UK, despite causing serious damage to US computer systems, a court hears
July 26, 2016 26 Jul'16
Date set for landmark hearing into EU-US data transfers

Irish court hearing triggered by Austrian law student Max Schrems could have huge implications for EU-US trade and the data privacy rights of millions of EU citizens

July 26, 2016 26 Jul'16
Government tests use of social media accounts for verifying online user identity

Online public service users may be asked to allow access to their Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter accounts to help prove they are who they say they are
July 25, 2016 25 Jul'16
Skills shortage and poor IT infrastructure hinder tech adoption by Asean governments

EIU report highlights governments’ desire for better use of data, including cloud access
July 25, 2016 25 Jul'16
Estonia seeks UK datacentre to protect citizens' personal data from hackers - report

The Baltic state is reportedly in early stage talks with the UK and Luxembourg governments about setting up a backup site in either country to protect citizens’ data from risk of hackers
July 22, 2016 22 Jul'16
Jihadists’ digital tools revealed

A report by dark web intelligence firm Flashpoint reveals how jihadist groups use common security and other tools to hide their digital communications from national security forces
July 22, 2016 22 Jul'16
UK government needs 2,800 extra digital staff to deliver current plans

Head of the National Audit Office highlights risks from a 'digital capability' gap across Whitehall
July 21, 2016 21 Jul'16
Almost half of UK's largest councils lack cloud strategy, Eduserv FOI study reveals

Eduserv study into cloud take-up inside local authorities suggests council CIOs are still over-invested in on-premise technology
July 21, 2016 21 Jul'16
IT outsourcing falls steeply in second quarter but IT as a service sees strong growth

Sales of IT as a service growth in Europe helped offset a huge fall in the total value of traditional IT and business process outsourcing contracts
July 20, 2016 20 Jul'16
DWP blames policy changes for a further shift in Universal Credit rollout

A Public Accounts Committee hearing coincided with news that the DWP is delaying the rollout of Universal Credit
July 20, 2016 20 Jul'16
Home Office merges IT units

The Home Office is merging its IT units to create Home Office Digital, Data and Technology and has appointed CTO Sarah Wilkinson to lead it
July 19, 2016 19 Jul'16
Australian prime minister appoints new tech leads

Malcolm Turnbull has made key tech appointments following his narrow victory in the Australian election
July 19, 2016 19 Jul'16
US government joins legal challenge of EU-US data transfers

Helen Dixon, Ireland’s data protection commissioner, is asking the European Court of Justice to rule on the legality of EU-US data transfers, post-Safe Harbour, in a landmark legal challenge
July 19, 2016 19 Jul'16
Private data should only be kept for ‘serious crime’, says European Court

European Court of Justice lays down the limits of data retention following legal challenge by two UK MPs, and David Davis withdraws his name from legal action after assuming a post in Theresa May’s cabinet
July 18, 2016 18 Jul'16
MPs call on government to address Brexit risks to digital economy

Digital skills, tech startups and the UK’s digital economy success stories have all been put at risk by the decision to leave the EU, says a committee of MPs
July 18, 2016 18 Jul'16
French public sector’s never-ending struggle with the cloud

The French government has more hurdles to overcome than many of its European neighbours when it comes to adopting cloud computing services
July 18, 2016 18 Jul'16
Prime minister Theresa May shakes up responsibility for digital policy in ministerial reshuffle

Former Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock replaces Ed Vaizey as digital economy minister in the highest-profile change among digital roles
July 18, 2016 18 Jul'16
Oracle targets cloud sales at Asia Pacific’s mid-sized firms

Software giant aims to hire 1,000 professionals to drive mid-market growth in Apac region
July 15, 2016 15 Jul'16
HMRC needs to win public trust over digital services, says NAO

The National Audit Office calls on HM Revenue & Customs to increase transparency and assess thow moving to a digital tax system will impact businesses and individuals
July 15, 2016 15 Jul'16
Tech industry welcomes Microsoft victory in data access case

Tech firms, civil liberties groups and trade bodies welcome what could be a landmark ruling by a US court in protecting the privacy of cloud services
July 14, 2016 14 Jul'16
Australia’s new government under pressure to hit broadband targets

Newly elected conservative coalition government will see Australia’s National Broadband Network plan become a higher priority
July 14, 2016 14 Jul'16
US jails Chinese businessman in military hacking case

Two years after his arrest in Canada for cyber spying on US military aircraft, a Chinese businessman has been jailed by a US court for nearly four years
July 14, 2016 14 Jul'16
UK business unlikely to dodge EU cyber security rules post-Brexit

The UK’s Brexit vote has thrown many businesses into uncertainty and doubt about whether they will have comply with the cyber security rules coming out of the EU
July 13, 2016 13 Jul'16
Investigatory Powers Bill: rushed through under cover of Brexit

The government should delay the Investigatory Powers Bill to allow time for proper scrutiny following the political chaos that has engulfed Britain after the Brexit vote
July 13, 2016 13 Jul'16
Cubic Transportation licenses TfL’s contactless payment system

Cubic Transportation plans to use London's payments system to develop contactless solutions for transport around the world
July 13, 2016 13 Jul'16
Salford and Liverpool join forces on digital transformation

Liverpool and Salford councils have signed a joint contract with SAP to deliver a technology platform, aiming to reduce costs and improve efficiencies
July 12, 2016 12 Jul'16
IBM sets up security centre in Canberra

IBM leads the charge as large private businesses invest heavily in security resources across Australia in an attempt to close the security gap
July 12, 2016 12 Jul'16
CIO interview: Tonino Ciuffini, Warwickshire County Council

Warwickshire County Council’s CIO, Tonino Ciuffini, talks about his love for the job, cloud and information sharing
July 12, 2016 12 Jul'16
Cyber security must top UK agenda, say leading scientists

Royal Society report calls for greater sharing of breach and threat information, and more support for research and international collaboration
July 11, 2016 11 Jul'16
Why the public cloud will revolutionise government IT

The UK is ahead of the curve in public cloud adoption, and the upcoming creation of an AWS UK region will push public services further online
July 11, 2016 11 Jul'16
Case study: Leeds City Council saves £400,000 with new print system

Council uses Canon’s organisation-wide centralised print system as platform for digital change
July 11, 2016 11 Jul'16
DWP trials blockchain technology for benefit payments

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) trials blockchain's distributed ledger technology, with benefit claimants using a mobile app to track welfare payments
July 08, 2016 08 Jul'16
IPA rates several government IT projects as red or amber/red

The Infrastructure and Projects Authority gives several IT projects a low rating of red or amber/red, including HMRC’s Aspire exit and the Home Office’s Oracle ERP project
July 08, 2016 08 Jul'16
Security industry largely welcomes NCA cyber crime report

Most information security professionals support the National Crime Agency's call for help from businesses in pursuing cyber criminals
July 08, 2016 08 Jul'16
New Jersey turns to technology to keep offenders out of jail

New Jersey is developing criminal justice applications that will save offenders from spending years in jail before their cases are heard
July 08, 2016 08 Jul'16
Vodafone launches mobile scheme for community hubs

Vodafone’s Community Indoor Sure Signal scheme builds on its Rural Open Sure Signal programme to provide indoor mobile coverage in community hubs
July 07, 2016 07 Jul'16
Saudi Telecom Company leads nation’s transformation agenda

Saudi Telecom Company and its technology partners support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s drive into digital public services
July 06, 2016 06 Jul'16
Business has critical role in fighting cyber crime, says report

The National Crime Agency is calling for a stronger collaboration between business and law enforcement to fight cyber crime in the light of a report produced with private sector partners
July 06, 2016 06 Jul'16
NHS England scraps controversial Care.data programme

The government decides to shut down its troubled Care.data programme as Fiona Caldicott launches new opt-out model for the sharing of patient data
July 06, 2016 06 Jul'16
Public sector data sharing to transform service delivery, says government

The government sets out to transform how data is shared across public sector bodies as part of a commitment to improve public services
July 05, 2016 05 Jul'16
Nordic CIO interview: Tore Burheim, University of Bergen

IT director of Norwegian university tells Computer Weekly about digitising education and creating co-operative clusters
July 05, 2016 05 Jul'16
More than 2,000 police data breaches in 4.5 years, report reveals

Big Brother Watch calls for new policies to ensure police forces keep personal data safe after FOI requests show an average of 10 data breaches a week
July 04, 2016 04 Jul'16
Scottish police and Accenture terminate IT systems contract

Scottish Police Authority, Accenture and Police Scotland have mutually agreed to abandon the £40m contract for new operational policing system after project ran into problems
July 01, 2016 01 Jul'16
The Services Family bank outsources IT to Sopra Steria

The Services Family, a bank set up to serve military personnel, has outsourced technology services to Sopra Steria
July 01, 2016 01 Jul'16
CCS extends controversial temporary staff sourcing framework

The Crown Commercial Service extends the Contingent Labour One framework, now due to expire in June 2017
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
Australia’s National Broadband Network project up in the air

As Australian voters go to the polls this weekend, the future of the country's National Broadband Network is up in the air
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
Lauri Love using illness as a shield against extradition, claims prosecution

Prosecution lawyer questions whether activist Lauri Love is not fit enough to stand trial in the US over hacking charges,as expert witnesses warn that US prisons are ill-equipped for people with mental health problems.
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
Most cyber security strategies ignore the way attackers really work

Cyber attackers use more legitimate software than malware, which means most organisations are incapable of detecting much of the malicious activity in their networks, a report reveals
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
Brexit: Datacentre investments set to slow as economic stability concerns hit CIOs

As the economic uncertainty around Brexit continues, CIOs may put new datacentre investments on hiatus, warns analyst
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
Lauri Love may be faking mental illness claims lawyer for US

Prosecution lawyer Peter Caldwell questions whether activist Lauri Love is exaggerating mental health problems to avoid extradition to face hacking charges in the US
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
IT services sector faces freeze amid Brexit wrangling

The IT services sector across the globe will be hit by the uncertainty around the UK's future relationship with the EU, but a spending freeze will eventually thaw
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
US government may ask for travellers’ social media details

The US government is seeking permission to request details of travellers’ social media presence
June 29, 2016 29 Jun'16
Brexit: GDS boss urges civil servants to keep calm and carry on

GDS boss Stephen Foreshew-Cain has told civil servants to continue with their work “calmly and proudly” in the face of Brexit
June 28, 2016 28 Jun'16
Facebook data case raises US national security issues

Dublin court case on the legality of Facebook’s data transfers to the US raises issues that affect US national security, claims US Department of Justice
June 28, 2016 28 Jun'16
Lauri Love suicide risk if extradited to US over hacking allegations

Westminster Magistrates’ Court hears evidence from medical experts that alleged hacker Lauri Love is at risk of suicide if extradited to the US
June 28, 2016 28 Jun'16
Finland’s prisons move to a cashless world

Inmates in Finland’s prisons will no longer need to use cash as a pre-paid card system is rolled out
June 27, 2016 27 Jun'16
Post-Brexit price hikes hit cloud and datacentre community, as currency fluctuations bite

Cloud and datacentre analysts claim IT buyers are already feeling the pinch from the outcome of the EU referendum, but past performance suggests demand for colocation space will rise in the event of recession
June 27, 2016 27 Jun'16
Uncertainty ahead for government IT following Brexit

Uncertainty, funding issues and potential changes to procurement lie ahead as the UK prepares to negotiate its Brexit deal, but suppliers remain cautiously optimistic
June 24, 2016 24 Jun'16
UK IT community rocked but keeping calm in face of Brexit

The UK IT sector reacts with alarm, tempered by a calm pragmatism, to the British Referendum verdict to leave the European Union. Reporting by the Computer Weekly team
June 24, 2016 24 Jun'16
Local Government Ombudsman moves to cloud network service

Ombudsman service is on the way to realising 30% cost savings with 50% faster connectivity after procuring a cloud telephony service through G-Cloud
June 23, 2016 23 Jun'16
Stockport council ditches HDS SAN for Nutanix hyper-converged

Stockport council shifts to hyper-converged server storage boxes from Nutanix, with its previous SAN reaching end of life and experiencing operational issues and scalability problems
June 22, 2016 22 Jun'16
Singapore to block internet access for its public servants from 2017

From May 2017, most of Singapore’s public servants will not be able to access the internet from their workstations
June 21, 2016 21 Jun'16
Angus Council signs up to Scottish Wide Area Network

Angus Council has become the latest local authority in Scotland to sign up to the Scottish Wide Area Network, or Swan, for enhanced public services delivery
June 20, 2016 20 Jun'16
Lower average cost of Australian data breaches is not a sign of comfort

The average cost of a data breach to Australian organisations dropped in 2015, according to research
June 20, 2016 20 Jun'16
GDS drafts new technology code of practice

The Government Digital Service (GDS) plans to update its technology code of practice and asks stakeholders for feedback
June 20, 2016 20 Jun'16
Leaving the EU would put tech startups at risk, says Ed Vaizey

Speaking at the launch of London Technology Week, minister of state for culture and the digital economy Ed Vaizey says the digital single market is a “massive opportunity” for UK tech companies
June 17, 2016 17 Jun'16
How MI5 and MI6 gather your personal data for surveillance

Publicly released documents shed light on the many databases and sources used by the intelligence services to gather bulk personal data about UK citizens
June 17, 2016 17 Jun'16
Hays Recruitment service desk project is all gain and no pain

The firm was attracted by the many benefits of a cloud-based service desk, but chief among them was the low risk involved in implementation
June 17, 2016 17 Jun'16
Clegg unaware of GCHQ monitoring parliamentary emails

Former deputy prime minister tells a public meeting he was unaware parliamentary emails were scanned by system linked to GCHQ
June 17, 2016 17 Jun'16
Report calls for “collective approach” to health and care integration

National health and care organisations are calling for better leadership to drive integration of services and getting rid of silos
June 16, 2016 16 Jun'16
Memset laments ‘pitiful return’ on G-Cloud datacentre investments

Memset managing director Kate Craig-Wood claims public sector buyers are too entrenched in old procurement practices to make the most of G-Cloud
June 16, 2016 16 Jun'16
Builders kill Virgin broadband service to thousands of Londoners

Builders working in Brixton, south London, have severed a crucial link in Virgin Media’s trunk network, cutting broadband and cable TV services to thousands
June 16, 2016 16 Jun'16
Enfield council to deploy customer service robot

The London Borough of Enfield is starting to use a software robot, known as Amelia, to process citizen requests
June 15, 2016 15 Jun'16
Australian datacentre investments rocket due to latest enterprise IT trends

The increased use of big data, analytics, cloud and mobile technologies in Australian enterprises is driving spending in datacentre services
June 15, 2016 15 Jun'16
Hancock sets out key principles for digital transformation

Data should be a public service in its own right and the civil service need to add digital to their skillset, says Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock
June 14, 2016 14 Jun'16
Health and care IT industry join forces to create action group to champion interoperability

29 health and social care IT suppliers launch an action group to accelerate the development of open standards in the sector
June 14, 2016 14 Jun'16
Infrastructure and Projects Authority still concerned over HMRC Aspire exit

One-fifth of the overall Aspire contract will continue to run until 2020, and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority remains concerned about HMRC's ability to manage the exit process
June 13, 2016 13 Jun'16
BT wins pan-London ICT framework contract worth up to £200m

BT will be the sole supplier for a pan-London procurement framework for ICT services, set up by three London councils
June 13, 2016 13 Jun'16
Digital skills gap costs UK economy £63bn a year

The Science and Technology Committee says the UK is facing a digital skills crisis and calls on government to publish its Digital Strategy “without further delay”
June 12, 2016 12 Jun'16
Philippines government data breach is a warning to Asean region

Security is a rising concern in the Asean region, with fears fuelled by incidents such as the recent hacking incident in Manila
June 10, 2016 10 Jun'16
IoT security: Lack of expertise will hurt, says Bruce Schneier

Government action at national and international levels is essential for addressing IoT security issues, but the relevant expertise is lacking, according to security expert Bruce Schneier
June 10, 2016 10 Jun'16
Middle East virtualisation strategies mature

CIOs in the Middle East are formulating their virtualisation strategies as the region warms to the benefits of cloud computing
June 10, 2016 10 Jun'16
Majority of civil servants don’t understand GaaP

Some 43% of civil servants don’t know what the Government Digital Service’s government-as-a-platform programme is, according to a survey
June 10, 2016 10 Jun'16
Australia knows it has a cyber security problem, but not the scale

The Australian government is aware it has a cyber security challenge, but might not understand the size of the issue, according to experts
June 09, 2016 09 Jun'16
Engage early with police on cyber crime, business told

Businesses should approach law enforcement as early as possible about cyber crime, even before they are targeted, according to an expert panel
June 09, 2016 09 Jun'16
Public-private partnerships key to fighting cyber threats, says William Hague MP

There is a need for both privacy and security, and only a network of partnerships is going to succeed in delivering that, according to William Hague MP
June 08, 2016 08 Jun'16
Poor tech choices damage productivity and cut income

Mid-sized businesses are less efficient and are losing money because they give staff the wrong computing devices to do their jobs
June 08, 2016 08 Jun'16
Citrix expands in Middle East with first Saudi Arabia office

Citrix is increasing its presence in the Middle East, opening its first office in Saudi Arabia with plans to expand into Qatar and Egypt
June 07, 2016 07 Jun'16
GDS builds cross-government IT contract dashboard

Common Technology Services director Iain Patterson wants to strengthen the relationship with departments and industry
June 07, 2016 07 Jun'16
Unlicensed software rife among Asean computer users, says BSA

The Asean region has the highest levels of unlicensed software use, according to the 2016 Global Software Survey from the Business Software Alliance (BSA)
June 06, 2016 06 Jun'16
How emails sent to and from Parliament are monitored

Government officials deny that emails sent by MPs are open to surveillance by GCHQ and NSA - we examine the evidence
June 06, 2016 06 Jun'16
‘Considerable risk’ if Post Office replaced Horizon system, says chairman

Post Office chairman Tim Parker says there would be ‘considerable risk’ associated with changing its Horizon computer system