News

IT for government and public sector

• May 04, 2016 04 May'16

  Google company’s access to NHS records raises privacy concerns

  A data-sharing agreement between a Google-owned firm and the Royal Free NHS trust raises privacy concerns, despite assurances that Google cannot use the data

• May 03, 2016 03 May'16

  Gov.uk Verify misses April go-live target

  The Government Digital Service didn’t meet its target of taking identity assurance service Verify out of beta by the end of April, but is “nearly there”, according to programme director Janet Hughes

• May 03, 2016 03 May'16

  Southern fire services pool resources with shared command and control system

  Fire and rescue services in Devon, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire have joined forces to deploy modern command and control technology

• April 29, 2016 29 Apr'16

  Virtual desktop infrastructure set for Middle East enterprise growth

  More and more IT leaders in the Middle East are considering adopting virtual desktop infrastructures, but user cases are needed to speed things up

• April 29, 2016 29 Apr'16

  Cyber security in Belgium will gain prominence after terror attacks

  Belgium’s physical security has been branded inadequate, so how does the country’s cyber security measure up?

• April 29, 2016 29 Apr'16

  Saudi Arabia could warm to cloud computing, so long as regulation and connectivity keep pace

  One of the world’s biggest oil producers has responded to tumbling crude prices by announcing a $2tn war chest to fund an economic diversification strategy, with IT set to be a beneficiary

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  Inefficient IT hampering UK government plans to reduce re-offending, says NAO

  National Audit Office highlights problems such as re-keying of data and a lack of integration

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  Asean CIOs expect IT budget increase in 2016

  IT leaders in the Asean region expect to spend more on IT this year, with big data, mobility and IoT all priorities

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  Government approves Elizabeth Denham as next information commissioner

  The Department for Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee approves Elizabeth Denham as the UK’s next information commissioner

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  Interview: Alistair Duggin, head of accessibility, Government Digital Service

  GDS’s head of accessibility, Alistair Duggin, aims to help government departments design digital services that are accessible to everyone

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  Disrupting IT in the Nordics, from banks to taxis

  IT is dramatically changing traditional industry sectors in the Nordic region. Computer Weekly examines the transformation

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  Government accepts data ethics council proposal

  The government accepts the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s recommendation that a data science ethics council is established at the Alan Turing Institute

• April 28, 2016 28 Apr'16

  UFO broadband network sees promising results from pilot testing

  Trials of York’s Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO) broadband service is moving ahead, with early adopters proving enthusiastic about the speeds available

• April 27, 2016 27 Apr'16

  Mobilising a workforce drives up performance and productivity

  Mobile workers are also more creative, satisfied and loyal, says EIU study

• April 27, 2016 27 Apr'16

  IT outsourcing starts year with a bang

  The IT outsourcing sector got off to a strong start in 2016, with sales volumes and values up

• April 27, 2016 27 Apr'16

  Singapore is second most cloud ready country in Asia-Pacific

  Broadband quality, data privacy and pro-business regime makes Singapore the second most cloud ready country in the Apac region

• April 26, 2016 26 Apr'16

  HMRC weighs up desktop services and cloud collaboration

  HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is considering tendering for managed desktop services and an integrated cloud-based system, worth up to £215m

• April 26, 2016 26 Apr'16

  Interview: Janet Hughes, Gov.uk Verify programme director, GDS

  As the Government Digital Service prepares to go fully live with its identity assurance service Gov.uk Verify, Computer Weekly speaks to programme director Janet Hughes

• April 25, 2016 25 Apr'16

  Government aims to make UK best place to innovate

  The government launches a probe into barriers that stifle entrepreneurs, and creates a plan on how to drive innovation in the UK

• April 25, 2016 25 Apr'16

  Australia pledges A$230m to prevent a ‘lawless’ cyber domain

  Australia's latest cyber security strategy will see the appointment of a cyber ambassador, charged with liaising with other nations

• April 25, 2016 25 Apr'16

  Indonesian internet users turn to smartphones to go online

  Organisations with a cyber footprint in Indonesia must understand most internet users in the country access online content and services on smartphones

• April 22, 2016 22 Apr'16

  Nordic corporations open their doors to tech startups

  Traditional Nordic corporations are starting to take advantage of the vibrant startup community in the region, and they are changing the way they think

• April 22, 2016 22 Apr'16

  Barnet Council audit finds some Capita services lacking

  The internal audit reports show a series of failings by supplier Capita, such as “no documented IT disaster recovery plans” and gaps in change management processes

• April 22, 2016 22 Apr'16

  New Zealand wants UK and other overseas ICT professionals to fill skills gap

  New Zealand needs ICT professionals from overseas to fill a growing skills gap

• April 22, 2016 22 Apr'16

  UK information commissioner weighs in on Privacy Shield

  It would be “very sensible” if both the EU and the US answered the questions European data protection authorities are asking about the Privacy Shield pact, according to the UK information commissioner

• April 21, 2016 21 Apr'16

  GCHQ told analysts to assume surveillance 'bulk data' is legal

  Documents obtained by charity Privacy International reveal insights into GCHQ’s collection of sensitive bulk data, as lawyers question the impact of surveillance on legal privilege, fair trials and protection of whistleblowers

• April 20, 2016 20 Apr'16

  UK institute seeking better cyber defences for ICS, says director

  The UK needs to develop awareness of the vulnerability of industrial control systems to cyber attack and technology-specific security systems, says researcher

• April 20, 2016 20 Apr'16

  European Commission ready to splash €50bn on transformational digitisation plan

  A cloud initiative for scientists and technologists among the developments as digital single market moves intensify

• April 20, 2016 20 Apr'16

  GDPR will require 28,000 DPOs in Europe and US, study shows

  The staffing impact of the GDPR will be huge, with 28,000 data protection officers (DPOs) in Europe and the US alone, says the International Association of Privacy Professionals

• April 20, 2016 20 Apr'16

  Balancing privacy and security a key challenge, says NCA

  Striking a balance between security and privacy is a major challenge for law enforcement, says NCCU operations head Mike Hulett

• April 19, 2016 19 Apr'16

  Three-quarters of Brits unaware of IP Bill, one-third don’t care

  Millions of UK citizens remain in the dark about the reach and scope of the Investigatory Powers Bill, or the so-called Snoopers’ Charter, says Broadband Genie

• April 18, 2016 18 Apr'16

  Suppliers charge ‘exorbitant’ fees for council tax system changes

  Report on local council tax support schemes finds Universal Credit systems aren’t communicating with local council systems and local authorities are being charged “exorbitant amounts” by suppliers

• April 18, 2016 18 Apr'16

  Manx Telecom to trial integrated cellular-satellite mobile service

  Manx Telecom trials an extended mobile network with support from satellite services supplier Globalstar, with the aim of supporting emergency services connectivity

• April 18, 2016 18 Apr'16

  Government CTO Liam Maxwell to leave GDS for new job as digital czar

  Liam Maxwell's new role as national technology advisor will help to develop the UK's digital economy

• April 18, 2016 18 Apr'16

  The Middle East’s home-grown app market now really growing, but from a low base

  Despite massive smartphone penetration, native app developers in the region need to listen more closely to what locals want

• April 18, 2016 18 Apr'16

  Los Alamos puts 30PB of Scality object storage into production

  Los Alamos National Laboratory uses Scality object storage for disk access to Trinity supercomputer and marries it with GPFS in MarFS homegrown posix/object hybrid file system

• April 15, 2016 15 Apr'16

  Israeli volunteers ready their cyber defences as Anonymous affiliates attack

  Every April, Israel braces itself for an onslaught from pro-Palestinian hackers, but the occupants of a small conference room in Tel Aviv stand in their way

• April 15, 2016 15 Apr'16

  Microsoft steps up campaign against government surveillance

  Microsoft is the latest technology firm to push back against the secrecy of US government data access requests, which it claims are rapidly increasing in number

• April 15, 2016 15 Apr'16

  BBC turns micro:bit computers into IoT devices

  The BBC and Nominet demonstrate a new use case for the micro:bit computer and hope to turn Britain’s schoolchildren into internet of things pioneers

• April 15, 2016 15 Apr'16

  Stockholm’s public sector boosts productivity with a move towards mobility

  The city has a mobile strategy that’s been embraced by staff and citizens

• April 14, 2016 14 Apr'16

  Data protection law sails through European Parliament

  The European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation has successfully passed through the European Parliament

• April 14, 2016 14 Apr'16

  Business needs education in cloud value and security, study shows

  Improved trust and security are critical to encouraging continued adoption of the cloud, an Intel Security report shows

• April 14, 2016 14 Apr'16

  Government surveillance under fire across Europe

  UK and US government surveillance programmes are facing criticism from the courts, MPs and data protection regulators

• April 13, 2016 13 Apr'16

  NCA attempts 'back door' access to obtain activist Lauri Love’s passwords

  Court told that use of civil proceedings to force disclosure of alleged hacker Lauri Love's passwords is disproportionate and would breach human rights law

• April 13, 2016 13 Apr'16

  Public sector IT leaders gamble on digital projects, says survey

  More than a third of European public sector leaders have no clear digital strategy, and half say they don’t have the right IT skills to deliver digital projects, according to a survey

• April 13, 2016 13 Apr'16

  UK would need its own Privacy Shield deal with EU if it votes for Brexit

  If the UK voted to leave the EU, it could face a difficult negotiation to conform to new data protection regulations, say experts

• April 13, 2016 13 Apr'16

  GDS strengthens collaboration with Australian counterpart

  The Government Digital Service has signed an agreement with Australia’s Digital Transformation Office to collaborate on digital government developments

• April 13, 2016 13 Apr'16

  Released documents show scale of Universal Credit problems before 'reset'

  It took four years, several appeals and the persistence of project manager John Slater for the DWP to release documents relating to its Universal Credit programme

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  European Court of Justice ruling on Snoopers' Charter delayed until July 2016

  The European Court of Justice (ECJ) will not rule on the legality of the so-called Snoopers’ Charter legislation until after the UK’s June 2016 EU referendum

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  GDS appoints Public Services Network head

  Government Digital Service (GDS) elevates Mark Smith to head of the Public Services Network (PSN)

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  Singapore releases cloud outage guidelines

  The Singapore government releases a set of tiered guidelines for organisations to follow if they have a cloud outage

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  DWP knew of Universal Credit problems in mid-2012 despite insisting all was well

  Documents released after a four-year legal battle show that DWP officials knew of problems with Universal Credit in 2012 despite insisting it was on time and budget

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  BAE Systems warns about shape-shifting strain of Qbot malware

  Qbot malware will become a potent threat, facilitated by exploit kits for initial infection and automated to gain maximum victim count, warns BAE Systems

• April 12, 2016 12 Apr'16

  UK cyber crime growing exponentially

  UK ranks highly in phishing, social media and ransomware attacks as cyber criminals professionalise and take advantage of unpatched websites, Symantec’s latest threat report reveals

• April 11, 2016 11 Apr'16

  Met Police tenders for integrated police system

  The Metropolitan Police is looking to procure an integrated policing system in a 10-year contract worth up to £150m

• April 11, 2016 11 Apr'16

  Activist Lauri Love faces order to disclose encryption keys

  The UK’s National Crime Agency takes an unusual legal step to force a former university student accused of hacking to disclose encryption keys

• April 11, 2016 11 Apr'16

  BBC outsources finance and accounting technology to IBM

  IBM will take over the BBC’s accounting and payroll services from SopraSteria in November 2016 as part of a five-year contract

• April 08, 2016 08 Apr'16

  Interview: GDS CTO Liam Maxwell and deputy CTO Andy Beale

  Government Digital Service’s Liam Maxwell and Andy Beale talk about the service’s future, its relationship with departments, tactical outsourcing extensions and lessons learned

• April 07, 2016 07 Apr'16

  Digital Leaders Awards open for public vote

  The Digital Leaders 100 is open for a public vote to decide the winners of this year’s awards, including Digital Leader and FinTech Innovation of the Year

• April 07, 2016 07 Apr'16

  FBI briefs senators drafting anti-encryption bill on iPhone hack

  US senators drafting a bill aimed at limiting encryption on consumer devices are being briefed on how the FBI hacked into the San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone

• April 07, 2016 07 Apr'16

  Maynooth University modernises network to meet growth challenges

  Maynooth University in Ireland has installed a Juniper-based campus network to support its future growth plans

• April 06, 2016 06 Apr'16

  Local Digital Coalition to advance local government digital projects

  Organisation takes over from Department for Communities and Local Government’s local digital programme with the aim of delivering joined-up local services

• April 06, 2016 06 Apr'16

  The Met Office deploys Weather Cloud on AWS

  Amazon Web Services will help the Met Office’s servers weather the storm of data requests as demand increases for location-based forecasts

• April 06, 2016 06 Apr'16

  Capgemini strengthens its Indian backbone

  With half of its global staff now based in India, Capgemini expands its operations there by opening a facility for a further 30,000 staff

• April 05, 2016 05 Apr'16

  Two-thirds of farmers didn’t need to use ‘digital by default’ rural payments system

  Internal review produced by Defra reveals full catalogue of errors that led to the withdrawal of the digital farm subsidy system in 2015

• April 05, 2016 05 Apr'16

  Lincolnshire Health and Care to deploy integrated patient records

  Thirteen health and care organisations across Lincolnshire will integrate records using the Intersystems HealthShare platform

• April 05, 2016 05 Apr'16

  'Citizens will be stripped naked' by Turkey’s data law

  Turkey's data protection law, introduced in March 2016, will make Turkey a near total surveillance state, yet the EU, apparently more concerned about securing Turkey's help in controlling immigration, is turning a blind eye

• April 04, 2016 04 Apr'16

  EU cyber security agency urges action to avoid crisis

  EU countries lack a harmonised framework to respond to the challenges of a large-scale cyber incident, according to a report by security agency Enisa

• April 04, 2016 04 Apr'16

  Digital Single Market: European Commission warned not to over-regulate online platforms

  Ministers from 11 EU member states warn European Commission off over-regulating use of online platforms during the creation of the Digital Single Market

• April 04, 2016 04 Apr'16

  Middle East enterprises warm to wearable technology

  Organisations in the region are increasingly investing in wearable technology, but there are hurdles to overcome before there is broad take-up in the enterprise sector

• April 04, 2016 04 Apr'16

  EY invests heavily in Singapore IT expertise

  New centres of excellence will offer business transformation strategy, cyber security, analytics and manufacturing capabilities across the Asia-Pacific region

• April 01, 2016 01 Apr'16

  IT services firm creates 500 jobs in Welsh local authority

  IT services firm CGI creates 500 jobs in south Wales following a £3.2m investment from the Welsh government

• March 31, 2016 31 Mar'16

  New London mayor urged to take ‘drastic action’ on capital broadband

  A YouGov poll for the Foundation for Information Society Policy finds widespread disillusionment among Londoners when it comes to broadband provision in the capital

• March 31, 2016 31 Mar'16

  Build out networks and mobile to rebalance UK economy, says O2

  In a major report, mobile operator O2 suggests that access to better digital infrastructure could boost the UK economy by £1.5bn outside of London and the South East

• March 30, 2016 30 Mar'16

  HMRC reaches agreement with IT suppliers on Aspire contract exit

  HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) plans on going to market next month for a number of smaller IT services contracts for a phased exit of its Aspire outsourcing deal

• March 30, 2016 30 Mar'16

  What is behind the slowdown in public-sector sales of ‘true cloud’ services via G-Cloud?

  With sales of “true cloud” services via G-Cloud showing signs of slowing down, Computer Weekly asks the experts the reasons why

• March 29, 2016 29 Mar'16

  St Andrews University uses IoT to monitor seal populations

  The Sea Mammal Research Unit at the University of St Andrews is connecting harbour seals to the internet of things to try to learn why their populations are declining

• March 29, 2016 29 Mar'16

  IoT security not a priority for Asean organisations

  IT leaders in the Asean region need to push IoT security up their priority list, as an Intel survey finds them lagging

• March 29, 2016 29 Mar'16

  Apple vows to raise security as FBI breaks into iPhone

  Apple says it will help law enforcement with investigations, but will increase the security of its products after the FBI broke into an iPhone

• March 24, 2016 24 Mar'16

  Tech firms urge further improvements to snoopers’ charter

  Major US tech firms have told the UK’s Investigatory Powers Public Bill Committee that their main concerns have yet to be addressed, and have urged further amendments

• March 24, 2016 24 Mar'16

  Government warned of smart meter security threat back in 2012

  The government was warned four years ago that its plans for a nationwide smart meter roll-out represented a “potentially significant” security and privacy threat, Computer Weekly has learned

• March 24, 2016 24 Mar'16

  Brussels attacks prompt renewed EU focus on airline passenger data

  The controversial plans to collect passenger name records for airline travellers in the EU are under focus after the terrorist atrocities in Brussels

• March 24, 2016 24 Mar'16

  Government delays digital strategy until EU referendum

  The government has drafted Whitehall’s digital strategy – but will delay it until after local elections and the EU referendum, according to Ed Vaizey

• March 24, 2016 24 Mar'16

  Chinese man admits conspiring to hack US military secrets

  A Chinese national working in Canada has pleaded guilty to helping hackers in China access US military secrets from defence contractors, including fighter jet blueprints

• March 23, 2016 23 Mar'16

  GDS preps guidance for third-party suppliers to deliver 'government as a platform'

  Government Digital Service (GDS) chief insists "pragmatic extensions" to outsourcing contracts implies nothing permanent in push for "government as a platform" (GaaP)

• March 23, 2016 23 Mar'16

  UK tech industry welcomes government’s new anti-crime strategy

  Only a modern strategy that incorporates technological advances and the greater use of data analytics can improve UK crime prevention, says TechUK

• March 23, 2016 23 Mar'16

  Canadian Elizabeth Denham set for the UK's next information commissioner

  Canadian privacy commissioner Elizabeth Denham is to become the UK's next information commissioner as government pushes ahead with the snoopers' charter

• March 23, 2016 23 Mar'16

  Gov.uk Verify not secure enough for NHS, says HSCIC

  The government’s Verify identity verification platform isn’t secure enough for the NHS, so Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group and HSCIC are working to add extra levels of security

• March 23, 2016 23 Mar'16

  University of Hull installs Avaya unified comms network

  The University of Hull is to deploy an Avaya telephone and unified communications environment to reduce costs as part of a digital transformation project

• March 22, 2016 22 Mar'16

  AWS and Microsoft UK datacentre plans could upset SME-rich Digital Marketplace, Kable warns

  SME G-Cloud providers told to brace themselves for increasing competitive threats from AWS, Microsoft and Oracle once their UK datacentres open

• March 22, 2016 22 Mar'16

  T-Systems targets Amazon cloud customers

  Deutsche Telekom's IT services division plans to take business from Amazon with a cheaper public cloud that guarantees users' data stays in Germany

• March 22, 2016 22 Mar'16

  Government indirect SME spending "fine”, says civil service chief John Manzoni

  Civil service chief executive John Manzoni tells the public account committee (PAC) it is infeasible for government to deal with every SME supplier individually

• March 22, 2016 22 Mar'16

  Cyber security budgets not rising in line with threats, say security pros

  While it is good news that businesses are increasing investment, it is clear that spending on security is still not at a level that matches the changing threat landscape, says IISP

• March 21, 2016 21 Mar'16

  Australian government defence report recognises cyber threat

  The cyber threat to Australia is outlined in the recent government defence white paper, but experts are unimpressed

• March 21, 2016 21 Mar'16

  Rural Payments Agency plans to issue second-wave technology tender

  The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) looks to procure several systems – including an identity management system, infrastructure and HR system

• March 21, 2016 21 Mar'16

  Britain to pay billions for monster internet surveillance network

  New questions raised about Britain’s snoopers’ charter after Denmark abandons its own UK-style surveillance programme for a second time

• March 21, 2016 21 Mar'16

  Southend Council to connect key sites with dark fibre network

  Southend-on-Sea Borough Council selects CityFibre to supply a 50km dark fibre network across 120 public sector sites in the town

• March 21, 2016 21 Mar'16

  National Cyber Security Centre to be UK authority on information security

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is to be the UK's one-stop authority on infosec, based in London and led by GCHQ's Ciaran Martin

• March 18, 2016 18 Mar'16

  HSCIC’s CareCERT head wants NHS and social care to be prepared for cyber attacks

  Health and care organisations should not be afraid to acknowledge that cyber attacks will happen, but must be ready to handle breaches effectively, says CareCERT’s programme head

• March 18, 2016 18 Mar'16

  PAC disappointed by Major Projects Authority’s lack of impact

  The Public Accounts Committee is concerned that the newly formed Infrastructure and Projects Authority will weaken project scrutiny and become a “champion for government projects”