News

IT for government and public sector

September 14, 2015 14 Sep'15
Openreach rivals say no to more Openreach regulation

Members of the Infrastructure Investors Group pressurise Ofcom to support fairer competition in infrastructure investment with lighter regulation
September 14, 2015 14 Sep'15
Scottish Government to launch public services website

The Scottish Government will launch its mygov.scot website this autumn with the aim of improving access to public services in Scotland
September 11, 2015 11 Sep'15
Security industry welcomes GCHQ password guidelines

GCHQ's guidance on password policy covers some of the most pressing issues facing UK businesses and employees today, according to Skyhigh Networks
September 11, 2015 11 Sep'15
Companies House investigates large firms' reluctance to provide open financial data

The public registrar Companies House wants to understand why FTSE100 organisations have resisted its call to file accounts as open data

September 11, 2015 11 Sep'15
DD4BC cyber extortion gang adds social media to arsenal

Cyber extortion gang DD4BC is using social media campaigns to garner more attention for its ability to create service disruptions by publicly embarrassing large organisations
September 11, 2015 11 Sep'15
David Cameron hails Government Digital Service as 'unsung triumph'

Prime minister David Cameron announces legislation to join up IT across the emergency services, hailing the Government Digital Service (GDS) as a triumph
September 11, 2015 11 Sep'15
Ashley Madison data breach escalates with password encryption failure

At least 15 million improperly encrypted Ashley Madison passwords are reported crackable, with enormous implications for members and their employers
September 10, 2015 10 Sep'15
Government-backed IoTUK programme launches

IoTUK programme is backed by £40m of government funding and will explore how the internet of things can be used to enable growth and improve quality of life
September 09, 2015 09 Sep'15
Open Data Institute: Public sector could save money using SME consultancies

The Open Data Institute (ODI) investigates public sector spending on consultancy services from large and small companies
September 09, 2015 09 Sep'15
Transport for London awards O2 mobile networking services contract

Three-year services contract will see mobile network operator O2 supply bespoke mobile services and devices to Transport for London (TfL)

September 09, 2015 09 Sep'15
Government Digital Service builds in-house PaaS to host government services

Industry watchers query why the Government Digital Service (GDS) decided to build its own cloud platform, when many commercially available options exist
September 09, 2015 09 Sep'15
Early plans for Universal Credit show DWP expected to complete project in two years

An early plan drawn up by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for its Universal Credit scheme reveals unrealistic ambitions for the troubled project
September 08, 2015 08 Sep'15
Burnley Council signs 10-year IT outsourcing deal with Liberata

Burnley Council is the latest to outsource its IT services in a bid to save money
September 08, 2015 08 Sep'15
Cornwall Council and BT to meet in court over botched outsourcing deal

Cornwall Council and BT will meet in the High Court in December 2015 as the council attempts to end its £260m outsourcing deal with the company
September 08, 2015 08 Sep'15
Open-data incubator for Europe Odine hands out €650,000 to seven startups

Odine – an open-data incubator involving the Open Data Institute – has awarded €650,000 to seven European businesses
September 08, 2015 08 Sep'15
CityFibre ousts BT from Edinburgh Council WAN

Edinburgh City Council to connect 294 of its sites to CityFibre’s Edinburgh Core fibre network as it ends a long-term contract with BT
September 04, 2015 04 Sep'15
US State Department plans cyber security playbook

The US State Department issues a request for information to determine the capabilities of commercial industry to provide and maintain a cyber security playbook
September 04, 2015 04 Sep'15
US cracks down on mobile phone tracking by federal agencies

For years, the FBI has sought to keep secret information about stingrays that can be used to determine mobile phone location by spoofing a mobile cell tower
September 03, 2015 03 Sep'15
CCGs to submit paper-free roadmap footprint to NHS England by end of October

Clinical commissioning groups will have to start work on going digital across their local health economies and submit project templates by the end of October
September 03, 2015 03 Sep'15
HSCIC launches cyber security service for health and care

The Health and Social Care Information Centre sets up cyber security service as sexual health clinic accidentally releases patients’ information
September 02, 2015 02 Sep'15
Patients to access full GP medical records online by 2016

Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has promised full online access to medical records, a review of data security standards and a new opt-out model for Care.data
September 02, 2015 02 Sep'15
Islington and Camden Councils set out shared IT services plans

London councils want to tackle the government's austerity measures through adopting shared IT services model by April 2016
September 02, 2015 02 Sep'15
GDS sees “significant demand” for government’s unused IPv4 addresses

GDS says it has released some value from the sale of unused IPv4 addresses belonging to the Department of Work and Pensions
September 02, 2015 02 Sep'15
Four in five G-Cloud buyers fail to share savings data with government, FOI response reveals

FOI response reveals four in five G-Cloud buyers are failing to share details of the savings they have made through using the framework
September 02, 2015 02 Sep'15
NHS England to publish interoperability handbook

Guidance will enable information sharing about patients across different care settings, says head of enterprise architecture Inderjit Singh
September 01, 2015 01 Sep'15
DDoS attack on NCA highlights need to be prepared, says Barracuda Networks

A Lizard Squad DDoS attack the NCA says is a fact of life highlights the need for organisations to be prepared, according to Barracuda Networks
August 27, 2015 27 Aug'15
Genomics England to recruit cancer patients for genome sequencing

Government-funded 100,000-genomes project will begin to recruit cancer patients as part of its Oxford cancer programme
August 27, 2015 27 Aug'15
Kellogg Brown and Root wins ESN Delivery Partner contract

Kellogg Brown and Root has won the contract to supply Lot 1 of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme
August 26, 2015 26 Aug'15
Northern Ireland police to tender for managed IT services contract worth up to £100m

The Police Service of Northern Ireland hunt for a managed IT services supplier to replace Fujitsu once the current contract expires in 2016
August 26, 2015 26 Aug'15
Millennials dissatisfied with online data security, study shows

Fewer than 5% of UK and US 16 to 35 year olds believe their digital identity is completely protected by effective safeguards
August 26, 2015 26 Aug'15
Torbay Council uses Logi Info for budget management

Council's Jeff Scott explains the authority’s move away from its previous business intelligence software to focus on managing financial data
August 25, 2015 25 Aug'15
Barnsley College dumps IBM SANs for Tegile hybrid flash arrays

IBM DS3200 SANs retired as South Yorkshire college standardises on Tegile hybrid flash arrays in a move that cuts spend on new disk by £30,000 a year
August 24, 2015 24 Aug'15
Scottish government launches £9m community broadband project

Scottish Rural Development Programme will offer grants to community-led fibre broadband projects around Scotland
August 24, 2015 24 Aug'15
Edinburgh Council signs £186m IT outsourcing deal with CGI

Seven-year contract aims to introduce integrated digital services across the authority
August 24, 2015 24 Aug'15
Labour MP Chris Bryant calls for Openreach sell-off from BT

Labour’s Chris Bryant says Ofcom’s communications review should be working on the basis that the split of Openreach from BT is a done deal
August 21, 2015 21 Aug'15
Westcountry businesses’ anger over Devon and Somerset broadband fiasco

More than 14,000 businesses tell Connecting Devon and Somerset to get its act together over rural broadband after it binned its second-phase BDUK contract with BT
August 21, 2015 21 Aug'15
Hackers publish another 13GB of Ashley Madison data

A second set of Ashley Madison data published by hackers includes source code from the website, internal emails and a note to the company's founder Noel Biderman
August 20, 2015 20 Aug'15
Stephen Allott leaves post as SME Crown Representative

Crown Representative for SMEs takes up new role in G-Cloud and Digital Marketplace development
August 19, 2015 19 Aug'15
UK government signs new MoU with Oracle

Memorandum of understanding builds on 2012 deal which promised to save the government £75m
August 19, 2015 19 Aug'15
Is Australia's cyber security-focused government underestimating the insider threat?

Canberra is strengthening its cyber security response, but there is conflicting evidence about where the main threat is coming from
August 18, 2015 18 Aug'15
IaaS providers pin hopes on spending cut reprieve for G-Cloud 7

G-Cloud suppliers are calling on the government to step up, rather than scale back, investment in the framework as spending cuts loom
August 18, 2015 18 Aug'15
DWP to tender for mainframe platform suppliers in contract worth up to £300m

The Department for Work and Pensions is looking for mainframe services suppliers to help update IT systems
August 18, 2015 18 Aug'15
Hancock vows to support 'next phase' of GDS

Cabinet Office minister says Government Digital Service will continue to drive “transformation across government”
August 18, 2015 18 Aug'15
Australian Cyber Security Centre sets baseline for businesses

The ACSC wants more organisations to take responsibility for protecting their information resources and computer systems
August 18, 2015 18 Aug'15
More than 300,000 US taxpayers affected by data breach

The IRS initially said hackers had used data from breaches of non-IRS sources to gain access to the agency’s Get Transcript feature from February to mid-May 2015 and harvest 100,000 records
August 18, 2015 18 Aug'15
Natural Resources Wales uses Microsoft and mobile to unify departments

Natural Resources Wales won the Best Mobile Computing Project Award at this year's CW European User Awards. Find out why
August 17, 2015 17 Aug'15
Home Office develops Online Application Service for visas with Equal Experts

The Home Office explains how its implementation of the Online Application Service for visas bagged it the 2015 Computer Weekly European User Award for Best Public Sector Project
August 17, 2015 17 Aug'15
FireEye latest security firm to join forces with Europol

Law enforcement and private industry need to work together to effectively combat cyber crime, says Europol as it signs an MoU with another cyber security firm
August 17, 2015 17 Aug'15
Vodafone tests app-based connected vehicle parking system

Vodafone has teamed up with Westminster City Council and plumbing firm Pimlico Plumbers to test a connected vehicle parking system in London
August 16, 2015 16 Aug'15
Mobile phone users at risk as hackers bug and track victims

An investigation by Australian TV show 60 Minutes demonstrates how hackers based thousands of miles away in Germany were able to record the calls of an Australian senator and track his movements
August 14, 2015 14 Aug'15
Met Police seeks MSPs as digital forensic investigations move closer to the frontline

Metropolitan Police Force wants to make it easier for frontline staff to embark on forensic investigations involving digital devices with the help of MSPs
August 14, 2015 14 Aug'15
Security flaw exposes billions of mobile phone users to eavesdropping

Hackers, fraudsters, rogue governments and unscrupulous commercial operators are exploiting flaws in the architecture of the mobile phone signalling system known as SS7
August 14, 2015 14 Aug'15
Home Office puts out feelers for new Emergency Services Network deal

Home Office issues a prior information notice that suggests it is planning to bring a revised version of Lot 4 of the Emergency Services Network procurement back to life
August 14, 2015 14 Aug'15
GDS saves the government £1.7bn through digital and technology transformation

The government has made £18.6bn year-on-year savings, with £1.7bn coming from GDS-led efficiency and reform
August 13, 2015 13 Aug'15
Gloucester City Homes embarks on VDI-led tech transformation with Exponential-e

Social housing firm taps into Exponential-e's Ethernet capabilities to make it easier for its staff to work flexibly
August 13, 2015 13 Aug'15
Interview: Government digital chief Mike Bracken – why I quit

Mike Bracken, the outgoing director of the Government Digital Service, talks exclusively to Computer Weekly about his departure from Whitehall
August 12, 2015 12 Aug'15
FOI response reveals G-Cloud suppliers escape fines for missing MISO sales data deadlines

Freedom of Information response suggests Cabinet Office is taking a softly-softly approach to clamping down on non-compliant G-Cloud suppliers
August 12, 2015 12 Aug'15
Mike Bracken: I turned down an increase in GDS budget

Outgoing government digital chief says he rejected the chance of extra funding and that his platform strategy is still on the table
August 11, 2015 11 Aug'15
DEF CON 23: Two major roadblocks to cyber diplomacy, says former US diplomat

The problem of attribution and the disclosure dilemma continue to hamper cyber diplomacy, but the US might just have cracked the former, according to David An
August 11, 2015 11 Aug'15
Four more senior leaders announce departure from Government Digital Service

Four of GDS chief Mike Bracken's key lieutenants are following him out of the Whitehall door, but Bracken claims it is just part of a 'natural change'
August 10, 2015 10 Aug'15
How artificial intelligence is being tested by Asean businesses

Organisations across the Asean region are using artificial intelligence technologies with examples in health and finance sector.
August 07, 2015 07 Aug'15
HMRC releases update on personal tax accounts

A test version of HM Revenue & Customs’ (HMRC) long awaited personal tax accounts has been launched to assess user needs
August 07, 2015 07 Aug'15
BT wins voice services contract with European Commission

BT deepens its relationship with the European Commission after being awarded a €15m, seven-year contract to provide fixed voice line services for a number of European bodies
August 07, 2015 07 Aug'15
IET renews demand for 999 emergency call service rethink

The Institute of Engineering and Technology has renewed its request for an overhaul of the emergency 999 call service
August 06, 2015 06 Aug'15
Manchester scraps Atos contract for smart transport ticketing

Atos has been let go as the contract partner for Manchester’s Oyster-style ticketing system due to issues with delivery speeds
August 06, 2015 06 Aug'15
Government digital chief Mike Bracken to become chief digital officer at the Co-op

The Co-operative Group has announced outgoing GDS director Mike Bracken as its new digital chief
August 06, 2015 06 Aug'15
What will happen to digital government when GDS chief Mike Bracken moves on?

The government’s digital chief Mike Bracken has announced he will be leaving, raising concerns over the future of digital government
August 05, 2015 05 Aug'15
BlackHat 2015: 2FA key to defence against cyber espionage groups

Abuse of credentials and watering-hole attacks are main tactics used by cyber espionage group TG-3390 or Emissary Panda, research reveals
August 05, 2015 05 Aug'15
HMRC to transfer 250 Capgemini staff in-house ready for Aspire contract end

HMRC’s Aspire outsourcing contract will be replaced by slowly bringing staff in-house to give the department more control over IT
August 04, 2015 04 Aug'15
City of Liverpool College joins Jisc shared-services datacentre in Slough

Further education college set to use facility to help support roll-out of shared-services portfolio to other colleges
August 04, 2015 04 Aug'15
Whitehall devolution threat means IT suppliers "must improve" at selling cloud to local councils

Public sector IT suppliers must swot up on selling services to local councils, as Whitehall proposes devolving more power to them
August 04, 2015 04 Aug'15
SME G-Cloud deal volumes could be "under-reported", claim suppliers

Cabinet Office is reviewing how SMEs report G-Cloud sales data, as reports suggest some are shunning existing online reporting process
August 03, 2015 03 Aug'15
HMRC explains plans for moving tax systems to the cloud

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) reveals more details of its plan to move tax systems into the cloud on its digital blog
August 03, 2015 03 Aug'15
Government digital chief Mike Bracken announces he is leaving

GDS director Mike Bracken is leaving government, and his unexpected departure will inevitably raise questions about the future of GDS
August 03, 2015 03 Aug'15
MoD shells out £1.5bn on two IT contracts

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) signs two IT contracts costing more than £1bn, which it hopes will save money over the next 10 years
July 31, 2015 31 Jul'15
Interview: CCS director Sarah Hurrell on improving government technology purchasing

The government's procurement agency has plenty of critics, but its technology lead insists that IT and digital purchasing is improving fast
July 31, 2015 31 Jul'15
Obama orders superfast computer for 2025

The US is aiming to build a supercomputer that is able to process one exaflop or a billion billion operations a second to process big data
July 31, 2015 31 Jul'15
IaaS mega-framework tender raises hopes of Europe-wide G-cloud launch

Géant publishes contract notice seeking providers for IaaS frameworks, which will serve 50 million across Europe
July 31, 2015 31 Jul'15
Ark Data Centres to underpin delivery of BT's managed cloud services

BT signs multi-year deal with datacentre provider to support its push into the cloud integrator market
July 30, 2015 30 Jul'15
United Airlines hack could signal bulk spying campaign

The latest United Airlines hack makes the case for better data breach notification laws and better network activity monitoring capabilities
July 30, 2015 30 Jul'15
BT refunds £129m public funding on reaching broadband targets

Public funds will be re-invested in extending government-backed programme to deliver superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
July 29, 2015 29 Jul'15
Local government cyber security awareness low, study shows

A poll of local government employees reveals that almost half do not know if their current IT security practices would offer suitable protection against the growing threat of cyber crime
July 29, 2015 29 Jul'15
MPs to investigate superfast broadband roll-out to final 5% of UK

Select committee inquiry will assess what is needed to provide high-speed connectivity to the 1.5 million premises outside current roll-out plans
July 29, 2015 29 Jul'15
Technology experts warn of dangers of artificial intelligence arms race

An open letter signed by more than 12,000 technology experts calls for a ban on artificial intelligence (AI) to manage weapons “beyond meaningful human control”
July 28, 2015 28 Jul'15
Digital adoption boosts GDP, says Accenture

Digital technologies boost a country's competitive advantage and drive up its economic growth, Accenture has found
July 28, 2015 28 Jul'15
UK cyber insurance report recommends reinsurance scheme

A scheme along the same lines as the UK’s state-backed Pool Re scheme for terrorism cover will help improve UK competitiveness as an attractive economy for cyber business, according to a report
July 28, 2015 28 Jul'15
UK youngsters need support online, says iRights

A report by the iRights initiative aims to provide an insight into how government can join with technology companies, civil society and business to make a better digital world for young people
July 27, 2015 27 Jul'15
MPs examine visa rules over immigration for software and digital skills

Home Affairs committee launches an inquiry after the number of skilled worker visas issued reached its monthly cap for the first time
July 24, 2015 24 Jul'15
Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee launches big data inquiry

The Science and Technology Committee is to launch an inquiry into big data to discover whether the government is doing enough to promote its benefits to businesses
July 24, 2015 24 Jul'15
GDS targets three million new users of Gov.uk Verify service in next 12 months

Roll-out of the system for logging in to digital public services is taking longer than expected, but user numbers are expected to grow significantly in 2015
July 23, 2015 23 Jul'15
GDS unveils payments platform prototype in government-as-a-platform strategy

New system would provide a standardised way to take payments from citizens for online public services
July 23, 2015 23 Jul'15
Scottish government denies "cloud-washing" mobile device procurement framework

Scottish government's National Framework for Cloud Computing and Proprietary Devices risks confusing suppliers, claim analysts
July 23, 2015 23 Jul'15
APMG opens door to military-grade cyber security assessments

Developed for the MoD, the CDCAT tool enables any business to assess and manage its cyber defence capabilities using continually updated multiple cyber security controls and inputs
July 23, 2015 23 Jul'15
GCHQ unlawfully intercepting parliamentary communications, tribunal hears

Tribunal hears claims that GCHQ is unlawfully intercepting MPs' and peers' communications
July 22, 2015 22 Jul'15
Cabinet Office launches consultation for future of Digital Services Framework

A supplier consultation has been announced to discuss changes to the Digital Service framework before an Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) is published
July 21, 2015 21 Jul'15
Software audits cut government IT bill by £85m in 2014/15

Annual accounts for the government purchasing agency show at least £220m in technology related savings
July 20, 2015 20 Jul'15
ViaSat UK wins £3.8m contract for military vehicle encryption

ViaSat UK is to provide an encryption system for British Army armoured vehicles to ensure sensitive mission and intelligence stored on and gathered by Scout SVs will never be put at risk
July 20, 2015 20 Jul'15
HP Cloud 28+ on course to go live in December 2015 with 200 members

HP's push to create a one-stop-shop for European Union cloud users is on course, claims Europe, Middle-East and Africa vice-president
July 20, 2015 20 Jul'15
UK considers 10-year jail sentences for online piracy

The UK government is considering new measures to increase the sanctions for criminals who infringe the rights of copyright holders for large-scale financial gain
July 17, 2015 17 Jul'15
Stop telling patients not to Google – one man’s quest for joined-up healthcare

Technologies such as Google, health trackers and social media will be contributing factors in the future of joined-up healthcare, says one digital healthcare advocate