News

IT for government and public sector

• September 08, 2020 08 Sep'20

  Post Office Horizon IT scandal victims face further battles as government digs heels in

  The government repeats that it won’t pay victims’ legal costs and confirms review into the scandal will not have the power to call witnesses

• September 08, 2020 08 Sep'20

  Matt Hancock announces £50m for healthcare AI projects

  The NHS and industry must have a ‘symbiotic’ relationship, says health secretary Matt Hancock as he promises to improve the environment for innovation in healthcare and announces £50m in funding for a series of healthcare AI projects

• September 08, 2020 08 Sep'20

  CIO interview: Paul Neville, director of digital and ICT, Waltham Forest

  The IT chief at one of the most digitally advanced London boroughs talks to Computer Weekly about the past, present and future of tech-enabled transformation in times of crisis

• September 07, 2020 07 Sep'20

  Experts slam government digital ID response

  TechUK panel members say the government’s response to its digital identity consultation provides no concrete plan for moving forward

• September 07, 2020 07 Sep'20

  Court rejects request to exclude ‘11th hour’ US evidence against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

  Lawyers for Julian Assange say the US has introduced an 11th hour indictment against the WikiLeaks founder that provides additional grounds for his extradition

• September 07, 2020 07 Sep'20

  AI Summit 2020: Regulating AI for the common good

  Speakers and panellists at the virtual AI Summit 2020 spoke about the tensions between cooperation and competition in the development of artificial intelligence

• September 07, 2020 07 Sep'20

  Government awards £32m funding for ‘pioneering’ health tech projects

  Science minister Amanda Solloway will announce £32m in funding for six healthcare technology research projects, including artificial robotic muscular assistance and quantum imaging for monitoring

• September 04, 2020 04 Sep'20

  UK funds coronavirus research for vulnerable global communities

  The £7.2m fund will support UK university research into supporting refugees and children affected by the global health crisis

• September 04, 2020 04 Sep'20

  Government should learn lessons from Brexit, says NAO

  National Audit Office report finds government did not plan adequately for Brexit and needs to be better prepared to deal with uncertainty and improve communication, engagement and planning

• September 04, 2020 04 Sep'20

  Virtual London Tech Week is a sign of the future

  London Tech week's virtual event is another sign of how the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation

• September 04, 2020 04 Sep'20

  Scottish government to spend £4m on creating five tech hubs

  Following a review of the tech sector, the Scottish government is creating five technology hubs to support startups in the country, aiming to support 300 startups by 2025

• September 04, 2020 04 Sep'20

  Major border disruption on the horizon as Brexit IT portfolio becomes ‘unmanageable’

  The proliferation of new platforms and work behind schedule is among the list of concerns cited in a leaked memo

• September 03, 2020 03 Sep'20

  HMRC appoints Daljit Rehal as CDIO

  Former digital and data chief at Centrica, Daljit Rehal, takes the helm at HMRC as chief digital and information officer

• September 02, 2020 02 Sep'20

  Guernsey to revamp digital local service delivery following double datacentre build-out

  The State of Guernsey’s ongoing push to revamp how it delivers digital services to its citizens continues apace with the completion of two new datacentres on the island

• September 02, 2020 02 Sep'20

  Northumbria University suffers major disruption after cyber attack

  Some exams cancelled as university appoints external specialists to investigate incident

• September 02, 2020 02 Sep'20

  UK to build commercially available quantum computer

  The UK government is backing a quantum computing project that will provide businesses with access to the technology

• September 02, 2020 02 Sep'20

  Ethical and professional data science needed to avoid further algorithm controversies

  BCS is calling for higher ethical and professional standards in algorithmic development to ensure public trust in future government information systems

• September 02, 2020 02 Sep'20

  App integration means emergency services can identify caller location in three words

  Capita integrates What3words app into its emergency services control centre platform to help respondents identify the exact location of people who need help

• September 01, 2020 01 Sep'20

  UK government unveils next steps in digital identity plans

  Long-awaited response to July 2019 consultation highlights private sector demands for digital identity support from government

• September 01, 2020 01 Sep'20

  Norway’s corporates want government to support ‘herd immunity’ to cyber attack

  Leading business organisations in Norway call on government to play a more active role in improving and coordinating the country’s cyber defences

• August 28, 2020 28 Aug'20

  University of Staffordshire recruits robots to get more out of its people

  University staff were bogged down with administrative work, but will now have time to be creative

• August 28, 2020 28 Aug'20

  Office for National Statistics defines better cross-government data linkage

  ONS review of data-linking practices across government is consistent with Cummings and Johnson drive to put data in command of government

• August 28, 2020 28 Aug'20

  New Zealand activates security services as DDoS outage enters fourth day

  New Zealand government calls in its national cyber security agencies to help investigate a continuing cyber attack on the country’s financial systems

• August 28, 2020 28 Aug'20

  Interview: Frankie Kay, interim director general for data capability, ONS

  The Office for National Statistics’ interim director general for data capability talks about how data plays an important role in the battle against Covid-19 and how the pandemic has unearthed new ways of collaborating

• August 28, 2020 28 Aug'20

  Benefit fraud: Underground trade in stolen identities revealed

  A roaring underground trade in stolen identities is undermining the Universal Credit system and could potentially defraud it out of millions of pounds

• August 27, 2020 27 Aug'20

  Tech and telecoms advisory group set up to help trade negotiations

  Department of International Trade launches new Trade Advisory Groups to guide trade negotiations with other countries

• August 27, 2020 27 Aug'20

  UK government publishes new insights on transport tech attitudes

  The latest wave of the study investigates public attitudes on innovations such as autonomous vehicles and drones

• August 26, 2020 26 Aug'20

  Amazon UK boss to help select new government CDO

  Outgoing Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr is on the selection panel to assess candidates for the government chief digital officer role, which offers a salary of up to £200,000 per year

• August 26, 2020 26 Aug'20

  DWP searches for talent as part of apprenticeship programme

  The Department of Work and Pensions is looking for diverse talent to fill software and networking roles while developing skills on the job

• August 26, 2020 26 Aug'20

  Government must urgently prioritise digital identity, says tech sector

  TechUK calls on government to make digital identity a focus of its digital strategy as the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the ‘urgent need’ for digital IDs

• August 25, 2020 25 Aug'20

  Council to connect hundreds of its sites through wide area network

  Local authorities invest in networking and contact centre technology through IT outsourcing contracts

• August 25, 2020 25 Aug'20

  Obituary: Lord Harry Renwick – a parliamentary pioneer for IT interests

  Lord Harry Renwick, once a key influencer for technology policy in Parliament, and a long-standing friend of Computer Weekly, passed away this month

• August 24, 2020 24 Aug'20

  Government makes digital leadership changes

  The government has begun recruiting for a chief digital officer at permanent secretary level and Government Digital Service director general Alison Pritchard is leaving to join the Office for National Statistics

• August 24, 2020 24 Aug'20

  CCS to launch £800m NHS IT framework

  Collaborative framework agreement will cover a range of IT management services for use by NHS Digital and other public sector health and social care organisations

• August 21, 2020 21 Aug'20

  Scottish government reveals broadband voucher scheme to make up project shortfall

  Government reveals details of funding for Scottish residents who fall outside reach of its primary broadband project

• August 21, 2020 21 Aug'20

  SMEs outperform Q2 expectations but remain cautious about Q3 prospects

  Small confidence boost for small to medium-sized enterprises puts tech investment back on the table over coming 12 months

• August 20, 2020 20 Aug'20

  Drop in number of students taking GCSE computing in 2020

  The amount of students deciding to take GCSE computing in England drops despite an increase last year

• August 20, 2020 20 Aug'20

  Government launches anti-crime tech competition

  Government seeks technologies that allow police officers to use less lethal means to stop violent or armed offenders

• August 19, 2020 19 Aug'20

  Scotland announces £15m investment to boost connectivity

  Funding package aimed at improving internet access for 23,000 low-income households

• August 19, 2020 19 Aug'20

  Loan charge MPs urge chancellor to get HMRC to soften contractor settlements

  Co-chairs of Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group write to Rishi Sunak to seek a fairer deal for contractors caught by HMRC’s disguised remuneration policy

• August 18, 2020 18 Aug'20

  Government scraps Public Health England

  NHS Test and Trace boss Dido Harding will run a new National Institute of Health Protection dubbed “the best chance” of beating coronavirus by health secretary Matt Hancock

• August 18, 2020 18 Aug'20

  Department for Transport seeks industry views on autonomous vehicle technology

  The government wants industry’s views on plans to use automation technology to take control of cars travelling at speeds of up to 70mph, keeping them safely in the lane on motorways

• August 18, 2020 18 Aug'20

  Northern Ireland Covid-19 tracing app reaches 250,000 downloads

  In the two weeks since it went live, Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 test and trace app has been downloaded a quarter of a million times

• August 18, 2020 18 Aug'20

  HPE signs 12-month hybrid cloud-focused MoU with UK government

  Hardware giant becomes the first non-cloud provider to sign preferential pricing deal with government’s Crown Commercial Service, as push to encourage public sector move to cloud accelerates

• August 17, 2020 17 Aug'20

  Coronavirus: Government faces renewed calls for extended support for self-employed

  The second phase of the government’s income support scheme for the self-employed goes live today, prompting renewed calls for the eligibility criteria to be broadened so that more people can benefit

• August 14, 2020 14 Aug'20

  UK government investigates AI labour market

  Survey will seek to discover new requirements and issues posed by artificial intelligence technology

• August 13, 2020 13 Aug'20

  CIO interview: Mark Gannon, director of business change and information, Sheffield City Council

  Like many organisations, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digital change in Sheffield, and its IT leader is looking to build further on that momentum

• August 12, 2020 12 Aug'20

  EU and US start discussions on ‘enhanced’ Privacy Shield data-sharing agreement

  Talks begin on a successor to the Privacy Shield EU-US data-sharing agreement declared unlawful in July 2020 – a decision by the European Court of Justice that left thousands of businesses facing legal uncertainty

• August 12, 2020 12 Aug'20

  Government awards funding for innovation projects

  The funding for innovative projects forms part of the government’s plan to increase research and development spending, which it claims will aid the UK’s post-Covid-19 economic recovery

• August 12, 2020 12 Aug'20

  Police use of facial recognition found ‘unlawful’ in court

  In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal has ruled that South Wales Police’s facial recognition deployments breached human rights and data protection laws

• August 10, 2020 10 Aug'20

  Government launches digital identity checking pilot

  More than a year after first announced, the government has launched a year-long pilot of its post-Brexit digital identity checking service

• August 10, 2020 10 Aug'20

  Gov.uk Verify continues to pose ‘notable risk’ to Cabinet Office

  Government Digital Service put in place “unprecedented measures” in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and built several new digital services, but its Gov.uk Verify programme continues to “pose notable risk” to the department, according ...

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  Data Standards Authority publishes guidance on government data sharing

  The Data Standards Authority (DSA) wants government departments to use new open data standards when sharing data, with the aim of improving public services

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  Government should prioritise product-led startups, says UKTCG

  UK Tech Cluster Group report calls on government to prioritise startups, provide test beds for digital innovation and establish programmes to enable tech careers for people who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19

• August 07, 2020 07 Aug'20

  Government pumps £650m into Northern Ireland border

  Funding for the Northern Ireland border includes £200m for a Trader Support Service and £155m to develop technology to support traders during post-Brexit transition period

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  If you hire foreign IT staff, ‘you’re fired’, Trump tells bosses in government-owned entities

  Donald Trump has fired a pre-election warning to government organisations that give IT jobs to workers from overseas

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  TfL Go launched to support travel in London during pandemic

  New tool aims to enable users to plan routes and comply with social distancing measures while using public transport

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  Planning system to get digital overhaul

  Government proposal on reform of the planning system sets out plans for modernising the planning process though use of data, interactive online systems and collaboration with the property technology sector

• August 06, 2020 06 Aug'20

  NHS seeks new national data guardian for health and care

  New national data guardian will take over the post from Fiona Caldicott, working to build trust in data use across health and social care

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Netherlands investigates innovative privacy technology SSI

  Dutch research organisation is looking into areas where self-sovereign identity technology could be used in society and business

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Egypt’s datacentre plans take key step forward

  Government lays the foundations for a datacentre industry with its new data protection law

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Home Office drops ‘racist’ visa algorithm

  The Home Secretary has pledged to stop using an algorithmic decision-making system to assess visa applications after migrant welfare and technology justice groups challenged the tool for helping to create a hostile environment for migrants

• August 04, 2020 04 Aug'20

  Police require radical reform to deal with 21st century challenges

  Early findings from a major review of policing reveal forces are struggling to keep pace with the changing nature of crime

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Estonian police and border services need better IT to block criminals from becoming e-residents

  Police and Border Guard Board of Estonia needs to improve its IT systems to stop criminals from becoming e-residents, says report

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Economic Affairs Committee calls for Universal Credit reform

  Lords Select Committee finds the design of the Universal Credit system is ‘failing millions of people’, including a ‘significant minority’ who struggle with the digital service

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  Experts launch digital skills project for civil servants

  International tech education experts from 10 institutions across the world have developed an online education programme for public servants

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  Hancock: Better tech means better healthcare

  The coronavirus pandemic has “catalysed” data-driven decision making in the NHS, according to health secretary Matt Hancock, promising a future NHS that “doubles down” on technological advances

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  Labour Party is latest victim of Blackbaud ransomware attack

  Widening Blackbaud data breach ensnares the Labour Party as the cloud software firm continues to duck questions about its behaviour

• July 31, 2020 31 Jul'20

  US lawmakers grill big tech chiefs over market power

  Sixth antitrust hearing sees CEOs of major technology companies face combative questioning from members of Congress over their market power and dominance

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  HMCTS video hearings service scrutinised in LSE report

  Independent evaluation looks at user experience of video functionality for courts and tribunals

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  EC launches digital identity consultation

  European Commission’s consultation will look at revisions to the eIDAS regulation, aiming to improve effectiveness and extend it to the private sector

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  How Broxbourne is evolving digital transformation beyond Covid-19

  The small town of Broxbourne in Hertfordshire is building on work before and during the pandemic to advance its modernisation agenda

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  Treasury plans speedy approach to project delivery

  Treasury will become the “new radicals” of Whitehall, taking charge of getting rid of legacy IT, making data-driven decisions and investing in data infrastructure

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  Tech sector calls on government to 'urgently' resolve delays in digital identity policy

  Trade body TechUK has written privately to DCMS secretary of state to express industry frustrations and request ‘urgent needs’ are resolved to enable digital identity market in UK

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  Finland government funds work on potential quantum leap

  Finland's government is committing money to the development of quantum computing technologies to potentially provide a giant leap for the nation's industries

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  List of Blackbaud breach victims tops 120

  More than 120 education and third-sector organisations may have had their data compromised through the breach of Blackbaud’s cloud platform

• July 29, 2020 29 Jul'20

  Campaigners urge government to resist big tech lobbying pressure

  Lobbyists for big tech, supported by senior US politicians, have rallied against stricter regulation of technology companies, and threatened the US-UK trade deal unless Britain scraps plans to levy a digital services tax

• July 29, 2020 29 Jul'20

  Schrems steps up pressure on Irish data protection commissioner on Facebook’s data sharing with US

  Austrian lawyer is considering ‘other’ options if the Irish data protection commissioner does not make a decision by October on his seven-year-old complaint against Facebook

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  De Montfort, KCL, Newcastle universities join list of Blackbaud victims

  Embattled cloud services provider now has big questions to answer over its handling of data belonging to UK universities and charities

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  NCSC names national security expert Lindy Cameron as new CEO

  New National Cyber Security Centre head joins from the Northern Ireland Office and has spent 20 years in government at home and abroad

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  UK government aims fintech industry at Africa

  UK government is building fintech relationships with developing countries, beginning with a pilot programme in Africa

• July 28, 2020 28 Jul'20

  Councils get funding to build on Covid-19 digital progress

  The latest council funding is intended to ensure continued modernisation in public services delivery

• July 27, 2020 27 Jul'20

  MI6 apologises after attempt to interfere with intelligence court

  The UK Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, has apologised after attempting to persuade the secretary of Britain’s most secret court to withhold documents from senior judges in a case about crimes by undercover agents

• July 24, 2020 24 Jul'20

  Venture firm Public launches fourth GovTech accelerator

  The GovStart 2020 accelerator programme is looking for innovators working on transport, health and workforce-related technology to help get more startups working on the delivery of public services

• July 24, 2020 24 Jul'20

  Inquiry launched into role of tech in Covid-19 recovery

  Science and Technology Committee will look at the role of technology and innovation as the UK recovers from the coronavirus pandemic

• July 24, 2020 24 Jul'20

  Courts to trial digital case management system from September 2020

  The Common Platform digital system will eventually replace a series of existing software applications, and will be rolled out to criminal courts over the next year

• July 24, 2020 24 Jul'20

  Government launches space innovation programme

  The government’s innovation programme will initially pump £15m into projects using space technology to tackle global issues, as well as international space projects and partnerships

• July 23, 2020 23 Jul'20

  UK government aims for tech-enabled border

  A consultation has been launched to gather views on how digital approaches can improve trader and traveller demands by 2025

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  DCMS loses government data policy to the Cabinet Office

  Prime minister Boris Johnson has taken away responsibility for the government use of data from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and given it to the Cabinet Office

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  New opportunities for Nordic startups post-Covid-19 as virtual offices become the norm

  As companies adjust to digital office life in the pandemic era, a host of Nordic startups are already helping them convert these short-term fixes into long-term strategy

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  TfL contracts Capita for London Underground section of emergency services network

  Capita will implement the network infrastructure that will enable the emergency services mobile network to work on the London Underground

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  CDEI calls for ‘step change’ in public sector data sharing

  Public sector needs to change the way data is shared, clarify governance arrangements and work on building public trust and awareness, according to a Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation report

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  HMRC extends Making Tax Digital programme

  Programme to be extended gradually until April 2023 to cover business below the VAT threshold and income tax self-assessments above £10,000 a year

• July 20, 2020 20 Jul'20

  Covid-19 outbreak ramps up data focus at LOTI

  The boroughs working in local government coalition LOTI are focusing on joining up and acting on data-driven insights to help communities through the crisis and beyond

• July 20, 2020 20 Jul'20

  Government launches fintech review

  Sector review, first touted in the 2020 Budget, aims to find ways to boost competitiveness and growth

• July 20, 2020 20 Jul'20

  DVLA makes technological progress

  Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has introduced a 24/7 chatbot, modernised its core IT network and is prototyping robotic process automation

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  Unesco launches global consultation on AI ethics

  The United Nations (UN) body opens up public consultation to help experts draft new global framework on artificial intelligence ethics

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  Government gives £24m boost to agricultural tech

  Nine agricultural technology projects are receiving government funding to create more efficient food production and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  Lockdown sparks interest in digital skills for 58% of adults

  Adults in the UK are becoming increasingly interested in digital skills, with over 80% saying they will become even more important over the next year

• July 16, 2020 16 Jul'20

  Loan charge: Government dashes hopes of revised down settlements for contractors

  HMRC and HM Treasury confirm there are no plans to alter the loan charge settlement terms, despite calls from cross-party MPs to consider doing so