News

IT for government and public sector

• November 27, 2015 27 Nov'15

  First businesses connect to Edinburgh’s gigabit network

  The first businesses have begun to connect to Edinburgh’s council-backed CORE fibre network

• November 27, 2015 27 Nov'15

  Breach notification the biggest impact of EU data law overhaul, says law firm

  The EU data notification law will mean most UK organisations will have to change their approach to data breaches, according to legal firm Olswang

• November 27, 2015 27 Nov'15

  GDS aims for £3.5bn savings using its £450m budget

  The Government Digital Service plans £3.5bn in efficiency savings on the back of its £450m budget, including a £1.3bn saving from its government-as-a-platform programme

• November 27, 2015 27 Nov'15

  Digital drives business consultancy in IT outsourcing renewals

  As IT outsourcing contracts come up for renewal, CIOs might consider more business expertise to help them negotiate contracts that support inevitable digital expansion

• November 27, 2015 27 Nov'15

  Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership takes control of its network

  The Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership enhanced network and application visibility and security using Fortinet technology

• November 26, 2015 26 Nov'15

  City University London virtualises telephony and contact centre systems

  City University London replaces a 24-year-old comms setup with a virtualised, cloud-based contact centre system

• November 26, 2015 26 Nov'15

  CIO interview: Paul Haley, CIO, City University London

  Higher education faces budget cuts and growing IT requirements, but a £200m overhaul at City University London is bearing fruit

• November 26, 2015 26 Nov'15

  OBR brands HMRC digital tax accounts project ‘high risk’

  Office for Budget Responsibility says HM Revenue and Customs’ £1.3bn digital tax accounts project contains uncertainties in “behavioural response and operational delivery”

• November 25, 2015 25 Nov'15

  Spending review: Osborne gives NHS £1bn for technology boost

  The NHS will get £1bn to spend on technology – including an interoperable patient record system – chancellor George Osborne has announced

• November 25, 2015 25 Nov'15

  Emergency Services Network gets funding boost in Spending Review

  The Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme emerges from the government's Spending Review a billion pounds better off

• November 25, 2015 25 Nov'15

  George Osborne promises £1.8bn funding for digital technology

  Chancellor George Osborne announced a £1.8bn investment in digital technology over the next four years and handed the Government Digital Service £450m

• November 25, 2015 25 Nov'15

  Dorset tenders for shared care record

  Nine local authorities and NHS organisations are looking to create a Dorset Care Record across the region, integrating health and social care

• November 24, 2015 24 Nov'15

  G-Cloud suppliers hit out at government IT pricing deal with Huddle

  Whitehall procurement chiefs respond to claims preferential pricing deal with Huddle goes against G-Cloud ethos

• November 24, 2015 24 Nov'15

  UK defence review criticised for being too light on cyber

  Compared with the annual defence budget of almost £40bn, the allocation for cyber defence is extremely small, say commentators

• November 24, 2015 24 Nov'15

  Defence review promises 1.2% of defence budget spend on technology

  The government’s defence review highlights need for technology investment, innovative ideas and cyber security

• November 24, 2015 24 Nov'15

  UK police make two arrests over cyber crime services site

  A joint investigation by the NCA and information security firm Trend Micro has led to two arrests in connection with a crypting website

• November 23, 2015 23 Nov'15

  UK economy could gain £14bn by investing in digital skills

  A report by the Tinder Foundation and Go On UK reveals that investing in digital skills could produce £14bn for the economy

• November 23, 2015 23 Nov'15

  Mixed signals fuel mixed feelings about Australia's data-retention plan

  There are mixed feelings about Australia's data retention plans as the telecommunications industry weighs up the costs of compliance

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  UK and Estonia launch TechLink programme

  The UK and Estonian governments are launching a TechLink programme to share best practice and innovations

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Cyber Security Challenge UK terror final kicks off in London

  Would-be cyber warriors are defending Church House at Westminster Abbey from a simulated biological cyber terror attack in a battle to take top honours in the 2015 Cyber Security Challenge UK final

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  GDS on the hunt for digital training and support suppliers

  The Government Digital Service (GDS) is looking for digital training services suppliers to take part in a framework agreement worth £35m

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  HMRC Capgemini staff transfer consultation not as flexible as hoped, says union

  With less than two weeks left until HMRC’s deadline for transferring 250 Capgemini staff in-house, talks aren’t going as well as hoped, says the Public and Commercial Services Union

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Coalition of top tech firms opposes weakened encryption

  Weakening security with the aim of advancing security simply does not make sense, a coalition of top tech firms tells US president Barack Obama

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Departing DVLA technology chief says 'job done', moves back to centre

  DVLA's former chief technology officer returns to Cabinet Office after executing 'exemplar' GDS programme

• November 20, 2015 20 Nov'15

  Group litigation against Post Office being prepared in Horizon dispute

  Subpostmasters who believe they have been wrongly punished for misaccounting or theft due to flawed computer system prepare group legal action against Post Office

• November 19, 2015 19 Nov'15

  London Fire Brigade goes live with GPS 999 call system

  After a year of delays, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) goes live with a mobilisation system from Capita – which uses GPS tracking for quicker response times

• November 19, 2015 19 Nov'15

  Islamic State issues anti-hacking guidelines as Anonymous launches campaign

  Islamic State (IS) anti-hacking guidelines recommend using virtual private networking tools to create encrypted connections and changing IP addresses

• November 18, 2015 18 Nov'15

  Cyber security mindset needs to change, says report

  Government organisations are prime targets for cyber attacks, leading to increased importance on robust information security, according to a report by Intel Security and the Digital Government Security Forum

• November 18, 2015 18 Nov'15

  Whitehall IT chiefs open up about challenges of going cloud-first in central government

  Whitehall IT chiefs talk about the progress they have made with abiding by the central government cloud-first mandate

• November 18, 2015 18 Nov'15

  Trent & Dove Housing virtually upgrades infrastructure

  Moving to a virtualised environment means housing association can move forward with digital projects

• November 18, 2015 18 Nov'15

  Post Office IT support email reveals known Horizon flaw

  An email from Post Office IT support reveals a problem with the Horizon system and supporting processes that could lead to accounting errors

• November 17, 2015 17 Nov'15

  Met Police forced to stick with ageing command and control system after project delays

  The Metropolitan Police Service has been forced to stick with its 30-year-old command and control system for a further three years after problems with its replacement delayed plans to go live in October 2015

• November 17, 2015 17 Nov'15

  Osborne pledges £1.9bn investment in cyber security

  Chancellor George Osborne has promised a £1.9bn investment in cyber security over the next five years and to “aggressively defend” public services from cyber attacks

• November 16, 2015 16 Nov'15

  Yorkshire and Humber police tender for IT system worth up to £41m

  South Yorkshire and Humberside Police Forces want a multi-channel customer contact and resource management system worth up to £41m

• November 16, 2015 16 Nov'15

  Asean higher education institutions increase software and services spend

  Higher education organisations in developed Asean countries are investing heavily in software and services as their IT use matures

• November 16, 2015 16 Nov'15

  Over 55,000 businesses took advantage of government Connection Vouchers

  As the DCMS-sponsored Connection Voucher scheme winds down, statistics reveal that over 55,000 small businesses in the UK took advantage of the grants

• November 13, 2015 13 Nov'15

  Security forces drive hacking idustrialisation, says SensePost

  The buyers of cyber attacks are military and police organisations who are willing to pay to enable taskforces to get into devices, says SensePost

• November 13, 2015 13 Nov'15

  Framework agreement boosts public-sector digitisation in Sweden

  Swedish public sector procurement organisation creates a framework to make it easier for organisations to offer digital services

• November 12, 2015 12 Nov'15

  TCS to give internships to 1,000 UK graduates

  IT services firm TCS is offering a thousand British youngsters the opportunity to work at some of its technology centres in India

• November 12, 2015 12 Nov'15

  HMRC creates 13 regional centres to support digital services

  Cutting-edge systems, digital infrastructure and attracting tech-savvy staff are all part of HM Revenue & Customs’ transformation programme

• November 12, 2015 12 Nov'15

  Environment Agency to issue flood warnings to EE customers

  Following a successful pilot, the Environment Agency’s Floodline Warnings Direct service is to be offered to EE mobile customers in low-lying parts of Yorkshire

• November 11, 2015 11 Nov'15

  Ministry of Defence CIO explains defence as a platform

  Mike Stone took to the stage at the Microsoft Future Decoded event to explain the Ministry of Defence’s plan for defence as a platform

• November 11, 2015 11 Nov'15

  Germany is finalising legislation to shore up CNI cyber security

  Germany is working to ensure digital sovereignty through IT security legislation and negotiations on IT security regulations and transatlantic trade at a European Union level

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Government CTO Liam Maxwell outlines GDS spending review priorities

  Government CTO Liam Maxwell talks about the impending outcome of the comprehensive spending review, as well as Whitehall's improved relationship with Microsoft

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Government launches cyber security research project

  The government has launched a programme to get businesses more involved in cyber security research

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Boris Johnson lobbies for stronger UK technology ties with Israel

  Mayor of London Boris Johnson wants Israel’s “top tech talent” to come to London and strengthen the UK’s technology partnership with the country

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Europe needs to tackle key security challenges, says TeleTrust

  Europe needs to resolve the key information security and privacy challenges of an internet-based society, says German security association TeleTrust

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Microsoft UK datacentre plans win backing of government CTO Liam Maxwell

  Government CTO Liam Maxwell speaks out about the role Whitehall's played in convincing Microsoft and others to open UK datacentres

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Australian cities are getting smarter

  The smart city phenomenon is taking off in Australia, where there's the space and the will to make it work.

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  EU data protection official optimistic on successor to Safe Harbour

  An EU data protection official says he is optimistic that an alternative to the Safe Harbour agreement will be found, but it will take work from both the US and the EU

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Watford Council deploys Wi-Fi across sheltered housing estates

  Watford Borough Council installs free Wi-Fi networking service in sheltered housing and community centres

• November 10, 2015 10 Nov'15

  Crown Commercial Service backs Huddle's public sector-wide preferential pricing scheme

  Cloud-based collaboration platform provider hopes enterprise pricing scheme will make it easier and less costly for public sector to adopt its technology

• November 09, 2015 09 Nov'15

  IT and business process outsourcing surges after general election

  Business confidence following the general election is explained as the main reason for a massive hike in spending on IT and business process outsourcing by UK organisations

• November 09, 2015 09 Nov'15

  Risk of crippling cyber war yet to be addressed, says former US official

  Governments need to do more with defensive cyber security because offensive capability will not restore critical services after an attack, says a former US official

• November 09, 2015 09 Nov'15

  Cabinet Office launches ministerial group on digital technology

  Cabinet Office has created a ministerial group to drive digital transformation and reform across government departments

• November 09, 2015 09 Nov'15

  GCHQ and NCA join forces to police dark web

  GCHQ and the National Crime Agency are to track down paedophiles and serious online criminals by using the techniques and expertise used to find terrorists

• November 06, 2015 06 Nov'15

  Malaysia Budget 2016 favours ICT for citizens but offers less for enterprise ICT

  Although broadly welcomed, the latest Malaysian budget is better news for citizens using IT than for businesses

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  Mayor of London launches tech fund for digital skills

  A programme has been launched by the mayor of London to ensure young people in the capital are learning digital skills

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  Government to modernise data infrastructure, says Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock

  Updating infrastructure, providing lunchtime coding clubs for civil servants and improving use of data are among the key government priorities

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  Communication Workers Union warns subpostmasters of flaw in Post Office Horizon accounting system

  The union that represents Post Office subpostmasters has warned of a problem with the Horizon accounting system at the centre of a long-running dispute

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  PAC calls on HMRC to improve digital and customer service

  HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is “still failing UK tax payers” and needs to properly manage IT systems, says the Public Accounts Committee (PAC)

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  MK:Smart project gets ArcServe for virtual and physical backup

  Milton Keynes smart city project chooses ArcServe UDP data protection product over Veeam for its ability to backup virtual and physical servers

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  Free software gains ground in the Italian public administration

  Italy's Ministry of Defence is pioneering the use of open-source office productivity tools with the migration of 150,000 PCs to LibreOffice

• November 05, 2015 05 Nov'15

  CIO interview: Mark Hutchinson, South Manchester NHS

  The CIO of South Manchester NHS, Mark Hutchinson, is a busy man. His trust is implementing an electronic patient record system, a new datacentre and upgrading its IT infrastructure, aiming to become a top 10 healthcare provider

• November 04, 2015 04 Nov'15

  Atos co-ordinates IT suppliers for Metropolitan Police

  The Metropolitan Police Service has awarded Atos a service integration and management contract as part of its technology transformation

• November 04, 2015 04 Nov'15

  How IoT will impact the Asean cloud landscape

  IoT deployments are in their early stages in the Asean region, but experts predict as take-up of IoT apps increases it will have a big impact on IT infrastructures in the region

• November 04, 2015 04 Nov'15

  UAE recognises importance of cyber security, says official

  Like the UK, the UAE federal government has identified the importance of creating an environment in which it is safe to do business online

• November 04, 2015 04 Nov'15

  French atomic agency tests Scality object storage

  CEA opts for Scality Ring object storage software as potential replacement for block and file storage with gains hoped for in hardware independence and disk drive efficiency

• November 04, 2015 04 Nov'15

  TechUK issues six-point plan to help the government work better with SMEs

  Technology association applauds government's efforts to engage with SMEs, but says more must be done to make it easier for smaller firms to do business with the public sector

• November 03, 2015 03 Nov'15

  G-Cloud 7 procurement rules could derail public sector cloud adoption, suppliers warn

  G-Cloud 7 procurement limits risk putting public sector off using the framework, it has been claimed

• November 03, 2015 03 Nov'15

  NHS trusts to self-assess their digital maturity

  NHS England has launched a digital maturity assessment to find out how far trusts have come in having meaningful use of digital clinical systems

• November 03, 2015 03 Nov'15

  Council IT chiefs outline plans to create London-wide supercloud for local authorities

  Plans are afoot to build a regional cloud that London councils can use to access common apps and services

• November 03, 2015 03 Nov'15

  NHS England in talks over government funding to deliver digital

  Ahead of the spending review, the Department of Health (DoH) has asked the government for between £3bn and £5bn to support the deployment of technology in the NHS, reports suggest

• November 03, 2015 03 Nov'15

  Business models still evolving as public Wi-Fi spend hits a high

  A report from the Wireless Broadband Alliance reveals that most city CIOs have plans in place to significantly increase their investment in public Wi-Fi networking, but see challenges around their business models

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  NHS and local government must overcome barriers to digital care

  TechUK recommends more collaboration, knowledge-sharing and holistic changes, according to its report

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  Hunt announces NHS technology review

  Jeremy Hunt has enlisted a US professor to review the digital future of the NHS to keep it from falling into “elephant traps”

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  Secret report into rural payments IT problems points finger at RPA CEO

  The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) is withholding a highly critical report into IT problems that led to the withdrawal of the £154m farmers' digital service

• November 02, 2015 02 Nov'15

  Theresa May promises strong oversight in surveillance bill

  The proposed Investigatory Powers Bill contains “very strong” oversight and “world-beating” authorisation procedures, according to home secretary Theresa May

• October 30, 2015 30 Oct'15

  EU told to protect Snowden as privacy fears continue

  MEPs have called for EU states to protect Edward Snowden and on the EC to do more to protect the fundamental rights of citizens

• October 30, 2015 30 Oct'15

  Law enforcement cracks down on DroidJack Android snooping malware users

  A joint EU/US operation on the DroidJack malware is the latest example of international collaboration between law enforcement officers directed at cyber crime

• October 30, 2015 30 Oct'15

  Social exclusion, IoT and data privacy the biggest issues facing digital economy

  At the 2015 Parliament and Internet conference in Westminster, a series of panels explored some of the key issues affecting the UK’s digital economy

• October 30, 2015 30 Oct'15

  UK surveillance bill to give police access to web history

  Proposed UK surveillance legislation is expected to allow the police to seize details of websites and access specific web addresses visited by anyone under investigation

• October 29, 2015 29 Oct'15

  Met Office's new supercomputer to deliver £2bn of socio-economic benefits

  The Met Office aims to realise a range of socio-economic benefits to UK industries thanks to improved forecasting with its new Cray supercomputer

• October 29, 2015 29 Oct'15

  New European rules to help tackle cyber and other crime

  The EU parliament has approved an update of European police college rules to help Cepol keep pace with security threats such as cyber crime

• October 29, 2015 29 Oct'15

  Using open data to solve social challenges

  The Open Data Institute has spent the past two years funding startups to build applications that could solve socio-economic problems

• October 28, 2015 28 Oct'15

  Housing, health and blue light customers targets for advanced 4G connectivity

  As EE announces a line of products and services for public sector and business users, Computer Weekly went to explore some of the possible applications

• October 28, 2015 28 Oct'15

  Public Accounts Committee brands GP data upload system a failure

  The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) raises concerns over lack of testing of GP Extraction Service, the IT system used in the NHS Care.data patient database

• October 28, 2015 28 Oct'15

  Ministry of Defence hoarding £38.5m worth of unused IPv4 addresses

  A Freedom of Information request by network control specialist Infoblox has revealed that the MoD is hoarding millions of pounds worth of unused IPv4 addresses, while the UK government remains woefully unprepared for IPv6

• October 28, 2015 28 Oct'15

  Government will tackle barriers to sharing and linking data, says Cabinet Office minister Hancock

  Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock highlights transparency, open data and disruptive technology as key to delivering better public services for less expenditure

• October 27, 2015 27 Oct'15

  Public trust is key to sharing health data successfully, says Fiona Caldicott

  Sharing healthcare data could deliver better care for patients, but people must be allowed to assess the benefits and risks themselves, says Caldicott

• October 27, 2015 27 Oct'15

  More than 70% of teachers still think students are better at using tech

  Teachers are still struggling to adapt to the new curriculum, and more than 70% believe their students are more technology-savvy than they are

• October 27, 2015 27 Oct'15

  Online extortion set to increase in 2016, says Trend Micro

  2016 will see continued growth in cyber extortion, hacktivism and mobile malware, alongside a shift to an offensive cyber security posture for governments and corporations, say researchers

• October 26, 2015 26 Oct'15

  Post Office looking for IT head as CIO quits

  Post Office CIO Lesley Sewell will leave the organisation in November 2015, with an interim IT chief appointed until a permanent replacement is recruited

• October 26, 2015 26 Oct'15

  Security Serious Week kicks off in London

  Some 70 organisations and more than 50 cyber crime and security experts are supporting Security Serious Week to help others become more security savvy and cyber aware

• October 26, 2015 26 Oct'15

  Adur and Worthing councils take low-code approach to digital

  Adur and Worthing councils are moving away from legacy systems operating in silos to a low-code local government as a platform

• October 23, 2015 23 Oct'15

  Ex-government digital chief Mike Bracken brings GDS colleagues to Co-operative Group

  Mike Bracken, former government digital chief, has outlined his plans for digital transformation in his role at the Co-operative Group

• October 22, 2015 22 Oct'15

  How the Cabinet Office is using open data to tackle youth unemployment

  The Cabinet Office invited IT professionals and young people to a Job Hack event with the aim of using open government datasets to help more young people into work

• October 22, 2015 22 Oct'15

  Future GDS plans to be announced before Christmas 2015

  The Government Digital Service (GDS) will publish further plans on the future of digital government by Christmas 2015

• October 22, 2015 22 Oct'15

  Bain & Company to help HMRC move away from Aspire contract

  HMRC has awarded its transformation partner contract to Bain & Company to help the department transition away from the Aspire outsourcing deal

• October 22, 2015 22 Oct'15

  Kent signs £23m digital services contract with Agilisys

  Agilisys to manage Kent County Council's digital services and customer contact in a six-year contract