News

IT for government and public sector

• October 23, 2014 23 Oct'14

  Universal Credit digital system reaches key milestone as DWP delays roll-out

  The digital system supporting the Department for Work and Pension's Universal Credit programme has passed a major development milestone

• October 23, 2014 23 Oct'14

  Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg launches technology cluster initiative in north England

  Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg launches TechNorth project connecting digital clusters in Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle and Sheffield

• October 23, 2014 23 Oct'14

  BBC takes iPlayer video production to AWS cloud to beat bottleneck and storage woes

  Having run Video Factory on AWS for over a year, BBC's Robert Shield explains how he overcame iPlayer bottleneck and availability challenges

• October 22, 2014 22 Oct'14

  Firms lack technology for workforce of the future

  European businesses will rely increasingly on freelance, geographically dispersed employees as they vie to attract the top skills to their organisations over the next 5 years.

• October 22, 2014 22 Oct'14

  Liverpool council to save £30m taking BT joint venture in-house

  Liverpool City Council will save £30m over three years by taking its Liverpool Direct Ltd joint venture back in-house

• October 22, 2014 22 Oct'14

  More than half of UK citizens hit by online crime, shows Get Safe Online survey

  More than half of UK citizens have fallen victim to online crime, according to a survey commissioned by government security initiative Get Safe Online

• October 22, 2014 22 Oct'14

  Defra first department to implement Gov.uk Verify

  Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs first to utilise government’s new identity assurance system

• October 22, 2014 22 Oct'14

  Drones a threat to privacy, says former GCHQ chief David Omand

  The use of drones in the UK raises significant safety, security and privacy concerns, according to a report from ex-head of GCHQ, David Omand

• October 21, 2014 21 Oct'14

  Government needs to make technology exciting for women

  The government must make technology roles more exciting to attract females into the industry, says HMRC's Mark Dearnley

• October 21, 2014 21 Oct'14

  Socitm lobbies for change to enable local digital public services

  Society of Information Technology Management highlights what is required to deliver local digital public services

• October 21, 2014 21 Oct'14

  Data scientist demand evident in applications to new course

  Data scientist post-graduate course at City University London takes on three times more students than expected

• October 21, 2014 21 Oct'14

  Government releases social media guidance for civil servants

  New social media guidelines for civil servants have been released by the Cabinet Office

• October 21, 2014 21 Oct'14

  GCHQ embodies British values, says Iain Lobban

  Outgoing GCHQ director Iain Lobban has defended the intelligence agency in his final speech before retiring

• October 20, 2014 20 Oct'14

  Government seeks suppliers for £2bn telecoms framework

  The government is seeking suppliers for a £2bn procurement framework to replace Whitehall’s telecommunications requirements

• October 20, 2014 20 Oct'14

  PCI security council welcomes Obama executive order on EMV

  The PCI security council has welcomed US president Obama’s executive order to speed the adoption of EMV-standard cards

• October 20, 2014 20 Oct'14

  Prime Minister’s Digital Taskforce targets skills and networks

  The Prime Minister’s Digital Taskforce has established a remit around skills, investment, and networks

• October 17, 2014 17 Oct'14

  National Museum of Wales tackles digital technology

  The National Museum of Wales is digitising and using modern technology in its seven exhibition campuses

• October 17, 2014 17 Oct'14

  Public services website Gov.uk hits one billion visits

  Government public services website Gov.uk reports its one billionth visit since its launch two years ago

• October 17, 2014 17 Oct'14

  FBI director James Comey joins call for online surveillance tools

  FBI director James Comey has reiterated the need for online surveillance and joined calls for more tools to do so

• October 17, 2014 17 Oct'14

  Local government outsourcing shrinks workforce 35%

  The number of staff directly employed by a fifth of local authorities will reduce 35% by 2020 as a result of outsourcing

• October 16, 2014 16 Oct'14

  UK is prime target for cyber attacks, says FireEye

  The UK has been greatest target of advanced cyber attacks in Europe, the Middle East or Africa in the first half of 2014, report shows

• October 15, 2014 15 Oct'14

  Nottinghamshire Council goes mobile with Windows

  Nottinghamshire County Council is turning to Windows 8.1 to mobilise its workforce, starting with its social care division

• October 15, 2014 15 Oct'14

  McAfee highlights security challenges of a next-generation government

  McAfee has released a report investigating the security issues the 'government of tomorrow' might face

• October 15, 2014 15 Oct'14

  Industrial control systems: What are the security challenges?

  Targeted attacks on industrial control systems are the biggest threat to critical national infrastructure, says Kaspersky Lab

• October 15, 2014 15 Oct'14

  Gov.uk Verify identity assurance service ready to go live

  Government expected to launch first service using digital identity assurance in "next couple of weeks"

• October 15, 2014 15 Oct'14

  Global research reveals limited appetite for smartwatch payments

  While consumers in the US and China show interest in making purchases on smartwatches, Brits are less interested, finds research

• October 14, 2014 14 Oct'14

  Europe’s top cyber cop calls for access to online data

  Trust in police and state should be applied in cyber space as it is in the real world, says the head of Europol’s EC3

• October 14, 2014 14 Oct'14

  Microsoft, SAP and Facebook call on EU to support better IT education

  IT giants have written an open letter to EU ministers urging them to support better ICT education and encourage children to code

• October 13, 2014 13 Oct'14

  IT industry seeks to improve relationship with government IT buyers

  The UK IT industry wants to make “real changes” in its relationship with government following longstanding criticisms

• October 10, 2014 10 Oct'14

  Is the BIS GrowthAccelerator scheme worthwhile for technology startups?

  UK startups in the technology sector may be missing an opportunity to grow by ignoring GrowthAccelerator programme

• October 10, 2014 10 Oct'14

  Fear and loathing could hold back UK internet of things, says KPMG report

  More than two-thirds of UK consumers fear growing number of interconnected devices make it too easy for things to go wrong

• October 10, 2014 10 Oct'14

  Creating the next wave of social open-data products

  Open Data programme managers address the challenges of creating socially focused open-data products

• October 09, 2014 09 Oct'14

  Housing associations launch shared internet service from BT

  BT promises housing association tenants lower internet costs through new scheme

• October 09, 2014 09 Oct'14

  Government as a platform will be fully ready in three years, says Liam Maxwell

  Government CTO Liam Maxwell has outlined its digital transformation vision of delivering government as a platform

• October 08, 2014 08 Oct'14

  Care.data goes ahead with CCG pilot

  NHS England’s controversial care.data programme is currently in a testing phase with four clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)

• October 08, 2014 08 Oct'14

  Welsh government hands control of PSN to BT

  BT to take over running of PSN across Wales from Logicalis

• October 02, 2014 02 Oct'14

  Civil service appoints first chief executive to drive digital transformation

  The civil service has appointed John Manzoni as its first CEO, with a remit to drive digital transformation across Whitehall

• October 02, 2014 02 Oct'14

  GDS to receive budget boost to aid transition from Whitehall outsourcing deals

  The Government Digital Service is set to receive a budget boost to help move away from large IT outsourcing deals due to expire

• October 02, 2014 02 Oct'14

  Derby City Council promises 2Gbps connections at tech hub

  Up to 150 Derby SMEs are to get 2Gbps broadband through Virgin following a council-led investment in the city’s tech base

• October 02, 2014 02 Oct'14

  Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards to step down

  Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards is to stand down at the end of December 2014, says the telecoms regulator

• October 02, 2014 02 Oct'14

  China targets Hong Kong protestors with Android and iOS spyware

  China is suspected of spying on pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong using a fake app for Android and iOS smartphones

• October 01, 2014 01 Oct'14

  DVLA digital car tax renewal website struggles with demand on launch

  The DVLA’s renewed vehicle tax website has had a troubled launch, with the site crashing due to high demand

• September 30, 2014 30 Sep'14

  Cyber Essentials for public sector IT suppliers: pros and cons

  What are the pros and cons of the Cyber Essentials Scheme certification mandated for public sector IT suppliers?

• September 30, 2014 30 Sep'14

  How YouGov deployed Veeam Backup & Replication

  YouGov has deployed Veeam Backup & Replication to switch suppliers following the breakdown of a managed services contract

• September 30, 2014 30 Sep'14

  Going digital at the Ministry of Justice

  The Ministry of Justice is making progress on its digital strategy, with CDO Paul Shetler at the helm

• September 29, 2014 29 Sep'14

  London innovation centre launches to tackle data challenges

  An innovation and collaboration centre has been launched to develop ideas relating to data and the UK economy

• September 29, 2014 29 Sep'14

  Nationwide roll-out of Universal Credit to start in early 2015

  Controversial welfare reform programme to be accelerated nationwide for single people only, using much-criticised IT systems

• September 29, 2014 29 Sep'14

  HMRC promises personal online tax accounts in new digital strategy

  HM Revenue & Customs has launched its new digital strategy, committing to personalised online tax accounts

• September 29, 2014 29 Sep'14

  Service model driving cyber crime, says Europol report

  The cyber crime support industry is becoming increasingly commercialised, says a report by the European Cybercrime Centre

• September 29, 2014 29 Sep'14

  Civil service chief endorses 'government as platform' digital strategy

  Civil service chief Jeremy Heywood endorses the government digital strategy, hailing it as key to Whitehall reform

• September 26, 2014 26 Sep'14

  Public shared service cuts costs and improves operations

  Kent's Fire and Rescue and police force's shared command and control system saves costs and improves operations

• September 26, 2014 26 Sep'14

  Protective monitoring key part of DWP cyber security

  Protective monitoring is an essential part of cyber security as traditional approaches are no longer enough, says DWP IT security chief

• September 26, 2014 26 Sep'14

  Government mandates Cyber Essentials for public-sector supply chain

  Compliance with the Cyber Essentials Scheme will be mandatory for IT suppliers to government from 1 October 2014

• September 26, 2014 26 Sep'14

  Government CTO Liam Maxwell commits to GDS until 2018

  Whitehall chief technology officer Liam Maxwell has committed to the Government Digital Service beyond the election

• September 25, 2014 25 Sep'14

  Why you should drop staff who are not cloud savvy

  CIOs may need to lose staff who are not prepared to move to new ways of working brought on by cloud computing

• September 24, 2014 24 Sep'14

  Avon and Somerset police targets domestic abuse using analytics

  Avon and Somerset Constabulary has developed a predictive analytics engine to tackle domestic violence and child abuse

• September 24, 2014 24 Sep'14

  Labour wants to revive e-voting for elections

  The Labour Party wants to introduce electronic voting if it wins next year’s general election

• September 24, 2014 24 Sep'14

  Let’s reclaim email, says HMRC cyber security head

  Government and industry must tackle spam to reclaim email as a communications channel, says head of cyber security at HMRC

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  Last council finally connects to PSN

  The last remaining local authority has moved to the public services network (PSN) almost six months past the deadline

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  Investment needed to tackle digital divide, says Go ON UK

  Investment on internet infrastructure needs to be complemented by skills investment, says Go ON UK deputy CEO

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  Labour activists call for £10bn plan to make UK a leading digital economy

  Digital activists in the Labour party want it to commit to a £10bn, five-year plan to make the UK the world’s leading digital economy

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  Google to build giant '40-football pitch' datacentre in the Netherlands

  Google will invest €600m to build a giant, 120-megawatt datacentre in the Netherlands

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  Energy IT pros confident on breach detection, survey shows

  Two-thirds of energy sector IT professionals claim they could detect a breach within a week, a survey shows

• September 23, 2014 23 Sep'14

  UKtech50 2014 - help us choose the 50 most influential people in UK IT

  Computer Weekly is launching the fifth annual UKtech50, our definitive list of the movers and shakers in UK IT - tell us your nominations

• September 22, 2014 22 Sep'14

  Government urges more SMEs to apply for broadband vouchers

  With six months left to apply, businesses are being urged to claim their share of the £100m government broadband grants

• September 19, 2014 19 Sep'14

  Peterborough City Council launches cloud-enabled technology strategy

  Peterborough City Council is launching a cloud-enabled technology strategy to improve how it connects with citizens

• September 19, 2014 19 Sep'14

  How the HSCIC rebuilt NHS Spine

  The Health and Social Care Information Centre has successfully upgraded the infrastructure behind the NHS Spine platform

• September 19, 2014 19 Sep'14

  Interview: Government digital chief Mike Bracken on the next five years

  The Government Digital Service celebrates its third anniversary soon, but has plenty more challenges ahead to change Whitehall thinking

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  US military logistics arm breached by China-linked hackers

  US government inquiry finds Transcomm contractors had their systems hacked by groups linked to the Chinese government

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  Scottish Fire and Rescue deploys CRM to ensure FOI compliance

  Fire service uses customer relationship management software to manage internal processes and freedom of information requests

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  Government digital chief signals move away from 'tower model' approach to IT outsourcing

  Government digital chief Mike Bracken has signalled a move away from the “tower model” approach to IT outsourcing

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  Interview: Chi Onwurah, Labour shadow Cabinet Office minister

  Labour's shadow cabinet minister, Chi Onwurah, offers a unique connection between technology and politics

• September 18, 2014 18 Sep'14

  Interview: Wood Mackenzie CTO John Linwood on life after the BBC

  John Linwood, former chief technology officer at the BBC, talks about winning a high-profile employment tribunal and his new job at Wood Mackenzie

• September 17, 2014 17 Sep'14

  Risk management key to cyber strategy, says BP

  Cyber attacks constitute a group-level risk that is managed as part of BP’s standard set of risk management processes, says group chief

• September 17, 2014 17 Sep'14

  Alarming level of cyber threat set for a decade, says Nato

  The alarming level of cyber threats organisations currently face is unlikely to fall for the next ten years, says Nato

• September 17, 2014 17 Sep'14

  UK political parties expand digital campaigns

  The three main political parties expand their digital campaign messages following the launch of TechUK's digital manifesto

• September 16, 2014 16 Sep'14

  Vince Cable announces £4m funding for cyber security SMEs

  Business Secretary Vince Cable announces £4m government funding for a competition to help SMEs develop ideas for countering cyber threats

• September 16, 2014 16 Sep'14

  GDS unveils 'Gov.UK Verify' public services identity assurance scheme

  The Government Digital Service (GDS) debuts a system to prove users’ identities when using public services online, branded as 'Gov.UK Verify'

• September 16, 2014 16 Sep'14

  Government seeks £110,000 director for Parliamentary Digital Service

  Parliament is recruiting a digital director for the revamped Parliamentary Digital Service in a role offering a salary of £110,000 a year

• September 16, 2014 16 Sep'14

  TechUK tasks future government with making the UK a digital leader

  TechUK has launched a digital manifesto detailing how the next government must turn the UK in a digital leader

• September 15, 2014 15 Sep'14

  CIO interview: Stephen Hale, head of digital, Department of Health

  “I want to make digital less of a novelty,” says the Department of Health’s head of digital Stephen Hale

• September 15, 2014 15 Sep'14

  Why AWS is being held back in the public sector

  Public sector is a fast growing area of the Amazon Web Services cloud business. Yet it is often not seen as a first choice in government

• September 15, 2014 15 Sep'14

  WikiLeaks reveals Australian police are using surveillance software

  Australia's New South Wales police are using spyware that has been linked to repressive states, according to leaked documents

• September 12, 2014 12 Sep'14

  Claims against Post Office IT system approach completion

  Investigation into sub-postmaster claims against the Post Office over problems with its Horizon accounting system coming to an end

• September 12, 2014 12 Sep'14

  Yahoo wins bid to shine more light on US surveillance

  Yahoo has won the release of 1,500 pages of documents from a key 2008 case in a secretive US surveillance court

• September 11, 2014 11 Sep'14

  Hague reassures MPs on Office 365 data storage as Microsoft ordered to hand over email data

  UK government reassures MPs parliamentary data is safe on Microsoft servers as US judge finds Microsoft in contempt for refusing to hand over data

• September 10, 2014 10 Sep'14

  EU opens public consultation on cloud computing

  The European Commission has launched a consultation on cloud computing to help define future research priorities

• September 10, 2014 10 Sep'14

  Smartphones could render smartmeter in-home display redundant

  The Public Accounts Committee’s latest report on smartmeters has warned that the government risks being locked into technology

• September 10, 2014 10 Sep'14

  Act now on IoT security, says Beecham Research

  Industry must act now on security for the internet of things before its too late, says Beecham Research

• September 10, 2014 10 Sep'14

  Fresh questions raised over Post Office IT system's role in fraud cases

  A leaked report has revealed more details about the role of the Horizon accounting system in sub-postmaster fraud cases

• September 09, 2014 09 Sep'14

  Wider public sector needs better understanding of cyber security

  Local government, the NHS and the wider public sector needs to have a better understanding of the threat of cyber security

• September 09, 2014 09 Sep'14

  Cyber attack simulation key to get top management buy-in

  Plunging top managers into the middle of a cyber attack is the best way to get their attention, says a cyber crime expert

• September 08, 2014 08 Sep'14

  Ransomware on the rise, warns cyber threat report

  The first half of 2014 saw an increase in online attacks that lock up user data and hold it for ransom, reports F-Secure Labs

• September 05, 2014 05 Sep'14

  Unlikely bedfellows: Nato and business

  What has a military organisation like Nato got to do with private-sector business?

• September 05, 2014 05 Sep'14

  'Bungled' Army 2020 IT recruitment contract loses £70m of savings

  Mismanaged IT contracts lead to further setbacks in Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Army recruitment drive

• September 04, 2014 04 Sep'14

  Ucas blends rival cloud services from AWS and Microsoft for results day

  Ucas IT platform uses both AWS and Microsoft Azure services to scale up the infrastructure for a few hours during peak demand

• September 04, 2014 04 Sep'14

  Ministry of Defence seeking IT leaders for six-figure salaries in IT overhaul

  The Ministry of Defence is recruiting IT leaders as part of an overhaul of the way the armed forces manage their IT systems

• September 04, 2014 04 Sep'14

  Home Office has "long way to go” to fix police IT and procurement

  Police IT is going to take a long time to fix, according to home secretary Theresa May

• September 04, 2014 04 Sep'14

  Ordnance Survey to release open data on green spaces

  The Ordnance Survey is to release information and statistics on green space in England and Wales as open data

• September 04, 2014 04 Sep'14

  NHS England informatics head wants more CCIOs

  NHS England director wants to see a chief clinical information officer in every NHS provider and clinical commissioning group