News

IT for government and public sector

• December 07, 2015 07 Dec'15

  Cyber attacks an increasing concern for Asean countries

  Organisations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are increasingly the targets for cyber criminals, according to a report focused on the region

• December 07, 2015 07 Dec'15

  Obama hints at tougher stance on encryption

  The White House has begun raising concerns with tech firms over terrorists' use of encryption and social media as president Obama signals he plans to urge tech firms to help

• December 07, 2015 07 Dec'15

  Australia launches plan to reduce reliance on natural resources

  The Australian government has announced plans to reduce its dependency on industries that rely on natural resources and increase its activities in areas such as IT

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  Mike Bracken sets up consultancy with ex-GDS colleagues

  Ex-GDS head Mike Bracken, along with three former GDS staff, has launched a consultancy to help foreign governments do digital transformation

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  Internet of things will be one of the Asean IT highlights in 2016

  IoT investments will be one of the major trends in Asean economies throughout 2016, according to predictions from Frost & Sullivan.

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  India’s HCL opens Estonian operation to support Nordic customers

  HCL Technologies opens an Estonian delivery centre which will support customers across Europe, including those in the Nordic region

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  Europe's CIOs must raise their game in testing software quality

  CIOs across Europe have more work to do to ensure the structural quality of software is sound as IT becomes more important to organisations across different sectors

• December 04, 2015 04 Dec'15

  UK citizen challenges police and ICO over Prism

  A UK citizen challenging two police forces and the ICO hopes to achieve a landmark ruling similar to that obtained by Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who scuttled the Safe Harbour agreement

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  CGI to provide electronic health records to MoD

  The MoD has extended an outsourcing agreement with CGI to build on existing work the IT services firm does with its global medical operations

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  The capital needs more diverse tech talent, says London Assembly report

  The London Assembly Economy Committee urges mayor of London Boris Johnson to further champion women in IT, re-design apprenticeships to improve skills and diversity, and lobby for superfast broadband in the capital

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  Manchester bags £10m smart city prize in government contest

  Manchester’s CityVerve project scoops the £10m jackpot in the government’s smart city and internet of things competition

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  Home Office e-Borders programme costs to reach £1.1bn by 2019, says NAO report

  The failed e-Borders programme has cost £830m to date, with a further £275m projected costs before the Home Office produces new systems in-house, due to go live in 2019

• December 03, 2015 03 Dec'15

  The US and China agree more steps to fight cyber crime

  The US and China have made progress in expanding co-operation on cyber crime as China claims criminals and not state-backed hackers broke into the US Office of Personnel Management

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  Bristol rolls out smart meters in 3,000 council flats

  Bristol City Council completes the installation of smart meter technology across a number of its social housing properties

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  UKtech50 2015 - The most influential people in UK IT

  Computer Weekly has announced the sixth annual UKtech50 – our definitive list of the movers and shakers in the UK IT sector

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  UKtech50 2015 - Computer Weekly's five rising stars

  We select five IT leaders destined for great things, to recognise the rising stars of IT alongside our annual list of the 50 most influential people in UK technology

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  Lack of skills make government infrastructure projects more complex, says John Manzoni

  Chief executive of the civil service, John Manzoni, claims a lack of appropriate skills is a barrier to government projects

• December 02, 2015 02 Dec'15

  Australia blames China for cyber attack on supercomputer

  A cyber attack on a supercomputer at Australia's weather bureau has raised fears that potentially sensitive national security information may have been compromised

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  IISS urges world policy makers to consider cyber domain more seriously

  The cyber domain needs to be better understood and the subject of greater strategic focus, according to a report by the Interanational Institute for Strategic Studies

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  Peterborough launches Digital City programme

  Initiatives such as a superfast fibre network and cloud computing services are part of the city’s digital drivers as it launches its Digital City Peterborough programme

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  EU agencies boost Europol powers to fight terrorism and cyber crime

  The European Parliament and Council have agreed to extend Europol's powers to enable faster responses to terrorism, cyber crime and other organised crime

• December 01, 2015 01 Dec'15

  Rural payments problems led to 40% increase in costs, says NAO report

  Inappropriate behaviour and too much focus on IT procurement led to rural payments programme costs spiralling to 40% over budget, says National Audit Office report

• November 30, 2015 30 Nov'15

  East Riding of Yorkshire Council to get digital customer service platform

  Council takes a platform approach to customer services in a five-year deal with Civica

• November 30, 2015 30 Nov'15

  Was enough Stem funding announced in the autumn statement?

  The IT industry is facing a growing skills gap, so what does it think about the announcement of the Department for Education’s budget during the 2015 spending review and autumn statement?

• November 30, 2015 30 Nov'15

  Airwave to fight Home Office in court over ESN award

  Emergency services communications operator Airwave takes the government to court over the awarding of Lot 3 of the ESMCP to EE

• 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