News

IT for government and public sector

November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21
Covid pass deal to enable UK vaccine verification by EU countries

Under the agreement, vaccination status of UK citizens will be digitally verified via the EU digital Covid certificate gateway
November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21
MPs and Lords grill Facebook over online safety efforts

Facebook answers British lawmakers’ questions about the social media giant’s efforts to ensure the safety of its users, as part of legislative security of the government's proposed online safety bill
October 29, 2021 29 Oct'21
GDS secures up to £400m funding for One Login digital identity project

HM Treasury agrees to spending review bid from Cabinet Office to create the new single sign-on system for government over the next three years
October 29, 2021 29 Oct'21
UK government launches consultation on AI in patents and copyright

Evidence and views will be sought by UK government on how inventions and creative work made by AI should be protected

October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21
CIA sought revenge against Julian Assange over hacking tool leaks, court hears

The CIA discussed kidnapping Julian Assange after WikiLeaks published thousands of documents revealing its arsenal of hacking tools, defence lawyers tell a London court
October 28, 2021 28 Oct'21
Illegal state surveillance in Africa ‘carried out with impunity’

Analysis of surveillance laws and practices in six African countries finds that existing privacy laws are failing to protect citizens from illegal digital surveillance, which is being facilitated and enabled by global tech companies
October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21
‘No-one extradited from UK to US has committed suicide,’ US tells court in Assange appeal

US government claims that a district judge has given WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange a ‘trump card’ to avoid extradition
October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21
Budget: Cloud and data added to R&D tax credits, tech skills and digital boost for departments

Rishi Sunak announces plans to incentivise private sector investment in research and development, attract global talent and boost the UK’s skills base
October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21
Government commits millions to security investment

Spending Review adds more than £750m of funding to improve cyber security resilience across government
October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21
TechUK slams government gift to big banks that will disadvantage fintechs

The government will put challenger banks at a disadvantage through its reduction in the bank profit surcharge, says TechUK

October 27, 2021 27 Oct'21
PAC report slams reliance on consulting at NHS Test and Trace

Consultants recruited to fill technical skills gaps on the NHS Test and Trace programme are expected to cost £300m amid concerns spend has gotten “out of hand”
October 26, 2021 26 Oct'21
Government selects network analytics tech to combat Covid-19 loan fraud

The UK government has awarded a contract to network analytics software provider Quantexa as part of its efforts to fight fraud, especially that connected with Covid-19 business support schemes
October 26, 2021 26 Oct'21
Capita migrates systems to the cloud for TfL low emission zone expansion

Capita has expanded its team and moved systems to the cloud to support Transport for London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone expansion
October 25, 2021 25 Oct'21
Tech firms launch digital identity scheme for real estate

Five companies joined the digital identity programme aimed at enabling buyers of real estate, and more providers are expected to join a pilot starting this month
October 25, 2021 25 Oct'21
Tech must be core to a high-wage UK economy, says TechUK

Trade association TechUK calls on government to prioritise tech-led growth on Budget and Spending Review
October 24, 2021 24 Oct'21
Digital healthcare in use by nearly half of UK’s adult population

Some 28 million citizens have access to the NHS login, according to new data
October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21
Multi-government operation targets REvil ransomware group

REvil has been forced offline by a multi-government hacking operation, marking the second time in 2021 that the group has gone dark
October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21
MEPs vote to expand Europol data mandate

The European Parliament has voted in favour of expanding Europol’s mandate to process data and develop AI tools, but critics claim it contradicts a previous vote which opposed using new technologies to predict crime
October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21
Government seeks supplier for UK digital identity project

Work on the UK digital identity project will be centred around the Gov.uk app, which is expected to be the new common check for citizen services
October 22, 2021 22 Oct'21
Post Office board ‘appalling’ and ‘short-sighted’, said minister researching Horizon project in 2000

A government minister investigating the controversial Horizon IT project in 2000 described the Post Office board of directors as ‘appalling, short-sighted and partisan’
October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21
UK government launches information assurance unit for defence

The Military Systems Information Assurance is aimed at developing alternatives to cryptology
October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21
UK government allocates £17.5m to farming innovation programme

Farming innovation initiative aims to drive productivity and sustainability among farmers, growers and other businesses
October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21
US intelligence agencies issue advisory on BlackMatter gang

Joint advisory on ransomware gang warns about potential of further attacks on critical infrastructure providers
October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21
What does Saudi Arabia’s autonomous vehicle agenda mean to the rest of the world?

If all goes according to plan, within a few years, one million people will live in Saudi Arabia’s ‘city of the future’ – and every one of them will depend on a fleet of self-driving cars
October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21
DWP IT chief outlines the challenges of establishing a Chief Data Office

According to DWP chief Katharine Purser, interoperability between government systems is one of the main barriers to improving the handling of data
October 20, 2021 20 Oct'21
Police IT buyers should compel suppliers to prove AI claims

House of Lords told that UK law enforcement bodies should use their position as buyers to compel private sector suppliers to divulge more information about how their AI-powered technologies work
October 18, 2021 18 Oct'21
Singapore pulls ahead with public sector 5G trials

Singapore’s public sector organisations are testing the use of 5G connectivity to remotely operate an autonomous vehicle for road-sweeping, among other use cases
October 18, 2021 18 Oct'21
Government launches consultation on future of medical devices

UK government aims is to gather views on possible changes around innovations in the medical device field, including the creation of a regulatory framework for software and artificial intelligence
October 18, 2021 18 Oct'21
How Samlesbury, Lancashire became the home of the National Cyber Force

The National Cyber Force, a new branch of the military, is gearing up to fight battles in cyber space from the fields of Lancashire. Its presence is expected to bring a high-tech renaissance to the region
October 15, 2021 15 Oct'21
Global IT outsourcing sees record spending and no sign of slowing

Cloud services are being taken up by enterprises rapidly as they accelerate digital transformations
October 14, 2021 14 Oct'21
Apple scheme to detect child abuse creates serious privacy and security risks, say scientists

Apple’s plan to automatically scan photos to detect child abuse would unduly risk the privacy and security of law-abiding citizens and could open up the way to surveillance, say the world’s top cryptographic experts
October 14, 2021 14 Oct'21
UK government advances voter ID project

Cabinet Office-led project will see the introduction of a digital card to be used in future elections
October 13, 2021 13 Oct'21
Institutes of Technology launch to upskill adults in tech careers

Up to 4,000 working professionals will be trained in subjects such as cyber security and agricultural robotics to plug the national skills gap
October 13, 2021 13 Oct'21
Government to launch Gov.uk app

Service to be introduced as part of plans to simplify access to government services
October 13, 2021 13 Oct'21
Post Office Horizon scandal inquiry announces first public hearing

Public inquiry into the Post Office Horizon scandal will hold its first public hearing next month
October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21
Ban UK police use of facial-recognition, House of Lords told

Experts giving evidence to the House of Lords have said that UK police use of facial-recognition technology is disproportionate and ineffective, and further questioned the utility of algorithmic crime ‘prediction’ tools
October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21
Digital gender gap prompts $1tn GDP loss for developing countries

A new study by the Web Foundation investigates the economic cost associated with the barriers preventing women from accessing the internet
October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21
UK government outlines strengths and weaknesses in innovation

As part of the government’s overall innovation strategy, an evidence paper lists factors that influence the pace and direction of developments in the field
October 12, 2021 12 Oct'21
AI estimated to provide 10% boost to UK GDP by 2030

AI has financial benefits but there are concerns the technology could displace a significant number of human workers in the next decade, says report
October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21
Sensitive documents to stay with whistleblower after deadline for agreement for their return passes

A deadllne to agree the safe return of the sensitive banking details of former and current NatWest Group customers has passed without agreement
October 11, 2021 11 Oct'21
West Midlands expected to grow by £2.7bn with tech sector drive

The region is expected to create 52,000 job positions in the next four years
October 08, 2021 08 Oct'21
NatWest admits to weaknesses in anti-money laundering systems

Bank pleads guilty to failures concerning the laundering of hundreds of millions of pounds, but says it has since improved its anti-money laundering systems
October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21
ONS publishes technical learnings of UK’s first online census

Use of agile delivery and cloud computing were among the highlights of the Census 2021, which received 22 million responses countrywide
October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21
Ron Thompson, CDO, Nasa: Mind the data gap

Data is the crown jewels of business, but is often siloed. We speak to the chief data officer at Nasa about developing a data integration culture
October 07, 2021 07 Oct'21
Glasgow publishes draft digital housing strategy

Reducing digital exclusion, improving connectivity and citizen services are part of the plan
October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21
MEPs approve report opposing certain uses of AI by police

European policymakers have approved a report on the use of AI in criminal matters, rejecting several amendments in the process that would have made it easier for police to potentially conduct predictive analytics and biometric surveillance
October 06, 2021 06 Oct'21
US lawmakers propose ransomware reporting rules

Former presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren lends her support to a bill that would require corporate ransomware victims to disclose more information about their attacks to the authorities
October 05, 2021 05 Oct'21
Concerns raised over confidentiality and transparency in government data innovation

National data guardian Nicola Byrne warns about central principles that should be observed as data-driven innovation gathers pace in areas such as health and care
October 05, 2021 05 Oct'21
Direct Line hires former Virgin Atlantic IT chief as CIO

Ash Jokhoo will be joining the insurance company as a member of the executive board
October 04, 2021 04 Oct'21
NHSX publishes IT standards and interoperability priorities

The creation of an IT strategy, a governance model and an open source playbook are among the areas of focus for the interoperability team of NHSX