News

IT for government and public sector

January 21, 2015 21 Jan'15
MPs force inquiry into Post Office subpostmaster mediation scheme

MPs force inquiry into Post Office scheme to redress grievances of subpostmasters claiming to have been wrongly punished for false accounting
January 20, 2015 20 Jan'15
Union deal with Capgemini timely as HMRC contract faces break-up

The Public and Commercial Services union and Capgemini have agreed on a framework to aid good industrial relations
January 20, 2015 20 Jan'15
Police back-office outsourcing criticised by union

The leader of the union representing police back-office workers has criticised a Met Police plan to outsource back-office functions
January 20, 2015 20 Jan'15
London universities host datacentres at Infinity in Slough

The Joint Academic network, Janet, has begun offering a shared service to universities and academic institutes

January 20, 2015 20 Jan'15
US blamed North Korea for Sony attack based on data from 2010 US hack

President Barack Obama accused North Korea of attacking Sony Pictures based on intelligence gathered in a US hack of the country’s networks in 2010
January 20, 2015 20 Jan'15
Dartmoor National Park brings public wireless to remote sites

Dartmoor National Park Authority deploys Cloud in a Box to offer visitors Wi-Fi at its facilities
January 19, 2015 19 Jan'15
NHS to bring two IT systems in-house away from BT

Two NHS IT systems will be moved from BT to be managed in-house by the Health and Social Care Information Centre from February 2015
January 19, 2015 19 Jan'15
Airwave tackles network traffic spike on New Year’s Eve

Emergency services comms supplier Airwave records its most concentrated network usage ever in central London on New Year’s Eve
January 19, 2015 19 Jan'15
HMRC trials Gov.uk Verify in busiest month of the year

Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs is to trial the government’s Verify identity assurance scheme in its busiest month
January 19, 2015 19 Jan'15
GDS hints at future approach to government-as-a-platform

The Government Digital Service (GDS) has hinted at a new approach to meet Whitehall’s government-as-a-platform goals

January 19, 2015 19 Jan'15
TechUK welcomes PM's support for UK cyber security industry

Technology association TechUK has welcomed UK prime minister David Cameron’s commitment to strengthen the UK’s cyber security industry
January 19, 2015 19 Jan'15
Why we need cyber war games

The US and UK governments plan to conduct a series of cyber “war games” to test each other’s resilience – but will that really do any good?
January 16, 2015 16 Jan'15
Public sector may get encrypted connections over PSN in defiance of PM

Civil servants risk clash with Number 10 following remarks made by PSN chief technology officer James Duncan
January 16, 2015 16 Jan'15
Cameron and Obama plan war games to test cyber resilience

The UK and US have agreed to a series of simulated cyber attacks to test each other’s resilience
January 16, 2015 16 Jan'15
Blackburn with Darwen Council renegotiates Capita outsourcing deal

Blackburn with Darwen Council is renegotiating its £200m 15-year outsourcing deal with Capita as it tries to save millions of pounds in its budget
January 15, 2015 15 Jan'15
Public sector must make big data relevant

Big data is set to revolutionise public services but projects should focus on those that the public will understand
January 15, 2015 15 Jan'15
CGI to provide government security vetting system

IT services supplier CGI is providing the UK government’s security vetting under a four-year contract
January 15, 2015 15 Jan'15
Gateshead NHS migrates over one million radiology images

Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust moves images and scans to a central archive which can be viewed from any department in the hospital
January 15, 2015 15 Jan'15
Supplier relationship management lessons from the car industry

IT can learn a lot from the car industry, which has transformed supplier relationship management
January 14, 2015 14 Jan'15
Government extends PSN in response to supplier query deluge

The Crown Commercial Service is extending the PSN Connectivity and Services frameworks for a further 12 months, after receiving a deluge of questions about its impending replacement
January 14, 2015 14 Jan'15
Home Office cans Lot 4 of Emergency Services Network

The Home Office concedes the fourth contract for the Emergency Services Network is to be scrapped
January 14, 2015 14 Jan'15
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust embarks on clinical portal project

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust selects HP Enterprise Services to supply a clinical portal from Orion Health, with single sign-on from Imprivata
January 13, 2015 13 Jan'15
EU data reform long overdue, says information commissioner

The European directive that led to the UK’s 1988 Data Protection Act is “scarcely fit for purpose”, says Christopher Graham
January 13, 2015 13 Jan'15
Cameron criticised for plans to ban encrypted messaging apps

David Cameron has been criticised over plans for new surveillance powers that could block encrypted messaging apps
January 13, 2015 13 Jan'15
Obama calls for single US data breach notification law

The US president is calling for a single US data breach notification law as part of proposed legislation to improve data security
January 13, 2015 13 Jan'15
FBI investigates hacked US military social media accounts

The FBI investigates the hacking of the US Central Command's Twitter and YouTube accounts by a group claiming to back Islamic State
January 12, 2015 12 Jan'15
National roaming SIM to hit the market in weeks

MVNO 24 Seven trials national roaming SIM in bid to pick up rural business customers
January 12, 2015 12 Jan'15
Solihull council launches digital strategy

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council has launched a digital strategy which outlines how it will engage with citizens across multiple channels
January 09, 2015 09 Jan'15
Cabinet Office searches for CDO to lead digital and tech team

The Cabinet Office is looking to create a digital and technology team, with a chief digital officer (CDO) at its helm
January 09, 2015 09 Jan'15
DWP begins search for CTO

The Department for Work and Pensions is looking for a new CTO, who will report into the director general of technology Mayank Prakash
January 08, 2015 08 Jan'15
No evidence the government's prompt payment for SMEs is working

The government can't tell whether SME suppliers are benefiting from its commitment to pay 80% of its suppliers on time
January 08, 2015 08 Jan'15
Surrey County Council readies shared cloud on Nutanix

Surrey County Council has migrated its datacentre infrastructure to a shared service, hosted platform based on Nutanix
January 08, 2015 08 Jan'15
Cyber attack now primary weapon for countries, says ViaSat UK

Cyber attacks are becoming the first weapon of choice for countries in conflict, says ViaSat UK
January 08, 2015 08 Jan'15
FBI reiterates claims North Korea is behind Sony cyber attack

The FBI says it is confident North Korea is behind the recent cyber attack on Sony Entertainment Pictures
January 06, 2015 06 Jan'15
European Commission tenders for first cloud services

The European Commission (EC) has put out a tender for a framework to acquire its first cloud services
January 06, 2015 06 Jan'15
NHS trust signals positive response to data security

A Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has increased spending on data security fivefold since 2012, an FOI request has revealed
January 06, 2015 06 Jan'15
Suppliers walk away from Emergency Services Network bid process

Communications suppliers, including Airwave, walk away from contract to build mobile masts for emergency services in national parks
January 06, 2015 06 Jan'15
Digitisation of government needs major transformation effort

The public sector can achieve massive savings through digitisation, but this will require organisational transformation
January 02, 2015 02 Jan'15
2015 New Year Honours list lauds digital transformation programmes

The 2015 New Year Honours list features a slew of accolades for people involved in digital transformation programmes
December 31, 2014 31 Dec'14
Top 10 cyber crime stories of 2014

Computer Weekly looks back at the most significant stories on cyber crime in the past 12 months
December 24, 2014 24 Dec'14
£15bn gap in VAT and excise might be filled by big data analytics

Big data analytics could fill the annual £15bn VAT and excise duty gap, opines statistical software company SAS
December 24, 2014 24 Dec'14
Top 10 cyber security stories of 2014

Cyber security was high on the national agenda in 2014, with the UK government allocating more money on national cyber defence
December 23, 2014 23 Dec'14
Top 10 public sector IT stories of 2014

From a near-independent Scotland to continued problems with Universal Credit, it’s been a bumpy year for UK public sector IT
December 23, 2014 23 Dec'14
Top 10 broadband stories of 2014

Computer Weekly takes a look back at the biggest broadband stories of 2014
December 22, 2014 22 Dec'14
Top 10 CIO interviews of 2014

The top technology chiefs in the UK shared their opinions and experiences of modern IT leadership
December 22, 2014 22 Dec'14
South Korean nuclear power plant attacked by hacker

Computer systems at a South Korean nuclear power plant have been hacked, causing the company to conduct drills to test its ability to cope
December 19, 2014 19 Dec'14
Government chief scientific adviser: 'Don’t trivialise the internet of things'

Government chief scientific adviser publishes report on the internet of things, making several policy recommendations
December 19, 2014 19 Dec'14
Accenture and BT to battle for NHS email contract

The NHS has shortlisted two suppliers for its email system, with BT and Accenture still in the mix
December 18, 2014 18 Dec'14
MP accuses Post Office of acting "duplicitously" in IT investigation

MPs claim Post Office was being "high handed" towards MPs and running a "flawed, deteriorating" accounting system
December 18, 2014 18 Dec'14
Government scraps national roaming in £5bn "not spot" pledge

Government strikes £5bn ‘landmark’ deal with UK MNOs to address mobile "not spots"
December 17, 2014 17 Dec'14
Royal Opera House CTO Rob Greig appointed director of Parliamentary Digital Service

Rob Greig, currently CTO at the Royal Opera House, has been appointed as the first director of the new Parliamentary Digital Service
December 17, 2014 17 Dec'14
Government to lead review into computer science degrees

The government plans to fund an independent review into computer science degree accreditation to improve quality and graduate employability.
December 17, 2014 17 Dec'14
Cabinet Office begins procurement for next stage of Gov.uk Verify

The Cabinet Office has submitted a tender notice for a £150m three-year framework for the provision of identity assurance services
December 17, 2014 17 Dec'14
Technology needed to help ambulance services cope with increased demand

The future of the ambulance and emergencies services needs more investment in networking
December 17, 2014 17 Dec'14
US interception in the EU faces new legal challenges

US government orders against Microsoft to hand over email data 'infringes privacy legislation' in other countries
December 16, 2014 16 Dec'14
MPs to debate subpostmaster IT injustice claims

Debate about the Post Office scheme to redress grievances of subpostmasters will be held in Westminster Hall
December 16, 2014 16 Dec'14
Ofcom names HM Treasury’s Sharon White as chief executive

Sharon White, second permanent secretary at the Treasury, will take the wheel at Ofcom in March 2015
December 16, 2014 16 Dec'14
Move security from IT up to boardroom, says Francis Maude

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maud has urged businesses to make IT security a boardroom issue
December 15, 2014 15 Dec'14
Digital tools will help police, say Brits

Three-quarters of the UK think giving police more digital technology will improve policing
December 15, 2014 15 Dec'14
Lloyd’s Register Foundation grants £10m to Alan Turing Institute

The Lloyd’s Register Foundation has announced £10m in funding over five years to support research by the Alan Turing Institute
December 15, 2014 15 Dec'14
IBM named as supplier for NHS HR replacement system

IBM has been named as the preferred supplier for the new NHS electronic staff record (ESR) project
December 12, 2014 12 Dec'14
Interview: Lucie Glenday, chief digital officer, Surrey County Council

Chief digital officer Lucie Glenday was brought into Surrey County Council to change the way it thinks about digital services
December 12, 2014 12 Dec'14
Care.data faces more delays over concerns about patients

The NHS’s Care.data scheme may face more delays due to concerns over lack of publicity and clarity of the proposed programme
December 11, 2014 11 Dec'14
Whitehall meets digital leaders – but ignores local government

The UK has played host to its first D5 digital leaders summit, but local collaboration was off the agenda
December 11, 2014 11 Dec'14
HMRC blocks 4,000 phishing sites to protect taxpayers

HMRC has taken down 4,000 illegal websites and responded to 75,000 phishing reports in a bid to tackle online fraud
December 11, 2014 11 Dec'14
Open Data Institute: The UK needs a chief data officer

While the UK leads the way with open data, the Open Data Institute has called for more data to be released
December 11, 2014 11 Dec'14
Cern cuts latency in move from NetApp PCIe flash cards to drives

Large Hadron Collider operator Cern used PCIE flash cards for databases but found their limits and deployed flash drives in NetApp filers
December 11, 2014 11 Dec'14
MobileFirst iOS apps released for airlines, retail and financial services

Apple and IBM have delivered the first fruits of their partnership announced in July 2014
December 10, 2014 10 Dec'14
Cern makes users responsible for cyber security

Cern, the European organisation for nuclear research, has made users responsible for their own cyber security
December 10, 2014 10 Dec'14
Cambridge college replaces legacy EMC with Nimble hybrid flash

Trinity Hall replaces end-of-life EMC Celerra with Nimble Storage CS220 hybrid flash in a complete upgrade of VMware virtual server environment
December 10, 2014 10 Dec'14
Home Office appoints former Credit Suisse technology head as CTO

Home Office appoints former Credit Suisse employee Sarah Wilkinson as its new chief technology officer
December 10, 2014 10 Dec'14
Northamptonshire County Council cuts direct staff by 95% with outsourcing

Northamptonshire County Council will cut its workforce from 4,000 to 150 over five years by outsourcing community services
December 10, 2014 10 Dec'14
Why MPs lost faith in the Post Office's IT investigation, but vowed to fight on

A group of 140 MPs has removed its backing for a Post Office scheme to redress subpostmasters' grievances over alleged false accounting
December 09, 2014 09 Dec'14
Digital governments meet in London to commit to best practices

Digital governments from across the world are meeting in London today as part of the inaugural D5 summit
December 09, 2014 09 Dec'14
Ripa needs regular review, Blunkett tells (ISC)² security congress

The powers of public bodies to carry out surveillance and investigation should be reviewed with every parliament, says David Blunkett
December 09, 2014 09 Dec'14
UCL expands DDN WOS object storage capacity to 3PB

University College London’s object storage goes from 50TB testbed to 3PB of live storage
December 09, 2014 09 Dec'14
Post Office outsources IT to Computacenter in £100m deal

The Post Office has outsourced user computing services to Computacenter in a four-year managed services deal
December 08, 2014 08 Dec'14
MPs blast Post Office over IT system investigation and remove backing

Post Office scheme to redress sub-postmaster grievances over IT system is failing, say MP group supporting alleged victims
December 05, 2014 05 Dec'14
GCHQ web surveillance does not breach human rights, says UK security court

Data interception of citizens by the UK intelligence services complies with the Human Rights Act, according to Britain's top security court
December 05, 2014 05 Dec'14
NSA mobile phone network hacking raises security concerns

Snowden documents reveal NSA unit dedicated to hacking mobile phone networks
December 04, 2014 04 Dec'14
Government aims for 90% digital take-up by 2020

The government aims to have 90% of the UK’s online population using digital public services by 2020
December 03, 2014 03 Dec'14
UKtech50 2014 - The most influential people in UK IT

Computer Weekly has announced the fifth annual UKtech50, our definitive list of the movers and shakers in UK IT
December 03, 2014 03 Dec'14
Computer Weekly UKtech50: Rising Stars 2014

Computer Weekly’s five rising stars of 2014
December 03, 2014 03 Dec'14
Chancellor George Osborne goes after technology tax avoiders in Autumn statement

Chancellor George Osborne says technology firms that use aggressive tax-avoidance schemes will incur a tax charge of 25%
December 03, 2014 03 Dec'14
Report warns of Iranian critical infrastructure compromises

Iranian hackers have compromised critical infrastructure and other networks containing confidential data in 16 countries, a research report warns
December 02, 2014 02 Dec'14
Ministry of Defence consolidates with green datacentre

The MoD is aiming to reduce its IT carbon footprint with the construction of a new datacentre to replace the existing host site in Bath
December 01, 2014 01 Dec'14
Is a local GDS the answer to local authority transformation? Lessons from the Labour digital review

Labour’s digital government review touches on a number of issues, but what’s the future of GDS – and could it be scaled to help local authorities?
December 01, 2014 01 Dec'14
UK helps in operation to shut down websites selling counterfeit goods

UK law enforcement officers have aided an operation to seize 292 domain names used to sell counterfeit goods online
November 28, 2014 28 Nov'14
UK police face steep learning curve on cyber crime

UK police face a steep learning curve in getting to grips with cyber crime, a London watchdog has heard
November 28, 2014 28 Nov'14
Over a hundred cyber criminals arrested in global operation

Law enforcement agencies around the world arrest 118 cyber crime suspects – 40 in the UK – in the third international operation of its kind
November 26, 2014 26 Nov'14
Labour unveils Digital Government Review for input to 2015 election policy

Labour has published a review into digital government which makes recommendations for shaping the future of policy-making
November 26, 2014 26 Nov'14
Public sector will benefit from the shared economy, says government report

Greater shared services in the public sector is among the issues raised in the Unlocking the Sharing Economy government report published today
November 26, 2014 26 Nov'14
TechUK publishes guidelines for UK cyber security exports

TechUK has published a guide to help UK cyber security firms assess the legal and reputational risks of exporting cyber security products
November 25, 2014 25 Nov'14
Pressure on Universal Credit’s digital service mounts as testing begins

Risks remain for Universal Credit as DWP continues its twin-track gradual roll-out of live and digital services
November 24, 2014 24 Nov'14
CIO interview: Juggling politics for shared service success

Newham is one of the poorest boroughs in the UK, yet CIO Geoff Connell is pushing forward a digital strategy
November 24, 2014 24 Nov'14
Cert-UK calls for better cyber threat data-sharing

Cert-UK has called for more UK firms to join the government’s Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership
November 24, 2014 24 Nov'14
UK considers law to force ISPs to retain and surrender user records

The UK is considering enacting a law to force internet service providers (ISPs) to retain user records and hand them to security agencies if needed
November 20, 2014 20 Nov'14
UK police make four arrests in international cyber crime crackdown

UK police make four arrests during an international crackdown on cyber criminals using malware tools to steal data
November 20, 2014 20 Nov'14
Cyber security a shared responsibility, says Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude

Cyber security is a shared duty as no single organisation has all the answers, says Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude
November 19, 2014 19 Nov'14
Case study: North Wales Fire and Rescue Service secures email for public sector collaboration

The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS) has secured its information exchange with Egress Switch encryption