News

IT for government and public sector

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Yoti develops age estimation algorithm for under-13s

  Age estimation technology developed by Yoti is being pitched as a way of helping social media platforms and other online businesses protect younger internet users from harm

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  NHS gets £250m boost to accelerate digital diagnostics plan

  NHS funding aimed at enabling faster detection of health conditions and reducing waiting times

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Singapore ups ante in AI with sectoral programmes

  Singapore launches two national AI programmes to bolster adoption of AI by financial institutions and the public sector

• November 09, 2021 09 Nov'21

  Government and Post Office should stop discussing Horizon victim compensation and pay it

  The first hearing in the Post Office Horizon scandal public inquiry hears why victims should be paid compensation immediately

• November 08, 2021 08 Nov'21

  Gig economy workforce nearly trebles over five years

  Over four million people in England and Wales now work for gig economy platforms at least once a week, marking a nearly threefold increase since 2016

• November 08, 2021 08 Nov'21

  NHSX chief information officer outlines role of tech in achieving net zero targets

  The digital delivery unit will publish an update of its digital change framework to encompass sustainability, tackling areas such as artificial intelligence and data hosting

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  Digital secretary calls for permanent online safety committee

  Digital secretary commits to establishing ongoing oversight of the Online Safety Bill and its implementation, and suggests the grace period on criminal liability for tech company execs should be shortened from two years to a maximum of six months ...

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  HMRC IT transformation plans under strain, says NAO report

  The EU transition and higher-than-expected customer demand, as well as technical debt, are among the factors that could affect HMRC’s modernisation ambitions

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  Number of subpostmasters appealing convictions reaches 137 at one legal firm

  Former subpostmasters convicted of crimes based on data from error-prone Post Office computer system continue to embark on appeals

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  Police interview former Fujitsu staff for second time in potential perjury investigation

  Former Fujitsu staff who gave evidence in subpostmaster trials have been questioned by police for a second time

• November 05, 2021 05 Nov'21

  UK and US governments agree joint quantum collaboration

  Representatives from the two governments issue a joint statement on quantum information science and technology (Qist)

• November 04, 2021 04 Nov'21

  NAO raises concerns over systems preparedness for import controls

  Delivery of enhancements and funding issues for the second phase of the Customs Declaration Service are among the points highlighted in latest report

• November 04, 2021 04 Nov'21

  Fujitsu escaped huge lawsuit because Post Office behaved so badly in Horizon scandal

  How Fujitsu has so far avoided a huge lawsuit in relation to its role in the Horizon scandal

• November 03, 2021 03 Nov'21

  UK’s Labour Party hit by third-party data breach

  Data on Labour Party members was recently compromised in an apparent cyber attack on a third-party data processor

• November 02, 2021 02 Nov'21

  Electronic waste excluded from COP26 agenda

  Data sanitation industry group calls on UK government to add electronic waste to the climate summit’s agenda

• November 02, 2021 02 Nov'21

  Minister refuses to rule out fully autonomous lethal weapons

  Lords debate the UK’s stance on drones and artificial intelligence in conflict

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  Government investigates the future of drones in the UK

  Regulatory Horizons Council research explores the opportunities and regulatory challenges around unlocking the domestic drone market

• November 01, 2021 01 Nov'21

  No cloud storage for Belfast City Airport in Nutanix hyper-converged switch

  George Best Belfast City Airport ditches ageing Dell iSCSI SAN for Nutanix HCI for half the price of nearest contender, and gets DR site into the bargain. Cloud storage was a no-go for cost reasons

• 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