News

IT for government and public sector

• February 24, 2021 24 Feb'21

  Vaccine passports prove an ethical minefield

  Privacy campaigners warn that vaccine passports may turn out to be discriminatory and invasive, while technologists agree careful consideration must be given to their design

• February 24, 2021 24 Feb'21

  Internet companies should provide real-time data on disinformation, Lords told

  Fact-checking experts tell House of Lords inquiry that upcoming Online Safety Bill should force internet companies to provide real-time information on suspected disinformation, and warn against over-reliance on AI-powered algorithms to moderate ...

• February 24, 2021 24 Feb'21

  Sadiq Khan wants innovators to support London's recovery

  Mayor of London announces partners and goals for the capital’s £1m Resilience Fund, and an extra £500,000 to develop design-led solutions aimed at the challenges presented by the crisis

• February 24, 2021 24 Feb'21

  Appointment of disgraced former Post Office director triggers vote of no confidence in Welsh FA boss

  Vote of no confidence in Football Association of Wales boss triggered by recruitment of former Post Office executive who tried to mislead a judge in IT trial

• February 23, 2021 23 Feb'21

  Subpostmaster group calls for prime minister to pause Horizon ‘whitewash’ inquiry

  Subpostmasters call for Boris Johnson to pause and reshape the government’s Horizon inquiry

• February 23, 2021 23 Feb'21

  CyberScotland offers centralised security resource hub

  Newly launched partnership brings together security resources for individuals and organisations across Scotland

• February 22, 2021 22 Feb'21

  Startup founders worried about proposed capital gains tax changes

  British technology startups are concerned about proposed changes to widen the UK’s capital gains tax, with just over four in five saying they would consider moving their enterprise abroad

• February 22, 2021 22 Feb'21

  Pandemic has exposed fractures in cyber fraud strategy

  RUSI report urges a bolder and more coordinated response to cyber-enabled fraud as the pandemic lays bear the scale of the problem

• February 19, 2021 19 Feb'21

  UK to launch 'high-risk, high-reward' research agency, dubbed ARIA

  Backed by £800m of public investment, the Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA) will identify and fund groundbreaking science and technology

• February 19, 2021 19 Feb'21

  European Commission proposes UK data adequacy agreement

  The publication of two draft data adequacy decisions brings the UK closer to a final positive decision, which will enable the continued free flow of data between the EU and the UK if green-lit by member states

• February 19, 2021 19 Feb'21

  Biden will act on cyber security to fix SolarWinds mess

  US will take action to modernise its defences in the wake of the SolarWinds attack, says US government cyber lead Anne Neuberger

• February 19, 2021 19 Feb'21

  Fujitsu bosses knew about Post Office Horizon IT flaws, says insider

  A former senior developer who worked for Fujitsu on the Post Office IT system that led to subpostmasters being falsely accused of fraud, has claimed bosses knew of fundamental flaws before going live

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Swedish police fined for unlawful use of facial-recognition app

  Sweden’s data watchdog has found that Swedish police failed to conduct the data protection checks required by law before using controversial facial-recognition tool

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  HMRC accused of 'utter hypocrisy' over use of IT contractors enrolled in tax avoidance schemes

  Campaign group calls for HMRC to face an investigation, while accusing the department of ‘utter hypocrisy’ for using IT contractors enrolled in disguised remuneration schemes

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  City of Helsinki adopts MyData principles to improve digital services

  Principles on the use of personal data for the benefit of society will guide Finnish capital’s ambitious digital plans

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Assessing UK law enforcement data adequacy

  Data protection experts discuss the consequences of achieving data adequacy between the UK and EU for the UK’s intelligence services and criminal justice sector

• February 17, 2021 17 Feb'21

  HMRC denies misleading House of Lords over IT contractors’ use of tax avoidance schemes

  MPs from Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group write to HMRC CEO Jim Harra to demand the department be investigated for breaching the civil service code

• February 16, 2021 16 Feb'21

  NHSX set to become part of new NHS England 'transformation directorate'

  Latest plans for the National Health Service’s central digital strategy arm are currently at the proposal stage

• February 16, 2021 16 Feb'21

  Central government should promote data policy compliance, say civil servants

  Most civil servants want the government to gain additional powers to promote data policy compliance to ensure better use of data, according to research

• February 15, 2021 15 Feb'21

  Digital investments will add £232bn to UK economy by 2040

  The UK economy could grow by £232bn over the next two decades if investments in digital technologies continue

• February 15, 2021 15 Feb'21

  Post Office to offer digital ID services to customers

  Post Office partnership with Yoti is intended to expand customer choice as to how people prove their identity when accessing services

• February 15, 2021 15 Feb'21

  NCSC recognises UK’s top cyber schools

  National Cyber Security Centre CyberFirst Schools initiative has handed out 14 gold, silver and bronze awards recognising excellence in cyber security teaching

• February 15, 2021 15 Feb'21

  Government to impose new digital identity system across all Gov.uk services

  Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove writes to Whitehall departments mandating the use of a new digital identity system that will allow citizens to be tracked across the Gov.uk website

• February 12, 2021 12 Feb'21

  University benefited from early virtual desktop investments when pandemic struck

  Edinburgh Napier University was able to react quickly to some of the main challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic

• February 12, 2021 12 Feb'21

  UK border surveillance regime highly privatised, says Privacy International

  Research from Privacy International raises concerns about the deep involvement of technology companies in the development and deployment of various technologies throughout the UK’s border regime, along with the lack of scrutiny they receive

• February 11, 2021 11 Feb'21

  The government’s ‘blue skies’ funding agency lacks purpose, MPs find

  The £800m research and development funding agency announced in December 2019, lacks a clear purpose so far, according to the Science and Technology Committee

• February 11, 2021 11 Feb'21

  Government launches digital identity trust framework

  The government’s draft framework, which aims to set out rules for the use of digital identities, will be tested with industries, services, users and organisations ahead of a final version being published

• February 11, 2021 11 Feb'21

  Nordic states launch joint drone development initiative

  Nordic Drone Initiative backed by 16 public and privately owned organisations in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark to probe the efficient use of airspace for drones

• February 10, 2021 10 Feb'21

  Tech sector calls for renewed cooperation in global digital tax talks

  Industry groups want renewed multilateral negotiations between countries about taxation of the digital economy in the wake of Joe Biden’s election as US president

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  Oracle claims major win in Australian public sector

  Australian Data Centres will deploy Oracle’s Dedicated Region Cloud@Customer to host cloud services for the federal government

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  Facebook sued for data-sharing practices with third parties

  Data protection claim filed in London against social media giant for its alleged failure to give at least one million users in England and Wales meaningful control over their personal data

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  Government launches review of use of health data for research

  The review, which will be led by Ben Goldacre, will look at home-efficient and safe use of health data for research and analysis

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  Experian to close more than two million Gov.uk Verify accounts

  Gov.uk Verify’s largest identity provider is closing down its accounts, telling users to re-register with one of the two remaining providers by the end of March 2021

• February 09, 2021 09 Feb'21

  ‘Batman Begins’ cyber attack is a warning to CNI providers

  A thwarted cyber attack in a Florida town that could have resulted in the poisoning of the water supply is a timely reminder of the vulnerability of critical services

• February 08, 2021 08 Feb'21

  Interview: Robert Opp, chief digital officer, United Nations Development Programme

  Chief digital officer of the United Nations Development Programme talks about the relationship between digital technologies and sustainability, and how it can be used for a more environmentally-friendly and inclusive future

• February 08, 2021 08 Feb'21

  NHSX backs mobile app to detect kidney disease

  The app, which is being funded by the AI in Health and Care Award programme, turns a smartphone camera into a clinical-grade tool to help detect kidney disease

• February 08, 2021 08 Feb'21

  North-West England ‘perfect’ growth area for tech startups

  Industry groups mapping the UK’s technology landscape say the North-West of England is a hotspot for growing tech firms, which benefit from increasing investment and geographic proximity to academic and business support networks

• February 08, 2021 08 Feb'21

  Data of thousands of Dutch citizens leaked from government Covid-19 systems

  Weak access controls and outdated systems blamed for leaking of the personal details of thousands of Dutch citizens tested for Covid-19

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  EncroChat: Appeal court finds ‘digital phone tapping’ admissible in criminal trials

  Appeal Court decides EncroChat-encrypted phone records can be used in criminal trials. Critics say the decision means phone tapping no longer has a ‘clear meaning in the digital age’

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  Mayor of London launches digital inclusion initiative

  Taskforce focused on increasing digital inclusion in London will promote digital skills and increase access to devices and connectivity

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  Government R&D funding fails to maximise ‘catapult’ potential

  Barriers in the UK’s research and development funding system mean technology and innovation centres, also known as catapults, are prevented from maximising their potential economic impact

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  Financial regulatory body bombarded with malicious emails

  New disclosures reveal the FCA’s systems bounced almost a quarter of a million malicious emails in a three-month period

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  Security firm Stormshield loses source code in cyber attack

  Source code from two products developed by French cyber security firm was compromised in a December 2020 incident

• February 04, 2021 04 Feb'21

  UKRI should speed up Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund approval processes, says NAO

  Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s lengthy approval process leads to delays in funding projects and could be a deterrent, according to the National Audit Office

• February 04, 2021 04 Feb'21

  CCS goes live with £800m NHS IT framework

  Digital Capability for Health framework covers development and IT management services for health and social care organisations

• February 04, 2021 04 Feb'21

  CDEI: Local government data use must keep up Covid momentum

  The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation says momentum in local authority data use during the Covid-19 pandemic is in danger of being dissipated without central government investment and support for data skills development

• February 03, 2021 03 Feb'21

  Venture capital trusts lobby for relaxed state aid rules

  Venture Capital Trust Association chair speaks to Computer Weekly about how the UK’s exit from the EU means state aid rules can be rewritten to allow for the expansion of funding mechanisms used by tech startups

• February 03, 2021 03 Feb'21

  Google grows cloud sales as parent’s profits top $40bn

  Alphabet announces massive overall profits and increased Google cloud sales

• February 03, 2021 03 Feb'21

  ‘Classic’ Cerber ransomware targets health sector in high volumes

  Cerber ransomware-as-a-service seems to have re-emerged as one of the most critical cyber threats facing healthcare organisations, reports VMware Carbon Black

• February 02, 2021 02 Feb'21

  Ten startups graduate from virtual reality-focused accelerator

  Startups focusing on building new immersive technology products have completed Digital Catapult’s Augmentor accelerator programme