News

IT for government and public sector

• November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20

  HMRC warns over uptick in Self Assessment tax scams

  HMRC issues updated warnings as 2021 Self Assessment deadlines loom

• November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20

  GDS looks for Gov.uk head of technology and architecture

  GDS role is offering up to £85,000 a year and includes being responsible for developing the Gov.uk programme as government aims to make it a platform for content, rather than just a publishing system

• November 17, 2020 17 Nov'20

  Botched software update to blame for Post Office Horizon crash

  Post Office says planned firmware update caused the problem that left branches unable to do business for 90 minutes

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Privacy advocates call for European probe into Palantir

  Dutch group SOMI is trying to raise awareness of Palantir’s data privacy practices and how it works with European government agencies

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  NHS completes transition to HSCN

  All 950 NHS, social care, private sector and local authority organisations have migrated from the legacy N3 network to the Health and Social Care Network

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Human error blamed in Welsh Covid-19 patient data leak

  Public Health Wales accepts recommendations of independent probe into data breach that saw PII on 18,105 coronavirus patients leaked

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Hackney systems could be unavailable for months, says council

  A month after a highly disruptive cyber attack on its systems, Hackney Council is still struggling to get back up and running

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Government issues guidance on post-Brexit procurement

  From 1 January 2021, procurement notices will have to be published through the Find a Tender e-notification service

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Post Office explanation of IT system outage so vague it is ‘pointless’

  Post Office criticised over vagueness of its explanation of the cause of a UK-wide IT failure that saw subpostmasters unable to do business

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  IT Priorities 2020: European IT budget share reflects home-working challenges brought by Covid

  European organisations are being forced to redivert more limited budgets during the pandemic

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  UK government makes inroads in maritime autonomy

  The Maritime Future Technologies team has been formed to facilitate trials of innovative approaches and support regulatory updates

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  Humanitarian data collection practices put migrants at risk

  United Nations report on smart borders warns that data collection about migrants and refugees by humanitarian organisations risks excluding them from essential basic services like access to food

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  Public sector IT leaders struggle with data infrastructure legacy

  The impact caused by the pandemic means government tech executives in Europe are looking for ways to quickly modernise their estates, research says

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  Police open criminal investigation into potential perjury by Fujitsu staff in Post Office IT trials

  Current and former Fujitsu staff could face prosecution for giving false evidence in the trials of subpostmasters accused of theft and false accounting

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  UKtech50 2021: Help us find the most influential people in UK IT

  Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK IT is on – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year’s list

• November 12, 2020 12 Nov'20

  DCMS opens talks with private sector on future of digital identity market

  Department has met with suppliers to discuss plans for a trust framework to show ‘what good looks like’ as it ploughs ahead with digital identity plans

• November 12, 2020 12 Nov'20

  Company accused of spying on Assange acted for Ecuadorian Intelligence, says ex UC Global manager

  Former operations chief of UC Global told Spanish Court the company accused of spying on Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London was acting on the orders of Ecuadorian Intelligence

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Tim Berners-Lee startup releases decentralisation tech to enterprises

  Roll-out of Inrupt’s decentralised privacy technology to four large organisations is helping the startup to develop explicit use cases, which it hopes will prove the tech and lead to faster adoption

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Amazon charged with breaching EU antitrust rules

  Tech giant accused of using data it collects on smaller retailers to benefit its own e-commerce business

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Lack of openness on Horizon errors remains as Fujitsu refuses to explain latest outage

  Subpostmasters are being kept in the dark about errors in the branch computer system they use, despite the Post Office and Fujitsu being slammed in court over their lack of openness

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  EU aid funds used to train ‘unaccountable intelligence agencies’ in high-tech surveillance

  Hundreds of documents obtained by campaign group Privacy International show how the EU is supporting surveillance programmes in the Balkans, the Middle East and Africa

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  DCMS’s Whittingdale: National data strategy not tied to EU trade deal

  Minister tells ODI Summit that national data strategy is nearly finished and will fuel UK economic growth post-Brexit and post-pandemic

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Border technologies largely fail to respect human rights

  AI-powered border technologies used to ‘manage’ migration frequently make the process more arbitrary, discriminatory and unjust, says human rights group

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Industry tells House of Lords committee it has ‘grave reservations’ about CDS

  The Customs Declaration Service is untested, unproven and not ready, and HMRC is taking a “cloak and dagger approach” to working with the industry, hears a Lords committee – but HMRC says delivery of Brexit IT is on track

• November 10, 2020 10 Nov'20

  Better data sharing needed to help children during pandemic

  Closing gaps in data infrastructure will help the education sector respond better to children’s needs during the Covid-19 pandemic, says Open Data Institute

• November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20

  EU moves closer to encryption ban after Austria, France attacks

  Draft resolution document setting up an EU-wide ban on end-to-end encryption is set to be waved through this week

• November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20

  Tampere’s perfect storm triggers a startup revolution

  Previously a hub for Nokia and Microsoft, Finland’s second-largest city is capitalising on a wealth of technical knowhow to become the dark horse of the Nordic startup scene

• November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20

  Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected HMRC’s operations, says NAO

  NAO’s insight into HMRC’s annual report and accounts finds that the pandemic has created challenges for the department’s transformation programmes, including Universal Credit and the end of the Brexit transition period

• November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20

  Finger pointed at Fujitsu as Post Office Horizon system crashes nationally

  Post Office branches offline during busy business hours after suffering an IT error that the Post Office said related to IT from supplier Fujitsu

• November 06, 2020 06 Nov'20

  HMRC shuns Gov.uk Notify and seeks supplier to unify notifications

  Tax collection agency HMRC will spend up to £9.75m to streamline notifications through text, voice and email

• November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20

  Risk of ‘widespread disruption’ at UK border after Brexit transition period, NAO warns

  National Audit Office report highlights concerns over UK’s readiness when Brexit transition period ends, including several IT systems at risk of not being ready in time

• November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20

  Royal Navy tests new tech in Cyprus

  Navy has been trialling drones, autonomous systems and new communication systems under plans to evolve the Royal Marines into a ‘hi-tech raiding and strike force’

• November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20

  Slot of the Antarctic: Tape the best option for polar survey backup

  Tape deemed the best medium for backup on board the Antarctic research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, with Quantum’s Scalar i3 chosen in a fully redundant deployment

• November 05, 2020 05 Nov'20

  Mastercard: Looks like a tech firm, acts like a tech firm, is a tech firm

  Financial services giant finds itself in a prominent position as the volume of digital transactions increases

• November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20

  Asda recruits new IT chief to handle transition

  Former Morrisons CTO Anna Barsby will lead retailer’s tech agenda as part of its acquisition by the Issa brothers

• November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20

  Nordic countries to develop common digital system

  Common digital platform will help small and medium-sized enterprises across the Nordic region with data sharing

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  Government sets out plans for security vetting IT platform

  A three-year programme to transform the security vetting process for civil servants includes a technology platform due to be rolled out in summer 2021

• November 03, 2020 03 Nov'20

  Subpostmasters’ complaint about government begins its journey to Parliamentary Ombudsman

  Government faces scrutiny of its handling of the Post Office IT scandal that destroyed subpostmasters’ lives and livelihoods

• November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20

  NHS weathers cyber crime storm during pandemic, says NCSC

  The NCSC dealt with over 700 incidents in the 12 months to August 2020, with over 200 specifically related to Covid-19, and the NHS a critical area of focus

• November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20

  Finnish government rolls out digital projects to support SMEs

  Finland is set to create network of technology hubs that will support SMEs in the country, as well as create links across the EU

• November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20

  Government seeks Council of Science and Technology co-chair

  Co-chair will be part of the council that advises the prime minister on science and technology policy issues, including sustainable development, innovation and the UK’s research and science capability

• October 30, 2020 30 Oct'20

  Government invests £200,000 to boost Scottish geospatial sector

  The new Scottish Geospatial Network Integrator will work on developing opportunities in the geospatial services industry

• October 30, 2020 30 Oct'20

  CCS out to tender for technology services framework worth up to £2bn

  Third iteration of Crown Commercial Service’s technology services framework includes technical management, transformation programmes and integration and management

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  Most further education colleges have skills shortages in IT teams, says Jisc

  A report from member organisation Jisc has found that a larger number of further education colleges have a skills shortage in IT teams

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  Victims contest technology firms’ attempt to dismiss cobalt mining deaths case

  Technology companies say they cannot be held responsible for the deaths of children mining for the cobalt used in their products

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  UK Hydrographic Office launches innovation programme

  The programme aims to help startups and innovators use marine geospatial data to develop products and systems to “support safe, secure and thriving oceans”

• October 29, 2020 29 Oct'20

  Royal Navy and US Navy evolve joint AI and ML work

  The teams are working on improving interoperability and interchangeability of technology between the US and UK

• October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20

  ICO slams Experian over ‘invisible’ data processing

  Data processing practices used by Experian broke data protection law, says Information Commissioner’s Office

• October 27, 2020 27 Oct'20

  Not enough time to get software ready for end of Brexit transition period, warns industry

  Software suppliers are concerned they don't have enough time or information to help businesses be ready on time for the end of the Brexit transition period

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Policy Exchange calls on government to publish digital ID strategy

  The lack of reliable digital ID services in the UK is limiting the country’s digital infrastructure potential, according to a report on digital identity, which also recommends the government to clarify the future of Gov.uk Verify