News

IT for government and public sector

October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
GMB Union boss calls for Dido Harding to resign from NHS Test and Trace

Following the news that a technical glitch caused 16,000 coronavirus cases to go unreported, the GMB Union has called for Test and Trace chair Dido Harding to quit
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
Government minister’s plea for subpostmasters to take part in review of IT scandal rejected

Government minister met with former subpostmaster online in an attempt to get victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal involved in government review
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
Hackney Council services offline after ‘serious’ cyber attack

Services to residents of the London borough of Hackney are being disrupted by a cyber attack
October 13, 2020 13 Oct'20
HMRC signs five-year £169m contract with Fujitsu for VME platform

Supplier will host 13 HMRC applications on its virtual managed environment platform, following its role as an incumbent provider to the department under two different contracts

October 12, 2020 12 Oct'20
UK economy could see blockchain boost worth £57bn by 2030

Blockchain could provide major economic benefits by being used to track and trace products and services
October 12, 2020 12 Oct'20
Regional Covid-19 lockdowns will leave digitally excluded ‘stranded’

Charity calls on government to do more to level up digital skills as it warns that tougher regional lockdowns in the Midlands and the North will hit digitally excluded people the hardest
October 12, 2020 12 Oct'20
Government gives update on post-Brexit customs systems

Cabinet Office’s Border and Protocol Delivery Group provides further clarity on the readiness of the UK’s post-Brexit border IT systems
October 08, 2020 08 Oct'20
Edinburgh sets out plans to become a smart city

Three-year digital plan includes empowering people to become ‘smart citizens’, introducing sensor technology, 5G and smart public transport, and moving most of the council’s systems to the cloud
October 08, 2020 08 Oct'20
Crown Prosecution Service suffers 1,600 data breaches in 12 months

CPS sees a spike in data security incidents, many of them serious enough to be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office
October 07, 2020 07 Oct'20
Department for Education failed to protect data on millions of children, says ICO

The Department for Education’s National Pupil Database, which contains millions of items of data on the UK’s schoolchildren, was found to be non-compliant with data protection regulations across the board

October 06, 2020 06 Oct'20
Government to provide 100,000 devices for remote learning

The Department for Education is offering education providers access to additional devices to help with remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic
October 06, 2020 06 Oct'20
Government deaf to loud calls for statutory public inquiry into Post Office scandal

MPs are demanding the government holds a full statutory public inquiry into the Post Office IT scandal
October 06, 2020 06 Oct'20
Scotland seeks views on digital government

Scottish government consults on how to build a digital Scotland, ahead of plans to deliver a new digital strategy for the country
October 06, 2020 06 Oct'20
Scotland digital identity prototype pilot successful

Digital Identity Scotland’s 10-week test of its digital identity prototype finds that users understand the concept of two-factor authentication and using the same credentials across services
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
Facebook critics launch ‘Real Facebook Oversight Board’

Organisation formed as an ‘emergency response’ to address the ‘immediate risk’ posed by Facebook’s role in the US election
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
HMRC warns locked-down freshers of ‘wave’ of tax scams

New university intake may be being targeted by cyber criminals amid Covid-19 confusion
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
Regulator wants fintechs to address pandemic financial challenges

UK financial services regulator is supporting fintechs in addressing some of the challenges consumers and small businesses face amid the current pandemic
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
FBI seized ‘legally privileged’ material from Ecuador Embassy, claims Julian Assange’s lawyer

The US struck a secret deal with Ecuador to seize WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s property from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London days before his arrest. The haul included legally privileged documents, says his solicitor
October 05, 2020 05 Oct'20
Technical glitch causes nearly 16,000 Covid-19 cases to go unreported

According to Public Health England, a technical glitch led to 15,841 positive results between 25 September and 2 October not being included in reported coronavirus cases
October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20
WikiLeaks led the way for newsrooms to use encryption to protect sources, says Italian journalist

Stefania Maurizi says in written evidence that Julian Assange pioneered the use of encryption by journalists to protect sources. Her work shows that the US put pressure on Italy to stop the extradition and prosecution of CIA officers responsible for...
October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20
Honesty is the best policy: Forging a security culture in the NHS

Clinician and technologist Sam Shah helped set up NHSX in 2019. Now he’s helping advance digital transformation in healthcare from the outside, and a big part of that is addressing security in the sector
October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20
Future UK-EU data sharing put at risk by Brexit legislation

When the Brexit transition period ends, UK ministers will have the power to forge new data-sharing arrangements that risk undermining the viability of future data transfers with the European Union
October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20
How CH Robinson is embracing IoT to transform supply chains in the pandemic

Logistics giant has partnered with Microsoft to sophisticate its approach to digitisation and better serve its clients with more visibility and crucial insights for decision-making
October 02, 2020 02 Oct'20
Justice for subpostmasters as wrongful criminal convictions are set to be quashed

The Post Office has chosen not to contest 44 out of 47 appeals, meaning most are likely to have their names cleared, but others still face a Court of Appeal battle for justice
October 01, 2020 01 Oct'20
Judge to give verdict on Julian Assange’s extradition after Christmas

Judge Vanessa Baraitser said today that she would make a ruling in early January on whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should be extradited to the US
October 01, 2020 01 Oct'20
WikiLeaks revelations ‘shed light of truth’ on war on terror, court hears

WikiLeaks disclosures led to ‘revelations of extraordinary journalistic importance’ about detention in Guantanamo Bay and civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan
October 01, 2020 01 Oct'20
Government on the hunt for GDS CEO

Whitehall is recruiting for a Government Digital Service CEO who will report to the government chief digital officer, offering £168,000 a year for the role
October 01, 2020 01 Oct'20
Most people are happy to see their GP virtually, survey shows

Research from healthtech company Visionable finds there has been a significant rise in GP video consultations, and that attitudes to communication technology have changed during the pandemic
October 01, 2020 01 Oct'20
Trust in government technology is key to adoption

Panellists at GovTech Summit 2020 speak about the need to build trust in government digital services, as the pandemic has created room for increased use of technology in the public sector
October 01, 2020 01 Oct'20
Blackbaud admits hackers stole banking details, passwords

Software firm paid off a ransomware gang, believed its hackers when they said they had destroyed the data, and has now discovered the cyber criminals accessed even more sensitive information than it thought
September 30, 2020 30 Sep'20
‘American friends’ spied on Julian Assange in Ecuadorian Embassy, court hears

Two former employees of UC Global, which provides security services to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, claim the company shared surveillance footage with the US of the WikiLeaks founder meeting with lawyers and other visitors
September 30, 2020 30 Sep'20
Norway leaves door open to Huawei

Government gives telecoms companies responsibility to choose their equipment suppliers, which could include Huawei
September 29, 2020 29 Sep'20
Julian Assange would be held with convicted terrorist Abu Hamza in supermax prison, court hears

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange would be held alongside convicted terrorist Abu Hamza in a supermax federal prison in Colorado, isolated from other prisoners, if he is extradited to the US, Old Bailey told
September 29, 2020 29 Sep'20
Coronavirus has changed perception of healthtech, say ministers

German health minister Jens Spahn and UK health secretary Matt Hancock say Covid-19 has accelerated healthcare technology adoption across Europe and changed attitudes towards tech in the healthcare system
September 29, 2020 29 Sep'20
Subpostmasters still in the dark about live Horizon errors

Subpostmasters still not being told about all the known errors in the controversial Post Office branch accounting and retail system that they use
September 29, 2020 29 Sep'20
Universal Credit algorithm fails people in need, says Human Rights Watch

The human rights charity says the government’s flagship benefits system is “flawed” and that the means-testing algorithm used causes “irrational fluctuations and reductions in how much benefit” claimants receive each month
September 28, 2020 28 Sep'20
Julian Assange would be held in ‘solitary confinement’ in US jail

WikiLeaks founder would be held in a cell the size of a parking space for 22 or 23 hours a day without contact with other inmates before trial
September 28, 2020 28 Sep'20
UK and US marked down on responsible AI

The UK and US have been rated as leaders in government use of artificial intelligence, but the Nordics and Baltics attained the highest scores for responsible AI
September 28, 2020 28 Sep'20
Government updates data ethics framework

The new data ethics framework was created to better reflect how projects are run in practice after finding there was “little awareness” of the previous framework across the public sector
September 28, 2020 28 Sep'20
Police Scotland to set up new cyber crime centre

National Centre of Excellence will employ specially trained officers to tackle a vertiginous rise in cyber crime
September 25, 2020 25 Sep'20
Forensic expert questions US claims that Julian Assange conspired to crack military password

Forensic computer expert Patrick Eller told the Old Bailey that US allegations that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange attempted to decrypt a password to help former soldier Chelsea Manning leak sensitive government documents anonymously do not fit ...
September 25, 2020 25 Sep'20
Government on the hunt for telexistence tech

Defence and Security Accelerator wants several technology innovations that can help people operate in dangerous environments without being physically present – with £500,000 funding available
September 24, 2020 24 Sep'20
Government blasted over ‘reckless’ contact-tracing security

The Open Rights Group and Big Brother Watch accuse the government of endangering public health with a reckless attitude to contact-tracing data security
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has Asperger syndrome and depression, court hears

Julian Assange is on the autistic spectrum and has a history of depression that would put him at risk of suicide if he is extradited to a US prison, psychiatrists tell the court
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
Over half of firms intend to continue US data transfers despite Schrems II

Survey shows many organisations do not intend to significantly change their data-sharing practices, at least until there is more guidance from regulators or governments
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
MoD Defence Digital adds Oracle Cloud to MODCloud list of assured providers

Database giant Oracle has been added to the list of providers the Ministry of Defence has endorsed for use by the UK defence community
September 23, 2020 23 Sep'20
US agencies warn of election disinformation and cyber attacks

Federal agencies are warning of heightened disinformation as the crucial 2020 presidential election nears
September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20
UK government to trial new single sign-on system for Gov.uk

GDS introduces Gov.uk Accounts in its latest attempt to unify the growing number of login systems used across the government web domain
September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20
Wielding influence: The challenges CIOs face under Covid-19

IT decision-makers are more necessary than ever, but their skills are being put to the test as the implications of the pandemic and the role of technology in the business evolves, according to the 2020 global CIO survey by Harvey Nash and KPMG
September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20
GDS reviewing Cloud First policy post-Schrems II

Review seeks to determine the future of government engagement with cloud hosting services as they relate to cross-border data flows