News

IT for government and public sector

• March 31, 2020 31 Mar'20

  Hackathon launched to help fight coronavirus pandemic

  Virtual hackathon seeks to develop a suite of applications to help people during the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak through ethically built technology

• March 30, 2020 30 Mar'20

  Ministry of Defence releases defence data management strategy

  The report sets out how the department will improve the way it manages and uses data

• March 29, 2020 29 Mar'20

  Australian government unveils Covid-19 app

  Federal government launches Coronavirus Australia app to keep Australians updated on the latest developments in its fight against the coronavirus outbreak

• March 27, 2020 27 Mar'20

  How subpostmasters made legal history with biggest referral of potential miscarriages of justice

  Subpostmasters seeking redress of prosecutions at the hands of an IT system force the biggest ever UK referral of cases of potential miscarriages of justice to the Court of Appeal

• March 27, 2020 27 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Derbyshire Police deploy drones to enforce social distancing rules

  Police forces across the UK are using technology to exercise new emergency powers granted by the government this week as part of its coronavirus response

• March 27, 2020 27 Mar'20

  Crown Commercial Service advises on remote working tech

  Public sector organisations want to understand their options to support their workforce during the Covid-19 crisis

• March 27, 2020 27 Mar'20

  NHS rolls out video consultations at GPs to support lockdown

  Video consultation service aims to reduce face-to-face contact to protect patients and reduce infection, as well as caring for people who are mostly staying at home

• March 26, 2020 26 Mar'20

  Subpostmaster prosecutions to be considered by Court of Appeal for miscarriages of justice

  The Criminal Cases Review Commission is referring 39 subpostmaster prosecutions to the Court of Appeal to review for possible miscarriages of justice, with further analysis on 22 more cases ongoing

• March 25, 2020 25 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Chatbot to help Estonians cope during pandemic

  Estonian government is using a chatbot developed by local startups to answer the many questions its citizens have about Covid-19

• March 25, 2020 25 Mar'20

  Meeting reviewing subpostmaster applications to appeal criminal prosecutions moves into second day

  The Criminal Cases Review Commission has extended a meeting considering subpostmaster applications to appeal criminal convictions resulting from a faulty Post Office IT system

• March 24, 2020 24 Mar'20

  Huge queues for Universal Credit online applications due to coronavirus surge

  Online queues in the tens of thousands are hindering emergency applications for Universal Credit, with the Gov.uk Verify identity verification system becoming a particular bottleneck

• March 24, 2020 24 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Mobilising data science

  Policy-makers are calling on the global data science community to develop data models that can can help them better understand the Covid-19 transmission rate

• March 23, 2020 23 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Post Office postpones subpostmaster compensation scheme amid Covid-19 crisis

  Scheme to compensate subpostmasters who suffered because of computer errors in the Post Office’s Horizon system is delayed

• March 23, 2020 23 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Kaspersky, Bitdefender make products free to NHS

  Kaspersky and Bitdefender have both made various products and services available free to healthcare customers as the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic intensifies

• March 23, 2020 23 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: CCRC uses Microsoft Teams to consider subpostmaster appeals

  Criminal Cases Review Commission to use Microsoft Teams to ensure review of subpostmaster prosecutions is held on time

• March 23, 2020 23 Mar'20

  Singapore’s JTC taps GIS platform in Punggol Digital District

  The planners behind Singapore’s Punggol Digital District are using a geographic information system to make better planning decisions and improve day-to-day operations

• March 20, 2020 20 Mar'20

  Dstl launches report on the future of cities

  Dstl research aims to support decision-making of the UK military by analysing topics such as the influence of technology in urban warfare

• March 20, 2020 20 Mar'20

  MP warns minister not to parrot civil servants’ lines on Post Office IT scandal

  MP Kevan Jones has warned a government minister not to repeat the mistakes of predecessors in relation to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal

• March 20, 2020 20 Mar'20

  How an Estonian digital nation emerged from the embers of Soviet rule

  Estonia’s minister for foreign trade and IT tells Computer Weekly how the country went from having no governmental infrastructure in the early 1990s to acquiring the label “digital nation”

• March 19, 2020 19 Mar'20

  Loan charge under review: Cross-party group of MPs slams government inquiry into tax policy

  The government’s independent inquiry into the loan charge disguised remuneration policy has been criticised in a report by a cross-party group of MPs for being ‘fundamentally flawed’

• March 19, 2020 19 Mar'20

  Covid-19: NHS tackles coronavirus crisis with the help of tech

  As the pandemic grows and creates enormous pressure on the health service, NHS organisations across the country are using technology to help cope

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Surrey goes live with child health system

  CSH Surrey goes live with its new platform, with the information on 440,000 children's health now consolidated onto a single platform

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Post Office executives used ‘grotesque predatory capitalism’ throughout Horizon IT scandal

  Labour MP Karl Turner tells Computer Weekly that the Post Office Horizon scandal is the most grotesque version of predatory capitalism he has ever seen

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Estonia offers digital tools to countries struggling with coronavirus school closures

  Government and tech companies in Baltic state unite to offer advanced digital learning tools to other countries

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Swedish municipalities test AI to drive efficiencies and cost savings

  Research in Sweden measures the benefits of using artificial intelligence in local government operations

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  IR35 private sector reforms: Coronavirus prompts Treasury to delay start date to April 2021

  HM Treasury confirms roll-out of IR35 reforms to the private sector will be halted for a year to ease the pressure on businesses in the face of the coronavirus outbreak

• March 17, 2020 17 Mar'20

  MoD defence capabilities programme in trouble, says NAO

  The Ministry of Defence is struggling with its £196bn defence capabilities programme, as 10 of 32 projects, including several technology ones, are in trouble, according to the National Audit Office

• March 17, 2020 17 Mar'20

  Courts make use of tech to hold remote hearings due to Covid-19

  The Courts and Tribunals Judiciary will increase the use of technology in court proceedings as emergency legislation is being drafted to expand powers to allow criminal courts to hold remote hearings during the Covid-19 pandemic

• March 16, 2020 16 Mar'20

  Secret Post Office deals cause fury among Horizon IT scandal campaigners

  The Post Office has sparked anger with secret settlements with subpostmasters outside the recent legal action against it

• March 13, 2020 13 Mar'20

  Equality watchdog calls on police to stop using facial recognition

  Equalities and Human Rights Commission says use of automatic facial recognition and predictive algorithms by police is discriminatory, stifles freedom of expression and lacks a proper legislative framework

• March 13, 2020 13 Mar'20

  Councils awarded £1.2m in innovation funding

  Six councils will each get up to £350,000 for digital innovation projects aiming to improve services for residents, in the latest round of the Local Digital Fund

• March 13, 2020 13 Mar'20

  Budget 2020: Full of promises, but is it enough?

  Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget provided plenty of cash for technology and innovation, but has the government done enough to make the tech industry happy?

• March 13, 2020 13 Mar'20

  US Department of Defense requests time to re-evaluate section of AWS and Microsoft JEDI bids

  The Department of Defense is to request a resubmission of information from Microsoft and Amazon Web Services about their JEDI bids, as the long-running US cloud procurement saga drags on

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Fintech workers called to share their experiences of microaggression

  Fintech workers were asked to share upsetting workplace incidents as part of an anonymous study

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Budget 2020: Omission of IR35 from chancellor's speech sparks fury from contracting groups

  Despite repeated warnings of the damage the incoming IR35 reforms stand to do to the UK economy, contracting groups hit out at the government's decision to press ahead with the changes

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Cross-regulator taskforce on digital economy announced in 2020 Budget

  UK regulators will join forces to look at how the potential regulation of the digital platforms and advertising markets would work

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s 2020 Budget pumps £22bn into R&D

  The 2020 Budget pledges to increase research and development funding to £22bn a year, £5bn for broadband roll-out and £900m to ensure UK businesses lead the way in “high-potential technologies”, but slashes tax relief for entrepreneurs

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  International Women’s Day provides platform for Nordic women in tech

  International annual event reminds tech industry that work needs to be done to reduce inequality, but organisations must work towards this on a daily basis

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  NHS partners with Google to improve health information online

  Latest measures will ensure direct access to NHS advice for more than 250 most-searched health conditions

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  MPs told to hold to account those responsible for Post Office Horizon IT scandal

  Subpostmasters who had their lives destroyed by a faulty IT system and mistreatment by the Post Office have asked MPs to hold to account the people responsible for the injustices

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  More questions raised about Gov.uk Verify as digital identity chief quits

  Lisa Barrett, director of digital identity at GDS and head of the troubled Verify programme, is leaving government as funding questions remain ahead of Budget

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  GDS works on joining up government services

  The GDS is assembling a business case as information about the impact of disjointed government offerings is gathered

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  DCMS seeks outside experts to review government data sharing ahead of spending review

  The DCMS is seeking consultants to undertake a short-term but strategic project to figure out how to improve data sharing across government ahead of the comprehensive spending review, rolled over from 2019 to 2020

• March 09, 2020 09 Mar'20

  TechUK lays out proposals for Spring Budget

  Trade body TechUK sets out its view on how to accelerate UK growth through technology in its submission to the March 2020 Budget

• March 06, 2020 06 Mar'20

  MI5 slammed by watchdog for failing to delete intercepted phone and internet data

  The Investigatory Powers Commissioner (IPCO) has criticised MI5 for failing to report serious errors in the way it handles intercepted phone and internet data

• March 06, 2020 06 Mar'20

  Those who did not play by the rules in Post Office Horizon scandal “should face prosecution”

  Telford MP has become a vocal member of the campaign for justice for the subpostmasters who had their lives devastated as a result of being blamed for losses caused by errors in the Post Office’s core retail and accounting system

• March 06, 2020 06 Mar'20

  Oliver Dowden: UK can be “unashamedly pro-tech nation”

  The secretary of state spoke about the country's opportunity to “unleash all the innovation and enterprise that emerging technologies can provide”

• March 05, 2020 05 Mar'20

  Boots and Tesco loyalty card schemes plagued by security issues

  High-street retailers deal with fraudulent attempts to access the accounts of thousands of customers

• March 05, 2020 05 Mar'20

  Biometrics ethics group takes evidence on public-private use of facial recognition

  Collaboration between police forces and private entities on facial recognition technology comes under scrutiny by the Home Office’s Biometrics and Forensics Ethics Group

• March 04, 2020 04 Mar'20

  MPs call on PM to commit to full public inquiry into Post Office Horizon IT scandal

  Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee to investigate the Horizon IT system and will question Post Office executives over subpostmasters wrongly accused of fraud