News

IT for government and public sector

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  Home Office hands EE additional £220m for ESN

  Home Office quietly announces a major extension to the ESN project, pumping over £200m of additional taxpayer money into its contract with EE

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  High Court to hear challenge to immigration exemption in DPA

  The High Court is to hear a challenge by two human rights groups of a controversial clause in new UK data protection legislation they say is in conflict with the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights and undermines the General Data Protection Regulation

• July 23, 2019 23 Jul'19

  IT infrastructure and cyber security ‘critical’ for Student Loans Company future

  Upgrades to key systems and cyber defence capability will be required so the non-departmental public body can continue to perform key functions, according to a major review

• July 22, 2019 22 Jul'19

  CDEI publishes reports on online targeting and bias in algo decisions

  Recommendations due in late 2019 and early 2020 from Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation’s work on online targeting and bias in algorithmic decision-making

• July 22, 2019 22 Jul'19

  Big tech firms back UK cyber security initiative

  Big technology firms have pledged their support for UK investment in an initiative to “design out” of new tech the most damaging cyber security threats

• July 22, 2019 22 Jul'19

  HMRC makes cloud and data progress

  HMRC has shifted half of its systems to virtualised servers, and is nearing completion of a major core system roll out and boosting data capability to support its digital ambitions

• July 19, 2019 19 Jul'19

  Second CyberThreat Summit announced by NCSC and SANS Institute

  CyberThreat 2019 aims to bring together a more diverse set of technical professionals in cyber security from the private and public sectors in the UK and abroad to encourage collaboration

• July 19, 2019 19 Jul'19

  Government launches digital identity consultation and new pilot scheme

  DCMS is seeking views on the role of the government and private sector in developing digital identities, while a small-scale trial will open up passport data for companies to prove online IDs

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Verify deemed ‘unachievable’ by major government projects review

  Issues around the digital identity project and a major compliance project led by the Ministry of Justice are impossible to solve, according to the Infrastructure and Projects Authority

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Digital minister Margot James quits after Brexit vote

  James voted against the government in an attempt to stop the next Prime Minister from suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Parliamentary committee calls for halt to facial recognition trials

  Issues with biometrics and forensics pose a significant risk to effective functioning of the criminal justice system, according to a report by the Science and Technology Committee

• July 18, 2019 18 Jul'19

  Welsh council aims to cut back-office processing costs by 95% through automation

  A council in South Wales is expecting to reduce the cost of human resources business processes by up to 95% through robotic process automation

• July 17, 2019 17 Jul'19

  NHS still has thousands of PCs running Windows XP

  NHS computers are still being upgraded three years after the WannaCry ransomware attack to the health system, raising concerns over cyber security

• July 17, 2019 17 Jul'19

  Conditions ‘not quite there’ for government chief data officer

  The long-awaited appointment for government’s chief data officer requires a perception in departments that data is actually valuable, government officials said

• July 17, 2019 17 Jul'19

  MPs slam Home Office over troubled Emergency Services Network programme

  The plan for a new communications network for police, fire and ambulance services is three years late and £3.1bn over budget, and Public Accounts Committee fears further delays

• July 16, 2019 16 Jul'19

  NCSC calls out Microsoft over Dmarc reports

  The UK’s cyber security agency has called out Microsoft for seriously undermining global email security by failing to provide crucial reports from its email platforms

• July 16, 2019 16 Jul'19

  NCSC reports on second year of cyber defence at scale

  The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre releases a report on the second year of its Active Cyber Defence programme to demonstrate its effects in the public sector and wider UK cyber ecosystem

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  Government must ‘stop choosing ignorance’ around data

  In a letter to digital secretary Jeremy Wright, civil society groups warn that a number of shortcomings must be addressed to enable the government to reap data-related benefits

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  US judge dismisses challenge over Department of Defense mega-cloud contract

  The US Department of Defense looks set to award a $10bn cloud contract after a legal challenge to the procurement process failed

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  Organisations turn to AI in race against cyber attackers

  Businesses are racing to automate their defences as hackers and nation states launch increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks

• July 15, 2019 15 Jul'19

  UK public sector needs to prioritise mobile device security

  Only 10% of public service stolen and lost mobile are recovered, underlining the need for mobile-centric, zero-trust model to reduce the risk, says MobileIron

• July 12, 2019 12 Jul'19

  SD-WAN in play: How software-defined solves core business challenges

  For foodservice business HMSHost International and chemical products firm Element Solutions, both customers of networking supplier Aryaka, software-defined wide area networking technology is proving its mettle when it comes to solving core business ...

• July 12, 2019 12 Jul'19

  Home Office boosts tools to tackle online child abuse

  New systems will be introduced to speed up investigations and limit the number of distressing images viewed by law enforcement officers

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  NHS makes health information available through Alexa

  The collaboration between the government and Amazon follows a push from the centre to add voice to services

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  Draft finance bill dims hopes of private sector reprieve on April 2020 roll-out of IR35 reforms

  Publication of the draft IR35 private sector reform legislation dims hopes the government might announce a delay to rolling out the changes in April 2020

• July 11, 2019 11 Jul'19

  University of Bristol upgrades to Nimble as it takes IT off-site

  Higher education institution gets trouble-free hybrid flash performance from Nimble and stores 600TB of data at two colocation sites to which it is transitioning from on-campus

• July 10, 2019 10 Jul'19

  Crown Commercial Service launches ICT framework for education

  The deal aims to help education sector bodies procure technology products and services, with SME participation becoming more prominent

• July 10, 2019 10 Jul'19

  Max Schrems not calling for SCCs to be invalidated

  The privacy activist at the centre of legal battle against Facebook is not calling for all standard contractual clauses to be invalidated, according to his non-profit privacy organisation

• July 10, 2019 10 Jul'19

  Government Digital Service relevance is fading, says Commons Committee

  According to a report, GDS is losing authority and the ability to deliver digital change, and calls for its purpose to be renewed, along with the appointment of digital champions

• July 10, 2019 10 Jul'19

  UK government publishes guidance for national data strategy

  The ongoing call from the government for evidence will be followed by a full consultation in the autumn with a view to publish the final data strategy plan in 2020

• July 09, 2019 09 Jul'19

  ICO issues warning about using facial recognition technology

  The UK privacy watchdog has ruled that any police force or private organisation using live facial recognition technology is processing personal data and needs to pay attention to data protection laws

• July 09, 2019 09 Jul'19

  Post Office fixes technical problem causing accounting errors in Horizon

  Problem revealed during High Court trial left subpostmaster with £18,000 surplus after IT system failed to register full amount of cash scanned in

• July 08, 2019 08 Jul'19

  Former NHSI chief moves on to government automation taskforce

  Ian Dalton, former NHSI chief, has taken up the lead position for driving automation through government in a bid to improve public services

• July 08, 2019 08 Jul'19

  Eventful second Post Office Horizon trial ends

  The latest High Court trial in the long-running dispute between the Post Office and subpostmasters has concluded, with part three set for March 2020

• July 08, 2019 08 Jul'19

  IISP gains Royal Charter status

  The UK finally has its first national professional body for cyber security that will be responsible for setting the standards for skills and knowledge in the industry to reduce the skills gap and increase diversity

• July 07, 2019 07 Jul'19

  Public sector should embrace multicloud to cut risk of cloud market monopolisation, says report

  Joint report by the Internet Economy Foundation think-tank and business consultancy Roland Berger urges governments to take steps to prevent a cloud computing oligopoly that would leave organisations at greater risk of supplier lock-in

• July 05, 2019 05 Jul'19

  NHSX announces key senior appointments

  NHS England chief clinical information officer Simon Eccles will take over as deputy chief executive of NHSX, while technology advisor Hadley Beeman will step in as acting chief technology officer of the new unit

• July 05, 2019 05 Jul'19

  Met Police use of facial recognition could be unlawful, finds report

  The first independent report into use of facial recognition technology by the police found a number of shortcomings around trials that would not withstand legal scrutiny

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  Security and privacy key to smart buildings and cities

  Security and privacy capabilities are essential for stakeholders if they are to realise the benefits of smart buildings and cities, says expert whitepaper

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  Longer-term tech investment must support policing reform

  Investment in technologies such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence should be introduced to tackle compromises to public safety levels, says report

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  GDS signs agreement with Polish counterpart

  The memorandum of understanding is aimed at boosting trade and technology development opportunities between the UK and Poland

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  Implementing IoT – overcoming barriers to commercial adoption

  Tim Wright from the Institute of Telecoms Professionals reports from a recent seminar exploring questions around the barriers to commercial, at-scale adoption of the internet of things, and how to overcome them

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  FireEye ties Microsoft Outlook exploit to Iranian hackers

  US Cyber Command has issued a warning that a patched Microsoft Outlook vulnerability is being exploited by unnamed threat actors, and recommended immediate patching

• July 04, 2019 04 Jul'19

  Competition watchdog launches study into internet firms

  Findings from a Competition and Markets Authority consultation will inform a report aimed at assessing how digital advertising can harm UK consumers

• July 03, 2019 03 Jul'19

  Top VPNs secretly owned by Chinese firms

  Nearly a third of top VPNs are secretly owned by Chinese companies, while other owners are based in countries with weak or no privacy laws, potentially putting users at risk, security researchers warn

• July 02, 2019 02 Jul'19

  Government ramps up efforts to counter fraud with analytics

  Challenges have been outlined and a consultation launched to find ways to reduce fraud and error loss in central and local government through data-driven technologies.

• July 02, 2019 02 Jul'19

  CPS faces legal ruling over refusal to disclose emails with US on WikiLeaks and Assange extradition

  A court will decide whether the Crown Prosecution Service can refuse to neither confirm nor deny the existence of correspondence with US on investigations into Julian Assange and WikiLeaks

• July 02, 2019 02 Jul'19

  Sweden’s Protective Security Act targets cyber risks

  IT suppliers must comply with tighter cyber security requirements, but are being offered help from government agencies

• July 02, 2019 02 Jul'19

  DWP data hub develops prototype skills recommendation engine

  Machine learning algorithm on Microsoft Azure identifies associated skills, based on the skills specified in online job adverts

• July 02, 2019 02 Jul'19

  G-Cloud 11 goes live with 4,200 suppliers securing a place on the framework

  The latest iteration of the G-Cloud framework has gone live, with about 700 additional suppliers thought to have secured a place on it this time around