News

IT for government and public sector

October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18
IoT R&D projects missed out on £10m of government funding

A series of delays and disruption caused chiefly by changes in project ownership meant the government’s IoT UK Research and Innovation Programme failed to use a quarter of its allocated budget between 2015 and 2018
October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18
Hyperoptic full-fibre network hits public housing milestone

More than 150,000 publicly owned homes have now been connected to Hyperoptic’s ultrafast fibre broadband network
October 31, 2018 31 Oct'18
UK Post Office looks to enable reusable digital ID

The UK Post Office is investigating the possibility of enabling UK citizens to re-use their passport data for other applications where digital identity is a key component
October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
Budget 2018: A mixed bag

Computer Weekly looks at some of the detail in the tech-laden 2018 Budget and can’t get away from the big elephant in the room: the impact of a potential No Deal Brexit

October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
Budget 2018: No great leap forward for broadband, but no need to panic

The chancellor set aside £1.6bn for digital technology in the Budget, but broadband services did not draw much attention. Is this a surprise, or a reflection of growing commercial investment in full-fibre, and what should the role of government be?
October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
IR35 reforms: Private sector extension confirmed for April 2020 in Autumn Budget

As the government confirms the IR35 reforms will be extended to large and medium-sized businesses in the private sector from April 2020, campaigners claim the move risks destabilising the UK's flexible workforce
October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
UK government taskforce commits to distributed ledger technologies

Report says distributed ledger technology “has the potential to deliver significant benefits in financial services and other sectors in the future”
October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
Hammond’s digital services tax is a big risk, say experts

The tech industry is not impressed with the chancellor’s plan to tax web giants, saying it can stifle innovation, while tax lawyers warn that it is a very risky move that could lead to US retaliation
October 30, 2018 30 Oct'18
Government consults on full-fibre for tenants, new-build homes

Proposed legislation would compel landlords and property developers to offer full-fibre broadband to tenants and customers
October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18
Why subpostmasters and Post Office are battling it out in the High Court

After over a decade of controversy, next week marks the beginning of a court battle between subpostmasters and the Post Office over allegations of faults in an accounting system leading to unfair prosecutions

October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18
Finnish city Espoo trials artificial intelligence for community support

The authorities for Finnish city Espoo are testing out AI technology to help them target services at the residents who need them most
October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18
Police tech is ‘a complete and utter mess’, says Home Affairs Committee

Committee has “serious concerns” about police forces’ digital capabilities, interoperability and tech adoption, and urges ministers to take responsibility
October 29, 2018 29 Oct'18
O2 extends rural 4G network to 339 communities

O2 has extended its rural network roll-out, targeting over 300 small communities all over the UK
October 26, 2018 26 Oct'18
IoT ecosystem needs to be investigated, say experts

A conference of IoT experts convened by Enisa and Europol has made key recommendations to ensure security vulnerabilities do not overshadow benefits
October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18
MEPs call for action in wake of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal

European members of parliament demand action to protect citizens’ privacy from abuses such as those uncovered in the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data sharing scandal
October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18
Firms will use AI to automate HR processes within two years

Companies are gearing up to automate HR processes with artificial intelligence and machine learning, while at the same time battling with outdated IT systems
October 25, 2018 25 Oct'18
ICO issues maximum £500,000 fine to Facebook

The UK privacy watchdog has confirmed that Facebook has escaped a fine of more than $1bn under the GDPR, but will face the maximum under the DPA for failing to protect users’ personal information
October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18
Autonomous taxi trials underway in Dubai

Dubai’s transport authority has started road testing the region’s first autonomous taxi, designed in partnership with Dubai Silicon Oasis and DG World
October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18
CityFibre backers pump £2.5bn into full-fibre broadband

Network expansion will add 27 towns and cities to CityFibre’s current roll-out to 10 locations in support of a consumer full-fibre service delivered by Vodafone
October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18
11 of 12 border IT systems at risk of not being ready by Brexit, says NAO report

All but one of the critical IT systems needed at the UK border are at risk of not being ready by 29 March 2019, which will have implications if there is a no-deal Brexit
October 24, 2018 24 Oct'18
Government can’t guarantee no-deal Brexit data-sharing agreement

Digital minister Margot James says there is no clear timetable on when the UK will secure a data adequacy decision from the EU, and cannot guarantee an agreement will be in place in the event of a no-deal Brexit
October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18
Interview: Steve Grobman, McAfee CTO shares his views on some burning security questions

Cyber security technology innovator and veteran Steve Grobman shares his views on adversarial artificial intelligence, post-quantum cryptography and security for next-gen tech
October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18
Government to invest £8m in Brexit customs training and automation

The Treasury and HMRC are putting measures in place to support the customs sector should the UK leave the EU with no deal, including funding to increase automation and training
October 23, 2018 23 Oct'18
Government pumps more funding into NHS ‘test beds’ programme

Seven new “test beds” will receive £7m to trial a range of technologies to improve patient care in the second wave of the NHS Test Beds Programme
October 22, 2018 22 Oct'18
Government to invest an extra £215m in UK innovation centres

The extra funding will be given to the Catapult network of innovation centres, focusing on digital, medicines discovery, future cities and transport systems
October 22, 2018 22 Oct'18
McAfee CTO raises concerns about election cyber security

The security industry needs to look at the security of election processes around the world as well as the security of voting and counting machines, says McAfee CTO
October 19, 2018 19 Oct'18
Interview: Matt Hancock, secretary of state for health and social care, on his NHS ‘tech vision’

Matt Hancock brings rare digital experience to running the NHS and social care systems, but can he overcome the legacy of past health service technology failures?
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
Dubai Health Authority unveils virtual health app for GP consultations

Health authority adopts new technology as part of the Dubai Future Accelerators initiative
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
Industry and government must collaborate to drive the digital economy, says techUK CEO

Industry and government must work together to grow use of technology across the UK economy, according to techUK CEO Julian David
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
McAfee researchers uncover ‘significant’ espionage campaign

Researchers discover campaign targeting South Korea, the US and Canada with links to eight-year-old source code from a threat group that has been dormant for five years
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
Middle East gears up for 5G

The race for 5G is well and truly under way, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia are well positioned to be among the first countries in the world to deliver the benefits of this new telecoms protocol
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
MoJ to go all-in on public cloud as infrastructure modernisation push gathers pace

The Ministry of Justice claims modernising, retiring and migrating its legacy IT systems to the public cloud will help it accrue long-term savings of around 60% on hosting costs
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
Home Office ‘seriously’ considered ESN shutdown

New disclosures from those responsible for the troubled Emergency Services Network project have revealed that, contrary to previous denials, the Home Office came close to pulling the plug earlier this year
October 18, 2018 18 Oct'18
No new funding for Hancock’s NHS tech vision

Getting the technology plan right is more about standards than money, says health and social care secretary Matt Hancock, as he explains why NHS organisations won’t be given additional funding to deliver on his vision
October 17, 2018 17 Oct'18
Hancock sets out NHS tech vision

Government will mandate national open standards for the NHS and tech suppliers, build a health and caretech ecosystem and give local NHS organisations more flexibility in how and what tech they buy
October 16, 2018 16 Oct'18
Public Health England builds Ceph and Lustre cloud for analytics

Healthcare analytics and modelling organisation Public Health England built an open source cloud from Red Hat Ceph object storage and Lustre scale-out file access storage to petabyte scale
October 16, 2018 16 Oct'18
UK faces 10 cyber attacks a week as hostile states step up hacking, says NCSC

The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre has thwarted more than 1,600 attacks over the past two years – many by hostile nation states
October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18
Home Office completes initial test of online system for registering EU citizens

Online application process for registering EU citizens in the UK after Brexit has concluded initial trials, and will now be expanded to a wider group
October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18
Microsoft staff allegedly pen open letter urging firm to drop bid for US government cloud deal

Letter calls on software giant to bow out of the race for a controversial, 10-year cloud contract with the US Department of Defense
October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18
Tech companies should not be under legal duty to remove terrorist material, says watchdog

The internet should not be a safe place for terrorists, but making it compulsory for technology companies to trawl for radical content risks interfering with the rights of innocent people, says Max Hill QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism ...
October 15, 2018 15 Oct'18
Cost of WannaCry attack to NHS set at £92m

Department for Health and Social Care estimates the immediate cost of the May 2017 WannaCry attack on the NHS was £92m, and says it will have spent about £275m on improvements to its cyber security infrastructure by the end of 2021
October 12, 2018 12 Oct'18
Watchdog calls for clarity on Schedule 7 terrorism powers

The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation has called for greater clarity over police Schedule 7 powers to seize mobile phones and computers and question people without grounds for suspicion at ports and airports
October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18
RATs and Mimikatz among top publicly available hacking tools

Remote access Trojans (RATs), web shells and Mimikatz among the top publicly available tools that are used in cyber attacks around the world, a five-nation cyber intelligence report reveals
October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18
The troublesome saga of Gov.uk Verify

As the government plans to hand over its flagship identity assurance programme to the private sector, Computer Weekly looks at the history of the troubled project and how Gov.uk Verify ended up on the chopping board
October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18
Nato to be fully operational in cyber space by 2023

Nato is aiming to achieve full operational readiness in cyber space within five years
October 11, 2018 11 Oct'18
Robots in the workplace supported by 81% of business chiefs

Robotic process automation continues to be taken up by more organisations – but despite proven benefits, those that already use it are struggling to scale it up
October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18
Google-supported programme in Netherlands helps primary schools with computational thinking

A programme to help primary school teachers in the Netherlands understand IT is gaining momentum
October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18
Ofcom says government should lead on internet regulation

Representatives from the telecoms regulator tell House of Lords that the government should build a framework for internet regulation that other bodies can follow and enforce
October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18
Bug bounties not a silver bullet, Katie Moussouris warns

Targeted bug bounties have a role to play in cyber security, but they are not a "silver bullet", and run the risk of wiping out talent pipelines if poorly implemented, warns bug bounty pioneer
October 10, 2018 10 Oct'18
Huawei Connect 2018: Huawei tackles barriers to effective AI

At its annual customer and technology event, Huawei chairman Eric Xu set out 10 key challenges facing AI, and revealed how the networking supplier’s strategy will help to address these