News

IT for government and public sector

• November 27, 2018 27 Nov'18

  GDS has lost momentum, MPs told

  There are still significant culture issues in government and the Government Digital Service has stopped supporting departments to do the right thing, Science and Technology Committee hears

• November 27, 2018 27 Nov'18

  Treasury Committee launches inquiry into bank IT failures

  With IT outages in the financial sector a regular occurrence, the Treasury Committee is investigating the causes and consequences of these failures, and what industry and regulators are doing to promote resilience

• November 27, 2018 27 Nov'18

  High Court trial over Horizon computer system completes witness cross-examinations

  The High Court trial in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has reached an important stage

• November 26, 2018 26 Nov'18

  Barnet Council looks to bring parts of Capita contract back in house

  Barnet Council is planning to bring parts of its Capita outsourcing deal back in house, and expects the supplier to pay the council £4.12m due to delivery issues with some areas of the contract

• November 23, 2018 23 Nov'18

  UK fails to make top eGovernment rankings

  UK fails to make it into the top rankings in the European Commission’s eGovernment Benchmark report, which shows that across Europe, two-thirds of public sector services are now available online

• November 23, 2018 23 Nov'18

  Lords call for HMRC to delay Making Tax Digital for VAT

  The government must begin to listen to small businesses and should delay the roll-out of its Making Tax Digital for VAT programme by at least a year, says the Lords Economic Affairs Committee

• November 21, 2018 21 Nov'18

  Finland invests in IT to upgrade electricity network

  National electricity transmission grid operator Fingrid’s Datahub system will play key role in retail market’s transition to a centralised information exchange

• November 21, 2018 21 Nov'18

  TechUK calls on Matt Hancock to fast-track NHS digitisation

  The tech industry body’s ‘Manifesto for Matt’ calls on the health secretary to focus on empowering citizens, enabling a world-class workforce and making the UK the number one place for health tech innovation

• November 21, 2018 21 Nov'18

  Post Office held back information about Horizon IT system errors

  Post Office director admits to Horizon errors and not sharing details with subpostmaster network

• November 21, 2018 21 Nov'18

  Citizens don’t want the NHS to prioritise digital health, report finds

  The UK public want the NHS to focus spending on cancer care, staff and mental health, and rank digital access to services lowest on their list of priorities

• November 21, 2018 21 Nov'18

  Lincolnshire Police signs 10-year cloud control room tech refresh deal with Motorola Solutions

  Lincolnshire Police is embracing cloud technologies within its control room environment as it strives to improve the efficiency of its operations

• November 20, 2018 20 Nov'18

  Police challenged over refusal to disclose files on WikiLeaks staff

  Lawyers will challenge the Metropolitan Police Service today to confirm or deny whether it holds correspondence with US law enforcement about three WikiLeaks staff – including two UK citizens – in a freedom of information tribunal

• November 20, 2018 20 Nov'18

  Sixth form college rebuilds after fire with Scale hyper-converged

  Xaverian College suffered a server room fire but took the opportunity to build a hyper-converged infrastructure with Scale Computing that did away with costly VMware licence fees

• November 20, 2018 20 Nov'18

  Jeremy Wright announces Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation board

  Secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Jeremy Wright, announces make up of Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation board at ODI Summit

• November 19, 2018 19 Nov'18

  Government lacks cyber resilience leadership, according to MPs

  The government lacks political leadership and urgency in dealing with cyber threats, according to Joint Committee on National Security Strategy, calling for a minister in charge of delivering cyber resilience

• November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18

  Tech sector split over Brexit deal

  The draft EU Withdrawal Agreement has caused rifts in the tech sector, with some calling for a People’s Vote with the option to remain in the EU, and others wanting MPs to back the agreement, saying it’s better than a no-deal scenario

• November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18

  Post Office executives cross-examined in Horizon IT system trial

  A High Court trial, where subpostmasters are suing the Post Office for damages caused by an allegedly faulty IT system, ended its second week.

• November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18

  UN extreme poverty monitor is critical of Universal Credit ‘digital by default’ service

  The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights raises significant concerns with Universal Credit, including poor digital literacy among claimants, automation errors and lack of transparency

• November 16, 2018 16 Nov'18

  Why is hiring a government chief security officer such a tricky business?

  Security bosses and CIOs weigh in on why they think the government is struggling to recruit a chief security officer

• November 15, 2018 15 Nov'18

  Members of Parliament should back EU Withdrawal Agreement, says industry

  Industry experts say the government’s EU Withdrawal Agreement is far from perfect and still requires more clarity, but call on MPs to back it, as it’s better than a No-Deal Brexit

• November 14, 2018 14 Nov'18

  Defra still to test six ‘critical’ IT systems before Brexit

  MPs have raised concerns around Defra’s Brexit readiness as it hasn’t yet begun testing six critical IT systems needed to replace EU systems, but the department remains confident

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  Sweden’s central bank to test digital currency

  Riksbank e-krona initiative follows government plan for a cashless society by 2030

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  Panasas refreshes with ActiveStor Ultra in push to the enterprise

  Scale-out NAS maker Panasas wants to make its ActiveStor storage more attractive to enterprises by touting its ease of use and putting storage nodes on commodity hardware

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  5G will unleash digital transformation for UK enterprises

  Mobile operator EE is working hand-in-hand with its largest enterprise customers to realise the potential of its future 5G mobile network

• November 13, 2018 13 Nov'18

  Post Office trial throws up known problem with Horizon system

  High Court case in which subpostmasters are suing the Post Office has revealed a known problem with the computer system at the core of the dispute

• November 12, 2018 12 Nov'18

  Home Office to use smartphone ID for EU Exit scheme

  The Home Office will use smartphone digital identity verification to support applications for the government’s EU Exit Settlement Scheme  

• November 12, 2018 12 Nov'18

  HMRC resolves technical issue with tax-free childcare portal

  The department’s tax-free childcare website has again suffered technical issues, affecting 22,000 payments, but the problems were resolved last week, according to HMRC

• November 12, 2018 12 Nov'18

  Norway’s IT industry must tackle security vulnerabilities

  Report reveals growing threat posed by “hostile foreign actors” against Norway’s IT systems and critical national infrastructure

• November 09, 2018 09 Nov'18

  Post-quantum cryptography a major challenge, says expert

  The crypto wars are just beginning and open systems are key to improved security in future, says cryptography expert

• November 09, 2018 09 Nov'18

  High court Post Office trial puts subpostmasters’ contract under microscope

  Case against Post Office in relation to allegedly faulty computer system begins in High Court

• November 08, 2018 08 Nov'18

  Welsh NHS IT programme is ‘outdated’ and could put patients at risk, report finds

  Welsh Public Accounts Committee is concerned the country’s outdated NHS IT systems are putting patients at risk, and found the culture at NHS Wales Informatics Service is the ‘antithesis of open’

• November 08, 2018 08 Nov'18

  Dominic Raab: UK AI sector will get boost from EU exit ‘done right’

  Brexit secretary tells Tech Nation audience that leaving the EU could create opportunities for the UK technology sector

• November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  Fintechs advised on how to work with big banks

  Advice backed by the government for fintechs on how to engage with traditional finance firms is published

• November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  BEIS to fund five healthcare AI innovation centres

  Five healthcare innovation centres will receive a total of £50m in funding to use artificial intelligence to improve diagnosis and treatment of diseases

• November 07, 2018 07 Nov'18

  Cyber security high on European Commission agenda

  The European Commission is recognising the growing importance of cyber security to the digital economy and is increasing funding to support research, resilience and cooperation

• November 06, 2018 06 Nov'18

  Information commissioner calls for stricter regulation on political use of data

  Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham’s investigation into the use of data in elections and campaigns, finds "a disturbing disregard for voters’ personal privacy"

• November 06, 2018 06 Nov'18

  Smart Dubai platform is the backbone of the city's transformation

  Aisha bin Bishr, director general at Smart Dubai Office, talks about the Smart Data platform and soon-to-be-unveiled UAE Pass, a digital ID and signature which is being touted as one of the foundations a city needs to transform

• November 06, 2018 06 Nov'18

  Automation and CSR are driving reskilling process for UK plc, says Cisco

  UK business leaders are planning to make dramatic changes to their organisations between now and 2020, according to a new report from Cisco

• November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18

  Openreach launches Fibre First programme in Belfast and Nottingham

  Openreach has named Belfast and Nottingham as the latest cities to benefit from a full-fibre broadband roll-out

• November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18

  PAC has ‘serious concerns’ over UK border and new customs IT system

  Public Accounts Committee remains concerned about the Customs Declaration Service and the country’s borders post Brexit

• November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18

  NHS to use predictive tech to prevent illnesses

  Health secretary Matt Hancock wants to use technology to predict disease and stop people falling ill, with AI and genomics having the ‘potential to change everything’

• November 05, 2018 05 Nov'18

  UKtech50 2018: Vote for the most influential person in UK IT

  Tell us who you think should be chosen as the most influential person in the UK tech scene for 2018 by submitting your vote now

• November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18

  Government is open for business, says SME Crown Representative

  The government’s Crown Representative for SMEs, Emma Jones, sheds light on her three-pronged approach to increase spend with smaller businesses

• November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18

  Government fails in first attempt to hire chief security officer

  The government’s initial recruitment campaign for the UK’s "biggest and most important security job” has been unsuccessful, Cabinet Office admits

• November 02, 2018 02 Nov'18

  Departing DWP IT boss Mayank Prakash to take on digitisation role at Centrica

  DWP’s outgoing chief digital and information officer will begin new role in charge of digitalisation of Centrica’s consumer business in the New Year

• 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?