News

IT for government and public sector

• November 13, 2019 13 Nov'19

  Attack on Labour shows need for DDoS defence but should alarm few

  After being hit by two DDoS attacks in the space of 24 hours, many commentators are convinced the UK’s Labour Party is the victim of foreign interference in the General Election campaign. It probably isn’t

• November 12, 2019 12 Nov'19

  NHS still holds citizen trust on data use

  But the public trust banks more than local or central government bodies when it comes to handling personal information, a new study has found

• November 12, 2019 12 Nov'19

  ‘Robust’ security foils cyber attack on Labour Party

  Labour claims to have been the victim of a cyber attack, but says it is confident no data leaked

• November 11, 2019 11 Nov'19

  G-Cloud 10 fails to generate business for suppliers, study says

  Research firm Tussell’s study into G-Cloud reveals majority of suppliers listed in its report did not earn any revenue in 2018 through the public sector framework

• November 08, 2019 08 Nov'19

  HMCTS researches the future of open justice

  A new report by Policy Lab into the threats and opportunities of technology is aimed to support new approaches to policy-making

• November 06, 2019 06 Nov'19

  General Election affects National Data Strategy

  A series of workshops, including the public’s involvement to guide the plan’s vision, have been postponed

• November 05, 2019 05 Nov'19

  Welsh government to hire chief digital officer

  The £500,000 of annual funding will go towards a leader and a department dedicated to developing digital initiatives

• November 05, 2019 05 Nov'19

  ICO launches data security campaign for UK General Election

  Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham launches campaign to remind the public of their rights when personal data is used for political purposes

• November 04, 2019 04 Nov'19

  Modernisation of justice may leave vulnerable users behind

  A Commons Select Committee report has voiced a number of concerns about the ongoing transformation efforts led by the Ministry of Justice and called for actions such as maintenance of non-digital services

• November 04, 2019 04 Nov'19

  Government allocates £2m to support growth of lawtech

  New government funding unlocked to help break down barriers to the adoption of emerging technologies in the legal sector

• November 04, 2019 04 Nov'19

  IR35 tribunal rules HMRC wrong to pursue ex-DWP IT contractor for £240,000 in unpaid employment tax

  HMRC has vowed to appeal against the outcome of an IR35 tribunal that ruled it should not be pursuing an ex-DWP and Accenture IT contractor for more than £240,000 in unpaid tax as his engagements classify him as self-employed

• November 04, 2019 04 Nov'19

  EU patches 20-year-old open source vulnerability

  Ethical hackers taking part in a bug bounty programme on behalf of the European Union have uncovered a 20-year-old vulnerability

• November 01, 2019 01 Nov'19

  HMRC appoints interim chief digital and information officer

  Jacky Wright's replacement is a financial services veteran who brings expertise in tech-enabled change and payments infrastructure

• October 31, 2019 31 Oct'19

  Government review of cloud-first policy concludes guidance should remain unchanged

  A review into the continued relevance of the UK government’s six-year-old cloud-first policy has concluded its ‘brand recognition’ is too strong for it to be scrapped, according to GDS

• October 31, 2019 31 Oct'19

  UK at the forefront of government AI investment

  Current and anticipated artificial intelligence spending is the highest in Europe despite various challenges around implementation, according to a report by Accenture

• October 31, 2019 31 Oct'19

  JEDI mind tricks: Did White House interference affect the outcome of $10bn US gov cloud contract?

  Microsoft's triumph over Amazon Web Services (AWS) in securing a $10bn cloud contract with the US Department of Defense has led to questions being asked about whether White House pressure changed the course of the procurement

• October 31, 2019 31 Oct'19

  NHSX reports advancements in artificial intelligence

  Latest study showcases the work in artificial intelligence that is ongoing in the NHS as part of its Long-Term Plan

• October 30, 2019 30 Oct'19

  DWP outlines steps to reduce fraud and error

  The Department of Work and Pensions has released the priorities within its single departmental plan, including the new platforms National Debt Service and Counter Fraud and Error Management Service

• October 30, 2019 30 Oct'19

  What will succeed the National Cyber Security Strategy?

  As the National Cyber Security Strategy nears the end of its working life, the government is considering what comes next, and is asking probing questions of its successes and failures

• October 30, 2019 30 Oct'19

  UK gets low score in European e-gov ranking

  Leaders in the region got scores of over 80% while Britain achieved just over 61%, a Capgemini report has found

• October 29, 2019 29 Oct'19

  Reykjavik: An IT ecosystem beyond the ice

  Iceland is a small island between Europe and the US, and that is one of several reasons why it is attracting tech startups to its capital

• October 29, 2019 29 Oct'19

  Post Office IT trial judgement within days

  The judgment in the second trial in a multimillion-pound legal battle over an allegedly faulty IT system at the Post Office is imminent

• October 28, 2019 28 Oct'19

  AWS 'surprised' over losing out on $10bn US JEDI cloud deal to Microsoft

  Microsoft has emerged as the victor in the long-running battle with AWS over who would secure a decade-long cloud contract with the US Department of Defense worth $10bn

• October 28, 2019 28 Oct'19

  UK government announces new funding for robot development

  The £34m package will go towards research around autonomous technologies to improve safety and public trust

• October 25, 2019 25 Oct'19

  How the DWP lifted two decades of outsourcing to adopt a cloud-first model

  For the past four-and-a-half years, the Department for Work and Pensions has been evolving into a cloud-first organisation. We find out how it has been getting on

• October 25, 2019 25 Oct'19

  Government provides boost to artificial intelligence skills

  PhDs and researchers will be sponsored as part of a programme aimed at creating and retaining experts in artificial intelligence technology

• October 25, 2019 25 Oct'19

  NHSX seeks chief technology officer

  The principal technology adviser to the organisation's CEO, Matthew Gould, should be interviewed by early December

• October 24, 2019 24 Oct'19

  Know Fraud database became backlog dump

  Reports to Action Fraud handled by City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau were quarantined as security risk, finds HM’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services

• October 23, 2019 23 Oct'19

  Ministry of Defence to access IT skills via £1.5bn framework

  The new procurement vehicle is part of the department's plan to improve how it engages with the tech industry

• October 22, 2019 22 Oct'19

  Government to provide local data to proptechs

  Minister announces creation of a national index of brownfield site data and other initiatives to allow startups and property development companies to use public data to generate business

• October 22, 2019 22 Oct'19

  Brexit: Withdrawal agreement lists EU IT data link beyond transition

  Document lists system-to-system IT and network connectivity that will be required after the UK leaves the European Union

• October 21, 2019 21 Oct'19

  NHS Digital announces suppliers for GP IT Futures framework

  The NHS’s previous IT supplier framework for GPs – composed of just four suppliers – will be replaced by a pool of nearly 70 IT companies

• October 18, 2019 18 Oct'19

  NHS e-prescriptions roll-out aims for £300m savings by 2021

  The final stage of digitising prescriptions in the NHS is expected to reduce inefficiencies, errors and paper usage

• October 18, 2019 18 Oct'19

  Home Office Brexit app finally available for iPhone

  A mobile app to help EU citizens apply for Settled and Pre-Settled Status after Brexit is finally available for Apple iPhone devices, but only on newer generations

• October 17, 2019 17 Oct'19

  NHSX could transform NHS security capabilities

  The health sector is increasingly confident that NHSX can deliver a streamlined, effective cyber security policy for the health service

• October 17, 2019 17 Oct'19

  Report calls for urgent replacement of health screening IT

  Major review of cancer screening programmes urges NHSX to prioritise the update of the underlying technology systems

• October 16, 2019 16 Oct'19

  Government shelves age verification plans for online porn

  Plans to introduce age verification to access online pornography will not go ahead, with provisions around protecting children from inappropriate content on the internet to become part of wider regulations

• October 16, 2019 16 Oct'19

  Government IT hosting providers fail to provide emissions data

  Cloud computing is driving the government’s IT and sustainable tech strategy, but cloud and hosting providers are unable to divulge emissions data

• October 16, 2019 16 Oct'19

  HMRC fails to get new customs system ready for Brexit

  A National Audit Office report reveals that HMRC has opted for a multimillion-pound enhancement of a legacy platform rather than working on its planned replacement

• October 15, 2019 15 Oct'19

  UK government aims to measure success of digital initiatives

  Responding to a critical parliamentary report on digital progress, the government has laid out plans to develop better metrics and to overhaul legacy IT

• October 15, 2019 15 Oct'19

  TfL to use artificial intelligence to run London’s road network

  Transport for London is seeking input from companies about how it can use data-intensive technologies to predict the impact of road problems across the capital

• October 14, 2019 14 Oct'19

  UK government confirms gigabit broadband roll-out, rows back on 2025 delivery commitment

  UK government confirms plans to roll out gigabit-capable broadband across the UK, yet quietly shelves previous pledge to do so by 2025

• October 14, 2019 14 Oct'19

  NHS Digital brings in biometric login functionality

  Two new libraries released to allow developers in the NHS to include functionality to digital services

• October 14, 2019 14 Oct'19

  Deputy chief executive at NHS Digital departs

  NHS Digital’s deputy chief executive, Rob Shaw, will leave the organisation in December to work with foreign governments on national health and care infrastructure

• October 11, 2019 11 Oct'19

  How code reuse drives business change at the DWP

  Department for Work and Pensions is using application programming interfaces to promote reuse of granular microservices across the organisation

• October 11, 2019 11 Oct'19

  OECD pushes international digital services tax agenda

  The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development wants to reach agreement on addressing issues around taxation for online giants by 2020

• October 10, 2019 10 Oct'19

  How AWS is cracking the public sector cloud market

  The public sector cloud business takes time and resources to build, but the rewards can be meaningful, as the founder of Amazon Web Service’s public sector division has found

• October 10, 2019 10 Oct'19

  Mental health issues concern UK tech professionals

  Staff shortages, long hours and lack of flexibility are impacting the wellbeing of people in the sector, according to a Harvey Nash survey.

• October 09, 2019 09 Oct'19

  Survival of accountants 'at stake' as HMRC presses ahead with tax digitisation

  Advances in technology are bringing a series of dilemmas for professionals as the government continues plans to digitise all tax for UK businesses, according to a new report

• October 09, 2019 09 Oct'19

  HETT 2019: Digital literacy gap will never be fully closed, says panel

  The increasing use of digital technology in healthcare means it is important for people to be digitally literate to take part, but the digital literacy gap will always be there, says an expert panel

• October 09, 2019 09 Oct'19

  More Institute of Technology centres planned to tackle skills gap

  A second wave of centres offering higher technical education nationwide has been announced

• October 08, 2019 08 Oct'19

  Nadella sees Azure as the world’s computer

  The Microsoft CEO wants organisations to consider Azure as a distributed cloud for next-generation AI applications

• October 07, 2019 07 Oct'19

  Scottish Parliament launches inquiry on police use of facial recognition

  The circumstances and implications of the technology’s application in the police service will be investigated in the coming months

• October 07, 2019 07 Oct'19

  UK chief data officer recruitment plans still on

  Minister says CDO will work closely with the chief digital and information officer, who is still to be recruited

• October 07, 2019 07 Oct'19

  Government departments sign up to web data-sharing plan

  All but four Whitehall departments have so far agreed to share web analytics data to allow the government to monitor user behaviour across the Gov.uk domain

• October 07, 2019 07 Oct'19

  UKtech50 2019 – help us find the most influential people in UK technology

  Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK technology reaches its 10th anniversary – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year’s list

• October 04, 2019 04 Oct'19

  Home Office picks supplier for £300m biometrics project

  The department has chosen US company Leidos to provide critical elements of the national system under a £300m contract with a 10-year timespan

• October 04, 2019 04 Oct'19

  Swedish authorities introduce robots to help social workers

  Software robots free up time for social workers to help benefits claimants find employment

• October 04, 2019 04 Oct'19

  Government planning for ‘undeliverable’ ESN

  The government has agreed to all of the Public Accounts Committee’s findings in its investigation into the Emergency Services Network, but there is still a chance the programme could collapse

• October 03, 2019 03 Oct'19

  Government issues Brexit guidance for technology firms

  Ten-point checklist released to help firms prepare for leaving the European Union without a deal

• October 03, 2019 03 Oct'19

  Local authorities hit by 800 cyber attacks every hour

  Local authorities and councils in the UK have reported being hit by more than 263 million cyber attacks in the first six months of this year

• October 03, 2019 03 Oct'19

  Post-Brexit passport checking tool to start pilot

  The government is looking for companies that can carry out large-scale tests of the Document Checking Service, which will allow organisations to digitally check the validity of passports

• October 02, 2019 02 Oct'19

  HMRC extends contract with Capgemini but embeds flexibility

  Department’s technology sourcing programme seeks to access the services of more tech providers, including SMEs and startups

• October 01, 2019 01 Oct'19

  UK government readies bus open data portal

  The government’s bus data service is part of plans to provide better information to get more people to use bus services

• October 01, 2019 01 Oct'19

  Healthcare and technology have cultural similarities, says NHSX CEO

  Common factors in healthcare and technology could help bring about a shift in attitudes, says Matthew Gould

• September 30, 2019 30 Sep'19

  Chancellor Sajid Javid set to make £5bn investment commitment to improve UK broadband coverage

  The Chancellor Sajid Javid is expected to take to the stage at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester later today, to set out the group’s “infrastructure revolution” plans, which include ramping up broadband coverage across the UK

• September 30, 2019 30 Sep'19

  UK Parliament readies cyber security change programme

  A request for information has been launched to find a consultancy firm to support and shape the Parliament’s cyber security project, which will be delivered in two years’ time

• September 30, 2019 30 Sep'19

  Data challenges jeopardise service provision in government

  Several challenges have to be tackled to make the government’s new data strategy work and departments have “barely scratched the surface” of what needs to be done, says PAC report

• September 27, 2019 27 Sep'19

  HMRC chief digital and information officer departs

  Jacky Wright, HMRC chief digital and information officer, will return to Microsoft in October after a two-year loan arrangement

• September 26, 2019 26 Sep'19

  Government launches guidelines for AI procurement

  Document intended to inform public sector buyers has been created by the Office for AI and the World Economic Forum

• September 25, 2019 25 Sep'19

  Brazilian fintech Creditas chases UK tech talent

  Latin American firm Creditas is looking to lure senior professionals who may be leaving the UK to its technology hub in Spain

• September 25, 2019 25 Sep'19

  PM invites global leaders to discuss ethics in tech

  London summit next year will invite countries to discuss standards for emerging technology

• September 25, 2019 25 Sep'19

  UK government reaffirms commitment to using Oracle tech with cloud MoU

  Government procurement chiefs in the Crown Commercial Service sign new agreement with database giant aimed at making it easier and cheaper for public sector organisations to use its cloud

• September 25, 2019 25 Sep'19

  National Library of Scotland says aye to Scality object storage

  National digitised archives move off Hitachi SANs and Qualstar tape, object storage is embraced and a “no backup” strategy put in place with petabyte-scale Scality S3/file deployment

• September 24, 2019 24 Sep'19

  What next for GDS?

  Digital government has lost momentum, according to MPs. As the Government Digital Service enters its “third era”, what will it do to regain its authority and deliver real change?

• September 20, 2019 20 Sep'19

  Government looks into digitising cultural collections with AI

  A government report and trial investigate possibilities around mapping and connecting digitised cultural material with emerging technologies

• September 20, 2019 20 Sep'19

  Cross-government collaboration is key to overcoming legacy IT issues

  Senior civil servants highlight some of the challenges with legacy IT systems and what can be done to overcome them

• September 20, 2019 20 Sep'19

  Civil service chief appeals to ‘wise, experienced, powerful’ IT leaders to apply for CDIO job

  John Manzoni explains why the new government digital leader will carry the power and authority of a Whitehall permanent secretary

• September 19, 2019 19 Sep'19

  Defra chief digital information officer steps down

  John Seglias is leaving the department most impacted by Brexit to join National Grid, after four years in the civil service

• September 19, 2019 19 Sep'19

  Government insists 'nothing sinister' about web user data gathering

  Government Digital Service responds to allegations that personal data gathered through Gov.uk portal could be used to target political messaging to citizens

• September 18, 2019 18 Sep'19

  Government relaunches search for chief digital and information officer

  The role, which will tackle issues such as eradicating legacy and leading data strategy, has been redesigned and elevated at permanent secretary level

• September 18, 2019 18 Sep'19

  Universities tempting targets for cyber criminals, warns NCSC

  As hundreds of thousands of students prepare for the new academic year, universities have been warned that they are at high risk of cyber attack

• September 18, 2019 18 Sep'19

  Emotet phishing botnet returns from summer vacation

  The Emotet phishing trojan-turned-botnet is back in action after a three-and-a-half month break, say threat researchers

• September 17, 2019 17 Sep'19

  Robotics and Automation: UK must tackle skills, immigration and SME challenges

  Home-grown skills may not be enough to enable the UK to build on the government's Industrial Strategy and push robotics and automation

• September 17, 2019 17 Sep'19

  Northwestern cuts storage costs in half with Komprise

  Komprise’s Deep Analytics helps university classify and migrate research data to cheaper disk and cloud as it cuts storage costs from $1.1m to $680,000 per annum

• September 17, 2019 17 Sep'19

  Network Rail to use automation and analytics in tunnel examinations and station security

  Operator Network Rail will tap into its £357m R&D fund to back innovation competitions aimed to improve assessment of more than 600 rail tunnels and station surveillance

• September 17, 2019 17 Sep'19

  Ecuador citizens’ data breach holds lessons for enterprises

  What caused the mass breach of Ecuadorian citizens’ data, and what can businesses learn from it?

• September 16, 2019 16 Sep'19

  Gartner Catalyst: Prepare for web giants crushing your industry

  Companies like Amazon and Alibaba are taking a bigger chunk of the customer journey, but they are also spreading across industry sectors

• September 16, 2019 16 Sep'19

  NHSX emphasises need for ethical patient data access

  The health service's digital unit welcomed the launch of Health Data Research hubs, but stressed that it will control the design of research collaborations

• September 16, 2019 16 Sep'19

  Councils awarded funding to boost online services

  Local authorities received more than £750,000 in the second round of the Local Digital Fund, aimed at improving citizen offerings in areas such as housing and payment

• September 16, 2019 16 Sep'19

  Police use of algorithms needs stronger safeguards to prevent bias, report says

  A study by the Royal United Services Institute calls for new code of practice to guide use of algorithmic tools in policing

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  Ditch hoodies and hackers to encourage diverse security recruitment

  The cyber security industry needs to address a systemic image problem if it is to succeed in recruiting more diverse teams

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  When AIs go to war: Autonomous cyber weapons ‘inevitable’

  CISOs must start thinking about how to engage with intelligent, adaptive, non-human attackers, says Trend Micro’s Rik Ferguson

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  Dutch banks to work together in fight against money laundering

  Dutch banks are sharing expertise and resources to help reduce money laundering through their accounts

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  Justice system transformation sees delays and reduction of scope

  “Ambitious” timescales and scope for £1.2bn modernisation of services had to be scaled back, says NAO report

• September 13, 2019 13 Sep'19

  Industry opposition to no-deal Brexit hardens, says TechUK

  A survey of TechUK members has found that 71% believe a no-deal Brexit at the end of October will negatively affect them in spite of their preparations

• September 12, 2019 12 Sep'19

  Government seeks views on post-Brexit security alignment

  The government has called for views on its proposals to align the UK’s post-Brexit cyber security policy to that of the European Union

• September 12, 2019 12 Sep'19

  ICO to probe government over Gov.uk data collection plan

  The ICO is to look into the government’s leaked data collection plans over fears they may breach the law

• September 12, 2019 12 Sep'19

  UN agency Unicef praised for response to accidental data leak

  The UN’s children’s agency has disclosed an inadvertent leak of personal data belonging to users of its online learning platform Agora

• September 12, 2019 12 Sep'19

  Mirai descendants dominate IoT threat environment

  Attacks leveraging compromised IoT devices are growing in size, scale and frequency, report security experts at F-Secure and Trend Micro, with Mirai-related botnets a major source of trouble