News

Information technology in the Nordics

• May 05, 2021 05 May'21

  Delivering international talent to Helsinki’s tech ecosystem

  Finland’s capital is the envy of the world as a tech hub, but it still faces challenges in attracting skills in a highly competitive global market

• April 30, 2021 30 Apr'21

  EncroChat: Top lawyer warned CPS of risk that phone hacking warrants could be unlawful

  Lord David Anderson QC warned prosecutors that there were formidable arguments against the lawfulness of a police operation to infiltrate the encrypted phone network, EncroChat

• April 28, 2021 28 Apr'21

  Norway’s agritech innovators are ready to expand to pastures new

  A tech startup industry aimed at modernising farming is making hay in Norway and laying down roots in other countries

• April 26, 2021 26 Apr'21

  French legal challenge over EncroChat cryptophone hack could hit UK prosecutions

  Lawyers are challenging the legality of a French police operation to harvest tens of thousands of messages from the EncroChat encrypted phone network in a move that could overturn criminal prosecutions in the UK

• April 21, 2021 21 Apr'21

  Anti-food-waste app Karma taps up Google Cloud to power global expansion plans

  Swedish startup Karma is on a mission to help consumers and businesses across the globe fight food waste, and it has enlisted the Google Cloud Platform to help it achieve its goal

• April 20, 2021 20 Apr'21

  Transatlantic relationship strengthens Sweden’s startup sustainability

  Nordic startup network is taking lessons from Canada in getting women into the IT industry

• April 16, 2021 16 Apr'21

  Finnish government strengthens country’s IT network security

  Finland’s government has created a new national organisation to help public and private bodies improve network security

• April 15, 2021 15 Apr'21

  Dutch accuse UK of ‘damaging confidence’ by disclosing details of EncroChat police collaboration

  The Dutch Public Prosecution Service claims Britain has damaged confidence by disclosing details of an international investigation into the EncroChat encrypted phone network to the courts

• April 13, 2021 13 Apr'21

  EncroChat lawyers raise questions over use of PII secrecy orders on UK decryption capabilities

  Lawyers claim that public interest immunity certificates may have been used to withhold information on UK intelligence agencies’ ability to decrypt encrypted communications

• April 12, 2021 12 Apr'21

  Another 27 Danish banks get access to open banking APIs

  Nordic banks gain access to open banking capabilities from Nordic API Gateway, with an agreement through their shared IT service provider

• April 09, 2021 09 Apr'21

  Global demand for IT and business services highest ever for first quarter

  Global demand for IT and business services began the year strongly, with a record first quarter

• March 31, 2021 31 Mar'21

  Nordics run information sharing on digital vaccination passports

  Nordic countries advance plans for digital Covid-19 vaccination passports in a bid to kick-start their economies

• March 29, 2021 29 Mar'21

  How far has open banking come in Europe?

  Open banking is a relatively new concept, having come into effect in Europe only in the last couple of years. So what is the state of play?

• March 18, 2021 18 Mar'21

  Reshaping the women-in-tech debate in Denmark, from the top down

  Tech Nordic Advocates adopts a different approach to closing the gap between women and men in the Danish tech startup sector

• March 17, 2021 17 Mar'21

  Digital Green Certificate proposed for travel in Europe

  Digital Green Certificates will supposedly help re-establish freedom of movement within the European Union

• March 17, 2021 17 Mar'21

  Nordic healthcare digitisation drives medtech growth

  Nordic medtech is growing rapidly as the healthcare sector adopts technologies such as artificial intelligence and the internet of things

• March 11, 2021 11 Mar'21

  Norwegian government falls victim to Microsoft attacks

  Norway’s parliament, the Storting, suffers second major cyber incident in a year as threat groups capitalise on vulnerable Microsoft Exchange Servers

• March 09, 2021 09 Mar'21

  Belgian police raid 200 premises in drug operation linked to breach of encrypted phone network

  More than 1,600 police and law enforcement officials conduct drug raids after the compromise of an encrypted mobile phone network that has parallels with EncroChat

• March 09, 2021 09 Mar'21

  Cibicom taps Nokia to supply mission-critical LTE network across Denmark

  Finnish comms provider inks deal with Danish operator to roll out new 450 MHz LTE infrastructure for mass volume IoT and mission critical data coverage

• March 09, 2021 09 Mar'21

  EBA restores services after Microsoft Exchange attack

  European Banking Authority was breached through vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange Server, but is now back online

• March 08, 2021 08 Mar'21

  Nordic innovators change emphasis on gender equality in society

  Female technology innovators in the Nordics take a different approach to trying to improve opportunities for women

• March 02, 2021 02 Mar'21

  EU seeking pan-European Covid-19 passport solution

  The European Union’s proposal could see the creation of a Covid-19 vaccine passport to enable travel across the EU

• March 02, 2021 02 Mar'21

  HPE called in to overhaul Swedish university’s supercomputing setup

  The Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing has commissioned HPE to build a supercomputer for one of Sweden’s largest technical universities

• March 02, 2021 02 Mar'21

  FINN completes Covid-delayed migration to the cloud

  Norwegian online advertising marketplace completes cloud migration in a single night after months of delay due to the pandemic

• February 26, 2021 26 Feb'21

  Nordic startups strive to fuel international e-commerce transformation

  Nordic startups are developing technology for retailers that want to improve the customer experience when buying online

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Swedish police fined for unlawful use of facial-recognition app

  Sweden’s data watchdog has found that Swedish police failed to conduct the data protection checks required by law before using controversial facial-recognition tool

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  City of Helsinki adopts MyData principles to improve digital services

  Principles on the use of personal data for the benefit of society will guide Finnish capital’s ambitious digital plans

• February 18, 2021 18 Feb'21

  Fingerprints will help payment cards retain relevance

  Biometric payment cards using fingerprint technology could add billions to global banking revenues, says UBS

• February 17, 2021 17 Feb'21

  Finnish IT sector demand increases after months of decline

  IT sector in Finland sees small signs of recovery as demand increases after months of Covid-19-related decline

• February 17, 2021 17 Feb'21

  Swedish central bank extends digital currency project

  Sweden's central bank has extended its pilot of a digital currency for at least another year

• February 16, 2021 16 Feb'21

  TransferGo to harness Google-inspired tech capability

  Payments fintech TransferGo chooses cloud-native core banking platform to build a digital wallet and expand its services

• February 11, 2021 11 Feb'21

  Hacked Finnish therapy business collapses

  Vastaamo, the Finnish psychotherapy centre whose patients were blackmailed by a cyber criminal gang, has filed for bankruptcy

• February 11, 2021 11 Feb'21

  Nordic states launch joint drone development initiative

  Nordic Drone Initiative backed by 16 public and privately owned organisations in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark to probe the efficient use of airspace for drones

• February 08, 2021 08 Feb'21

  Sweden to establish national cyber security centre

  Sweden becomes latest Nordic state to establish a national cyber security centre as the threat landscape grows

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  EncroChat: Appeal court finds ‘digital phone tapping’ admissible in criminal trials

  Appeal Court decides EncroChat-encrypted phone records can be used in criminal trials. Critics say the decision means phone tapping no longer has a ‘clear meaning in the digital age’

• February 05, 2021 05 Feb'21

  Denmark and Sweden to issue digital vaccine certificates

  Sweden and Denmark announce plans to develop digital certificates that prove people have been vaccinated against Covid-19

• February 02, 2021 02 Feb'21

  Nordic region provides autonomous vehicle test bed

  Nordic region has the suppliers, environment and appetite for pioneering the development of autonomous vehicles

• February 02, 2021 02 Feb'21

  Nordic countries dominate European online banking take-up

  Nordics dominate online banking take-up in Europe, but the UK is not far behind

• February 01, 2021 01 Feb'21

  ‘Victory for free speech and openness’ after tribunal confirms no territorial restrictions to FOIA

  Freedom of information tribunal rules that investigative journalists and others can use the Freedom of Information Act if they live outside the UK or are not British citizens

• January 27, 2021 27 Jan'21

  Grindr complaint results in €9.6m GDPR fine

  Norway’s data protection authority plans to apply a fine totalling 10% of LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr’s revenues over its data sharing practices

• January 15, 2021 15 Jan'21

  Nordic startups make advances in pet tech

  Nordic tech startups are looking to take pet tech mainstream following the acceleration of the industry during the current pandemic

• January 15, 2021 15 Jan'21

  Tech partnership to drive Finland’s quantum computing project

  Organisations in Finland are developing quantum computing capabilities through a state and private sector partnership

• January 11, 2021 11 Jan'21

  Jobs in fintech bounce back after brief lockdown lull

  Fintechs and payments companies need to make staff recruitment a priority as talent pool shrinks

• January 07, 2021 07 Jan'21

  Nordic digital innovation offers a proactive approach to mental health

  Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to support people suffering mental health issues – and digital technology can help

• January 05, 2021 05 Jan'21

  Huawei battles for market access in Nordics

  Chinese networking equipment supplier Huawei fights to retain access to potential 5G contracts across the Nordic region

• December 22, 2020 22 Dec'20

  Swedish central bank moves e-krona project to next stage

  Riksbank takes digital currency project to the next phase with Accenture building a platform to test the concept

• December 21, 2020 21 Dec'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Åsa Melvanius, Lund municipality

  For Åsa Melvanius, CDO at the Swedish municipality of Lund, created a “robot factory” that has saved the city more than 6,500 hours by automating routine processes

• December 21, 2020 21 Dec'20

  Top 10 enterprise IT in the Nordics stories of 2020

  Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 Nordic enterprise IT stories of 2020

• December 18, 2020 18 Dec'20

  Finnish government tables laws to protect data from cyber criminals

  Government is strengthening its legal framework to protect data from hackers in the wake of a massive breach at a psychotherapy centre

• December 18, 2020 18 Dec'20

  Prepare for bringing people back to the office with the Nordic tech startup blueprint

  Business can learn lessons from Nordic tech startups to prepare employees to return to the office after Covid restrictions

• December 17, 2020 17 Dec'20

  Danske Bank fights money laundering with AI

  Danske Bank is using artificial intelligence to help it prevent a repeat of the huge money laundering scandal that hit one of its operations in Estonia

• December 15, 2020 15 Dec'20

  Finland examines wider use of AI video camera technology

  Authorities in Helsinki will use artificial intelligence and video technologies to help them automate monitoring of crowds

• December 15, 2020 15 Dec'20

  Air purifier manufacturer creates IoT service in the cloud

  Sweden’s Blueair introduces new functionality for customers through a cloud-based internet of things platform

• December 10, 2020 10 Dec'20

  Data on Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine stolen in cyber attack

  The European Medicines Agency has launched a full investigation into an apparent security incident that has seen documents on the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine stolen

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Amazon Swedish language site will expand reach of local retailers

  Amazon launches Swedish language website and promises to make more products available in the Nordic region

• November 23, 2020 23 Nov'20

  Finnish finance giant pilots fingerprint payments

  OP Financial introduces biometric security technology to enable higher-value payments to be made safely using contactless cards

• November 16, 2020 16 Nov'20

  Privacy advocates call for European probe into Palantir

  Dutch group SOMI is trying to raise awareness of Palantir’s data privacy practices and how it works with European government agencies

• November 13, 2020 13 Nov'20

  IT Priorities 2020: European IT budget share reflects home-working challenges brought by Covid

  European organisations are being forced to redivert more limited budgets during the pandemic

• November 11, 2020 11 Nov'20

  Norway has lowest physical cash use in the world, says report

  Norway claims to use less cash as a proportion of total spending than any other country across the globe, according to a study by its central bank

• November 09, 2020 09 Nov'20

  Tampere’s perfect storm triggers a startup revolution

  Previously a hub for Nokia and Microsoft, Finland’s second-largest city is capitalising on a wealth of technical knowhow to become the dark horse of the Nordic startup scene

• November 04, 2020 04 Nov'20

  Nordic countries to develop common digital system

  Common digital platform will help small and medium-sized enterprises across the Nordic region with data sharing

• November 02, 2020 02 Nov'20

  Finnish government rolls out digital projects to support SMEs

  Finland is set to create network of technology hubs that will support SMEs in the country, as well as create links across the EU

• October 28, 2020 28 Oct'20

  Finnish therapy centre accused of covering up cyber attack

  Private therapy practice Vastaamo faces questions over its security and business practices in the months leading up to one of the biggest data breaches in Finland’s history

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Highly unusual hacking attack directly threatens therapy patients

  A hacker has directly contacted therapy patients to say their highly personal therapy notes will be put on the internet unless they pay the ransom

• October 26, 2020 26 Oct'20

  Cooperation between Norway’s security agencies planned following cyber attack on parliament

  Government seeks to develop enhanced national IT infrastructure with an embedded early warning system and defence shield to protect the IT systems of public and private organisations

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Nordic countries in denial over IT industry equality

  Arriving in Denmark to find she was the only woman on a computer science master’s course was a shock to Plamena Cherneva

• October 22, 2020 22 Oct'20

  Nordic CIO Interview: Teemu Salmi, Stora Enso

  Working with startup communities helps to drive digital transformation at one of the world’s largest forest industry companies, Stora Enso

• October 19, 2020 19 Oct'20

  Estonian rude awakening spurs tech startup activity

  Money laundering scandal in Estonia has sparked tech startup activity in the Baltic country as banks look for answers

• September 30, 2020 30 Sep'20

  Norway leaves door open to Huawei

  Government gives telecoms companies responsibility to choose their equipment suppliers, which could include Huawei

• September 25, 2020 25 Sep'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Per Boström, Skanska

  The construction industry may be a slow starter when it comes to adopting digital technology, but it is reaping the benefits quickly, with Sweden’s Skanska focused on playing catch up, according to CIO Per Boström

• September 22, 2020 22 Sep'20

  Green Cargo extends Rimini contract to keep legacy SAP backend running

  Mainframe and SAP to provide systems of record, with real-time data for new digitisation initiatives, built on multi-cloud, RPA and low-code platforms

• September 17, 2020 17 Sep'20

  Swedish bank cuts branches and jobs, increases IT spend

  Swedish bank is increasing investment IT to improve digital banking as it reduces its branch network

• September 10, 2020 10 Sep'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Maria Lundberg, ICA Gruppen

  The CIO of Swedish retail giant ICA Gruppen, Maria Lundberg, who is overseeing the digitisation of four retail sectors, tells Computer Weekly about the challenges of providing shared IT services for localised needs

• September 08, 2020 08 Sep'20

  Nordic banks invest and innovate to keep digital rivals at bay

  Large traditional banks are accelerating their digital transformations as the regional fintech sector makes its presence felt

• September 01, 2020 01 Sep'20

  Norway’s corporates want government to support ‘herd immunity’ to cyber attack

  Leading business organisations in Norway call on government to play a more active role in improving and coordinating the country’s cyber defences

• August 25, 2020 25 Aug'20

  Nordic startups send a message to global investment community

  Early-stage tech companies across the world should set up Nordic operations earlier in their development journeys

• August 05, 2020 05 Aug'20

  Netherlands investigates innovative privacy technology SSI

  Dutch research organisation is looking into areas where self-sovereign identity technology could be used in society and business

• August 04, 2020 04 Aug'20

  Nordic enterprises look for SAP price reductions as they navigate Covid-19

  Businesses in the Nordics are using SAP Cloud Platform to address Covid-19 challenges and are also seeking price reductions

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Private equity leads Nordic IT sector consolidation

  Private equity firms and industrial giants are triggering mergers and acquisitions in the Nordic tech sector as investment slows amid the Covid-19 pandemic

• August 03, 2020 03 Aug'20

  Estonian police and border services need better IT to block criminals from becoming e-residents

  Police and Border Guard Board of Estonia needs to improve its IT systems to stop criminals from becoming e-residents, says report

• July 30, 2020 30 Jul'20

  Finland government funds work on potential quantum leap

  Finland's government is committing money to the development of quantum computing technologies to potentially provide a giant leap for the nation's industries

• July 22, 2020 22 Jul'20

  New opportunities for Nordic startups post-Covid-19 as virtual offices become the norm

  As companies adjust to digital office life in the pandemic era, a host of Nordic startups are already helping them convert these short-term fixes into long-term strategy

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  BMW Group signs six-year HPC contract with eco-friendly Swedish colocation firm

  Motor manufacturer agrees to double-down on its use of EcoDataCenter's environmentally friendly colocation facilities

• July 21, 2020 21 Jul'20

  Santander consumer arm to automate further after Nordic project

  Time and cost savings achieved by RPA pilot were high and customer experience improved, says bank

• July 17, 2020 17 Jul'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Brede Nielsen, Avinor

  The Covid-19 pandemic put Avinor’s IT head at the centre of the airport operator's response

• July 15, 2020 15 Jul'20

  Huge declines in traditional outsourcing as Covid-19 puts a stop on deals

  Traditional IT outsourcing deals value plummets in the last quarter as contracts dry up amid Covid-19 disruption

• July 06, 2020 06 Jul'20

  Avinor creates contactless airport check-in for Norway

  Norwegian airport operator introduces touchless travel check-in to limit the potential spread of Covid-19

• July 03, 2020 03 Jul'20

  Bergen’s tech hub seeking to scale after positive start

  Norway's second largest city is building a tech ecosystem that is beginning its development with a focus on the city's industrial heritage

• June 29, 2020 29 Jun'20

  Lawyers learn of fresh US allegations against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from press reports

  The US has filed an updated indictment against Julian Assange alleging that he conspired with hacking groups to obtain information for WikiLeaks. Defence and prosecution lawyers learned about it from press reports

• June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20

  Nordic business is leading open banking charge in Europe

  Nordic region has the right ingredients to prove open banking can benefit consumers, businesses and the economy

• June 18, 2020 18 Jun'20

  Datacentre investment boost as Norway’s government reinstates tax relief

  Government reinstates datacentre energy tax relief for cryptocurrency mining organisations after investments in the country’s datacentres drops

• June 17, 2020 17 Jun'20

  Amnesty identifies most privacy-invasive Covid-19 contact-tracing apps

  Bahrain’s ‘BeAware Bahrain’, Kuwait’s ‘Shlonik’ and Norway’s ‘Smittestopp’ are the most privacy-invasive contact-tracing apps, reveals Amnesty International study

• June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20

  Danske Bank begins process of creating autonomous development teams

  Danish bank begins the process of changing how thousands of its staff work as it attempts to be more responsive to digital demand

• June 16, 2020 16 Jun'20

  Norway’s contact-tracing app suspended over privacy concerns

  Norway has been given until 23 June to justify the location tracking of citizens who download its contract-tracing app

• June 11, 2020 11 Jun'20

  Tech firms respond to Nordic government calls

  Nordic firms are working with tech suppliers to help them get back up and running after Covid-19

• June 08, 2020 08 Jun'20

  Nordic CIO interview: Janne Puustinen, Valmet

  Janne Puustinen built Finnish industrial technology company Valmet’s entire IT organisation from scratch after a demerger

• June 03, 2020 03 Jun'20

  Lidl Finland speeds up with new local server racks

  Lidl brings server racks to its Finnish stores in a bid to improve connectivity and introduce new services to its customers

• May 20, 2020 20 May'20

  Coronavirus: Pandemic spurs QR code app upgrade at PayPal

  PayPal introduces QR code payment functionality to its mobile app to support social distancing

• May 18, 2020 18 May'20

  Swedish mining firm LKAB revamps data backup setup to support downtime avoidance goals

  State-owned Swedish mining company LKAB scooped the prize for Best Data Security and Data Protection Project at the Best of VMworld 2019 Europe User Awards. Here we run through what the project involved

• May 15, 2020 15 May'20

  Sweden’s Preem puts automation to the test

  Preem is automating software testing as part of a wider plan that includes the introduction of robotic process automation software