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Technology startups

• December 19, 2023 19 Dec'23

  Top 10 Nordic stories of 2023

  Known for its advances in digital technology, the Nordic region continues to pioneer the startup sector while making serious waves in Quantum computing and artificial intelligence

• December 01, 2023 01 Dec'23

  Lords committee urges caution on UK use of autonomous weapons

  UK government must ensure proper democratic oversight of its development and use of AI-powered weapon systems, says Lords committee

• November 22, 2023 22 Nov'23

  Chancellor offers spending boost for IT buyers alongside AI and quantum investments

  In his Autumn Statement, chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a range of measures intended to boost investment in innovation and technology

• November 22, 2023 22 Nov'23

  World Wide Fund for Nature signs IT deal with Atos

  Global conservation organisation will harness latest technologies to improve ability to predict risks to natural environment

• November 09, 2023 09 Nov'23

  UK government does not see need for specific AI legislation

  The UK government does not currently see the need for new artificial intelligence legislation, as many regulators are already dealing effectively with AI-related harms

• November 08, 2023 08 Nov'23

  AI Summit not the place for human rights, says French finance minister

  Despite commitments at the UK’s AI Safety Summit to respect and protect human rights, the French finance minister said it was not the right forum to discuss signatories' human rights records

• November 07, 2023 07 Nov'23

  AI Safety Summit review

  Computer Weekly takes stock of the UK government’s AI Safety Summit and the differing perspectives around its success

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  AI Safety Summit: Day one review

  Computer Weekly breaks down what happened during the first day of the UK government’s AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park

• November 02, 2023 02 Nov'23

  Pension changes set to boost UK tech

  UK technology and science startups could benefit from changes to UK pension funds

• November 01, 2023 01 Nov'23

  AI Summit: 28 governments and EU agree to safe AI development

  In a joint communique at the UK government’s AI Safety Summit, all participating governments agreed to deepen their cooperation around the risks associated with artificial intelligence

• October 31, 2023 31 Oct'23

  Over a quarter of UK adults use buy now, pay later fintechs

  Latest research from UK financial services regulator shows BNPL more likely to be used by people experiencing financial difficulty

• October 27, 2023 27 Oct'23

  ‘Egregious’ to link passport data with facial recognition systems

  The Scottish biometrics watchdog has spoken out against the UK policing minister’s plans to integrate passport data with police facial recognition systems

• October 26, 2023 26 Oct'23

  Sunak sets scene for upcoming AI Safety Summit

  Prime minister Rishi Sunak has outlined how the UK will approach making AI safe, but experts say there is still too big a focus on catastrophic but speculative risks over real harms the technology is already causing

• October 17, 2023 17 Oct'23

  Five Eyes issues five tips on thwarting nation state threats

  Intelligence chiefs from the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US have published guidance on building resilience against nation state cyber threats

• October 13, 2023 13 Oct'23

  UK startups pilot semiconductor funding

  ChipStart is a new initiative from the UK government to help build out the National Semiconductor Strategy by supporting startups

• October 04, 2023 04 Oct'23

  Visa to invest $100m in generative AI startups

  Payments giant investing in startups that focus on applying generative AI to commerce and payments

• October 03, 2023 03 Oct'23

  Public sector needs systemic reform of capacity to innovate

  Improving the public sector’s capacity to innovate requires a culture of innovation underpinned by people, skills and new ways of working with the private sector

• September 28, 2023 28 Sep'23

  US lawmakers write to AI firms about ‘gruelling’ work conditions

  Lawmakers have written to nine tech companies – including Amazon, Google and Microsoft – about the working conditions of those they employ to train and maintain their artificial intelligence systems, giving them until 11 October 2023 to respond

• September 22, 2023 22 Sep'23

  Lords begin inquiry into large language models

  Lords will examine the risks and opportunities of large language models and look at how government can effectively manage them in the coming years

• September 15, 2023 15 Sep'23

  Number of UK contactless payments rose by 30% last year

  UK consumers are increasingly making contactless payments, with the number of payments using the technology up 30% last year

• September 12, 2023 12 Sep'23

  European fintech investment plummets, but more sustainable future lies ahead

  Investment in European fintechs has seen a dramatic drop, but a more sustainable sector will result from investment discipline

• September 07, 2023 07 Sep'23

  Government AI taskforce appoints new advisory board members

  An initial progress report published by the Taskforce provides detail on new appointments to its external advisory board as well as rebrand to focus on “frontier” artificial intelligence

• September 06, 2023 06 Sep'23

  Saudi Arabian fintech gets Mastercard boost

  Saudi-based fintechs could soon benefit from Mastercard's extensive payments network

• August 31, 2023 31 Aug'23

  Home Office and MoD seeking new facial-recognition tech

  The UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator is running a ‘market exploration’ exercise on behalf of the Home Office to identify new facial-recognition capabilities for security and policing bodies in the UK

• August 31, 2023 31 Aug'23

  MPs say UK at real risk of falling behind on AI regulation

  MPs in charge of scrutinising the UK government’s proposals for regulating artificial intelligence have warned that time is running out for the introduction of new AI legislation before 2025

• August 18, 2023 18 Aug'23

  Europe’s fastest supercomputer trains large language models in Finland

  Much of the innovation in natural language processing comes from large enterprises in the US, resulting in proprietary technology with a bias towards English. One consortium in Finland decided to change the game

• August 18, 2023 18 Aug'23

  BSI launches sustainability-focused startup accelerator

  Startups selected to participate in the BSI and Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership’s joint sustainability startup accelerator are working in a diverse range of areas and using a variety of technologies to positively affect society

• August 16, 2023 16 Aug'23

  Accenture’s Brussels AI lab to focus on European public sector and health

  Accenture will use its Brussels AI lab to test AI and generative AI's application in the European public sector

• August 15, 2023 15 Aug'23

  TSB and Fintech Scotland lab open for applications

  High street bank opens applications to its latest fintech programme in partnership with Fintech Scotland

• August 03, 2023 03 Aug'23

  Plexal takes on new cohort for cyber security leadership scheme

  Six more cyber security startup founders have been selected to take part in Plexal’s latest Cyber Runway Ignite programme, which is designed to help them develop their leadership skills

• July 25, 2023 25 Jul'23

  Mayor of London announces startup funding

  Seven technology startups working on the Mayor of London’s Poverty Prevention Challenge will receive up to £50,000 each to further develop their proposals, designed to help alleviate the cost-of-living crisis for the capital’s most vulnerable

• July 18, 2023 18 Jul'23

  Traditional IT outsourcing rockets as Europe’s businesses cut costs

  Overall spending on IT services is up in European countries despite continued reduction in investments in cloud-based contracts

• July 13, 2023 13 Jul'23

  Civil society groups call on EU to put human rights at centre of AI Act

  Dozens of civil society groups are calling on EU institutions to prioritise people and human rights in AI legislation as secretive negotiations begin

• July 12, 2023 12 Jul'23

  Ofcom’s online safety preparedness efforts hobbled by government

  Despite Ofcom’s progress so far, UK government changes to the scope and timetable of the Online Safety Bill are hobbling the ability of the regulator to successfully prepare for the new regime

• July 11, 2023 11 Jul'23

  EU formally grants data adequacy to US

  The European Commission has formally granted the US data adequacy, allowing companies and organisations to freely transfer personal data across the Atlantic via the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. But privacy activist Max Schrems has already committed...

• July 04, 2023 04 Jul'23

  Scotland’s Techscaler programme joins forces with CivTech

  The partnership between the scaler programme and the innovation accelerator means CivTech alumni companies will be offered Techscaler membership and gain access to its technology hubs, education initiatives and support

• June 28, 2023 28 Jun'23

  Scottish government tech accelerator opens latest funding round

  The Scottish government’s CivTech accelerator is seeking technology businesses to help develop new tools to improve public services, as well as to address pressing social and environmental issues

• June 22, 2023 22 Jun'23

  Lloyds Bank to open tech centre in India

  UK bank taps into Hyderabad tech ecosystem by opening a tech centre focused on improving digital experiences for customers

• June 19, 2023 19 Jun'23

  Visa takeover means economic turmoil won’t slow Tink’s progress

  Tink is one of the pioneers of the open banking sector, and under Visa’s light-touch ownership is continuing to think like a startup

• June 14, 2023 14 Jun'23

  Banks still investing heavily in legacy payments systems

  Banks are missing out on additional revenues through payment services because they are stuck with inflexible legacy payments systems.

• June 13, 2023 13 Jun'23

  GoCardless cuts jobs and wants its ‘startup spirit’ back

  Payments fintech unicorn GoCardless will cut its workforce in the UK as part of a 15% reduction in its global workforce

• June 12, 2023 12 Jun'23

  Annual spend on regtech to reach more than £200bn by 2028

  Global corporates will spend over $200bn in 2028 as the technology is used to help organisations in more industries comply with complex regulations.

• June 08, 2023 08 Jun'23

  CDEI publishes portfolio of AI assurance techniques

  The UK’s Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation has published a variety of case studies to show how different assurance techniques can build and maintain trust in artificial intelligence systems

• June 08, 2023 08 Jun'23

  Government and industry figures meet to discuss AI regulation

  Tech industry figures are broadly supportive of the need for artificial intelligence to be regulated, but despite growing consensus, there is still disagreement over what effective AI regulation looks like

• June 07, 2023 07 Jun'23

  Open banking regulator sets out next steps

  Plans for ongoing evolution of the UK open banking sector have been set out by regulator in bid to grow the open banking sector in a ‘safe, scalable and economically sustainable way’

• June 06, 2023 06 Jun'23

  TechUK publishes ‘UK tech plan’ for next government

  Technology businesses are calling on UK politicians to devise a ‘comprehensive, forward-thinking strategy’ to realise the benefits of technology ahead of the next general election

• June 05, 2023 05 Jun'23

  UK has time limit on ensuring cryptocurrency regulatory leadership, says Parliamentary report

  Parliamentary report makes 53 recommendations to the government's plans to regulate cryptocurrency

• June 01, 2023 01 Jun'23

  HSBC explores quantum computing for finance sector

  UK banking giant works with quantum computing specialist to explore the technology’s potential in the finance sector

• May 24, 2023 24 May'23

  Two-thirds of all 2022 breaches resulted from spear phishing

  Research by Barracuda Networks has found that, despite the low volume of spear-phishing attempts, the attacks are highly successful and have major consequences

• May 24, 2023 24 May'23

  JPMorgan’s UK digital retail bank adds more than a million customers in a year

  The app-based bank launched in the UK by US giant JPMorgan has added one million customers in the past 12 months