News

Technology startups

• March 27, 2024 27 Mar'24

  UK regional science and tech startups grew in 2023

  Globally there is still a post-pandemic funding slump, but UK startups in regions such as Wales and Yorkshire grew private sector investment in 2023

• March 22, 2024 22 Mar'24

  Fujitsu won’t sign any new business in Ireland

  Fujitsu is closing down its Irish business after a review of the operation’s current performance and market outlook

• March 22, 2024 22 Mar'24

  Open Data Institute launches digital policy manifesto

  The Open Data Institute has launched a policy manifesto ahead of the UK general election that outlines policies and issues it believes must be part of the political discussion around digital and data

• March 18, 2024 18 Mar'24

  Spring Budget risks funding legally questionable police tech

  Open legal questions around how UK police are using facial recognition and cloud technology could undermine the £230m investment committed in the Spring Budget to “time and money-saving technology” for police

• March 12, 2024 12 Mar'24

  Industry partnerships and data key to better public services

  Using public-private partnerships and improving the use of data are key to improving public services and the government’s ‘science and technology superpower’ ambitions, says digital secretary Michelle Donelan

• March 04, 2024 04 Mar'24

  Jeremy Hunt to deliver tech-laden Spring Budget

  The chancellor’s 2024 Budget will cover a £800m funding package to boost public sector productivity through technology, with cash for police tech, the justice system transformation programme and the NHS

• March 01, 2024 01 Mar'24

  Scottish government opens Techscaler hub in Silicon Valley

  The Scottish Techscaler programme is piloting its first overseas hub, which will have space for 12 startups wanting to grow their businesses

• February 21, 2024 21 Feb'24

  Co-op signs TCS deal for cloud-first push

  The Co-operative Group has contracted IT service provider Tata Consultancy Services to support its move to a cloud-first IT environment

• February 07, 2024 07 Feb'24

  Government reaffirms commitment to hold off on AI laws

  The UK government reaffirming its commitment hold off on artificial intelligence legislation has been received positively by industry for balancing innovation and safety

• February 06, 2024 06 Feb'24

  UK government responds to AI whitepaper consultation

  The UK government is considering introducing binding legal requirements for companies developing the most powerful AI systems, and has outlined a range of funding to realise the ambitions of its ‘pro-innovation’ framework for artificial intelligence

• January 29, 2024 29 Jan'24

  Proposed changes to investment thresholds highlights lack of funding diversity

  The government is introducing a law to raise the income threshold for potential angel investors, potentially making it harder for people from underrepresented groups to fund startups

• January 26, 2024 26 Jan'24

  GenAI tools ‘could not exist’ if firms are made to pay copyright

  AI firm Anthropic hits out at copyright lawsuit filed by music publishers, claiming the content ingested into its models falls under ‘fair use’ and that any licensing regime would be too complex and costly

• January 26, 2024 26 Jan'24

  UK government consults on age verification tech in alcohol sales

  The government has said it wants to allow the use of digital identities and various age-verification technologies in alcohol sales

• January 17, 2024 17 Jan'24

  Michelle Donelan aims high on tech innovation growth

  The science, innovation and technology secretary wants the UK to match US VC investment as a proportion of GDP

• December 19, 2023 19 Dec'23

  Digital Ethics Summit 2023: The year in AI

  At trade association TechUK’s seventh annual Digital Ethics Summit, public officials, industry figures and civil society groups met to discuss the state of AI regulation and the direction of travel set for 2024

• 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...