Opinion

Opinion

Information management

• What will be trending in technology in 2023?

  This year will be a bit year for IT spending despite the prospects of recession, inflation and rising costs. But companies will focus more on technology that delivers measurable pay-offs  Continue Reading

• How ITV built a data team from scratch

  Clemence Burnichon, director of data innovation at ITV, describes how the broadcaster has built a data management and analytics team  Continue Reading

• Protecting children as they spend years in virtual worlds

  To protect children online, we must now focus on pre-emptive and robust regulation around immersive technologies  Continue Reading

• Why robots will make work more human

  Smart technology should be about making people’s lives easier, freeing them up for judgement-based tasks and giving them the data and information they need for smart decision-making  Continue Reading

• How government can capitalise on a revolution in data sharing

  Alison Pritchard, deputy national statistician at the Office for National Statistics, says the new government Integrated Data Service enables tackling questions that we don’t yet know we need to answer  Continue Reading

• Data-driven decision making will fail – and here is why

  Marc Warner, CEO at Faculty, contends that corporate organisations need to go through a cycle similar to the development of scientific thought – from divination, via data deluge to theoretical understanding  Continue Reading

• The rise and risks of sovereign data strategies

  Data and analytics leaders need to understand what is happening now to mitigate risk and exploit data-driven opportunities  Continue Reading

• Artificial intelligence in the workplace

  When AI systems are used, there is an obligation to consider how they might affect fairness, accountability and transparency in the workplace  Continue Reading

• Data-driven government needs practical steps

  We should build data platforms for government with the same techniques used in creating anything digital, argues Jim Stamp, head of data at Made Tech  Continue Reading

• ODI: Smart data promise could founder against paywalls

  The Open Data Institute’s Mahlet Zimeta examines the government’s smart data plan, which could boost competition and empower the public, but needs to be set up to allow rapid creation of new markets without barriers  Continue Reading

• Data sharing: How can we make sure the UK is a world leader?

  The UK government risks missing out on the benefits and opportunities laid out in its National Data Strategy – and could lose international competitiveness as a result  Continue Reading

• Reimagining ethical digital technology

  With ever-increasing digitisation leading to greater dependence on a range of digital technologies, enterprises need to urgently look at how they can incorporate ethical and social considerations into the tech they develop  Continue Reading

• Germany – let’s stop debating data retention and start finding solutions

  Germany has the opportunity to set the democratic precedent for ending the collection and retention of everybody’s call details record and metadata in the EU. It is time find real and effective solutions to crime  Continue Reading

• Why the world needs tech standards for UN Sustainable Development Goals

  Chaesub Lee from the ITU argues that the world needs technology standards to address the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals  Continue Reading

• Data leaders need to overcome their fears and unlock their creativity

  Author and data management consultant Caroline Carruthers argues that data leaders need to tap into their creativity to make their analytical work pay off  Continue Reading

• Move with the times – in defence of WhatsApp in government

  Former minister and current member of the House of Lords argues that the UK government needs to move with the times and embrace new communications tools such as WhatsApp  Continue Reading

• Harnessing the promise of data from space services for a better Earth

  Mark Chang, an aerospace, defence and security expert at PA Consulting, looks at the actions that organisations need to take to harness the potential of space services data  Continue Reading

• How to leverage the artificial intelligence solar system

  With great excitement around artificial intelligence, organisations should be aware that for successful implementation, AI must be approached specifically and strategically, as part of the technology universe  Continue Reading

• Totting up a decade of ones and zeros at the ODI

  As the Open Data Institute turns 10, managing director Louise Burke reflects on its first decade and what comes next  Continue Reading

• Why CIOs must prioritise system integration in 2022

  System integration is a core part of operating enterprise systems. How can it be simplified?  Continue Reading

• How data sharing and collaboration can solve great challenges

  Daniel Hirst and Arjan Dhaliwal from Ordnance Survey argue for the value of data sharing, collaboration and data skills enhancement to address social, ecological economic problems  Continue Reading

• The complementary strengths of AI and human intelligence

  Kathy Peach, director at Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design, describes projects the organisation supports that explore the interaction between artificial and human intelligence  Continue Reading

• Why culture is critical for data integration

  For data integration to succeed, the business needs to foster a culture of data sharing and collaboration  Continue Reading

• Why data integration is a business and CIO opportunity

  With a focus an agile approach and continuous learning and improvement, data integration has proven integral to end-to-end digital transformation  Continue Reading

• Data integration remains essential for AI and machine learning

  As our artificial intelligence algorithms continue to struggle with metacognition and causal inference, it is essential that we feed them the right data  Continue Reading

• How digital-twin technology could revolutionise the healthcare industry

  Digital-twin technology is not new, but in many industries it is still regarded as novel and is often misunderstood  Continue Reading

• Harness data to make better business conversations

  Productive business conversations require a data culture underpinned by data literacy and balanced by humanistic values  Continue Reading

• Lessons from Lisbon: Reflections on a week at Web Summit

  Russ Shaw, founder and CEO of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates, assesses the key takeaways of Web Summit 2021  Continue Reading

• Watching me, watching you – challenging the rise of digital surveillance at work

  Unprecedented levels of digital monitoring at work is embedding a culture of surveillance, despite workers’ opposition to the practices, says Prospect Union  Continue Reading

• Reaching the data gold standard: dream or reality?

  The pandemic has forced businesses to adopt digital technology at a record pace but most organisations find themselves at the beginning of a long journey towards making the most of their data  Continue Reading

• Building better data foundations to make the most of AI

  The UK government's national artificial intelligence strategy relies on businesses putting in place the foundations for better use of data – EY research highlights the challenges ahead  Continue Reading

• UK AI strategy focused on economic growth, resilience and ethics

  Chris Eastham of law firm Fieldfisher looks at the government’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, and the merits of the 10-year plan and its approach  Continue Reading

• UK data plans aim to boost growth but will they isolate the UK from its international friends?

  The UK government has made strong statements about the nation’s post-Brexit data strategy but must be careful not to undermine its global credibility  Continue Reading

• Putting data at the heart of policymaking will accelerate London’s recovery

  A new initiative to encourage better data sharing between London’s private and public sectors can play an important role in recovering from the pandemic  Continue Reading

• Using geospatial data to unlock innovation in the property sector

  Louise Weale from Ordnance Survey argues that geospatial data is key to unlocking business innovation in the property sector  Continue Reading

• How CIOs can help their organisations accelerate digital transformation

  Companies need to win the trust of their customers to gather the data they need to transform their businesses  Continue Reading

• Why a data-driven world should consider an oath of ethics

  The Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the most widely known of Greek medical texts – and such an oath is needed in data science  Continue Reading

• Can we rely on AI?

  As artificial intelligence comes increasingly to bear on human lives, how ought we to address social and ethical concerns? Is a tighter symbiosis between human systems and AI systems the way forward?  Continue Reading

• Digital bootcamp initiative could kickstart new thinking about technology skills

  The government’s digital bootcamps initiative could help begin to shift the way we think about the roles of technology professionals  Continue Reading

• How to tackle intellectual property crime

  Crimes against intellectual property are big business for organised crime groups, commercial competitors and foreign states alike. In the first of a series of legal columns, David Cowan offers a practical approach  Continue Reading

• Employees must be given the right to disconnect

  As enterprises increasingly turn to workplace monitoring technologies and more of the workforce moves to remote or hybrid working, unions are campaigning for workers’ ‘right to disconnect’ and not engage in digitally enabled work after hours  Continue Reading

• Why the London Data Charter could be a foundation stone in the city’s recovery

  London First’s director of connectivity and competitiveness, David Lutton, explains why data is at the core of the capital’s recovery plan  Continue Reading

• Data-driven innovation needs trustworthy governance

  The pandemic has given us a glimpse of what data-driven technology can do for society – and we cannot go back to the status quo  Continue Reading

• Healthcare digitisation at point financial services was in 1990s

  For all the talk about digitised healthcare, the sector is only where banking was in the 1990s. How can it catch up? Can the Covid-19 pandemic crisis be a catalyst?  Continue Reading

• Let’s build on the innovation shown by UK tech during pandemic

  The UK’s technology sector has innovated and shown leadership through the Covid-19 crisis, particularly with developments in AI. It is now time to maintain and build on that progress, so the UK remains a global force in tech innovation  Continue Reading

• Data has never been more important for London

  As London looks to 2021 and a hoped-for recovery after Covid-19, responsible data sharing and data-driven decision-making become ever more important to the future for all the capital’s businesses  Continue Reading

• Love (and impact sourcing) in the time of Covid

  Amanda Lewis, a lawyer specialising in IT outsourcing, describes the diversity and inclusion work of Digital Divide Data  Continue Reading

• What will it take for humanity to fully understand tech?

  The failure of the coronavirus contact-tracing system, due to limits set by an old Excel format, demonstrates a failure of technology to cope with human reliance  Continue Reading

• Gartner: Balance safety, privacy and productivity when employees return to the workplace

  Organisations may decide that data collection can help keep employees safe in a Covid-secure workplace – but employers must consider all the privacy and productivity implications  Continue Reading

• The new age of supply chains post-Covid

  Supply chain managers have been predicting the future for years. Now manufacturers are relying on insights to inform their decision-making  Continue Reading

• Data institutions play critical role in solving global social problems

  Nigel Shadbolt, co-founder of the Open Data Institute, argues that a new breed of data institutions have a key role to play in unlocking the social and economic value of data  Continue Reading

• How to build a smart city from the ruins of Covid-19

  The London Data Commission is working to open up data about the capital to help regeneration and growth post-pandemic  Continue Reading

• Taking back control of government data mustn’t leave the public in the dark

  Boris Johnson has quietly transferred control over government data to Number 10, without explaining why. The public deserves more involvement in how their personal data is being used, says Labour  Continue Reading

• How Schrems II will impact data sharing between the UK and the US

  At the end of this year, the UK will no longer be subject to the EU’s treaties, opening the way for it and the US to finalise a new trade relationship. Could the UK leave EU data protection standards behind?  Continue Reading

• Building trust in the future of London’s data

  Sharing data by default could turbocharge London’s potential for radical improvements across the ecosystem, according to London First’s director of connectivity and competitiveness, David Lutton  Continue Reading

• Is our drinking data-driven?

  Caroline Carruthers, CEO of Carruthers and Jackson, cogitates on the balance between gut and data in making personal risk decisions, ahead of a CDO summer school  Continue Reading

• The pandemic has made UK government rethink its relationship with data

  Data has been essential to fighting the coronavirus outbreak, and the forthcoming National Data Strategy promises to place data at the heart of the UK's economic recovery  Continue Reading

• Is data interoperability the key to unlocking IoT value?

  Much of the hype around the internet of things focuses on smart devices, but the best IoT initiatives will be those led by business need and data  Continue Reading

• What women can do for data and what data can do for women

  For her work during wartime, Florence Nightingale is remembered as a founding giant of British statistics. Those who follow in her footsteps are using data to tackle the greatest health challenge of our time  Continue Reading

• Why UK needs independent oversight body for contact-tracing app

  The public needs and deserves clarity, and not just assurances, over the UK’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app  Continue Reading

• Too many data sources and too little consistency

  One of the biggest concerns that businesses have about their data is its quality, and quality of data is a governance issue  Continue Reading

• The importance of data accuracy in the fight against Covid-19

  With the right data, individuals and organisations can make the most informed decisions to keep people safer through the coronavirus pandemic and restart the economy at the right time and place  Continue Reading

• Coronavirus and privacy – finding the middle ground

  Data collection has a role to play in fighting the deadly Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, but governments need to be accountable for how it is used  Continue Reading

• Our data is making us ‘richer’ – even if it’s the tech companies getting rich

  How much do we value our personal data, and how does that compare to the value we think we get from companies like Facebook and Google exploiting that data?  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Optimise data-centric strategies with AI

  The belief that effective perimeter security is the best way to protect data is a fallacy that is being repeatedly exposed. We must recognise the need for a data-centric security model to protect data from both internal and external threats, but ...  Continue Reading

• Security Think Tank: Focus on metrics to manage risk

  How can security professionals help their organisations move from traditional governance, risk and compliance to integrated risk management that integrates risk activities from across an organisation to enable better strategic decision making?  Continue Reading

• If data really is the new oil, the raw materials need a different economic approach

  The International Monetary Fund is the latest to say that data is the new oil – the change agent in the economy – but striking it rich is a complicated matter  Continue Reading

• Regulators globally are shaping up to rein in Facebook

  We need to move fast and fix Facebook, before it breaks us  Continue Reading

• Are there any positives from the first year of GDPR?

  A year has passed since the new EU data protection law came into force. What have we learned in that time that can help organisations deliver benefits from the regulation?  Continue Reading

• The winter of AI discontent – thoughts on trends in tech ethics

  All organisations need to consider the ethics of their technology use, especially as artificial intelligence tools become more mainstream  Continue Reading

• Building Britain’s national digital twin

  The tech sector and wider industry are coming together to create a “digital twin” of Britain to help improve the nation’s physical infrastructure – and you can help  Continue Reading

• Facebook’s high-stakes privacy gamble goes to Dublin court

  A high-wire gamble with billions in compensation at stake for European internet users – part of a complex case between Facebook and the Irish information commissioner – hides challenge to the unlawfulness of US state internet surveillance  Continue Reading

• Putting the UK at the forefront of ethics and innovation in AI and data

  The announcement of high-profile members of the UK's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation is another step for the government's commitment to be a global leader in AI, says secretary of state  Continue Reading

• UK winners and losers in digital tech

  The UK's retail and telecoms companies are among the best in the world at digital technology, but a survey of digital leaders shows there is still room for improvement for many UK firms  Continue Reading

• Why the government should rethink the UK’s surveillance laws

  The European Court of Human Rights has made clear that the Snoopers’ Charter is an unlawful violation of people’s rights and freedoms  Continue Reading

• How design thinking will affect today’s analysts

  A user research manager at Tableau Software explains the import of an eye-tracking survey, focused on understanding how humans consume dashboards  Continue Reading

• AI: Black boxes and the boardroom

  Computers can and do make mistakes and AI is only as good its training so relying purely on machine intelligence to make critical decisions is risky  Continue Reading

• Beyond GDPR: ePrivacy could have an even greater impact on mobile

  From how we monitor air pollution and manage our public transport systems, to how we enable connected cars and the next generation of 5G mobile services, the forthcoming ePR could have a lasting impact on European society  Continue Reading

• Digital transformation is just business change

  Don't always start with the technology if you're driving transformation, but always start with the business  Continue Reading

• Big data skills shortages – and how to work around them

  Businesses are finding it hard to recruit enough people with big data and analytics skills, but for CIOs there are alternative strategies to consider  Continue Reading

• Ethics and tech – a double-edged sword

  Just because a business activity is legal doesn’t mean it will be acceptable to customers, as the ethical debates in tech are proving  Continue Reading

• Hacking the internet of things just got easier – it’s time to look at your security

  Are you taking security for internet-connected devices seriously enough?  Continue Reading

• Blockchain: Paving the way for broad adoption

  The foundations have been laid for organisations to begin standardising on the technology, talent and platforms that will drive future blockchain initiatives  Continue Reading

• Driving digitisation: open standards in process automation

  Organisations often can’t take advantage of advances in digital technology due to the lack of interoperability in their IT systems in different facilities, but open standards promise a way forward  Continue Reading

• How AI is disrupting the role of call centres and call centre staff

  Artificial intelligence could eliminate many white-collar jobs in coming decades. Its effects are already being felt in the call centre industry, but there is still no substitute for the human touch  Continue Reading

• Robots will transform, not replace, human work

  Claims that robots will steal our jobs are commonplace – but humans will find themselves working side by side with robots, rather than being replaced by them  Continue Reading

• The problem of smart cities and connectivity in the UK

  Only once leaders develop a framework for local economic and societal development can the “smart city” buzz can evolve into “intelligent communities”  Continue Reading

• How the Consumer Rights Act will affect the digital industry

  Consumer legislation has been updated to take into account the unique nature of digital content – but what does it mean for technology suppliers?  Continue Reading

• Three things you may not know that DNS data can tell you

  Big data tools can help network administrators gather new insights into security and performance from DNS data  Continue Reading

• The digital CIO: ‘Fear of Google’ and the ethics of digital business

  Could the big digital players be using their dominance by exerting unfair competition?  Continue Reading

• Living with Google Glass – not quite useful enough to overcome the dork-factor

  Businesses will use Google Glass first, says Simon Dring after spending a few days living with the technology.  Continue Reading

• Intel x86 and IBM Power CPUs: Which, when, why?

  There are only three processors left in the market for mission-critical applications. Which should you chose ?  Continue Reading

• The data fragmentation challenge

  Few organisations have policies to guide where data should and should not be stored. The result: data fragmentation  Continue Reading

• Whiteboard it – the power of graph databases

  Graph databases map relationships between entities in a network. They won’t replace conventional relational databases, but for harnessing the value of interconnectedness they mark a breakthrough  Continue Reading

• The challenges of information governance in our increasingly litigious age

  Formulating the right enterprise-wide information governance policies is essential in heading off potential legal and compliance costs  Continue Reading