Business intelligence and analytics

Oracle and CBI: companies cautious, selective in 2023 IT, business investment

Oracle and the CBI are seeing much the same picture of cautious technology investment of UK businesses in 2023, in the context of long Covid and the energy price inflation crisis Continue Reading

How India is driving the use of open government data

India’s Open Government Data platform has paved the way for new applications and services, but concerns around data quality and privacy remain Continue Reading

Qlik-Talend proposed acquisition indicates marriage broker role for private equity?

The acquisition of France-based data integration supplier Talend by Sweden-founded data visualisation firm Qlik has to be interesting at an intra-European market level. Non-US IT suppliers are thin ... Continue Reading

Ellison-founded sailing league SailGP plumps for Oracle NetSuite to expand

SailGP, a sailing racing league co-founded by Oracle chairman and CTO Larry Ellison, has picked Oracle NetSuite to expand its business Continue Reading

Companies put commercial gain ahead of sustainability, says Software AG research

The vast majority of a surveyed tranche of UK and other western companies are prioritising commercial goals over sustainability, according to research from Software AG Continue Reading

NHS data platform costing £480m to supersede Covid-19 data store underway

NHS England has invited suppliers to tender for a data platform that will supersede the Covid-19 data store controversial for the involvement of data analytics firm Palantir Continue Reading

Belfast Harbour sails out with Oracle cloud applications

Belfast Harbour spies a more efficient and flexible future on the horizon as it sets sail with Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP Continue Reading

St Helens Council plumps for Unit4 ERP to forward automation plans

St Helens Borough Council has replaced an in-house system with Unit4 and Proactis enterprise applications technologies to advance its digital transformation plans Continue Reading

Diversity and inclusion figures high in New Year Honours List 2023

The New Year Honours List 2023 hailed those in the technology community who promote diversity and inclusion 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

Top 10 Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcasts of 2022

The team began with a sombre episode about Ukraine and went on to tackle the more familiar topics of diversity, datacentre sustainability and data. New for 22: Cliff Saran’s interviews with IT thought leaders Continue Reading

CDO interview: Barry Panayi, chief data and insight officer, John Lewis Partnership

Data science and analytics is an increasingly important function across the John Lewis Partnership, covering its retail, grocery and financial services brands Continue Reading

Top 10 information management stories of 2022

Data for good is a theme of the information management stories of 2022 selected here. From tracking space junk, through medical kits for Ukraine, to professionalising data science to benefit society Continue Reading

Top 10 business applications stories of 2022

As the Covid crisis gave way to the energy crisis and economic turmoil, enterprise software suppliers have urged customers to step up modernisation and evince more empathy for employees Continue Reading

NHS-funded AI diagnosis tool benefits stroke patients

NHS England hails Brainomix stroke diagnosis tool for a tripling of the number of patients recovering to perform daily activities from 16% to 48% Continue Reading

The importance of improving data quality at source

Data replication crises have struck government and scientific data quality efforts. A lack of scrutiny over data being used at source has led to oversights from national statistics to financial auditing Continue Reading

Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2022 Continue Reading

Top 10 technology startup stories of 2022

Here are Computer Weekly’s top 10 technology startup stories of 2022 Continue Reading

Complaints that NCA failed in duty of candour over EncroChat warrants ‘incredible’, court hears

NCA lawyers argue that a decision by an NCA intelligence officer to disclose notes of a key meeting after two-and-a-half years boosts her credibility as a witness Continue Reading

Top 10 India IT stories of 2022

We recap the top 10 stories in India, including the digitisation work undertaken by global firms in the country and the progress made by local enterprises in harnessing technology Continue Reading

NCA ‘wrong-footed’ defence lawyers after agreeing to take expert evidence on EncroChat ‘as read’

The National Crime Agency argued at the Investigatory Powers Tribunal that expert evidence it agreed to ‘take as read’ is limited, flawed and often based on an incorrect interpretation of the law Continue Reading

Mitiga researchers disclose AWS Elastic IP hijacking vulnerability

Cloud incident response supplier Mitiga has said a new AWS feature has led to a vulnerability that could allow hackers to access and steal Elastic IP addresses and gain control over AWS accounts Continue Reading

Digital Economy Council: UK tech sector number one in Europe

Despite the tumultuous economic landscape, the UK has maintained its spot as having the number one tech sector in Europe, with its impressive investment figures Continue Reading

Government shuts ‘Help to Grow’ doorway for SMEs

The government’s Help to Grow: Digital scheme, which aimed to help small businesses access productivity-enhancing software, has been closed, to the disappointment of TechUK Continue Reading

Digital Ethics Summit: Who benefits from new technology?

Experts at the 2022 Digital Ethics Summit say expedited development cycles and obviously over-hyped PR material, in tandem with the public’s near-total exclusion from conversations around technology, is creating distrust towards the tech sector Continue Reading

Private health provider data could be shared with NHS England

Plans are advancing to create a single source of healthcare data in England combining both private providers and the NHS to avoid a repeat of the Ian Paterson scandal Continue Reading

Microsoft and London Stock Exchange agree £2.3bn 10-year cloud deal

The London Stock Exchange is building on its acquisition of financial data provider Refinitiv through a deal with Microsoft Continue Reading

Data leaders bewail employee data illiteracy

Report from data consultancy Carruthers and Jackson finds a significant majority of data function leaders consider their organisations’ employees lack adequate data literacy Continue Reading

AI experts question tech industry’s ethical commitments

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the proliferation of ethical frameworks has done little to change how artificial intelligence is developed – we look at the challenges. We examine the future of the UK semiconductor sector as the government launches a review. And we hear how NatWest has put data at the heart of customer strategy. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Cloud-based fingerprint system for UK police nears completion

Police Digital Service announces that a new cloud-based fingerprint system developed under its Transforming Forensics programme is nearly complete, but data protection concerns around the use of US-based cloud providers remain Continue Reading

Can real-time data visualisation deliver trust and opportunity?

More than ever, decision-makers are relying on data to plot a path through the economic turmoil. We explore where real-time data fits Continue Reading

Embedded analytics can be illuminating

In the first part of our buyer’s guide to data visualisation, we look at how analytics suppliers are increasingly offering embedded analytics – based inside applications, often real-time, and driven by APIs – as a way to get to the next level of business intelligence. Continue Reading

Is Twitter still safe, and should you stop using the platform?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, with a litany of security and compliance issues caused by Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, we ask if it’s still safe for enterprises. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the technologies and best practices behind data visualisation. And we look at the emerging devices for accessing the metaverse. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Post Office boosted its ‘coffers’ as Horizon system threw up unexplained shortfalls, inquiry told

The Post Office was ‘keen’ to make subpostmasters cover unexplained accounting shortfall as its business struggled, public inquiry hears Continue Reading

Microsoft 365 banned in German schools over privacy concerns

German schools cannot legally use Microsoft Office 365 over lack of clarity about how data is collected, shared and used, as well as the potential for unlawful transfer of European citizens’ personal data to the US Continue Reading

Parity AI talks about auditing recruitment algorithms for bias

Algorithmic auditing firm Parity speaks to Computer Weekly about the process of auditing artificial intelligence for bias, following its partnership with AI-powered recruitment platform Beamery Continue Reading

‘Legal but harmful’ clause dropped from Online Safety Bill

Online Safety Bill’s ‘legal but harmful’ provision will be dropped by the UK government in favour of public risk assessments, tools to help users control the content they consume, and new criminal offences around self-harm Continue Reading

How to stop data retention from killing the planet

In this week’s Computer Weekly, there’s a hidden environmental cost to the vast volumes of data being generated – we examine what can be done to address it. We talk to the CISO of consumer reviews site Trustpilot, about building trust in IT security. And we look at what IT leaders can do if they inherit a toxic team environment. Read the issue now. 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

UKISUG 2022: S/4 skills deficit worsens but SAP Rise use increases

On the opening day of its 2022 conference, the UK and Ireland SAP User Group unveils member research showing concerns that an S/4 Hana skills deficit appears worse than it was 12 months ago Continue Reading

Getting data analytics right

Organisations will need to marry the art and science of data analytics to drive innovation in their analytics initiatives, according to Gartner Continue Reading

Meta faces UK lawsuit over surveillance business model

The High Court case against Meta could set a precedent for millions of UK users to object to their personal data being collected and processed for advertising purposes Continue Reading

Oracle’s Steve Miranda on the value of turning inside out

In a Q&A with Computer Weekly at Oracle Open World, applications head Steve Miranda discussed the supplier’s opening out and its intensification of an industry cloud approach, signally with healthcare Continue Reading

AI accountability held back by ‘audit-washing’ practices

Algorithmic auditing will be useless in holding artificial intelligence accountable until there are common standards, approaches and goals that scrutinise systems at each stage of development and deployment, says think-tank Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Artificial intelligence in APAC

Artificial intelligence is becoming more commonplace across business. In this handbook, focused on the adoption of the technology in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at what still stands in its way, Dell’s deep learning model, how AI can realise its potential in healthcare, and the pros and cons of using AI and ML applications in the cloud. Continue Reading

AI adopted without due consideration for workers, MPs told

MPs have been warned that the rapid roll-out of artificial intelligence in workplaces has changed UK enterprises’ management practices so much that current employment law is no longer fit for purpose Continue Reading

How to get structure from unstructured data

We look at how to gain structure from unstructured data, via AI/ML analytics to create new records, selecting object data via SQL and storing unstructured files in NoSQL formats Continue Reading

Applying blockchain, Kafka and MongoDB in green energy trading

Energy trading platform Powerledger has leveraged the power of blockchain, Kafka and MongoDB to make its mark in renewable energy trading in Australia Continue Reading

SAP Build launched at TechEd to appeal to business user developers

SAP is launching a low-code platform, SAP Build, aimed squarely at line of business users, at its TechEd conference in Las Vegas. Build is part of the supplier’s Business Technology Platform Continue Reading

How to protect against ransomware attacks

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how to prepare for and protect against ransomware, and what to do if you’re hit by an attack. We gauge industry reaction to Ofcom’s plan to investigate the big three cloud providers. And we find out how travel giant TUI is implementing self-service analytics. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Siemens aims to pioneer industrial metaverse usage

German engineering giant is exploring industrial metaverse use cases, and the Biosphere Foundation in Devon is proving out Siemens technology Continue Reading

Scrutinising AI requires holistic, end-to-end system audits

Understanding the full impacts of artificial intelligence requires organisations to conduct end-to-end social and technical audits of their systems, but the process comes with a number of challenges Continue Reading

CW Benelux: Heineken finds the right brew for digital

Heineken’s data management director has revealed some of the ways the company is using information technology to transform digitally. Also read how a PhD student in the Netherlands is detecting hidden messages on the internet by exploring the practice of steganography. Continue Reading

ODI fuel poverty survey shows young adults most hard up

A fuel poverty data report and index from the Open Data Institute shows that young adults and people in multi-occupied accommodation are most at risk Continue Reading

How organisations can right-size their data footprint

More data is not always better, says Gartner, which is calling for organisations to focus on metadata and synthetic data to reduce their data liability and address privacy challenges Continue Reading

How the US-China chip war will affect IT leaders

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the US ramps up semiconductor sanctions on China, we examine the ramifications across the tech sector. Cyber criminals are turning to new forms of encryption – we talk to the Dutch researchers trying to catch them. And we look at what cloud providers need to do to improve customer experience. Read the issue now. 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

Public sector IT projects need ethical data practices from start

Data ethics needs to be integrated into public sector IT projects from the very start, and considered throughout every stage of the process, to be effective Continue Reading

Candidate experience evolves to engender more emotional engagement

Despite the cost-of-living crisis, employment is high and companies need to create a compelling candidate experience when competition is strong and ‘ghosting’ is common Continue Reading

How Globe is driving data analytics with Snowflake

The largest telco in the Philippines has moved its on-premise data warehouse to Snowflake to address scalability challenges and improve customer experience 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

Computer simulation at work for the future of nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion works, just not yet well enough. Learn how software simulations running on modern supercomputers and data science are lighting up possible paths forward Continue Reading

CIO interview: Marc Jennings, CIO of analytics and AI, TUI

The international travel group is overhauling its data stack and aims to provide self-service analytics to key employees across the organisation Continue Reading

Data Summit majors on ethics in data use, demonstrates diversity

The Data Lab’s Data Summit majored on the ethical use of data, and featured Scottish government minister Tom Arthur, science broadcaster Hannah Fry, and Nasa chief science data officer Kevin Murphy Continue Reading

Data Lab bolsters business execs data course in time with Data Summit

Course focuses on the leadership skills needed to design, resource and implement a data strategy that will enable organisational change Continue Reading

Scotland’s Data Lab CEO Brian Hills on its ambition to change lives

Brian Hills, chief executive of The Data Lab in Scotland, on why he thinks the organisation’s mission is less about data and more about changing lives by giving people career opportunities Continue Reading

How the pandemic accelerated tech adoption in hospitality

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how the hospitality sector is turning to technology to rebuild after it was devastated by the pandemic. Google’s cloud business is growing but remains well behind the market leaders – what does its future look like? And we look at the benefits of AIOps for storage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

AI experts question tech industry’s ethical commitments

The massive proliferation of ethical frameworks for artificial intelligence has done little to change how the technology is developed and deployed, with experts questioning the tech industry’s commitment to making it a positive social force Continue Reading

Top 50 women in UK tech, IR35 Truss fiasco – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

The team reflects on the announcement of the Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2022, the IR35 reforms being scrapped, then not, and Dreamforce & Oracle Cloud World in the US Continue Reading

ICO warns against using biometrics for ‘emotional analysis’

ICO warning highlights risk of ‘systemic bias’ and discrimination associated with organisations using biometric data and technologies for emotion analysis Continue Reading

When technology lets you sleep easy

Indian mattress supplier Duroflex has taken a leaf out of mattress design in its technology implementation to double its growth in an industry dominated by unorganised players Continue Reading

SAP Q3 2022: revenue up 15%, Ukraine war impact €250m

SAP has announced third-quarter 2022 revenue of more than €7.8bn, up 15% year on year, with cloud revenue at 42% Continue Reading

One in five tech workers subject to workplace surveillance

Digital surveillance is now a common feature of the UK’s post-pandemic economy, says Prospect Union, adding to growing calls for workers to be given a greater say over how technologies are deployed in the workplace Continue Reading

The Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2022

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal our annual list of the 50 Most Influential Women in UK Technology. We talk to the No.1 on the list, Flavilla Fongang, about how to improve diversity and inclusion in the sector. And we introduce our seven rising stars – the future female leaders of UK IT. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Digital Transformation Week Amsterdam: The growing divide between the haves and have-nots

The most successful companies carefully manage how data is taken in and processed – and they use tools to ensure they squeeze the most they can out of every bit of information Continue Reading

Improving finance and accounting software with AI

Artificial intelligence algorithms and datasets have potential value across many areas in finance and accounting, but usage isn’t yet widespread Continue Reading

HSBC chooses Oracle Exadata [email protected] service to underpin digital

Bank selects Oracle’s [email protected] service to upgrade and migrate some of its database systems as part of its digital transformation Continue Reading

Did Truss authorise ‘war risk’ provocation over Black Sea?

A UK Boeing RC-135W Rivet Joint spy plane was ordered to approach Russian territory in a Cold-War-style provocation just days after Liz Truss’s mini-budget collapsed Continue Reading

Efficiency to empathy: Customer experience in cost-of living crisis

Find out how businesses can shore up their CX strategy to support consumers struggling with the cost-of-living crisis Continue Reading

High data quality key to reducing supply chain disruption

What could be the role of data quality enhancement in reducing the supply chain disruption that has beset the UK economy because of Brexit, Covid, and war in Europe? Continue Reading

Parliamentary committee launches inquiry into AI governance

MPs will examine the impacts of artificial intelligence throughout the UK economy and how governance of the technology can be improved ahead of the government publishing its formal regulatory proposals Continue Reading

Oracle CloudWorld 2022: Ellison vaunts centrality of healthcare to mission

Oracle CTO Larry Ellison put the company’s healthcare initiatives front and centre of its vision during his keynote at Oracle CloudWorld 2022 in Las Vegas Continue Reading

Is object storage good for databases?

We look at object storage vs block access SAN storage and ask if object storage can be used for database workloads, or is it just good for bulk storage of analytics datasets? Continue Reading

Turing launches government-backed AI standards information hub

The Alan Turing Institute has launched the AI Standards Hub jointly with the British Standards Institution and the National Physical Laboratory, backed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Continue Reading

French Supreme Court rejects EncroChat verdict after lawyers question secrecy over hacking operation

France’s Supreme Court has sent a case back to the court of appeal after police failed to disclose technical details of EncroChat hacking operation Continue Reading

Public sector spend on IT climbed to £12.6bn in 2021

Public sector bodies IT spend went up 10% last year, but the majority of the money went to large IT suppliers with 89% of the total spend going to so-called ‘tech titans’, according to a report from Tussell Continue Reading

ODI food poverty study shows black families and North East suffering most

A food poverty data report from the Open Data Institute shows black families and the North East of England are suffering the most Continue Reading

EU rolling out measures for online safety and AI liability

The European Council has approved the passage of the Digital Services Act to protect people’s rights online, while the European Commission has announced proposals to help those negatively affected by artificial intelligence to claim compensation Continue Reading

Clickwork and labour exploitation in the digital economy

Often ignored or assumed to be work conducted by machines rather than people, Computer Weekly explores the hidden human impact of the ‘clickwork’ that underpins the global digital economy Continue Reading

How to design a data architecture for business success

To gain business value from data, enterprises need to get their data architecture right – and the right business leadership and culture is critical to that Continue Reading

Edge storage: What it is and the technologies it uses

Storage is moving from the datacentre to the edge. We define edge storage, look at the characteristics of edge computing that shape it and the technologies it requires Continue Reading

Digital transformation is brewing at Heineken

In a presentation at the Digital Transformation Week conference in Amsterdam, Heineken’s data management director revealed some of the ways the company is using information technology to transform Continue Reading

Interview: Rachel Hilliam, chair, Alliance for Data Science Professionals

Rachel Hilliam talks about the origins, mission and future plans for the Alliance for Data Science Professionals Continue Reading

Essential Guide: Data Analytics in Healthcare

In the healthcare industry, a large amount of data is already being collected to generate insights on emerging conditions and to improve patient care. Yet, like other industries, the healthcare sector continues to grapple with issues such as data silos and security challenges that stand in the way of harnessing insights. Continue Reading

Datacentres and energy, top women in tech – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

We discuss the run-in to the announcement of the Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2022 list, the datacentre market and the energy crisis, and the Alliance for Data Science Professionals Continue Reading

American football giants jet into digital age with HCLTech

US football clubs the New York Jets and New York Giants outsource their digital transformations to Indian service provider as they target improved fan engagement Continue Reading

Specsavers clinicians used company data to spot Covid referral collapse

At Big Data London, Specsavers’ global data officer related how clinicians used company data to spot Covid referral collapse Continue Reading

Broadcasters treat data science as niche and sporadic in use

Data science specialists at UK broadcasters conveyed a similar picture of niche use cases at Big Data London 2022 Continue Reading

Making digital a key ingredient at Mondelez

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to snack giant Mondelez, the owner of Cadbury, about how AI and data are transforming its business. SAP is increasing support costs for the first time in years – we assess the impact on customers. And a Ukrainian tech CEO tells us how his company kept going despite the Russian invasion. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CCS £2bn big data and analytics framework goes live

The Crown Commercial Service has launched a big data and analytics framework worth up to £2bn over the course of the agreement Continue Reading