Business intelligence and analytics

PLC flash: A solid state candidate for analytics and archives?

We thought flash would end at QLC, but storage media makers are working on penta-level cell, which could push capacity to double figures, but at a further performance cost Continue Reading

How Qlik is driving the data revolution in Australia

Australian firms are using data management software from Qlik to speed up data analysis while grappling with how to make data more accessible under a new consumer data-sharing regime Continue Reading

Citrix looks to grow APAC footprint with the intelligent workspace

Citrix is looking to expand its footprint in Asia-Pacific – particularly in Japan, where firms are starting to warm up to flexible work arrangements Continue Reading

The most influential women in UK technology 2019

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we announce our annual list of the 50 most influential women in UK technology. Meet the winner, Debbie Forster, CEO of Tech Talent Charter, and find out who are this year’s five rising stars. Also, our latest buyer’s guide looks at the latest developments in robotic process automation. Read the issue now. 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

Bristol, CNRS and Oracle join forces against tropical disease

Scientists from the University of Bristol and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Grenoble have identified a candidate synthetic vaccine against tropical disease Chikungunya, using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Continue Reading

GDPR compliance: Whose job is it and is it really possible?

Nobody seems to have a good handle on business GDPR compliance, how many businesses are compliant, or indeed what compliance really is, but according to security experts, it very much depends on who you talk to Continue Reading

Executive interview: Speed is cloud apps benefit, says Oracle’s Miranda

In a Q&A with Computer Weekly at Oracle Open World 2019, applications head Steve Miranda discussed the supplier’s approach to cloud applications, digital assistants and machine learning Continue Reading

How Malaysia is nurturing data analytics talent

The Southeast Asian nation has spearheaded several programmes to build up its data analytics talent pool in efforts to improve efficiency and productivity of Malaysians Continue Reading

Basic data and skills needed to fix UK social care

Foundations need to be in place to save the social care system from collapse, and NHSX needs to step up to the task, according to a Doteveryone report Continue Reading

Facebook automatically generates pages for Islamic State and Al-Qaeda

Facebook algorithms have auto-generated hundreds of Facebook pages for the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sharia, according to a whistleblower Continue Reading

Northwestern cuts storage costs in half with Komprise

Komprise’s Deep Analytics helps university classify and migrate research data to cheaper disk and cloud as it cuts storage costs from $1.1m to $680,000 per annum Continue Reading

The £1bn IT plan to modernise UK railways

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to Network Rail’s CIO about the £1bn IT plan that underpins the modernisation of UK railways. As 5G roll-outs begin, we look at the likely enterprise applications of the new mobile network technology. And we examine the progress of cloud computing in financial services. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

US lawmakers demand internal Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon documents in antitrust probe

US lawmakers have given big tech companies a deadline to disclose a wide range of documents as the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan investigation into competition gathers pace 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

Brexit disrupts FCA exploration into data use in wholesale banking

The extra work for banks due to Brexit preparations has caused a delay to FCA work on the use of data in the wholesale banking sector Continue Reading

Terror watchlist faces reform after court rules it violates rights of people entering US

A secret US terrorist database containing information on more than 1.2 million people – who face repeated interrogations, detentions and electronic searches – violates constitutional rights, a US judge said last week Continue Reading

Executive interview: How Figleaves uncovers a data Eden

Online lingerie business that started out at the height of the dot com boom is now focused on using advanced analytics to reveal new data insights Continue Reading

Lack of executive leadership lowers digital project success rate

A new survey has found that IT may be working on projects that do not deliver tangible business benefits Continue Reading

Tableau vs. Qlik Sense: Pros and cons of the BI tools

Products from the two top data visualization vendors are starting to resemble each other as the need for strong visualizations and scalability in self-service BI has crystalized. Continue Reading

Travel company Clarity bakes ThoughtSpot into analytics tool

Travel management company Clarity has turned to ThoughtSpot to create an analytics tool for clients as well as for internal use Continue Reading

SailGP: bringing sailing to a new audience with technology

Oracle founder Larry Ellison is bankrolling SailGP, a new high-performance yacht racing series that aims to use data analytics to attract a global audience to the sport Continue Reading

Liberty Steel forges future growth with Infor

Steelmaker is using cloud-delivered software from Infor to stoke its growth, replacing SAP systems provided by its former parent, Tata Steel Europe Continue Reading

What's behind the Domo machine learning tool Did You Know

Domo's Did You Know feature uses machine learning algorithms to automatically pull analytics information out of data sets for business users. Here's how it works. Continue Reading

Enhancing business purpose with privacy compliance

Computer Weekly looks at the importance of building on basic GDPR compliance and making privacy a key foundation of business culture Continue Reading

Data ethics issues create minefields for analytics teams

Organizations have to map out ethical boundaries for data mining and analytics applications, according to participants in a roundtable discussion on data and ethics. Continue Reading

London Stock Exchange agrees to acquire Refinitiv for £22bn

The London Stock Exchange has agreed to a multi-billion pound takeover of data giant Refinitiv Continue Reading

A tale of two smart cities: Manchester and Australia’s Casey

How local government needs to focus on immediate returns, not pie in the sky, for a smart city agenda Continue Reading

Digital takes the racing line in Formula One

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the CIO of Formula One racing team Haas F1 to find out how technology is helping to compete with better-funded rivals. We examine the latest best practice advice on disaster planning. And we look at what the troubles at Deutsche Bank tell us about the rise of fintech startups. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Chief data officers urged to master product management

Webscale businesses are data-driven. Data drives new application areas and fuels product development – and businesses will need a similar strategy, says analyst Continue Reading

London Stock Exchange eyes £22bn acquisition of Refinitiv to expand data capabilities

The London Stock Exchange is looking at a huge tech acquisition to provide customers access to a wealth of data services built using the latest technologies Continue Reading

Better payroll automation is next frontier for HR software

Traditionally, companies have treated payroll as a cost centre, and so it has lagged behind the likes of talent management. But if you don’t pay the talent on time, you will pay a price Continue Reading

How tech leads local government innovation in Vienna, Helsinki and Belfast

Digital leaders in the cities of Vienna, Helsinki and Belfast are innovating new services to help citizens and local economies Continue Reading

Organisations turn to AI in race against cyber attackers

Businesses are racing to automate their defences as hackers and nation states launch increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks Continue Reading

GPU analytics speeds up deep learning, other data insights

GPU-based systems have become a popular platform for deep learning applications, and they're now also being used to accelerate analysis of IoT and geospatial data. Continue Reading

CW Middle East: SAP drives digital transformation for Saudi Arabian auto company

The automotive division of Saudi Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel Company (ALJC) has completed one of the biggest SAP projects ever undertaken in the automotive distribution sector. Also in this issue, read about Dubai-based delivery app Fetchr’s bid to become one of the largest tech companies in the Middle East, and how a UAE startup is using digital technology to simplify medical appointment bookings. Continue Reading

How ASEAN firms are turning data into critical assets

From enabling consumers to track their energy consumption to improving business operations, businesses in ASEAN are starting to put their data to good use Continue Reading

Universities use data analytics to tackle student mental health

UK universities turn to data analytics software to tackle student mental health. Are there duty of care lessons for other sectors? Continue Reading

TfL launches wireless device tracking to gather Tube data

Transport for London aims to use passenger movement data to make using the London Underground a more pleasant experience Continue Reading

Tableau vs. Power BI vs. Qlik: Comparing BI software choices

Tableau, Power BI and Qlik Sense offer similar self-service BI functionality, consultant Rick Sherman says. But he points to some of their strengths and weaknesses. Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 22

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Brian McKenna, Caroline Donnelly and Clare McDonald talk about digital transformation in the NHS, Sky’s efforts to get more women working in tech and how big businesses could be risking extinction by ignoring IT Continue Reading

Facebook’s privacy game – how Zuckerberg backtracked on promises to protect personal data

Facebook promised its users privacy then quietly abandoned its promises in pursuit of profits. Now it faces antitrust regulation Continue Reading

Oracle Analytics Cloud update unifies BI products, pricing

Oracle Analytics Cloud now offers a consistent UI and all-in-one pricing for Oracle's analytics tools. But an on-premises BI update is also on the way for cloud holdouts. Continue Reading

Moscow’s 2019 Startup Village rewards innovation

Moved to a bigger site, Moscow’s annual Startup Village continues to expand, with interest from large corporates growing Continue Reading

Big companies face extinction unless they use IT better

Better use of IT could add £100bn to the British economy, says a CBI report into UK big business Continue Reading

Unstructured data compliance: Obstacles and solutions

Stored unstructured data could be a black hole full of unknown risk. We look at the key dangers to compliance in unstructured data and some ways of mitigating the risks Continue Reading

UK government pushes data-driven agenda

A smart data report has been published with consultations under way, while an open call for evidence has been launched to help shape the national data plan Continue Reading

Tableau sticking to data mission under Salesforce

Tableau President and CEO Adam Selipsky told the company’s European user conference in Berlin that Salesforce acquisition will not affect its mission of “seeing and understanding data” Continue Reading

AI storage: Machine learning, deep learning and storage needs

Artificial intelligence workloads impact storage, with NVMe flash needed for GPU processing at the highest levels of performance – and there are other choices right through the AI data lifecycle Continue Reading

CW Europe: Why are Dutch companies slow to take advantage of the IoT?

Many organisations in the Netherlands are missing out on the benefits of the internet of things because they lack awareness of its potential. Also read why construction of Apple's first non-US datacentre has halted in Denmark, and why some scientists have raised questions about the effects of 5G mobile phone radiation on public health. Continue Reading

Salesforce buys Tableau to add self-service analytics to CRM

Salesforce is set to buy business intelligence data visualisation pioneer Tableau as it seeks to amplify its customer analytics capability Continue Reading

CIO interview: John Finch, Refinitiv

Refinitiv CIO John Finch says finding people with the right level of data science skills is his biggest challenge Continue Reading

Google buys Looker to deepen enterprise software arsenal

Google is set to buy business intelligence platform supplier Looker as it beefs up its cloud enterprise software stack Continue Reading

APAC to lead global IoT spending

Asia-Pacific is slated to become the top market for the internet of things as the region scales up the use of connected devices in key sectors such as manufacturing Continue Reading

Emirates NBD builds bank of future with Amazon Web Services

UAE bank is accessing the latest technology through a close relationship with IT giant Amazon Web Services Continue Reading

Facebook loses bid to halt European court decision on EU-US data sharing

Irish Supreme Court dismisses attempt by Facebook to prevent the European Court of Justice considering the validity of US-EU data transfers, after Austrian lawyer Max Schrems argued that they put the privacy of EU citizens at risk Continue Reading

Excelero and BeeGFS offer next-gen HPC based on NVMe flash

Super-fast solid-state storage in commodity servers ties up with recently-developed parallel file system BeeGFS to target high-performance computing use cases Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Nordea links up with IBM to meet fintech challenge

IBM’s €473m managed services contract with Nordea reflects an increasing trend among Nordic banks to outsource more of their IT to help meet the challenge of fintechs. Also read how a shortage of women in the boardroom is a problem in the Nordics but the tech sector points to a more promising future, and find out why the Norwegian government has launched a regulatory sandbox for the fintech sector. Continue Reading

Augmented data management draws more enterprise interest

With AI and machine learning, organizations are starting to augment their data management. This is changing the way enterprise users capture, govern and integrate data. Continue Reading

CW APAC: Expert advice on data management

Data is growing exponentially, so managing it well is crucial to business success. In this handbook, Computer Weekly looks at how companies and data management experts are tackling data challenges, studies the findings of Gartner’s CDO study, and finds out how organisations are augmenting data management through artificial intelligence and machine learning. Continue Reading

Facebook engaged in ‘calculated’ campaign to eliminate competition, claims businessman

A US businessman is seeking damages from Facebook after accusing the social media company of unfairly blocking “humorous” Facebook pages which generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue Continue Reading

Nasuni aims at analytics and fast migration to the cloud

Cloud NAS and object storage specialist says customers want “Lego blocks” that allow them to build for cloud workloads, and plans cloud migration tools for massive datasets Continue Reading

SAS Viya cloud software at center of SAS analytics strategy

The spotlight at SAS Global Forum 2019 was on the vendor's Viya analytics tools, which are getting new functionality and licensing options meant to spur deployments. Continue Reading

SAS Platform update expands AI in Viya cloud analytics tools

A new version of the SAS analytics platform adds a variety of AI features to SAS Viya, the cloud-based software that SAS hopes will secure its place in the AI future. Continue Reading

Facebook faces fresh privacy actions from regulators

Facebook faces legal action from Canada after it dismissed regulators’ findings that it failed to protect customer privacy. The firm has set aside $5bn to settle a privacy action in the US and faces a new investigation in Ireland Continue Reading

Dutch road management organisation encourages startups to innovate

Dutch highway management agency RWS is sharing data with the private sector to stimulate innovation Continue Reading

Public becoming more aware of privacy abuses and unethical tech

Widespread abuses of privacy, biometric information and artificial intelligence mean the internet is in poor health, but growing popular awareness of its problems gives some cause for hope, says the Mozilla Foundation Continue Reading

Most in-demand data science skills include ML, Python

Experts detail the skills employers want most in data scientists -- notably machine learning and programming languages -- and why often the most valuable expertise comes with time. Continue Reading

How an 18th century Maths puzzle solves 21st century problems

This is a guest blogpost by Emil Eifrem, CEO, Neo4j, in which he explains how an elegant solution to the mathematical puzzle to find the most efficient way of traversing the bridges in Prussia’s ... Continue Reading

Etihad Airways automates customer and luggage journey monitoring

National airline of United Arab Emirates, Etihad Airways, will improve passenger journeys through automated monitoring Continue Reading

How to integrate Power BI and SharePoint via embedded reports

Expert Brien Posey explains two methods for including Power BI reports on pages in SharePoint Online's cloud service: publishing a link to a report, or embedding one. Continue Reading

CW Middle East: Visibility and security of networks are top IT priorities

The 2019 Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey shows that enterprise buyers in the Middle East, like those in the UK and Europe, are looking to lock down their networks in the face of an almost constant barrage of threats and malicious actors. Also read how Facebook planned to use its Android app to track the location of its customers and to allow advertisers to send political advertising, and what further details operator O2 has revealed about how it is planning for the advent of 5G. Continue Reading

Silicon Valley startups look to plug gaps in data value chain

A group of California-based startups and early-stage data management companies are promising CIOs ways to plug gaps in the data-to-insight value chain Continue Reading

How modern business intelligence shapes up to big data

Business intelligence and analytics strategies have evolved in recent years in the face of big data. Here, we get a supplier CEO perspective, some analyst counsel, and testimony from Nationwide, Schroders and King Continue Reading

Yellowfin Signals delivers automated insights to BI users

BI vendor Yellowfin's Signals tool automatically alerts users about changes in business data with an aim to broaden the use of analytics in organizations. Continue Reading

Amadeus deploys cloud-native shopping application on Google cloud

Amadeus has moved off mainframes and is redeveloping its software to be cloud native. Its Master Pricer is the first of its core application to be deployed on Google Continue Reading

How Centrica used GDPR and Pegasystems to reward loyal customers

Thanks to the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, the utility provider has been able to fine-tune a digitally enabled initiative that works across the business Continue Reading

London launches open data cultural map

The collated data on the capital's cultural locations is hoped to support local authorities, property developers and associations develop existing clusters and build creative infrastructure Continue Reading

Cohesity plans to put backup data to good use

Cohesity’s DataPlatform now makes use of previously dormant backup data with analytics to provide business value and to tackle threats such as ransomware Continue Reading

IT Priorities 2019: ANZ organisations focus on fundamentals

Organisations in Australia and New Zealand will spend more on modernising legacy applications and breaking down data silos this year Continue Reading

IT Priorities 2019: What projects are IT professionals spending their budgets on?

The Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities 2019 survey finds that cloud maturity, security and automation are among the hot areas for spending Continue Reading

Fresh data analytics tool slashes Openreach’s Ethernet delivery times

Openreach discusses its work with analytics partner Qlik, which is giving its teams new insights into Ethernet and enterprise fibre network service delivery data, and says it has seen significant service improvements in doing so Continue Reading

Facebook asked George Osborne to influence EU data protection law

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg invited one of the chancellor’s children to Facebook’s office as part of a intensive lobbying programme to influence European data protection legislation Continue Reading

APAC financial firms face roadblocks with RPA

IDC monitored the automation projects of over 30 early adopters of RPA in financial services and found that most were unable to scale up their implementations of the technology Continue Reading

How CIOs can earn respect from business peers

CIOs recognise that standing out means being more like a business manager than a technology guru Continue Reading

Delving into viewer data at the BBC

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the BBC about how the UK broadcaster is using data analytics to better understand its viewers and grow its audience in the face of competition from the likes of Netflix. We look at how CERN is using IT automation in its quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe. And we examine the impact of GDPR on cloud storage. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Facebook planned to spy on Android phone users, internal emails reveal

Facebook planned to use its Android app to track the location of its customers and to allow advertisers to send political advertising and invites to dating sites to ‘single’ people, confidential documents show Continue Reading

CW Nordics: Sweden to test e-krona and plans cashless society

Sweden’s vision of a cashless society has gained traction after the Riksbank (central bank) rolled out plans to test a digital currency, the e-krona. Also read how the Nordic region’s longer-established companies are playing a forceful role to advance digital transformation, and how Finland’s IT sector has rebounded strongly after Microsoft’s takeover of Nokia’s mobile phones and smart devices business units in 2014. Continue Reading

CIO interview: Martin Draper, CIO and change director, Liberty London

Department store’s IT leader is bringing a traditional retail business into the digital, omnichannel age Continue Reading

IT Priorities 2019: UK investment intent for AI intensifies, SaaS applications mature beyond CRM

AI continues to strengthen as a focus for IT systems buyers in the UK, according to this year’s Computer Weekly/TechTarget IT Priorities survey, while cloud applications are maturing beyond CRM Continue Reading

When is it best to stick with paper?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, sometimes going digital is not necessarily the best thing to do – we weigh the pros and cons of paper versus technology. Our new buyer’s guide examines the challenges of asset management as you move IT infrastructure to the cloud. And we look at the growing role of software developers in the future of networking. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Chief data officer role now well-entrenched, says Gartner

Three out of five chief data officers in a Gartner study reported an increase in headcount, though few are measuring the value of their data assets Continue Reading

CIO interview: Neil Holden, IT director, Halfords Group

Motoring and bicycles retailer is growing its use of cloud, expanding on data analytics and exploring new technologies such as artificial intelligence Continue Reading

The Met Office storms ahead on data analytics

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how the Met Office takes 2TB of weather data every hour and turns it into useful business insight. We examine whether Amazon’s presence in the retail market is putting off other retailers from using its public cloud services. And we look at the new 802.11ax wireless networking standard and analyse the benefits for enterprise IT. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

IBM Think 2019 coverage: Spotlight on data and AI analytics

This guide compiles news, analysis and trend stories from IBM Think 2019 and before the conference, focusing on IBM's AI, advanced analytics and data management technologies. Continue Reading

CW Benelux: Google helps Dutch schools to teach computer skills

A programme in the Netherlands to help primary schools provide computational thinking and programming, developed with financial support from Google, is well on schedule. Also read about four Russians’ attempted hack into the networks of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague, and how Dutch delivery company PostNL is making savings by using robotic technology to automate administrative tasks. Continue Reading

West Midlands Police turns to predictive analytics

Force is developing a system to identify potential perpetrators of violent crime and aims to target resources – but how viable is the system and what are the challenges? Continue Reading

Civil liberties groups to challenge bulk surveillance and intelligence sharing in Strasbourg

Coalition of campaigning groups wins the right to challenge the UK’s use of bulk surveillance powers, which allows suspicionless surveillance of the population and sharing of intercepted data with overseas intelligence agencies, in European Court of Human Rights Continue Reading

Southern Water’s centralised data team geared for silo busting

Southern Water has centralised its data specialists and overhauled its data management and business intelligence technology to support business decision-making at scale Continue Reading

Technologies to support deep learning

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at the key technologies needed to support deep learning and artificial intelligence applications in your organisation. We hear about Southern Water’s data management overhaul and the benefits achieved from centralising its data specialists. And we examine best practice in managing large-scale Docker implementations. Read the issue now. Continue Reading