Database management

Outgoing police tech watchdog warns of declining oversight

The outgoing biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner for England and Wales discusses police deployment of powerful new surveillance technologies, and the declining state of oversight in this area Continue Reading

Cancer Research uses AWS for payments and trial search function

Charity Cancer Research has been using AWS to make its donations platform more scalable, as well as making it easier for patients to find clinical trials Continue Reading

AI Safety Summit review

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

‘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 Continue Reading

How AWS is building a tech stack for generative AI

Olivier Klein, chief technologist for Asia-Pacific and Japan at Amazon Web Services, dives deeper into the technology stack the company has built to ease GenAI adoption Continue Reading

Oracle’s Steve Miranda: Customers nearing inflection point with Fusion

In a Q&A with Computer Weekly at Oracle Open World, applications head Steve Miranda discussed how its customers are moving from project-driven to business-driven approaches, and how GenAI is for real Continue Reading

CDO interview: Andrew Curry, manager of the Central Data Office, ExxonMobil

The head of the oil and gas giant’s data organisation is leading a strategy to establish enterprise-wide principles for the use of data as part of a unified corporate ecosystem Continue Reading

How generative AI and cloud complement each other

McKinsey partner explains the symbiotic relationship between generative AI and cloud, enabling organisations to speed up cloud migration and harness the benefits of AI Continue Reading

Scottish biometrics watchdog outlines police cloud concerns

Police Scotland’s response to the biometrics commissioner’s formal information notice ‘did not ameliorate’ his concerns about the sovereignty and security of the sensitive biometric information being uploaded to cloud infrastructure that is subject to intrusive US surveillance laws Continue Reading

Policing minister wants to use UK passport data in facial recognition

The policing minister’s plans to integrate the UK’s passport database with police facial-recognition systems have been met with criticism from campaigners, academics, and the biometrics commissioner for England and Wales Continue Reading

UK emphasises EU split by kicking digital trade scheme into long grass

Former Gaia-X CEO talks exclusively to Computer Weekly about UK inertia on cross-border data tech Continue Reading

Cyber experts urge EU to rethink vulnerability disclosure plans

The European Union’s proposed cyber security vulnerability disclosure measures are well-intentioned but ultimately counterproductive, as making unmitigated vulnerabilities public knowledge increases the risk of their exploitation by various actors, experts claim Continue Reading

How Liverpool FC is tapping cloud and data analytics

Liverpool Football Club is leveraging data analytics and cloud technology to improve fan engagement and enable its media production team to work more efficiently Continue Reading

How Confluent is tapping the groundswell in data streaming

Confluent CEO Jay Kreps talks up the misconceptions of Kafka and what the company is doing to help customers better leverage the capabilities of the technology Continue Reading

Microsoft to offer Oracle cloud database on Azure

Oracle and Microsoft have trumpeted an expansion of their joint activity with the launch of Oracle Database@Azure. Microsoft will be the only other hyperscaler to offer OCI services Continue Reading

Podcast: ‘Data first’ a key principle of digital transformation

Chris Gorton of Syniti says organisations should put data first during digital transformation projects, and that means getting data quality, access rights and governance right Continue Reading

Met police data platform deployed with data protection issues

Met Police deploys integrated record management system despite data protection ‘compliance issues' that would inhibit its ability to retrieve data, meet its statutory logging requirements, and respond to subject access requests Continue Reading

Met Police data platform £64m over budget

A freedom of information request has revealed that the Met’s Connect integrated record management system is running tens of millions over budget, and has already generated more than 25,000 support requests so far Continue Reading

Biometrics and surveillance camera commissioner resigns

Dual biometrics and surveillance camera watchdog will step down at the end of October 2023, noting that while he agreed to stay on until the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill received royal assent, continuing delays to its passage means he will not be able to effectively discharge his functions Continue Reading

Vast Data Platform aims at storage everywhere for AI/ML workloads

Vast Data to offer storage with data lake and warehouse functionality built in natively, in anticipation of a huge surge in AI/ML workloads and a need for ever-larger data stores Continue Reading

Chief data officer interview: Neema Raphael, Goldman Sachs

After two decades at Goldman Sachs, Neema Raphael tells Computer Weekly about his tech journey at one of the world’s biggest banks Continue Reading

Inside Cloudera’s data platform strategy

Cloudera executives outline their business and technology strategy to help enterprises harness generative AI and other capabilities through its work in the open source community and other areas Continue Reading

Police Scotland use cloud for biometric data despite clear risks

Police Scotland confirms it has stored significant volumes of biometric data on a cloud-based digital evidence sharing system despite major ongoing data protection concerns, bringing into question the effectiveness of the current regulatory approach and the overall legality of using hyperscale public cloud technologies in a policing context Continue Reading

How Confluent is maintaining its edge in event streaming

Confluent co-founder Jun Rao talks up the company’s business and how it competes with hyperscalers and other suppliers of managed Kafka services Continue Reading

Allo Bank taps Tencent Cloud in digital banking

Indonesia’s largest digital lender is tapping Tencent Cloud’s TDSQL database management system and cloud infrastructure to provide digital banking services for six million customers Continue Reading

Oracle shifts database support goalpost

Oracle has updated its maintenance and support across its relational database family – we explore the implications Continue Reading

Aussie-built database migration tool makes global debut

MongoDB’s engineering team in Australia has built a database migration tool to help customers migrate traditional relational databases to its document database Continue Reading

Health and care staff have three months to move to latest NHS patient record service

NHS England has told health and care workers they have until the end of September to switch to the latest patient record system Continue Reading

Clop begins naming alleged MOVEit victims

Clop uploaded details of 12 new victims to its dark web leak site late on 14 June, many of them likely linked to the ongoing MOVEit cyber attack Continue Reading

Clop’s MOVEit ransom deadline expires

A seven-day deadline set by Clop for victims of its latest attack to contact it to arrange payment passes today Continue Reading

Ofcom data stolen in MOVEit cyber attack

Communications regulator Ofcom says data on employees and regulated communications companies was stolen by the Clop gang Continue Reading

Progress Software releases patch for second MOVEit Transfer vulnerability

Progress Software releases a patch for a second MOVEit Transfer issue, which was uncovered by third-party security specialist Huntress Security during post-incident code scanning Continue Reading

CW Innovation Awards: How open source mapping is bringing clean water to Andhra Pradesh

The state government of Andhra Pradesh has digitised information on water supply pipelines and implemented a geographical information system to help deliver clean drinking water to rural communities Continue Reading

Employee perception may be key to success of UAE’s big data initiative

Study shows the impact employee perception can have on big data projects in the United Arab Emirates Continue Reading

UK biometrics watchdog questions police cloud deployments

The UK biometrics commissioner has warned that policing and justice bodies must be able to demonstrate ‘immediately and unequivocally’ that their cloud deployments are lawful Continue Reading

Fintechs get more certainty about open banking’s future direction

Fintechs have welcomed the UK open banking regulators recommendations for the future of the sector Continue Reading

Belgian experts take on data challenges

Having been involved in storage and data management for more than two decades, Belgian experts are positioned to help tackle the challenges brought on by a growing volume of unstructured data Continue Reading

UK government to create code of practice for generative AI firms

The code will look to strike a balance between copyright holders and generative AI firms so that both parties can benefit from the use of copyrighted material in training data Continue Reading

Vast Data’s ‘Act 2’ builds data management layer on QLC flash

Vast Data offers QLC flash bulk storage with a rapid cache I/O layer. Now, it has embarked on offering big data, analytics and application access to highly available data stores Continue Reading

Podcast: Why DBaaS and what problems does it solve?

We talk to Tobias Ternström of Nutanix about how the enterprise landscape has seen thousands of databases from multiple vendors mushroom and how database as a service can help manage that complexity Continue Reading

Unstructured data and the storage it needs

We look at unstructured and semi-structured data and find increasing amounts of production workloads that have their own storage hardware – file and object – needs, including flash Continue Reading

UK police have ‘culture of retention’ around biometric data

A culture of retention around biometric data in UK policing is damaging public trust, says UK biometrics commissioner, who is calling for clear regulation to govern police use of biometric technologies Continue Reading

Teradata reports strong cloud earnings

Teradata’s cloud-first strategy is starting to pay off, with the company reporting its strongest cloud earnings to date in the fourth quarter last year Continue Reading

UK finance firms short of data skills

Financial services companies in the UK lack the data skills they will need to succeed in an increasingly digital world Continue Reading

How Syniti is honing its chops in data management

A move to shed its back office image and a laser focus on data migration has been fuelling Syniti’s growth in data management Continue Reading

CIO interview: Hans van der Waal, director of global IT, Travelex

Travelex has weathered a storm that saw it sink into administration, before emerging to solidify its digital foundations for the future Continue Reading

CW APAC: Expert advice on data analytics

Organisations are constantly searching for the most fruitful ways to process their data. In this handbook, focused on data analytics in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at how to marry the art and science of analytics, environmental considerations, the risks of sovereign data strategies and what one telco has done to address scalability challenges. Continue Reading

Reaping green dividends with data management

Getting data management right has been pivotal for Singapore IoT startup SensorFlow to optimise energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions for its hotelier clients 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

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

Comparing DBMS vs. RDBMS: Key differences

A relational database management system is the most popular type of DBMS for business uses. Find out how RDBMS software differs from other DBMS technologies. 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

How Databricks is easing lakehouse adoption

Databricks is making it easier for organisations to adopt a data lakehouse architecture through support for industry-specific file formats, data sharing and streaming processing, among other areas 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

AWS doubles down on data management

Cloud giant Amazon Web Services declares a bold vision to eliminate the need to extract, transform and load data alongside other efforts to address business problems in domains like cyber security and logistics Continue Reading

Managing the maritime ecosystem with graph technology

This is a guest blogpost by Ali I. Riaz, CEO of OrbitMI Maritime is one of the most important parts of our global supply chain. Ship owners, ship operators and the entire maritime ecosystem must ... Continue Reading

Does application modernisation mean what you think it means?

Most people in IT probably think they know what application modernisation is. For many it involves application refactoring - rebuilding the app using technologies such as containers and ... Continue Reading

Informatica CEO: ‘We’re the Switzerland of data’

Informatica CEO Amit Walia talks up the company’s role as the ‘Switzerland of data’, helping organisations to manage data across different platforms as it transitions into a cloud-first supplier of data management tools 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

Met Police removes nearly two-thirds of people from gangs matrix

Legal action by human rights group Liberty forces Met Police to overhaul its gangs violence matrix database Continue Reading

Sadiq Khan launches Data for London Advisory Board

Board will look at how to join up and share data between public and private London organisations in an effort to build a stronger data economy and improve public services Continue Reading

Department for Education escapes £10m fine over data misuse

Department entrusted data on 28 million children to a company called Trustopia, which turned out to be anything but trustworthy, but has escaped a £10m fine under new rules 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

Justice transparency: A Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

We speak to The National Archives about how it is using semantic data to make court and tribunal judgments searchable Continue Reading

Aiven expands in APAC, builds new capabilities

Managed service provider of open source databases and data platforms Aiven grew its business in Asia-Pacific by over 100% over the past year, and is now building new capabilities in data warehouses and other areas 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

HSBC chooses Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer service to underpin digital

Bank selects Oracle’s Cloud@Customer service to upgrade and migrate some of its database systems as part of its digital transformation Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Database technology

Innovative data management offerings are improving the efficiency of enterprise operations. In this handbook, focused on database technology in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at the impact of graph databases, Neo4j’s partnership with Deloitte, TigerGraph’s added security features and the different types of database management systems currently on the market. 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

Oracle, fear and loathing

With Oracle CloudWorld in Las Vegas kicking off, the on-going battle with third party support provider Rimini Street is once again making the news. On October 10th Oracle said it had informed the ... Continue Reading

EnterpriseDB rides on PostgreSQL momentum in APAC

The open-source database supplier has seen more enterprises in the region replacing their Oracle databases with Postgres to support their digital transformation initiatives Continue Reading

How graph technology is making a dent in the database market

Graph databases are making a splash in the database market, with specialist, multimodal and cloud database suppliers jostling for a slice of the pie Continue Reading

Lloyd’s of London is digitally transforming through the front door

Centuries-old financial services organisation is transforming its complex IT infrastructure through digital data Continue Reading

Unstructured vs semi-structured data: Order from chaos

We look at alternatives to relational databases that have emerged to help bring some structure to unstructured data and gain valuable insight by making it semi-structured Continue Reading

Growing importance of the data strategist in South Holland

Much has been written about the work of data scientists, but the lesser-known role of data strategist is just as essential – as is being demonstrated in the Netherlands Continue Reading

Cloud database comparison: AWS, Microsoft, Google and Oracle

Here's a look at the rival cloud database offerings from AWS, Google, Microsoft and Oracle based on their product breadth, migration capabilities and pricing models. Continue Reading

Google employees demand end to collection of abortion data

In the wake of the US Supreme Court rolling back abortion rights, Google employees are calling on the company to stop collecting abortion-related data, so that it can never be shared with police Continue Reading

Evaluating the different types of DBMS products

The various types of database software come with advantages, limitations and optimal uses that prospective buyers should be aware of before choosing a DBMS. Continue Reading

LexisNexis sued by immigration advocates over data practices

Four immigration advocacy groups launch lawsuit in Illinois alleging data broker’s collection, aggregation and sale of people’s personal data, including non-public information, to corporations and government bodies Continue Reading

Compare NoSQL database types in the cloud

NoSQL systems are increasingly common in the cloud. Read about the different types of NoSQL databases that are available from major cloud providers and other vendors. Continue Reading

Should you run your database on premises or in the cloud?

Use of cloud databases is surging, but there are still reasons for on-premises ones. Here's a comparison of cloud and local database architectures to help you choose. Continue Reading

Cloud database security: Key vendor controls, best practices

If your company is using a cloud database, it's critical to stay on top of security. Review the security features offered by top cloud providers, plus some best practices. Continue Reading

Eurotunnel’s digital journey for the realities of post-Covid travel

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the travel industry was devastated by the pandemic, but we find out how Eurotunnel is turning to digital to better engage customers in the post-Covid world. We examine the impact of the economic slowdown on the tech giants. And we explain all you need to know about data gravity. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Unstructured data storage – on-prem vs cloud vs hybrid

We look at storage for unstructured data on-premise, in the cloud and across multiple locations. There are advantages to a hybrid approach, but there can be hidden costs, too Continue Reading

SSEN partners with Icebreaker One to break energy data silos

Better access to, and sharing of, energy data will help direct the installation of new electric vehicle charging points, as well as help network operators to better understand the electricity grid’s capacity for the introduction of more renewables Continue Reading

How to plan and manage a multi-cloud database environment

Deploying databases on different cloud platforms offers various benefits. Here's a set of 10 best practices for building a multi-cloud database architecture. Continue Reading

Data and tech platforms helping finance regulator spot problems earlier

The UK financial services regulator is increasingly using data platforms to proactively regulate the finance sector Continue Reading

Inside Sompo Asia’s agile approach to data analytics

Regional insurer takes agile approach to democratise access to data analytics by creating virtual databases and visualising the insights through Tableau Continue Reading

Cloud DBA: How cloud changes database administrator's role

Cloud databases change the duties and responsibilities of database administrators. Here's how the job of a cloud DBA differs from what an on-premises one does. Continue Reading

Netherlands’ AMdEX seeks to democratise the internet

Last year, five Dutch organisations launched an initiative to set up the Amsterdam Data Exchange to simplify data sharing and help democratise the internet Continue Reading

African health charity integrates digital tools with Cognizant

IT services supplier is working with African health charity to integrate digital tools through a five-month project Continue Reading

Executive interview: Chris Conradi, chief digital officer, FSN Capital

Chris Conradi is taking his learnings at Google into the private equity industry at Norway’s FSN Capital Continue Reading

DBMS keys: 8 types of keys defined

Here's a guide to primary, super, foreign and candidate keys, what they're used for in relational database management systems and the differences among them. Continue Reading

Health data strategy to exorcise ghosts of GPDPR

Government publishes a revised data in health strategy, with an emphasis firmly on preserving the integrity and privacy of patients’ confidential information Continue Reading

Indian stock exchange taps data analytics

The National Stock Exchange of India is tapping data analytics to speed up and improve regulatory decision making Continue Reading

Pure to offer on-prem object storage as Snowflake data source

Pure Storage partnership with Snowflake will see the cloud data warehousing platform make use of on-prem FlashBlade fast file and object storage as a source for analytics data Continue Reading

Enterprises shore up supply chain resilience with data

Using data to gain better visibility over their supply chains and forge closer connections between disparate links is helping organisations respond to disruptions faster Continue Reading

ODI sets up institution to promote public data sharing

The Open Data Institute has set up an institution to support the Open Referral UK data standard geared to promote more sharing of public sector data Continue Reading

Ten years of the Raspberry Pi

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the Raspberry Pi reaches its 10th anniversary, we look back on how the low-cost computing device went from schools to supercomputers and even into space. Gartner offers tips on how to motivate IT staff in a hybrid working environment. And we meet the Dutch hackers helping to secure the internet. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CW Innovation Awards: Driving new revenue with data insights

GLS Group beefed up its enterprise resource planning system to deliver data insights that support real-time decision making and drive new revenue Continue Reading