IT for government and public sector

Top 10 enterprise IT in the Benelux region stories of 2019

Here are Computer Weekly’s top enterprise IT stories from the Benelux region over the past year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top 10 government IT stories of 2019

Computer Weekly looks back at the main stories related to government IT this year Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Former Post Office CEO apologises to subpostmasters over Horizon scandal

Subpostmasters criticise former CEO’s apology for their suffering as “too little, too late” Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Top 10 storage deployment stories of 2019

Here are ComputerWeekly’s top 10 storage deployment stories for 2019, which see quite a move away from traditional SAN and NAS to hyper-converged, software-defined storage and object storage Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

National Federation of Subpostmasters cries foul after court ruling on controversial computer system

The National Federation of Subpostmasters said it was misled by the Post Office about the robustness of the IT systems its members use Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Finnish government supports local authorities in cyber security initiative

The Finnish government has committed resources to a cyber security project aimed at local authorities Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Home Office details seven-point plan to cutting its Immigration Technology team's cloud costs by 40%

The Home Office has revealed how its Immigration Technology team cut cloud costs through spot and reserved instances, scheduling, auto-scaling and encouraging developers to spring clean test environments Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Criminal Courts Review Commission to review Horizon judgment ‘swiftly’

The CCRC’s review of potentially unfair prosecutions of subpostmasters is just one of the unresolved issues in in relation to subpostmasters’ battle with the Post Office over its faulty IT system Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HM Treasury mulls loan charge review findings, but will not confirm public release date

Contractor community frustrated by lack of concrete release date for review as loan charge settlement date of 31 January 2020 looms Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How Saudi Arabia plans to become the Silicon Valley of the Middle East

With its young and educated population, Saudi Arabia has the potential to become a hub for tech innovation Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

The Horizon scandal is over but the fight continues - an inquiry into the Post Office is essential

There are not enough words to fully express the depth of scandal and outrage that should accompany the conclusion of the High Court case that finally and completely found that the Post Office ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 41

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna have their Christmas Special, picking out a few gems, including the CW Diversity and Inclusion conference, and the team’s discussions of The Capture and The Circle Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

No change for tech in Boris Johnson’s new government – yet

Nicky Morgan remains in charge of digital policies as DCMS secretary, despite quitting as an MP before the General Election Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Can Europe legally share data with the US? A court far away is about to decide

The European Court of Justice will deliver an opinion on whether Europe can legally continue to send private data about European citizens to the US Continue Reading

By

• Kevin Cahill

We can’t allow fake news and disinformation to upend our democracy

Fake news, misinformation and cyber attacks are part of our political process – now is the time to act Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Roughan, Plexal

How software can support public involvement with democracy

Iceland, Scotland and Sweden have experimented with using online software to involve citizens more deeply in democratic processes. The key seems to be encouraging enlightened debate Continue Reading

By

• SA Mathieson

Vilified then vindicated - victory for subpostmasters in Post Office trial shows risk of tech hubris

In 2004, Computer Weekly received a letter from Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster in Craig-y-Don, a coastal suburb of Llandudno in north Wales. It’s that long ago that the letter arrived ... Continue Reading

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• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Post Office settles legal dispute with subpostmasters, ending 20-year battle for lead claimant

The Post Office has settled its long-running legal dispute with subpostmasters, and will pay £57.75m in damages Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How can CIOs in Europe turn innovation into a competitive advantage?

CIOs across Europe are under pressure to innovate to help businesses grow and must think differently as a result Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Department for Transport to build mapping tool for transport data

System will use place-based information on a range of transport-related issues and follows the announcement of a future of urban mobility plan Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 40

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna range over the Waltham Forest Tech Camp, the opening of the Ohana floor at Salesforce’s London HQ, the UK & Ireland SAP User Group Conference in Birmingham, and the General Election Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

The art of surveillance: the Stasi archives and the Investigatory Powers Act

A photographic exhibition captures the chilling impact of surveillance in the UK and the former German Democratic Republic Continue Reading

By

• Rose Butler, Sheffield Hallam University

Who should get the technology vote in the UK General Election?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we take an in-depth look at the technology and digital policies in the main political parties’ election manifestos. We examine the rise of alternatives to relational databases that better support a big data environment. And we assess the security issues around container technology. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Scottish Justice Committee wants extra powers for biometrics commissioner

Members of Scottish Parliament in the Justice Committee have welcomed the creation of a biometrics commissioner for Scotland, but want ensure that they have the ‘necessary teeth’ for the job Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Cloud computing surges in the UAE in 2019

Cloud computing take-up saw a significant acceleration in the Middle East throughout this year Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

UK government supports online counter-extremism

Work under the Building a Stronger Britain Together programme is due to be completed this month Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Public sector still losing user devices in high numbers

The Ministry of Justice has lost 354 smartphones, PCs, laptops and tablets in the past 12 months, according to a Freedom of Information request, and other government departments are in the same boat Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Online fact-checkers warn of misinformation on unprecedented scale in 2019 election

The UK’s elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, is calling for new powers to regulate online political advertising Continue Reading

By

• Alex Varley-Winter

China bans foreign computing kit from government contracts

All government offices and public institutions must eliminate foreign hardware and software within three years, according to a leaked directive dubbed 3-5-2 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Conservative Party: Fostering an environment for IT and digital to flourish

Matt Warman, Conservative MP and minister for digital and broadband, outlines the Tory policies for technology and digital ahead of the General Election Continue Reading

By

• Matt Warman, Digital minister

FCO to boost cloud analysis setup

A new procurement process has been launched to bring in new features such as geospatial analysis Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Tories plan electronic visa waiver for EU citizens

Pledge introduces the idea of electronic travel authorisation as part of plans to protect the UK border after Brexit Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Dutch government must sort IT mess as priority

Dutch government lacks the knowledge and skills for its own IT strategy, according to scathing report Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Dutch government must facilitate and coordinate a broad eID system

The Dutch government should push for an electronic ID system for its citizens that works across the public and private sectors, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Everyone in UK tech must hold the new government to account on its digital promises

When Computer Weekly set out to compare and analyse the tech and digital policies in the major political parties’ manifestos for the 2019 General Election, the article extended comfortably to ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Cyber security takes its place alongside UK’s armed services

Head of armed services says cyber security will take its place alongside the army, navy and air force as a key pillar of the UK’s defence strategy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Cyber Girls First volunteers encourage girls to think high-tech

More than 80 schoolgirls spent a day learning about computer hackers and rocket science – Cyber Girls First hopes they will become the next generation of technologists Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

AWS CEO Andy Jassy blames 'significant political interference' for Amazon losing $10bn JEDI deal

AWS CEO Andy Jassy claims White House meddling led to it losing out to Microsoft on the US Department of Defense JEDI contract, despite its cloud platform being demonstrably superior Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Poor tech provision causes dissatisfaction in SMEs

Smaller businesses are struggling to provide a good enough employee experience when it comes to tech, according to a study Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

General Election 2019: Which manifesto is best for the UK’s tech sector?

Computer Weekly breaks down each political party’s technology policies ahead of the upcoming General Election to see how they compare Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Liberal Democrats: We want to lead the world in ethical, inclusive technology

Layla Moran, Liberal Democrat MP and party spokesperson for digital, culture, media and sport, writes about the party's technology policies ahead of the upcoming General Election Continue Reading

By

• Layla Moran, Liberal Democrats

Survey finds most firms don’t respond to GDPR requests in time

Most organisations do not respond to requests for GDPR data in the one month allowed, while many return incorrect data. The education sector does best, but the public sector lags behind Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK government urged to ramp up digital skills

Programme for International Student Assessment results show UK is lagging behind Asian powerhouses, according to Open Knowledge Foundation Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Private sector warned off delaying IR35 reform prep as Conservative Party promises review

The Conservative Party has followed in the footsteps of the Liberal Democrats, The Labour Party and the Scottish National Party by committing to a review of the IR35 reforms Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK boards lose digital confidence

Fewer organisations feel they have the expertise they require, according to a Harvey Nash survey Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Labour SME minister back-tracks over claims party will scrap IR35 reforms if it comes to power

Shadow small business secretary Bill Esterson clarifies comments he made during an event this week that suggested Labour had made halting the roll-out of the IR35 reforms to the private sector policy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Finnish tech firm aims to create scalable general-purpose quantum computer

University spin-off is attempting to take quantum computing capabilities to multiple business sectors Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

The super-resilient IT function

IT functions don’t have to continue taking the blame for organisational failures, they can take the lead in transforming the business Continue Reading

By

• Ade McCormack, Auridian Consulting

Peer calls for clear-out of Post Office board after Court of Appeal confirms major court defeat

Conservative peer championing subpostmasters’ long-running battle with Post Office suggests management clear-out after Court of Appeal rejects appeal bid Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Revamped HMRC IR35 status checker tool still lacks key functionality, contractor groups claim

HMRC releases an updated version of its IR35 tax status checker tool, CEST, to accommodate the onset of the tax avoidance reforms being rolled out to the private sector, but contracting stakeholders claim it still lacks basic functionality Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

General Election 2019: Digital must be at the core of the next government’s strategy

TechUK lays out the technology priorities it wants to see from the next UK government to boost the digital economy Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

General Election 2019: The Conservatives’ technology policies and digital plans

With the UK gearing up for its third general election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Conservative and Unionist Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

University of Leicester dumps SANs and LUNs for Cloudian object storage

One-to-one mapping between Dell SANs and media servers had passed their sell-by date and caused vulnerabilities for the University of Leicester, which fixed the problems by a move to “stateless” object storage on Cloudian Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

General Election 2019: Labour’s technology policies and digital plans

With the UK gearing up for its third General Election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Labour Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Conservatives propose national cyber crime force

Manifesto also says Tories would “empower the police to safely use new technologies like biometrics and artificial intelligence, along with the use of DNA, within a strict legal framework” Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Court of Appeal dismisses Post Office application to appeal damning judgment

The Court of Appeal has rejected a Post Office application to appeal judgments made in the first trial of its multimillion-pound battle with subpostmasters over IT system failures. Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Labour pledges review of NCSC in UK security overhaul

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre may get expanded powers under a Labour government Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SMEs prevail in expanded FutureNHS tender

Health service is looking to procure a larger sharing and collaboration platform for health and social care Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Lib Dem election manifesto: Party vows to scrap loan charge and review IR35 private sector reforms

The Liberal Democrats’ General Election manifesto sees the party pledge to scrap the controversial loan charge policy, and undertake a review of the IR35 private sector reforms Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Collaboration is key to rapid adoption of govtech across Europe

Government technology is spreading across Europe, but policy-makers and senior civil servants are still figuring out best practices Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NHSX seeks chief information officer

Role is the latest in a series of senior positions the digital unit is looking to fill in order to build its leadership Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Swedish hospitals suffer IT crashes

Hospitals in Sweden’s West Götaland region have suffered computer problems because of as-yet unexplained hard drive crashes Continue Reading

By

• Jane Hamrin

Met Police launches £600m IT infrastructure tender

Force aims to move away from a multi-supplier approach and enable flexibility and savings in technology Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Finland’s ministry of transport floats tech-enabled four-day week

Government department says four-day working week is made possible by technologies such as artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

House of Commons seeks IT security chief

Interviews for the two-year engagement are due to take place in December 2019 Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Public sector risks downplayed by senior IT leaders

Sophos reveals a significant cyber security perception gap between senior IT and security leaders in the public sector and their front-line teams Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Scottish local government prioritises automation and AI in digital plan

Use of the technologies will be ramped up as part of the next phase of the Digital Office 2.0 programme Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Loan charge under review: The 20-year retroactive tax policy pushing IT contractors to the brink

Thousands of IT contractors are at risk of financial ruin as HMRC pursues them for tax it claims they owe on work they did up to two decades ago and were reimbursed for via loan remuneration schemes. Computer Weekly investigates Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Notorious hackers claim responsibility for Labour DDoS

Hackers claiming to represent Lizard Squad say they were behind a distributed denial of service attack on the UK’s Labour Party Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Home Office Brexit app contains multiple security flaws

The Home Office’s Brexit app may be putting EU citizens’ personal data at risk Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

LOTI launches dashboard that maps technology resources of local authorities

London Office of Technology and Innovation launches dashboard in partnership with Bloomberg Associates to drive savings and identify skills levels Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Attack on Labour shows need for DDoS defence but should alarm few

After being hit by two DDoS attacks in the space of 24 hours, many commentators are convinced the UK’s Labour Party is the victim of foreign interference in the General Election campaign. It probably isn’t Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 36

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team pick talk about General Election tech, HMRC's “war” on IT contractors, diversity in STEM and how organisations can fight back against fake online reviews Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

NHS still holds citizen trust on data use

But the public trust banks more than local or central government bodies when it comes to handling personal information, a new study has found Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

‘Robust’ security foils cyber attack on Labour Party

Labour claims to have been the victim of a cyber attack, but says it is confident no data leaked Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

G-Cloud 10 fails to generate business for suppliers, study says

Research firm Tussell’s study into G-Cloud reveals majority of suppliers listed in its report did not earn any revenue in 2018 through the public sector framework Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

HMCTS researches the future of open justice

A new report by Policy Lab into the threats and opportunities of technology is aimed to support new approaches to policy-making Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

General Election affects National Data Strategy

A series of workshops, including the public’s involvement to guide the plan’s vision, have been postponed Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Welsh government to hire chief digital officer

The £500,000 of annual funding will go towards a leader and a department dedicated to developing digital initiatives Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

ICO launches data security campaign for UK General Election

Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham launches campaign to remind the public of their rights when personal data is used for political purposes Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Modernisation of justice may leave vulnerable users behind

A Commons Select Committee report has voiced a number of concerns about the ongoing transformation efforts led by the Ministry of Justice and called for actions such as maintenance of non-digital services Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Government allocates £2m to support growth of lawtech

New government funding unlocked to help break down barriers to the adoption of emerging technologies in the legal sector Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

IR35 tribunal rules HMRC wrong to pursue ex-DWP IT contractor for £240,000 in unpaid employment tax

HMRC has vowed to appeal against the outcome of an IR35 tribunal that ruled it should not be pursuing an ex-DWP and Accenture IT contractor for more than £240,000 in unpaid tax as his engagements classify him as self-employed Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

EU patches 20-year-old open source vulnerability

Ethical hackers taking part in a bug bounty programme on behalf of the European Union have uncovered a 20-year-old vulnerability Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

HMRC appoints interim chief digital and information officer

Jacky Wright's replacement is a financial services veteran who brings expertise in tech-enabled change and payments infrastructure Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Government review of cloud-first policy concludes guidance should remain unchanged

A review into the continued relevance of the UK government’s six-year-old cloud-first policy has concluded its ‘brand recognition’ is too strong for it to be scrapped, according to GDS Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK at the forefront of government AI investment

Current and anticipated artificial intelligence spending is the highest in Europe despite various challenges around implementation, according to a report by Accenture Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

JEDI mind tricks: Did White House interference affect the outcome of $10bn US gov cloud contract?

Microsoft's triumph over Amazon Web Services (AWS) in securing a $10bn cloud contract with the US Department of Defense has led to questions being asked about whether White House pressure changed the course of the procurement Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

NHSX reports advancements in artificial intelligence

Latest study showcases the work in artificial intelligence that is ongoing in the NHS as part of its Long-Term Plan Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

DWP outlines steps to reduce fraud and error

The Department of Work and Pensions has released the priorities within its single departmental plan, including the new platforms National Debt Service and Counter Fraud and Error Management Service Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

What will succeed the National Cyber Security Strategy?

As the National Cyber Security Strategy nears the end of its working life, the government is considering what comes next, and is asking probing questions of its successes and failures Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK gets low score in European e-gov ranking

Leaders in the region got scores of over 80% while Britain achieved just over 61%, a Capgemini report has found Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Reykjavik: An IT ecosystem beyond the ice

Iceland is a small island between Europe and the US, and that is one of several reasons why it is attracting tech startups to its capital Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Post Office IT trial judgement within days

The judgment in the second trial in a multimillion-pound legal battle over an allegedly faulty IT system at the Post Office is imminent Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

AWS 'surprised' over losing out on $10bn US JEDI cloud deal to Microsoft

Microsoft has emerged as the victor in the long-running battle with AWS over who would secure a decade-long cloud contract with the US Department of Defense worth $10bn Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

UK government announces new funding for robot development

The £34m package will go towards research around autonomous technologies to improve safety and public trust Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

How the DWP lifted two decades of outsourcing to adopt a cloud-first model

For the past four-and-a-half years, the Department for Work and Pensions has been evolving into a cloud-first organisation. We find out how it has been getting on Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Government provides boost to artificial intelligence skills

PhDs and researchers will be sponsored as part of a programme aimed at creating and retaining experts in artificial intelligence technology Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

NHSX seeks chief technology officer

The principal technology adviser to the organisation's CEO, Matthew Gould, should be interviewed by early December Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Know Fraud database became backlog dump

Reports to Action Fraud handled by City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau were quarantined as security risk, finds HM’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor