IT news in your industry sector

Risk of ‘widespread disruption’ at UK border after Brexit transition period, NAO warns

National Audit Office report highlights concerns over UK’s readiness when Brexit transition period ends, including several IT systems at risk of not being ready in time Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Consumer rights organisation warns of computer takeover scams

Consumers warned to be on guard against criminals pretending to be IT support staff to gain access to personal banking information Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Royal Navy tests new tech in Cyprus

Navy has been trialling drones, autonomous systems and new communication systems under plans to evolve the Royal Marines into a ‘hi-tech raiding and strike force’ Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Slot of the Antarctic: Tape the best option for polar survey backup

Tape deemed the best medium for backup on board the Antarctic research vessel RRS Sir David Attenborough, with Quantum’s Scalar i3 chosen in a fully redundant deployment Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

BBVA creates market information infrastructure on AWS cloud

Spanish bank BBVA is using Amazon Web Services to give its traders better access to market data following a project which also involved data provider Bloomberg Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Mastercard: Looks like a tech firm, acts like a tech firm, is a tech firm

Financial services giant finds itself in a prominent position as the volume of digital transactions increases Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Asda recruits new IT chief to handle transition

Former Morrisons CTO Anna Barsby will lead retailer’s tech agenda as part of its acquisition by the Issa brothers Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Nordic countries to develop common digital system

Common digital platform will help small and medium-sized enterprises across the Nordic region with data sharing Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Contractors claim IR35 reforms pose ‘bigger threat’ to their livelihoods than Covid-19 or Brexit

Latest poll by contractor tax consultancy Qdos suggests freelancers are less concerned about the threat the coronavirus and Brexit pose to their businesses than the havoc the IR35 private sector reforms might cause Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Mixed blessings for robots in retail

Ocado has acquired two US firms to boost its robotics expertise, while Walmart has reverted to using staff for shelf inventory checks Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Government sets out plans for security vetting IT platform

A three-year programme to transform the security vetting process for civil servants includes a technology platform due to be rolled out in summer 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

NHSX launches second round of NHS AI competition

NHS is looking for artificial intelligence products to help with triage, screening, imaging and intelligent operational automation Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Robot lawyer gets Sberbank role

Russia's largest state-owned bank creates a robot lawyer to reduce the time taken to process documents and make decisions based on them Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Kozlov

Subpostmasters’ complaint about government begins its journey to Parliamentary Ombudsman

Government faces scrutiny of its handling of the Post Office IT scandal that destroyed subpostmasters’ lives and livelihoods Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The UK government’s ‘flawed and misleading’ Covid-19 data

In this week’s Computer Weekly, the coronavirus data relied upon by the UK government is ‘flawed and misleading’ say experts – we examine the implications. Ikea talks about how it turned to the cloud to deal with the impact of the pandemic. And we look at the digital transformation underway at credit card giant Capital One. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NHS weathers cyber crime storm during pandemic, says NCSC

The NCSC dealt with over 700 incidents in the 12 months to August 2020, with over 200 specifically related to Covid-19, and the NHS a critical area of focus Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finnish government rolls out digital projects to support SMEs

Finland is set to create network of technology hubs that will support SMEs in the country, as well as create links across the EU Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Government seeks Council of Science and Technology co-chair

Co-chair will be part of the council that advises the prime minister on science and technology policy issues, including sustainable development, innovation and the UK’s research and science capability Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

ICO slashes Marriott breach fine to £18.4m

Reduced fine reflects both improvements made to hotel group’s cyber security and impact of coronavirus on the travel and hospitality sector Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government invests £200,000 to boost Scottish geospatial sector

The new Scottish Geospatial Network Integrator will work on developing opportunities in the geospatial services industry Continue Reading

CCS out to tender for technology services framework worth up to £2bn

Third iteration of Crown Commercial Service’s technology services framework includes technical management, transformation programmes and integration and management Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Amazon posts 'better than expected' Q3 results as Covid-19 pandemic continues to drive sales up

Online retail giant Amazon has enjoyed a bumper third quarter, as demand for its goods and services continues to soar as the pandemic forces people to stay home Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Most further education colleges have skills shortages in IT teams, says Jisc

A report from member organisation Jisc has found that a larger number of further education colleges have a skills shortage in IT teams Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Victims contest technology firms’ attempt to dismiss cobalt mining deaths case

Technology companies say they cannot be held responsible for the deaths of children mining for the cobalt used in their products Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

UK Hydrographic Office launches innovation programme

The programme aims to help startups and innovators use marine geospatial data to develop products and systems to “support safe, secure and thriving oceans” Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Royal Navy and US Navy evolve joint AI and ML work

The teams are working on improving interoperability and interchangeability of technology between the US and UK Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Welcome to the A. List

We recently noticed a feature on the BBC’s website titled The man who taught Uber how to say sorry. After a frantic scan of the article, we learned the name of this man, and can therefore sadly ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

NetApp boosts NVMe, QLC and container hybrid cloud offer

Storage giant NetApp unveils new AFF, FAS and E-series arrays with NVMe and QLC flash capability, plus object storage in Ontap and Spot cloud container resource management in Cloud Manager Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Finnish therapy centre accused of covering up cyber attack

Private therapy practice Vastaamo faces questions over its security and business practices in the months leading up to one of the biggest data breaches in Finland’s history Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Privacy and online safety are focus of new UKRI research funding

Online safety research centre of excellence will look into technology to boost privacy and tackle disinformation, fake news, conspiracies and other online harms Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Commvault launches Metallic backup service in Europe

Backup giant adds backup as a service, with cloud-to-cloud backup and e-discovery functionality that can work across on-site datacentres and the AWS and Azure clouds Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Ikea on how Google Cloud has helped it cope with Covid-induced shifts in customer demand

Ikea Retail CDO Barbara Martin Coppola tells us how cloud technologies have helped the company adapt to the rapid changes in consumer behaviour brought about by the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

ICO slams Experian over ‘invisible’ data processing

Data processing practices used by Experian broke data protection law, says Information Commissioner’s Office Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK ‘impact startups’ see investment surge

‘Impact startups’ continue to raise funding during the pandemic despite difficulties faced by the wider tech startup sector Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Not enough time to get software ready for end of Brexit transition period, warns industry

Software suppliers are concerned they don't have enough time or information to help businesses be ready on time for the end of the Brexit transition period Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Calls for clarity over Amazon insider breach

Security experts call for more clarity from Amazon over an apparent leak of customer data Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Covid crisis proves tech can replace office space and support cost-cutting at Barclays

Bank says it will continue to look at its use of office space as it targets further cost-cutting measures Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

King’s College Hospital launches tech ecosystem project to transform outpatient care

Executive director Jonathan Lofthouse reveals plans to create an ecosystem of tech providers to improve care across the trust Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Sopra Steria hit by new version of Ryuk ransomware

IT services company Sopra Steria says it has contained the ransomware virus, but systems will take a few weeks to be fully operational Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Death of tech startups in pandemic. Bolstering diversity – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna discuss the collapse of UK tech startups in the wake of the pandemic, driving diversity, and SAP’s ‘5 & 5 by 25’ procurement pledge Continue Reading

By

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

Pet project: How Pets at Home cares for customers with data analytics

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the chief data officer of Pets at Home, about using data analytics to care for customers. British Airways had its GDPR fine reduced to just £20m – we ask what this means for data protection regulation. And we look at GPT3, the language prediction tool that could revolutionise AI. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Policy Exchange calls on government to publish digital ID strategy

The lack of reliable digital ID services in the UK is limiting the country’s digital infrastructure potential, according to a report on digital identity, which also recommends the government to clarify the future of Gov.uk Verify Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Dutch government ‘unambitious’ in digital

The Netherlands has been working at home as much as possible since the outbreak of Covid-19, but its dependence on technology and connectivity does not seem to be reflected by the government’s approach to digitisation Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Cooperation between Norway’s security agencies planned following cyber attack on parliament

Government seeks to develop enhanced national IT infrastructure with an embedded early warning system and defence shield to protect the IT systems of public and private organisations Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Digital public services fail UK citizens on multiple fronts

Commission for Smart Government publishes paper on obstacles facing the UK’s digital government, setting out principles for digital government initiatives to follow Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Deutsche Bank in talks over sale of IT unit to TCS

German bank is said to be in negotiations to sell its retail banking IT operation to Indian IT giant Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cyber attack on Hackney Council is ‘morally repugnant’, says mayor

Mayor of Hackney is ‘incredibly angry’ at the cyber criminals behind the attack, which will continue to disrupt key council services for some time Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Nesta launches report on collective intelligence

Report sets out how to combine machine and human intelligence to drive innovation that could solve social challenges Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Unified file and object storage: The best of both worlds?

Unified file and object storage tackles growing volumes of unstructured data in a way that’s compatible with traditional and cloud-era applications, and friendlier to analytics Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

NHS trust takes another look at its appointment of IT scandal CEO

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has asked for external review of its process when appointing controversial executive Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic countries in denial over IT industry equality

Arriving in Denmark to find she was the only woman on a computer science master’s course was a shock to Plamena Cherneva Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Bath and North East Somerset goes live with integrated care record

Record system allows health and care professionals to share information across Virgin Care, local GPs, Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bath and North East Somerset Council Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

US Justice Department files antitrust lawsuit against Google

Lawsuit alleges Google used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in a number of interconnected digital markets, violating US federal antitrust law Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

ANZ Bank moves digital banking services to container platform

Australia’s largest bank now runs 30% of its internet banking services on Red Hat OpenShift in a move that has energised developers and paved the way for more automation Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

From compliance to open banking to embedded finance – all thanks to APIs

The road to embedded finance, banking and insurance with APIs is full of promise – and banks should take it for a journey to a better world of finance Continue Reading

By

• Mehdi Medjaoui

Charities warned over ‘Robin Hood’ cyber criminals

Accepting donations from cyber criminal groups could be deemed as profiting from crime, money laundering or handling stolen goods – so don’t do it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Financial services staff want work-from-home policies to continue after Covid

About half of workers in the finance sector want their employers to retain remote working policies brought in during the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Customer loyalty accounts in danger from cyber criminals

Billions of credential stuffing attacks are harvesting valuable customer data for the dark web economy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

How Malaysia’s Selangor state is tapping cloud

Malaysian state has built a cloud-based payment services platform for citizens and is looking to tap cloud-based analytics to upgrade its surveillance cameras, among other cloud computing initiatives Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Retailers get access to new security toolkit

The British Retail Consortium has worked with the NCSC to develop a new cyber security toolkit pitched at retailers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hackney Council services to be disrupted ‘for some time’

Inability to make housing benefit payments is likely to sting some tenants as Hackney cyber attack drags on Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Police given access to self-isolation data

NHS Test and Trace self-isolation data will be made available to police after new guidance changes data-sharing rules Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

BA breach penalty sets new GDPR precedents

The 90% reduction in the fine levied on BA over a 2018 data breach has legal experts talking about the ramifications for the future of data protection Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

MoD launches science and technology strategy

Strategy sets out how the department will find and fund technological breakthroughs, focus on data and deliver next-generation military hardware Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Podcast: Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Covid-19 and storage

We look at how organisations can use Cybersecurity Awareness Month as an opportunity to revisit their handling of data and compliance, especially with changes brought by Covid-19 and home working Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Labour shares concerns over ‘whitewash’ Horizon IT inquiry

Labour MPs write to postal affairs minister expressing fears that the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal does not guarantee cooperation from the Post Office, Fujitsu and government Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Making Tax Digital could impose unreasonable costs on taxpayers, says PAC

Public Accounts Committee calls on HMRC to assess whether the administrative burden placed on taxpayers through its Making Tax Digital programme is reasonable before continuing to roll it out Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Why is IBM splitting in two and what does it mean for CIOs?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, IBM is splitting in two, hiving off its services business to focus on hybrid cloud – we examine what it means for CIOs. Our new buyer’s guide looks at how intelligent workload management can cut cloud complexity. And we analyse how getting backup right can help tackle ransomware threats. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Pandemic causes record spike in collapse of tech startups

A record number of technology startups folded in September, after months of early-stage companies struggling to attract the investment needed to stay afloat Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Scottish Borders extends CGI outsourcing contract until 2040

CGI will continue to provide the Scottish council’s end-to-end managed IT services until 2040, making it one of the longest extensions in the company’s history Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

London’s fintechs continue to attract investment

The capital’s fintechs continue to attract large volumes of venture capital funds despite the global economic slowdown Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Prisons to virtually connect to NHS hospitals

Tech deal means prisoners will be able to virtually see NHS consultants without needing to physically attend the hospital Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Estonian rude awakening spurs tech startup activity

Money laundering scandal in Estonia has sparked tech startup activity in the Baltic country as banks look for answers Continue Reading

By

• Tarmo Virki

What will it take for humanity to fully understand tech?

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

By

• Iain Brown

UK Space Agency funds three Covid-19 tech projects

Projects include drones to carry coronavirus tests and samples, a mobile app using satellite technology to provide access to community transport, and e-learning courses in Earth observation data analysis Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UK announces proposals to protect cash amid evolution of digital payments

Government wants to ensure access to physical currency by consumers at retailers of all sizes Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Serco and Sitel contact-tracing contracts agreed to be penalty-free for underperformance

Penalties for underperformance were not included in NHS contact-tracing contracts with Serco and Sitel, it has emerged from questions to the Department of Health by Conservative MP David Davis Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

CIO interview: Generali’s Yanna Winter on the power of data integration

Yanna Winter, CIO and head of IT at insurance firm Generali, discusses how to slice up the legacy IT elephant in the room to enable data-driven applications Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

BA argues ICO data breach fine down to £20m

Information Commissioner’s Office levies fine of £20m on British Airways for failing to protect the personal data of hundreds of thousands of passengers – a vast reduction on the initial £183m penalty Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK government aims to prioritise future innovations

Government research has been published to enable evidence-based recommendations on emerging technology with greatest impact Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Welsh shared electronic record project is far from realising ambition, says auditor

Welsh Community Care Information System roll-out, originally due in 2018, is taking longer and costing more than expected, and the prospect of a full take-up among local organisations is still uncertain Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Spanish court to question witnesses over ‘illegal surveillance’ of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange

The Spanish National Court in Madrid is to hear evidence from information security expert Andy Müller-Maguhn and two lawyers who were subject to ‘illegal surveillance’  of their meetings with Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Ter García

Services Australia taps AI in document processing

Services Australia and Capgemini have developed an AI engine to classify and extract information from claim documents in a pilot project Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Cloud data protection keeps the Crick’s medical research Covid-secure

Cloud data management services from Rubrik gave the Francis Crick Institute a data protection edge and have helped keep its vital work going through the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The splitting up of IBM is unlikely to end here

Thirty years ago, the UK IT scene was led by two dominant suppliers – the global giant, IBM; and the British tech champion, ICL. Snapping at their heels were Hewlett-Packard (HP), Digital Equipment ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

UK regulators lack the skills and expertise to cope with increasing use of algorithms

MPs told that multiple regulators will be needed to govern the ever-growing use of algorithmic systems in all areas of the economy and public sector Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Emerging tech can improve regulatory processes, says BEIS report

Regulators should take a best-practice approach to the use of emerging technologies but need to be aware of the challenges, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Post Office races to solve IT error under gaze of public and banks

The Post Office is focusing urgently on fixing an IT error suffered by a subpostmaster amid the ongoing IT scandal Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Hackney services still offline in ongoing cyber attack

Services remain disrupted two days after council was hit by a serious incident, as residents are warned to be on their guard Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Public sector security failings leave UK at risk, says think tank

Reform report urges adoption of new policies in the next version of the UK’s National Cyber Security Strategy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Unions urge government to improve conditions for Amazon workers

Unions have urged the UK government to leverage its position as a client of Amazon to improve conditions for workers Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

US Elections: Malicious internet domains spike as campaigns heat up

Internet domains related to the US presidential election are 56% more likely to be malicious than regular ones Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

The codecracker suite

It was the summer of 2017, and a stock photo taken in Girona two years earlier was about to go global. That same summer, an Atlanta photographer walked through the doors of a dance studio to help ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

NHS England issues integrated cloud ERP procurement advice call

NHS England is calling on software suppliers for advice concerning the feasibility of moving and integrating its ERP systems in cloud infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Fintech ‘unicorn’ Klarna probed over data misuse

Online bank blames misuse of user data on human error as Information Commissioner’s Office weighs in Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Rémy Cointreau migrates SAP to S/4 Hana on Google Cloud

Cloud-based deployment speeds up scalability and provides integration with Salesforce and e-commerce systems Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The future of storage

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine emerging technologies in storage such as helium disks and DNA. Ransomware is becoming more sophisticated and the attackers more tactical. And as the EU’s top court challenges the UK over surveillance, we ask what this means for data privacy after Brexit. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

GMB Union boss calls for Dido Harding to resign from NHS Test and Trace

Following the news that a technical glitch caused 16,000 coronavirus cases to go unreported, the GMB Union has called for Test and Trace chair Dido Harding to quit Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Government minister’s plea for subpostmasters to take part in review of IT scandal rejected

Government minister met with former subpostmaster online in an attempt to get victims of the Post Office Horizon scandal involved in government review Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Hackney Council services offline after ‘serious’ cyber attack

Services to residents of the London borough of Hackney are being disrupted by a cyber attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor