IT news in your industry sector

Virtual London Tech Week is a sign of the future

London Tech week's virtual event is another sign of how the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Scottish government to spend £4m on creating five tech hubs

Following a review of the tech sector, the Scottish government is creating five technology hubs to support startups in the country, aiming to support 300 startups by 2025 Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Major border disruption on the horizon as Brexit IT portfolio becomes ‘unmanageable’

The proliferation of new platforms and work behind schedule is among the list of concerns cited in a leaked memo Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Phishing scam targets Lloyds Bank customers

Bank customers warned of emails and SMS messages that direct them to a fraudulent site and then request account log-in details Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fund helps Good Things Foundation give 4,000 people digital access

Charity Good Things Foundation has been given £500,000 by the National Lottery Fund to help 4,000 digitally excluded people gain technology skills Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Amazon to recruit 7,000 permanent workers in UK during 2020 hiring spree

The online retail giant’s UK workforce looks set to expand to 40,000 employees by the end of 2020, as its network of fulfilment centres continues to grow Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Insurers accept they were slow to adopt digital

Insurance companies know they must prioritise digital investment and are planning in-house development to help make up lost ground Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

M&S and Ocado enter first week of online delivery partnership

Customers can now order M&S food through online supermarket Ocado’s website as part of an ongoing partnership between the two retailers Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

One actor behind Magecart skimmer kit

RiskIQ has identified that variations in software tools used for Magecart ecommerce site attacks are based on kits from the same group Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK tech firms urged to seek out international opportunities

Tech Nation study finds UK businesses are in a strong position to take advantage of global tech growth Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

HMRC appoints Daljit Rehal as CDIO

Former digital and data chief at Centrica, Daljit Rehal, takes the helm at HMRC as chief digital and information officer Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Nimbus Data launches 64TB of QLC flash in one drive for £8,000

Flash pioneer aims QLC-equipped ExaDrive NL at AI/ML, analytics, media streaming and archiving use cases. Nimbus eschews NVMe for well-established SAS and SATA connectivity Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra and Antony Adshead

Guernsey to revamp digital local service delivery following double datacentre build-out

The State of Guernsey’s ongoing push to revamp how it delivers digital services to its citizens continues apace with the completion of two new datacentres on the island Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Asos launches TikTok brand campaign

Fashion brand Asos has launched a campaign on TikTok to bring awareness of its products to a wider audience Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Northumbria University suffers major disruption after cyber attack

Some exams cancelled as university appoints external specialists to investigate incident Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK to build commercially available quantum computer

The UK government is backing a quantum computing project that will provide businesses with access to the technology Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Ethical and professional data science needed to avoid further algorithm controversies

BCS is calling for higher ethical and professional standards in algorithmic development to ensure public trust in future government information systems Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Sharing responsibility: Why we need to work together to keep the cloud secure

The education sector has been fundamentally altered by months of lockdown, with cloud services topping must-have lists for academic staff, but now it’s time to consider security Continue Reading

By

• Andy Powell, JISC

App integration means emergency services can identify caller location in three words

Capita integrates What3words app into its emergency services control centre platform to help respondents identify the exact location of people who need help Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UBS streamlines software product development with GitLab

The bank hopes to double the speed of software development, testing and deployment to support applications for clients Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The subtle clues that show UK government is taking digital identity seriously at last (cough...)

The UK government has finally unveiled its response to the digital identity consultation that concluded a year ago this month, and along with that announced a new Digital Identity Strategy Board to ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Pure aims at unified file and object and launches new QLC storage

Flash storage maker says unified storage in file and object is what is needed for contemporary analytics and AI workloads, while it launches a new all-QLC version of FlashArray//C Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

UK government unveils next steps in digital identity plans

Long-awaited response to July 2019 consultation highlights private sector demands for digital identity support from government Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Norway’s corporates want government to support ‘herd immunity’ to cyber attack

Leading business organisations in Norway call on government to play a more active role in improving and coordinating the country’s cyber defences Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Here East CEO advises startups to generate own revenue streams

In a time of deep uncertainty, startups with their own streams of revenue independent of investors and large corporates will have more options and be in a much stronger negotiating position Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

How Bank Mandiri is driving the use of big data analytics

Indonesia’s largest bank has built a big data platform to track transactions and monitor the health of its workforce, among other big data analytics initiatives Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

How India’s Tata Capital is expanding its digital footprint

Tata Group’s financial services arm has been migrating branch walk-ins and voice calls to self-service digital channels staffed by chatbots as it expands its digital footprint Continue Reading

By

• Pratima Harigunani

NHS gets £50m in AI funding for digital pathology

Government funding package focuses on earlier diagnosis of cancer in the West Midlands, north of England and London Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

University of Staffordshire recruits robots to get more out of its people

University staff were bogged down with administrative work, but will now have time to be creative Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Office for National Statistics defines better cross-government data linkage

ONS review of data-linking practices across government is consistent with Cummings and Johnson drive to put data in command of government Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

New Zealand activates security services as DDoS outage enters fourth day

New Zealand government calls in its national cyber security agencies to help investigate a continuing cyber attack on the country’s financial systems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Interview: Frankie Kay, interim director general for data capability, ONS

The Office for National Statistics’ interim director general for data capability talks about how data plays an important role in the battle against Covid-19 and how the pandemic has unearthed new ways of collaborating Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Machine learning wards off threats at TV studio Bunim Murray

TV studio behind reality hits including The Real World and Keeping Up With The Kardashians turned to Darktrace’s Antigena email protection service to keep its people safe from Covid-19 threats Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Benefit fraud: Underground trade in stolen identities revealed

A roaring underground trade in stolen identities is undermining the Universal Credit system and could potentially defraud it out of millions of pounds Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DDoS downs New Zealand stock exchange for third day

Distributed denial of service attack from overseas has left stock exchange offline for days Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Tour de France 2020 fans to get virtual experience delivered by NTT

This year’s Tour de France was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. IT services company NTT has teamed up with event organiser ASO to offer a virtual experience to fans who cannot be at the roadside Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

NHS whistleblowers’ anonymity at mercy of inadequate trust IT policies and processes

They were clapped in the streets for their bravery at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, but some NHS staff who raise workplace concerns are suffering abuse as a result Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Financial services business leaders and CIOs disagree on IT infrastructure

IT leaders and senior business executives need to align their technology infrastructure priorities as businesses attempt to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CTO interview: David Rafalovsky, Sberbank Group

Russia’s Sberbank is well into its digital transformation journey, with artificial intelligence and supercomputing now at the centre of its plans Continue Reading

By

• Vladimir Kozlov

TikTok CEO clocks off

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has resigned from the firm after just three months Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tech and telecoms advisory group set up to help trade negotiations

Department of International Trade launches new Trade Advisory Groups to guide trade negotiations with other countries Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

CW Nordics: Bergen’s tech hub seeks global success

Norway’s second-largest city, Bergen, is building a tech ecosystem that is beginning its development with a focus on the city’s industrial heritage. Also in this issue, read why now might be the time for businesses to consider how they will invest in outsourcing IT once the Covid-19 pandemic wanes. And read how Norway’s government has had to backtrack on a law that removed tax relief on energy consumption at datacentres that process cryptocurrency mining. Continue Reading

Asda trials platform for customer parcel updates

Retailers Asda is trialling delivery management from tech platform Sorted to provide customers who have ordered clothing online with a better customer experience Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

UK government publishes new insights on transport tech attitudes

The latest wave of the study investigates public attitudes on innovations such as autonomous vehicles and drones Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Aggrieved Amazon employees organise protests at homes of Jeff Bezos

A newly formed workers’ collective will protest outside the homes of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos seeking to secure a number of concessions for essential workers Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Ministers urge local councils to lead on broadband and mobile

Digital minister Matt Warman and local government minister Simon Clarke want local councils to do their bit to help ensure better access to connectivity during the Covid-19 recovery Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Co-operative cuts branch network and jobs

Co-operative bank will rely more heavily on its digital channels as 18 more branches are shuttered Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Lidl Finland speeds up with new local server racks

 Continue Reading

Amazon UK boss to help select new government CDO

Outgoing Amazon UK boss Doug Gurr is on the selection panel to assess candidates for the government chief digital officer role, which offers a salary of up to £200,000 per year Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

CIO interview: Steve Otto, chief technology officer, The R&A

When the coronavirus pandemic caused The Open to be cancelled, The R&A’s tech team took the UK’s flagship golf tournament online Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

DWP searches for talent as part of apprenticeship programme

The Department of Work and Pensions is looking for diverse talent to fill software and networking roles while developing skills on the job Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government must urgently prioritise digital identity, says tech sector

TechUK calls on government to make digital identity a focus of its digital strategy as the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the ‘urgent need’ for digital IDs Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Digital identity must not remain the missing link in the UK’s digital strategy

The UK's digital economy is desperately in need of a viable digital identity strategy - to recover from the pandemic, the government cannot wait any longer to resolve this much-delayed issue Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

Storage analytics: How AI helps storage management

We look at storage analytics products that measure key metrics in storage hardware, single-vendor and multi-vendor tools, and how AI-based storage management and AIOps is emerging Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

Intel’s DAOS tops the IO500 speed challenge for HPC storage

Following on from Lustre, Intel’s DAOS is an object storage-based system with that is designed specifically for use with Optane for metadata and SSD for bulk storage in HPC environments Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra and Antony Adshead

Gig economy, summer special look-back – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this summer special episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna look back to pre-lockdown episodes, and reflect on the podcasting experience since. First, they discuss the gig economy through the prism of new bite-sized BBC comedy Mandy Continue Reading

By

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

Nordic startups send a message to global investment community

Early-stage tech companies across the world should set up Nordic operations earlier in their development journeys Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

North Korea’s Lazarus targets cryptocurrency vertical

APT group behind the infamous WannaCry incident is targeting cryptocurrency operators, according to new research Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Council to connect hundreds of its sites through wide area network

Local authorities invest in networking and contact centre technology through IT outsourcing contracts Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Obituary: Lord Harry Renwick – a parliamentary pioneer for IT interests

Lord Harry Renwick, once a key influencer for technology policy in Parliament, and a long-standing friend of Computer Weekly, passed away this month Continue Reading

By

• John Riley

TikTok takes Trump to court

Under-fire video app TikTok files a formal complaint in the federal courts challenging the Trump administration’s attempt to ban it in the US Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

When algorithms don’t play fair

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we report on the auditing of algorithms to countervail bias. We examine what CISOs can learn from Covid-19. And in our buyer’s guide to modern software development, we assess how competent artificial intelligence is at building applications that deliver the best possible customer experience. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Dutch Alzheimer’s app developed to aid interaction for dementia patients

An app aimed at helping dementia patients and their families has been developed by the Alzheimer Society in the Netherlands. Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

Government makes digital leadership changes

The government has begun recruiting for a chief digital officer at permanent secretary level and Government Digital Service director general Alison Pritchard is leaving to join the Office for National Statistics Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

CCS to launch £800m NHS IT framework

Collaborative framework agreement will cover a range of IT management services for use by NHS Digital and other public sector health and social care organisations Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Scottish government reveals broadband voucher scheme to make up project shortfall

Government reveals details of funding for Scottish residents who fall outside reach of its primary broadband project Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

TikTok’s GDPR compliance probed amid accusations of data misuse

Dutch privacy organisation SOMI claims TikTok falls short in protecting young users, and that it is likely violating GDPR Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SMEs outperform Q2 expectations but remain cautious about Q3 prospects

Small confidence boost for small to medium-sized enterprises puts tech investment back on the table over coming 12 months Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Drop in number of students taking GCSE computing in 2020

The amount of students deciding to take GCSE computing in England drops despite an increase last year Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government launches anti-crime tech competition

Government seeks technologies that allow police officers to use less lethal means to stop violent or armed offenders Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Social media data leak highlights murky world of data scraping

A data brokerage left its database of 235 million Instagram, TikTok and YouTube profiles exposed to anybody who cared to access it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pandemic behaviour shift will continue for many consumers, research finds

A large number of customers say the way they have been forced to shop during the pandemic will have a lasting impact on their shopping behaviours Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Hangar 51 supports startups taking off in travel tech

International Airlines Group’s accelerator programme aims to give travel technology companies a flying start in the sector Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

CW APAC: Expert advice on hybrid cloud

Despite numerous benefits, organisations with lots of legacy applications can’t or won’t move everything to the public cloud. Some organisations may also choose to retain sensitive data on-premise for security reasons. In this edition of Expert Advice, we look at why and how APAC firms are deploying and managing their hybrid cloud infrastructure. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Scotland announces £15m investment to boost connectivity

Funding package aimed at improving internet access for 23,000 low-income households Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Veeam to add CDP, plus Google cloud as a target

Backup giant set to add continuous data protection for the most critical workloads, plus Google cloud as a target – all on the back of a storming quarter during the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Marriott slapped with class action lawsuit over 2018 breach

Group action brings together millions of victims who stayed at the Starwood hotel chain over a four-year period Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Loan charge MPs urge chancellor to get HMRC to soften contractor settlements

Co-chairs of Loan Charge All Party Parliamentary Group write to Rishi Sunak to seek a fairer deal for contractors caught by HMRC’s disguised remuneration policy Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Government scraps Public Health England

NHS Test and Trace boss Dido Harding will run a new National Institute of Health Protection dubbed “the best chance” of beating coronavirus by health secretary Matt Hancock Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Department for Transport seeks industry views on autonomous vehicle technology

The government wants industry’s views on plans to use automation technology to take control of cars travelling at speeds of up to 70mph, keeping them safely in the lane on motorways Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UK Biobank to build AWS-hosted data analysis platform with DNAnexus to speed research

UK Biobank is looking to the cloud to help democratise access to its research data, and ensure the information it holds can be used by as broad a user base as possible Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Northern Ireland Covid-19 tracing app reaches 250,000 downloads

In the two weeks since it went live, Northern Ireland’s Covid-19 test and trace app has been downloaded a quarter of a million times Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Carnival cruise lines hit by ransomware, customer data stolen

Cruise ship operator is likely to be the victim of a major data breach after customer information is apparently stolen in a ransomware attack Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

TikTok in peril, A-level and Scottish Highers algo fiascos – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna discuss the fortunes of TikTok, the A-level results, and the algorithm controversies in which they and Scottish Highers have been mired Continue Reading

By

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

Reports Oracle to enter TikTok bidding war

Oracle may be about to make a bid to acquire the US operations of TikTok from its Chinese parent ByteDance, according to the FT Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Panasas launches storage tiering by size instead of usage

Dynamic Data Acceleration moves data to media dependent on file size and claims performance advantage over rival as it gets the best out of flash and spinning disk hard drives Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

HPE signs 12-month hybrid cloud-focused MoU with UK government

Hardware giant becomes the first non-cloud provider to sign preferential pricing deal with government’s Crown Commercial Service, as push to encourage public sector move to cloud accelerates Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Coronavirus: Government faces renewed calls for extended support for self-employed

The second phase of the government’s income support scheme for the self-employed goes live today, prompting renewed calls for the eligibility criteria to be broadened so that more people can benefit Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

DBS Bank teams up with AWS on AI skills

Singapore’s DBS Bank is organising an AWS DeepRacer League to equip thousands of employees with skills in artificial intelligence and machine learning Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

UK government investigates AI labour market

Survey will seek to discover new requirements and issues posed by artificial intelligence technology Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Executive interview: Sri Shivananda, chief technology officer, PayPal

Computer Weekly talks to PayPal’s tech head about the payment provider’s SOA, security, open source and the lockdown Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

A CIO’s journey through the Covid-19 crisis

FDM’s IT chief takes us through the challenges of responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and the future opportunities that the changes introduced now present Continue Reading

By

• Jonathan Young, FDM Group

CIO interview: Mark Gannon, director of business change and information, Sheffield City Council

Like many organisations, the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated digital change in Sheffield, and its IT leader is looking to build further on that momentum Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

CW Benelux: Security system concerns at Schiphol Airport

A report has revealed problems with critical security systems at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. Also read why the Netherlands’ digital sector is yearning for attention from the government, and how data weaknesses persist despite Dutch companies investing heavily to comply with GDPR. Continue Reading

Report reveals inadequate cyber security at Schiphol Airport

 Continue Reading

EU and US start discussions on ‘enhanced’ Privacy Shield data-sharing agreement

Talks begin on a successor to the Privacy Shield EU-US data-sharing agreement declared unlawful in July 2020 – a decision by the European Court of Justice that left thousands of businesses facing legal uncertainty Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Government awards funding for innovation projects

The funding for innovative projects forms part of the government’s plan to increase research and development spending, which it claims will aid the UK’s post-Covid-19 economic recovery Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Pure and Cohesity launch FlashRecover for flash-speed restores

Flash market pioneer links up with scale-out backup product maker to provide bundled backup plus super-fast recovery based around Pure FlashBlade storage arrays Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

NHS SBS spies £75m savings on IT purchases through new procurement framework

NHS organisations and public sector bodies will be encouraged to use £500m procurement framework to acquire IT software and hardware in a more cost-effective way Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Police use of facial recognition found ‘unlawful’ in court

In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal has ruled that South Wales Police’s facial recognition deployments breached human rights and data protection laws Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor