IT news in your industry sector

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

Autonomous ships on Dutch horizon

The Port of Rotterdam is creating an environment where autonomous ships will become the norm, through IoT and IBM Watson Continue Reading

By

• Karina Meerman

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

Building enterprise-grade AI: Sberbank and AI Telekom

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are growing beyond adolescence to prove business value. Practical applications at Sberbank and AI Telekom suggest getting machine learning data in one place, where data scientists can experiment Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Clark

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

How to buy hyper-converged infrastructure

Simplicity, high availability, scalability and reduced cost are among the benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure. We survey the benefits, pitfalls and the key suppliers Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

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

Dubai’s Kentech kicks off digital transformation drive

Energy and industrial support company will go live in Oracle’s cloud next month Continue Reading

By

• Alicia Buller

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

Serving tech from all angles at the Association of Tennis Professionals

The use of data and analytics technologies has transformed tennis for spectators, players and umpires, with the ATP and its partner Infosys leading the way Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Barclays opens large tech operation in India, hiring thousands

Barclays opens tech centre in Pune as part of its global delivery network Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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

Qualcomm claims world first for 5G mixed reality

5G-supported extended reality platform is claimed to offer more immersive, intelligent and connected experiences Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

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

Great Cannon DDoS operation fires on Hong Kong protesters

AT&T’s security unit has evidence that China is pressing its Great Cannon DDoS tool into service once again, specifically to target pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Two Russians indicted over Dridex and Zeus malware

The US Department of Justice has indicted two Russian citizens over their alleged role in the distribution of the virulent Bugat, or Dridex, and Zeus banking trojans Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK financial services regulators tell banks to own their IT disasters

Financial services regulators propose tighter rules for firms to reduce the adverse effects of operational problems, such as IT outages Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

NetApp’s Keystone hybrid cloud storage ‘try-before-you-buy’ for on-prem

Keystone on-premise and cloud subscription model will cost more than buying hardware so will be best suited to customers that want to try NetApp on-site before committing to purchase Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage 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

Black Hat Europe: Mental health websites are leaking user data

At Black Hat Europe in London, researchers reveal the extent to which confidential data is being leaked to third parties by online mental health websites Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

Tenable buys Indegy to integrate IT and OT security

Acquisition of industrial security specialist Indegy will create a unified, risk-based platform spanning both IT and OT security for Tenable Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 39

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly and Brian McKenna are joined by Bill Goodwin and Sebastian Klovig Skelton to discuss their stories about Facebook’s machinations against app developers and competitors Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor
• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Insurtechs help traditional players differentiate

Traditional insurers are harnessing the agile development techniques of the tech startup community through partnerships with insurtechs Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Klarna uses AWS cloud as it moves from startup to global fintech force

Swedish fintech cements its relationship with Amazon Web Services to speed up product development and support its global expansion Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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

By

• Angelica Mari

Goldman Sachs reins in cloud-based retail challenger in UK

Bank does not want rapidly expanding Marcus to breach deposits threshold at which UK banks have to ring-fence their retail operations Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

QD Stores deploys SAP Fiori as pathway to possible S/4 Hana adoption

East Anglia-based discount retailer uses design thinking to develop SAP Fiori Screen Personas to enhance ECC6 instance Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

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

TfL locks down Oyster accounts to ward off credential stuffing

Mandatory password reset for all travellers who use Oyster and contactless payment systems follows minor breach incident earlier in 2019 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Hack Friday: This Christmas, fight back against cyber criminals

It’s nearly Christmas, and cyber attacks and fraud attempts in the retail sector are ramping up. Is it time to panic? And is there anything we can do beyond hammering home the message around basic cyber security hygiene? Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

TSB neglected to assess capabilities of main IT provider in its failed system migration

TSB failed to properly assess and manage the internal service provider that lead its botched IT migration Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: Ross Fullerton, CIO, London Ambulance Service

Brought in after a major IT disaster in 2017, the CIO is now introducing technologies to speed up emergency response times and get key patient data back to doctors before arrival at A&E Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

NatWest digital bank goes live

NatWest has announced the availability of its standalone digital challenger bank, known as Bó Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Keep on truckin’

Elon Musk has explained why the windows of Tesla’s tank-like Cybertruck smashed during a humiliating launch. Chief designer Franz von Holzhausen cut a gleeful figure as he prepared to throw a steel ... Continue Reading

By

• Ryan Priest

Telefónica reveals global restructuring plan

Global telco to undergo wholesale changes to prioritise markets where it says it can be relevant and grow sustainably in the long term Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

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

Staff in smaller businesses bogged down by poor communications

Inadequate communications between senior management and staff in small to medium-sized enterprises is leading to poor decision-making Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Finland’s OP Financial Group accelerates open banking push

Finnish banking group is working with a Danish fintech to add open banking functionality to its offerings Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 38

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team discusses the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto and touches on those of the two main parties. Also under discussion are Dreamforce, Google Next and Monster Confidence for Stemettes Continue Reading

By

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

Tandem and TrueLayer partnership shows how fintech can support fintech

TrueLayer and Tandem partnership demostrates the power of collaborative ecosystems Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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

Facebook undermined rivals in bid to dominate global messaging

Facebook used buyouts and bullying tactics towards competitors to grow its business empire, documents leaked to Computer Weekly reveal Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly
• Crina Boros

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

Why thousands of IT contractors face ‘life-changing’ tax bills

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we investigate HMRC’s loan charge policy, a retrospective tax grab that has left thousands of IT contractors facing financial ruin. We compare the cloud storage offerings from AWS, Microsoft and Google. And we find out how retailers are turning to tech to deal with a new generation of shoppers. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

Snap taps Verizon as 5G partner to extend AR, video experiences

US comms giant Verizon teams with Snapchat creator to look at supporting advanced video applications such as augmented reality on its 5G network Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Nationwide building society opens up systems through mortgage API

Nationwide Building Society is trialling an application programming interface that will enable its mortgage brokers to link directly to some of its systems Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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

State backs Norway’s fibre cable capacity building

Norway is increasing investment on communications infrastructure in an effort to reduce reliance on Swedish and Danish networks Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Uber app exploit posed safety risk to passengers

A flaw in Uber’s system meant thousands of trips in London were taken with unauthorised drivers at the wheel Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security 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

By

• 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

Labour breaks an emerging consensus on Broadband Policy?

No one size fits all needs. Every smart community (let alone "City") will probably need at least one Internet Exchange to handle local inter-operability. The UK as a whole will probably need more ... Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

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

Figeac Aero manages growth with DataCore software-defined storage

Global roll-out sees DataCore software-defined storage deployed on Huawei hardware to HQ and 14 worldwide sites as aero parts maker copes with acquisition and expansion Continue Reading

By

• Yann Serra, LeMagIT

England manager Gareth Southgate tells how data analytics and cloud have helped the FA modernise

England football manager tells Google Cloud Next UK conference how the FA is using big data and cloud collaboration tools to change the organisation's culture and improve players’ performances on the pitch Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CIO interview: Paul Stein, CTO, Rolls-Royce

The aerospace engine manufacturer is at the leading edge of technology developments such as electric power, and already makes extensive use of advanced IT systems such as AI Continue Reading

By

• Sooraj Shah

TSB tech woes continue with overnight systems failure

TSB customers have experienced problems receiving money into their accounts due to an IT error, just days after the bank was slammed in a report on its IT problems last year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Some 29,000 UK web domains suspended for criminal activity

Domain suspensions for criminal activity over the past year has dropped for the first time since 2014 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

British Airways cancels flights due to technical issue

British Airways customers are suffering delays and cancellations as a result as a technical issue Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Swiss packaging manufacturer powers digital maintenance with GE and ServiceMax

Carton and packaging company SIG, which also sells IoT-connected machines to food and beverage firms, has developed a digital maintenance service Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing 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

By

• Angelica Mari

Has Amazon dropped its plan for a bank account?

Has Amazon decided against launching a bank account? Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Life under the loan charge: An IT contractor’s story

Thousands of IT contractors are being pursued by HMRC for “life-changing” tax bills for work they did up to 20 years ago, as part of a disguised remuneration clampdown known as the loan charge policy. One of those affected anonymously shares his take on what it’s like to live with a six-figure tax demand hanging over you Continue Reading

By

• An anonymous IT contractor

SME disaster recovery made easy with cloud, hybrid and HCI

Disaster recovery is a lot easier for small businesses than it used to be, with use of the cloud, hybrid cloud, physical and virtual appliances, and hyper-converged infrastructure all among the choices on offer Continue Reading

By

• Stephen Pritchard

HSBC builds API digital platform with MuleSoft to forward open banking

At Dreamforce 2019, HSBC announced the building of a digital platform with Salesforce MuleSoft to forward open banking opportunities Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

Western Union transfers to AWS cloud

Western Union is the latest financial services form to set out a future in the Amazon Web Services cloud Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Nordics: Automation pays off for Sweden’s social workers

Software robots are freeing up time for social workers in Sweden to help benefits claimants find employment and to receive the money they are entitled to. Also in this issue, read how Sweden’s SEB bank is using a Google-inspired, cloud-native core banking platform, and why India is leading the pack when it comes to IT outsourcing from the Nordic countries. Continue Reading

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

Fashion retailer AllSaints on using Google Cloud to handle online shopping traffic peaks

AllSaints shifts website workloads into Google Cloud to protect against website downtime, as well as embarking on microservices-led push to modernise its infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How Nicigas is disrupting Japan’s gas market with IoT

Japanese energy retailer Nicigas is deploying 850,000 IoT devices to convert traditional gas meters into smart meters to unlock consumption data amid efforts to shake up the utilities industry Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget

Sweden’s SEB explores core banking in the cloud

 Continue Reading

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

Mimecast blocked 99 billion suspicious emails in third quarter

Latest threat intelligence report reveals the scale of the threat posed by malicious emails, with the transport, legal and financial sectors hit hardest Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Datrium boosts VMware protection but won’t add more hypervisors

NVMe flash pioneer turned DR-as-a-service-focused data platform provider Datrium says VMware and Kubernetes have “won the market” and it won’t extend support beyond those two Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

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

Massive increase in fraud attacks on TSB customers during IT meltdown

There was a massive spike in attempts by fraudsters to steal from TSB customers when the bank’s IT systems failed in 2018 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA