Information management

UK police plan national roll-out of facial-recognition phone app

UK police chiefs plan to expand use of facial-recognition technology through a nationwide roll-out of mobile-based tools and increases in retrospective facial-recognition, but oversight problems persist Continue Reading

DWP to surveil bank accounts of benefit claimants for fraud

The UK government has outlined how it plans to tackle benefit fraud by giving the Department for Work and Pensions new powers compelling banks to collect and share data on claimants’ bank accounts Continue Reading

Palantir awarded NHS FDP data contract

NHS England has awarded a £330m, seven-year contract to US data specialist Palantir, prompting concerns from data privacy practitioners Continue Reading

Boomi doubles down on AI and automation

Boomi executives talk up the company’s artificial intelligence and automation capabilities and its growing traction in ANZ during a recent event in Sydney Continue Reading

AI productivity gains could result in four-day weeks for millions

Autonomy think tank publishes paper on potential for artificial intelligence-driven large language models to shorten people’s work weeks Continue Reading

NHS England hits 90% target for electronic patient records

Some 90% of trusts in NHS England have adopted electronic patient records in hospitals, ahead of government schedule Continue Reading

CW APAC: Trend Watch: Generative AI in APAC

Organisations are starting to incorporate generative AI into their everyday processes. In this handbook, focused on GenAI in the Asia-Pacific region, Computer Weekly looks at how it’s being deployed in healthcare, Australia’s GenAI journey, the technology’s relationship with the cloud and Red Hat’s issues with source code. Continue Reading

US civil society groups demand better conditions for AI workers

Some 24 US civil society groups and unions and have written a letter to the US Senate asking for action to improve the working conditions of the people who train and maintain their artificial intelligence systems Continue Reading

Oracle NetSuite CEO Goldberg: AI a sleeping giant coming to life

Speaking with Computer Weekly at SuiteWorld, Evan Goldberg, executive vice-president of Oracle NetSuite, discussed how artificial intelligence has emerged from obscurity to be a business moment Continue Reading

Capgemini and Heathrow strike deal to enhance passenger experience

Capgemini and Heathrow team up to provide development and operations support for the airport’s technology estate Continue Reading

Workato CEO calls for new automation mindset

Workato CEO Vijay Tella urges organisations to go beyond the ‘mechanistic glue’ of automating manual processes and embrace a new automation mindset that focuses on transforming their business Continue Reading

Outgoing police tech watchdog warns of declining oversight

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

Cancer Research uses AWS for payments and trial search function

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

SAP sustainability study reveals UK businesses lack funding

An annual sustainability study by SAP reveals UK businesses are on the right track, but still face barriers in the long run Continue Reading

PeopleSpot dishes out people-related advice

The PeopleSpot app provides resources to help workers deal with people-related challenges and enables organisations to surface HR issues through its analytics capabilities Continue Reading

Industry 5.0: What is it and what does its future hold?

As Industry 5.0 becomes a more popular topic of conversation in the business tech world, critics have come out to question its legitimacy as a revolution instead of a progression Continue Reading

The UK AI Safety Summit – what did it achieve?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look back at the UK government’s AI Safety Summit and assess what it achieved – and what it didn’t. Our latest buyer’s guide examines the future of business software and modernising legacy applications. And we find out how the UK Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act aims to protect your smart devices. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

UN disarmament body calls for global action on autonomous weapons

UN draft resolution highlighting the dangers of autonomous weapons passes with overwhelming majority Continue Reading

As the jobs market evolves, maximise opportunities, mitigate AI risk

Heather Thomson, Director of Skills and Talent at The Data Lab urges society to keep calm and focus on the opportunities afforded by artificial intelligence Continue Reading

UK government does not see need for specific AI legislation

The UK government does not currently see the need for new artificial intelligence legislation, as many regulators are already dealing effectively with AI-related harms Continue Reading

Why IT governance is a coding issue

Two new pieces of research point to benefits of policy as code Continue Reading

How Village Roadshow modernised ITSM with cloud

Australian theme park and cinema operator reduced ITSM costs by 60% to improve problem resolution and other outcomes from use of Freshworks' cloud-based ITSM service Continue Reading

Heineken lets the data flow

In this month’s CW EMEA ezine, we find out about Heineken’s mission to make the most out of the data it holds through an enterprise-wide data ecosystem. We also look at how the UK has turned its back on the German government-funded Gaia-X data platform, why cyber experts are urging the EU to rethink vulnerability disclosure plans, and how the IT industry is responding to the software developer skills shortfall. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Teaching AI common sense an old problem ChatGPT foregrounds

This is a guest blogpost by Jim Webber, Chief Scientist, Neo4j Is the best way to end the LLM hallucination problem to teach it some basic logic? Great as they are, we’re starting to have to deal ... Continue Reading

AI Summit not the place for human rights, says French finance minister

Despite commitments at the UK’s AI Safety Summit to respect and protect human rights, the French finance minister said it was not the right forum to discuss signatories' human rights records Continue Reading

CDO interview: Lalo Luna, global head of strategy and insights, Heineken

The brewing giant is building a data ecosystem to bring new insights to the business and to make the most of emerging developments in artificial intelligence capabilities Continue Reading

We need to give AI more time (series)

This is a guest blogpost by, Evan Kaplan, CEO, InfluxData. Two contrasting forces are driving the AI revolution: generative AI (GenAI), known for its creative prowess, and real-world applications ... Continue Reading

AI Safety Summit review

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

How ExxonMobil is leading with data

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to the leader of ExxonMobil’s data organisation, about the energy giant’s strategy to establish enterprise-wide principles for the use of data. As the UK’s Online Safety Act comes into force, we examine the tech sector’s concerns over the laws around end-to-end encryption. And we look at the software tools available to HR teams to help improve staff retention. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

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

How the UK crime agency repurposed Amazon cloud platform to analyse EncroChat cryptophone data

UK crime agency repurposed AWS-based analytics platform to triage EncroChat data and identify threats to life in messages sent on encrypted phone network Continue Reading

SAP lays out generative AI strategy

SAP is incorporating generative AI capabilities into software development and the Hana database, prioritising data privacy and use cases that drive efficiency and cost savings for customers Continue Reading

AI Summit: 28 governments and EU agree to safe AI development

In a joint communique at the UK government’s AI Safety Summit, all participating governments agreed to deepen their cooperation around the risks associated with artificial intelligence Continue Reading

Lloyds bank kicks off Hyderabad operation

Lloyds Banking Group has opened its latest tech operation in Hyderabad, with plans to recruit around 600 IT experts Continue Reading

UK government AI Summit already branded ‘missed opportunity’

The dominance of big tech firms, a focus on speculative risks over real-world harms, and the exclusion of affected workers, mean the AI Safety Summit is a wasted opportunity, say civil society groups Continue Reading

Devon County digitises with Unit4 ERP

Unit4 and Embridge Consulting have paired up to help Devon County Council digitise its organisation, data and services Continue Reading

FDM Group partners with ISACA to boost cyber training programme

The FDM Group has announced a partnership with ISACA to help develop and boost their cyber training programmes and credentials Continue Reading

‘Egregious’ to link passport data with facial recognition systems

The Scottish biometrics watchdog has spoken out against the UK policing minister’s plans to integrate passport data with police facial recognition systems Continue Reading

How Elastic manages cyber security threats

Mandy Andress, CISO at Elastic, highlights the company’s approach to tackling evolving cyber threats through the use of AI tools and enhanced security measures while strengthening the capabilities of its security offerings Continue Reading

Sunak sets scene for upcoming AI Safety Summit

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has outlined how the UK will approach making AI safe, but experts say there is still too big a focus on catastrophic but speculative risks over real harms the technology is already causing Continue Reading

Government-led Smart Data Discovery Challenge launched to stoke innovation

A government-led coalition has launched an open-call competition for ideas using smart data to help support individuals and small businesses, emulating open banking Continue Reading

UK IT professionals express concerns about government’s generative AI goals

Research reveals 93% of UK IT professionals are concerned by the government’s current plan to become a global leader in artificial intelligence because of lack of training and risk assessment Continue Reading

CDO interview: Lalo Luna, global head of strategy and insights, Heineken

The brewing giant is building a data ecosystem to bring new insights to the business and to make the most of emerging developments in artificial intelligence capabilities Continue Reading

Brewing data insights at Heineken

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how brewing giant Heineken is building a data ecosystem to share insights and tap into AI capabilities. The UK is conducting a formal investigation into AWS and Microsoft’s cloud dominance – what will it mean for users? And we examine how generative AI could be used to improve customer experience. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

CTO interview: Pegasystems’ Don Schuerman on using AI to set business goals

Generative AI is on the cusp of allowing companies to automate business processes to meet business goals Continue Reading

How Ensign is leading the charge in cyber security

Lee Fook Sun, chairman of Ensign InfoSecurity, traces the company’s journey and how it is leading the charge in cyber security by doing things differently, investing in R&D and engaging with the wider ecosystem Continue Reading

Jaguar TCS Formula E racing team making breakthroughs that will fine-tune electric road vehicles

The Jaguar TCS Formula E racing team is using software and digital simulations to continually improve its electric racing cars, leading to better performing electric vehicles on our roads Continue Reading

CDO interview: Carter Cousineau, vice-president of data and model governance, Thomson Reuters

The news and information provider places a premium on responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence, and central to that is the governance of data and the models surrounding it Continue Reading

How AWS is building a tech stack for generative AI

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

SuiteWorld 23: Oracle NetSuite pushes business efficiency by way of AI

Oracle NetSuite’s Evan Goldberg posited AI old and new as means for organisations to do more with fewer resources, speaking at the company’s annual global SuiteWorld conference in Las Vegas Continue Reading

UK Apple Store workers detail ‘union-busting’ tactics

Apple Store workers in the UK are attempting to unionise, but say they are facing pushback from the company, which is allegedly deploying a variety of “union-busting” tactics Continue Reading

Generative AI, one year later: moving beyond the hype

This is guest blog post by, James Fisher, Chief Strategy Officer, Qlik Almost one year ago, ChatGPT exploded on the scene and quickly took AI mainstream. Since then, an endless number of articles ... Continue Reading

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

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

How APAC organisations are tapping generative AI

Organisations in the region are deploying and experimenting with generative AI in healthcare, citizen services and other use cases amid cost-related concerns and other challenges Continue Reading

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

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

How generative AI and cloud complement each other

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

Scottish biometrics watchdog outlines police cloud concerns

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

Public sector buyers of AI tech must interrogate its suitability

The Ada Lovelace Institute has published a review on public sector use of artificial intelligence foundation models, looking at the risks and opportunities associated with the technology, and how these can be dealt with from the early stages of procurement onwards Continue Reading

Data-sharing strategy needs business buy-in

A Forrester Consulting survey for Capital One Software has found that data experts and businesspeople have differing views on success Continue Reading

Policing minister wants to use UK passport data in facial recognition

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

HPE hones GreenLake strategy with AI moves, hybrid cloud management

HPE has evolved its GreenLake strategy over the past five years, expanding beyond its as-a-service offerings to include a capital purchase model and a strong focus on hybrid cloud management and AI Continue Reading

Will computational storage meet data processing demands?

Computational storage promises performance for workloads that can benefit from dedicated oomph, but it’s not a cure-all. It may come at a cost, and with added application complexity Continue Reading

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

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

ICO issues guidance on workplace surveillance

Guidance on employee monitoring covers how employers can conduct their digital surveillance lawfully, transparently and fairly, and warns against businesses intruding on their workers’ private lives Continue Reading

AI interview: Gavin Mueller, media studies professor

Author Gavin Mueller speaks to Computer Weekly about the history of resistance to automation, and why Luddite perspectives and practices are useful in pushing for more equitable digital futures Continue Reading

Cyber experts urge EU to rethink vulnerability disclosure plans

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

Top science journal faced secret attacks from Covid conspiracy theory group

A conspiratorial group of extreme Brexit lobbyists mounted an extraordinary campaign against one of the world’s most prestigious science journals – part of a series of joint investigations between Byline Times and Computer Weekly Continue Reading

CDO interview: Lalo Luna, global head of strategy and insights, Heineken

The brewing giant is building a data ecosystem to bring new insights to the business and to make the most of emerging developments in artificial intelligence capabilities Continue Reading

Versity targets Exabyte volumes in data archiving

Versity builds archiving for Exabyte data volumes on tape and in object storage. It has built its own S3 and transitioned to a GPL licence for supercomputing archives Continue Reading

How the Australian government is approaching AI

The Australian government is experimenting with AI use cases in a safe environment while it figures out ways to harness the technology to benefit citizens and businesses Continue Reading

Scottish watchdog urges wider biometric oversight

Scotland’s biometrics watchdog urges Scottish Parliament to extend oversight of biometric information to include the entire criminal justice system, not just police Continue Reading

US lawmakers write to AI firms about ‘gruelling’ work conditions

Lawmakers have written to nine tech companies – including Amazon, Google and Microsoft – about the working conditions of those they employ to train and maintain their artificial intelligence systems, giving them until 11 October 2023 to respond Continue Reading

GenAI: Boffins in clover

When Larry Ellison gave his keynote speech at Oracle Cloud World in Las Vegas last week, it would not have been shocking if he had expressed some scepticism about the hype generated by Generative ... Continue Reading

Who owns AI-generated content?

Ownership of AI-generated content currently lacks clear, regulatory guidelines. With deepfakes and voice cloning on the rise, businesses must learn how to handle this content. Continue Reading

IBM reorients to offset historic storage hardware decline

Storage profile: We look at IBM and the strategic shifts it has made towards the cloud, cloud-native and as-a-service offerings that aim to reverse a long-term decline in revenues Continue Reading

UK government quietly disbands data ethics advisory board

The government has disbanded its Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation’s advisory board in favour of pulling the relevant artificial intelligence (AI) and data knowledge from a pool of external experts Continue Reading

How Liverpool FC is tapping cloud and data analytics

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

How Confluent is tapping the groundswell in data streaming

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

Lords begin inquiry into large language models

Lords will examine the risks and opportunities of large language models and look at how government can effectively manage them in the coming years Continue Reading

Oracle CloudWorld 2023: Ellison heralds dawn of generative AI era

Oracle’s founder and chief technology officer, Larry Ellison, lends his heft to the generative AI vogue Continue Reading

Microsoft to offer Oracle cloud database on Azure

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

How India is driving tech developments at G20

India’s G20 presidency marks an important stride towards establishing a global regulatory framework for the crypto industry, among other tech developments discussed at the global forum in New Delhi this year Continue Reading

A straightforward look at SAP master data automation

If you're knee-deep in the world of SAP and data management, you almost certainly know the pain of dirty data. It's inaccurate, inconsistent, and a real headache when you're trying to make ... Continue Reading

Singapore firefighters don smartglasses for equipment inspections

Firefighters from the Singapore Civil Defence Force will employ smartglasses equipped with computer vision and 5G capabilities to perform visual inspections of their equipment Continue Reading

How DocuSign is extending its capabilities beyond e-signatures

DocuSign is harnessing large language models to help individuals make sense of agreements and employing AI-based biometrics to verify the identity of signers, as part of its broader efforts to expand its capabilities beyond electronic signatures Continue Reading

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

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

University of Glasgow launches Centre for data science and AI

Scottish university will apply artificial intelligence and data science to help solve some of the world's biggest challenges Continue Reading

KPMG finds growing demand for emerging tech

KPMG’s latest global tech report reveals an increase in the number of businesses adopting emerging technologies Continue Reading

Government AI taskforce appoints new advisory board members

An initial progress report published by the Taskforce provides detail on new appointments to its external advisory board as well as rebrand to focus on “frontier” artificial intelligence Continue Reading

Singapore taps Lidar and laser scanning in remote building inspections

With the 3D data generated reality capture technologies, detailed inspections can be conducted remotely, eliminating the need for inspectors from technical authorities to be present onsite Continue Reading

French supreme court dismisses legal challenge to EncroChat cryptophone evidence

Defence lawyers plan to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights after the French supreme court disallowed an appeal over the legality of EncroChat evidence Continue Reading

German court unclear whether intercepted EncroChat cryptophone messages are legally admissible

Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court is waiting to hear five complaints that could decide whether data from the hacked EncroChat phone network can be lawfully used in German courts, but situation remains unclear for now Continue Reading

CIO interview: Cynthia Stoddard, Adobe

Adobe's IT chief is looking to build on its cloud migration with widespread adoption of AI, machine learning and robotic process automation – as well as low-code/no-code software development tools Continue Reading

Ryder Cup testbed to feature tech firsts in Rome

This year’s Ryder Cup will test out technology to improve how fans digitally consume the event while reducing the workload on IT teams Continue Reading

TUC launches AI taskforce for workers’ rights and societal benefit

The Trades Union Congress has launched what it calls an AI ‘taskforce’ to draft an AI and Employment Bill, aimed at safeguarding workers’ rights, early in 2024 Continue Reading

The challenges of integrating SaaS applications

SaaS has grown from a handful of applications to a vast market covering almost every type of business task. We look at the integration challenges Continue Reading

Police Scotland five-year digital strategy approved

Police Scotland’s new strategy outlines how the force will approach and invest in its digital transformation over the next five years, but notes its ability to achieve its ambitions is subject to the availability of funding Continue Reading

The companies set to win using LLMs are the responsible ones

This is a guest blogpost by Triveni Gandhi, Responsible AI Lead, Dataiku Large Language Models (LLMs) including ChatGPT have seemingly moved from hype, to hot seat, to hazard. In the midst of the ... Continue Reading

Home Office and MoD seeking new facial-recognition tech

The UK’s Defence and Security Accelerator is running a ‘market exploration’ exercise on behalf of the Home Office to identify new facial-recognition capabilities for security and policing bodies in the UK Continue Reading

GenAI outranks cloud as business IT strategic priority

Enterprise Strategy Group research on the use cases for generative AI shows it as strategic for corporate IT, with impacts on customer experience, software development and IT Ops Continue Reading