Web development

Real digital modernisation – a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the new UK government

A new UK government with a decisive majority offers a unique opportunity to finally introduce public services for the digital age – if the Conservatives are willing to take it Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson, Exeter Business School and DIGITLab

Asos trials AR tool to give customers idea of fashion fit

Online fashion brand Asos has launched an augmented reality trial to help customers see how garments will fit their body type Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Swedish venture capitalist giants anticipate increased global interest in local startup scene

Local venture capitalists in Sweden do not fear the arrival of international players Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Why the banking industry needs an IT makeover

UK banks face huge challenges keeping their service availability levels at 99.99% Continue Reading

By

• Sascha Giese

TikTok video-sharing app left user data exposed

Check Point uncovered serious vulnerabilities in the TikTok video-sharing app that left users exposed Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Survey about Swedish people’s attitude to the internet reveals growing distrust of social media

Swedish citizens are becoming more concerned about the activities of social media companies and are reducing their online interaction with them as a result Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

How Halfords is using tech to rev up its customer service

Live chat, virtual contact centres and a new unifying web platform are set to enhance Halfords’ customer service proposition in the year ahead Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

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

AI may open dangerous new frontiers in geopolitics

Truly artificial intelligence has the potential to provoke an international geopolitical crisis, warns F-Secure’s Mikko Hypponen Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

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

Tim Berners-Lee launches nine principles for the web

Inventor of the worldwide web sets out Contract for the Web to protect its freedom, data privacy and access for all Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

The importance of digital accessibility

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we examine what retailers need to do to make their digital channels accessible for disabled people. We look at the rise of alternative desktop productivity tools to Microsoft Office. And our new buyer’s guide covers next-generation programming tools such as no-code/low-code development. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Marks & Spencer profits drop as digital push ramps up

Clothing, home and luxury food retailer Marks & Spencer has been pushing to make its business more digital, but its half-year profits have seen a hit Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Brits moving to digital banking channel faster than people in the US

Digital banking services rapidly gain popularity, but digital banks face major challenges to make deeper inroads into traditional banks’ customer bases Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Verizon to give 5G, Fios customers a year’s worth of free Disney content

US comms giant will offer all new and existing 4G LTE and 5G unlimited wireless customers access to the forthcoming Disney+ direct-to-consumer service Continue Reading

By

• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

French and German banks end talks on challenger bank sale

After months of negotiations, BPCE's proposed sale of Fidor Bank to OLB has fallen through Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HETT 2019: Digital literacy gap will never be fully closed, says panel

The increasing use of digital technology in healthcare means it is important for people to be digitally literate to take part, but the digital literacy gap will always be there, says an expert panel Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Government departments sign up to web data-sharing plan

All but four Whitehall departments have so far agreed to share web analytics data to allow the government to monitor user behaviour across the Gov.uk domain Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Disabled consumers left logged out of retail’s digital revolution

Retailers are being urged to make their digital assets more accessible to disabled consumers, not just for moral and social reasons, but because of the commercial opportunity Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Interview: James Smith, director of digital, Nationwide Building Society

James Smith says heading up the digital unit at Nationwide Building Society is the best job in the business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What next for GDS?

Digital government has lost momentum, according to MPs. As the Government Digital Service enters its “third era”, what will it do to regain its authority and deliver real change? Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Why CIOs must digitise internal IT processes to keep pace with change

Nothing ever stands still, and IT is now expected to be more adaptable than ever before to help businesses keep in step with the pace of innovation Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Fintech lender increases loan limit as customer demand accelerates

Small business lender Esme Loans has increased its loan limit to quarter of a million pounds as businesses are drawn to its simple and fast digital platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

The next stage in football’s digital revolution is ready for the new season

Technology is playing an increasing role in football, as the Premier League adopts video assistant referees for the first time and clubs turn to data to capture more of their fans’ attention Continue Reading

By

• Richard Edwards, Freeform Dynamics

European Commission launches antitrust investigation into Amazon

Amazon is being officially investigated by the European Commission to assess whether its use of data from independent retailers is anti-competitive Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

The technology that runs the Wimbledon 2019 tennis championship

Wimbledon is more than just a showcase for the best tennis - it also makes use of the latest technologies to bring the event to life for fans Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 23

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Ryan Priest rejoins the show to help this week’s co-hosts, Caroline Donnelly and Clare McDonald, take a light-hearted look at the past week in tech Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Challenger bank shuts up shop in UK amid uncertainty

Digital bank Fidor is ending its time in the UK, blaming uncertainties in the market Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Cloudflare outage: Firm blames global website outage on routine software update gone rogue

Content delivery provider traces outage back to failings that occurred during a routine update to its web application firewall service Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How privacy could breathe new life into personalisation

As much of the advertising technology used by marketers to deliver personalised content online is deemed unlawful, there are signs regulation could actually be a win-win for both consumers and business – as long as the industry embraces change Continue Reading

By

• Jim Mortleman

HCL delivers digital services to Cricket Australia

Cricket governing body chooses Indian IT supplier to expand the boundaries of its customer engagement platforms Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Facebook London hiring spree focuses on tackling online harms

Facebook is hiring for 500 tech jobs in the capital in the next six months, with a particular focus on seeking out and clamping down on malicious content and fake accounts, and curbing other harmful behaviour on its platforms Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Gant uses Cegid to streamline functions across all markets

As retailer Gant begins to mirror its core operations across all of the countries it operates in, global IT manager Ricky Dematagollage explains what part Cegid will play in the process Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Retailers need to rethink KPIs in the face of digital shopping

Customer experience is becoming of increasing importance in an omni-channel world, but technology adoption has stores cornered, forcing them to rethink what value stores bring to an organisation and the customer journey Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Public becoming more aware of privacy abuses and unethical tech

Widespread abuses of privacy, biometric information and artificial intelligence mean the internet is in poor health, but growing popular awareness of its problems gives some cause for hope, says the Mozilla Foundation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Online fashion brand Boohoo sees year-on-year revenue growth

Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com has seen a spike in revenue over the past year across all of its operating brands, and has announced the completion of several digital projects Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

What is the right goal for digital inclusion?

Most tech observers agree that digital inclusion is important, but the digitally excluded can have quite different views on what they want Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Evans, TechUK

Tech helps tackle trafficking and modern slavery, but industry needs a culture shift to eradicate it

Technology can help end the scourge of modern slavery, but the sector can do more and needs a change in thinking to take a lead Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

Facebook leaks: Zuckerberg turned data into dollars in ruthless battle with competitors

Facebook’s CEO ruthlessly exploited personal data shared by its users to turn Facebook into the biggest social network, but internal documents show that privacy appeared to be an afterthought for executives Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Sebastian Klovig Skelton and Duncan Campbell

Facebook takes extraordinary legal steps to contain document leak

Facebook targets journalists and news organisations for computer searches Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Social inclusion unit aims to expand diversity in IT conversation

New unit at startup hub wants to explore how technology can be applied to address the barriers many people face in participating in society Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

SuiteWorld 2019: Using technology to close the financial gender gap

The CFO from non-profit organisation Kiva explains how the organisation is using distributed ledger technology to close the financial inclusion gender gap Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Marie Claire develops platform to encourage in-magazine shopping

An in-house team at Marie Claire has developed a platform to encourage readers to shop while browsing the site Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Fidor founder leaves as parent bank plots future

The founder of digital challenger bank Fidor leaves company as traditional banking parent company tries to sell business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

What are the options for regulating internet companies?

The UK – and other countries – are likely to introduce new regulations for internet and tech companies like Facebook and Google. We consider what sort of rules they might introduce Continue Reading

By

• Guy Cartwright, Coffin Mew

Web inventor wants a web built on solid data principles

Tim Berners-Lee has urged app developers to be courteous to users’ data privacy, saying users should own their own data and apps need to interoperate Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Nominet urges SMEs to register .uk domains to thwart squatters

The automatic right of .co.uk domain name holders to register the shorter .uk domains ends in June Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Getting it right this time: Why the strategy is not about delivery for NHSX

Government needs to move on from the mantras and beliefs that exist around digital and technology – the new NHSX organisation could set an example by transforming healthcare Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson, Exeter Business School and DIGITLab

Why the web needs patching

Regulators want to curb the web giants, while World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee believes problems with the web's misuse can be fixed Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Web @ 30

It has been 30 years since Sir Tim Berners-Lee's initial proposal for the World Wide Web Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Futuristic logistics: retailers focused on rapid delivery

From Asos Instant to Ocado Zoom, and a host of new services in between, rapid delivery is gaining traction in UK retail in an attempt to meet customer demand Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

M&S and Ocado announce £750m food delivery joint venture

Deal will see M&S take a 50% share of Ocado’s UK retail business, with access to the Ocado Smart Platform Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Royal Mail delivers safety training through virtual reality

At the Learning Technologies event in London, Royal Mail’s online learning manager talks about the organisation’s use of virtual reality to help postal workers avoid dog attacks Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Six experiential retail businesses chosen for Jlab

The businesses and startups that will take part in John Lewis’ 2019 Jlab programme have seen selected following a pitch day Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

London and Helsinki digital partnership challenges big IT platforms

CDOs of London and Helsinki meet at London’s City Hall to sign a city-to-city digital declaration around AI, open data and digital innovation Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Marks & Spencer introduces photo search for online shopping

British retail brand Marks and Spencer has introduced a photo searching capability to its mobile site to help people find products they like using other images Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

More than half of customers will shop for food online by 2021

Just over 40% of customers currently do their grocery shopping online, but with that number expected to rise to more than half by 2021, are retailers doing enough to meet customer expectations? Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Interview: Andy Berks, digital product director, Asos

Asos’s digital product director Andy Berks talks about how the online retailer has used AI and machine learning technologies – and why the needs of the customer have to come first Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Singapore Airlines’ software glitch exposed customer data

More than 280 members of the Krisflyer frequent flyer programme had their personal information compromised by a one-off software bug Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Cancer Research works to improve users’ digital experience

UK charity has been working with Optimizely to develop a better user experience through its website, as well as improve the way the organisation works Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Austerity versus the march of technology – an economist’s perspective

Technology, in the economic sense, is an indicator of growth in a successful developed economy. But is tech efficiency also enabling the negative effects of austerity? Continue Reading

By

• Tim Worstall, Adam Smith Institute

Billions missing out on digital society as internet use soars

As global internet usage continues to soar, billions of people around the world are missing out on the potential benefits of getting online, according to Cisco Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

ASOS launches digital assistant to help customers find right size

Online fashion retailer ASOS has launched an artificially intelligent assistant to help consumers find the right size of clothing before they place an order Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

IKEA to focus on digitisation and convenience shopping

Swedish furniture brand IKEA will be cutting jobs and focusing on smaller stores and its digital pipeline in a bid to usher in a new era of business transformation Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

The journey to turning your organisation into a platform

Compete with digital rivals by becoming a platform organisation – how companies can start navigating the transformation journey Continue Reading

By

• Bill Murray, Leading Edge Forum

M&S admits online remit “well behind” competitors

Food and clothing retailer Marks and Spencer has admitted its website and online fulfillment capabilities are behind that of its competitors, but it is seeing progress since implementing changes Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Smart Dubai platform is the backbone of the city's transformation

Aisha bin Bishr, director general at Smart Dubai Office, talks about the Smart Data platform and soon-to-be-unveiled UAE Pass, a digital ID and signature which is being touted as one of the foundations a city needs to transform Continue Reading

By

• Edward Banda

Introducing ‘focus and leverage’ – the value algorithm of the internet era

Anyone pitching a business idea or designing a new service needs to understand the economics of mature internet technology Continue Reading

By

• Mark Thompson, Exeter Business School and DIGITLab

IoT R&D projects missed out on £10m of government funding

A series of delays and disruption caused chiefly by changes in project ownership meant the government’s IoT UK Research and Innovation Programme failed to use a quarter of its allocated budget between 2015 and 2018 Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Manchester’s evolution from rag trade to e-commerce riches

As Amazon and Moonpig plan to open Manchester hubs, the focus once again turns to the city’s in-demand digital and e-commerce scene Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Will the EU Copyright Directive ‘break the internet’?

A new European Union law proposed for copyrighted material has provoked strong reactions from all sides – but what does it mean? Continue Reading

By

• Andrew Jerrard, Coffin Mew

SMEs use fintech in fight against online giants, but fears remain

Online SMEs are turning to financial technology to help them make payment processes easy for customers as they try to compete with online giants Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CIO interview: Tamara Lohan, founder and CTO of Mr & Mrs Smith

Head of technology and co-founder of luxury travel firm Mr & Mrs Smith explains how the firm is revamping its technology to provide customers with a seamless experience Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Home Office completes initial test of online system for registering EU citizens

Online application process for registering EU citizens in the UK after Brexit has concluded initial trials, and will now be expanded to a wider group Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Brighton’s 5G experiment enters new test phase with focus on virtual reality

The latest phase of the Digital Catapult’s 5G mobile network testbed in Brighton has begun, with digital businesses from across Sussex taking part in trials of augmented, mixed and virtual reality technology Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Finland’s e-retail sector driven by international growth

Finland has a fast-growing e-retail industry as a positive consequence of the huge job cuts at Nokia Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Asda outsources app development to support digital future

Supermarket chain Asda is outsourcing its application development to HCL to access and build skills and experience in agile development methods Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Santander plans UK tech hub in Milton Keynes

Santander is opening a UK tech hub in Milton Keynes that will have 5,000 staff Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

John Lewis blames profit drops on high IT costs

Department store John Lewis has pinned the blame on high IT costs and the rising price of store real-estate for a drop in profit Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

How Rituals is using Salesforce Commerce cloud to replicate physical experience online

Cosmetics firm Rituals is using Salesforce Commerce Cloud to translate its website into 25 languages, helping the brand reach customers its physical stores can’t Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

IT leaders at a crossroads as they grapple with digital technology

CIOs have the opportunity to influence their company strategy as digital technology reshapes business. A survey of CIOs across 70 countries charts a path for IT leaders through emerging technologies Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

National Archives races to create electronic archive of EU law before Brexit

The National Archives faces challenges converting the EU's enormous library of laws into a publicly accessible UK archive ahead of Brexit. The Archives’ digital director, John Sheridan, explains how Continue Reading

By

• Wendy M Grossman

M&S partners with Doddle for easier click-and-collect returns

Retailer is using Powered by Doddle on its in-store devices to allow returns of online items, as well as the use of click-and-collect services Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Sweaty Betty revamps website to cater for digital customers

Activewear brand has partnered with e-commerce firm Tryzens to launch a responsive site that is better suited to its increasingly digital customers Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Three-quarters of UK adults have not heard of open banking

Open banking will struggle to deliver what it promises unless people are made aware of its existence and what it could do for them Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Why Pinterest pinpointed features for the visually impaired

Ideas curation site has developed features for people with visual impairment. Its lead designer explains what has been changed and why it matters Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Walmart and Microsoft partner to boost digital in retail

US retail giant Walmart has signed a five-year partnership with Microsoft, with the aim of speeding up its digital transformation Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Google record fine could lead to Android fork

Amazon’s Android was one of the operating systems mentioned by the European Commission as it imposed a record €4.34bn fine on Google Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Investment flows into Nordic startups from all directions

The Nordic tech startup scene is attracting funding from a variety of sources, with private equity firms, banks and traditional IT companies all keen to put money in Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Nationwide Building Society to fund tech startups to the tune of £50m

With an available fund of £50m, Nationwide Building Society is the latest traditional financial services provider to support tech startups Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

BBC launches online archive for 1980s Computer Literacy Project

Archive will enable people to read up on a 10-year project developed by the BBC in the 1980s Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Digital transformation is just business change

Don't always start with the technology if you're driving transformation, but always start with the business Continue Reading

By

• Ed Tucker, Human Firewall

Mayor Khan bids to make London the world’s smartest city

At London Tech Week, mayor Sadiq Khan launched a city-wide initiative to harness the capital’s technology talent to address London’s most pressing problems Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

BBC to show World Cup in virtual reality

Broadcaster will trial virtual reality and ultra HD live streams of the FIFA World Cup through BBC iPlayer and a dedicated VR app Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Salary is the biggest motivator for software developers

A survey finds that benefits such as free food and drink or a modern office space are not the main motivator for most developers, with the majority prioritising a higher salary Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Marks and Spencer speeds up digital transformation plans as profits plunge

Retailer announces plans to accelerate its business transformation and close 100 stores by 2022 after continued shifts in consumer behaviour Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Amazon, Toys R Us and a tale of two technology approaches

Many factors contributed to the collapse of Toys R Us, but did a partnership with Amazon at the turn of the millennium play a part in its eventual demise? Continue Reading

By

• Ben Sillitoe

Tesco announces closure of non-food website Tesco Direct

Supermarket giant Tesco has announced it will be closing its Tesco Direct website, which focuses on the sale of non-food-related products Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

UK government promises laws to police 'Wild West Internet'

UK government plans laws to make online activity safer after green paper reveals more needs to be done to protect citizens Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic banks plan major digital transformation of operations

Banks in the Nordic region are set to accelerate their spending on technology as digital services take-up accelerates Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer