Archive

2020 Stories

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 Opinion

  It’s good to chat, but who to? The role of chatbots in digital transformation

  AI-powered chatbots and smart agents are being used to improve customer experience, but they can have an important role to play in internal digital transformation projects too Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  Global consortium launches ‘transformative’ subsea cable for African connectivity

  2Africa, one of the world’s largest subsea projects, will connect 23 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Europe Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 Opinion

  Identification and access management: some possible futures

  Learn about how we might be using our heartbeats, brainwaves and eye movements to unlock our mobiles in the future Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  Hancock to Harman: No contact-tracing privacy law

  Health secretary claims existing data protection law is good enough to guarantee the security of contact-tracing data Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  UK workers struggle to unplug from ‘new normal’ at home

  As the country enters month three of enforced working from home, research reveals that as personal devices and app overload blurs home-work life, concerns arise over productivity and the mental state of the workforce Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 Blog Post

  FOSS Responders: open community support for COVID-19

  There’s a time-honoured technique in quality professional journalism throughout the trade, broadcast and regional press, especially in the era of the web: never use a pun, or any element of ... Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 E-Zine

  CW Nordics: Startups face tough decisions as coronavirus hits

  Tech startups based in the Nordic region face difficult decisions as the Covid-19 pandemic leads to falling sales and investment. Also read why Swedbank is rebuilding its anti-money laundering systems, and how Nordic fintechs are developing apps to ... Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  Nominations open for Most Influential Women in UK Technology 2020

  Computer Weekly is looking for nominations for its 2020 list of the most influential women in UK technology Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  Openreach taps Nokia to extend full-fibre network capacity

  Deal covers essential equipment to extend Gigabit fibre access network across UK Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  Why businesses will need to make change the new normal

  The lockdown is forcing organisations to change how they operate, and a new study has found that businesses are keen to use automation where possible Continue Reading

• May 22, 2020 22May2020 News

  Coronavirus: How MyIX is keeping Malaysians connected

  Malaysia’s MyIX internet exchange has been classed as critical national infrastructure, with member telcos adding more capacity to meet the surge in demand for internet services Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  Cyber security magnate Kaspersky launches travel accelerator

  With travel and tourism devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, cyber security entrepreneur Eugene Kaspersky is funneling resources into an accelerator to help the beleaguered industry Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  UK contact-tracing app set to miss official launch date as Google, Apple release API

  Government ministers aim to shore up contact-tracing strategy after junior minister concedes much-publicised app set miss-stated start date and Silicon Valley giants officially launch API for apps that follow different route than NHS Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 In Depth

  Mainframe storage: Three players in a market that’s here to stay

  Far from disappearing, the mainframe market and the storage it needs is here to stay for some time. The three key array makers compete with high-end flash-equipped products Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  Infinidat sees containers and S3 as key to join storage big guns

  But that’s not all. The array maker – that brings flash performance with massive amounts of HDD plus cache – plans for NVMe-over-fabric and use of 20TB hard drives too Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  Early-stage startups struggle to secure funding during lockdown

  Investment in UK startups is being directed to a small number of already-established firms, with new data showing first-time funding has plummeted since the lockdown began Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  UK government spent over £50m on digital response to Covid-19 pandemic

  NAO report outlines public spending on responding to the coronavirus crisis, which also includes a £1.2bn hit from delaying controversial IR35 tax reforms Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  Cheshire deploys digital child health system during lockdown

  Commissioning support unit joins up records of children across county into one integrated digital system, despite pandemic challenges Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  Facial-recognition suppliers race to identify hidden faces

  The number of companies claiming to have developed facial-recognition tools that can identify masked faces has skyrocketed since the start of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  Coronavirus: Dutch work on XR technology shows promise in pandemic scenario

  Netherlands leads the way in the development of extended reality technology, which could prove its value in a crisis such as Covid-19 Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 Blog Post

  Hazelcast CTO: 25 years of Java, welcome to the data-driven 3rd act

  This is a guest post for Computer Weekly Open Source Insider written in full by John DesJardins in his role as field CTO and VP of solution architecture for North America region at operational ... Continue Reading

• May 21, 2020 21May2020 News

  How machine learning can bridge the communication gap

  Amazon Web Services has developed a machine learning model to translate sign languages into text in a showcase of assistive technology Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  SAS seizes World Bee Day to promote analytics

  Data analytics supplier SAS took the opportunity of World Bee Day to say it is decoding bee communication through machine learning, and generally promoting bee health Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Coronavirus: Pandemic spurs QR code app upgrade at PayPal

  PayPal introduces QR code payment functionality to its mobile app to support social distancing Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Government eyes virtual reality projects with new funding

  Investment increases in competition aimed at fast-tracking development of innovations arising from the coronavirus crisis Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Coronavirus: NHSX enlists military innovation hub for Covid-19 app project

  Organisations will work together to gather and share coronavirus symptom data from third-party tracker apps Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 Blog Post

  Gov. U OK?

  These times of ours, you might have heard, are being described as both “strange” and “unprecedented”. There’s also been some talk of a “new normal”, although while for some that means extra-long ... Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Nokia, KDDI trial fully virtualised 5G cloud RAN

  Finnish comms tech supplier Nokia adds to portfolio of customers trailing its cloud RAN solutions in deal with leading Japanese operator KDDI, including Nokia AirScale Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Microsoft Build 2020: Nadella praises developers for their work during pandemic

  IT has played a key role in supporting people and businesses during the coronavirus lockdown Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  NCSC discloses multiple vulnerabilities in contact-tracing app

  National Cyber Security Centre has received mountains of feedback on the security of the government’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app, and has now taken the step of making multiple disclosures Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 Blog Post

  Percona CEO: Take an unbiased (multi-cloud) approach to cloud databases

  Database misconfigurations in the cloud are a problem, one might even say that it’s becoming a common problem.  As founder and CEO at Percona, Peter Zaitsev said this week during his organization’s ... Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Build 2020: How Microsoft aims to build trust in artificial intelligence

  Microsoft has outlined its toolset for making AI models explainable with the InterpretML and AboutML tools Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Nearly two-thirds of US small businesses to continue with remote working post-pandemic

  Survey reveals small businesses are having a big rethink on remote working as a fundamental business practice when the coronavirus pandemic has passed Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Coronavirus: Bahrain sees fintech take-up surge amid Covid-19 crisis

  Covid-19 has spurred the use of financial technology in Bahrain, which could boost the industry in the country and wider Gulf region Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Serco exposes contact tracers’ data in email error

  Error saw almost 300 coronavirus contact tracers’ email addresses made visible to other recipients of the message Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Coronavirus: How CIOs can prepare for business recovery

  Economic recovery will require business to work differently. CIOs may be asked to automate more and support high levels of remote working Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Personal devices putting Singapore employers at risk

  More than half of Singapore respondents to a CrowdStrike-commissioned survey believe their devices are only somewhat secure against advanced cyber threats Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 Blog Post

  Bartoletti to AI developers, beware ‘datafication & technosolutionism’

  There’s an old (possibly slightly apocryphal) technology story related to the history of Microsoft as told by American futurist Peter Schwartz.  Somewhere between CP/M, IBM BIOS and Windows 3.0, ... Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 Blog Post

  Pandemic may spur innovation in the print channel

  Almost two thirds of respondents to the latest Quocirca COVID-19 business impact study indicate that the pandemic could create new opportunities for product and service innovation. Channel partners ... Continue Reading

• May 20, 2020 20May2020 News

  Responsible Cyber acquires Secucial in S$7m deal

  Singapore startup Responsible Cyber plans to bolster its Immune platform with access control management capabilities, and sets out to expand its global footprint Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Microsoft Build 2020: Focus on protecting data for AI development

  Microsoft Build is always a vital event for developers across the IT industry. This year, Microsoft has expanded its AI emphasis Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Ericsson extends 5G reach with China Telecom, China Unicom

  Leading Chinese operators tap Swedish comms tech giant for 5G core portfolio systems, including cloud packet, NFVI, dynamic orchestration and spectrum sharing Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Portworx to add application profiles to persistent container storage

  Kubernetes persistent container storage that runs from inside the cluster will add application storage profiles for applications such as Apache Kafka, Elasticsearch and Postgres Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Cancelled NCSC CyberUK event gets green light for 2021

  The NCSC’s popular CyberUK event has been rescheduled to next year, and will again take place in Newport in south Wales Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  GDPR wholly inappropriate to govern contact-tracing data

  Human Rights Committee Chair Harriet Harman says current data protection law is not up to the job of governing the data collected by the Covid-19 contact-tracing app Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Doubts mount over effectiveness of UK contact-tracing app

  Studies from BCS and Anomali reveal that a significant proportion of the UK population is not prepared to download the Covid-19 contact-tracing app Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 Podcast

  Covid-19 contact-tracing apps under review – The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

  In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Caroline Donnelly and Brian McKenna are joined by networking editor Joe O’Halloran to discuss the government’s Covid-19 contact-tracing app. They also discuss the design of ... Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 Blog Post

  No horsing around, Pega gets serious on ethical bias check for AI

  Named (presumably) after the Greek winged horse, Pegasystems Inc (Pega to its friends) is a specialist in cloud software for customer engagement. Pega’s uses various AI techniques to (low-code) ... Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Post Office executive who tried to mislead judge in Horizon trial leaves via back door

  Angela van den Bogerd leaves position as Post Office director quietly, despite many years of service Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Nine million EasyJet customer details lost in data breach

  Cyber attack on EasyJet’s systems originated from a highly sophisticated source, says the airline Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  TRC Companies pairs cloud-first push with Druva-infused data backup revamp

  US-based engineering consultancy TRC Companies scooped the prize for Best Cloud Project at the Best of VMworld 2019 Europe User Awards with its story of how a long-overdue revamp of its data backup systems ties in with its hybrid cloud push Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Storj app builds QNAP NAS into its Uber-like cloud storage network

  QNAP NAS users can use the Storj app to configure spare capacity as part of the Tardigrade S3 cloud, which offers storage at half the cost of the main providers Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Sodinokibi cyber criminals plot to ‘auction’ Madonna data

  The cyber criminal gang behind a recent attack on a New York law firm is planning to auction off its client data, one person at a time Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 Blog Post

  Blue tooth, not privacy, is the problem with NHSX

  He would never enable Bluetooth on a mobile phone because of its inherent security problems. It is unclear how many of these have been fixed with the latest releases. But some are unlikely to be ... Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Scotland calls on tech companies to help build a digital nation

  Trade body launches challenge for tech firms to contribute ideas to create a “critical national digital infrastructure” for Scotland Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  NHS trusts sign up to automation app store

  Healthcare trusts extend relationships with automation supplier through access to a cloud-based marketplace of pre-baked automation Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Multiple network outages costing enterprise businesses millions of pounds a year

  More than half of IT decision-makers and network managers globally say they have had four or more network outages lasting more than 30 minutes, costing between £250,000 and £5m in downtime Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  European network traffic volumes stabilising

  The updated summary report from body of European regulators for electronic communications on how network operators can cope with increased demand for network capacity finds that, by mid-May 2020, all is well Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Innovate UK seeks ways to transform aviation with technology

  Projects to develop new forms of air transportation can get a share of up to £30m in funding from Innovate UK Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Huawei: US using technological strengths to ‘crush’ companies outside its own borders

  Chinese tech giant hits back at White House decision to extend technology ban and says it will ultimately be self-harming Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 E-Zine

  Ocado makes the friendly workplace robot a reality

  In this week’s Computer Weekly, we find out how Ocado is making robot-human collaboration a reality with its Armar-6 smart robot. Unified communications has become a must-have lockdown capability – we assess the key technologies. And as ... Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  GitLab makes foray into Southeast Asia

  GitLab expands in Southeast Asia with a Singapore presence to shore up its growing footprint across the Asia-Pacific region Continue Reading

• May 19, 2020 19May2020 News

  Vast majority of cyber attacks are easy to stop, says Verizon

  Almost 90% of data breaches are motivated by the prospect of financial gain, but cyber criminals have clearly defined breach pathways, giving the good guys an advantage if they care to use it Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 Blog Post

  Grafana 7.0 offers observability via metrics, logs, traces & the ‘new beyond’

  Grafana comes from Grafana Labs -- it is a composable open source platform for metrics analytics, monitoring and visualisation.  It’s all about achieving observability, now that ‘observability’ is ... Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  Privacy advocates demand clarity over Covid-19 datastore

  Government and NHS face questions about the involvement of private technology companies with coronavirus datastore Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 In Depth

  2B or not 2C? That is the question for 5G

  A flurry of 5G network launches in all major markets in Asia, North America and Europe, focused on consumer applications and services. This looks set to change in 2020 as the operators get down to business Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  DevOps improve code quality, but security must happen sooner

  GitLab survey finds developers are adopting DevOps to improve code quality, but more needs to be done on secure coding Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  Flagship digital investment at Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc pays off

  Abu Dhabi National Oil Company sees flagship digital project in high demand after proving its value in responding to the Covid-19 crisis Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  NHS Scotland begins contact-tracing tech pilot

  Three Scottish health boards are trialling coronavirus contact-tracing software which will be rolled out across the country at the end of this month Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  Swedish mining firm LKAB revamps data backup setup to support downtime avoidance goals

  State-owned Swedish mining company LKAB scooped the prize for Best Data Security and Data Protection Project at the Best of VMworld 2019 Europe User Awards. Here we run through what the project involved Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  NHS looks for remote monitoring tech

  NHSX is seeking suppliers to help scale up remote monitoring across the health service in England, particularly for Covid-19 patients, and will go out to tender shortly Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  Worldwide comms services industry projected to take limited hit from Covid-19

  Coronavirus pandemic has changed some trends in the global telecom services market, but operators have adapted quickly and temporarily pushed aside some earlier priorities, says IDC Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  CIO interview: Simon Liste, chief information technology officer, Pension Protection Fund

  Experience of delivering digital change in the private sector means the PPF’s IT chief is well positioned to lead transformation in a critical public sector organisation Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  HMRC on the hunt for permanent CDIO

  New chief digital and information officer will earn at least £200,000 a year and be responsible for a £1bn tech budget Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 In Depth

  Malaysia’s data protection practices still have some way to go

  Some Malaysian firms are not using data protection tools to the fullest potential, while others only think about data protection after a breach Continue Reading

• May 18, 2020 18May2020 News

  Why a pandemic-specific BCP matters

  Many organisations still do not have scenario-specific business continuity plans, which are helpful when the situation requires a customised response, such as a pandemic, according to Forrester Continue Reading

• May 17, 2020 17May2020 Blog Post

  Protecting Data or “Saving Lives; Saving Livelihoods”: Which comes first in a post Covid World?

  Almost every nation except for those which already had them as a legacy of SARS (e.g. Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) has had to move fast to produce computer systems that will help support a ... Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Interview: Bev White, chief executive, Harvey Nash

  The Harvey Nash executive talks about recruitment during the coronavirus crisis, a new wave of interest in outsourcing, and leadership skills and challenges Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  BT reported to be in talks to sell off Openreach to fund full-fibre roll-out

  Report suggests Openreach sale could raise £20bn as BT announces £12bn build programme to extend FTTP network Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 In Depth

  Coronavirus: Hardening up datacentre equipment supply chains post-Covid-19

  Fears about hardware shortages, staff absenteeism and how to keep sites up and running with social distancing have dogged the datacentre sector since the start of the pandemic, so how is the sector faring? Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Sweden’s Preem puts automation to the test

  Preem is automating software testing as part of a wider plan that includes the introduction of robotic process automation software Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Coronavirus: Digital bank’s valuation falls as it seeks funds to ride Covid-19 storm

  Monzo is seeking new investment to help it through the coronavirus pandemic Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Questions raised after UK’s electrical grid shrugs off cyber attack

  Attack on Elexon was resolved within hours with no impact on the national electricity supply, but it could have been much worse Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 Blog Post

  Contact-tracing app tests on the Isle of Wight show that technology is not the solution

  The NHSX contact-tracing app has been in live testing on the Isle of Wight for over a week now, and already we can make one important conclusion – a conclusion that was surely self-evident anyway. ... Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Covid-19: NHS reveals comms network strain as virus spread

  Patients hit the web and phone lines for coronavirus assessments, with demand peaking as lockdown was announced, says health service Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Rolls-Royce uses digital twins in Power Systems Customer 4.0 strategy

  The Power Systems unit has begun using technology from Iotics to collect data points for engines in the field and build digital simulation models Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Royal Berkshire NHS Trust uses AI to speed up stroke treatment

  Trust has deployed an artificial intelligence app to help read and interpret scans so that clinicians can treat stroke patients better and more quickly Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Law firm hackers threaten to release dirt on Trump

  A new ransom demand of $42m has been made against New York law firm Grubman, Shire, Meiselas and Sacks, and it may be the largest ever, say security experts Continue Reading

• May 15, 2020 15May2020 News

  Government pushes towards digital to reignite housing market

  Minister calls for more virtual viewings and greater use of online tools for planning as the UK prepares to get its housing and construction sector up and running again Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  NHS digital transformation ‘slower than expected’, says NAO

  The digital transformation of the NHS has been plagued by insufficient funding, technical challenges and lack of clarity, according to the National Audit Office Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  Harman seeks to bring private member’s bill over contact tracing

  Chair of Human Rights Committee aims to put the proposed Contact Tracing (Data Protection) Bill 2020 before parliament as a private member’s bill if necessary Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 E-Zine

  CW APAC: Trend Watch – business response to coronavirus

  With countries the world over reeling from the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak, which has meant sweeping changes both economically and socially, Computer Weekly looks at how firms in the Asia-Pacific region have adapted to what has so quickly become ... Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  Coronavirus: Nearly £2bn of UK fintech investment lost so far

  Investment into UK fintechs falls dramatically during Covid-19 pandemic as venture capitalists hold back Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 Blog Post

  What will a post-pandemic world look like for IT leaders?

  Two months into lockdown, Gartner is forecasting an 8% decline in global IT spending in 2020 – a figure that would be seen as catastrophic in any other year. But considering that some economies are ... Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  US maintains ban on Chinese tech firms as Huawei, ZTE make 5G leaps

  White House extends executive order that effectively bans US companies from using comms equipment made by firms posing a national security risk, while Huawei and ZTE reveal new 5G advances Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  CenturyLink digitally revamps sales framework

  The difficulty of navigating information silos during the sales process and high customer churn prompted CenturyLink to adopt new digital tools that get the right information to the right sellers Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  Venafi buys cloud protection service Jetstack

  Jetstack specialises in open source machine identity protection software for Kubernetes and cloud native ecosystems Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  Coronavirus: Asos launches See My Fit to replace model photoshoots

  Online fashion brand’s augmented reality technology enables customers to see how an outfit might look on them Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 News

  Deutsche Bank’s planned tech spend unaffected by global crisis

  Deutsche bank is driving on with its ambitious IT investment plans, with the Covid-19 pandemic, if anything, adding fuel to it Continue Reading

• May 14, 2020 14May2020 Blog Post

  How hard is a robot?

  Earlier this month Ocado Technology and a consortium of academic institutes announced Armar-6, the culmination of the five years EU-funded SecondHands project. The premise behind the project was to ... Continue Reading