Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 22

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Brian McKenna, Caroline Donnelly and Clare McDonald talk about some of the week’s biggest stories in tech, including the latest effort to digitally transform the NHS, Sky’s contribution to getting more women working in IT, and an Oracle-backed study into the economic implications of under-investing in IT.

• Caroline kicks off the discussion with a recap of the work the government is doing to digitally transform the National Health Service (NHS) through the imminent launch of NHSX, and its recent spending review.
• The review was geared towards helping shape the priorities and objectives of the unit, whose overarching remit is to lead on digital strategy within the NHS, while making it easier for patients to access digital systems and technologies.
• At the same time, NHSX’s recently appointed CEO, Richard Gould, has said that when it comes to delivering on digital, it is not necessarily down to the NHS to do all the heavy lifting, so opening up its systems to third parties (through open APIs) will also be a priority.
• Clare then shares the results of Sky’s recent contribution to helping bolster the number of women working in tech through its £125,000 invest in five business initiatives led by female founders.
• As well as a share of the money, each winner will benefit from mentorship opportunities, in recognition of the positive impact their ideas could have on society at large. 
• Despite some initial good-natured scepticism from Caroline about Sky’s motivations, Clare said the endeavour is geared towards not only increasing the number of women working in tech, but ensuring their ideas get more attention from investors, too.
• Brian digs into some of the facts and figures in a recent Oracle-sponsored CBI report that warned enterprises “face extinction” if they don't use IT better, before going on to explain why businesses should be more like magpies and less like ostriches when it comes to facing down the risk of digital disruption. 
• The Oracle report also makes the case for organisations drawing on their legacy to inform their IT transformation by making better use of their data.
• Brian says this is a theme that is lightly touched upon in a recent analysis piece by Computer Weekly security editor Warwick Ashford, which talks about how better access to data analytics technologies are helping to drive up the sophistication of enterprise IT security systems.