IT innovation, research and development

The 50 most influential people in UK IT 2019

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal our 10th annual list of the 50 most influential people in UK technology, and profile this year’s UKtech50 winner, Demis Hassabis, CEO and founder of AI pioneer DeepMind. Also, we examine how continuous software development can improve application security. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

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

UKtech50 2019 winner: Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO, DeepMind

Computer Weekly profiles the achievements and journey of the founder of one of the world’s pioneering artificial intelligence companies, after his recognition as the most influential person in UK technology for 2019 Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

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

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

General Election 2019: the Scottish National Party’s technology policies and digital plans

With the UK gearing up for its third General Election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Scottish National Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

NatWest digital bank goes live

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

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

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

The super-resilient organisation

We need to build super-resilient organisations that can not only survive in a tempestuous world, but become energised by it Continue Reading

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• Ade McCormack, Auridian Consulting

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

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• Ade McCormack, Auridian Consulting

McKinsey: Why some industries gain an AI advantage, while others lag

Study from McKinsey & Company finds data silos and a lack of enterprise integration are putting some industries at a disadvantage Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

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

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

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

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

General Election 2019: The Lib Dems’ technology policies and digital plans

With the UK gearing up for its third General Election in four years, Computer Weekly outlines the Liberal Democrat Party’s main technology policies and digital plans, as laid out in its manifesto Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

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

Obama at Dreamforce 2019: Leaders orchestrate the conversation

Former US president Barack Obama spoke in a fireside chat with Salesforce co-founder Marc Benioff at Dreamforce 2019. He cautioned on the dangers of the information age and offered some advice for business leaders Continue Reading

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• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

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

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• Angelica Mari

F-Secure’s Blackfin challenges perceptions of how AIs think

New research project aims to develop adaptive, autonomous and collaborative AI agents, and challenges the notion that machine intelligence should merely mimic human intelligence Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security 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

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• 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

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

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• Angelica Mari

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

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

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• Gerard O'Dwyer

Holy grail of digital banking is, at first glance, a new channel, not a new concept

Details of Google’s plans in the financial services sector have emerged with nothing groundbreaking so far, but the sector is guessing what comes next Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

House of Commons seeks IT security chief

Interviews for the two-year engagement are due to take place in December 2019 Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

IoT growth set to come from managed data analytics

CompTIA's latest IT industry forecast suggests that businesses will be making more use of automation in internet-of-things applications Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 37

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team talks about the Labour Party’s “free fibre broadband for all” pre-election pledge, HMRC’s controversial loan charge policy, big data and catches up on what went on at the most recent CW500 Club event Continue Reading

By

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

AR and VR set to enhance jobs and boost GDP

New headset technologies and 5G networking promise to lower costs, and make AR and VR more user friendly Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Scottish local government prioritises automation and AI in digital plan

Use of the technologies will be ramped up as part of the next phase of the Digital Office 2.0 programme Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

How DBS is pushing the limits of IT efficiency

Besides shrinking its datacentre footprint by 75%, Singapore’s DBS Bank is running twice as many virtual machines on a single socket and decoupling applications from its infrastructure stack Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Australian bourse to overhaul technology infrastructure

The Australian Securities Exchange is embracing digital ledger technology, microservices and DevOps to modernise its core systems Continue Reading

By

• Stuart Kennedy

LOTI launches dashboard that maps technology resources of local authorities

London Office of Technology and Innovation launches dashboard in partnership with Bloomberg Associates to drive savings and identify skills levels Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Business must engage with consumers to boost AI

Artificial intelligence is set to become a core part of business, but to get the most from it, enterprises need to engage with consumers to focus personalisation Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Singapore sets national AI strategy with focus on skills and ethics

Singapore is kicking off its national AI strategy with five key projects spanning logistics, healthcare, smart estates, education and border security Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

NHS still holds citizen trust on data use

But the public trust banks more than local or central government bodies when it comes to handling personal information, a new study has found Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

G-Cloud 10 fails to generate business for suppliers, study says

Research firm Tussell’s study into G-Cloud reveals majority of suppliers listed in its report did not earn any revenue in 2018 through the public sector framework Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Low-code and no-code development platforms

We get the lowdown on the latest low-code development tools and find out how they can help business people and traditional developers alike Continue Reading

By

• Bob Tarzey

HMCTS researches the future of open justice

A new report by Policy Lab into the threats and opportunities of technology is aimed to support new approaches to policy-making Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Zopa opens testing for its banking products to customers

Zopa's move into the banking sector is gathering pace as customers test out its savings product Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Benelux: Dutch banks fight money laundering

Dutch banks are sharing expertise and resources to help reduce money laundering through their accounts. Also read in this issue how companies could lose loyal IT staff because salary rises do not match those at rival employers, and why a Dutch province is pioneering a no-code software development platform. Continue Reading

Welsh government to hire chief digital officer

The £500,000 of annual funding will go towards a leader and a department dedicated to developing digital initiatives Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Modernisation of justice may leave vulnerable users behind

A Commons Select Committee report has voiced a number of concerns about the ongoing transformation efforts led by the Ministry of Justice and called for actions such as maintenance of non-digital services Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Government allocates £2m to support growth of lawtech

New government funding unlocked to help break down barriers to the adoption of emerging technologies in the legal sector Continue Reading

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• Sebastian Klovig Skelton , Senior reporter

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

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Thousands apply to Abu Dhabi AI University in first week

Artificial intelligence university in Abu Dhabi gets more than 3,000 applications in the week following its application process being opened Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMRC appoints interim chief digital and information officer

Jacky Wright's replacement is a financial services veteran who brings expertise in tech-enabled change and payments infrastructure Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

UK at the forefront of government AI investment

Current and anticipated artificial intelligence spending is the highest in Europe despite various challenges around implementation, according to a report by Accenture Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

NHSX reports advancements in artificial intelligence

Latest study showcases the work in artificial intelligence that is ongoing in the NHS as part of its Long-Term Plan Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

DWP outlines steps to reduce fraud and error

The Department of Work and Pensions has released the priorities within its single departmental plan, including the new platforms National Debt Service and Counter Fraud and Error Management Service Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Executive interview: Why the times are a changin’ in collaboration

Companies are aware that the next wave of talent wants to work collaboratively, but how do you collaborate and what policies discourage collaboration? Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UK gets low score in European e-gov ranking

Leaders in the region got scores of over 80% while Britain achieved just over 61%, a Capgemini report has found Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Cost savings drive business automation

While businesses are using automation to save money, many also see robotic process automation as essential to support new business initiatives Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Singapore startup plugs AI skills gap with pre-trained microservices

Sentient.io is offering artificial intelligence microservices that developers can use to augment their applications with speech recognition and other AI capabilities Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Why Singapore’s GovTech is building an IoT technology stack

Government Technology Agency has built an internet of things technology stack to level the playing field for smaller firms and drive innovation in public sector IoT projects Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Birmingham 5G tests show +450 Mbps maximum download speed

New RootMetrics report shows that early 5G roll-out brings breakneck speeds in limited availability, with vast promise moving forward Continue Reading

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• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

Politics and inflexible legacy tech stymies disruptive innovation

Startups in traditional enterprises often feel they are being held back by culture, with legacy tech and business processes hampering innovation Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Stronger regulations needed to fix banking IT problems, say MPs

Regulators need to use more potent tools to get banks to sort out problems with their IT systems, as customers become more reliant on digital channels Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK government announces new funding for robot development

The £34m package will go towards research around autonomous technologies to improve safety and public trust Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Exploring the UK’s tech opportunity in China

China is investing in technology at a scale unseen in the West – but it's open to British tech collaboration and as the UK seeks a new role in the world, the opportunities are enormous Continue Reading

By

• Russ Shaw, Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates

Government provides boost to artificial intelligence skills

PhDs and researchers will be sponsored as part of a programme aimed at creating and retaining experts in artificial intelligence technology Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

NHSX seeks chief technology officer

The principal technology adviser to the organisation's CEO, Matthew Gould, should be interviewed by early December Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

How Singtel and Dell are approaching digital transformation

Singtel employees are learning to create their own robotic process automation-powered bots while Dell has speeded up application development from months to weeks Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Ministry of Defence to access IT skills via £1.5bn framework

The new procurement vehicle is part of the department's plan to improve how it engages with the tech industry Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

CIOs should think about what it means when employees augment themselves

The bods at Gartner may have watched a bit too much Hollywood sci-fi: will people really augment themselves with tech to do their jobs better? Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Take responsibility for cyber security basics, urges NCSC CEO

At the launch of its third annual review, NCSC head Ciaran Martin appealed for individuals and businesses to address the fundamentals of cyber security hygiene to help lighten the load Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Interview: Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi, head of digital, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company

Abdul Nasser Al Mughairbi is leading digital developments at Abu Dhabi's state-owned oil giant Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company uses blockchain for inter-group network

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company is using blockchain internally, with plans to expand it beyond the group boundaries Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government to provide local data to proptechs

Minister announces creation of a national index of brownfield site data and other initiatives to allow startups and property development companies to use public data to generate business Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Executive interview: How Moleskine digitises ideas

Handwritten notes jotted down on paper are not often shared, but capturing these digitally can encourage a creative approach to collaboration Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Microsoft vs Google – who’s winning the cloud email race?

In this week’s Computer Weekly, there’s a two-horse race for dominance in the cloud email market between Microsoft and Google, but they are not alone – we examine the runners and riders. Our latest buyer’s guide looks at governance, risk and compliance solutions. And we assess the progress of public cloud in the banking sector. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

NHS Digital announces suppliers for GP IT Futures framework

The NHS’s previous IT supplier framework for GPs – composed of just four suppliers – will be replaced by a pool of nearly 70 IT companies Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

NHS e-prescriptions roll-out aims for £300m savings by 2021

The final stage of digitising prescriptions in the NHS is expected to reduce inefficiencies, errors and paper usage Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Two-thirds of UK financial services firms are using machine learning

The use of machine learning in the finance sector is set to increase as obstacles to its take up are not seen as being insurmountable Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

O2 promises ‘revolutionary’ offers as it joins UK 5G party

O2 has become the latest operator in the UK to offer a 5G network and claims to be able to demonstrate real-world 5G business use cases that can potentially boost the British economy Continue Reading

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• Joe O’Halloran, Computer Weekly

BEIS launches multimillion-pound security investment package

Government is making available more than £50m to support a range of new cyber security initiatives and collaborations, including the latest phase of its Digital Security by Design programme Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Barclays demonstrates proof-of-concept quantum clearing algorithm

Barclays and IBM researchers publish paper on a quantum computing algorithm for securities transaction trading Continue Reading

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• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Report calls for urgent replacement of health screening IT

Major review of cancer screening programmes urges NHSX to prioritise the update of the underlying technology systems Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Government shelves age verification plans for online porn

Plans to introduce age verification to access online pornography will not go ahead, with provisions around protecting children from inappropriate content on the internet to become part of wider regulations Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

HMRC fails to get new customs system ready for Brexit

A National Audit Office report reveals that HMRC has opted for a multimillion-pound enhancement of a legacy platform rather than working on its planned replacement Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

TfL to use artificial intelligence to run London’s road network

Transport for London is seeking input from companies about how it can use data-intensive technologies to predict the impact of road problems across the capital Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

NHS Digital brings in biometric login functionality

Two new libraries released to allow developers in the NHS to include functionality to digital services Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

The Security Interviews: Applying AI to Lego, and security

Ann Johnson, Microsoft corporate vice-president of cyber security, is on a mission to prove that artificial intelligence holds great promise for the security sector, and she has the analogies to back it up Continue Reading

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• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Deputy chief executive at NHS Digital departs

NHS Digital’s deputy chief executive, Rob Shaw, will leave the organisation in December to work with foreign governments on national health and care infrastructure Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

Why would a bank that made billions of pounds’ profit cut thousands of staff?

HSBC is the latest bank to make thousands of staff cuts as even profitable businesses need to reshape themselves for the challenges that digital transformation brings Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

OECD pushes international digital services tax agenda

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development wants to reach agreement on addressing issues around taxation for online giants by 2020 Continue Reading

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• Angelica Mari

GoCardless gives 95% of its staff business intelligence at their fingertips

Fintech payments company GoCardless is enabling staff to carry out business intelligence queries themselves Continue Reading

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• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

How AWS is cracking the public sector cloud market

The public sector cloud business takes time and resources to build, but the rewards can be meaningful, as the founder of Amazon Web Service’s public sector division has found Continue Reading

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• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Mental health issues concern UK tech professionals

Staff shortages, long hours and lack of flexibility are impacting the wellbeing of people in the sector, according to a Harvey Nash survey. Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

CIO interview: Mohamed Sater, head of IT at Mumtalakat

Mumtalakat’s head of IT, Mohamed Sater, is modernising the IT infrastructure of the organisation through cloud computing Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Survival of accountants 'at stake' as HMRC presses ahead with tax digitisation

Advances in technology are bringing a series of dilemmas for professionals as the government continues plans to digitise all tax for UK businesses, according to a new report Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

More Institute of Technology centres planned to tackle skills gap

A second wave of centres offering higher technical education nationwide has been announced Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Inside Singapore Airlines’ cloud and DevOps journey

A team of engineers at Singapore’s flagship carrier shed light on how they are overcoming challenges in embracing cloud computing and DevOps Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Sweden’s SEB explores core banking in the cloud

Swedish Bank is the latest organisation to agree to start using a Google-inspired, cloud-native core banking platform Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Dutch AI Coalition wants to put the Netherlands on artificial intelligence map

To ensure the Netherlands keeps pace in the artificial intelligence race, an AI coalition has been formed to help organisations in the sector to collaborate Continue Reading

By

• Kim Loohuis

CIO interview: Matt Harris, head of IT, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

The IT chief at the world-leading Formula 1 team is focused on using technology to support and deliver marginal gains in performance for the team’s drivers Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

Deutsche Bank to set up innovation division to drive digital transformation

More details about Deutsche Bank’s new technology division in internal company email Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Scottish Parliament launches inquiry on police use of facial recognition

The circumstances and implications of the technology’s application in the police service will be investigated in the coming months Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

UK chief data officer recruitment plans still on

Minister says CDO will work closely with the chief digital and information officer, who is still to be recruited Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

UKtech50 2019 – help us find the most influential people in UK technology

Computer Weekly’s annual search for the 50 most influential people in UK technology reaches its 10th anniversary – let us know who you would like to nominate for this year’s list Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Southeast Asia’s internet economy hits $100bn milestone

The digital economy in Southeast Asia grew 39% this year but the growth momentum can only be sustained if talent gaps are filled Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget