IT news in your industry sector

UK contactless payment limit more than doubled

UK increases the amount that can be spent in one go using a contactless payments card to £100 Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Parliament bill to create the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency

The ‘high-risk, high-reward’ UK equivalent of ARPA will be provided with powers to fund and develop projects, including exemption from freedom of information requests and 10 years to prove its own success Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Budget 2021: Tax relief for data and cloud, digital skills for SMEs, more IT firepower for HMRC

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a slew of tech-related measures in this year's Budget, which also included a visa review for highly-skilled IT professionals and a £375m fund for innovative businesses Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Glitch signs collective bargaining agreement with unionised workers

US software startup’s ‘milestone’ agreement with employees focuses on job security and labour rights rather than salaries and benefits Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Pandemic brings good online sales growth for smaller retailers

IMRG data shows smaller retailers did ‘astronomically well’ in online sales growth after Covid-19 took hold last year Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

UK’s Arkivum up for €4.8m EU science data archive project

CERN-led multi-petabyte scale research data archive bid will use Google cloud and compete with AWS-based and open source designs from other providers Libnova and Onedata Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

IR35 private sector reforms: Hays calls on Treasury to delay April 2021 start date by a year

UK and Ireland managing director of recruitment giant Hays writes to HM Treasury to demand a delay and review of the government’s plans to roll out the IR35 reforms to the private sector from April 2021 Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CIO interview: Laura Dawson, CIO, London School of Economics

LSE’s CIO talks about focusing on team development, her vision of creating a connected network of technologists, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Mark Samuels

SME backup: Card maker ditches tape-only for Nakivo 3-2-1 setup

IG Design Group gains a modern backup regime with data held on disk, in the cloud and long-term on tape in a move that has helped it to slash backup and restore times Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

PGA Tour teams up with AWS to improve fan engagement during tournaments

PGA Tour selects Amazon Web Services as its official cloud service partner as it sets about revamping tournament viewing experience for golf fans Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How Aberdeenshire Council is using Cherwell’s ITSM platform

Tech leaders are seeing opportunities to expand the remit of IT service management beyond IT Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

EU seeking pan-European Covid-19 passport solution

The European Union’s proposal could see the creation of a Covid-19 vaccine passport to enable travel across the EU Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Goldman Sachs CEO comments highlight need for home working balance

The remote working revolution has been prominent in the banking sector and organisations have a balancing act to perform once the pandemic passes Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HSBC offers to help customers transitioning to digital banking as branch closures continue

HSBC is offering its customers training in how to bank digitally in a safe and effective way as it, like many banks, moves customers out of branches and towards using online services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

HMCTS rolls out digital case management system

The Common Platform digital system aims to make it easier to share and manage case information across the criminal justice system Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Reading Borough Council to overhaul IT infrastructure

Council and its children’s services partner award contracts worth £13.2m for shared IT infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Taking back control in the face of Covid-19 and Brexit

GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post, Anastasia Laska, vice president partner alliances and business development, Revionics, an Aptos company, explains how employing tech that helps them roll ... Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

The most influential people in UK technology

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we reveal our annual list of the 50 most influential people in UK IT, and talk to this year’s winner, NHS Digital CEO Sarah Wilkinson, about an unprecedented year of challenges. Also, we examine the best software patching strategies and see how the pandemic has affected women in tech. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Digital secretary Dowden outlines UK post-Brexit data approach

The UK government is searching for a new information commissioner with an updated remit to use data to support growth and innovation, and plans on reaching new international data partnerships Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Budget 2021: Putting tech at the core of the plan for growth

This week’s UK government Budget represents a great opportunity to place tech and digital as the cornerstone of UK economic growth after Brexit Continue Reading

By

• Julian David, TechUK

On digital identity, the government gets it wrong again

The latest government proposals to regulate the digital identity sector continue to misunderstand how such a market works – a more API-based approach is needed to deliver the clear benefits of online ID Continue Reading

By

• Jon Nash, Demos

Cyber extortionist threatened to bomb NHS targets

A German court has convicted a 33-year-old Italian man for making extortion and bomb threats against NHS hospitals at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic’s first wave last year Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

DCMS gives tablet devices to people with learning disabilities

The government is providing thousands of free tablet devices to those with learning disabilities to help them stay connected Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

It’s now or never for UK fintech, government told

The UK government faces a ‘now or never’ moment if it wants financial technology to play a central role in the economy for years to come Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Nordic startups strive to fuel international e-commerce transformation

Nordic startups are developing technology for retailers that want to improve the customer experience when buying online Continue Reading

By

• Matthew Staff

Palantir once more in sights of civil libertarians over NHS Covid data store

The award of a new government contract to data analytics supplier Palantir on the back of its participation in the NHS Covid-19 data store has provoked Open Democracy into legal action, backed up by an exposure of lobbying activity that pre-dates the pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Enterprise Applications Editor

NCSC Cyber Action Plan emphasises SME security

NCSC self-assessment tool launched to help sole traders and micro-businesses tackle their cyber security challenges Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UKtech50 2021: The most influential people in UK technology

Computer Weekly has announced the 11th annual UKtech50 – our definitive list of the movers and shakers in the UK tech sector Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

UKtech50 interview: Sarah Wilkinson, CEO, NHS Digital

The UKtech50’s most influential person in UK IT in 2021, NHS Digital CEO Sarah Wilkinson, talks about how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the speed of projects, staff pressures and key leadership lessons Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

IR35 private sector reforms: Contractors call for further delays to April 2021 start date

Research by the online tax consultancy arm of Ernst & Young reveals lack of preparedness among contractors for the onset of the IR35 tax avoidance reforms in the private sector Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Npower shuts off app after credential stuffing attack

Npower customers will have to log in to their accounts on its website after its app was withdrawn following a security breach Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Tech-enabled hybrid working enables HSBC to cut 40% of its global office space

Bank is making huge reductions in the amount of office space it uses through a global hybrid-working policy Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Nordics: Nordic startups aim to take the lead in pet tech advances

Nordic technology startups are looking to take pet tech mainstream following the acceleration of the industry during the coronavirus pandemic. Also in this issue, read how businesses can learn lessons from Nordic technology startups to prepare employees to return to the office after Covid-19 restrictions lift. Continue Reading

IR35 private sector reforms: What IT contractors need to know

Computer Weekly asks contracting experts to answer questions about PSC bans, compliant umbrella companies and challenging status determinations, with the latest IR35 reforms coming into place Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Facebook’s AI doctoral research programme makes inroads into UK

Facebook collaborates with University College London to bring artificial intelligence doctoral research programme to the UK, with aim to open-sourcing the findings Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Vaccine passports prove an ethical minefield

Privacy campaigners warn that vaccine passports may turn out to be discriminatory and invasive, while technologists agree careful consideration must be given to their design Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Is Clubhouse safe, and should CISOs stop its use?

With more concerns being raised over the privacy and security of social media app Clubhouse, we consider whether security teams should consider restricting or stopping employees from using it Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Internet companies should provide real-time data on disinformation, Lords told

Fact-checking experts tell House of Lords inquiry that upcoming Online Safety Bill should force internet companies to provide real-time information on suspected disinformation, and warn against over-reliance on AI-powered algorithms to moderate content Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Sadiq Khan wants innovators to support London's recovery

Mayor of London announces partners and goals for the capital’s £1m Resilience Fund, and an extra £500,000 to develop design-led solutions aimed at the challenges presented by the crisis Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Arcserve and StorageCraft merger aims for ‘single pane of glass’

Arcserve and StorageCraft bring a lot of similarities but enough differences for their backers to bet on with their merger, with unifying management between product sets the only priority currently stated Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Veeam v11 adds continuous data protection and cloud archive

Backup specialist’s annual upgrade brings continuous data protection to offer better RPOs and RTOs than existing snapshot functionality and without impact on running processes Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Appointment of disgraced former Post Office director triggers vote of no confidence in Welsh FA boss

Vote of no confidence in Football Association of Wales boss triggered by recruitment of former Post Office executive who tried to mislead a judge in IT trial Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Subpostmaster group calls for prime minister to pause Horizon ‘whitewash’ inquiry

Subpostmasters call for Boris Johnson to pause and reshape the government’s Horizon inquiry Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Industry concerns over government digital identity plans risk a confusing outcome for users

A flurry of recent activity suggests the government is ramping up its plans for the long-awaited demise of Gov.uk Verify, its failed attempt to produce a digital identity system for online public ... Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Rogue drones beware: We’re here to ground you

Eugene Kaspersky exclusively lifts the lid on a mysterious, shiny device that’s been sitting in his office Continue Reading

By

• Eugene Kaspersky, Kaspersky

XDR makes cyber a Stroll in the park for Aston Martin F1

Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One team will run SentinelOne’s Singularity XDR platform under the bonnet Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Post Office Horizon and the subpostmasters’ justice fight – Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast

In this episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, Karl Flinders joins Caroline Donnelly, Clare McDonald, and Brian McKenna to discuss the Post Office Horizon system that brought havoc to the lives of subpostmasters and subpostmistresses Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA
• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK
• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

BBVA teams up with Google Cloud for IT security strategy revamp

Spanish bank banking giant BBVA is forging even closer ties with long-standing technology partner Google Cloud to bolster the security posture of its IT infrastructure Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

CyberScotland offers centralised security resource hub

Newly launched partnership brings together security resources for individuals and organisations across Scotland Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Computers in space – managing a datacentre on the ISS

In this week’s Computer Weekly, as the International Space Station gets a datacentre upgrade, we look at the challenges of system maintenance in space. As nation states increase their cyber attacks, we assess the risk for businesses. And our latest buyer’s guide looks at the colocation market. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Malaysia government intervenes to drive 5G forward

The government of Malaysia pledges to spend 15bn ringgit to set up an entity that would be granted spectrum and operational scope to manage 5G roll-outs Continue Reading

By

• Edwin Yapp

UK government set to offer fintech visa

The importance of immigrant workers to the UK's fintech sector highlighted by government planned fintech visa Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Startup founders worried about proposed capital gains tax changes

British technology startups are concerned about proposed changes to widen the UK’s capital gains tax, with just over four in five saying they would consider moving their enterprise abroad Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Microphones, smartphones, laptops among items stolen from BBC

A total of 105 devices have been stolen from the BBC in the past two years, some of which may have been spirited away by remote workers Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Pandemic has exposed fractures in cyber fraud strategy

RUSI report urges a bolder and more coordinated response to cyber-enabled fraud as the pandemic lays bear the scale of the problem Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

UK to launch 'high-risk, high-reward' research agency, dubbed ARIA

Backed by £800m of public investment, the Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA) will identify and fund groundbreaking science and technology Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Fixing government digital transformation – lessons from the early days of GDS

As a new organisation is formed to lead UK digital government, three former government digital leaders share the lessons they learned from the early days of the Government Digital Service Continue Reading

By

• Jerry Fishenden, James Duncan and James Findlay

European Commission proposes UK data adequacy agreement

The publication of two draft data adequacy decisions brings the UK closer to a final positive decision, which will enable the continued free flow of data between the EU and the UK if green-lit by member states Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Interview: From healthcare to healthcare IT provider

One route into IT is to take your knowledge of a certain sector to an IT firm that specialises in it. This is Katy Cain’s story Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Uber drivers should be classified as ‘workers’, UK Supreme Court confirms

Supreme Court ruling brings Uber’s four-year legal battle to have its drivers classified as self-employed to an end, and could see its drivers in line to receive thousands of pounds in compensation Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Biden will act on cyber security to fix SolarWinds mess

US will take action to modernise its defences in the wake of the SolarWinds attack, says US government cyber lead Anne Neuberger Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Fujitsu bosses knew about Post Office Horizon IT flaws, says insider

A former senior developer who worked for Fujitsu on the Post Office IT system that led to subpostmasters being falsely accused of fraud, has claimed bosses knew of fundamental flaws before going live Continue Reading

By

• Nick Wallis

Data lake storage: Cloud vs on-premise data lakes

The data lake is a fundamental concept of data management. But what type of storage do you need to build a data lake on and what are the pros and cons of on-premise vs the cloud? Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Swedish police fined for unlawful use of facial-recognition app

Sweden’s data watchdog has found that Swedish police failed to conduct the data protection checks required by law before using controversial facial-recognition tool Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

HMRC accused of 'utter hypocrisy' over use of IT contractors enrolled in tax avoidance schemes

Campaign group calls for HMRC to face an investigation, while accusing the department of ‘utter hypocrisy’ for using IT contractors enrolled in disguised remuneration schemes Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

City of Helsinki adopts MyData principles to improve digital services

Principles on the use of personal data for the benefit of society will guide Finnish capital’s ambitious digital plans Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Fingerprints will help payment cards retain relevance

Biometric payment cards using fingerprint technology could add billions to global banking revenues, says UBS Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Assessing UK law enforcement data adequacy

Data protection experts discuss the consequences of achieving data adequacy between the UK and EU for the UK’s intelligence services and criminal justice sector Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

Finnish IT sector demand increases after months of decline

IT sector in Finland sees small signs of recovery as demand increases after months of Covid-19-related decline Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Healthcare digitisation at point financial services was in 1990s

For all the talk about digitised healthcare, the sector is only where banking was in the 1990s. How can it catch up? Can the Covid-19 pandemic crisis be a catalyst? Continue Reading

By

• Jamil El-Imad

Vaccine passports highlight social impact of systems design

Vaccine or immunity passports are an opportunity to advance the design of trustworthy digital systems, but much more work still needs to be done Continue Reading

By

• Carsten Maple

HMRC denies misleading House of Lords over IT contractors’ use of tax avoidance schemes

MPs from Loan Charge All-Party Parliamentary Group write to HMRC CEO Jim Harra to demand the department be investigated for breaching the civil service code Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

Swedish central bank extends digital currency project

Sweden's central bank has extended its pilot of a digital currency for at least another year Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Law firm and cyber criminals clash over source of stolen data

Cyber attack victim Jones Day says its data was stolen in a supply chain attack, but the gang holding it to ransom disagrees Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Defra to lead creation of cloud-focused IT sustainability standard for use across government

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs continues its work to help government departments clean up their IT supply chains by creating a ‘cloud sustainability’ workstream Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

NHSX set to become part of new NHS England 'transformation directorate'

Latest plans for the National Health Service’s central digital strategy arm are currently at the proposal stage Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

TransferGo to harness Google-inspired tech capability

Payments fintech TransferGo chooses cloud-native core banking platform to build a digital wallet and expand its services Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Covid-19: Risk model identifies 800,000 vulnerable individuals

Research funded by the National Institute for Health Research has resulted in the development of a new coronavirus risk assessment model Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

C40, C60 R3, go! Pure adds to FlashArray//C QLC flash range

Hybrid storage killers: Pure Storage adds entry-level FlashArray//C40 R3 QLC array plus re-CPUed C60 R3 that will scale to 5PB or more Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

Qatar regulator launches platform to monitor human understanding of financial crime

Qatari financial services regulator works with global body to provide digital platform to assess whether financial services workers understand how to prevent financial crime Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Central government should promote data policy compliance, say civil servants

Most civil servants want the government to gain additional powers to promote data policy compliance to ensure better use of data, according to research Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

IR35 private sector reforms: HMRC reminds firms to use ‘reasonable care’ when applying new tax rules

As the countdown to the IR35 reforms being rolled out to the private sector continues apace, HM Revenue and Customs issues compliance guidance for firms in-scope of the new rules Continue Reading

By

• Caroline Donnelly, Senior Editor, UK

How Covid-19 has hit IT salaries and job prospects

In this week’s Computer Weekly, our salary survey reveals the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on IT professionals’ wages and job security. A potentially deadly cyber attack on a US water plant highlights the risks to critical infrastructure. And we find out how NHS Scotland is using tech to support its vaccine roll-out. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Digital investments will add £232bn to UK economy by 2040

The UK economy could grow by £232bn over the next two decades if investments in digital technologies continue Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Post Office to offer digital ID services to customers

Post Office partnership with Yoti is intended to expand customer choice as to how people prove their identity when accessing services Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

NCSC recognises UK’s top cyber schools

National Cyber Security Centre CyberFirst Schools initiative has handed out 14 gold, silver and bronze awards recognising excellence in cyber security teaching Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Government to impose new digital identity system across all Gov.uk services

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove writes to Whitehall departments mandating the use of a new digital identity system that will allow citizens to be tracked across the Gov.uk website Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

University benefited from early virtual desktop investments when pandemic struck

Edinburgh Napier University was able to react quickly to some of the main challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

UK border surveillance regime highly privatised, says Privacy International

Research from Privacy International raises concerns about the deep involvement of technology companies in the development and deployment of various technologies throughout the UK’s border regime, along with the lack of scrutiny they receive Continue Reading

By

• Sebastian Klovig Skelton, Data & ethics editor

The government’s ‘blue skies’ funding agency lacks purpose, MPs find

The £800m research and development funding agency announced in December 2019, lacks a clear purpose so far, according to the Science and Technology Committee Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Effective IT recovery in small/midsize businesses, 10 years on? Maybe tomorrow...

Disaster recovery is important for every business, large or small. But how can small businesses with limited resources protect themselves? Especially as a ‘disaster’ doesn’t have to be caused by a ... Continue Reading

By

• Tony Lock, Freeform Dynamics

Hacked Finnish therapy business collapses

Vastaamo, the Finnish psychotherapy centre whose patients were blackmailed by a cyber criminal gang, has filed for bankruptcy Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Goldman Sachs reopens UK digital savings account

US banking giant resumes online account for UK savers after temporarily withdrawing it in response to high demand Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Government launches digital identity trust framework

The government’s draft framework, which aims to set out rules for the use of digital identities, will be tested with industries, services, users and organisations ahead of a final version being published Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Nordic states launch joint drone development initiative

Nordic Drone Initiative backed by 16 public and privately owned organisations in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark to probe the efficient use of airspace for drones Continue Reading

Nationwide Building Society kicks off search for tech apprentices

Nationwide is working with local organisations to boost tech skills Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

CW Benelux: Is reluctance to report cyber crimes in the Netherlands helping the criminals get away?

According to an academic study in the Netherlands, only one in seven Dutch people report a cyber crime to the police when it happens - feeling it is better to sort the problem out themselves because they don’t think the police will do anything. This is storing up trouble as cyber crime is an increasing problem in the country. Also in this issue, read why Dutch bank ABN Amro is selling its head office. Continue Reading

Dating app users warned to watch out for scammers

A vast amount of money was lost to romance scammers last year, and with millions of people isolated in lockdown the problem is getting worse, according to a report Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

HelloKitty almost certainly behind CD Projekt ransomware attack

Theories that the cyber attack on a high-profile gaming studio was orchestrated by players who are disappointed in a videogame are likely wide of the mark, according to analysis Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Société Générale adopts work-from-home policy

French bank formalises remote working policy after discussions with labour unions Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA