Information management

Making music with AI

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how artificial intelligence is being used in the creative industries such as music and books, and ask whether AI can ever replace human creativity. TSB’s IT meltdown is symptomatic of the tech challenges facing UK banks – we examine the issues. And our latest buyer’s guide analyses the trends in big data. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Oracle 18c features give DBAs incremental database capabilities

Oracle Database 18c is really another version of 12c Release 2 with a different name. It doesn't contain major new features, but it does expand functionality in various areas. Continue Reading

By

• Brian Peasland

Tableau Prep tool aims to ease Tableau data preparation work

Tableau users who previously had to rely on software from other vendors to prepare data now have a new option: Tableau Prep, the BI vendor's own data preparation tool. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

Currency of data separates leaders from laggards

With customer data growing in ever-evolving volumes, we look at how companies are using data analytics to stay in control Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Congolese health workers and patients benefit from Couchbase database

Belgian public health consulting firm AEDES has worked with a local partner in the Democratic Republic of Congo to deliver a health information management system based on Couchbase Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Government given six months to rewrite snoopers’ charter

The government has until 1 November 2018 to rewrite a key section of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, after the high court declared them unlawful in a judicial review brought by human rights group Liberty Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

GDPR: An overview of the latest data protection legislation

The forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will have wide-ranging implications for every organisation that processes personal data. This comprehensive overview tells you what you need to know Continue Reading

By

• Dai Davis, Percy Crow Davis & Co

How machine learning is used to detect fraud

One of machine learning’s most well-known use cases is fraud detection, an area that has drawn the attention of a growing number of technology suppliers looking to develop the best algorithms and ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Data analytics is about culture, not technology

Enterprises need to figure out the business problems they are trying to solve and foster a data-driven culture to benefit from data analytics Continue Reading

By

• Ai Lei Tao

Cloud workloads see gradual uptake, but miles to go for databases

A picture of steady but not rapid migration to the cloud by Oracle users emerged at Collaborate 18, with database vets saying it's wise to be selective on what to move. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Vaughan

Doing analytics the Disney way

The Walt Disney Company’s head of solution integration tells how analytics helps to personalise the customer’s Disney experience, and how tech plays a leading role in The Lion King’s Broadway success Continue Reading

By

• Angelica Mari

Argos announces 150 new tech roles in the UK

Argos is recruiting an extra 150 IT professionals as part of its strategy to offer a better digital services to customers Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Gartner predicts AI will add $1.2tn to companies’ earnings in 2018

Gartner has forecast that artificial intelligence will create $1.2 trillion in economic value in 2018, up 70% on 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

EC sets out plans for sharing health data across borders

The European Commission wants to introduce EU-wide standards for health records, and allow EU citizens to access and share their patient information securely across member states Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

NHS shared care records: progress, projects and privacy

Sharing health records across health and social care has been something the NHS has worked towards for a long time. As the NHS ramps up its plans, has it finally got the right balance between patient care, privacy and feasibility? Continue Reading

By

• Sooraj Shah

CenturyLink takes aim at APAC market post-Level 3 merger

The US telecoms giant is expanding its footprint in Asia through its merger with Level 3, and hopes to bring its offerings on par with that of rivals in the region Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

SuperNova growth programme offers European tech scale-ups chance to pitch for investment

Scale-Up.eu says initiative will enable scale-up companies to grow their business without relying on overseas investment Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

SAP Q1 2018: Cloud revenue breaks €1bn, 400 more S/4 customers

SAP’s overall first-quarter revenue was flat, but cloud revenue and profitability were up, while its S/4 Hana customer base stands at 8,300 Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

The Cambridge Analytica case: What’s a data scientist to do?

The Cambridge Analytica controversy has highlighted data ethics issues especially dear to early career stage data scientists. Continue Reading

Data and digital infrastructure key to genomic sequencing success, say MPs

Science and Technology Committee says genomics had potential to revolutionise the NHS, but is worried delays to NHS digital projects and data sharing concerns could threaten progress Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

Next generation of SCADA industrial controls will protect against cyber attack

Oil, energy and chemical companies are rethinking how to control big manufacturing plants, replacing expensive control technology with cheaper, more secure systems, taking their cue from biology Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Estonia’s digital residency programme faces first headwind

The Baltic country’s programme to offer anyone, anywhere a chance to run a company online is facing its first crisis Continue Reading

By

• Tarmo Virki

Is AI ethics enough of a niche for the UK’s economic strategy?

The House of Lords report on AI and UK economy and society came out this week, with the guardedly bullish title: “AI in the UK: ready, willing and able?” The question mark is moot. I think a strong ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Alibaba to set up digital hub in Thailand

Chinese e-commerce and technology giant Alibaba is expanding its Southeast Asian footprint with a new digital hub east of Bangkok that is expected to boost Thailand’s digital credentials Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Why running SQL Server on Docker is no longer frowned upon

Microsoft now lets SQL Server databases run in Docker containers, a capability that depends on using volumes to store data in a persistent way outside the containers. Continue Reading

By

• Brien Posey

Blockchain: Paving the way for broad adoption

The foundations have been laid for organisations to begin standardising on the technology, talent and platforms that will drive future blockchain initiatives Continue Reading

By

• Mark Lillie, Deloitte

CW ANZ: OpenStack gains a foothold in Australia

In this issue of CW ANZ, we look at how OpenStack has changed the way Australian enterprises operate their IT infrastructure. Also read how Australia’s Citic Pacific Mining is digging into IoT technology to track vehicles, and how Telstra is investing in two submarine cables to bolster Asia-US connectivity. Continue Reading

CW ASEAN: SD-WAN helps find best route to cloud

This year, more enterprises will adopt a “cloud-first” SD-WAN architecture to support their increasingly cloud-based application mix. In this issue of CW ASEAN, we take a closer look at how ASEAN enterprises are gearing up for this eventuality. Also, read how a new HPE facility in Singapore will help build collaborative partnerships across the internet of things, and how communications service providers should embrace microservices and DevOps to thrive in the digital economy. Continue Reading

What the Microsoft GDPR compliance toolkit offers for SQL Server

The set of GDPR compliance tools that Microsoft offers for SQL Server is designed to make it easier for users of the database software to adhere to the EU's new data rules. Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Moore

Business will make money from their data, says IDC

Data scientists may soon find that their skills will be more directly linked to generating a revenue stream within their organisations Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

DataWorks 18: Hortonworks styles itself 3.0 with a ‘DataPlane’ service

Hortonworks has used its DataWorks Summit in Berlin to announce a data governance “studio” plug in to its DataPlane service Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Huawei debuts its first intent-based networking proposition

At its Shenzhen Analyst Summit, Huawei unveiled its intent-based networking concept, promising to address enterprise customer pain points around network management Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Russian energy giant makes digital tech adoption a priority

Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom Neft is exploring the use of the latest digital technologies across its entire business Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Teradata applies time series analytics tools to IoT data

Data warehouse pioneer Teradata looks to ease IoT data analysis with capabilities that address skills gaps on time series analytics techniques, which are coming more to the fore. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Vaughan

GDPR rules can spur broader steps to protect sensitive data

Companies need to make compliance with GDPR's requirements on managing personal data a priority, but they should also work to implement wider data protection efforts in the future. Continue Reading

By

• David Loshin, Knowledge Integrity Inc.

Intelligent information management is ready for AI, blockchain

A panel discussion at AIIM 2018 looked at how AI, cloud and blockchain will disrupt the intelligent information management space. Continue Reading

By

• Jesse Scardina, News Writer

AI fears abating among UK consumers, suggests OpenText survey

UK citizens seem to be curbing their fears of artificial intelligence technology, according to survey research by OpenText Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Siemens success sets the scene for growth in process mining

German industrial conglomerate Siemens has turned to process mining to reveal inefficiencies in the way it pays suppliers, organises logistics and runs order-to-cash processes Continue Reading

By

• Lindsay Clark

Machine learning is the new normal: AWS

Cloud supplier AWS wants to put machine learning capabilities into the hands of more people in the nascent market for cloud-based AI services Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

CW Middle East: UAE makes artificial intelligence leap

The United Arab Emirates wants to be at the heart of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution and is already testing its mettle as a global tech advocate and innovator. Also in this issue, read how Abu Dhabi is open to developing its fintech ecosystem, with the next 12 months expected to see more focus on the sector, and how Dubai’s transport authority has enlisted Here Technologies to build a high-definition map of the city to support its goals around self-driving cars. Continue Reading

Finnish government backs national AI development strategy

Government is harnessing Finland’s tech base to help make the country a leading location for the artificial intelligence industry Continue Reading

By

• Gerard O'Dwyer

Driving digitisation: open standards in process automation

Organisations often can’t take advantage of advances in digital technology due to the lack of interoperability in their IT systems in different facilities, but open standards promise a way forward Continue Reading

By

• Ed Harrington, The Open Group

Podcast: Storage compliance for GDPR data subject requests

The General Data Protection Regulation is upon us. Mathieu Gorge, CEO of Vigitrust, talks you through the key areas needed for compliance in storage of data subjects’ data and how to find it quickly on request Continue Reading

By

• Antony Adshead, Storage Editor

SAP bids to modernise indirect licensing with new pricing model

SAP has announced a new pricing model for indirect licensing scenarios that has been welcomed by user groups, who are still pressing for reassurance that they won’t pay more Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

IT teams take big data security issues into their own hands

Data security needs to be addressed upfront in deployments of big data systems -- and users are likely to find they have to build some security capabilities themselves. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

Why GDPR provides the opportunity for greater data collaboration

This is a guest blogpost by Jim Conning, Managing Director of Royal Mail Data Services (RMDS). The forthcoming 25 May implementation date for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Autonomous drones will fly into danger zones for emergency services

Automated drones will use sophisticated visual systems and machine learning techniques to carry out search and rescue missions where humans fear to tread Continue Reading

By

• Alex Scroxton, Security Editor

Microsoft teams up with Japan’s JRCS on mixed reality

Software giant Microsoft has partnered with a Japanese supplier of maritime systems to test the use of HoloLens headsets for training and maintenance work Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

More curiosity could help narrow AI tools handle broader uses

Today, engineers are developing AI tools primarily for individual applications, but programming a facsimile of curiosity into algorithms could help make them more general purpose. Continue Reading

By

• Torsten Volk, Principal Analyst

Why Lufthansa went back to the drawing board with its HR IT project

Aviation group says it is confident of landing a company-wide IT project following a sometimes turbulent journey Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

2018 is a graph-shaped year

This is a guest blogpost by Neo4j’s CEO Emil Eifrem, in which he says graph databases are about to grow up Graph technology has come a long way: from financial fraud detection in the Panama and ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Why Intuit aims chatbot design at a narrow set of tasks

A data scientist at Intuit details the finance software vendor's approach to building chatbots -- and explains why it's limiting them to some basic customer service activities. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

The Hackett Group predicts rise of robotic process automation

RPA promises to make certain back-office business processes vastly more efficient by taking over manual tasks Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

UN adopts Tableau as global standard to augment decision support

The United Nations has struck a deal with data visualisation software supplier Tableau to extend its use as an organisation-wide standard Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Data policy move to DCMS causes mixed reactions

Some believe Theresa May handing over government data policy responsibility to DCMS is “downgrading digital government” while others see it as a positive move Continue Reading

By

• Lis Evenstad

GDPR mandates push data quality improvement into IT spotlight

Data quality issues cost companies significant amounts of money in lost revenue and added expenses, and their impact will only get bigger when the EU starts enforcing its GDPR law. Continue Reading

By

• Andy Hayler, Information Difference

Oracle Autonomous Database debut heralds new cloud hopes

It wasn't the first in the cloud computing space, but Oracle is all in now. Key to the effort is a new Autonomous Database service, initially available for data warehousing uses. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Vaughan

GDS loses government data policy to DCMS

Prime minister confirms long-rumoured move in written statement to Parliament as MPs left for Easter recess Continue Reading

By

• Bryan Glick, Editor in chief

Kubernetes container orchestration gets big data star turn

The new thing in big data is Kubernetes container orchestration. While it's still early, there are signs of activity, which are cited in this edition of the Talking Data podcast. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Vaughan

Humans and AI tools go hand in hand in analytics applications

Companies are keeping data analysts and other workers in the loop with AI applications to check the results generated by automated algorithms for accuracy, relevance and missing info. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

£5m Ada Lovelace Institute launched to look into data ethics

Nuffield Foundation announces institute to examine ethical and social issues arising from the use of data, algorithms and artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

The Cambridge Analytica case: What’s a data scientist to do?

The Cambridge Analytica controversy has highlighted data ethics issues especially dear to early career stage data scientists Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Australian broadcaster live-streamed Winter Olympics with AWS

It would take someone over five million years to watch the amount of video carried across IP networks each month in 2021 – that’s how much video content we’ll be consuming over the next few years. ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Arsenal uses Innovation Lab accelerator to improve worldwide fan experience

Arsenal’s Innovation Lab programme has enabled collaboration with “world-class” startups to offer the best experience for fans in the future, says the club’s IT director Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Capgemini turns to tech startup to identify ‘most engaged’ teams

Technology and consulting services firm Capgemini is using technology from a startup company to poll its employees’ views and provide feedback from managers every week. It is discovering what it takes to create “engaged teams” Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

HPE calls for bottom-up approach to AI

A bottom-up approach towards data modelling is needed to address the shortcomings of physical and theoretical models in artificial intelligence Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Is the Facebook furore another piece of Fake News

The story of how Cambridge Analytica used Facebook data collected by an Academic intermediary to supposedly help Remain "steal" the UK referendum campaign and Trump "steal" the US Presidential ... Continue Reading

By

• Philip Virgo, Winsafe Ltd

Cambridge Analytica-Facebook case shows need for ethical data mining

Ethical data collection practices are becoming even more important, as cases like Cambridge Analytica's misuse of Facebook data challenge consumer trust in enterprise analytics. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Burns

Telefonica cuts HR running costs by 40% as it replaces hundreds of ageing IT systems

Multinational telecoms group Telefonica is on the verge of completing a project to replace 175 incompatible HR IT systems with a cloud service covering more than 40 countries Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Legacy IT hampers digital strategy at banks and insurers

A highly regulated environment, a risk-averse culture and a reliance on core legacy technology are holding back banks and insurance companies from modernisation Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

Kubernetes gains momentum in big data implementation process

Big data vendors and users are looking to Kubernetes-managed containers to help accelerate deployments and enable more flexible use of computing resources. Continue Reading

By

• Craig Stedman, Industry Editor

Amazon Neptune: a shot in the arm for the graph database?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced its entry to the graph database market at its AWS reINVENT conference in Seattle in November last year. It was a notable announcement for a couple of reasons: it ... Continue Reading

By

• Jason Stamper, Freeform Dynamics

HPE pushes prescriptive AI for industrial applications

Predicting when a machine will fail is one thing, but HPE hopes its artificial intelligence service will help businesses augment their maintenance programmes Continue Reading

By

• Cliff Saran, Managing Editor

How artificial intelligence can aid and replace higher order human creativity

Much is made of AI augmenting human intelligence with simple automation, but might higher order human creativity go the same way? Continue Reading

By

• SA Mathieson

Oracle Q3 2017-18 results see cloud revenue grow to $1.6bn

Oracle’s third-quarter results for fiscal year 2018 show an increase of almost 7% of overall revenue to $9.8bn, of which 18% was cloud Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Researchers use AI, big data and machine learning to find best place in the world to live

West Perth in Australia and Hebden Bridge in the UK are among the top locations ranked by machine learning tool in SAS project Continue Reading

By

• Zach Emmanuel, Computer Weekly

Employers face hiring crisis as AI replaces mid-skilled jobs

Artificial intelligence could replace two-thirds of existing jobs within 20 years, and employers will face growing difficulties recruiting skilled staff Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

IT contractors not a risk despite Snowden leaks, GCHQ tells court

The government argues in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal that contractors with systems administration rights to computers holding GCHQ’s most sensitive intelligence pose no more of a security risk than the agency’s employees Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Silicon Valley startups home in on pressing value from data

A slew of California-based startup and early-stage data analytics companies are promising CIOs better ways to get value from their investments in databases and analytics Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Capgemini arm bags European Commission data infrastructure project

The European Commission has extended the contract of prime contractor Capgemini on its open data project Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

IBM sets up no-fee Data Science Elite team to speed up AI adoption

IBM uses Think conference in Las Vegas to launch a no-fee data science consultancy and a platform for artificial intelligence app development Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Data wants to be free

In a world where data is more readily available than ever, having analytical skills that will help you to make sense of data in day-to-day tasks is instrumental in career progression. But going by ... Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Streaming tool from StreamSets eyes data in motion for GDPR

StreamSets software for inspecting big data brings governance to data in motion. Such capabilities may find more use as the European Union's GDPR deadline looms. Continue Reading

By

• Jack Vaughan

Online data can be used to create better housing for all, says Resi’s Depledge

Alex Depledge, CEO of Resi, will speak at Datafest on how online data can open up architecture to more people – but she warns against over-hyping data science Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

Microsoft's Chinese-English translation system achieves human parity

A China-US research team at software powerhouse Microsoft has developed an AI-powered system that can translate Chinese news articles into English as well as humans do. Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Diversified data sets for analytics deliver top results

Analytics teams should focus on data diversity to ensure that their projects deliver the most meaningful insights -- but they must be wary of some stumbling blocks. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Burns

Fourth Industrial Revolution rhetoric: mere cant?

Philip Hammond’s Spring statement, as UK chancellor, reached, predictably, for the rhetoric of the so-called fourth industrial revolution. Not for the first time. Whenever he gets the chance to say ... Continue Reading

By

• Brian McKenna, Senior Analyst, Business Applications

What does the GDPR definition of personal data include?

The definition of personal data in the EU's GDPR data protection rules is broad enough to include any type of data that can be used to directly or indirectly identify a person. Continue Reading

By

• Bridget Botelho, Editorial Director, News

How to boost the value of BI in today's analytics landscape

Basic BI reporting still gives businesses valuable information. But its value can be increased by incorporating it into a broader analytics and data visualization platform. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Burns

Government ‘unlawfully delegated’ bulk data powers to GCHQ, court hears

Privacy International urges Britain’s most secret court, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, to rule that the government illegally collected surveillance data from internet and phone companies until at least September 2017 Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Retailers need to prepare properly before AI adoption, say experts

Artificial intelligence can help many areas of the retail landscape, but retailers should make sure they prepare before taking on AI adoption, says an expert panel Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Scrivito unveils serverless CMS product

By building the CMS with ReactJS, Scrivito gained attraction with development community, according to an analyst. Continue Reading

By

• Jesse Scardina, News Writer

Singapore tops global rankings on smart cities

The city-state of Singapore was lauded for its efforts in tapping the internet of things to improve public infrastructure and services in a global study by Juniper Research Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Proof of concept shows blockchain could save lives in pharmaceutical logistics

DHL and Accenture pilot tracks pharmaceutical products from manufacture to prescription, showing potential to clamp down on counterfeit medicines Continue Reading

By

• Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA

Regulator takes tougher line than expected on surveillance warrants

The Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office has signalled to government that it will take a tough line when scrutinising surveillance warrants under the controversial Investigatory Powers Act Continue Reading

By

• Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly

Modern retail: machine learning, customer experience and legacy

As the retail landscape shifts in the wake of new technologies, experts in retail and tech explain how firms need to adapt to cater for modern consumers Continue Reading

By

• Clare McDonald, Business Editor

Can Too Much Of Something Be Bad?

Of course, the retail and consumer markets in general have been analysis bonkers for decades, but what about IT security, cyber or otherwise? It's not a case of collecting info from a single ... Continue Reading

By

• Steve Broadhead, Broadband Testing

CW Europe: Germany’s Lemoncat takes catering to the cloud

Business catering startup Lemoncat has taken advantage of the affordable cost of living in Berlin and is shaking up the catering sector by harnessing the Amazon and Salesforce clouds. Also in this issue, read how Moscow’s government is taking advantage of high penetration of broadband and mobile internet to expand innovative services under the Russian capital’s smart city programme, and how organisations in the Netherlands still have much to do to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation. Continue Reading

Kiwi airport testing avatar service to ease staff workload

Auckland Airport is testing an AI-powered avatar at the arrivals area to answer biosecurity questions from travellers Continue Reading

By

• Aaron Tan, TechTarget

Mike Capone, Qlik CEO, says roadmap targets cloud, big data

Qlik software must continue to evolve to keep pace with changes coming from cloud computing, big data and cognitive computing, says Qlik's new CEO Mike Capone. Continue Reading

By

• Ed Burns