Government consults with broadband firms on Huawei alternatives
Ministers seek to understand current use of vendor’s kit
Locked-down libraries may cause ‘connectivity crisis’ for elderly people
Data shows majority of facilities yet to reopen
The biggest stories of 2020 – part two
PublicTechnology completes our round-up of the most read and significant stories of 2020
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Lessons from Seoul: How eGovernment can drive citizen engagement
Scott Moore, business analyst for the Scottish Improvement Service, won a Socitm scholarship to research digital public service trend in Seoul during the summer. Here he looks back on he learnt during his summer investigating the city’s digital transformation.
Digital needs to come off the sidelines, Solace conference told
Local government needs to move away from piloting digital services on the periphery of their work and focus on building digital in from the start, a conference has heard.
EXCLUSIVE: Rotherham council merges ICT and customer access in £7m digital strategy
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has set out plans to bring all digital activity under one roof in a new digital strategy.
Scottish government offers £92,500 for CDO to oversee benefits devolution
The Scottish government is advertising for a chief digital officer for social security for the second time this year as it gains control of benefit systems.
UK lagging behind European peers on digital government, says Capgemini
The slow roll-out of the government’s identity assurance programme Verify is holding the UK’s progress towards e-government back, according to Cagemini.
Tax authority cuts call-handling times by reducing staff click-rate
HMRC has cut down call-handling times by two minutes by automating manual processes, as tax authority announces plans for an Automated Delivery Centre to build robotics.
Government payment systems 'frustrating' digital suppliers, says GDS
Digital suppliers are struggling with the process for invoicing government departments and risk losing out on payment due to the length of time it takes to get a purchase order for the work, research has shown.
Surrey NHS trust launches Internet of Things trial for improving dementia care
Surrey and Borders Partners NHS Trust has launched a £5m trial of Internet of Things technologies to improve healthcare for people with dementia.
GDS takes on snail mail
The Government Digital Service is beta testing ways to improve how government sends out letters, saying that automation could cut the cost of sending a letter from £3 to 29p.
Treasury launches pensions dashboard pilot
The government has said it intends to have a prototype pensions dashboard by March 2017, and that it will consider regulating companies if they don’t volunteer to participate.
NHS to invest in digital skills as Wachter review recommends phased digitisation
The Department of Health has announced an academy to train NHS staff in digital skills along with a suite of new digital services for patients in an effort to fast-track the NHS’ move to digitisation.
Local authorities need to improve website readability, study says
The majority of local authorities assessed by a content management company are failing to write online content that would be easily understood by 13- to 15-year-olds.
Expert verdict: Corbyn helps put digital on the map but manifesto lacks ambition
The digital democracy manifesto launched by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn earlier this week has failed to gain the approval of those working in public sector technology.
The Pokemon Go effect: How councils are tapping into augmented and virtual reality
Sooraj Shah looks at the benefits of AR and VR, and asks whether councils should be spending taxpayers’ money on the emerging technologies so soon.
Online visitor visa service goes global
The Home Office has completed the roll out of its online visitor’s visa service.
North Hertfordsire adopts mobile working solution
North Hertfordshire District Council has adopted a cloud-based solution to enable a number of departments automate their processes.
Shelter Scotland backs homelessness app
An online button directing people facing a housing crisis to the most appropriate service for them has won backing from Shelter Scotland for further development.
Ministry of Justice pledges to update 'creaking PCs and snail-paced connections'
The Ministry of Justice has published a set of nine principles it will stick to as it updates outdated hardware that is making work difficult for employees.
GOV.Notify in public beta testing
The GOV.UK Notify system is to start sending messages to people applying for student finance and UK visas as part of the government’s invite-only public beta testing.
Matching vision with investment: How councils can benefit from IoT
Council IT chiefs tell Sooraj Shah that, although the Internet of Things has huge potential for local government, it’s still early days for the technology.
From analysis to action: Next steps for doteveryone's digital exclusion heatmap
At the end of last year, the charity doteveryone launched its heatmap of digital exclusion across the UK to help communities take control of the situation. But where is the project now, and have councils paid attention? Rebecca Hill reports.