Policy
Government declines to set date for contact-tracing app
Head of Test and Trace programme Baroness Harding says she does not want to specify a timeframe as projects often do not ‘run in a smooth way’
How Brexit Britain could become a surveillance state
The UK has tended to only introduce data-protection laws in conjunction with EU legislation...
How big is the UK’s cyber skills gap?
A major government-commissioned study found that about half of UK organisations are lacking...
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Gove believes Whitehall reform plans will not suffer because of close association with Cummings
Cabinet Office minister said that, despite the controversy that often surrounds the PM’s top adviser, ‘people are interested in Dominic and his ideas’
Welcome to Cyber Week
Introducing a dedicated week of features, interviews and exclusive research
The fog of cyberwar
For governments and armed forces around the world, the digital domain has become a potential battlefield. But this new realm of warfare brings with it many ethical and legal complications. PublicTechnology talks to digital ethics expert Dr Mariarosaria Taddeo to find out more.
Cyber national security: how the UK has prepared itself for major attacks
We are approaching the fourth anniversary of the foundation of the NCSC and the threats it was created to respond to loom larger than ever. PublicTechnology examines the growth of the UK’s cyber-defence capability
Government spends £400m to acquire bankrupt satellite firm
After being shut out of EU satellite programme in light of Brexit, UK joins consortium with Indian telecoms giant Bharti to buy OneWeb
Treasury ‘got it wrong’ over tweet celebrating pubs reopening
Ministry deleted post encouraging people to ‘raise a glass’ after backlash
Government defends Test and Trace as proportion of contacts being reached drops sharply
In the first two weeks tracers were successfully reaching more than nine in ten identified close contacts, but this has now fallen to less than three quarters
Government turns to Instagram to seek policy guidance from teenagers
New initiative will seek to gain views of people aged 13 to 25
Fewer frameworks and more ministerial muscle – how government can make good on its SME agenda
The results of techUK’s annual GovTech SME Survey suggest the Digital Marketplace has made a positive impact on access to the public sector tech market but, according to Henry Rex, there are barriers still to be overcome
Regulatory clampdown urged as CMA finds £400 per household goes to Google and Facebook each year
CMA says that all of society will lose out ‘if the market power of these firms goes unchecked’
Gove urges structural change of ‘government machine’ in call for reform
Minister discusses need for new training campus and greater use of data in evaluation of projects
Report finds ‘profound failings’ in Scottish NHS IT systems
Holyrood committee is sharply critical of technology underpinning the prescription of medicines
Home Office ramps up video asylum interviews as backlog passes 50,000
The oldest claim awaiting decision was filed eight years ago and 10,000 more were added to the waiting list in the first three months of 2020 alone
Highland spaceport to gather climate change data
Local council approve plans for satellite launch site
Treasury and Bank of England ‘consider next steps’ on possible cryptocurrency reserve
Minister claims government wants UK financial institutions to lead on the use of digital currencies
Contact-tracing success rate drops
Data shows declines in the proportion of both confirmed cases and their contacts being reached by tracers
HMRC launches redundancy scheme as remote-working review goes on
Union criticises move to cut jobs before assessment of flexible working has been completed
Home-schooling technology demands hits poorer families hardest, study finds
Research shows children learning or mobile phones and parents stretching budgets to buy new equipment
Government scraps £12m contact-tracing app after finding it does not work on iPhones
UK will switch to Google and Apple system after discovering that less than one in 20 contacts were detected on the latter’s devices by the NHS’s own system
Study shows big divide between richer and poorer children in access to IT during lockdown
Study from NFER shines a light on disparities
Government ‘considering alternative uses’ for £4m tags bought for early-release scheme
As of the beginning of this month, only 55 of eligible total of 4,000 prisoners had been let out under ECTR initiative