public sector
Labour begins bonfire of planning laws, relights plans for two data centres near London
Two planning applications "recovered" as new government wages war on nimbyism and greenbelt building restrictions
UK
Where new technology minister Peter Kyle may focus, as Labour pledges national renewal
Energy, national security both ripe for significant technology investment but DSIT's mandate and regulatory focus are...
public sector
From AI to open source: Tech leaders' recommendations for the new Labour Government
Leading industry figures set out key priorities for Sir Kier Starmer's new government, including employing Chief AI Officers in Whitehall and more open source in the public sector
openuk
The UK election manifestos and the importance of a tech mission
"The parties could do worse than take a look at The Open Manifesto..."
central government
Home Office may put child abuse database on the cloud
"... it is now considered that removing these restrictions can be compliant with data protection requirements."
AI
UK’s new supercomputer comes online, awaits further 5,280 GPUs
Government has also joined Europe's EuroHPC programme; encourages researchers to tap large pot of cash.
DWP
A hard reset: UK’s digital “Pension Dashboard Programme” stumbles
Costs climb $54 million as government department calls for project owner to “develop a deliverable plan” with “robust governance”
Policy
Spying on MPs and breaking encryption: New UK legislation damned as “unprecedented” – and “deeply troubling”
Apple says new rules “significantly widen the powers and exacerbate the flaws inherent in the Investigatory Powers Act”
central government
Ministry of Justice wanted ICT to be nimble and data driven. For now it’s grappling with technical debt and running late
"One of the most outsourced government departments with major contracts to manage"
ERP
HMG puts massive £500m ERP contract out to tender
An early Christmas present for Systems Integrators and their SaaS partners as a ten-year ERP centralisation contract lands
central government
UK government eyes data centre security overhaul; may consider it CNI, create a new regulator
"Risks have also been identified in relation to data centre customer access to sites and facilities, and access by contractors or those providing supply chain services..."
AWS
Home Office inks £450m AWS contract
Home Office CTO has highlighted a focus on “streamlining our technology and data estates and unifying systems” and “open source and cloud technologies that are scalable and maintainable.”