Ian Young's Blog: December 2017

Friday, 29 December 2017

Thursday, 28 December 2017

Top 10 CIO interviews of 2017

IT leaders from across the UK and Europe shared their plans, strategies and best practice advice with Computer Weekly

Wednesday, 27 December 2017

Top 10 women in tech and diversity in tech stories of 2017

Computer Weekly takes a look at some of the defining moments for women and diversity in the technology industry in 2017

The CW500 Club in 2017

Computer Weekly’s CW500 Club attracts the top IT leaders in the UK to talk to their peers. We present coverage of the 2017 events, including articles and video interviews

Friday, 22 December 2017

To take advantage of diversity, you also need inclusion, says Fujitsu UK&I CEO

Regina Moran, UK&I CEO of Fujitsu, claims that although diversity can make a positive impact on businesses, inclusion is necessary to make employees comfortable enough to contribute

Air New Zealand to trial digital translation technology

Airline becomes one of the first companies to try out a business case for Google's real-time translation technology

Canada’s CGI takes top spot in UK government IT contracts for 2017

Analysis of government procurement data shows CGI topped the table for new IT deals, earning more than four times the amount of its nearest rival

Ian Cohen, Addison Lee: Skills crisis? What skills crisis?

Ian Cohen, CIO, Addison Lee, deconstructs the idea of a skills crisis and discusses the new leadership and management models required to attract talent

Thursday, 21 December 2017

Government Brexit studies merely provide background on tech sector

The infamous government Brexit impact assessments have been released, but tech sector reports reveal nothing new

Royal Mail research reveals UK firms lack data quality for GDPR

A Royal Mail Data Services survey has found that three out of 10 UK companies are falling short of the data quality required for the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation

Hancock sure UK will obtain and maintain EU data protection adequacy

Minister for digital tells Lords committee he is confident the UK will obtain and maintain “adequacy” for smooth data transfers with the EU after Brexit

Ofcom defeats legal challenge from mobile network operators over 5G spectrum

Ofcom has seen off a legal challenge from mobile suppliers that oppose its latest spectrum auction

Nick Mayes, Gala Leisure: Dealing with ambiguity in change processes

Nick Mayes, CIO of Gala Leisure, looks at how to get communication straight in change processes

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

Fourth industrial revolution AI scepticism rife at Lords committee

In the final session of its enquiry into artificial intelligence and the UK economy, a House of Lords select committee played host to scepticism about the so-called fourth industrial revolution

Sweden’s Stena Line sets sail for digital transformation

Ferry operator’s CTO tells Computer Weekly how the company can differentiate itself by using digital tools to make its processes more efficient

Marcus East, National Geographic: Embracing the power of social

National Geographic's CTO discuss the technology work that the global media company is doing to enable its transformation into the digital age

Chrome to block ads in February

Top 10 enterprise IT in the Middle East stories in 2017

Countries in the Middle East are putting digital transformation high on their priority lists and are already leaders in areas such as smart city development

How to boost your personal brand as an IT professional

Seven steps to help you build a personal brand in the workplace, articulate the value you provide and build your professional reputation

UK government blames North Korea for WannaCry cyber attack

The UK and US governments say a North Korean group was responsible for the ransomware attacks that hit the NHS and other organisations globally this year

Stuart Birrell, Heathrow Airport: Innovation beyond the tech arena

The CIO of Heathrow discusses how the airport is expanding innovation beyond the technology focus into the wider business

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

Kaspersky Labs appeals US ban

Russian security software giant appeals US government's decision to ban the use of its products in federal agencies

Nordic states innovate to attract global tech players

The Nordic region is already a hotbed for tech startups and has the ingredients to attract more investment from the established tech giants

Top 10 enterprise IT in the Nordics stories in 2017

The Nordic region might be best known in IT circles for its startup communities – but it has much more to offer

Monday, 18 December 2017

Highways England awards telecoms service contract to Telent

Network upgrade will enable Highways England to prepare for technologies such as 5G and connected cars

David Ivell, The Prince's Trust: Handling risk aversion in innovation initiatives

David Ivell, CIO at The Prince's Trust, aims to exploit technology and innovation to transform the engagement, relationship and journey of the young people supported by the Trust

Louise McCarthy: Obtaining business buy-in to digital transformation

Louise McCarthy shares her experiences of transformation initiatives at HM Revenue & Customs, Aviva, Specsavers and EBRD

Dubai Health Authority to launch app to help doctors’ stroke diagnosis

Dubai healthcare organisation is developing a medical application with UAE telco Etisalat

Friday, 15 December 2017

Oracle Q2 2017-18 results see cloud revenue grow to $1.5bn

Oracle’s second-quarter 2017-18 results show an increase in cloud revenue of 44%, and overall growth of 4% to $9.6bn. Executives are bullish against competition, buoyed by artificial intelligence makeover of database

AMD hits pay dirt in the cloud with EPYC server platform

Chipmaker AMD is looking to regain lost ground with its EPYC server platform, and it seems the cloud provider community is getting on board with its plans

How to futureproof your career as a CIO

Many CIOs have yet to earn the right to be on the board. How can IT leaders upgrade their business acumen, to benefit their own careers and the health of their employer?

Thursday, 14 December 2017

DevOps in the public sector: Assessing the challenges and the benefits

Public sector IT leaders trying to transform the way their organisation works using DevOps talk about the challenges they face

Aberdeen City Council launches next phase of fibre broadband programme

A further 57 council sites around Aberdeen will be connected to CityFibre’s gigabit broadband backhaul network in the coming months

B4RN breaks ground on rural broadband network in East Anglia

Community ultrafast fibre broadband organisation B4RN East Anglia has started work on its first dig in Norfolk

Wednesday, 13 December 2017

Powermat to upgrade to 15W wireless charging, support Apple's new iPhones

Storage briefing: The evolution of software-defined storage

The evolution of software-defined storage, from simple software products to those that offer scale-out, hyper-converged, NVMe, public cloud and container functionality

Robots will create more jobs than they eradicate by 2020

Artificial intelligence technology will begin to create more jobs than it replaces, says Gartner

Highways England plans for 5G, smart vehicles, drones

Highways England report sets out its aspirations for the next few years, and explores how digital technology will be used to keep people on the move

Mingis on Tech: The building blocks of ... blockchain

One of the biggest topics in IT right now involves blockchain, the distributed ledger tech that underpins Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Here's a look at what it is, what it does, and how companies are already using it.

Cyber security skills shortage can be addressed, says (ISC)2

The shortage of cyber security skills can be addressed, starting with training anyone who is unemployed, according to information security professional training and certification body (ISC)2

NVMe: The flash storage standard in search of a form factor

NVMe can unleash flash by doing away with the built-for-disk SCSI protocol. But so far there’s no consensus between suppliers about how to build products around NVMe

Dutch IT expert takes an ethical hacking sabbatical

Ethical hacker discovered nearly 1,000 vulnerabilities after taking a year off from his job in the Netherlands government to set up a hack group

Bitfinex restored after DDoS attack

Bitcoin exchange Bitfinex says its systems have been restored after the company was hit by a second denial of service attack in just over a week

Banks forced to be open about major security and operational incidents

New FCA rules aim to give consumers more information about current accounts beyond interest rates and charges

Tuesday, 12 December 2017

Quarter of SMEs say digital skills not important for business growth

Survey shows many smaller firms do not consider digital skills essential, but Federation of Small Businesses says talent recruitment can be a “nightmare”

Startups and corporations mingle at Finland’s Slush tech event

Startup events are becoming rich hunting grounds for large enterprises looking for the platforms of the future

GDS staff survey reveals concerns over leadership and evidence of bullying and harassment

Employee survey at Government Digital Service shows staff enjoy their work but have concerns about senior management – plus complaints over discrimination, bullying and harassment

Harnessing hybrid deployment

Computer Weekly explores how the success of hybrid deployment hinges on the network

Researchers find trove of 1.4 billion credentials

Security researchers have discovered what is believed to be the largest aggregate database found in the dark web to date, prompting fresh calls for improved identity management

Monday, 11 December 2017

Innovation key to halt cyber attacks

In the light of the number of cyber breaches taking place, innovative security systems are required, according to the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)

Security Think Tank: Use policy and guidance to help secure messaging apps

What criteria should organisations use to assess the security of smartphone messaging apps and how can they ensure only approved apps are used by employees?

Workers should embrace robots, not fear them, says Labour deputy

Labour deputy leader to say workers need not fear robots taking their jobs, but welcome the opportunities they will bring

Cloud-to-cloud backup: What it is and why you need it

Applications that run in the cloud are protected, but only so much. For full protection of data generated by cloud-based apps you need cloud-to-cloud backup

Perth airport security plans stolen by Vietnamese hacker

Australian authorities have named a Vietnamese hacker they say was able to break into the IT systems at Perth International Airport and steal security information

Bumps in the road ahead for Nordic cashless societies

Sweden and Norway are global leaders when it comes to reducing the use of cash in the economy – but what about the Nordic region as a whole?

Russian-speaking hacker targeting financial institutions

A Russian-speaking cyber criminal gang is targeting financial institutions in the UK, US and Russia, a Moscow-based security firm reports

Friday, 8 December 2017

Code First Girls aims to teach 20,000 girls to code by 2020

Social enterprise Code First: Girls has launched a campaign with the aim of teaching 20,000 young women to code by 2020

Santander UK recruits digital banking expert from Barclays

Santander UK has poached Michael Harte from Barclays to drive digital transformation

Paul Coby to step down as John Lewis CIO

CIO of retailer John Lewis, Paul Coby, has announced he will be stepping down from his role in 2018, after almost seven years

Forging a new identity: IT underpins Openreach’s independence

Openreach chief technology and information officer Mark Lam discusses how IT is helping to forge a new and distinct identity for the network infrastructure business as it leaves the wider BT Group

Second GCHQ Cyber Accelerator kicks off

Nine cyber security firms have been chosen to take part in the second GCHQ Cyber Accelerator, which is aimed at helping UK startups take the lead in producing the next generation of cyber security systems

UKtech50 2017 video: DWP chief digital and information officer, Mayank Prakash

The winner of UKtech50 2017, Mayank Prakash, heads up digital transformation at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

Staffordshire University goes all-in on Microsoft Azure for digital transformation

Andrew Proctor, director of digital services at Staffordshire University, describes how ditching its datacentres and moving to the Microsoft Azure public cloud has set the organisation on the path to digital transformation

Enterprise-focused startups on the rise in Nordics

Tech startups focused on the enterprise sector are attending the Slush startup event in increasing numbers

Hackers steal nearly $80m in bitcoin

Hackers have stolen nearly $80m worth of bitcoin from a bitcoin mining service as the cryptocurrency’s value continues to skyrocket

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Microsoft Whiteboard adds ‘digital canvas’ collaboration to Windows 10

EU telecoms ministers set out 5G mobile network roadmap

Telecommunications ministers from across Europe have agreed on a joint roadmap that will govern the deployment of 5G mobile networks across the EU

Digital identity needs to be priority in 2018, says FireEye

Protecting digital identity, gaining data visibility and protecting employees are key challenges for the year ahead, according to the 2018 security predictions report by security firm FireEye

Security Think Tank: Policy key to limiting messaging app security risks

What criteria should organisations use to assess the security of smartphone messaging apps and how can they ensure only approved apps are used by employees?

Uber hacked by a 20-year-old man in the US

Uber was reportedly hacked by a 20-year-old man living with his mother in a small home trying to help pay the bills, according to various unnamed sources

Hortilux uses Mendix-powered application to digitise greenhouses

Grow light maker shifts from product to digitally enabled service to support greenhouse growers

Tieto wins Stockholm’s multimillion IT outsourcing contract

Swedish capital switches IT services provider after “administrative error” ruled original contractor out of agreement

Ransomware up nearly 2,000% in two years as “cyber mafia” hit business

Cyber attacks on businesses in 2017 grew in frequency, sophistication and malice, a report on the new age of organised cyber crime reveals

Wednesday, 6 December 2017

Next-gen Mirai botnet sparks calls for more secure IoT design

News of a 100,000 device strong IoT botnet that could cripple the internet has sparked a fresh call for manufacturers of IoT devices to do more to ensure they cannot be hijacked for malicious purposes

How to attract investors for your enterprise software startup

Are you looking to find an investor for your enterprise software company? This expert advice explains what investors will be looking to find in an innovative software business seeking backing

Security Think Tank: Ensure incident response in the face of inevitable messaging leaks

What criteria should organisations use to assess the security of smartphone messaging apps and how can they ensure only approved apps are used by employees?

Andromeda mastermind Sergey Jarets jailed, say security researchers

Security researchers say they believe that a hacker arrested by Belarus police is Andromeda botnet mastermind Sergey Jarets

CIO interview: Carlos Abarca, TSB

Carlos Abarca is guiding TSB through its migration from systems hosted by a competitor to a digitally focused in-house core banking platform.

Lines blurring between state-sponsored and criminal cyber attacks

The lines between nation-state sponsored attack groups and cyber criminals continue to blur, according to the latest incident response report by security firm CrowdStrike

Mayor of London opens Bangalore office to strengthen links with Indian businesses

City of London’s office in India’s tech hub aims to promote Indian investment and IT jobs in UK capital

Space organisation dumps NAS for object storage to gain space

Satellite Applications Centre upgrade to 2PB of Cloudian object storage pays for itself in power and cooling savings as numerous legacy NAS boxes are replaced

Interview: Lee James, CTO, Rackspace

Lee James spent the early part of his career on the user side, deploying clouds and vSphere for his employers, before moving to the supplier side, first at Computacenter and now at Rackspace

Chief data officer role is key to business success, says Gartner

There’s a new chief in business, set to take on stewardship of the company’s data assets, research shows

Tuesday, 5 December 2017

London colocation market on course for record-breaking year of take-up, CBRE data shows

CBRE quarterly report into European colocation growth trends shows demand for London datacentre space is holding firm in the face of Brexit

Security Think Tank: Four steps to securing messaging apps

What criteria should organisations use to assess the security of smartphone messaging apps and how can they ensure only approved apps are used by employees?

US utility provider PG&E on ditching the datacentre and going cloud-first

US-based utility provider Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) discusses how getting out of the datacentre business and into the cloud is helping meet its regulatory, affordability and innovation targets

Bitcoin industry enters top 10 DDoS targets

The bitcoin industry has become one of the top 10 industries most targeted by distributed denial of service attacks, a report has revealed

Researchers warn of new support scam malware

Security researchers have identified a new strain of support scam malware and a way of clearing up infected machines

Vodafone picks Huawei to underpin NFV and SDN roll-out

Mobile operator Vodafone will use Huawei’s FusionSphere Openstack platform to support its NFV and SDN ambitions

Third of Sweden's IT providers could be gone in two years

The IT services sector in Sweden will be decimated as hundreds of local suppliers disappear

Monday, 4 December 2017

The Dutch government defines cyber threat actors

The Dutch government commissions the creation of a scientific classification of individuals and groups involved in cyber crime

Steal a march on cyber criminals through security by deception

Security by obscurity, although a common and tempting practice, is generally not recommended, but security by deception offers a way for defenders to make it more difficult for attackers to succeed and easier for defenders to catch them

Malicious insiders and DDoS attacks cost UK business the most

In 2017, the most costly or damaging cyber attacks for UK businesses have been malicious insiders and denial of service, research has revealed

First female degree apprentices at Capgemini graduate

The first female degree apprentices at Capgemini talk about their journeys into the IT sector

Facebook pledges to create 800 UK jobs after opening new London office

Social networking giant reinforces commitment to London tech scene with new office opening and jobs promise

Giving machines a voice: what’s next for unified communications?

As Mitel closes its acquisition of ShoreTel, creating a new unified communications and collaboration powerhouse, CEO Rich McBee reveals what’s coming next in the sector

Cambridge University deploys Dropbox for file sync-and-share

Dropbox replaces numerous consumer file share products and bespoke connections as Cambridge audits 6,500 academics to roll out invisible collaboration for hundreds of use cases

UK startup turns to crowdfunding after EU funding put on hold due to Brexit uncertainty

A promising UK startup, which is developing an app in the car insurance sector, has turned to crowdsourcing after European Union funds were put on hold as a direct result of Brexit uncertainty

Battle hots up over next-gen networks

The arrival of SD-WAN technology effectively removed telcos’ lock-in for WAN services. We assess the current market

Executive interview: Antonio Neri, HPE

We speak to the man taking over from Meg Whitman as CEO of HPE about how he will continue the company's turnaround

Security Think Tank: Use technical controls and policy to secure messaging apps

What criteria should organisations use to assess the security of smartphone messaging apps and how can they ensure only approved apps are used by employees?

Barclays Bank stops offering Kaspersky software to new users

Bank is no longer offering customers Kaspersky anti-virus software after UK security agency issues warning

Friday, 1 December 2017

‘Sound policy’ to prosecute hackers in UK, says former DPP in Love case

The former director of public prosecutions (DPP), Ken Macdonald, said in written evidence in Lauri Love’s extradition case that it is normal practice to prosecute hackers accused of attacking US servers in the UK – rather than extradite them to the US