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Gov sets out vision for digital transformation of public services


By Hannah McGrath

The government has admitted that many of its attempts to modernise are being held back by legacy IT systems, as it set outs a vision for the digital transformation of public services. In a speech delivered virtually to TechUK’s Building the Smarter State conference, the Cabinet Office’s new parliamentary secretary Julia Lopez - with responsibility for the Government Digital Service - said that many of the current attempts to make smarter use of data and improve online access would require wholesale change to current structures and systems.


Google Cloud makes four senior hires for EMEA expansion

Google Cloud has appointed four new regional leads to head up the growth of its enterprise cloud business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Pip White is set to lead Google Cloud’s sales strategy in the UK and Ireland as managing director, after nearly two decades at Salesforce, while Daniel Holz joins the company as vice president across Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Nordics, following a 12-year stint at SAP Germany.

US confirms WeChat and TikTok ban

The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has confirmed that transactions on WeChat and TikTok will be banned from this weekend. The move, in response to president Donald Trump’s executive orders signed on 6 August, comes in order to safeguard national security, according to a statement.

OneSpan hires former Oracle Cloud head as CTO

OneSpan has appointed Ajay Keni as its chief technology officer. He is the former head of product, engineering, quality and DevOps for Oracle's identity and access management products, and was one of the driving forces behind Oracle Cloud's Identity strategy.

TSB upgrades mortgage risk assessments with Landmark

TSB has upgraded its property risk assessments and sped-up the application process by using intelligent location-based data provided by Landmark Valuation Services. Using its Valuation Risk Model (VRM), new applications are automatically assessed to determine whether risk factors such as flooding, subsidence or nearby energy infrastructure such as pylons, may have an impact on the property’s valuation.

Libra Association appoints former HSBC CEO as MD

The Libra Association, which manages Facebook’s digital currency project, has appointed a former chief executive at HSBC to lead Libra Networks. The independent member organisation, which was set up to oversee the rollout of Libra stablecoin, said James Emmett would take up the role on 1 October.

NCSC issues cyber security alert for academic institutions

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has issued a cyber security alert for academic institutions after a surge in online ransomware attacks against UK schools, colleges and universities. The cyber security division of GCHQ issued the warning along with a range of new resources and support to help establishments pike in ransomware attacks.

E-commerce marketplace M&A hits $61bn

A record 794 mergers and acquisitions (M&A) involving e-commerce software, platforms and marketplaces were closed in the first half of 2020. Data gathered by technology M&A advisors Hampleton Partners showed that after reaching peak transaction volumes in 2016, the sector saw renewed impetus in the first half of 2020 as the COVID-19 drove rapid adoption of online shopping.
Pure Storage acquires Portworx for $370m

Pure Storage has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Portworx for approximately $370 million in cash. The deal represents Pure’s largest acquisition to date and its expansion into the growing market for multi-cloud data services to support Kubernetes and containers.

Shield joins IBM cloud for financial services

RegTech provider Shield has joined the IBM cloud for financial services ecosystem. Shield, which supports financial firms with automated regulatory solutions, intends to onboard its communication compliance and surveillance offerings to IBM’s platform.

LORCA collaborates with Splunk for data-led expertise

The London Office for Rapid Cybersecurity Advancement (LORCA) has announced a co-marketing collaboration with data-to-everything platform Splunk. Splunk will provide LORCA’s membership of cyber security scaleups with product and growth expertise. It joins co-marketing program alongside Lloyds Banking Group, Dell Technologies, Kudelski Security, Global Cyber Alliance and Kx.

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ECJ ruling causes data transfer headache for CIOs

A new ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) could have major implications for how data is transferred around the world. On 16 July, the Data Protection Commissioner vs Facebook Ireland case was ruled upon, following up on the ECJ’s 2015 ruling in Maximillian Schrems vs Data Protection Commissioner, in which it invalidated the adequacy decision underlying the EU-US Safe Harbour arrangement.

BigTech faces up to a big racial diversity problem

The recent wave of protest sparked by the killing by police of George Floyd in Minneapolis has raised the issue of racism for corporations across sectors and geographies – and none more so than the tech industry. As young and cool as many big technology companies portray themselves, the majority are still overwhelmingly white, particularly in leadership and technical positions.

Q&A: Andrew Shikiar, executive director of FIDO Alliance

With many more people using apps and websites on a daily basis since the pandemic took hold, it has never been more crucial to make sure consumers are safe when logging in to use products and services. With that in mind, National Technology News editor Peter Walker had a chat to Andrew Shikiar, the executive director and chief marketing officer of FIDO Alliance about the work that’s being done to unite companies and industries around one common standard for cyber security.

Whatever happened to the blockchain revolution?

Devised by the mysterious presumed pseudonym Satoshi Nakamato in 2008, blockchain’s immediate application was to serve as a transaction ledger for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Yet, despite more than a decade of talk about how blockchain was set to disrupt and revolutionise numerous industries, the technology has yet to really make its mark on any big business – with scalability, security and regulatory concerns holding it back.

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