Blogs

Recent Blog Posts

  • Computer Weekly Editor's Blog

    Government IT reform - now the real battle starts

    Despite the understandable scepticism that was aired about the government's IT reform plans when the coalition came to power, it is worth reflecting on some of the achievements that have been delivered this year. The new Gov.UK website launched, on time, and at a much reduced cost, replacing the ungainly D...

  • Open Source Insider

    Apache web server, more than "a patchy web server"

    The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) is readying itself for the 25th outing of its ApacheCon North America official conference, training and expo event. The foundation describes its remit and status as a group of "all-volunteer developers, stewards and incubators" of what amounts to nearly 150 open source ...

  • CWDN

    RIM: developers like us "broadly and significantly"

    Research In Motion (RIM) has released the "gold" build of the BlackBerry 10 developer toolkit with all the final tools, components and APIs to build apps for the BlackBerry 10. NOTE: Launch date for the BlackBerry 10 will be January 30, 2013 RIM says that "top" application developers have already committed...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    Is Cornwall council's slimmed down outsource just a foot in the door for more?

    As I wrote last night Cornwall Council has decided to go forward with a plan to outsource IT services to BT. This also sees BT take over telehealth. There has been a lot of controversy over the plan at the council. It led to a confidence vote over the council's leadership after members felt the cabinet was...

  • Inspect-a-Gadget

    On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... a Buffalo MiniStation Air

    We are seeing increased demand on devices such as tablets to be used on the move, but with the average high-end amount of storage in tablets being around the 64GB mark, there is a need for a more portable storage solution, for those who work with large amounts of data.The Buffalo MiniStation Air is hoping ...

  • CWDN

    ERP is dead, long live two-tier ERP

    As SAP has been grabbing the lion's share of the ERP headlines in recent weeks, it seems only fair and just to look a little further afield. Updates on the ERP newswires today even feature commentary on the fact that some of SAP's products are now being certified for use with Oracle's Database Appliance. A...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    Cornwall Council waters down outsourcing but IT still goes to BT

    Cornwall council's controversial plan to outsource services, which was put on hold, will go ahead but with a compromise.I have written about the plan that has already caused the former council leader Alec Robertson to lose a confidence vote. According to a Cornwall news website the council will push on the...

  • Inspect-a-Gadget

    On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Logitech iPad keyboards

    Need some inspiration for the person in your life who has everything? Well, if an iPad is part of that ensemble of gadgets, then how about a bluetooth keyboard to make typing easier as well as protecting the device? Already got one I hear you cry? Well, does it have solar charging capabilities or is one of...

  • CWDN

    Gaming supercomputers tackle HIV/AIDS research

    Reports suggest that Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) made by Nvidia are helping scientists advance their HIV/AIDS research. Researchers in Barcelona have simulated the behaviour of the initial crucial step in the HIV maturation process, which starts the infectious phase of HIV. By providing this new visibi...

  • Open Source Insider

    Ten to the dozen: number of developers using open source

    A Forrester Research survey of developers on the Dr Dobb's software application news website has confirmed that they use open source tooling at some level. The top five classes, types of disciplines of software that are seeing open source tools being used as follows: 1. operating systems, 2. web servers, 3...

  • WITsend

    Happy Birthday, Ada Lovelace!

    This is a guest blog from Naomi Chow, public relations at FDM.   Today is the birthday of Ada Lovelace, widely known as the world's first computer programmer. Lovelace wrote programmes for Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine along with the very first description of a computer and software. This was no...

  • Inspect-a-Gadget

    On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me... a Nexus 7 tablet

    MicroScope's Alex Scroxton takes the improved 16GB Google Nexus 7, widely seen as the tablet to beat in the 7 inch form factor space, for a test swipe.With a couple of weeks remaining until the big day, Christmas 2012 looks like being the year of the 7 inch tablet, with offerings from Amazon, Apple and Goo...

  • CWDN

    Top predictions, about IT predictions, for 2013

    'Tis the season to be jolly and spread good cheer throughout the land. Plus of course... 'tis also the season to produce a "what to expect in 2013" press release. As a collective group of individuals all hell bent on all looking for "the next big thing", it's no surprise to find that we use December to cas...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    Barnet council approves multi-million pound back office outsourcing but challenges remain

    Barnet's cabinet has unsurprisingly approved a £320m deal with Capita that will see the service provider take over back office functions. The ten year contract is part of the One Barnet programme to outsource service across the council. The deal will see council workers transfer to Capita and others made r...

  • Open Source Insider

    Intel graphs aim to make 'big data inside' easier

    Intel is aiming to extend its recognition with the open source, developer and big data arenas by now offering an open source programmer tool aimed at supporting big data analysis. The Intel GraphBuilder tool has been specifically engineered to help handle big data for computer learning. Currently at beta s...

  • Public Sector IT

    Barnet fire-sale neglects real potential for IT-enabled change

    Blame computers for Barnet Council's plan to axe 70 per cent of backoffice jobs in an outsource deal with Capita.Blame the internet. The council plans to automate backoffice services and have them delivered to people's web browsers and mobile phones. It won't need staff to serve citizens who serve themselv...

  • WITsend

    Oracle signs deal to increase Saudi female IT employment

    Oracle has announced that its Saudi unit has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a website dedicated to women boosting their IT skills and gaining employment. The website, called Glowork, plans to work with the technology giant in showcasing the skills of female graduates to major companies in...

  • CWDN

    Enterprise social networking is ALREADY the 'next big thing'

    As technology industry observers, stakeholders, practitioners and (dare we say it) even press and analysts, we are always searching for the 'next big thing'. If we can predict the next paradigm shift, the next sea change of positive disruption or the next strategic inflexion point then we can channel our u...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    Are IT services firms and clients ready for EU data regulation upheaval?

    In this guest blog post Andrew Walker, director at sourcing consultancy ISG, looks at the impact of the new EU data regulation on businesses and IT service providers.New, stricter data regulations could spell IT upheavalBy Andrew Walker"The use of consumer data is a pertinent issue for both outsourcing pro...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    70% of Barnet council back office jobs to be cut after Capita deal

    The controversial outsourcing contract at Barnet Council, known as Barnet One, rumbles on with news that 70% of back office jobs will be cut.The council said a major part of the expected £70m savings are coming from job cuts.Barnet One will see the council spend £1bn on a plethora of outsourcing services.T...

  • Computer Weekly Editor's Blog

    Does outsourcing work? Does anyone actually know?

    So, does outsourcing work? Can anybody actually provide a definitive answer, even after two decades of often knee-jerk outsourcing in organisations of all sizes across the UK?The biggest focus on this question is underway in the local government sector. Councils in Cornwall, Somerset and Barnet in London h...

  • Downtime

    Google driverless cars strategy faces competition from Kiwi dogs

    Google's investments in driverless cars could be a waste of money as dogs show their potential in the space.Dogs in New Zealand have been trained to drive cars. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Auckland decided to teach the dogs to drive to demonstrate the intelligence of resc...

  • Cliff Saran’s Enterprise blog

    MS user CAL fails BYOD

    The changes Microsoft has made to client access licences (CAL) reflects a change in how people use the company's software. Today, people expect to have access to the MS Exchange Server via their Andoid or iOS device. This is not added-value. Email access from any device is essential to enable people to use...

  • Downtime

    Google saves the rhino

    Rhino (Photo credit: Mrs TeePot)Google's motto is "don't be evil" and, in what seems to be a rare occurrence nowadays, it is living up to it. The Silicon Valley giant has given a $5m grant to the World Wildlife Fund to help develop unmanned trackers to catch and deter poachers across the world. The WWF - t...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    Who needs ERP software when people are so cheap?

    Banks in Asia find it cheaper to use people rather then ERP software.I was at Ovum's banking conference yesterday and I was chatting to analyst Rik Turner. He has just got back from a business trip in Hong Kong where he met up with lots of banks in the region.My other hat at Computer weekly, other than cov...

  • CWDN

    Is Gartner teaching us to brush our tongues?

    Technology analyst firm Gartner has been charging its "let's coin a new industry buzzword" division with additional pre-Christmas duties this month and it appears that the team has been nothing if not productive. The next challenge for the IT department means war. From CIOs to application developers, we ne...

  • The Full Spectrum

    Sneaky George includes the 4G budget in his figures

    Today saw the slightly creepy Just William lookalike, George Osborne, present his autumn statement to the House of Commons. He celebrated the coalition's achievements in bringing down the deficit by a quarter, as well as slashing borrowing, claiming "we are making progress" and "fronting the country's prob...

  • Downtime

    Teasing a frog with a smartphone

    Inspect-a-Gadget investigated what objects you could use to operate your smartphone back in February, and deduced that in addition to a finger, you could also use your nose and your tongue.And apparently a capacitive touchscreen will also recognise a frog's tongue, as it must have similar electrical c...

  • Inspect-a-Gadget

    On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...MyTV2Go-M

    This nifty little gadget is an aerial which plugs into your iPad or iPad, locates freeview channels and plays them straight to the screen - no excuse to miss all your favourite Christmas specials this holiday season. I was a bit dubious about the MyTV2Go-M, I use my iPad mainly for streaming programmes fro...

  • Inside Outsourcing

    App developers will always be too expensive for businesses to have in-house

    The average UK app developer takes home £70,000 per year, according to recruitment company ReThink. This following a 27% increase in pay over the last year driven by demand for smartphone and tablet apps.ReThink talks about the arrival of the app economy, which came about as a result of businesses interact...