Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Thursday 2 September 2010 at 12:25:00 Local authorities must encourage more customers to shift to using the web, according to Socitm Local councils are not delivering internet services well enough, according to public sector IT leaders body Socitm. In a new report, Socitm warns that councils are failing to encourage customers to shift to using the web to the extent required to significantly cut their costs of delivering information and services. The finding is based on data collected from Socitm’s latest Customer Access Improvement Service briefing. It provides results from three different services...Read More »

Nicola Brittain, Computing, Wednesday 1 September 2010 at 13:21:00 Standardised data will enable the council to better target crime Salford City Council has collated information from all the CCTV cameras in Salford and merged it with the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) database in an attempt to tackle crime in the area. The project was signed off last month and follows the launch of a council led CCTV rollout worth £1.8m in March. The programme was coordinated by the Local Government Information House (LGIH), an organisation that focuses on geographical information-related projects. The body acted...Read More »

Stuart Sumner, Computing, Tuesday 31 August 2010 at 16:37:00 Cheap app can do the job of £13,000 bespoke medical device A new app from University College London (UCL) turns an iPhone into a fully functioning stethoscope. UCL computer scientist Dr Peter Bentley developed the app in collaboration with cardiologist researchers. The app allows users to listen to heartbeats and unlike traditional stethoscopes, is able to show the heart waveform on its screen. In addition, users can email the audio file and spectrogram to colleagues. The app, known as Read More »

Computing staff, Computing, Tuesday 31 August 2010 at 14:58:00 It will provide the online portal for applications as well as tracking software The Cabinet Office has renewed its contract with IT provider Parity Solutions to manage the technology underpinning its Fast Stream graduate recruitment programme. The company was unwilling to say how much the contract was worth, but it will run for two and a quarter years until December 2012 and will see Parity re-engineer the recruitment process and provide the online portal for applications as well as ongoing management of related processes. The original contract...Read More »

Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Thursday 26 August 2010 at 17:32:00 Royal Society inviting businesses to offer evidence by answering questions on IT education The Royal Society has called for businesses to offer evidence for its investigation into the problem with IT education in schools. The group began its investigation this month and is expecting to complete it by November 2011. “We’ve had our first meeting with our advisory group and drawn up the questions we think are interesting,” explained Dr Martin Smith from the Royal Society. The advisory group comprises a wide group of organisations with...Read More »

Nicola Brittain, Computing, Thursday 26 August 2010 at 15:49:00 Plans to introduce a biometric fingerprint in addition to facial image A new UK passport with several enhanced security features will be issued from October this year. The passport aims to provide better protection from identity theft and fraud, according to a release on the Home Office web site. The chip that stores the passport holder’s details has been moved to the inside of the passport where it is not visible, giving additional physical protection as well as making it much harder...Read More »

Computing staff, Computing, Tuesday 24 August 2010 at 16:34:00 But report suggests they leave their users less satisfied When compared with central government web sites, those provided by local government are better equipped to give users what they are looking for, but leave them less satisfied, according to a report from local government IT body Socitm. The report, Use of the Web – Local Government Compared with Central Government, incorporates data from its Website Take Up Service which measures use of local authority web...Read More »

Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Wednesday 18 August 2010 at 13:14:00 London's transport body will save £30m over the next three years Transport for London (TfL) has signed a new agreement with Cubic Transportation Systems for the future management and development of the Oyster card system. TfL said that its new contract with Cubic will deliver £30m of savings over three years – £10m per annum – as part of TfL's £5bn efficiency programme. The deal replaces the existing Public Finance Initiative contract with Transys Consortium and gives TfL full control of...Read More »

Rachel Fielding, Computing, Wednesday 18 August 2010 at 13:13:00 Technologies will need to overcome concerns over security, commercial arrangements and hierarchical structure Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way government operates and interacts with the public worldwide. They present an opportunity for government CIOs to slash IT costs and transform internal collaboration using social technologies, a new report has found. However, moves to use Web 2.0 capabilities to radically overhaul the government’s relationship with the electorate will need to overcome resistance, as it will have to address concerns over security of information, current commercial arrangements and...Read More »

Dawinderpal Sahota, Computing, Monday 16 August 2010 at 16:53:00 With the number of IT students dropping, schools and universities have started to examine where the system is failing, writes Dawinderpal Sahota When it comes to teaching IT, the UK’s education system is flawed. Despite today’s generation of students growing up with technology, the number pursuing further IT education is falling dramatically. There has been a 33 per cent drop in ICT GCSE students in the past three years, a 33 per cent drop in numbers studying A-level ICT in the past six years and a huge...Read More »