March 12th, 2010 by
Chris Measures
The publication of the Tory Technology Manifesto initially got my hopes up. At last an election that puts technology at the heart of the debate. But on a closer look the definition of ‘technology’ is woolly to say the least.
Most people will agree that opening up government data, increasing superfast broadband speeds, ending central government mega-projects and increasing the use of open source are generally ‘good things’. I’m less sure about the vague idea of crowdsourcing during the discussion of legislation – but that’s a personal worry about the fine line between the wisdom of crowds and the baying of the mob.
What is less easy to understand is how many of the other proposals fit under ‘technology’. A new high speed rail network? Measures to force every local authority to publish expenditure over £500 online? MP expenses available via the web? Whatever you think of these, I wouldn’t class them as technology policies.
This isn’t just being pedantic – the risk is that if this is what politicians see as ‘technology’, the real benefits of properly applied IT and a vibrant UK tech sector will get lost in wrangles over trains and expense claims for duck houses. Time to reclaim technology for what it actually is and what it can really deliver to the country.
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March 10th, 2010 by
Gerry Grewal
We had a bit of a desk shuffle at Speed towers this week, and suddenly I find I’m the only woman on my pod, surrounded by a team of testosterone filled men.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love it. I love the blokish banter (in fact, the niche dating web site blog from earlier this week was as a direct output of it), there are no occasional emotional outbursts (unless they’re originating from me) and they’re not that bad at making tea either. To make it all the more interesting, I’m the boss (okay, joint head of the technology team here at Speed). Now what I wondered is, is it really that unusual for a woman to be the boss of a team of men in today’s tech PR industry? I’d like to think things have moved on, but I suspect that in far too many PR agencies it’s men who land the top jobs – for whatever reason.
I really do hope things are changing, as it’s quite good fun from where I’m sitting…
February 22nd, 2010 by
Dan Howe
Did you catch any of the Olympic Games this weekend?
Aside from Great Britain’s Gold medal in women’s skeleton, the Olympics are interesting to watch if only just to see the result of the technology advancements that are pushing athletes further, faster and stronger. Being the first Olympics of this decade, the winter games are setting a benchmark for our own upcoming 2012 summer games here in London. The technological advancements being used in Vancouver act as a preview of what’s to come in London 2012.
It is not just the athletes being made more efficient. The Olympics themselves are using technology to become state-of-the-art and nowhere is that more obvious than in sustainability. An exciting tech advancement is the Venue Energy Tracker from Speed client, Pulse Energy. Their software monitors and analyses energy use in Olympic buildings, highlighting areas where energy consumption can be reduced and then making this information available online, live. Dashboards of different venues, found at www.venueenergytracker.com, display real-time electrical consumption along with showing savings through sustainable practices. The games are on course to save approximately 18 gigawatt hours of electricity – enought to power more than 1,600 homes for an entire year.
With the London 2012 Games aiming to be the greenest ever, monitoring energy consumption at Vancouver is important as it is the first time it has ever been done at the Olympics, providing London with a benchmark for comparison.
Britain may not walk away from this year’s games with many medals, but we will leave with an understanding of how green we need to make our Olympics, setting a challenge London is ready to step up to.
February 2nd, 2010 by
Speed Briefs
Praxis is a specialist in critical system engineering. Part of the global Altran group and headquartered in Bath, its skills are in demand where safety and security are paramount. Clients include Renault F1, UK National Air Traffic Services (NATS), London Underground and US National Security Agency. Speed has been working with Praxis for over a year, raising its profile across the engineering and vertical markets.
As part of its global expansion, Praxis merged in January 2010 with fellow Altran company and French embedded software innovator, SC2. Combining the skillset of both organisations creates a strong player in the embedded and critical systems sector, spanning markets from aerospace to nuclear and automotive.
Speed was tasked with launching the new organisation – Altran Praxis to the press through a targeted campaign. By creating stories that showed the importance of the merger for the engineering market and highlighting prominent customers the team successfully arranged a full day of press briefings, with company Managing Director, Keith Williams speaking to 11 journalists. Coverage from local to international press has been flooding in, demonstrating that the UK press still has an appetite for good news stories.
February 1st, 2010 by
Richard Morgan
The Times – Bill Gates pledges $10bn for a ‘decade of vaccine’
Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist, is to make the largest ever single charitable donation with a pledge of $10 billion (£6 billion) for vaccine work over the next decade.
IT PRO – UK’s big firms to use more free software in 2010
Big companies are increasingly looking at free alternatives to costly software suites in a bid to keep costs down, a new survey has shown.
The Register – Steve Jobs dubs Google’s ‘don’t be evil’ motto ‘bulls**t’
Steve Jobs has dubbed Google’s “don’t be evil” mantra “bullshit.” Or at least “a load of crap.”
Computerworld UK – Google winds down support for IE6
The warnings over Internet Explorer 6 are beginning to have some effect; Google has said it will end support for IE6.
The Guardian – After the iPad, what unicorns are there for Apple to unleash?
We’ve had the iPhone, and now we’ve got the iPad. But that won’t stop the fans inventing fresh products or services that theyr’e sure Apple has hidden in the cupboard
Computer Weekly – Fujitsu claims ownership of iPad brand
Fujitsu has laid claim to the iPad brand within hours of Apple unveiling its latest gadget under that name. The Japanese technology company’s iPad is a mobile device for verifying the price of retail goods, checking inventory data and confirming sales. The Fujitsu iPad has a colour touch-screen, an Intel processor, wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity, and supports VoIP telephone calls. The company is consulting lawyers about what to do next.
January 14th, 2010 by
Matthew Watson
Computing.co.uk – Privacy watchdog to have power to fine £500,000
Organisations that lost people’s personal data will be liable for fines of up to £500,000 from April, according to the private watchdog.
BBC – Manchester to gain fibre network
A project to build a fibre network in Manchester could offer insights into how the UK can make next-generation broadband pay for itself.
IT PRO – Will free laptops boost grades and the economy?
A government minister has said trials of the Home Access Programme have boosted student grades and that educational tech boosts the economy.
Total Telecom – Microsoft says no mail systems have been compromised
Microsoft Corp.’s mail systems haven’t shown any signs of having been hit in the cyberattack that targeted Google Inc., the company said Wednesday.
The Guardian – Google acted on censorship amid China dissident fears
Google moved quickly to announce that it would stop censoring its Chinese service after realising dissidents were at risk from attempts to use the company’s technology for political surveillance, according to a source with direct knowledge of the internet giant’s most senior management.
November 24th, 2009 by
Lisa Francis
Computing.co.uk – Workers would steal data to help their friends into work
One third of UK and US workers would steal data to help their friends find a job, according to a study conducted by digital account management specialists Cyber Ark.
BBC – Games ‘permit’ virtual war crimes
Video games depicting war have come under fire for flouting laws governing armed conflicts. Human rights groups played various games to see if any broke humanitarian laws that govern what is a war crime.
The Guardian – Will News Corp move its content to Microsoft’s Bing?
According to a Financial Times report, Microsoft is in discussions with News Corporation and others about pulling content from Google
The Times – Arrests are being made ‘to expand DNA files’
Police are routinely arresting people simply to record their DNA profiles on the national database, according to a report published today.
CBR – Second worm hits the iPhone
Security firm F-Secure has uncovered the existence of a new iPhone worm, said to be more dangerous than the first because it can act like a botnet. It is targeting people in the Netherlands who are using their iPhones to bank online with ING.
November 23rd, 2009 by
Chris Measures
Can the UK produce world-class tech companies that lead their markets? That’s the question the Sunday Times poses, essentially coming to the conclusion that in the main, IT entrepreneurs are selling their businesses, taking the money and running.
There are those that have become international successes – the likes of Sage, ARM, Autonomy, Misys and Ultra Electronics are all strong members of the FTSE 250. But in comparison to the US, which has the NASDAQ Index predominantly made up of tech companies we obviously lag behind.
Given a flotation is the obvious alternative to a trade sale, we should be encouraging tech companies to list, gain additional investment and grow. But it currently costs over £1m to list a business on a UK stock market, where you are competing for money with a huge range of companies from around the world, many of whom are selling simpler products such as raw materials, consumer goods or property.
Rather than criticise entrepreneurs and their VC backers for ‘selling out’ it is time that listing a company in the UK was made more attractive. This would bolster the UK tech sector and create more of the leaders that we are looking for.
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November 23rd, 2009 by
Lisa Francis
BBC – Hackers target leading climate research unit
The e-mail system of one of the world’s leading climate research units has been breached by hackers. Emails reportedly from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, including personal exchanges, appears on the internet on Thursday.
BBC – YouTube introduces automatic captions for deaf viewers
YouTube’s parent company Google has announced on its blog that automatic captions are to begin to roll out across the site.
The Times – The Googlephone: Google gears up for attack on mobile-phone market
Google is gearing up for an all-out assault on the mobile-phone market that will include a new, Google-branded handset and the first comprehensive Google phone service with unlimited free calls. For the first time, a single company will control everything from the software in users’ phones to the services they use to make calls and surf the web.
IT PRO – Twitter confirms it will have paid-for business accounts
Twitter’s co-founder Biz Stone has confirmed that the microblogging site will offer paid-for business accounts this year. In an interview with the BBC, Stone revealed that business accounts will be the one of the first things Twitter will do in its aim of offering commercial services to make money.
The Daily Telegraph – Digital Economy Bill: No date for radio digital switchover
The Government has failed to set a date for radio’s digital switchover, in the Digital Economy Bill published on Friday. The legislation, which aims to realise the commitments set out in Lord Carter’s Digital Britain White Paper published in June 2009, has failed to specify a date for FM radio stations to be upgraded to DAB. This is despite a target date of 2015 having been set by Lord Carter’s report.
November 6th, 2009 by
admin
Computing.co.uk – Government to simulate “total collapse” of UK phone network
In the first exercise of its kind in the UK, the government will simulate a “total collapse” of the national phone network next week, as part of the National Strategy for Cyber Security launched by Gordon Brown in June. The exercise will take place on 11 and 12 November and be codenamed White Noise. It will be designed to simulate a complete shutdown of the public telephone network.
BBC – EU offers hope to file-sharers
Internet users throughout Europe accused of illegal file-sharing are to receive more protection from being cut off by their service provider. The European Parliament and Council is due to make a decision on its Telecoms Reform Package in late November. The package will entitle users in all 27 EU states to be put through a “fair and impartial procedure” before being disconnected.
IT PRO – Big retailers turn to full e-commerce platforms
The bad year for retailers has forced them to look online, as they invest in the only area that that is growing – e-commerce. According to Frank Lord, EMEA managing director of e-commerce company ATG, larger retailers were now looking at complete e-commerce platforms rather than trying to put together something in pieces by themselves.
The Times – Computer giants forced on to mobile battlefield
More and more they resemble mini personal computers, with internet, e-mail, cameras, keyboards and/or touchscreens and ever bigger memories, and — more and more — PC manufacturers have been waking up to the fact that smartphones are presenting them with a clear and present danger.
The Register – Large Hadron Collider scuttled by birdy baguette-bomber
A bird dropping a piece of bread onto outdoor machinery has been blamed for a technical fault at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) this week which saw significant overheating in sections of the mighty particle-punisher’s subterranean 27-km super cooled magnetic doughnut.
The Daily Telegraph – Inventor of mobile phones says they have become ‘too complicated’
Mobile phones with cameras and music players are too complicated, according to the inventor of the device. Martin Cooper, who was the lead engineer of the Motorola team that developed the mobile phone, told a privacy conference in Madrid this week that today’s phones try to do many things for too many people.
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