PublicTechnology.net

Salesforce.com issues ‘False Clouds’ warning

Jon Wilcox — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:02:24 +0100

Cloud Computing giant Salesforce.com declared war on a new enemy aside from software at its CloudForce London event this week, and also proclaimed the Cloud has ‘become dated’.

Audit Commission powers handed to National Audit Office

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:48:50 +0100

The assessment of value for money in local government and health, currently run by the Audit Commission, is to be handed to the National Audit Office.

Public sector IT job market grinding to a halt

Jon Wilcox — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:55:30 +0100

The rate of growth in the number of IT jobs on offer in the UK has slowed since the first quarter of 2010 – with public sector permanent and contract posts particularly hard hit as cost-reduction programmes prompt recruitment freeze and even redundancies.

Project management efficiency raised by LCHS

Jon Wilcox — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:39:26 +0100

The use of a web-based tool for project management has enabled NHS Lincolnshire’s LCHS (Lincolnshire Community Health Services) to implement increased productivity and enable cost savings.

Street lighting remote management to cut bills by 40%

Jon Wilcox — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:59:11 +0100

Around 30 local authorities in the UK are set to benefit from remotely managing the dimming of over 40,000 street lights, which it’s claimed will help the, save up to 40% on their respective energy bills.

HP sues Oracle over hiring of sacked CEO [Update]

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 10:01:04 +0100

Once upon a time Oracle and Hewlett Packard were the closest of allies. Not any more. In a sign of the growing competitive tension between two of the UK public sector's most prominent ICT providers, HP has has launched a law suit to prevent its sacked CEO Mark Hurd from taking up a new post at Oracle.

Exclusive - Salesforce.com UK data centre to open up public sector Cloud prospects

admin — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 09:07:08 +0100

Bob Crow may have forced Salesforce.com to move its London-based CloudForce conference at the last minute this week, but such inconvenience hasn't put CEO Marc Benioff off the UK.

Phishers exploiting HMRC tax error refund

Jon Wilcox — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:41:17 +0100

The IT security company Sophos has warned computer users to be wary of a spam email campaign, which it has identified exploiting the widely reported HMRC tax errors.

Think tank: Government ICT could cost less if approached better

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 08:38:59 +0100

A research group has said the way for Francis Maude and his team at the Cabinet Office to delve into ways to cut public sector ICT cost could lie less in contractual re-negotiation and more in a fresh way of looking at projects.

Report urges greater government use of ‘digital channels’

Jon Wilcox — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:20:11 +0100

The Government should make greater use of crowdsourcing as a way of encouraging higher levels of citizen engagement in policy and service design, according to a new report from Econsultancy.

Suppliers may agree to be paid £800m less by government

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:37:09 +0100

Reports suggest the Cabinet Office is close to announcing a re-structuring of government ICT contracts where the biggest IT suppliers and outsourcers see £800 million trimmed off their deals in a bid to pay down the national deficit.

DWP has spent £1m-plus on SEO

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:11:55 +0100

A technique usually reserved for commercial organisations, search engine optimisation (SEO), has attracted over £1.1 million of taxpayer money in the past four years by one government department alone.

NHS IT: an uncertain prognosis for electronic records

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:02:25 +0100

The first comprehensive study of the implementation of NHS electronic healthcare records in England has found delays and frustration with the system and uncertainty over the political impact of the new government.

Breast Screening goes wholly digital at Royal Cornwall NHS

Jon Wilcox — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:07:56 +0100

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust Breast Screening Service Unit has become the first in the south west peninsula to go fully digital, thanks to the deployment of a new system from CSC.

Bristol academy overhauls Wi-Fi network

Jon Wilcox — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:38:15 +0100

Colston’s Girls’ School, an academy in Bristol, has completed the deployment of a new virtualised wireless infrastructure, enabling reductions in support costs, and a more reliable level of connectivity for both staff and students.

Oracle plays management musical chairs

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:38:34 +0100

Just weeks before the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco, the software firm has let slip its biggest announcement: the departure of long standing president Charles Phillips and his replacement by Mark Hurd, recently ousted CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP).

Enfield turns to managed council tax and benefits admin system

Jon Wilcox — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:43:04 +0100

The London borough of Enfield has signed a five-year, £2.5 million contract with Civica, which will provide the local authority with a “state-of-the-art administration platform” for its council tax and benefits system.

Northern Ireland Assembly details website investments

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 08:39:00 +0100

In written answers to fellow MLAs (Member of the Legislative Assembly) the political leaders of Northern Ireland have detailed how £5.5 million has been invested in key websites since 2005.

Edinburgh invests £210,000 in new 'super-site'

Jon Wilcox — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 12:01:27 +0100

Next week sees the scheduled launch of Edinburgh City Council's re-vamped central website – designed to help the authority achieve major savings by easier site maintenance but also a key way to deliver more citizen services online.

Broadband fund helps complete another project in Northern Ireland

Jon Wilcox — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 11:36:39 +0100

The Northern Ireland enterprise minister, Arlene Foster, has announced the completion of another broadband project backed by the Northern Ireland Broadband Fund, which she has said reinforces her commitment to improving connectivity across the country.