Tech Nation chair Eileen Burbidge steps down January 28, 2020 Eileen Burbidge, the chair of government-funded industry body Tech Nation is stepping down after five years in the role. Tech Nation is responsible for promoting Britain’s tech sector. As well as advising startups and running a support network for founders looking to grow their businesses, it runs a visa scheme for technology workers. Burbidge was [...]
Electric avenue: E-scooters to get green light for road use January 28, 2020 Eco-conscious commuters are set for a welcome boost to their journey under plans to legalise the use of electric scooters on roads and cycle lanes. The government is expected to launch a consultation next month on how to regulate the speedy scooters and ensure safety, the Times reported. This will be followed with trials in [...]
Big tech’s calls for more regulation offers them a chance to increase their power January 28, 2020 At the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, “tech for good” was one of the key themes on the agenda. The big tech companies like Microsoft and Google used their airtime to call for more regulation, particularly in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). It’s a broad term that applies to a set of [...]
DEBATE: Does it make sense to ban Huawei from access to the UK 5G network? January 28, 2020 Does it make sense to ban Huawei from access to the UK 5G network? Matt Kilcoyne, deputy director of the Adam Smith Institute, says YES. Chinese state-owned enterprises are accused by our Five Eyes intelligence partners in Australia and the US of keeping extensive databases on foreign individuals. That’s everything from who you’ve rung, when [...]
We’ve got online shopping and internet banking, now it’s time for digital voting January 28, 2020 On 12 December, 24m of us trudged to polling stations — many braving wind and rain. Another eight million cast postal votes or had proxies. But about 20m UK adults did not vote at all. Some probably really did not want to, but for many others, it was just too inconvenient. A General Election costs [...]
London startup Forward Health secures $5m as it rebrands to Pando January 28, 2020 Healthtech startup Forward Health has revealed it is rebranding to Pando Health, following a $5m (£3.8m) investment from a notable Australian venture capital firm. It is also the first European healthtech investment for Skip Capital, a billion-dollar fund led by Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson. Existing investors Stride.VC and Albion Capital also participated [...]
Government rolls out new cybersecurity laws for smart devices January 27, 2020 The government today unveiled new laws to help protect millions of internet-connected household devices from the threat of cyber attacks. The measures mean all consumer smart devices sold in the UK will have to adhere to three security requirements. Under the new legislation, all internet-connected device passwords must be unique, with users unable to reset [...]
UK-listed tech recruiter S Three says profit jumped 20 per cent in 2019 January 27, 2020 London-listed recruiter S Three reported a 20 per cent increase in pre-tax profit today, driven by strong international growth. The recruiter, which focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) roles, said revenue grew nearly seven per cent to £1.3bn. Reported profit before tax was up 20 per cent in the year to 30 November [...]
You could be sitting on a data goldmine, so keep your data safe January 27, 2020 How much data do you think you produce each day? Take a moment to think about it. The figure you came up with is likely wildly underestimated. The reality is that we collectively produce quintillions of gigabytes of data every day. Cut yourself some slack — coming up with an accurate number is no easy [...]
Boris Johnson set for showdown with US over Huawei decision January 26, 2020 One of Westminster’s most senior MPs has warned on the eve of the Huawei announcement that a deal with the tech giant would “hand control to Beijing”. Tom Tugendhat, who is seeking re-election as chair of the powerful foreign affairs select committee, today said the decision over whether the Chinese firm will be granted a [...]