Computing back issues from August 2005:
News - Shared IT plans take shape. Several billion pounds to be spent on centralised systems in next five years.
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. The public sector will spend several billion pounds on centralised IT systems in the next five years, according to the newly-appointed head of the government's shared services programme. Shared services are intended to cut down on duplication by ...
News - London looks at car tracking options.(London, England. Transport for London investigation)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. Transport for London (TfL) is investigating in-car satellite tracking technology for the capital's congestion charge zone. The organisation says that it has no definite plans, but is inviting suppliers to demonstrate what technology is available ...
News - Hacker criticises cyber crime laws.(Gary McKinnon)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... Gary McKinnon, the UK hacker facing extradition to the US accused of 'the biggest military computer hack of all time', is calling for international computer crime laws to be passed. McKinnon, who faces up to 70 years in a US jail, says common legislation would ensure that ...
News - BAA finishes [pounds sterling]20m IT renewal project. Faster check-in one of many benefits for air passengers.(United Kingdom. British Airports Authority)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: James Watson. BAA has completed a [pounds sterling]20m infrastructure renewal project to enable a series of technology initiatives that will improve passenger services in its airports. The company, which operates Heathrow and Gatwick airports among others, ...
News - Eight suppliers on [pounds sterling]1bn court IT plan shortlist.(United Kingdom. Department for Constitutional Affairs, contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has shortlisted eight companies for its [pounds sterling]1bn IT infrastructure and applications programme. The Development, Innovation and Support Contracts (Disc) programme is split into two - ...
News - Harrow Council seals 10-year IT contract. Incremental contract for IT systems upgrade could be worth up to [pounds sterling]100m.(Capita Group PLC)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: James Brown. Harrow Council has awarded services company Capita a 10-year contract worth up to [pounds sterling]100m to overhaul its IT systems. The deal is initially worth [pounds sterling]45m, but includes provision for extra projects and services that could ...
News - Software helps the search for planets. Digital cameras will generate 60GB of data each night.(Super Wide Angle Search for Planets, research)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: James Watson. A collaborative astronomy venture that is looking for up to 1,000 new planets outside our solar system is to start using sophisticated software to help process the visual data of the night skies. Launched in April, the SuperWASP (Wide Angle ...
News - Microsoft releases Vista beta.
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Chris Green. Microsoft has released the first test copies of Windows Vista, the next version of the company's desktop operating system. Vista, formerly known as Longhorn, is scheduled for general release by the end of 2006, with a server version planned for ...
News - Financial World.(revenue report from few information technology companies )(Computer Associates International Inc., Siebel Systems Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc.)
Aug 04, 2005 ... Sun Microsystems reported fourth-quarter revenue of $2.98bn ([pounds sterling]1.7bn), a decrease of 4.3 per cent compared with the same period last year. Net income of $121m ([pounds sterling]69m) was down from $783m ([pounds sterling]447m), although last year's figure included $1.6bn ...
News - Hacker defends raids into Pentagon's heart. Accused of hacking US military systems, Gary McKinnon fights extradition.(Mark Summers filed a case against the computer hacker)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Daniel Thomas. Gary McKinnon, the man accused of carrying out 'the biggest military computer hack of all time', says he will fight attempts to extradite him to the US, after appearing at Bow Street Magistrates' Court last week. The 39-year-old, from Wood ...
News - Mapping deal to save [pounds sterling]100m.(national mapping deal by United Kingdom. Improvement and Development Agency)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... A national mapping agreement covering local authorities, police and fire authorities will save more than [pounds sterling]100m over the next four years. The deal, signed ...
News - Hatches, matches and dispatches.(United Kingdom. Office for National Statistics, Siemens Business Services)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has signed a three-year deal with Siemens Business Services to scan, digitise and index UK births, deaths and marriage certificates. The Digitisation of Vital Events ...
News - Rail deal continues for Atos Origin.(Atos Origin S.A., Network Rail Infrastructure Ltd., contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... Network Rail has signed a five-year, [pounds sterling]48m contract with IT services company Atos Origin to extend an existing relationship as its IT partner. The deal will deliver [pounds ...
News - Hackers on the increase.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... There were 237 million hacking attacks from January to June this year, a 50 per cent increase on the previous half year, research shows. IBM's Global Business Security Index shows one in 52 emails in December 2004 contained a malicious security ...
News - Debenhams organises orders.(installation of multi-channel order management software from Sterling Commerce Inc.)(Yantra)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... Department store Debenhams is installing software to integrate the processing of customer orders from its stores with those made online, and into its supplier network. The company is using Yantra ...
News - Big Brother is watching out for hackers. Channel 4 overhauls its system to improve performance and tighten security on show site.(Channel Four Television Company Ltd., NetScaler Inc., contract)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Daniel Thomas. Channel 4 has upgraded the IT infrastructure behind its Big Brother web site to boost performance and improve security. The company has overhauled the system after seeing the number of monthly page impressions increase from 30 million in 2003 to ...
Enterprise - B&Q analyses baskets to find buying patterns.(IntelliQ, contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. DIY retailer B&Q is testing basket analysis software to help it use sales data to make better decisions about promotions, merchandising and store layouts. It hopes the software will provide far better understanding of not only what customers are ...
Enterprise - Robots fly high at Eden Project. 'Eyes in the sky' could help study rainforest conservation.(new product)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Daniel Thomas. The Eden Project has developed flying robots that could be used for future conservation research in rainforests. The motorised robots have cameras and detectors, and are attached to helium balloons that travel above the plant canopies to monitor ...
Enterprise - The Officers Club tunes in to radio frequency. Clothing retailer brings IT system back in-house to improve accuracy.(BanTec Inc. Frederick, contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. High-street clothing retailer The Officers Club has developed an IT system based on radio frequency barcodes, to cut costs and improve the accuracy of its stocktaking. The company had been relying on an outsourced service covering its 180 shops, ...
Enterprise - M&S execs go mobile.(Marks and Spencer)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... UK high-street retailer Marks & Spencer is providing some of its executives with smartphone mobile devices to access corporate information on the move. The devices will use a ...
Enterprise - Animal signs supply chain deal.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... Sportswear manufacturer and retailer Animal has bought a suite of software products to manage its retail arm and ...
Enterprise - Capitals punishment.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... Research into the UK's email habits has revealed that people's biggest complaint is the overuse of capital letters in messages. The study of 3,000 email users by peripherals firm i.Tech Dynamic has ...
Enterprise - New architecture for mobiles.(Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IPMS) in the future)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... A new network architecture known as Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IPMS) will be installed by most mobile operators inside five years, according to research by Analysys. Vendors of the technology are pushing the potential to offer services such as ...
Enterprise - Epson Epos for fashion retailer.(electronic point-of-sale contract with Fenn Wright Manson)(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005 ... UK fashion retailer Fenn Wright Manson has selected electronic point-of-sale (Epos) systems and equipment from Epson to better manage and monitor ...
Enterprise - WHSmith makes [pounds sterling]3.5m upgrade to core technology.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: James Mortleman. WHSmith News has spent [pounds sterling]3.5m upgrading its core IT systems to improve the flexibility of the business. The newspaper and magazine retailer has outsourced the upgrade and maintenance of the systems to Capgemini, under the terms ...
Enterprise - Utility firm to integrate IT systems for better HR. Scottish Power consolidates human resources data into a single system.
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Daniel Thomas. Scottish Power is to overhaul its human resources (HR) and payroll operations and introduce integrated IT systems. The utility firm believes that the Human Resources Information System, which it plans to start installing early next year, will ...
Enterprise - Opticians focus on elearning.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: James Brown. Some 15,000 UK opticians and optometrists are using an elearning system designed to meet statutory training regulations. The General Optical Council's (GOC's) Continuing Education and Training (CET) web site has been developed to provide ...
Enterprise - Elvis helps police return car to owner much faster. System speeds up the process of dealing with recovered vehicles.(WPC Software designs vehicle identification software)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: James Brown. West Midlands Police has deployed a system to speed up the way abandonedand recovered vehicles are dealt with. The new system, codenamed Elvis-VR, automates processes for recording vehicle details and passes them to the relevant ...
Enterprise - Retailers unhappy with till systems.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. UK retailers believe electronic point-of-sale (Epos) systems are too complicated to integrate, hamper productivity and are costly to run, research shows. More than a third (33.6 per cent) of UK retailers questioned by consultancy Retail Assist ...
BCS - Open source has its own problems.
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Stephen Marshall. The open source vision of the world is one in which there are no greedy corporations run by megalomaniac billionaires intent on screwing users out of their cash in return for bloated, unstable software that only operates properly with other products ...
Comment - The hard benefits of shared services.(Brief Article)(Column)
Aug 04, 2005 ... The creation of a head of shared services is a momentous event for government IT. It is significant not just because David Myers, the man appointed to do the job, says billions of pounds will be invested in such schemes over the next five years, and ideally billions more saved. ...
Comment - The importance of being professional. Developing and maintaining a professional approach to public sector IT is the key to success, says John Higgins.(Column)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Professionalism may be summarised as 'doing things right and doing the right things'. Professional organisations create confidence and trust among their customers. They attract the best people and have loyal and dedicated workforces. Professionalism is an essential component of ...
Networking - Wireless technologies on a course for convergence. Computing's monthly networking special kicks off with a look at the predicted convergence of wireless technologies. Martin Fustes reports on the choices and dilemmas ahead for businesses.
Aug 04, 2005; ... There are many wireless technologies available to today's workforce. Laptops are typically WiFi and 3G-enabled, ready to connect to the nearest wireless local area network (Lan) or 3G network. Mobile phones can also double as GPRS data modems able to connect to laptops via Bluetooth while ...
Networking - How can IP communications bring benefits to business? Our panel of experts considers the use of rich media services. Chris Green reports.
Aug 04, 2005; ... In the latest of Computing's series of web seminars, we invited a panel of experts to discuss the practical and financial benefits of internet protocol (IP) communications in business. We looked at how voice over IP (VoIP), video conferencing and converged messaging can cut ...
Awards for Excellence - Rewarding the top IT employer. Our judging panel for IT Employer of the Year tells us what makes a company worth working for.
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Frank Booty. What makes a good IT employer? Computing's Awards for Excellence is looking to answer this question. We want to recognise the top IT employers in the UK, and to reward the best with a prize at the awards ceremony at Battersea Park Events Arena on 16 ...
Services - Diary.
Aug 04, 2005 ... Softworld Accounting and Finance 12-13 October NEC, Birmingham Europe's leading software event for the accounting and finance profession brings together more than 70 leading software providers under one roof. Delegates can attend free vendor case studies ...
BCS Diary events.
Aug 04, 2005 ... Cybernetic Machine Specialist Group 8-13 August. The 7th International Conference On Computing Anticipatory Systems. Liege. Visit: www.bcs.org.uk/siggroup/cyber/bcs_cmg.htm Young Professionals Group 1 September. SkillCentre event: Leadership. 5 Southampton ...
Training - listings.
Aug 04, 2005 ... Information for the courses page should follow our usual format - course category, title of course, venue, date, price, organising company/body, telephone number. Unless the information is presented in this way, we regret that it cannot be included. For details on how your courses can be ...
Careers - Orange IT team on course for upgrade. Fast-track learning gets staff up to speed on new software.(Brief Article)
Aug 04, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. Mobile operator Orange is using specialist technology training to ensure the success of a major internal PC software upgrade. The company sent its own IT team on courses to help carry out the upgrade as efficiently as possible for thousands of ...
Backbytes - A flaw on the floor.
Aug 04, 2005 ... 'The question is not so much what a "Taboo Colour" is, but more a case of why was somebody who doesn't know what a taboo colour is was wandering about the shop floor?' asks Richard Dalzell, at Tyco Electronics. 'The "Taboo Colour" indicates what set of tools, jigs, fixtures, ...
News - IT problems torment Jobcentre Plus staff. Benefit claimants suffer hardships from delays.(problems in employment service computer systems)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. Benefits payments are being delayed by a new Jobcentre Plus (JC+) computer system that users say is badly designed and suffering serious teething problems. In one region using the second-generation Customer Management System (CMS2), applications ...
News - IT firms back security fight.(information technology security awareness campaign)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Daniel Thomas. The government, online retailers and technology firms are to launch a [pounds sterling]2m IT security awareness campaign in October to combat the growing threat of computer viruses, identity fraud and spam. By providing easily-understood ...
News - Boots primed for integration with NHS e-prescriptions.(National Health Service )(Boots Company PLC, Systems Solutions Inc., contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... Byline: Miya Knights. Boots will this month complete the rollout of a medication records system that holds details of 12.5 million patients, hoping as a result to become the first pharmacy to integrate with the NHS e-prescriptions programme. The retail giant's ...
News - Plain sailing at Cowes regatta. Race planners use complex software to plot races safely.(Cowes Week)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: James Brown. Race planners at last week's Cowes yachting festival used sophisticated new software to prevent collisions and increase safety on the water. With 1,040 boats and 8,000 sailors in 38 classes racing every day for eight days around the Isle of ...
News - Bank of England overhauls its notes systems.(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: James Watson. The Bank of England is looking to replace its ageing banknote processing systems with a more integrated IT infrastructure. The systems control the demand, ordering and quality assurance of all new notes, as well as handling the sampling and ...
News - EU supports research into anti-terror IT. Extra EUR15m will help pay for initial research into security for Europe.(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: James Brown. The European Union (EU) has announced an extra EUR15m ([pounds sterling]10.4m) to fund anti-terrorist technology research. The Preparatory Action for Security Research (PASR) programme is designed to lay the groundwork for a larger series of ...
News - Dairy Crest revamps production systems. Dairy giant to consolidate three legacy systems in major IT update.(Oracle Corp., contract)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. Food manufacturer Dairy Crest is piloting an integrated manufacturing software package as part of a major consolidation of three separate legacy IT systems. The company, which makes leading dairy products such as Clover, Yoplait and Cathedral ...
News - Railway firm's IT refresh on track. First Engineering to cut overheads in three months.(IFS Systems Inc., contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: James Brown. Railway firm First Engineering is re-organising its IT infrastructure around a [pounds sterling]1m project management system. Part of a [pounds sterling]3m IT upgrade, the new system is to be implemented companywide to replace a patchwork of ...
News - Financial world.(revenue report of few infomration technology companies)(Network Associates Inc., Capital Shopping Centres, Symantec Corp.)
Aug 11, 2005 ... IT services provider CSC reported first-quarter revenue of $3.58bn ([pounds sterling]2bn), up 8.6 per cent from the same period last year. Net income was $131.6m ([pounds sterling]73.9m), up from $110.4m ([pounds sterling]62m). EDS reported second-quarter net income of $26m ...
News - Why benefits offices are in crisis over CMS2. Call centre staff say new system is badly designed and delaying payments.(customer management system, Department for Work and Pensions)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. The second-generation Customer Management System (CMS2) being rolled out across the UK's benefits offices is part of a programme designed to improve the efficiency of the claims process. New claimants no longer go to their local Jobcentre Plus ...
News - Union targets outsource savings.(Amicus agreement with Capital Shopping Centres)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... Trade union Amicus has agreed a deal with vendor CSC that will help to secure UK jobs when the firms takes on offshore outsourcing work. The deal will see any cost savings made through offshoring used to ...
News - IBM makes UIMA a free offer.(unstructured information management architecture)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... IBM has announced plans to open source its Unstructured Information Management Architecture (UIMA). UIMA is the result of more than four years of development by IBM Research and is designed to support software applications ...
News - Sun to support T-zone portal.(Sun Microsystems Inc., T-Mobile (UK) Ltd., contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... Sun Microsystems is to provide, Unix servers, storage systems and Java software to support T-Mobile's T-zones customer portal. The system will improve the use of customer records, and ...
News - Identity parades get added bite.(West Yorkshire Police, GlassHouse Technologies Inc., contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... West Yorkshire Police, the UK's fourth largest police force, has signed up GlassHouse Technologies to provide storage and backup systems to support its Viper electronic video identification parade technology. The first ...
News - NHS project reports confusion.(services of United Kingdom. National Health Service)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... The [pounds sterling]6.2bn Connecting for Health programme is suffering from lack of engagement with end users, according to research published last week. Staff from four NHS trusts ...
News - PFA on the ball with membership records. Football body rolls out Pro-7 software to improve services to players.(ProTech Computer Systems, Professional Footballers' Association, contract)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Mark Samuels. The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is implementing specialist software to help manage the training and educational development of its members. The PFA began the rollout of ProTech Computer Systems' Pro-7 specialist record management ...
News - The DVLA looks to data for profits.(Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, technology partnership)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) is looking for a technology partner to develop commercial uses for its database. The plan is for the agency to sell reports generated by analysis of the data it holds. To avoid breaking ...
News - Justice system to obtain single view of offenders.(United Kingdom. Home Office uses new technology from EDS Corp.)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Sarah Arnott. The National Offender Management Service (Noms) is to implement a [pounds sterling]39m system that will create a single view of convicted criminals as they move through the UK justice process. The National Offender Management Information System ...
News - Backbytes - back_bytes@vnu.co.uk.(humor at information industry)
Aug 11, 2005 ... St Tropez ... Barbados ... Leicester 'Having read last week's Backbytes, I must take exception to your slur that Leicester is stuck in the last century,' says Carl Wright, at Ebiquita. He points out that Leicester has the National Space Centre, which we admire but ...
Enterprise - Truckers hit the road with RFID. Distribution firm installs tracking system on trailers.(radio frequency identification)(Christian Salvesen PLC provides equipments to the transportation industry)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. European logistics company Christian Salvesen is to fit a radio frequency identification (RFID) location tracking system to its distribution trailers. The company, which already has sophisticated satellite tracking technology installed in the ...
Enterprise - Loan arrears software cuts manual work.(Bradford & Bingley PLC, Talgentra, contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. Bradford & Bingley is to install software to manage its mortgage arrears business and increase debt recovery rates. The financial services group is hoping that the Tallyman software from supplier Talgentra will reduce the amount of manual ...
Enterprise - Jeweller to improve store information flow. Beaverbrooks will install content management software for portal.(Datum International, contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005; ... Byline: Miya Knights. Beaverbrooks the Jewellers is to install content management software to help cut store administration costs by half. The retailer will use the software as the basis of a store-based information portal to provide staff with only the information ...
Enterprise - Fraud losses could be prevented.(survey)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... Better bank security could have prevented $2.75bn ([pounds sterling]1.6bn) in losses caused by fraudulent use of ATMs and debit cards, research shows. The losses are the result of criminals obtaining personal data ...
Enterprise - Ventura call centre deal for C&W.(Cable and Wireless PLC, Ventura Software Inc.)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... Ventura, the customer contact services subsidiary of UK retailer Next, has signed a three-year, [pounds sterling]7m deal with Cable & Wireless to provide a fully-managed call centre in India. The supplier will source, ...
Enterprise - Body Shop replaces till systems.(Body Shop International PLC, Fujitsu Ltd., contract)(Brief Article)
Aug 11, 2005 ... The Body Shop has contracted Fujitsu's services arm to replace till systems in all of its 2,000 shops around the world. The retailer will roll out TeamPoS 2000 ...