IT for retail and logistics

Middle East Interview: Dubai-based Fetchr

Delivery app Fetchr is spreading across the Middle East with its mobile-to-mobile delivery service. We talk to its founder Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 16

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload, Clare McDonald and Brian McKenna are joined by prolific Downtime author Ryan Priest to discuss retail sustainability, internet influencers and the tech battle between China and the US Continue Reading

Post Office applies to appeal damning judgment in first Horizon trial

The Post Office has applied for permission to appeal judgments from the first trial in its IT-related legal battle with subpostmasters Continue Reading

École Hôtelière de Lausanne puts Amelia the robot at its core

When Switzerland-based hospitality school EHL began to automate processes, it was met with staff inertia, but that all changed after its benefits became clear Continue Reading

Self-sovereign ID key to data privacy

Coupling self-sovereign identity with insights from research on consumer identity management may be the key to personalising products and services without putting people at risk, says industry analyst Continue Reading

Fujitsu sets out to restore trust in technology

Trust in technology, how to recapture it, and how to ensure AI doesn’t overstep its bounds were the big messages on the opening day of Fujitsu Forum in Tokyo Continue Reading

Stella McCartney and Google Cloud start machine learning and fashion-focused sustainability push

Stella McCartney and Google Cloud are embarking on a joint pilot project that will draw on the tech giant's machine learning and cloud-based data processing portfolio to help clean up the fashion industry's supply chains Continue Reading

Microsoft working to support decentralised identity

Microsoft is among the big tech players aiming to help enable personalisation of products and services without putting privacy at risk Continue Reading

Implement multifactor authentication, urges expert panel

Multifactor authentication should be a top priority for organisations to defend users from cyber attacks, coupled with zero-trust architecture and artificial intelligence-based technologies, says expert panel Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 15

In this week’s episode of the Computer Weekly Downtime Upload, business editor Clare McDonald takes over presenting duties, and leads Brian McKenna and Caroline Donnelly through a wide-ranging discussion that covers cloud skills, Lady Gaga's take on SAP, government IT procurement and the importance of engaging in-store retail experiences Continue Reading

Court of Appeal judge rejects Post Office request in Horizon IT case

The Court of Appeal has refused the Post Office’s application to appeal a major decision in the Horizon IT trial Continue Reading

O2 boosts indoor network capacity to prep for 5G

O2 has been working with the Wireless Infrastructure Group to enhance mobile connectivity indoors and in public spaces Continue Reading

Dutch businesses not yet implementing NIS Directive

Little urgency to comply with the Network and Information Systems Security Act, which seeks to protect the Netherlands’ vital infrastructure and digital services from cyber attack Continue Reading

Physical stores – the place to meet your tribe

In a digital world, stores still have a place as community hubs, representatives from Lego, Vans and M&Ms told Retail Expo Continue Reading

Cyber criminals targeting C-suite, DBIR shows

Executives and cloud-based services are gaining popularity as targets for cyber criminals, according to the latest data breach investigations report Continue Reading

Early adopters expect to pay 32% premium for 5G

Potential early adopters of 5G say they expect, on average, to pay more for their devices and services, but they expect measurable improvements on 4G from the get-go Continue Reading

From friction-filled to till-free: The path to a checkoutless Sainsbury’s store

Daniel Hills, group digital product manager for Sainsbury’s, tells Retail Expo the journey his team had to take to eventually launch a till-free store trial featuring its new shopping app Continue Reading

How Microsoft is prepping manufacturers for Industry 4.0

Building on its manufacturing and technology knowhow, Microsoft has teamed up with industrial firms to support the growing demand for smart manufacturing capabilities Continue Reading

Privacy and data protection an opportunity, says entrepreneur

Organisations should see data protection and privacy compliance as an opportunity to build trust with customers, according to startup One.Thing.Less Continue Reading

Ofcom must rethink rural broadband USO, says Lords report

There are still serious concerns about whether or not the 10Mbps broadband USO is fit for purpose, and Ofcom needs to take account of them, according to The House of Lords Select Committee for the Rural Economy Continue Reading

Amazon cautions against reading too much into slowdown in AWS revenue growth rate

Amazon's CFO claims slowdown in revenue growth and capital expenditure should not be interpreted as signs of distress for any of its business units, as firm shifts growth strategy to prioritise operational efficiency Continue Reading

Digital shopping endangers retail employment

A shift towards online shopping and digital retail technologies has led to a decrease in investment in retail employment Continue Reading

Mobile phones and health: is 5G being rolled out too fast?

European countries are rolling out 5G mobile communications at breakneck speed as they seek to gain a competitive edge over the US and Asia. But some scientists have raised questions about the effects of 5G mobile phone radiation on public health and are calling for a precautionary approach Continue Reading

Online fashion brand Boohoo sees year-on-year revenue growth

Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com has seen a spike in revenue over the past year across all of its operating brands, and has announced the completion of several digital projects Continue Reading

Eagle Eye enlists Rackspace to lead 'all-in' Google Cloud Platform migration

Digital marketing platform provider Eagle Eye is leaning on Rackspace to support its move to the Google Cloud Platform Continue Reading

APAC set for blockchain boom

Led by China, spending on blockchain technology in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan will surpass $2bn by 2022 Continue Reading

Government says no conflict of interest in trial despite Post Office chairman’s dual role

BEIS refutes MP’s suggestion of Post Office chairman’s conflict of interest in group litigation case involving Horizon IT system Continue Reading

Middle East CIOs optimistic as budgets increase and digital transformations expand

Cyber security and risk management will see the biggest increase in spending, but digital transformation of businesses is a major driver of investment, survey shows Continue Reading

Morrisons to launch fresh appeal against breach liability ruling

Supermarket chain Morrisons is to launch a second appeal against a High Court ruling that found it liable for a data leak by a former employee Continue Reading

Security Think Tank: Surviving the existential cyber punch

How should businesses plan to survive a potential cyber attack extinction event? Continue Reading

MP questions government over Post Office Horizon case

Labour MP asks the government about the costs associated with the Post Office Horizon legal battle Continue Reading

Retail technology, sports sponsorship and a global marketing opportunity

Sports sponsorship remains a focus area for B2B software companies and retail technology businesses looking to impress the C-suite Continue Reading

Lush gives up on social media

Since the birth of social media platforms, brands have been carefully adapting their marketing strategies to reach the cool kids on whatever their chosen channel of choice. From MySpace, to ... Continue Reading

Google Cloud CEO outlines plans to take firm even deeper into the enterprise

CEO Thomas Kurian used inaugural Google Cloud Next keynote to detail how infrastructure investments, supplier partnerships and simplified processes will be key to its plans to conquer even more of the enterprise market Continue Reading

Digital doppelgangers for sale to defeat anti-fraud tech

Security researchers have uncovered an online market selling digital identities to help cyber criminals to defeat anti-fraud technologies, as financial cyber crime becomes a bigger threat than ever before Continue Reading

Social inclusion unit aims to expand diversity in IT conversation

New unit at startup hub wants to explore how technology can be applied to address the barriers many people face in participating in society Continue Reading

Post Office to appeal judgment from first Horizon trial

The Post Office will appeal against some of the judgments from the first trial concerning the Horizon computer system used by subpostmasters Continue Reading

Fresh approach needed to reap cloud security benefits

Transitioning to cloud-based services offers businesses an opportunity to improve security capabilities, but only if they adopt a proactive cloud-native approach, says Palo Alto Networks cloud security expert Continue Reading

Marie Claire develops platform to encourage in-magazine shopping

An in-house team at Marie Claire has developed a platform to encourage readers to shop while browsing the site Continue Reading

Most business decision-makers and knowledge workers happy to work alongside robots

Fears that automation will remove jobs for knowledge workers are reducing as opportunities emerge to upskill and eradicate mundane work Continue Reading

Del Monte Foods enlists Accenture to help guide move to AWS cloud

US-based food producer has moved hundreds of servers and business applications to the AWS public cloud as part of a push to modernise its IT estate and boost its overall business agility Continue Reading

Goliath vs Goliath and the complexities of 5G intellectual property

Is Apple the good guy or the bad guy? It has violated patents and had its wrist slapped by the courts (bad), yet its products are still available for adoring fans to buy (good) Continue Reading

Cyber attacks increasingly exploiting supply chain weaknesses

Cyber attacks are increasingly characterised by supply chain attacks, counter incident response and lateral movement, research reveals Continue Reading

Post Office could face huge costs bill for first Horizon trial

Subpostmaster claimants’ legal team makes application for the Post Office to pay millions of pounds of costs associated with trial Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 10

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team discusses Twitter spats, the long-running legal saga between HP and Mike Lynch, Asos’s retail tech strategy, G-Cloud 11 and how machine learning is shaking up the healthcare sector Continue Reading

Magento e-commerce sites urged to apply security update

Security experts are urging companies using the Magento e-commerce site to apply security updates without delay to avoid a disastrous hacking campaign Continue Reading

Post Office made to repay public money it allocated to fund Horizon litigation

A senior civil servant asked the Post Office to repay public money it had wrongly allocated to paying legal costs Continue Reading

Businesses losing out on early payment discounts due to outdated software

Chief financial officers need to upgrade their accounting software to benefit from discounts available for paying suppliers early Continue Reading

How Sainsbury’s is developing a wider understanding of data science

Data is of increasing importance to retailers when it comes to dealing with needy customers. Sainsbury’s supermarket is developing its data talent to optimise its opportunities Continue Reading

Mind the overlap between GDPR and ePD, warns privacy lawyer

Organisations need to be aware of the overlaps between European data protection and privacy rules, and which takes precedence, a privacy lawyer warns Continue Reading

Data drives development at Halfords

Neil Holden, IT director at Halfords Group, talks about the business’s growing use of cloud and data analytics, and how it is exploring new technologies. Continue Reading

Nominet urges SMEs to register .uk domains to thwart squatters

The automatic right of .co.uk domain name holders to register the shorter .uk domains ends in June Continue Reading

CCRC watching Post Office Horizon trial closely

The Criminal Courts Review Commission considering judgment in subpostmasters versus Post Office litigation trial Continue Reading

Post Office ‘lacked humanity’ in the treatment of subpostmasters, says peer

Peer slams Post Office after High Court judgment reveals its oppressive style of managing the people who run its branches Continue Reading

Growing board focus on cyber risk challenges current thinking

As digital transformation continues to drive change in the business and risk landscape, business and cyber security leaders need to improve discussions around this topic Continue Reading

More than half of EU firms report cyber attack losses

More than half of European firms admit business disruption and data loss due to cyber attacks in the past 24 months, with UK firms among the most targeted, a survey shows Continue Reading

Post Office director cross-examination confirms lack of investigation into branch IT problems

A high court judge heard that the Post Office did not investigate a computer system error that could cause losses, despite being offered evidence Continue Reading

CIO interview: Martin Draper, CIO and change director, Liberty London

Department store’s IT leader is bringing a traditional retail business into the digital, omnichannel age Continue Reading

Post Office considered Horizon IT system ‘high risk’, court told

The Post Office considered Horizon a high operational risk in an internal review, a trial focused on alleged fallibilities in the system used in thousands of Post Office branches has heard Continue Reading

Web @ 30: Thank you for global connectivity

For the last three decades since its introduction, the web has informed, educated and entertained society. It has given musicians, artists and businesses of any size connectivity to a global ... Continue Reading

Tech under spotlight at High Court in second subpostmasters versus Post Office trial

The second trial in a court battle between the Post Office and the people who run branches analyses alleged bugs in the computer system they use Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 6

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team talks about Mobile World Congress, Facebook’s latest data privacy row, the Ocado and M&S partnership, and how the technology industry can tackle unethical data use Continue Reading

Futuristic logistics: retailers focused on rapid delivery

From Asos Instant to Ocado Zoom, and a host of new services in between, rapid delivery is gaining traction in UK retail in an attempt to meet customer demand Continue Reading

What are the CDN options for enterprises?

We look at how content delivery networks can give your organisation’s web presence a literal edge Continue Reading

M&S and Ocado announce £750m food delivery joint venture

Deal will see M&S take a 50% share of Ocado’s UK retail business, with access to the Ocado Smart Platform Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 5

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team discuss Greenpeace’s latest datacentre sustainability research, the work the government is doing to support the growth of the UK’s AI talent pool, and covers how Kellogg's is embracing virtual reality tech Continue Reading

Nordic tech is increasing diversity but more needs to be done

The shortage of women in the boardroom is a problem in the Nordics, like other regions, but work in its tech sector means the future could be more promising Continue Reading

CIO interview: Martin Draper, CIO and change director, Liberty London

Department store’s IT leader is bringing a traditional retail business into the digital, omnichannel age Continue Reading

Royal Mail delivers safety training through virtual reality

At the Learning Technologies event in London, Royal Mail’s online learning manager talks about the organisation’s use of virtual reality to help postal workers avoid dog attacks Continue Reading

Kellogg’s tests VR for developing merchandising strategy

Breakfast food brand Kellogg’s is working with Accenture and Qualcomm to test the use of virtual reality to develop a retail strategy for the launch of new products Continue Reading

Six experiential retail businesses chosen for Jlab

The businesses and startups that will take part in John Lewis’ 2019 Jlab programme have seen selected following a pitch day Continue Reading

Making the move to cloud work for you

Getting the best out of a move to the cloud means getting the size right, turning off what you don’t need, smart purchasing and continuously decluttering your new environment Continue Reading

Central Saint Martins hosts Three’s 5G trial for London Fashion Week

Three’s trial 5G network will enable the world’s first augmented reality fashion show at Central Saint Martins, while consumers can test out a prototype network at its flagship store Continue Reading

CIO interview: Neil Holden, IT director, Halfords Group

Motoring and bicycles retailer is growing its use of cloud, expanding on data analytics and exploring new technologies such as artificial intelligence Continue Reading

Dutch developer offers businesses nuclear security option for communications

Startup that created the secure platform for communication between world leaders at the 2014 Nuclear Security Summit in the Netherlands seeks to revolutionise business mail Continue Reading

Podcast: The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload – Episode 3

In this week’s episode of The Computer Weekly Downtime Upload podcast, the team covers Brexit (again), Marks & Spencer’s efforts to court startups in the name of digital transformation, and a watercolour-based digital preservation case study Continue Reading

Click & collect will grow 45% over next five years

Clothing and footwear lead growth as UK’s click & collect market is set to hit £10bn by 2023, research suggests Continue Reading

Nordic region primed to pioneer 5G

The Nordic region could pioneer the commercial use of 5G, with Finland and Sweden hotbeds for the technology Continue Reading

UK’s IT and BPO spend plummets because of Brexit uncertainty

UK businesses cut their investment in IT and business process outsourcing last year because of confusion over Brexit, but there was a 68% rise in public sector spending Continue Reading

Marks & Spencer launches charging banks as part of startup partnership

Retailer Marks & Spencer has announced it will be adding battery charging banks to its stores as part of startup partnership Continue Reading

Cambridge launches urban data IoT project

The city of Cambridge will use Telensa IoT sensors and a Microsoft Azure platform to better manage its urban data assets Continue Reading

Fundamentals of retail won’t change despite tech disruption, say experts

Digital is becoming a big part of the way customers shop and how retailers deliver services, but the focus will always be on the customer, says panel of experts at BRC event Continue Reading

New stolen credentials cache puts spotlight on authentication

The discovery of billions more stolen usernames and passwords in Collections #2 to #5 have prompted fresh calls for the implementation of better authentication methods across industry Continue Reading

Global cyber attack could cost up to $193bn, study shows

A coordinated global cyber attack could have an economic impact of up to $193bn, an insurance industry-backed report claims Continue Reading

IT leaders grapple with workforce skills gap as they deploy AI and digital technology

Organisations will have to find new ways of reskilling their workforce as they get to grips with artificial intelligence and other digital technologies. CIOs also need to keep their skills updated if they are to succeed Continue Reading

UK IT spending worth £27bn held back due to Brexit uncertainty

UK businesses are putting billions of pounds of IT investments on hold until they know the terms that the UK will leave the EU Continue Reading

Time to deploy strong authentication, says Fido

The time has come for organisations to deploy cryptographically backed strong authentication, according to the Fido Alliance, which seeks to eliminate the world’s dependence on password-based security Continue Reading

AWS vs Google vs Microsoft: Competition concerns fuel retail war between the big cloud three

The retail market is no slouch when it comes to adopting cloud technologies, but competitive concerns appear to be influencing the cloud-buying decisions of some Continue Reading

BigCommerce migrates 60,000 merchants from IBM and AWS to Google Cloud Platform

E-commerce platform provider BigCommerce has swapped out IBM and AWS for the Google Cloud Platform to help its users give their customers a faster, more responsive online shopping experience Continue Reading

Young Dutch cyber criminals get re-education rather than jail time

Young hackers in the Netherlands are being rehabilitated through punishments that educate rather than incarcerate Continue Reading

Mastercard fined over half a billion euros for unfair payment fees

Mastercard has been heavily fined for having rules on interchange fees which distorted the EU single market Continue Reading

Marks & Spencer introduces photo search for online shopping

British retail brand Marks and Spencer has introduced a photo searching capability to its mobile site to help people find products they like using other images Continue Reading

Moving beyond network boundaries

In this week’s Computer Weekly, we look at how businesses are adapting to the challenges of perimeterless network security. We examine how digital transformation is bringing increased complications for identity and access management (IAM). And we ask if public cloud providers are becoming a threat to the funding model for open source software. Read the issue now. Continue Reading

Vodafone and IBM prep user clouds for future network tech

Companies expand existing collaboration to enable enterprise customers to prepare for the impact of advanced networking technologies Continue Reading

Swedish state and industry back autonomous vehicle testing facility

AstaZero facility will “road-test” next-generation 5G and digital innovations to support the development of self-driving cars and other vehicles Continue Reading

UK tech firms favour second referendum as next move in Brexit stalemate

UK tech firms want to remain as close to the EU as possible and believe a second referendum on membership of the trading bloc would be the best way out of the current political stalemate Continue Reading

Researchers discover new Magecart group

Security researchers have uncovered a sub-group of the Magecart hacking group, highlighting the wider risks of web-based supply chain attacks Continue Reading

Thousands of known errors on controversial Post Office computer system to be revealed

Known errors log concerning Horizon IT system set to be announced during second High Court trial in subpostmasters’ long-running dispute with Post Office over financial losses Continue Reading

Microsoft takes community approach to artificial intelligence in Sweden

Microsoft is making increasing use of artificial intelligence in Sweden as it shares experiences with the development community Continue Reading

UK firms say £6.6bn annual security testing cost too high

Avord launches platform to reduce the multibillion-pound annual cyber security testing cost that most UK firms say is too high Continue Reading