Boaty McBoatface is go: The little yellow sub is heading to Antarctica on its first mission March 13, 2017 Boaty McBoatface, the nation's favourite name for sea-faring vessels that launched a thousand naming contests, is go. Yes, the moniker may have been sidelined for one eliciting more gravitas, with the £200m polar research vessel being named RRS Sir David Attenborough in the end after a very amusing naming contest you might remember. But, a little [...]
PwC’s partnering with tech startup incubator Codebase March 13, 2017 PwC is putting its weight behind technology startups, partnering with the UK's biggest incubator. The professional services giant will support Scotland's Codebase, which is home to more than 80 startups in Edinburgh and will soon launch a second location in Stirling. Read more: Google parent Alphabet is backing London fintech startup Currencycloud It will offer [...]
Uber is looking for a woman to fill its new chief operating officer position March 12, 2017 Uber is reportedly searching for a female executive to join the firm as its new chief operating officer and help rein in under-fire boss Travis Kalanick. The ride-hailing app announced a new position which could be viewed as either the best or worst job in tech last week after recent troubles pushed Kalanick to search for someone to keep the [...]
Sweden bids to prise financial services power from UK after Brexit as minister visits Citigroup and fintech firms in London March 12, 2017 Sweden is the latest European country making a push to win financial services power after Brexit, having sent a minister to London to woo fintech firms and a major Wall Street bank. Per Bolund, the country’s financial markets minister, visited fintech incubator Level 39 in Canary Wharf on Friday before hosting more than a dozen more [...]
Google’s DeepMind is in talks with National Grid to apply artificial intelligence to energy use March 12, 2017 The Google-owned star British artificial intelligence company DeepMind is in talks with the National Grid about a potential partnership, with the possibility of using the technology to make the supply of energy across the UK more efficient. “There's huge potential for predictive machine learning technology to help energy systems reduce their environmental impact," said a spokesperson for the [...]
Three major problems with the modern internet keeping Tim Berners-Lee up at night March 12, 2017 Personal data, misinformation (or as it's now been dubbed, fake news) and online political advertising: these are the three major problems of the modern internet that keep the inventor of the World Wide Web up at night. Sir Tim Berners-Lee has shared his thoughts on the 28th anniversary of the day he submitted his proposal for [...]
Airbnb valued at $30bn after China’s sovereign wealth fund invests $100m March 11, 2017 China's sovereign wealth fund has invested $100m (£82m) in hipster room-sharing app Airbnb. The investment by the China Investment Corporation (CIC) values the tech company at $30bn, Sky News has reported, and accounts for around 10 per cent of a $1bn funding round from Airbnb. The valuation puts Airbnb ahead of Twitter, which is valued at around [...]
How are these five influential women revolutionising the UK tech sector? March 10, 2017 | City Talk Digital tech: it’s a man’s world right? Lei Jun, Mark Zurkerberg and Bill Gates – all tech testosterone flowing through the veins of the global digital revolution. But what about in the UK? In solidarity with International Women’s Day on March 8th, more females than ever are becoming the beating heart and soul of the sector. So [...]
There’s huge demand for apprenticeships defending the country’s most important assets against cyber attacks March 10, 2017 A fresh apprenticeship scheme training a new generation of security experts to defend the country's most important assets against cyber attacks has been subject to unprecedented demand. More than 1,000 youngsters applied for just 23 cyber security apprentice roles – more than 50 for each place – in businesses which are in charge of some of the UK's most critical [...]
London Assembly members have sided with Uber over English language tests and want the mayor Sadiq Khan to drop written plans March 9, 2017 London Assembly members have sided with Uber in the battle over English language tests, despite Transport for London triumphing in court last week. The majority of members have backed a motion calling on the mayor Sadiq Khan to ditch the requirements for written tests for Uber and other minicab drivers due to the disproportionate and unfair [...]
