Investing in digital technology could increase the UK’s GDP by almost 7%, delivering a £232 billion boost to the economy by 2040.

That’s according to new research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) and Virgin Media Business. 

The study examined how focusing on digital ways of working, which has been magnified by lockdown restrictions, could help the UK recover from the economic effects of the pandemic. The report claims that investing in digital technology could boost the economy by £74 billion in the next four years, and by £127 billion by the end of this decade.

By 2040, if these investments are sustained, digital technology is expected to add £232 billion to the national economy – equivalent to 6.9% of the UK’s GDP.

Digital processes in the public sector will create efficiency gains and cost-savings of £75 billion, according to the report, while investments in digitising health and social care, as well as the justice, central, and local government sectors could add £33 billion and £32 billion to the UK economy, respectively.

Cebr also found that digital investment in private sectors such as retail, professional services, and construction, could be worth an additional £40 billion by 2040, with other parts of the economy also predicted to experience similar gains.

Cebr director of Economic Analysis, Cristian Niculescu-Marcu, said that the economic impacts of the pandemic alone “fall far short of capturing the scale of the pandemic’s toll on people’s lives and wellbeing”. 

“Within this research we have examined the potential economic impact of a wave of digital transformation, driven by the rollout of new ways of working and connecting,” he said, adding that “this could create an economic high road over the coming decades, helping the UK economy to grow while also having the flexibility to deal with future challenges”.

Commenting on the Virgin Media Business managing director Peter Kelly said that “the UK has a £232 billion opportunity ahead of it which we must now grasp with both hands”. 

“By continuing to invest in new digital ways of working, we can seize this moment and help UK businesses to bounce back better. Moves to accelerate digital adoption are driving extraordinary outcomes across private and public sector organisations, helping them to revolutionise how they work, deliver for customers, and provide vital services for our communities,” he added.

The release of Virgin Media’s report comes days after the company announced that it is planning to create more than 400 new graduate, intern, and apprenticeship roles over the course of 2021.

The Post Office has announced plans to launch a free-to-use app that will use biometrics to authenticate customers and prevent fraud.

The new app will be based on software supplied by London-based company Yoti, which launched in 2014 and specialises in digital identity technology. It will take advantage of biometric-face matching and liveness detection in order to ensure the privacy of Post Office customers and prevent potential imposters from obtaining sensitive information.

The app could help to ensure social distancing by enabling customers to be identified for passport and driving licence renewals from the safety of their homes, without the need to attend a post office in-person.

Set to launch in the spring, the app will also enable customers to use their digital identity to carry out a range of online and in-person transactions such as one-click bank account applications, job applications, mortgage applications, picking up parcels and for travel purposes.

Along with this will be new in-branch services for customers who do not have access to a smartphone, or who prefer face-to-face contact when asked to confirm their identity.

As part of this partnership with Yoti in July, a pilot, initially at around 750 Post Offices, will offer these new in-branch services. This will enable those people without a smartphone, secure internet access, or photo ID to complete their identity verification at a Post Office. Those who simply prefer face-to-face transactions will also be able to have their identity verified by a Postmaster in-branch.

Post Office chief executive Nick Read said that he is “delighted that Post Office and Yoti are joining forces” in order to expand the former’s identity services.

“We have an ambitious strategy to deliver a unique offer to the market that integrates digital and physical identity verification at scale benefitting both individuals and businesses,” he added.

“Post Office is embracing new technologies and this partnership will enhance our reputation as the trusted go-to destination for identity solutions. Whether it’s proving your identity on a smartphone or face-to-face with a Postmaster, we will make transactions faster and simpler than ever before.”

Yoti CEO Robin Tombs said that the company had “already invested over £85m creating a world-leading ID platform that removes the friction from outdated ID processes, puts individuals in control of their identity, preserves privacy and helps reduce identity fraud”. 

“Together with the Post Office, we will help drive the UK’s digital transformation, making life simpler and safer for individuals and businesses online, in-branch and on the high street,” he added.

Commenting on the partnership, Cabinet office minister Julia Lopez said that “products that help digitally to verify a person’s identity are becoming increasingly important as more areas of our work and home lives move online”. 

“Creating a common trust framework will give greater clarity and certainty to organisations who want to work in this field about what is expected of them. More importantly, however, it will help to deepen users’ trust and confidence in digital identities and the standards we expect in the safeguarding of their personal data and privacy.”

Dell Technologies Cloud Platform (DTCP) is aiming to offers its customers the capacity to scale up or down their IT infrastructures with its newly-launched private cloud platform.

Released through the firm’s flagship Cloud Console, this private cloud service offers a scalable way for customers to build their cloud without deploying an additional layer of VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) software stack.

VCF is a hybrid cloud platform built on a single architecture that serves as a foundational layer for managing virtual machines (VMs) and orchestrating containers. Dell’s launch, however, would allow customers to bypass the need to deploy this architecture and build their own on-prem private cloud, the company says.

This is the second product that Dell has launched as part of its Project Apex cloud pursuit. Project Apex is an initiative the company launched in October 2020 to consolidate its ‘as a service’ cloud offerings – with its Cloud Console hub sitting at the heart of this strategy.

The Cloud Console serves as a provisioning and management platform for cloud and ‘as a service’ products, with Dell hoping that customers can use it to deploy workloads, manage resources and keep eye on costs through a simple interface.

DTCP Private Cloud is packaged with the same features that come with Dell’s existing hybrid cloud offering, with the firm also introducing instance-based offerings for DTCP Hybrid Cloud late last year.

These can be ordered in a self-service manner in quantities of 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500, and can be deployed in customers’ data centres within two weeks and scaled up in roughly five days. They can be combined to run a larger quantity of instances of the same type, or customers can mix and match multiple workloads within the same product.

While the firm’s hybrid cloud service is available for $47 per instance per month, Dell is making its private cloud offering available for $14 per instance per month. 

The release also comes with the option for customers to provide their own rack infrastructure, alongside the integrated rack Dell offers. Customers will be able to use their own rack space in combination with all the equipment required such as power distribution units, cables and switches.

Microsoft researchers are testing a new feature for Teams that aims to provide speakers on calls with a near-real-time assessment of the moods and reactions of their audience.

The ‘AffectiveSpotflight‘ is said to be built from a type of facial recognition algorithm that uses a neural network to capture and assess the expressions of call participants, monitoring for changes in emotions such as happiness, sadness and surprise.

The software is being developed by researchers across a number of Microsoft facilities in Redmond, Boston and Cambridge, MA, with findings expected to be revealed at Japan’s CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in May.

The system is said to be able to spot subtle movements, such as the shake of a head, a furrowed brow, and even a raised eyebrow. Each of these is then rated between 0 and 1, with positive emotions scoring higher. The person with the highest score is highlighted to the presenter, every 15 seconds.

The facial expressions of the participants are also matched to datasets in Microsoft’s Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), which has expression categories for anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise, and neutral.

«Public speaking is often regarded as one of the most stressful daily activities and is heavily influenced by audience responses to the presenter,» the research states. «In fact, studies that seek to reliably induce acute stress on people often involve giving a presentation in front of a neutral-looking audience (a.k.a., Trier social stress test). While research on audience responses in online settings is still nascent, there is prior work considering the impact of in-person audience responses, especially in the context of alleviating public speaking anxiety.»

The feature isn’t available on Microsoft Teams as yet, but it is very much in keeping with recent updates to the platform that focuses on wellbeing and combating so-called ‘video call fatigue‘.

However, this may be seen as a somewhat overly technical solution to a problem that is fairly easily solved with feedback, and it isn’t difficult to imagine how this feature could create further anxiety as it tries to reduce it.​

Volkswagen has extended its partnership with Microsoft to further boost the development of its self-driving car software.

The German automotive giant will use Azure services to update the software in its vehicles, as a way of gradually building up automated functions over time.

Volkswagen has developed some driver-assistance features in its current models, such as cruise control, through its software subsidiary Car.Software. However, the new deal with Microsoft is about tapping into the tech giant’s expertise with software updates.

With Volkswagen and Car.Software building the initial layer of software in its cars, it is hoped that Microsoft will be able to add more and more automated functions, in a way similar to the smartphone industry’s approach of adapting new features for older hardware.

«For our phones 15 or 20 years ago, when you bought it, it pretty much never changed. Now, we expected every week or every couple of days that, silently, there’s new features,» Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of cloud and artificial intelligence at Microsoft, told Reuters. «That ability to start to program the vehicle in richer and richer ways, and in a safe way, transforms how the experience works.»

This technique is already used by Tesla and is thought to be one of the main reasons why it was able to take the lead in the industry.

Volkswagen originally signed a deal with Microsoft in 2018 to connect its cars to Azure services, but the new agreement could help the German giant catchup to the likes of Telsa with ‘over-the-air updates’ using the industry’s second-largest cloud infrastructure provider.

«As we transform Volkswagen Group into a digital mobility provider, we are looking to continuously increase the efficiency of our software development,» said Dirk Hilgenberg, CEO of the Car.Software Organisation.

«We are building the Automated Driving Platform with Microsoft to simplify our developers’ work through one scalable and data-based engineering environment. By combining our comprehensive expertise in the development of connected driving solutions with Microsoft’s cloud and software engineering know-how, we will accelerate the delivery of safe and comfortable mobility services.»

Microsoft has reportedly been in talks to acquire the social media firm Pinterest in recent months, although the company has so far been unable to secure a deal.

It’s the second time the tech giant has attempted to buy a large social media platform, with negotiations reportedly ending after Pinterest expressed a wish to remain independent, according to The Financial Times.

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In the summer Microsoft also failed in a bid to take over Chinese video-sharing app TikTok, after the company was put up for sale to avoid a complete ban in the US. Microsoft ultimately lost out to Oracle and Walmart, though that deal is still yet to be completed.

Pinterest, however, is valued at around $51 billion (£36bn), which would not only have resulted in Microsoft’s biggest acquisition ever, but also likely one of the largest tech acquisitions in history – potentially only behind Dell’s $67 billion takeover of EMC in 2015. It would also have been the company’s most notable acquisition since it bought LinkedIn for around $26 billion in 2016.

It’s suggested that Microsoft is interested in amassing a portfolio of active online communities that can run on top of its Azure cloud platform, according to sources with knowledge of the deal, speaking to the Financial Times. Aside from LinkedIn, the other notable ‘community’ acquisitions in Microsoft’s portfolio are GitHub and Minecraft.

Owning a company with large numbers of active users, many of which post frequently, can provide valuable data for a business like Microsoft. LinkedIn data, for example, is used to customise other Microsoft apps and services, such as Outlook, which can show shared LinkedIn connections with your email contacts.

What exact use Microsoft would have had with Pinterest data is unknown, but the firm is rapidly growing with 459 million active users. It is also worth noting that the social media site currently relies on Amazon Web Services (AWS) for its infrastructure.

“In Pinterest and TikTok before it, Microsoft is clearly demonstrating that it wants to build up more consumer-facing assets within its flywheel of operations beyond hardware and its Xbox and PC businesses,» argued Nick McQuire, chief of research for enterprise at CCS Insight, speaking to IT Pro.

«When compared to its cloud competitors, particularly its archrival next door, this is a glaring gap for Microsoft. This matters, but it’s less about increasing the diversity of its revenue in new areas like advertising, which through Bing, is not an insignificant business for Microsoft. It’s about winning cloud customers, particularly in consumer-facing industries where the other clouds have bigger assets to bring to bear to win larger deals.»

He added that this approach, the type of corporate style cloud deal between cloud providers and customers that involve a wider set of assets, is becoming increasingly common.

«Having an online B2C asset within its organisation not only helps it address sentiment that it’s just a sober enterprise play, but it also gives it more credibility with customers addressing the huge shifts in consumer behaviour and brand preferences as well,» said McQuire.

Although Microsoft also failed in its bid for TikTok, Oracle and Walmart’s deal has been put on hold pending a review by US President Biden over the previous administration’s national security policies targeting Chinese firms.

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Salesforce is redesigning its office culture and giving employees more choice around when and where they work.

The cloud giant declared the 9-to-5 workday «dead» in a blog post on Tuesday, claiming its demise would lead to a greater work-life balance and, ultimately, a better business.  

Going forward, Salesforce employees will have the choice of three working models; flex, fully remote and office-based. For those that work under the ‘Flex’ bracket, which Salesforce suggests will be the majority of its employees, their time in the office will be between one and three days a week, mostly for collaborative projects, customer meetings and presentations. Otherwise, they will work remotely.

There will also be an option to work remotely on a permanent basis to accommodate those that do not live in close proximity to a Salesforce office and those who have jobs that are not dependent on office attendance.

For a small group of workers, there is the option to work in the office four to five days a week if they are in roles that require it, potentially in segregated shifts. 

«As we enter a new year, we must continue to go forward with agility, creativity and a beginner’s mind – and that includes how we cultivate our culture,» said Brent Hyder, president and chief people officer. «An immersive workspace is no longer limited to a desk in our towers; the 9-to-5 workday is dead, and the employee experience is about more than ping-pong tables and snacks.

«We have an opportunity to create an even better workplace – one that allows us to be more connected to each other, find more balance between work and home, and advance equality – ultimately leading to increased innovation and better business outcomes.»

Not everyone agrees that remote working is the way forward, however. Both Google and Microsoft have expressed concerns about prolonged working from home and Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins on Tuesday suggested that some people were tired of working from home. It’s worth noting that the only examples Robbins gave were from Cisco employees, which he claimed were longing to get back into the office.

«I think we sort of moved into that phase where people actually struggle mentally, people are – they’re not enjoying it,» Robbins said according to CNBC. «One of our employees said to me the other day, ‘I don’t mind the option of working from home. I don’t like being forced to work from home,'» he said.

Unlike most tech firms, Cisco has struggled during the pandemic. The company this week reported a decline in revenue for the fifth quarter in a row, blaming a slowdown in infrastructure spending. 

Google has warned that its productivity and finances may take a hit due to the new ‘hybrid working’ model necessitated by the global COVID pandemic. 

The firm is concerned that social distancing measures and hybrid work models – a structure whereby employees are given more flexibility to work remotely while others work from a central office – will increase costs and potentially impact its «corporate culture», according to Google’s annual 10-K report.

The tech giant is well-known for offering employee perks as an incentive. It has over 135,000 full-time workers, but it also offers lots of temporary and freelance work for contracted professionals from third-party firms. 

«As we prepare to return our workforce in more locations back to the office in 2021, we may experience increased costs as we prepare our facilities for a safe return to work environments and experiment with hybrid work models, in addition to potential effects on our ability to compete effectively and maintain our corporate culture,» the company stated.

Google was one of the first firms to order its employees to work from home, but as the year and the pandemic progressed, it issued muddled instructions for its planned return to the office. The company has made a number of announcements about ‘testing’ a hybrid approach, but it’s also still investing in large office spaces around the world. 

In December, it was reported that CEO Sundar Pichai told employees that remote working would be extended to 1 September 2021. However, it also came with the stipulation that they would have to work at least three days in the physical office and remain within a suitable commuting distance. 

These reports suggest that one of the biggest providers of remote working software isn’t so keen on its own staff enjoying the benefits of it. Similarly, rival firm Microsoft has also made concerning remarks about mass remote working – despite also heavily investing in services that facilitate this shift. 

For some, it highlights a concerning lack of progression from the very companies powering the so-called ‘new normal’. 

«Many companies in Silicon Valley have been actively encouraging presenteeism for years now with beds, restaurants and even gyms, but it’s an outdated metric for technical staff productivity,» said Martin Biggs, VP and GM of Spinnaker Support. «Our definition of productivity has to change from clock-watching and time-in-office to actual outputs. The biggest mistake I see is organisations trying to apply old strategies to an entirely new situation.»   

There are also some businesses that find the struggles of a tech giant like Google «refreshing». The company’s «open and honest assessment» of the time it will take to readjust is a great insight for smaller businesses, according to Dan Harding, the CEO of Sign In App. 
 
«Culture takes years to build and it’s clear that Google is not ‘anti-remote work’, just realistic about how much needs to change and adapt to new ways of working and employee expectations,» said Harding. «Some of Google’s main competitive elements and focuses are its staff, culture and wellbeing so they will certainly be one of the ones to watch how they adapt during 2021 and beyond.»

IBM and Palantir have announced a jointly developed product for AI applications called Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data. 

Built on Red Hat OpenShift, the new platform offers a no-code/low-code environment for building and deploying AI-based applications. 

“Today, nearly 75% of businesses surveyed in an IBM sponsored report say they are exploring or implementing AI. However, 37% cited limited AI expertise and 31% cite increasing data complexities and silos as barriers to successful adoption,” said IBM.

Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data leverages Palantir Foundry data operations platform and IBM Cloud Pak for Data services, such as Watson, to help users access, analyze, and act on extensive data spread across hybrid cloud environments. The platform also enables businesses to reduce data silos and monitor data throughout the AI lifecycle, starting from data scooping and model building to analytics and full-fledged enterprise AI deployment. 

What’s more, businesses can choose to work with IBM Data Science and AI Elite team to address AI adoption challenges and handle any data science use cases.

The offering targets enterprises looking to include AI-based applications to automate tasks and processes for large quantities of data, resulting in informed, data-driven decision-making.

For instance, Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data provides retailers with increased visibility and transparency by integrating data across their operational silos, enabling vendors and distributors to proactively monitor supply-chain health in real-time. 

In the finance sector, Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data helps with high-volume data integration, deduplication, and mapping to a common data model, ensuring an aggregated and consistent single customer view (SCV).

Also primed for telecommunications, Palantir for IBM Cloud Pak for Data connects data from suppliers, CRM applications, sales orders, and production data with AI models for campaign optimization and attrition prediction/prevention to enhance customer care and add value across multiple business objectives.

«Our clients deliver products and services while operating in some of the most complex, fast-changing industries of the world,» said Rob Thomas, senior vice president, cloud and data platform, IBM. «Together, IBM and Palantir aim to make it easier than ever for businesses to put AI to work and become data-driven throughout their operations.»

Users of the original version of Microsoft’s Edge browser have until April to upgrade before the tech giant kills if off completely.  

Support for the desktop application, now dubbed ‘Legacy Edge’, will end on 9 March before it is replaced by the new Microsoft Edge browser a month later. 

This move will not come as a surprise to many, as the to kill off the old browser was originally announced in August 2020.

The original version of Microsoft Edge, which first launched in 2015, failed to persuade users to ditch Chrome and Firefox and struggled to live up to the early success of Internet Explorer, which also lost popularity to rival browsers. 

Edge 2.0, however, is built upon the Chromium open source project – the same web rendering engine that powers Google Chrome, as opposed to EdgeHMTL that underpinned Internet Explorer. The decision to use Chromium was to create a browser with better web compatibility for users and less complexity for developers. 

As such, the Legacy Edge browser will now be put to rest completely, first with an update in March that removes support, before it’s ultimately replaced with the new Chromium-based Edge browser in April.
 
«To replace this out of support application [Legacy Edge], we are announcing that the new Microsoft Edge will be available as part of the Windows 10 cumulative monthly security update – otherwise referred to as the Update Tuesday (or ‘B’) release – on April 13, 2021,» the tech giant said. 
 
«The new Microsoft Edge offers built-in security and our best interoperability with the Microsoft security ecosystem, all while being more secure than Chrome for businesses on Windows 10,» the company added. 
 
Microsoft has stressed that Edge won’t suddenly become the default browser if you’ve set Chrome as the preference, but there is no mention, as yet, about automatically migrating browser-related data, such as history or bookmarks.