Microsoft's UK data centres power up cloud services

An interesting development was reported yesterday; here are some extracts:

Microsoft has announced that its first UK cloud computing data centres are up and running.

The facilities are located in London, Durham and Cardiff. They should help the US company sell its online services to the public sector and other bodies that handle sensitive data.

The Ministry of Defence and an NHS trust are among those set to adopt the internet-powered products as a result.

The UK data centres also mean Microsoft is able to offer its online suite of Office 365 productivity apps without sending data overseas. It hopes this will reassure clients that their information is secure.

Interesting ICO document explaining how shops can use your phone to track your every move

Technology has been developed which could allow a store to track your shopping movements using the Wi-Fi on your mobile phone.

This technology, which is starting to be rolled out in shops, allows retailers to use the customer journey to build up a picture as to how people typically use the store. It uses the MAC address of a smartphone which can, in many cases, be linked to a specific individual.

See full article.

Data Capability: a call to action

An interesting report has just been published by the Higher Education Data & Information Improvement Programme (HEDIIP) that reports a self assessment exercise to measure ‘data capability’ in institutes.

The Exec Summary offers a convenient overview. The ‘key findings’ do not sound too unfamiliar…

A toolkit provides a ueful way of measuring digital capability improvement with time.