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Europol has published its annual European Union Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (EU-SOCTA) report. It highlights the destabilising and corrosive influence criminal networks are having on society and how, driven by the exploitation of new technologies, the threat they pose is evolving at an unprecedented pace.
The report discusses how serious and organised crime is being nurtured in the online domain and is being driven by the convergence of profit-driven criminal networks and hybrid threat actors with geopolitical motives. The cybercrime landscape is a key area where the line between profit-orientation and ideological motivation is increasingly blurred. The alliance between these groups allows nation states to support persistent and cumulative small-scale acts of destabilisation (“the woodpecker modus operandi”), using criminal networks for deniability and political or economic gain.
The impact of online platforms on the process of trafficking in human beings and migrant smuggling is also examined. These tools are allowing criminal networks to identify and recruit victims, reach a wider customer base, manage communications and payment (including using cryptocurrencies), and avoid any physical contact with victims or clients. It is also helping to drive the expansion of financial crime, including investment fraud, digital asset theft, online fencing, and laundering.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally reshaping the serious and organised crime landscape by acting as a catalyst for crime and by improving criminal efficiency. Criminal networks are increasingly turning towards Generative AI, which has dramatically reduced barriers to entry for digital crimes. The report details how AI is now being used to craft messages in multiple languages, more accurately target victims, create malware, produce synthetic media (e.g., voice cloning and deep fakes), and generate child sexual abuse material (CSAM), significantly increasing the volume of CSAM available online. The automation capability of AI has also transformed the efficiency of criminal networks (e.g., automated phishing attacks) helping to extend their reach and reduce resource and technical skill requirements.
AI will also help leverage more sophisticated and scalable cyber-attacks through attack automation, social engineering, vulnerabilities identification, and by-passing security solutions. The report also details how data theft will become even more prominent as the utilisation of AI in these attacks increases.
The report highlights how the threat landscape will continue to evolve, with developments in quantum computing, 3D printing, the metaverse, 6G, unmanned systems, and brain-computer interfaces. It calls for greater cooperation between law enforcement authorities (including improved data sharing), an enhanced focus on asset recovery, development of consistent regulations, and advanced detection tools.
Technology companies find themselves at the intersection of these evolving threats—as developers of the tools and services that can help counter the activities of criminal networks, creating the platforms that are being misused for criminal activities, and as a target of serious and organised crime themselves. The need for suppliers to collaborate with law enforcement agencies to counter the growing threat is clear, but it is a nuanced discussion that must balance robust security measures with privacy protections. As criminal networks increasingly leverage AI and emerging technologies, technology companies face the dual responsibility of preventing the misuse of their products whilst preserving legitimate functionality and user trust.
Posted by Dale Peters at '10:05' - Tagged: police law+enforcement public+safety Europe cybercrime
With the Procurement Act 2023 now finally in effect, and the government having recently announced a revision to the Social Value Model, TechMarketView has revisited its coverage social value – this time looking across the wider Public Sector.
For Software and IT Services (SITS) suppliers bidding into Public Sector contracts, social value requirements have become a crucial competitive differentiator. However, our research reveals significant opportunity being missed through generic approaches that fail to leverage core technical capabilities effectively.
Our analysis of the approaches of our Top 10 suppliers to the sector (examining their strategies, implementation and measurement approaches, and the outcomes they achieve) reveals a market moving towards maturity, though with some variation in sophistication and effectiveness. Find out how early market engagement, cross-sector coordination, the development of an effective partner ecosystem – amongst other measures – can help drive successful social value delivery.
PublicSectorViews subscribers can download Social value in the Public Sector 2025 today; however, if you are not yet a subscriber or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.
Posted by Craig Wentworth at '09:59' - Tagged: procurement social value impact
TechMarketView wants to hear again from UKHotViews readers about how you view the current state of the UK tech scene.
Last September, TechMarketView launched the results of its inaugural Tech Confidence Index (TCI) (Autumn 2024 edition), a six-monthly survey acting as a bellwether for the state and prospects of the UK tech sector. This first edition of TCI included the results from more than 250 business leaders serving all major Software & IT Services (SITS) sectors and end user industries.
We have now launched the second edition of the TCI survey (Spring 2025 edition) continuing to track the confidence of the UK tech scene to help both SITS suppliers and end users understand market sentiment whilst planning and preparing for the period ahead. The report is also available to download to all who are interested without the need to have a TechMarketView subscription in place.
One of TechMarketView’s biggest strengths remains our ‘community’ of more than 20,000 technology industry professionals who read the daily UKHotViews newsletter. In the past, we have gauged opinions via our extensive conversations with CXOs within the industry. However, we would like to make sure we are casting the net wider and ‘taking the temperature’ of the UK tech market in a more consistent way, enabling us to monitor changes over time. As such, we would really appreciate your input by clicking on the link below and sharing your opinion with us.
Please share a few minutes of your time, as the quality of the data will depend on the number and variety of the responses we gather.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE SHORT SURVEY
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:29'
The government has announced it will abolish NHS England (NHSE) as part of its plans to reform the British State, cut bureaucracy, and shift money to the front line. The move, which was announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and then expanded upon by Health Secretary Wes Streeting, will see management of the NHS in England brought back under direct departmental control, a move that will have major implications for the UK's health technology sector.
Streeting said the decision to abolish NHS England was taken because the government did not believe it was possible to achieve value for taxpayers’ money and get the best out of the NHS with the current setup. He quoted the Darzi Review, which said the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 (which led to the creation of NHS England) was “a calamity without international precedent”, creating a complex and fragmented web of bureaucracy. By bringing the NHS in England back under direct departmental control, the government intends to strip out duplication, create a leaner organisation, and provide a clarity of focus.
The announcements made it clear that digital transformation sits at the heart of this reform and the government’s plans to deliver the three big shifts in the NHS: from hospital to community, sickness to prevention, and analogue to digital. Starmer said he saw AI as a “golden opportunity” and that he was going to get “the best of best on AI working across government” and set every government department with a clear mission to make the state more innovative and efficient.
In this HotViewsExtra article we look at the key announcements, the impact they will have on the NHS, and implications for tech suppliers to the health sector.
TechMarketView subscribers, including UKHotViews Premium subscribers, can read ‘Tech implications of abolishing NHS England’ here. If you aren't a subscriber—or aren't sure if your organisation has a corporate subscription—please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.
Posted by Dale Peters at '10:18' - Tagged: nhs strategy health policy government healthcare reform quango DHSC
Last week, we commenced the second edition of the TCI survey (Spring 2025 edition) continuing to track the confidence of the UK tech scene to help both SITS suppliers and end users understand market sentiment whilst planning and preparing for the period ahead. The report is also available to download to all who are interested without the need to have a TechMarketView subscription in place.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:37'
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:52'
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '07:46'
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:40'
The latest episode in TechMarketView's series of Totally Sust podcasts sees SustainabilityViews’ lead analyst, Craig Wentworth, interview Davide Ceper (former CEO of Varda, which has now transitioned into the Varda Foundation) and Alexander Watson (Founder and CEO at OpenForests) about how the two organisations are working together to build trust and transparency in the food supply chain.
Tune in to hear how the Varda Foundation's Global FieldID system creates a unique global identifier for every agricultural plot of land, while OpenForests provides the mapping and storytelling tools that help prove sustainability credentials. Together, they're tackling fraud in carbon offset projects, supporting smallholder farmers to meet regulatory requirements, and creating the transparency needed to unlock vital climate finance for sustainable agriculture around the world.
A 4-minute snippet of the podcast is available to stream for free now on SoundCloud and Spotify (or you can play it using the widget below).
Subscribers to our SustainabilityViews research stream, however, can stream or download the full 34-minute version of the episode. If you are not yet a subscriber, or are unsure if your company has a subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how you can access the research.
Posted by Craig Wentworth at '07:00' - Tagged: agriculture climate finance food supply chain
Capita’s FY 2024 results out this morning were previewed back in December’s 11-month trading update (see Capita trims revenue guidance, but ups margin expectations). This morning’s results are on trend with the other Big (Public Sector) BPO players Serco and Sopra Steria who published their results in last couple of weeks and also experienced improving profitability on declining revenue (see Serco’s focus on profitability pays off and Sopra Steria navigates a wait-and-see market). All three firms have had to deal with a tricky market environment and have leant heavily on the levers of operational efficiency and tech/AI deployment.
At Capita’s Capital Markets Day presentation six months ago (see here), new CEO, Adolfo Hernandez outlined the company’s plans for “getting smaller to get stronger and fitter to then grow”. In this morning’s release he remains optimistic that the actions being taken will help to drive profitable revenue momentum from 2025 onwards. However, investors have yet to be convinced with Capita’s share price at the time of writing approximately where it was back in July 2024 (c.14p).
Highlights from the financials released saw adjusted revenue decline -8.0% to £2.4bn, reflecting the impact of prior year losses, some volume reductions in its Contact Centre business, and the cessation of lower margin service lines as planned. Adjusted operating profit increased 5.5% to £95.9m as major cost cutting initiatives and redundancies (delivering £90m savings) more than offset revenue decline. Some of the key profitability metrics improved such as reported profit before tax which was £116.6m (vs 2023 loss of -£106.6m), boosted by disposals of Capita One and Fera. Net financial debt reduced to £66.5m (2023: £182.1m) and importantly Customer net promoter score improved significantly to +28 points, up 12 points from 2023 – this has been a big area of weakness for Capita historically. Also, of note the firm’s contract renewal rate grew to 92%, up from 51% in 2023, demonstrating stronger client relationships.
CEO Hernandez has spent the last six months implementing his "Better Capita" strategy focusing on four key pillars:
TechMarketView subscribers can read more on our analysis of Capita’s financial results in UKHotViewsExtra (download here). If you are not yet a subscriber or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription, please contact Belinda Tewson to find out more.
Posted by Marc Hardwick at '08:50' - Tagged: results
The UK Government's recent flurry of defence announcements—promising new innovation bodies, SME support hubs, and a pathway to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence by 2027—arrives at a critical moment for national security. But there's a nagging question: Haven't we seen similar initiatives before?
Since 2016's "Advantage through Innovation" strategy, we've witnessed a proliferation of defence innovation units, accelerators, and funds—each promising to revolutionise how defence capability is developed and delivered. Yet many of the same challenges persist, with procurement timelines still measured in years rather than months and SMEs struggling to navigate the labyrinthine defence establishment.
A January 2025 House of Commons Defence Committee report highlighted this persistent "say-do gap" between MOD's rhetoric on AI and actual implementation, concluding that defence must move from merely being "AI-ready" to becoming truly "AI-native" in its approach.
So, what's different this time? Our analysis suggests the current geopolitical context, combined with a more explicit linkage between defence investment and economic growth, may create conditions for more meaningful change. The government's parallel commitment to reduce international aid in favour of defence spending also signals a distinct shift in national priorities.
For technology suppliers, these developments present significant opportunities—if they can navigate the changing landscape effectively. Our UKHotViewsExtra - UK Defence Innovation: A New Era or History Repeating? | TechMarketView - examines how the various innovation bodies fit together, which technologies are being prioritised, and what strategies suppliers should consider to position advantageously.
As the House of Commons Committee emphasised in its report - Developing AI capacity and expertise in UK defence - in a world where strategic advantage increasingly depends on technological superiority, understanding the direction of UK defence innovation has never been more important. For suppliers in this market, knowing how to "sprint rather than sink" - as outlined in TechMarketView's 2025 research theme (see TechMarketView Research Theme 2025: Sink or Sprint | TechMarketView) - could be the difference between breakthrough success and missed opportunity.
If you are a TechMarketView subscriber, you can read the analysis now. If you are not yet a subscriber – or are unsure if your organisation has a corporate subscription – please contact Belinda Tewson to find out how to access this and much more besides.
Posted by Georgina O'Toole at '10:11'
This week, we commence the second edition of the TCI survey (Spring 2025 edition) continuing to track the confidence of the UK tech scene to help both SITS suppliers and end users understand market sentiment whilst planning and preparing for the period ahead. The report is also available to download to all who are interested without the need to have a TechMarketView subscription in place.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '07:51'
Today, we commence the second edition of the TCI survey (Spring 2025 edition) continuing to track the confidence of the UK tech scene to help both SITS suppliers and end users understand market sentiment whilst planning and preparing for the period ahead. The report is also available to download to all who are interested without the need to have a TechMarketView subscription in place.
Posted by HotViews Editor at '09:30'
