Facebook unveils $100m support package for news industry March 30, 2020 Facebook today said it will invest $100m (£80.6m) to support the news industry as the coronavirus crisis decimates advertising revenue. The social media firm said $25m will be given as emergency grant funding for local news through the Facebook Journalism Project, while $75m will be granted as additional marketing spend for news organisations around the [...]
Tiger Global builds stake in Tiktok owner Bytedance March 30, 2020 Tiger Global Management is said to have built up a stake in Tiktok owner Bytedance as it looks to cash in on the growing popularity of the short-form video platform. The New York-based investment firm — also known as the Tiger Fund — revealed the stake in a letter to investors this week. Tiger Global [...]
Digital tax will unlock business productivity March 30, 2020 | Sponsored Unlocking UK business productivity, making it easier to get tax right and providing the catalyst needed to get UK business to adopt digital technologies; the goals of Making Tax Digital (MTD) are lofty. These are extremely difficult times for all of us and HMRC is committed to helping in every way possible all those businesses [...]
Why the future of Britain’s startups hangs in the balance March 30, 2020 Britain is blessed with one of the healthiest technology industries in the world. We are creating more tech unicorns – companies valued at over $1bn – than anywhere else in Europe. Globally, we are only behind giants America and China. Over the past decade, Britain created a veritable paddock of 63 unicorns. Our tech scene [...]
COVID-19 and cyber: Critical actions for employees and business to take now March 30, 2020 | City Talk Recent weeks have been challenging for us all on so many fronts. Most importantly businesses have had to prioritise the health of society whilst doing their very best to keep things on track. Each day has brought new challenges as employees rapidly adapt to new ways of working. How can businesses maintain operational resilience and [...]
Coronavirus: Government slams ‘breath holding’ advice amid fake news crackdown March 30, 2020 Specialist government units have been forced to rubbish claims that holding your breath for 10 seconds is a test for coronavirus amid a surge in misinformation about the pandemic. Number 10’s Rapid Response Unit identified the claim in posts circulating on Facebook and Whatsapp that claimed to come from a board member at Stanford Hospital. [...]
Coronavirus: Deliveroo to provide 500,000 free meals to NHS staff March 29, 2020 Deliveroo has pledged to deliver 500,000 free meals to NHS workers across the country as the UK gears up for the peak of the coronavirus outbreak. The delivery firm said it has begun providing meals to NHS trusts, while customers will be able to donate funds to buy food for doctors and nurses through its [...]
Oneweb files for bankruptcy after Softbank funding talks fall through March 29, 2020 Space broadband firm Oneweb has filed for bankruptcy and laid off most of its staff after failing to drum up additional funding from investors including largest shareholder Softbank. The London-based startup, which was building a network of satellites to provide global broadband coverage, on Friday said it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in [...]
Top scientists tap gamers to model spread of coronavirus March 29, 2020 The scientist whose predictions about coronavirus prompted a nationwide lockdown has teamed up with gamers to launch a simulation mapping the potential spread of the pandemic. Professor Neil Ferguson, a top data modeller at Imperial College London, is working with John Carmack, chief technology officer at Oculus VR and lead programmer on video games Wolfenstein [...]
Coronavirus: Why the pandemic is a hotbed for cyber attacks March 28, 2020 On 14 March, computer systems at the University Hospital Brno in Czech Republic gradually began to fail. The hospital — the second largest in the country and home to one of its key coronavirus testing laboratories — had been hit by a cyber attack. Several well-known hacker groups have since issued statements vowing not to [...]