pixel_dreams - Fotolia News Security tests reveal serious vulnerability in government’s One Login digital ID system A ‘red teaming’ exercise to simulate cyber attacks on the government’s flagship digital identity system has found that One Login can be compromised without detection By Bryan Glick, Editor in chief Published: 16 May 2025 12:37 External security tests on the government’s flagship digital identity system, Gov.uk One Login, have found serious vulnerabilities in the live service, Computer Weekly has learned. A “red teaming” exercise conducted in March by IT security consultancy Cyberis discovered that privileged access to One Login can be compromised without detection by security monitoring tools. According to Cyberis, red teaming tests the resilience of systems by simulating the tactics, techniques and procedures of cyber attackers to show how well an organisation can detect and respond to an incident. Computer Weekly has been asked by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) not to reveal further details of the vulnerability while the Government Digital Service (GDS) seeks to fix the problem. Compromising the highest levels of access to a system risks exposing personal data and software code to any cyber attackers able to exploit the vulnerability. A government spokesperson said: “Delivering best practice, we routinely conduct red teaming exercises to test security infrastructure. Where issues are found, we work urgently to resolve them.” The existence of a serious current vulnerability will raise further concerns over the security of One Login, which is intended to be the way that citizens prove their identity and log in to most online government services. There are already six million users of the system, and it is used to access more than 50 online services. Last month, Computer Weekly revealed that GDS was warned by the Cabinet Office in November 2022 and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in September 2023, that One Login had “serious data protection failings” and “significant shortcomings” in information security that could increase the risk of data breaches and identity theft. GDS said the concerns were “outdated” and arose “when the technology was in its infancy in 2023”, despite One Login being used at that time to support live services. “We have worked to address all these concerns as evidenced by multiple external independent assessments. Any suggestion otherwise is unfounded,” said a spokesperson, at the time. A whistleblower first raised security concerns about One Login within GDS as long ago as July 2022. The issues identified included system administration being performed through non-compliant devices with a risk of transmitting security vulnerabilities, such as malware or phishing attacks, that could compromise the live system. The NCSC recommends that system administration for key government services should be conducted from a dedicated device used only for that purpose, known as a privileged access workstation (PAW), or alternatively to use only “browse down” devices, where the security level of the device is always the same or greater than the system being managed. The whistleblower warned that a lack of PAWs and use of browse-up administration were significant risks. Computer Weekly subsequently revealed that the One Login team has yet to fully meet NCSC guidelines – the system only complies with 21 of the 39 outcomes detailed in the NCSC Cyber Assessment Framework (CAF) – an improvement on the five outcomes it successfully followed a year ago. The One Login development team is also yet to fully implement the government’s Secure by Design practices, although GDS said the system “meets these principles”. Earlier this week, we further revealed that One Login had lost its certification against the government’s own trust framework for digital identity systems, after a key technology supplier allowed its certification to lapse and, as a result, One Login was removed from the official accreditation scheme. In a meeting with private sector digital identity providers this week (Wednesday 14 May), DSIT secretary of state Peter Kyle explained how One Login will underpin the forthcoming Gov.uk Wallet, which will be used to deliver digital versions of key government documents, such as driving licences. Kyle talked about the “rapid journey” he hopes the government will take in delivering digital identity services for citizens and stressed the importance that such systems are “delivered safely [and] securely”. The government spokesperson added: “Gov.uk One Login follows the highest security standards for government and private sector services – including dedicated 24/7 eyes-on monitoring and incident response. As the public rightly expects, protecting the security of government services and the data and privacy of users to keep pace with the changing cyber threat landscape is paramount.” Questions are also being asked in Parliament about the security of One Login. In recent weeks, Liberal Democrat peer and digital spokesman Tim Clement-Jones and Conservative peer Simone Finn have separately submitted Parliamentary questions to DSIT asking for reassurances about the system. Finn asked whether the government has “quantified the likelihood and potential impact of insider threats, unauthorised privileged access, and production environment compromise within One Login”. In response, DSIT minister for the future digital economy and online safety, peer Maggie Jones, said: “The Gov.uk One Login team collaborates closely with the NCSC to assess and mitigate risks associated with insider threats, unauthorised privileged access, and production environment compromise, aligning with the Cyber Assessment Framework outlined in the Government Cyber Security Strategy 2022-2030. “While assessments of insider threats have been made, copies of these assessments will not be placed in the Library of the House, as they are part of ongoing security measures and internal governance processes.” Clement-Jones asked: “What steps [the government is] taking to address security issues in the One Login digital identification system?” Jones replied: “One Login follows the highest security standards for government and private sector services. As the public rightly expects, protecting the security of government services and the data and privacy of users to keep pace with the changing cyber threat landscape is paramount. “Security best practice is followed with a number of layered security controls which include: Security clearances for staff with ‘Security Check’ clearance required for all developers with production access; identity and access management controls that block staff from viewing or altering personal information; a secure by design and compartmentalised system architecture; technical controls around building and deployments; logging and monitoring to alert on access to environments that contain personally identifiable information; and robust procedures for addressing any unauthorised or unaccounted for access.” Speaking to Computer Weekly about the security concerns, Clement-Jones said: “How is the government’s flagship digital identity system failing to meet standards so badly, given that it is expected to shortly form an essential part of our immigration controls? We need answers and quickly.”  Read more about One Login Companies House goes live with One Login ID verification – People can verify their identity with Companies House using Gov.uk One Login as the central government body becomes the 36th service to start using the digital identity system. GDS goes serverless to bring personalisation to online government services with One Login – GDS has opened up about the reasons why it’s opted for a serverless infrastructure to underpin One Login, and how it hopes the system will provide UK citizens with a more personalised experience. One Login digital identity project makes headway – Government services are lining up to work with the GDS on its One Login digital identity system, according to its director of digital identity, Natalie Jones. In The Current Issue: UK MoJ crime prediction algorithms raise serious concerns Interview: Markus Schümmelfeder, CIO, Boehringer Ingelheim Download Current Issue GraphQL as an ‘essential protocol’ for AI-API orchestration – CW Developer Network Mind the insight-to-impact gap, Qlik captures analytics ‘in the moment’ – CW Developer Network View All Blogs

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled a new mixed-use development that features spacious balconies inspired by nature on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.Called Oystra, the 128,000 square meter development consists of 950 apartments with one to four bedrooms, duplexes, penthouses, and waterfront villas. The seaside complex offers a wealth of dining, retail, and recreational options.Image © RedvertexWith a population expected to increase by 55% by 2030, Ras Al Khaimah is one of the UAE's fastest-growing emirates, necessitating the construction of an extra 45,000 dwellings to accommodate future demand, as Zaha Hadid Architects explained. The tourism industry in Ras Al Khaimah is also expanding at an unprecedented rate; by 2030, the emirate is expected to receive 3.5 million visitors annually, up from 100,000 in 2013, the firm added.Al Marjan Island's infrastructure is being developed as a top destination in the United Arab Emirates. The island's 23 kilometers of shoreline, which includes 7.8 kilometers of white sand beaches, extend 4.5 kilometers into the Arabian Sea. The island, which has parks, marinas, spa centers, and entertainment venues, is located 45 minutes from Dubai International Airport and 25 minutes from Ras Al Khaimah Airport.Image © RedvertexThe development's flowing geometries, which include expansive balconies and terraces sculpted to mimic the undulating patterns shaped by waves in sand, were designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to provide over 75% of its units with unhindered views of the sea. These balconies protect the interiors from direct sunshine while acting as smooth additions to each apartment's living area.Within its 42,000 square meter plot, which includes landscaped gardens, courtyards, swimming pools, and a beach club with a view of the bay, are Oystra's sculptural 20-story waterfront towers. The 360° infinity pool and rooftop restaurant offer expansive views of the Arabian Sea and Al Marjan Island.Image © RedvertexThrough this protected waterfront path, which is maintained cool by the predominant north-westerly winds that blow inland from the sea, inhabitants have direct access to the tree-lined coastal promenade of Al Marjan Island.Digital mapping analysis optimized the design's external solar shade and improved natural ventilation, while environmental simulations maximized efficiencies in site conditions, structure, and orientation. In addition to an insulating space between the building envelope and the project's façades that get direct sunlight, the development will incorporate seawater-based cooling. In the arid climate of Ras Al Khaimah, these tactics will improve interior comfort while lowering the energy requirement for cooling.Image © Redvertex"Our collaboration with Richmind is the result of shared ambition and creative dialogue. Oystra’s sculptural design is inspired by the natural energies of the sea and the sky, responding to its environment with a sense of dynamism and openness," said Christos Passas, Director at Zaha Hadid Architects."Oystra reflects our passion for visionary design, lifestyle innovation, and a bold approach to shaping spaces that inspire and endure through time. Working with Zaha Hadid Architects has been both a privilege and a purposeful choice. We share a vision rooted in bold thinking, design excellence, and a deep commitment to originality," said Mohammad Rafiee, Chief Executive Officer of Richmind. Image © Redvertex"Al Marjan has become a canvas for exceptional developments, and Oystra is a strong addition to Ras Al Khaimah’s narrative, reflecting the forward-thinking developments that align perfectly with Al Marjan Island's ambition and vision," said Abdulla Al Abdouli, Chief Executive Officer of Marjan.Image © PyxidZaha Hadid Architects recently completed a spaceship-like science and technology museum in Shenzhen. In addition, the firm unveiled design for a new cityzen tower inspired by Tbilisi's rolling hills in Georgia. Project factsClient: RichmindArchitect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)Design: Patrik Schumacher, Christos PassasZHA Project Director: Christos PassasZHA Project Associates: Mei-Ling Lin, Joao Bravo Da Costa, Eider FernandezZHA Project Architects: Sattor Jabbor, Branko Svarcer, Kourosh Asgar IraniZHA Project Leads: Ben Kikkawa, Ekaterina Smirnova, Gaganjit Singh, Anri Gyoloyan, Nassim Eshaghi, Maria BystrovaZHA Project Team: Dahyun Kim, Elizabeth Konstantinidou, Shizhao Yang, Mirella Dourambei, Abdullah Ummer Farook, Ali Rais, Avneesh Rathor, Theodoros Tamvakis, Danae Mavridi, Canon LeeZHA Competition Project Director: Christos PassasZHA Competition Associates: Joao Bravo Da Costa, Mei-Ling LinZHA Competition Project Architects: Ben Kikkawa, Maria Bystrova,ZHA Competition Project Leads: Dieter Matuschke, Akis Polykandriotis, Anri Gyoloyan, Avneesh RathorZHA Competition Team: Abdullah Ummer Farook, Ali Rais, Dahyun Kim, Shizhao Yang, Mirella Dourambei, Theodoros Tamvakis, Gaganjit SinghZHA BIM Team: David Fogliano, Michael O’Reilly, Muaz MasriZHA Environment & Sustainability Team: Carlos Bausa, Bahaa Alnassrallah, Shibani Choudhury, Aleksander Mastalski, Aditya Ambare, Disha Shetty, Abhilash Menon, Jing XuConsultantsExecutive Architect: Dewan Architects and Engineers, DubaiFaçade Engineering: Koltay FacadesM&E Engineering: Samadhin AssociatesTransport Consultant: RMC, DubaiFire Engineer: SHE, DubaiLandscape Consultant: Cracknell LandscapesLighting Design: FPOVInterior Design: HBA, LondonSignage and Wayfinding: TDCWaste Management: Climatize, DubaiThe top image in the article © MIR.> via Zaha Hadid Architects

david_franklin - stock.adobe.com News Post Office scandal inquiry to publish first findings this summer Inquiry announces that findings on compensation and human impact will be presented in the next few months By Karl Flinders, Chief reporter and senior editor EMEA Published: 15 May 2025 10:20 The Post Office scandal public inquiry will publish the first part of its final report this summer, with its findings on compensation and the scandal’s human impact to be made public “as soon as possible”. The inquiry, which lasted about three years, examined a scandal that went on for two decades and saw subpostmasters wrongly blamed and punished for accounting shortfalls. It is described as the widest miscarriage of justice in UK history, and over 700 people have had wrongful convictions overturned as a result of it being fully exposed. Computer Weekly first revealed the Horizon problems in 2009, and has been investigating ever since, including detailed reporting of the inquiry since it began hearing evidence in May 2022. Inquiry chair Wyn Williams, who today made the announcement, said: “Throughout my investigations, I have heard how people have faced unimaginable hardship due to the impacts of the Horizon scandal, from wrongful convictions and financial ruin to broken relationships and severe emotional distress. I have also held several compensation hearings, which have stressed the urgency for people to receive redress that is full, fair and prompt.” He added that the people affected by the scandal should be at the heart of the inquiry’s work. “It seems fitting that my conclusions on the suffering endured by so many, as well as the issue of redress, should be at the forefront of my report and published as soon as feasibly possible,” said Williams. After a High Court victory in 2019, when subpostmasters proved the Horizon computer system they used was to blame for unexplained losses, the first thing campaigner Alan Bates, now Sir Alan, said to Computer Weekly was that he wanted a statutory public inquiry into the scandal. He got it in May 2021, when a government inquiry into the scandal was made statutory. Read a round-up of the full inquiry Post Office Horizon IT scandal inquiry: Three years of shocking revelations. When originally set up as a government department inquiry without the power to call witnesses, there was outrage and accusations of whitewashing. But following pressure from subpostmasters and their supporters, the inquiry was put on a statutory footing, with a judge in charge and the power to call witnesses to give evidence. The inquiry was split into seven phases.  The human impact hearings were shocking, revealing the extreme suffering of people at the hands of the Post Office. Other phases have revealed that the Post Office had knowledge that the Horizon software had bugs when rolled out, prosecution witnesses changed their statements when prompted by the Post Office, and lawyers hid evidence during trials of subpostmasters because it would have made their prosecutions unsafe. It has also featured directors, politicians and civil servants who, whether deliberately or not, contributed to the cover-up. Following Williams’ announcement, Sir Alan Bates said bringing forward the findings involving financial redress was vital. “It is good that things will start to appear, albeit in sections,” he said. “The chair is right in his comments because it is the priority in all this,” said Bates. “I just hope it helps bring swift resolution to all the outstanding problems. We have to find, one way or another, a way of getting [financial redress] done.” The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters and the problems they suffered due to Horizon accounting software, which led to the most widespread miscarriage of justice in British history. Read detailed coverage of the entire public inquiry by Computer Weekly Read more about phase one of the public inquiry: The British people are waking up to the scandal that happened under their noses. Read a round-up of phase two: Post Office scandal – ‘cock-up or cook-up’? Read a round-up of phase three: Post Office scandal – cover-up a ‘dark chapter’ in government, corporate and legal history. Read a round-up of phase four: Post Office scandal: Phase four’s rogues’ gallery. Read a round-up of the combined phases five and six: Post Office scandal: Phases 5 and 6 had islands of conscientiousness in great depths of neglect. Read a round up of phase seven: Post Office scandal: Inquiry’s final phase exposes dysfunction past and present. In The Current Issue: UK MoJ crime prediction algorithms raise serious concerns Interview: Markus Schümmelfeder, CIO, Boehringer Ingelheim Download Current Issue Mind the insight-to-impact gap, Qlik captures analytics ‘in the moment’ – CW Developer Network Safer Sharknado: Sysdig donates Stratoshark to Wireshark Foundation – Open Source Insider View All Blogs

It hasn’t been that long since Apple had no status at all in enterprise IT. Its products were used in some creative departments and at home, but that’s as far as things went. The iPod and iPhone changed all that, even while general exposure to powerful mobile tech transformed perceptions around what to expect from the tools you use at work. The Apple user experience is the company’s biggest not-so-secret weapon, and it is interesting that even decades since the first PCs appeared, Apple still delivers intuitive user experiences  people enjoy using. Consumer simple, enterprise ready Those user experiences have generated expectations, and as my old chum Dean Hager, former Jamf CEO liked to describe it, people entering the workplace wanted the systems they used there to be as easy and intuitive to understand as the Apple products they used elsewhere. Apple’s user experience eventually became something incoming enterprise employees expected — many would simply quit their job if they were using crummier tech at work than they were at home. At the end of the day, Apple won the enterprise one consumer user at a time. But the other piece to Apple’s success is that organizations that have deployed Apple products at scale have experienced significant improvements on their bottom line. Multiple reports tell us employees are happier using Apple products, they’re more productive using Apple products, and spend less on tech support on Apple products than on PCs. Staff retention rates improve even as productivity grows — and the reduced tech support costs make life easier for IT and dramatically reduce the Total Cost of Ownership of an Apple fleet.  How Apple wins for enterprise IT None of this came easy. Apple had to take its basic product (the Mac) and its OS X operating system and figure out how to best apply that tech to mobile devices. That’s what we began to get with the iPod and saw in living Technicolor with the iPhone; Apple took the power of computing and placed it inside the device you always have with you – your phone. Of course, the ability to run more complex applications on your iPhone made it possible for employees to get more work done using the device, which spawned the Bring Your Own Device wave that really began to express itself around 2010. Not only did employees want to be able to use the same platform at work as at home, but they also wanted to use the same mobile devices at work as at home. The biggest evidence of that was the abject failure of Windows Mobile as it showed people didn’t want to use the same PC they used at work in their mobile existences; they remained hooked on experience Apple’s ease-of-use.  They did then.  They do now. The evidence is everywhere You can see this is the direction of travel each time you read yet another report explaining Apple’s growing enterprise sales across all of its products, or the fast-proliferating number of Very Large Indeed Apple deployments at giant global companies. Not to mention that once employee choice schemes are put in place, the majority of employees seem to prefer Apple to any other platform. While it’s still early days on spatial computing, we can already see Vision Pro devices staking spaces across key industries as Apple takes what was once more or less the Mac experience and makes it both ambient and hyper-mobile. Spatial computing isn’t just about computing that surrounds you, it’s about computing that takes you there. Along this journey, Apple has thought deeply about what it offers and attempted to take down barriers to enterprise deployment. That’s why the company provides APIs for Mobile Device Management; that’s why it has high-grade security features I’m certain the company’s own CEO also uses, such as Lockdown Mode; that’s also why it remains so deeply committed to delivering regular software and hardware updates, so no enterprise professionals find themselves left insecure or abandoned on their workplace tech journey.  Want to do more? You can, thanks to the company’s’ rich set of developer tools, which provide a robust environment for enterprise development and integration.  Support and updates The fact that Apple’s hardware is reliable is also good for enterprise sales. Coupled with annual software updates that bring sometimes-exciting new features, user engagement remains high throughout the usable life of these devices, which now usually extends to an easy five years. Once that time is up, the resilience and reliability of the devices means they still fetch good value in the second-user markets; most major purchasers might also draw reassurance that the recycling and salvaging of the products will have some impact on their own carbon targets.  Enterprises also like reliability for another reason, it helps them plan ahead.  Not only do they know that it is unlikely Apple will make too many major changes (though we do experience smaller ones), but they also know that unlike Windows 11, you will not wake one morning to find your PC has been updated to a new operating system without consent. These little communications do count, particularly if you are running several hundred systems in your fleet. You also cannot ignore the impact of the CrowdStrike debacle on that lovely feeling of peace and calm enterprises perhaps enjoyed before it took place. Apple’s platform security may not be something we can take for granted any longer, but it still exists — and while it makes sense to stay watchful, it remains unmatched. Its major software updates remain free (at least until regulators utterly wreck the company’s business). That’s always an easy budget line item at the end of the day.  What Apple gets wrong It is interesting, given all that it gets right, the extent to which critics like to focus on what Apple gets wrong. Some of the most common criticisms could translate into easy wins for Apple: Yes, I think it should provide more in-depth granular information to assist enterprise IT deployments, but I would also argue that its free certification courses remain the best possible way to find the answers you need to begin managing larger or newer Apple deployments. Those courses are free, well-constructed and give you a thorough grounding for this work. Though I would really like Apple to give Configurator the power to register multiple devices at once – and a little more automation would come in useful to a lot of admins, particularly in the education sector.  But what’s super-interesting about so many of the criticisms made around Apple in the enterprise is that they tend toward being smaller, more granular problems that the company could conceivably resolve once it stops pouring all of its R&D resources into AI development.  And that’s my point, really — to quietly point out that the nature of the criticisms Apple’s current enterprise solutions receive actually reflect how successfully it has penetrated the sector. It is now being asked to solve really complex questions that reflect the myriad complexities of enterprise IT requirements. It won’t solve all of them overnight, but its progress in the sector since earlier this century suggests it will probably get around to resolving many of them, one challenge at a time. And, rest assured, while Apple never speaks about it, I’m confident that the company does actually read criticism; it just needs to be selective concerning which challenges to solve first. And at times it must also consider whether those challenges will still be relevant a few years as tech deployment requirements change. Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" Zaha Hadid Architects has unveiled a new mixed-use development that features spacious balconies inspired by nature on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.Called Oystra, the 128,000 square meter development consists of 950 apartments with one to four bedrooms, duplexes, penthouses, and waterfront villas. The seaside complex offers a wealth of dining, retail, and recreational options.Image © RedvertexWith a population expected to increase by 55% by 2030, Ras Al Khaimah is one of the UAE's fastest-growing emirates, necessitating the construction of an extra 45,000 dwellings to accommodate future demand, as Zaha Hadid Architects explained. The tourism industry in Ras Al Khaimah is also expanding at an unprecedented rate; by 2030, the emirate is expected to receive 3.5 million visitors annually, up from 100,000 in 2013, the firm added.Al Marjan Island's infrastructure is being developed as a top destination in the United Arab Emirates. The island's 23 kilometers of shoreline, which includes 7.8 kilometers of white sand beaches, extend 4.5 kilometers into the Arabian Sea. The island, which has parks, marinas, spa centers, and entertainment venues, is located 45 minutes from Dubai International Airport and 25 minutes from Ras Al Khaimah Airport.Image © RedvertexThe development's flowing geometries, which include expansive balconies and terraces sculpted to mimic the undulating patterns shaped by waves in sand, were designed by Zaha Hadid Architects to provide over 75% of its units with unhindered views of the sea. These balconies protect the interiors from direct sunshine while acting as smooth additions to each apartment's living area.Within its 42,000 square meter plot, which includes landscaped gardens, courtyards, swimming pools, and a beach club with a view of the bay, are Oystra's sculptural 20-story waterfront towers. The 360° infinity pool and rooftop restaurant offer expansive views of the Arabian Sea and Al Marjan Island.Image © RedvertexThrough this protected waterfront path, which is maintained cool by the predominant north-westerly winds that blow inland from the sea, inhabitants have direct access to the tree-lined coastal promenade of Al Marjan Island.Digital mapping analysis optimized the design's external solar shade and improved natural ventilation, while environmental simulations maximized efficiencies in site conditions, structure, and orientation. In addition to an insulating space between the building envelope and the project's façades that get direct sunlight, the development will incorporate seawater-based cooling. In the arid climate of Ras Al Khaimah, these tactics will improve interior comfort while lowering the energy requirement for cooling.Image © Redvertex"Our collaboration with Richmind is the result of shared ambition and creative dialogue. Oystra’s sculptural design is inspired by the natural energies of the sea and the sky, responding to its environment with a sense of dynamism and openness," said Christos Passas, Director at Zaha Hadid Architects."Oystra reflects our passion for visionary design, lifestyle innovation, and a bold approach to shaping spaces that inspire and endure through time. Working with Zaha Hadid Architects has been both a privilege and a purposeful choice. We share a vision rooted in bold thinking, design excellence, and a deep commitment to originality," said Mohammad Rafiee, Chief Executive Officer of Richmind. Image © Redvertex"Al Marjan has become a canvas for exceptional developments, and Oystra is a strong addition to Ras Al Khaimah’s narrative, reflecting the forward-thinking developments that align perfectly with Al Marjan Island's ambition and vision," said Abdulla Al Abdouli, Chief Executive Officer of Marjan.Image © PyxidZaha Hadid Architects recently completed a spaceship-like science and technology museum in Shenzhen. In addition, the firm unveiled design for a new cityzen tower inspired by Tbilisi's rolling hills in Georgia. Project factsClient: RichmindArchitect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)Design: Patrik Schumacher, Christos PassasZHA Project Director: Christos PassasZHA Project Associates: Mei-Ling Lin, Joao Bravo Da Costa, Eider FernandezZHA Project Architects: Sattor Jabbor, Branko Svarcer, Kourosh Asgar IraniZHA Project Leads: Ben Kikkawa, Ekaterina Smirnova, Gaganjit Singh, Anri Gyoloyan, Nassim Eshaghi, Maria BystrovaZHA Project Team: Dahyun Kim, Elizabeth Konstantinidou, Shizhao Yang, Mirella Dourambei, Abdullah Ummer Farook, Ali Rais, Avneesh Rathor, Theodoros Tamvakis, Danae Mavridi, Canon LeeZHA Competition Project Director: Christos PassasZHA Competition Associates: Joao Bravo Da Costa, Mei-Ling LinZHA Competition Project Architects: Ben Kikkawa, Maria Bystrova,ZHA Competition Project Leads: Dieter Matuschke, Akis Polykandriotis, Anri Gyoloyan, Avneesh RathorZHA Competition Team: Abdullah Ummer Farook, Ali Rais, Dahyun Kim, Shizhao Yang, Mirella Dourambei, Theodoros Tamvakis, Gaganjit SinghZHA BIM Team: David Fogliano, Michael O’Reilly, Muaz MasriZHA Environment & Sustainability Team: Carlos Bausa, Bahaa Alnassrallah, Shibani Choudhury, Aleksander Mastalski, Aditya Ambare, Disha Shetty, Abhilash Menon, Jing XuConsultantsExecutive Architect: Dewan Architects and Engineers, DubaiFaçade Engineering: Koltay FacadesM&E Engineering: Samadhin AssociatesTransport Consultant: RMC, DubaiFire Engineer: SHE, DubaiLandscape Consultant: Cracknell LandscapesLighting Design: FPOVInterior Design: HBA, LondonSignage and Wayfinding: TDCWaste Management: Climatize, DubaiThe top image in the article © MIR.> via Zaha Hadid Architects

Why The Fuck Are Democrats Helping Build MAGA’s Censorship Machine With KOSA? from the what-are-we-even-doing-here? dept Wed, May 14th 2025 10:57am - Mike Masnick The Trump administration is methodically implementing every element of Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 censorship playbook, and Democratic leadership’s response is… to help them? Earlier today, Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal joined MAGA Republicans to reintroduce the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) — a bill that Heritage itself has proudly proclaimed as central to its strategy of censoring progressive content around LGBTQ issues and abortion. The new bill appears to be effectively identical to last year’s version. It raises a huge question of… what the fuck are they thinking? The press release touts its “bipartisan” nature, with Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal sponsoring the bill, alongside Marsha Blackburn and John Thune. Last year, when Heritage Foundation declared its desire to use KOSA to censor LGBTQ content and announced it would leverage the bill to remove pro-abortion content if Trump won, perhaps some could dismiss it as empty rhetoric. But now? The Trump administration is systematically implementing every element of Heritage’s Project 2025 censorship playbook. There’s no more room for wishful thinking about how KOSA might be used. And yet, Democrats seem to act as if none of that is happening, and we can just assume good faith in how KOSA will be implemented and enforced by an FTC that has loudly proclaimed its willingness to conduct partisan, culture war witch hunts on behalf of Project 2025’s goals. Yes, we expect Richard Blumenthal to reflexively support any anti-internet bill. But Chuck Schumer? After everything we’ve seen, how can Democratic leadership still pretend there’s any good faith here? Trump is already using every available tool to wage his censorial culture wars. Heritage has explicitly laid out how they’ll use KOSA to silence progressive voices. What possible justification could there be for Democrats to hand them an even more powerful weapon? Even some Republicans recognize the danger here. Senator Rand Paul has consistently maintained that censoring the internet won’t help children. And last year, House GOP members actually stopped the bill after realizing it was a censorship tool that could be used against their own speech. But now that Trump has won (and the GOP acts as though there will never be another free election), that objection may evaporate. The bill’s lead sponsor, Marsha Blackburn, was already openly stating last year that her support for KOSA was about using it to censor LGBTQ content. That was before Trump’s victory made Heritage’s censorship plans a reality. So here we are: Heritage Foundation explicitly laid out their plans to weaponize KOSA against progressive speech. Marsha Blackburn openly admitted it’s about censoring LGBTQ content. The Trump administration is systematically implementing every element of Project 2025’s censorship agenda. And the FTC stands ready to enforce it all. Yet Democratic leadership isn’t just standing idle — they’re actively helping to build the machinery of censorship that will be used against their own constituents. Either Schumer and Blumenthal are catastrophically naive, or they’ve simply decided that appearing “bipartisan” matters more than protecting vulnerable communities from state-sponsored censorship. The real question isn’t what they’re thinking. It’s whether they’re thinking at all.

Flyalone - Adobe News Humphrey AI tool powers Scottish Parliament consultation AI-powered Consult tool has helped the Scottish Parliament to organise feedback from a public consultation into themes By Cliff Saran, Managing Editor Published: 14 May 2025 10:15 The government has said a new tool called Consult, based on its artificial intelligence (AI)-based suite Humphrey, has been used to analyse a recent consultation from the Scottish Parliament looking at regulation for non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The trial has the potential to save the government a significant amount of admin time and cost in the analysis of feedback from experts and members of the general public in response to policy proposals. The trial used the AI tool for analysing comments from experts and the public. According to the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), using AI to process consultation responses has the potential to save officials 75,000 days of manual analysis every year, which costs £20m in staffing costs.DSIT said Consult was able to summarise what the public had told the government in response to a consultation for the first time – providing nearly identical results to the manual work officials tasked with analysing public consultations. Reviewing comments from more than 2,000 consultation responses using generative AI, Consult identified key themes from the feedback across each of six qualitative questions. The themes were checked and refined by experts in the Scottish government, then Consult was used to categories individual responses by theme. DSIT said this gave officials more time to examine the details of the responses and evaluate the policy implications of feedback received. As this was the first time Consult was used on a live consultation, experts at the Scottish government manually reviewed every response. The trial found that when looking to the work of a human reviewing the consultation feedback responses manually compared to Consult, differences in reviewers’ interpretation of the comments received had a negligible impact on how themes were ranked overall. Commenting on the trial, technology secretary Peter Kyle said: “After demonstrating such promising results, Humphrey will help us cut the costs of governing and make it easier to collect and comprehensively review what experts and the public are telling us on a range of crucial issues. “The Scottish government has taken a bold first step. Very soon, I’ll be using Consult, within Humphrey, in my own department and others in Whitehall will be using it too – speeding up our work to deliver the Plan for Change.” Consult is part of the Humphrey bundle of AI tools designed to speed up the work of civil servants and cut back time spent on admin, and money spent on contractors and forms part of the government’s plan to make better use of technology across public services, in a bid to target the £45bn in productivity savings. Feedback from officials who worked with Consult from the Scottish government on this first live test included comments such as “pleasantly surprised”, while others said it provided a “useful starting point” in the initial analysis. According to DSIT, the feedback from the people who worked on the trial consultation suggests that Consult can reduce human biases, which makes the analysis of feedback more consistent. The government plans to use Consult on major consultations without officials manually reviewing every response individually. However, DSIT said officials will always review the themes and how responses are sorted into them through an interactive dashboard that will allow them to filter and search for insights. Read more stories about government AI Interview – Feryal Clark, AI and digital government minister, DSIT: Computer Weekly talks to the parliamentary under-secretary about digital identity, the importance of trust and utilising the power of artificial intelligence. Goverment overhauls AI funding to drive agility: A startup mindset is at the heart of a Labour’s approach to how it wants to speed up AI innovation in the public sector. In The Current Issue: UK MoJ crime prediction algorithms raise serious concerns Interview: Markus Schümmelfeder, CIO, Boehringer Ingelheim Download Current Issue NordVPN goes full GUI on Linux – Open Source Insider The ongoing AI-automation convergence, and what this means for the enterprise – Data Matters View All Blogs

agsandrew - stock.adobe.com News UKRI must do more to drive innovation agenda and avoid fraud The UKR’s funding of research and innovation to support the government’s growth strategy has room for improvement. By Cliff Saran, Managing Editor Published: 14 May 2025 0:01 The UKRI, the largest single public funder of research and innovation in the UK, needs funding assurance. The UK research and innovation: Providing support through grants report by the National Audit Committee (NAO) found that the organisation’s ongoing challenges include a lack of joined-up direction from government departments; inefficient data systems; and the need to consider how to further support well-managed risk-taking through organisational culture. The report found a lack of coordination in how the government expects UKRI to support the delivery of a range of objectives. The UKRI uses its budget to support the government’s research and innovation agenda. Given the multi-year nature of UKRI’s investments, it needs to make a high level of financial commitments into future financial years, which, the NAO said, limits the budget available to respond to emerging government priorities through initiating new programmes.  Due to the broad nature of UKRI’s activity, government departments indicate their policy priorities to UKRI through a variety of means, including ad hoc and routine meetings, government strategies and mission statements, and spending review budgets. However, the NAO reported that these are not consolidated or ranked. The report’s authors found that since its establishment, UKRI has been grappling with consolidating the data of its predecessor organisations, which ran separate systems and had data quality issues. Although it has now developed a system to classify grants by theme algorithmically, based on the award title and description, tracking or analysing other aspects of spending across UKRI remains a difficult manual exercise. The NAO was told by UKRI that around 15% of its grants do not have a full description on its system or the descriptions are poor quality, which means that spending on these grants cannot be accurately automatically classified. There are also issues relating to fraud. The NAO reported that the counter-fraud team at the UKRI is under-staffed, which means there is a backlog of cases and limited capacity for preventative work. The report from the NAO found that in 2023-24, UKRI investigated suspected fraud on £42.6m of grants. It identified £4.6m of fraud; prevented £13.5m and recovered £80,000. The NAO noted that UKRI has recognised there are issues with its approach to fraud, and said it was reorganising its risk, assurance, counter-fraud and corporate governance team. According to the NAO report, the UKRI is working on a new counter-fraud strategy and a new approach to funding assurance; has recruited new staff; and begun efforts to improve team culture and update fraud risk assessments. The NAO was told to expect improvements by September 2025. Read more stories about UKRI Government funding to help businesses discover AI value: The government is betting the bank on the power of artificial intelligence to fix the public sector, mend roads and boost the UK economy. Government boosts Horizon R&D campaign: As part of its Plan for Change, Labour is ramping up efforts to get more UK businesses to apply for Horizon funding. The authors of the report concluded that UKRI, which spends around £9bn annually, needs to establish a strong approach to understand how its work is providing a return on investment for taxpayers. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “UKRI plays a key role in supporting a substantial and successful R&I system, seeking to take a high risk, high reward approach to grant funding. However, it lacks any measurable objectives to track progress and does not have the right data to manage grant spending strategically. “For the nation to remain global leaders in R&I, UKRI must do more to support its decision-makers, foster resilience and ensure our systems can continue to respond to emerging challenges.” In The Current Issue: UK MoJ crime prediction algorithms raise serious concerns Interview: Markus Schümmelfeder, CIO, Boehringer Ingelheim Download Current Issue NordVPN goes full GUI on Linux – Open Source Insider The ongoing AI-automation convergence, and what this means for the enterprise – Data Matters View All Blogs

Find out how Unreal Engine 5 enabled a small indie team to design and deliver a uniquely themed puzzle experience that satirizes the use of AI to create machine-generated game content.

The International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia,  has returned, with its grand opening held in early May. The exhibition runs until November 23, 2025 The Canada Council for the Arts, Commissioner of Canada’s official participation in the International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, administers the selection process and oversees the exhibition at the Canada Pavilion. But in addition to the Canada Pavilion, Canadian architects and designers have a presence in several other exhibitions that are part of this year’s festival. Here’s a round-up of the Canadian work in Venice. Picoplanktonics. Photo credit: Valentina Mori Picoplanktonics led by Living Room Collective Canada’s official entry to the Biennale is Picoplanktonics, a 3D-printed living artwork incorporating cyanobacteria—a global first at the intersection of architecture, biotechnology, and art. The exhibition, developed by the Living Room Collective, showcases the potential for collaboration between humans and nature. Picoplanktonics is an exploration of the potential to co-operate with living systems by co-constructing spaces that “remediate the planet rather than exploit it.” The installation transforms the Canada Pavilion into an aquatic micro-ecosystem, where architectural structures grow, evolve, and naturally degrade alongside their living components. It was designed according to regenerative architecture principles, and is not only a built object, but also a breathing organism interacting with its environment, which prompts reflection on potential futures of the built environment. The creative team is led by bio-designer Andrea Shin Ling, alongside core team members Nicholas Hoban, Vincent Hui and Clayton Lee. Etude Ile Verte by Atelier Pierre Thibault. Photo credit Alex Lesage Les boucaneries de l’île Verte by Atelier Pierre Thibault Atelier Pierre Thibault has been invited to participate in this year’s Venice Biennale as the only team from Québec. His project is inspired by the old fish smokehouses, or boucaneries, of Île Verte. With the support of the fifty permanent residents of Île Verte, Atelier Pierre Thibault has designed a participatory architectural project that aims to reinterpret the boucaneries as creative canvases to imagine new uses to strengthen Île Verte’s autonomy. This includes community greenhouses, artist studios, and gathering places. The exhibition aims to highlight, as Thibault puts it, “the strength of a sensitive and collective gesture in response to the erosion of traditional buildings and the major climate challenges faced by inhabitants living year-round in an isolated island environment.” The construction of the installations, along with the exchanges sparked with the community, was documented through photography and video, and captures both the process and the spirit of collaboration that defined the project. Celebrating the Verdoyants’ collective intelligence and inviting reflection on the future of the boucaneries, this participatory project highlights the exemplary and internationally resonant nature of this approach. The Atelier Pierre Thibault project will be on view at the Corderie dell’Arsenale. The pavilion itself will take the form of a temporary, lightweight structure constructed from reused materials, situated on the grounds of the French Pavilion, which is currently undergoing renovation. The curators have selected 50 projects to be featured across six thematic sections: Living With the Existing, the Immediate, the Broken, Vulnerabilities, Nature, and Combined Intelligences. Image courtesy of WZMH Architects Speedstac by WZMH Architects as part of Living With…Combined Intelligences  As part of the exhibition “Living With… Combined Intelligences,” WZMH Architects presents Speedstac, a prefabricated modular precast solution that aims to reimagine how urban areas devastated by war can be rebuilt. Originally designed to accelerate housing construction in Canada, Speedstac took on urgent new relevance following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With more than 170,000 buildings damaged or destroyed and millions displaced, WZMH’s innovation, developed through its R&D lab, sparkbird, aims to offer a scalable solution: self-contained, plug-and-play building modules with integrated electrical and plumbing systems that can be seamlessly inserted into existing structures. The use of modern materials such as high-performance concrete can reduce the weight of the modules, making them easier to lift and move using conventional crane equipment. Using a robust locking mechanism, several modules can be securely fastened and unfastened as needed, to produce an adaptive modular housing solution. The Speedstac system aims to offer a solution to the challenges of traditional construction methods, enabling faster, more flexible, and more sustainable building projects. The Vivre Avec / Living With exhibition is hosted in the French Pavilion. Presentation, Northern Horizons. Photo credit: Blouin Orzes architectes Northern Horizons by Blouin Orzes architectes as part of Time Space Existence  Through a wide selection of projects—ranging from conceptual works, models and photographs to videos, sculptures and site-specific installations—the exhibition Time Space Existence, hosted by the European Cultural Centre, aims to provoke participants to question their relationship with space and time, re-envisioning new ways of living and rethinking architecture through a larger lens. Quebec firm Blouin Orzes’ participation revolves around their first-hand understanding of Inuit territories, where they have been working since 2000. Their contribution is based on their  recent publication, Northern Journeys. Blouin Orzes’ contribution in on display at the Palazzo Mora, and additional contributions to Time Space Existence are on view at the Palazzo Bembo and Marinaressa Gardens. View of Commercial and Residential Towers from Seymour and West Georgia Streets. Image credit: Henriquez Partners Studio BC Glass Sea Sponge Another contribution to Time Space Existence is the work of Henriquez Partners Studio. The transformative mixed-use development which they are presenting merges architectural innovation, social responsibility and urban revitalization, and has recently been submitted to the City of Vancouver. The project is about ambitious city-building, and aims to unlock public benefits on currently underutilized land in a way that supports some of the city’s most urgent needs, while contributing bold architecture to the city skyline. Four towers, designed by Henriquez, draw inspiration from rare and ancient glass sea sponge reefs, whose ecological strength and resilience have shaped both form and structure. These living marine organisms, which are unique to the Pacific Northwest, aim to serve as a metaphor for regeneration and adaptation. This concept is translated through the architectural language of the towers: silhouettes, sculptural forms, and sustainable performance. The tallest tower, a stand-alone hotel, proposed at 1,033 feet, is shaped by a structural diagrid exoskeleton that allows for column-free interiors while maximizing strength and minimizing material use. Developed in collaboration with Arup, the structural system references the skeletal lattice of sea sponges; a concept researched at Harvard for its groundbreaking structural efficiency. Henriquez Partners’  contribution is on display at Palazzo Bembo. Renewal Development Shishalh Project Duplex Renderings – Image credit: Renewal Development Shíshálh Nation: Ten Home Rescue Project as part of theLiving With / Vivre avec exhibition Vancouver-based company Renewal Development has been selected to appear as part of the French Pavilion’s exhibition on housing innovation. In 2024, Renewal Development partnered with developer Wesgroup and the shíshálh Nation to relocate ten high value Port Moody homes set for demolition to the shíshálh Nation on the Sunshine Coast. The Nation has been experiencing an acute housing shortage with 900 Nation members currently on a waitlist for housing. Renewal Development says that this initiative reflects its “deeply held values of sustainability, and reconciliation” and its “work to offer real-world solutions to waste and housing shortages by reimagining what already exists.” The project will be on display in the French Pavilion. The following is a list of other Canadian groups and individuals contributing to this year’s Venice Biennale: On Storage Brendan Cormier is a Canadian writer, curator, and urban designer based in London. He is currently the lead curator of 20th and 21st Century Design for the Shekou Partnership at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Prior to this he served as the managing editor of Volume Magazine. La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London present for the ninth consecutive year the Applied Arts Pavilion Special Project titled On Storage, curated by Brendan Cormier, in collaboration with Diller, Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). It explores the global architecture of storage in service of the circulation of things, and features a newly commissioned six-channel film directed by DS+R. From Liquid to Stone: A Reconfigurable Concrete Tectonic Against Obsolescence Inge Donovan, based in Boston, achieved her Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Design and Architectural History, Theory and Criticism from the Daniels Faculty of Architecture at the University of Toronto in 2019 after growing up in Nova Scotia, Canada. The Curse of Dimensionality Adeline Chum is currently a Graduate Research Assistant at the Center for Spatial Research and third-year student in the MArch Program at GSAPP. She has received her Bachelor of Architectural Studies from the University of Waterloo, Canada and has worked in small and medium-sized architecture firms in Toronto, New York, and London. Oceanic Refractions Elise Misao Hunchuck, born in Toronto and currently based Berlin and Milan, is a transdisciplinary researcher, editor, writer, and educator. Her practice brings together architecture, landscape architecture, and media studies to research sites in Canada, Japan, China, and Ukraine, employing text, images, and cartographies to document, explore, and archive the co-constitutive relationships between plants, animals, and minerals—in all of their forms. SpaceSuits.Us: A Case for Ultra Thin Adjustments Charles Kim is a designer currently based in Boston. Stemming from his background in architecture, he is interested in materials, DIY, and the aesthetics of affordability. Since graduating from Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2022, he has been working as an architectural designer at Utile. Uncommon Knowledge: Plants as Sensors Sonia Sobrino Ralston is a designer, researcher, and educator, and is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor in Landscape Architecture and Art + Design at Northeastern University in the College of Arts, Media, and Design. She is interested in the intersections between landscape, architecture, and the history of technology. Doxiadis’ Informational Modernism Mark Wasiuta is Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Columbia GSAPP and Co-Director of the Critical, Curatorial and Conceptual Practices in Architecture program. Wasiuta is recipient of recent grants from the Onassis Foundation, the Asian Cultural Council, NYSCA, and the Graham Foundation, where he was an inaugural Graham Foundation Fellow. Blue Garden: The Architecture of Emergence Tanvi Khurmi, based in London, UK, is a multidisciplinary designer and artist. Her practice is focused on addressing and combatting issues surrounding the climate crisis. After receiving a Bachelor’s in Architecture with a minor in Environmental Studies from the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture at the University of Toronto, she earned a Masters of Architecture in Bio-Integrated Design at the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London. Design as an Astronaut Dr. Cody Paige is the Director of the Space Exploration Initiative at the MIT Media Lab, a team of 50+ students, faculty, and staff building and flying advanced technology for space exploration. The Initiative focuses on helping students take their research into space. The pipeline developed to achieve this works with students from across the Media Lab and the MIT community to prototype space-related research in the lab, fly and test them in microgravity on parabolic and suborbital flights, and finally to take them to the International Space Station or on to the Moon. Cody also has a background in geology, specifically quaternary geochronology, and completed her Master of Applied Science at the University of Toronto in Aerospace Engineering and her Bachelor of Applied Science from Queen’s University in Engineering Physics.   The post Round-up: Canadian-led exhibitions at the 2025 Venice Biennale appeared first on Canadian Architect.