Telehouse has announced plans to further expand its campus in London's Docklands area by adding a new, 31,000 square metre data centre.

The new facility, which will be the Telehouse’s fifth data centre in London Docklands, will stretch across six floors and have a total power capacity of 30MVA. Located approximately 300m away from the existing Telehouse London Docklands data centres, it will be connected to them with the help of a network of existing fibre-optic cables.

The company announced that the new facility will offer the same credentials as the currently-existing Dockland campus buildings, providing a “flexible, scalable infrastructure” for enterprises seeking “a highly secure operating environment” as well as the ability to interconnect with a variety of cloud, network and IT service providers.

The first floor of the new data centre will host around 500 racks and is scheduled to become available to customers in early 2022. The further five floors are to follow later, with no date specified at the time of going to press.

Commenting on the announcement, Telehouse Europe managing director Ken Sakai said that the “latest investment demonstrates our continued support for the UK market”.

“London is one of the most critical interconnection points in the world and plays a major role in facilitating the flow of data that supports the growing digital economy. The new data centre will ensure we are well-positioned to continue this growth, service our customers’ needs and meet future demand,” he said.

The news of the development coincides with the 30th anniversary of the launch of Telehouse’s first London data centre.

The Mayor of London and AI research centre CognitionX plan to conduct a study into the potential of AI technology and how it's already being used by companies based in the capital to solve problems.

It will highlight the support businesses need to grow the industry sector, including developing and deploying solutions, fnding the right talent to fill skills gaps and closing barriers to adoption, such as security concerns.

"This report will help to uncover the opportunities to unlock innovation and investment in London, in order to maximise the economic impact of AI on the city," Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said. "It will also identify the challenges we face in positioning the capital as the best place to start, grow or relocate an AI business. Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform almost every industry across the capital."

The study will call upon businesses working in the AI space to explain how they're developing technologies to solve problems and make life better for Londoners.

"London is in a strong position in the data economy and is already home to innovative, fast-growing companies like Deepmind, CityMapper and Satalia not to mention the kind of work being done to improve public services, such as the data-driven approach to understanding rent arrears emerging through Hackney Council's partnership with Pivigo," Khan continued.

Businesses that want to get involved in the research can fill in a form on CognitionX's website, offering information about how they've deployed AI and how they anticipate using it in future. The information will be collated in the report and distributed at AI festival CogX on the 11th and 12th of June as well as appearing on the Mayor's Tech Map London platform.

"We all need to understand what AI is, what it isn't and how we can benefit," Charlie Muirhead, founder and CEO of CognitionX said. "At CognitionX we are on a mission to democratise access to information on AI and this report is an important part of CognitionX's commitment to being the most trusted source of advice on all things AI.

"All successful organisations will need to take advantage of artificial intelligence, but it is a complex, fragmented and ever-changing domain and we want to help ensure a responsible transition to an AI-driven society."

Cloud collaboration firm Box opened a new European headquarters in the heart of London's Silicon Roundabout yesterday.

Box's new building will be not just its UK base, but the headquarters for its entire Europe region and the 28,000-square-foot space has been built to accommodate the company's aggressive growth plans, including room for future expansion.

"Our decision to expand our presence here in london was really borne out of a view that this city is the most vibrant tech community in Europe," said Box senior vice president and general manager of EMEA, David Benjamin.

"Shoreditch is fast becoming a center of creativity, innovation and originality which are perfectly aligned to our values here at Box and I'm very confident that this building our new home will act as a symbol of our achievements in the past, our ambitions for the future, but also our determination to create an environment and a space where the most talented people in our industry can do their work."

The office was officially opened by Matt Hancock, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, who praised Box's decision to base its operation in the UK.

"I've followed you since about 2012, when I first heard about the work that you're doing here in London. I'm delighted that you've doubled down on London as the European HQ of Box. I think that is testament to London's vibrancy," he told staff as part of the ceremony.

"You're doing great work not only providing high-quality jobs and vibrancy, and adding to the London ecosystem but helping private companies and vital public services to use technology that's increasingly available to improve people's lives. Ultimately, that is what this technology, used right, can do, and the fact that you're working, for instance, with the Met Police to turn 50,000 police men and women into digital police will help them to keep people safe across London, and that is a classic example of people using tech for good."

The opening of its new headquarters kicks off a busy year for Box, in which it launches several new products, including its first foray into machine learning and artificial intelligence, Box Skills. The company is also focusing heavily on the incoming enforcement of GDPR, Benjamin said, which will come into effect on 25 May.

Main image credit: Adam Shepherd/IT Pro

London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced two initiatives designed to foster innovation in the capital city's tech sector.

City Hall will fund 20 investment days over the next fours years, offering tech firms in London the opportunity to promote themselves and attract funding from investors.

Each of the 20 events will focus on a specific tech niche - such as AI, IoT, machine learning - with innovators in the space providing mentoring and tie-ups with relevant investors that understand the industries they're working in.

The events will be run by the UK Business Angels Association (UKBAA). The GLA will provide 280,000 in funding and this will be matched by the UKBAA. However, the scheme has been built to be completely self-funding by the end of the initial four-year period.

"London's tech sector is already the envy of cities the across the globe and I'm determined to ensure we become the world's leading tech hub," Khan said. "Since I became Mayor, the capital has attracted significant investment from the biggest players in this sector Google, Facebook and Apple, to name just three.

"This is a clear sign London is open for business but beyond these huge names, London remains a fantastic breeding ground for innovative young tech firms looking to break new ground across a range of industries," Khan added.

The second announcement revealed Bloomberg Associates will work with City Hall to develop the capital's Smart London Plan alongside the Smart London Board. The plans will detail Khan's mission to leverage technologies being developed in London to transform the city into one of the world's leading smart cities.

"With the two initiatives I'm announcing today, we will enable these start-ups to grow and develop, as well as harness the expertise and innovation across our tech sector to help make life better for all Londoners," Khan finished.

Khan made the announcements at the Wired Live event at Tobacco Dock.

US analytics firm Databricks has opened its first European headquarters in London as it seeks to take advantage of the booming artificial intelligence sector in the capital.

Databricks, which was founded by the team behind the Apache Spark API framework, has also appointed David Wyatt as vice president and general manager EMEA, who will oversee the expansion.

The company said it hopes to exploit a growing shortage of skills across the EMEA region, particularly as companies are increasingly moving towards AI and machine learning for improving their customer experience.

Part of the expansion will involve generating more users of its Unified Analytics Platform, a cloud-based system that offers a means for data science teams to collaborate with other parts of a business, and allows for the automation of data analysis in organisations that otherwise lack the skills to do so.

"We are seeing huge and rapidly growing demand within enterprises for help with their machine learning and AI strategies and specifically their Spark deployments," said Databricks CEO Ali Ghodsi. "The demand is particularly strong in Europe and as such, it is our top priority for global expansion."

He added that Databricks' new London office will help the company scale up across the EMEA region, and provide more reliable services to its customers.

Artificial intelligence remains one of the most prominent areas of the UK tech sector and a source of high-profile acquisitions for the capital, despite the great deal of economic uncertainty following the vote to leave the European Union.

Alphabet's $400 million acquisition of DeepMind in 2014 is perhaps the most famous example, but since then Microsoft has taken its own chunk with the purchase of AI-driven language processing firm SwiftKey in 2016. In June this year, Twitter announced it would be buying London-based startup Magic Pony Technology, and in May Softbank led a $502 million funding round in AI startup Improbable, considered one of the UK's largest ever venture capital deals.

Most recently, FiveAI, which is currently working with the Transport for London to develop driverless cars, announced it had secured 14 million of funding through venture capital firm Lakestar Capital, an early backer of companies like Facebook, Spotify and Skype.

Deputy Mayor for Business Rajesh Agrawal, who was appointed in 2016 and tasked with safeguarding London's business interests following the EU referendum, said he was "delighted" that Databricks had chosen London as its new headquarters.

"Our city is a fertile breeding ground for companies developing the disruptive technologies which are changing the way we live and work - particularly in the field of artificial intelligence, for which London is a global hub," said Agrawal. "For an innovative company like Databricks to choose the capital as its European headquarters shows that London is open to talent and open to helping companies grow. This investment is yet more proof that London is the tech capital of Europe."

Virtus will build London's biggest data centres to deliver 40MW of IT load to service customers in the area, making it one of the largest hybrid co-location facilities in the UK.

The data centres, called Virtus London5 and London6 will be built on an 4,000m2 campus in Stockley Park, West London. This means they will be on a major fibre route between central London, 16 miles away and 7 miles away from Slough where its London3 data centre is located, powering a huge area within the M25.

"With the hunger for connectivity and data growing exponentially, our data centres continue to play a vital role in enabling the UK and Europe's digital economy," Neil Cresswell, CEO of Virtus Data Centres said. "We work with clients across all industries, all with unique audiences and IT landscapes, but with the common need to deliver the highest levels of availability, performance and security of digital experiences."

The first businesses to benefit from Virtus's new data center facility will be customers that have already committed to the project and are already kitting out London5 at the moment. Preparation is well underway for the big switch on early next year, although Virtus hasn't revealed when London6 will be ready to go live.

"As we move with our customers into an increasingly digital future, we help them deliver high performing applications and content," Cresswell added. "We provide fast, seamless connectivity to networks and public clouds, along with the capacity for vast data storage and compute processing power - all for lower costs. This investment in London5 and London6 means we can grow with our customers and help them achieve their ambitions."

Virtus added building the biggest data centre facility in London will offer its customers a more reliable, efficient, secure, scalable and interconnected data centre in the city.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has appointed the capital's first ever chief digital officer (CDO), with a view to improving the city's technical infrastructure and digital ecosystem.

The position has been filled by Theo Blackwell, a public sector veteran with 20 years' experience as Camden Council's cabinet member for finance, technology and growth. He is also part of the Advisory Board of Digital Leaders, and worked as games industry trade group Ukie's head of policy and public affairs.

Blackwell's role will center around the digital transformation of London's government and public sector services, working with the Mayor's Smart London Board to make the capital one of the world's leading 'smart cities' through the use of data-driven solutions and IoT technology.

"The new Chief Digital Officer post is an amazing opportunity to make our capital even more open to innovation, support jobs and investment and make our public services more effective," Blackwell said.

"The pace of change over the next decade requires public services to develop a stronger relationship with the tech sector. Our purpose is to fully harness London's world-class potential to make our public services faster and more reliable at doing things we expect online, but also adaptable enough to overcome the capital's most complex challenges."

One of the principal challenges for Blackwell in his new role will be coping with the fallout of Brexit and its impact on the London tech economy. Although London's startup scene has already pulled in 1 billion since the country voted to leave the EU, there are indications that external investment, IT jobs and skilled tech workers may start to dry up once Britain pulls out.

Mayor Khan remained bullish about London's tech economy however, saying: "I am determined to make London the world's leading 'smart city' with digital technology and data at the heart of making our capital a better place to live, work and visit. We already lead in digital technology, data science and innovation and I want us to make full use of this in transforming our public services for Londoners and the millions of visitors to our great city."

03/05/2017: Sadiq Khan to appoint London's first ever CDO

The Mayor of London is looking for the capital's first ever chief digital officer (CDO) to transform the city's public services.

The CDO will be responsible for building on existing digital initiatives and drafting a Smart London Strategy, aimed at increasing innovation using "smart technologies".

Sadiq Khan said: "I want to take the digital transformation of our public services to the next level, so we can improve the ways in which we plan and deliver public services for Londoners.

"I am delighted to begin my search for a Chief Digital Officer, so we can make London an even smarter smart city and use our incredible technological abilities to the best effect."

The move fulfills an election manifesto pledge for Khan, who promised his CDO would be responsible for tech sector growth, cyber security measures, and digital inclusion.

London hosts 40,000 digital technology businesses, according to Oxford Economics, which forecasts another 12,500 by 2025. Despite the Brexit vote hitting some tech startups, the capital's tech sector received 1 billion in venture capital investment since the Leave vote, according to PitchBook data.

When appointed, the CDO will work with the Mayor's Smart London Board and City Hall to draft and deliver the Smart London Strategy, as well as alongside the Mayor's Office, London councils and tech firms to drive adoption of common data standards and smart city technology.

They will also be responsible for anticipating the impact of new technologies and helping the Greater London Assembly respond with timely policies.

One challenge London will face in the coming years is the advent of AI. The Science and Technology Committee called on the government to reskill UK workers to ensure thousands are not left unemployed if they lose their jobs to automation.

Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates, told IT Pro in a statement: "We welcome today's news that City Hall is hiring its first CDO, originally proposed in Tech London Advocates' digital manifesto at the start of last year. This shows that Mayor Khan is upgrading public services for a digital age, and that London is on the way to becoming a smart city.

"The CDO role should be well-defined and the holder must be capable of supporting Mayor Khan's challenging pledges while building an open data platform from scratch. Achieving the insights necessary to freeze transport fares or increase housing supply for Londoners will require advanced data analytics, and the CDO will need to sit at the heart of London's government to ensure the office is effective. "

Picture: Bigstock

Apple's brand new campus - colloquially dubbed 'the spaceship', due to its neo-futurist design - will officially open in April, the company has announced.

The facility will officially be named Apple Park, and will house more than 12,000 employees along with several research and development labs. It will also contain a 1,000-seat auditorium, which will replace the 'Town Hall' space that the company currently uses to host major events.

The new event space will be named the Steve Jobs Theater in honour of the company's late co-founder. The new headquarters was one of the last projects that Jobs worked on before his death from pancreatic cancer in 2011.

"Steve's vision for Apple stretched far beyond his time with us. He intended Apple Park to be the home of innovation for generations to come," said Apple CEO Tim Cook. "The workspaces and parklands are designed to inspire our team as well as benefit the environment. We've achieved one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world and the campus will run entirely on renewable energy."

The process of moving the company's employees into the new complex is expected to take around six months, with construction continuing in certain areas for the duration of the summer.

Apple Park will occupy 175 acres in California's Santa Clara Valley, around 2 miles from the company's current headquarters at Infinite Loop in Cupertino. The central building has an area of 2.8 million square feet and the company claims it is made of the world's largest curved glass panels.

As well as Apple's corporate facilities, the park will also contain a visitor's center for members of the public, including a cafe and an Apple Store. There will also be a 100,000-square foot employee gym and two miles of running paths.

"Steve invested so much of his energy creating and supporting vital, creative environments. We have approached the design, engineering and making of our new campus with the same enthusiasm and design principles that characterise our products," said Jony Ive, Apple's chief design officer.

"Connecting extraordinarily advanced buildings with rolling parkland creates a wonderfully open environment for people to create, collaborate and work together. We have been extremely fortunate to be able to work closely, over many years, with the remarkable architectural practice Foster + Partners."

28/09/2016: Apple switches London HQ to Battersea Power Station

Apple is establishing a new London headquarters in Battersea Power Station, the company has announced.

The company's new offices will house around 1,400 employees consolidated from eight separate locations around the capital, moving into the space in 2021.

The new offices will occupy roughly 500,000 square feet over five floors of the newly-redeveloped building's central Boiler House. The iconic landmark lay derelict for decades, but has recently undergone an extensive and costly renovation project to redevelop the structure.

"We are delighted Apple chose to make this their home in 2021," said Rob Tincknell, head of the Battersea Power Station Development Company.

"It has always been our clear objective to create one of London's most thriving new communities and this commitment from Apple will undoubtedly help us achieve this goal."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also expressed his support for the project, calling it a "sign that London is open to the biggest brands in the world and the leading city for trade and investment".

Apple expressed its excitement about the move in a statement to the London Evening Standard, calling Battersea Power Station "a magnificent new development at one of the city's best-known landmarks".

"This is a great opportunity to have our entire team working and collaborating in one location," a spokesperson said, "while supporting the renovation of a neighbourhood rich with history."

However, while the new facility will act as the company's London base of operations, Apple's main European headquarters will still be located in County Cork, Ireland, but Apple's tax payments to Ireland have courted controversy in recent months, with Apple ordered to pay the government 13 billion.

Facebook has unveiled plans to increase its number of UK employees by 50%, as part of its move to a new London headquarters next year.

The social network giant will bring on an extra 500 members of staff, supplementing the existing 1,000-strong workforce. Most will be housed in its new, currently unfinished Fitzrovia office space, although some will be based at the company's Somerset site.

The plans will be announced by the company's EMEA vice president Nicola Mendelsohn at the Confederation of British Industry conference later today, who said: "the UK remains one of the best places to be a tech company and is an important part of Facebook's story."

"We came to London in 2007 with just a handful of people, by the end of next year we will have opened a new HQ and plan to employ 1500 people," she said. The news was welcomed by London mayor Sadiq Khan, who said that it was "further evidence that London's strength as a tech hub keeps on growing".

"The capital's vibrant tech scene is the envy of Europe," he said, "and Facebook's continuing commitment is another sign that London is open to talent, innovation and entrepreneurship from all four corners of the world."

New job opportunities will be spread across a variety of roles including sales and marketing, but Mendelsohn confirmed that many will be "high-skilled engineering jobs", and pointed out that the UK is Facebook's largest non-US engineering base. British-based development teams have developed several key innovations for the company, including collaboration tool Workplace and the solar-powered Aquila internet drones.

London and Bristol have been named as the two smartest cities in the UK, thanks to their "urban innovations."

Huawei's Smart City index praised London's congestion charge scheme and other transport innovations, and the London Datastore, while Bristol's "Bristol Is Open" project helped contribute to its success as a smart city.

The latter scheme brings together the University of Bristol, Bristol City Council and industry partners to create an entire network of innovation around the city, improving services for residents of the city.

Huawei noted that five trends were recognised when finding the UK's most impressive smart cities and exploring the schemes up and running around the UK. These were the importance of leadership and vision, a need to focus on local priorities and strengths, the importance of engagement with local communities, building local partnerships and understanding the way in which the data revolution can improve services and boost innovation.

"The Huawei UK Smart Cities Index highlights cities developing innovative digital projects and measures how well they are performing against each other," Ed Vaizey MP, Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy said.

"I hope it will encourage city leaders to share best practice and promote competition, because smarter use of data and technology drives growth and delivers a better quality of life. The Government strongly supports the Smart Cities sector, through the Future Cities Catapult and the Internet of Things City Demonstrator programme, and we welcome this report."

Third place went to Birmingham, while Glasgow, Manchester, and Milton Keynes followed closely behind.

"We wanted to understand how well advanced these schemes were and where lessons could be learnt between them," Gordon Luo, Huawei UK CEO, commented.

"The Huawei UK Smart Cities Index shows that, right now, Britain is one of the most advanced countries in Europe in this field. But it's still early days and there is more work to do to build more effective partnerships between city authorities and technology providers, and in making the benefits of smart city technology apparent to a greater number of citizens."

However, Huawei noted that more innovation is needed to keep the UK a hotbed for smart technologies and the next generation of smart city projects should demonstrate measurable outcomes and sound business cases, while also showing how information can be shared among other cities in the country.

A report has revealed the number of IT roles advertised in London has decreased over the last quarter, while Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Bristol proved to be IT hotspots.

Out of the 52,000 IT jobs advertised across the UK between July and September 2015, the number of jobs based in London reduced by eight per cent, while job posts related to the field in Manchester, Leeds and Bristol increased.

However, Glasgow proved to be the market leader, advertising nearly twice as many IT-related jobs in the quarter than in London, thanks to its digital transformation drive in financial services.

"Since the start of the year, the proportion of roles advertised in Tech Cities outside of London has been on the rise," Geoff Smith, managing director of Experis Europe said.

"In this quarter nearly one in every three jobs we've analysed is now being offered outside the UK's tech capital. This has been the dominant trend through 2015: a country invigorated by positive economic sentiment to hi-tech skills. Efforts related to government's Northern Powerhouse initiative are set to further support this trend."

Additional findings revealed a decline in the permanent jobs sector as companies sought to employ contract-based workers instead, which followed the general summer trend of job seekers requiring more flexible work.

"Contract roles are being used to coax flexible, short-term workers in at attractive rates," Smith said."With specialists and rare skills in high demand, more companies everywhere are opting for contract resource to fill pressing needs as well as to cover seasonal holidays. Candidates also prefer contract roles when the market is buoyant, as fewer of them are seeking the safe harbour of a more secure permanent role."

The research revealed big data jobs paid the most money, with higher rates offered in Birmingham and Edinburgh compared to London. The cloud wasn't far behind, though, with an average salary of 53,430 and day rates of 453.

"Emerging technologies always result in rarer skills and increased demand," continued Smith. "Cloud is rapidly becoming a vital component across businesses of all sizes, accounting for the high demand."

TechHub, the global community for tech start-ups and entrepreneurs, is opening another premises in the UK's capital.

The organisation already has locations in Shoreditch, Swansea, Bangalore, Berlin, Boston, Bucharest and Riga, as well as TechHub @ Campus in London. The new location, dubbed TechHub London and located on Ropemaker Street, will open on 22 June, and will reportedly house up to 400 TechHub members.

Andrew Tibbitts, global COO of TechHub, said: "London is full of tech innovation and there's a lot of it happening at TechHub. While, TechHub provides a community in which members can collaborate, network and help each other during the early stages of their business, we also work with the growing number of tech start-ups in London rapidly scaling their companies.

"UK start-ups are attracting investment like never before and with its close proximity to the City, and excellent opportunities to help them grow, we're expecting to see our members use TechHub London to succeed even further in raising funding rounds, attracting the very best talent and successfully bringing products to market."

Speaking to IT Pro, TechHub founder Elizabeth Varley outlined some of the benefits members can benefit from, such as access to corporate and venture capitalists.

"We found there was a real need amongst product start-ups for this sense of community, the sense of being part of something bigger than just what they're working on," she said.

"Also just having access to all of the things that we can provide for them and access to all of the other members means they don't necessarily need us as TechHub to help they with X, Y and Z they can talk to the person they're sat next to.

"The only thing we're really looking for is that they want to be part of a community they want to get something out of it and contribute something to it. They're not just looking for a cheap desk space."

US investors are injecting more money than ever into the London technology scene, contributing $795.2m (521m) from US investors in 2014, which is more than double the previous record of $296m (193m) in 2012.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson will announce the news today while on a trade mission in New York to promote economic and cultural ties with the country.

Johnson will also announce a number of partnerships between UK and US tech companies including Transferwise, which will open offices in New York and Tampa thanks to $58m (38m) of new investment from Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz.

He will also detail a deal between Shazam and a US investor that gave $30m (19m) of funding to the UK-based music technology firm.

Johnson said: "As the digital capital of Europe, London is clearly the place to create fast-growing tech companies, and our flourishing tech sector has caught the eye of US investors. London's talent is attracting global investment, enabling our innovators to turn their ideas into companies that create jobs and economic growth in London."

22 financial technology firms are currently in New York with Johnson to promote possible tie ups between countries on both sides of the pond as part of the Mayor's Export Programme. They will pitch to some of the US's biggest tech investors to boost trade between the countries.

Johnson will also reveal that investment from the US into the UK as a whole set a new record of $1.35bn (880m), compared to the previous record of $582m (381m) received in 2012.

Passengers travelling on London's tube lines can now enjoy free Wi-Fi at 150 different stations courtesy of Virgin Media's own underground network.

Six stations were added to the network prior to the announcement: Wimbledon, Richmond, Morden, East Ham, Barking and Upminster.

Director of Broadband at Virgin Media, Joe Lathan, said: "This is a milestone moment for Virgin Media with 150 Tube stations and more than two and a half million devices now connected to Wi-Fi on London Underground.

"Tube passengers have loved the Wi-Fi service ever since we launched in time for London 2012. Now they can benefit from live travel information, news and social media in Tube stations across the capital."

Free access to the Wi-Fi is available to mobile customers with O2, EE, Three, Vodafone and Virgin Media, or non-members can pay 2/day for access.

It is claimed that more than 2.5 million devices are registered with the service and that more than 3TB of data are being consumed by them each day.

Meanwhile, King's Cross St. Pancras is said to be the busiest station, with 50GB of data downloaded by passengers each day.

Gareth Powell, London Underground's director of strategy and service development, added: "Wi-Fi on the Tube is one of many ways we're improving our customers' journeys and the service has moved from strength-to-strength since it launched in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games."

The capital's tech firms have managed to attract a record $1 billion (625 million) in funding during the first nine months of this year.

The research, carried out by London & Partners, the capital's official promotional body, found that over 34,000 firms in the city attracted $1.21 billion and this was almost 30 per cent more than the previous full-year record of $719 million raised during 2013. It is also more than ten times the amount raised in full-year 2010.

The organisation attributed the growing levels of investment in part to initiatives such as Tech City and London Technology Week.

"These figures show, without any question, that this is an incredible period for technology firms in our city," said Mayor Boris Johnson.

"Tech is blossoming and our reputation for innovation and discovery, allied with outstanding talent, is attracting record breaking levels of investment from around the globe."

During 2014, three firms, takeaway.com, farfetch.com and Funding Circle have completed funding rounds in excess of $50 million. Funding Circle attracted $65 million in backing from Index Ventures, Accel Partners, Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital.

Samir Desai, co-founder and chief executive of Funding Circle said the support has helped establish his firm as a marketplace for business loans.

"In the UK, more than 5,500 small businesses have accessed over 370 million, and at the end of 2013 we took our marketplace model to the US, to help fill the small business funding gap which also exists there. The latest round will help us to consolidate our growth even more, and allow us to explore further international markets," he said.

According to London & Partners, new funds worth than $1.5 billion have set up in the capital during 2014, with companies including Index Ventures, Google, Santander and Balderton Capital creating new London-based investment companies.

Other research from Oxford Economics found the rise in funding correlated with the growth of technology companies in the capital. There are currently more than 34,000 digital technology firms in London. That number is expected to rise to 45,000 in the next decade creating 46,000 new jobs and creating more than 12 billion of economic activity, the analysts said.

London-based SMBs are being saddled with below average broadband speeds, according to findings from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).

In a report commissioned by comms provider Relish, the CEBR shed light on the issues small businesses in the capital face on the communications front.

Its research suggests SMBs located in the City of London have average broadband speeds of just 11.9 Mbps, which is way below the capital-wide average of 20.5 Mbps.

The report also estimates that, out of the 420,630 SMBs based in London, just six per cent have access to superfast broadband.

Collectively, they use up 50,400 days a year arranging for new broadband installations to take place, the CEBR claims, which is costing them around 7.8 million a year in lost productivity.

Nicholas James, CEO of Relish, said given the contribution SMBs make towards the UK's economy providing them with adequate broadband services should be a must.

"SMBs play a crucial role in shaping the future of the capital and fast broadband in London should be available for all," he said.

Given how widely used mobile phones are in the business world, the report estimates the capitals small businesses are "wasting" around 37 million a year on "redundant" landlines, as two thirds (62 per cent) of SMBs reckon they could cope without one.

Taken together, Colm Sheehy, senior economist at CEBR, said the results suggest SMBs are getting a poor return on their comms investments in the capital.

"The fact that Central London has the highest concentration of SMBs suffering from low broadband speeds has implications for productivity in London's economy," he said.

"In addition, the requirement to have a landline for most broadband services despite nearly two thirds of SMBs being able to operate effectively without it indicates that businesses are getting poor value for money from their landline."

London Mayor Boris Johnson has vowed that all parts of the capital will have access to internet connectivity one day, as part of his city-wide infrastructure overhaul.

The Mayor made the pledge in his highly-anticipated London Infrastructure Plan document, which was published earlier today and aims to address the city's future infrastructure needs.

"London has a number of areas that have no or poor internet connectivity, many of which, left to market forces, may well remain unconnected," the report states.

"We need to think differently about providing high-speed access to the internet via a combination of technologies."

Johnson set out plans to build a London-wide "connectivity" network, that will use a mix of fibre and mobile broadband, and wireless technology to ensure internet access is available across the city.

The idea of using street furniture, such as bus stops and lamp posts, to deliver internet services across the capital was also mooted.

Earlier this week, it was announced that Johnson planned to use the document to declare that London will become the first capital city in the UK to benefit from 5G by 2020.

The report states this will be partially achieved by negotiating with Ofcom ahead of this date to ensure London has access to sufficient amounts of radio spectrum to deliver 5G services to its citizens.

"The Mayor will also work to ensure high-quality communication networks are installed in new developments, particularly in Opportunity Areas, following the example of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park," the Infrastructure Plan report states.

The document also sets out plans to establish a Connectivity Advisory Group, featuring representatives from the Greater London Authority, local councils, the business sector and ISPs, who will be tasked with ensuring all areas of the capital can benefit from internet access.

Part of its remit will include embarking on a city-wide mapping exercise to ascertain which areas already have access to high-speed internet and the barriers that prevent other parts of the city from benefiting from it.

"The mapping exercise will be used to develop a connectivity ratings map, introducing an accurate and responsive rating system for individual properties both to assist consumers and providers, and to encourage developers and property owners to improve connectivity to their properties," the document states.

"We will also work with estate agents and surveyors to develop ways of assessing properties for their connectivity and to ensure that such assessments become part and parcel of building surveys in the future, given their importance to consumers and businesses."

It will be responsible for profiling the business and residential areas of London to ascertain their future connectivity needs, and consider ways to encourage adoption of high-speed internet access.

Furthermore, it will be called upon to look for ways that the capital's existing infrastructure can be used to improve the availability of high-speed internet services.

London Mayor Boris Johnson looks set to declare that smartphone users in the capital will have access to 5G services by 2020.

Johnson is expected to announce that London will kick-off the nationwide rollout of the ultra-fast network while unveiling the capital's first long-term infrastructure investment plan later this week, according to a report in The Telegraph.

The document will see the London Mayor set out his vision for how the capital's infrastructure needs to change between now and 2050. It's been billed as the first ever attempt to quantify the capital's infrastructure needs and costs.

As part of this, Johnson will announce London as the site of the world's first major 5G mobile network, and that it will be switched on by 2020.

"London is earning a reputation for being the tech capital of Europe and that is why we need to ensure every Londoner is able to access the very best digital connectivity," Johnson said.

"Rapidly improving the connectivity of this great city is a key part of the Infrastructure Plan for London."

At the moment, the technology that will underpin the delivery of 5G services is still being actively researched, with Huawei investing millions into its development, while the University of Surrey has also been leading efforts in this area for some time.

Even so, it's been hailed as the future of connectivity by the likes of Ofcom, who claim its development is essential to ensure network speeds and capacities continue to keep pace with the growing mobile computing demands of consumers and business users.

Johnson's comments mirror those made by Prime Minister David Cameron during the CeBIT trade fair in Germany in March 2014, where he promised the UK would feel the benefits of 5G connectivity soon.

After seeking legal advice over the Uber scandal, Transport for London (TfL) have been told the taxi company's practice of using smartphones and GPS technology to determine fares does "comply with current law on taximeters'.

TfL issued a statement reading: "In relation to the way Uber operates in London, TfL is satisfied that based upon our understanding of the relationship between the passenger and Uber London, and between Uber London and Uber BV, registered in Holland, that it is operating lawfully under the terms of the 1998 PHV(L) Act.

"TfL's view is that smartphones that transmit location information (based on GPS data) between vehicles and operators, have no operational or physical connection with the vehicles, and receive information about fares which are calculated remotely from the vehicle, [and] are not taximeters within the meaning of the legislation."

The popular taxi-tracking smartphone app has previously prompted protests in the UK and Europe after traditional taxi drivers complained the service threatens their livelihoods.

Uber allows customers to tracks cars and book taxis with the app on their smartphone, with 3,000 registered drivers currently operating in London alone.

On Wednesday 11 June, more than 30,000 black cab and limo drivers between London and Berlin stopped for a "go-slow" protest, blocking many tourist areas in the process.

Jo Bertram, Uber's UK and Ireland general manager, said the protest hasn't harmed take-up of its services: "Londoners are voting with their fingers, tapping the app in support of new and innovative services as we see our biggest day of sign-ups in London today since launch two years ago.

"In fact, today we're seeing an 850 per cent increase in sign-ups compared to last Wednesday. The results are clear: London wants Uber in a big way," he said, at the time.

Critics of the app have warned it may lead to unlicensed cabs being accidently booked, while London's cab drivers have complained that Uber taxis are using an app to determine fares, which is the equivalent of a taxi meter and illegal in the capital for vehicles other than black cabs to use.

"We have nothing against competition but we feel that Transport for London has failed Londoners by allowing Uber to operate outside the law," said Steve McNamara, of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association.

TfL has effectively washed its hands of the row, by declaring that it's up to the courts to decide whether or not the widespread use of Uber is lawful.

Director General Simon Walker of the British Institute of Directors has objected to the protests, saying: "Black cabs have been a symbol of London for many decades, known across the world. But symbols, no matter how iconic, cannot be allowed to stand in the way of innovation. Uber and its rival apps are an example of the positive disruption new technology brings, offering consumers new choices about how to travel."

Transport for London (TfL) is trialling real-time travel information tools at a Regent Street bus stop to make it easier for commuters and tourists to navigate the city streets.

The bus stop will be kitted out with an interactive panel displaying real-time information about bus departure times, London Underground network updates and the availability of nearby "Boris Bikes".

Furthermore, the panel will also be able to provide tourists with information about walking routes to local area attractions.

The technology was developed by advertising company Clear Channel UK who plan to analyse the way people interact with the service to improve the quality of information it shares over time.

TfL has confirmed that if the trial is a success, the technology could be rolled out to a number of other key travel hotspots across the capital.

The project is being embarked on as part of TfL's Year of The Bus campaign, which aims to celebrate the role the London bus network has to play in keeping the city moving.

Leon Daniels, managing director of surface transport at TfL, said Regent Street was chosen as the trial site because it's a popular destination for commuters and tourists.

"This is another reminder of how technology has transformed how we communicate with our customers and how they want to receive information from us," he said.

"Our customers now rightly regard real time travel information as part of the core service we provide and this is an innovative way we can explore getting information they need to them," Daniels added.

Dave Huckerby, adshel development director at Clear Channel UK, said the project provides a glimpse at what the future of transport technology could look like.

"We're grateful to TfL for working closely with us. Their knowledge and expertise has allowed us to deliver something of real value to Londoners. The next stage of this trial is to monitor and refine the system as people interact with it," he added.

More than 200,000 of the capital's SMBs could register a .london web address when the new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) names are introduced on 29 April.

That's according to the findings of a new YouGov poll, involving 1,001 SMB business decision makers, which was commissioned by the promotional arm of the London Mayor's office London & Partners.

Twenty-six per cent of respondents said they were likely to take up a .london web address. YouGov has used this to calculate that more than 200,000 SMBs could be interested in the suffix.

Of that 26 per cent, 48 per cent said they would do so because they are proud to be a London business, 41 per cent said it would help customers find them more easily, and 27 per cent said it would generate more sales.

Martha Lane Fox, co-founder lastminute.com and former Government digital champion, said: "The new generic domain names are a big change to the web.

".london offers businesses and organisations in the capital a chance to be at the cutting edge of that change and show the world how innovative they can be."

The views of the remaining 74 per cent who did not say they were likely to take up the .london gTLD were not published.

The .london name is one of nine gTLDs - the last part of a web address such as .com, .co.uk or .net - that are being introduced by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has governance over them. Other new introductions include .guru, .clothing, .singles and .cloud.

Web addresses sporting the .london gTLD will go on sale on 29 April, when they will be available to buy from various internet registrars.

Sarah Haran and Matt Mansell, MD and group MD of internet registrars Easyspace and 123-reg.co.uk, respectively, claimed their organisations had seen a great deal of interest in the new domain.

"We've had more customers register their interest in .london so far than any of the other extensions," claimed Haran.

".london is certainly one of the most popular [new gTLD]," added Mansell.

"The city is riding high after the Olympics and the .london domain will help businesses and organisations capitalise on the national and international interest in London," he concluded.

Tech City in East London will be among the first to benefit from EE's new 4G LTE Advanced network, which the firm claims will deliver the fastest mobile broadband speeds in the world.

The mobile operator has teamed up with Chinese networking vendor Huawei to deliver the superfast service, which will reportedly offer mobile broadband speeds of up to 300Mbps.

EE is planning to embark on a customer trial in early December that will involve offering mobile Wi-Fi services to Tech City-based businesses, and the offering is being officially switched on today.

The LTE Advanced network is reportedly able to deliver faster speeds and higher capacity than traditional 4G networks through the use of carrier aggregation. This process allows carriers to pool their resources at the device level, resulting in faster speeds across their coverage areas.

Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE, said the new network is designed to meet the increasing demands of data-hungry consumers and businesses.

"Today is about introducing the next age of 4G mobile technology to the UK. Our existing 4G network delivers incredible mobile data speeds and covers millions of people across the country, but we never stand still we know that mobile data usage is going to keep increasing, and rapidly so," said Swantee.

Victor Zhang, CEO of Huawei, said the announcement is an important step forward for the UK's mobile broadband infrastructure, as well as its business operations over here.

"We have been operating in the UK for 12 years and are committed to improving the national telecommunications infrastructure for the whole population," said Zhang

"We are proud to have worked closely with EE as we grow our business in the UK following our pledge to invest 1.3 billion into the economy over the next five years," he added.

London is to become home to a new 150m technology initiative aimed at making cities smarter and more innovative, the Government has announced.

The Technology Strategy Board-backed scheme will result in the opening of a smart cities-focused Catapult centre in the capital.

Its aim will be to look for ways to integrate health, transport, energy and public safety services and in turn change the way cities operate in the future.

The centre will receive funding of 50m from the Technology Strategy Board over five years, as well as a further 100m from the private sector.

News of the initiative follows on from the announcement about Glasgow City Council bagging 24m of Government funding to establish a future cities demonstrator.

The London-based Catapult centre is expected to work closely with the team in Glasgow to encourage UK businesses to create products and services that could aid the development of smart cities in the future.

Business secretary Vince Cable announced the plans at the Innovate UK 2013 event in central London earlier today.

"This latest addition to the Catapults network will complement those established in high value manufacturing, satellite applications, cell therapy, offshore renewable energy, transport systems and connected digital economy," he said.

The Government's former chief scientific advisor, Sir David King, has been appointed the Catapult's chairperson, and has been tasked with finding a CEO for the project.

Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, added: "[London's] unique set-up including national and international transportation links, world-class universities, leading engineering, construction and digital businesses and highly-skilled staff makes it the perfect place for the Catapult."

Virgin Media has announced plans to start charging London Underground users 2 a day to access its Wi-Fi network.

The broadband provider rolled out free Wi-Fi across 72 London Underground stations during the London 2012 Olympics, which customers can use to access the internet on train platforms.

However, the company has now set out plans to scale back the amount of information Tube users can access for free through its Wi-Fi network in the New Year, limiting it to news stories and TfL travel updates.

Full internet access will only be available for free to Virgin Media, Vodafone and EE customers.

Meanwhile, commuters signed up to other mobile networks will be able to purchase day, week and month-long pay-as-you-go passes starting from 2 a day.

The company has also announced plans to connect a further 20 Tube stations to its Wi-Fi network next month, as well as another 28 in the New Year.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, said the rollout of free Wi-Fi across the Tube network has been a huge success so far.

"Wi-Fi on London Underground has been an incredible success with over 700,000 people already online and a remarkable million sessions every day."

Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development for London Underground, added: "Wi-Fi is a great way to keep our Tube customers up-to-date with live travel information and other news and entertainment.

"We are delighted that Virgin Media is giving the majority of Londoners the chance to continue to enjoy WiFi at no extra cost next year and beyond."

Silicon Valley could have a fight on its hands if it wants to retain its position as the home of tech startups, as swathes of IT firms set up shop across the globe.

This is the view put forward in a new report by Telefnica Digital and the Startup Genome into worldwide tech start up development trends.

The Startup Ecosystem report includes feedback from over 50,000 start ups from across the globe, and resulted in the creation of a list of 20 cities that could offer the best chance of success to budding tech entrepreneurs.

We are now seeing emerging ecosystems beginning to act as viable alternatives to the traditional centres of innovation.

Silicon Valley topped the list, closely followed by Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Boston, London, Toronto, Vancouver and Chicago.

Although Silicon Valley emerged as the winner, the report claims this could change in the years to come as the tech communities in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia continue to grow.

London, in particular, has been flagged up as one city whose startup community has experienced significant growth in recent years.

The report also hails London as home to the largest proportion of female entrepreneurs in Europe.

However, the report flags several barriers to growth that could stop the city from becoming a serious challenger to Silicon Valley's startup dominance.

For example, it is claimed that London-based entrepreneurs tend to be less ambitious and more risk adverse than their US contemporaries, and it can be harder for UK firms to secure funding for their activities.

Gonzalo Martin-Villa, CEO of Wayra, Telefnica Digital's global startup accelerator, said the report's findings paint a positive picture of how entrepreneurship is taking off across the world.

"We are now seeing emerging ecosystems beginning to act as real viable alternatives to the traditional centres of technology innovation," said Martin-Villa.

"This is incredibly exciting, since it suggests that, increasingly-so, the necessary support infrastructures are in place the world over for bright minds to turn their ideas into reality."

Facebook has taken the wraps off its first UK engineering hub, which will partly focus on the development of products that provide its members with a better mobile user experience.

The social networking giant's new engineering centre in Covent Garden, London, has approximately 20 engineers, 12 of which have been brought over from the US.

The centre is the first engineering hub the firm has opened outside of the US, where it has similar sites in New York and Seattle.

We provide a free product that people are under no obligation to use, so we need to add value to them.

Speaking at the London launch earlier today, Phillip Su, head of the UK engineering, said his team will focus on developing new mobile, platform and machine learning products.

On the mobile side of things, Su said part of the group's work will centre on "server-side enhancements" that will improve the overall Facebook user experience.

"Everyone of you knows Facebook can make great improvements in [the] responsiveness of its mobile applications...only half of that problem comes from the client-side application," said Su.

"We're [also working on] reducing net latency...and being much more conservative with the bandwidth we consume."

Making Facebook apps less of drain on the battery life of Android devices is also a priority for Su, because Facebook is often "the most used thing on your phone", he explained.

"Power consumption of the Facebook application is arguably the biggest question when it comes to worldwide use on mobile devices," he added.

Speaking at the event, Mike Schroepfer, vice president of infrastructure at Facebook, said delivering a great mobile experience for end users is important because they have limited time and attention.

"We provide a free product that people are under no obligation to use, so our primary aim is to add value to you so you use our products," said Schroepfer.

He also admitted that Facebook mobile users had expressed disappointment at the quality of the experience in the past, because it did not provide them with the "performance and polish" people expect from the brand.

"If you look at the history of our approach to mobile on these things, it started with just getting a Facebook experience on a mobile device," said Schroepfer.

"We invested a lot in web technologies because it was a way to [deliver] an experience to all those devices and we used the same technique for smartphones very quickly...and we have started to explore and improve that."

Chancellor George Osborne also attended the launch and said he hoped other firms would follow Facebook and set up shop in the capital, as the Government strives to establish the UK as a world technology leader.

"We are being quite determined in our effort to bring over the biggest technology companies...by ensuring you can find in this city and country the type of talented people they need to be your engineers, sales force and the like," he said.

As an example of the work the Government is doing to encourage this, Osborne flagged its decision to overhaul the school ICT curriculum and the incentives on offer to people to retrain as computer science teachers.

"There is a huge and fast growing demand for the type of [tech] skills you need...so instead of pupils just learning how to operate Excel and Powerpoint, they're also being taught how to write code and build apps," said Osborne.

"We're also hiring more teachers to teach these kinds of programming skills...[so]if you're a computer science graduate that becomes a teacher you will get a government bursary of 9,000 to encourage you to do that."

Management consultant Accenture is on the hunt for technology entrepreneurs to take part in the UK version of its start-up mentoring programme.

The firm wants to give tech start-ups, who specialise in products aimed at the financial services industry, a leg-up by helping them to transform their products into commercially viable offerings through its FinTech Innovation Lab initiative.

"This programme can make a big difference to the commercial success of new technologies by bringing innovators and entrepreneurs together with their potential customers," said Richard Lumb, group chief executive for financial services at Accenture.

We have brilliant innovators who are striving for commercial success.

"This is important to this country, where we have brilliant innovators who are striving for commercial success."

The Lab is modelled on a similar programme in New York, where it has helped a dozen young financial technology start-ups get up and running.

Applicants can apply to take part in the lab until 1 November and, from here, six entrepreneurs will be selected.

This group of six will then go through a 12 week programme where they will be given help to hone their tech and business strategies under the guidance of executives from the London financial services community.

The participants will then be invited to take part in an "Investor Day" presentation, where they will need to illustrate what they have learned and how their products would benefit the industry.

"London is the world's number one financial centre and a global leader in technology innovation, which is why the FinTech quest for entrepreneurs is such an exciting proposition," said Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

"The project has huge potential to help spur jobs and growth and I'm sure will attract some very bright minds whose inventions could help to revolutionise the financial services of this great city."

Security vendor Sophos has expressed concern over the number of London Wi-Fi hotspots that use the obsolete Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption method.

James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos, recently embarked on a cycling tour of London on a bike kitted out with a wireless network detection system.

Using GPS technology, Lyne was also able to create a "heat" map, depicting levels of wireless network security around central London.

His experiment uncovered 106,874 wireless hotspots scattered across more than 91 miles of London. Eight per cent of these were unencrypted, while 19 per cent were secured using the outdated WEP method of encryption.

Speaking to IT Pro, Lyne said: "I don't think people connect the security of wireless with the kind of information that can be stolen and the type of attacks that are possible."

As long as it is still working, people don't bother changing it.

The remaining networks used WPA or WPA2 encryption, which Sophos has no truck with, providing users do not rely on default or easy passwords to access them.

Lyne said the widespread use of WEP could be partly down to the large numbers of legacy routers in the Capital.

"I have not seen a device for a good long time that is not, at least, capable of WPA encryption," he said.

"There is clearly a legacy [hardware issue] that needs to be handled...but, as long as it is still working, people don't bother changing it."

He also called on networking vendors to make their wireless routers easier for end users to configure, claiming some may not realise their settings are leaving them vulnerable to attack.

"Why in the wireless network configuration do they call [the encryption level] WPA2? Why don't they make the default level strong security' and, if [users] need a lower level, have a warning box pop up that...makes them aware of the risks," he suggested.

"I think there's a lot that can be done to simplify this and make these devices easier for people to set up."

Network provider O2 is offering free Wi-Fi to some of London's busiest areas from today.

The areas that will benefit include Parliament Square, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Oxford Circus, Marble Arch and Exhibition Road.

The Wi-Fi provision is the result of a deal O2 has struck with Westminster City Council and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

"We are proud to announce that today, we can bring O2 Wi-F to some of the busiest streets and squares of central London," said Gavin Franks, managing director of O2 Wi-Fi. "We are now providing Londoners and visitors alike with fast, free, reliable Wi-Fi."

O2 Wi-Fi will be free for everyone, regardless of the network or broadband provider they typically use.

End users will automatically connect to O2's Wi-Fi each time they enter a coverage area once they have registered.

"With millions of extra people coming to town for Games, we want to ensure we showcase the capital as the best city in the world to work and visit, and the addition of free Wi-Fi to some of our most popular landmarks is crucial in helping to maintaining that reputation," said Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, in a statement.

Commuters using London Overground train stations are set to get 60 minutes of free Wi-Fi each day thanks to a deal between the London Overground Rail Operations Limited (LOROL) and BSkyB subsidiary The Cloud.

The rollout across 56 stations will begin in the summer and is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2012. Users will be asked to carry out a one-time registration process and then be able browse the web and access email.

The range and speed of the network is yet to be announced, but The Cloud is confident that users will be able to "stream media within the vicinity of the station". It also remains to be seen how many people the network will support at any one time.

Those who wish to continue browsing the web after the 60 minute time-limit has expired will be able to do so on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The introduction of the Wi-Fi service has been welcomed by Steve Murphy, managing director of LOROL.

"Access to the internet is no longer limited solely to home or to the workplace, and people's expectation is to be able to work and communicate effectively and seamlessly while they're on the move," he said in a statement.

"We're delighted to support this initiative which will bring reliable, free Wi-Fi to London Overground's customers."

Commuters and networks are also likely to welcome the service. Mobile phone users will be able to save their mobile data allowances by using the Wi-Fi at the station. Operators are also likely to benefit as pressure is taken off networks during peak-periods such as the morning commute.

The major stations expected to have the Wi-Fi network in place by the end of 2012 include:

Willesden Junction and West Hampstead - North London

New Cross Gate, Forest Hill, West Croydon and Norwood Junction - South London

Surrey Quays, Dalston, Wapping and Hackney Central - East London

Kensington Olympia and Shepherd's Bush - West London

O2's Slough office is much quieter today as the company conducted a massive flexible working initiative, allowing a quarter of its 12,000-member workforce to work from outside the office.

The company plans to use this experiment in preparation for the transportation chaos expected to hit UK businesses during the summer Olympic Games.

O2 will pass on information from their pilot, the biggest yet, to other businesses looking to experiment with flexible working practices in summer 2012.

Our figures show that we're trending about three times the VPN traffic of a normal day.

"Today's office-wide flexible working initiative is an opportunity for us to take the next step on our flexible working journey and tangibly demonstrate the opportunity and potential available to British businesses today," said Ben Dowd, business director for O2.

"By sharing experiences from across our business, from business divisions to operations, we hope to encourage more organisations to help their workforce become mobile."

O2 has set up an online dashboard to keep track of today's progress, comparing it to a typical day. The site also serves as a place where O2 employees working outside the office can share their photos and feedback via Twitter hash tags.

"Our figures show that we're trending about three times the VPN traffic of a normal day," Dowd told IT Pro.

Employees working outside of the office today are doing so from their own devices. O2 already caters for such worker demands.

"We've been letting people bring their own technology and register their own devices in the office through a program we've named 'Bring Your Own Portal.' Effectively we're allowing employees to register any kit they have," Dowd said.

O2 will also evaluate the wider spectrum of economic benefits from the initiative. O2 stated that is has previously saved over 3 million in overheads through such measures. The operator will also monitor reductions in electricity usage and CO2 emissions as a result of today's initiative.

"It's very good from a sustainability point of view. If less people are coming to work then there are less people using resources. This is a great way to save money as well," said Dowd, who is also working away from the office today as well.

"I've been mostly working on my smartphone and iPad all day. I went out for a business lunch and now I will continue working from home on my iPad."

With the summer Olympics quickly approaching there is a strong drive for more businesses to switch to a more flexible work system. O2 expects one third of businesses to shift in this direction in the future.

O2 employees have shown an incredible amount of positive feedback and support for the initiative and, according to Dowd, overall production has increased.

"If you trust your employees they will give back more to you and become more productive," he said.

"It's been a very long and busy day," Dowd said. "But it is very exciting to do the biggest trial of this kind in the UK."

The London Underground is set to have Wi-Fi in place across 120 stations in time for the 2012 Olympics, despite a delayed tender process.

Transport for London (TfL) confirmed it would announce the chosen service provider in early spring, even though it initially planned to have chosen a bidder by the end of 2011.

"We are in the final stages of the tender process," said Gareth Powell, director of strategy and service development.

"London Underground is continuing with preparations to install the necessary infrastructure and is on schedule to complete the project as planned."

In March last year, TfL called on service providers to bid for the contract following a successful trial at Charing Cross station BT Openzone that has been running since November 2010.

In February 2011, it was rumoured Chinese tech giant Huawei was in talks to provide a mobile network on the Underground, but nothing has yet materialised from the reports.

Olympics organisers have sought to guarantee technological infrastructure is ready for the big event this summer. Ofcom revealed yesterday that demand for spectrum was going to double during the Games.

The regulator explained how public sector organisations would be sharing their spectrum to help deal with demand.

Mobile coverage will not be coming to the Underground in time for the Olympics, however.

TfL hoped mobile companies would be able to fund the initiative, but 3, Everything Everywhere, O2 and Vodafone said they had given up on the plans as they were unable to agree on a viable proposal.

The Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea areas of London are set to be part of the largest free wireless zone in Europe, thanks to a landmark deal involving local authorities and O2.

The operator today announced it had struck an agreement with Westminster City Council, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

This is a landmark achievement for Westminster.

It will cost taxpayers no extra money, according to O2, which will start building the infrastructure for the free Wi-Fi this month.

"This is a landmark achievement for Westminster. Westminster welcomes over a million tourists a day, is home to 250,000 residents, employs over half a million people and sees 4,000 business starts-ups each year," said Philippa Roe, cabinet member for strategic finance at Westminster City Council.

"Next summer's Olympic Games mean that London will be putting on the biggest show on earth and as Westminster has a starring role, visitors to London will easily be able to share their pictures and updates of the Olympic events across social networking sites."

O2 told IT Pro it could not go into detail on the commercial agreement, but confirmed the long-term aim is for the Wi-Fi to remain free.

As for what O2 gains from the deal, it explained the model includes hosting advertising on the O2 Wi-Fi landing page, which will be relevant and targeted to the area.

"The benefit to us is this model, but also through the agreement to host network equipment on street level furniture, further enhancing our mobile service where it is needed most," a spokesperson said.

A number of tech giants have joined the free Wi-Fi for London bandwagon over the past year.

In November last year, it emerged Nokia was to sponsor free Wi-Fi across 26 street hotspots.

Virgin has said it is planning a free Wi-Fi network in the capital, but little is known about when or where.

O2 kicked off a 4G trial today in London, building on the operator's "superfast" 3G network covering the capital.

Trials of LTE services will run for nine months across 25 sites, covering an area of 40 square kilometers.

Over 1,000 people are expected to take part in the project, with a number of business partners announced.

These include John Lewis, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, as well as Enterprise Nation, an organisation designed to support start-up companies in the UK.

"Our work in London will give us a better understanding of the capabilities of 4G technology and will allow us to explore the superfast benefits it will bring to people and industry across the UK," said Ronan Dunne, O2 CEO.

We are actively engaged in the auction and are supportive of a fair process that meets the Government's and Ofcom's planned timeline.

"This 4G trial is the next step on our journey to a smarter network - a network that offers a seamless, connected experience across multiple devices, locations and services."

O2 is one of the companies involved in industry squabbling over the 4G auction, which is due to take place towards the end of 2012 after a number of delays.

Earlier this year, the operator claimed Ofcom's spectrum auction proposals were illegal under EU law as they provided "state aid."

O2 said the "spectrum floors," designed to ensure at least four providers get a minimum amount of spectrum, would favour others.

"The forthcoming spectrum auction is a watershed moment for the UK mobile industry, which will see the release of the airwaves capable of powering a whole range of exciting next-generation mobile services," Dunne said today.

"We are actively engaged in the auction and are supportive of a fair process that meets the Government's and Ofcom's planned timeline."

Last week, a report from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee gave Ofcom its backing in how the regulator has handled the auction, including in its decision to include caps and floors in its plans.

MPs urged all involved to ensure the auction takes place as soon as possible following a number of delays.

It would be an understatement to say that the preparations for the London 2012 Summer Olympics are a massive logistical undertaking. The Summer Olympics are, after all, the biggest events of any kind in the world. Understandably, much of the attention has been focused on infrastructure such as the stadiums and venues. While undeniably impressive, the IT behind the Games is just as important if far less visible.

We managed to get a sneak peek behind the scenes thanks to Acer, the Official Sponsor for Computing Equipment for the London Games and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games. The Taiwanese computing giant is the second largest PC manufacturer in the world and is responsible for providing 9,000 desktop PCs, 2,000 laptops and 900 servers for use at the various venues and support sites as well as the headquarters of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG). LOCOG is the publicly-funded body charged with organising and managing the 2012 Games.

Although 95-98% of Acer's computers are ready to be deployed, only 25% are actually in place as most of the venues are still under construction. Most will finally be in place in May-June 2012, just in time for the July 27th start date. A significant proportion of Acer's computers will be used, along with proprietary hardware and software from timekeeping sponsors Omega, to time the competing athletes, keep score and then aggregate and distribute that data to reporting agencies such as the BBC.

LOCOG will be using Acer computers for other tasks of course. 'LOCOG will run all their key applications on acer servers. These range from the normal back office systems such as HR, Finance and CRM to the more specific and Games critical Workforce, Accreditation and Scheduling applications' according to Michael Trainor, Acer's project manager. Trainor has experience of deploying IT at two previous Olympic Games.

Computers for such a critical task aren't simply delivered at the venues, unboxed and plugged in though they have to be rigorously tested to minimise the risk of anything going wrong. Before deployment, all of the computers and equipment used to keep score for a particular event or application (such as Archery or Fencing for example) are set up at the London-based Integration Test Lab (ITL). These combinations of laptops, desktops, servers (around 20 in total) and installed software, or 'cells', are set up exactly as they would be at the venue. The ITL, housed in an unassuming office building, can house dozens upon dozens of cells.

A handful of the countless cells, or collection of computers dedicated to a single event or other purpose, being tested at the Integration Test Lab.

Each cell is configured as they would be at the event and are vigorously tested and documented before being moved to the venue 2-3 weeks before the actual event. Each cell is then tested again. Feedback is collected from the onsite operators before the cell is moved back to the ITL and any necessary modifications are made. Only then is the cell ready for final deployment.

The ITL has been operating since the autumn of 2010, although deliveries of computers were being made as early as the second half of 2009. Despite this extended time frame, the configuration of every single computer is exactly the same. Although this means some of the specifications are comparatively modest compared to the latest models, this ensures that a broken computer can be replaced with an exact duplicate, speeding up recovery time. More importantly, the decision to use compact Acer Veriton mini PCs instead of traditional towers not only reduces energy usage, but increases the number of computers that can be delivered on a shipping pallet, saving both money and time.

One of the many Acer Veriton PCs that will be used at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Although Acer has all the replacement parts it needs, the goal in the event of equipment failure is to replace the entire faulty computer within minutes, conditions at the venue permitting, according to Trainor.

Repairing faulty computers at a high-profile event such as the Olympics isn't just a matter of having spare computers on hand though. Approximately 300-400 server specialists and desktop technicians will be available throughout the Games. Although some have had experience of previous Games, all are trained not only in any new technologies but also in procedures unique to the tight security and lightning-fast response times needed for the Olympics. Trainor estimates that, depending on the type of computer in question, a failure rate of 1 to 3%.

One of the countless cells, or collection of computers dedicated to a single event or other purpose, ready for testing at the Integration Test Lab.

Only 1-3% of the support staff are from outside the UK and there are five apprentices and five interns learning the ropes. These apprentices and interns will first cut their teeth at other, smaller non-Olympic events before working on Games-related tasks under supervision. Although much has been said about the science and technology skills shortage in the UK, Acer project manager Todd Olson, who has experience of four Olympic Games, had nothing but praise for the quality of his apprentices and interns.

The Acer TravelMate 6593G. Its 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8700 processor, 2GB of RAM, 250GB hard disk and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics card may be old hat compared to the latest models, but computing at the Olympics is about more than specs.

Although all the computers may be Acer-branded, the Taiwanese giant doesn't work in isolation. As well as liaising with LOCOG and Omega, Acer also works with all the other sponsors providing technical equipment and infrastructure for the Games. This includes Panasonic responsible for audio-visual systems, BT responsible for communications, Cisco which is handling network infrastructure and Atos Origin, the firm responsible for the software and for overseeing and managing all Games IT infrastructure.

Just as impressive as the ITL is the TOC, the Technology Operations Center which is the main monitoring and management hub for all the cells deployed out at venues. Row-upon-row of operators and managers monitor, in real time, the time-measuring and score-keeping cells and their data. At the height of the Games, around 300-400 people will man the TOC. During our visit, the TOC was manned by around 100 staff tasked with monitoring the Archery test event at Lord's cricket ground.

The Technology Operations Center or TOC the mission control for all the Acer computers deployed at the Olympic venues.

According to Olson and Trainor, the biggest challenge with deploying IT at the Olympics isn't technological. The need delivering hardware and services at a consistently high level over an extended period of time, the immutable start date of July 27th and the Games inflexible budget (due to the involvement of taxpayer funds) are unlike any wholly private sector project where there's always some leeway with delivery dates and money. The proof of whether Olson, Trainor and the hundreds of other Acer employees have succeeded will come next summer when the eyes of the world turn to the east end of London.

Hard at work good luck chaps!

Both London and Scotland are looking into having their own internet domains, meaning .london and .scot could be seen online soon.

The International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) will be accepting submissions for new top level domains (TLDs) for three months from 12 January.

London & Partners, the PR agency for the UK's capital, said it was exploring what benefits a .london TLD would bring. It said it would be coordinating with London boroughs and other city organisations over the plans.

"London has always been seen as a city that leads on digital innovation and our interest in applying for dot London demonstrates our commitment to maintaining this position," said Gordon Innes, CEO of London & Partners.

"We believe that owning the dot London gTLD will not only generate increased opportunities for the promotion of the capital, but will achieve benefits for businesses and organisations across the capital."

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government is looking for more support for a .scot TLD. The UK Government has now been asked to give the bid its backing, according to the BBC.

"I am sure the UK Government with its responsibility for internet governance will want to support us," said Alex Neil, Scotland's cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment.

"Across the board support would undoubtedly strengthen our hand and build momentum behind the bid."

Scotland has been looking for a .scot TLD for some time. The not-for-profit body Dot Scot Registry was founded two years ago to campaign for the Scottish internet domain.

Other cities across the world are looking at applying for their own TLD, including Berlin, New York, Paris, Rome and Sydney.

Human rights bodies have written to the Government warning of the dangers of banning people from social networks if they are deemed to be a danger.

The Government held meetings today with representatives from social media firms to talk about whether sites such as Facebook and Twitter could work in closer alignment with police.

Following the London riots, in which social media sites were used to organise criminal acts, Prime Minister David Cameron openly said the Government would look into preventing people's use of such websites if they were deemed to be organising violent or disorderly acts.

We are very concerned that new measures, made in good faith but in a heated political environment, will overextend powers in ways that would be susceptible to abuse.

"Turning off, restricting or monitoring people's communications networks are matters that require extreme care and open, detailed deliberation," the letter from a host of rights groups read.

"We are very concerned that new measures, made in good faith but in a heated political environment, will overextend powers in ways that would be susceptible to abuse, restrict legitimate, free communication and expression and undermine people's privacy. This is especially so if proposals involve unaccountable voluntary arrangements between law enforcement and communications providers."

Amongst the groups behind the letter were Amnesty UK, the Open Rights Group and Privacy International.

"It is essential that any review of regulations covering communications networks happens through a public consultation, with full details of meetings between the Government and social network platforms made public as soon as possible," the letter continued.

"This should involve a genuine multi-stakeholder process that includes not only the communications providers but groups representing broader citizens' rights such as freedom of expression and privacy."

Today, the Home Office said it held "constructive" talks with police and the social media industry. Representatives from Facebook, Twitter and RIM's BlackBerry Messenger team were invited to speak with Government.

"The Home Secretary, along with the Culture Secretary and Foreign Office Minister Jeremy Browne, has held a constructive meeting with ACPO [the Association of Chief Police Officers], the police and representatives from the social media industry," a Home Office spokesperson.

"The discussions looked at how law enforcement and the networks can build on the existing relationships and cooperation to crack down on the networks being used for criminal behaviour."

Facebook said it was happy with the discussions, noting the talks were not about "imposing new restrictions on internet services."

A statement pointed to the quality of its own reporting tools to keep people safe.

"We were pleased to highlight our array of effective reporting tools and the relationships we have built with law enforcement to keep the site safe for the 30 million people in the UK who use Facebook - especially during times of crisis," the company said.

"We were also able to revisit the positive role Facebook played during the riots from letting friends and family know they are safe to helping facilitate local clean-up operations. There is no place for illegal activity on Facebook and we take firm action against those who breach our rules."

Virgin is planning a Wi-Fi network for London that would be free to use, but it is not revealing much about timing.

Following Virgin's results last week, chief executive (CEO) Neil Berkett said the ISP was in "quite advanced conversations" with a number of boroughs and councils.

Berkett said he was optimistic the first deal would be secured "in the not too distant future."

"The proposition would be we would provide free Wi-Fi for all at 0.5Mbps with full access to Virgin Media customers at up to 10Mbps," Berkett said.

"We may consider speaking to one of MNOs about wholesaling that as an activity. There are very few things I take a punt on as a business person this is probably one of them."

Virgin has not revealed any more, though, and little is known about the scale of the project. Berkett said a number of areas in London would be covered under the proposals.

"There's not really a lot to add at this stage. Talks are underway and the consumer proposition has yet to be finalised," a spokesperson told IT Pro.

Berkett said the value for the customer would come through not having to use 3G, with Wi-Fi offering significantly better speeds.

"It is something that I think is part of our ethos in investing in advancing digital lifestyles and pushing the role we play in UK plc as the other infrastructure," Berkett added.

The service could provide some serious competition for BT Openzone, which charges for access.

Virgin may be targeting the Olympics for completion of the rollout.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he wanted free Wi-Fi for London in time for the 2012 Games, yet little headway has been made.

Plans to introduce mobile coverage in the Underground in time for the event were canned earlier this year.

Vodafone sponsored taxis will be making their way around London over the coming months, bringing with them in-vehicle charging and payment facilities.

Today will see the first of hundreds of Vodafone-branded taxis exploring the capital, sporting a Union Jack design. Those hitching a ride will be able to pay by text as well as powering up their device.

Next week, Vodafone-sponsored Heathrow Express trains will be launched as part of the "London Calling" campaign, in which the provider is claiming it offers the best service in the capital.

"We have already made hundreds of improvements to increase coverage, capacity and reliability to ensure Londoners can always stay in touch with friends and family," said Vodafone UK chief executive (CEO) Guy Laurence.

"Now with our fantastic fleet of Union Jack cabs and their on-board chargers which anyone can use, all Londoners will be able to see our continuing commitment to the capital."

Vodafone said it improved the performance of more than 500 of its sites across London over the past few months and will continue to invest heavily in the city's infrastructure.

London is a key target area for operators, as indicated by O2's recent announcement it was to open a new 3G network in the area.

O2 took advantage of a ruling by Ofcom which allowed O2 to reuse the 900MHz spectrum for 3G services instead of just 2G.

Google is set to expand its presence in the UK's capital city, according to reports.

The internet giant is looking at taking on new office space in London's Kings Cross, measuring 700,000 sq ft, claimed a report in the Daily Telegraph.

It is thought Google will rent half of the space and pay-out 200 million for the remainder.

Google currently has 121,500 sq ft of office space in Victoria, so an investment in a location almost six times the size would hint at a large expansion of its UK operations.

However, when IT PRO contacted Google for confirmation of the move, a spokesperson merely said the company did not comment on speculation.

Back in January, out-going chief executive, Eric Schmidt, visited Downing Street to discuss creating an innovation hub in London's upcoming Silicon Roundabout area a project launched by Prime Minister David Cameron in November 2010.

That wasn't the only proposal on the table and the conversation was confirmed to have covered the wider subject of how Google could help with "economic growth" across the nation, along with "the role technology [could] play" in helping with the recovery.

McAfee is expanding its presence in the cloud computing market with the opening of a new data centre in London.

The cloud data centre is the fifth the company has unveiled the past year alone but its first in the UK.

Its focus will be on providing McAfee's software as a service (SaaS) offerings for both web and email security.

Scott Chasin, chief technology officer for McAfee's cloud and content division, said: "The rapid expansion of cloud data centres over the past year underscores our commitment to our customers and partners to deliver the highest-grade, global cloud security footprint."

The new data centre will be backed up to another facility within Europe, as well as providing back up for its counterpart. McAfee has also ensured it will use multiple ISPs for connectivity, ensuring the locations are not reliant on one provider.

Physical security has also played a major part in the design of the new data centre, with biometric scanners controlling staff access, 24 hour CCTV and early fire detection systems.

Although the company has already launched five new locations in the past year, it confirmed another new cloud data centre in Hong Kong was set to go live in a matter of weeks.

McAfee was recently acquired by Intel in a $7.68 billion deal, finalised on 1 March this year.

Jonathan Ive is contemplating leaving Apple, according to reports.

Ive is the second highest-profile employee of Apple, and is credited for the design of the iPad and iPhone 4, amongst other iconic products.

Ive, originally from Chingford, London, is said to be willing to return to the UK to spend more time with his family and to allow his children to go to school in Britain, according to a report in the Sunday Times.

An anonymous source, who told the paper he was a close family friend of Ive's, said: "Unfortunately he is just too valuable to Apple and they told him in no uncertain terms that if he headed back to England he would not be able to sustain his position with them."

Ive is reportedly about to cash a three year "golden-handcuff" deal, consisting of some 25 million in Apple stock shares.

Apple allegedly didn't like Ive's proposition to continue to work for the Cupertino company, while commuting between the US and his home in Britain.

When contacted by IT PRO to speak about Ive's intentions and the plans to substitute him if he were to leave, Apple had no comment to make.

If proved true, this setback would add to the problems Apple has been experiencing within the past few weeks, including concerns about its chief executive's health and a controversial subscriptions battle with arch rival Google.

Going Underground?

Mayors both past and present have touted the idea of providing mobile access across London's tube network, but this week the deal seemed closer than ever.

Reports suggested Huawei was on the brink of signing a deal with Transport for London (TfL) to provide the infrastructure, whilst Thales was thought to be handling the installation.

Not everyone was as keen as BoJo about the network though, as a survey this week by GoodMobilePhones.co.uk showed more than three quarters of Londoners didn't want mobiles on the tube.

We will have to wait and see if they are getting worked up over nothing.

The iPad 2 looms

The internet has been awash with rumours about the iPad 2. While this is something that has been happening since the original iPad was launched, this time details of an Apple-hosted event next Wednesday have given more gravitas to the hearsay.

The event is likely to be hosted by chief operating officer Tim Cook as Steve Jobs is currently on medical leave.

We will be attending the event so watch this space for more details.

Best of the rest

Microsoft had an embarrassing week as the first update to its mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, caused numerous handsets to crash.

The server market had happier new though as research from Gartner claimed it had returned to growth following a tough time during the economic downturn.

Lastly, Cambridgeshire Council became the latest in a line of public sector bodies to feel the wrath of the ICO after losing an unencrypted USB stick containing personal data of six individuals.

Transport for London (TfL) has remained tight-lipped over reports it will work with Huawei to bring mobile connectivity to the Underground.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson hopes to install a mobile network on the tube in time for the 2012 Olympics.

TfL has confirmed little, explaining it is still in talks with a range of providers.

"Transport for London and the Mayor of London are currently in discussion with mobile phone operators and other suppliers about the potential provision of mobile phone services on the deep tube network," a spokesperson said.

"Given the financial pressures on TfL's budgets, any solution would need to be funded through mobile operators with no cost to fare or taxpayers. Discussions are ongoing."

Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported Chinese manufacturer Huawei was close to securing an agreement with TfL, which would mean it would supply the telecoms equipment for the service.

Thales would install and maintain the network, whilst UK mobile operators would be responsible for connectivity.

Huawei confirmed it was in the bidding process to win the contract, but would not elaborate, citing business confidentiality reasons.

Concerns have been raised that enabling the use of mobile phones on the tube could aid terrorist activity on the public service.

Despite these worries, many are pleased that such connectivity is at least technologically possible now.

Richard Thurston, Ovum analyst, felt relieved progress was finally being made after a number of delays to the project.

"The London Underground has been one of the UK's worst mobile blackspots and is almost unique among major European city metro networks in not having mobile coverage," he said.

"Now Londoners can look forward to being more productive on the move. This network will bring real and measurable economic benefits that the UK badly need."

However, he was not convinced the mobile network would cover the entire Underground in time for 2012.

"The project has been delayed for years because of revenue sharing, infrastructure sharing and installation challenges," Thurston added.

"Most of those challenges remain, and we expect this project will continue to prove troublesome."

Microsoft will be creating 1,000 new apprentices in London over the next three years.

The software giant will be increasing the number of positions as part of the Mayor's apprenticeship campaign, which has the goal of creating 20,000 new job opportunities in London by the end of the academic year.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, applauded the decision Microsoft and other companies had made and called on London businesses to take on apprentices to save what he believed "could otherwise become a wasted generation."

The announcement by Johnson came on the day he and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, announced National Apprenticeship Week.

The new scheme comes shortly after it became public knowledge the number of young jobless rose to 951,000 in November the largest figure since records started in 1992.

This is not the first pledge of employment made by Microsoft this year. In January the company's UK managing director, Gordon Frazer, met with David Cameron and agreed to create jobs for 4,000 people in a push to plug the gap of public sector job cuts.

The London Data Store, the public-access site for data held by the Greater London Authority (GLA), is paying back the GLA in many ways, according to the expert involved.

Emer Coleman, GLA's director of digital projects, told IT PRO at Cloud Expo in London the centre had enabled developers to make applications, specifically aimed at London users.

"Two apps that have been independently produced using the data we have made available spring to mind," she said. "One shows the most popular routes for bike rides and the other gives the time taken to complete journeys around London."

"We lack the ability to visualise data in this way, and it would cost the London tax-payer quite a lot if we had to do it ourselves, but it gives us valuable information for developing the service."

Coleman underlined the data was merely being offered back to the people who paid for its collection the London citizen.

"We have been surprised by the innovative apps that have been developed and this is just one way in which we are achieving our goal of encouraging new businesses to form that can capitalise on this information," she said.

Later, in her keynote address to the conference, Coleman said the days of secrecy were over and there may be occasions when the data is used for purposes that work against the GLA. However, she said this could be considered the price of freedom of information.

"When we made the SPAD (Signals Passed At Danger) information from London Underground available we were worried that an app may appear showing which lines could be considered the most dangerous," Coleman added.

"It may still happen but most people seem to be responsible and the apps have proved very popular."

Coleman said the next step is to try to gain access to real-time bus information. This service is outsourced and the data is held by the third party involved.

"This would complement our tube and train data to give London commuters a better way to plan their journeys while on the move especially if there is a road closure or adverse conditions causing delays," she concluded.

Virgin Media Business has secured a five year deal with the London Grid for Learning (LGfL) to provide network capabilities to over 2,000 schools.

The corporate internet service provider (ISP) will provide the infrastructure for schools across all 33 boroughs in the capital, enabling them to take advantage of educational technology which is becoming more and more dominant in the classroom.

Primary schools will be provided with 10Mbps connections whilst secondary schools will get an "ultrafast" 100Mbps. Brian Durrant, chief executive (CEO) of the LGfL, claimed the 10Mbps connection would cost less than what current provider Synetrix charged for 5Mbps and the 100Mbps would cost just a third of the present price tag.

At a launch event in central London, Durrant said there was a "quiet revolution" occurring in education where technology was becoming an essential tool for modern day schools, despite 10 years ago teachers not even knowing what they would need broadband for.

"It allows a depth of understanding, a depth of interaction and a level of achievement not seen before with thousands of teachers and children finding a new way of teaching and a new way of learning," he said.

"We need the infrastructure to provide that."

The agreement with Virgin Media Business has also taken into account the tough economic climate facing public sector organisations, with the relatively new Government looking to reduce costs rather than spend.

Rather than an upfront cost, the ISP has included the money needed for set up and has spread it across the five years.

Mark Heraghty, managing director of Virgin Media Business, said: "We are taking the cost out but improving the service that is fundamentally Virgin."

This is only the first phase for the Public Sector Network (PSN). Both Virgin Media Business and the LGfL hope to offer the infrastructure to other public organisations, such as the Police and hospitals, in the near future.

The phase over to Virgin's network will begin in April and should be completed by June 2012. Heraghty confirmed discussions with other public sector groups will begin as soon as the phase over starts.

Skype is leaping onto the latest awareness week bandwagon by offering the UK free Wi-Fi for the next five days.

It is providing the service as part of the UK's first "Internet Week Europe," a festival designed to raise the profile of digital industries this side of the Atlantic.

The festival, which starts today and runs until 12 November, will feature a number of events across London, hosted by the likes of Google, Yahoo and the BBC.

It was inspired by a festival that begun in New York two years ago and is hoping to attract thousands of participants for over 100 events, ranging from heated debates to developer contests.

To take advantage of Skype's participation over the next week, users will have to locate a Skype Access compatible hotspot and have the latest version of Skype's software.

To find out more about the events being put on across the week, check out the calendar on the Internet Week Europe website.

Marc Benioff, chairman and chief executive (CEO) of Salesforce.com, was keen to sing the praises of the company's latest service Chatter on stage at the Royal Festival Hall in London today.

The business social networking addition to the Force.com Software as a Service (SaaS) suite was launched in June and already has 20,000 customers on board, he announced.

"The reality is that social networking is transforming business software," he said. "Some software vendors have changed to accommodate this and for those that havent you only have to look at their [decreasing] marketing figures and the message becomes as clear as day."

The Chatter service brings a Facebook look to company interactions. Staff can connect with one another in much the same way as people establish friends on Facebook, but in a business context. Not only can they connect to colleagues, but they can also link to projects.

Benioff sees Chatter as a killer app in the Salesforce suite because it connects with the new generation of employees to whom digital communication is second nature. According to figures from market research firm Nielsen, 27 per cent of internet time is spent on social networking.

Salesforce is trying to claim the cloud as its own and Benioff said we have now reached the next phase or "Cloud 2." It relies on now-familiar and popular internet technologies such as Facebook, Google and YouTube to connect with staff and customers, and it believes business software should reflect this.

Benioff also announced "by 2012 Salesforce.com will have a data centre in London." The need to accept that company data is stored in a US-based data centre has long been a sticking point with some potential customers, both in the UK and Europe.

London mayor Boris Johnson has given his support to plans to install Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile phone base stations in London Underground stations.

In his address to the annual State of London debate last night, Johnson said he was willing to consider any ideas that would help London become one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world, as long as they are financially viable.

"The truth is that I'm on the side of progress if we possibly can do it. We could do it because I do think people want the facility of looking at their BlackBerrys," he said.

However, he did concede: "There are big technical difficulties. It's very expensive."

The debate over introducing web and mobile phone access to the London Underground is not new. As far back as 2005, then-mayor Ken Livingstone said: "We know that many Londoners would like the convenience of being able to use their mobile phones at Tube stations throughout the Underground network.

"We also want to see how the technology could be taken even further, for instance wireless Internet so passengers could receive up-to-the-minute travel information via their laptop or mobile phone."

But efforts to make progress since then have stalled, mainly because of costs. A six-month trial of on-platform web and phone services was due to commence in 2008, but a suitable partner could not be found.

"We tendered for a trial of mobile phone technology on the Waterloo and City line, but the market has yet to provide a commercially viable solution," a London Underground spokesperson told Wireless Magazines earlier this year.

And while the informal nature of the mayor's latest comments suggest not much has changed on an official level, he has already shown he isn't afraid to put his weight behind projects perceived as boosting the capital's technological standing on the global stage.

Johnson has made no secret of his desire to give all of London wireless internet access, and last month told a Google conference that he had approached Europe's largest broadband provider The Cloud, which already covers the City of London, to extend the coverage across the capital in time for the 2012 Olympics. Plans would include installing wireless hotspots in street lights and bus stops.

As recently as last year, mobile access on the tube was mooted, as part of the Digital Britain report.