podcasts @ComputerWeekly

Stories this week include a report from executive editor Tony Collins that the UK government is planning a 'green' strategy for the public sector; news on Barclays Bank's two-year project to link legacy systems to frontline applications using Java-based web services; and Windows Server 2008, implementation plans at General Motors (GM), Tubelines, Newham Borough Council and frozen food supplier Windrus; and an analysis by deputy technology editor John Paul Kamath on how proposed changes to relax the rules covering BT’s wholesale broadband division have met with criticism from industry experts.

Topics this week include revelations that Tony Blair tried to shorten the timetable of the NHS National Programme for IT in order to deliver results in time for a May 2005 general election date, an allegation that executive editor Tony Collins says is a case of "politics interfering with practicalities". Also in this podcast, Cliff Saran discusses a novel approach taken by a number of companies to meet skills shortages by employing people with autism in the field of software testing, helping to meet their special needs while also making the most of their special skills.

Ralph Szygenda, chief information officer and group vice president of General Motors, has used IT to save the company £6 billion in 10 years. In this podcast, Cliff Saran discovers the secrets behind his successful strategy.

Computer Weekly's Warwick Ashford brings you the UK IT news highlights for the week ending 12 February. Stories include a backlog of unpaid invoices at Birmingham City Council following an SAP-system upgrade, a new XML standard for mortgage sales, and details of the latest issue of Computer Weekly.

Computer Weekly reporter Warwick Ashford presents a round-up of the UK IT news for the week ending 5 February 2008. This week's main story concerns the UK government's U-turn decision to release papers first requested by Computer Weekly under the Freedom of Information Act in 2005. The papers are expected to detail how policy decisions were taken at Downing Street prior to the launch of NPfIT, the NHS systems modernisation project which is the world's largest civil IT-based scheme.

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (AEA), has pioneered the development of civil nuclear energy in the United Kingdom.

Harwell was the site of the UK’s first nuclear reactor. Harwell was also a centre of early fusion research in the 1950s. Britain’s original large-scale experimental device, ZETA, was housed in one of the RAF hangars at this site.

ComputerWeekly.com has been given exclusive access. In this podcast Cliff Saran speak to Chris Broad, Head of Information Systems and Technology at the Atomic Energy Authority to talk about his decision to migrate from a Novell desktop infrastructure to Windows and the Active Directory.

John-Paul Kamath talks to network managers and the Cisco training director about how to get higher salaries; what trends suppliers think will affect the way the network is run; and how Cisco responds to claims that its third party partners aren’t up to scratch to help customers.

Reporter Warwick Ashford presents the first of Computer Weekly's UK IT news round-up podcasts, for the week ending 29 January, 2008. This week's stories include a report that Fujitsu may withdraw from the NHS NPfIT (National Programme for IT), and news that Accenture and BAE Systems have withdrawn from the bidding process for the UK's national ID card scheme.

Rebecca Thomson talks to senior female figures working in the IT industry about issues including the gender pay gap, the perception of computing as a 'male' profession, the lack of opportunities for older women, and the cultural issues that turn women off taking up a business career in IT.

Green IT is climbing the corporate agenda, generated by the hype around climate change and corporate social responsibility.

In this podcast, John-Paul Kamath speaks to Euan Davis, principal analyst at Forrester Research, to get an executive briefing on what green IT is, why IT managers should care and what they can do to go green.