By Adam Smith | Tech correspondent
April 20, 2023 /Thomson Reuters Foundation/ — U.S. data analytics firm Palantir is bidding to provide Britain’s National Health Service with software across the system – a move which has raised concerns from data specialists and advocates.
Palantir, founded by U.S. billionaire Peter Thiel, was the NHS data analytics provider during the pandemic and is currently bidding for a £480 million contract for a “federated data platform”.
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Phil Tomlinson, University of Bath; Andrew Burlinson, University of East Anglia; Catherine Waddams, University of East Anglia; Donald Hirsch, Loughborough University; Jean-Philippe Serbera, Sheffield Hallam University; Jim Watson, UCL; Jonquil Lowe, The Open University, and Steven McCabe, Birmingham City University
UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has just launched the biggest package of tax cuts in half a century. This will involve around £45bn of reductions for people and businesses by 2027 – 50% more than anticipated before the mini-budget announcement.
By Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI, Sept 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When the pain started in Agnes Wachira’s chest almost six months ago, the Kenyan mother-of-three dismissed it as a symptom of the daily grind of working long hours hand-washing clothes in the narrow lanes of Nairobi’s Kawangware informal settlement.
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By Kim Harrisberg
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 1 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Moss Marakalala was 11 when he first used a laptop at an after-school programme in Johannesburg, sparking an interest in technology that inspired him to provide young people like himself from South African townships with digital education. Continue reading
By Kim Harrisberg
At the start of each school day, South African teacher Lori Cooperman prepares her lessons, plans students’ meals and – most importantly – checks an app to see if there will be electricity. Continue reading
By Diana Baptista and Avi Asher -Schapiro
MEXICO CITY, Aug 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A week after Pedro Figueroa borrowed 10,000 pesos ($500) from José Cash, a popular Mexican lending app, the barrage of online abuse began.
A slew of WhatsApp messages swamped his phone, threatening harm – to him and his reputation – if he did not pay. Continue reading