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Articles by Simon Colvin
Proper AI governance requires everyday action, say experts
And companies which are adopting AI at scale need to demonstrate clear visibility in three critical dimensions – value, effectiveness and oversight – in order for artificial intelligence integration to be successful throughout the lifecycle of the system. The issue was highlighted in a report published earlier this year by operations consultancy Mozaic and Pinsent Masons that looks into the governance challenges being faced by companies amid the current AI boom.
Tech sovereignty: MPs urge UK government to act
The UK government should be clearer about its ambitions for “technology sovereignty”, to support domestic investment in technologies such as AI and quantum computing and ensure access in the UK “cannot be cut off from key technologies at the whim of a foreign government”, a committee of MPs have said. The term ‘technology sovereignty’ refers to technology infrastructure entirely operated, located and governed within one jurisdiction.
Expect sovereignty to become a bigger factor in EU cloud procurements
This change will come about if recent proposals put forward by the European Commission for a new Cloud and AI Development Act (CADA) become law. The EU proposals, which we explore in more detail below, reflect an increased global focus on sovereign tech models amidst a volatile geopolitical environment in which policymakers are seeking to reduce foreign dependencies and associated risks of potential interference with and disruption to the supply of essential goods or services.
Organisations at risk of ‘public controversies’ if they fail in AI governance, warns report
Reputational damage from AI-driven decisions which are seen as unfair or discriminatory can be as impactful as regulatory action when automated decision-making is involved. The warning comes in a new white paper - jointly authored by Pinsent Masons and operations consultancy Mozaic – which highlights the growing risks for companies who fail to put robust and timely AI governance models in place while integrating new systems.
AI governance gap ‘widening’, warns new white paper
The rapid growth of AI adoption has been seen across a host of business sectors, but research indicates many companies are struggling to keep pace with integration of governance processes around its usage.
Government and public sector
Pinsent Masons conducts a wide range of work for central and local government, and is one of a handful of firms appointed to the UK Government’s Legal Panel to provide a full range of legal services on major projects and complex work. Pinsent Masons is independently recognised as one of the leading legal providers to the public sector.
Professional & Public Services
Connecting Professional and Public Services to our firmwide expertise.
AI ‘mantra’ to drive UK government ‘digitalisation’
The pledge was outlined in a new mantra that the government has committed to, which is to shape its approach to the overhaul of how public services and the wider British state operates using digital technologies. The mantra is that “no person’s substantive time should be spent on a task where digital or AI can do it better, quicker and to the same high quality and standard”.
Government & Public Sector Lawyers
Pinsent Masons conducts a wide range of work for central and local government, and is one of a handful of ‘Tier 1’ firms appointed to provide a full range of legal services on the Crown Commercial Service's panel. Over 1600 lawyers working with central government, over 100 local authorities and public sector bodies each year.
UK general election 2024: pledges relevant to tech and industrial businesses
The Labour manifesto gives more of a highlight to the digital agenda than that of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. Businesses will want to see a strong focus on technology regulation and support for innovation and the development of AI from the next government – and to understand how the government will operate on a global scale in relation to managing the opportunities and risks of technology and data, and to address cyber risk and fraud.
NPPS 2024: SMEs and social value among public procurement priorities
Simon Colvin and Totis Kotsonis of Pinsent Masons were commenting after the government said contracting authorities should have regard to SMEs and social value among other “national priorities” when exercising their functions relating to procurement. The other national priorities relate to value for money; commercial and procurement delivery; and skills and capability for procurement. The revised NPPS will begin to apply on 28 October 2024.
Stricter payment rules for public contractors come into force
Suppliers that sell goods and services to government departments must now comply with stricter payment rules, which came into force on 1 April, or be prevented from winning government contracts worth more than £5m. Under the government’s latest Prompt Payment Guidance policy, all suppliers must now pay their invoices within an average of at least 55 days, in addition to the existing requirement of ensuring 95% of invoices in their supply chain are paid within 60 days.
Government training and development focus supports UK tech capabilities
Simon Colvin of Pinsent Masons, who advises public sector organisations and businesses on technology projects, was commenting in light of recent news concerning the operation of two UK initiatives that – in their very different way – seek to enhance technology capabilities and opportunities within the UK business community.
Responsible AI: WEDF launches ‘open suggestion’ standards project
The WEDF guidelines will encourage companies to consider practically how to determine whether there is copyrighted material in the outputs produced by a tool they have used and whether that has resulted from their input to create the output or use of copyrighted material by the tool developer at the development or training stages of the AI tool, before taking the tool to market or updating it.
Contract management playbook to be developed by UK government
The plans were reported by the Business Services Association (BSA), which said it had been contacted by the Cabinet Office on the issue. According to the BSA, the initiative “is part of ongoing efforts to enhance government contract management practices”.
DMCC Digest: Consumer protection: key changes & compliance
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Act will start to be implemented in stages from as early as December 2024. With this in mind, the DMCC Digest webinar series will explore various key aspects of the new legislation. In this session, our experts in commercial contracts, technology media & telecoms (TMT) and intellectual property (IP), will discuss changes to UK consumer protection law under the DMCC Act and how businesses can help ensure compliance.
Pinsent Masons named as supplier on new UK Government Legal Panel
Through this Lot, Pinsent Masons will provide a full service capability to manage larger and more complex projects, advice, and litigation, where a higher degree of strategic input or complexity and swift scale up is required. Crown Commercial Service (CCS) supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services.
Greenwashing - A Valuable Insight Into Consumer Understanding - Environmental Law - UK
Over the last month we have seen a continued focus upon those making misleading environmental claims, an act known as greenwashing.
Is net zero enough?
Businesses are being challenged to think beyond just carbon and net zero plans when it comes to climate change. The risks associated with climate change are beginning to have a significant impact on all businesses. Typically, businesses are seeking to address those risks by developing a net zero plan.
Digital transformation requires organisation-wide change
Businesses embarking on digital transformation projects need to consider what organisational changes they will require to get the full benefits from new technologies, an expert has said. Simon Colvin, a specialist in technology contracts at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, was commenting after a recent survey carried out on behalf of BT found that 55% of major corporates and 44% of large businesses in the UK said digital transformation forms part of their technology strategy.
‘Opportunities for smaller providers’ in UK telco infrastructure market
Smaller-scale manufacturers of telecommunications equipment have an opportunity to “gain a share” of the UK’s telecoms infrastructure market, an expert has said. Nick Hutton of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law, who specialises in telecoms law and contracts, said the opportunities could arise as a result of the UK government’s push to diversify the UK’s telecoms infrastructure supply chain.
Technology enabled innovation
We are part of the technology industry and understand the dynamic nature of the technology landscape as well as the complexity involved in using new technology to deliver value. We advise on development; licence; support and maintenance; and system integration agreements and the regulatory aspects associated with e-commerce; internet of things (IOT); mobile infrastructure and solutions; social platforms and collaboration tools; and e-payment solutions.
Business focus turning to digital transformation
The coronavirus crisis has fundamentally changed the way businesses think about the link between technology and the way they operate. Many slow to embrace technological change previously are now focused on digital transformation and the benefits that come with it. The link between a business' technology and its operational resiliencewas brought into sharp focus by the initial impact of Covid-19.
The future of mobility: meeting the infrastructure challenge
Out-Law Analysis | 02 Dec 2020 | 10:34 am | 7 min. read Connected, autonomous, shared and electric (CASE) vehicles rely on a diverse and complex range of infrastructure, both physical and digital, to support their operation. Delivering this infrastructure will depend on meeting commercial and security challenges, and establishing effective models of collaboration. A wireless future A degree of connectivity is common in large numbers of cars on the road today.
Landmark deal agreed to improve UK mobile coverage
Out-Law News | 13 Mar 2020 | 10:47 am | 1 min. read A landmark deal aimed at improving mobile coverage across the UK has been agreed by the UK government and the country's four largest mobile network operators (MNOs). Under the 'shared rural network' arrangements, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone and the government will co-invest in addressing both full and partial 'not spots'. These are areas of the country where none, or only some, of the operators offer existing mobile coverage.
What next for the Environment Bill?
The future of the Environment Bill is presently unclear, thanks to two distinct, yet related, events: the general election and Brexit. The government’s intention was always to have the Bill ready by 31 December 2020, so that it could either come into effect at the end of the transition period in the event of a deal with the EU, or so that the gap between leaving without a deal on 31 January 2020 and the Bill becoming an Act of Parliament was as short as possible.
Global outsourcing market set for record year
In its latest outsourcing index, Information Services Group (ISG) revealed that the annual value of outsourcing contracts finalised in 2018 totalled $47.8bn, up 18% on the year before. ISG measures commercial outsourcing contracts with annual contract value of $5 million or more. Much of the growth came in the 'as-a-service' market, where providers offer IT services or infrastructure to customers on an on-demand basis.
Weightmans secures environmental accreditation
National law firm Weightmans has successfully achieved ISO 14001:2015 certification for environmental management systems, which recognises the firm’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact. ISO 14001 is an internationally-recognised accreditation, providing a comprehensive guideline for all areas of environmental management.
Infrastructure must be built with connected and autonomous vehicles in mind
The future of CAVs promises a world where vehicles transmit and receive data constantly, with a myriad of associated possibilities, from enabling the safe, automated, or semi-automated, and efficient flow of traffic along motorways or within cities, and directing occupied or unoccupied vehicles to available parking or storage spaces, to the sharing of weather or accident warnings, and facilitating the exchange of information digitally between vehicles themselves.
UK urged to build 'digital twin' of its infrastructure
Using the power of big data and artificial intelligence (AI), it may be possible in future to determine what changes need to be made to the way the public uses transport if the population on London were to increase by 50% by 2050, for example, the NIC said in a new report (76-page / 2.94MB PDF). "A digital twin model can provide insights beyond what is currently seen with existing infrastructure models and can be used as a tool to aid decision making," the NIC said.
Smart construction and technology could save £15bn a year, says UK government
A new report on transforming infrastructure performance has identified three areas for improvement: 'smart' construction, including use of offsite manufacture; more and better use of digital technology to make new and existing infrastructure 'smarter'; and better sharing of innovation and best practice. The plans will be implemented over the next 10 years, and includes seven immediate priorities that the UK's Infrastructure Projects Authority (IPA) will focus on over the next two years.
Government announces billions in funding for R&D and infrastructure development
Prime minister Theresa May said the government would work with industry to hike R&D spending to 2.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2027. The increase, which the government said could increase R&D investment by £80 billion over 10 years, will begin with a £2.3bn investment in 2021/22. That would grow public R&D investment to £12.5bn in that year, it said.
Infrastructure developers look to joint ventures with technology companies
The survey, which gathered the views of 120 senior executives in the infrastructure developer sector, was commissioned by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, for its new report on the evolution of I'nfratech'. This is part of a series exploring the opportunities and challenges of infratech, the integration of technology into infrastructure. You can read more in our special report or request an exclusive Pinsent Masons research report.
Openreach to gauge demand and support for 'full-fibre' broadband networks
The digital infrastructure provider, which is a division of BT that provides network connection and maintenance services to BT and many of its rivals, said it is likely to open a consultation on the case for more fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure this summer. The consultation will look at "the demand for FTTP, the potential benefits and costs of a larger scale FTTP deployment, and the enablers needed to support investment", Openreach said in a statement.
UK government continues shared services drive with MoJ IT project
The move, announced by the MoJ last week, is part of the government's shared services initiative. Under the Cabinet Office’s Next Generation Shared Services strategy, central government departments are expected to transfer back-office functions, such as human resources, finance and payroll, to shared service centres. The MoJ moved data about approximately 75,000 staff onto a single IT operating platform used by other departments in the last few weeks as part of that move.
UK chancellor expected to reveal funding plans for 'full fibre' broadband
More than £400 million of public funds will be made available to broadband providers under a new Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund, according to a BBC report. Industry will be asked to match the funding, according to a report by the Financial Times. The money will be aimed at supporting the growth of 'full-fibre' broadband services, which can offer download speeds of up to 1 Gbps to users, according to the reports.
Technology has a central role within the vision for UK infrastructure, says expert
Harnessing the power of technology was a central theme of the National Needs Assessment (NNA) report, which Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, contributed to. The NNA report sets out a vision for UK infrastructure and is intended to guide the government-backed National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) as it produces its own National Infrastructure Assessment (NIA) for the government, planned for 2018.
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