The Digital Finance Function Awards are back this summer, and will be held in person for the very first time. Hosted by GENCFO in partnership with ACCA and supported by Advanced, these awards recognise individuals and teams in the finance and accounting industry that deserve celebration.

The UK is one of the front runners in automation. A lot of companies have moved beyond just RPA, and added technology such as process mining and AI to their business. This change has implications for the involvement of the CFO in IT investments. “The C suite has to not only buy into it even but champion it more than anything else, because they’ve paid for costly mistakes in the past already.”

Bosch has acquired Five, a European startup in the field of automated driving. At six locations in the United Kingdom, its roughly 140 associates are working on self-driving vehicles. Five gave preference to Bosch over other takeover bidders. The agreements with Five were signed at the beginning of April. It has been agreed that the financial details will not be disclosed. The acquisition is still subject to approval by the antitrust authorities.

NICE announced that police forces across England and Wales have used NICE Investigate to manage more than 4 million investigations involving millions of digital evidence items. Powered by NICE’s cloud-based Evidencentral platform, NICE Investigate helps police forces digitally transform how digital evidence and investigations are managed.

London department store Selfridges showcases the future role of robotics in retail. An ABB robot demonstrates 3D printing using upcycled Parley Ocean Plastic to create a range of designer items. Personalized items can be ordered on site by customers and produced in-situ by the robot, ready for purchase.

When Helen Morgan started working at character clothing retailer Character.com in June 2020, she embarked on a digital transformation project, building the roadmap to financial automation.

At the recent CIOFEST CIO conference Martin Bellamy, one of the UK’s most experienced public sector IT leaders, shared some top tips for lasting project achievement.

Human rights and the fairness of trials endangered by uncontrolled use of AI in the English and Welsh legal system, warns the House of Lords. Stark new study from House of Lords’ Justice and Home Affairs Committee says too many Forces have raced into using advanced tech—and not just facial recognition—without proper supervision.

Last year over 100,000 mobile robots were shipped globally in 2021, Ash Sharma, Managing Director of Interact Analysis in a recent report. This is the first time this milestone has been reached, he says. The current labor shortage, coupled with strong e-commerce growth, has accelerated manufacturing and logistics companies’ plans to automate. This has caused sales in mobile robots to spiral, with nearly 70% more vehicles shipped than the year before and a 36% increase in revenues, which rose to nearly $3bn.

At the recent CIOFEST CIO conference, senior IT leaders from consultants to High St chains shared their fear over rising data scientist salaries, retention but biggest of all, where the next wave of such valuable employees will come from