DIGIT’s Top Trending Stories

More than One Million Businesses Still to Register for Making Tax Digital

Only a fraction of UK businesses mandated to join Making Tax Digital in April have registered for it, according to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request published by Edinburgh-based company, Float.

Just 4% of businesses have registered thus far, despite MTD coming into force on the 1st of April. Statistics detailed in the FoI also show that only 2% of accounting firms have registered any clients for MTD; from an estimated 72,000 tax ‘agents’ across the country.

According to Float, a key stumbling block for businesses is a lack of concise information on MTD and widespread confusion over what action needs to be taken to ensure compliance.

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

Edinburgh Hospice Trials VR to Enrich Patients’ Lives

St Columba’s Hospice in Edinburgh has become the first palliative care facility in Scotland to offer its patients virtual reality to travel the world.

Six patients at the hospice were given the chance to visit locations around the world or to revisit some of their favourite destinations using high-tech VR headsets.

One patient, in particular, chose to fulfil his life-long dream of visiting Jerusalem, while another lady who was 101 years old revisited her childhood home in Darjeeling and travelled up the Amazon River for the first time.

As well as travelling the world through virtual reality, each of the six patients embarked on an oceanic adventure, exploring a shipwreck surrounded by mesmerising underwater features and sea creatures. One patient enjoyed the experience so much that they joked it was almost worth being admitted to the hospice just to experience VR.

Want to read more? Find the original article here.

UK’s First ‘Newton Room’ Opens in Caithness

The UK’s very first ‘Newton Room’, designed to inspire young people to get into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) has been opened in Scotland this week.

Located at North Highland College UHI in Thurso, the centre is the first of a network of Newton Rooms being created in the region as part of the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal.

Around £3 million has been earmarked for the project, led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, which aims to provide resources for school children to take part in practical activities applicable to STEM sectors centred in the region.

It will also provide an “accessible base” for extracurricular STEM activities for more than just schoolchildren, though.

Families and people of all ages from across the local community, and the region as a whole, will be able to use the Newton Room.

Want to find out more? Read the original article here.

RBS Security Flaw Put Customers at Risk

Customers at the Royal Bank of Scotland have been put at grave risk of cyber attacks due to flawed security software.

Since January this year, the bank has recommended the Thor Foresight Enterprise product, developed by Heimdal Security, to business banking customers.

The product is promoted as “next generation protection” against cyber threats, however, security researchers at Pen Test Partners discovered an “extremely dangerous” command injection that compromised customer PCs.

Earlier this week, Facebook announced it will block “praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism” on both its main platform and Instagram.

The firm also signalled its intention to crack down on extremist content by improving its methods of identifying and blocking material.

Users of both platforms that search for terms pertaining to white nationalism or separatism will be directed to a charity that aims to tackle the right of far-right extremism, the firm said. The move follows intense scrutiny of the platform in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack which was live streamed by the perpetrator.

Previously, white nationalist content had been allowed as the platform believed it to be an acceptable form of political expression, on par with “things like American pride and Basque separatism, which are an important part of people’s identity”.

In a blog post on the 27th of March, the company announced that, after several months of dialogue with “members of civil society and academics”, it deemed the issue could not be “meaningfully separated” from hate groups and white supremacy.

Want to find out more? Find coverage of the story here.

European Parliament Votes in Favour of Article 13

The European Parliament this week voted to pass Article 13 and Article 11 as it seeks to solidify online copyright legislation.

The legislation was passed by 348 votes to 274 despite opponents holding out for last-minute amendments.

Julia Reda, MEP for the Pirate Party, commented that the legislation’s approval was a “dark day for internet freedom”, while European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said the result was “great news”.

Article 13 has drawn heavy criticism from tech companies in the past 12-months. A number have argued that artists are already fairly paid under the current copyright system. Google even went so far as to claim the legislation would “harm Europe’s creative and digital industries”.

The good news for many, however, is that sharing memes and GIFs will still be allowed under the new legislative framework – phew.

Want to read more? Find coverage of the story here.

Apple Announces…Lots of Stuff

Social media went into meltdown this week following a series of big announcements at an Apple event.

CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to unveil a host of new products and services including the Apple Card, a streaming service and Apple Plus News.

The Apple Card will initially be rolled out across the US, offering 2% cashback paid daily on any purchase made with the card using Apple Pay.

Purchases made with Apple itself, such as the App Store or Apple Music, will also give customers a cool 3% cashback option. There were a couple of stumbling blocks for some consumers, though, if social media was anything to go by.

The firm’s quoted variable APR is too high for comfort for some. Admittedly, an APR of 13.24% to 24.23% is not as high as its competitors, such as the Citi Double Cash Card; which quotes 15.74% to 25.74%.

Apple’s new film and TV streaming service was, arguably, in the spotlight following the event. The app will be made available in more than 100 countries after software updates are added in May this year.

Mac users will be able to access the service following an update in autumn this year.

Want to read more? Coverage of the story can be found here.