Latest news with #technologyupgrade
The Independent
2 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
National Lottery players warned ships will be unable to sell tickets for ‘one weekend'
The National Lottery is poised for a significant technology upgrade this summer which will see players unable to purchase tickets for 'one weekend.' Operator Allwyn, which assumed control of the lottery from Camelot in February of last year, has alerted retailers to an impending 36-hour shutdown of retail terminals. This comprehensive tech switchover, deemed necessary by the Czech-based group, will temporarily halt ticket sales at retail point-of-sale terminals. To mitigate disruption, Allwyn intends to initiate the upgrade around 11pm on a Saturday, capitalising on the National Lottery's overnight non-trading period and the absence of Sunday draw-based games. However, the exact date for the plans has not been revealed. Andria Vidler, UK chief executive at Allwyn, has assured retailers that the timing will "tie in best with our retail partners," appealing for their "help and diligence to enable a seamless transition". The upgrade, which has faced delays since Allwyn took over the licence, is expected to pave the way for the introduction of new draw-based games. It was unable to switch to a new technology provider after agreeing to extend the contract for the existing supplier, International Games Technology (IGT). IGT had challenged the Gambling Commission's decision to award Allwyn the 10-year licence in court, but later dropped the legal action. Allwyn has previously admitted that delays to the new games it had hoped to introduce in 2024 will hold back the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence. But the group remained committed to its long-term goal to double money for good causes, despite falling short of early targets. Allwyn said: 'Allwyn is investing over £350 million into improving the operations and technology of The National Lottery. 'This change is critical – it will give us the springboard from which we can continue to improve the player and retailer experience and enable us deliver on our ambitious plans to double returns to Good Causes from £30 million to £60 million a week by the end of the licence.' The lottery licence handover has been hampered by intense legal wrangling since it was first announced. Camelot took action over the Gambling Commission's decision to award the licence to Allwyn, which was finally settled when Allwyn bought Camelot, although the two companies continued to operate separately ahead of the handover. Media tycoon Richard Desmond is also suing the Gambling Commission after missing out on the licence in what is set to culminate in a High Court showdown. Details of the tech upgrade come as Allwyn revealed UK earnings halved at the start of 2025 despite a sales boost from March's record EuroMillions jackpot and strong demand for online instant win games. It reported a 6% rise in UK gross gaming revenues to 1.02 billion euros (£860 million) – up 4% with currency movements stripped out. Sales by amounts staked lifted 3% on a constant currency basis as players took a punt on the EuroMillions rollover in March with its record-breaking 250 million euro (£211 million) jackpot. The latest EuroMillions on Friday night could also see a single ticket-holder win the biggest lottery prize the UK has ever seen if they match the numbers in the draw. The wider Allwyn group, which runs lotteries across Europe, saw underlying earnings rise 1% to 362.3 million euros (£305.7 million) in the three months to March 31.
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
President Trump's ‘Golden Dome' And The U.S. Missile Defense System
President Trump recently detailed a plan for a new 'golden dome' to protect Americans, specifically from long-range missiles. Quickly after, China announced its distaste for the project. FOX News Contributor and author of Drone Warrior Brett Velicovich explains how America's new dome will differ from Israel's iron dome. He describes the need to upgrade U.S. technology and missile equipment systems before it is too late. Meanwhile, the President spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week, furthering ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Brett points out specific characteristics President Putin has displayed, which have amounted to a negotiation stalemate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Fast Company
09-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
U.S. air traffic control system that relies on floppy disks will cost ‘lots of billions' to overhaul
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed a multibillion-dollar overhaul of a U.S. air traffic control system that it said still relies on floppy disks and replacement parts found on eBay and has come under renewed scrutiny in the wake of recent deadly plane crashes and technical failures. The plan calls for six new air traffic control centers, along with an array of technology and communications upgrades at all of the nation's air traffic facilities over the next three or four years, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. 'We use radar from the 1970s,' said Duffy, who compared the proposal with upgrading from a flip phone to a smartphone. 'This technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies and keep airplanes separated from one another.' How much it will all cost wasn't immediately revealed. Duffy said he'll work with Congress on the details. 'It's going to be billions, lots of billions,' he said. The plan has an aggressive timeline, calling on everything to be finished by 2028 — although Duffy said it may take another year. Demands to fix the aging system that handles more than 45,000 daily flights have increased since the midair collision in January between an Army helicopter and a commercial airliner that killed 67 people over Washington, D.C. That crash—and a string of other crashes and mishaps—showed the immediate need for these upgrades, Duffy said in front of airline officials, union leaders and family members of those who died in the crash near Reagan National Airport. The proposal sets out to add fiber, wireless or satellite technology at more than 4,600 locations, replace 618 radars and more than quadruple the number of airports with systems designed to reduce near misses on runways. Six new air traffic control centers also would be built under the plan, and new hardware and software would be standardized across all air traffic facilities. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week budgeted $12.5 billion to overhaul the system, but that estimate came out before the Transportation Department revealed its plan. Duffy said the final price tag will be higher. U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri, who heads the House transportation committee, called the amount only a 'down payment.' To build the system quickly, as planned, Duffy said Congress must give the Federal Aviation Administration all the money up front and streamline the permitting process. 'The system we have here? It's not worth saving. I don't need to preserve any of this. It's too old,' Duffy said. Trump said Thursday that the plan will revolutionize flying. 'The new equipment is unbelievable what it does,' he said from the Oval Office. He began to say it may even alleviate the need for pilots before adding, 'In my opinion, you always need pilots. But you wouldn't even have to have pilots.' The newly revealed proposal appears to have wide support across the aviation industry — from airline CEOs to the unions representing controllers and pilots — but this is just the beginning and many details haven't been revealed. Duffy quickly said the plan will not involve privatizing the air traffic control system, as Trump had supported in his first term. Following the midair crash near Washington, Trump promised to fix what he called 'an old, broken system' and to tackle the nationwide shortage of air traffic controllers while blaming the previous Biden administration for both problems. But the weaknesses within the air traffic control system have been highlighted for years in hearings before Congress and government reports. The struggles to keep up with increasing air traffic has been recognized since the 1990s — long before either Trump or Biden took office. The Trump administration's overhaul plan will need enough funding to be more effective than previous reform efforts during the last three decades. Already more than $14 billion has been invested in upgrades since 2003 but none have dramatically changed how the system works. The FAA has been working since the mid-2000s to make upgrades through its NextGen program. One of the biggest challenges with a massive upgrade is that the FAA must keep the current system operating while developing a new system and then find a way to seamlessly switch over. That's partly why the agency has pursued more gradual improvements in the past. The shortage of controllers and technical breakdowns came to the forefront in the last two weeks when a radar system briefly failed at the Newark, New Jersey, airport, leading to a wave of flight cancellations and delays. Without the planned upgrades, those breakdowns will be repeated around the nation, Duffy said. 'Newark has been a prime example of what happens when this old equipment goes down,' he said.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Watch Live: Trump administration unveils plan to overhaul air traffic control system after Newark airport outage
President Trump announced Thursday that his administration plans to replace the technology at thousands of air traffic control sites across the country and build six new coordination centers. Mr. Trump called into a news conference that Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy was holding to unveil the plan for a new air traffic control system. "After decades of originally — and we're taking about a long time ago — reliable service, air traffic control is long overdue for, not an overhaul really, for a remaking," Mr. Trump said. "It's got to be brought up to a modern standard." The president also said he was confident that the current system remains "extremely safe" ahead of the summer travel season. Mr. Trump said his administration was working to replace the technology at more than 4,600 air traffic control sites and build six new air traffic coordination centers. The president also said the government planned to buy 25,000 new radios, replace hundreds of radars and install 4,000 new high-speed network connections. The announcement comes as the international airport in Newark, New Jersey, continues to deal with disruptions following an outage last week. Air traffic controllers directing flights into Newark Liberty International Airport lost communications and their screens went blank for about 90 seconds on April 28. "We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are," one controller was heard saying on a recorded transmission. The Federal Aviation Administration said the outage lasted about 30 seconds, and it took another 30-60 seconds for planes to reappear on controllers' screens. Several controllers went on trauma leave in the wake of the outage, which appears to at least in part be due to a fried copper wire. There have also been more than 4,000 delays and over 1,000 cancellations in and out of Newark. In an interview before Duffy's announcement, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told CBS News he fully supports upgrading the air traffic control system. "I'm not saying that the working conditions are acceptable, and I think that the controllers do an amazing job in terms of managing," Bastian said in an interview for "CBS Sunday Morning." Bastian said it's safe to get on an airplane, but he also said the air traffic control system can't operate in its current form for much longer. "What we need is a significant investment by our government in air traffic control modernization, which I know this administration and I know the secretary of transportation is committed to delivering," Bastian said.
CNN
08-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
#NEWS: United CEO says air travel is still safe,
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby told CNN Thursday air travel remains safe, even at Newark Liberty International Airport, where delays have played out for more than a week as air traffic controllers took trauma leave after a critical technology outage. 'It was inevitable at some point that this would happen if you didn't modernize the system,' Kirby said in an interview with CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean. 'The biggest thing that we can do for the air traffic controllers is get them technology that works and get them fully staffed.' A telecommunication system used by controllers handling flights approaching the New Jersey airport failed on April 28, causing radios to silence and screens to go blank. He praised Transportation Seretary Sean Duffy and the Department's plans, scheduled to be announced this afternoon, to upgrade air traffic control. 'Today is actually a historic day, I think, for the FAA and the United States air traffic control system,' Kirby said. 'The bill that Secretary Duffy is going to introduce later today… really leaves me the most optimistic I've been in my entire career, that we're finally going to get air traffic control modernized and fixed.' On Wednesday, the FAA also said it would add three new, high-bandwidth, telecommunications connections and replace copper wire with fiberoptic technology to bring data to the controllers handling flights approaching Newark, which served as a hub for United. The facility, located in Philadelphia, will also get a temporary backup system and staffing will be increased. Asked about comments by President Donald Trump blasting the prior administration for the FAA problems, Kirby said while there was blame to go around, and he was focused on making things better. 'This is decades in the making, so there's plenty of people take the blame. I don't care who takes the blame,' he said. 'All I care about is getting it fixed and moving forward, and getting us and getting our customers the world class air traffic control system that the people of the United States deserve.' To address the immediate delays at Newark, United Airlines canceled about 35 round trips every day, but they want the government to do more. 'We just need to keep the number of flights equal to the capacity of the airport. There's 77 (takeoff or landing) operations per hour, theoretically. When you get scheduled at 86 or more, it falls apart,' he said. Wednesday with the preemptive cancelations the airline was 83% on time because of the lower capacity. Kirby said the airline has asked the federal government to put level three slot controls in place at Newark as a short-term fix. This would limit the number of flights any airline could schedule to take off or land at the airport. 'If the FAA is short staffed, and we have to have fewer flights when the FAA is back to full staffing, we can ramp it back up,' he said. Kirby said he's encouraged by Duffy's plans and the nominee for Federal Aviation Administration administrator, Bryan Bedford. He added that air traffic control is a bipartisan issue, noting that he's spoke with both sides of the aisle on the matter from both the House and Senate. 'The people are different,' Kirby said. 'Secretary Duffy is action oriented. When I texted him over the weekend, I immediately got a call back and got a response, and he's working on the issue.'
