Government must invest more in UK IT

The vast majority of IT managers in the UK believe that inadequate levels of government investment are preventing British companies from competing effectively in the global technology market.

Nearly 70 per cent of respondents to a survey by the British Computer Society (BCS) feel that government investment in the IT sector is inadequate or not applied efficiently.

The poll of 319 UK IT managers, conducted between June and August 2004, found that good professional skills, a focus on security technology, and strong investment are deemed essential factors to boost the nation's competitiveness.

"These findings underscore how important it is to recognise British companies which are setting standards in developing leading-edge technology or encouraging the development of well-honed technical and business skills," said BCS chief executive David Clarke in a statement.

IT investment priorities in the next 12 months include, according to the study, security products (26 per cent), application software (20 per cent) and personal (mobile) computing products (11 per cent) such as laptops and PDAs.

IT budgets for 2005 are largely expected to remain the same as last year (34 per cent) or increase by up to 15 per cent (32 per cent). But 17 per cent of respondents reported that their budgets will decrease in the next year.

Commenting on the skills aspect of the study Richard Lloyd, director of IT recruitment at Robert Walters, said in a statement: "Professional skills are the IT industry's lifeblood - it cannot exist without them and poor skills inhibits its performance.

"Additionally, professional development ensures that individuals are challenged and stretched and open to new ways of thinking that benefits their businesses and the industry."

See also:

SME Business Centre

Smaller businesses want technology to help them punch above their weight in a global market where their main competitor could be on the other side of the world  22 Sep 2004

Learn the skills to build tomorrow's technology

Wendy Hall, head of the Department of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton and President of the British Computer Society asks, 'How do we attract and retain the brightest and best into IT?', the fourth of our five Agenda Setters topics  08 Jun 2004

BCS improves IT skills tracking

Standards-based web solution allows IT departments to assess staff development  20 Apr 2004

IT managers need more career support

Directors must nurture talented junior execs, says survey  06 Aug 2003

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!