IT skills,
electronic elections and
online security were the main IT issues discussed at the
Conservative Party conference last week.
TheConservative Technology Forumfocused
on online crime. Shadow home affairs minister, James Brokenshire,
said, "There is a lack of any real urgency within government about
tackling online crime, or obtaining any proper data on the true
scale of the problem.
"Efforts to combat cyber-fraud are being let down by a lack of
co-ordination and strategic direction."
Speaking at the conference, Microsoft chief security adviser,
Edward Gibson, said fast action was needed.
"Most man-made catastrophes are the result of several smaller
failures, which, if left unresolved, lead to much bigger problems,"
he said.
"Online security is a major concern for us all, yet we are not
taking the necessary steps to protect UK citizens. We do not want
to look back five years from now and say we missed these small
failures."
Malcolm Harbour, chair of the Technology Forum, said the lack of
a holistic government policy on technology was tied to a general
under-investment in IT in the UK.
Elsewhere at the conference, e-elections were branded "gimmicky"
by an Open Rights Group fringe meeting. Jonathan Djanogly, MP for
Huntingdon, said, "The key to healthy democracy does not lie in
gimmicky use of text and internet votes. Simply computerising the
system will not increase turn-out."
Group member Jason Kitkat, who had seen several trials of
e-counting, said observers could not express confidence in
computer-counted results. "There were serious technical problems
with the process - serious enough to threaten its integrity," he
said.
Kitkat added that very slight changes in ballot papers,
imperceptible to the human eye, could change the way computers read
the vote.
"E-voting may be possible one day, but within the next 10 to 15
years, and within the current technological limits, it will not
be," he said.
On IT skills, David Willetts, shadow secretary of state for
universities, innovation and skills, said maths was the most
important subject for future IT professionals.
"IT skills are incredibly important for the 21st century and the
economy, but it is maths that is really valuable. It provides an
intellectual framework on which these specific skills are based. So
as computer languages change and develop, professionals are
equipped to cope," he said.
The debate on skills also emphasised demand-led, employer driven
training schemes.
Chris Humphries, former chair of the Skills Task Force and
former director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, said,
"We have got to engage more successfully with employers, because
they are the lifeblood of economic competitiveness."
Will Hutton, chief executive at consultancy the Work Foundation,
said IT skills needed to take centre stage. "What can you do if you
haven't got IT skills? At the moment, IT does not sit at the centre
enough in terms of importance," he said.
Donald Clark, board member at the University of Industry, said
IT workers provided a model for learning. "IT professionals are
very good at re-skilling themselves. Every year they have to learn
something new, and they do it in a very dynamic way, through
work-based learning. I think that is the model for the future," he
said.