The skills gap has long been a problem in the world of IT and in
a bid to prepare the ground for universal broadband access the
government has called for a greater focus on improving the basic
level of technology knowledge.
A report by
Baroness Estelle Morris has identified a need to ramp up the
support offered for the 11.6million people in the UK who donot have
any basic computing skills.
Among the ranks of those who do not knowtheir way round an ICT
world arethe elderly, the socially excluded and those with few
qualifications.
"We must be ambitious about the
level of ICT skills in the community. Increasingly, those who
are not ICT literate will find themselves excluded as technology
impacts on more parts of our lives," said Morris.
She added,"The government needs to have a clearer focus, be less
bureaucratic and not as complex. It must work with its partners
from the voluntary and private sector to persuade people that they
need to
learn computer skills and make it easy for them to do so."
One of the proposals of the review is that wider access is given
to ICT skills providers to make sure that more people have the
chance to learn computing skills.
Yesterday, the
Digital Britain report was unveiled by communications minister
Lord Carter outlining plans for universal broadband by 2012.
Special report: Digital Britain