The IT industry, lobby groups, business leaders and
parliament have all tried to make it possible for start-ups to
flourish in the UK. But high taxes, inadequate ICT education in
schools, poor links with universities, weak job prospects for
computer science graduates and a general lack of IT
entrepreneurship has plagued efforts to support home-grown Googles
and Facebooks.
The Technology
Manifesto, launched in the House of Lords, is the latest
attempt by to improve IT in the UK, by encouraging greater adoption
of IT in schools, improve the prospects for IT graduates and
harbour a fiscal environment to support IT entrepreneurs developing
start-ups.
A cross-party panel of parliamentarians and industry leaders are
backing the draft manifesto, which aims to make the UK a leader in
IT.
In many ways, the manifesto, which aims to build a prosperous IT
industry, is following the well-worn path laid down by
E-Skills UK and the
Prince's Trust Technology Leadership Group, together with the
efforts of parliamentary IT groups Pitcom and Eurim. Earlier in
July, the Communication Management Association launched its
IT manifesto, calling on the current and future governments to
put ICT at the heart of economic recovery to breathe life into UK
enterprise and the national economy.
This latest IT manifesto focuses on IT skills to help the UK
economy grow over the next 25 to 50 years. This means the UK needs
to attract and retain IT skills, says Lord Young, former secretary
of state for employment. "We want to bring enthusiasm back into
IT," he says.
Young and the other panellists at the House of Lords meeting,
believe that young people do not have any real IT heroes, instead
TV talent shows seem to idolise fame seekers.
There are not many stars in UK IT for young people to look up
to. Yet without new blood, how can the UK hope to build another
Autonomy or ARM?
"We are not valuing the IT sector. We are producing more
qualified hairdressers and pub managers than North London needs. We
need to inspire young people," says Labour peer Lord Harris.
The answer is not Alan Sugar or Richard Branson.
The biggest problem seems to be that IT simply is not sexy. The
GCSE ICT syllabus is widely regarded as wholly unsuitable.
E-Skills UK is looking to address this with programme to help
teachers bring technology more effectively into the classroom in
collaborations with The Open University.
Karen Price, CEO of E-Skills UK, says, "To prepare young people
for successful futures we need to transform the way in which
technology is taught and used in education. This places new demands
on the skills and knowledge required of teachers."
Funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families
(DCSF), the £5.6m programme aims to help teachers, from primary
through to secondary and college level, build their ICT skills.
There will be a special focus on building the professional
competence of technology teachers, providing them with, among other
things, first-hand experience of the ways in which IT is used in
business and to drive innovation.
But education can only go so far. Even if school and college
pupils stick with it, and take IT courses at university, their job
prospects are extremely poor, warns Richard Holway, chairman of
TechMarketView. "There
is an enormous gap with a lack of entry-level jobs for people with
zero to five years' experience," he says.
"IP-based industries are the future," says Stephen Kelly,
managing director of Micro Focus, which hosted the event. He
believes the UK needs IT to improve the knowledge economy. "Our
goal is to create 250,000 new jobs in IT."
This is quite a challenge. Culturally, the UK has been a poor
cousin to the US, in terms of supporting start-ups. It is difficult
to get funding, particularly if a would-be entrepreneur has failed
on a previous venture. Tax breaks and red tape prohibit many from
trying to start a business. The government and businesses need to
change their attitudes, otherwise there is little hope of any IT
manifesto supporting the country as it moves into the knowledge
economy.