Start at the beginning

Business, government and academia must together equip future workforces with IT skills, says Paul Coby

Written by Paul Coby

To succeed in the new globalising economy, the UK must have a technology-skilled workforce at all levels. There are two challenges here.

First, is the need to grow truly excellent ‘techies’ and to develop business entrepreneurs that understand how to use technology to build businesses and change society.

Second, there are the general IT users, which include every school leaver, all of whom will need the skills to use systems at work and, increasingly in their interactions with government agencies as citizens.

Such a programme must include every business graduate – all of whom need to understand how to use technology in the private or public sectors. It should also include every chief executive in UK business – large, medium and small – all of whom need to understand IT as the fundamental element of modern business.

So the need for technology skills must not stop at the IT department. The use of IT should be integrated into every business studies course.

People need to know how to use IT as the basic tool of most trades, whether you are a lawyer, a journalist, an actuary, a music producer or indeed my fashion-industry struck daughters.

Using technology effectively is now increasingly essential for most jobs in the UK. In British Airways, our cabin crew can work on their rosters from a Singapore hotel, a Sydney internet café, or from home.

Our baggage handlers access their pay slips online and everyone in the company is being equipped with an email address. The world is connected, information is mobile – you need to be connected.

Using technology is a basic competency and the UK is well placed to be a leader of global change. So we must ensure that everyone in the workforce is skilled.

To develop our technology and consulting industry, we must produce the best pure computer scientists, the best business analysts and the best business change experts in the world.

They will be the creators of economic efficiency and advantage in the future. And our goal should be to design the world’s systems, to re-engineer the world's processes and business solutions.

We can continue to be a global player if we link UK IT and consulting to the lower-cost producers in India or elsewhere. There is no need for the UK to be niche – we can be mainstream.

Such a movement requires government, industry and education establishments to work together to deliver IT-savvy school-leavers, graduates, top-rate technologists and business-change experts.

I am privileged to chair the CIO Board of the sector skills council e-skills UK. And through the specialist body, employers, government, education and others work together to address the top priority IT-related skills issues that no one party is able to solve on its own.

In 2005, e-Skills UK published the Sector Skills Agreement for IT, a 10-year vision supported by a three-year action plan to meet future IT skills requirements, in an attempt to close the UK’s productivity gap with its major international competitors.

E-Skills UK is pursuing initiatives that address the needs of the UK workforce for IT user skills. Computer Clubs for Girls aims to transform the attitude of a generation of girls to technology, and a new IT Diploma for 14- to 19-year-olds aims to equip school leavers with business-recognised skills in practical use of technology.

E-skills UK is also addressing the need for top-rate IT skills with new technology-based degree courses, designed to produce people that can use IT to solve problems in society and business.

My manifesto for a connected, technologically skilled and prosperous country is to embrace globalisation enthusiastically and make it work for the UK’s economy and society.

We should welcome inward investment to the UK by the new technology giants of India, and soon others; and we should encourage UK-based technology and consulting companies to become truly global and to operate in places such as India and South Africa, leveraging top-rate but higher-cost UK skills with lower-cost expertise around the world.

We should think how we can leverage the massive multibillion-pound government investment in IT to develop the UK IT and consulting industry.

And most essential of all, get behind e-Skills UK in developing our educational system at all levels, so we produce school leavers, graduates, business people and academics who understand – each at the right level of depth and capability – how to use technology effectively in their jobs and lives.

Paul Coby is chief information officer (CIO) of British Airways, chairman of the Sita Group and chairman of the e-Skills UK CIO board.

  • Have your say
  • Send to a friend
  • Print this
  • Share

Tags:

reader comments

related articles

 

IT workforce is "crucial to the UK's recovery"

But developing the right mix of skills is still a challenge, says e-skills UK 02 Feb 2010

No easy answer to problem of digital exclusion, warn experts

Widening digital divide causing concern across the political and business spectrum 02 Mar 2010

IT skills academy to launch next year

Academy will provide IT professionals with access to industry-recognised courses 26 Nov 2009

related whitepapers

today's top stories

Telepresence: coming to a screen near you?

Telepresence systems enable organisations to hold boardroom-style meetings with far-flung participants without the hassle and expense of arranging travel and accommodation. But while the technology is impressive, it does not come cheap, as Martin Courtney discovered when he sat in on a virtual meeting with executives from Philips 10 Mar 2010

Users give their verdict on Azure

Some of the first wave of UK adopters met in London recently to air their views on Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. Dave Bailey listened in 10 Mar 2010

Protests greet new Digital Economy Bill amendment

ISPs, digital rights groups and Liberal Democrat supporters cry foul 05 Mar 2010

Publishing special - Publishers innovate to survive

1) IT could hold the key to the future of publishing 2) Case Study: The Guardian harnesses social and mobile apps 3) How publishers are reacting to the iPad 02 Mar 2010

IT Leaders' Forum in association with IBM

A unique opportunity to hear from expert speakers and engage in a debate about the future of the CIO job function 29 Jan 2010

Advertisement

Keys to successful Service‐Oriented Architecture implementation

This white paper explores best practices and general design patterns for service oriented architecture (SOA).

The Roadmap to IT Maturity — Matching Strategy to Infrastructure for Business Success

This paper defines a roadmap for matching infrastructure strategy to business success.

Advertisement

Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies; ITHound.com brings you over 6,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.

Advertisement

Newsletter signup

Sign up for our range of FREE newsletters:

More available - click 'submit' to view

Existing User

Newsletter user login:

Jobs

Related jobs

Job of the week

Job alerts

Sign up here

Find your next job

IT Salary Checker

Check salary here

Advertisement

Latest poll

NHS centralised data

NHS centralised data

Do you think the NHS can be trusted to safely look after personal data electronically?

View poll results

Latest audio and video articles

Video

HP unveils S Series notebooks

'Prosumer' line overhauled 01 Mar 2010

Web Seminar Listings

Preparing for enterprise-scale Windows 7 migration

The web seminar on 18 Feb will discuss how Windows 7 migration can increase IT efficiency in large enterprises, freeing up budgetary and personnel resources to focus on business innovation. Our panel of experts will examine the strategies, tools and services IT leaders can use to migrate successfully and reap the rewards of increased efficiency. 19 Feb 2010

Latest in-depth articles

Martin CaveComment

Lessons to be learned from cricket's internet outing

Imagine the scene. It’s the final of one of the most popular sporting events in the Indian subcontinent and millions of people are glued to their laptops and PCs in anticipation of the four runs required off the last ball of the match. Suddenly the connection jitters and 20 seconds later you see the jubilant crowd flooding onto the field of play… 12 Mar 2010

Wayne GibbonsComment

Social networks are key to cracking China

Business social media can unlock the door to the world’s second-largest economy 10 Mar 2010

Primary Navigation