Firms are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit IT managers with the skills needed to improve their business through technology. According to Forrester Research, nearly 40 per cent of chief information officers (CIOs) are now sourced from outside IT departments. At the same time, thousands of IT staff have lost their jobs in the recession, and many more are affected by the growth of outsourcing.

As a result, the traditional career development routes from professional to manager to leader are disappearing.

And the sector is struggling to attract sufficient young people to fill the 140,000 new roles needed every year, with the dwindling popularity of IT courses showing how few students view the prospect of working in IT as an appealing option.

Yet all this is happening as technology becomes more exciting and fashionable than it has ever been. The future of the UK economy lies in its technology industries, but all the evidence shows that a potential time

bomb is emerging that will leave businesses bereft of suitably skilled IT leaders.

Over the next three months, Computing’s new campaign, Tomorrow’s IT Leaders, aims to develop a roadmap for today’s IT professionals to reach the top of their profession.

We will talk to the current leaders of UK IT to find out their views on how the role of the CIO will change over the next three years.

And we will aim to provide readers with advice on how they need to develop their skills and professional experience to become the IT managers we will desperately need to support the growth of technology-led business in the UK.

Let us know what you think ­ by email at feedback@computing.co.uk or by submitting your comments online. We want to hear your views and involve the UK IT profession in this vital debate.