IT skills forum gears up for action

's sister publication Computing took up the skills mantle last week to help co-ordinate the various attempts to solve the shortage of IT staff, which could threaten the progress of online business in the UK.

"I'm delighted that Computing is taking a lead. I've struggled with the skills shortage for my entire working career," said John O'Sullivan from the eskills NTO.

Computing will be inviting leaders of the UK skills community to a forum next month to draw up a plan of action which will address key areas of the skills shortage.

"It's up to the industry to sort this out; the Government can only do so much. Companies have to be prepared to spend money on this," said John Eary, head of the National Computing Centre's skills source consultancy.

"The IT industry is always looking for someone else to do something. If Computing can get everyone to pitch in by running this forum, that's great. One-off events such as the Eurim Skills Summit are excellent, but the follow through is always the difficult part. I think Computing is well placed to move things forward," he added.

The skills action plan will be published in Computing which will be inviting comment from IT directors and industry groups before a manifesto is presented to the Government later this year.

"The Alliance for Information Systems Skills would have been the organisation to see this through, but it has been in troubled waters since the Government effectively withdrew support for it," said O'Sullivan. "The Government is like the RAF: it never admits to grounding its planes - they simply don't fly because of bad weather."