Government fixes role for ecommerce

The government's focus on ecommerce has been rolled into the wider portfolio of newly created minister for Industry and the Regions Alun Michael.

Michael became minister of state at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in last week's reshuffle following the General Election (Computing, 9 March).

The changes saw the DTI post of minister for energy and ecommerce, held by Mike O'Brien, scrapped. The energy sector now has a minister in its own right, Malcolm Wicks, but the ecommerce brief has been subsumed to the wider responsibilities of Industry and the Regions.

Michael's portfolio includes concerns such as the communications and information industries, social enterprise, effective channels with business and regional economies.

IT groups have expressed disappointment at the loss of the ecommerce-specific post.

Trade body Intellect, which is campaigning for the creation of a minister for the knowledge economy, says there is the danger of a lack of clear political leadership.

'The government claims to be committed to the knowledge economy. We challenge it to prove this by demonstrating that technology has not been side-lined,' said Intellect director of public affairs Tom Wills-Sandford.