By Graham Hayday, 26 February 2002 14:59
NEWS Nearly two thirds of the UK's technology suppliers believe the government will fail to reach its targets for making all services available electronically by 2005. In a survey released today by the Computer Software and Services Association (CSSA), 63 per cent of IT industry CEOs said they believe Tony Blair will not hit this ambitious deadline - although 67 per cent said the government should retain the targets. Furthermore, 43 per cent criticised the government for not doing enough to tackle the skills shortage in the IT industry. As for the other political hot potato - the euro - 57 per cent of the CEOs believe the UK will join the single European currency within the next five years. Interestingly, that's down 10 per cent from the figure in the last CSSA survey conducted in November 2001. Opinion is divided as to whether membership of the euro will be beneficial. Forty three per cent think membership will benefit the UK - but 43 per cent disagreed. Despite the majority view that the UK will join the euro, a worrying 60 per cent of the CEOs polled reported that their business has not yet begun preparations for the introduction of the currency. This figure is unchanged from the previous quarter.
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