By silicon.com, 28 September 2004 13:05
Attendees at the silicon.com CIO Forum yesterday hit out at a perceived lack of innovation in UK businesses and bemoaned the risk-averse culture and outdated attitudes towards technology.
It's a fair point but one which should be defended. Firstly to address possibly the most justifiable accusation: the issue of risk aversion.
UK businesses are probably more risk averse than US firms - and far less likely to gamble. And we should probably congratulate the likes of Enron and WorldCom for the gambles they've taken.
For UK businesses the technology revolution represents a far less dramatic age in their existence. Something which has become a phenomenon in the last 10 years represents little more than a passing second compared to the lifetime of some 200-year-old UK company. It goes without saying that they are far less likely to adopt technology than a 10-year-old US company which has grown up within the age of technology.
That's not to say UK companies shouldn't be adopting technology, but nor should we be claiming this state of affairs comes as a surprise.
More concerning, however, at the other end of the scale is the perceived notion that UK companies aren't also at the vanguard of technology innovation. In the mobile space in particular the UK is leading the Western world.
In terms of the innovative use of technology to create online businesses, the UK is showing the way for many other nations worldwide. What people are allowing themselves to be blinded by is scale not innovation. lastminute.com is no less innovative than Amazon.com in terms of using technology to create an online business - it is simply smaller.
Similarly could you really argue Betfair.com is any less innovative than Sports.com simply because it is still in business? If anything Betfair is the most innovative user of technology and its challenges have been among the most impressively met in the industry.
The UK accounts for one per cent of the world's population but five per cent of its technology implementation. It could easily be argued that we are punching above our weight.
Also speaking at the silicon.com CIO Forum was Mike Lynch, founder of Autonomy, another leading UK innovator. He warned against following the latest fashions for the sake of it, yet it's possibly fair to suggest the panel levelling criticism at the UK was doing just that - indulging in a little Brit bashing, because it's the done thing.
But let's save that for the tennis players.
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. Jonathan English
There's a difference between risk averse and taking calculated risks, which I believe is actually what goes on here...in the US there is a more 'gung-ho' attitude and maybe we do need a little more of that from time to time in the tech sector.
One thing I would also say in defence of 'UK plc' companies innovating or taking on innovative products. We often get hold of new technologies many months after their release in the US and still manage to implement them successfully in the UK ahead of the US.
Let's not assume that just because we don't do it like the US that we do it wrong...maybe we just innovate differently in the UK??
2. anonymous
US-envy is outdated. There’s nothing there for a civilised society to emulate.
“It's about growth and driving growth in your business."
If so, then there’s nothing in the US that the UK wants to emulate. The UK during the past decade has been far more successful than the US in driving growth.
"[Innovation] has to be led by the most senior levels of business."
“The best innovations, the most successful ones, come from people doing their day jobs well and the innovations come as something extra…”
Well, which is it, top down or bottom up? No one who has worked in an American corporation could seriously claim that “workers” are encouraged to “innovate” or do anything other than toe the corporate line. You haven’t experienced repression until you’ve worked in the US (or Soviet Russia).
As far as “senior levels” as concerned, there’s been plenty of innovation: witness Enron, Worldcom and the gigantic and growing disparity between what “workers” take out of the company and what “senior levels” do. Maybe we should take a closer look at who wants Britaino become more like the US.
3. Peter Anders
UK companies may be risk averse and forthright when it comes to investing in technology, but the possibility of a quick pound seems to be enough to make UK directors throw caution to the wind.
4. Dick Winchester
We may or may not be good at technology implementation. It's difficult to tell. However, assuming we are then the real question is why are we also not good at developing the technology in the first place. We may as you suggest be doing well in the mobile space but the last time I looked there was no UK Nokia.
5. Simon Gall
There's no difference between UK innovation and US Innovation except for the size of the investment pots available for the innovators and thereon the speed at which innovators can develop their concept to production/service.
As a past troubleshooter for UK/US investors and CEO's of many innovative companies, now co-founder of four companies I feel it's about time the UK investors and potential investors realised that most of the greatest inventions and innovations in the world emanated from the brians of Brits (wherever they be in the world) and we should work harder to develop this into cash positive companies.
UK innovation
6. Simon Gall
Yup!
Most of the greatest invesntions and innovations emanated from Brit brains.