By Andy McCue, 23 March 2006 12:40
NEWS
Government policy since Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Labour Party came to power in 1997 has done little to help the IT industry and those running IT departments, according to UK bosses.
The verdict comes in the same week that Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown delivered his 10th Budget, in which he took away with one hand - by controversially scrapping the tax breaks for Home Computing schemes - and gave with the other - by extending R&D tax credits for small companies.
More than half (seven) of silicon.com's 12-man CIO Jury IT user panel said 'no' when asked if government policy since 1997 has benefited IT departments and IT bosses in any way.
Phil Young, head of IT operations at Amtrak Express Parcels, said tax breaks on capital investment in IT equipment in the early years did have some positive impact but hit out at the failure of the government to support an environment that nurtures UK growth in new technologies.
He said: "The 'brain drain' so freely talked about in the 1990s is still unfortunately a reality and time will only tell where this will leave the UK in the global market place."
Luke Mellors, IT director at The Dorchester Hotel, agreed that government has not stimulated IT development, which has left the UK lagging far behind other nations in developing and producing new technologies, which itself has an impact on the availability and cost of IT to businesses.
He also criticised the burden of red-tape IT bosses now have to deal with. Mellors said: "Legislation has been introduced that deals with the fears of IT evolution and not the practicality of it. This has made companies spend a great deal of money on compliance to these regulations."
In the public sector Richard Steel, head of ICT at the London Borough of Newham, said there have been only minimal benefits as a result of government policy.
He said: "The advances we have seen are no more than we should expect in any advanced economy. In quite a few areas, government policy, or lack thereof, in areas such as standards, or contradictory or duplicate initiatives, has impeded progress."But Andy Pepper, director of business information systems at Tetley, said there have been many positives as a result of government policy since 1997.
He said: "Acceleration of broadband coverage has made delivery of services easier and on the economic side inflation is low, employment levels are OK and consumer spending is mainly buoyant so business is stable.
His only gripe was personal taxation, to which he simply said: "Aaaaarrrgh!"
Today's CIO Jury was...
Alastair Behenna, CIO, Harvey Nash
Ben Booth, European CTO, Mori
Michael Elliot, IT director, Hasbro
Nicholas Evans, European IT director, Key Equipment Financing
Kevin Fitzpatrick, CTO, Manpower
John Keeling, director of computer services, John Lewis
Christopher Linfoot, IT director, LDV Vans
Luke Mellors, IT director, The Dorchester Hotel
Andy Pepper, director of business information systems, Tetley
Jacques Rene, IT director, Airclaims
Richard Steel, head of ICT, London Borough of Newham
Phil Young, head of IT operations, Amtrak Express Parcels
If you are a CIO, IT director or equivalent at a large or small company in the private or public sector and you want to be part of silicon.com's CIO Jury pool, or you know an IT chief who should be, then drop us a line at editorial@silicon.com.
Comments
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1. Joe Baker
Come off it Andy!! Blair has been a Godsend to the IT industry. His government has handed out billions of tax payer's money for numerous IT schemes without getting any benefit in return.
Never in the world of business has so much been paid by so many for so little!
2. Richard Sarson
CIOs have never known much about what goes on in the wider world, but this takes the biscuit. Never has any Prime Minister launched so many IT initiatives, some of them misguided, and most of them messed up by the poor guidance of Ministers, consultants, senior civil servants, and, dare I say it, departmental CIOs. But don't shoot the pianist, he is doing his best.
An ex-MP told me the other day that in 1996, he had mentioned email to John Major, who asked "what's email?". That's what Blair inherited.
Since 1997, Tony became a champion for e-government, e-commerce, the Internet, broadband and Freedom of information. Civil servants tried to stop these initiatives, but he listened to industry, and drove them through.
It baffles me that the CIO Jury have been so deeply asleep that they have not noticed these things going on around them. Particularly Richard Steel, who has been among the most effective implementers of Tony's policies. (I do agree with Steel's moan about standards and initiative overload.) If Blair hadn't given him the supportive framework, he could not have achieved what he has.
I also ask if any of the CIOs on the Jury have made their views known to the many consultative processes carried on by the Government. I don't think any of this particular Jury play a role in the various industry-Parliamentary groups, which exist as a channel for ideas between Westminster and the outside world.
If they have not done either of these things, they are part of the problem, not the solution. Surely, it is part of a CIO's job to sweet-talk the government into providing the right framework. If they don't succeed to get the message across, they have failed in an important part of their job.
3. anonymous
I have just come across your site by accident....What extraordinary self hating drivel is pumped out by the British aided of course by those whose secret agenda is to push Britain down the toilet...
The only way to judge Britains IT position is simply to look at where Britain stands in the IT world and it stands nearly or at THE TOP using any metric....Incidentally Ive just w atched CNN news putting out a"" researched" list of "the best cities for business men to live in" etc....Apparently Auckland NZ comes6 Dusseldorf 7th Geneva 1st etcetc....LONDON COMES 39th!!!! OH dear!!! "Now Miss Smith ive just got to pop over to Milan for a quick business meeting can you arrange it?
Well theres are three flights a week to Frankfurt 23 hours with a stopover in HongKong then you can change planes to Altalia....".
Apparently EDUCATION was on the compilers mind ....well i dont know how many good English schools there are in Dusseldorf or how many world class museums concert halls art galleries there are either but does it compare to london....?
The creaters of this pathetic rubbish are a London consultancy believe it or not...CNN disgraced itself by giving publicity to it but it will soon be in all the newspapers of the world....anything to knock the hated British off their regained throne...If you are going to hate the British come and do it publicly and honestly--dont keep up these sly slimy knocking games-incidentally Australian travel guides are leaders in thisarea.
Of course I suppose one can take comfort in the fact that if people didnt think the UK was tops ,they wouldnt want to knock it