By silicon.com, 22 March 2007 13:20
The emphasis of the Budget was on tax cuts and green thinking - but once again this means tech has been left out in the cold.
While tax credits for spending on research and development are up, it was disappointing that there was a lack of measures targeted specifically at the IT industry and bridging the digital divide.
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Research earlier this week revealed one-third of individuals in the UK have never been online.
Add to this separate research which suggests that parents lacking internet skills can damage their children's education and job prospects and you can see a grim future developing for a large chunk of the population.
The last thing we need is a two-tier society where those with digital know-how get increasingly tech-savvy while the less well-informed and their kids miss out.
One of the key issues in closing the divide is getting the population enthused about technology - and making it affordable.
For example to that end the French government is providing a low-cost national laptop and PC leasing scheme. Perhaps a similar scheme should be looked into here - or a return to tax breaks for companies that provide computers for staff to use at home.
The government needs to stump up some more enthusiasm and cash for technology so the population and tech-savvy businesses are offered more of an incentive to get online and inventing.
Encouraging investment in technology and getting more people online might not be as fashionable as green tax breaks - but might be just as important in securing the UK's economic future.
Comments
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1. Richard
Government could do more to encourage reliable, affordable, secure, high-speed Internet access.
They could also encourage alternatives to Microsoft's unhealthy dominance; starting with the 'public sector'!
I'd welcome access to affordable, good quality, generic training which focussed on applying IT technology to improve our personal productivity in our daily tasks - rather than on pushing the buttons on a particular version of a particular software product.
Free public PCs in libraries are very useful: Could the government extend access beyond 'office hours'?
Providing free or subsidised hardware for homes is more questionable: Previous schemes have been highly bureaucratic: It would be far better if the HMRC simply disregarded any supposed 'taxable benefit' when an employer provides a PC, phone or Internet access.